War's Nightmare
Author: D.W. Jackson
Date: 2016-04-09 04:00:00+00:00
Keywords: Fantasy; Magic
Description: The war has started and Ash is at the front lines. It is there he meets the demon general Fay and is soon faced with the truth about war as he looks down on the faces of the dead. They are not soldiers but common people who fought out of fear for their homes. With blood dripping from his own sword Ash must face not only his enemies but himself as well.

12-1

Ash sat in a dark tent looking over a small bundle of maps with a worry showing on his face. It had only been four days since the impromptu attack on the capital of Heluria and they had already faced a small attack in retaliation.

At first, Ash thought it would be at least six to eight days before they could mount an attack force, but he had underestimated the King and by a large margin. It seemed that he started moving a large number of troops as soon as the demons began their attack.

Rubbing his temples, Ash leaned back in his chair. His plan had backfired on him. He had thought that the King wouldn’t overly worry about a small strike force and would only rely on his personal knights to handle them, but the King had surprised him.

Using small metal figures, Ash placed them on one of the larger maps. He was still weeks away from the main forces arrival, however his spies had already reported four small armies and one large one on the move. Two of the smaller forces were on route to intercept Ash and his troops while the rest were moving toward the main army.

Not everything was bad news though. Ash had just heard that morning that two of the five other kings wouldn’t support the demon army, but they had agreed to stay out of the war between the demon kingdom and the Heluria kingdom. The other three had so far not returned any answer and from the reports, it seemed as if they were waiting to see which way the war was going.

From Ash’s point of view, these were the smart rulers. Instead of refusing aid to either country, they were waiting to see where they could make the most gains. There was still a chance that they could send aid to Heluria, but with every day that passed it gave them a better chance to win the war.

Currently Ash’s main force held a great deal more troops than that of the Heluria army, but Ash didn’t let that make him relax. He was well aware that one strong warrior or brilliant general could turn the tide of a battle and Heluria had plenty of experienced soldiers. Just in the past one hundred years, the Heluria army had fought in four wars while the demon army had been hidden from the world living in relative peace. Even if they were created and bred for war, the knowledge that they hadn’t fought a true war in decades made Ash more than a little insecure about his fighting force.

“Everything ok my lord?” Li asked as she bent down and rested her small chin on his shoulder.

“Just worried,” Ash replied as his brows furrowed. “I thought I told you to call me by my name when we are alone?”

“You did my lord,” Li replied quickly. “It is just hard for us to do such a disrespectful thing.”

“Then could you at least call me Lord Ash?” Ash asked with a heavy sigh. He had been trying to get them to call him by his name for months and while Celina, Eun, and Tolarea would call him by name when they were alone, the others seemed to refuse. “The way you are calling me now just seems so impersonal. It is as if I am someone who you barely know.”

“I understand my…Lord Ash,” Li said, her voice returning to its normal uncertain tone.

“That is better,” Ash said with a short and light laugh.

“So what is bothering you…Lord Ash?” Li asked, her voice gaining a bit of strength.

“I am worried about the forces that are headed toward us. The reports put the closest army near the size our own forces while the second is almost double our size. Those are only the forces we know about. There could be a number of smaller specialized groups that our spies haven’t noticed or received word of yet.”

“The demons in your army are some of the most skilled fighters that the demon army has. The only people stronger are those of the officer class. They could compete with five regular soldiers belonging to the human army,” Li said in a reassuring tone.

“I know everyone says that but if something happens it will be on my head,” Ash said slumping his shoulders. “This war only happened because of me. Every life that is lost will be on my head.”

“You are the Maoh,” Li said as if she was confused by Ash words. “Just like the human king, all demons lives are in your hands. If crops are not grown and the people starve, it is in some way the Maoh’s fault for not predicating the bad year and preparing. This is the same. The war was done in order to help us, but if it fails then once again the demons might have to pull back from the world, or face utter destruction, though I think that would take far more humans than are alive. In the end, no matter what happens, there may be people who blame you. Although, I believe the majority will look back understandingly, even if you lose.”

“I doubt that,”” Ash replied, not feeling any better even after the words of encouragement.

Seeing that Ash was in a peculiar mood, Li didn’t say anything more. Instead she silently wrapped her arms tightly around Ash’s neck and kissed him lightly on the cheek.

Squeezing out a small smile, Ash felt his body relax slightly. Without even thinking about it, Ash turned his head and kissed Li warmly before returning his attention back to the stack of maps. “Tomorrow we will come across our first real town.”

“Lord Ash, we have already attacked one other town since leaving the capital behind,” Li said almost confused.

“You can’t really call that a town,” Ash said shaking his head. “It had less than fifty people. It didn’t even warrant a marker on the map. If our scouts hadn’t spotted it then most likely we would have passed by without even knowing that the place existed.”

“True…It was very small,” Li said as she wrinkled her nose cutely.

“Yes, the town we will be attacking tomorrow should be large enough to warrant an adventure’s guild as well as guards, so we might find some resistance. It isn’t much of a risk to a force our size, but there is always a small degree of risk involved with any battle. I wish we could simply spend some time scouting the town more thoroughly, but if we stop for too long, it will just allow the King more time to attack and our supplies are limited. If we don’t attack soon, the men will have to go down to half rations. I hope that the town is well supplied. If we don’t get enough food, the fighting ability of the soldiers will drop drastically.”

“Don’t worry my…Lord Ash If we run low on food, there are those among the demon soldiers that can use magic to create the bare minimum to sustain the army,” Li replied confidently. Ash had seen the magic used before and while it was true the magic bread and water that was created filled ones belly, it left a lot to be desired. If Ash had to compare it to something, it would be like eating only bread without even taste. You could live on it, but that was all and Ash knew that it would still affect the soldiers moral and thus their fighting powers.

“You should come to bed Lord Ash,” Li said lightly tugging on his arm. Once she started to get used to him, a lot of her shyness had dissipated though only around the edges. If one looked close, you could see a light tinge of red coloring her cheeks as she spoke softly in Ash’s ear.

With a final look at the map in front of him, Ash let out a heavy sigh as he blinked his eyes. “I think you are right. Just staring at the map is not going to get me anywhere,” Ash said pushing himself from his chair and allowing Li to pull him toward the bed.

Looking at the angelic appearance of Li, Ash was secretly glad that it was her and not Tolarea who was on inside duty today. Whenever Tolarea thought Ash was too stressed, she only had one solution and that was sparing. It didn’t matter if Ash agreed or not, he would always find himself being led out to an open area to cross blades with the brute of a woman.

The next morning seemed to come all too soon for Ash, but once the sun had started to rise he found himself riding alongside his wives and their small coterie of female warriors.

The town came into view a few hours before midday. It looked slightly larger than Ash had expected, but there was no stopping their advance.  Even if it was the same size as the capital. This was a war and in war, one had to take a certain amount of chances, otherwise they could only wait on defeat.

It didn’t take long for the defenders of the town to gather at the edge of the town. Ash couldn’t count every person, but he guessed that a little over four hundred people had gathered, but a good number of them were only armed with leather armor and hunting bows.

As was customary when they drew close, Ash and his personal guards rode out front while the other side’s representative did the same. Ash had expected an old man or young warrior to meet him but instead he was greeted by a middle age woman with a thick build and stern eyes.

“Greetings,” Ash said with a smile as the woman approached.

“Greetings my ass,” the woman spat as her eyes scanned over the large number of soldiers standing on the large hill behind Ash. “What do you demon spawn want. If it is our women or children, then you might as well turn around now. Every person here would rather die than give up one of our own.”

Ash couldn’t help but shake his head. The old man from the previous village had done the opposite and instead offered many young women and children to the demons though Ash had refused them. They had no use for them and even if they did, taking them would only lead to more trouble down the line. The war had many sides and one of them was to show that the stories about the demons were just that, stories.

“We don’t want any of your people we just wish to take a look at your food stores, supplies, and anything else of value,” Ash said in a slightly annoyed tone.

“You want to take our food,” the woman said, her face turning slightly white then growing redder with each passing second. “You truly are a demon. Instead of killing us quickly, you would prefer us to starve to death.”

“No…Nothing that bad,” Ash replied quickly. “We will leave enough food for everyone to get through until the next harvest, but not a single grain more.”

“Even then, the King’s taxes will rob us of the rest,” the woman said her shoulders slumping slightly.

“If the King wishes you to starve, that might be, but that is unrelated to us,” Ash said coldly. “Now will you let us in or do we simply have to walk over your dead bodies to get what we have come for?”

“I can’t make the decision on my own,” the woman said after a few moments of silence. “May I have a few moments?”

“You have fifteen minutes,” Ash replied “I don’t have the temper to stand around all day playing with my thumbs.”

A heartbeat after Ash had spoken, the robust woman left the field at almost a full run and soon disappeared into the crowd waiting at the edge of the town.

“My lord, do you not think it is unwise to leave the city with so many able bodied men?” Tolarea said, her voice icy. “After this, it is most likely that they will join the army to fight against my lord. It is better to get rid of them now than to face them later.”

“They may or may not become an enemy in the future, but for now we have come just for their goods,” Ash said indifferently. “Our goal is not to kill common people. If we do, then we will paint ourselves as evil, just as the King hopes. As long as they do not raise their weapons against us, then we will leave them in peace. Their lives will be in the hands of their King.”

“If that is my lord’s decision,” Tolarea said though Ash could tell that she was not overly pleased with his choice.

It was the first time one of his wives had openly disapproved of one of his choices. Ash didn’t know why, but knowing that put a small smile on his face. He had always felt they were a little too forced in their actions with him so he was glad that they were starting to feel comfortable enough to show their true feelings.

Less than ten minutes later, the robust woman returned along with an elder man with a bald head and short silver beard and a large man with arms as thick as small trees. “We have agreed to your conditions,” the woman said her voice calm, though her face still showed her displeasure.

“Very good, show us to the store rooms and granary,” Ash said without a pause.

The larger man who turned out to be the spokeswoman’s husband was the town smith and didn’t seem as bothered by Ash and the other demons, so he had been appointed to show them around. While they walked, the man named Barnat was quite talkative and also full of questions. From his stats, he was only a level 23 smith, but what caught Ash’s attention was that he was more dwarf than man with an 80/20 bloodline.

Just as one would expect from a large town, they had a large supply of food stored and more goods than the army could easily carry. In the end, after the wagons were completely loaded, the army had to leave behind all the precious goods besides what could fit in two small wagons.

Throughout the loading process, the army was stared at with cold and disapproving eyes by the townsfolk, but no one dared to raise a weapon against them in fear of the response. Ash didn’t mind the rough stares, but he was slightly afraid that one of his guards would take it as a threat.

Once they were finished, Ash was glade to leave the town behind though even hours after they had left, Ash could swear that he could still feel their eyes burning into the back of his neck.

“My lord, I think that was foolish,” Tolarea said, her temper finally winning her over. “We should not leave any enemies behind. It is just asking to be attacked.”

“Maybe, but I will not change my mind on this,” Ash said. His voice was stern but his face remained calm while responding to his wife.

“Very well my lord,” Tolarea said before storming off to where the army of women awaited her orders.

12-2

It was two days after attacking the large town that Ash received the bad news. “My lord,” Lath said stepping out of the shadows.

“What is it Lath?” Ash asked irritably. It was late into the night and Ash felt as if he had just been woken from a deep sleep.

“It seems that we have erred,” Lath said with only the slightest hint of worry in his voice. “A decent sized army is about four hours from your current location and is continuing forward.”

“What?” Ash asked, his drowsiness suddenly disappearing. On his side, Mia woke with a startled expression, her hand going directly for her weapon as her eyes darted around the room. “How many and how in the nine hells did you miss an army so close? From the last reports, the nearest army should still be days away.”

“It seems they have a few talented mages with them my lord,” Lath said with a slight twitch of his face. “They were able to conceal themselves. If it had not been for one of our scouts running across them while delivering a message, I fear we would have been taken completely unaware. This is my error my lord. I have underestimated the enemy. As such, any punishment should be mine and mine alone. I ask that you do not take it out on my subordinates.”

Ash rubbed the space between his eyes and let out a long sigh.  “Lath, I would like to say there is nothing to punish, but I don’t think that will work in such a situation. Though for now, it will be postponed until I have a better grasp of the situation,” Ash said before turning to Mia. “Mia wake the others and quietly…And I mean as quietly as possible, wake the officers and tell them a force is a few hours out and to prepare the troops for a night ambush counter attack.”

“At once my lord,” Mia said as she jumped from the bed, not even caring that Lath momentarily could see her exposed body. Throwing on her clothes she ran from the room as if she were moving across hot coals. Though she moved incredibly fast, Ash couldn’t even hear a single footstep as she moved across the ground.

With a smile on his face, Ash turned back to Lath who still had his usual emotionless face. “Back to the topic at hand. What do we know?”

“Due to finding out about the force in such an unexpected way, the messenger couldn’t ascertain their exact numbers. We have since sent a scouting group to check, but it will take time for them to return. From the best estimates we think they have near a thousand well trained troops. From the clothing described I believe that they are the King’s underground force. If that is true then it will be a hard fight, even without numbers.”

“Personal troops?” Ash asked as his eyebrows twitched.

“Yes, just as we have been trained as the Maoh’s personal soldiers, the King of Heluria has similar troops, though we don’t know how many or how they are trained. If they were able to get this close without detection, they must be talented.”

“So all we have to go on is that we have an unknown number of enemies that will soon attack with skills and abilities that we know nothing about?”

“That is correct my lord,” Lath said as the corners of his lips twitched slightly.

“How many men do you have?”

“My lord most of my men are spread out across this country and the others gathering information. It saddens me to admit, but we have less than twenty of your men at hand. Once again this is my error and…”

“Enough,” Ash said interrupting Lath. “While we both know some token punishment must be handed out, we also both know that it won’t be harsh nor will it involve your men. I am well aware that you are skilled in your job, Lath and I have no intention of making you leave it…Especially at the start of a war. Trying to train a new leader would eat into time and only make things worse, so could you drop it. Right now I need solutions, not excuses.”

Ash had thought that Lath would understand him a little more by now since he was the head of his personal troops and skilled in what most people would call darker arts, but when he noticed a slight look of relaxation appear on Lath’s face he started to wonder. “Did he really think I would punish everyone for something like this?” Ash asked himself. “True it would have been devastating had we not learned of the soldiers and were attacked, but still no one can be omnipotent. There are bound to be things that go by unnoticed.”

“My lord?” Lath said after Ash had remained silent staring at the wall for a solid five minutes.

“Any ideas Lath?” Ash asked in a straight forward tone as his own mind was coming up blank.

“Nothing my lord,” Lath admitted. “We could try and make them think that we are still unaware of their existence, but I doubt it will work. They must be highly trained and if we try to play around with them, it could backfire. My best suggestion would be to find the best place for a pitched battle and attack them head on before they can truly prepare for it.”

Ash nodded his head and kept his face calm but inside he was cursing. His first thought was to do just what Lath had warned against. The idea of acting like easy prey and turning the tables seemed like a good idea, but when he thought about it, he could understand Lath’s warning. If the enemy knew they were faking, it could turn deadly fast, especially when they had no ideas about what abilities the group in question might have. “It looks like I can only decide what to do after talking to the different officers and gathering their opinions.”

“A wise choice my lord,” Lath said with a nod of his head and what Ash believed was a smile.

“My lord, the officers are awaiting you,” Mia said, grabbing Ash’s attention.

“I will be right there,” Ash said and Lath once again walked into the shadows in the corner of the tent and disappeared as if he were made of nothing but smoke. Ash had wanted to Ask Lath what ability he used to disappear and appear like that, but it was considered bad manners to inquire about others abilities. Of course if he asked, he knew that Lath would tell him, but he didn’t feel that the answer was worth the cost of lowering Lath’s loyalty. Sighing, Ash turned and walked out of the tent where he found his officers awaiting him patiently.

After explaining everything he had learned about the enemy forces, Ash and the officers now stood in the command tent looking over a detailed map of their current position.

“They are currently staying off the main road but still following the same direction. Most likely to keep anyone from seeing them. We should attack with archers from the trees here,” One of the Mala said as he pointed at a position on the map. “After we send a few volleys of arrows, we can charge the main group.”

“Are you daft,” Callen said with a look of disgust on his face.

“We already know they have mages, but not the kind or number. If they have more than two half talented fire mages with as dry as it is right now, our men would be cooked alive. Not to mention as the Lord said, an ambush would be pointless and potentially dangerous at this time. They are elite soldiers who already know our position. Most likely we are being watched by more than one pair of eyes and magic to boot. We should assume every move we make will be known the moment we make it.”

“Then what do you suggest we do Callen?” Ash asked as he felt a dull pain throb in his mind.

“All we can do is gather all the men as quickly as possible and face them in the large open farmland about an hour south. It is mostly flat and the crops are watered so there is little risk of a large fire even with the threat of a fire mage. At the same time, the open area will give us a full view of their movements, making it hard for them to maneuver behind us or attack at an unexpected angle.”

“You are really worried about fire,” One of the lower officers said with a sneer.

“Anyone who has half a brain would be,” Callen said, his hand moving toward the hilt of his sword. “Have you not noticed that all the grass that we have passed lately has been brown and brittle and not a sign of rain? The goddess must really be mad if she is withholding her blessings. With as dry as it is, even a small fire could turn into a raging inferno and I am sure that the enemy is well aware of this.”

After another half an hour of arguing they had decided on Callen’s plan and started to move toward the south.

As soon as they reached the farmland Ash’s men move out to clear the three decent sized houses of inhabitants. This was not done roughly nor out of malice, but because Ash didn’t want the farmers lives to be put at risk during the battle. There was a bit of yelling from one of the farm wives, but they were well on their way once they learned that their home would soon turn into a battlefield.

With the farmers gone, the soldiers went into action. Using earth magic, Ash and two others who had talent with earth magic began digging trenches and putting up a small two foot tall wall around the new camp. Ash had a large amount of MP, but even then he quickly found himself running low after two hours of continuous work. He thought about using his reserve sun and soul MP, but he eventually decided against it since there was no telling what would happen in the near future and the MP might be needed elsewhere.

“My lord there is a problem,” Lath said making not only Ash, but two of the demon officers jump.

“What is it now?” Ash asked trying to hide his annoyance.

“The soldiers have stopped about half a mile away and are setting up camp. Though it has not been long since they stopped, they are starting to set up minor fortifications.”

Ash and Callen let out a string of curses. “What now?”

“My lord, we don’t have much in the way of choices,” Callen said with a deep frown. “We can run, fight, or stay. It is that simple.”

“What are the most likely outcomes of each decision?” Ash asked his mood worsening by the second.

“Honestly, it is hard to say,” Callen replied with a sullen expression. “The King’s special forces have not entered a battle in a long time and are normally hidden among the normal troops. He must think you are a real threat to send out so many of them. If we fight them, there is a good chance that we will lose a good number of soldiers, but at the same time as long as we win it will strike fear within the hearts of the nobles. If we run, we could be taken over and forced to fight in a less desirable location at a time we are unprepared or we could not easily escape them. If we stay then they could attack or wait for reinforcements and we are unlikely to hold out until the main army arrives.”

Ash pondered for a moment. None of the choices sounded very appealing. There was no way they could stay in place for a long time with so many armies moving. That would just be asking to be killed. Running also didn’t sound very promising, but a head on fight with unknown enemies…Nothing sounded good. “What is the longest we can stay before they receive reinforcements?”

“Two maybe three days,” Lath replied quickly.

“Then for now we stay. Lath, I want every person you have scouting the enemy. Learn everything you can, but don’t have them take any unneeded risks. Callen have the soldiers rest as much as possible in the next few days since we will have to either fight or run, but also have it look like we plan to bunker down.”

“Understood.”

“At once my lord.”

