Reborn: Flames of War (9 page)

“As long as they are used in small groups with easy orders, they are very useful,” Li explained. We can give each one of them an eagle and have them fly around to areas with little defense, attacking any village they come across.”

Ash started to understand what Li was getting at, though the idea bothered him slightly. If they used the monster tamers in such a way, then many innocent people would die though it would sow chaos within the country. It was a good plan and even though he didn’t like it, Ash had to give it consideration.

“Is there a way to keep them from attacking the children?” Ash asked after a long minute. He was willing to do a lot to win this war, but he would not purposefully advocate the killing of children.

“Yes,” Li replied. “You just have to give the beasts a command not to attack the young. All monsters can tell the difference between a grown adult and the young so that shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Then we will go with that,” Ash said nodding his head.

“My lord, it is time to go,” Lath said interrupting their conversation as he stepped out of the darkness.

Ash nodded his head. The guards had decreased enough for them to flee without being seen though it would not be long before they returned, this time with an army behind them. Ash wanted to make a point to the foolish human king. He could attack him at any time.

Ash looked back at the small room they had stayed in the past few days and let out a small sigh. It hadn’t been long, but over the past two days Ash had enjoyed the time spent here even if it wasn’t very comfortable.

“Time to beat the drum,” Ash said under his breath as he ascended the stairs to the bar above.

11-10

It was much easier to leave the capital than Ash thought it would be. They still couldn’t leave by the main gate, but near the southern wall of the city, where the slums were, there was a large drainage pipe that led outside the walls of the city.

It was not the cleanest way to leave the city, but it was the way that offered the best chance without being discovered. From Lath’s report, the king was sure that Ash and the others had long since fled and he wanted them to keep thinking that so that when he returned with at army behind him it would take them by surprise.

Due to the fact Ash had ordered some of his troops to raid local towns, the king was already aware that a small force was already in striking distance of the capital, but he didn’t know the true size of the force. The ones that were sent out were less than three hundred. It was just enough to draw attention. Right now a contingent of six hundred soldiers had left the capital in order to track down the small army of demons, which made Ash smile. Six hundred knights only made it an even fight against three hundred demons, but right now there was more than two thousand demons waiting for Ash in the nearby forest that was only slightly over a day’s ride away. With the troops outside the city walls, it would be easy to dispose of them, reducing the king’s forces and striking a bit of fear into them before the real war starts.

“It stinks,” Seia said holding her nose as the entered the greenish water that led to the large pipe. Ash tried not to agree with her or think of what was in the water as it swished around his ankles. His only thought at the moment was to quickly make it to the other side and find a place to take a nice warm bath.

What Lath had called a tunnel was more just like a large metal pipe that Ash had to duck to walk through, but at least unlike Tolarea he didn’t have to crawl. Seeing the large woman on her hands and knees with the trepid water all around was one of the few things Ash was grateful for at the moment.

As soon as they made it to the other side, Lath took them to where he had hidden the horses. “I need a bath,” Li said as she wrinkled her nose.

“I agree,” Ash said as his eyes watered from the smell that had clung to all of them. “Lath, where is the closest place where we can wash off this smell and burn our clothes.”

“So the first priority of the lord is to take a bath rather than meeting up with his soldiers?” Lath asked in a mocking tone while giving Ash a toothy grin.

“It is more than a day’s ride before we will meet up with the troops and neither I nor my wives wish to smell like a pig’s backside for that long,” Ash said, his voice hinting at his anger.

“There is a small river about an hour away that you can use to wash yourself,” Lath said quickly. “Though the water is not warm it should get the worst of the smell off.”

Hearing this, the mood of Ash and his wives improved greatly though they might have pushed their steeds a little harder than normal in order to reach the stream even a moment faster. The second they reach the stream, his wives started to disrobe throwing their old clothes in a pile. Seeing this, Ash couldn’t help but watch in fascination. It was not that he hadn’t seen their bare bodies before, but it was the first time he had seen all of them at once and Ash found the contrast between them alluring. When Li saw the slightly perverted smile on Ash’s face, she blushed and quickly covered herself but Tolarea laughed. “Hurry up and come in, the water is fine though a bit nippy.” Nodding his head, Ash quickly threw his clothes aside and jumped in the water.

