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

for fear of what new torment he would be faced with.
    “Li, check Ash, something has to be wrong,” Ash heard Tolarea’s panicked voice. Unable to help himself, Ash’s eyes opened as he turned in the direction of the voice. Tolarea was large, having the blood of giants running through her veins. Ash always had the impression that she was as tough as stone and while she sometimes showed a feminine side, it wasn’t very often. When Ash saw Tolarea’s red eyes and worried look, he could not help but smile.
    “Ash,” Li’s, Celina’s, and Seia’s voice rang out as soon as Ash opened his eyes. “Are you ok?” Celina asked rushing over to Ash’s side.
    “What happened?” Ash asked wondering what had got them so worked up.
    The five women in the room each looked to each other, then to Ash until Seia spoke. “Ash…You started to scream in your sleep. We tried to wake you up but no matter how hard we tried nothing worked.”
    Ash let out a heavy sigh then looked down to his hands while he thought about how to answer. Looking at his hands, Ash noticed a small trickle of blood where his fingernails had dug so hard into his own hand that it had broken the skin. “It was just a bad dream,” Ash said after a long moment of silence. He didn’t want them to think less of him, but neither did he want to lie to them and knowing himself, he figured that tonight would not be the only one that left him in such a bad state.
    “Was it the child?” Li asked, her voice soft and filled with warmth. Ash didn’t say a word but he silently nodded his head.  Li didn’t say anything else she simply walked over to where Ash sat in the bed and wrapped her thin arms around his head and pulled him into her chest.
    At first Ash felt like pulling back but when the sound of her heartbeat reached his ears, he found it oddly calming and soon her felt the pain in his chest lessen as his breathing calmed down. Unbidden tears silently slipped from his eyes as his arms snaked around Li’s thin waist as he held her tightly, burrowing his face deeper into her chest. Li let out a slight gasp of pain but she never pulled back and instead used her hand to softly pat Ash’s head as she whispered. “It’s ok,” over and over.
    After he had calmed down, Ash separated himself from Li and wiped the tears from his red eyes. He tried to find the words of to thank her, but they were lost to him as he looked at the warm smile on her face. Suddenly Ash remembered the others in the room and his face flushed red in embarrassment for a moment before he looked at their faces.
    The look of contempt, shame, and disgust were absent. All Ash found were looks of concern and love. Ash had spent a lot of time among his demon wives, but he had only slightly connected with them. He did not hate them but he always felt bad for them in the back of his heart. They did not choose him for their husband but instead their choice had been made for them. This had led Ash to think that they couldn’t ever truly care for him, but at this moment those thoughts were blow out of his mind. Looking into the faces of his wives, all Ash could feel was how much they truly cared for him. Not as the Maoh but as their husband. To many, it might seem like a small thing, but to him it made all the difference in the world.
    “Do you think it would help if we talked?” Celina asked, her voice showing her nervousness and worry.
    “I don’t know,” Ash replied honestly.
    Ash’s wives gathered around him remaining silent at first as if they were afraid to be the first one to speak. The first one to speak was Tolarea who simply asked Ash if he wanted something to drink.
    After Tolarea spoke the others began to talk, not just to Ash but to each other. It was slow at first like a dripping facet. Slowly things began to pick up as if they were nothing but kids sitting around without a care in the world. Soon Ash was talking to Li, Celina, and the others like nothing had ever happened.
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