Reborn: Demons Return

by D. W. Jackson

  Ash listened to the counts words without flinching. “And what shall your son and attendants punishment be for their crimes against a priestess of the church and my wife?” Ash asked his voice calm yet cold.

  “My son will be punished in a fashion that befits his station,” the count said looking at Ash with narrowed eyes. “As for Lacorn he will be dismissed from his position.”

  Ash was about to say more when Tina took a step forward. “Then I would like to levy a charge against the count and his house under the king’s court?”

  The count raised his eyebrows and looked at Tina. “I would like to chair the count of dereliction of duty, and the house of the count for blasphemy against a church of the land.”

  The count sat back a little but he remained calm. “I don’t see how I was in derelict of any of my duties nor how my house blasphemed against the church.”

  “You failed in your express duty to teach your son the laws of the realm. It is illegal for any noble to demand anything from the church, as well as assault, arrest, or harm any clergy from the church without the king’s command. Your son’s retainer tried to do just that and while under the direct supervision of your son and heir. Not only that, it happened under the very roof of the goddess Latina. I will petition the church and have this brought before the king himself as well as have every sullied woman in the village speak out against your son for his character.”

  “Lady if Lacorn would have struck you then you might have a case to bring before the king but as the head priestess and your man had mentioned you were not harmed,” the count replied.

  “That seems to matter little,” Tina said shrugging her shoulders. The law for assaulting nobles is worded the same yet my husband never drew blood nor did he harm them in any fashion. If he is to be found guilty by your own reasoning your son and family will be found the same,” Tina argued back. “In the end no matter how this ends you will found that you have lost the favour of the goddess and she is not one to trifle with.”

  “You have made your point I will lower the sentence to nine months of labour but no more, and I doubt that the goddess would care what happens to a single man when he obviously committed a crime.”

  As the count was speaking the windows darkened and the room went silent. The count went over to the window and looked outside. The sun was covered by a dark shadow. “Your land will lose its fertility for our actions against the church and you’re wilful blindness to the actions of your son,” Tina said in a regal tone Ash had only heard a few times before. Right now she was not just Tina but Altina in all her glory. Ash was not the only one to notice the change as Linda dropped down to her knees and the counts mouth hung open wide.

  After Tina had finished speaking her face turned white and she fainted. As Ash caught her the sky lightened again and everyone could once again fully see. The count walked back to his chair his face having lost just as much color as Tina’s. The count rubbed his head for a long time before he spoke. “Lacorn will be executed for his crimes against a lady of the church, my son Ollan will be removed from the house of Hollward. As for the claims against Ash I find them without evidence and dismissed.”

  “You can’t do that,” the counts wife and son yelled almost at the same time.

  “What would you have me do?” the count yelled back. “Go to war with a goddess. The king himself would turn his back on me. Now take Ollan and go he is no longer welcome in this house.”

  Ash could see the pain that sending away his only son was causing the count but his attention was focused more on Tina who lay weakly in his arms. Forgetting about the count Ash carried Tina and left the manor behind. As he did so the knights looked at him but none of them moved to stop him though anyone looking at them could tell that they wanted to.

  Once he was back at the church Ash laid Tina in their room before getting a pan of cold water and a rag and wiping away the cold sweat that was forming on her forehead. Once he had finished he left the room to let her rest. Soon he found himself pacing in the garden as he thought about all the farmers that would suffer for the counts actions. A part of him hoped that the count suffered but another part of him hoped that the commoners wouldn’t suffer as well but things rarely worked out that way.

  “Your wife is lucky to be visited by our goddess Altina,” Linda said as she walked up beside Ash.

  “I just hope that she is OK,” Ash said hoping that his acting seemed real.

  “She will be fine,” Linda said her voice sounding sure. “The goddess would never risk a life when speaking through another.”

  “Yet she will cause many to die when the land around here fails to yield,” Ash said though his voice didn’t hold nay conviction within it.

  “People will die though not as many as you would think. The church will move to aid the people but the count and nobles will suffer. As they should. Most the time these punishments last for less than five years so it will not be a long time of suffering. If the count works hard it could end with a single season and I think the man is smart enough to do just that.”

  “I hope so,” Ash said though he believed in the priestess judgement.

  “Just in case of retribution I have moved up the date of your departure. The wagon will leave in the morning. It will be loaded early morning in the church’s barn so only the drives will know of your existence and they can be trusted.”

  “You are expecting more trouble?” Ash asked looking at the woman closely.

  “I trust fools to act like fools,” she said shrugging her shoulders.

  When Ash returned to his room he found Tina awake and looking better than she had a few hours before. “What happened?” Ash asked. “I thought you couldn’t use your power when you’re in your mortal body.”

  “I didn’t use it,” Tina said. “Not really. As I said there is the me here and the goddess in heaven. She is just a manifestation of my power. She sees that I do and when I spoke she took over. I must say that next time I speak through someone else I will have to be easier. It is not a fun experience,” Tina said with a half grin.

