Devil Ash Days (Devil Ash Saga) (24 page)

“Damn that
Stryd!”
she said. “He
knew!
He knew all of this, and he purposely withheld the information from us! I should have him executed for this!” She groaned in anger and banged the wall with her fist several more times. She knew she couldn’t actually have him executed; her father would object.

“At least we found out eventually,” Ash
said, trying his best to console her. “So really all he did was delay us. We still have plenty of time to track Apsat down.”

“You should be the one
who’s most upset,” Shiva said. “It’s
your
hide on the line.” While she was correct, and Ash did harbor a lot of ill will for Commander Stryd, he also knew they’d wasted enough time already. They needed to start looking for Apsat now.

“How about we talk things through over some lunch?” Ash suggested with a smile.

“I still don’t see how Apsat, pathetic as he is, was able to kill a trained guard and get away,” Aura said, taking a seat next to Ash at the cafeteria table.
The boys were starving now, their mouths watering from just the smells of the cafeteria.

“Kind of makes it even harder to believe that right after that, he made his way through the castle unnoticed all the way to the storeroom,” Ash
said.

“The thought of that
scum,
traipsing about
my
castle…” Shiva trailed off, mumbling some more obscenities under her breath as she snapped at a piece of meat. This was the first time Ash had actually seen her eat.

“It’s all kind of hard to swallow, but I suppose even sometimes the unthinkable can happen,” Aura
said. ‘Hard to swallow’ also described the odd sort of vegetable that he was attempting to eat.

“Well, how can we start figuring out where this guy is?” Ash
asked. Shiva slammed her fist down on the table, surprising not only her company but also most of the other people currently in the dining hall.

“I’m going to go have a couple words with Stryd!”
she said.
Great,
Ash thought. But much to his relief, Shiva said, “You two stay here.”

“Okay,” Aura and Ash both muttered,
glad to be staying put.

Shiva had left them for nearly forty minutes, in which they continued to eat (though their ‘feasting’ slowed down to mere ‘snacking’ now) and swap stories. In her absence, Aura found it was the perfect time to discuss the secret plan he and Ash had concocted.

“I think I may know where Apsat is,” Aura
said.

“Seriously?! Why didn’t you say anything when Shiva was here?”

“Because I didn’t want her to know! Remember our plan?”

“Oh, right.”

“Sars told me that he spilled the beans to Apsat about my secret hideout,” Aura told him.

“I thought we just destroyed your secret hideout.”

“My
other
secret hideout.”

“How many secret hideouts do you
need?
”

“A lot! Anyway, it’s the old weapons manufacturing plant in South
Hell. I was there the other night, before the Royal Guards brought me to your place. It looked like someone else had been there recently. It must’ve been Apsat!”

“Cool! So let’s tell Shiva and get going!”

“We can’t let her know!” Aura said. “Remember, we want to keep her out of this.
You
need to be the one that catches him and takes God’s Blessing. If Shiva’s around, she won’t let you touch it.”

“Oh, yeah,” Ash
said. “Then why don’t we suggest splitting up and searching the city? Once we go our separate ways, we can ditch Shiva and meet up at the plant.”

“Good thinking,” Aura said. The boys
clammed up as they spotted Shiva returning. Apparently, she was done yelling at Commander Stryd. She clutched a large piece of paper and several other sheets of parchment. She sat down at the table next to Ash and unfolded the larger paper on the table before them, pushing their plates of food out of the way.

“What’s this?” Ash asked, although the answer was fairly obvious. The paper was actually a large map of the South
ern section of the Kingdom. Every building was marked on the map, and each one was numbered. It looked hand-drawn, which seemed to be the case for most of the pictures in Hell.

“A map,” Shiva told him. “It
shows which buildings are vacant. My guess is Apsat is probably hiding out in an abandoned building somewhere.”

“You got this from Commander
Snide
?” Aura asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Yep,” Shiva said. “I gave him an earful! In the end, he caved and gave me this map. It was the
least
he could do. Now let’s just hope Apsat is in South Hell. I don’t want to have to go fight for the other maps.” Shiva barely scratched on what was a very important keynote to her plan. If Apsat had fled to another part of the Kingdom, they would be in serious trouble of running out of time. The entire kingdom of Hell was far too large to go searching door-to-door.

“What are the numbers on the buildings for?” Ash asked.

“Every building is numbered,” Shiva said. “And the numbers correspond to the information on
these
.” She dropped the other papers on the table. Ash realized that it was the same concept as building addresses on Earth. His mind wandered to thoughts of what the address of the castle would be.

“All we have to do is go through the stack, identify the unoccupied buildings - since those are the ones he’d most likely be hiding in - and compile a list of the places we need to check.”

“Hey, good thinking,” Ash said while still spacing out. He was certain the address must be ‘01 – Castle Hell – Hell’ or something of that sort.

