Byzantium Infected Box Set

by James Mullins

  The original flaming creature sensed Justin standing on top of the wagon in front of it. The creature rose to its feet and ran toward Justin. It tried to scramble on top of the cart and reach Justin, who quickly sidestepped the creature’s grab for his legs and brought his ax down on it, but the damage had been done. The creature’s flaming corpse had set the wagon on fire.

  “Holy hell,” Justin yelled. He leapt off the burning wagon just as the men on either side of the newly created damned brought their shields up to block their advance. Justin screamed at the creatures, “Hey you stupid fucks, over here!” Both of them turned toward the sound of his voice and spotted him. The fire of the blazing wagon behind him roared in the background. The damned collectively let out a moan and charged towards him.

  Shieldless, Justin side stepped to the right of the charging undead and struck the leftmost one on the back of the head with his ax. The now twice dead corpse’s momentum carried it into the flaming wagon adding further fuel to the fire. Justin, now forgotten, the second attacker was attracted to the crackling and movement of the flames. It ran headlong into the flaming wagon. The creature’s chest made a large thump as it ran into the side of the wagon. Justin, not wanting to deal with the flaming damned directly, cast his ax at its head. The blade sank into the back of its head, and the fiery apparition dropped to the ground.

  Boulous, seeing one of the wagons aflame, yelled at the remaining damned, “Hey you foul devils over here!” The rest of the hungry band charged toward him and his group. They drew their bows and poured arrows into the oncoming threat. One by one they dropped the damned. The last one was dispatched by a Spatha swing from Boulous as it drew within arm’s reach.

  Baltazar, seeing that the other damned pursued Boulous’ riders yelled, “Take out your spades and smother the fire we must save the wagon.” A moment after Baltazar’s order, a gust of wind came out of the east and set the second wagon ablaze. The soldiers and wagon drivers alike threw the sandy soil at the two blazing wagons. At the same time, several other soldiers pushed the other wagons away from the blaze.

  Baltazar and Justin led the effort to extinguish the two flaming wagons. They both turned toward the sounds of hooves as Boulous and his group of riders rode up. Boulous looked down at Justin who was breathing hard from the fight and his efforts to put out the blaze, “I guess that answered the question about the fire.”

  Justin replied, “Aye, it cost us two men and two precious wagons we will likely miss later, but at least now we know about the fire.”

  Baltazar joined the conversation, “This also blooded the guardsmen. Other than the poor bastard that got set on fire they performed surprisingly well.”

  Boulous chuckled, “Nothing like flaming damned to inspire one to improve one’s combat prowess.”

  Constan relaxed in the bath. Steam rose from the warm water in wispy tendrils. This is the life. As he floated in the warm water, he thought back to the events of the last two weeks, We lost so many men. His good mood dissipated at the thought and he wept. Once it started the grief seemed to erupt out of him like a tidal wave long held back. His body shuddered as the waves of despair were released. After several minutes of this, he was able to regain a measure of control.

  I can’t believe I’m in charge of the 5th Parthica. Everyone is looking to me to know how to turn this around and save Damascus. How can I lead so many? I’ve never led more than ten men. Despair forgotten, his mind began to transition into fear. On top of my lack of experience that bastard Farid will stop at nothing to get my job. I’m going to wake up with my throat slit one day soon. How can I prevent that on top of not knowing what the hell I’m doing?

  Constan pondered each of these thoughts, as they ate at him. Finally, he sought the only solution he could, prayer, “God I know that I don’t talk to ye very often. Please forgive me of that. I’m in a bit of a pickle right now. Ye see this entire city is dependent on me to lead them in defense against the damned. To top it off Farid wants me dead. I need ye help, God. Please.” Constan’s voice trailed off as he finished his prayer. He sighed deeply and tried to empty his mind so he could relax for a few precious minutes.

  Saul opened the door and said, “Sir, it’s time. The men have begun to arrive.”

  “Aye, thank ye, Saul. Serve them some wine and tell them I’ll be right out.

