The Legate leaned forward onto the table and sighed before signalling for the messenger, stood attentively at his desk in the corner, to come over.
“Find a cohort commander who still has at least 5 of his centuries still intact and have them relocate into the Eboracum garrison.” He ordered, sending the messenger out of the room.
“What of the original auxiliary garrison Tiberius and the citizens watch?”
Tiberius inhaled and sighed deeply.
“Wiped out sir.”
The Legate dropped his head and shook it.
“Last night’s prediction was right then; the fort was a diversionary attack while they pacified the town.” Marcus said softly.
The Legate looked across to a pile of papers on the corner of the desk.
“Those papers are a list of each centuries casualties.” He pointed. “If I was to consolidate the troops I would have at best 6 of my original 10 cohorts able to fight and no auxiliary beyond the archers to support them. Attack is not an option for us, we need to be garrisoning the fort and town.”
They all stood in silence.
“I’m afraid there is more bad news sir.” Tiberius began. “From our initial report almost all of the inhabitants of the town have either been captured or killed.”
“Why would an army of beasts want to take slaves?” the Legate asked, collapsing into his own chair. Tiberius shrugged.
“I think I might be able to help shed some light on that sir.” Marcus said, stepping forward.
“I interrogated the Druid and he says that both the Druids and beasts are being led by a man called Remus, who claims to be… a demiGod.”
Tiberius shook his head, “a demiGod? That can’t be true.”
“How else would someone manage to get their hands on such an army?” The Legate answered.
“I’m hoping you have some good news to this though Marcus?” he continued.
“I do sir, Remus can only bring small numbers of the beasts from the underworld at a time which means we have an opportunity to exploit this.”
“You’re suggesting we attack them? Beat them down a few at a time until this Remus has to bring more and more from the underworld?” Marcus nodded to Tiberius.
“It would be a war of attrition for sure, but we can gather the strength to do this we just need to mobilise our forces and rally the tribes to our aid.”
The Legate laughed. “Incredible, the man who assured me of trouble from tribes is now insisting we work with them.”
Marcus stood to attention.
“Circumstances change sir.”
The sound of a heavy wooden stick banging its way up each step of the stairs halted the men’s conversation as they waited to see what or who was causing it. Turning to face the door they saw Gaius move into the room on his walking stick.
“Decurion Gaius?”
Gaius signalled for wine to be brought over to him before grinning slightly.
“We did it.”
The Legate and Marcus looked confused while Tiberius tried to lift himself from the chair with some excitement.
“Have you? For how far?”
Gaius downed a cup before signalling for more. Based on his clothing he looked like he had been riding through bushes, gashing at his sleeves and making his uniform dirty.
“As far as we needed to, we will need to mount a proper pursuit force before we can go any further.”
The Legate stood up and gently tapped his hand on the table.
“Would someone care to tell me what on earth is going on?”
Gaius looked to the Legate. “I’m sure Tiberius has informed you that a large number of the inhabitants of Eboracum have been captured by the beast horde?”
“yes, we were discussing for what reason just.” Marcus replied.
“Well we’ve tracked them, it wasn’t easy mind you.”
The Legate banged on the table again, this time with a sort of excitement and relief.
“Excellent, the first good news I’ve had all day Gaius, please continue.”
Gaius was passed a chair and sat down.
“Well we knew they had to be moving the inhabitants on some sort of cart because moving the sheer number of people on foot would be too difficult without moving very slow so my men and I started to look for cart tracks but there weren’t any.”
Marcus folded his arms. “Then how are they moving them?”
“We weren’t sure at first except we kept finding shallow square holes in the ground that seemed to cover the rough size of a prison cart and this got us thinking. Cart wheels are notorious for breaking when crossing rough ground, especially when you’ve got 6 people above them who want to get out.”
Tiberius pondered this for a second. “They carry the prisoner cage.”
Gaius nodded and signalled for paper and a quill to be brought to him.
“We already know the Minotaurs possess incredible strength so why wouldn’t they make use of it and carry the prisoner cage on their shoulders between 4 of them?” He handed the rough drawing of the cage around.
It was a simple design with 2 long poles with a cage like structure mounted between them, leaving enough room for someone to lift each end of the poles and carry the cage. Four smaller poles then sat below the cage pointing downwards to act as feet when the cage was put down.
“Have you seen these shoulder cages?” the Legate asked.
“from a distance, we were able to spot them moving across a field from a small hill a short distance away. Once we knew which way they were headed and what to look for I tasked a few men to continue the pursuit from a distance and report back before dark where they have got to.”
“Very well. Gentleman we have Roman citizens who have been taken prisoner as slaves or for some other dark intentions. While I will not commit the Legion to attack them fully until we have recovered and spoken further without allies. I will not sit idly by when we can help.”
The Legate moved around the table.