With the decision made, the soldiers started to move. Nothing else happened and night quickly fell. Ash had spent the whole day moving around the camp checking every little detail. He talked to the soldiers while trying to think of anything that might help the situation, but his mind kept coming up blank.

As he sat on the edge of his bed staring at the blank canvas of the tent, Ash wished he had paid more attention in history class. Maybe there was a battle that he could draw from. Then again his original world didn’t have magic and unique abilities so he doubted there would be much he could have used.

“Who the hell would want to be a King?” Ash asked himself. From what he had learned so far, the benefits of the position didn’t come close to making up for the demerits.

“Lord Ash, I have an idea,” Lena said stepping forward nervously.

Out of all his wives, Lena was the most mysterious. She didn’t seem shy like Li yet neither was she outgoing like Celina and Seia. From what Ash could tell, she spent most of her time observing. “Go on.”

“We could use the poison powder,” Lena said as her hands fidgeted with the corners of her ashen wings.

12-3

Two days passed by quickly, but not idly within the camp of the demon army. Since there was a shortage of trees, the soldiers broke down one of the barns belonging to the farmers to make stakes for the border of the camp. More pits were also dug, but mostly by hand.

From anyone looking from the outside, it looked as if the soldiers were working hard all day long, but in truth that was not the case. The pits dug were shallow and the mages stayed in their tents. Most the real work was happening in three tents that were situated in the center of the camp out of the way of prying eyes.

Sweating in a small tent Ash and Seia expended nearly all of their magical energy. Seia was making a series of different poisons and coating them on arrows that the army had brought with them while Ash was making the sealing poison and mixing with fine dirt that had been dug out of the ground. It wouldn’t work as well as the poison mixed with the powder, but it was the best they had and since they only had a few dozen pouches of the powder, they were forced to make due.

Ash and Seia were not the only ones working hard. Four of the strongest mages, along with Mia were working hard to make a wooden golem. Ash had read about golems but didn’t know that they could be used and in most cases he was right. It was impractical since they required a large amount of MP just to move for a short period of time. It was only thank to Mia and one of the other skilled mages this was possible.

Mia has an ability called “Bestow Life,” Which allowed the golem to move and follow simple commands. The other mage named Gilhan has an ability called, “Soul Bind,” which allows him to allow an object to store MP. Though the item used will affect how much MP it can store. Thankfully it seemed that many common items would work. That was why while Mia made the golem, the other mages were charging a number of items so that the golem could be used during the coming battle.

In the last tent, the officers were working over the strategy while looking over every single point time and time again to make sure that nothing was missed.

In this way, two days quickly passed and soon Ash found himself standing at the front of the army as night was only a few hours away. At Ash’s side was a nine foot tall creature that had been made out of thick vines, each one which was nearly as thick as one of Ash’s arms.

The march toward the enemy was intense, but passed by all too quickly for Ash. In what felt like moments, Ash found himself looking across a large field at the staked lines of the enemy who were currently lined up awaiting them with their bows drawn.

After countless hours, the plan of attack had been decided, though it seemed far too simple for so many hours of work. Ash raised his hand and four eagle mounts soared into action. Once they were over the enemy encampment, they dropped their payload and the air was covered in a dusty tan cloud. Before the dust could settle, at Mia’s command, the golem rushed the field. The wooden stakes that had been placed to obstruct movement were like twigs bending and breaking easily as the golem charged into the camp. The normal screams of panic one would expect didn’t fill the air. Instead behind the cloud of dust, Ash could hear the composed call to arms one would expect from an elite unit.

Ash raised his hand one more time and a last volley of arrows filled the air. “Charge,” Ash yelled as he lowered his arm fully.

Ash rushed forward with the rest of the army, but he was not allowed at the forefront of the battle though he was in the second row. It wasn’t hard to find someone to fight, but it was hard for Ash to have a real battle that allowed his blood to boil. The second a fight would start, if he didn’t kill the opponent quickly one of his wives would step in.

Ash knew that if they hadn’t used the poison that sealed the enemies’ abilities and skills that things would be much different and a part of him started to wish they hadn’t. Ash’s blood was calling for a true battle, not this one sided slaughter. Though Ash called it a slaughter, there were a number of knights that using only their skill with a blade were able to push back their attackers, but as soon as two demons joined forces they were quickly brought down.

Soon Ash could hear the call to retreat from within the chaos. The knights were well trained and knew that retreating in a formation would only allow them to be hunted down so they scattered like dust. The sounds of battle quickly quieted down and Ash was left standing looking over the aftermath of the carnage.

Bodies were strewn across the ground and what had once been green land was now dyed red with the blood belonging to both human and demon. It was too hard to say how many the humans had lost but from a cursory look Ash guessed about 80% of their force had been left on the battlefield. The demons on the other hand had lost only a few dozen, though many more had suffered wounds some of the major. Ash had to hand it to the elite soldiers, even when they were in a dire situation, they were able to cause damage. If they had to fight them without their abilities sealed, Ash was sure that the mass of bodies would most likely be their own.

“My lord, we are awaiting your orders,” One of the demon commanders said coming up beside Ash.

“Build a pyre,” Ash said as he surveyed the battlefield once again. “Burn all the bodies together.

“At once my lord,” The demon said bowing his head.

“Lord Ash,” Li said coming up beside him with a prideful look on her face. “Did you order them to be burned together to show that in death all are the same?”

“No,” Ash said shaking his head and Li’s face fell slightly. “I do believe that we are all the same in the eyes of the gods, but that is not the reason for my actions. The King has forced this war on the idea that demons are evil and must be destroyed. The knights are honored warriors. The King would wish to give them honor even in death. I wanted to make it impossible for him to tell the difference between the ashes of his enemies and that of his own forces.”

“That sounds quite evil my lord,” Li said frowning.

Ash’s shoulders slumped, but he couldn’t find the words to dispute Li’s claim. “It is what it is,” Ash said after taking a few deep breaths.

Though there were numerous bodies, it didn’t take long for a large orange glow to fill the air as the bodies began to burn. After saying a silent prayer and bowing his head toward the fallen warriors, Ash turned back to the demon army that was awaiting his orders.

“Time to march,” Ash said as he climbed upon one of the horses that had been taken from the enemy camp. They had already delayed their marching and with enemy forces coming quickly, they were in a dangerous situation. Thankfully they had a good idea about what abilities and skills the regular army soldiers had, though there was always the chance of a dark horse hidden as long as they didn’t allow themselves to be surrounded they had a good chance of meeting with their main forces.

After being delayed, the demon army had no choice but to march throughout the night and next day, only resting once the sun had sat once again. Everyone was tired, including Ash, even though he had spent most of the day on horseback. No tents were pitched, no one had the energy for it. Thankfully it was a clear night and the air was comfortable so all that was needed was a soft blanket to cover the hard ground.

Ash had taken a place near the center of the camp, though not by his own choice. As he sat in front of a small glowing fire, he couldn’t help but curse his place as the demon lord. He didn’t mind the obligations and duties, but it was the fact many of the choices were taken from his hands. He could object and fight. In truth there was no one who could tell him what to do, but if he did so it would only bring more troubles on those around him and that was something that Ash couldn’t bring himself to do that.

“Lord Ash, what is bothering you?” Tolarea asked in her normal straight forward attitude.

“Nothing,” Ash replied looking up at the tall woman.

Tolarea slightly frowned and knitted her brows. “Lord Ash, I know I am not the…Easiest person to talk to, but even I can tell something is bothering you.” When Tolarea spoke, Ash could noticed a slightly bothered expression appear on her face that he had not seen before. Seeing the massive woman look slightly out of sorts, Ash couldn’t help but find it slightly cute.

“I just don’t like the idea of being restricted,” Ash said, not holding back his complaints anymore. “I thought that the demon lord was supposed to stand at the front of the battle. Instead everyone seems to think I should stay at the back and be watched over like some kind of invalid.”

“I see,” Tolarea said frowning. “It is true that the other demon lords were seen as nearly immortal gods, but they trained for years and sometimes centuries before taking on the title of the Maoh. We are all just worried about losing you. I know that I am one of those guilty of such a sin.”

Seeing Tolarea’s bothered face, Ash couldn’t help but give her a warm smile. “I don’t mind being held back a bit. It is also slightly refreshing to have so many women worried about me, but it just seems like too much. You even make me ride in the middle of the forces when we march. I can see it for when we are in an area that could be easily ambushed, but even when we are in a wide open area it is too much.”

“I understand my lord,” Tolarea said returning to her soldier form, though she had a small hint of a smile on her face. “For now on, I will try my best to hold some of my more overprotective urges in check and will see that the others do as well.”

“Thank you,” Ash said as he felt a warmth spread through his chest as some of the weight lifted from his heart. Grabbing Tolarea’s hand, he pulled her down to sit beside him. As soon as she was seated, Ash laid his head against her arm. It didn’t take long before he drifted off to sleep.

After the large battle with the unexpected force that the King had sent, little more had happened over the next eight days. Lath had been more vigilant and reported to Ash twice a day about the advancement of the other forces.

Over the past few days, they had only came across three places that were large enough to raid. Ash saw no profit to attack a village of less than a hundred as the burden on the people would far outweigh the small gain so it was better to bypass them. Of the ones they did attack, only one really fought. It was a settlement of around seven thousand people with almost two thousand able bodied men. After the battle, Ash had only lost around twenty soldiers, but he still felt saddened seeing the massive carnage. He could understand the human’s desire to fight, but it felt like such a loss. After the battle finished and they had cleaned out the storehouses, Ash felt the burning eyes of the remaining people on his neck for the next few days.

Ash lay back on his bed and looked at Eun whose head was quietly resting on his arm. When he was living in his previous world, Ash never thought that he would take a human life. He had watched the news and seen the devastation of war, though it always seemed like something that had little to nothing to do with him. Now he had taken many lives. At first the lives he had taken were few and seemed evil. Even now he tried his best to kill those with the reapers mark, knowing that those people had earned death by evil deeds. The problem was many of the people he had killed were not even soldiers and a few of them were simple farmers.

Since the battle at the farm, Ash had trouble sleeping. Every time he closed his eyes he could see the people he had killed and it was not limited to just the farmers. The young earl’s son whose name Ash couldn’t even recall even appeared in his dreams. It was the first life that he had taken with his own hands. Due to the dreams, Ash had not gotten much sleep lately and his mood had become dark. The only real time Ash felt peaceful was times like this. Sighing, Ash took one more look at his wife before closing his eyes knowing that once again the specters of his past would assault him.

Shortly after Ash’s eyes closed, he found himself standing in an open field covered with death. Laying all around him were the bodies of humans and demons alike. Part of Ash knew that it was a dream, but it was hard for him to hold that knowledge in mind.

Taking a step forward, Ash’s foot stepped on something hard making him look down. What awaited his eyes was Emelia’s pale face with thin red lines of blood seeping from the corner of her mouth. All strength left his body as his knees crashed into the ground beside the lifeless body of his wife. Tears streamed down his face as he lifted the body into his arms and grasped it tightly.

“It seems that your heart is having trouble,” A soft voice said. Looking around, Ash couldn’t find the source of the voice. A few moments later, the body in his arms dissipated into smoke and Ash was kneeling on a clear marble floor. “I can give you a moment of solace, but it will not last forever.”

Looking around again, Ash noticed a slender woman with bright golden hair and sparkling blue eyes sitting on a throne of marble no more than ten feet in front of him. “Who are you?” Ash asked his voice clearly carrying the awe he felt at the current situation.

“I am surprised you do not know who I am?” the woman said with a laugh that sounded like chimes. “You have been serving me and have even offered a few prayers up to me. I know you have looked upon my visage a few times when you have visited my temples.”

“Altina,” Ash gasped.

“Well done,” Altina said clapping her hands with a warm smile.

“What is happening? Am I losing my mind?” Ash asked his eyes going wide.

“In a way you are losing your mind,” Altina said, her face taking on a serious look. “Human minds are weak and those with hearts like yours are not meant for battle. With each life you take with your sword, your soul is being torn.”

“The why did you make me one of your reapers?” Ash asked, a slight hint of anger and confusion in his voice.

“It was needed,” Altina said in a voice that carried sadness. “You were to become the next demon lord. When you were going through the rite, I saw this and understood that you would need strength. The humans, elves, and dwarves are like my children. I love them and have watched them grow, but the demon and beast tribe are like my grandchildren. I have watched them grow and endure great hardship. I have helped where I could, but my ability to effect the world is limited by the rules we gods have placed on ourselves. When I saw what you would become I gave you the greatest gift I could.”

“I see,” Ash said as he found no words to contradict her. “I still don’t see why you and I are here.”

“Since you are one of my chosen, I have some leeway and can show myself to you within limits. I have been watching you and seeing your dreams as of late, I thought it would be a welcomed change.”

“I must admit this is much better than the scene that I was watching before,” Ash admitted. “But couldn’t you get rid of my nightmares?”

“No,” Altina said with a look of pity on her face. “Your dreams come from your own mind and soul. It is not something that can be cured with even my power. I can only tell you that even though not everyone that has fallen by your blade was evil, you can only live by your own conscious. Not even I would hold you accountable for the deaths so maybe that can put your mind at ease.”

Ash didn’t know how long he talked with the goddess, but when he awoke the next day, he felt refreshed, but the weight that had been pulling down on his soul hadn’t lessened. Ash could still keenly feel the burden.

“My lord,” Lath said startling Ash.

“What has happened?” Ash asked his voice sounding slightly worried when he noticed Lath’s face.

“We just received news that the kingdom of Urie has crossed the border of Heluria and have started attacking. We haven’t heard from the person we sent there, but their forces seem to be headed straight toward us.”

“How long until we meet?”

“It is hard to say but at most five days. We should receive some information if they agreed to aid us by then, but if not there is a good chance they are hostile to both us and Heluria.”

Ash couldn’t help but cuss at the situation. There had been rumors that Heluria and Urie were going to war, but nothing had ever come of it. All they had done so far was build up the border forces. It could be that with the forces withdrawn Urie decided it was a good time to strike. The only real question was if they would aid or hinder the demon army.

“I want you to learn everything you can,” Ash ordered. “I want to know their numbers, abilities, skills. I want how many hairs are on each head if you can find out.”

“Understood my lord,” Lath said bowing before disappearing.

12-4

With each day that passed, tension started to raise among the troops. Ash didn’t hide the fact that there was a second force that was currently headed toward them. He needed them to know and needed their advice. With so little information anything could happen, but there were a countless number of possibilities that stood out, though most of them were not favorable.

The one that stuck out the most was that the Urie kingdom wanted to use the current war between the demons and Heluria to their advantage. Right now the main force of Heluria should be close to the demon main force, though so far they had kept back far enough and had not engaged them. If the Urie army were to wipe out Ash’s army then come up behind the Heluria army, it would force them to fight on two fronts without a chance to escape. After that, they could either attack the main demon army or sue for peace. Even if they only gained half the land of Heluria they would make great gains with only a few loses. Ash could only hope they would work with the demons and not against them.

It wasn’t until three days later that Ash got his first real information about the Urie forces. The King of Urie had tried to make a deal with the demon ambassador, but he was asking for more than the demon had the ability to decide on. Right now it was unclear about what their stance was, but from the sound of the report they received from Lath’s men, it was more favorable than unfavorable. Right now the Urie forces were pushing hard and from the latest reports, unless Ash’s forces changed direction, they would meet up close to midday. Even if Ash forced a change it was almost impossible to bypass the oncoming force, unless he wanted to head back toward the Heluria capital. It left him in a really tight spot. The Urie forces were ten times the size of his own and even with their skill, they would most likely be overrun. If they retreated then they would be cut off from reinforcements and supplies deep in enemy territory. Right now that had worked for them since the King had little time to prepare but the more time that passed, the more dangerous it would become. They only had one choice and that was to push forward.

Currently Ash was riding on the back of his horse at the front of the army while the sun was starting to reach its apex in the sky. Just in sight was another large force of people that looked like a moving sea. Ash tried his best not to the let the uncertainty that was currently coursing through his body show on his face as the two armies move toward each other.

Just when the two groups were about three hundred yards apart, both forces stopped. Tolarea handed Ash a long spear with a white sheet tied to it. Placing the butt of the spear in a small raised section on his saddle, Ash rode forward with Tolarea, Eun, and Li following close behind him. At the same time, four people from the other side raised their own white flag though it looked to be of much better quality and not something that was quickly thrown together like the one Ash was using.

When they got closer, Ash looked over the four men. Ash quickly used analyze and noticed that all four of the men were well trained and high level soldiers. The one at the forefront who had misty white hair and the one to his immediate left who still looked to be in his early thirties levels were so high that Ash couldn’t even tell what level they were at.

“I am General Anderson of the great Urie Kingdom,” the older man declared proudly though not in such a tone that left a bad impression.

“I am the demon Maoh Hawkwing,” Ash said giving his own greeting.

“Maoh,” the man younger man said. “I don’t think I have heard of that term before.”

“It would easiest to equate it with the term king though there are some differences,” Ash said in a way of an explanation.

“Then you are the person we are looking for,” Anderson said. “I am unsure how to call you though. Would your majesty suffice?”

“Please spare me from that,” Ash said shaking his head. “Lord Hawkwing would work the best I believe.”

“Then Lord Hawkwing it is,” Anderson said keeping his face passive. “I will get straight to the point. We would like to work with the demon army to subdue Heluria, but we don’t wish to work for free. I doubt we will be able to settle the decision in a short time, so if it is possible I suggest we both set camp and then talk. For now we can at least agree to a non-aggression pact…I hope.”

“Agreed,” Ash said nodding his head while inwardly heaving a deep sigh. It was going better than Ash could have expected though there was still plenty of ways for things to go wrong.

After returning to his own group, Ash ordered them to move in and set up camp while the Urie army did the same. A large tent was set up in the center while the two forces each took to fanning out on either side with the Urie army taking the largest portion of the ground, but seeing how their size was much larger it only made sense.

Once the camps were set up, the officers of both camps set up their tents in the center as if they belonged to the same group. Once everything was ready, general Anderson called everyone to the large tent were a large feast had been prepared. Before eating, everyone introduced themselves which took quite a while. The Urie officers were staring at his wives at first, especially Celina and Li until they learned they were his wives. Most the eyes drifted away at that time, but there were a few soldiers who couldn’t take their sights off the two charming women. Ash didn’t really mind as he knew that they were beauties and he himself had times when he was caught just staring at them endlessly.

Once the meal was finished and the plates were cleared, the meeting started in full force. Anderson didn’t take long and stated the Urie Kingdom’s demands without delay.

“The Urie Kingdom wants three fourths of the land?” Ash almost yelled.

“Yes,” Anderson said calmly. “We had been planning this war for a long time, but the demon army seemed to get a head start. We believe that without our assistance it will be impossible for your side to win, but with it the war will be over in months instead of years. I think three fourths is a fair price for such aid.”

“I think you misunderstand something,” Calen said showing his sharp fangs. “The current force that we have brought to subdue Heluria is mostly our younger troops to give them a bit of training. If the demon kingdom truly wished to destroy Heluria we could do so in a matter of weeks.”

“Calen,” Ask said admonishing the commander for speaking too freely. The truth was that Ash didn’t have the full demon army move because he didn’t want to show the full strength that they could muster thinking that it might cause panic in the other kingdoms. It was better to win with the least force possible and lose a few than to cause a larger war and lose everything. “I don’t mind giving up the southern half of Heluria which borders Urie, but only so far as the Thren duchy. That will give us each half of the country.”

“Half,” Anderson said his eyes going slightly red. “How do you see that as half? That give you about six tenths of the kingdom.”

