Legionary

Chapter 21

Whoresons! Brutus screamed inside.

Wulfric and his men were loud. Loud, arrogant and rude. And that was quite something coming from him, he thought. Certainly, the ale had helped loosen their tongues, but this was a deliberate hand in the face of the XI Claudia.

The other Goths Wulfric had brought with him to be his centurions were a real bunch of hard men. Two had been in the western imperial guard; another had fought in Pontus as a gladiator, recruited at Wulfric’s request after he had impressed in a tournament at Trier.

‘Slit your throat for a follis,’ Wulfric had enthused of him, slapping the grinning man on the shoulder.

To Brutus’ left and right, Avitus and Zosimus were seated, both still groggy from their night on the town following the return from the Bosporus mission, but the best men available while Nerva and Gallus enjoyed their trip to the capital. Brutus sympathised as Zosimus swirled his cup of water in distaste, but they had to stay lucid while these strangers drank the place dry and sobriety was probably the best way to keep a lid on Zosimus’ hair-trigger temper while Wulfric and his men hurled thinly veiled insults at them.

Wulfric swung his bloodshot eyes round to Brutus and stabbed a finger into his shoulder. ‘So how many of your men d’you think will be fit enough for my legion?’ He slurred.

Brutus refused the bait and turned on his finest tongue. ‘When the senior officers are back in the morning, we can discuss this detail,’ he replied as a local crashed over the table next to him, shrieking with laughter and fountaining ale over his friends, ‘in a proper environment.’

‘In the meantime we’ve got the grunts looking after us then, eh?’ Wulfric swept his finger across Brutus, Zosimus and Avitus. His men roared.

Brutus again felt his heart thud. It would be interesting to see if the Goth showed the same level of disrespect to Gallus. Gallus, he mused, cold son of a bitch. But then, nobody messed with him. Perhaps a mention of the primus pilus’ name might quell the atmosphere a little. Why stop there, he wondered, dropping Nerva’s name would surely do the trick.

‘No, it’s just that you’re in no fit state to talk about it now. Tribunus Nerva will be able to demonstrate the talent of our legionaries, tomorrow. As I said.’

Wulfric pulled an expression of mock attentiveness — eyes wide. ‘Nerva? The man is a loose blade. I would be surprised if he could show me any talent, since your limitanei have been sitting in this cesspit for the last … how many years? It’s comitatenses we are looking for, soldier, not militia.’

Brutus’ blood boiled, and he cursed himself as he felt his skin glow red as usual. The warm friendly bustle and alcoholic rabble of the inn carried on around the thick pool of tension, but inside the centurion, a torrent of rage swelled. Before he could check himself, he was on his feet, his clenched fist hammered into the table. The inn fell silent and all eyes swung onto them.

‘Right, you stinking whoreson,’ Brutus growled. ‘I don’t know how a runt like you has made it to the rank of tribunus of the Roman army, but it’s safe to say that on any other rank you’d be on the wrong end of the lash for that kind of talk,’ he clicked his fingers, the snapping sound reverberated in the silence, ‘like that!’

‘Sir,’ Avitus hissed, eyeing the gape-mouthed locals, stilled by the outburst. Brutus kept his stony stare on Wulfric, who glared in return. Wulfric’s men grinned, their hands by their sides, but their fingers writhed near their scabbards. Then, a cool draught of evening air gusted over the scene, in concert with the creaking of the wooden inn door.

‘Am I interrupting?’ A familiar voice boomed. Brutus dropped his stare when he saw Wulfric’s face switch into a smile. He turned to face the stern gaze of Tribunus Nerva, flanked by Centurion Gallus. ‘Care to fill me in on the details?’ Nerva continued.

Wulfric smiled again at Nerva. ‘Your chief centurion was just telling me how ferocious the Claudia can be. Care to join us? Then we can introduce ourselves properly.’

Nerva cast a disdainful look across the table. ‘Tomorrow, in the fort headquarters. Dawn. It would be wise to save our discussions for when we have clear heads,’ he barked. With that, Nerva nodded to Gallus, turned heel and left, as quickly as he had arrived.

Brutus caught the raised eyebrows of Gallus as he made to follow the tribunus. It’s down to me to sort this out, he sighed. He looked over to the bar, nodding to the landlord. Then, rolling his eyes up slowly to settle on Wulfric again, he forced a smile onto his face.

‘Well, Tribunus Wulfric, we’ll be leaving you and your men to ready yourself for tomorrow. Your quarters at the fort are prepared for you, whenever you decide to call it a night.’

Wulfric looked as if he had found a bar of gold. Until the bell for closing time pealed violently — three hours before actual closing time. Wulfric’s face dropped and the punters broke out into a rabble of jeers.

‘Oh dear, seems like it’s time to call it a night,’ Brutus spoke through a taught expression.

As if their legs were leaden, Wulfric and his sour-faced party shuffled up from their seats and swaggered to the door.

