Reborn: Demon's Heritage

by D. W. Jackson

  “We don’t have all day, so why don’t we get down to the issue,” a tall yet slightly overweight man said with a sneer. “If all your men lay down their arms and surrender the demon spawn, then you shall be spared. Those are the only terms you shall receive and this is the only time you will be offered them.”

  “Lord Hawkwing I think the terms are unacceptable what are your views?” Jorin asked with a hint of a smile on his face.

  “I completely agree,” Ash said, his hand slightly inching toward the sword on his belt.

  “It seems that we have come to a standstill. Though I must admit that I am surprised that the knight commander of the king would be here. I see that his majesty does not even hold to his own laws.”

  “Watch your mouth or I will have you hung for treason,” the portly man said with a sneer. “Regis has retired as the knight commander and I simply hired him. The king has nothing to do with this war.”

  “That is a joke and you know it,” Jorin said with a look of utter disdain on his face. “You can try and pitch that line to some young fool, but don’t think I will swallow it. If you didn’t have the king’s support then there is no way that you would be able to raise a force this large. Now if you would please leave, I have had about as much as I can stand of the stench of honor-less dogs.”

  The two dukes faces paled, but they made no sign of moving for their weapons. They quickly turned and left, leaving behind only the bald soldier. “Regis, is there something else that you need?” Jorin said in a dismissive tone.

  “Count Harding, we have long known each other. I know that you are a man of honor and I just ask that you make the choice that is best for the kingdom and for the men under your command.”

  “I used to think that you were a man of honor as well, but it seems that I was wrong,” Jorin nearly yelled. “This is Hawkwing land and as long as my men and I live, we will not stand to see if defiled by the likes of people who have already sold their soul and honor for a few bits of gold.”

  “It saddens me that you see me as such,” Regis said with obvious pain in his voice.

  “It saddens me to see that you sold your honor. Your father would be turning in his grave if he saw you. Now leave, I have had enough of the stench of your disgrace.”

  Though the man looked to be a seasoned warrior he hung his head in shame as he left the building. Once he was gone, Jorin sat down in his chair, his face looking to have aged more than ten years in a moment’s time. Jorin picked up the bottle of brandy and drank straight from the bottle.

  “Someone you know?” Ash asked.

  “Aye. I served with his father when I was a young man. I was there when the boy was born he always had a good head on his shoulders, so when he came of age both me and his father supported him in becoming a knight under the king’s banner. If I had known it would have come to this, I would have demanded that he serve the duchy just as his father did.”

  For the rest of the evening, Ash and the others sat in silence drinking. Allice nursed her drink without asking for another. By the time they went back to their own tent, the sky was already dark and only the light from a few campfires lit the area.

  For hours Ash lay awake with Allice nestled up against him. Her soft breathing helped ease his tense nerves, but he still couldn’t sleep. After laying still for more than an hour, Ash quietly left the bed and walked outside to feel the cool night air against his skin. He didn’t know why, but soon Ash found himself on the west wall looking out at the enemy camp.

  “They will attack tomorrow,” A light voice said from Ash’s side. Turning around, Ash noticed that Marilyn had moved up next to him.

  “I was surprised to see you here,” Ash said, turning his attention back to the numerous tents of the enemy that had sprouted in the distance. “I thought that you were back at the capital training the new recruits.”

  “I was,” she admitted. “But I asked to be reassigned. I didn’t want to be sitting in safety while everyone else was fighting. It just didn’t seem right.”

  “I can understand that,” Ash said remembering his own feeling when Emelia had asked him to stay behind.

  Without warning, his luck shield activated and Ash was covered in a light blue light. His eyes widened he turned to find Marilyn holding a dagger in her right hand, her eyes looking at him as if he were some sort of monster. “Why?”

  “You have corrupted the duchess and brought this war to us,” Marilyn spat. “The second I learned that you had demon blood, I knew that something was wrong. I went to the duchess, but she had already been taken in by your lies and deceit. I was left with no other choice. I sent word to the king of the truth and my fears.”

  “You gave your word to keep your silence,” Ash said, his anger rising.

  “Who would keep their word given to a demon spawn,” she said as she lunged at Ash.

  Ash wasn’t taken by surprised and quickly grasped her hand with his own twisting her arm behind her. His left hand went to where his sword should be but he was left with only air as he remembered he left his sword lying beside his bed. Marilyn struggled but soon a number of knights who heard the commotion started to gather.

  “What is going on?” Matt asked as he came up the stairs to find Ash holding Marilyn against the ground.

  “She tried to kill me,” Ash said as he let the knight go and quickly took a step back.

  When Matt looked at Marilyn, she just sneered at him. “He is a demon and the enemy of all humankind, why shouldn’t I kill him?”

  Matt let out a heavy sigh as he pulled his sword free from its scabbard. Without a word his sword flashed and Marilyn’s head flew up and over the edge of the battlements to fall on the ground below. After cleaning his sword, Matt turned and bowed down before Ash. “Lord Hawkwing, I ask your forgiveness. For one under my command to draw their blade against you, I have no excuse.”

