Centurion Rufus and his party had crept away into the long grass beside the dyke shortly before and should be making their way towards the enemy, Cato calculated, glancing down a gap between two of the houses to his left. There was nothing to see there, just the shadows now that night had set in. The fires had quickly consumed the flammable materials of the houses and small flames licked lazily along charred timbers and provided some illumination for the street and the ground immediately to the rear of the houses. Rufus and his men should be able to advance parallel to the street without being seen, Cato decided.
Ahead of him he could see several figures gathering just beyond the far end of the street and he offered a quick prayer to Fortuna that Ajax was amongst them. He could just see more of the dim forms of the renegades spreading out either side of the main body awaiting them and a moment later the first, unmistakable phut of an arrow as it passed above his head.
'Incoming arrows!' Cato warned his men. 'Shields up, lads!'
The men in the rear ranks raised their shields overhead to protect the formation from plunging shots. More arrows fell out of the starlit sky and cracked into the shields or pattered off the hard earth as the line, six men wide and four deep, paced forward, behind the sturdy curves and brass bosses of their shields. The archers kept up a steady shower of arrows as the legionaries approached up the street. The knot of gladiators waiting for them stood still and silent, waiting for Ajax's order to attack.
'Watch the flanks!' Cato ordered, anxious to avoid the formation being broken up by another charge of spearmen. The arrows stopped coming as the Romans approached the waiting gladiators and Cato tightened his grip on his sword and shield. When the two sides were no more than ten paces apart, there was a sharp cry of pain from the left, then Centurion Rufus's voice cut through the darkness.
'Forward! Charge 'em! Up the Twenty-Second!'
His men echoed his cry with a roar and a moment later there was another cry, and then a shout and then a deep groan.
'What the fuck is happening over there?' said one of the men behind Cato.
'Silence!' Cato yelled. 'Keep moving!'
Ajax smiled as he heard the cries of pain down beside the dyke. He had been right in his suspicion that the Romans might try to flank him. That was why he had ordered his men to plant sharpened stakes in the long grass soon after they had dealt with the enemy scouts. Now it seemed that the enemy attack had come to grief and, better still, they had charged into the trap. He turned to Karim.
'Take your archers over there and finish them off.' He drew his sword. 'I'll deal with the other party.'
Karim nodded and trotted away to the right, calling on his men to follow him. Ajax briefly imagined the situation that would confront Karim. The Romans had blundered into the sharpened stakes and several of them were wounded, from the sound of it. As they tried to extricate themselves they would be struck by arrows. If they panicked they were likely to run into another stake. If they held their nerve and groped their way free of the obstacles, they would still make an easy target for the archers. Either way, they were going to pay dearly. He smiled with satisfaction as he strode forward to join his men preparing to take on the Romans still advancing up the street.
'Your shield, General.' One of his bodyguards held it out to Ajax and he slipped his hand through the guard, adjusted his grip, and edged through to the front rank.
'Let's teach these Roman bastards a lesson!' Ajax thrust his sword arm aloft in the salute he had been taught in the gladiator school at Capua. 'Fight or die!'
'Fight or die!' his chosen men chorused, before they settled into a crouch and sized up their enemy as the line of legionaries, boots tramping in unison, came on.
Ajax felt the familiar surge of excitement grip his body, and yet his mind was cool and calculating as he focused his attention on the leader of the small formation, the man who had caused him so much pain in the years since they had fought their first encounter at sea off the coast of Illyria.
'Prefect Cato!' The yell ripped from his throat. 'Tonight you die!'
He charged, his men surging forward on each side, roaring their battle cry as their faces twisted into feral masks of rage and hatred. Years of hard training had turned Ajax's body into a powerful machine and he threw his weight in behind his shield as it smashed into that of the prefect. He saw Cato's plumed helmet jerk back as the Roman line was driven in. Ajax kept his shield in contact with his opponent and thrust forward, sensing the resistance increase as the other man's boots scrambled for purchase on the hard ground. He could hear him grunt with the effort of holding his position. Ajax braced his shoulder and gave a powerful heave, breaking contact as he turned to bring his sword up and forward, pointing the tip towards his foe. The dying flames still provided enough illumination to light the conflict, and Ajax could see the thin face of the prefect, his expression taut and eyes wide as they fixed on him.
