Ash, Son of the Demon God, Tarot, the Devil

by D. J. Manly

  CHAPTER TEN

  Rush was tired of waiting for Ash to return. The evening was here, and he was anxious to hear what Forsythia had to say. All day he had stayed in his room, waiting. He knew his words had hurt Ash. He wanted to take them back. He had to understand that the thought of leaving him made him miserable as well, but what choice did he have? Being with him was tempting fate. Finishing off the last of his supper, Rush pushed the tray away and left the room. The guards at the door watched him suspiciously as he walked down the massive corridor, but he didn’t give a damn. Coming to a fork in the passage way, he saw two guards standing outside of a room. He didn’t know which way to go. He had to find Ash. “Can you tell me where Lord Ash is?” Rush inquired, walking up to the guards.

  One of them smirked at him. “If it isn’t the Sun King, sir lord Rush himself. If you are looking for your lover boy, I’m afraid he’s busy.”

  “Ya,” said the other with a leer, “getting done for him what you can’t do.”

  Both of them started laughing. Rush was speechless for a moment, then he demanded, “Where is he?”

  One of the guards actually stood aside. “In his chambers…right here, why don’t you go in and see him?”

  Rush didn’t wait for a second invitation. He brushed past the amused guards and burst into Ash’s bedchambers. In the middle of the room stood a four poster bed. Rush stepped over a leather harness, a chain, and a huge wooden sex toy. Stopping at the foot of the bed, he made out three naked bodies, totally entwined with one another. There was an empty bottle of liquor on top of the bureau on his left. He didn’t have to study the naked bodies long to recognize one of them as Ash. “So this is how you work out your anger!” Rush said, his voice quivering. He spoke louder than he’d anticipated. A dark head shot up, it was Ash, his eyes bloodshot. When he realized that Rush was standing there, he immediately disengaged himself from the other two, and got off the bed. Reaching for his robe, he said sternly, “Mirage, Derdra, go, leave us please.”

  The two sex slaves cast a quick envious look at Rush, then ran past him, ducking out of the room. Ash took his time wrapping himself in his robe. He ran a hand through his ruffled hair, and then looked at Rush. “What do you want?”

  “What do I want?” Rush said, shaking his head. His anger had quickly transformed itself into sadness. “I’m here, in your house, at your mercy. You say you love me and yet I find you here with…”

  His sadness was too much for Ash to take. He quickly grabbed Rush’s shoulders and pulled him into his arms. “I do love you. This means nothing. Oh Rush, I’m sorry,” he whispered against his cheek. “Don’t hate me. I don’t know how to deal with these feelings. They don’t come naturally to me. When you said you would leave me…I…”

  Rush hugged him closer. How could he resist? “I didn’t mean I wanted to leave you, Ash. I simply meant that if there were no other solution…” He stepped away from him. Running his eyes over him, he said, “I could never hate you. I love you. In fact, I love you too much, that’s why resisting you is getting harder and harder.”

  Ash nodded. “You forgive me?”

  “Of course. I even understand in a small way, and I envy you. But, don’t do it again.”

  Ash nodded.

  “Now, your mother has been waiting for us. She has something to tell us,” Rush said.

  “She knows how to break the curse?” Rush gasped, his face registering excitement.

  “I don’t know. She knows something, but she needs to tell us together.”

  “Just let me get dressed and we’ll go right away,” Ash said.

  * * * *

  Forsythia sighed when Ash and Rush came into her quarters that evening. She didn’t know how to tell them what she needed to. In a way, she didn’t even want to. Ash was looking so anxious, so hopeful, her eyes actually filled with tears when she knew that she could keep them waiting no longer. “There is a way to make sure that the Incubus remains below forever.”

  “The spell?” Ash insisted. “To hell with the Incubus, how do we break the spell?”

  “If the Incubus remains below forever; the spell is automatically neutered.”

  Rush narrowed his light eyes. “I don’t understand.”

