CJ was on the ground and heading over to join them when he heard Aster interrogate him further.
“What does that mean?” he asked, still shouting. “What’s the train?”
“Which train?” asked CJ. “Where was he going?”
“North!” the man said. He couldn’t give them any more specific information than that, no matter how they tried to force it out of him.
“I think I know which train he means,” said CJ. “It shouldn’t be too far from here, but if I’m right that means it left the station already. We need to get to that train before it gets away!”
“Which way is it going?” asked Aster.
CJ pointed in a direction. Aster turned to face that direction.
“It’s been fun,” said Aster. “Thanks for all your help.”
Two grey lumps of flesh burst out of Aster’s back and CJ almost fell over from shock. The appendages grew and twisted and unraveled into giant bat wings. Then without another word, Aster left the ground behind and took to the sky. He flew off into the setting sun in the direction CJ pointed. The assassin stood stunned as Ulric’s remaining gang member struggled for his freedom. CJ knocked him unconscious with the butt of his gun before cursing at the strange man with devil wings who left him behind.
Part Five: The Devil’s Duel
Aster didn’t care about keeping a low profile anymore. Not when his mission was in jeopardy. If Ulric escaped now, Aster’s stay on Earth would become significantly prolonged. That was something he could not afford to let happen considering the dismal state of affairs in Hell currently. Being down a Commander was unacceptable and Aster knew he had to get back home immediately with Ulric in tow.
The devil flew high above the Earth, looking for anything that might be the so-called ‘train’ vehicle that Ulric was apparently aboard. He flew over several riders on horseback, but could not tell if any of them looked up and saw him. The setting sun probably helped to hide him as well. Of course, since Aster wasn’t used to a real sun he found the extra light it shed to be a pain for his eyes. He squinted and slid his cowboy hat down a little to help shield his eyes.
After a while Aster found what he assumed was the train: a long, rectangular vehicle that appeared to follow a set track through the barren landscape. Though he had no idea how it moved, he was still impressed with the technological advancements of the humans. He flew in low aiming for the rear end of the enormous vehicle, landing and retracting his wings outside the back door.
With a deep breath, Aster pushed open the door and stepped inside the car. He did not expect to find the car completely filled with people, all of which turned to look at him immediately. Aster feigned a nervous smile, trying not to make eye contact with any of them.
“I thought we were in the end car…” an older gentleman whispered to his wife.
“Where did that guy come from?” another guy asked his friend.
Aster ignored them and continued moving forward. It was clear to him as he scoured the sea of faces that Ulric was not in this car. He walked through the front door of the car, stepping outside momentarily to pass through the next door and into the next car.
The same scene played out, except this time less people seemed to care about his arrival. He moved as fast as he could while still going slow enough to check everyone’s faces. Some offended folks objected to his search, scowling at him or asking questions, but he ignored them and kept moving. No time for caring about what humans thought of him.
After moving through three more cars, Aster began to notice a following of men behind him. They moved slower, trying to stay inconspicuously off his radar, but Aster was no fool. He could tell his presence had alarmed them and now they were starting to take action. If he didn’t find Ulric soon he’d have more trouble to deal with.
Aster lost count of how many cars he’d examined as he walked through the door into a new one. This time almost no one bothered to look at him as he entered. This made it a slower-going process of walking down the aisle, examining the people to his left and right as he went. It didn’t help that everyone dressed so similarly. The men all wore either dark suits with top hats or the more casual, practical cowboy outfit he was also dressed in. The women all wore cumbersome dresses, but he ignored them for the most part.
Aster reached the final passenger car and could not go any further. This car was different from the rest in that it had many private ‘rooms’ for the higher-class riders. Six rooms in total, with three on either side of the car.
If Ulric is on this train, he must be in one of those rooms, Aster thought. That, or I already passed him.
