Hibernia (Veteran of Rome Book 2)

by William Kelso

  On top of the raised platform the druids had turned to stare at the smoke. From within the civilian section more screams and cries of panic rose up. Corbulo reached up with his hand and heaved himself up over the edge of the cliff and rolled onto the flat stone. Then he was on his feet and scuttling towards the side of the raised platform a dozen paces away. The druids were horribly close but none was looking in his direction. Then he was beside the platform wall. He tried to steady his breathing as he crouched in the lee of the wall. The platform was around two yards high. The druids were out of view but all one of them had to do was to take a step to the edge and look down and the game would be up. The shouts and cries beyond the inner wall continued to grow and so too did the billowing clouds of black smoke that drifted up into the blue sky. Corbulo edged sideways and grasped hold of one of the iron slaver’s rings that had been set into the stone. It felt sturdy and quickly he slipped the coil of rope from his shoulder, found the end and tied it to the ring as securely as he could. Gingerly he edged along the side of the platform until he came to the corner. Above him he could hear the startled and alarmed cries of the druids as they stared at the inferno that was growing beyond the inner wall. Corbulo risked a quick peek around the corner. A figure was sat leaning against the wall just a few yards away. He too was staring at the smoke. Corbulo's heart jumped. It was Quintus. His friends legs were bound together and so too were his arms and the ropes were fastened to a metal slaver's ring.

  Corbulo drew back and leant against the rock as he steadied his nerves. Then with a single grunt he went around the corner, crawling on all fours. Quintus turned as he heard him coming and his eyes bulged in shock. He was a big powerfully built man in his mid forties with a broken nose. Corbulo raised his finger to his mouth as he caught Quintus's eye. Without a word he crouched beside him and drew his Pugio from his belt. Swiftly he sliced through the bonds that bound his friend's hands.

  "Tie this around your waist, quickly now, make it a strong knot," Corbulo whispered as he handed Quintus the short length of rope that was tucked into his belt.

  Quintus stared at the rope that was tied around Corbulo's waist. Then he bent down and hastily started to wrap it around him. Corbulo snatched a quick look up at the platform above his head. The druids were still calling out in dismay at the scenes beyond the inner enclosure wall. They were so close that he could hear the crackle and hiss of their bonfire.

  "Have you got the letter?" Corbulo whispered as he bent forwards and cut the bonds that bound his friend’s ankles. "Agricola's letter."

  Quintus looked up and frowned. "You have come for that?" he hissed.

  "No you prick," Corbulo whispered, "I am here for you. This is not how a retired Centurion of the Twentieth ends his days."

  Quintus finished fastening the rope around his waist. Then a broad excited grin appeared on his face. "Thank fuck you are here Corbulo," he whispered, "I could kiss you right now but I am not going to."

  "The letter, you know what I am talking about, do you have it?" Corbulo snapped.

  Quintus squinted at his old comrade and for a moment he did not reply.

  "So you know about that," he whispered, "well I don't have it. I don't have that cursed piece of parchment."

  Corbulo's shoulders sagged with sudden defeat and he groaned.

  "I don't have it with me," Quintus said urgently, "I put it in a leather satchel and buried it beneath the Stone of Destiny when I first arrived in Tara. I thought it would be safer there than with me."

  Corbulo looked up and stared at his friend in dumbfound silence. Then he shook his head in bewilderment. "Now I want to kiss you," he whispered as a great big smile slowly appeared on his face. "You are a fucking genius!"

  "What now?" Quintus said quietly, "How do we get out of here?"

  Corbulo was about to answer when a cry from above him made him freeze. As he turned to look up he saw a druid standing on the edge of the platform staring down at him.

  "Oh shit," Corbulo muttered.

  "Trespassers," the druid cried out in a shrill voice as he raised his staff in the air, "We have trespassers in our midst!"

