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The assassin stood stunned as Ulric’s remaining gang member struggled for his freedom. CJ knocked him unconscious with the butt of his gun before cursing at the strange man with devil wings who left him behind.
     

Part Five: The Devil’s Duel
     
    Aster didn’t care about keeping a low profile anymore. Not when his mission was in jeopardy. If Ulric escaped now, Aster’s stay on Earth would become significantly prolonged. That was something he could not afford to let happen considering the dismal state of affairs in Hell currently. Being down a Commander was unacceptable and Aster knew he had to get back home immediately with Ulric in tow.
    The devil flew high above the Earth, looking for anything that might be the so-called ‘train’ vehicle that Ulric was apparently aboard. He flew over several riders on horseback, but could not tell if any of them looked up and saw him. The setting sun probably helped to hide him as well. Of course, since Aster wasn’t used to a real sun he found the extra light it shed to be a pain for his eyes. He squinted and slid his cowboy hat down a little to help shield his eyes.
    After a while Aster found what he assumed was the train: a long, rectangular vehicle that appeared to follow a set track through the barren landscape. Though he had no idea how it moved, he was still impressed with the technological advancements of the humans. He flew in low aiming for the rear end of the enormous vehicle, landing and retracting his wings outside the back door.
    With a deep breath, Aster pushed open the door and stepped inside the car. He did not expect to find the car completely filled with people, all of which turned to look at him immediately. Aster feigned a nervous smile, trying not to make eye contact with any of them.
    “ I thought we were in the end car …” an older gentleman whispered to his wife.
    “ Where did that guy come from ?” another guy asked his friend.
    Aster ignored them and continued moving forward. It was clear to him as he scoured the sea of faces that Ulric was not in this car. He walked through the front door of the car, stepping outside momentarily to pass through the next door and into the next car.
    The same scene played out, except this time less people seemed to care about his arrival. He moved as fast as he could while still going slow enough to check everyone’s faces. Some offended folks objected to his search, scowling at him or asking questions, but he ignored them and kept moving. No time for caring about what humans thought of him.
    After moving through three more cars, Aster began to notice a following of men behind him. They moved slower, trying to stay inconspicuously off his radar, but Aster was no fool. He could tell his presence had alarmed them and now they were starting to take action. If he didn’t find Ulric soon he’d have more trouble to deal with.
    Aster lost count of how many cars he’d examined as he walked through the door into a new one. This time almost no one bothered to look at him as he entered. This made it a slower-going process of walking down the aisle, examining the people to his left and right as he went. It didn’t help that everyone dressed so similarly. The men all wore either dark suits with top hats or the more casual, practical cowboy outfit he was also dressed in. The women all wore cumbersome dresses, but he ignored them for the most part.
    Aster reached the final passenger car and could not go any further. This car was different from the rest in that it had many private ‘rooms’ for the higher-class riders. Six rooms in total, with three on either side of the car.
    If Ulric is on this train, he must be in one of those rooms , Aster thought. That, or I already passed him .
    Without much forethought Aster went to the first private room door and threw it open without so much as a polite knock. Inside there was only one woman dressed a spotless white dress. She looked much cleaner than the rest of the human women