Nasir joined the conversation, “The service in our previous accommodations was so poor, that we had to eat insects.”
Both Liana and Maarika’s face contorted into grimaces at this news. Liana was the first to ask, “Truly?”
Baltazar nodded slowly, “It’s not something I’m proud of, but there was no food.”
Constan met Baltazar’s gaze and said, “Lad, don’t be ashamed at doing what ye had to survive. I’m curious how ye even managed to catch one of those little beasties. Usually those wee little bastards are as fast as angel.”
Baltazar smiled, “We did what any good hunter would do. What I learned to do in Armenia. If you want to draw pray in, you’ve got to give them something they want. Then, while they are distracted, you strike.”
“What did you tempt the insects with?” Athos asked.
“Crumbs from our infrequent meals.” Baltazar answered.
The group fell silent after Baltazar’s reply, not really wanting to know more. After they finished their meal, they packed their things, and resumed their journey northward. They reached the mountains without incident, and turned west toward the Heliopolis road. After about half an hour of walking, their luck finally ran out. On the horizon was a single figure. The figure shambled around to and fro with no apparent destination.
Constan frowned, “Just over that rise is the road. I wonder if more of those critters are on the roadway?”
Athos looked around at the terrain. To their left was a plain of parched hard sand, with a fair sprinkling of rocks, and boulders. To their right the Jabal an Nusayriyah Mountains loomed above them, “Our flanks and rear appear to be secure.”
Constan nodded at Athos’ observation, “Aye, let’s fan out and draw our weapons. Athos and Damon, you take the opposite edges since you have the shields. Maarika fall back about ten paces behind us and ready ye sling.”
The group did as instructed and Constan looked up and down the make shift line. They had given themselves about five feet on either side, “Good, plenty of room to swing ye weapons, but close enough to support each other. Let’s advance slowly and try to remain quiet. I’d like to dispatch yon beastie without attracting more.”
The group slowly moved forward careful not to make any noise that would rouse the undead before them. As they drew within two hundred paces of the damned its milky white eyes registered their presence. With a pathetic sounding wail, the creature ran toward them. As the creature did so, it continued to make the mournful sound and clawed at the air in front of it.
Constan whispered sharply to the group, “Halt, and wait for it.”
As the wailing undead, now clearly a woman whose shapely body stood in sharp contrast to the horror that her face had become, drew within fifty feet of the group. Several more figures crested the rise that now stood several hundred paces in front of them.
Constan grimaced and said, “I was afraid of that. The bitch has friends.”
As Constan spoke the milky white eyes of the female locked onto his and she stopped. The woman was now close enough for them to see what she was wearing. In a former life she must have been the wife of someone well to do. Her body was covered in a blue silken wrap that started on her shoulders and ended below her knees. Her neck was adorned with a gold necklace that had a large red ruby pendent. Her ears were decorated with golden triangles that each had three pieces of gold metal connected to the bottom of the main piece. The slender golden chains hanging off the triangles nearly touched her shoulders. Finally, her fingers were adorned with several golden rings. The one on her left index finger had a large seal on it.
She seemed to sense the presence of other the damned behind her, stopped her advance, and fell into a defensive stance to await their arrival.
Constan said, “We seem to have another smart one on our hands.”
Before anyone could respond to Constan, Maarika, slung a stone at the well attired female damned. Constan could hear the stone whistle by in-between himself and Liana. Maarika’s perfectly aimed stone struck the woman in the forehead with a dull crack and she flopped to the ground. As her corpse struck the hard surface little tufts of dust were flung into the air.
Beyond her, the charging group of damned, about a dozen in number, appeared to pause and register her death with a series of growls. It almost seemed as if they were angry. After their display of emotion, they came at the group once again, but at a faster speed than before.
As they drew within a hundred feet of Constan’s line. Maarika began dispatching them with her sling. She managed to slay three of the twelve before they reached their thin line. Athos and Damon, who were both positioned on the ends, took a step forward and smashed their shields into the closest of the advancing damned. This move surprised their opponents and left the two damned stunned. Taking advantage, the experienced Skutatoi quickly dispatched these first two opponents with their Spatha’s.
This pre-emptive strike bought the line a few precious seconds. In that time Maarika was able to bring another of the damned down with her sling. This elimination of four opponents enabled them to re-align the line, until they each faced a single opponent. Veterans of many encounters with the damned, even though most lacked shields, the now one on one engagement proved to be a simple affair for them. Within a few moments of initial contact, the fight was over and the slain corpses of the damned now lay at their feet. Purple blood from their defeated foes slowly seeped into the parched soil.