  “It’s simple really,” Ash’s mother replied, looking at Rush. “The only reason for the spell on your descendant’s was to ensure that Abbadon and the Incubus never walked the earth.”

  “So,” Ash said, “imprison Abbadon below for eternity, and the spell is redundant?”

  “Exactly,” his mother nodded.

  “How in hell do we do that?” Rush cried.

  “We don’t…I do…” Ash said, meeting his mother’s eyes.

  There was a deadly silence.

  “You mean…face Abbadon…slay him?” Rush gasped.

  Ash nodded.

  “Then seal up the entrance,” Forsythia added.

  Rush grabbed onto Ash’s forearm. “You can’t do this alone.”

  “I must,” Ash said, glancing at his mother.

  Forsythia closed his eyes. “Ash is the only one who can defeat him. He is the only one with the power. And before he leaves, we must ensure that he has all the magic he needs.”

  That night, Rush lay in Ash’s arm. They hadn’t spoken for hours. They just lay there, listening to the sound of each others heartbeat. “How do you feel about…?” Rush asked suddenly, breaking the silence.

  Ash stroked his hair. “Shush…don’t…it’s okay. It has to be done. I must have a life of my own, Rush, free from him. He can not be allowed to rule, and we shall be together in the way we want to be.” He kissed Rush’s mouth. “Just know that I love you, always.”

  They said no more after that. They both lay awake until almost dawn with their own private thoughts.

  Rush awoke out of a nightmare. He sat up straight in the bed, perspiration running down his face and his chest. He dreamt he held Ash in his arms, and he was fading away from him. Finally, his arms were empty. He was alone. Reaching out his hand, he felt nothing now. Ash was gone.

  Dragging on his clothes, Rush raced down the corridor. He almost had a head on collision with Forsythia who was just rounding the corner, followed by two of her lady servants. “Rush, where are you going? What is it?” she insisted.

  “It’s Ash, he’s gone. He…”

  Forsythia took his hand. “Yes, he left this morning. He thought it would be better this way. Come, come have breakfast with me.”

  Rush was inconsolable. “He didn’t say goodbye. What if Abbadon…what if I never see him again? Can Abbadon kill him? If Ash can kill Abbadon, then that must mean that…”

  Forsythia waved her servants away. She took Rush’s arm. “Come, we’ll have a walk round the garden.”

  “How can you be so calm?” he asked her as they stepped outside. Around them were roses, their sweet scent swept up his nostrils.

  “I am anything but calm. Rush, he is doing this for love. He loves you, and he wants to be his own man. He is tired of being Abbadon’s servant. He has become everything I’d hoped and you are in part responsible for that. Love has transformed him.”

  Rush’s eyes blurred with tears. “What if I lose him? Can he be killed?”

  Forsythia looked away.

  “Tell me. Ash is immortal but…he’s going there to kill Abbadon, so there is a way.”

  “Yes,” she said softly. “Only a demon can destroy a demon, and they have to be powerful.”

  “Abbadon is more powerful than Ash,” Rush insisted. “He…”

  “Don’t be so sure,” Forsythia murmured. “Have more faith in your lover. He fights with passion on his side. That’s very powerful. Now come, all we can do is wait… and I know how hard that is, but we have no choice.”

  “But I have a choice,” Rush said. “I can go to him, help him.”

  Forsythia shook her head. Grabbing his arm, she said, “No. That is what you must not do. Abbadon will use you against Ash. He can’t win with you there. You must pro
mise me to stay here.”

  Rush nodded half heartedly as they rounded the garden and came back inside.

  * * * *

  Ash knew that Abbadon would be waiting for him. He rode towards the earth’s core with a heavy heart. How many sons had been forced to slay their fathers? He had no choice. He had to protect the earth, and free Rush from the spell. How hard it had been to leave him this morning, knowing that he might never see him again. To die was one thing, but to know love just before death seemed unusually cruel.