  “As you wish, sir,” Saul replied.

  “And Saul?”

  “Yes, sir?”

  “Make sure ye cut the wine with water by half. Otherwise, the buggers will be too drunk to listen and think.”

  Constan emerged from the tub and dried himself off. He looked over at his bed and saw that Saul had laid out a set of robes befitting his station. They were of white linen with a thin strip of purple silk sewn where the folds came together in the front. A leather belt with a bronze buckle was set on top of the outfit. Completing the outfit was a pair of sandals sitting on the floor.

  Constan picked the sandals up and examined them. The stitching and leather were both of a higher quality than he had ever worn in his life. As he dressed, he luxuriated in the feelings of the soft fabrics against his skin. He finished dressing and stepped out into the courtyard.

  Saul had set out thirty wooden chairs for the men. At the front of the chairs was a small table and a more ornate chair for himself. The thirty survivors present from the battle of Yarmouk were clustered in groups talking and drinking wine from bronze goblets. Many of them smiled and laughed at stories and jokes.

  Constan just watched them for a time and smiled. Athos finishing a bawdy joke with a chuckle, noticed him standing there and barked out. “Room, ten-hut,” The men snapped to attention smoothly. Even with the goblets in their hands. Their perfect military bearing stood in stark contrast to the trainees that had tried so hard to get this simple stance correct earlier.

  Constan walked over to his chair and said, “At ease. The reason I asked ye to join me tonight is twofold. First, we need to put together a rapid response team to counteract any damned outbreaks in the city. Second, we need to deal with the group that tried to have me killed last night.” Most of the men were unaware of the events of the previous evening. Looks of shock appeared on their faces but well-disciplined they did not interrupt Constan’s speech.

  Constan continued, “I know ye must have many questions. Please keep them to yeself for now. Let me tell you about the attack that happened last night. I believe this will answer many of your questions. Baltazar and myself were leading Athos back to the barracks. As all of you are aware, Athos had taken a blow to the head during our battle and has not been himself since. At least not until he put on a pretty good imitation of Nikas today.” Constan paused, and the men laughed at his good-natured jibe.

  Constan continued, “As we turned onto the street that led to the fort through the armory, we were set upon by ten men in black robes. They all wielded spears. Baltazar slapped Athos’ horse on the rump to get him out of the situation as he wasn’t much good to us at the time. That left Baltazar and me to face ten men with spears. We just had our daggers with us that we used for meals. To make a long story short, the poor bastards didn’t stand a chance. During the fighting when two of them died they arose as damned.”

  The room gasped in shock at this revelation. Everyone had the same thought on their minds, “How can this be?” Many spoke the words aloud.

  Constan waited for them to settle back down, “I know not how this could be. Those men never had direct contact with the damned. Apparently, this curse has followed us here. As a result, we need to set up a rapid reaction team to be based in the forum. In addition, we also need to create a team of guards for the hospital here at the fort. The Governor is going to decree that anyone close to dying is sent here. That way when they die, we can take care of it. I believe that a rotation of our city guardsmen that we started training today would be up to that task. After all its not too difficult to stick someone in the head while they are lying in bed.

  “Aye, but even a
bedridden man on his last breath is more of a challenge than those buggers are used to!” Damon quipped. The room exploded into laughter.

  Once the laughter died down, Constan continued. “As Damon just pointed out. The rapid reaction force will need to be staffed by veterans until we get more of the city guardsmen up to an acceptable level of training.”

  “Sir, if I may,” Jirair said.

  “Go ahead,” Constan replied.

  “I believe we could staff the rapid reaction force with half of us and half of the new recruits. We could use the time we are sitting around the forum to bring the new recruits up as rapidly as possible.”

  Constan pondered for several moments, “I like the idea. It will also help keep the people calm by seeing an obvious military presence. Jirair, good thinking. At first, me thinks we should stick with six of the veterans for each twelve-hour shift, but we can certainly grab three men each from our four Kentarchias of city guardsmen to train and eventually take over for the veterans. Any more ideas don’t hesitate to share them with the group. We are going to need all the good ideas we can muster to get us through the next fortnight.