“Marcus and Tiberius, if you will accept I am tasking you both with taking a full-strength cohort each to track these beats back to their lair and act however you see fit. Gaius, I would send you with them, but I want to send you to gather support from our auxiliary forces and the nearby tribes, see if they have suffered similar mass slave taking.”
The three men each nodded and signalled their acceptance of their orders.
“I will send word to the Provincial Governor and gather what forces we can from the south. Gentleman may Mars protect us all.”
With this the three men left the Legate before stopping outside to talk among themselves.
“Tiberius go and rest up, I’ll gather the two cohorts up and have them ready to set off just after lunch.”
Tiberius nodded before wandering off to his barracks, the tiredness now clearer than before.
“Did we receive any word back from Lucius before the attack?” Marcus asked.
“Yes, he was at Isurium and had seen nothing on the road that was unusual but there was reports coming from locals near there of beasts walking. I will send him word of the attack and then ride to meet him so as to consolidate the cavalry.” Gaius replied signalling for his horse to be brought over by the attendant.
“That’s good to hear. I had better get to work, tracking down these 2 cohorts won’t be as easy as walking into a barracks. Good luck.” Marcus said, patting Gaius on the shoulder with Gaius returning the pleasantry.
“The good luck can be all yours.”
Tiberius awoke to the sound of marching outside his quarters but continued to lay in bed until the knock on the door came.
“Enter” he cried, lifting himself from his bed and reaching for the water alongside his bed.
Marcus stepped into his quarters. “Apologies Tiberius but the men are prepared, we need to leave soon so we can begin the pursuit.”
Tiberius nodded, “I understand, send the attendants in and I’ll be straight out and see if you can put your hand on something I
can eat while we march.”
Marcus nodded before stepping out of the quarters and sent the two attendants waiting outside into him.
Marcus proceeded to walk along the column of troops waiting patiently outside and instructed another attendant to gather the food. It was a sorry state of affair that some looked like they had managed little sleep and would be too tired for anything more than the march. Never the less Marcus had already completed a full inspection of every century and was confident that if it came to it then the men were prepared. Marcus was more concerned with the lack of experience with the officers, having to borrow centuries from other cohorts to bolster both Tiberius’s and his own cohort back to full strength placed unknown officers under their command. However, Marcus was confident with the replacement men, he had already spoken to the Centurions and got a feel for who they were.
Tiberius marched out of his quarters and moved over to Marcus who signalled to the attendant holding a small leather bag with some bread and fruit in it.
“So, these are our patchwork cohorts?” Tiberius said, dipping his hand into the bag.
“They’re solid, I’ve taken the pleasure in intermingling their marching position, so they can get to know each other a bit better.”
Tiberius looked down the line.
“We’re marching in two columns?”
The long column of men was arranged with a space down the middle, splitting the column into two.
“It will give us the necessary flexibility in the event of an ambush or attack to respond quicker on the flanks.” Marcus said, well aware of the potential dangers.
“But it stretches our line out even longer?” Tiberius questioned.
“I’ve managed to get hold of some skirmishers who will spread out around our line, they will act as an alarm system if we are walking into an ambush and we can adjust the formation then.”
Tiberius nodded and fastened the bag of food to his belt.
“Very well, we better get moving.”
The two men separated, moving to their respective positions at the front of their cohorts, with Marcus leading his cohort at the head of the column. With a hand signal and sharp order the column began to snake its way through the fort before crossing the bridge into the town. Marcus had yet to see the town after the attack and was shocked at the level of destruction. While the fort had sustained damage, it was nothing compared to that of the town with entire streets reduced to burned remains of what had once been shops and houses. Many of the streets were still littered with rubble, with some barely passable due to makeshift barricades from the fighting.
“No wonder it took so long to drive the beasts out.” The Centurion marching immediately behind Marcus said causing Marcus to turn to him.
“I’m sorry Centurion I don’t recall your name from our brief introduction back at the fort.”
“It’s Julius sir.”
He was a man in his late 30s and had an olive skin tone and an almost Iberian accent. Marcus had learnt many accents during his time in the army, mixing with soldiers and other officers from all across the empire. While some lost their accent during their long 25 years of service most kept a small part of it.
“Well Centurion Julius, they managed it and we are lucky enough to have the commander of those men leading the cohort behind us.” Marcus smiled.
“I’d rather have him and his men in front of me then sir, no offense of course.”
The smile from Marcus’s face was swiftly wiped and he rolled his eyes at the Centurion.
“Of course you would.” Marcus rolled his eyes once more before looking at the gateway before them.
“Do you have keen eyes Julius?” Marcus asked after they had passed through the gate were halted at the origin of the cage tracks left by the beasts.
“I would like to say so sir. Why?”
Marcus clapped his hands, “Excellent, I will leave you up front them and ensure we are still following the right set of tracks found by the skirmishers ahead.”
