Hosker, G [Sword of Cartimandua 07] Trajan's Hunters

by Griff Hosker

  When he returned down the path he was able to count the trees and knew when he was approaching the sentry line. He saw the warrior peering down the slight slope to the Roman lines. He would not expect to be attacked from behind. Cassius held his blade in his left hand so that he could use his more powerful right to silence the man’s voice. The warrior was shorter than Cassius which helped the Explorate. He glanced to the right, to the other lonely tree but there was no warrior there either he had left or was still on his way back. Cassius took his chance. In one fluid movement he grabbed the man across the mouth and nose while slashing the blade across his throat. Warm arterial blood gushed and spurted telling Cassius that he had done his job. He lowered him to the ground with his back propped against the tree. When his companion returned he would think he was asleep at first and that would buy Cassius time. He cautiously went down the slope. He had almost reached the Roman line when he heard the alarm behind him as the dead sentry was discovered but it was too late and Cassius walked through the line of legionaries to be greeted by First Spear.

  “Well that took balls! I think most men would have run the last part.”

  “To be truthful First Spear I haven’t the energy.”

  “How far then?”

  “Two hundred paces but your lads will have to use their swords on the hedgerow. But the path up there is wide enough for forty men.”

  “A hedgerow eh? If that is the only problem then we are home free. Your two lads got back safely and they are in the middle, get some rest. I’ll tell the Prefect when he wakes.”Almost to himself he added, “Well it is only a slight chance but at least we now have a slight chance of survival.”

  Chapter 10

  Aindreas waited impatiently for his erstwhile spy, Petroc to meet him clandestinely. When the Votadini warrior did arrive the King of the Selgovae turned on him. “I offer to help you in return for your influence on Lugubelenus! It seems that you did not uphold your side of the bargain! I lost over five hundred warriors today because you failed to advise your King on a less dangerous role for my warriors.”

  Petroc could not tell his sponsor that Lugubelenus did not trust him and would not listen to him. He could not tell him that while others had been dying in valiant combat with the Romans he had been hiding amongst the reserves. The Selgovae King was his only opportunity to regain power and rule the Votadini. He knew that he had to redeem himself in Aindreas’ eyes or he would have no chance of stealing the throne from his cousin.

  “I am sorry sire but he made that decision without consulting anyone!” That part, at least, was true. The only people Lugubelenus would take advice from were Baroc and Radha and although he listened to others he rarely acted upon their advice. “He never listens to anyone but I will suggest that tomorrow he places your warriors between the Romans and Coriosopitum.” He grinned evilly. “My men captured and killed one of their Explorates; he was on his way to bring help. Suppose I tell the king that my men saw the rider heading towards the fort on the Stanegate? Placing your forces there would be seen to be putting them in the place of honour where the battle is the fiercest. I will offer to attack the Romans with the reserves who are fresh.”

  The idea appealed to the King of the Selgovae and it mollified him. He looked at the cunning Petroc. “It is not like you to put yourself in harm’s way. Why the gesture?”

  He shrugged, “The Queen will be there watching and if I can impress the young, empty headed girl then perhaps she will support me with her husband.” He shrugged. “It will not hurt and it will be my warriors who will take the risk, besides which, the Romans must be exhausted. Our warriors have been picking away at them all night.”

  “What a leader you are Petroc, to be so careless with your men’s lives.” The sarcasm was obvious to all. Petroc bit back the reply that came to mind, that he was merely emulating Aindreas, King of the Selgovae. “But do not underestimate these legionaries. Tired or not they are still the best fighting men I have ever seen,” he glanced at his chiefs, “and that includes my warriors.”

  * * * * * *

  When dawn broke Marcus and Macro woke a bone weary and exhausted Cassius. They looked at a scene of bloodied and gaunt legionaries who were draining almost the last of their water from their water skins. Soldiers shared their last pieces of food with others in their contubernium and shared memories as they faced their final day together. They had all lost good friends the previous day and this new day which dawned did not look likely to be less harrowing. Macro and Marcus were better off than most having been the providers, through their hunting, for many of the centuries. They shared their food with Cassius who forced himself to eat. Although well beyond hunger he knew that he needed sustenance if he were to survive another day.

  Marcus leaned over to speak quietly. “It looks hopeless doesn’t it sir. I mean we are heavily outnumbered. I can’t see how we will get through another day.”

  “Nor do I, young Marcus but I will not stop trying. It is not part of my nature to just lie down and die. Until they prise my cold dead fingers from my sword I will continue to fight to live. We owe that much to our comrades who died to get us here.”

  “Perhaps Decius got through and he is on his way with a cohort of auxiliaries.”

  Cassius shook his head. “Unlikely but if that hope keeps you going then use that. For me I hope to meet with Livius and Metellus and tell them of the deeds we have done here.”

  “And show Rufius our wounds.” Macro said proudly.

