Devil Ash Disarray (Devil Ash Saga Book 3) (30 page)

Aura started to feel the cold sweats coming on, but he gripped the ends of the oars in his hands and tried to ignore any anxiety he felt about the water. He could remember a time when he and Ash had been assigned the job of hunting colossal demon squid for the Nobles. He was definitely more confident in the water now than he had been back then, yet he still found his teeth chattering uncontrollably.

“Where’re your sea legs?” his competitor called to him, joking. Aura forced a weak laugh in response and muttered something under his breath.

“
Competitors, ready
!” blared a voice from someone with a megaphone still on top of the pier.

“
Start
!”

Aura thrust his arms forward, dipping the broad ends of the oars under the water. He pulled the oars back with all his power, sending his boat shooting out onto the water and further away from the pier. He could see the announcer now, and scores of people lined up along the edge of the pier to watch the races.

His opponent followed relentlessly. For the first stretch of the race, Aura and the man were neck in neck. They went back and forth trading the lead as they raced past the first collection of tall rocks sticking out of the water. Aura had seen some of the more foolish boaters try to cut across at this point, but the death toucher knew it was still too dangerous.

He continued powering forward, occasionally stealing glances over at his opponent. The man still looked calm and collected. He rowed his oars with great ease, not even breaking a sweat. Aura concentrated on his rowing and sped up. Eventually he managed to take back a significant lead as they approached the far end of the rocky outcropping.

Aura felt confident cutting through one of the wider gaps between rocks. His oars scraped the sides of the thin rocky bases sticking out of the water as he tore through the water. He twisted his head to see what his opponent was doing, but the man disappeared from his sight. Taking that as a good sign, Aura continued on his chosen path heading for the other side of the rocks.

He didn’t make it out. Before he could steer the boat out of the maze of rocks, his opponent’s boat appeared from around the corner of the next rock. He was right in the middle of Aura’s path. The death toucher had to swerve, sticking just his left oar into the water to change his direction. He was about to shout at the guy when something else unexpected happened.

The man leapt from his own boat, landing in Aura’s small craft instead. He had his arms crossed with the same smug look on his face. He flashed a wicked smile to his devil opponent before opening his lips.

“You sure are one
stupid
devil,” the man said with a cackle of laughter.

“One of the greater demons after my head, I take it?” Aura asked.

“However did you manage to figure it out?” the man said, his voice full of sarcasm. “I mean, you are just a
stupid devil
after all. But I never thought it’d be so easy to get close to you. Now I have you exactly where I want you!”

“
Uh huh
,” Aura said, nodding his head unenthusiastically. “Or, maybe
I
tricked
you
into coming near
me
.”

“Doubtful,” the demon man replied. “I’ve been watching you all morning. You’re here because I wanted you here. Isolated on the ocean, you will meet your demise.”

“Here’s a tip pal,” said Aura. He loosened his grip on the oar his right hand was holding. His arms moved like blurs to remove his gauntlet as he launched himself from the boat’s hard wooden seat.

“Never hop into a death toucher’s boat!”

“Oh,
please
.”

Before Aura’s cursed black hand could slam into the man’s chest, he opened his mouth. Something black and gaseous shot out. Or was it a liquid? Aura couldn’t tell. Whatever it was, the black cloud shot past Aura’s head. It splashed into the ocean as the possessed man collapsed to the floor of the boat.

Aura dropped to cradle the man. The death toucher lightly rapped on the man’s face with his not-cursed hand, shaking him gently to try and wake him.

“Come on guy, this is a bad time to go to sleep,” he said. “Wake up and tell me who you are!”

None of Aura’s actions were having any effect on the man. The boy gazed back toward the shore, but only now did he see that he shoreline wasn’t visible. He was too deep in the rocky maze rising out of the water for anyone to see him. No one would be coming to check on him either, at least not for another ten minutes or so.

