Hunting the Eagles

Chapter XII

The third watch had sounded by the time Caecina’s emergency meeting was over. Urging the officers to ready the best of their soldiers, and to fall on those who’d been selected when the signal came, Caecina had dismissed them. ‘The gods are with us,’ he’d called as the hall’s doors were opened. ‘Right always prevails.’

Caecina’s talk was hot air, thought Tullus, as he tossed and turned in his bed. None of the men in his old century had been chosen, a small thing to be thankful for, but thirty-eight names had been handed to him by the centurions of his cohort. Naturally, Bony Face and his associates featured high on the lists. There weren’t as many men mentioned as some of the other units, perhaps – Tullus had heard figures of fifty, and even sixty soldiers per cohort being bandied about – but that didn’t mean what faced them the next day wasn’t horrific. He had taken it upon himself to rid his century – Septimius’ former one – of its condemned men.

He didn’t sleep a wink.

If the night had been hard to endure, the day was no better. Red-eyed, weary, Tullus had decided on the unorthodox method of leading the soldiers of his old century, including Piso and the ones he’d moved into his new unit. The men who’d served under Septimius couldn’t be relied on to do exactly as he ordered. Tullus had to bring his trusted legionaries in on Caecina’s plan, override their shocked reactions and tell them that this was what had to happen. Upwards of ten seemed so reluctant that Tullus decided to leave them out of it, or at least to keep them away from the actual killing.

Then he had to get through the hours until midday. Tullus had no appetite – if he’d eaten, the food would have come straight back up again. Many of his old soldiers seemed to feel the same way. Tullus ordered them to their usual routine duties – a training session on the parade ground with their new centurion and optio. He spent an hour walking the cohort’s barrack blocks, scrutinising the legionaries as was his habit, and chatting in private with the officers. They reported that every loyal man had been told of Caecina’s plan.

As with Tullus’ soldiers, most had accepted their gruesome task. Some seemed nervous, to Tullus’ eye at least, but the men who’d mutinied didn’t appear to have noticed. Whether they would in the time before the trumpets sounded Caecina’s signal – the charge – was a risk they would all have to live with.

Tullus didn’t check on any of the rest of the Fifth’s cohorts, or the Twenty-First’s. He had his job, and the centurions of the other units had theirs. It was a shitty enough detail without worrying about men and things beyond his control. Once he’d satisfied himself that his co-conspirators were ready, he went to join his old century.

Time on the training ground helped. There was nothing like the dull monotony of marching to and fro, forming battle lines and engaging in simulated combat to make the hours go by. Tullus usually supervised these tasks, but this morning, he took part. He wanted not to have to think. Sweating, feeling his muscles work, having to bellow orders at the same time, kept his mind from the bloody job at hand. Up and down, over and back, marching as he had in his youth. It was good to realise that he was still fit enough to keep up with his men. I’m not done yet, Tullus realised with pride. He became so engrossed that it was somewhat of a surprise when Fenestela came from the barracks to find him. ‘It’s nearly midday.’

Tullus glanced at the sun, which had emerged from behind a bank of cloud. Fenestela was right. ‘We’d best get back.’ He ordered his soldiers to halt. Their perspiring, expectant faces regarded him as he stalked down the column. ‘This is it, you maggots. Things have been bad since the mutiny, haven’t they?’ There was a rumble of agreement. ‘I don’t like what we’ve been ordered to do any more than you do, but it has to be done. Let’s get it over with.’

No one replied – Tullus didn’t really expect them to – but there were no protests either. His men stood there, looking tense but ready. He wanted more than that. ‘Are you with me?’ he cried.

‘Aye, sir,’ Piso called out.

‘Me too,’ said Vitellius.

Ten voices joined in, then a few more. In the end, Tullus wasn’t sure that all of his men had answered, but most had. This wasn’t the time to make them shout back, as he did before a battle. They’d followed him through the mutiny. They were here, combat ready, and prepared to follow his orders. That was enough.

‘Form up, usual files. Follow me, and wait for my command. I’ll tell you which men are to die. Go in fast and sure. Gods willing, the dogs won’t know it’s going to happen until they’re already dead.’

The march back to the camp, usually a reason for good humour, was made in complete silence. Their iron hobnails crunched off the gravelled surface of the road. Leather straps creaked. Metal glanced off metal. Voices, both human and animal, carried to them from over the ramparts. Men called out to comrades, officers issued orders and mules protested – as they always did. Tullus listened, his mouth dry with tension, but could discern only normal, everyday sounds.