Without much forethought Aster went to the first private room door and threw it open without so much as a polite knock. Inside there was only one woman dressed a spotless white dress. She looked much cleaner than the rest of the human women Aster had seen, and quite beautiful even.
“Hello,” she said, seemingly unaffected by the strange man’s arrival.
Aster turned to go, to move onto the next room to check.
“Looking for someone?” she asked, giving Aster pause.
“Yes,” he replied. “But you’re not him.”
“I should suppose not,” the woman replied. “Best of luck, then.” Aster closed the door to her room and moved on.
Aster busted into the rest of the rooms. The terrified folks inside reminded him of the Nobles of Hell, very prim and proper and annoying. When he banged down all doors but one, he held his breath. Ulric must be behind that one remaining door. He knew he wouldn’t come quietly, that there would be a fight. And a fight between two devils in such a cramped space would not be good for any surrounding humans.
The group of frightened and suspicious men following him finally made their way into the first-class car. Seeing the strange man tearing through the doors of the private rooms, instinct told them he was up to no good. One of the men drew a concealed gun, pointing it straight at Aster.
“Hold it right there!” said the human.
Aster paused momentarily and sighed a deeply disappointed sigh.
“What are you doing on this train? We know you’re no passenger!”
“That’s right,” said Aster. “I’m not a passenger. To tell you the truth, a dangerous outlaw named Ulric is aboard this train, maybe even in this car. I’m here to capture him, that’s all.”
“You a lawman?” an older man asked, huddling behind the one man’s gun.
“Something like that,” Aster replied. He gripped the door handles and prepared to bust into the last private room.
“You got a badge?” one of the men asked, still not convinced enough to go away.
Aster ignored them and threw open the door expecting to see Ulric sitting there twiddling his thumbs. Instead he found a confusing and bright shape that was nearly the size of the entire room. He realized what it was a second too late, slamming the door shut and turning towards the group of frightened humans.
“Get out of here now!” he screamed as the fireball in the room exploded. Aster was tossed to the floor but otherwise undamaged. The rest of the humans didn’t do as well. After falling over and dropping the only gun they had, the men all scurried to their feet in terror and abandoned the car. The passengers riding in the other private rooms all abandoned ship as well, except for those in the rooms right next to the explosion. Aster didn’t dare look at the mess he knew he was sure to find in those rooms.
When the panic-stricken humans were all gone, Aster examined the flaming wreckage of the car. There was a giant flaming hole blasted through the side of the car where an open window used to be. He knew at once Ulric had laid a trap for him and bailed. Before he got too far ahead, Aster dove through the inferno and out the hole in the side of the car. Before he collided with the ground outside, Aster released his wings and got airborne.
From the sky he saw a vague Ulric-shaped man sitting on top of the smoking train car he was just in. The man laughed to himself like the explosion was the funniest thing he’d ever seen, pointing
and waving at Aster to grab his attention. Aster flew in fast and low to tackle the man but he quickly rolled out of the way. Aster looped back around and landed.
“Enough of this madness! You’re coming back to Hell to pay for your crimes Ulric!”
“I’d really rather not,” Ulric replied. “I’m having way too much fun here, why don’t you head back without me? Just tell everyone I’m dead.”
“I can’t go back without at least bringing them your head,” replied Aster. “Or you could surrender and I could take you back alive. It’s your call, but I will not allow you to terrorize the humans here any longer!”
“How boring,” Ulric said as he climbed to his feet. “I guess this is what I get for not finishing you off when I had the chance. Sloppy on my part, I know, but I didn’t think you’d put so much effort into tracking me down.”
The two devils prepared for battle by taking offensive stances. The ceiling of the car they were standing on started to burn and thick plumes of smoke rose up all around them. One such eruption of smoke blocked Ulric from Aster’s sight, and in that one moment the fight began. Ulric maneuvered stealthily around the smoke plume to the left, coming at Aster with speed that matched his own.