Ash was baffled for a moment then began to understand. “You are mistaken. The Hawkwing duchy is no longer part of the Heluria kingdom. Before the start of the war, it already had withdrawn and became its own land, so it can’t be calculated as part of the Heluria kingdom as far as this conversation goes. I have already said I am willing to give up half of Heluria but no more. If you truly wish to find out the might of the demon kingdom then I will let you, but I promise if you go that route we will not stop after conquering Heluria.”

“Are you threating me?” Anderson asked.

“Yes, I am,” Ash admitted. “I am not here to play games. We declared war on Heluria and currently it can only be seen as you butting in on our affairs. If you push it too far, no one would blame us for pushing back even harder.”

“I see,” Anderson said pushing himself back from the table. “Let us discuss the topic and we will have an answer for you at daybreak.

“Very well,” Ash said getting up from his seat. “I hope that it is good news,” Ash said before leaving and returning to his own tent.

“Lord Ash, do you think that was wise?” Lath asked, stepping out of the darkness of one of the tents as soon as Ash away from the Urie officers.

“I don’t know if it was or not,” Ash replied honestly. “But there is no way I am going to hunt the beast just to have the meat taken. Keep a close eye on them. If they decide to turn on us, I want to know it with enough time to mount a suitable response.”

“I will be done my lord,” Lath said before disappearing once again into the shadows.

After returning to his tent, Ash met with his officers to plan for the future. The first thing that was decided on was to secretly move a number of troops away from the camp under the cover of night. This way if things turned sour, Ash could use his dimension door to escape and still have some soldiers for guards while the rest fought to hold off the Urie army. Ash didn’t like the idea of sacrificing so many just so that he could live, but it made less sense for him to die alongside them when he had so many other lives resting on his shoulders.

With so many things up in the air, there were few choices they could really make. They would either be fighting the Urie army along with the Heluria army or be fighting alongside them. Though there was little they could decide on, they still talked late into the night about every small detail that they could think of. Ash knew that what they decided on wouldn’t make much of a difference, but it seemed to ease the minds of the officers.

After countless hours of endless arguments, Ash was finally able to get the Calen and the other officers to leave his tent so that he could try to get a little sleep, though he was not looking forward to what his dreams would bring.

“Lord Ash,” Tolarea said entering the tent.

“Tolarea, I thought it was Celina’s turn tonight,” Ash said looking over his wife.

“We thought it would be best if someone trained in fighting was by your side. Celina is skilled, but she is no good in close combat. She is currently watching the tent along with the others.”

Ash didn’t know if he should laugh or cry. Though he felt like his wives were treating him like a child again, he also could feel the warmth and dedication in their choices. With a warm smile, Ash raised the blanket and signaled for Tolarea to take her place beside him. With a nod of her head Tolarea placed her massive sword next to the bed and lay beside Ash.

Ash woke up before the sun rose, his brow dripping sweat. Unlike the night before, Altina did not come to his dreams to comfort him all that awaited him were the faces of those that had met their deaths at his hands.  As soon as Ash sat up, Tolarea bolted up her hand going straight for her sword that lay on the ground beside the bed. Within the time it would take for Ash to take a breath, Tolarea was on her feet looking around for anything that moved. Seeing how Tolarea reacted, Ash forgot about his troubled night and couldn’t help but smile.

Ash quickly dressed but since the sun had yet to rise, the army cooks had yet to prepare anything to eat so Ash made due with dried meat and bread that was only a few days from being able to be used as a club. One of the female soldiers under Tolarea’s command offered to prepare something for him to eat but Ash refused. The soldiers took turns preparing the meals and if he allowed only one group to do it then it could be seen as either favoritism or punishment depending on who was looking and no matter how it went would cause trouble within the forces.

Not long after Ash finished eating, he received a summons from General Anderson. After double checking that his clothes were in good order Ash resituated his sword and walked toward the large tent that was situated in the center of the camp.

When Ash entered the tent with his guards, he found that Anderson was alone. “Lord Hawkwing, if it would be possible, could you send your guards outside to wait.”

“Understood,” Ash said as he waved his hand to dismiss Tolarea and the others.

“My lord,” Tolarea said looking at Ash with a disapproving glare.

“Tolarea, I have given my order,” Ash said doing his best to make his voice sound commanding.

“We shall wait outside my lord,” Li said as she pulled Tolarea out of the tent.

“Please have a seat,” Anderson said, his voice much calmer than the day before. “We have decided to take you up on your offer,” Anderson said as soon as Ash was seated.

“That is good,” Ash replied. “Then we should break camp and get moving.”

“Not so fast,” Anderson said hiding a smile. “It seems that demons don’t understand human politics. Do you know the reason I have called you here alone?”

“No,” Ash said as his hand moved to his sword expecting some sort of foul play.

“Calm down, it is nothing of that sort,” Anderson said with a slight chuckle that didn’t seem to fit his previous stern demeanor. “My men know me as an overbearing leader with an iron will. I have spent countless years cultivating that way of thought. If I had the other officer’s here, they would expect me to argue and refuse you. Most the time I have my wife alongside me just as you do and it is her role to play the intermediary but sadly she is currently with child and could not make the journey. Due to that, I had to find another way to make our arrangement work.”

“And that was for us to talk alone,” Ash said as he started to understand.

“Right, though it is not as though we can walk in then immediately leave,” Anderson explained. “None of my men would believe I had folded that quickly. So we will just have to spend a few hours and I will have to yell a bit. I just didn’t want things to go astray so I thought I would be upfront with the reasons behind my actions. Now would you like to have a drink of wine before we start our yelling match?” Anderson said offering Ash a glass of a slightly pale peach colored wine.

For three hours loud voices could be heard throughout the camp. It was considered rude for soldiers too listen in on the command tent and in some cases could even be considered treason so even though the soldiers continued to look toward the large tent that had been surrounded by a clear magical barrier, they didn’t approach so the voices were muffled and inaudible. Outside the tent, three of Ash’s wives stood patiently while one of the kept moving toward the tent with a pensive look on her face only to be stopped by one of the others.

Half an hour after the shouting calmed down, Tolarea looked even more worried but her fears were soon alleviated when Ash walked out of the tent with his face slightly flushed red. From one perspective it looked as if he was angry but once someone drew closer they would notice his lax face.

“My lord, is everything ok?” Tolarea said her face laced with worry.

“Ev-everything is fine,” Ash said his words slightly slurred. “General Anderson has agreed to our terms.” Ash stumbled on a small stone then looked down at it as if he was looking at evil incarnate then kicked the stone as hard as he could almost causing himself to fall on the ground.

Celina quickly grasped the situation and wrapped her right arm around Ash’s waist and kept him from falling. “My lord, why don’t we return to the tent so that you may speak with the officers,” Celina quickly said as she gracefully moved Ash so that no one could tell that his body was swaying. His other wives quickly followed suite surrounding Ash so that without straining their eyes, no one could get a clear look at him. Once they were inside the tent, Celina lowered Ash onto his bed and let out a deep sigh as she looked upon Ash’s sleeping face.

“I wonder what happened.” Li asked with a light chuckle.

“If our lord wishes us to know, then he will tell us,” Tolarea said though her face still looked slightly pensive. “Inform Calen that Urie has agreed to out terms and to keep an eye on them. We march when they do.”

It wasn’t until the morning after the settlement of terms that the combined armies of Urie and the demon kingdom marched. Due to the increase in size, the speed of the march was slow as a long train of supplies flowed back toward Urie to help sustain the massive army. Ash didn’t mind the slowed pace as it allowed his weary muscles a break. No matter how used to riding one was, doing it constantly day after day would cause pain and currently Ash’s thighs and back felt as if someone had set them on fire.

Not only had the slowed pace allowed Ash to regain a bit of his strength and stamina, it had also allowed his troops to do the same. With the leisurely pace, Ash spent most of his time with his wives moving among the troops talking with them. He didn’t just talk with his demon soldiers, but also the Urie soldiers.

Ash was not mingling with the soldiers just to get acquainted, but because he wanted to know more about how the Urie army was structured. It was much the same way that Ash had figured but he felt that he was learning a lot as each day passed. The largest lesson Ash learned was how disciplined the Urie army was. It was worlds away from how the Hawkwing soldiers acted and much stricter than what he had seen of the Heluria army. Also while there were demi-humans within the army that wore slave collars, they didn’t seem to be treated any different than the other soldiers. When Ash asked Anderson about this he was told, “Though they have to follow orders, there are still many ways for slaves to make trouble during a battle. It is best that they fight their best and on their own terms.”

Ash watched the slaves, but was relieved to see that Anderson’s words didn’t seem to be false though the slave collars still bothered him.

12-5

With the reduced speed, it was eight days before they reached the next large city. If it had just been Ash and the demons there might have been some resistance from the locals and there would even be a chance of them losing more than a few soldiers during the attack. However, with the addition of the Urie army, the city folded without as much as a word. The real problem was that Anderson didn’t want to give the town even a chance and wanted to burn it to the ground. Ash was only able to get Anderson under control when he mentioned they were currently in what would be part of his lands in the future and Ash didn’t want to start sowing bad blood with the common people.

The time passed quickly and Ash continued to receive information from Lath. With the addition of the Urie forces, it seemed that the Heluria King was in a fit and had started to call in every able bodied man and woman that he could find. At the same time he had also called for every township to triple the amount of food they supplied as a tax. Ash knew that the people were going to face a hard year and that many would die on and off the battlefield but he tried not to let it get to him.

As the King tried to raise his forces in the west they were already nearing the main force. It seemed that the army had taken root in a large town while trying to build an impromptu fort. Ash had learned of this only a few days after he had joined up with the Urie forces and Ash assumed that it was their response to such an action as he could see no other reason for them to stop their advance. This meant that Ash’s forces would reach the Heluria army days before the main demon army was in position. Ash sent a letter to have them quicken their pace, but even then it would be some time before they could arrive.

Right now Ash was looking over a large open expanse from a small forest, the reason that they had stopped was because this was the closest forested land near the town where the enemy army has decided to make their stand. From where they were at, it would take slightly more than half a day of hard riding to reach the town but with the speed of the wagons it would take just over a day. This was the reason they had decided to split the army. Ash would move forward with an advanced portion of the army making up a fifth of the total forces.

They would arrive first while the others started building and moving siege weapons into place. If there had been a closer forested area, it would had been much easier but they could only work with what they had. The forces that were going with Ash constituted all of the demon forces and a large portion of the Urie mounted soldiers.

As Ash sat on the armored mounted warhorse that Anderson had given him and looked at the soldiers arrayed behind him, he couldn’t help but feel slightly in awe of himself. With a slight nudge of his heels, the warhorse jumped forward and the soldiers behind him quickly followed him.

Though few of the demons were on horseback, Ash didn’t have to slow much to allow them to keep up and they came into view of the town long before the sun had set. Ash picked a spot where the terrain was raised to make their camp. It was a little farther away from the city than he wanted, but it did give him a great view of his surroundings and limited the avenues that an enemy could attack from without being easily noticed. Since it was already late in the day, there was little they could do, so Ash only ordered them to set up camp.

The camp was not tightly packed. In truth, the tents were spread far enough apart that four or five more tents could easily be placed in-between them. The reason for this was so that Ash could start preparing outer defenses without having to worry about space once the rest of the forces arrived. The only downside to the large camp was that the number of troops that would have to be put on guard would be much larger. Even with the extra guards there was still risks due to the camps size, but there was only so much they could do with the troops they had.

The morning after they had set up the camp, Ash started the defensive preparations. Since the chance of a head on attack was minuscule, Ash didn’t plan to expand too much energy on defenses. However, it seemed that the Urie forces had it ingrained in them. Before Ash could even make an order, the Urie forces started digging pits and using what stakes they had. Ash was amazed at how quickly and effectively the Urie forces worked and he quickly ordered his demon forces to help.

In two days what had once just looked like an open hilltop, now was starting to look like an army camp. They even had one completed siege weapon. Now a large arbalest sat at the edge of the camp pointed toward the city. Though the arbalest was in position, there was no way that it could reach the opponents from its current location. So far the enemy forces had stayed within the town and had yet to make a single move.

On the third day, the camp was mostly finished but the other troops were only moving in slowly. Ash expected that it would take another three days before the last of the soldiers would arrived. Still with most of the camp finished, Ash figured that it was time that he met with the enemy. Leaving Calen in charge of the soldiers, Ash took Tolarea, Eun, Celina, and Li toward the enemy encampment.

Before Ash was even close to the town that the enemy was using as a base, he could see soldiers lining up on top of the buildings and makeshift walls, their bows trained at them.

“Stop,” A loud voice boomed once Ash and the others were no more than a hundred feet from the gate to the town. “State your name and business.”

“Maoh Ash Hawkwing of the demon army,” Ash replied loudly. “I have come to discuss terms.”

A few moments after he spoke the two large wooden gates swung open but Ash didn’t enter. “If you leaders wish to speak, this is as far as we will come. Send them out; otherwise, we will head back to our own forces.” Ash didn’t fear death, but he was no so stupid as to walk into the enemy’s fortress. Though he rode in under the banner of a white flag, he had seen enough of what the Heluria army and kingdom considered honorable.

Ash waited for a quarter of an hour before he turned his horse and started to head back to his own camp when the call to wait rang across the field. Turning his head, Ash saw six men wearing bright silver armor ride out from the city gates toward where Ash and his wives waited.

“Lord Ash, I am Knight General Hamman of the Heluria army. It would be much more comfortable for us to talk under the cover of one of the buildings within the town then under the hot sun. We also have a number of drinks and food prepared for your pleasure.”

“I will have to refuse your kind offer,” Ash said with a wry smile. “I don’t feel like having a dagger stuck in my back today.”

“How dare you insult the Knight General,” one of the other nights said his face turning red in anger.

Ash couldn’t help but laugh at the man’s outburst. “You expect me to trust the knight commander of a shameless king. The same king who used so called honorable knight as assassins dressed as rogues. The same king who tried to falsely arrest a peaceful diplomat.”

“How dare you,” a female knight roared half drawing her sword.

“Silla stop,” Hamman ordered in a commanding tone. “Lord Hawkwing has come under the white flag. Do you dare dishonor our men by drawing arms?”

“Knight General how can you allow him to slander our lord in such a way?” Silla asked her sword still half drawn.

Ash could tell form the look in the Knight General’s eyes that he looked upon the female knight with a mix of pity and respect. From her looks, Ash expected that she was still young and from her actions truly believe that Ash’s words were nothing but lies. Ash himself couldn’t help but slightly admire the young woman. It was rare for there to be people with such pure hearts. It was also sad that she was serving such an undeserving king and that most likely she would die over the course of the next few days. As Ash thought about that, his heart felt heavy but he quickly pushed it away. He had learned long ago that it was not only the evil and wicked that died on the battlefield.

“I ask that you forgive Silla, she is skilled but young and impulsive,” the knight commander said kindly. “If we cannot go inside then where do you wish to talk?”

“Here will be fine,” Ash said indicating the small open area in front of the city gates. Ash pulled a large table and enough chairs for each person out of his inventory. Ash also pulled two bottles of wine and glasses and placed them on the table.

Sitting down, Ash poured himself a glass of wine and took a small sip. The knight general gave off a roaring laugh and picked up his own glass and quickly filled it. Soon all of them were sitting around drinking in silence. After the first glass was finished, Ash sat down his glass and looked at the knight general. “If you surrender peacefully then I will allow all of your men to live. Otherwise this will be your grave.”

“The wine was so good, but now all I can taste is the sourness of your words,” the knight general said with a lamentable sigh. “We cannot surrender and I think you will find that we are harder to kill than you think. My advice is that you and the Urie army return to your own lands. If you promise to do that then I promise none of my men will follow you.”

“It is too late for that,” Ash said with a disappointed look on his face.

“I thought so,” The knight general replied with the same look of disappointment as he looked down at his glass of wine. “It seems that the wine has turned a bit sour in my mouth. I hope you the best on the battlefield.”

Ash watched as the soldiers left the field and returned to the city as a slight pain rose in his chest. “We should head back my lord,” Li said in a comforting voice. Ash looked to her and gave a sad smile and nodded his head.

12-6

Two days after the talk with the enemy, the main force of the demon army arrived. Ash could almost hear the sound of despair coming from within the city as he rode toward his army. Even without the main army, they had more than enough of a force to take the city though it would have been a hard campaign with a large number of losses. Now with the added forces, there was only one outcome of the coming battle, a complete slaughter.

“My lord,” a large demon belonging to the same family as Tolarea said in greeting. Ash remembered seeing the demon before but couldn’t put a name to the man’s face.

“Are you the commander of the main force?” Ash asked without delay.

“No my lord, I am just a sub commander,” the demon replied with a slight bow. “I am sub-commander Herse. The army commander is currently conversing with the other sub-commanders inside the temporary command tent. If you wish to speak with commander Jalr then I will be more than happy to lead you to his current location.”

“Please do,” Ash said without a second thought.

Herse lead Ash through the demon troops. As they passed through the army, many people looked at him and Ash could hear their hushed whispers. Ash had been the Maoh for a good amount of time now, but he had still not spent that much time getting to know his own people so it was no surprise that many of them did not know what he looked like. For a human, Ash would be considered of average size and looks. He was in no way impressive so Ash was not surprised that many of the comments that his ears picked up were those of surprise. For some reason they had thought that the new demon king was some sort of monster. Ash didn’t know if he should laugh or cry as the comments reached his ears. A part of him felt slightly annoyed as he thought that the demons would be slightly more forgiving of his looks since their own looks varied greatly depending on the clan they were from but that seemed to make their comments even harsher as each person seemed to measure him to the people of their own clan.

“Isn’t he a little small?”

“He looks weak?”

“His wings are a bit small. Can he even fly?”

“He has a cute face.”

When Ash head the last statement he couldn’t help but look in the direction of the words expecting to see a young lady but instead he noticed a large demon about twice his size looking toward him with a fevered look on his face. His heart racing slightly from the unexpected shock, Ash quickened his pace.

The temporary command center was nothing more than an open tent with a few hastily made chairs and a rough wooden table. Around the table stood more than twenty demons looking over a number of maps that had been pinned to the table with daggers that looked more like thick needles with a hilt.

When Ash and Herse entered the tent, no one paid much attention to the two. Ash thought about calling out to the commander and sub-commanders but decided against it and instead silently listened to the commander’s discussion.

The commanders were currently discussing the small city fort that the enemy forces had barricaded themselves behind. Ash knew that he was still inexperienced when it came to warfare. He was not one of those young lords who only viewed the world like a frog at the bottom of a well. He knew he was lacking but he still found himself shocked at some of the words that were coming from the commander’s mouths.

Ash had thought that the battle would be an easy one given their overwhelming forces but the commanders didn’t seem to think it would be as straight forward.

“The scouts noticed that the base near the east wall has been dug out using collapsible beams. Since it is the section facing the Lord and his forces, I expect that they plan to wait until the soldiers are completely engaged before causing the near mile long section of wall to collapse. There is no telling what they have planned after that, but there are any number of things they could do that could devastate a large number of our men. It would be best if we simply blocked the east wall and attacked from the north.”

“The north is dangerous as well. The enemy has put it a large number of crossbows. They have been arranged where it only takes one person to fire more than two dozen. Even if our mages can reduce the number of troops, it would only take a few to kill hundreds of our men. The south side is much better even though it is narrow and bordered by the steep slope on the west.”

“The enemy had been stacking rocks and other debris along the road to the south gate. It just seems too suspicious to me. They have made great effort to detour our attacks from every other angle but for the south they only seemed to have made a minimal defense. I think that they have something planned, but I just cannot see though it at this time.”

It was at this time that one of the sub-commanders looked in Ash’s direction noticing him for the first time. “Can you have our dinners brought to the command tent? I do not think that we will be able to join the troops for the evening meal.”

