“We have what we came for, Master.” The Captain. Possessed by Moskazek, the mosquito-like greater demon. Still holding a blade to the King’s body. “Shall we depart now?”
“Ah, yes.”
King Al and the Captain took an experimental step forward. They moved in sync, the Captain’s blade never more than an inch away from the King’s neck. The devils in the room were powerless to move, some more than others. They could only watch as the possessed men deserted the throne.
“Step aside.” Never before has an order from the lips of King Al Satan sounded so fierce. So dominant. Never before had his eyes held the power to skewer. King Al, piloted by Prince Otozek, strode up to Shiva without ever breaking eye contact. “You will be permitted to live a little while longer, provided you move out of our way. I’m leaving here with this body.”
“Like Heaven you are!” Shiva braced herself as the possessed King approached. She was standing in his way. It was her intention to not let him pass, but without any actual means of stopping him, it was only a reckless desire.
The King turned his nose up at the girl. “You wouldn’t risk killing your own father. Now get out of our way.”
“No!”
King Al backhanded his daughter with such strength and speed it was made possible only because of the demonic power possessing his body. The real Al would never strike his own daughter. Even if he did, it wouldn’t hurt her much. Not like this time. This time, it hurt.
Ash slid behind Aura as the demonic duo stalked toward them next. Aura held up his death touch hand and ignited some blue sparks.
“You still afraid of this?” he said with a nervous grin.
King Al locked eyes with Aura. “We have other business to attend to. Your demise will have to wait.” A shiver ran down Aura’s spine. King Al’s tone was completely serious. Certain.
The Devil King/Demon Prince shifted his eyes to Ash next. “Same goes for you, human.” He leaned in closer. In a low sadistic tone he said, “I hope my father saves me a piece of you.”
In that moment Ash felt completely powerless. Like an ant standing before a man. The difference in their power seemed that great. He wanted to run, to get out of there as fast as he possibly could. But he knew it would not help. His body was in no condition to flee.
Or fight.
The King marched on, ignoring the devil boys. With the Captain’s blade to his back, King Al left the throne room. Prince Killian wailed like a lunatic as Aura moved to check on Shiva. There was a giant bruise swelling on her cheek, but she seemed otherwise okay. She wouldn’t lift her head to respond though.
No matter what Aura said, the girl would not reply to him. Her eyes looked distant, unfocused. Like she was desperately trying to flee from reality. Frustrated, Aura looked back at Ash to see that he wasn’t doing much better.
Despite feeling like his legs were made out of pudding, Ash remained locked in place where he stood. He could feel the demon Prince’s toxin working to shut down his body. It was stronger when the demon was in his true form, though. Now that he was hidden in King Satan’s flabby body the toxin’s effect was weakened. With the distance growing between them, the ability weakened.
Ash collapsed to his knees breathing heavily.
“Hey Draxler…” Aura turned back, surprised to see Shiva’s head raised. “This isn’t really happening, right?” Tears streamed across her bruised cheek. “This is all just a really bad nightmare, right?”
Aura clenched his teeth, finding it difficult to reply to his teammate. Prince Killian’s psychotic roaring didn’t help the situation. On the flipside, it was an unwanted soundtrack to the whole event. The sound and the memory associated with it would haunt Shiva’s nightmares for years to come.
“Come on Shiva, snap out of it! We have to go after them! You too Ash! On your feet!” Aura worked overtime to rally his team. He started by yanking Ash off the ground and up to his feet. The boy staggered, but was determined to remain standing. Aura paced back over to Shiva again, leaning down and getting right in her face. The closest their faces had ever been. “You’re a Satan! It’s time you started acting like one!”
Shiva slapped Aura across his face. She didn’t use any soul power, so it hardly hurt. But it was a shocking surprise nonetheless. The girl climbed to her feet, raising her head in determination.
“Right,” she said, wiping the last few minutes away. “Let’s go!”