The boy gripped his oars once again. He was going to make a break for it as fast as he could before the demon returned. He needed to get out of the rocks and back into sight of the other festivalgoers watching from the beach and pier. Before he could back away from the other man’s empty boat, something in the water gripped his right oar and pulled.

Aura released the other oar and gripped the one that was being stolen with both his hands. After a second of tugging on it, he realized his mistake. Before he could grab the other oar again, it was snagged by the underwater demon and pulled into the ocean without effort. Aura’s grip slipped on the remaining oar, and soon he was left with nothing but an unconscious man.

Great
, thought Aura.
This just keeps getting better and better.

Behind him, a jagged black fin rose out of the water and started to circle his tiny boat.

Chapter Twenty-Three: Shiva’s Festival Fun

A warm breeze carried Shiva up and over the Kingdom heading north. She had memorized her event list and planned a route that would allow her to investigate each game area quick and efficiently. As she floated above the entrance to North Hell and looked down on all the busy foot traffic, the Royal Princess decided she’d need to be a part of it to really investigate thoroughly. She folded her wings and dive-bombed the ground, pulling up just in time to stick the landing in an unoccupied section of the street corner.

Her wings tucked away as soon as she hit the ground and she started walking. The upper-class citizens of North Hell were out and about in full force today. Along the avenue, shops were so backed up that many of the lines started to wrap around and through each other. Shiva inspected each face in line one by one searching for anyone who looked possessed. When she realized she had no idea what symptoms she should be looking for, she moved on to plan B.

If finding the demons herself wasn’t going to work, she’d simply have to let the demons come to her. She moved past the bustling marketplace toward the first game area, where early crowds were already formed to watch the Evasion Ball competitors line up. Shiva spotted a festival employee speaking with a man and looking over some papers on a clipboard. A red megaphone hung from a strap on the man’s arm.

“I’m going to borrow this for a sec,” Shiva said, reaching for the megaphone. The man struggled for a moment until he realized whom he was dealing with.

“L-
Lady Shiva
?” he said in astonishment. “Yes, please, take whatever you need from me.” The man eagerly handed over his megaphone.

Shiva grinned, holding the tool to her mouth. “
Attention citizens
!” she yelled, amplifying her already loud voice. “
It’s me
!
Your beloved Royal Princess, Shiva Satan
out patrolling the streets to ensure everyone’s safety
!
You can count on me, Shiva Satan, to protect the weak and defend the innocent
!
Never fear a demon attack with me, Shiva Satan, watching over you
!
That is the awesome dependability of your Royal Princess, Shiva Satan
!”

The girl handed the megaphone back to the festival worker, who stared at her with a look of confused awe. In fact, most of the crowd stared at the girl now. Shiva dismissed herself and left, whistling an upbeat tune as she went.

She followed the cobblestone street encountering other gaming areas on her patrol route. She made a point of swiping any megaphone in sight and announcing her arrival, declaring her name and title as loud as she could. At first, the people were confused and unresponsive toward her unusual behavior. But as she made her way across North Hell, the responses she received from the masses turned to shouts of cheer and rounds of applause.

It helped that her strange and friendly behavior came during the mid-morning happy hour. They raised their mugs to toast her as she interrupted the Drinking Contest. The nerds at the Math Board games covered their ears as she screamed her demon rousing shtick at them. She took to the chucker’s mound and threw the ceremonial first chuck at the Club Ball game. She even made a special appearance at the Beard Growing Competition just to remind everyone she was there.

Of all the events she was to visit that day, Shiva finally encountered the game she wanted to see most. She tried to look inconspicuous as she approached the enormous tent on a conjoined street. There were no walls; only an enormous red canopy to shield players from the sun. Under the massive awning stretched row after row of tables. Each table had room for just two competitors.

The sign above the giant tent read
Devil’s Duel
in a large, fiery font. There was a list of tournament start times and a free-play schedule posted as well. Shiva subdued her excitement as she casually strolled into the gaming area, trying to look more like she was on patrol and less like she cared about what card strategies people were demonstrating.

