Devil Ash Disarray (Devil Ash Saga Book 3)

by Mitchell Olson

  It was the beginning of another busy morning in Hell as the merchants prepared their sales carts on all the busiest avenues in the Kingdom for the day ahead. The place to be on this day was North Hell, where an event of mass popularity would be held. Devils of all ages flooded the streets and skies as merchants hustled to peddle their goods and make some skorch.

  “Pre-made decks!” cried one such merchant. “Strong, pre-made decks here! Very cheap, a great bargain for anyone taking place in the tournament today!” The aging merchant waved his stacks of cards around above his head hoping to draw the crowd’s attention. After failing to grab anyone’s attention, he decided he would instead just grab someone and the attention part would follow.

  “How about you, sir?” he said, gripping the shoulder of the nearest person walking by. The youthful boy he grabbed wore a black peacoat. He had shaggy brown hair that hung down over his eyes until he shook his head to move his bangs. He turned and stared into the merchant’s eyes.

  His handsome black-haired friend answered for him. “Heck yeah! Let’s take a look, Ash!”

  “Absolutely not!” Ash shot him down immediately. “Thank you, but we’re all set here,” he told the merchant. Then with a polite smile, the boy and his friend moved on.

  The merchant stood staring at their backs in disbelief. His apprentice, a younger boy, carried some boxes up and asked his master’s a question about stocking the shelves.

  “Silence boy! Did you not see who that was?” The old merchant pointed his assistant at the two boys he tried to work his sales pitch on. “It’s them! The kids who helped save the Kingdom from the rebels!” The merchant and his young apprentice looked on in shock and slight disappointment at the missed opportunity to unload some merchandise on the pair of pseudo-saviors.

  The duo was none other than Ash Kaplan and Aura Draxler. The two friends had garnered fame and popularity in the weeks that went by after the rebel uprising. One was a half-human half-devil, the other a fabled death-toucher, a rare combination in Hell.

  Ash had been living in Hell for well over a year now. In that time he managed to make a few friends and work a steady job defending the kingdom from all sorts of nasty demons, and most recently defeating the rebel leader and putting a stop to their conquering the kingdom. Things had returned to normal, and even slowed down a little in the months following the rebel coup.

  Ash spent most of his time in Hell running jobs for Goddard, the Royal Advisor to the Satan family and the one who brought him to Hell in the first place. The work ranged from boring, tedious, tasks of manual labor to combating invading demons. In all his time there, the human teen had become quite adept at fighting. The lesser demons that routinely entered the kingdom on a daily basis were getting easier and easier to beat. Clearly his daily training exercises were working.

  The guys moved down the cobblestone street fighting the crowds and discussing their latest endeavor.

  “It’s so busy over here,” said Ash. “Are you sure you’re leading us to the right place?”

  “Trust me, I’ve been here plenty of times,” Aura replied with a reliable grin.

  “I can’t believe this many people are interested in a card game,” said Ash.

  The boys were headed to a tournament featuring the hottest new collectible card game craze to sweep through Hell: Devil’s Duel. The point of the game was to collect the best cards to build the strongest decks, and then annihilate the competition. Battles consisted of two or more players taking turns building their kingdoms from the ground up and attacking each other. It was a complicated but enjoyable game, and Ash had become fond of it in such a short amount of time. Card games reminded him of home.

  Aura on the other hand was less interested in the actual game. His true intentions were usually well hidden, and this time around Ash could not figure out where his friend’s current interest in the game had come from. Through the busy marketplace and down a narrow cobblestone side street, escaping the crowd. After walking down the small alley they found a patio square with a few empty tables outside a relatively modern café. It was quieter here and a good place to talk strategy.

  “Grab a table,” said Aura. “I’ll get us some coffee.” The death toucher disappeared into the café, leaving Ash to his thoughts.

  Another day in Hell. Another one of Aura’s schemes. The guy was Ash’s best friend so far, but he could also get on Ash’s nerves. Most of the time without even knowing he was doing it. The death toucher was lazy and immoral and vain, but somehow he was also one of the best dudes Ash had ever met.