Under the arches of the main entrance, and into the main camp they went. Tullus headed straight for his cohort’s barracks. The avenues weren’t busy, but there were still plenty of legionaries about. The general indiscipline meant that no one had been able to come up with a plan to ensure that all the men, let alone those designated to die, would be in their quarters when the signal rang out. Most would, because midday was a traditional time to eat, but others might not.

If any of the whoresons aren’t there, we’ll just hunt them down, thought Tullus, trying not to think about how the mutineers could band together if they realised their intended fate.

At the barracks belonging to Septimius’ old unit – Tullus’ new one – Fenestela readied half the soldiers to move towards the other end of the long building. Tullus’ design was to wait with the rest by the nearest entrance, close by the centurion’s quarters. The narrow corridor between his unit’s barracks and the next was a natural space for men to gather in good weather, and today was the same. Indifferent glances met their arrival, but that would soon change if they didn’t disperse as normal. Troops didn’t ever linger about outside their barracks in full armour.

Tullus felt his heart beat twenty, then thirty nervous beats. His soldiers shifted from foot to foot. Fenestela’s gaze bored into the side of his face. Two men nearby stopped their game of dice to glance at the assembled legionaries; both frowned. Screw it all. We look far too obvious, thought Tullus. His mouth opened, ready to order his men into their quarters, but the resounding call of numerous trumpets silenced him. Over and over they sounded, not one of the usual daily summons, but the charge, something never heard except on the training ground or battlefield.

Confusion registered on the faces of the legionaries outside the barracks. Confusion, and then fear.

‘Spread out to fill the gap. Draw swords, shields at the ready!’ shouted Tullus. He heard Fenestela leading his half of the century around the adjacent building, saw Septimius’ old signifer appear in the doorway of his quarters. He came trotting over, and then the tesserarius appeared at the far end of the barracks, clearly waiting for Fenestela.

All conversation ceased in the ‘corridor’. Dice and bone playing pieces lay untouched. Men stopped wrestling, laid down the greasy rags with which they’d been polishing their kit. ‘What’s going on?’ cried a soldier, backing away from Tullus.

Tullus ignored him, and gave the signifer a terse nod. They had spoken the previous night, and at dawn. ‘Nine names on your list, eh?’

‘That’s right, sir.’ The signifer’s face was pale, but set. ‘Four of them aren’t here.’

Tullus knew who they were. He wanted to scream. ‘And the other five?’

‘Three are behind me, sir. The brawny one, and the red-haired man he’s been grappling with, and the soldier who’s leaning against the barracks, swigging from a jug. The others are in their rooms, down the other end of the building. They’re in bed, I think.’

‘Fenestela can take care of those two. We’ll tackle the three out here. You deal with the fool who’s drinking.’ Tullus turned his head. ‘Eight men, follow me. Eight, go with the signifer. The rest of you, make sure no one leaves. No one. Follow!’

Tullus made a beeline for the big legionary and his redheaded companion. Piso, Vitellius and six others dogged his heels. Soldiers melted away before them, their questions and demands dying on their lips. They were twenty steps away when their quarry realised what was happening. The pair, who were unarmed, made a run for the door to their quarters – where their weapons lay.

Tullus had chased down fleeing men countless times before, on battlefields when the enemy had broken. It was an easy way to kill, and the red-haired legionary fell before he’d reached the door; in the same time, Piso and Vitellius had slain the brawny one. Standing over the bodies of their victims, the three gave each other bleak looks. Tullus struggled for something to say, then gave up. Nothing could make this better.

The signifer had done his job too. A scarlet trail was smeared down the barrack wall, the bloody track left by his chosen legionary as he slid to the ground. Soon after, Fenestela emerged from the barracks, his blade stained. He gave Tullus a grim nod.

‘The other four are the bony-faced prick, the one with a fat nose and the twins, I take it?’ Tullus demanded of the optio.

‘Yes, sir. They’re as thick as thieves.’

‘Where are they?’

‘The gods only know, sir,’ said the signifer with an apologetic look. ‘They’ve been spending time with some of the troublemakers in the Eighth Cohort, I know, but they could be anywhere in the camp.’

‘What in Hades’ name have you done?’ ‘Who gave the orders for this?’ As the remainder of the legionaries realised that they weren’t to be attacked, the questions and accusations came raining down. ‘Murderers!’

Tullus wheeled with blazing eyes, and the soldiers quietened. ‘These men were central to the recent mutiny. They were traitors,’ he cried, stabbing his blade towards each of the corpses. ‘You know it. I know it. Caecina knows it, and so does Germanicus. Understand that with their deaths, the unrest ends. Remain loyal, and there will be no further retribution.’ He prayed that the last part was true.