  "It's time to go," Corbulo cried as he rose to his feet dragging Quintus with him. On the platform the druids had turned and were staring at him in shock. Then one of them took a step forwards. She was young, pretty and in her early twenties, with short black hair and as he saw her, Corbulo’s eyes widened in shock.

  "You," the druidess cried as she recognised him.

  For a moment Corbulo stood rooted to the ground in utter shock. The druidess up on the platform was the girl who had chased him and Marcus half way across Caledonia.

  "Time to go Quintus," Corbulo yelled, "for fuck's sake Quintus hold on to me."

  And with that he turned and started running towards the edge of the cliff trailing the rope out behind him. Quintus cried out in protest as he was yanked along. Then his cries of protest turned to gasps of terror as he saw what Corbulo had in mind. Linked together by the rope Corbulo ran straight over the edge of the cliff and with flailing arms and legs he soared out into thin air. A split second later Quintus came leaping and yelling after him and somehow managed to collide with him in mid air and grasp him by the waist. With a hoarse cry of terror the two of them tumbled down the cliff towards the sea a hundred yards below as Quintus desperately clung on. Then just as they were about to hit the water, the rope that bound Corbulo to the slavers ring snapped taught and broke their momentum with a jarring jolt. With a wild swing they careered straight into the rock and Corbulo screamed in pain as the collision sent a jar of pain cutting through his body. The collision sent them bouncing out across the crashing waves and with a sharp crack the rope suddenly snapped and the two of them plunged straight into the sea. Corbulo cried out as he went down into a green, icy cold world filled with bubbles. For a moment he seemed to be suspended in the water, then he was rising to the surface. He broke through the surface coughing, spluttering and screaming with pain. A wave crashed over him, pushing him towards the tumbled mess of rocks at the base of the cliffs. Wildly he looked around him. Then he caught sight of Quintus's head poking out of the sea. Quintus looked in shock as he gasped and spluttered and tried to keep his head above the waves.

  A wave of adrenaline surged through Corbulo and despite the aching pain in his ribs he hit the water with his hand and screamed in triumph.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine - The Cave

  Corbulo spluttered as another wave crashed over his head. With his hands he grasped hold of the rock at the base of the cliff. It was wet and covered in green slimy seaweed. The tide pulled him back and then the next wave pushed him up and out of the water. He squatted down on the rock panting from the exertion and turned as the green ice cold seawater flooded around him. Quintus was bobbing up and down close by. Corbulo wiped the water from his eyes and stretched out his hand to his friend. Quintus grasped it and with a groan Corbulo pulled him up onto the rock. Quintus nearly slipped but managed to steady himself just in time. Then he vomited up some bile, staggered and gave a heartfelt cry as he embraced Corbulo. Quintus shook with sudden emotion.

  "It's fucking good to see you Corbulo," he gasped, "I thought I was a goner. I thought I was going to end my days as a slave. I prayed to god for deliverance and then you came, the lord sent you Corbulo, he sent you to free me."

  Corbulo gave Quintus a cautious little glance as the big retired Centurion released his grip and collapsed onto the rock. Then he looked up towards the top of the cliffs but his view was blocked by an overhang. Around him the waves came rolling in and crashing onto the tumbled jumble of jagged stones, boulder and rocks that formed the base of the cliffs.

  "We are not free yet," Corbulo said grimacing as he turned to inspect his ribs. Blood was seeping through his white tunic.

  "How bad is it?" Quintus muttered as he saw the bloodstains.

  Corbulo shook his head and grimaced again. Then he opened his mouth and hurriedly inspected it with his fingers.

&nbs
p; "Well at least I still have all my teeth," he said in a relieved voice.

  Quintus nodded, leaned forwards and was sick again.

  "How did you become a slave, Quintus, how did it come to this?" Corbulo said as he cut the rope away from his waist and dropped it into the sea.