  His other closest friend was Shiva. Shiva Satan, as in “the Royal Princess”. She was mostly just a Royal Pain-in-the-Neck as the boy’s new roommate. The fiery girl was not without her moments, though. Infrequent occasions where she showed some minor thoughtfulness, as if she was actually maturing or something.

  These two and a handful of acquaintances made up Ash’s social circle in Hell. It was a vastly different situation from his careless life back on Earth. He thought a moment about what he would be doing around this time if he were still there…

  Probably preparing for his first year of college, if his mom had her way. He’d be sitting in some stuffy classroom, studying some subject he probably wouldn’t have much interest in. It would be a nice, peaceful life. Peaceful, but a bit dull. Nothing compared to his year in Hell.

  Aura returned minutes later holding two tin coffee cups. He carefully set the cups down on the table and took his seat, reading over the paper menu on the table. For a peaceful moment, Ash was reminded of home. Sipping coffee in the morning every day before school with his mom, Grace. Grabbing a bite with his friends at the local restaurant. Hell had its moments of peace. Ash lived for these moments now. The precious few seconds where if he closed his eyes, he could almost believe he was home.

  Ash forced the nostalgia away. Dwelling on such thoughts always left him feeling homesick. Not a good mood to enter a card game tournament in. Besides, he usually tried to avoid his homesickness until night, when he could be alone in his bed with his sad thoughts.

  Aura spoke, interrupting Ash’s train of thought. “We’ve got an hour, let’s go over our decks one more time.” The death toucher pulled out his card box and dumped the cards on the table.

  Ash put on his stern face. “We’ve been over our decks plenty of times already,” he said. “Our decks are fine. Have a little faith that I know what I’m doing.”

  “You’re right, the decks are fine, probably,” said Aura, but his frown disagreed. “I’m just nervous. Marni’s going to be there.”

  “You’re not normally the type to get nervous,” said Ash as he reached for the tin cup. He took a sip and spat it out on the ground, his face showing disgust. “What kind of coffee is this? It’s cold and bitter!”

  “You have to heat it yourself,” said Aura. “Like so.” He gripped the coffee cup and emitted fire from his hand. The fire spread out over the drink. “About ten seconds should do it,” he instructed. Ash did the same and tried the drink again.

  “Much better,” he said, sipping the now-steaming hot liquid. “Now, who’s this Marni?”

  “Come on, you must have heard of her by now. Marni Narnya, the creator of Devil’s Duel,” Aura replied. “Also smoking hot babe and owner of our destination, the Demon’s Den Gaming Parlor. That’s where the tournament is. Any other questions, Mr. Guy-Curious?”

  Ash blinked. “Is that why you wanted to compete in the tournament? To meet Marni Narnya?”

  “No,” Aura said with a scoff. “Marni and I are well-acquainted, actually. I may as well tell you now, since we’re in this together.”

  Ash almost spat out more coffee. Whenever Aura said they were “in this together” it was never a good thing.

  “Marni and I go way back. I knew her back when we were just a couple of no-good street punks. For a while, we ran the streets of South Hell together. I was the brawns, and she was the brains. Those were the days, but…” Aura sighed heavily, signalin
g a tonal shift in his wistful story.

  “For as long as I’ve known her, Marni has always been into games. That’s all she wanted to do in her spare time, play games. She would make up her own games too. She always talked about how she’d start her own gambling parlor some day. We were all pretty surprised when she actually did it! She really busted her ass making her dreams come true. The Gaming Parlor is amazing. I spent most of my youth in that damn place…”

  For a moment Aura just stared into his coffee cup, locking eyes with is reflection. He took a swig and choked back the memories.

  “Anyway, I’m in a lot of debt,” he said.

  Ash almost spat his coffee out a second time. “What! You only care about the tournament because of the prize money!”

  “Sorry I had to mislead you buddy, but I need this!” Aura pleaded. “If I win this thing I could pay off all my debt with Marni, finally. With the two of us competing, that doubles my chances! I’ll never have this good of odds again!”

