Reborn: Demon's Heritage

by D. W. Jackson

  Just as the captain had tried to get him to leave, Ash had tried to get Allice to leave but she refused to leave his side. It left Ash in an odd position. He wanted Allice to be safe, but he had his duty as well, so in the end he could only pray that they had enough time.

  The soldiers were well trained and it took less than a half hour for all of them to disperse, leaving only Ash, Allice, and the captain. As the three exited the tunnel, the sun was already starting to set and they could hear the thundering of the approaching army in the distance. With a slight bow, the two men each ran in different directions.

  Allice had been following Ash’s training, but she was still not strong enough for prolonged runs so Ash was forced to carry her while he ran. They were heading north, hoping that the soldiers wouldn’t skirt their territory.

  After running as hard as he could for three hours, Ash was forced to stop. The sky was overcast with clods that covered much of the sky. Ash could still see thanks to his abilities, but he was tired and that coupled with carrying Allice made his stamina reduce at a far greater rate. With little choice, Ash found a nice spot and quickly used his magic to make a shallow pit for them to rest in.

  The wind was bitterly cold, but Ash was afraid that if he brought out his large tent that it would draw the wrong kind of attention. In the end, he could only use the blankets to try and stay warm. Ash was forced to sleep with Allice close to his body in order to conserve the heat.

  The next morning when Ash woke, he found the ground covered in a light dusting of snow. Looking up at the sky, he found that it was still overcast and looked as if more snow would fall at any time. Sighing, Ash nudged Allice with his boot. She rolled over and opened her eyes weakly giving him a sleepy smile. “Morning master,” Allice said in a groggy voice.

  “Get up, we need to keep moving,” Ash said as he rubbed his hands to try to warm them against the morning chill.

  Ash pulled out a piece of dried meat and stuffed it in his mouth before handing some over to Allice. She gave a disgruntled whine, but she stared to chew on the meat. Before they had a chance to leave, Ash heard the sound of hoof beats in the distant. Cursing, Ash picked up Allice who had the dried jerky still sticking out of the corner of her mouth and started to run.

  Ash at his fastest could outrun most horses, but not even he could keep that pace up for long. Ash looked behind him after he had started to run to see three men on horseback wearing the dark green colors of the enemy duchy. The men gave out a loud series of shouts and one of the men raised a copper rod into the air and a red flash of light shot into the air. Ash didn’t have to guess what it was since he had something similar in his own inventory. Ash was given one in case he was out scouting and found himself surrounded. It was to warn others that they enemy was near.

  Cursing, Ash put more strength into his legs and pushed himself running as fast as he could. After he had run more than a mile, Ash could feel his lungs start to burn. No matter how strong he was, his lungs still needed air to breath. It was one of the many factors that limited the people in this world just like in his last.

  Looking back over his shoulder, Ash noticed that he had widened the gap between him and the horseman, but they were still within sight. Ash knew that no matter how hard he ran, he would run out of breath long before the warhorses did. “I am going to set you down,” Ash said to Allice who was clinging tightly to his chest. “When I do, keep running.”

  “No, I will stay with you master,” Allice said.

  “Allice, I can’t fight and keep you safe at the same time,” Ash admitted. “We both have a better chance of surviving if I can fight without protecting you at the same time. I promise I will catch up to you as soon as I am done.”

  Allice didn’t reply, but she did nod her head and mumble something that was too soft for even Ash to hear. As soon as she conceded, Ash came to a sudden stop and placed Allice on the ground. Just as he had commanded, she took off running though to Ash she seemed awkward as she ran. Looking at Allice one last time, Ash gave a wry grin then turned back to face the two oncoming horsemen.

  Seeing Ash stop, the two men lifted their lances from their holders and leveled them at him. Ash gave a wicked laugh and sent him magic into the ground. A thin, yet sturdy six foot wall rose from the ground and at the same time, Ash’s MP was reduced by almost two hundred points. Ash couldn’t help but smile when he heard a string of curses followed by a loud series of bangs as the horses collided with the wall. Ash felt a twinge of guilt for the innocent horses, but he had too little options available to him.