“I’m sorry sir?” The slight smugness in Julius’s voice had gone as the prospect of being the point man dawned on him.
“I’m sure you’ll manage without me.” Marcus said having already begun walking his way down the line.
His intention was not only to calm the Centurion’s smugness and over confidence but to also allow himself to be better acquainted with his troops and officers. In the rush to assemble 2 cohorts Marcus had not had a real chance to mingle with the men like he had with his own cohort and he was very much a bottom up commander, believing that the men who know you better will follow your closer. A policy that had kept him alive so far and that was something he intended to remain.
Chapter 7
Marcus watched the skirmishers at the edge of the trees to the left of the column like a hawk. Much of the column was marching in silence, with only the officers making a sound beyond that of boots on the ground. It was late afternoon and it had been two days of hard marching across rough ground, away from the roads and any towns or villages. Except for a group of 5 Satyrs which had been disposed of by the skirmishers with javelins, the column had found little trouble. However, the signs of trouble were becoming more apparent as they marched further and further away from Eboracum.
The tracks were more recent and appeared to have increased in speed. Marcus was sure they were getting close, even beasts of that stature must be slowing down with their heavy load of prisoners on little to no rest. As they finished their march up a large hill Marcus signalled for the column to halt and for the men to take a break. Tiberius walked up to Marcus who stood on the brow of the hill looking down towards the tracks and off into the distance.
“We will want to start planning our camp soon Marcus. We are getting further and further from the fort and I don’t know about you but I’d feel happier sleeping within some sturdy sort of defences.” He said as Marcus nodded.
“The tracks seem to be leading down to that small river just ahead. We should reach the tracks down there first so we know whether they crossed it or not.”
Tiberius peered down to the river, “Where would we place camp though? It’s in a bit of a ditch between these hills and that forest to the east would trap us down there if we aren’t careful.”
Marcus sighed. He would gladly push on for another hour and see whether the beasts made camp but he was aware of Tiberius’s preference to fortifying.
“What about the hill beyond the river then? It is no better or worse placed then where we stand, and it gets us over the river for the tracks if they lead over there.”
Tiberius peered at the opposing hill, “Very well but we will need to see what the other side of it is like before I’m completely happy.”
Marcus nodded and signalled for the column to form back up.
As the column snaked its way down Marcus grew ever weary of the ever-darkening valley that the river seemed to sit in, trying to relax himself by resting his hand on the sheathed gladius at his side. At the bottom of the valley the river was little more than a wide but shallow stream flanked by bushes and trees. Marcus had already positioned himself near the front of the column so was able to find the head skirmisher with little effort.
“The tracks?” Marcus asked as he scanned the ground with his eyes trying to distinguish them.
“They vanish into the river that’s for sure.”
Marcus looked across the river to see a few of the skirmishers with torches on the other side looking for tracks. As they watched them Tiberius approached them.
“We shouldn’t be waiting down here Marcus, I don’t like the feeling of it…”
Marcus silenced Tiberius with a wave of his hand as he watched the torches on the other side of the river wave over to them.
“No tracks.” The lead skirmisher said.
Marcus walked forward into the river so he was clear of the bushes and tree allowing clear view up and down the river.
“This is the clearest patch for a crossing for at least what I can see,
they must have moved up or down stream.”
The lead skirmisher joined him in the river and made their own observations.
“We’d need better light to search the river banks thoroughly.”
“Then we move to make camp back on that hill.” Tiberius barked from the river bank.
Marcus turned back to him, “We’ve marched the men down here we might as well get them across and up the next hill, it looks slightly higher anyway and we might get a better assessment of the landscape.”
Tiberius grunted, “Very well.”
Tiberius marched off and began to order the column into the river leaving Marcus and the lead skirmisher to cross the river themselves.
“We better get up the hill before they do I suppose.” The lead skirmisher said before beginning to move up the opposing hill in a light jog.
Marcus remained on the river bank and watched as the column slowly waded its way into the river before returning his gaze up the hill where the skirmishers waved the all clear. Marcus in turn moved up the hill, emerging back into the late afternoon light that was now coming to an end as the evening sun dropped. From the top of the hill Marcus could see the river snake its way around the hills before vanishing amongst them. It would take some time to truly scour the river bank in an organised manner that did not confuse them, time Marcus felt they had little of.
It was without a doubt the beasts had used the river to their advantage to try and lose the advancing column, but Marcus wondered how much they had planned it. Was it a moment of panic by them, wading into the river in hope of losing their pursuers or was it always their plan to enter the river? The hills up stream became steeper and rockier the further they went on and were the ideal place for a camp only a few days march from Eboracum. Marcus was full of questions that would only be satisfied with further investigation, something that would have to wait for the morning.
As the rest of the column arrived on top of the hill Tiberius wondered around it, analysing every approach to their position as the men began to set down their kit in the centre.
Remus Rising Page 7