After their quick bath, Ash did just as he promised and burnt the clothes they had been wearing while handing out the clothes he had stored in his item box to everyone. Once that was finished, everyone remounted their horses and continued their ride.

The night was only half over when they left the capital. It was dark out so they could not travel very fast and though tired, Ash and the others couldn’t afford to rest.

When the sun started to rise it stung Ash’s eyes as if it were trying to burn right through him. Shaking his head and taking a drink of cold water, Ash tried to keep himself awake since it would be a long time before he would get to see a bed again.

When the sun had reached the apex in its journey through the sky, they were forced to take a small break to give the horses a rest and to allow them to eat. At the same time the horses were eating Ash and the others did the same. It wasn’t a large meal, only consisting of some dried meat and a little bread that had to be soaked in water just to eat.

After the meal, Ash felt his eyes grow heavy and had a hard time fighting to stay awake. Yawning, Ash stretched back and leaned against a tree. Slowly blinking his eyes the scenery around him seemed to change. One moment he was alone and the suddenly when his eyes opened back up, he found Li’s soft hair blowing against his face. Turning his head, he found Li’s face only inches away as it rested against his shoulder.

After shaking her shoulder lightly, Li’s eyes fluttered open. As soon as her eyes opened and she noticed how close Ash’s face she was, she pulled back, her face turning a bright shade of red. “Have a nice nap?” Ash asked, his smile twitching a little as he held back a laugh.

“My lord,” Li said quickly getting to her feet. “I…I didn’t,”

Not holding the laugh in any more, Ash shook his head. “Don’t worry about it. No harm done and you did look awfully cute while sleeping.” Li remained silent but the red tent to her cheeks didn’t disappear.

After checking, Ash learned that he had napped for about half an hour and he had not been the only one. In fact the only ones to stay awake had been Lath and Tolarea. After everyone else was roused, they quickly mounted their horses which were grazing in a small field not far away and continued heading toward the east.

It was almost nightfall by the time they reached the forest, but not long afterwards they found the army or more like the army found them. “My lord,” a large demon with thick black wings and a single horn sticking out of his forehead said as they approached the forest. “We have been awaiting you. If you follow me I will show you to where the rest of the army is camped.”

“After you,” Ash said with a smile hoping for nothing else than to find the army, get something to eat, and have a nice long sleep.

Shortly after they entered the cover of the woods, more and more demons began to gather around them. It seems that the army had a number of demons looking out for the new arrivals so that as soon as they were near they could be guided to the main camp.

The main camp was located near the center of the woods and from the edge, it took almost an hour to get to on foot. As tired as he was, Ash wished that he could ride the horses, but due to how tightly the trees were packed, that became impossible. So, they were forced to go on foot while leading their horses behind them. Near the center, the area opened up, though not all of it was natural.

It was easy to tell that while there had been a nice meadow at one time, more than a few trees had been removed in order to accommodate the large number of tents that now dotted the landscape. There was even a tent prepared for Ash at the very center. At first Ash thought it was the command tent given how large it was and even though he didn’t need that much space for himself, he gladly accepted when he noticed the large bed in the center of the room.

Though Ash was hungry, the first order of business was meeting with the officers that currently were in control of the army. When Ash asked to meet with the current officers, he was taken to another tent near the edge of the clearing.

Inside were three demons who were currently looking over a map, arguing over which town to raid next.

“That one is too close to the forest,” A demon with red skin and large duel tusks growing from his mouth said. “It will give away our position. I am telling you that we should go after the village to the northwest.”

“Excuse me,” Ash said, grabbing the attention of the three demon officers.

Seeing their new visitor, all three demons stopped arguing and bowed in his direction. “My lord, I am glad to see that you are well and have been able to join us.”

“I am glad to be back among civilized beings,” Ash said with a crooked smile. “For now, I want you to cease all plans for attack. You do know that the king has sent out an elite group to hunt down your raiding party?”