Ajax thrust at his face, and the Roman quickly parried the blow aside and thrust back, the blade glancing away as Ajax took it on his shield. The sounds of other duels filled his ears but did not distract him as he directed his mind, body and skill against Cato. He thrust with his shield again, clashing boss to boss with a sharp ring, and then thrusting again, but this time switching the blow into a sweeping cut-over that came down at an angle towards the Roman's shoulder. Cato instantly pivoted back on his right foot so that the sword that would have carved deep through his collarbone swept down through the air instead. At the same time he slashed at Ajax's outstretched arm. There was barely enough time for the gladiator to twist his wrist and take the impact of the blow on the flat of his sword. Sparks flicked into the air, and Ajax stepped back a pace and nodded approvingly.
'You're quick, Roman. But you wouldn't last a heartbeat in the arena.'
'And you talk too much!' Cato spat back and hammered his blade down on the edge of Ajax's shield, driving it low enough to expose his throat as he slid the blade on. It was a desperate attack, Ajax noted coolly, as he dealt with it easily enough, thrusting the shield up, under the extended arm, sending the point skywards. Ajax saw his chance and hooked his shield up, behind the guard of the Roman's sword and jerked it towards him. For an instant the other man's fingers flinched and then the sword handle was snatched from his grasp and it flew back a short distance behind Ajax and landed with a thud.
Ajax laughed cruelly as he lowered his shield and smashed it into the prefect's, and again, driving him back. Then he alternated blows, shield, and then sword, battering at the shield as Cato stumbled away from the onslaught. A figure, one of Ajax's men, fell between them, blood pouring from a deep wound in the skull as he shouted nonsensically at the top of his voice. His fingers spasmed and the long-bladed sword in his hand dropped, point first, and stuck in the ground. Cato snatched at the handle and drew it back behind the shield.
'Out of my way!' Ajax bellowed, slamming the man aside with his shield. He raised his sword to batter Cato again. The prefect rode out the next attack, and then Ajax paused and chuckled. 'By the gods, I could do this all night.'
He raised his sword to strike and Cato lunged forward, clashing shield to shield, as he thrust the blade round in a shallow arc. The point of the sword punched into Ajax's cuirass, slid along the curve at the side and found the gap between the front and back plates where it lodged and the last of the force of the blow carried it into his side, tearing open the flesh. At first Ajax was stunned by the blow, and let out an explosive cry before a brief roar of outrage used up the last of his breath.
'The general's injured!' a voice cried. 'Ajax is hurt!'
At once one of his men thrust his way between Ajax and Cato and launched a savage attack on the Roman, driving him back.
'Get the general out of here!'
'No!' Ajax roared, then grimaced. 'No…'
Hands grasped his arms and pulled him away from the fight, back up the street to the far end of the village. He made to protest but had to grit his teeth to fight off the pain in his side.
He saw that his men had bested the Romans. More of their bodies lay in the street, and only two of his own men. Yet the gladiators were pulling back, leaving the surviving legionaries staring after them in surprise.
'What are you doing?' Ajax growled. 'Finish them.'
Then Karim was standing in front of him, an anxious expression on his face. 'General, one of our men watching the path says there are more Romans coming. We have to pull back. There are too many of them.'
'No.' Ajax shook his head. 'I had the bastard. I had him at my mercy.'
He felt sick with rage, cheated of his revenge. Then the pain hit him again. He knew that he could bear it well enough. He had been taught to endure worse during his training. 'Let me go back. Let me fight him,' he growled.
Karim shook his head. 'No. I'll not let you die this night, my General.' He turned and nodded at the men clustered about Ajax. 'Get him out of here. Head down the path to the river. You know the place. Go.'
