Devil Ash Disarray (Devil Ash Saga Book 3) (47 page)

“He’s babbling.” Shiva cracked her knuckles. “Should I hit him again?”

“Leave him be.” Wilhelm removed his fingers from his facial hair. His pale face looked rock hard in a faint sunbeam. “In the throes of despair, one should be permitted to speak his mind.”

“It’s crazy! Going to the
demon kingdom
! Do we even have any information about it?” Ash, and everyone else, looked to Goddard and Wilhelm for answers.

“We have very limited information, but enough to get you there and back,” said Goddard.

“Great,” Ash replied. “The four of us against a whole world of demons.” He looked liked something hit him suddenly. “
Five
of us. You’re coming too, right Wilhelm?”

The old Satan didn’t have to answer. The boy could read his face easy enough.

“You’re
not
coming.”

“Ash, you must understand-”

“Oh! I understand! You’re okay with sending your family and friends to their deaths as long as you get to stay behind to work on your own little side quest!”

Ash was flustered, panting and red in the face. He turned to Aura, his only friend at the moment, but he didn’t like the disapproving look the death toucher gave him. Again, Goddard felt he needed to step in to ease the mounting tension.

“Lord Wilhelm is staying behind because he
has
to,” said the Royal Advisor. “There must always be a ruling member of the Satan bloodline on the throne. Ancient custom, but we like to stick to it.”

Wilhelm turned back to Ash. He did not look the least bit angry at the boy. “You see, I can not go, though I wish for nothing more than to be by my grandchildren’s side at this difficult time. I must stay, because without a Satan around and in charge, all would be lost.

“But I have faith in my kin, and I don’t believe in curses. I believe in Shiva and Killian, and even the popular mister Draxler. And I believe in you, Ash. I know you’re hurting right now, but we’re all hurt. Some more than others, it’s true, but don’t give up hope just yet. We still have a counter-attack to launch. It’s not over yet!

“Stryd, Goddard, and I will keep things running smoothly here. We’ll have to be extremely careful with what we tell the citizens, but that’s our concern. It will be up to you youngins to bring Alfred home. That’s all we expect of you. That, and survive. And please be careful not to conflict too much with Killian.”

“
Everything’s
a conflict with Killian
,” Ash muttered miserably.

“Oh my god,” said Aura, the first thing he’d said in a while. He was the only one currently staring at the conference table. “
Where did he go
?”

In all the commotion caused by Ash and Wilhelm, no one had been paying attention to the injured Prince of Hell. They’d moved away from the table in their actions, across the wide meeting room and spread around. No one bothered to look back at the table. Not until Aura just did.

Now they were all looking, staring in perplexment just as the death toucher had been. The long conference table where Prince Killian was placed now appeared to be bare. That is, Prince Killian’s stretcher was still on the tabletop where they’d left it, but the bandaged Prince was nowhere to be found.

Chapter Thirty-Five: Declaration of Complication

Madness ruled the streets as the citizens of the Devil Kingdom flooded the castle perimeter, scores of tired Royal Guards doing their best to hold everyone at bay. There weren’t any collisions of violence just yet, but the day was only half over. If something didn’t change soon, the people might get carried away with their protests and do something drastic.

Prince Killian watched the unruly populace from his perch on the castle roof. He snuck out of the conference room window when no one was looking, a miraculous action considering the worn-out state of his body. He wasn’t in any shape for such an act, but by cranking his residual soul power to the max the daring young man found the strength to will his body to move once more. The strength was only temporary; the climb took up most of his energy.

The Prince sat watching, resting for a moment while he calculated his next move. Those he left behind in the conference room panicked as they searched for the missing Prince, but it would not be long before they knew exactly where Killian went.

Willing his soul power to his legs, Prince Killian stood up. The dingy bandages wrapped around his body flapped freely in the wind, unraveling slightly. It didn’t take long for someone down below to spot the strange sight. The citizens raised alarm immediately, screaming and pointing in his direction, thinking another demonic possession to be in progress.

Killian raised a hand shimmering with a thick cloud of soul power. “People of Hell,” he said, and his voice traveled much further than it should have, amplified by his soul. “It is I, your Prince Killian.
Listen to me
!”