  Ash was still shocked but he had a clear enough mind to know that it wasn’t the man in front of him that had meant him harm. “Matt, no need for this,” Ash said shaking his head. “Get off your feet and get some rest. We have enough worries without the added weight of guilt holding us down.”

  Matt stood and gave Ash a warm smile though it was obvious what had transpired still weighed heavily on his mind.

  Not knowing what to say, Ash started back down the stairs to return to his tent and if possible to get some sleep, though he didn’t think it likely. There was just too much going on in his mind.

  Ash found Allice still sleeping soundly when he entered the tent and with a shake of his head, he took his place next to her taking some small comfort in the warmth from her body.

  That night as Ash slept, a warm sensation covered his body and a pain shot through his heart. His dreams were disturbed and he felt a sense of loss.

  8-8

  The next morning Ash was woken well before the sun rose by the sounds of shouting. He didn’t know why, but Ash still felt a pain in his chest when he woke. It was as if the whole world had darkened slightly. At the same time, there was a slight ray of hope building. It was a confusing feeling and one that Ash didn’t understand. Shaking his head, Ash shook Allice slightly until she opened her eyes.

  Ash couldn’t help but smile as he watched Allice wipe the sleep from her eyes. “Morning Ash,” Allice said as she laid her head against his shoulder.

  “Allice, today I want you to stay in the tent,” Ash said as he stood from the bed.

  “Yes master,” Allice said quickly but Ash could tell that she wasn’t happy with his order.

  After getting dressed, Ash quickly left the tent and joined the large group of knights that had gathered on top of the walls. It didn’t take him long to find Matt among the others. “Are they going to attack?” Ash asked as he moved to stand beside the knight captain.

  “They are starting to form up ranks,” Matt said, his eyes never leaving the field. “I am guessing that we have less than an hour before we are under siege.”

  “What is the plan?” As
h asked, trying to keep himself calm while his heart was pounding wildly. He had been in a number of fights, but never had he felt that death was nearer than it was at this moment. They were easily outnumbered forty to one and with little hope of reinforcements. Their death was almost assured, the only question was how long could they hold out. Every day they could keep the enemy at bay was one more day the capital had to reinforce their defenses. The main question in Ash’s mind was not how he could survive, but how to keep Allice from perishing along with the rest of them. She was not the only non-combatant in the fort, but they made up less than twenty people within the compound. As long as the enemies adhered to the rules of war, the civilians would not be touched, but nothing would stop a stray arrow from taking a life.

  “Right now we have all the soldiers lining up with bows. When the enemy charges, they will try and reduce their numbers. If the enemy is smart, they will send the fodder first to test us. They will most likely attack throughout the night and into the next day. Each time they will send more and more against us until they overrun us.”

  “How long do you think we can hold out?”

  “Three days if we are lucky. One if they don’t care how many people they lose. Most of it is left up to luck and their commander. We have limited actions while they have numerous ones they can employ. This is the worst part of any defensive battle.”

  Ash took his place on the far end of the wall opposite Gabe. The main forces on the wall were regular soldiers with a few knight scouts mixed among them. Those that couldn’t fit on the wall waited in the main area of the fort in case the wall was somehow breached.

  Just as Matt had predicted, the first wave of a thousand men surged toward them. It looked like a small number when compared to the large force waiting behind, but it was still half the number that stood inside the fort and almost triple that of what could man the walls. The men ran in groups of five carrying long ladders that could be used to scale the wall. A few also carried bows with the hopes of taking out a few men if they were able to get close enough.

  Ash had a number of abilities, but none of the seemed to of much use at a great distance. All he could rely on was his earth magic. He looked out at the large number of people rushing toward the fort and he felt his pulse race. Ash had trained with the knights and soldiers over the weeks so he knew the range of his magic was slightly less than that of a skilled archer so even though he wanted to strike at the numerous soldiers, he could only watch as the human wave surged forward.

  When the enemy passed a number of marked stones on the ground, the soldiers lifted their long bows and a loud twang filled the air as countless arrows filled the air. As the arrows fell to the ground, less than a quarter of them found their mark and even those few seemed to do little to detour the advancing horde. Yet the bows continued to ring out and the air filled with the sound of the bowstrings. When the first sounds of death mixed with the sound of bows ringing out reached Ash’s ears, it was almost like some macabre sonata of death.

  When the enemy reached the second set of marked stones, they were forced to slow down due to the number of pits that the knights had dug over the past months. At the same time, Ash and Gabe raised their hands and started their part of the battle. Next to Ash were a number of large buckets of dirt. Reaching down, Ash touched the dirt and four orbs about the size of a man’s head rose into the air. The orbs quickly shifted to look like large stone spears and flew out, each one finding its target. Ash could cast the same spell even without the use of dirt, but it would more than triple his mana use.

  By the time the enemy reached the third set of marked stones, they had already lost a quarter of their soldiers and at the reduced distance, they were going down even faster. Though they had received heavy losses, things had slightly turned. A number of enemy soldiers lifted their own bows and while many of the arrows fell short, more than enough found their home in one of the defenders. Each time someone was injured, they were brought down and someone quickly replaced them. A few arrows flew toward Ash, but he was able to easily knock them aside.