Two men grasped Ajax's arms and placed them over their shoulders and then carried him away from the village, pinned helplessly between them as he gritted his teeth. Once his leader had gone, Karim called the archers to fall back and form up on him. They came from the darkness and formed a loose line across the path, loosing shafts at the enemy and sending them scurrying for cover amid the smouldering ruins of the buildings. At the far end of the village the first of the Roman reinforcements had appeared and Karim called to his men.
'Cease! That's enough. We must go.'
The last of the renegades melted away from the dying glow of the last few houses still alight and disappeared into the darkness engulfing the track that led out of the village. Aside from the occasional crack of a bursting timber in the night and the faint chirrup of some insects in the swamp beyond the dyke, the only other sounds were the agonised groans and cries of the wounded.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
'What the bloody hell's been going on here?' asked Macro, glancing round at the ruined houses and bodies as he marched up to Cato. 'Looks like you've had quite a fight.'
Cato had retrieved his sword and sheathed it as he nodded a greeting to Macro. He noticed that his hand was trembling, and it took all his self-control to ease the blade back into the scabbard without dropping it. The truth of it was, he was scared, Cato scorned himself. When Ajax had ripped the sword from his hands and driven him back under that powerful rain of sword blows, Cato had been sure that he was a dead man. Nothing could stand between Ajax and his vengeance. The gladiator had been like some wild force of nature, unleashed and implacable. Cato had been only moments away from his death when that mortally wounded renegade had stumbled between himself and Ajax. It had been as close as that, Cato mused in horror. He regarded his friend with an ashen expression and then blinked and nodded.
'Yes… Quite a fight.'
'What happened? I saw some men making off as we arrived. Ajax?'
Cato nodded. 'He still lives. I wounded him. His men drew him away when they saw you.'
Macro stared down the street. 'Then what are we waiting for? Let's go after the bastard before he gets away.'
'No,' Cato responded firmly. 'Not now.'
'Why the fuck not?' Macro's brow furrowed. 'We're as close to him as we've been in months.'
'We wait until first light,' Cato said firmly.
'What?'
'That's an order,' Cato snapped. 'I've lost enough men to ambushes already without blundering about in the darkness. I'll not gift Ajax any more Roman lives than I can help. We rest here tonight. Tend to the wounded and let the men slake their thirst. Ajax and his band are just as tired, and have their own wounded to take care of. They'll not go far in this darkness. We can continue the pursuit at dawn.'
'This is madness,' Macro said quietly.
Cato stiffened and drew a calming breath. 'You forget yourself, Centurion.'
'My apologies, sir,' Macro hissed through gritted teeth. 'But we have to go after them.'
'No. I've made my decision. We see to our own first. Have your men gather our wounded. They'll find 'em in the village and over there,' Cato pointed towards the dyke where Rufus and his men had attempted to outflank the renegades. Whatever trouble Rufus had run into, there was no sign of his men, although the wounded were making themselves heard well enough. Cato winced at the sound. 'See to it, at once.'
'Yes, sir. I think our priest friend Hamedes has some skill with healing. I'll set him to work.' Macro looked searchingly at his friend. 'And you, sir. Are you all right?'
'Fine. I'm fine.' Cato swallowed. 'Just need some water. Now see to the others, please.'
Macro nodded and turned away to shout the orders to his mixed force of marines and legionaries. They were also stripped down to the essentials and, like Cato's force, they were exhausted and parched. But their rest and refreshment would have to wait, Macro grumbled to himself in frustration as he summoned two sections and set up a perimeter of sentries across the path at the end of the village, in case Ajax decided to cause any further mischief. Not that he was likely to. The gladiator was too shrewd. He was a man who knew how to pick his battles, thought Macro. The gladiator struck when he had the advantage, and held back when he did not. When he did give battle he fought with utter ferocity and ruthlessness. Were it not for the irremovable stain of the barbaric way Ajax had treated him, Macro might have found it in his heart to admire his enemy. In another life, Ajax would have made a fine legionary.
'Shame he has only got one life,' Macro muttered to himself. 'And I'll be taking that.'