“Take a couple pages and let’s start compiling,” Shiva said, holding up the stack of papers for them each to grab a couple. Ash and Aura
flipped through the pages looking for buildings labeled ‘VACANT’ or ‘UNOCCUPIED’, and read their numbers to Shiva. Shiva pulled a pencil out of her pocket and wrote the numbers on a blank page. Just as Aura said, one of the vacant buildings was the weapons manufacturing plant. Aura gave Ash a wink when Shiva wasn’t paying attention. When they reached the end of their stacks, Shiva tallied up the total of empty buildings. 

“Th
ere are fourteen of them,” she said. “We’ll split up and check them out separately.” Aura tried to hide his satisfaction at Shiva’s suggestion. “I’ll take the first seven, Aura can take the other seven,” she told them.

“What about me?” Ash asked, hoping their plan wasn’t falling apart already.

“You can’t even create flames yet,” Shiva replied. “I don’t trust your fighting skills enough yet to let you wander around alone, so you’re coming with me.” She was lying, Ash knew, to try to uphold Goddard’s orders of not letting him touch God’s Blessing. She was doing what she needed to keep him under her constant surveillance. 

“He’s not
that
bad,” Aura said, trying to salvage their plan. He expected some resistance from Shiva. He had already cooked up a counter-plot. “Why don’t you give him at least
one
building to search? At least let him
feel
like he’s helping out.” Shiva considered this offer silently. Aura turned his focus to the map, continuing with his plan. “Here, how about this place?” he said, pointing to the weapons plant. “It’s just a giant, abandoned plant. It’s so huge and open; it would be a terrible place for anyone to hide out.”

“Well…” Shiva thought on it.

“Please?” Ash asked. “I’m not as useless as you think. Just let me have this one.” He was an excellent beggar, having years of practice begging for video games, CDs, and comic books from his mother.

“Fine,” Shiva agreed in a momentary lapse of judgment. Ash and Aura couldn’t stop from smiling triumphantly. “Alright, here’s everyone’s building numbers,” Shiva said, tearing the paper apart. She handed one to Aura and kept one for herself. Ash didn’t get a piece of paper, seeing as how he only had one location to memorize.

“Check the map, see where your buildings are. Commit them to memory, write down the addresses, whatever you have to do,” she said.

“Are we going to meet back here when we’re done?” Ash asked. He didn’t hear her reply. He was busy thinking that if he actually
did
find and activate God’s Blessing, it would be very likely that the next time they met, she would be his enemy. He hoped he wouldn’t have to fight her if it came to that.

Outside the castle, the team brought out their wings. It was time to go their separate ways. There was a minor setback to the plan, though. Aura said he’d go with Ash to the weapons plant, but if they were flying, Shiva could easily see where he went. So he’d have to actually split up and go somewhere else before joining up with Ash later.

They took to the skies, and for a while headed in the same direction: south. Ash quickly spotted the weapons manufacturing plant, as it was the largest building in
South Hell. A big, square-shaped building lined with smokestacks, it stuck out of the city like a wart on a toe. With a final glance back at Aura, who gave an approving nod, Ash descended towards the building by himself.

Shiva and Aura also descended to their locations. Once on the ground, Aura would have to travel by foot to catch up with Ash. It was a great moment of uncertainty for everyone, but they hoped for the best. They had no idea that in only a matter of minutes all Hell would be breaking loose.

Chapter Twenty: Confrontations in Confined Spaces

The front door of the weapons plant was securely shut and bound by massive thick chains. Ash attempted to wiggle the chains around in hopes of loosening them enough to slip off, but to no avail. The chains wouldn’t budge and neither would the door. He pulled his leg back, readying a massive kick but didn’t follow through.
If
Apsat were inside, he would no doubt hear such a loud disturbance. And
if
Apsat were indeed inside, he would have gotten in another way as well. Ash decided to take a stroll around the area and investigate the rest of the building. He circled around the perimeter until he found a side-door. A quick look at the door revealed that someone had busted the lock on it.  He gave it a small push, and the door swung wide open.

Aura was right; it did look like someone had been there. There were footprints in the dust on the floor, and from the multiple sets it appeared someone had been
walking around there for a while. He was lucky it was still light outside, or he might have been completely in the dark. Windows lined the walls, drenching the room with artificial sunlight. The layout of the building was very wide and open, and Ash could see across the entire floor. Rows of tables and machine-like devices occupied most of the space.

He walked along the rows of tables, following the dust prints and examining the devices used for crafting weaponry along the way. He had no idea how any of it was used, but
it was impressive nonetheless. There were a few doors that led to some other areas that he had to examine, but the general emptiness and silence seemed to suggest that he was alone. He decided it wouldn’t be a bad idea to attempt to draw his target out. In his mind, he made up an elaborate story as to why he would be walking around in an abandoned building.

