“You’re too impatient,” Amos told him. “If you would have just defended a little longer, you could have taken a shot at me when I tired.”
“I don’t like waiting,” Aura said. “Better to just defeat your enemy and get it over with.”
“There’s nothing wrong with that line of thinking,” Amos said, grabbing Aura’s hand and pulling him up to his feet. “But you must possess the strength and endurance to pull it off. Something you have yet to attain. Rest a moment and catch your breath. We’ll continue shortly.”
Amos left Aura to rest and climbed the staircase up to his office. There, Nora swiped her brush across the canvas as if she were also practicing with a weapon. “How’s it going?” Amos asked.
“I think I’m finally getting the hang of this painting business!” Nora said.
“I can’t wait to see what you come up with, dear,” Amos said as he stepped around the easel to see what his daughter had been working on. His jaw dropped when he saw a painting of three shirtless men in ridiculously suggestive poses. Amos lifted the canvas off the easel and walked to the balcony overlooking his factory floor.
“Target practice!” he said, chucking the painting over the balcony. Aura responded immediately by blasting a small fireball into the air at his target. He hit the painting dead on, raining down scraps of burning canvas to the floor.
“You didn’t have to go that far! It was just for practice!” Nora said.
“I bought these supplies for you to practice landscapes, not more boys! If you don’t do what I asked for I’ll take them all away!”
“Fine!”
Over the next week Nora continued to follow her brother to the factory after school. She would work on her painting skills in her father’s office while the two continued their training sessions. Eventually, Angelica caught on to her family’s routine. She came to watch a few training sessions, and although she was opposed to it at first, seeing how happy Aura looked spending time with his father made her reconsider her stance on the matter. She started packing supper to bring to the factory so they could eat there together.
Nora continued to wrack her brain over what exactly she should paint for her father. She could easily do a landscape and get it over with, but that would be too easy. She didn’t want to waste the opportunity to use paint, and more importantly she wanted to impress her father. One day when her creative juices were running low, she took a break and moved to the balcony overlooking the factory floor where her father and brother were in the middle of sword practice. She watched them begin their mock duel.
Aura dashed forward, eager as always to end the contest with a single swing of his sword. “I’ll get you this time!” he said. The boy swung his wooden sword as hard as he could, only to be stopped dead in its path by Amos’s own blade.
“Too hasty as usual, boy!” Amos said. With his superior strength, he easily broke away from his son’s attack. Aura backed up a safe distance, waiting for his father’s next move. “Let’s see you defend from this!”
Amos launched forward, raising his blade and bringing it down quickly. But Aura had learned a new trick from his battle with Bones, and reached out to grab his father’s sword with his gauntlet hand. Amos was surprised by his son’s tenacity, but being a skilled and experienced warrior, came up with a simple solution and raised his leg to kick off of his son.
“Careful with that leg,” Aura warned him. “You wouldn’t want to lose it.”
Amos lowered his gaze and saw what his son was talking about. Aura had raised his own sword ever so slightly holding the blade against his father’s right thigh. If this had been a real duel, he would have lost that leg. Amos dropped his sword and smiled.
“You’ve really changed. I have to admit, I didn’t have much faith in you. But you’ve really proved me wrong, son. I think its safe for me to say that I don’t have to worry about the Draxler legacy, or our family’s honor. It’s in good hands with you.”
Aura turned red in the face and averted his eyes. “It’s just because I have the best armor in the Kingdom.” The boy held up his prized gauntlet and smiled. “Without this, I’m nothing.”
Nora, who had been watching the scene intently, was suddenly jolted with inspiration. Her brother had reminded her of something. Something cool.
“I got it!” she called down to them. They both looked in confusion at her. “I know what I’m going to paint!”
Nora demanded to stay the night at the factory to work on her painting. After school the next day the kids and their parents all planned to spend the night in the factory. Aura and Amos passed time by sparring while Angelica prepared their meals. Nora laid claim to the office and put up blankets around her work so that no one could see it until it was finished.