  "It's a long story," Quintus groaned wiping his mouth, "If you know about the letters then you may know some of it but it all started in Londinium with my Jewish friend Alexander. He is the one who persuaded me to become a follower of Christus. One day he came to me and told me he'd stolen six letters from the Governor's palace, six highly incriminating letters. He had his reasons. He gave me one for safekeeping. It was the letter Agricola had written to the Governor. Alexander gave me that letter because he knew that I had served under Agricola. He asked me what I wanted to do with it. If I handed the letter to the Procurator I may as well kill Agricola myself so I decided to leave and take the letter with me to Hibernia. It was not safe for me to stay in Londinium and I had heard that they welcomed Romans in Tara. I thought I would be able to build myself a new life there. The farm outside Londinium was not profitable anyway. I am no farmer, Corbulo, I am still a soldier but without a Legion. Soldiering is all I know."

  "Your friend Alexander, the Christian, he's dead," Corbulo replied.

  Quintus nodded, "I thought so," he murmured, "He picked a fight he was never going to win. He was a brave man and the Lord will honour him."

  Corbulo blew the air from his cheeks.

  "Agricola can be a complete prick," he snapped as he slotted his Pugio back into his belt. "He sent me here to bring you back home. He wants his letter back." Corbulo paused as he grimaced in sudden pain. "So what will it be, Quintus," he said softly, "will you come back with me to Britannia?"

  Quintus rubbed his face with both hands. Then he glanced at Corbulo. "What would happen if I said no?" he gasped.

  "I don't know," Corbulo said wearily as he gently massaged his ribs, "Agricola has taken Marcus's woman and son as hostages. He is threatening to kill them if I don't return with you and that letter."

  Quintus turned to look out to sea and for a moment he was silent.

  "They will kill me if I return," he replied at last, "The Procurator, the Governor, Agricola, they cannot afford to let me live, I know too much."

  "So do I," Corbulo said, "but I need your decision old friend and I need it now."

  A gentle smile appeared on Quintus's lips. "You have the knife," he replied. "But I will not force you to choose between me and your family. We have been through too much together for that." Quintus sighed. "Allright, Corbulo, let's go back home, I will take my chances, I am not such an easy man to kill."

  Corbulo nodded and stretched out his hand and pulled Quintus onto his feet. Then he started out clambering over the jagged rocks with the sea to his right.

  "There is something strange about this island," Quintus exclaimed suddenly as he scrambled after him. "I have seen some odd things."

  "Like what?" Corbulo replied as he slid down a massive slab of rock and started clambering up the other side.

  "Well like fruit that I have never seen before," Quintus frowned, "and they seem to have plenty of gold and silver. They are bringing it ashore by the sack load."

  "I wouldn't mind some of that," Corbulo growled.

  ***

  Corbulo paused as he suddenly caught sight of the large sea cave and heard shouts. He crouched down behind a rock and behind him Quintus did the same. The sea cave was wide and high, a great gash in the solid cliff face and large enough to sail a small galley into but it was impossible to see how deep it was. He turned to glance at Quintus. The big man was peering at the cave intently. Corbulo turned to look up at the steep sheer cliffs that towered above him. They were so high he could not make out the top.

  "If there are people in that cave," he said quietly," then they must have come by boat or else there must be a landward exit. Come on, let's have a look."

  "It would be better if I had a weapon," Quintus muttered and in reply Corbulo picked up a loose stone and tossed it to him, "You can bash their heads in with this if it comes to it," he said grimly.

  Carefully Corbulo crept towards the cave. He paused beside a boulder that had fallen free from the cliff face long ago. The shouting had ceased and the eerie silence was only broken by the crash of the waves on the rocks. Slowly Corbulo slipped his Pugio from his belt and holding the knife in his hand he scuttled towards the edge of the cave mouth. Quintus was behind him in an instant. Corbulo pressed up against the cliff and then slowly poked his head into the cave. The cavern was huge and he grunted in surprise. On the far side someone had placed a series of torches and in their flickering light he caught sight of a large ocean going Curragh with a mast. Corbulo took a deep breath. Someone had managed to sail the ship right into the cave but why? What was it doing here? He crouched and listened but the only noise seemed to be gentle slapping tide as it moved in and out of the cave. The place looked deserted.