  “Exactly how much debt are we talking about here?” Ash asked, afraid of the answer.

  “Oh, I’ve managed to whittle it down to about… ten thousand skorch,” Aura replied.

  Ash choked on another sip of coffee. He finally wised up and set the drink down. After making everything go down the correct pipes he addressed his friend. “Why don’t people ever learn to quit while they’re ahead? You really suck at gambling, you know that?”

  “I’m aware,” said Aura. “But none of that matters, because you’re a Devil’s Duel prodigy! Together we can’t lose!”

  Aura was referring to Ash’s skill at the game. Because of his experience playing similar trading card games on Earth, Ash was way ahead of the curve. He understood combining cards to use the best strategies the game’s rules allowed. He’d never lost a game yet. Aura sought to use that natural talent to his advantage, recruiting Ash to take part in the tournament with him.

  “Wait a minute,” said Ash. “What if I win?”

  “Then I’ll really owe you one after you pay off Marni for me,” Aura said with a wink. “Come on, we should get going or we’ll be late for registration.”

  Ash dropped his head. “I don’t think you get how paying off debt works…”

  Aura stood and downed his coffee. Ash followed him as they left the small alleyway café and headed for the main strip. It was easy to find the Demon’s Den; all they had to do was follow the crowd. Everyone seemed to be flowing in the same general direction, and sure enough when Ash and Aura popped out on the other side they were standing before the entrance to a large building that was the gaming parlor.

  The giant bouncer that stood outside held back the mob of people clambering to get inside. “Viewing area seats are sold out!” he bellowed. “This door’s for competitors only! What do you punks want?” he asked as Aura stepped up.

  “Bruiser! It’s me, Aura!” he said. “Don’t you remember me?”

  The bouncer studied Aura’s face a moment then laughed. “Yeah, I remember you,” he said with a smile.

  “Good! So you must know I’m here as a competitor,” said Aura.

  “You are?” Bruiser snorted, scouring over his papers. “I didn’t see you on the list...”

  “Aura Draxler and Ash Kaplan,” he said. “I signed us up just yesterday.”

  “Oh, here you are,” Bruiser said, looking pleased. “Go on in and get registered. You can buy some brand new cards, just released today, too. They’ll start drawing lots in a couple minutes.” Ash and Aura moved past him to enter. Before he was out of earshot the bouncer called out one last thing to Aura. “Good luck in there Draxler,” he said. “You’re really gonna need it!”

  The boys strolled inside to find themselves in a large ornate lobby. Though the business was named a gaming parlor, it looked more like a casino to Ash. As far as he could see, there were rows and rows of different types of games. Some on tables. Some looked like primitive machines. People exchanged skorch freely, betting on the outcomes of each and every game. A nearby information booth had a banner posted above it that read “COMPETITOR REGISTRATION”. The woman working behind the counter had to shout over all the noise coming from the game table area.

  “Last call on competitor registration!” she shouted. “Last call!”

  “Let’s hurry,” said Aura as he pulled Ash toward the counter. Aura faced the woman working and flashed his signature smile. “Hello gorgeous, how you doing? I’m sure you know who I am already but I might as well say it, because let’s be honest, who doesn’t love hearing it? I’m Aura Draxler. Yep. I want you to take a minute and just digest that Let it really sink in. Aura. Draxler.”

  The woman paused for only a second, then diverted her attention back to the crowd. “Last call on competitor registration!”

  “We’re competitors,” Ash said brightly.

  “Name?” she asked him.

  “Ash Kaplan.”

  “And Aura Draxler! Don’t forget the Drax-man!”

  “You’re late,” the official replied, agitated. “They’re going to start calling lots any minute now. Listen for your number and follow the roster.”

  “Thanks dear,” Aura said, leaning in obnoxiously close to the woman. “If you’re not busy later maybe we-”

  The woman slapped a sticker over the death toucher’s mouth, silencing the boy. Ash stepped forward smiling gratefully at the lady. She patted Ash’s chest, applying the sticker to him as well. Ash looked down at his competitor number on the sticker and smiled, eager to get started.

