Reborn: Flames of War

by D. W. Jackson

  “Yes,” Ash said nodding his head and silently thanking Li for her quick thinking. “Just before we arrive at the city gates I want everyone except myself and Seia to march beside the carriage. Tolarea I want you at the front. I don’t want to sound rude, but you are the largest of us and also the most opposing. Li and Celina I want you two to walk slightly behind Tolarea one on each side. I want the knights to march along each side of the carriage. Mia, I want you to drive the carriage. Lena, Tina, Gena, and Eun I want you to walk behind the carriage with Gena at the rear.”

  “Understood,” Gena said nodding her head.

  “I want each of you to have your weapons out and at the ready and make sure that you have the poison bombs that were made on you. They won’t do any good if you keep them in a place that can’t be easily reached.”

  After explaining his plans, Ash had everyone survey the town in groups of three while he waited in his room alone. Tolarea wanted either her or Gena to stay behind as a guard, but Ash refused.

  “Looks like you have had a rough time my lord,” a sinister voice said as soon as everyone had left.

  “Lath,” Ash said turning toward the corner of the room where the voice had come from.

  Lath was a very small demon and his skin was a dark shade of grey. His clan specialized in darkness magic and he was very adept at spying or in this case relaying messages in secret.

  “How is everything going?” Ash asked getting straight to the point.

  “Going as expected,” Lath said in an indifferent tone. “The birds and soldiers are in place. We have contacted our people within the capital and they are all aware of the plan and what their part in it is.

  “And in the king’s palace?” Ash asked.

  “The king only allows people with full human blood to enter the palace. That said, we have been able to have two demons who were able to get inside. I don’t know how much assistance they will be able to give you, but it is better than nothing.”

  “Have you heard anything from the other spies?”

  “Not much,” Lath said picking up an apple that was left over from the meal and biting into it. “The nobles are being tight lipped about their plans. The king did receive the news of the ransom offer and his people had to move quickly to silence the two noble families involved. One thing is for sure, the king is not happy that you have made it this far. Many of the noble families think they should attack you directly, but they are in the minority. Also it seems you were right. The king has dispatched messengers to the bordering kingdoms. We have moved people in hopes to learn their response, but sadly it will take time.”

  “Thank you Lath,” Ash said dismissing the spymaster. Once the shadow of a demon was gone, Ash leaned back in his chair and stared at the celling. “I thought I was supposed to have good luck,” Ash complained to the empty air.

  11-5

  Four days after his meeting with Lath, Ash sat in the carriage. His nerves were tighter than a lute string as they entered Forlanc, the capital city of the kingdom of Heluria.

  Ash had thought that Tellian was large, but it wasn’t even a quarter the size of Heluria. Given the cities size, you would think that they had room to space out the buildings, but it seemed like they built one right on top of the other. Luckily the streets were wide enough for two carriages to ride side by side with a little room to spare.

  Ash tried to look out the shutters of the carriage without being too conspicuous. Even over the sound of the wooden wheels moving, Ash could hear the people talking as they watched them enter the city. From where he was sitting, Ash could only see contempt and hate in most of the people’s eyes. The eyes of the city guards held the most contempt out of all the others he had seen, but they didn’t move to stop them.

  Ash had ordered them to find the best inn within the city and that was just outside the noble district. It was tall and unlike many of the others, it was made of a white marble-like stone that seemed to shine in the sunlight.

  When Ash exited the carriage, he felt hundreds of eyes watching his every step, which made him feel more than a little uncomfortable. “Welcome young lord,” A wizened old voice said as they entered the inn. “How can we be of service?”

  Ash remained silent while Celina stepped forward. “We require your best room for my lord as well as rooms on the same floor for his guards.”

  “There are fifteen rooms per floor. I do not think that you require so many rooms for your small party,” the man said nervously.

  “It doesn’t matter. My lord wants all the rooms on the same floor. Anyone who enters that floor will be dealt with appropriately,” Tolarea said, cutting off the man. Her glare was enough to make a seasoned veteran shake.

  “Of course my lord,” the man said weakly. “You may have all the rooms on the upper floor. That way there will be no reason for others to be there. If the lord will just give us a bit to move some of the other guests.”

  “That will be fine,” Celina said pleasantly. “We shall dine while we wait on our rooms to be prepared.”

  Ash found it odd to have someone else talking for him, but a king didn’t talk to normal people, or at least that was how it was within the human kingdoms. The common masses were seen as below them, which was something that Ash thought was ludicrous. A king was the leader of men. How can one do so if they hold themselves above the men they are meant to serve? Though Ash didn’t agree with the current standards, if he didn’t follow them, then he wouldn’t be taken as seriously when it came to discussions.

  The meal that was served was not something that could equal what he had eaten while he lived with Emelia, nor what he received in the demon kingdom, but it was still very well done and it did its part of filling up his empty stomach. As promised, after the meal their rooms had been prepared on the fourth floor. Ash’s room was at the far end and had two large bay windows facing the main street. During his stay, two of his wives would be with him at all times and one of the knights would be stationed outside his door while another was to stand guard at the top of the stairs.

