Reborn: War's Nightmare by D. W. Jackson

easy one given their overwhelming forces but the commanders didn’t seem to think it would be as straight forward.
    “The scouts noticed that the base near the east wall has been dug out using collapsible beams. Since it is the section facing the Lord and his forces, I expect that they plan to wait until the soldiers are completely engaged before causing the near mile long section of wall to collapse. There is no telling what they have planned after that, but there are any number of things they could do that could devastate a large number of our men. It would be best if we simply blocked the east wall and attacked from the north.”
    “The north is dangerous as well. The enemy has put it a large number of crossbows. They have been arranged where it only takes one person to fire more than two dozen. Even if our mages can reduce the number of troops, it would only take a few to kill hundreds of our men. The south side is much better even though it is narrow and bordered by the steep slope on the west.”
    “The enemy had been stacking rocks and other debris along the road to the south gate. It just seems too suspicious to me. They have made great effort to detour our attacks from every other angle but for the south they only seemed to have made a minimal defense. I think that they have something planned, but I just cannot see though it at this time.”
    It was at this time that one of the sub-commanders looked in Ash’s direction noticing him for the first time. “Can you have our dinners brought to the command tent? I do not think that we will be able to join the troops for the evening meal.”
    Ash felt like he should say something, but before he could voice a word, the sub-commander had already turned around and returned his attention back to the discussion at hand. Shaking his head, Ash looked for Herse but found that the sub-commander was currently trying to get near one of the officers who Ash believed was the main army commander. Shrugging his shoulders and seeing no harm in allowing the experienced men to continue he took a step back and exited the tent and went to look for those in charge of the meals.
    The camp was easily five times the size of the one he had been in, but it was set up with the same pattern, so it didn’t take Ash long to find where the cooks were stationed. The cooks were made of over a hundred demons, each looked incredibly busy. After trying to get someone’s attention for a while, one of the older demons stopped what he was doing and turned to look at Ash with a slightly annoyed glint in his eyes. “What do you want?” The old demon asked curtly.
    “The commanders want their meals taken to their tent,” Ash said, his voice strong though it was close to faltering.
    “Like we don’t have enough work to do,” the old demon spit as he turned his head to the side and yelled. “Yarne!”
    A young demon looking no more than thirteen ran forward with a fearful look in his eyes. “Yes master Kell?” Yarne asked with a bowed head.
    “Gather a few of the other boys and have meals taken to the commander’s tent,” Kell said with an air of authority. The boy looked at Ash, his jaw dropping slightly and his eyes wide. Ash tilted his head to the side then remembered seeing the child before when he had been in the capital. He had never talked to the child, but he had been one of the many runners that had worked in the castle. Holding back his smile Ash gave the boy a sly wink.
    “Don’t just stand there like some slack jawed fool unless you want me to strip the hide off your backside. Get a move on,” the old demon roared his eyes nearly spitting fire.
    The young boy’s body began to shake as he regained his bearings. Turning on his heels, Kell ran off as if his feet were afire. Laughing, Ash turned around and headed back to the command tent with a slight smile still on his face.
    When he returned to the tent, Ash found that it was slightly louder than when he left. Stepping inside, he