Reborn: 6-10

by D. W. Jackson

  Taking a deep breath Ash look up at the dark green cloth ceiling of the tent then looked back to the group of demons gathered before him. There were far more than he had anticipated. It seemed that the clan heads had moved fast after leaving his palace and almost all of the commanders were present.

  “We have received new that the enemy forces are less than two weeks away from the duchy capital,” Ash said trying to keep his tone even. “I am sure that each of you have received your orders but I wanted to bring you all together at least once so that we could make sure that everyone was sure of their part in the coming battle.”

  When none of the commanders said anything Ash continued. “We are expecting that the enemy forces will surround the fort and erect siege weapons before attacking but if they directly assault the fort then we will have to skip the first to plans of action and move directly to their third…So please keep that in mind.”

  “First for the positions and jobs. We have the first advanced company that is within the city itself. Your job is to make sure the citizens stay safe and to fight off any enemy troops that try to scale the wall. If everything goes as predicted they enemy will pay little attention to the city until the fort has fallen or unless they start to run down on supplies. If that is the case you may use your best judgment on how to hinder the enemy during the main battle.”

  “Understood,” the commander said nodding his head while his hand was rested gently on his chin.

  “Second is the second through seventh phoenix companies. You are the main fighting force of the army. You job is to attack the enemy forces on the side when they are occupied with the fort. This should throw them into disarray and allow our other forces to be more effective.”

  “The first and third mage companies will use fire and earth magic to help heard the enemy to the north when they try to retreat. While the second through forty flying corps will sword down from the north after they have been fully committed to retreating. Do we have any questions?”

  “What if they do not retreat?” the commander of the flying corps asked.

  “Then I don’t want you to expose yourself. If they entrench their forces and prepare to fight it out we will pull back and reevaluate our choices.”

  A few other questions were asked but for the most part everyone knew what they were supposed to do during the battle since Ash and the sage had tried to keep it simple. There were a number of problems that could occur during the battle but each commander was given enough leeway that they could make decisions if things do not go as planned.

  After the meeting Ash retired to his personal tent to look over the new reports that had come in. Not only did it have troop number but it also have the average level and equipment of each group. The reason Ash asked for this was just because of the war but because he knew he was still lacking in common knowledge.

  The army was broken up into three types of troops; common, advance, and elite troops. Even though the demons had been created for war there were some that were still better built to fight than others. The common troops had only one to two abilities and the average level of a soldier was forty-three. The advanced groups had three to four abilities and had an average level of forty-seven. Lastly the elite troops had five or more abilities and their levels average was forty-five.

  Ash was more than a little startled when he found that the average level was the same but then again the number of abilities one had did change how good a person could fight during a battle.

  Just like humans demons also had guild-like groups though it was all based on army. Every demon joined their clan’s army and gained one of four jobs. There were a few cases where a demon was born within a clan who didn’t have any abilities that would be good with a job the clan had and they were often sent to another clan if they were acceptable.

  Ash had once asked the sage how jobs were made. It seemed that the description of the gods helping make them was mostly a lie. Each guild or job center was made of a large crystal that was made from processing monster cores and turning them into soul crystals. The small one that Ash used when he advanced to his second profession level could be made from two processed monster cores while the large ones which were the source of the guilds skills that had been saved over the years cost fifty cores to make at a minimal.

  From the way the sage explained it the soul crystals worked like an ability scroll instead it was reusable and could be loaded with any skill that a person made on their own. Ash knew that one could receive a job title even if they didn’t go to a guild as the heavens would assign it but that person would have to create their own skills. It seemed that at one point one of these people learned how to make a soul creature so that they could pass down their jobs and skills to the next generation.

  Thanks to this even if the soldier’s levels were close to being even there was a vast difference in their jobs and what skills and abilities they could use. The elite members got a higher level job and were offered more advanced and desirable skills. It seemed a little unfair but no matter where one looked in life they would find that some people were born with talent while others weren’t and while some could overcome this with hard work the majority could not.

  While the soldiers levels were all close to each other the same could not be said of the commanders. The weakest of the officers was only at level forty-one while the strongest was level eighty-seven. In fact there were a number of high level regular soldiers though most of them were soldiers. The only reason the average level was so low was because most of the troops were only around level twenty.

  Though Ash was able to level up fairly easy once you reached level twenty it became incredibly hard and time consuming to reach the next level. The humans used the party formation to level up but the demons didn’t do the same thing. In fact many demons died every year during training. The reason for this was because that the demons felt that outside of sparing leveling should be done by one’s own skill. It was for that reason that only people of the shame level were paired together to train within the labyrinth.