Angelica called out for everyone to come eat. Nora decided to skip dinner and stay in the office working on the painting. As the family chowed down, Aura thought he’d be kind and take Nora a sweet biscuit. He approached the office door and knocked, calling out for permission to enter.
“Aura? Hang on a second,” Nora said. “Okay, I’m ready, come in.”
Aura opened the door and stepped inside his dad’s transformed office. What had once been a dreary dim workplace was now a creativity-feeding chamber. Since the artificial sun had just gone out, the room was lit by the glow of hundreds of small candles places all around the room.
“Looks cool in here,” Aura said. “How’s it going?”
“I think I’ve created a masterpiece. Dad might want to consider making this into a logo if he were smart!”
“Not if it’s another boy, you weirdo,” Aura jabbed.
“Because of our ‘gifts’, we’re both weirdos,” Nora said. “But I think it’s our gifts that set us apart from everyone else. I think if you can manage to hide that cursed hand from the Royal Guard, you’ll go far.”
“It shouldn’t be hard,” Aura said. “I don’t plan on ever using this cursed thing. It’s too scary. I don’t know what would happen to me… What I would become…”
“Then don’t worry. You don’t have to use it if you don’t want to.”
Another hour went by. Finally, Nora emerged from the office smiling wildly.
“It’s done!” she said.
At the same time, the demon invasion siren started to sound. The Kingdom was being invaded once more. Aura and Amos jumped up and headed for the door.
“Aura, you’re staying here,” he said.
“What! Come on! I’ve had all the training I need! I’m ready to fight the demons now!” Aura said.
“Wrong,” Amos said. “You have come a long way, but you’re still a ten year old boy. Training or no training, you just aren’t ready to fight the demons yet.”
“That’s bullcrap!” Aura said.
“Instead, I will ask you to take on an even greater task than clearing the Kingdom of demons,” Amos said. Aura listened up. “Stay here and protect your mother and sister. I want you take them all into the basement and lock the door. Should demons find their way in, you will be in charge of their safety. I’m counting on you.”
Aura was touched by the responsibility entrusted to him by his father. He could not deny his father’s request, and in minutes had Nora and Angelica climbing the stairs through a hidden hatch in the floor into the basement.
“It’s not fair!” Nora whined. “Right before I was about to show off my masterpiece!”
“Son,” Amos called to Aura one last time. Aura turned and barely managed to catch a sword that his father tossed to him. He pulled at the sheath and saw a real steel blade underneath. “I hope you won’t have to use it.”
Aura nodded and dropped through the hatch into the basement, slamming the door above him. Amos snuck out the back door to the factory, and making sure there were no demons nearby, proceeded to create a small seal on the door to hold it firmly in place. Hoping for the safety of his family, he took off to face whatever challenges the night would bring him.
Time drifted by slowly
in the basement. The storage area was roomy enough, but it was also tragically bare. Since so much of their weapons and armor were being shipped every day, the storage room essentially stored nothing. The family sat on overturned crates in the rear room.
Almost an hour had passed when their playful conversation was interrupted by a loud BANG sound from somewhere close.
“What was that?” Nora said.
“Let’s all be quiet,” Angelica whispered. “Don’t speak.”
Everyone stayed quiet. They heard footsteps on the floor above them. A slow, curious pacing set of footsteps walked around the factory floor above. Aura hopped off his crate, his legs shaking so much they almost refused to carry him. The boy stepped towards the door to the hall. His mother put a hand on his shoulder to hold him back.
Aura turned around and whispered “I’m not a baby anymore.”
He walked to the door. Legs still shaking with fright, the boy gripped his sword and pulled it from the sheath. Holding it at the ready, he slowly opened the door trying to be as quiet as possible. He stepped into the hall and closed the door behind him. They’d left the hall unlit on purpose. Now it worked against the boy, leaving him blind. There was only one source of light that came from the opened hatch door at the end of the hall, the hatch that should have been closed.
