Reborn: Flames of War (3 page)

11-3

After the meeting with the town’s armed guards, Ash and the others decided it was best to remain in the inn as much as possible. It wasn’t because they feared the soldiers since from what Ash could see, the strongest didn’t even reach level twenty-five, but because he didn’t see a reason to overly stress the common people.

While they waited on the spears to be finished, they worked. Ash and Seia made poison while the rest cut the leather Ash had bought and placed a handful of the rice and chaff mix before tying it into a makeshift bag. When a bag was finished, it was just big enough to be hidden easily within ones palm.

Ash didn’t know if it was because of the ruckus in town, but the smith had been able to finish their order a day early and once again Ash found himself on what felt like an endless road. Ash enjoyed traveling, but he hated having to spend so much time in the carriage. At first it seemed spacious, but with each passing day it felt more and more cramped.

After the last battle, any time that Ash tried to train his dimension door ability everyone, seemed to throw a fit. He had been able to alleviate this by taking four people with him instead of just two, but it quickly drained him of his MP so he hadn’t really be able to train the ability much in the past few days. When he was in the inn, he had used the ability to move himself across the room, but since most of his MP went into making poison he didn’t have much left to train with. Thankfully it didn’t take as long as Ash had thought it would and he figured that they would have the last of the glass bottles filled with a few more days and that would free up much more MP for his personal training.

Having already read most of the books he had brought with him twice over, Ash passed the time talking to his wives. He had wanted to get to know them better, but it seemed rather forced when they were in the back of the carriage. Not that he was making them talk to him, but that he was only doing so to alleviate the boredom that was pressing down on him and most of their conversations seemed to lack intimacy.

It was during one such talk that Seia nervously asked Ash something that had been at the forefront of her mind as of late. “My lord, why did you decide to visit the king within the borders of his own lands?” Seia asked while fidgeting one day. “Wouldn’t it have been better to send anyone else? I know you explained your reasons, but I can see many other options. At the very least, you could meet in a neutral place between the two lands?”

“Those are really good questions,” Ash admitted. “There are a number of options, but we had limited time. The king’s declaration was nothing more than a statement that meant that he was preparing for a full scale war and while I am sure we could win, the damages on both side would be great.”

“Then we should start bringing in more troops and preparing for war instead of spending the time to move slowly across the country to meet with a foolish old man,” Tolarea said in a slightly annoyed tone.

“I don’t mind fighting if I have to, but there is too great of a chance that the other kingdoms would join in the war. They would see the demons as a common enemy if we show aggression too readily. With the short time we were given, the best choice was for me to go myself. As you said, we could have asked for a neutral meeting ground, but there really isn’t such a thing. There is no way the king would come to the Hawkwing duchy so the best we could manage would be meeting in one of the neighboring duchies near the border, but we would have to meet on his terms.

I will not say that I am much of a political mind, but I have been studying as much as I can the past weeks about past wars and I believe that I made the best choice with the limited options given to me. I am sure there are a number of better ones, but I am just too inexperienced to know what they are.”

“I understand my lord, but why go all the way to the capital? His forces are sure to be overwhelming and should he decide we could easily lose our lives.”

“That could happen, but I doubt it,” Ash said with a pensive look on his face. In truth, that notion had been haunting his dreams since they left the duchy. He didn’t mind losing his own life to stop a war, but he wasn’t sure he could bare to lose anyone dear to him. It amazed him at what people were willing to die for and what people were willing to fight for. More often than not, it was to protect the same people who would fight to protect them. “That is the reason that we are traveling in a marked carriage rather than flying there in a few days. We are making a show of ourselves. If the king acts then there is not a noble alive that would ever trust his word again. That is the reason that the knights that attacked us earlier were disguised. They want to get rid of us, but in a way that cannot point back to the origin. If we can find proof that the king ordered our death while on our way for a peaceful negotiation then even if we are forced into a war, the chances that the other kingdoms will enter the fray will be greatly reduced.”

“It sounds like you are using yourself as bait my lord,” Li said her voice meek yet carrying a hint of worry laced in it.

“I am,” Ash admitted. “I hope that the king listens to reason and agrees to peace, but truthfully I doubt things will go that easily. Most likely he will want to force a war. If the worst comes about and our lives are in danger, I plan to use dimension door to get us out of there. That is why when we meet the king, I only want two of you to accompany me.”

“Which two my lord?” Li asked her voice sounding slightly louder than usual.

“I think that Tolarea and you Li would be the best two choices,” Ash said quickly having considered the same question himself a number of times. “While we meet with the king, I want the rest to wait in a place where we can meet up if there is trouble.”

“Master, can I ask a question?” Seia asked her voice sounding slightly bothered.

“You just did, but I guess I can allow you a second one,” Ash said trying to make his voice sound slightly playful.

“Why did you chose Li and Tolarea?”

“It was hard to take. Tolarea is the best choice in the event we are forced into close combat. Not to mention just having her nearby will intimidate anyone thinking of starting a fight. The real choice was who the second person should be. With Tolarea on physical defense I needed someone with magical defense and that meant either Li or Celina. Celina has stronger magic, but no real defensive abilities so Li was the natural choice between the two.”

“I understand…But,” Seia said her tail swishing side to side in what Ash had learned to be a sign of her anger or annoyance. “I think I should accompany you as well. There is a chance that they could use poison.”

“There is a chance of poison,” Ash admitted. “It would be a quick and silent way to kill us.” In truth, Ash hadn’t even considered the chance of poison being used, but now that it was pointed out to him he had to agree that it was a viable threat. “Ok then, it will be the four of us, but no more. If we add anyone else, then if it comes to escape, I won’t be able to move us all.”

