Reborn: Demon's Heritage (10 page)

Ash pushed Allice and the priest away and took an unsteady step forward. “You have come for me…Why?” Ash asked more than a little confused at the current development.

“You are our new Lord,” the demon said without a hint of ridicule in his voice.

“I see,” Ash said before his vision started to blur and he was carried into unconsciousness as the last of his stamina was depleted.

8-11

When Ash’s eyes opened he found himself in a large room laying on top of a soft bed. He tried to sit up, but his whole body ached. “Allice,” Ash called out worried.

“My Lord, are you awake?” a soft alluring voice said.

Sitting up slightly, Ash saw a tall woman with long flowing black hair and deep black eyes. Other than the large wings that sprouted from her back and the thin forked tail that swayed silently behind her, Ash would have believed that she was human. “Where is Allice?” Ash asked the only thought in his mind currently was for the young slave girl.

“The young lady that accompanied the great lord is currently resting within her own apartments,” the woman said with a warm smile. “She was quite hesitant to leave your side and even demanded the commander general to take her along. It took a lot of convincing to have her leave your side so that you may rest.”

Hearing that Allice was safe, Ash let out a relieved sigh. “Where am I?”

“You are currently in your castle my lord,” the woman said as she handed him a glass of cold water. “I am guessing that you are confused about the current circumstances, but I will shortly call the sage. I am sure that he will be able to answer all your questions my lord.”

Ash remained silent and quietly looked around while he was served a small feast. After he had eaten his fill, the woman took the empty tray and bowed to him the quickly left the room.

The place he was currently at was far larger than even Emelia room. The bed he was on alone could easily fit ten people, if not more. It had a canopy that was lined with golden colored drapes. Before Ash had a chance to fully appreciate his surroundings, the door to the room opened again.

The sage was tall, standing a little over eight feet. His face was flat and had a snakelike look to it. His eyes were slightly oval in shape with slit pupils. His skin was made of dark green scales. “My Lord, I am here to answer any of your questions. First off, I am the royal sage, Salvaren. May I ask if you have any dire questions that I may answer first?”

“Can you start at the beginning?” Ash asked, his head swarming with too many questions to voice.

“Certainty my Lord,” the sage said bowing. “Having grown up in the human lands I am guessing that you have only learned their warped version of history. First off, while we are called demons, even among our own kind the truth is a little different. We are not like the lower demons that cover the lands, no more than the people of the beast tribes are like the wild animals that roam the forests.”

“Each race has its own characteristics and among the races, the demon and beast clan are the most diverse. The demon clan has a total of forty-two noble clans and many lesser clans. At the top of those clans is the royal clan. The highest position is the Maoh, also called by many as the demon lord. Whenever the previous Maoh dies, a new one is selected. Throughout history so far, it has been one of the previous Maoh’s direct descendants that have been chosen, but this time it seems it was you.”

“When the Maoh dies. I thought that demons were immortal?” Ash asked as he tried to wrap his mind about what he was being told.

“If you ask if we can die from old age then no, we can’t, but we can still die. Everlasting life is not a great honor. The longer one lives, the more of a burden that it can become. The previous Maoh’s son died due to a rare illness and he wished to follow so he accepted the call of the gods. Shortly after he died, we started to feel your presence. When it became strong enough, we dispatched the royal army to bring you here.”

“I still don’t really understand what is going on. I am happy that I was saved, but everything just seems so…Well, too good to be true.”

“Do you know how demons were created?”

“I figured the same way the other races were created,” Ash replied.

“Well, not the same way that the three great races were created. Humans, elves, and dwarves were created by the gods. The demon and beast tribe were created by humans.”

“Created…Created how?”

“With forbidden magic. Well at the time it wasn’t forbidden, but what they were doing didn’t agree with the God of Creation and in the end he sent his knights to destroy the mages that created us. They were trying to make the prefect soldiers by mixing strong warriors with creatures that had abilities that were useful in battle. The beast tribe was created first, but they found them hard to control. When they created us, they forced a connection between all demons linking us to one demon that they could use to control us and send orders. That was the first Maoh. The connection was made through spiritual magic and has continued to pass down generation after generation. After the mages that made us were killed, the god’s emissary’s set us free, but we had no purpose. The second Maoh brought us to this land and we started a friendly relationship with the humans.”

“We would help the king of the neighboring kingdom wage war. It was what we were bred for, but after hundreds of years of war there was nothing left to conquer. It was at this time, the human kingdom turned on us. They had seen out power and feared that with nothing else to fight we would turn on them. We were strong, but we were still in our youth as a people. In the end, we collapsed the mountain and hid ourselves away from the world.”

“What about the people born with demon blood. I know that demons cross over and attack human lands,” Ash said as he thought about the number of people he had met with mixed blood.

