Legionary

Chapter 70

A man-sized rock came hammering down on the front wall of the fort, renting a jagged fissure up the wall and sending the legionaries at the top flailing as the force knocked them back into the courtyard.

‘Artillery — damn them!’ Gallus spat, watching the five dark wooden hulks at the edge of the plateau. Before the orange of dawn had fully spread across the land, the Hun hordes had spilled once more over the lip of the hilltop. But upon seeing the huge rubble mounds hugging the sides of the fort spiked with caltrops, bent spears, ballista bolts and timber shards like a pair of massive porcupines — they had backed off, not taking the bait of the narrow front left open for attack. They now waited like baying, bloodthirsty hounds, tethered behind their artillery line while the I Dacia loaded the catapults one by one. The second device fired; another rock smashed into the base of the wall — just left of the first one, and the sturdy bulwark shifted inwards. ‘They’ll be in here before the sun’s fully up at this rate. That artillery needs taking down!’

‘We can’t get to them, sir,’ Avitus snarled, punching his fist into his palm. ‘We’d need our cats up on the walls to reach them. We only need a few more paces to come into range and I promise you, they’d be firewood in no time!’

‘We can’t open the gates to push the cats out, their cavalry would be on us in a heartbeat,’ Zosimus grumbled, pulling at the thick stubble carpeting his chin.

‘The speed of cavalry is your answer,’ a voice piped up from behind them. ‘Just as you suggest.’

Gallus turned to see Horsa; the Goth had cut a subdued figure since they had holed up in the fort. Spurned by his treacherous unit, he and one other rider were all that remained of the loyal foederati now. But his good eye sparkled with an inner fire and his face was firm with determination as he straightened his eyepatch.

‘We’ve got two healthy mounts; fast ones too. Get me close enough to that artillery and I can take it down.’

‘One man to take out five catapults?’ Gallus asked.

‘No, he’ll have a man on the wing,’ another voice added. Amalric strode over to stand beside Horsa.