Reborn: Demon's Heritage by D. W. Jackson Page A

could find the people who were staring daggers at him, he was greeted by a man with light brown hair with more than a few gray streaks. Though the man was obviously in his later years, his body was still well maintained and he walked as if he owned the world around him.
    “Lord Hawkwing,” the man said, giving a slight bow. “It is a pleasure to see you safe. I am sure the duchess will be pleased and maybe she will stop sending inquiries every two days asking for a report,” the man added with a light chuckle. “I am Count Harding, the commander of this fort, though I would be pleased if you addressed me as Jorin. I always felt that posturing during war time was not only vain, but ultimately stupid. Might as well paint a target on your back.”
    Ash joined in the laugh. “Then please call me Ash as well.”
    “Sounds good to me,” Jorin said as he led Ash to the largest of the buildings near the center of the fort. “So far there has been little fighting and no forces have made it this far so mostly we are just shoring up our defenses. I don’t know what we can do to keep you busy, but for the most part you can do what you want.”
    “Would it be possible for me to meet with the fort mage so that I could help him with finishing up on the defenses?” Ash asked as he looked around at some of the still bare walls.
    “That would be great if you have a way to help out Gabe. He’s a bit young, but he has been working himself nearly to death to get as much as he can done. It is still early so why don’t we go find the young fool. He should be somewhere on the battlements working on the wall.”
    Gabe was a short youth in his late teens to early twenties with blonde hair that hung just above his shoulders. Unlike the soldiers around him, the mage was thin and his face was noticeably pale. “Gabe, I brought you a bit of help,” Jorin said, startling the mage who had been bent down with his hand on the ground with his eyes closed.
    “Lord Jorin, did the duchess hire a mage from the guild?” The young mage asked as he approached the three. “I heard they were all tasked with the large fort at the capital.”
    “No, the duchess still refuses to dispatch guild mages to the outlying forts, but Ash here said he could help, though I am not sure how he means to do so yet.”
    “Lord Hawkwing, it is a pleasure,” Gabe said, his face blanching as he quickly bowed. “I meant no disrespect toward the lady with my comments. I am sure that her reasons are well founded and umm well…”
    “Don’t worry about it,” Ash said, laughing at the stuttering youth.
    “Can I ask how Lord Hawkwing will be helping?” Gabe asked as his face regained some of its color.
    “Just Ash please. I can use a bit of earth magic so building walls, while tiring, will give me something to do instead of just sitting around getting fat.”
    Ash bent down and placed his hand on the ground and started pouring in his mana. As his MP began to reduce, the dirt started to cover the exposed logs and harden. When as stood back up a three fort section of wall had been finished.
    “Amazing,” Gabe said, looking up at the finished section of wall. “You were able to do that in only moments. Can you still do more?”
    “I can do that much about five times before I start to run dry,” Ash replied.
    “With you here, we will be able to finish the wall by the end of the month and start working on building and other fortifications,” Gabe said happily.
    Ash had wanted to get straight to work, but Jorin had other plans. After meeting Gabe, Jorin took Ash to the other end of the fort where a number of knights were practicing. Looking through the group of knights, Ash noticed a face that he recognized. When he saw Marilyn, Ash let out a heavy sigh and hoped that he wouldn’t have to deal with her again. It wasn’t that she was bad but something about her always seemed slightly off putting. Ash couldn’t put his finger on what it was, but he knew that it