Devil Ash Deceit (Devil Ash Saga) (17 page)

This time he dodged to the right. He felt the fireball change course, locking on to his movements. Now knowing that no matter where or how he moved the fireball would still be after him, Ash decided there was only one proper course of action to take. In the small amount of time he had, he ignited as big of a flame as he could in both his hands. Now the hard part: catching it blind.

To help make the catching process easier, Ash ignited his fireballs with great intensity. This increased their sizes, allowing the boy to be less cautious about his accuracy. He held his own fireballs behind his back and leaned as far forward as he possibly could, making himself less of a target. Just in time, Ash felt Phoenix’s flame slam into his hands.

The boy concentrated on making his own flame grow. He could feel his flames wrap around and eventually smother out Phoenix’s. The teacher’s fireball was broken down and converted into Ash’s flame. Ash felt a wave of pride wash over him, knowing he could now defend from fire attacks without even looking.

He remembered his less fortunate friend Aura and turned to witness how he fared. He expected to see Aura’s head bashed into the wall. The fireball had crashed into the wall, but Aura’s head was inches away from where it hit. It appeared the boy managed to dodge after all at the last second.

“He can be tricked,” Aura said.

“He was going easy on us from the beginning,” Shiva said, trying to sit up. She struggled and fell back. Her armor weighed her down too much. Shiva realized that if she were going to get the most out of her training, she’d need to be at her fastest. The boys all watched as she removed her armor piece by piece. When she was done she stood wearing a more revealing outfit of shorts and a tanktop.

“Let’s go again!” Shiva said with a wink.

All three students stood together, backs to their teacher. Phoenix smiled as he prepared two more fireballs in his hands. From now on, he would throw two at a time. This made the students think fast and move even faster. For the first few days they got hit by a lot of fireballs, and no one more than Ash. His technique of trying to catch the fireballs was a dangerous one, but when he succeeded it was the best payoff. He found that absorbing other’s flames actually gave him more energy.

Eventually Phoenix added another training regiment to their lineup: blind sparring. By making them wear blindfolds while they fought each other, the team learned how to locate and strike a foe while relying on senses other than sight. The first few sessions were odd-looking, awkward, and at times even funny. The team had a hard time even
finding
each other. Phoenix added another layer of difficulty by suggesting they don’t reveal their locations by talking.

The three students stumbled around the yard until by a stroke of luck they ended up next to one another. Then it became a humorous struggle to actually hit each other. Depth perception is a difficult concept to grasp without any eyes. A lot of punches and kicks fell inches (or sometimes even feet) away from their intended targets. It took them at least a week of these blinded sparring sessions before they could consistently land their attacks.

Meanwhile, their advanced flame training with Yazma was winding down. The team had all learned how to control their flame well enough that they could practice on their own from now on. One day Yazma came to the yard in the morning and announced that she had to get back to teaching at her school and would be allowing Phoenix to take over the rest of their training. Phoenix assured her that advanced flame techniques would be included in their soul power training.

Ash and Shiva continued their training with Amos. He was a highly skilled warrior and never went easy on them, no matter which weapon they practiced with for the day. Amos continued to beat the crap out of them as they learned how to use their equipped weapons more effectively. Ash became most skilled at defending with his sword. Shiva enjoyed the long range of a spear, but felt it left her at a disadvantage in close quarters. Aura spent these days off, sleeping in and wandering around the kingdom freely. Sometimes he’d even stop in at his old hangout, The Missing Piece bar, to chat with his old friends.

Phoenix continued to add all sorts of gimmicky training games to their lineup. He made them sit quietly while he threw rocks at them. They would have to either dodge, deflect, or catch the rocks and throw them back. Everyone always ended up hurting after that game. There was a far stranger game where Phoenix would turn the team loose in the city to play hide and seek, the catch being that they all wore blindfolds.

The last training lineup change came in the form of more meditation. Phoenix promised that with everything they’d been through so far, the meditation would have a greater effect on them this time. The boys were skeptical, but found that when they got into it they were able to concentrate more easily. Now the mumbo jumbo about feeling the wind made sense to them. Phoenix created fireballs and floated them around the yard, showing his students exactly how locate objects simply by feeling.

After months of these brutal exercises mixed with late nights hunting rebels, their training peaked. They were rarely getting hit by Phoenix’s fireballs anymore. They could spar blindfolded just as easily as when they could see. No more rocks to the face, either. And when they played blindfolded hide and seek in the kingdom, they looked so natural that no one even knew they were blind. Ash and Shiva even became adequately skilled with their weapons of choice.