  “As you know we are desperately short on trained soldiers. Effective immediately all of you are hereby promoted to Dekanos, congratulations.”

  The men erupted into a cheer over the news. After several minutes they settled down. “Permission to speak, sir,” Damon asked.

  “Granted,” Replied Constan.

  “Sir, when you promoted Athos, we thought you had a sickness in the head. How could you promote one of the youngest amongst us over so many other fine warriors? After seeing him today, we were stunned. Our minds have completely changed. We had no idea he could be such an arsehole.” Everyone started laughing, and Athos blushed in embarrassment. After everyone settled back down Damon continued, “I swear it was Nikas himself laying into the 2nd Kentarchia today and not Athos. I would have never thought Athos could be so capable at such a young age. I just want you to know, Tourmarches, you have our full confidence. Governor Maurice chose well.”

  Damon sat back down, and Constan replied, “Thank ye. I need all of the wisdom and experience that all of ye have to get us through the next few weeks. We face a double challenge of keeping the city from being overrun by the damned from within and without. At the same time, we are charged with the training of new recruits so that we can have the soldiers we need to keep Damascus safe. As if all of that wasn’t enough, we have to protect ourselves from the enemy that attacked us last night. Eventually the damned will come to Damascus in the numbers we encountered at Yarmouk. We need to be ready for that day.”

  Constan paused and drained his wine goblet, “I need twelve of ye to volunteer for our rapid reaction force. The force will be stationed in the forum and will respond to outbreaks of the damned in the city. The other eighteen of ye will help to train our new recruits. I will be keeping an eye on all of ye. We will need additional Kentarches over the next several weeks. Those of you that demonstrate the most leadership will be promoted to Kentarches. We can expect more men from the Governor’s draft proclamation. I will decide how we will divide up the eighteen of you not assigned to the rapid reaction force once I know how many recruits we are getting. Take some time now and determine who the twelve will be for the rapid reaction force. If you can’t decide, I will choose for you.”

  Then men began discussing amongst themselves who should belong to the rapid reaction force. Constan watched as they talked, joked, drank wine, and discussed the issue. It’s good to see them relax. After about half an hour they finished the task. Athos took the lead to speak for the men, “Sir, we have decided on the twelve volunteers. Volunteers, please stand.” Twelve men stood.

  Constan replied, “Very good. Divide ye selves into two teams of six. Each team will cover twelve hours of the day. You can cast the tallie bones to determine which team goes first. The highest cast gets to sleep when we are done here. The low cast will head to the stable and procure six horses for the team when we finish here and begin your shift. The next order of business is to decide how to deal with the bastards that want me dead.”

  “Well the first thing we need to know is where you plan on sleeping, Tourmarches,” Licas asked.

  Constan replied, “The safest place for me to slumber would be amongst you in me old bunk with my brothers.”

  “Here, here!” The men replied.

  “Once we figure what we are getting tomorrow and divide everyone up into Kentarchias I will need to start staying here.”

  “That means you’ll need guards,” Jirair said.

  “Aye, it will indeed. It’s pretty obvious to me that the bastard that wants me dead is Farid. I wish I could just stick me Spatha into him and be done with it,” Constan said.

  “Here, here!” The men once again replied.

  “Alas if I do that his men aren’t going to like me too much, so the bastard lives for now. Keep ye ears open when you are around Farid and Zahid. If either of them says anything derogatory about any of the original members of the 5th Parthica I want to hear about it. Both of those pretentious, arrogant arses think they should have me job just because of their noble blood.”

  Damon asked, “Are you sure we need them? I’d think they’d look great roasting on a spit out in front of the kitchens.”

  Constan chuckled, “As pleasant an image as that invokes, I’m afraid they live for now. We get new recruits tomorrow. Be on the lookout for any with prior experience or weapons training. I don’t want to burden you with standing guard while I sleep as well. The sooner we get some men trained up that we can trust the better.”