  Pulling his sword from its scabbard, Ash rushed forward and found that the two men were already back on their feet. Ash quickly used analyze, hoping to get a glimpse of their strength. One was level 24 while the other was level 28 and while they both had above average stats, nether were close to his. With a somewhat evil grin, Ash advanced on the two knights.

  “Hold and surrender,” one of the knights yelled as he pulled his own sword free. “If you surrender now, I guarantee your safety.”

  “I think I will take my chances,” Ash said in a growl.

  “Lord Ash, I will give you one more chance,” the man said. When Ash stopped his advance the man gave a slight sneer. “Yes, we know who you are. We have more than a thousand men headed this way and their only mission is to take you alive”

  Ash lowered his sword slightly, making the knight sneer again as he took a step forward. Seeing the man relax his guard, Ash tried to hold back the smile as he invoked shadow whip. The shadowy tendril flash into being, hitting the armored man hard and throwing him to the ground. Seeing this the other man gave a yell and rushed Ash.

  Though neither of the men were his match in stats, they seemed to be well trained. While the second attacked, the first one regained his feet giving Ash no chance to deliver the finishing blow. Grinding his teeth, Ash batted one man’s sword aside and struck back, but his sword skipped of the knight’s armored chest leaving behind only deep dent. Before he could take a second strike, the other knight came charging in forcing Ash to take a step back to avoid the man’s blade.

  Ash had fought before, but this was the first time he had fought armored men and found that even with his strength, he could do little to them while they hid behind steel. Seeing that his sword did little damage to the armor, Ash retreated slightly to gain a few seconds as he once again took stock of the men.

  The knights were armored head to toe. One of them carried a two handed axe while the other used a sword a shield. The only points that looked vulnerable were at the joints and spaces where the armor had slight gaps such as the neck and waist. Making his decision, Ash used shadow whip again hitting the shield user and knocking him back a few feet while he launched an all-out attack on the other knight.

  Taking three quick steps, Ash’s sword struck out at the exposed elbow joint of the second knight as he raised his axe to attack. Ash’s sword hit hard and cut through the steel rings of the chainmail, nearly cutting the man’s arm off. Bellowing loudly, the man hit his knees but he didn’t have to feel the pain for long as Ash quickly kicked the man in the head knocking him backwards. As the knight fell backwards, his helmet was pushed back and Ash quickly drove his sword into the man’s exposed neck.

  The knight that had been knocked back charged Ash as he made the killing blow, but Ash quickly shifted his position, causing the sword to miss him by mere inches. Pivoting on his rear leg, Ash reset his position and readied himself for the next strike.

  The knight came forward carefully leading with his shield leaving Ash little chance to strike. Ash had never fought a shield wielder before. Ash wanted to take his time, but with the threat of more soldiers arriving, he was forced to attack. Taking a measured step forward, Ash struck hard but the knight was able to get the shield up. The power behind Ash’s blow was not light and the knight was forced back three steps. Seeing the man retreat, Ash continued to rain blow after blow against the shield until he heard a sickening breaking sound and the knight
collapsed to the ground with a loud yell. As the man fell to his knees, Ash didn’t let up and kicked as hard as he could, sending the man onto his back his shield flying to the side displaying the man’s oddly twisted arm. Once again, Ash rushed forward but the knight was able to get his sword in place to block Ash’s first blow and then his second, but Ash’s third blow struck home, cutting a thin like between the knight’s armor and helmet. Ash saw the deep red blood flow onto the white snow and heard the gurgling sound as the knight pulled off his helmet and tried to stanch the flow. For the briefest moment, Ash saw the terror in the knight’s rapidly whitening face as his lifeblood flowed freely to the ground. Feeling a slight pain in his stomach, Ash turned and raced in the direction that Allice had gone.