  Going over all the magic his mother had reminded him of in his head, he wondered if it would be enough. Abbadon was powerful, and it had been difficult to resist his will. “But you are a different soul now, Ash,” his mother had told him last night, kissing his forehead. “You are stronger now.” Perhaps. Perhaps he was stronger, but was he strong enough?

  Abbadon let out a roar that caused the entire underworld to pause in fear. Ash stood at the cave’s opening. His very own son had come to slay him. Still roaring, he swept everyone in his path with his long tail, throwing them into the granite walls as he made his way upward to the surface. Behind him, he dragged a mortal by a chain connected to his neck, and his penis. The pain was excruciating, so much so that Sin had begged Abbadon to put him out of his misery. “No such luck you little worm. You will suffer greatly for your failure, then and only when I decide, you will die.”

  His body broken and bleeding, Sin lay just behind Abbadon, relieved that they had come to a standstill. He lifted his head just enough now to see Ash standing in the gloom of the cave, his sword lifted over his head.

  “So, you come to give up everything, to banish you own father into oblivion for a fuck from a golden god!” Abbadon accused, placing his hands on his hips.

  “It’s more than that,” Ash said, his voice surprisingly calm, “all my life I have done your will. I am not like you Father. I am only half demon…and now someone loves me.”

  Abbadon laughed, his laughter echoing around them. “Bullshit…pure unadulterated bullshit. You can’t destroy me, Ash. You didn’t even have the will to seduce the Sun King…no stomach for it. The very fact that you didn’t even have the heart to do that, testifies to the fact that you certainly have no heart to kill me. You are a defect…and I now have someone to replace you.”

  Ash narrowed his black eyes.

  Sin raised his head again. He had seen it, the demon baby born from that vicious demoness who had seduced and killed all his comrades. “It’s true Ash,” he croaked, “I’ve seen it…I’ve…”

  Abbadon yanked the chain hard now, and then released it, smashing Sin’s body against the rock. “Shut up!”

  “Why don’t you just kill him instead of torturing him?” Ash demanded hotly. “Your cruelty knows no bounds, and now, it’s time for you to die!” Letting out a cry, Ash ran forward with his sword. Swinging it, he brought it down on Abbadon’s tail, cutting loose Sin’s chain.

  Abbadon let out a shriek as the tip of his tail fell away.

  Sin shook himself, trying to crawl away from Abbadon. “Go,” Ash said to him. “Get on your feet and get out of here. It’s the only chance you will ever have.”

  Sin tried to stumble to his feet. He faltered, then, tried again, finally pulling himself up enough to shuffle past Abbadon and make for the cave opening.

  Green liquid oozed from Abbadon’s tail. He reached for Ash. Ash dodged him and brought the sword down again on his tail, only this time he cut deeper and up farther. Abbadon howled. He reached out for Ash again, trying to bring his huge foot down on Ash’s head. Compared to Ash, Abbadon was a giant, and his reach was incredibly long. When he reached out again for him, Ash shouted, “Bandalling,” and in a flash he disappeared only to appear behind Abbadon. He sliced again into the tail. Abbadon turned around, breathing fire out of his mouth. The fire came within inches of Ash’s face. He jumped out of the way, sliding against the wall of the cave, waiting for the fire to die down. “I know how to kill you, Abbadon,” Ash cried out. “I know where your power lies.”

  “And don’t forget, my precious son,” Abbadon echoed, “I also know how to kill you.” The green liquid was creating a puddle around Abbadon’s feet. He bounded over to where Ash was standing. Ash ducked, and went under Abbadon’s legs. Hurling his sword up in the air again, he again brought it down on Abbadon’s tail. Abbadon began to fade. His image was becoming translucent. He had won. He couldn’t believe it, but he had won.

  “Not so fast, Ash,” a woman’s voice purred at him from behind, “seems you have a visitor.”

  Ash turned around quickly to see a demon bitch with long red hair. She was carrying a crying baby in one arm, and the body of a man in the other. Coming closer, she laid the body of Rush at his feet. Ash’s heart sunk.