  "What the hell?" Quintus whispered as he caught sight of the ship.

  Slowly Corbulo slipped into the water and as silently as he could started out towards the boat. The water inside the cave was not deep and his feet touched the bottom. The sea swell was much less in the cave and beyond the anchored ship he caught sight of a mass of rocks and a dark passageway leading away from the water. Gently he caught hold of the hull of the ship and slowly edged around it until he was in between the shore and the boat. A man was slouched on a rock beside the dark entrance to another much smaller cave and in the torch light Corbulo caught sight of solid metal bars barring the entrance to the cave. For a moment he did not move as he stared at the figure. From his clothing the man looked like a druid and he seemed bored as he aimlessly flicked pebbles into the water. He had still not noticed Corbulo in the water.

  Corbulo glanced left and then right but there was no sign of anyone apart from the solitary druid. Slowly he edged towards the shore and then boldly rose from the water and waded onto the rocky beach. The druid seeing him at last cried out in fright and stumbled to his feet. Without saying a word Corbulo strode towards him clenching his Pugio. The druid too drew a knife and shouted something that Corbulo did not understand before he backed away as Corbulo came for him. With nowhere left to retreat to the druid lunged at Corbulo but the man was no warrior and Corbulo deftly caught hold of his knife arm and rammed his knee into the druid's crotch. A great cry of agony echoed through the cave. Corbulo flung the man up against the cave wall and forced him to drop his knife. The metallic noise rang out through the cave as the weapon bounced on the rock and vanished into the water. With the side of his arm pressed up against the man's throat he pinned the druid's head up against the rock. The druid was groaning and whimpering in agony but he made no further effort to resist.

  "What is this place? What is this boat doing here? Where are the others?" Corbulo hissed as he pressed the point of his knife into the man's ribs.

  The druid groaned and his eyes flickered open. The man looked terrified and Corbulo suddenly saw that he was still young, barely eighteen.

  "This is the harbour," the druid whispered hoarsely, "The ship has just arrived from the great voyage. We were unloading it but there is fire in Dun Aengus. The others have gone to help put it out."

  Corbulo's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean, a great voyage?" he muttered.

  The druid emitted another groan of pain and Corbulo pressed his knife a little deeper into his ribs.

  "Well?" he snapped.

  The druid was staring at him in terror. "The great voyage," he gasped, "To the new world that lies on the other side of the ocean. We have been going there for years."

  Surprised Corbulo released the pressure on the boys throat and withdrew his knife and the druid slid slowly to the ground.

  "What new world?" Corbulo said with a frown.

  The druid was half curled up in a ball and he was sobbing.

  "It's where the gold and silver comes from," he cri
ed. "They have plenty of it over there. We trade with them. We druids control the trade but it's a dangerous journey. It takes weeks to cross the ocean but we do it. We know the way, we sail north and then west into the dying sun."

  Corbulo was staring at the youth in stunned silence. "So that is why they call it the Forbidden Islands?" he muttered at last. "The druids don't want anyone finding out about their little secret." He turned to look at the large Curragh with its animal hide bound hull. Then he stooped and grabbed the boy and yanked him onto his feet.

  "How do we get out of here boy?"

  The druid sniffed and coughed and then gingerly pointed in the direction of the dark passageway that led away into the side of the cliff.

  "Follow that and it will take you up to the top of the cliffs," he mumbled. "I can show you the way but let me live. I don't want to die."

  Corbulo peered silently at the boy. Then he gave him a rough shove in the direction of the passageway.

  "Allright show us the way," he growled.

  The boy stumbled and turned to face Corbulo and as he straightened up a large figure suddenly loomed up behind him and with one swift movement of his hands Quintus snapped the boys neck. The boy did not utter a sound as he flopped down onto the stony beach.