Though the first official Devil’s Duel tournament of the day hadn’t started yet, most of the tables were already full with free-play competitors. The popularity of the card game’s sky-rocketed after stories that an actual demonic possession happened during the last tournament started circulating through the kingdom. Players and fans alike waited with bated breath to see if the Noble Vashi Tansa would return to compete in the tournament again.

They were all about to be disappointed.

Shiva moved down the first row of tables observing the various strategies in use at the games around her. She marveled at every super-rare holographic card she saw. She
tut-tutted
inexperienced players when they made bad moves. When she saw a player win, she added insult to the loser’s defeat by telling them what they
should have
done instead. She was becoming quite the annoying back-seat dueler
.

It was after pausing to watch a duel between two zombie decks that Shiva turned to leave, bumping into an armored figure behind her. She recognized the tall thin man with a mustache at once as the Captain of the Royal Guard, North Division.

“Ah, Captain Pace,” said Shiva. “They’ve got you patrolling this
lame
card game event too, huh?”

“Yes,” said the Captain. “Call me crazy but I don’t see the point in fighting with cards when you could be fighting with fists and feet instead.”

“Well said,” Shiva replied, masking her true feelings. “I’ve got this whole area covered, so you don’t need to worry about hanging out around here.”

“Oh, that’s-”

“
Lady Shiva
!” came a velvety voice from across the tent. The girl’s conversation with the Captain interrupted, Shiva turned to spot the tattooed Marni Narnya heading her way, her loyal servant Lorin in tow. The Captain put his hands up to show he was done talking and slinked away with a nervous smile, leaving the women to talk.

“What an honor it is to see you at my illustrious
gaming
tent
,” said Marni as she curtsied politely for the Princess. “Of course my actual establishment is still in a state of disrepair after, well, I’m sure you heard all about the little
incident
that occurred.”

“I probably know more about it than you do,” Shiva replied. “Such a shame I had to miss all the fun.”

“That
fun
cost me.
A lot
.”

“My condolences,” Shiva replied. She turned and started pacing the aisles of gaming tables once more, but the Devil’s Duel creator followed.

“The possessed person in that case was a Noble known as Vashi Tansa,” Marni said.

Shiva froze. “
So
?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.

“According to the Satan Family law, any substantial property damage inflicted on another party by a demonically-possessed individual is the sole responsibility of said demonically-possessed individual to repay or replace, depending on the scale of the damage.”

Shiva exhaled a sigh of relief. “You want to
press charges
on Vashi Tansa?”

“Absolutely,” Marni replied. “But here’s where I run into some difficulty. My employees have scoured all of North Hell, but found not one trace of any Noble named
Vashi Tansa
. Apparently, he doesn’t exist!”

“Welp,
too bad
,” said Shiva, turning her face to hide a smirk.

“That is why I thought
you
might consider tracking him down, my lady. I’ve spoken with several Nobles on the matter, including Glebeck Lowdly, and they all insist this imposter masquerading as a Noble must be punished for his transgressions. Paying for the damages on my gaming parlor is the minimum sentence he deserves!”

Shiva took a deep breath. “He’s probably just some petty thug,
albeit a genius at Devil’s Duel
. He’ll slip up and get caught eventually. I’m afraid I’ve got more important things to deal with right now.”

“But the law is on
my
side,” Marni replied, not backing down. “Impersonating a Noble is a crime punishable by up to
a year in prison. Don’t you want to make this scumbag pay?”

“Not particularly.”

Marni tried to keep calm, but her impatience started to show. Behind her Lorin kept her mouth shut, content to let her master handle the situation.

Marni tried a different route. “Miss Shiva, what exactly would you say is your
main function
around here?”

“Fighting demons.”

“
Close
,” Marni said. “But I would say a more detailed job description would be that you protect the lives and interests of the people, correct?”

“I see what you’re getting at,” Shiva replied, growing impatient. “Look, if it’ll get you off my back, fine, I’ll look into it when I can.”

