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

likely attack throughout the night and into the next day. Each time they will send more and more against us until they overrun us.”
    “How long do you think we can hold out?”
    “Three days if we are lucky. One if they don’t care how many people they lose. Most of it is left up to luck and their commander. We have limited actions while they have numerous ones they can employ. This is the worst part of any defensive battle.”
    Ash took his place on the far end of the wall opposite Gabe. The main forces on the wall were regular soldiers with a few knight scouts mixed among them. Those that couldn’t fit on the wall waited in the main area of the fort in case the wall was somehow breached.
    Just as Matt had predicted, the first wave of a thousand men surged toward them. It looked like a small number when compared to the large force waiting behind, but it was still half the number that stood inside the fort and almost triple that of what could man the walls. The men ran in groups of five carrying long ladders that could be used to scale the wall. A few also carried bows with the hopes of taking out a few men if they were able to get close enough.
    Ash had a number of abilities, but none of the seemed to of much use at a great distance. All he could rely on was his earth magic. He looked out at the large number of people rushing toward the fort and he felt his pulse race. Ash had trained with the knights and soldiers over the weeks so he knew the range of his magic was slightly less than that of a skilled archer so even though he wanted to strike at the numerous soldiers, he could only watch as the human wave surged forward.
    When the enemy passed a number of marked stones on the ground, the soldiers lifted their long bows and a loud twang filled the air as countless arrows filled the air. As the arrows fell to the ground, less than a quarter of them found their mark and even those few seemed to do little to detour the advancing horde. Yet the bows continued to ring out and the air filled with the sound of the bowstrings. When the first sounds of death mixed with the sound of bows ringing out reached Ash’s ears, it was almost like some macabre sonata of death.
    When the enemy reached the second set of marked stones, they were forced to slow down due to the number of pits that the knights had dug over the past months. At the same time, Ash and Gabe raised their hands and started their part of the battle. Next to Ash were a number of large buckets of dirt. Reaching down, Ash touched the dirt and four orbs about the size of a man’s head rose into the air. The orbs quickly shifted to look like large stone spears and flew out, each one finding its target. Ash could cast the same spell even without the use of dirt, but it would more than triple his mana use.
    By the time the enemy reached the third set of marked stones, they had already lost a quarter of their soldiers and at the reduced distance, they were going down even faster. Though they had received heavy losses, things had slightly turned. A number of enemy soldiers lifted their own bows and while many of the arrows fell short, more than enough found their home in one of the defenders. Each time someone was injured, they were brought down and someone quickly replaced them. A few arrows flew toward Ash, but he was able to easily knock them aside.
    By the time they reached the fourth and final set of marked stones, the enemies had lost over eighty percent of their men and a loud horn sounded. As the men turned to run, Ash started to target the fleeing forces. A strong hand rested on his shoulder as he let loose another set of stone spears. Turning his head, Ash found Matt standing beside him with a wide grin.
    “Save your magic, there will be plenty of chances for you to use it.”
    During the battle, Ash had used less than a quarter of his MP while Gabe had used slightly over half. They both left the wall to rest and recover as they waited for the next attack. As they