  After they were situated, Ash sent one of the remaining knights to report to the palace that Ash had arrived and was seeking audience with the king concerning the current problems with the former Hawkwing duchy.

  Less than an hour later, the knight return though he was not alone. “My lord Ash, this is knight commander Hawthorn. He has come with a reply from the king.”

  “Ash Hawkwing, you have been charged with consorting with demons and undermining the author of the king. You need to come with me,” the commander said her voice ringing loud and clear.

  Ash couldn’t help but laugh. “Consorting with demons…I am a demon Maoh or king if that is you want to call it. Who else am I supposed to consort with? As far as the other charges, I could care less. I am here as a delegate from a foreign nation. If you try to arrest me, you will face a war with the entire demon nation.”

  “My lord, I know nothing about your claims. I only know what my king has declared. I have over a hundred knights outside. I do not think you wish to fight at this time. It would be best if you were to come with me and speak your case directly to the nobles when you are formally charged.”

  “Out of the question,” Tolarea said pulling her massive sword from her back.

  “I will not go with you and once again, I request a peaceful meeting with your king. If you try to force your way in here, many people will die and I can assure you most of them will belong to your side. It is your choice captain, but we will stay here for four days waiting on your king’s response. I would suggest that you not get too hasty in making your choice.”

  “Very well,” commander Hawthorn said with a frown. “Have it your way.”

  Hawthorn left the room quickly but not happily. There was more than one reason that Ash had chosen to stay at the best inn. Not only did it help prove his status, but it was also the best built and attacks from the outside would do little damage so the only way to attack Ash was to come up the stairs which were nar
row and easily defended.

  “My lord, the knight are moving,” Celina called from one of the windows.

  “How many and what are they doing?” Ash asked as he gripped the hilt of his sword tightly.

  “It is hard to tell, more than a quarter of the knights below are entering the inn,” Celina replied.

  Pulling his sword from its sheath, Ash was quickly surrounded by his guards as he moved into the hallway. “Seia, join the knight at the top of the stairs and put an arrow in anyone who tries to come up. Li go with them and provide support. If it gets dangerous retreat back to the second set of rooms. We will start putting up a barricade,” Ash ordered decisively before turning around and facing one of the two male demon guards he had brought along. “Phen, I want you to go due south until you reach a large forest,” Ash explained slowly as he pulled a small metal object from his pack. “We have about fifty people standing by. I want you to give them this message. If the king truly wants a war we will give him one. Everyone else come with me.”

  In moments, Ash had the women bring out every heavy piece of furniture from the room and pile it in the hallway leaving only a small section open in case Li and the others needed to make a quick retreat.

  It wasn’t long before Ash heard the first scream of pain and the shouts of the knights as Seia made quick work of them. Fighting while trying to go up a set of stairs is not easy and the narrow confines would make them an easy target. However, what made Seia the best choice was one of her abilities and the reason she had chosen to use a bow over a spear which most of her clan used. “Piercing acid star,” was a passive ability that encased her arrows in a corrosive acid that could eat through solid steel as if it were paper.

  The hall was not that long and Ash could easily see Seia, Li, and the knight who were no more than fifty feet away. After she had fired no more than ten shots, Ash could see her face show a concerned look as she grabbed the knight’s arm and rushed toward where Ash and the others waited.

  “What happened?” Ash asked as soon as Seia arrived.

  “They had a mage who was shielding my arrows,” Seia replied with an angry look on her face.

  Ash nodded his head understanding the meaning behind her words. To use a shield, the person had to be either hold the wind, darkness, or light attribute. Mages were rare among humans, but not so rare that the knights wouldn’t have a few dozen in their ranks throughout the kingdom. Shields could cause a number of troubles for soldiers, but Ash had a way to get past the shields and hurt the mages at the same time, even if they were hidden.

  When the knights reached the top of the stairs, Seia once again began attacking with her bow. Her first arrow hitting one of the men just below the neck. The others started to use their long range magic and skills, but Ash had the hold back.

  Seia second arrow flashed through the air heading straight for another soldier when suddenly as if hitting a glass wall, it bounced off thin air. Seeing this, Ash couldn’t suppress a hideous smile as he activated destructive dispel. As soon as the ability was used, Ash heard a piercing scream from the floor below. “Seia keep firing, Celina help her with your magic,” Ash said quickly.

  Once again Seia fired arrows so fast that Ash could barely see her arms moving and within the blink of an eye three knights who had been standing in the hallway approaching them were now on the ground either dead or dying. Celina quickly joined in using a mixture of ice and wind magic to send small spikes of ice tearing through anyone foolish enough to enter the floor. After a few minutes under this onslaught, once again a clear shield of air block their attacks but once again Ash dispelled it before more than a few seconds passed.

  When the second shield was dispelled, Ash heard the call for retreat, but he didn’t plan to let them leave so easily. “Celina can you use earth magic to seal the exits?” Ash asked.

  “I can try,” She said her face instantly taking on a look of concentration.

  “You stay with Celina,” Ash said to the knights before turning to his own men. “Everyone else follow me.”