“You mean it? You’ll track down Vashi Tansa and bring that crook to justice?”

“
Uh-huh
.”

“Thank you, My Lady,” Marni said with a courteous bow. “Then I’ll leave you to enjoy the festivities. I am honored to see you so enticed by my game.”

“
I’m not
!”

Shiva turned up her nose at the notion, but Marni was already gone. Still, Shiva didn’t want others to think she looked enticed by the children’s card game she so enjoyed, so she decided to leave the gaming tent.

That’s when she saw Uverstarr wander in.

Damn brat
, she thought, ducking out of sight behind one of the wider players sitting on a bench. She crouched there, waiting till the boy found a seat and turned his back to her. It was the perfect opportunity for her to get out of there unseen.

Curiosity got the better of the girl. Shiva instead crossed the tent to get closer to Uverstarr. She was merely curious as to what cards the boy was using. She decided she wouldn’t speak to him, or even let him see her. She would have to watch him in secret, in case the demons were watching her. Like Ash, she didn’t want Uverstarr, or even Aralia, to become targets to the demons.

Uverstarr sat at one of the seats for open challengers, waiting for an opponent. As he waited, he pulled out a stack of cards and started flipping through them with a pleased smile on his face.

Little idiot
, Shiva thought.
Doesn’t even know he could be targeted by demons
.

An opponent sat at Uverstarr’s table, eager to challenge the boy. The two shook hands, shuffled their decks, and started a new game. Uverstarr looked optimistic gazing at the cards in his hand, smiling as he plotted strategy. When he laid down his first combatant card, Archdevil Beelzebub, Shiva’s suspicions were confirmed. The boy was playing with
her
deck.

When she was close enough to see the game from behind Uverstarr, Shiva paused and watched the first few rounds. The scrappy orphan had a hand full of Shiva’s old cards. She also saw cards that he must have added himself.
Cards he probably stole off someone else
. There were cards Shiva would have never added to her deck willingly, seeing no use for them amongst her various strategies.

Though she was interested in seeing what new surprises the deck she’d worked so hard on and become so familiar with now held, she subdued her curiosity for the time being. When Uverstarr’s opponent played a greater demon card, it reminded the girl of her important mission at hand. She backtracked across the Devil’s Duel tent, moving away from the games.

With a stone-faced expression of determination, Shiva marched up and down the block several times. Her eyes darted back and forth more than the spectators at a tennis match as she considered her situation. With all the attention she’d drawn to herself earlier that morning, it was likely the demons were already watching her. They could be anywhere, any
one
.

Adding to the paranoia was the fact that
no one
looked particularly normal, at least as far as devils go. With the change in weather and the added chaos of the Soulstice Festival, Hell was transformed; and so was its people. Instead of quiet and cautious, the devils were rowdy and carefree. The summer was a time of peace, when demons were supposed to be mostly inactive and the devils could finally feel safe. It was the first time Shiva had experienced such a different tone in the kingdom, and it made it that much more difficult for her to detect any ‘odd’ behavior.

Everyone
’s behavior was odd today.

The only relief came from knowing that the demons likely wouldn’t attack her in public. She saw several dark and cut-off alleys that she was sure the demons would just love for her to walk down. But she avoided them like a sinkhole, keeping to the busy and bright, albeit chaotic, streets of North Hell. After nearly an hour of pacing the festival in the hot sun, Shiva decided a little shade might be a good thing.

She knew exactly where to find suitable shade too. The Royal devil Princess made a beeline for the Devil’s Duel tent one more time. Once she was under the sun-shaded covering Shiva looked around for her former teammate. She still wanted to avoid him, not just to keep the demons off his trail but also because she hadn’t spoken to him since yesterday’s snafu and their team’s loss at the relay race. She’d given Aura instructions to tell Uverstarr and Aralia that they wouldn’t be competing in any more games together for the time being. She let the death toucher make up an excuse as to why.