The two traded blows, seeming to be evenly matched. Aster landed a few blows to his foe’s face and stomach, but that wasn’t enough to stop him. As they continued taking jabs at each other, Aster found his foot sinking into the burning roof of the train. The surprise caught him off-guard and Ulric took advantage of his moment of hesitance. He clocked Aster in the cheek so hard the punch dropped Aster to the ground, the roof crumbling around him and depositing him into the inferno below.
The last thing Aster heard was Ulric’s maniacal laughter, then the fire. Above him he saw Ulric leap over the gap and onto the roof of the next car, where the fire was already spreading. The flaming wreckage that fell on top of him wasn’t too heavy to lift, but it was painful and covered Aster’s arms and torso in searing burns. He tossed the smoldering pieces of wood aside and clambered to his feet.
At what remained of the doorway to the car, he saw the same woman in white he met earlier. She was bent over examining something on the ground between the two cars, and when she stood up holding a piece of metal Aster realized what she had done. The cars came disconnected, the lead engine and the burning car now moving on without the rest of the passenger cars.
Aster made his way over to the woman in white who smiled a sly, sexy grin and pointed towards the roof of the next car.
“He’s up there,” she said.
“Thanks,” Aster replied, and without wasting any more time he leapt the quickly increasing gap between the cars and grabbed a hold of the ladder to the roof. “You should get out of here,” he called to her. She replied with a simple nod and disappeared into the car. Aster ascended the ladder to the roof.
There he found Ulric, twin fireballs in hand, grinning like a fool. Aster managed to extend an arm and shout a command, but Ulric would not wait. He fired the balls of flame at the next two cars in line, giving birth to a brand new chaotic scenario for the defenseless humans inside. Aster charged, but Ulric was a powerful coward adept at running away.
The outlaw fled again, turning to face Aster as he retreated crafting even more fireballs. He dropped smaller flames as he hopped backward, avoiding Aster’s wild punches and kicks. The Commander lost his temper and struck out wildly, caring little for accuracy anymore. Ulric would only back away, hopping over the gaps between the cars without so much as a glance down. He dropped more and more small fireballs as went, detonating them like bombs.
At last they reached the final car, the one Aster presumed most of the humans must have been gathered in by now. The train was still moving too fast for any of the people to brave jumping off yet, although a few courageous souls tried. Their landings on the rocky landscape looked painful, making the other passengers hesitate and wait longer hoping the train might slow a little before they were all engulfed in flames.
Ulric gathered one last enormous fireball in his hands, holding it above his head threatening to engulf the final car in a wicked firestorm from which there’d be no escape. He waited until the last possible moment, reveling in the tormented look on Aster’s face. That was his mistake.
A gunshot rang out across the land and Ulric was knocked off the train car. His fireball spilled over the edge as well, sputtering to death on the rocky ground below. Aster was confused at the fortunate turn of events and craned his head to scan the horizon. Riding a horse along side the train was CJ the assassin holding a smoking gun, silhouetted by the setting sun. Aster cracked a smile.
“You finish off Ulric!” CJ shouted, his horse working hard to keep up with the speeding train. “I’ll help the passengers!”
Without wasting anymore time, Aster smiled and nodded to his friend. He brought out his wings and stepped over the edge of the train, gliding to the ground below and sprinting. Ulric was still rolling on the ground several yards back, clutching his head in pain.
Aster was on him in an instant, ready to end this meaningless fight once and for all.
Part Six: A Dance of Devils
CJ didn’t know how he’d help the passengers. There was no way he could give them all a lift on his one horse. As he rode alongside the burning train, scared people called out to him to do something. Many started jumping, rolling to a painful and potentially fatal collision with the ground. His horse almost tripped as he trampled over one unfortunate man.
Up ahead on the track CJ spotted what would be his only chance to save the people. A water tower used for refueling was just ahead about a mile or so down the track. It’d be one hell of a long shot, but it was his only shot. He did his best to target the thin ropes that held the waterspout up. He would have to hit both ropes to make the spout drop, spilling the tower’s water over the passing train.