Silence fell over the crowd. All heads pointed at the Prince.

After a dramatic pause to rest, Killian continued, “It is true, last night my father was abducted by greater demons. These demons are more powerful than anything we’ve faced in quite some time. It pains me to say they even got the best of me.”

He paused again here to rest, and to grind his teeth in frustration. Just recalling his defeat at the hands of the hideous mosquito demon made his blood boil. But he reminded himself he had a job to do still, calmed down a little, and continued his speech.

“I will not let this insult go unpunished. I plan to track the demons back to their home – the so-called
Kingdom of Demons
. I will find this demon ruler, retrieve my father,
and obliterate any trace that the greater demons were ever there!”

The streets below exploded with enthusiasm. Killian had no way of knowing if they were buying his pitch, but he hadn’t expected such applause and cheers so quickly. The Prince grinned like the devil he was, feeling his energy fading. He had to wrap this all up, and fast.

“When my body heals, I will collect the human and depart for the Demon Kingdom. If any of you believe you are actually
brave
enough and would not slow me down, you are more than welcome to join me on my quest.” A chorus of murmurs arose from the crowd, and the Prince recalled one last thing he knew he had to mention.

“A final warning,” he said, and his tone this time inflicted an icy chill on everyone that heard his voice. “Stay away from the human. He is
my
prey.”

At that moment the people were totally silent. No one could speak as the Prince emitted some kind of murderous intent that could be felt in his voice. To those not accustomed to feeling soul power, the Prince’s dark power silenced them with a paralyzing grip of fear.

“Now all of you
go home
!” Killian took a step off the edge of the castle roof. The Prince dropped five stories to the ground, and with his final stock of soul power depleted, managed to deploy his wings and land safely in some grass in the lower courtyard before falling flat on his face. He’d used up every last bit of strength he had left and now it was naptime for the next few days.

Ash watched the clever Prince from the conference room window, along with everyone else. Stryd became furious seeing the Prince wear himself out so recklessly. The irate Commander took his two most capable Captains and stormed off to go secure the Prince when his scene ended. Leaving Ash and his friends with Goddard and the two not-so-capable Captains. Wilhelm paced back and forth, twirling his mustache nervously.

Without saying a word to anyone, Ash left the window and took a seat at the conference table, where he put his head down on the table in defeat.

The old Satan stopped pacing and turned to face his company. “There’s a lot that we must do now. I’m worried about our men and women in the Royal Guard. If the citizens are having their doubts, I’m sure that our soldiers are having them just the same. I’m going to go around and speak to as many of them as possible, see if I can’t boost their morale and confirm loyalties.”

With nods of approval from Goddard and Shiva, Wilhelm last looked to Ash. The boy sat motionless, head down. The old Satan approached him, and without a reaction from the boy, he said, “Take care of your body Ash. Rest. If I can assist you with anything before you leave, you may summon me. That goes for the both of you, as well,” he said, looking at his granddaughter and Aura.

Wilhelm left after that. The two remaining Captains, not having anything else to contribute to the meeting, felt they would be more useful elsewhere. They found the strength to stand and join the old Satan in his exit. Goddard watched them go, remembering he had places to be too.

“I guess I’ve got a lot of work to get to as well,” said the Royal Advisor, leaving his post at the window. “I’ll be hard at work the next few days, but I recommend you all make damn sure you’re ready for the trip. I’ll prep you for it when I have time. You may stay in the castle as long as you like or go back to your house, it does not matter to me.” He pointed to the window. “It looks like the Young Master’s words may have made a difference. The streets are clearing up already. No one should bother you anymore.”

His words were not lost on Shiva and Aura, their heads nodded in approval to the Royal Advisor’s suggestion. A sullen Ash sat still head-down on the table, showing no signs of movement or acknowledgement. Again, Goddard tried his hand at comforting the boy.

“I’m working on a stronger batch of medicine,” he said. “You’ll be fully stocked before you go, so have no worries there.” That bit of positive information did not cause Ash to stir in the slightest. Fed up with trying, Goddard looked at Shiva instead and mouthed the words “
try to cheer him up
” at her.