Ash ran into an unexpected situation one day when he returned to the private yard after their session was over. The boy forgot his gloves and hurried back to retrieve them. Before he entered the yard, he could see Wilhelm and Phoenix alone together inside the private yard. Wilhelm was more animated than usual, shouting so loud the boy could almost make out what he was saying from inside the castle.

Ash slowed down, then stopped at the window looking into the yard. The boy hid his body from sight of the two men and watched them a little longer. Wilhelm was definitely upset about something, and he appeared to be taking it out on Phoenix. The Noble stood patiently with his arms crossed, waiting for Wilhelm to finish his rant. Ash tried reading their lips, but because of Wilhelm’s more animated body language the old man kept turning away and hiding his face.

When Phoenix finally got to speak, the man was dismissive as usual. He said only one sentence, and that seemed enough to settle Wilhelm down. Their conversation slowed and all tension appeared to be gone. Ash felt this was a good time to retrieve his gloves, and entered the yard. The boy acted surprised to see his teachers still there, and asked what they were doing.

“Phoenix and I were just discussing your next training exercise,” Wilhelm said. “We’ll make the announcement at our next session.”

“I have something very
special
planned for everyone,” said Phoenix. “We’ll see how well you do at
hunting
.”

Ash waited anxiously to discover the meaning of the men’s cryptic words. At the end of their next blind sparring session, under the watchful eye of Wilhelm Satan, Phoenix made his announcement. Ash couldn’t wait to find out just what was such a big deal that the two men had argued so passionately about.

“Royal Advisor Goddard von Gosick has authorized me to take you all on a hunting trip to the Hellwood, the forest to the North of the Kingdom. Make no mistake; this is no vacation. This is
survival
training at its worst. We depart tomorrow morning at first light.”

That night Ash read up on the Hellwood in his guide book, ‘Hell in My Pocket’. On the map of Hell, it appeared to the north of the Kingdom. At the beginning of the forest was a house icon with the words ‘Safe House’ written. This was where he learned the devils had established a cabin for the loggers who frequently traveled back and forth between the Kingdom and the Hellwood.

Besides the geography, Ash learned that the Hellwood likely spanned over thousands of miles. The devils had been using it as their primary source of lumber since the beginning of the devil civilization. Because of its enormous size, some devils even referred to it as the ‘tree sea’. Being a forest, Ash was terrified to learn of all the species of insect demons that lurked inside, not to mention several species of non-insects like wolves and bears. Individual travel was strongly
not recommended
in the Hellwood.

After a night of sleep-terrors, Ash awoke by an alarm bell before the first fireball had even risen into the sky. Aura swatted at the alarm on the table between their beds, but couldn’t find it and ended up throwing a fireball to stop it. Ash hopped out of his bed in a hurry. This morning he was going to get to the bathroom
before
Aura.

The two walked the dark streets of North Hell, passing closed merchant carts and shops till they arrived at the Northern Gate. Already waiting there was Phoenix, Shiva, Goddard, Wilhelm, and Leona. Aura’s heart skipped a beat when he noticed her in the crowd and quickened his pace.

“Mornin’, all,” Aura said politely. “And miss Leona, a very special good morning to you.” He bowed, reaching for her hand to kiss. Leona yanked her hand back so fast that Aura didn’t even realize he was kissing his own hand for a second.

“What’s with the bags?” Ash asked, referring to the two large backpacks sitting on the ground. He began to guess what they were for when he realized Shiva was already wearing one.

“Grab a bag, each of you,” Phoenix said. “Inside you’ll find some food rations. Once we get to the forest, this will be your only source of food.
Treasure it
.”

The boys picked up the backpacks and were blown away by how unexpectedly heavy they were. There must have been
a lot
of food inside. They adjusted to the weight while Goddard took a moment to give them a warning.

“If any of you should die in the Hellwood, Lady Shiva will be eternally dishonored in the eyes of the King,” he said.

“You bastards better not go dying on me!” Shiva said.

Yazma and Gio showed up to say goodbye as well. They told them how Goddard had sent them each word that the team was taking a trip to the Hellwood. Goddard had offered the chance to come say goodbye to their friends,
possibly for the last time
. The group didn’t like the sound of that. One more person stepped up to say goodbye to the group, and Aura quickly averted his eyes from him.