“Just like with humans, there are demons who are both good and evil. At times, demons who are no longer content to hide away cross the border. The previous Maoh did not discourage this because it caused fear among the other races. I know that you have human blood, but be aware that there are still many demons who hate humans. They have never forgot that it was the humans that betrayed us.”

“I understand,” Ash said. “What will they think about me being the next Maoh?”

“They will think that you are the Maoh. As I said, we have to listen to the Maoh. The magic used on us was much like that used on slaves, but much stronger. Most the time the slave brand is bonded to a person, but in our case it was made to a blood ability.”

“Blood ability, I have heard about that but I am not sure what it is.”

“A blood ability is an ability that is passed down from generation to generation. It is a unique ability and at most, only two people at a time can hold the ability. I can’t tell you where the abilities originally came from or how the mages gave it to the first Maoh. That is knowledge is beyond me. I do know that all the demon clans have a blood ability that is passed down, though I can’t tell you what half of them do without looking it up. There are just too many.”

“What ability is it?” Ash asked leaning forward on the bed.

“Demon Absorption.”

Ash had a thousand questions still bussing through his mind but all of them well silent when he heard what the sage had said. True among his many abilities, Demon Absorption was the strongest, but from what he had just heard, it had been around far longer than he had. It was also a manufactured ability and not one granted by the gods or from normal monsters. He had read of nothing that could make an ability and if there was a way, why hadn’t they made more of them. The sage had already said he had no information so it was pointless to ask.

“What am I supposed to do as the Maoh?” Ash asked as he tried to digest what he had already learned.

“There is not much for you to really do as the Maoh unless there is a war. The main reason that we brought you here was that so you could go through the inheritance ritual. After that, I would suggest you go through the normal training to strength your abilities, but that will be up to you.”

“So there are no real duties to being a Maoh?”

“Not really. The clans each control a section of the country, much in the same way the human nobles do. Every so often there is a war between the clans, but as long as they keep it within reason there is no reason for the Maoh to interfere. We have been cut off from the outside world for so long that there is little else to do.”

“Sounds easy enough,” Ash said skeptically. “What is the inheritance ritual that you were talking about earlier?”

The sage looked at the ceiling then let out a long breath. “As I told you, the mages used spirit magic to link all demon bloodlines to the blood ability Demon Absorption. Whenever a Maoh dies, we can feel the next inheritor. It calls to us and until they go through the inheritance ritual, we continue to feel that call. Each day it gets slightly louder and we can see the inheritor more clearly. It can be almost maddening. The inheritance ritual is simple enough, you just have to wear the crown that has been passed down and have it bonded to you. In the past, the new Maoh had to bond with each demon, but we learned that we could use the same method that the humans did for their guilds. When each child is born, they are bonded to a plate that records their clan and is thus bonded to the crown. Now instead of months, it only takes a few moments to link all the demons to the new Maoh.”

“When will we do this ritual?”

“If there are no problems my Lord, we would like to do it tomorrow. Most the time, the ritual is done four to five days after the passing of the previous Maoh, but that amount of time has already passed and the calling is getting stronger with each passing moment. If we let it go on too long, I would fear the consequences.”

“Then tomorrow it is,” Ash said with a sad smile as he once again thought about Allice and Emelia. “Could you send Allice in now?”

“At once my lord,” the sage said with a deep bow. “If you have any more questions, just have one of the palace servants call for me.”

“Master,” Allice yelled as she flung open the door to his room and launched herself at him tears filling her eyes. “I was so scared.”

Ash gently and warmly patted her back as a smile spread across his face.

The next morning, Ash was dressed in dark red robes with silver lining. They were simple enough and not to opulent which Ash was thankful for. As he was led outside, Allice stayed a few steps behind him along with the other servants that had been assigned to him.

The ritual was to be held in the center of the capital city where thousands of demons from all over the country had gathered. There was a large platform that had been built just for the occasion. It was a simple ceremony in which all Ash had to do was say a few words then drop a single drop of blood onto the crown and have it placed on his head.

As soon as his blood touched the metal of the crown, it flashed a brilliant silver color and Ash felt as if a thousand thoughts were rushing into his head at once. Gritting his teeth, Ash kept himself from crying out in pain. After a few seconds the pain passed and Ash could hear a loud cheer fill the air as all the demons present rejoiced in their new Maoh.

After the ceremony, the heads of the different clans each came forward presenting Ash with numerous gifts, many of which were worth more than anything he had seen before. With the help of the sage, he greeted each clan leader and thanked them for the gifts.