Some of the legionaries met his eye, but most would not. Their dampened mood and slumped shoulders told Tullus that these ones at least would pose no further problem. ‘Into your quarters,’ he ordered. ‘Stay put until things quieten down. Fenestela, gather the men.’ To the signifer, he said grimly, ‘We’d best start our search.’

Nothing could have prepared Tullus for the carnage that met them in the rest of the camp. It was clear at once that not every mission to hunt down the leading mutineers had gone according to plan. Tullus was used to battlefields, habituated to bodies and bloodshed. Terrible as the screams of wounded men were, he was accustomed to blocking them out. Never before, however, had he seen and heard these things inside the walls of a camp.

Corpses lay everywhere: on the avenues, in between the barrack buildings, across thresholds. Blood spatters marked the spots where men had died, or been wounded. Crimson smears and scuff marks traced the path taken by the injured as they tried to get away from their assailants, or dragged themselves into a quiet spot to die. The wounded calling for help competed with those men who were crying for their friends, or their mothers.

Freed somehow from their stable, a trio of riderless horses cantered past, their hooves clattering off the paving stones. Soldiers ran hither and thither, in ones and twos, and in larger groups. They were unarmed, part-dressed in armour and fully equipped for battle. Some were being pursued; others appeared to be fleeing in blind panic. Yet more were being directed by officers – but to what purpose, it was hard to tell.

No one seemed to know what was going on.

The unmistakeable smell of burning wood reached Tullus’ nostrils. Searching for its source, he saw threads of smoke rising from the area of the principia. Had some fool actually set fire to the headquarters? he wondered. He warred with himself for a moment, before deciding to stick to his plan. There were enough soldiers on hand to bring the conflagration under control, but if Bony Face and the rest weren’t tracked down, they might escape.

How they would find the four legionaries in the mayhem, Tullus wasn’t sure, but he couldn’t forget the glee with which Bony Face had executed Septimius. The whoreson needed to pay for his actions, and if Tullus could be the one who dispensed justice, so much the better.

They didn’t find their quarry at the Eighth Cohort’s barracks, where the situation was also under control. Numerous bodies lay outside the buildings, and there were plenty of wounded too. A weary-looking centurion told Tullus how the mutineers had armed themselves and fought back. A small group had broken through his men’s lines. ‘My boys had slain most of those on the list. They weren’t up to chasing the rest,’ he said, unable to hold Tullus’ eyes.

With little chance of finding Bony Face, who could have been anywhere in the vast camp, Tullus decided to head for the principia, to help extinguish the fire. An abrupt change to his plans was forced upon him as he entered the via praetoria. He glanced towards the main gate, some hundred paces away. There a desperate fight was taking place: men strived against each other, weapons rang, shrieks of pain and war cries combined in a familiar cadence.

The sentries were trying to prevent a mob of soldiers from leaving the camp, Tullus decided – and losing. ‘To the gate!’ he roared. ‘They’re killing our brothers at the gate!’

By the time they made it to the entrance, only two of the sentries were left. They went down just as Tullus and his men struck their attackers from behind. Some of the mutinous legionaries heard them coming and turned, but the rest were concentrating on getting out of the camp. Tullus’ legionaries hit them with a great crash, thumping their shield bosses into men’s backs, using their swords with short, efficient thrusts, trampling the fallen. Enraged by the innocent sentries’ fate, they needed no encouragement to kill.

Tullus’ temper was up too. He met the shield thrust at him by a swarthy-faced legionary with a savage thwack from the iron boss of his own. The shock of the impact rippled through wood and metal into his arm, and Tullus struggled to keep the shield high, but his opponent, surprised by the move, had fared worse. His top shield rim had bashed backwards into his face, smashing a couple of teeth. He was still moaning and dribbling blood through split lips when Tullus’ blade sank deep into his throat.

Tullus closed his eyes as his sword slid free. Crimson droplets showered the top of his shield and his cheeks, and then the legionary had dropped out of sight. Just like that, Tullus was in the mutineers’ midst.

‘With me!’ he roared.

Tullus sensed someone shoving in behind him, but he was too busy stabbing, barging and creating panic to see who it was. One of the twins died beneath his blade, and another legionary he recognised. Tullus wounded two more men, and then he found himself on the far side of the melee. He twisted his head to left and right, searching for Bony Face. There was no sign of him or Fat Nose, and Tullus spat an oath. The hammer of hobnails on the road dragged his attention back to the road out of the camp. Two armed figures were sprinting away from the fight.