“I’ve come to see you all off,” Amos said. “I brought with me some weapons I thought you could use.” He handed Shiva a pair of short daggers. “I thought you might like these for the speed at close quarters.” He handed Ash a sword with a steel blade. “I thought you could probably use the real thing now.” At last his eyes landed on his son Aura. Amos handed him his last sword.

“No thanks,” Aura said. “I don’t need it.”

“The Hellwood is a dangerous place. You’d be wise to not underestimate it.”

“And you’d be wise not to underestimate
me
,” replied Aura.

Amos backed off. He wished the team luck and then disappeared, adding a little flame to the morning sun as he walked off.

“It is time, everyone,” Phoenix said. “Time to set out. Open the gates!”

The Royal Guards that stood atop the wall began the process of cranking the giant steel doors open. Everyone shouted a final farewell to the group over the loud cranking.

“Good luck Shiva, Boys!”

“Remember your training!”

“If you tear that coat again I swear I’ll kill you!”

Leona sat silently, staring like a puppy as her master left. Aura noticed her again, of course. He could feel the sadness in her eyes before she took notice of him staring at her. She looked away.

“Why can’t Leona come with us?” Aura asked Phoenix.

“Leona is not strong enough to go to the Hellwood. She would
die
,” Phoenix said.

As the gate doors came to a halt in the open position, the team realized the scope of what they were doing. They could see for only a few feet outside of the castle wall before everything in the distance turned to darkness. To get to the forest, they would first have to cross the great plain.

As they began to leave, the Royal Guards posted atop the wall took notice of their departure and closed the doors right behind them. The team was shut off from the kingdom, like when they ventured out to hunt rebels. While being
anywhere
outside the kingdom walls was considered dangerous, the Hellwood had the reputation of being the second worst place one could venture to, right after the Negative Divide.

“Stay silent out here,” Phoenix said. “We don’t want to attract any more demons than we already will be.” Phoenix was referring to his mini-sun that hovered above the group, lighting up the immediate area. The group followed his instructions and stayed silent. It was quiet the first ten minutes of the trip, until Phoenix abruptly stopped walking. Everyone else stopped and stared at him.

“Do you feel it?” he asked. “We’re being followed. Most likely a pack of small demons. Can’t be more than thirty yards that way,” he said looking to their right. “It’s okay though, we can use this as another training opportunity. Your job will be to keep us alive. If you feel anything get any closer than ten yards away, shoot at it. The demons out here are hungry, but they’re also cowardly. They’ll only attack when they think we can’t see them.”

True to Phoenix’s word, it wasn’t long before one of the demons wandered close enough that Shiva decided she should attack it. With a single fireball they could see their followers were some kind of large cat demon, most likely a cougar type. But just like Phoenix had said, they would only pounce once and left as soon as they got hit by a fireball.

They traveled like this for hours, stopping occasionally to blast at an attacking demon. They followed a path of signs, all pointing towards the Hellwood forest. At the mid point there was even a little table and bonfire pit for them to rest at. For Ash and Aura, this was their first dip into their rations. Ash snacked on a chunk of demon-bacon while Aura nibbled on cheese biscuits. Shiva, being much more disciplined and wanting to show off, skipped eating. Instead she sat silently with her back to the fire, staring out into the darkness and trying to locate any sneaking demons.

“You’re quite the serious sentinel,” Phoenix said as he approached her.

“I can’t let these idiots get themselves killed,” Shiva said. “My honor is riding on it.”

“The Royal Advisor really knows how to push your buttons.”

“Having these two die on me would be the single greatest embarrassment I could earn myself. Everyone would know I was such a bad leader I couldn’t even keep
two
morons
alive. That’d be awful.”

“I am beginning to think those two won’t die so easily,” said Phoenix. “But hypothetically, if they do not make it back from this survival training excursion, would you miss them?”

Shiva glanced over at the table where Ash was spacing out listening to the musical device she found for him. The boy struggled to stay awake sitting next to the fire. Aura was no better, as he fixed his hair using a comb and a small mirror he kept in his pocket at all times.  He definitely wasn’t prepared for a demon attack.

“Not really.”