Seia showed a contented face and nodded her head in agreement. They were still a ways away from the capital but it didn’t hurt to plan ahead.

“STOP!” A loud shout reverberated in the air. Looking out the small window of the carriage, Ash noticed a large group of people gathered on the road ahead. Unlike before, the road was not empty as Ash’s group had earlier merged with a small trading caravan.

Sighing, Ash started to exit the carriage. “My lord, should we not use your dimension door to escape from this area and watch as we did before?”

“Last time we did that, it put everyone in danger and we still had to fight,” Ash said turning the small latch that held the door closed. “If we have to fight, I would prefer all of us to be close to each other so that we can fight as a group.”

Ash walked to the front of the three wagons when he heard the caravan leader talking loudly. “Can we help you? If not, I would suggest you find easier prey. We have ten guild trained guards and are traveling with an emissary that is headed to meet with the king. I am sure that is far more trouble than you wish to encounter.” Ash had to hold back a smile when he heard the old man speak. He had been quick to welcome Ash and the others even after he was told that the majority of the party consisted of demons. It turned out that his aunt had been more than half demon and he did not agree with the current policies where they applied to demi-humans.

“Silence,” one of the bandits yelled as he looked over the group. “I will give you one chance. All of you except the demon spawn may leave here.”

“You might have to be more specific,” the caravan head said with a heavy frown. “Almost half my guards have demon blood. Am I to believe that you expect me to leave them behind just to save my own hide?”

“I don’t care what you do, but anyone with demon blood has to stay behind. If they try to leave, they will do so without their heads.”

“Sounds like you are looking for someone,” Ash said, moving to stand beside the old man. “I already dealt with one group of the king’s knights dressed as bandits, I didn’t expect another to come so quickly. Seems like the king is completely shameless. I am surprised that he can find anyone other than dogs to follow his orders.” Ash spoke loudly and clearly and as he did so, you could easily see the faces on the pretend bandits contort into looks of outrage.

     “The king’s knights?” The old man beside Ash asked in an astonished voice.

“Yes, it seems that the king cares little for peace,” Ash said in a disheartened voice though his acting was a little rough. “I don’t know what he is thinking, my demon army is easily three times the size of the force within his entire country and five times as strong. I guess he cares little for his people because I can promise, should anything happen to me, the demons response would be swift and deadly,” Ash said in a threatening tone.

“You can’t trust demons,” the leader of the pretend bandits said with a snarl. “That is why they are called demons. They were born to do nothing but sow chaos within the lands of humans and are thus the enemy of all mankind.”

“Looks like it is pointless to talk to someone who cannot even see the contradictions in his own words,” Ash said as he pulled his sword free of its scabbard. “From what I can see, it is the humans who can’t be trusted or do you think knights dressing up as bandits and attacking a peaceful envoy is trustworthy.”

The fake bandit leader raised his hand and a rain of arrows filled the sky. Not expecting the large number of arrows, Ash acted quickly and evoked agis shield of protection twice in succession, knocking all the arrows from the sky.

When the arrows hit the inviable barrier, the bandit leader called for a second volley, but once again they hit Ash’s shield and fell harmlessly to the ground. In case of a third barrage, Ash checked the status of his shields and found that they still had slightly over half their strength left. “You have chosen your path to walk and I am sad to say, it will be a short one,” Ash said with a hint of sadness in his voice.

Ash activated over-boost and then used his ability total destruction. Like a thunderstorm, a series of pure white energy tendrils lept from Ash’s outstretched hand and attacked the bandits. It would have looked beautiful had the smell of burning flesh not filled the air as the energy burned through everyone in its path. One bright energy wave hit an illusionary barrier, dispelling it and exposing more than two dozen archers hidden behind.

When the energy storm ended, Ash’s guards took their turn and rushed the remaining enemy with Ash not far behind. Seeing that the caravan guards joined in the battle. With their captain dead, the fake bandits were in complete disarray and within moments found themselves overwhelmed. Only three of the more than thirty attackers lived long enough to throw down their arms and surrender.

Once the battle was finished, Ash surveyed the damage. Surprisingly no one had died on their end. Ash’s shield and the strength of his first attack had done too much damage. Though none were dead, there were a few injuries, but Ash and Li were quickly able to heal those in need. Even though it was only partway past midday, Ash and the caravan decided to stop only far enough away from the dead bodies that they couldn’t be smelled. The reason for this was so that Ash could have time to talk to the three that remained alive.

Before talking to the captives who were currently tied up next to one of the wagons, Ash set up his tent and tried to ready himself for the confrontation. Once his nerves were ready and his heart was steeled, Ash asked Tolarea to bring all three of the captives in at once.

Two of the captives were no more than young boys, hardly old enough to shave while the third looked as if he could easily be old enough to be their father. “Take a seat,” Ash said as he waved his hand at the open chairs that he had prepared, with the help from the caravan leader. The three men quickly took their seats. Ash studied them closely before continuing. The older man looked calm while the two younger ones had hate lurking in their eyes. Due to this, Ash chose to speak to the young men first. Ash hated himself for the choice, but he knew that it had the best chance to get the information he needed.

“You three are prisoners and currently have two choices. The first is to answer my questions, the other is to die for the crime of banditry,” Ash said, his voice much more calm than he currently felt. Ash turned his body toward the first youngster who sat at the left hand side of the others. “What were your orders and who made them.”

“We are prisoners of war, you have to ransom us or set us free,” the youth said indigently.