‘Tomorrow,’ Wulfric called back over his shoulder.

‘What is all this about, sir?’ Avitus asked as the door swung shut on the emptying inn.

Brutus remembered the garbled memo he had received from the messenger; Goths, new legions, lavish spending. ‘Politics, Avitus,’ he sighed. ‘Bollocks we don’t need to know but bollocks we have to suffer.’

A cool midnight breeze rippled through the fort. All was silent, save for the odd cough and shuffle from the legionaries on guard duty.

Pavo pressed himself against the cold stonework at the foot of the guard tower on the southeastern corner, his teeth clamped together to stop the chattering. Pitch and shadow danced around him on the deserted training yard, with only the pinhole canopy of starlight and the torches on the guard towers above piercing the dimness. He risked a glance around the edge of the tower to the guardhouse; no sign of Sura and the hatch-door he had gone to investigate remained locked. He strained his eyes, scouring the dull shapes to find his friend, when a snap of twigs from across the training yard jolted him back round, heart racing, fists clenched. Nothing. Only a swirling of the dark shadows behind the barrack buildings where the rest of the legion lay in their bunks. He gazed at the emptiness, determined to see what his imagination taunted him with.

The hastily hatched plan was fragile at best; based on gossip from one of the older legionaries, the disused hunting pit in the forest appeared to be their best bet — now they just had to lure Spurius out there. What would happen next was another matter, and he couldn’t see Spurius politely agreeing to sit down and broker a truce.

Pavo had risen from his bunk, lifted his latrine sponge and strolled from the barracks as naturally as he could manage with the eyes of Spurius and Festus following his every step. That pair were not for sleeping tonight. The icy night chill danced around the neck of his tunic, and he pulled it up a little, shivering — then a hand came crashing down onto his shoulder.

‘We’re all set, the guards have moved off to the corner towers. Move!’ Sura hissed.

‘In the name of…I nearly soiled my tunic!’

‘You should have; it’d mean you could run faster.’ Sura hissed.

Gulping his heart back in, Pavo scurried after his friend. The watch on the walls above had hit a quiet spot; one guard at each corner, staring out over Durostorum and the eastern cornfields respectively. Apart from that, all clear. Now it was time for action. His filthy bunk seemed like a warm paradise in comparison to this dark chill.

Sura put his fingers to his lips as he gently slid the latch on the hatch-door and lifted it free of its lock. The door swung open in merciful silence to reveal the shadowy moonlit world outside. An audience of darkened trees waited, their leaves writhing gently in the breeze, beckoning them across the plain.

‘Go, now!’ Sura hissed.

Pavo balked at the sudden urgency. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw it, a pair of human shadows haring towards them. His blood froze and a pang of terror prickled his skin. Spurius!

Pavo fell through the doorway, bundled by Sura. As the hatch-door slapped shut, Sura only just remembered to raise a hand backwards to cushion it closed. As soon as it stilled, a clenched fist from inside punched it open again.

‘Come on!’ Pavo hissed, grabbing at Sura’s forearm and stamping at the fingers of the rogue hand. The two set off across the open ground, speedy but silent, towards the trees. Behind them, they heard a dull thud of footsteps. They simultaneously burst into an upright sprint, abandoning stealth.

‘Oh, bugger!’ Sura croaked. ‘Don’t look round!’

Pavo fought the fear and focused straight ahead, burying the urge to roar to the wall guards. In the forest, he had a chance of escape. He bit his bottom lip hard and tasted the metallic wash of blood as he willed his limbs onward. The branches reached out to him, only a hundred paces to go, when a frustrated growl from behind accompanied a sharp whirring and then a spinning training sword scythed past his ear.

‘In the name of…’ he yelped. They were only paces behind. He crashed into the thick mass of branches closely followed by Sura. The drop in speed felt like hitting a stone wall as the foliage rallied against them, rebounding to push them backwards then shackling them as they drove into its mass for what seemed an eternity. Scratched all over, they stumbled out onto a clearing and a faint track.

‘You’re dead, Pavo!’ Festus croaked as he fought through the foliage, only an arm’s length behind, his breath clouding over Pavo’s shoulder.

‘Which way?’ Sura cried, darting his eyes down the path in both directions.

Panting, Pavo shot a glance at the stars; he circled his hands, ignoring the barrage of insults from behind. In the forest to the west of the fort, the old legionary had said to his friends. He saw the dim glow of Durostorum light the sky further down the path.

‘West — this way. Come on!’ He barked, shoving Sura forward just as Spurius ripped free of the branches and launched himself onto the path with bear-like arms outstretched.

‘I can’t see a bloody thing, how do we know where it is?’ Sura spluttered, squinting at the pitch-black ground.

‘Just run and keep your eyes on the ground ahead!’ Pavo stretched his stride until it hurt. His eyes traced the dimness of the path — he could barely see his own feet, let alone the…

‘Pavo! Jump!’ Sura cried.