After hearing and reading numerous stories about how evil the demons were, Ash was amazed at what he witnessed. From where Ash sat, they were no different than humans except they didn’t seem to be of fond of flashy events. Even the crowning of a new king was done quickly and in view of the entire populace. It was somewhat true that their loyalty was forced, but from the look in their eyes, they didn’t seem to resent his human blood. Allice on the other hand drew more than a few looks of contempt.

The longer Ash watched them, the more he wanted to bring them out of their solitude and back into the rest of the world. They had been secluded for far too long leaving the rest of the world to view them as the root of all things evil. The real problem was how to accomplish this without starting a larger war. The more he thought about it, the more he remembered Emelia and the war that he had been carried away from. Worried for his wife, Ash asked if it was possible to send someone to check on her and the current situation of the war. The sage quickly called a number of people over and without another word his orders were carried out flawlessly.

Emelia’s Side Story

Emelia sat on the long sofa in her study looking at the reports that her scouts had brought back as tears ran down her face.

The enemy had been force back thanks to a horde of demons that had swooped down onto the battlefield, killing thousands. Luckily they had left the fort defenders mostly alone, but after everything cleared, no one could find the body of Ash nor his slave Allice.

From the scouts report, it is believed that the demons carried off a number of people and that Ash was among those numbers. It was not the first time that there had been reports of demon abductions, but why did it have to be Ash.

Emelia couldn’t let the news of Ash’s disappearance and most likely death break her. She quickly penned a note to have the fort reinforced with new troops. The forces might have been pushed back for now, but for how long?

Emelia leaned back and rubbed her hand over her now slightly bulging belly as she thought of Ash. She didn’t know why, but she had loved him from the moment she had met him. It was his eyes that had captured her. He had such kind eyes, but it didn’t seem that the gods wanted it to be. Ever since she had set her eyes on Ash, everything had gone wrong. First there was the problem with the earl and his son and then the war. If she had pushed him away, there would have been no war but she couldn’t do it. The time she had spent with Ash had been the happiest in her life, and while he was gone, he had left something behind.

Emelia had decided that she would not undergo the ritual to purify the child’s blood. She would be just as much Ash’s child as hers and no matter what blood, the child would take over after her.

Two weeks passed with no news of attack. Emelia didn’t believe that she would be so lucky that the war would be called off so easily. Time passed and soon a month had gone by since Ash had disappeared when a letter from the king arrived. He was offering the same terms as before. Denounce Ash and have him branded as an outlaw and take to wed a man of the king’s choice and the war would end.

Emelia had to admit that it was a tempting offer until she felt the baby kick in her belly. In a few months, the child would be born and what would become of it if she surrendered now. Most likely the child would be killed since it carried Ash’s blood and that was something that Emelia could never live with. As soon as she came to her decision, Emelia quickly penned her reply.

The rest of the night, Emelia sat staring off into the sky thinking of Ash and asking herself if she had done the right thing. She had just condemned thousands of her own people to die for a man that was already most likely dead. She knew in her heart that if the king had just asked for her life alone, she would have taken the deal in a heartbeat, but she couldn’t bare it to send her child to death before she even had a chance to live.

The fort’s outer wall had been finished, leaving Emelia with a choice that would save many of her people from danger. Emelia called almost all knights and soldiers to return to the capital and take up residence within the grounds of the new fort, and then she started to plan to move her own lodgings as well. She knew they had little hope of winning the war. The best they could hope for was if they caused enough damage that the enemy thought it was no longer worth it to continue the fighting. If they lost, only the soldiers would be lost with the move to the larger fort outside the city.

Emelia left only a token force outside the fort to patrol the border and to strike at the enemy should they appear. She felt bad about ordering those small strike forces to their death, but most of them had taken it with pride. Many of the forces were made up of sub-humans that had come to the duchy in the hope of finding a place that didn’t hold them in contempt and threaten to throw them into slavery. They were more than willing to die if it gave their children a chance to live in such a world.

Five more weeks passed and Emelia knew that the baby was close to being born. She could feel it moving more and more. When she went into labor, she called out Ash’s name over and over but he never answered. After three painful hours, Emelia held in her arms a new daughter that carried Ash’s beautiful eyes. She decided to name her Ashley in honor of her father.

A week after Ashley was born Emelia received news that a large force of sixty thousand was marching on the duchy under the banner of the king. With their current pace, it would take them around fifteen days to reach the capital, but the numbers of soldiers was far more than Emelia had counted on. She would never have believed that the king himself would march on her lands. It was clear where he stood in this matter and Emelia prayed that the goddess herself would curse the man and his lineage for decades.

Looking down at her daughter, Emelia held her close with a warm smile and decided that a week before the army arrived, she would send Ashley off to live with Helen’s family. The woman was an old cuss, but she would see that the child was raised right if worse came to pass.