Constan paused for a moment and looked around to ensure that there were no further threats. Satisfied that there were none, he made his way forward to the woman that Maarika had first dispatched. He looked down on the corpse, which lay on its back. The woman must have been beautiful once. With a small nose, thin lips, and high cheek bones. This lady seems familiar somehow. Constan thought to himself as he took in her features.
Both her left and right cheeks had holes in them as if the flesh had been torn away. His eyes moved down her body until it rested on the ring with the seal on her left hand. Constan gulped audibly as his eye took in that ring. The sigil on the ring consisted of a cross whose three points ended with solid lines. The line was drawn vertically on the two horizontal sides of the cross and horizontal on the vertical point of the cross. “I’ll be a sodden bugger.” Constan muttered in a low voice.
Athos who was a few feet behind Constan and walking toward him said, “Is there something amiss with the corpse?” Standing beside Constan and looking down at the body he added, “Who is she?”
“I believe this is Fabia, eldest daughter to Emperor Heraclius.” Constan responded.
Athos’ eyes widened and his jaw dropped open at the news, “Truly?”
Constan slumped his shoulders and sighed deeply, “Aye, lad. I wonder what series of events has brought her to this ignoble end before us?”
Athea, who had walked up and stood next to Athos, joined the conversation, “Indeed, how could one such as she, whose is supposed to be protected by so many, end up here? To be damned and subsequently slain in a parched field in Syria, far away from the Imperial court.”
They pondered the ramifications of Athea’s words for several moments. Constan finally broke the silence, “There can be only one explanation that I can think of.”
“What’s that?” Athos asked.
“Antioch, and the Emperor along with it, has fallen.”
Constan fell to his knees and struck the sandy soil several times with his balled fists. Tears ran down his cheeks as he muttered, “All for nothing. It was all for nothing.”
Athos placed a hand on Constan’s left shoulder and said, “There has to be another explanation for this. Surely the Emperor and the Tagmata still stand.”
Constan, regained his composure, looked up at Athos and said, “I hope ye are right lad. With the Persians gone, there is nothing that can stand against this abominable scourge save the Empire.”
Baltazar joined the trio as they stood over Fabia’s corpse and interjected, “What about the Franks or
the Goths?”
Constan snorted, “Bloody savages. They couldn’t hope to hold against Satan’s spawn. Those sodden fools lack the discipline needed to fight the damned.”
Baltazar said, “Well we have no choice but to continue and hope for the best.”
“The best being that a series of unforeseen circumstances resulted in the daughter of the most powerful man on earth being slain and damned?” Athea asked.
“Aye, let us be off then, but first let us partake in a grisly affair. We know not when the gold such as this one is wearing may come in handy.” Constan said.
Constan knelt down and carefully searched the corpse of Fabia. He took her rings, her necklace and ruby pendent, and her earrings. In addition to the ruby pendant hanging from her neck, he found that she also had a cross of gold. It was approximately three inches in size, and hung on another gold chain concealed by her wrap. This longer chain helped to conceal this cross which hung between her breasts. He also discovered several gold solidi, which had been sewn into the hem of her silken wrap. Before standing he slipped Fabia’s Imperial Signet Ring onto his left pinky finger.
Constan smiled at this discovery, “We’re bloody rich now. Here’s hoping we live long enough to spend it.”
Liana looked down at Fabia’s corpse as thoughts raced through her mind, Is this how all of us will meet our end? Damned and destroyed in an empty field? As the others turned to leave Liana took a deep breath and let it out slowly, “I think we should bury her.”
Constan’s back stiffened as Liana’s words washed over him. He slowly turned and faced Liana, “Aye, lass. I should have thought of it meself. Our sovereign’s daughter lay dead at our feet, and we would have left her to the jackals.”
Maarika said, “We’ve seen so much death since the curse of the hungry came that we have become numb to it.”
Athea nodded in agreement, “You’re right Maarika. It didn’t even occur to me, to bury Fabia.”
The group fell silent as, Damon and Athos set to work. The pair used the edge of their shields as makeshift shovels to dig the hole that would serve as Fabia’s final resting place. Once the hard surface was broken, the others joined in with edged stones to provide what assistance they could. No one wanted to use their blades to dig the hole as they would have risked dulling or breaking them.
After nearly an hour of toiling, they completed the shallow grave. Athos, and Damon, working together, gently lowered Fabia’s corpse into the hole. One by one each of the eight survivors of Damascus stood over Fabia and said a few words. Once they were finished, they pushed the dirt pile that sat beside her grave, back into the hole. Burial completed, the group headed toward the rise they had first spied Fabia upon. As they reached the summit, they looked down onto the Heliopolis road below them.
The road was wide enough for two carts to pass each other side by side and consisted of fitted stones. The stones’ grey coloration contrasted with the local terrain’s typical reds and brown. As they looked left and right up and down the length of the road, it looked like a grey ribbon cutting through the tan lands surrounding it.