The girl looked at her superior in disbelief, like it was an impossible task she’d just been charged with. Goddard only smiled and headed for the door.

“Let me know if you need anything else,” he said with a wave and left the room. Shiva gave Ash a quick look, but hesitated to move her mouth at all.

“Leave this to
me
,” Aura told her, beaming with confidence. Then, to Ash, he said, “I know what you need. A long, relaxing
bath
in the Noble’s swanky bathhouse, and I’m treating.” He pulled a small paper card out of his pocket to punctuate his point, though it wouldn’t actually be
his
treat, since the membership really belonged to his father.

“
Relaxing
?” Shiva made a sour face. “What he needs is to let out some
aggression
! What’d you say Ash? Wanna go hit things with me?”

Ash put his hands on the table and pushed himself up. His eyes were puffy and red, but currently dry. “I don’t want to do either of those things,” he said. “I just want to go home.”

“Let me check the crowd situation,” said Aura. He went to the window and gazed outside. “It’s really clearing up out there. If you felt up for it, I’d say we could fly back-”

“No, not
that
home,” Ash said. “I want to go to
my
home. On
Earth
. Where there aren’t any demons trying to eat me!”

“Well unfortunately that’s not really an option,” said Shiva. “Believe me, Kil will
tie you up and drag you
to the demon kingdom if he has to. You’re
going
, and that’s that.”

Aura frowned at Shiva. “He may have to go, but he doesn’t have to fight. Best-case scenario, we can just let your psychopathic brother deal with Otozek. Ash will be safe and sound by our sides while we deal with whatever demons may come at us.”

He wouldn’t admit it, but Ash didn’t like the thought of depending on Killian for anything. The man was by all accounts Ash’s greatest
enemy
, an obstacle for the boy to overcome at the
end
of his journey. He didn’t want to
depend
on him. He’d rather see The Prince eaten by demons.

“Can we go now?” Ash got up from his chair and headed for the door. Shiva darted after him at once, but Aura was much slower from his wounds. They left the conference room, Shiva leading the way to the least-used castle exit, depositing the team in the courtyard. After checking with some of the Royal Guards stationed around the perimeter, Shiva confirmed that conditions outside the gate were safe enough. To their surprise, when the gates opened and they stepped outside the Royal property lines expecting to be harassed by narrow-minded lingerers, they found the area vacant.

Shiva dictated that they would walk back – “for
Draxler
,” but Ash suspected that she was really doing it for
his
sake. Shiva tended to treat Aura more harshly when he was in great pain. The sudden generosity was obviously fake. Ash didn’t say much on the long walk home, but he did have to hear his friends bicker. Aura enjoyed pushing Shiva’s buttons every chance he got.

On his long, reflective walk Ash took notice of how well the people obeyed their Prince. The trio encountered a total of four people on their thirty-minute walk home, and each person rushed to get back to their own home as well. None of them spoke to the group, which helped alleviate the boy’s fear of having to deal with a lynch mob.

Prince Killian was truly a master at manipulating people through fear and force. He
commanded
his subjects in ways his father never could. Ash secretly wished that people would listen to him like that one day, too. He had a long way to go before that would happen, and that was only
if
he survived his next ordeal.

The only comfort the boy found along the way came from the square-shaped lump on the side of his leg, the pillbox in his pocket. More than once his hand glided over the pillbox, though he would wait till he got home to eat another.

His friend’s constant squabbling the only sound as they passed through the empty canyons of West Hell. Festival booths still lined many of the walkways, now eerily empty and quiet. The prizes were missing from all the game booths because either the owners were lucky enough to remove them in time, or because some protestors stole the goods before anyone noticed. Festival games and cheap prizes didn’t appeal to Ash anymore, though.

Their stroll deposited them in the familiar new housing development where their spacious condo sat waiting at the end of the long and private gravel pathway. The sight of it brought about a calm in Ash, and he shut his mind down in preparation for his long rest.

As soon as the door to the house opened the depressed boy went up the stairs and entered his bedroom, closing the door tight behind him. Though his friends would plan many activities to attempt to raise Ash’s spirits, it would be many days until they saw him awake and out of bed again.