  Cassius smiled they were both positive again and would fight as hard as ever to live even though he felt it unlikely that they would see another dawn.

  First Spear and the Prefect wandered over. “Well done for last night Decurion. We have hope.”

  “We have that sir. I hate fighting in woods. We need a solid line of shields and legionaries with gladii.” First Spear was once again ruing the dead Legate’s decision to bring his men into this tree line death trap.

  “And, First Spear, how many gladii do we have this morning.”

  Piso shook his head. “Fifteen hundred at the most. There are another fifty who are wounded and can move but will not be much good in a fight and there are another fifty who…”

  When the Prefect and Cassius looked as sad as the First Spear Macro blurted, “Another fifty who what?”

  Cassius said quietly and sadly, “Fifty who will need to be sent to their god by their comrades.”

  The enormity of it finally sank in and the two boys realised that the Votadini would not take prisoners and any wounded man would have to be killed, mercifully, by his comrades rather than risk the torture and pain that would result from being left alive in the enemy’s clutches. The two boys looked at each other fearfully, would they have to take that terrible decision and would they be able to carry out that final, terrible and yet ultimately humane act?

  “Well at least we know how far we have to go. Who will be the spear point today First Spear?”

  The Ninth Cohort has the least casualties and is the freshest. The men will be keen to gain some of the honour the others won yesterday. I will lead them.” The Prefect looked as though he was going to argue but the gruff soldier held up his hand, “It is a selfish act Prefect. If I lead, I believe we will have a better chance of reaching the open and that means I may survive. If we do not reach the open then we are dead today. They will attack on all fronts and we will die.”

  “Very well let us do what we need to, put the remaining wounded in the middle and then move before they know what we are about.”

  * * * * * *

  Lugubelenus looked across the valley to the hill fort. He was so proud of his wife and so angry with himself that he had had too much organising to do to find the time to tell her so personally. That was the problem with only having two people you could trust. The one good aspect of this ridiculously unnecessary war had been what it had shown him about his leaders. Some had impressed and for others, like Petroc, it had shown them in their true lights. Battle had a way of
weeding out the weak and showing the strength of all men. He would use what he had learned after they had rid the land of the Romans and returned to the peaceful existence he had tried to create. Baroc coughed discreetly behind him.

  “Yes Baroc?”

  “You didn’t sleep, did you sire?”

  “I will sleep when I see my Queen again. I will rest when the Romans have gone. How many warriors did we lose?”

  “Not as many as the last time we fought them.”

  “That was not the answer I sought. Any casualties would be too many.”

  “At least the demons died and the arrogant general.”

  “But if the legion lives then all of this will have been in vain and Rome will tell of the brave deeds done by a few legionaries, defeating the barbarians once again!”

  “We have won a victory sire. They failed to take the fort and lost many men.”

  “We have to destroy them and then they will think twice before they venture into the land of the Votadini.”

  “Sire. Lord Petroc,” he said the name contemptuously, “has asked for the honour of leading the reserves in their attack against the rearguard.”

  The King looked up in surprise. “Why? Has someone offered him gold?”

  “No he said that he had felt left out of things yesterday and he had achieved his share of the honour.”

  “And what of the Selgovae? What does their King want?”

  “They did lose many men yesterday sire.”

  “But their King, like Petroc, was safe from the fighting was he not?”

  Baroc shrugged his answer. “Probably. Petroc said something similar. I don’t think he is enamoured of the King as he once was. He suggested sending them to the land before Coriosopitum.”

  “Why?”

  “Petroc’s men saw one of their Explorates evade the guards and escape. He thinks that there may be reinforcements heading this way.”

  The King stroked his chin thoughtfully. “That would not do. Perhaps my cousin has had a good idea but I will wait until after the war to make that judgement. Very well you may tell the King to block the road to the fort and inform Petroc that he can attack the rearguard. You and I will attack them across the river. We may be able to finish this today.”

  * * * * * *

  The line of sentries had not managed any rest. The attacks by Marcus and Macro had caused confusion far beyond the twenty dead men. Cassius’ attack had them looking over their shoulders so that when the silent line of determined legionaries marched up the hill they did not react quickly enough and, by the time they had raised the alarm, most were dead and the first century was hacking at the hedgerow. It was demolished within the time it takes to form a straight line.

  “Right men I want us formed up in a hollow box formation with the wounded and the eagle in the middle.” First Spear turned to the Prefect. “Sir I want you with the eagle where the men can see you.” He held up his hand. “No arguments sir. You fought well yesterday but don’t think I haven’t noticed the wound in your leg. We can’t afford any invalids in the front line. We have to move quickly before they can bring their reserves up from the hill fort.”

  “Very well. And I suppose that the eagle will attract the enemy anyway.”

  Marcus looked up at Cassius as the legionaries flooded from the woods, quickly forming into an armoured box. “Sir what do we do?”