Ash felt like he should say something, but before he could voice a word, the sub-commander had already turned around and returned his attention back to the discussion at hand. Shaking his head, Ash looked for Herse but found that the sub-commander was currently trying to get near one of the officers who Ash believed was the main army commander. Shrugging his shoulders and seeing no harm in allowing the experienced men to continue he took a step back and exited the tent and went to look for those in charge of the meals.

The camp was easily five times the size of the one he had been in, but it was set up with the same pattern, so it didn’t take Ash long to find where the cooks were stationed. The cooks were made of over a hundred demons, each looked incredibly busy. After trying to get someone’s attention for a while, one of the older demons stopped what he was doing and turned to look at Ash with a slightly annoyed glint in his eyes. “What do you want?” The old demon asked curtly.

“The commanders want their meals taken to their tent,” Ash said, his voice strong though it was close to faltering.

“Like we don’t have enough work to do,” the old demon spit as he turned his head to the side and yelled. “Yarne!”

A young demon looking no more than thirteen ran forward with a fearful look in his eyes. “Yes master Kell?” Yarne asked with a bowed head.

“Gather a few of the other boys and have meals taken to the commander’s tent,” Kell said with an air of authority. The boy looked at Ash, his jaw dropping slightly and his eyes wide. Ash tilted his head to the side then remembered seeing the child before when he had been in the capital. He had never talked to the child, but he had been one of the many runners that had worked in the castle. Holding back his smile Ash gave the boy a sly wink.

“Don’t just stand there like some slack jawed fool unless you want me to strip the hide off your backside. Get a move on,” the old demon roared his eyes nearly spitting fire.

The young boy’s body began to shake as he regained his bearings. Turning on his heels, Kell ran off as if his feet were afire. Laughing, Ash turned around and headed back to the command tent with a slight smile still on his face.

When he returned to the tent, Ash found that it was slightly louder than when he left. Stepping inside, he found that the smallest of the demons currently was pulling commander Herse by his ear forcing the much taller demon to bend down. Seeing the scene Ash couldn’t help but be reminded of thinking of a small child being yelled at by his mother.

“Why in the nine hells didn’t you say something? If the Maoh was here you don’t just politely try to get my attention. What are you going to do if the Maoh got annoyed and went back to his own camp? Do you fools ever think?”

“My lord,” Herse called out when he noticed Ash had reentered the tent.

Twisting her hand, making Herse grimace again, the small woman let go of her hold on his ear and turned bowing deeply toward Ash. “Lord Ash, I must apologize. We were unaware that you had graced us with your presence earlier. I had feared that you left in anger. If there is anything I can do to alleviate this disgrace you only have to speak it.”

Ash floated a warm smile while looking around the room until he noticed the sub-commander who had asked him to have the food sent over. The demon’s face had lost most of its color and looked almost as white as a sheet. Giving the demon commander a light smile before turning his attention back to the woman who was still bowing. “You can rise,” Ash said, his voice filled with warmth. “I just thought that you might wish to have your dinner within the tent since it did not seem like you would be able to finish your discussion before the sun fell.”

“That is most gracious of you my lord,” the woman said, giving Ash a motherly smile. Looking at her, Ash would think that she was only in her mid-twenties, but Ash had long learned that it was almost impossible to judge the age of a demon merely from a look. There were demons that aged like humans, but for them it took a hundred years for them to age a year. At the same time there were demons that never age once they reached a certain maturity. Ash didn’t know if he would consider such a thing a curse or a blessing. Eternal youth sounded nice, but some of those demons never seemed to get past the age of what most would consider adolescence. Ash wouldn’t mind to be stuck in the body of a twenty year old, but being stuck in the body of a teenager didn’t sound that pleasant.

“I always believed that no matter what status one holds that they should limit themselves to doing only what they can while trying to learn what they do not,” Ash said lightly. “It was easy for me to see that all of you are much more knowledgeable about war then I am so there was no sense in me interrupting and made much more sense to do what little I could to help.”

The seemingly young female demon commander let out a loud laugh but it quickly came to a halt and her face took on an ice cold look that seemed like it could pierce though a person’s soul. “Did you hear that? The Maoh even with his status, who could stand above all of us, has instead lowered himself to a position of a servant. If any of you had half the brains and forethought of the young Lord then this old lady could die in peace. Instead most of you take your position for granted. Maybe I should follow the Lord’s example and make all of you work as servants for a few hundred years to train you in humility a bit more?”

“General Fay, I think you are being a bit harsh. We are not nearly as bad as that,” one of the sub-commanders said, his shoulders dropping slightly.

“Is that so Little Wren,” the general said with a heavy glare. “Was it not you just two days ago who had a fit because one of the soldiers brought his tent too close to your own so you couldn’t put up your prided canopy and hammock?”

Seeing the much smaller demon lecturing the others who were all much larger, Ash couldn’t help but break into a fit of laughter. Holding his stomach, Ash looked up to find everyone looking at him. Even general Fay looked slightly stunned at Ash’s outbreak of laughter. “Sorry…Sorry you just reminded me of a woman scolding her wayward children. It just seemed so out of place I couldn’t help but laugh,” Ash said trying to explain himself.

Fay let out a short barking laugh that didn’t seem to fit her small frame. “You wouldn’t be too far off. Almost all of the sub-commanders are my students and many of them have been groomed by me since they were still in swaddling. I can’t help but treat the little brats like my own children. Now that we got this little fit over with, why don’t we get back to the problem at hand? Otherwise we will be stuck here until the enemy gets reinforcements.”

“Reinforcements?” Ash asked puzzled. “I thought that this was the main force. There shouldn’t be much more that the King can bring to field.”

“Foolish child,” Fay said shaking her head. “I guess that I can’t blame you. Instead I need to remember to slap that old sage a few times next time I see him. He should have sent you to me ages ago so that I could at least teach you the basics. As you are now, I don’t think you could fight your way out of a wet blanket.” Ash was dumbfounded at her words. Growing up Ash was used to being insulted but never in such a warm manner. Fay’s words might have been harsh, but the look on her face radiated warmth making Ash feel slightly odd when he looked at her. “Boy for now on you will be sticking with me so that I can teach you enough so that you don’t bring the entire demon kingdom down around your ears.”

“Yes ma’am,” Ash said feeling like a small child under the small demon’s gaze.

“Good,” Fay said nodding. “Looks like you have a good head on your shoulders. I just hope you can keep it there long enough for the next Maoh to be born and brought up, otherwise we might not be so lucky next time around. For now take a seat and listen. If you get bored just let grandma Fay know and she will slap you a few times to wake you up,” the general said with a smirk before turning her attention back to the other commanders and the maps laid upon the table.

Ash did as he had been told and took a seat on an uncomfortable chair made of soft wood and reeds. He listened as the commander’s once again talked about the best way to attack the city fort. Ash listened attentively though he could only understand the basics of what was being said. The discussion continued on and the sun was quickly replaced by darkness as it dropped below the horizon.

Shortly after the sun disappeared from the sky, a loud noise came from outside the camp quickly followed by a number of screams. Raising her head from the map, General Fay’s face twisted as she spat. “It’s a night raid…Fools I told you that we should set up a good guard just for this reason. Hopefully you listened to my suggestions, otherwise this is going to be a long night.” Ash noticed that none of the sub-commanders spoke and instead looked down like children who had gotten caught stealing candy.

“We didn’t think they would dare to attack out camp given our numbers,” one of the commanders said with a down heartened look on his face.

“We just finish a long forced march. Our troops are tired while theirs have been resting peacefully. Now is the best time for them to risk a night raid otherwise they will have to face us full on at a time of our choosing.” Fay glared at them and stomped her small foot. “Don’t just stand there moaning about your own stupidity, get out there and take command of your troops.”

“Yes sir,” the commanders said with a stiff salute before running out of the tent.

“Follow me my lord,” Fay said turning to Ash and waving her hand. “You should see what happens when you underestimate your enemy.”

12-7

Ash followed closely behind Fay as they left the confines of the tent. The sky was dark and lined with clouds only allowing the moon brief moments to shine through. Each time the area brightened Ash noticed the faces of the demons rushing around him. Some of them looked calm and moved through the crowd as if they were just passing through a crowded street, while others were obviously panicked and seemed to trip over their own feet.

It wasn’t long before the screams of the dying grew louder. Ash knew that they were drawing close to the border of the camp. When he rode in at dawn, there was only a small ditch dug along with a few barriers to impede the enemies’ advance should they attack. Ash hadn’t given it much thought at the time because it hadn’t been long since the main army had arrived. However, even now it didn’t look like much work had been done while he had been in the command tent.

When he first arrived, Ash’s men had spent days doing nothing but fortifying their position. They had limited troops and even he knew that a night attack could greatly diminish their fighting force, but it seemed that the commanders of the main army had grown lax with the overwhelming numerical advantage.

“Tsk,” Fay clicked her tongue. “This is what happens when you field and army with no real experience.”

“I thought that the demon army trained non-stop?” Ash asked slightly confused. He was sure that the sage had said that even in their current peaceful times, the demon army had never let their blades grow dull. He couldn’t understand the meaning behind the general’s words.

“Of course they fight, but not against humans and rarely against other demons unless it is a mock battle. Those don’t have any real sense of danger so the pressure on the commanders and troops are light. The worst part is that demons enjoy the fight so something like a night raid would be rare even during mock battles because it wouldn’t allow them to fully enjoy the battle. It is because of this that these boys have grown too lax and have forgotten to think like their enemies.”

Before Ash could think of a reply, a tall man rushed toward him with his sword ready to strike. Taken by surprise, Ash took a hasty step back while trying to release his sword from its scabbard. With such an unexpected attack within his own lines, Ash had been unprepared and couldn’t even think of what skills or abilities might be of use and suddenly only hoped that the strike didn’t hit any of his vitals. Just as the sword was about to hit his chest, a dagger flashed like a silver beam of light, knocking the enemies blade away. Less than a second later another flash of silver was quickly followed by a stream of red flowing from the soldier’s neck as he fell to his knees. He grasping his wound desperately trying to keep the blood from freely pouring onto the hard ground.

“Keep your eyes open,” Fay said in the same scolding tone that she had used on the commander’s earlier, making Ash lower his head like a scolded child. “We might still be well behind our lines, but there is no telling when a lucky enemy might break through. That is especially true for you. You are not only our leader but also our Maoh. If you were to die, it would throw everyone into trouble due to the spirit link. There is a very real chance that the enemy might employ assassins. If you want to be foolish and die, do it somewhere away from me. This old lady can’t have you dying under my eyes.”

“Yes ma’am,” Ash said apolitically. Pulling his sword from its scabbard so it was at the ready, Ash tried to use his sense ability, but there were so many people around that it started to make his head hurt, forcing him to deactivate it. Sighing to himself, Ash wished he had brought a few of his wives with him, but they all seemed busy and he was just going from one camp to the other and he thought it was a better use of their talent to have them keep an eye on the so called allies. No matter how well-mannered they seemed, Ash just couldn’t bring himself to fully trust an army that belonged to an unfamiliar party. There was always the chance they could turn on them at the most crucial moment. Ash made a silent vow to never leave the girls behind again. It wasn’t that they really made him stronger, but Ash had to admit that their presence made him feel more secure.

Within moments Ash got his first real view of the harsh battle at the front lines. The number of attackers were not large, but from what he could see, they were strong far stronger than Ash would have thought. Not only were they strong, even with their small number, but the demons had been taken by surprise and Ash could already see that the ground was covered in the blood of the unlucky few who had been the first casualties from the unexpected night attack.

Ash’s blood began to boil with each passing second but before he took a step, he noticed that Fay was calmly standing beside him watching it all with a passive attitude. As if hearing Ash’s unasked question, Fay looked at Ash and gave a warm smile. “We are the leaders of the army. If we casually join in the battle without understanding the full implications of the battle, then we will do more harm than good.”

As Fay was explaining, one of the enemy soldiers broke through the lines and ran straight toward them. Ash held his sword tightly and just before he made his move, Fay lazily flicked her wrist and a long needle suddenly appeared between the man’s eyes a second before he crashed into the ground like a puppet that had its strings cut. “The current battle is not that important. If we join it and get put into a bad position, there are no gains…Only losses. Right now, while we may lose a few troops, there is no way that the enemy can breach far enough into our lines to do any real damage. I would expect that their main goal was our leaders. However, no matter how hard they try, it is nearly impossible to sneak into a demon army camp due to some of the unique abilities that our soldiers’ control. While I know that you are skilled in battle, your true worth is behind the lines at this time.”

“I thought the demon Maoh was supposed to fight on the front line,” Ash said, his mouth still hanging open as he tried to come to grips with everything that was currently happening.

“Yes, the Maoh is meant to fight at the forefront of the battle. A Maoh is a leader before anything else, but there is no meaning to the Maoh fighting on the front lines in every battle. It only works in battles where the soldiers can gain strength from your presence and right now that wouldn’t happen. In fact, it would be the opposite. It would dishearten the soldiers because they would view it as their mistake that put you in danger. So the best thing that you can do at the moment is watch them and aid them where you can while keeping yourself safe.”

“Yes ma’am,” Ash said nodding his head like a schoolboy.

Keeping his sword in hand, Ash watched the battle. Thanks to his dragon eyes, Ash could easily see what was going on despite the dark night. Each time that one of the demons took a strike, Ash found himself gritting his teeth and his hand tightening on the hilt of his sword. With each death he felt as if his chest was slowly being ripped open. As the second turned into minutes, the sounds died down, but it did not alleviate the pain. Even though there were less enemies and more defenders with each passing moment, it was hell for Ash to just watch like a bystander. When the signal for retreat sounded and the humans fled back toward the city fort in the distance, Ash felt as if all his strength had been drained from his body.

Looking at Ash with a calm yet sympathetic smile, Fay tried to pat him on the shoulder but given her stature she could only reach his shoulder blade. “You did well young Lord. Why don’t we head to my tent for a nice cup of tea?”

Ash had expected Fay’s tent to be the largest since she was the general of the entire demon army, as well as the teacher to many of the other commanders, but that was not the case. Fay’s tent was larger than most of the normal soldiers, but not by much. Inside there was only one small table and three chairs that would have looked more in place on a nobles veranda. Shortly after they entered the tent, Fay filled a small tea kettle with water and ran her thumb across her fingers as if she were counting. Small green flames sprung on her fingers. Fay pressed her hand against the side of the tea kettle and within seconds steam started to boil out of the top quickly followed by a low whistle.

Fay placed two short ceramic cups on the table along with a thick ceramic bowl. She placed a small pinch of green herbs in the bowl and then followed it with hot water from the pot. A few seconds later Fay flicked her wrist and a small bamboo whisk seemed to appear in her hand. The whisk seemed to disappear into the bowl. As it moved around, it made a gentle buzzing noise. When Fay’s wrist stopped moving, she placed the whisk on a richly decorated napkin, then she poured the light frothy green liquid into the two cups.

Ash couldn’t help but be amazed at how Fay moved. Each movement was precise and gentle giving off an air of perfection.  Following Fay’s lead, Ash picked up his cup and took a small sip. The tea was slightly bitter, oddly calming.

After drinking half the cup of tea, Ash sat it down and looked at Fay who was smiling warmly as she watched him. “How do you think the battle will go?” Ash asked.

“That is not a discussion for when one is drinking tea,” Fay said with a slight frown. “When one is drinking tea, conversation should be light and of a relaxing nature.”

“I am sorry,” Ash said in a slightly dejected tone.

“There is no reason to apologize,” Fay said her warm smile instantly returning. “What do you think of the tea?”

“It is bitter,” Ash replied honestly. “Though it does have a nice scent and seems to warm my soul.”

“This is a special blend of green tea that come from one of the smaller demon clans that occupy the western region of the demon kingdom. It is hard to get and while some do not find it as tasty as some more common and well known teas, but I think it is prefect for calming one’s soul. What do you think of the cups? They were specifically made for this tea and it is believed that the older the cups become and the more they are used, the better the tea will taste.”

Ash looked down at the cup in his hand. At first look it was just a simple ceramic cup but the longer he looked at it the more enchanting it seemed. The base of the cup was white as snow but it slowly faded. First it started off as a light green then darkened to the same shade of the tea that rested in the cup and at the very top it turned darker and looked like a dusky brown. The main thing that drew Ash’s notice was that the colors didn’t change in a uniform fashion but were like flames that shifted from one point to another.

“It is very beautiful,” Ash replied honestly after a brief moment of silence.

“I am glad that you think so,” Fay said happily. “As I said, for now on you will be my student. Otherwise I will be unable to sleep for fear of the future. The first thing I will teach you is the art of making tea.” Ash’s eyes widened in surprise but Fay’s warm smile stopped any words of dissent from spilling from his mouth. “To be a good leader one must first learn how to silence the noise in one’s soul, otherwise the noise from the constant turmoil will drive you into madness. More than one soldier has been driven down a dark path from the cries of those long dead.” Fay’s words didn’t seem as if she were speaking as only an observer as her face took on a slightly sad overtone but she recovered quickly.

“As you wish,” Ash said nodding his head.

“For now it is too late to send you back to your own camp,” Fay said with a slightly pouting look on her face. “With the daringness of the enemy, no one could say what could happen on the short ride. Tonight I will have one of the soldiers prepare a tent for your use. Until it is ready, why don’t you try and prepare some tea?”

For more than an hour Ash was made to make tea, but not once was what he did acceptable. When Fay had made the tea it had looked so artful yet simple, but Ash had quickly found that it was much harder than it had looked. His stirring speed was either too fast or too slow. He was either stirring it too hard or too soft. It was not only the speed, but Fay often complained that he had the wrong state of mind when he was mixing the tea. “If you mind is not calm and still when you are mixing the tea, then the tea will not calm the soul. Instead it will anger it,” Fay had said over and over as she loomed over him like some vicious taskmaster. Now that he was lying in his bed looking at the bland tent above him, Ash was thankfully that it had already been so late otherwise Fay might have kept him there until the end of time. Though he was tired, it was the first time Ash slept in peace in a long time.

12-8

Two days quickly passed and Ash found himself sitting atop a large black winged horse. Though the horse had wings and could fly, it was not like the flying horses in the myths from his world as it could only fly a few feet above the ground. Even then, it could not do so for a prolonged amount of time. The true value of the winged horse was that it could travel across any terrane very quickly. It also has a very thick hide that can take most normal attacks.

“Nervous?” Fay asked with a sly smile. Just like Ash, Fay stood at the front of the army waiting for the beginning of the battle. Ash had a slight feeling of relief for not being alone. His guards/wives gave him some comfort, but Fay made him feel more secure in his decisions. She looked young, but each time she spoke Ash could feel the years of experience in her words. It both encouraged him and at the same time reminded Ash how much farther he had to go to be a true leader.

“It would be a lie to say that I didn’t feel some misgivings,” Ash replied as he gripped the sword in his hand, reassured by its presence as he looked at the town ahead and the men standing on top of the battlements and roofs of the buildings near the wall.

“Lord, I think we should start or the soldiers are going to start getting sunstroke waiting,” Fay said in a joking tone.

Feeling slightly embarrassed, Ash nodded his head then raised his right arm his sword pointing high into the sky. “Eagle knights go!” Ash’s words echoed through the air as if they were shouted from the top of a mountain.

At Ash’s command the air was filled with the sound of the wing beats of large birds as the massive eagles passed over the head of the demon army.

Though he was near a mile away from the human city, he could hear the faint sound of yelling coming from the distance. Though there were only a little over a hundred eagles, they seemed to block out the sky since Ash’s eyes were glued onto them as sweat rolled down his forehead.

The archers were the first to attack the flying enemy but their arrows fell short. Only the few who had overbearing abilities seemed to have any luck getting close to their targets, but even those attacks seemed insignificant as not one eagle fell from the sky. The next wave of attacks came from the cities mages once the eagles were directly over the city. Ash watched, his stomach clutching as more than half a dozen birds dropped from the sky.