  Ash could see the reasoning behind the demon’s decision. A person without training with a sword would be far weaker than a person with training no matter what their level. The same could be said with how to use ones abilities and skills. Ash had already learned firsthand the difference between having an ability and understanding how to use it. If a person was forced to borrow another person’s power in order to gain levels then the levels were never truly their own and they would be far weaker than a person of the same level who gained it through their own power. There stats might be close to the same but the experience in real battles between the two would be vastly different.

  As Ash read through the papers he thought about a number of things as he made marks on a scrap piece of paper.

  Demonic Valor #10-6

  As the day passed more and more soldiers arrived from the other side of the mountain and soon the forest was so full of demons Ash was afraid that the illusion that had been put up wouldn’t be able to hide them all.

  Two times over the past weeks Ash had moved with the scouts to check out the area. One time they flew high over the enemy troops. To keep from being seen they brought along one of the illusionary mages to make them the same color of the sky. If they were close to the army it would be easy to tell the difference but since they were flying more than a hundred feet overhead they were completely undetectable.

  The second time they went to the duchy capital to see how the condition of the regular people were. It was odd for Ash to be so close to Emelia without seeing her. It had never been as hard as when they flew over the fort. He wanted to do nothing more than to land and let her know that he was alive but Ash had to admit it wasn’t worth the risk.

  There was too much of a chance that there were spies within the fort, or those who hated demons so much they would turn on Emelia if they knew that Ash was waiting not far away with an army of them ready to come to her aid during the coming battle.

  During h
is short say within the limits of the city Ash spent a good amount of time looking at his own house from more than fifty feet away. He had seen Yuki coming back from her school. The young fox girl looked slightly older than she had last time Ash had seen her but she was so far away that it was hard for him to tell for sure.

  Today once again Ash looked at the fort where his wife waited for him though this time it was different since he was not the only one watching the fort. Coming from the west was an endless number of soldiers marching with hate filled eyes.

  Ash wanted to move closer but the mages had only cast a think illusion of a tree over him so the closer someone came to him the easier it would be to see through his disguise. Just before he turned around to go back into the forest Ash noticed a woman wearing a dark red dress step on top of the battlements.

  There Emelia stood looking more beautiful than she had ever looked before. She raised her head and looked across the field at the enemy approaching her and let out a sneer then her eyes flickered and she turned in the direction of where Ash was standing. For an eerie moment Ash almost thought that she was looking right at him before she let out a weak smile and left the battlements.

  With his stomach tied in knots Ash turned around and left the field at a dead run. “How does it look my lord?” Li asked holding her staff tightly to her chest.

  “Everything is happening as planned so far,” Ash replied. Now we just have to wait to see if they set up camp for or go straight to attacking.”

  Ash and a number of other officers crouched near the edge of the forest to watch the enemy. Even though they could clearly be seen it still took more than two hours for all of them to come to a standstill. Just as expected they started making camp and then started sending soldiers towards the forest to gather trees in order to start making siege weapons.

  When the near two hundred men broke off from the main force Ash and the others moved back and sent a signal to the soldiers.

  Though they couldn’t risk the enemy learning that a horde of demons were waiting for them not only inside the forest but in a number of other locations as well that didn’t mean they couldn’t do anything to the soldiers. When they were far enough back Ash once again crouched down as twenty demons sung through the trees with bows on their backs. The illusionary mages would play much of a part in the larger war but this was the perfect place for them to display their skills.

  Once they were in position the demons made themselves look like parts of the trees they were standing in and waited until the enemy soldiers came close. Soon the twang of bows filled the forest followed by the shrill sounds of soldiers dying. Within moments the enemy soldiers ran from the forest in full flight.

  Once they were clear Ash once again moved up to the edge of the forest to watch the movements of the enemy. Ash could clearly see when more soldiers broke away from the main force to check on those returning. Even though the small encounter hadn’t lasted long the demons were able to kill over thirty of the enemy troops but it seemed as if they wouldn’t be deterred by such small losses as soon more soldiers were sent toward the forest though this time instead of a few hundred it looked closer to half a thousand troops had been dispatched.

  With the increased numbers the demons couldn’t afford to continue their attack without heavy risks of being exposed so leaving only a few well-hidden scouts behind Ash and the others returned to camp.

  Once they were back at camp reports came in every half hour. Just as they had expected the first order of business had been the construction of siege weapons. With such a large number of forces working on transporting the lumber most of it would be finished before nightfall but no one expected them to attack before the morning. There was always a chance but only a foolish commander would try a full assault when the light was waning. That was unless he was certain of a complete and quick victory.

  Other than preparing the siege weapons the enemy forces had also sent a small group of people to parley with the fort commanders but they left after less than a quarter of an hour.

  When the news came back that the soldiers had withdrawn from the forest Ash had wanted to return to watch them but neither his advisors nor his wives thought that it would be a good idea.