“First off my lord, I am Calen, the captain of this army,” the red demon said then he turned to a smaller demon with ash grey skin and large pointed ears. “This is Raouth my first Lieutenant, and over here is Elithe my second lieutenant,” Calen said as he indicated a tall thin demon with pearl white skin and marble colored horns.

“It is a pleasure,” Ash said in greeting.

“The honors is ours my lord,” they both said while bowing.

“As for the so called elite soldiers the king has sent. We are aware of their existence but they use clumsy abilities and only arrive hours after we have left a village. It is easy to avoid their detection as long as we have the Skall clan with us.”

Ash knew who and what the Skall clan was since he used them in the last battle. They were not very strong on the front lines, but they had a unique ability that allowed them to hide the presence of a large number of people. It was thanks to them that the army had never been discovered no matter how close they were to human settlements.

“The problem is that I want them to find us,” Ash said with a mischievous grin.

“Go on,” Calen said in a calm and understanding tone.

“I want the regular size raiding unit to move out, but in such a way the king’s men can’t miss them. I don’t care if you have to send them a letter to invite them to the battle, just don’t make it suspicious. At the same time, I want you to move the rest of the army where we can attack from their back.”

“I see,” Calen said his eyes going slightly wide.

“I told you that the Maoh would agree with me,” Raouth said proudly. “You see my lord, I had suggested something similar yesterday when we learned of the king’s men. At the time Calen was worried that it might upset your plans so he decided against it.”

“At the time, it would have,” Ash said agreeing “But now is different.”

“Understood my lord,” Calen said nodding his head. “When would you like us to carry this out?”

“Tomorrow,” Ash replied immediately.

“Very well my lord,” Calen said banging his fist against his chest. “It will be done.”

Once the decision was made Calen started planning it, along with the two other officers. He asked Ash’s opinion, but anyone could tell that it was only done for politeness since both he and Ash knew that Calen had more experience and knowledge when it came to issues of planning a battle.

Excusing himself, Ash exited the command tent and went in search of food. Due to his hunger and nose, it didn’t take Ash long to find where the food was being prepared and he was not surprised to find that his wives were already sitting around in a circle enjoying large pieces of fried meat along with a number of side dishes that came from raided villages.

Shaking his head and smiling, Ash received his own plate of food from the two small female demons that had become the camp chefs and took a seat. As he ate, Ash looked around the camp or what he could see from his seat and thought about the fact he had not met many demon women, besides his wives, in the army. When he asked Tolarea about this she laughed. “My lord, women have their own units with the demon army. At one time they tried to put them with the men, but they tended to end up with children far too often and far too fast and at the most inopportune time. That is why during training they work together, but during a real war they are separated. It reduces the risk of angering the goddess if one of the soldiers fight and die while with child.”

Nodding his head in understanding, Ash asked about the two cooks only to learn that there was a small female army group that had been dispatched and the cooks were part of the army. The only reason they were cooking was because the first night, the two males appointed to cook had tried to feed the army what was described as burnt wood.

When Ash asked as to why there was a female section sent along with the men, he learned that it was because of his wives. While they were his guards, they also warranted protection so the female unit was place under the direct control of Tolarea and Eun who were the acting commanders of his current royal guard.

After dragging all the information he wanted out of Tolarea, Ash explained the plans for the attack in the morning or what little of it he knew since he decided to duck out of the meeting early in order to fill his stomach. When Tolarea heard the news, her eyes lit up and she made a quick comment about needing to speak with the captain and disappeared leaving only half her plate of food sitting on the rough wooden table.

With Tolarea gone, Ash turned his questions to Tina who had taken a seat to his left. Even with the long journey, Ash had not had much of a chance to talk to Tina and at first had taken her for the shy type like Li, but he had been wrong. Her clans linage had come from a mix of different beast like monsters and such, she had a tail much like those belonging to the beast clan, though hers looked more like that of an imp with a forked end. While she was the quiet type, she was far from shy. Ash had learned that she just preferred to watch and listen more than speak, but when she did speak it was always worthwhile to listen. The only thing Ash didn’t like about her was her habit of biting when she was in a playful mood. It wouldn’t be so bad, but it wasn’t a weak bite and she always tended to draw blood.