The eagle knights did not just idly accept the attacks of their enemies. Almost like one massive machine, the eagles flipped over and the riders launched their most destructive abilities and soon the air above the city was filled with flames and dust as buildings collapsed.

After three passes, the eagle knights had lost more than a quarter of their numbers and started to return having expended the majority of their strength. As soon as the eagles had retreated to half the distance between the city and the demon army, Ash raised his left hand and one of the mages behind him raised his staff and loosed a purple fireball into the air. “First wave charge!” Ash roared. Following his words, the soldiers around him rushed forward causing the ground to shudder.

“Don’t be hasty boyo,” Fay said in a harsh tone, the playfulness of earlier gone from her voice.

Ash calmed his breathing and tried to refrain from his impulse to charge with the others. “Does it not bother you?”

“Not really,” Fay said with a shrug of her shoulders. “I may be a demon, but I do not enjoy bloodshed that much,” Fay’s words were spoken slowly and one could almost feel the sadness held within them. “Would you like to hear an old story?” she said her eyes becoming slightly unfocused. Ash nodded his head but it seemed as if Fay couldn’t even see him at the moment.

“I was born among the demon lands but when I was only six, my father took me outside to train. During the trip we were attacked and my father perished,” Fay’s words rang out in Ash’s mind even as he watched his troops run toward the city. “I was captured. The humans tried to turn me into a slave, but thanks to the bond that I already had to the demon lord it wouldn’t take. I was still forced to enter their army. At the time a war was taking place between two large kingdoms. I call it a war, but it was nothing more than a show for those of nobility and served no real purpose other than mass death.”

Ash listened to Fay’s story as he watched arrows and magic rain down on his troops killing untold numbers. At the same time the soldiers at the core of the charge started their assault. Having come from a unique tribe that had a close affinity with earth, they attacked the walls causing large holes and in some places even causing them to collapse completely. Seeing this, Ash raised his left hand again and a yellow ball of flame was shot into the sky. “Second wave charge!”

“For three years I killed to live. Every day was filled with blood. At that time in my life, there were times I didn’t even have the energy to wash the stains from my clothes. When I was ten, a demon soldier found me and returned me home. I was skilled at war so I trained in war, but that does not mean that I enjoy it. I fight now not to soak in blood, but prevent as much bloodshed as I can,” as Fay finished her words she looked toward Ash with a firm smile. “I hope one day you too will understand my feelings.”

The second wave rushed toward the town, their speed much faster than that of the first wave, but their feet did not leave the same awe inspiring feeling. It was as if they were running on air as only the sound of their armor could be heard as the moved.

“Time to go,” Fay said as she pulled a long spear that had been stuck in the ground beside her. Ash nodded his head and once again raised his left arm. A black burst of fire shot into the air. “All hands charge!”

“Pace yourself,” Fay yelled when Ash started to pull away from the rest of the army. Ash immediately pulled up on the reigns to slow his speed and allow the rest of the army to catch up with him.

To cross the field only takes about 5 to 6 minutes on foot and on horseback it could be done in less than 2. Ash it felt as if time was moving at a snail’s pace. As he approached the down portion of the city walls, Ash could hear the sound of the soldiers beside and behind him along with the screams of the soldiers in front of him. Ash could feel his blood boiling as arrows started to rain down on them, but it wasn’t to the point where their army had to worry. The first wave had taken out a good portion of the defending wall while the second wave were made up of speed focused fighters who had wreaked havoc on the remaining defenders on the wall.

Though the soldiers had already broke through the wall, the defenders had responded quickly and the demon found their path blocked. As soon as he entered the city, Ash understood why the enemy had chosen this city to make their stand. Most the houses looked cheaply made but they were built close together leaving little room for horses and even less room for an army to fight.

Almost as soon as they entered into the city, hidden enemies appeared at every window and on top of most the building firing down on them. Ash didn’t think and responded out of reflex with his fire lance.

The building to Ash’s right burst into fire and high pitched screams filled the air as bodies soon started to jump from the now burning building. As one of the bodies fell in Ash’s direction, his sword flashed, cutting into the small body in an attempt to knock it aside. It was at this moment Ash’s eyes focused on the pale face of the small girl that was now impaled on his sword. Ash’s stomach churned and he could feel the bile rising in his throat. Just as his hand was about to release his sword, Fay moved up next to him and grabbed his arm, her eyes cold and emotionless. “Not in front of the others,” Fay said harshly.

Ash swallowed back the bile in his throat and lowered his sword allowing the small child slip off onto the ground below. As if in a dream, Ash pushed himself forward, his eyes scanning the battle happening all around him. When he had been planning the battle, he had envisioned a harsh and deadly battle against the enemy forces, but what he saw was not what he had expected. There was a large number of soldiers blocking their paths but mixed among them were people who had obviously never held a weapon before. Glancing around, he noticed that those attacking from the windows and rooftops were mostly children doing everything from throwing rocks to shooting arrows.

Ash didn’t know if the demon soldiers didn’t realize that they were children or if they didn’t care, but he watched as child after child died. Each time he saw one of those small forms face their death, he felt a stabbing pain in his chest. Ash wanted to do nothing more than to run from the battle, but the current situation didn’t allow that.

Ash tried to force his brain not to think as pushed forward. He tried to focus on the battle in front of him but with each passing second, his face lost more and more color. Seeing his face going white, his wives moved around him, shielding him from the views of the others while Fay held back and moved beside him.

“This is a real war,” Fay said, her voice seeming to sound both carrying and ridiculing at the same time. “If you can’t handle it then it would be best if you pulled back. Otherwise it will be our soldiers who suffer for your actions. Anyone who picks up a weapon is an enemy, no matter their age. Don’t be fooled, they can kill a man just as easily as another.”

Ash tried to speak but the words seemed to stick in his throat. Closing his eyes and taking a few deep breaths, Ash calmed his mind then nodded his head. Seeing some color return to his face, Fay gave a nod of her head and the turned back leaving the circle of his guards.

“Are you sure you do not wish to return to camp?” Seia asked in a worried voice.

“It’s fine,” Ash said straightening his back. “It could be said that this war is my doing so I have to see it through to the end.”

“We should move into a more open space my lord,” Tolarea said in a commanding tone.

Looking around, Ash noticed that most of the fighting had died down, leaving behind only the bodies of the fallen and the sound of battle in the distance. “Tolarea, Mia at my sides, everyone else take your positions,” Ash said as he nudged his steed forward.

Ash’s group passed by seven houses before they exited the narrow passage and entered into a wider street. His eyes opening, Ash could barely believe what he saw. It looked as if the center of town was nothing more than a large open plane filled with soldiers. The information that Ash had received indicated that they should have a lot more soldiers than the enemy. However, the numbers that he saw him in front of him looked to be much more than he had anticipated.

Currently the bulk of the demon army was still moving through the forest of houses as the defending army carefully maneuvered around them. “It’s a trap,” Fay said from behind Ash.

Turning his head, Ash wondered when and how Fay had gotten behind him. It wasn’t long ago that she had ridden off and the houses only had one road. Ash didn’t have to give it much thought before Fay answered his unspoken question. “They are using illusions, be…” Fay’s words were cut off when she was suddenly surrounded by a large group of soldiers.

Ash turned his steed planning to rush to her aid but before he could move, Seia grabbed him by the arm and drug his from the saddle right before a ball of flame rushed past where he had just been.

“We need to move,” Mia said as the enemy soldiers rushed toward them. Nodding his head Ash quickly got to his feet.

Thankfully they had not moved far into the main district but no matter how hard he looked, Ash couldn’t see one road nor even a space big enough for a mouse to crawl through. It was as if the houses were built as part of each other.

“Must be an illusion,” Ash muttered to himself before activating “Destructive Dispel”. The first use of the ability didn’t earn him anything but the second time, the air in front of a large house began to waver before a small side road appeared where nothing but red bricks had been before. “This way,” Ash yelled as he rushed toward escape.

The soldiers had already caught up and Tolarea and Mia were holding them off. Once Ash and the others were safely out of the open, the other two began to move backward but with each passing second, more and more soldiers began to appear threating to overrun them. Ash pulled his bow from his shoulder and activated “Gambler’s Gambit” increasing all stats by 42. Ash then activated “Deadly Finish,” coupled with “Cluster Shot.” Since both Tolarea and Mia were too close to the front of the enemy line, Ash jumped into the air as high as he could using his wings to hold himself steady as he aimed for an area about fifteen feet back from the two before releasing the arrow and falling back to the ground. As soon as his feet touched the ground he yelled as loud as he could. “Run!”

With their strong belief in Ash, the two women let out one more fierce strike before running at full force in retreat. Ash could hear shouting behind him but it was quickly drowned out by a loud explosion. Ash didn’t run in a straight line and instead kept using “Destructive Dispel,” taking the first road that appeared. The sounds of soldiers’ footsteps could be heard behind him, but Ash didn’t stop to check. When he noticed a fairly well built house, Ash yanked on the door but when they wouldn’t open, he continued running. After the sixth door, one opened with ease and he ran inside without a second thought. His heart beating fast, Ash looked at each face as they followed him inside and let out a sigh of relief when he noticed that no one was missing as he closed the door when Mia entered.

Locking the door, Ash slipped to the ground gasping deeply for his breath. It was only then that he noticed blood dripping from his fingers as pain throbbed through his body. Turning his arm slightly, Ash noticed the fletching of a small bolt sticking in the back of his forearm. Laughing at himself, Ash gripped the bolt and tried to push it through only to notice that it had struck the bone. Between laughing and cursing, Ash let go of the shaft and looked to the others. “Everyone ok?”

“A few wounds but nothing serious. Mia took an arrow to the leg, but it was a clean through and through. I think that is the worst of it,” Celina said as she started to look at Ash’s wound. Pulling out a slim dagger, she gave a pained look. “This is going to hurt.”

Ash bit down on the hilt of his sword and nodded his head. Celina slid the dagger down the shaft of the bolt to his bone then jerked on the arrow, pulling it free in one movement. As soon as the arrow was out, Li stated casting healing magic, sealing the wound. Ash only let out one grunt when the dagger slipped in before he passed out due to the pain.

12-9

Ash’s nearly jumped to his feet as his eyes fluttered open. Looking around at the fatigued faces of his wives, he felt slightly bad about passing out, but didn’t have the time to give it much thought.

“How long have I been out?” Ash asked quickly looking around.

“Less than half an hour,” Seia answered him with a concerned voice.

“How is the battle going?”

“We don’t know my lord,” Tolarea replied. “There are no windows on the first floor and it was too risky given your condition to try to explore much. The sounds of battle died out about five minutes ago, but I don’t know if that is good news or bad.”

Ash nodded his head and then pulled a small ring that Fay had given him from his inventory. “This is the Maoh. Report,” Ash said in a commanding tone as he held the ring so tight that his finders turned white.

“Ash, is that you?” Ash heard Fay’s voice burst in the air.

“Yes, what is happening?” Ash quickly asked.

“We have currently been forced to retreat. The way they used the illusions were too advanced and completely unexpected. Where are you?”

“I am currently still within the city hiding in a house,” Ash replied.

A stream of curses came from the other side of the ring. After a few moments Fay calmed down and started speaking clearly. “I guess it is better than being captured. We took a fair amount of damage in the last attack and it will take some time before we can mount the second. Do you think you can gather some information about the current movements of the enemy without giving away your position?”

“I might be able to,” Ash said in a noncommittal way. “We haven’t had much chance to check out the current situation.”

“Ok, do what you can but don’t put yourself in danger,” Fay said in a motherly tone. “If you get captured, this whole thing is going to turn in a crap fest.”

“Understood,” Ash said. “I will contact you after the sun has set with news one way or another.”

Putting away the communication ring, Ash looked around at the expecting faces of his wives. “It looks like things didn’t go very well,” Ash said trying to force out a smile. “Anyone have any ideas?”

“None of us are skilled in infiltration my lord,” Seia said with a deep frown. They began to discuss what might work, but nothing that they came up with seemed like a workable solution. As they were talking a sound came from the front of the house as Ash heard the distinct sound of a door opening. Signaling everyone to be quiet, Ash put his ear to the door that separated the kitchen that they were hiding in to the main section of the house.

“Finally done cleaning up,” a man said in a tired voice. “Those soldiers are really abusing us.”

“Watch what you say,” A young woman’s voice rang out harshly. “Would you rather be put on the wall?”

“God’s forbid,” the man’s voice said in a hint of fear. “Honey, why don’t you fix something to eat?”

“What do you want me to fix?” the woman asked in an annoyed voice. “We barely have any food left.”

“I am sure that you can come up with something…Your cooking is like magic. Part of the reason I married you,” the man replied laughing.

“Magic my ass,” the woman grumbled. “One of these days I am going to make you cook for a month.”

“If you do that dear, we will either starve or die of food poisoning.”

“Bah,” the woman said, her voice just on the other side of the door.

Without any choice as soon as the door opened, Ash put his sword to the woman’s throat. Her eyes went wide in fear and a strong smell spread through the air as the sound of water hitting the floor seemed to echo in the empty silence.

“Who are you?” the man asked seeing Ash’s face over his wife’s shoulder.

“I will explain that to you just as soon as you lay yourself on the ground,” Ash said in the most menacing tone he could muster.

Ash could tell that the man wanted to say something but he quickly thought better as he laid down on the ground his eyes locked onto the sword that was pointed at his wife’s throat. “Seia, find something to bind their feet so they can’t run.”

Seia looked through the house coming back with long strips of cloth and tied the legs of the husband and wife couple. They held a fearful look in their eyes when they watched Seia slither near them, but they held back their words. Once the two were settled, Ash pulled out food for everyone including his two captives. As he ate, Ash couldn’t help but look over at the married couple. The face of the young child who had died at his hand earlier that day flashed through his mind as pain pulsed through his chest. Seeing Ash looking toward them the woman who was in her mid-thirties gathered up her courage and spoke. “What do you want?”

“Nothing really,” Ash replied. “We just need a place to lay low for a few days.”

“As if I would believe you,” the woman said with a grunt. “You’re just a demon.”

“Anabel no,” the man said his voice filled with fear.

Ash didn’t know why, but the situation in front of him seemed like a joke. A harsh laugh seemed to erupt from his mouth unbidden as a few tears slipped from his eyes. “My lord?” Li asked placing her soft hand on Ash’s arm.

“I’m fine,” Ash said trying to calm himself down. Once he had himself under control, Ash turned back to the woman who was watching him with an equal mixture of fear and indignation.

“I can promise you that if I was given a choice, no one would have to die,” Ash said honestly. “But sometimes things are not as clear cut.”

“Tell that to the families of the bodies that we spent all day piling up in the center of town to burn,” the woman said becoming bolder by the second. “You demons will not win. The gods will not allow your evil.”

“Evil…Gods!” Eun who seemed to have enough of the woman’s words erupted. To Ash Eun had always been a silent woman who rarely spoke. She was like a cool beauty with her long blue hair and silver eyes. “If you want to talk of evil then why don’t you turn your words toward your own kind? Who else but humans enslave others and force them to work for them. As for gods, do you think you are the only one that the gods love? Humph, we have our own god that cares for us.”

“Who would care about your evil gods?” the woman said, her face turning slightly red.

Eun jumped to her feet her hand wrapped tightly around the shaft of her spear. Before things could take a turn for the worse, Ash grabbed Eun’s arm. “Calm down. We gain nothing from arguing.”

“My lord, she dared to blaspheme against the holy Altina,” Eun said her eyes still quivering with anger.

“I am sure that the goddess would not overly mind,” Ash said trying to ease the tension with a smile. “She seems to be one that cherishes life, even among those who do not worship her.”

“I will look around.” Eun gave another fierce look at the woman before leaving the room.

Ash heaved a sigh of relief as he leaned back against the stone wall. “I thought that was going to go bad quickly,” Ash mumbled to himself.

“Please forgive her my lord,” Li said with large pleading eyes. “Eun is a fervent priestess of Altina so she can get a bit…Worked up when the goddess is brought up.”

“I didn’t know she was a priestess,” Ash said slightly stunned. “Can priestess’ even get married?”

“Huh?” Li said with a confused look in her eyes. “Altina loves the birth of new life so why would she ban her followers from adding to that life?”

“I must apologize for my wife. She can be hot-headed sometimes,” the man said breaking tension that was still buzzing in the air.

“Henry,” the woman said angrily.

“Enough Anabel,” the man said a bit harshly making the woman flinch. “Sorry, it has been a rough weak and seeing all those bodies today…” The man said his voice starting to drift off.

“I can understand,” Ash said, his face turning slightly white. “I couldn’t believe that such small children were in the midst of battle.”

“Fear will make even children do amazing things,” the man said with a wry smile. Ever since they began camping in town, the soldiers began telling horror stories of what would happen should the demon army take over the city.” At the man’s words, a long period of silence spread throughout the room. Just as Ash was about to speak, the man asked a question. “What will really happen if the demons win?” Ash could hear the fear hiding within his words, but he thought no less of the man for it.

“From the demon side, nothing would have happened,” Ash replied honestly to the question. “Demons enjoy fighting and battle, but they find it disdainful to push around those of common stature. At least that is what I have seen during my stay with them.”

“You seem to be highly valued,” the man said in a puzzled tone. “The ladies keep calling you their Lord…It is hard to believe that you have not been among them for years.”

Ash couldn’t help but laugh at the man’s statement. “Does it seem that way?” Ash asked feeling some of the built up stress from the current situation dissipating. “Believe it or not I thought the demons were one of the minor races until not long ago.”

“Are you not a demon?”

“Yes, but not a full demon. I have much more human blood than demon running through my veins.”

“Then why are you helping those evil…” Anabel asked vehemently before she was cut off when her husband covered her mouth.

“Sorry, she can be a handful but I do love her,” the man said in an apologetic tone. “Wives can be both the brightest light in your life and the biggest pain in the ass at the same time,” the man said in a more lighthearted tone.

“At least you only have one,” Ash said in a joking tone as he looked at the large gathering of women surrounding him.

“Are you saying that you are not happy with us?” Tina asked with a pouty look that didn’t seem to fit her dark skin and small eyes.

“N-no not at all,” Ash quickly replied as he felt a cold chill run down his back.

After Ash spoke, Li moved slightly scrunching so close to Ash that he could smell the faint smell of lilac from her hair. After Li made her move, Celina and Tolarea advanced. Before he knew it, Ash was completely surrounded so closely that Ash found it hard to move.

“A part of me feels slightly jealous of you while the rest feels pity for you boy,” the man said laughing. “It is hard enough dealing with one wife, I think I would have died by now if I had any more.”

Shortly after, the man and Ash easily started talking and while Anabel would butt in with harsh words from time to time. With each passing word, the anger and conviction in her words started to dwindle. After a little over an hour, Eun returned with news.

“My lord, the window on the second floor overlooks a large side road,” She reported happily.

“Ah you’re talking about Winrey Street,” the man said. “It runs from the east gate, winding through the large storage buildings before moving toward the market district. It is mainly used by the merchant caravans.”

“Why are you telling him that?” Anabel asked.

“Honey have you looked over the walls in the past few days?” Henry asked his wife. “There is little to no chance that the army that is stationed here will be able to hold off the enemy.”

“So you are just going to roll over for the demons?” the woman asked her eyes shaking in anger.

“Yes,” the man said without a moment’s hesitation. “Dear, I have merchant contracts with most the kingdom and even places outside of it. You might not want to believe it, but I have told you time and time again that the king is a fool. All he has thought about is expanding.”

“And what is wrong with that?” the woman shot back.

“Nothing, so long as he doesn’t overstretch the resources of the kingdom, but that is what he has been doing. For the past three years he has raised taxes and imposed tariffs so high that almost all imports have been stopped. Add in the large levy of food and troops that have drained the labor force and food reserves, it was only a matter of time before the kingdom fell into ruin even without a war. We would all be better off if the war ends with the king’s head on a pike in as short as time as possible. I just hope whoever is in charge next isn’t as much of a fool.”