  Ash felt as if he had drank a bottle of snakes as much as his stomach was writhing around. He knew that most likely the battle would start in full but he still wished that it would begin earlier. Ash hated waiting and a part of him knew that once it was over he would wish it had never happened at all but that was life. He always seemed to be waiting on something that he never wished was needed.

  That night Ash didn’t sleep a wink but he was not alone in this as both Tolarea, and Li joined him in his nightly vigil though for different reasons. It was clear that Tolarea was eagerly awaiting her first real battle while Li much like Ash was nervous about what the dawn would bring.

  About half way through the night a messenger ran into the camp and straight into his tent. Since Ash was away from his tent he had to hurry to see what was happening. Just as the scout was leaving the tent Ash ran into him.

  “My lord we just received news that the enemy has launched a sneak attack on the city,” the scout said his words almost jumbled together.

  Ash let out a string of curses under his breath before calming down slightly. “What happened?”

  “They tried to send a thousand men over the eastern wall under the cover of darkness but out men were waiting on them along with a large number of civilians. They were able to push them back but more than a hundred civilians were kills and thirty of our demons. There were more injured but none of them fatal.”

  “What about the enemy?” Ash asked through gritted teeth as he worried about the many people he knew within the city. Ash didn’t know if he could take it if many of the people he knew died.

  “They lost more than half of their attacking force. It doesn’t seem like they expect the wall to be defended at all. Most likely they have some inside men within the city but they weren’t able to interfere thanks to our men but since we didn’t get a detailed report it is hard to tell,” the scout replied.

  “Is there anything else?” Ash asked though he was afraid of the reply.

  “No my lord,” the demon said hesitantly.

  “Then report to the rest of the commanders and let me know if anything more comes from the enemy’s side.”

  “Yes my lord,” the scout said before running toward the next tent.

  Once he had finished his talk with the messenger Ash returned to where he had been sitting previous at the edge of the camp. As soon as he was seated Ash pulled a small knife from its sheath while picking up a thick piece of tree about half the size of his hand and started shaving away thin strips of the wood.

  “Is everything ok?” Li asked in a slightly worried voice.

  “Just worried,” ash said without looking up.

  “Why worry,” Tolarea said as she pulled her sword from her back and practiced her swings. “If something happened then you can’t change it now. All you can do is prepare for tomorrow so that you can limit what you might regret.”

  As nearly dropped the knife in his hands. With a slightly surprised look on his face he turned his eyes toward Tolarea who looked at him and narrowed her eyes.

  “What?” She asked with her lips tightly pressed together.

  “I just never expected such inspiring and thoughtful words to come from you,” ash replied honestly without thinking.

  “Then what would you expect to come from me?” Tolarea asked while Li let out a barely contained giggle.

  “Something like. Tolarea destroy,” Ash said trying to do his best impression of an ogre.

  Tolarea’s face turned beat red as she stormed over to Ash and easily lifted his feet from the ground. “I am not an ogre,” Tolarea said with small flecks of spittle hitting Ash in the face.

  Even though he knew that he had already said too much Ash couldn’t help but laugh. When he saw Tolarea grip the handle of her sword he quick
ly raised his hands in defeat even though he knew that she couldn’t strike him with the intent to hurt him purposefully. “I was wrong,” Ash said quickly.

  Tolarea sat him down then stalked off back toward her tent while muttering. As he watched her go Ash couldn’t help but laugh again. He didn’t know why but it was fun to tease the giantess.

  “That was mean my lord,” Li said though with the large smile on her face it was hard to take her serious.

  “She will be fine,” Ash said confidently. It was not the first time he had teased Tolarea and she always got mad easily but she forgot it just as quickly or at least it appeared that she did though she was always a bit more aggressive the next time they practiced.

  While he was thinking he felt something soft and warm sit on his lap and noticed that Li’s arms were wrapped around his neck. “Everything will go well my lord,” Li said her voice holding far more confidence than he felt.

  “I hope so,” Ash replied weakly.

  Li didn’t try to comfort him more with words instead she gave him a warm kiss then jumped from his lap and headed back to her own tent only a few steps behind Tolarea.

  Shaking his head Ash thought about returning to his own bed but knew that it would be pointless so he turned his mind back to the small block of wood in his hands.

  Demonic Valor #10-7

  As the sun crested the horizon the next morning Ash along with thousands of demons waited at the edge of the forest while they watched the large human army as it formed up ranks to start their first assault on the fort.

  Heavy knights moved too slow and would make easy targets so they were at the rear of the group. At the front were thinly armored troops carrying long ladders. Before they started to charge the trebuchets that had been built the night before started to launch stone at the battlements. The first attack landed short of the wall so they were readjusted and the second attack more than half slammed into the magically enhanced walls.