Shiva headed for the exit, her teammates in tow. Ash cast one last look back at the frozen Prince, howling like a mad beast. He would probably never have a better chance to kill the Prince than this. Just his luck, he couldn’t even if he wanted to. Truth be told, Ash was depending on Prince Killian, his sworn enemy, to handle the greater demon problem. What a sad turn of events, he thought, to have his life depend so greatly on one of his worst enemies.
The team fled through the castle hall and backtracked until they spotted something suspicious. One of the large hallway windows was shattered. Broken fragments of glass spread across the windowsill, but there were no shards on the floor.
“They went out this window.” Shiva stepped in to the window frame. Outside she could see the side courtyard. Below on the lawn, tiny flakes of glass twinkled in the dusk. Shiva didn’t hesitate to jump down on top of it. The guys followed.
Shiva’s head bobbed erratically on the hunt for demons. For her father. “Draxler. Can you use that soul sight thing to find them?”
“I don’t know how helpful it’ll be, but I’ll give it a try!” Aura replied, gripping his wrist to power up.
“There’s no need.” Ash had his head tilted up looking back at the castle. “Look.” The boy pointed up.
On top of the tallest spire extending from the tallest tower of the tallest roof of the Royal Satan castle stood King Al. The Captain was still at his side, blade ready.
Shiva threw her hands up in the air. “What the Heaven are they doing up there?”
“They’re just… standing there,” said Ash. “If they have some kind of escape plan, it looks to be on hold.”
Aura took a deep breath and faced his friends. “Alright guys,” he said. “Just leave everything to me.” He removed his metal gauntlet, revealing the black cursed hand.
“Excuse me,” Shiva said, popping a defiant hip. “You really think you can fix all of this with that little power of yours?”
“I don’t ever really think anything,” Aura replied. “I just know that I have to try. I can’t ever say I succeeded if I’m too afraid to say I tried and failed.”
“Guys, he’s doing something,” said Ash, keeping a watchful eye on the King on the roof.
“What the… why’s he waving his arms around?” Aura asked.
A sudden realization dawned on Ash. It had to do with the direction the possessed King was facing. There was a tremendous amount of noise coming from that direction, but the small side courtyard they were stuck in was too low to see over the wall.
“I think he’s just… waving.” A grave look came over Shiva. “Oh no.”
The girl’s wings shot out of her back as she left the ground, powered by a burst of soul power to her legs. Her teammates followed her to an upper balcony, making sure to keep an eye on the King at all times. As they flew the low, indistinguishable sounds became louder.
The balcony offered a clear view of the possessed party with the added bonus of a more scenic view of the Kingdom. From their new vantage point, the group could see the empty front courtyard. They could see over the courtyard walls, where they found the source of the growing sounds of chatter.
The crowds of concerned citizens were all meeting up in front of the castle gates, staring down the line of weak-kneed Royal Guards. Or staring at their backs, since everyone was facing the same direction. All eyes pointed to the bizarre spectacle happening on the roof.
“It’s him! It’s the King!”
“King Al? How the heaven did he get up there?”
“What’s this all about?”
Shiva stopped paying attention to individual voices. She let the sounds blend back into one incoherent sea of background noise.
“They uh… probably shouldn’t be seeing any of this.” Shiva spun to face Aura, who looked like he was having second thoughts. “So get up there and put an end to all this! Before more people show up!”
“But Shiva...” Aura scratched the back of his head nervously. “It’s just going to look like I’m attacking the King to all those people…”
“We can explain ourselves later! First priority is getting my dad down from there and getting that damn demon out of his body!”
“That’s seriously a lot of people.” Ash was still staring off the balcony at the swelling crowds gathering outside the castle gates. “They’re starting to spill into the streets of North Hell. The Nobles will not be pleased about that…” Ash grinned weakly.
“Okay!” Shiva turned to Aura again, face full of new determination. “Just get up there and avert the worst disaster we’ve ever faced while the whole Kingdom watches. No pressure. Go!”
“Sure.” Aura turned his back to the girl. “For you…” he mumbled to himself as he faced the waving King on the roof. Al had never looked so ridiculous, and here Aura couldn’t even make fun of him. Worse still, he had to assault the guy in plain view of like a million people. That was sure to mix up his reputation among the masses.