“If it makes you feel better, if we win, this land will belong to my wife,” Ash said in a light tone hoping to kill some of the tension that had built up in the air.

“See, if the kingdom loses then we will be ruled by demons,” the woman said her words laced with venom.

“No, not demons but the previous duchess Emelia Hawkwing who broke away from the kingdom,” Ash explained.

“That wouldn’t be so bad,” the man said after pondering a bit. “She has done well so far.” The man stopped his words and looked at Ash for a long time before a crafty smile spread across his face. “Sir, do you think we could make a deal?”

“I don’t know. What do you have in mind?” Ash responded slightly taken aback by the man’s quick change in attitude.

“Judging from how the women talk to you and the fact that you are also the husband of the young queen to be, I am guessing that you hold some small sway within both the Hawkwing lands and within the demon kingdom.”

“I would have to agree…Why?”

“As I said earlier, I am a merchant…Or well more to the truth I am what they call a contract merchant. I make deals with different territories or groups for the rights to trade in mostly rare items. I then lease those rights to different groups. The Hawkwing lands have always been open for trading and none of their products are really rare but the same cannot be said of the demon lands. I was hoping that I might have a chance to set up some contacts once this little…skirmish is over. In return I have some information about your enemy that might be of use.”

Ash’s eyes widened as he couldn’t help but become excited. “If you can provide me with information that eases capture of the city then not only can I help you make contacts, I can guarantee you a meeting with the demon king himself.”

“Wonderful,” the man said, holding out his hand which Ash quickly took.

At first the information that Henry gave Ash was only slightly helpful like the estimated number of troops and where they were mostly located but the more he spoke, the more useful the information became. After more than an hour, Ash couldn’t help but be surprised at how much the man in front of him had learned about the enemies’ movements. Ash couldn’t wait to relay what he had garnered to Fay. It looked like the second attack would prove much more fruitful than the first, though there was always the chance that the enemy had some hidden cards in their sleeves. Ash was willing to take the risk. In fact given his current situation, he had little choice but to blindly bid and hope the cards all came up aces.

Ash stopped himself mid thought. He had noticed recently that he vied more and more things like a game. Not that he was making light of the life or death situation, but that his mind seemed to automatically adjust his thinking. It didn’t really seem wrong as Ash could easily see the gambles he took, but it also made him realize something else. No matter what you were doing there was also some small part that was left up to luck, but that was only a small part. Even when playing a game of cards, luck plays a role but skill is much more important. No matter how much luck one had, it couldn’t replace information and skill. Shaking his head, Ash looked back toward Henry and continued talking to the knowing merchant.

12-10

Once night was close, Ash couldn’t wait any more and moved into the upstairs bedroom where he could talk to Fay alone. It was not that he didn’t trust Henry and his wife, but he wanted to limit the chances of things going wrong as much as possible.

“Fay, can you hear me?” Ash asked as he poured mana into the ring.

“Ash…Is everything ok? It is still a bit early,” Fay replied through the ring.

“I was able to acquire a great deal of information about the enemy that I thought was of great importance,” Ash said barely able to hold back his enthusiasm.

“Oh…what has happened in the few hours since we had last talked?”

Ash started explaining about how the residences had come back to the home. Anabel was just a normal house wife but Henry was a well-known merchant who was able to get lighter duty and stay off the more dangerous combat details by bribing the upper level soldiers with goods that had been stored in his warehouses. At the same time he had spent a great deal of time around the officers of the enemy army and knowing the price of good information, he paid close attention to anything that came into sight. Ash first gave a quick report about the enemies’ number and weapons along with the more highly skilled members of the army and what Henry had known about what abilities that might hold. After he was finished with the most routine part of the information, Ash went into the information that had truly caught his attention.

“At the bottom of the cliff that borders the city, there is a hidden door that leads to a large tunnel smugglers use that also has an entrance into one of the larger warehouses inside the city. In the past few years, the tunnel has been used extensively thanks to the increased tariffs so it is safe for a large number of people.” Ash went on to explain how to locate the hidden entrance.

“That is excellent. I will start moving troops now. As long as they are not found out, it will make a great difference in the next battle,” Fay said with a hint of deviousness in her voice that Ash had not heard before.

“There is more, the illusions that are being used are magical items that one of the mages in the army makes. He is the right hand man of the general and a high noble of the country.”

“That is good to know, but it doesn’t help much,” Fay said and Ash could almost hear the frown on the other side of the ring.

“Let me finish,” Ash said with a stifled laugh. “When the army first took up residence in the city, the mage had the townsfolk move large rocks decorated with silver chains and weird encryption to different points in the city. These rocks are what allow a group of seven mages to freely control the illusions without exhausting their mana or mental strength.”

“That could be useful in many ways…I don’t know much about magical items so I will have to consult with some more knowledgeable to find the best way to use this information. Is there anything else to report?”

Ash finished the report by letting Fay know about the troop locations including that of the General and the Grand Mage who had taken up residence in the local Lord’s house which was located near the southwest corner of the market district. Once he was finished, Ash put the communication ring back into his inventory and moved to rejoin the rest of the group.

Thanks to Ash’s inventory and the ready kitchen and the number of spices that were readily available in the house, Li was able to make a meal fit for a king. The meal was so good that even Anabel praised it though her tone didn’t carry much in the way of comfort.

Though there was some feeling of comfort while staying inside the house, none of them forgot that they were currently inside the enemy’s lines and one small misstep could cause them to be captured or worse. That is the reason that once it was time to sleep, two remained on guard.

The merchant’s house was large, but it only had two rooms set up for sleeping. Ash and his wives took the master bedroom and gave the other to the married couple. Though Ash had an amiable relationship with the merchant Henry, it was not so well off that he could trust him completely. That was why once it was time to rest, Ash had Henry and Anabel tightly bound both hands and feet before having them placed on the bed for the night.

The master bedroom was large and the bed of ample size, but it couldn’t hold everyone at one time so Ash offered to sleep on the floor but his request was quickly rejected. After trying to argue his point, Ash gave up on the matter and threw himself on the bed. He was completely mentally and physically exhausted after the days’ events and it wasn’t long before he drifted off to sleep.

As Ash dreamed, he found himself back in Emelia’s palace sitting in the library on the long sofa next to his wife who was currently reading a book. Looking at her, Ash felt that something was different but at first he didn’t know what it was. After a few seconds of staring at her, he noticed that there were a few more lines on her face and a few strands of gray hair shimmering in the candlelight.

Ash wanted to say something, but each time he opened his mouth nothing came out. It was as if the world had stolen his voice. “Daddy…daddy,” a loud voice echoed from outside the door. Turning his head, Ash saw a boy about the age of seven run through the door.

Before Ash knew what was happening his arms were stretching out to lift the boy up into the air. The child started to laugh as Ash threw him into the air. Suddenly the child’s face twisted in pain. Ash wanted to ask what was wrong but before he could speak, he felt something warm hit his hand. Looking down he noticed that his hand held the hilt of his sword and a dark red liquid was trickling down the sword and onto his hand. Following the blade with his eyes, he noticed that the body on the other end belonged to his own son. Ash’s hand let go of the hilt as he backed away. His voice called out feebly to the child who lay unmoving on the ground but there was not even the barest hint of movement. His heart wrapped in anguish, Ash turned to where Emelia had been sitting.

When Ash turned around, he was no longer standing in the study that he had known so well but in the center of the city market. The ground was littered with bodies of people. His eyes going wide, Ash felt his heart stick in his chest. Yuki wearing a white dress dyed red in her own blood lay at the foot of the central fountain. Ash ran toward the young girl, but no matter how hard he tried, the distance never shortened.

Breathing hard, Ash fell to his knees crying out before he slammed his fist on the hard ground. His stomach churned and the contents of his stomach were emptied on the stone below him. His eyes watering, Ash looked down, refusing to lift up his head when a trickle of red came into view washing away the bile. The trickle was soon replaced by a steady flow and before long it felt as if Ash was fighting against a river current just to hold his place. With no choice, Ash lifted up his head.

Once again Ash had changed locations. He was now standing in the small fort where he had once nearly died. It was the first place that he had faced the true horrors of war. Ash expected to see the soldiers laying on the ground but it was not soldiers who added to the river of blood but the bodies of children. Most of the faces were unknown to him but many others he knew well as they were the ones closest to him. Shutting his eyes Ash felt tears stream down his face as he wished that he could pull his own heart from his chest.

“Ash.”

“Ash.”

“Ash.”

Voices rang out in Ash’s ears as his body was shaken, but he refused to open his eyes for fear of what new torment he would be faced with.

“Li, check Ash, something has to be wrong,” Ash heard Tolarea’s panicked voice. Unable to help himself, Ash’s eyes opened as he turned in the direction of the voice. Tolarea was large, having the blood of giants running through her veins. Ash always had the impression that she was as tough as stone and while she sometimes showed a feminine side, it wasn’t very often. When Ash saw Tolarea’s red eyes and worried look, he could not help but smile.

“Ash,” Li’s, Celina’s, and Seia’s voice rang out as soon as Ash opened his eyes. “Are you ok?” Celina asked rushing over to Ash’s side.

“What happened?” Ash asked wondering what had got them so worked up.

The five women in the room each looked to each other, then to Ash until Seia spoke. “Ash…You started to scream in your sleep. We tried to wake you up but no matter how hard we tried nothing worked.”

Ash let out a heavy sigh then looked down to his hands while he thought about how to answer. Looking at his hands, Ash noticed a small trickle of blood where his fingernails had dug so hard into his own hand that it had broken the skin. “It was just a bad dream,” Ash said after a long moment of silence. He didn’t want them to think less of him, but neither did he want to lie to them and knowing himself, he figured that tonight would not be the only one that left him in such a bad state.

“Was it the child?” Li asked, her voice soft and filled with warmth. Ash didn’t say a word but he silently nodded his head.  Li didn’t say anything else she simply walked over to where Ash sat in the bed and wrapped her thin arms around his head and pulled him into her chest.

At first Ash felt like pulling back but when the sound of her heartbeat reached his ears, he found it oddly calming and soon her felt the pain in his chest lessen as his breathing calmed down. Unbidden tears silently slipped from his eyes as his arms snaked around Li’s thin waist as he held her tightly, burrowing his face deeper into her chest. Li let out a slight gasp of pain but she never pulled back and instead used her hand to softly pat Ash’s head as she whispered. “It’s ok,” over and over.

After he had calmed down, Ash separated himself from Li and wiped the tears from his red eyes. He tried to find the words of to thank her, but they were lost to him as he looked at the warm smile on her face. Suddenly Ash remembered the others in the room and his face flushed red in embarrassment for a moment before he looked at their faces.

The look of contempt, shame, and disgust were absent. All Ash found were looks of concern and love. Ash had spent a lot of time among his demon wives, but he had only slightly connected with them. He did not hate them but he always felt bad for them in the back of his heart. They did not choose him for their husband but instead their choice had been made for them. This had led Ash to think that they couldn’t ever truly care for him, but at this moment those thoughts were blow out of his mind. Looking into the faces of his wives, all Ash could feel was how much they truly cared for him. Not as the Maoh but as their husband. To many, it might seem like a small thing, but to him it made all the difference in the world.

“Do you think it would help if we talked?” Celina asked, her voice showing her nervousness and worry.

“I don’t know,” Ash replied honestly.

Ash’s wives gathered around him remaining silent at first as if they were afraid to be the first one to speak. The first one to speak was Tolarea who simply asked Ash if he wanted something to drink.

After Tolarea spoke the others began to talk, not just to Ash but to each other. It was slow at first like a dripping facet. Slowly things began to pick up as if they were nothing but kids sitting around without a care in the world. Soon Ash was talking to Li, Celina, and the others like nothing had ever happened.

At first they talked about simple things such as the meal earlier and what had happened over the past weeks. The conversation slowly turned toward the war and the battle they had just made it through. The feeling of the room turned cold and Seia quickly turned the tone of the conversation by asking Tolarea if she wanted a child. From there the room seemed to erupt.

At first Ash was surprised by the sudden change in direction the conversation had taken, but soon he felt like running. The women happily talked about children and their eyes went from calm to happy, to that of a predator who was looking at their prey. Ash could feel the hunger in their eyes and while he knew they meant no harm to him, he still felt cold sweat forming on his back and he tried to silently move away from the pack of hormone driven women.

Soon the silent house was filled with the sounds of a fearful man who was quickly devoured by the ravenous women who had him cornered.

Later that night, Ash tried to move but he found that Tolarea had him in a vice like grip that refused to let him go. Though he still felt some lingering fear about sleeping, he had no energy left to fight the drowsiness that assailed him.

12-11

The next day went by slowly as Ash and the others waited for news from Fay and the demon army. With nothing to do, Ash spent most of the time talking with Henry while trying to avoid his wives whose eyes still held a deadly glint that threatened to drag him off at a moment’s notice should he let his guard down. It was not that Ash didn’t want to spend time with his wives, but some part of him was fearful of their current over aggressiveness. Ash started to think that war was not a good place for women. Not because they were weak. Anyone who spent time with Tolarea and the others would be clear that they were far from weak, but it seemed that the life and death battles seemed to spark something within them that turned them from cats in to tigers even after the battle was over. With his wives current vigorous mood, Ash’s only haven was making himself busy and with the limited things around, he could only do that by talking to Henry.

Ash didn’t want to talk about himself too much. He was sure that they would win the battle, but even after that there was bound to be a few months before they could completely subjugate the kingdom. During that period if Henry was able to use his information to make a profit, Ash was not sure that he would not do so.

Surprisingly Henry didn’t mind Ash’s tight lips about himself and was more than willing to tell Ash many stories about his own life. Henry had grown up in a poor family but had been lucky enough to be apprenticed to a merchant when he was younger. The only problem was that the merchant was a greedy and unscrupulous person. He would take many apprentices who each had to pay a decent some of money along with signing a very detailed contract. The contract stated that their apprenticeship would continue until they were able to pass the merchant guilds, tier two merchant test. To young children and unknowing adults they never thought deeply about this, but in truth it was a very high hurdle. Most apprenticeships ended once someone passed the basic merchant test, even the hardest hearted masters only required their students to take the tier one test. Most people who were able to pass the tier two test often had been in the business for a number of years.

When Henry was 18 he had passed the tier one test. It was at this time that his master had started sending him on long distance missions with very little profit. It allowed his master to make a small amount of money, but the big thing was the contacts and goodwill his master would receive for the transport of rare or needed goods to isolated places which also had their own rare goods. Instead of being made, Henry took this chance to make his own contacts while at the same time taking every effort to bloody the waters between his master and anyone he came across.

Ash quickly learned that Henry was a very intelligent and even shrewder person. If he had been born among the noble ranks, Ash was sure that he would have already been at the right hand of the king running the country from behind the scenes. The more Ash listened to how he ruined his master’s business, the more Ash started to both fear and respect the merchant who sat before him. The story ended when Henry had been 24 and passed the tier two test. As soon as he passed, he gained his independence and put in to motion the plan he had been building for 10 years. In less than one season, his master lost all his business went bankrupt and was sold into slavery as a debt slave. At the same time, Henry had bought out his master’s debt and taken over his business and started building up the empire that he now controlled.

Unlike Henry, his wife Anabel was completely different. She seemed fierce on the outside but the more Ash and Henry talked, the more the woman seemed to open up and put in her own comments. She had met Henry when he was 17 and still an apprentice. She had been a child of a local washer woman and had no money to her name but her and Henry had been drawn to each other. After they were married Anabel tried to have a child but when she had failed year after year she had asked advice at the temple only to find that she was barren. She had thought that Henry would leave her or at best find a second wife and set her aside to her own devices, but instead he had remained steadfast.

“How sweet,” Celina said having heard the story. She ran over and gave the startled Anabel a hug with tears in her eyes. “You are lucky,” Celina added.

Anabel quickly recovered from her shock from the young demoness, her face shifting from distaste to happiness. “Of course my Henry isn’t like this young man who collects women as if they are some kind of trophy.”

Hearing Anabel’s words, Ash couldn’t think of any words to refute. At first he had been opposed to marry more than one wife. He truly loved Emelia, but he had not really fought that hard against his fate. In fact he had given in pretty easily once he thought about it. Ash was happy that neither Emelia nor the other women seemed to hate the idea of sharing him, but he still felt some sourness in his heart when he thought about it. He knew deep down that it was unfair but it was not as if he could take back his actions now.

Seeing Ash’s red face, Celina let out a light hearted giggle before speaking. “Ash doesn’t collect women, it is more like we are collecting him,” Celina said happily. “I don’t think you would find one of us who are not happy with our husband.”

From the outside, one would think that Celina and Anabel were arguing against each other but the two women continued to talk and soon the atmosphere calmed down and the two women almost seemed like lifelong friends. Ash was amazed at how quickly and seamlessly the two women became friendly. Shaking his head, Ash turned his head back to Henry who was currently sporting an awkward look on his face as he watched his wife. Just as Ash was about to say something, he felt something echo in his mind. Before he could find out what the odd sensation was, it happened again. Thinking quickly, Ash opened his inventory and pulled out the communication ring which was glowing lightly.

“Give me a moment,” Ash said to Henry before leaving the room. As soon as he was out of sight of the others, he activated the ring.

“Ash…Ash,” Fay’s voice was saying over and over through the ring.

“What is it?” Ash asked as soon as he heard Fay’s voice.

“Finally, I have been trying to contact you for hours. I have been discussing our options with anyone that has any knowledge of magical items and we have come up with a few ideas. The first is to simply disable them, but if we do that there is a good chance that it will be noticed and your presence or that of the soldiers that we are currently bringing in will be noticed. The second is to use the hidden forces to attack them just before we launch our attack but that will alert them to our impending attack and waste a valuable resource of the hidden forces. The last option is to find a way to disable them after we breach the wall again. This is of course the best option but it is easier said than done. We have the devices that could do it, but the main problem is that our men don’t know the locations of the stones nor can we freely walk through the city…Any ideas?”

“Give me a moment to think,” Ash replied. Sitting down on the ground Ash started running through his options. Out of everyone present, Ash looked human as long as his wings were out of sight. The other problem was that he didn’t have a clear idea of how to get around the city. He could take Henry with him, but it would only take one outcry from Henry to cause everything to collapse. It was a huge risk.

Ash knew that if he got captured then it would be a harsh hit on the demon forces, but if he didn’t even try to get rid of the illusion stones it would cost a great deal more lives on both sides to take the city. No matter how he looked at it, it was a no win situation. The real question to him was if it was worth it. After giving it a great deal of thought, Ash had his answer.

“Fay can you get the items to the storage building with the soldiers in it?”

“I can have it there in a few hours. Why? Do you have an idea?”

“I told you I have a hostage here that is very knowledgeable. If I can use him then we should be able to sabotage the illusion stones,” Ash replied.

“Do you think we can trust him?” Fay asked. “He could ruin everything. It would be better to go with the second option than to risk everything on an unknown.”

“I think we can trust him,” Ash responded keeping his plan to use himself as well out of her ears otherwise he knew that she would refuse.

“If you think so then I will have the devices brought over. Give it about three to four hours before you send the man over to the storage buildings. I will inform our men about his impending arrival so things don’t go wrong on our end.”

“Understood. I will contact you after everything is finished,” Ash said.

“Talk to you then.”

Putting the ring away, Ash took a deep breath and looked at the ceiling. Ash always found it hard to lie to people. He didn’t know why but it always caused his stomach to cramp whenever he lied or tried to hold something back from people. The whole conversation with Fay had left him feeling as if he had taken a dip in an ice cold river while being punched in the stomach. It wasn’t a good feeling.