  It wasn’t hard for Ash to follow Allice’s trail through the snow and after he had ran no more than a few hundred yards, he caught sight of her small form running in the distance. When he caught up to her, Ash didn’t stop. Instead he scooped her up in his arms and continued to run.

  “Master,” Allice sobbed and when Ash looked down he noticed that her small round face was red and tears covered her face.

  “Didn’t I promise you that I would be ok,” Ash said in a calming tone.

  Allice didn’t respond, instead she buried her face into his chest and quietly sobbed. The tears quickly soaked through his shirt and the cold air bit whenever the fabric touched his skin, but Ash couldn’t find it in himself to admonish the young girl.

  After running as hard as he could for more than a few hours, Ash was forced to slow down. He had continued to run north but he knew that his trail would be easy to follow thanks to the snow laying on the ground. Thankfully more snow had started to fall so there was a slim chance that it would help hide him.

  8-4

  The snow continued to fall for three days as Ash and Allice continued to run. Ash changed his course slightly on the morning of the second day, hoping to come across one of the forts but since he was unsure of where he was at or where they were, he could only hope.

  So far they had been able to stay ahead of their pursuers, but Ash could tell that whoever was chasing them had a great deal of skill. It was only for a brief moment, but the day before he had caught a glimpse of two horsemen following his trail.

  Ash could easily keep ahead of a marching army, but men on horseback were a different story. He was human and had to rest and though he was pushing himself, he was quickly running out of energy.

  Currently Ash and Allice had taken refuge in a small grove of trees sheltering themselves from the worst of the biting wind. Allice hadn’t said much over the past few days and neither had she let Ash get far out of her sight. She had stopped crying at least and she even smiled from time to time, though it was rare.

  When Ash woke, he found that Allice had once again wrapped both her legs around him. Laughing, Ash used his knuckles to lightly knock on top of her head. “Owwww...That hurts master,” Allice said as she rubbed the top of her head.

  “Then don’t pretend to be asleep while clinging to me,” Ash said, trying to sound mad but unable to keep the smile from his face.

  Sitting up, Ash looked out and started to curse when he saw a number of horses from between the trees. They were still a little behind, but not so far that they wouldn’t catch up quickly. The grove of trees was small and all around it was nothing but open space. “How do they keep finding us?” Ash asked himself. It was at that moment that Ash wish he had learned more about the different abilities of the knights.

  The more he thought about it, the more the old saying came to mind. “Knowledge is power.” Of course there is a large possibility that even if he knew how their abilities worked, he might not be able to evade them.

  Currently Ash counted a full party of six knights and they were quickly drawing near. “Allice, I want you to hide here. If anything happens stay hidden until they leave.”

  “No master,” Allice said shaking her head fervently.

  “That is an order Allice,” Ash said, making the slave tattoo on her shoulder flare. Allice gave him a withered glare and tried to argue but the tattoo flared again and a flash of pain flashed across her face. Ash rarely used his position as a master to give orders and each time he felt bad when he did. No matter how much it pained him, it was better than Allice losing her life. Giving Allice one last apologetic smile, Ash saw the tears welling in her eyes. Turning around, Ash pulled his sword free and walked out of the small grove to meet the riders.

  When Ash walked out of the grove of trees, the riders slowed their pace and looked at him with disapproving glares. They approached Ash warily, moving at a slow canter. As they approached Ash used analyze on them. Three of the knights were in the low thirties, one was nearing forty, and the other two were too high for Ash to see their stats.

  “You are lord Ash, are you not?” One of the knight’s asked as he rode slightly in front of the others. He was a large man but little else could be told about him due to the full armor the man wore.

  “Yes, I am Ash Hawkwing,” Ash said through gritted teeth.

  “Lord Ash, let me be honest with you,” the man said, removing his helmet and showing a weathered face of a man in his late forties with sandy brown hair. “Right now the kingdom can ill afford this war. As it stands, thousands upon thousands will lose their lives. If the kingdoms’ enemies take this chance to strike at us, then even more shall die. I have come before you today to ask for your cooperation in seeing that it does not come to that.”