The ground disappeared beneath him as his world spun and then with a dull crunch he landed, shoulder-first in a pile of animal bones. Not good, he reasoned, wincing at the sharp, stabbing pain racing through his back. He had landed right in the hunting pit. Great plan, he cursed himself. Within a single breath, two massive hulking shapes crashed down on top of him. This was bad, very bad.

‘Pavo! Get up, get out of there!’ Sura called from up above. Pavo’s vision came together and he made out his friend’s silhouette in the starlight above. His heart and mind were already crawling out of the pit, but his legs stayed pinned firmly under Festus. The groggy giant grunted and shook his head. Pavo kicked out, squirming towards the pit wall.

‘Give me your hand,’ Sura cried from above, hanging over the pit edge, gripping a stray tree root with his other hand. Pavo thrust out his arm to the shadowy saviour. Their hands slapped together, and they shared a grin. Then the root ripped free. Sura howled as he toppled into the bundle of bodies.

Pavo saw just a blinding light as a limb crashed against his skull. A flurry of swearing, spitting and scuffling ensued before they broke apart, each scrambling to a corner of the rectangular pit, Pavo’s eyes tuned into the darkness and he made out Sura slumped in the opposite corner, dazed. Spurius and Festus ignored Sura and turned for him. He gripped the pit wall in panic, the dirt crumbled in his hands.

‘You’re for it now, Pavo,’ Spurius growled as they closed in on him.

‘Nice place this,’ Festus spat, ‘could see a recruit having a nasty accident here.’

No way out. Staying alive was all he could hope to do. He grasped at what felt like an animal thighbone from the pit floor, hefting it up and over his shoulder, ready to strike.

‘That’s no match for this!’ Festus crowed, sliding a spatha slowly from his scabbard, the blade catching the starlight just long enough to illuminate his stump-toothed sneer. ‘Time to finish the job from the other day.’

A shuddering thwack rang out, followed by whining and then an ungainly thump, but there was no pain. Pavo started; Sura stood where Festus had been, swaying, eyes spinning from the fall, holding a heavy strip of tree-root in his hands; Festus was a dark lump on the ground, unconscious and snoring like a boar. Spurius’ eyes widened and he stepped back.

‘Not so keen on two against one, eh?’ Pavo spat. Then he looked to Sura with a grin, only to see his friend’s eyes roll in their sockets before he, too toppled into the dirt.

Spurius grinned back. ‘That was handy, eh?’

His heart racing, Pavo paced to the side as Spurius drove them to circle each other.

Spurius shimmied and Pavo’s knees almost buckled; the darkness, the raw terror here was so far removed from his sessions with Brutus.

'Not so clever in a real fight, are you?' Spurius hissed, reading his mind.

'You try getting closer to me and you'll find out.'

Spurius snorted derisively, and then pulled a feint and another shimmy, before suddenly he sprung, barging Pavo to the ground, then began raining blows.

Damn it! He cursed as his back thudded into the pit floor. All that training…for this! Pavo blocked out the dull thudding — only pain so far, nothing lethal. This fight could still be won. He felt his arms being brushed away as he tried to shield himself, and kicked out, pushing Spurius back. But like a hunting lion, the bulky soldier sprung straight back on top of him, fists raised.

'Why don't you just finish it?' Pavo croaked.

Spurius grappled at his tunic collar, wrenching him from the dirt and right up to his face.

'Why don't you just…just disappear?' He spat. With a tortured howl he cast Pavo back and slid to the ground against the opposite pit wall.

Pavo sat up, his ears ringing and his face numb, and stared at his enemy; Spurius ran his fingers across his cropped scalp, kicking his heels into the mud.

'What in Hades is going on with you?'

'Just bugger off, for your own sake,' Spurius grumbled, his face buried in his chest.

Pavo’s mind spun. He eyed the tree root at the far wall — an easy escape. Then he glanced to Sura — still out cold, and then to Spurius and Festus. He couldn't leave Sura here, but couldn't get him out alone.

'Spurius, I don't care what your problem is anymore. I just want to make sure Sura here is okay.'

Spurius chuckled dryly.

'Help me get him out of this pit and I'll help you with Festus.'

Spurius frowned with a look of disbelief. 'D’you think I care if that cretin lives or dies?'

Pavo followed Spurius’ glare — burning into the snoring Festus.

'I don't get it, okay? Will you just help me with Sura?' With that, he scrambled up the dirt wall. Slapping onto the earth above, he afforded a few sharp breaths before prising himself to his feet. He turned to look back down into the hole and drew a breath to try to coax Spurius once more. But something rammed into his back and instantly he was face down in the ground again. A set of hands wrenched his arms back.

‘What in the name of Mithras is happening here?’ A voice raged. Pavo twisted his neck round to see a mounted centurion glaring down at them in utter disdain, his wolf-like features illuminated in the moonlight.

‘I’ve got him, sir!’ The legionary on his back roared.