After he had settled himself, Ash walked back into the main room where Henry was still sitting. Taking a deep breath Ash started to speak. “Henry, I am going to require a bit of your help.”

Henry furrowed his brow as his lips formed a thin line. “How?”

Ash explained what he would need Henry to do. Henry was not dumb and he instantly knew the dangers that were affixed with walking around town with a demon. If he was caught it wouldn’t just end with light punishment. Even if the army believed that he was forced, it would still end with his head on the chopping block. Looking at Ash’s calm face and from listening to his words, he could also tell that Ash wasn’t planning on giving him a chance to refuse. “When will we leave?”

“About three hours before nightfall,” Ash replied.

With Henry’s agreement, Ash called his wives together and started explaining the plan. Before he was half way finished with explaining he was interrupted by Eun who quickly refused to allow him to leave unescorted. After Eun voiced her refusal the others quickly added in their own voice and Ash was quickly drowned out. His ire quickly rising, Ash couldn’t contain himself anymore and yelled, “Stop.”

Not used to hearing Ash’s angered tone, everyone quickly quietened down. Once the room was once again cloaked in silence, Ash continued talking.  “I know it is dangerous but all you would draw too much attention. There are a number of soldiers out there and I am sure there is no few number of them who wouldn’t mind dragging a young maiden off for a little fun. If that happened you would be bringing more danger than safety. It would be best if only I and Henry do this mission alone.”

“What if he betrays you?” Eun asked looking at Henry with threatening eyes.

“I will kill him,” Ash replied coldly causing both Henry and Anabel to shiver as if they were hit by a blast of cold wind.

“I will agree as long as there is a way for us to stay in contact while you are gone,” Seia said after a few moments of silence. “Otherwise none of us will be able to be at ease.”

“I don’t have anything like that,” Ash said frowning. “If I had more rings like the one Fay gave me it would be great, but I only have the one and it is linked with the one Fay is carrying.”

“Then how about another way,” Li said calmly. “I am sure that we can come up with something.”

Ash sat down with the others working his mind as hard as he could but no matter how hard he thought nothing came to mind. In the end it was Mia who broke the silence that had started to hang gloomily over the group. “How far is the storage building from this house?”

“You know the large road outside of the top floor master bedroom?” Henry said after a few moments. “It is up one road and to east four streets.”

“If it is that close then it would be easy for us to see a signal like Ash used the other day from here,” Li said happily.

“Yes, but what about the illusion stones. There is no way that we will be able to see the signal from all over the city,” Eun said crossing her arms angrily.

“That is true but as long as Ash can shoot a fireball in the direction of the road then we could see it,” Li said as her face lit up. Her round eyes staring up at Ash as if she was wishing to be praised.

“I think that is the best we can hope for,” Ash said nodding his head as he lightly rubbed Li’s soft hair with his hand. “If anything happens where we require help I will use a bright yellow fire ball to let everyone know. If that happens I hope that everyone can respond quickly.”

“You have our word my lord,” Tolarea said standing and giving her normal military salute.

“I guess it would be too much to ask for you to have a map of the city,” Ash said as he started to think through the second stage of the plan.

“I don’t have a map, but I can draw you a rough sketch of the city and where the illusion stones are located. I am guessing that is what you are after,” Henry said.

Ash pulled parchment, ink, and a quill from his inventory. Without another word Henry began to draw on the parchment and within a few moments a small outline of the city was sitting before Ash. After the outline Henry started putting in the main roads. Once he was finished with the roads he added in large circles for the locations of the illusion stones.

“Is that all of the stones?” Ash asked once Henry sat done the quill.

“I believe so, though I can’t be completely sure. There are some places that I haven’t been too but that should at least be most of them,” Henry admitted.

“Then that will have to do,” Ash said with a deep sigh. “We will start with the ones nearest the storehouse then more in a large circle until we return back to the house for safety. If anything happens, we will all meet as soon as possible, then make for the warehouse where our troops are stationed and attempt to leave the city. Everyone clear on the plan?”

“Understood,” Everyone said in unison.

12-12

It didn’t take long for Ash to prepare everything that he needed. Luckily thanks to his inventory he had a lot of things at the ready. The most important was the colored powder that allowed him to change the color of his fireball for signaling and clothes that could cover his wings. As Ash folded his wings in and pulled over the large shirt, he felt a twinge of pain. Though it had not been that long since Ash had to hide his wings it felt like eons ago. After the spirit link with the demon clans, Ash had felt his wings grow bigger and now the act of hiding them caused him a fair amount of pain. Trying to relax his back, Ash slung a long cloak over his shoulders and clipped it around his neck while pulling the hood over his head. Ash doubted that most the rank and file soldiers knew what he looked like, but he knew that the leaders did and it would be bad if he was recognized.

While Ash was getting dressed, it looked like Henry was pumping himself up as he walked back and forth across the floor talking to himself. Ash felt slightly bad watching Henry, knowing that the men had no real tie to this war and it was only a series of bad luck that had brought him to his current point in life. Ash pushed the thought aside when he remembered the twists and turns in his own life that had led him to this current point in his life.

Ash could almost laugh at the absurdity of it all. He had once lived in a different world and was brought over due to a god’s joke or at least that was how it felt. After he had arrived in this world, he had explored it a bit and through luck had run across Emelia’s group while they were being attacked and helped her and was heavily injured as a result. Emelia had learned about the black demon wings on his back but didn’t care and treated him as a friend. Over time they turned from friends into lovers which caused a whole new set of troubles once the news was out that Ash had demon blood. As war broke out, Ash fought against the enemies of the duchy. When death was shining down upon him an army of demons flew in and saved his life. It was shortly after that he became the demon king or Maoh. After that there were more battles and in the end Ash had found himself in the current situation. It had been a constant set of actions that one by one was unbelievable enough but when he looked at them together Ash started to believe that maybe the god that had sent him over had more than a small hand in the situation. Thinking this, Ash started to tell himself that once he returned home and this was all over he would spend the next ten years relaxing as he watched his child grow up.

Once enough time had passed, Ash walked out the front door of the house with Henry following right behind him. “Lead the way,” Ash said knowing that his superficial knowledge of the cities layout wouldn’t do him much good in actually finding anything. Henry didn’t respond but he walked past Ash and started walking in the direction of the major road that was just down the street.

Ash didn’t pay much attention to where they were walking but instead kept a close eye on any movement. The sun was still in the air but it was an overcast day making the sky a gloomy grey color. Few people were out and most of those that were moving were soldiers still no one gave them as much as a second look as they walked down the street. Ash was glad that he didn’t have his sword strapped to his waist as he was sure that he would be griping its hilt tightly right about now.

After they moved off the main road, the number of people visibly dropped and soon the only person Ash could see was a single soldier who was walking ahead of them by about fifty feet. Ash was slightly worried that Henry would call out to him. He thought that after a few steps his fears would calm down but from the loud sound of his heartbeat in his ears, that didn’t seem to be the case.

Ash didn’t know how much time passed until Henry turned down one of the small streets and stopped in front of the doors belonging to one of the large storage buildings. Henry knocked five times on the door to the building before a rough voice called out. “Who is it?”

“Henry,” Henry said his voice slightly in a panic as they had not talked about any codes or what to say if asked. Henry’s nervous attitude was contagious as Ash also grew a little antsy with each passing second. Then the door opened and a voice rang out. “Get in here.”

Henry and Ash rushed through the open door and as the door shut behind them they were engulfed in darkness. Unlike the house there were no windows to let in natural light and even if there were it was overcast outside so the inside of the building was so dark Ash couldn’t see his hand in front of his face.

Suddenly the area was lightened by a large globe of white light. More than a few dozen people stood in front of Ash and Henry, each with a weapon drawn. “We were only told that one person would be arriving. You better explain yourself.”

Ash’s eyes flashed red as his voice roared through the large building. “Put your weapons down, I don’t have time to play with you fools.”

“My lord,” one of the demons said, his face turning white as he dropped his weapon so fast it made a loud clang that reverberated throughout the building.

The person who Ash believed was the leader of the advanced party came forward carrying a large bad handing it to Ash. “My lord, we were not aware that you would be coming as well,” the demon quickly explained.

Ash stuck the contents of the bag in his inventory and gave the man a quick toothy smile. “Don’t worry about it. Just be ready. If things go wrong we will have to retreat back here and escape.”

“We shall stand guard in case such an event comes to pass my lord,” the demon said deeply bowing.

Without drawing it out any more, Ash moved back toward the door and both he and Henry quickly left. Once they were outside Henry moved in the direction of their next goal but he didn’t walk as fast as he had earlier. Walking behind him, Ash could tell that the man was still unnerved after the last encounter so he thought it would be best to talk to help ease some of the building tension.

“Henry, you doing alright?” Ash asked as he moved up next to the man.

“Just a little flustered,” Henry admitted. “I thought they were going to cut me up for a midday snack,” he added laughing to himself.

“Sorry… I didn’t want the demon command outside the city to know that I would be personally participating in the mission so they were only expecting you,” Ash said explaining what had happened.

“From the way your wives acted I figured it would be a big deal if you were captured,” Henry said nodding his head. “Don’t know how high you are up on the ladder but I am guessing that you have to be at least a duke if not a prince.”

Hearing Henry’s words, Ash couldn’t help but laugh. “I guess there is no real harm in telling you. If we are captured the leaders of the army already know my face so it’s not like it would stay hidden. First though, demons don’t have nobles. We are a collection of clans so what you call dukes would be around clan leaders but at the same time they can easily be replaced and only hold real power within their own clans. Standing at the head of the country is the Maoh or demon lord. You can also consider the Maoh the king of the demons.”

“So you would be a clan leader?” Henry asked his shoulders slightly trembling.

“No. I would be the Maoh,” Ash said watching Henry closely.

Henry looked as if all the blood had rushed out of his body. His face was so white he could have easily passed as a ghost. Nothing was said until they turned down a long side street. “The first illusion stone is just down the street sat between two houses,” Henry said in a shaky voice.

Ash slapped Henry on the back lightly causing him to jump nearly three feet in the air. “Calm down, otherwise you raise the risk of us getting caught,” Ash said in a slightly teasing tone. Ash knew that it was mean for him to act so lightly but he couldn’t help but draw some small amount of entertainment from Henry’s reactions.

“Yes sir,” Henry said, his voice so faint Ash could barely hear it.

Laughing Ash continued to follow Henry until they reached a stone that looked like a two foot tall egg with strange carvings all over it. Pulling one of the orange globes from his inventory Ash placed it behind the stone egg. “Onto the next one.”

Henry continued to act jumpy until they had located seven of the illusion stones. Ash didn’t know why, but he was slowly returning to how he normally acted. Ash kept watching him still slightly worried that he may act out and draw the soldiers’ attention but so far his fears had been unfounded.

“So back at the house when you said you could promise me a meeting with the demon king, you were speaking about yourself,” Henry asked just as Ash placed the eighth orb behind one of the illusion stones.

“Yes. At the time I didn’t know if I should let you know who I was, but I will keep my promise. After everything is over I will do my best to help you increase trade between the demon and human countries. In fact it is one of my goals to do just that so if you could help, it would be much appreciated,” Ash said as they continued onto the next stone.

“I don’t know if I am lucky or cursed at the moment,” Henry said with a laugh that seemed more ironic that jovial. “I hated my teacher but one thing he said has always been my guiding moto when doing business. Take any opportunity that presents itself as soon as it does, otherwise you might not get a second chance.”

“Sounds like good advice,” Ash said nodding his head.

“Almost done, only three more to go,” Henry said after they had placed more than twenty of the orbs behind the illusion stones. As if hearing their words a voice called out to them. “Hold it.”

Both Ash and Henry turned their heads to see two soldiers walking in their direction. “Stay calm,” Ash said though he himself felt as if his heart was about to burst from his chest. They were so close to finishing, it would be a shame if they were caught now.

“What are you doing out?” One of the soldiers asked eyeing them dangerously.

“We were eating with a few friends,” Henry said his voice showing his fear. “Didn’t have any food left in the house. We are headed back right now good sirs.”

“Hump, it’s almost dark. You know the curfew. If I see you out again so close to sundown, I will have you hung up a whipped,” the soldier said before turning around and walking in the opposite direction with the other soldier.

“We better hurry,” Henry said as he let out a deep breath that he had been holding in. Ash nodded his head and the two quickly took off in the direction of the next illusion stone.

Thankfully the last few illusion stones were not that far apart and they were back in the house before the sun had completely set. Once they were inside both Ash and Henry were surrounded by Li, Anabel and the other women who all were asking questions so fast that it made Ash’s head spin.

Once Ash was able to get everyone to calm down, he explained how things went. When they heard the part about him not telling Fay that he was planning to join the mission Celina, and Eun both started hitting Ash and not lightly. After giving him a few bruises, Ash was able to once again calm them down and continue with his story. As Ash told them what had transpired, he felt like a storyteller sitting around a fire with a bunch of kids. With both Ash and Henry returning it should have been clear that everything had went well but at each point in the story Ash could see the worry etched on their faces. When Ash told them about the soldiers stopping them he could have sworn that Li was going to pass out from fright.

After Ash had finished his story Eun seemed to have remembered something and jumped up from where she was seated. “You should report to General Fay,” She said her voice almost cracking.

Ash grimaced as he pulled the communication ring from his inventory and looked at it as if it were a snake ready to bite him. Letting his head drop slightly, Ash excused himself and headed to one of the empty rooms in the house. It wasn’t that he really needed to hide anything from the others but he always feared that Fay would scold him and he didn’t think his dignity could take it if the others watched him act like a child who had gotten himself in trouble.

“Fay,” Ash said lightly as soon as he activated the ring.

“Ash what in the hell do you think you were doing,” Fay’s voice screamed from the other side of the ring making every muscle in Ash’s body clench.

“So you heard?” Ash asked in a weak voice.

“Heard…You wood headed brat. Did you think you could hide it from me? Shortly after you picked up the explosive orbs, sub-commander Huan contacted me out of fear that I had displeased him. I was so mad when I heard that you personally picked up the orbs that I think I left the poor sub-commander crying. What were you thinking?”

“I didn’t know if I could completely trust Henry so I thought that someone should go with him,” Ash tried to explain.

“And that someone had to be you?” Fay asked, not giving Ash half a chance to finish what he was saying.

“I look the most human and I have the inventory ability so I didn’t have to lug a big bag around. Everything worked out…”

“Just because everything worked out does not make what you did a good idea nor does it make it ok,” Fay said, the anger clear in her voice. For the next half an hour Ash couldn’t get a word in as he was berated like a five year old who had broken a window by throwing a ball in the house.

“So everything is in place?” Fay asked once she had exhausted most of her anger, though Ash could tell that he hadn’t heard the end of it and he would likely get more once he saw her again.

“Yes all of the known illusion stones have been attached with explosion orbs,” Ash said weakly.

“Well at least that is good. Now be a good boy and stay put until I tell you otherwise. If I hear that you so much as stuck another toe outside then I will personally beat you within an inch of your life,” Fay said before cutting off the communication.

As if all the strength had left his body, Ash dropped to the ground while letting out a deep sigh. “I think it might be a good idea to go into exile for a few dozen centuries,” Ash said to himself.

12-13

It wasn’t until later that Ash learned the attack would commence in the morning two days later. After the last brow beating Ash received, he did just as he was told and held tight within the house afraid to even look out the window. He was sure that Fay couldn’t see what he was doing, but for him it just wasn’t worth the risk to find out.

The two days passed by slowly. There was little to do in the house and each time they heard a noise outside it caused everyone to jump. All it would take was one run of bad luck and everything they had worked for would be over. As the time for the next attack came closer, the tension began to increase until everyone was sitting on needles. The worst out of all of them was Eun who seemed to get mad at the drop of a hat. At the last dinner before the coming battle she nearly hit Ash for chewing too loudly. Normally Ash would have found her actions funny but given that his own nerves were on edge he could no longer find the humor in the situation.

The last few hours were the worst as all of them gathered in the main room of the house huddled around the small communication ring. Fay had contacted them the night before and laid out the plan for the attack. First the demon army would storm the city reaching Ash and evacuating Henry and Anabel to a safe distance. After that, Ash would meet up with the forward group and the attack on the main force of the enemy would start.

Just as the light from the rising sun started to trickle through one of the small windows, the ring started to glow and one word rang throughout the silent house. “Incoming.” As soon as the word was spoken, it sounded as if the world itself was collapsing around them as all of the exploding orbs were ignited.

As soon as the ground stopped shaking, Ash got to his feet and pulled his sword from his sheath then turned to make sure that everyone else was ready. Just as planned, Tolarea went to the back door and opened it just enough so that she could see though without exposing much of her own body.

Ash was still in the center of the house with the others, though he wished that he could see what was going on outside. The only clues he had were the sounds of bells and shouts as they rang throughout the city. Time seemed to move so slowly Ash was sure that he could cut the dust that was floating through the air with precision. Suddenly like a bolt of lightning, everything began to move again as the house was suddenly filled with demon soldiers. In a flash Henry and Anabel were escorted out of the house by a group of five large demons. Before Ash could register what was happening, something hard hit him in the back of his head nearly bringing him to his knees.

“Looks like you listened to reason this time,” Ash heard Fay’s voice say as the ringing in his ears subsided. “Get your act together you still have to show that ugly mug to the soldiers. Half of them think the enemy already got their hands on you and it’s about time that you show them different.”

Following right behind Fay, they left the house for the first time in days. The outside air felt warm and the sounds of battle rang throughout the air. During the previous attack the enemy had the upper hand and it was not hard to say that it was a crushing rout; however, the same could not be said today. The battle plan was simple on the outside but still held a hidden degree of complexity. First the human and demon combined army would rush the wall in three waves just as before. The enemy had reinforced the damaged areas but even with that there was only so much they could do. The reason for the three wave plan was not because they were afraid but because it would allow them the best use of all the hidden trump cards. After the first wave reopened passage into the city, the second wave would start. This was also the largest of the waves. Just before they arrived at the city, the demons would detonate the bombs placed next to the illusion stones. This was the point they were currently at in the plan. Now the army would rush the city but there was still a large number of enemies. Even with the confusion that would be brought about by the sudden destruction of the illusion stones; if the enemy was well trained, it wouldn’t deter them for long. Thankfully a large number of the soldiers were drafted from the large trading and it was expected for them to panic. During this brief break, the army; made up of some of the best fighters within the demon army, would move out and attack the command center of the enemy forces. Ash and Fay were planning to join in this attack and were currently headed in the direction of the center of the city using back roads so they could meet up with the larger concealed force. If everything went as planned, the concealed force would meet with the enemy command center about the same time as the third wave of soldiers would attack the city. The third wave was mostly made up of demons with the ability to fly and would be used to attack the enemy forces that were causing the most damage. Ash had been told of the plan in advance so he was fully aware of what was currently happening within the confines of the city.

Fay wore a communication ring on each finger on her hands. Shortly after they left the house she lifted up her hand and tapped her left index finger on the ring on the thumb of her right hand. “Report.”

A loud and deep voice filled the air. “Entered the city but facing more resistance than expected from enemy forces. Currently two minutes behind schedule.”

“Don’t force it,” Fay said in a reprimanding tone. “Keeping pushing forward, but don’t be foolish. Commanders must be flexible otherwise you will break your own lines.”

As soon as she finished speaking, Fay activated another ring. “Report.” The whole time her eyes never wavered, nor did her steps falter. Ash was sure that should an enemy appear in front of her she could kill him without ever missing a step.

“Everything is proceeding as planned. Have met limited resistance and are currently in route to destination,” a feminine voice sounded out like a bell from the ring.

“Good,” Fay said her lips curling up into the outline of a faint smile. “We are currently nearing the planned location for the meeting.”