They pressed on once more, following the next sign’s arrow toward the Hellwood. The terrain changed over time the closer they got. It went from a fairly open and boring grassland to a plain of small trees and shrubs. After long, a noticeable tree line could be seen in the distance. A final sign pointed towards a large dirt path carved in the ground that passed through the tree line and entered the Hellwood. Ash felt a lump gather in his throat as he walked the path taking him into the famous, dangerous Hellwood.

The group had guiding lights of their own, which gave off a little more light than a flashlight would. Phoenix had to shrink his mini-sun to a more personal size because having too much light in the forest would attract too many hungry demons. He assured the group it would be a short walk to the Safe House.

The wind howled through the treetops, filling the chilly air with a sense of dread. The team’s eyes darted everywhere, constantly on the look out for demons. Ash had memorized about a dozen different insects to avoid, most of which were either airborne or lived in the trees. He kept a safe distance from every tree they passed by.

They walked the path through the Hellwood until the trees began to double and then triple in size. At the entrance to the forest, the trees were short enough that Ash could still see the moon in the night sky above them. After a while, the moon disappeared behind those enormously tall trees and he knew they were deep in the forest. The path at last deposited them in front of a long log cabin.

The cabin looked to be only one story tall and had no windows. Ash was reminded of the primitive frontier-style log cabins he’d seen in his human history books on Earth. The Safe House was a larger, simpler version of a log home. Phoenix knocked three times on the front door and the team waited patiently until they heard the sound of multiple locks being opened. After a few seconds of this, the door swung open and a burly, bearded man welcomed them in.

Phoenix introduced the team and explained to the logging man that they would be taking a trip out into the forest. The logger, who introduced himself as Smitty, had a piece of advice for them.

“Traveling through the Hellwood alone is strictly forbidden for us loggers. We stick to teams of at least three, and only do our logging during the designated daylight hours out here,” Smitty said.

Being so far away from the kingdom, the artificial sun could barely be seen off in the distance. The amount of light it shed that far into the forest was nonexistent. Out here, they depended on their own smaller artificial sun that they’d create only when they head out to bring down more trees.

“These three will be heading out into the forest on their own, actually,” Phoenix said. “It’s survival training.”

“These kids?
Survival
training?” Smitty took a closer look at the team. One of the boys looked strong enough, with a metal gauntlet on one hand. The other boy didn’t look like anything special. And Lady Shiva? Well, she was related to Prince Darko after all… “Good luck and nice knowin’ you is all I have to say,” said Smitty.

The logger showed them all to their bunks. They caught glimpses of some of the other loggers in their own bunks, sleeping or reading letters from their loved ones. Luckily, one of the vacant rooms had two bunk beds inside. Smitty left them to settle in and closed their door for privacy.

“The loggers tell me they’ll start working in about five hours. That’s when they’ll create their mini-sun. That’s when you three will depart. I suggest you get some rest until then,” Phoenix said. With that, he hopped on one of the top bunks and lay down. Shiva took the other top bunk before Ash or Aura could lay claim to it.

Deciding that a little rest would be a good idea, the boys dropped their backpacks and claimed their own beds. As Ash settled into his bunk lying on his back, he noticed something dark and strange clinging to the bed frame directly above his head. The boy stared at it silently for a few seconds attempting to deduce what it could be. Then the mysterious shape moved.

Ash freaked out as anyone would upon realizing there was an enormous insect in his bunk. He rolled off the bed just in time as the bug dropped and got lost underneath the blanket. Aura was at his side at once, while Shiva merely looked down at them. Phoenix didn’t show any movements at all.

“What is it?” Aura asked.

“Some kind of…
spider
.” Ash shuddered at the thought. If he had ignored the odd shape, it would have fallen right on top of him. He struggled to lift the blanket, fearing the small demon insect that lurked beneath it.

“Here, use this,” Aura said handing Ash his sword. Ash carefully lifted the blanket with the tip of the sword, making sure not to stand too close to the bed. Lifting the blanket revealed an empty bed. The boys scratched their heads as they carefully scoured the sheets looking for any trace of the disgusting demon spider. They were almost so intently focused on the bed that they missed the spider dart down the blade towards Ash’s hand.

Ash saw it at the last second and screamed, tossing his sword across the small room. Shiva got a hearty laugh out of the situation, as Ash and Aura both threw small fireballs at the demon. Only after the spider had been burnt and squashed by Aura’s boot did the logger Smitty burst in through the door.

“Did I hear the Lady scream in here?” Smitty asked.

“That wasn’t me!” Shiva said. “It was
him
!”