  Their horses had died during the fighting and the three Explorates were no longer free to travel at will. “I guess we fight with the legion. Did you collect more arrows?”

  “Sir.” The two lads had spent the early morning collecting as many arrows as they could and they both held up full quivers.

  “In that case we keep out of the way of the legionaries and try to kill as many of their leaders as we can.” He pointed to the Prefect, aquilifer and the eagle. “That will be the last place to fall. Every soldier you can see will give his life to prevent the loss of the eagle. We will stay as close to that as we can but,” he leaned forward and spoke quietly, “Livius promised your mother he would look out for you and I promised Livius the same. If you see the opportunity to escape and to live I want your word that you will take it.”

  They both looked shocked. Macro looked almost ready for tears. “Run away? Me? I couldn’t sir. There’s no honour in it.”

  “Honour eh? Where is the honour if the Ninth legion dies here today and there is no-one to tell the story of the bravery of these men? I can tell you now lads that not one of these men wants you to die here with them. They want you to live and become men. So, I want your word that you will obey this, your officer’s command that you will, if the opportunity arises, escape.”

  The tone of his voice and his authority made both Explorates hang their heads and nod glumly. “Good, now go and protect the eagle.”

  “That was well done Decurion.”

  Cassius turned to see the First Spear smiling at him. “I owe it to their parents.”

  “And you are right. We all want the lads to live. They have gained a place in the affections of the men, their hunting, their good humour and their bravery, all of us would want sons like that.”

  “That’s the truth.”

  “And now.” He suddenly roared. “Legion forward!” The fifteen hundred men all began to march forwards towards the road and a way out of this trap.

  The enemy had expected the exhausted soldiers to be too tired to move and had not placed their forces in position quickly enough. The Romans had looked to be defeated the day before and the warriors knew that they had neither eaten nor slept. Every warrior had anticipated an easy victory and had not realised how resilient and obstinate a legionary could be. As the legion moved Lugubelenus sent Baroc to moved Petroc forward and harass the rear. He turned to his warriors. “Today we finish this! Charge.”

  The enraged warriors hurled themselves at the legionaries. The first men available to the King were the few who were to the north of the Roman column and that meant that they were attacking the Seventh Cohort. Their shields faced the enemy and, when they saw that the Votadini were thirty paces away the left file braced their shields, the second file pushed against them and the third file threw their javelins. Those warriors who did survive the volley of javelins hit the solid wall that was two ranks of legionaries. The darting gladii despatched those who remained and the weary legionaries moved on.

  Lugubelenus felt the loss of every warrior. If this continued then the Romans would escape. “This is no good Baroc. Collect together every archer and boy with a sling. I want you to get on their right that means going ahead of them. When the Selgovae finally reach their allotted position then you can attack them on their right.” Baroc cocked his head quizzically to one side. “Their shields are on their left arm. They will need to stop and turn to protect themselves. If Aindreas is before them it will give us the time to whittle them down.”

  “We are running short of arrows.”

  “Then tell your men to be accurate.”

  Just then he saw the column of Selgovae moving up to take their position but they were moving barely faster than the slow moving legion. Angrily Lugubelenus galloped over to the Selgovae. Acutely aware that the warriors were listening Lugubelenus was as diplomatic as it was possible to be. “King Aindreas the Romans are escaping.” He pointed at the line of dead warriors who had died in the first abortive attack. “My warriors are dying to slow them down for you.”

  The Votadini king was pleased to see some of the chiefs shifted uncomfortably at the justified criticism. King Aindreas sulkily replied, “We have had a long way to come from our camp.”

  One of his chiefs, a huge man with a war hammer slung carelessly over his shoulder turned to the warriors. “Let us show our brave allies that Selgovae know how to fight.” He grinned at the two kings, “And how to run.”

  The untidy warband began to run to over take the Romans leaving an embarrassed Aindreas and his bodyguard in their wake. Lugubelenus looked wryly at Aindreas and said quietly. “Well bro
ther I would hurry or your people may have a new king.” The Selgovae king kicked his horse hard and raced to catch his troops.

  Radha was also chivvying her men at the rear but this time it was Petroc who was the stumbling block. Rather than impressing her, as had been his intention, he had shown a reluctance to follow the retreating legionaries. His bravery and bravado had paled when the first of the Votadini to charge at the legionaries leaving the forest, had been ruthlessly and efficiently slaughtered by the elite legionaries of the First Cohort. The Queen was mounted on her white horse. The reason she had chosen a horse was to allow the men to see her. She knew that, after the siege at the hill fort, the men regarded her as a talisman. They knew that she was a priestess of the Mother and believed that she had supernatural support. To add to the effect she had surrounded herself with the wives of the chiefs and leading warriors. They had all armed themselves with gladii captured from the dead legionaries but Radha did not want them for their fighting ability but as a means to make the men fight better and harder knowing that men fight better when their women folk are watching.