Aura was alone in a dark basement with a demon he couldn’t see. Not wanting to venture too far from his family, Aura stood still by the door. At first he could hear nothing. The loud invasion siren was still blaring. A barely audible pitter-patter stood out from the sirens. It became easier to hear as the sound came closer. Aura raised his blade just as a creature walked over his foot. The boy jammed his sword downward in a panic, piercing…something.
There was a loud squeak and something was stuck to his blade. The boy kicked it off and lit a flame. The light revealed a dead cat-like demon on the ground. It had long claws and a wiry opposable tail like an opossum. Though the body was demon, the creature’s head was that of a man’s. The teeth were caked in dried blood.
Aura tossed another small fireball down the hall. It reached the area directly underneath the trapdoor hatch without revealing another demon. Aura felt a brief moment of relief, until dozens more of the disturbing creatures dropped down through the hatch. All of them headed straight for Aura. The boy returned to the room with his mother and sister, slamming the door in a frenzy.
“What’s going on?” Angelica asked.
Aura pressed his back up against the door and braced himself. “Help!”
The ladies jumped to the job, pressing their backs against the door. They felt a strong force pushing back and the three of them struggled to keep it closed. They all braced themselves as they defended their safe room. When a minute passed, the family finally felt the demons defeat.
A few tense minutes later, the demon invasion siren stopped ringing. Aura of course had to be the one to test the waters, and so he once more braved the hall. This time he walked all the way down to the hatch and poked his head out. Nothing demonic in sight, he dropped down to fetch his family.
“All clear,” he declared. The three of them crept out of the basement and up through the hatch. Aura led the way, sword drawn and alert. As soon as Nora was out she rushed upstairs to the office.
“Where do you think you’re going?” he said.
“To make sure my work is alright!” Nora replied, storming up the stairs.
“Wait, we should stay together!” Aura said. Nora reached the top of the stairs and entered her father’s office. Everything was exactly how she’d left it. She approached her canvas, the board that covered the broken window. She’d hung a blanket over it so no one could see. In the dim lighting she could just make out a shape moving across the blanket. She heard a loud SQUEAK and the figure jumped at her.
Nora screamed as the rat demon latched onto her hair. Aura was at the door to the office and rushed in. He took hold of the demon with his gauntlet hand and urged his sister to lean down. With his free hand, he held the sword’s blade up and cut off the strand of hair the demon was latched to. Nora was freed.
“Are you alright?” Aura asked. Nora calmed down and managed to give a weak nod in acknowledgment. A loud cry from Angelica on the factory floor made the kids jump. “Mom!” they both said in horror.
They ran to the balcony and saw their mother below with her back turned to them. She was staring at the far end of the factory by the front door. Walking towards their mother was a… thing.
It was a man-like creature. Its doughy skin was pale white with black stripes that ran all over its body. It had no facial features either. The creature’s head had no face to speak of. Only two small indents could be found where its ears should of been.
“Mom, get up here!” Aura shouted. Angelica turned to run. Before she made it to the stairs, the demon shot its arm forward. The arm stretched like it was made of rubber, all the way across the factory floor and latched on to Angelica’s shoulder.
She screamed as the creature pulled her back. The children shouted, and Aura drew his sword and charged down the stairs. Raising his blade, he slashed downward on the stretched out arm. The blade went through in one swing, severing the arm clean in two. It would not let go of Angelica however, no matter how hard they pulled at it.
“Useless!” The demon spoke.
“Stay back!” Aura said “Or I’ll cut you up even more!”
The demon did not stop walking. It bent down and collected the excess length of arm. Aura focused on freeing his mother once again. The monster’s arm had stretched more and wrapped around her legs.