“Hello?” he called
out. “I’m the safety inspector!” he lied. “I’ve come to make sure there’s no one inside when we demolish this building in a few minutes!” He approached a door and gave it a light tap with his foot. An empty bathroom. He strolled across the room to another door, lightly rapping on it. “Hello? Anyone in there?” Ash said, turning the knob and pushing it open. An empty office of some sort. No life at all.

Next, he climbed a nearby staircase to an upper-floor with a balcony looking out over the entire factory. Another office sat at the top, clearly empty. Ash descended back down the stairs,
scratching his head in confusion.

As he made his way toward the exit wrapped in his own thoughts, his foot
got caught on something stuck to the floor and brought him tumbling down on the dusty floorboards. He looked, but could not see what he tripped over. That’s when he noticed the strange, lone pair of footprints in the dust. These ones stopped suddenly and disappeared. He rubbed his hands on the floorboards, catching his nails on a small split in the wood. He managed to crack it open, lifting up a small section of the floor to find a hidden staircase. It looked like it went down to a dark storage cellar.

He looked around for something he could use to illuminate his path in the dark. An old, thick ruler lay nearby, and he snatched it up. Even though his previous attempts at creating a flame hadn’t really worked out, Ash decided it was time to try again.
The boy concentrated on fiery visions, as Yazma had instructed him. He felt a couple sparks in his hand, but not much else. He held the piece of wood up to his hand. Ash held his breath and tried really hard, and finally the tiniest flame emerged, no larger than the flame produced by a disposable lighter.
Success!
he thought.

Quickly, Ash
held the piece of wood up to it and managed to catch the flame before he exhaled, losing his concentration and extinguishing the flame. The tip of the wood now slowly burning, he held it up and blew on it a bit, making the fire grow slightly. With his ‘torch’ in hand, he took the first step to descend into the unknown.

* * * *

While Ash made slow and steady progress, Shiva was already investigating her third building. All of her buildings to inspect were small, and it helped that they were close to one another. That, and she was sprinting at top speed between them. She was determined to find Apsat, and would not accept if anyone else found him before her. She imagined the pleased expression on her father’s face and the congratulations she would receive from her brother for completing the mission. She had to guess at what exactly the pleased expression and congratulatory statement might sound and look like, as she had actually never seen or heard anything of the such from either of them. 

She arrived at her next building, a small abandoned
shack of a home. She burst in through the front door, not wasting any time on inconveniences like knocking or slowing down. Inside, a confused and derelict man was laying on the floor, sound asleep. An accomplished expression spread across her face, which was quickly replaced by a look of sound determination. She marched over to the man and grabbed him, picking him up and shaking him fiercely.

“Are you Apsat?!” s
he shouted in his face. The man awoke, and grumbled some obscenities at her. “Show me your wings!” she demanded. The homeless man did as she said and brought his wings out. Fully-formed, fine wings indeed. He wasn’t Apsat. Of course, she could have seen that for herself had she not been shaking him so much, and simply took a moment to look at his face. The girl released him. “This home is marked as unoccupied. Either register it at the castle, or get out!” she said.

The man grumbled a few more obscene words and climbed to his feet, exiting before Shiva. “What a waste of time!” she
said, leaving after him and sprinting onward to her next destination. It was much quicker for her to run than fly, as her speed on the ground was faster than her flight speed. Once she was safely out of sight, the homeless man crept back into the building. He grumbled a bit more to himself, something about a crazy woman, and then returned to sleep.

* * * *

Aura dived down an alleyway as Shiva ran by. He exhaled, feeling safe. She didn’t see him. He’d been making his way across town in order to join Ash at the weapons plant. But in doing so, he had to avoid Shiva. He wished he could have flown, as it would have been much faster, but he couldn’t risk Shiva spotting him in the sky. He was going to have to do this the old fashioned way: on foot.

With no sign of the crazy girl near
by, he left the alley and continued down the street. When someone that sort of looked like Shiva appeared on the next street he turned down, he panicked and dived into the nearest establishment. As it just so happened, it turned out to be a bar. Aura was pleased at the act of serendipity.
Guess there’s no helping it,
he thought.
The universe wants me to have a drink!

He
stopped himself.
Ash is waiting for me.

T
hen he reconsidered.
Crap, I forgot to tell Ash where the secret room is. He probably won’t even find it until I get there and show him. So really, I don’t have to worry about time.

The boy strode up to the bar and took an unoccupied stool next to a cute girl. With a flirty smile and a wink at the woman, Aura
ordered a drink.

* * * *

I should really wait for Aura
, Ash thought.
But Apsat didn’t sound tough, I’m pretty sure I could take him on my own. Maybe I’ll just go see if he’s down there, and if so, beat him up on my own. That sounds more reasonable than waiting around and wasting time.
The boy continued down the stairs.

