Reborn: War's Nightmare (9 page)

“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.