  “This is your new baby brother,” she said, smiling, lifting her forked tail up to caress the baby’s head.

  Ash ignored the child, kneeling down to examine Rush. “If you’ve hurt him, I…”

  “Now, now, I didn’t touch him…didn’t even fuck him, although I was tempted. He’ll be fine…on one condition.”

  Rush looked up at her, then back at Abbadon. He was still there but his image was getting fainter by the minute. “Which is?”

  “Your father is going, and I can’t say I’ll miss him. I want you to take his place. Be my master. It is your natural place. We will rule here together forever, raise your brother. I don’t want to go above. You may seal off this cave. Isn’t that what you want to do? That way, your precious Rush may fuck who he wants. The curse will be over.”

  Ash stood up. “And if I refuse?”

  “Well,” she mused, “that would mean that the sun God would die. I have him in a deep sleep, a deep sleep that I can quickly switch to a permanent one with a few words. You do believe me, don’t you Ash darling?”

  He believed her. He had to get Rush out of here, out of harms way. “And I can seal us up in here?”

  She nodded. “As long as you agree to do your husbandly duties,” she met his eyes, bouncing the baby a little. Ash could see the beginnings of the forked tail peeking out of the baby’s blanket.

  “Agreed,” Ash nodded. “Wake him up, and let him leave, do it now!”

  Rush was instantly awake. Ash helped him to his feet, and then looked behind him. Abbadon was gone. “Ash, what’s happening? Are you all right?”

  “You shouldn’t have come here,” Ash said severely. Damn, if only he had stayed put. He could have fought off this bitch on his own.

  “I was worried. Abbadon, where is he?”

  “Gone. Now, you leave. Go now,” Ash told him.

  “Not without you,” Rush shook his head.

  “Damn it,” Ash said, giving him a shove, “do you think this is a game? Go. Get out of here.”

  “You’d best listen to him,” the she demon said, “he’s the King of the demons now. He is sparing your life. Unless you want to stay here with us forever, go.”

  Rush searched Ash’s face. “I… but we…”

  “There is no we, now go before I decide to take that virgin ass of yours, and bring us all up into the sunlight,” Ash shoved him again, this time hard enough so that he fell on his knees. When Rush finally got up off his knees, he was no longer in the cave. He was outside about fifty yards away.

  Desperately, he stood up. He let out a yell. “Ash, Ash.” There was nothing but silence. He tried to make his way back to the cave opening. He began to run and run but he didn’t go anywhere. He was running on the spot.

  Suddenly a bloody hand reached up and grabbed his arm. Rush jumped, letting out a yelp, and then looked down into a man’s face, the same man who had tried to put that spell on Ash. “Don’t,” he hissed, “don’t go back there. Get out. Leave. Go away…they’ll…” his words died in his throat, and he fell back and laid still. Rush checked for a pulse. There was none. He was dead.

  * * * *

  “Show me now if you’re the demon king your father was,” the she demon slide up
to him, and racked her long nails over his chest. The baby lay on a rock nearby, making gurgling sounds. Several slithering snake like creatures approached, and grabbed the baby, taking it away.

  “Take off your clothes,” Ash demanded, folding his arms across his chest, “slowly.”

  The demon wore only a thin transparent red dress, more to tantalize, than to hide anything. She brought it over her head, revealing enormous breasts with erect nipples that looked rather pointed. “You may drink the nectar you were deprived of as a baby. Your mother didn’t have demon juices.”

  Ash smirked. “Can’t wait.” Conjuring up a torture room of pleasure, a table appeared with ankle and wrists cuffs. There were three openings in the table, two for the breasts, and one for the sexual organ.

  “Oh Ash,” she said, her entire body undulating. “You’ve outdid yourself now.”

  “Go and lay on the table bitch, face down,” Ash told her. As soon as she did, he slid the cuffs around her ankles and wrists.

  “I can’t wait to tell everyone that you are the new King…and that you belong to me,” she announced. “Now, show me what you got, gorgeous.”