'Sir?' One of his men looked at him curiously.
'What?'
'Sir, I didn't quite hear the order.'
Macro cleared his dry throat. 'I said keep a good watch, or those bastards will cut your throat before you know it.'
Macro turned and made his way back towards the heart of the village.
Cato was sitting on the edge of a stone trough, watching the casualties being brought in from the dyke. Most had run on to the concealed stakes when Rufus had given the order to charge. A number had been struck by arrows as well and Cato realised that the ambush had cost the Romans dearly. Centurion Rufus came limping in, clutching a hand to his thigh. Blood seeped through his fingers. He saw that the wounds of his men were tended to and made his way over to report to the prefect.
Cato stood aside to let Hamedes bend down and examine the centurion's injury. The priest took out his canteen to wash the wound and then reached for a strip of linen from his shoulder bag. 'What happened?' asked Cato.
'The bastards set a line of sharpened stakes from the dyke to the village,' Rufus told his superior. 'They were hidden in the long grass. First we knew about it was when one of the men stumbled on to one. The fool couldn't keep his mouth shut and I wasn't close enough to see what had happened, so I gave the order to charge, while there was still some chance of surprising them.' He winced. 'Before I knew it we had run right into the stakes. I got one in the leg almost at once. By the time the men stopped, most of us had been injured. That's when they hit us with arrows.' Rufus paused briefly and shook his head. 'There was nothing we could do, sir. Some men tried to get out of the way of the arrows, and ran into more stakes. I told the boys to stay put and shelter behind their shields as best they could. I figured our best chance was to wait for the enemy to cease shooting and then work our way out of the stakes.'
Cato frowned, furious with himself for underestimating Ajax. Rufus misinterpreted his expression.
'There was nothing else I could do, sir. I swear it.'
'I understand.' Cato quickly ran a hand through the matted locks of his hair. 'What is the butcher's bill?'
'Eight dead, and sixteen wounded. Three of those won't last the night. Eight are walking wounded. The others will need to be carried out of here.'
Cato looked down at his boots to hide his face. He had led his men into the trap. He had been too keen to get to grips with the enemy. Men were dead because of him and he felt shame at their loss.
'Very
well,' he said quietly as he composed himself and looked up. 'Make sure you have that leg wound properly seen to. Then have the village searched for food and water. The men can eat their fill and rest. We'll continue the pursuit at first light.'
'Yes, sir. And what about the wounded? We can't leave them here.'
'I'll detail some of the men to bring them up behind us. Hamedes here can help out. That's all for now, Rufus.'
It was a curt dismissal and Cato sensed the man's resentment as he saluted and turned to limp back to join the rest of his men. Cato looked at Hamedes. 'Ajax killed the people of this village. Are there any rites that you need to perform for the dead?'
Hamedes stared blankly back at Cato. 'Sir?'
'You're a priest. Do what is necessary for them. Once you've finished treating the injured.'
'Yes, sir.' Hamedes bowed his head. 'I'll offer the prayers. There's no time for the full funeral rites. But we must burn the dead.'
'I thought you people believed in burial.'
Hamedes smiled uncertainly before he replied. 'Depends how much time you have.'
'Very well, tell Macro to lend you a few men to get the job done.'
Hamedes nodded and turned to follow in the footsteps of Rufus, making for the wounded lying in the street.
As he stared at the legionaries, Cato wondered how many of them would realise that he was to blame. How many would resent him and be wary of following him into the next fight?
He turned at the sound of approaching boots and saw the unmistakable stocky bulk of Macro emerging from the darkness.
'Sentries are posted, sir. I've told them to keep a good watch. Don't want anyone catching us unawares. The lads are clapped out so I'll be changing the watch regularly during the night.'
Cato forced a smile. 'So you won't be getting much rest then.'
'I suppose.' Macro shrugged. 'Nothing I'm not used to.'
'And you didn't sleep last night either.'
'True, but I've put up with worse before. Many times.' He gestured towards Cato. 'As have you.'
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