  Jumping over the barricade, Ash rushed toward the stairs while holding a shield in front of him in case of a surprise attack. When he reached the top step, Ash felt the ground under him move and knew that Celina had started to erect her stone walls. Ash could do it himself, but then he wouldn’t be able to do much else until he was finished, that was why he had given Celina the task.”

  Before Ash could take a single step down the stairs, his shoulder was grabbed by Tolarea who gave a firm look that let him know that she was going first. Ash wanted to complain, but given the short amount of time they had, he quickly stood aside and let her by.

  Even though the knights had a slight lead on them, due to the large number that had been packed on the steps coming up, they had found themselves having difficulty retreating. This allowed Ash and his group to quickly catch up to the ones at the rear before they reached the landing for the second floor.

  Hearing something behind them, the knight at the back turned his head just in time to see Tolarea’s massive sword coming down straight at him, cutting him cleanly in two. Ash tried to move around the massive woman, but her body completely blocked Ash from even seeing more than a few glimpses of an enemy.

  After her first attack, Tolarea moved forward and struck again, killing two knights at once. Her sword moved a little father than she had planned, lodging itself in the wall more than two inches.

  “Move,” Seia yelled

  Hearing Seia’s voice, Tolarea pressed the bulk of her body against the wall and an arrow quickly flew by striking a knight, who was about to attack, in the head so hard that only the fletching could be seen. Though she wanted to lead the attack, with her weapon stuck, Tolarea had no choice but to let the others by. Though no matter how hard Ash tried, she still blocked his advance, not allowing him to take a step toward the enemy without her present.

  A few moments later, a cry sounded from the bottom floor and loud bangs could be heard. Shortly after, one of the knights that had been left behind to guard Celina called from the top of the stairs. “My lord, Lady Celina says that at most she will only be able to hold them back for a few more minutes.”

  “Understood,” Ash yelled back. “When her MP is about to be exhausted, let us know so that we can start to pull back.”

  Turning his attention back to the fighting on the stairs, Ash descended to the third floor where he found the bodies of four knights littering the ground while another six had stayed back in an attempt to hold Ash and the others back, giving the others a chance to retreat unmolested.

  Tolarea, Seia, Gena, and Eun were currently holding off all six of them, though it seemed that Eun was having a bit of trouble so Ash went to aid her first. Approaching from the side as best he could in the narrow space, Ash tried to think of an ability that could be of use, but none of them were made to be used in such narrow confines. If he messed up, there was just too large of a chance that he could hit Eun instead.

  Eun was faced off against a heavily armored knight that used a sword and shield combination and the close quarters wasn’t allowing her to put her spear to good use. Ash quickly evoked both breath guard and sunder. Just like when he used pounce, his body moved on its own, but he didn’t move straight forward instead his body slightly dipped while moving to the left while the blade of his sword lowered slightly slipping under the knight’s arm. A second before the sword struck, it started shaking, making his hand go numb. It successfully tore through the metal armor, piercing the knight’s chest, though not very deeply.

  When the knight’s face turned white and he coughed up a mouthful of blood, Ash knew that he had hit a lung. Retching his sword free, Ash found his hand having trouble griping the hilt and looked down to find that his wrist had turned a light shade of blue. Almost as soon as he saw his wrist, the pain hit him and he feared that he might have broken it and quickly cast heal and mend. The pain lessened and some color returned to his wrist, but Ash had to cast heal another four times bef
ore it was completely back to normal.

  Just as he was about to return to the battle, Ash heard the knight call from above once again. “Celina says she only has a few moments of energy left.”

  Hearing this, Ash silently cursed to himself before calling out to everyone else. “Everyone retreat,” Ash called loudly.

  The knights that were left behind didn’t see the need to chase after Ash and the others and quickly followed their brethren out of the inn. Once he was at the top of the stairs, Ash quickly ran to one of the smaller windows and peeked outside.

  The knights were reforming, but their ranks looked slightly more haggard and Ash could see more than a few who could no longer stand up straight due to wounds. Ash waited to see what they would do and breathed a sigh of relief when the knights left about twenty men to surround the inn while the rest marched down the street, most likely to report their failure to the king.”

  “What are we going to do my lord?” one of the knights asked when Ash pulled away from the window and took a seat in one of the nearby chairs.

  “For right now, we wait,” Ash said, his eyes looking far off into the distance. “There is still a small chance that the king will see reason, but if not, we must act carefully otherwise everything will end badly. We can’t let the world see us as the aggressors. If we could, this would be so much easier to handle. I could just turn Tolarea loose on the castle and it would fall within a day,” Ash said jokingly, trying to lighten the heavy mood that was hanging in the air.

  “With as feebly as the knights’ fight, I could take on the whole country and have them bowing at your feet before noon,” Tolarea said, though with the tone of her voice it was hard for Ash to tell if she was joking or being serious. A quick look at her face didn’t tell him anything, but it did give him a slight confidence boost.

  11-6

  The sky darkened and Ash spent his time healing his wrist which still pained him slightly. At the same time he tried to understand what went wrong. In the end it was Tolarea who had the answer for him.