Almost as soon as Fay deactivated the communication ring, they turned down a thin road and came face to face with a group of about fifteen enemy soldiers who were rushing in their direction. Ash was so surprised by their sudden appearance for a split second his body froze. From what Ash saw, he was not the only one that had been startled as for the briefest moment the only movement came from Fay whose sword danced through the air, immediately cutting off the heard of the two soldiers at the front. His mind clearing, Ash moved up striking a soldier to the left. The soldier was just a bit slower on recovering and was unable to get his sword up in time and Ash’s sword stuck the soldier in the shoulder. The blade sunk deep, only stopping after it had cut through the third rib. Though not dead, the man fell with only a little life left him and little chance left of standing again.

The road was thin and even standing shoulder to shoulder, it could only accommodate four people. This meant that while the two groups had nearly the same amount of fighters, they couldn’t all be used at the same time. Most the time this would not give either side much of an advantage, but Ash and a few of his wives had abilities that allowed them to attack even if they were not on the front lines. After his first strike, Ash moved back allowing Tolarea and Gena to move up to the front alongside Fay was seemed as if she was doing nothing more than enjoying a dance…A very morbid dance.

Unlike Ash, his wives didn’t have a large store of MP and were holding back using their abilities until it was absolutely needed. Ash was under no such restraints. Thinking quickly, he started going through all of his abilities that could be used at long range. Most of the like “Wind Slash,” could not be used because they traveled in a straight line and there was too high of a chance for friendly fire. The others abilities such as “Total Destruction,” were dismissed for the same reason. They could only really be used against large groups at a distance. Ash thought of a few abilities that might be of use but even then it was only limited because there was still a chance of friendly fire. He knew that his best choice would be the few skills he had using the darkness element but he was not overly skilled with them. Ash started to berate himself for not training more. Ash watched the three fight while keeping his options in mind, waiting to see if he could be of use.

While he was trying to find his place in the battle, his wives were seemingly doing much better. Tolarea used her large body and sword to destroy the soldiers that came within her range. Gena, using two short swords deflected and attacked with near perfect rhythm. Eun, who was standing next to Ash, moved whenever there was an opening using her spear with deadly effects. Seia used her bow with pinpoint accuracy killing one of the soldiers who had attempted to flee. Li, who stood to Ash’s other side, healed anyone who received damage. The rest of his wives kept watch on their surroundings. In the end the battle came to a close without Ash needing to do much, which left him feeling somewhat down.

“Good,” Fay said with a smile as she walked next to Ash while cleaning the blade of her weapon with a piece of cloth cut from one of the now dead enemies. “You noticed that you were not the best choice to fight it such a confined area and moved back to allow others who were more suited to take your place. Next time I would suggest that you allow Celina to replace Tolarea in such situations. Tolarea is big and her movements in a confined space are limited. Celina who can use closer range weapons such as daggers might seem more dangerous, but her maneuverability would be put to a much greater use. I would give you a 75% on the battle.”

After hearing Fay’s words, Ash felt slightly better but he was starting to understand more about what Fay had been trying to teach him. It was one thing to fight alone and another completely to fight with a small group. Ash had learned that back in the demon kingdom when he was training. The main problem was that, at that time, he was still taking center stage and the others were just playing backup. Ash had mistakenly thought that was his job, but Fay had berated that notion out of his mind. He was a figurehead and while he was meant to be among the warriors, he was not meant to stick his neck out at every occasion. What use was it to have soldiers when one tried to fight every battle alone? It was hard for Ash to pull himself from the forefront of every fight and the guilt and anguish afterward still bothered him but he knew that it was what had to be done.

With the battle finished, Ash once again took his place next to Fay as the moved forward when a question hit him. “The soldier’s abilities don’t seem very…varied,” Ash said after thinking for a few moments.

Giving Ash a long look, Fay let out a short laugh. “With the exception of a few ways, the abilities humans are born with are what they will have their entire life. The only way to strengthen themselves is by learning skills which are controlled by the guilds and government. Only those in power get to choose who should learn what. For humans it is all about control.”

“Are you saying that anyone can learn any ability or skill no matter their job?” Ash asked as Fay’s words struck him hard.

“Yes and no,” Fay said after a brief moment of silence. “Unlike demons, humans are very versatile. A fire demon cannot learn ice skills no matter how hard they try, but humans can learn both. It all has to do with the person themselves.”

“I was told that you have to have the corresponding job to learn or create a skill,” Ash said slightly befuddled.

Fay laughed again, this time though there seemed to be no mirth in it this time. It just sounded mocking. “I won’t lie and say a job has nothing to do with the ease at each one can learn or make a skill, but it is not the do all say all.”

“What does all that have to do with the soldiers’ abilities?” Ash asked, thinking they were getting off topic.

“Soldiers of the human lands all join certain guilds and the skills they learn are all the same. The humans believe in everything being uniform. They tend to forget that uniqueness was once humans’ strongest card. It is sad but the only truly strong fighters we will face are those at the top. Those who have had the privilege of receiving the blessing of those in power thus gaining better access to skills. Though there is still the chance of coming across a rare genius who has many self-created skills but the chances of that happening are as rare as finding a man who can do more than two things at once,” Fay said, throwing the last remark in while elbowing Ash in the side making his wives laugh.

Ash nodded his head as he started to digest the news and what all it could mean. He started to understand why demons were considered to be the highest rank when it came to battle and why the humans had decided to create them. If they had been the obedient little slaves they were meant to be then the mages that had created them would hold the largest power. It also explained how the demons had almost destroyed the human world while working alongside the nearly forgotten empire.

After making another turn, Ash found that they were coming to a larger street. The north side of which was bare while to the south Ash could see the large group of demon soldiers moving quickly in their direction. Seeing this, Ash knew that soon the idle banter and light feeling that had been building would be gone. He felt a tightness in his chest. Thinking of getting one last barb in, Ash let out a deep sigh and tightened his grip on his sword. “You really don’t like men do you?”

“I love men,” Fay said with a wry grin. “They have many uses, but thinking is just not one of them,” she added giving Ash a wink.

When Ash’s group and the hidden army met, the larger army saluted while the two commanding soldiers stepped forward and bowed, “My lord.” Before Ash could say anything, Fay slapped the back of both soldier’s head with the flat of her sword. “Are both of you daft or do you think acting like such and painting a target on the lord’s chest is a good idea? What if there are hidden assassins around…fools,” Fay berated harshly making both soldier’s face turn white. “Enough, we are close to the enemy command center and each second we spend with twiddling our thumbs gives them more time to learn and prepare for our attack…Move out!”

Having went around the town before with Henry, Ash knew a little about the layout and he knew that Fay was right. The center of the enemy forces was located at the back of the large open area of the market district. He had learned from Henry that the commanders had taken over the trading pavilion to use as their headquarters. It was only a few streets away and even walking slowly, they would reach it within five minutes.

12-14

Ash couldn’t help but feel his heartbeat increase once the large merchant square came into view. On the far side, he could see the enemy army formed up and could even hear where they were engaging in small isolated battles.  Ash had expected that the main field would already be awash in a large battle, but it seemed that the enemy had adjusted to the loss of their illusion trap faster than expected.

Fay grabbed Ash’s arm and pulled him back. “We need to wait,” she said in a berating tone. “If we stick our heads out now, then a large portion of the enemy forces might turn our way. That might create a bit of chaos and allow our main forces easier access to the square, but it will all come to naught if we are overrun in the meantime.”

Ash nodded his head in understanding, though it was hard for him to fight the urge to go take another look.  While he was fighting his urges, Fay was using her communication rings to talk with the different sub-commanders to check on their status. After she was finished, Fay turned back to Ash with an odd look on her face that appeared to be a mix of a smirk and a smile. “Within fifteen minutes, we should have our chance.”

Almost as soon as Fay’s words were out of her mouth, Ash heard a loud roar rise from the distance. Suddenly the sounds of battle increased. Though a quarter of an hour was not long, it was an antagonizing amount of time to Ash. He could almost hear the sound of everyone’s breath and heartbeats until he heard Fay signal everyone to advance.

Though there were near a thousand demon soldiers, they only made the faintest sound as they moved across the cobbled stone street. It wasn’t until they were halfway across the field that one of the enemy soldiers cried out in alarm. With the large army pushing through from the front, the majority of the enemy army couldn’t afford to pull back and engage Ash and the others but their cries of alarm did warn the commanders waiting in the pavilion of the impending attack.

Hearing the noise, the commanders’ personal soldiers checked on the situation only to have their faces turn white as they ran to warn the others. It was a step too late. The enemy only started to emerge just as Ash and the others reached the pavilion entrance. Ash led the charge alongside his wives and Fay who once again looked like a child going out to play. After her long story about her life and her statement about hating war, Ash couldn’t believe the natural look she had once a battle started. It was almost as if the woman beside him now and the one from earlier were two different people.

Shaking the unnecessary thoughts from his mind, Ash focused on the soldiers who were moving to intercept him. The first one who came in was nothing but a guard so Ash deftly dodged the man’s strike, moving past him and leaving him to the ones behind. Ash met three more guards as he pushed forward. Two of which he was able to dodge, the third was more skilled and refused to let him pass. The guard had an odd skill that while not helping him in attacking, it allowed him to shadow Ash’s movements flawlessly. By the time Ash was able to deal with the soldier, two more had appeared. Cursing, Ash thought about using some of his skills but he suddenly remembered Fay’s warning about the abilities of the upper echelon of the kingdom warriors. These guards might only be hard to fight, but the ones he would be forced to fight later would be very difficult and if he ran out of SP or MP, his life would surely be in danger. Grunting, Ash moved quickly to the right to dodge the first attack while using his sword to knock away the second and easily passed the two guards before entering the pavilion. Ash was not the first inside. It seemed that Fay had beat him by no more than a few seconds, but she was already surrounded, fighting more than twenty soldiers. With a quick look around, Ash quickly lost count of the numbers in front of him but he guessed that it was more than a hundred but less than a hundred and a half.

Acting quickly, Ash activated “Sticky Thread,” at the legs of the enemies surrounding Fay before throwing five leather bags into the air and activating “Wind Slash.” The blade made of air tore through the bags that were flying through the air over a large group of enemies. Ash couldn’t help but smirk as the powered sealing poison fell upon the enemies.

“Don’t let it touch you,” one of the enemy soldier leaders yelled. The enemies became slightly frantic not knowing what had alarmed their leaders. Seeing the chaos, Fay gave Ash a wink from the side as she increased the ferocity of her attacks. Retuning the wink, Ash rushed into the panicking soldiers and within moments four had already fallen to his blade.

Though he was confident in his abilities, Ash kept a calm mind as he continued to fight. Not allowing too many soldiers to circle around him while at the same time, refraining from using too many abilities. Each moment that passed, more and more of the demon soldiers stated to make their way into the pavilion.

Surprisingly, the first one to make it next to Ash was not Tolarea but was Tina. Ash had not seen Tina fight much but he found himself surprised when she seemed to suddenly appear beside him, blocking a sword blow that, should his shield not activated, would have taken him in the side. With a quick blow to the neck with her rapier, she killed the offending soldier then gave Ash a slightly angry glare. In the back of his mind, Ash knew that once he pulled away from his guards/wives that he would hear about it later, but it had only been a passing thought. Now he couldn’t help but flinch at that angry look.

Ash’s eyes passed over the soldiers until they locked onto the eyes of the commander he had met a few days beforehand. The man was casually walking in Ash’s direction, dragging a two handed sword that was nearly as tall and wide as the man himself, which was saying something. “I’ll take care of him, the rest of you work to hold off the others,” the commander said as his foot kicked the tip of his sword, causing it to swing into the air and land deftly on his shoulder.

Ash knew that he couldn’t skip the fight, but it was not one he wanted to fight. After skimming the soldiers in the pavilion, he caught sight of four that had the reaper’s mark hanging over their heads. The main commander was not one of them which surprised Ash. Ash had learned that most common soldiers didn’t earn the mark even when they committed horrendous acts. The only person who earned the mark were those who ordered the actions. That was why Ash was surprised. He didn’t know if the commander had left his orders vague so those below him gained the goddess’s wrath or if he was naturally innocent.

“Nice to see you again young lord,” the commander said with a weak smile. Ash could tell from the look on the man’s face that he knew that even if he won the fight, he knew that he couldn’t win the larger battle.

“If your men surrender now then I can let them live,” Ash said as he began to formulate an attack plan.

“That is very tempting, but that choice has already been taken from me,” the man said in a lamenting tone. “The King sent specific orders that we were not to surrender and to do everything in our powers, including using the blood of the lowest of civilians, to keep you occupied as long as possible.”

“Why listen to such an order?” Ash asked more than a little confused. “It will not be long before the King will be taking his own eternal rest.”

The commander let out a long loud laugh. “Do you think the King would allow the nobles or soldiers any real choice. We are all bound by soul chains. If we disobey a direct order, it would mean our death. We are not all as lucky as your little duchess who was spared such a fate due to her families’ long standing agreement with the crown…Enough banter, I think it is time we started the real show.” Without another word, the commander lunged at Ash at such a speed that one would think he had teleported had it not been for the afterimage he left behind.

Ash was so surprised by the commanders quick speed he was unable to get his sword all the way up in time, but at the last moment he was able to shift his body slightly and the massive sword passed by him by only a hair. It hit the ground so hard that the wooden floor of the pavilion splintered and broke apart as if it was made of paper. The commander didn’t even flinch before he pivoted his body and shifted his grip while kicking the blade of the sword with the back of his right foot and taking a second strike. This time Ash was ready. Activating “Flash Step,” Ash moved to the side of the commander, striking hard with his word. He had thought with one strike he would win since the commander was not wearing any visible armor but the second his blade struck the man’s side, it was as if he was hitting solid stone.  Using “Flash Step,” again, Ash pulled back and found that his sword has cut through the commander’s uniform, but there was a light silver shine coming from behind the torn clothing.

Before he could collect himself, the enemy commander once again attacked giving Ash little time to make his next strike. Ash dodged two attacks, but a third came in and Ash moved his own sword to deflect it. As soon as the enemy commander’s sword came into contact with his, Ash felt as if it had been hit by a giant. His feet were lifted off the ground and he flew backward, hitting on of the wooden pylons that supported the pavilion. Ash heard a cracking noise as pain spread throughout his back. Checking his status, Ash noticed that he had lost over 500 HP from the single strike. Slightly amazed, he tried to look at the enemy commander’s status but found that everything was hidden from him. Moments before, Ash was certain that he could win easily but now he started to fear that things were not going to be as easy as he thought. If he couldn’t win one on one, Ash’s only choice was to survive until the others could give him a hand. Though he hoped that it didn’t come to that. The last thing that Ash wanted to see were those he had come to care about dying at the hands of others right in front of him.  Fearing this outcome, Ash tightened his grip on the hilt of his sword and strengthened his resolve.

With little choice, Ash was forced to put everything he had into this battle. Using “Flash Step,” “Over Boost,” and “Break Guard,” Ash jumped forward letting his body move freely. His sword dropped down and came up swiftly, the pommel of the sword hitting the area of the enemy’s sword just above its hilt just as the enemy commander was about to release his strike forcing the sword up and knocking the commander off balance. With the large opening, Ash jumped back, the tip of his sword hitting the middle of the enemy’s chest. The sword didn’t sink into the man’s flesh, but he was forced back three steps. With a worn look on his face, the man let out a single cough as a trickle of blood ran from the corner of his mouth. Seeing that his strike had done some damage, Ash didn’t let up and continued his attack. Ash used every ability he had as quickly as he could. Though between each strike, he was forced to use “Flash Step” to avoid being hit. He didn’t know how long his attacks continued, but both his SP and MP were disappearing at an astonishing rate.

Breathing hard, Ash pulled back and noticed that the sounds of battle had ended around him. With a quick look, he noticed that his wives and Fay were watching the fight from the side. Some of them looked concerned, but Fay was holding them back from helping him. Her face was stern but it gave Ash some confidence. He knew that she wouldn’t allow him to die if it was within her power. With a few moments to spare, Ash checked his status. His HP had recovered slightly from the one strike he had taken and was now back up to 1040/1400. His SP on the other hand was dangerously low at only 42/267. His MP wasn’t doing much better at 460/1320.

Once his breath had returned, Ash looked over to where the enemy commander was still kneeling on the ground. His head was hung down and Ash could hear him wheezing. Below him lay a small pool of blood that was quickly spreading. The man’s sword lay on the ground a few feet away as it had been lost when one of Ash’s strikes hit his hand causing it to fly out of his grasp.

“Well done,” the enemy commander said with a pained look on his face.

Ash was slightly surprised as not one of his blows had been able to break through the man’s armor. He had even struck the man’s neck but it seemed that he wasn’t wearing external armor, but instead it was some sort of skill that hardened the skin to an amazing degree.

The soldier’s breath became more ragged as he tried to stand and he collapsed to the ground with a loud thud. A horse and gurgling laugh filled the air as the man feebly tried to rise. When he failed, another laugh filled the air. Ash couldn’t think of what to do and in the end he could only watch as the man started to mumble until his breath slowed and his body stopped moving. Turning toward Fay, the puzzled look on his face said everything.

“You must have broken a few ribs and one of them most likely entered his lung,” Fay said answering the unasked question that was hovering on Ash’s mind. “He most likely drowned in his own blood…A very painful way to go.” The look on Fay’s face was solemn as if she had just watched a close friend or relative die. After a deep sigh, Fay turned her look back toward Ash. “The battles should be dying down soon. For now, let us wait until everything is finished. Your part in the battles has been finished.”

After the long drawn out battle, Ash couldn’t think of anything to say but he had much to think on. Without trying to seem regal, Ash sat on the ground hard. He didn’t know what would have happened if he had to fight two people with the same battle ability as the commander. If the human aristocracy didn’t try to hold a monopoly on the better abilities and skills then it would be much harder to win this war. In truth, it would be possible for them to lose even with the higher skilled demon army behind them.

“Are you ok my lord?” Li’s face came softly from his side as he felt his head lifted off the ground the placed on something soft. Turning his head he noticed that his head had been softly laid on Li’s thighs as she started to heal the wounds on his back which were just now starting to cause him real pain.

“I’m fine,” Ash said giving her a weak smile. “I just need a bit of a rest,” He added, closing his eyes.

Epilogue

Hours after the battle had finished, Ash walked through the center of the town where the bodies of the dead from both sides lined the ground. It was almost as if someone had laid out a massive, morbid maze. His wives, knowing his heart, had advised him to stay inside until the bodies could be disposed of but Ash felt the need to see just what had been lost on both sides. No matter how close to the demons he became, deep down he still thought of himself belonging to the human world. Ash knew that it was hypocritical of him to morn death that he had a hand in causing, but it didn’t stop him as he walked among the dead looking at each face no matter if they belonged to the human or demon race.

It was not just soldiers that lay on the cold ground but there was also a number of civilians. It was not hard to tell the difference between the trained soldiers and the civilians. Even after their gear had been stripped off, there was just something different about them. Ash couldn’t consciously put his finger on what it was but something inside, he could tell the difference.

It wasn’t until he was half way through the third row of dead that Ash’s steps were brought to a stunned halt. There lying on the ground was a young girl no more than fifteen with apple red hair who looked like a smaller version of Emelia. Seeing the soft gentle pale face reminded Ash of the dream he had only a few days beforehand. With tears in his eyes, Ash bowed his head so that no one could see the look on his face nor the tears streaming from his eyes. He began walking back in the direction of the large house they had taken over. The only thought in his mind at the moment was to end the war as fast as possible so that he could return to his own family. As soon as he returned, he let out the orders to be ready to march within three days….It was time to end the war.

Table of Contents

- 12-1
- 12-2
- 12-3
- 12-4
- 12-5
- 12-6
- 12-7
- 12-8
- 12-9
- 12-10
- 12-11
- 12-12
- 12-13
- 12-14