  “Why did your goddess half take over?” Ash asked a little confused. “She didn’t do anything when the trouble happened with the duke.”

  “Different situations,” Tina explained. “With the duke he went after us with his personal power. For that she could have given him the reaper mark but we would have to get closer to see. The count on the other hand called us to court bringing the power of his title to bare. When he did this he put the whole of his territory on the line and the goddess punished him for his actions. I have always been protective of my clergy more so than most the other gods. You are one of my clergy as a reaper and I am part of the clergy…well as just being me. If the count would have punished his son and attendant correctly the other me might not have done anything but he didn’t. That is what prompted the other me to act…I think.”

  “You think,” Ash repeated before laughing. “If you don’t know who would?”

  “The only person that would really know is the other me but there is no way I am talking to her,” Tina said with a slightly pouty face.

  “Wait you can talk to yourself?” Ash asked in surprise.

  “Of course. The only problem is that the other me is all high and mighty. She only wants to talk in long flowery words and euphemisms. I know I do it sometimes but that is all she does. Trying to make sense of what she is saying will give anyone a headache.”

  Ash couldn’t help himself and started laughing. Tina tried to say something but he didn’t hear her. Then she started hitting him lightly, then a bit harder, then a lot harder. “OK…OK that hurts.”

  “Don’t laugh,” Tina said still pouting, “One of these days you will understand what I am talking about.”

  “OK, no more laughing,” Ash said as he wiped a tear from the corner of his eyes. “Instead of leaving in another two days Linda pushed up our departure to tomorrow.”

  “Good I don’t like to be around priestesses who have an id
ea of who I am,” Tina said her face hanging slightly. “Though the people here are really nice.”

  Ash gave Tina a tight hug. “I am sure that all the kids will miss you as well.”

  14-4

  The wagon was lined with bags of chaff from the wheat that had been harvest the previous season. The reason for this was because the church burned it in a ritual every harvest festival and the town of Relar was a port town and didn’t have enough Chaff to burn. The bags were tied together leaving a hole in the middle with enough room for Tina and Ash to either lie down or sit but not much else. The plan was for them to stay inside with only short stops outside for needed breaks when the coast was clear. It wouldn’t be the most comfortable trip but it did ensure a fair amount of safety.

  Tina and Ash squeezed into the small hidden compartment in the wagon. Once they were inside the two drivers pushed a bundle of bags to block the hole from sight. Ash didn’t like being in such a confined space but Tina seemed to love it as she spent the whole time cuddled up to Ash.

  Ash couldn’t see what was going on outside and any noise was muffled through the bags. He could only tell when the wagon was moving and when it was stopped. The confining space was bad enough but not knowing what was going on around him threatened to drive him insane. Just as he was about to push through the bags Tina grabbed his arm. “Calm down,” Tina said soothingly. “If anyone approaches I will be able to tell you.”

  “I just don’t like enclosed spaces,” Ash said though he was breathing a little easier.

  “Why not?” Tina asked as she rubbed his back in small circles.

  “When I was younger I lived with a family,” Ash said as his eyes glassed over. “I was only about thirteen I think. I hadn’t lived with them for long but they didn’t trust me. On weekends or after school whenever they went out somewhere they could lock me in the closet so that I couldn’t steal anything or go anywhere. One time they were gone for two days.”

  Tina pulled his close. “Humans can be cruel far too cruel sometimes,” Tina said softly. “They are born of chaos, neither good nor bad. That is part of their charm but also what can make them so nasty. If they were like animals they would be far more predictable but far less interesting.”

  The first day passed with only two breaks outside the small enclosure. Throughout the trip Ash told Tina about his previous life without holding anything back. He told her stories that no one else knew in this world or the other. The more he talked the more he began to calm down.

  The drivers were villagers in the town who often helped the church. Most the time the wagon leaving early might have drawn a little attention but after what had happened in the counts manor it was not surprise that the church would send for aid so that the people wouldn’t starve when the crops failed to yield. The sooner the better as any delay could cost lives. The church wouldn’t be the only one sending for aid as the count would be required to notify the kingdom of what had transpired. If he was lucky he would only be fined or lose a little of his rank. If he was unlucky he would be executed along with his entire family.

  The entire reason for the laws involving churches was so that things like this did not happen. It was the reason that no one dared mess with the church. Make the god of death mad and plague would cover the land. Make the god of life mad and children would be stillborn. Make the god of craft made and iron would rust and wood would rot when you tried to use it.

  “I was wondering why do the gods ban the use of magical crystals?” Ash asked on the third day of the journey as he remembered the crystals that the mages had used during his time with the Trieste.