He held the gun up and pointed, squinting one eye shut with his finger stroking the trigger. With a subtle squeeze the gun went off. The bullet tore through the air faster than any human could see. Shards of the wooden water tower flew in all directions as the bullet collided with the tower’s spout.
Master marksmen like CJ knew that the shot could be made easier by targeting the bigger spout instead of the thin ropes. If the situation weren’t so dire perhaps he would have challenged himself a little and taken the rope-shot instead. By shooting off the entire spout, water started gushing out just in time as the first burning cars rolled by.
CJ let his horse rest a little as they slowed to a stop, watching the trainferno lose speed as it lurched through the water. Smoke and steam littered the evening sky like souls departing this world.
I’ve done all I can here, thought CJ. The train (and the people) were doused in cold water and finally going slow enough that the men could jump off and assist others, particularly the women and children, in doing the same. I should go check on Aster, thought CJ as he commanded his horse to turn around.
He took off back down the tracks. Behind him, the woman in white watched as he rode. She was the only person there who didn’t have a drop of water on her.
CJ rode for a mile until he started catching quick flashes of fire in the near distance. He slowed his horse to a trot and drew his gun. He didn’t want to be caught off-guard by the thing named Ulric. His main objective was to provide support for Aster should he need it. Becoming a hindrance would be unacceptable.
Staring into the dark ahead was no easy task. The sun was mostly set behind an enormous rock formation. The only light came from the fast but brilliant bursts of flame coming from…where exactly? He made his horse stop when he was about ten meters away from the action. There he sat and watched the most bizarre supernatural occurrence he’d ever seen.
The two men were locked in mortal combat with each other. There were no weapons, no guns or knives or throwing cards, just their fists. Seeing the flames shoot off their bodies made it clear to CJ how the train started on fire. Apparently these men were even
capable of conjuring flames somehow. It wasn’t the hardest thing he’d learned to accept in the last twenty-four hours.
The devil’s duel could barely be seen. Somehow the creatures from Hell moved faster than human eyesight was capable of seeing. The only time they came into view as solid figures were in the seconds after trading blows. They moved so fast the only thing that could be seen was a streaking trail of fire in midair and a faint afterimage of their bodies.
CJ wanted to help, to take aim of Ulric and lodge another bullet in his head. Even with his level of mastery he could not take aim of the man or distinguish one from the other. This battle was more like a delicate dance between two deadly monsters. Human beings had no place on the devil’s dance floor.
So CJ watched as their movements slowed. Soon he was able to see both combatants as their stamina dropped. Ulric was clutching his side, his face twisted in pain. Aster had a bloody gash across the top of his head, but didn’t seem concerned about it. His face looked etched in stone, more fierce than CJ had ever seen. They continued to flash-dance around each other in circles, each slow down revealing a new wound.
At last they moved into a rotation where CJ was behind Aster and in the line of sight for Ulric. The outlaw stole a single glance at CJ that took him by surprise. It only took a second but in that time Aster rushed forward like a blur. The lost second put Ulric at a disadvantage. He wasn’t able to dodge this time and Aster’s palms connected with his gut.
“You lost the moment you took your eyes off of me,” said Aster.
Ulric had the wind knocked out of him as he flew ten feet backwards. He recovered in time to open his eyes and see Aster summoning a giant ball of flame.
Ulric tried to flee. He released his wings to seek safe haven in the sky. He simply wasn’t ready for Aster’s full power. He wasn’t even off the ground yet when Aster attacked. The Commander didn’t just throw the wagon wheel-sized fireball he held above his head. He blasted it forth from his hands just like a bullet from a barrel, colliding with Ulric’s cowardly backside and engulfing the fool in the flames of justice.
Cowboys & Devils (Devil Aster Days Book 3) Page 4