  By the time they reached the fourth and final set of marked stones, the enemies had lost over eighty percent of their men and a loud horn sounded. As the men turned to run, Ash started to target the fleeing forces. A strong hand rested on his shoulder as he let loose another set of stone spears. Turning his head, Ash found Matt standing beside him with a wide grin.

  “Save your magic, there will be plenty of chances for you to use it.”

  During the battle, Ash had used less than a quarter of his MP while Gabe had used slightly over half. They both left the wall to rest and recover as they waited for the next attack. As they took their places to rest, a fire and wind mage took their place. There was a total of six mages at the fort, if one were to include Ash. The plan was simple, they would switch with the other mages to give time for their MP to recover. The fire mages were the best suited to attack and were paired with the wind and water mages to help even out the groups.

  “Master, are you ok?” Allice asked running up to him as soon as he was back on the ground with a worried look on her face.

  “I am fine,” Ash said with a slight grin.

  “I don’t know if I can do this,” Gabe said as he shook slightly.

  “First time in a battle?” Ash asked, feeling a slight twinge of pity for the young man.

  “N-no but this is the first time I have been in such a large scale battle,” Gabe said, his face going slightly white. “There were just so many of them.”

  Ash silently agreed. That was the reason that he hadn’t tried to look over the entire battlefield. No matter how seasoned a person was, that amount of death was too much to take in. It was better just to focus on a small area and try and block out the overwhelming sounds of death.

  After the first battle, the ground was cleared of the dead and wounded. Ash didn’t ask why no one attacked while the enemy cleared their wounded and dead since he had long ago learned the rules that this world used for war. It seemed slightly foolish to allow them to clear the field as the dead bodies would slow down the next advance, but as long as the rules of war were followed, there would be less unneeded death at the end. At least it would make sure that Allice would be left unharmed as long as she didn’t take up arms during the battle.

  As soon as the field was clear, the second battle began. Even from where he sat, Ash could clearly hear the sounds of death. Ash couldn’t help but watch as soldiers were brought down from the wall to be treated in the medical tent. Surprisingly, there were five full healers in the camp. From what Jorin had said, the church of Altina had dispatched priests and priestesses to each fort in show of support of the duchess. Not only had they sent healers, but it seemed that they had also sent out word that no one associated with the church were to fight against them. This might not seem like much, but there was a number of strong knights and fighters who were in the service of the church and every one of them that was forced to hold back increased their chances of winning the war, though with the numbers that stood before them part of that hope had been drowned out.

  Thanks to the healers so far, less than ten people had died and many of the injured were already ready for their next chance to man the walls. Seeing how fast the people who were healed were back up and ready to fight, Ash could only feel wonder once again at the way his new world worked.

  Almost too soon it was once again Ash’s turn to man the wall. It was only slightly past midday and this was already the fourth attack of the day. Unlike the first attack, this time it looked as if five times as many were ready to assault the walls. So far it had been two groups of one thousand and then one group of two thousand. Now it looked as if the enemy was going to take them seriously.

  As the men raced toward the fort, Ash could hear the sound of his heart beating in his ears. Soon that was replaced by the sound of arrows filling the sky. Once again Ash was forced to launch attack after attack. Before he knew it, he had used over half his MP. Breathing hard,
Ash looked to where Gabe stood on the other end of the wall to find the mage was already kneeling on the ground his MP totally exhausted.

  Ash continued to cast his spells as arrows rained down onto him and the other knights. Soon it was not just arrows, but magic as well that filled the air. More than five mages had joined in the enemies attacks. By the time Ash’s MP had been reduced to only a quarter, the soldiers were starting to gain a foothold on the wall.

  Gasping for breath, Ash looked around to see the healers below working frantically to heal the numerous wounded that were being brought to them. Before he had a chance to take everything in, Ash was forced to take a step back as a sword struck from the side. Turning around, Ash found himself faced off against two enemy soldiers. Without hesitation, Ash used his ability Shadow Whip to strike them from the left hitting them hard and throwing them to the ground.

  Before he had a chance to enjoy his victory, more and more soldiers began to appear on the wall. Ash fought hard and started to save his MP for when it was most needed. His blade flashed time after time and luckily most the normal soldiers were wearing thin leather armor. After the battle had lasted for more than three hours, Ash was breathing heavy with only seventy MP left. He quickly drank a mana potion but even that would only slowly help in recovery.

  A blue spark flashed and Ash felt his MP drain by forty points instantly. His body aching, Ash turned to fight against his new adversary only to find himself faced off against a heavily armored knight. Cursing his luck, Ash took a step back and readied himself. The knight was fast and skilled and in the narrow space of the wall, Ash had trouble finding the room to dodge his attacks. As a strike came in to his left, Ash slid right aiming his strike at the joints in the knight’s elbow. His strike was true, but it was a small victory as the blade only able to make a small cut before the knight drew back his arm and attacked with a sweeping strike. Ash tried to moved back, but found himself near the edge of the wall with the small lookout tower blocking his path. His luck shield flared and Ash once again felt his MP drain, but it wasn’t enough and the sword broke free and struck him in the side leaving behind a deep cut just above his waist.