  “Do the best you can with Farid’s guardsmen. They’re our best hope if we get attacked in the next week. They report back at dawn and will be moving into the first through fourth Kentarchia’s barracks on the ‘morrow. See that they are divided up by Kontobernions and assigned to the appropriate barracks building. I want ye to stay together for now. Move yourselves into the thirtieth’s Kentarchia’s last three Kontobernion barracks buildings. Athos, you may occupy Nikas’ old room. I’m sure he would have liked that. Enjoy the rest of your evening.”

  Athos snapped, “Room, ten-hut!” The men leaped to their feet and snapped to attention. “Dismissed,” Athos barked. Everyone shuffled out of the courtyard heading towards the villa’s single entrance.

  Chapter 25

  Evening, August 16th 636 Damascus, Syria Province, Byzantium

  The Thirsty Palm

  Athos was still wrestling with his feelings about taking over for Nikas. After he had left Constan’s villa, he headed back to his barracks to grab his gear. The other men of Constan’s former kontoubernion had gone straight to the Lonely Legionnaire. Athos, his gear never really unpacked, grabbed it and headed for his new private room.

  The individual rooms assigned to the Kentarches of the 5th Parthica, a luxury in the Roman Military, occupied a building next to the Tourmarches’ villa. There were thirty doors set in the front of the whitewashed structure. Each door was marked with a faded Roman numeral. The numeral indicated to which Kentarches the room belonged.

  Athos easily found his room marked with an II for the 2nd Kentarchia. He dropped his gear to the side of the doorway and sighed deeply. What will I find in there? He pressed lightly on the door. With a creaking sound, it yielded to the pressure. It was dark inside.

  Athos felt his way around the dark room for several moments until he located a lamp. He carried it outside and lit it using the flame from a nearby torch set in the wall. Entering the room, his heart leaped into his throat. Nikas’ worldly possessions still occupied the room. To his immediate left was a bed. That looks a lot more comfortable than my pallet back at the barracks, Athos thought. He set the lamp down on the table next to the bed and laid down on it. “Ahhh,” he said out loud. This bed is fantastic. He laid in the bed for several minutes and nearly fell asleep.

  Jerking back awake he got up from the bed and said, “I’d love to spend the rest of the nig
ht with you fine bed but alas I have an important date with a lady.” He picked up the lamp and held it high to look around the room. Up against the far wall across from the door was a brazier that was used to keep the room warm during the cooler months. The light from the lamp reflected off the bronze surface of the bowl-shaped top supported by three legs.

  Opposite the bed was a wooden wardrobe. Athos stood up and opened the door to the closet. Hanging neatly inside it were several of Nikas’ uniforms and some civilian clothing. Athos stripped off his clothing and tried on the uniform. He drew his Spatha and looked at himself in the blade’s reflection, Not bad, just a little loose. I can’t wait until Athea sees me in this. She is going to be so proud of me.

  Whistling happily, he blew out the lantern, walked out the door, and shut it behind him. He then headed for the fort’s gate. I wonder what Athea is going to think about my promotion. Exiting the fort, he passed the Lonely Legionnaire to his left as he walked toward Straight Street. He placed his right hand on the pommel of his Spatha and looked about warily as he walked through the site of last night’s ambush. I wonder if those bastards that attacked us last night are going to try again? He passed the armory and turned onto Straight Street and made his way to the Thirsty Palm without incident.

  Athos opened the door to the tavern. The warm glow of the interior poured out onto the dark street temporarily blinding him. Remembering the steps, he strode inside and closed the door behind himself. As his vision cleared, he beheld an angel, “Athea.”

  “Hello Athos, glad you are finally up and about.” Athea embraced him and gave him a peck on the lips, “Why are you wearing the uniform of a Kentarches?”

  Athos stuck out his chest, “I got promoted today,”

  “You got promoted from soldier to Kentarches in one day?” Athea asked, shocked.