Devil Ash Days (Devil Ash Saga) Read Free Page B

took Arthemise’s hand in his and placed the gate key in her open palm. She responded with a nod of acknowledgement.
    “Are you ready, Cyril?” Sosime asked.
    “Ready as I’ll ever be,” he said.
    “Wait!” Ash said. “Can you really fight that many?”
    “I’m tougher than I look,” Sosime said. “Plus, I have this .” He pulled from an inside pocket of his suit coat a long, narrow tube. Ash had no idea what it was and neither did Grace. But the angel seemed confident enough.
    “Give us one minute and then run,” Sosime said. “Let’s go.” Cyril followed him as they headed to the front door. They each gave one last look back, nodded, and opened the front door. From behind the sofa, Ash and his mother watched as the two men ran outside into the front yard were they were surrounded by the demons.
    “Will they really be okay?” Ash asked Arthemise. “There are a lot of demons out there.”
    “Sir Sosime is an Archangel, the mightiest of our ranks,” Arthemise said. “Lesser demons of this caliber are no match for him.”
    “What about Cyril?” Grace asked.
    “Cyril? Well…he and I have both had one week of intensive training.”
     
    Outside, the two men stood back to back. The pack of wolf-like demons moved in on them. The first demon to make its move pounced at Sosime.
    “You should look away,” Arthemise told the humans.
    “No way,” Ash whispered, moving in closer to the window.
    Much like before, Sosime lifted his arms and pointed his palms at the creature, blasting it with light. This time, instead of recoiling in terror, Ash and Grace watched with open eyes the magic of the holy light. It was so bright and overpowering, the demon was lost inside the beam until Sosime stopped and the light disappeared. The sniffer dropped to the ground dead.
    But where they found a moment of success, more demons stepped in to fill the void the previous one left. It was not yet time to celebrate. The night of demons was only just beginning. Arthemise and the humans watched from the temporary safety inside the house as the two angels outside let loose more blasts of holy light, clearing away more of the demons.
    “I think it’s been more than a minute,” Arthemise said. “We should be going now, before they notice us.”
    The humans nodded and followed Arthemise back through the kitchen where the dead demon still laid and through the rear entryway. Arthemise cracked the back door and peered outside. No sign of any demons. She opened the door and popped out, getting a more thorough look around the perimeter. Still nothing.
    “Let’s go, quickly now,” she whispered.
    Ash and Grace followed Arthemise through the backyard and into the empty field they owned. Every couple of seconds the sky would light up around them. Sometimes, they would see the lightning bolt that caused it. But when the light came from behind them, they knew it was the angels attacking. 
     
    Four demons remained. Sosime hadn’t even begun to tire himself out, but Cyril was starting to sweat. He wasn’t used to this much physical activity. Back where he came from he was more of a pencil pusher. He had only been in combat training for a week, after all. Sosime could hear his heart rate increasing and his breathing becoming heavier.
    “If you are beginning to tire, you may rest. I will provide defense,” Sosime said.
    “I could not burden you, sir.”
    “These beasts are mere lesser demons; they hardly provide a challenge for me.”
    “I volunteered for this mission to be of use to you, sir. If I allowed my usefulness to become hindrance, even if only for a moment, it would be too much.”
    Their ‘break’ was interrupted by a fast-moving incoming demon. Jagged fangs glistened with every strike of lightning. Cyril concentrated hard and shot forth another beam of light. The beam blasted a small hole through the demon’s torso, knocking it to the ground. It was hurt but not dead.
    “I’ll show you my greatest trick,” he