Besides the faint light from the open trapdoor above him, Ash had to rely on his makeshift torch. It did a fine job illuminating his immediate surroundings, but did little for anything over five feet in front of him. As far as he could tell, he was in a storage basement. Large crates containing old weapons line
d every wall.

This place would make a great hideout,
he thought.
But I seriously doubt someone would hide down here in the dark. If he was here, I’d see a light or something
. The boy waved his torch around trying to inspect whatever the room had to offer, but it was only more of the same. Stacks of boxes lined the walls, while the majority of the room housed barrels and crates of unfinished weapons and armor. Ash’s hand felt hot and he noticed that his torch had all but burnt out. The flame reached the point just above where his hand gripped, and as it spread further down the boy could do nothing but drop it to the floor.

I
n complete darkness, he thought of how stupid an idea it was to go down there alone. Getting out would be a pain in the ass. He’d be lucky if he could find another piece of wood lying around, let alone produce another flame to light it. He knelt down to feel around for a piece of wood, but something caught his eye. He didn’t notice it when his torch was lit. There was a tiny light seeping through the cracks behind some boxes. The light from his own torch must have drowned it out before. He held his breath for a moment and listened very closely. He could hear somebody else breathing.

“Hello? Anyone down here?” Ash
said. As soon as he called out, Ash saw the light behind the boxes go out. Now they were truly in the dark. “I’m the safety inspector, we’re about to demolish this building!” Ash lied. “If you don’t want to be buried alive, I suggest you come out!”

No movement.

“I can hear you breathing,” he added.

“Oh!” Someone shouted a meek reply. “Um, yes I’m here!”

“Oh, thank goodness,” Ash replied, relieved to have finally made contact. “We’re about to demolish this building. You should get the heck out of here!”

The man ignited his flame again, and stepped out from behind the boxes. Ash saw that he was actually using a lantern. The man held the lantern up in front of him, illuminating the room around
him. He was a rather short man wearing a worn-out, dirty cloak. He had dust all over his hands and face. Despite the dust, Ash could tell it was the same face from the picture he saw earlier. Luck was on his side: He had found Apsat Glumb!

“Well then,” Apsat said
, “it’s a good thing you found me.”

“Why don’t we head upstairs?” Ash
said.

“Are there, by any chance, Royal Guards up there?” Apsat asked, trying to mask his fear.

“Nope,” Ash replied. “Just me and my demo crew. Shall we go?” he asked, hoping the thief wouldn’t refuse. A fight in such a small, dark space would be troublesome. With Apsat holding the lantern, there was no guarantee that if a fight broke out Ash wouldn’t get left behind in the darkness.

“Right, lead the way,” Apsat said, motioning Ash ahead. 

The boy turned around, but couldn’t see in front of him. He turned back to Apsat, and feeling pretty embarrassed, asked “Would you mind handing me your lantern?” Apsat had a confused look on his face, wondering why he wouldn’t just spark up his own flame and lead the way. In an effort to reduce conversation, he handed over the lantern with no questions. The two of them slowly made their way down the cluttered hall.

“What’s your name?” Ash asked out of curiosity of what
the thief would say.

“Uh,” the man stuttered unnatu
rally for such an easy question. “Sat…ap.”

Wow,
Ash thought,
he really is stupid.

“So what were you doing down here,
Satap
?” Ash asked, just for the fun of hearing what explanation Apsat would spew.

“Oh, I uh, used to work here,” he lied. “I left some things down here, so I came back for them.”

That one actually wasn’t too bad of a lie,
Ash thought, as they approached the stairs to the upper floor. He didn’t have much time left. Once they got upstairs Apsat would see there was no demolition crew waiting, and he’d probably try to flee. Hopefully Aura was already upstairs waiting.

* * * *

“One more for the road, barkeep!” Aura said to the dismay of the two lovely ladies sitting on either of him. They were both attractive girls, and though the boy knew he could probably seal the deal with them, he’d wasted enough time here. His friend was waiting for him across town.

The ladies cried out, disappointed to hear his announcement. “Are you really going?” one asked. “Can’t you stay a little longer?” the other begged.

“Well…” Aura started, thinking about Ash and their plan.
If he manages to activate God’s Blessing, I’m sure I’ll hear him. And if he can’t activate it, I’d be blowing my shot with these two ladies! I can’t pass up this opportunity!

“You bet I’ll stay, girls,” Aura winked, wrapping his arms around them.

* * * *

Ash and Apsat climbed the stairs to the top, back into the light of day. Finally standing next to Apsat in the light, Ash could see exactly how short he was. He stood at least a full head smaller than
the boy. He fidgeted nervously in the daylight, and Ash noticed a golden chain dangling out of his pocket that he hadn’t seen in the darkness.