A fortunately timed explosion meant that Aura wouldn’t have to make the first move. The flames erupted from the same window that the gang crawled out of after the demons. Once their attention was drawn to the window, something blasted out of the broken frame and into the sky leaving the courtyard behind.
It was Prince Killian. The mad devil was finally free of his paralysis and looking to settle up with the demons. Once he was outside and in the sky, he locked on to the targets on the roof and charged as fast as he could fly. Screaming like a barbarian the entire time, flames shooting off his body like volcanoes spewing magma.
“It’s Killian…” said Shiva, surprised to see her brother recovered so soon.
“He’s free,” said Ash. “I guess the toxin does wear off.”
“This is the perfect distraction.” Aura brought out his wings. “Look after Ash. I’m off!” The death toucher departed from the balcony, chasing after the maniacal Prince.
The hordes of spectators outside the castle walls pointed and screamed as Prince Killian drew his sword, rising like a rocket up the side of the castle. This of course caught King Al’s eye as he was waving, luring in the unsuspecting devils of Hell.
“Moskazek.”
“Yes! Master!”
Without another word, the Captain dove headfirst from the roof. Extending the devil’s wings, the possessed man plummeted straight for the psychotic Prince. A tidal wave of gasps arose from the concerned spectators as the Captain and Prince came within seconds of colliding into each other.
Prince Killian, always reliant on his trusty sword, prepared to swing the heavy blade. Before they could connect, the demon launched a surprise attack.
The Captain’s mouth opened, a black blob of flesh shot out. Killian swung his blade, but the timing was all wrong. He was too slow, too far off. The demon flesh grew quickly, bending and contorting to easily avoid the Prince’s attack. The body of the Captain, now fully separated from the demon, drifted away unconscious. In seconds, the full figure of the man-mosquito demon was upon the Prince. The demon’s long, hollow spear of a nose pierced through Prince Killian’s chest.
“Killian!” Shiva shouted out of concern for her brother.
“Oh man…” said Ash.
He and Shiva watched as the unthinkable happened. Prince Killian, his weakened body pierced, plummeted to the ground under the weight and force of the mosquito demon. Like a stone in the water, Killian plunged through the sky until he collided with the ground below the castle, disappearing from the spectator’s sight.
“Blood boost!” Moskazek’s survival skill. Prince Killian’s boiling blood climbed through the demon’s stinger as he guzzled. The results were instantaneous. The thin, frail looking grey flesh of the demon swelled. New muscles formed, turning sticky arms into tree trunks. The more devil blood that flowed, the more threatening the mosquito-man became. When he’d drank his fill, Prince Killian looked like a bag of flesh and bones. All life was wiped from his face, his skin turned almost translucent. Like a corpse.
With powerful new legs, Moskazek launched himself off the ground and spread his long insect wings wide. With his new, borrowed strength he could fly faster, more accurate than any devil. He propelled himself off the ground and after Aura, who was still working his way over to King Al.
Though his friends called out trying to warn him, it was no use. By the time Aura craned his neck to look down at Killian’s situation, it was too late. Moskazek blasted by the boy, pulling his stinger off his face and using it like a blade. The demon slashed the death toucher across his body before the boy knew what hit him. A quick midair flip and a well-placed kick sent the hurt boy hurling to the ground. His mission accomplished, Moskazek took his place at his master’s side.
Ash jumped off the balcony and pursued his fallen friend. Shiva stood powerless watching the disaster scene continue to play out. Cries of panic and frustration swept through the crowded streets as the greater demon stood casually by the King of Hell. But King Al was no longer waving to the people. A dire look spread over his face.
“Now we put an end to their fun.”
Ash watched as the King tilted his head back and released a loud, feral screech. No devil had ever made such a noise before. The concerned citizens covered their ears and squealed with fright and confusion. The beastly wailing lasted several seconds, and when the King next spoke his voice sounded no different than it always had.