  “And how may I help you?” Ash asked, his voice losing a little of its hostility though he didn’t let down his guard.

  “You just need to lay down your weapon and surrender,” the knight said calmly. “You will be brought before the king and admit that you used a demon ability to charm the duchess. You will be put to death, but giving one life to save countless others is a cheap bargain.”

  Ash couldn’t deny the man’s logic and was tempted to take the offer. “And what will happen to Emelia?”

  “She will keep her status as the duchess, but she will be wed to a person of noble lineage.”

  Ash could easily give himself up if it meant saving the lives of others. He knew that Emelia would curse him for it, but she would be safe and so would the other people of the duchy. What bothered him was that not only would they take his life, they would essentially be taking Emelia’s as well. She wouldn’t die, but from the sound of it she would be nothing more than a slave.

  “So you would have me lie and then send someone else to my wife’s bed taking everything from her family including her name. All because the king is too much of a coward to stand up for all of his citizens,” Ash said as if the words caused a bad taste in his mouth.

  “Shut your mouth,” one of the other knights yelled and Ash heard the sound of steel being drawn.

  “Hush Morris,” the older knight said angrily before turning back to Ash. “There is much more going on than you realize. This war will end and sadly it will end with the fall of the Hawkwing name. The question is, how many people will die during the process?”

  “For every man we lose, we will take two with us,” Ash said remembering the words from something he had read before. “It doesn’t matter how many of his dog’s the king sends. This is Hawkwing land and it shall stay that way.”

  “Have it your way Lord Ash,” the man said with a heavy sigh. “Maybe after your death, your duchess will see things in a better light.”

  The knight slid from his saddle then released a large double bladed sword and brought it to bare. Within moments, the other knights also unhorsed and took up a formation that Ash had seen before. It was the same one that Den and his men had taken up when they were fighting together.

  The scout in the back was the first to attack using her bow to send an arrow aimed at his head. Ash didn’t even blink as he batted the arrow out of the air with the flat of his sword.

  As soon as Ash’s sword moved, the others began their attack. Ash was able to dodge a
nd parry most the attacks from the three warriors, but the two scouts and mage were a slight problem. The archer kept back firing arrows at him at any opening, while the other kept maneuvering around to strike at his back. While the scouts kept him slightly off balance, the mage used wind magic to attack him. It wasn’t hard for Ash to know that if he didn’t start to reduce their numbers, he wouldn’t last very long.

  Without much choice, Ash invoked Gambler’s Gambit and prayed that he got a good number.

  “Tring.”

  [You have used Gambler’s Gambit. All stats will be increased by 61 points.]

  With the sudden increase in stats, Ash’s pace quickened and the attacks that were hard to dodge earlier became slightly easier though he was still finding it hard to strike back. Seeing that he was still in trouble, Ash quickly used Shadow Armor, Shimmer, and Death Wail one after another. When the loud scream left his mouth, all but the mage was grabbed their heads and a few even dropped to their knees. Seeing his chance, Ash rushed past the guards, striking at the distracted bow wielder.

  With a flash of Ash’s sword, it hit the thin leather armor just above the chest, splitting the knight open. The knight regained himself just in time to see the strike and let out half a yell before he fell down dead in a puddle of his own blood.

  The other knights seeing their comrade die, started their attacks once again this time with much more vigor. Once again Ash used Death Wail, but this time it only seemed to affect them slightly, not even giving Ash enough time to make another surprise attack. Even with one down, it was still five against one and with each passing moment the blades were getting closer and closer to hitting him.

  Seeing that his previous attack wasn’t going to work again, Ash once again searched through his numerous abilities as he fought off the knight’s attacks. Three of the knights were wearing armor that made it hard for him to strike easily. Even among his abilities, only a few could do anything to them and even then it wouldn’t be of much use while he was outnumbered. In the end Ash was forced to take a chance and sacrifice 10% of his HP to use Burn Out.