Tullus knew that one of them was Bony Face. Like as not, the other was Fat Nose or the second twin. ‘Fenestela! Piso! Grab a pilum!’ Sheathing his bloodied sword, he lifted a discarded javelin from the detritus on the ground and ran after the fleeing pair. Tullus didn’t trust his legs to catch them, but he had an outside chance with a javelin if he could just close the distance – already some seventy paces.

Within two dozen fevered heartbeats, he was being outpaced by his quarry. It was now or never. Tullus came to a screaming halt, steadied himself by planting his left leg in front, and cocked back his right arm. With one eye closed, he took aim, heaved his arm back a little further, and threw. Up, up, up went the javelin. His prayers that it found a target rose alongside.

I don’t have the range any more, thought Tullus. Curse it all.

But to his astonishment, the javelin struck one of the legionaries in the lower leg as it plummeted to earth. Mortal wound it was not, but that didn’t matter. With an agonised cry, the man collapsed. His comrade threw a look over his shoulder, and Tullus recognised Fat Nose. He prayed that he had hit Bony Face.

Some words passed between the two – but Fat Nose didn’t slow down, or even stop.

What kind of cocksucking coward leaves a friend to die? wondered Tullus.

Metal scraped off stone as someone ran past him and skidded to a halt some twenty paces distant. With a heave and a grunt, Piso lobbed his javelin up in a steep arc. Fenestela appeared next, running further down the road before he too released his pilum.

Piso’s effort was so Herculean that his shaft smacked into the ground in front of Fat Nose, who let out a terrified squeal. He jinked to the side, put off his pace by the shock, and then Fenestela’s javelin came down like a bolt of lightning and skewered him between the shoulder blades. Fat Nose went down in a sprawl of limbs.

‘You might have missed, Piso, but that throw was worthy of an Olympian athlete,’ said Tullus. ‘You only succeeded by chance, Fenestela!’

Fenestela jutted out his beard, his habit when annoyed. ‘Who’s to say that I didn’t take Piso’s effort into account?’

‘Ha! It was well cast, though.’ Tullus stared at the gate with relief – the fighting there was all but done. ‘Follow me,’ he ordered. He, Fenestela and Piso tramped after the wounded legionary, who had managed to pull the javelin from his flesh and was hobbling as fast as he could towards the settlement. Spatters of blood marked his trail, and his face was desperate as he looked back. To Tullus’ delight, it was Bony Face. They caught up in no time, Tullus outpacing him to block his path while Fenestela and Piso stood at his back.

Bony Face threw down his sword with a clang, and raised his hands. ‘I surrender. Don’t kill me, please, sir!’ His voice was taut with fear.

Tullus felt a deep loathing for the man. His actions had wiped out any justification for his grievances. ‘You murdered Septimius in cold blood, filth, yet you expect mercy for yourself?’

Bony Face quailed before Tullus’ rage. ‘I’m sorry, sir. Septimius was a good man – he deserved better.’

‘You’re wrong there. Septimius was a prick of the first order.’

Bony Face blinked in surprise.

‘But you are also right. He deserved better. Most men do, because being slain in cold blood is a shitty way to die.’ With a smooth motion, Tullus unsheathed his sword and placed its tip under Bony Face’s chin.

‘I-’ began Bony Face, and stopped as Tullus’ blade slid through skin, muscle, blood vessels, cartilage, parting all with ease. Bony Face’s spinal column brought it to a shuddering halt.

Tullus stared into Bony Face’s wide, horrified eyes, listened to the odd, choking sound issuing from his bloody lips. With other enemies, he might have felt some regret, but not with this one. He was glad the man was suffering – if it hadn’t been for men like him, Septimius and so many others, mutineers included, would still be alive. ‘Die, you scum.’ Tullus let Bony Face hang on the sharp steel until the life left him, and then he kicked the corpse off, on to the ground. ‘The second twin?’ he demanded. ‘Has anyone seen him?’

‘He’s dead, sir,’ said Fenestela. ‘I saw him fall.’

Tullus’ anger drained away as fast as the blood pouring from Bony Face’s gaping throat. A pathetic figure now, he lay at Tullus’ feet like an outsized children’s puppet. Yet he wasn’t a plaything, thought Tullus, regret sweeping in. Bony Face had been a man who had lost his way, and paid the ultimate price for his mistake. ‘On another day, on a battlefield, he might have saved my life,’ he muttered. ‘And I killed him.’

‘You did what you had to,’ said Fenestela.

Tullus gave him a bleak look. ‘Gods, but it had better end here. Today.’

If it doesn’t, he thought, we will all become monsters.