“Pitiful devils,” he started, his voice carried far across the expanse of the devil Kingdom by his demonic aura. “I may look like your disgraceful King Satan, but I am only wearing his body like a bad outfit. Your King has been taken by the son of Demon Lord Jirosek: I am Prince Otozek!”
To punctuate his point and clear up any misunderstandings among the masses, the pointy-ended black tip of his tail climbed out of the King’s throat. The tail wagged back and forth a few times, showing the people how clearly possessed he was. King Al’s body went limp and he almost fell off the rooftop. The beefed-up Moskazek had to hold the King aloft. The plump black cable-like tail slurped back inside Al’s body and Otozek regained his control.
Prince Otozek continued his speech. “I have infiltrated your Kingdom and stolen your King. But I am not as savage a creature as you would believe me to be. I am willing to return your stolen King, if you so desire it. All you have to do is come to the Demon Kingdom and rescue him.
“I vow on my life that your King will be safe in the Demon Kingdom while the Helio Star burns in the sky. When the star disappears, I will feed your King to my father. This can be avoided with a simple trade.”
Ash’s blood ran cold, his palms sweaty.
“King Satan… for the human.”
The crowd screamed, but Ash couldn’t tell if it was a noise of approval or defiance. Everyone watched as the King abandoned his place upon the roof. Jirosek sprang into action, gripping his master under his arms and flitting his bug wings into action.
“Before your time is up, send your strongest warriors after us! Come to my father’s Kingdom, and don’t forget to bring the human, Ash Kaplan!”
The duo drifted higher into the dusk sky. Some devils refused to remain inactive, lobbing small fireballs into the sky. Most were content to shout their disapproval. Shiva Satan threw quite a few of those fireballs herself. But none of that mattered when the demon flew away faster than any devil could follow, taking with them the body of the stolen Devil King.
Part Three
Prepare for Departure
Chapter Thirty-Three: Aftermath
A lot
happened in the hours between dusk and dawn after that evening’s tragic incident. Goddard and Shiva stayed up all night working overtime with the Royal Guard trying to stifle any whispers of insurgence. With every Captain and the Commander still out of commission, it was up to the Royal Advisor and the Princess to lead the wayward troops.
The castle remained on lockdown through the night, with the brunt of security stationed at the main castle gates. It took hours for the unruly crowds to clear out. Understandably, those that had witnessed their king effortlessly taken into the custody of demons had a few questions for anyone in charge.
These questions they asked the front gates, or perhaps the Royal Guards stationed out front, or maybe they weren’t asking anyone in particular. Just trying to get the crowds riled up, hoping for some kind of action. But once the sun went away, people started to reconsider hanging out in the open, in the dark, when there could be more demons around. Anywhere. Anyone.
And so the night passed quietly, to everyone’s surprise and relief.
For some, like Shiva and Goddard, the night was long due to the excessive work that had to be done. For others, it went by in less than a blink of the eye. That is, because they were unconscious and missed pretty much everything. The four Captains. Commander Sepultura Stryd. They’d be waking up anytime now with a massive headache and some brand new mental health issues to deal with.
For Ash, the night passed slowly. Though he was dead tired, he hadn’t slept a wink. Too many exotic chemicals racing around his body. He spent the night in a guest room on the third floor of the castle. There was no way he was going home.
They set him up with a comfy-enough bed, and Aura was there in the bed opposite him. He’d been cut deeply by Moskazek, then his entire body bruised from the collision with the ground. The death toucher was deathly silent for most of the night, but Ash was awake to hear his friend start snoring in the early hours of the morning. That’s when he knew Aura would be fine.
Ash laid there all night, wide-awake and listening to the shallow rhythm of Aura’s breathing. His only company the thoughts in his head, none of which were particularly comforting. Sure, they had been given a little more time to plan their retaliation, but the situation had gone from worst to worst-est real fast. Now the boy was just trying to wrap his head around the possibility of a trip to the demon kingdom.
Devil Ash Disarray (Devil Ash Saga Book 3) Page 38