She tripped and fell forward with the demon arm biding her body. Aura took great care to try and cut the demon arm off her. Every time he pressed the blade into the arm it resealed itself together. The flesh started to meld together, and soon she was trapped in a doughy cocoon of demon matter.
“Hang on mom! I’ll stop him!” Aura said. He charged at the demon, sword raised and ready to swing. The demon stopped. Aura plunged his sword into the horrifying creature’s belly. The sword hung there half submerged in the demon, then dropped to the ground.
Aura screamed a war cry and charged forward, weaponless. The boy shot his gauntlet fist forward to punch the demon. His fist sank into the demon’s head with little resistance. Aura shouted in surprise and pulled away, his gauntlet remaining lodged in the creature.
“Useless,” the demon said, spitting Aura’s gauntlet to the factory floor. It then started coughing. When it became a violent heaving sound, the demon threw up something furry. It hit the floor in a wad of goo and rolled, coming to a stop at Aura’s feet. The little furball unraveled into another demon like the ones from before. This one had the body of a small dog with another poor man’s head on it.
The demon continued coughing and hacking, and two more fuzzballs rolled out covered in slime. Aura glanced around the room looking for the closest weapon and spotted a spear sitting on a table nearby. He prepared to dodge the smaller demons and leap for the spear, but the creatures had no interest in him. They scattered across the floor, past the boy and up the stairs to the office.
“Hey! Wait! Don’t go up there! Fight me!” Aura shouted. He grabbed the nearby spear and pointed it at the advancing demon.
“Nora! Get out of there!”
The monster continued its advance. It was almost at the tip of Aura’s spear when something fiery shot out of the upper office window. The ball of flame hit the floor, joined by two more flaming objects. The flames died out and Aura could see the charred lumps of flesh were the smaller demons. Nora exited the office and leapt the entire staircase, landing between the demon and her brother.
“I’ll handle this!” she said.
“No don’t! It absorbs people!” Aura said.
Nora didn’t attack with her fists. The girl conjured as much flames as she could. She held her hands forward and sprayed the demon with a shower of wildfire. The demon stood still, letting the flames engulf it. It started to
sway as it heated up, until its body finally caught fire. The demon wailed and thrashed as it burned.
“You did it!” said Aura. “You’re killing it!”
“What did I tell you?” Nora said, looking back and smiling at her brother.
The demon stopped moving. “Go!” it said. A small lump of flesh shot out of the demon’s chest and collided with Nora’s face. The girl screamed in pain and was knocked backwards. Aura ran to her side while the demon stumbled back. Its burning flesh warped and stretched and folded itself inside out to smother the flames.
“Nora! Don’t die, Nora!” the boy said, trying to keep his sister awake. “Dad will be here any second now! I promise!”
The demon twisted and warped its body until the flames were no more. The monster looked brand new, like it had never been on fire. As Aura held his sister the demon moved right past them.
It walked up to the fleshy cocoon that held Angelica and put its foot on the pod. The flesh melded together. Angelica fused with the creature’s body as it grew and wrapped around her. Only her head stayed visible outside the flesh.
Nora was still unresponsive as Aura laid her head down gently on the floor. The boy stared at the lumpy flesh demon with his mother trapped inside of it.
“Damn you…” Aura said. He was at the end of his options. Attacking the creature had proved ineffective, and he didn’t doubt the monster would catch him if he ran.
If only I was stronger, Aura thought. I need to protect my family!
With his resolution to save his loved ones peaked, Aura felt a jolt of something strange in his right hand. Looking down, he saw bright blue bolts of electricity shooting off his cursed hand. The boy lifted it to his face and inspected it more closely.
Is this… my death touch power?
Aura looked back at his mother. The demon flesh was slowly engulfing her head. Soon she’d be completely absorbed. The boy didn’t have the luxury of time to think it through. He stood and went to the demon.
“Aura…” Nora said weakly, trying to stay conscious. “What are you doing?”
Devil Ash Deceit (Devil Ash Saga) Page 15