  “Those,” Tina said with a scowl. “There is a finite amount of energy within the world. Each energy has its own use and when it is placed in a crystal it is taken out of its natural state and the flow of that energy is weakened. There are some things that the gods ban for reasons every beyond my own grasp but those are for the best of the world and all those that live in it. Should the energy levels get too imbalanced the world would collapse. You have to understand that each god has their own area they are in charge of keeping working correctly. Just as I have rules against killing the unborn the other gods have laws too. Some might not make sense even to me but they are there for a reason. No god takes pleasure in making life harder for mortals than they have to. This is not some book where there are evil gods waiting to abuse their power and bring ruin to humanity. If we left them alone they would do that on their own.”

  “I figured that was the case,” Ash admitted. “Something felt wrong about the mages wanting to kill the gods.”

  “I was sure part of you would understand,” Tina said hugging him tightly.

  As they were hugging Tina pulled back. “People are coming,” she said in a hushed tone. “A lot of them. Too many for me to count just from feel.”

  Hearing what Tina said Ash wanted nothing more than to climb outside and see what was going on but that would defeat the entire purpose for their hiding away in the first place. All he could do was wait. Shortly after Tina had spoken the wagon stopped and Ash grasped the hit of the sword lying next to him. Leaning up to one of the bags he could hear muffled voices speaking but could not tell what they were saying. It was frustrating just sitting there unable to do anything without knowing what was going on. It was a tense ten minutes before the wagon started moving again.

  “We are moving away from the group of people,” Tina said after a few moments.

  “I hate being stuck in here,” Ash said in frustration.

  “There are many thing in life that people hate,” Tina said knowingly. “But we must face the things we don’t wish to do otherwise those hates, and fears will take control of our lives.”

  Listening to Tina he couldn’t help but laugh. “What are you laughing at?” She asked with a small pout.

  “That was so corny,” he said laughing harder.

  Pursing her lips she hit him in the shoulder lightly. “It’s not my fault. The best advice is often repeated.”

  Day after day passed with Tina and Ash stuck in the back of the wagon hidden from sight. The longer he stayed in the cramped space the less Ash liked it but he knew that with each passing day they were getting closer to Relar. Soon the last day on the road came and they passed through the gates of the large port city.

  Even though they were in the city they couldn’t just get out of the wagon. Ash was certain that they were wanted by the duke and he had to know that they would try to get off continent and on their way back home. And the port they were at was the biggest within hundreds of miles. If the duke didn’t have people looking for them here then he was a fool and while the man was a buffoon he didn’t seem like a fool.

  Only once the wagon was safely within the confines of the church’s courtyard were Ash and Tina were able to leave their hiding sport. Kicking aside the bags blocking his path Ash crawled out and breathed in the fresh air. “Seems like you have let yourself out brother Ash,” a middle aged priest said with a smile. “I am the priest Jaren who will be travelling with you on-board the Unity.”

  “Nice to meet you,” Ash said shaking the man’s offered hand. “This is my wife Tina who will be travelling with us,” Ash said introducing Tina to the priest. The two bowed to each other after a short greeting.

  “How much longer until the ship leaves port?” Ash asked having lost track of the days.

  “Another six days. It was scheduled to be in port a bit longer but the captain was able to score a good shipment and is in a rush to put out to sea. If he didn’t think his men would refuse to board he would have pushed up our departure even sooner.”

  “How long will we be out to see? Or do you not know?” Ash asked then remembered that the priest himself might not have gone on the journey before.

  Jaren gave a short laugh. “I have worked with Unity for near six years. The trip is one often taken so I know it well. We will reach our destination and yours in just over two months. Unity is one of the fastest ships there is but even w
ith the god’s help it takes time for the sales to fill with air but it is still much faster than going across land. Even with the fastest horse it would take you near half a year to ride the same distance.”

  “I have heard that before but honestly this will be my first tie aboard a ship,” Ash admitted.

  “I hope you don’t get seasick then,” Jaren said laughing again. “Mostly it is just sitting in your room as the ship sails. I will have to treat those that get injured or sick on the journey but you only have to work if the ship is attacked which happens about once a trip. Pirates are rampant on the open sea because the different kingdoms only patrol the waters close to their own borders. Most pirates know better than to mess with the Unity but there is always one that’s eyes are too big for their stomachs.”

  Jaren led Ash and Tina into the church proper explained what had led them to being forced to hide in the back of a wagon to enter the city. The head priest of the church was not very impressed with what he had hear. In fact he was downright insulted that the duke was allowed to act in such a manner to one of the goddesses reapers much less a foreign dignitary. After the head priest had complained for nearly half an hour Jaren leaned toward Ash. “Head priest Gale was the second son of one of the kings own knights. His family has served the king for years and even though he is a priest his knightly upbringing sometimes gets the better of him.”

  “The king will hear of this and the duke will lose his title even if he is the king’s cousin,” the head priest said once he had calmed down a bit. “You can feel free about walking within the town. I will designate four church knights to keep an eye on you. I will also be the first to apologize for how our kingdom has treated you. It is unforgivable that those who are lauded as nobles would act like common thugs.”