  “Next!” the woman bellowed in Ash’s face. After checking to ensure his eardrums weren’t ruptured, he grabbed his friend by the shoulder and shuffled out of the way as Aura reapplied the sticker to his jacket.

  “Next!” the woman bellowed in Ash’s face. After checking to ensure his eardrums weren’t ruptured, he grabbed his friend by the shoulder and shuffled out of the way as Aura reapplied the sticker to his jacket.

  They followed a sign pointing to the competitor’s waiting area. Fighting through the crowded interior, Ash observed the spacious casino-like gaming parlor, each table packed with hopeful devils looking to score big in a wide variety of colorful games. Confident bidders dropped stacks of square-shaped betting chips at a time, laughing at their odds. Across the room one man spun a giant wheel then screamed in frustration as it slowly came to a stop with the needle landing on a space marked with a big black skull-and-crossbones.

  The feast for his eyes could have gone on for a while, but Ash snapped into focus when Aura gripped his shoulder tightly and spoke. “There!” He pointed his gauntlet across the room, in the direction of the double doors leading to the competitor’s area. “It’s…her.”

  Standing next to the doors, surrounded by several guards was the woman Aura pointed to. She had long dark hair and was very beautiful despite her many tattoos that ran up and down her arms, legs, and even a few that stretched up to her face. Ash could tell by her fancy dress and the amount of guards surrounding her she was someone important.

  “Hello Marni.” Aura knew she wouldn’t be able to hear him from across the room with all the chatter, but he didn’t care.

  “So that’s Marni Narnya, the creator of Devil’s Duel…” Ash stared intently at the woman. She hadn’t spotted them yet. “Not really what I was expecting. I guess I can see how she took so much of your money though, looking like that.”

  “Come on,” Aura said, wiping the uneasy look off his face. “We’d better go break the ice and say hi.” The distressed death toucher pressed on toward the woman, adopting a stern look.

  “Marni!” Aura cried, waving enthusiastically at the woman. Before he could get anywhere near her though, a fast-moving bodyguard swooped in out of nowhere and blocked his route. The guard, a steely looking woman with teal hair, wore an ornate blue uniform that concealed her slender body. She was the only person in the room to carry a weapon, a sword slung in its sheath hung at her side.

  “Lorin,” the boy said through gritt
ed teeth.

  “Marni’s busy right now.” Lorin flashed her teeth, her hand hanging at her waist by the hilt of her sword. “We could play catch up though, if you want.”

  Aura stopped dead in his tracks. Ash couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Aura was actually cowering to this woman. Clearly there was some hidden history here that Ash hadn’t yet caught on to, but he could guess that since it involved a couple of pretty ladies, there was probably going to be some element of heartbreak to his companion’s tale.

  “I don’t have anything to say to you.” Aura closed himself off to the woman, stepping closer to the safety of Ash’s side. “We’re just trying to get into the competitor’s area. I was going to say hi to Marni, that’s all.”

  “Ohh Aura,” Lorin said with a conceited grin. “Are you still holding out hope that she’ll choose you after all these years?”

  Her words cut Aura deep. Ash felt it too, and saw it on his friend’s face.

  The death toucher shrugged it off though. “See these stickers?” Aura asked, pointing to the entry number stuck to his coat. “We’re competing in the tournament. We don’t have time to waste here on you. If you won’t let us say hi to Marni, then at least get out of our way.”

  Aura pressed forward. Lorin backed up, still standing between them and Marni.

  “Lorin, why didn’t you tell me that Aura was here?” Marni abandoned her post by the door and appeared behind her number one guard. She was even prettier up close. “I’d never pass up the chance to talk to an old friend.”

  “But sir,” Lorin said, grinding her teeth. “He shouldn’t even be allowed in here. Not with his debt!”

  “The only way we’ll ever see that debt paid is by letting him in here,” Marni said with a confident toss of her long hair. She smelt like sweet flowers, an intoxicating scent to the boys. “Besides, it’s nice to see you again Aura.”