Constan spoke, “From here we follow this road to the north. Once we get to Heliopolis, we continue on to Emessa. Emessa is about a two-day journey north of Heliopolis. Once we reach Emessa, Antioch is about a day’s journey beyond.”
“How far is Heliopolis?” Nasir asked.
Constan pondered the question for several moments. He looked at the position of the sun and answered, “We should reach the city about mid-morning on the ‘morrow. Damned permitting of course.”
“What’s Emessa like? I heard it used to be a place of wealth with many finely dressed princesses.” Liana asked.
“Aye, ‘twas back in the days of the early Empire. Emessa grew rich on the revenue from trade caravans that crossed the desert between it and what is now Persia.” Constan said.
“Was it true that they had grand parties where everyone dressed in silks?” Liana asked.
Constan snorted in disgust and said, “Bah, why would I know about such frivolities?”
The group fell silent as they walked down the side of the small hill they stood upon and reached the road to Heliopolis. As they journeyed northward, they saw signs that a large body of refugees had passed recently. Uncharacteristic for this remote locale, large amounts of refuse lined the side of the road. Occasionally they came upon a wagon with a broken wheel. At first, they had been pushed to the side of the road and abandoned. Later on, they were left wherever their wheels failed in the middle of the road.
As the sun dipped toward the horizon in the west, they came upon several wagons that had been set up as a barricade across the road. The wagons were placed on their sides, end to end, as a crude wall. Prior to this discovery, the terrain surrounding the road had slowly risen, forming a natural canyon around the roadbed. Sheer cliffs of red and brown stone rose up on either edge of the road.
Constan brought the group to a halt and walked forward with Nasir to examine the barricade. They carefully inspected the scene to ascertain what had taken place. The pair noticed finger nail sized ruts carved into the wood of the wagons on the side facing toward them, or southward. In addition, the bleached bones of dozens of people lay in a heap in front of the wagons.
Working together, the pair pushed a wagon forward a few feet. This created an opening in the wall. They slipped into the gap, emerging onto the other side of this impromptu wall. As they caught sight of what lay on the other side, both men took a simultaneous sharp intake of air. The rest of the group heard this and Athos, who had walked up to the opening, asked, “What’s wrong? What do you see?”
Constan responded in a low voice, “The ground here is strewn with the slain mostly eaten remains of Imperial Tagmata. Mixed in with the Tagmata are many other corpses. Based on their ragged clothing they seem to come from all walks of life.”
“They made a stand here.” Nasir said softly.
Constan nodded slowly, “Aye, perhaps to buy the refugees some time.”
“It would seem that time was purchased with their lives.” Nasir said.
“It’s hard to believe these are the same Tagmata that abandoned us to our fate at Yarmuk.” Athos said with an edge to his voice.
Constan nodded in agreement, “Aye, ‘tis indeed.”
Constan looked around at the corpses. They were in various states of decomposition. The birds and other scavengers had clearly had a considerable amount of time to pick at the corpses. He kneeled down to examine one of the fallen soldiers, “Look at this. They each have a purple armband with the Emperor’s personal cross upon them.
Nasir’s eyes widened as the meaning of this occurred to him, “These are the Emperor’s personal guard.”
“What are they doing out here, south of Heliopolis when the Emperor is currently holding court in Antioch?” Athos wondered out loud.
“This is the second sign of the imperial house we’ve come across on this day.” Constan observed.
Nasir bent over and placed his hand under a coin purse attached to one of the slain Tagmata’s belt. He jerked it free and held it up, “They still have their coins. No one has been here to loot them since they fell.”
“The damned have made it farther north than we realized. This would explain the sudden end to the correspondence Governor Maurice was receiving from the Emperor. The messengers stopped coming about a week before Damascus was attacked.” Constan said.
They stood and pondered for several moments as the ramifications of the recent revelations sank in. Constan’s thoughts raced. Has Antioch fallen? Is the Emperor still alive? Is there any hope for us? Finally, he broke the silence, “It’s time to move on. I don’t want to spend the night in this place of death. Everyone take a shield.”
Maarika frowned, “I won’t need it,”
Constan barked gruffly, “Wear it on ye back then. If one of our shields break, we can use it as a spare.”
Maarika remained silent as her nostrils flared. After a long
pause, she gave Constan a curt nod in way of response.
The group continued moving north as the shadows grew long and the golden light of the sun characteristic of the first and last hour of the day began to fade. “My mother used to always call the last hour of the day golden hour.” Baltazar said.
Liana curious about Baltazar’s past asked, “Why?”
“Unlike this dull place of tans and browns, the golden light brought out the sharp contrasts of colors in Armenia.” Baltazar replied. He smiled at the thought and continued, “There was a lot of green during the summer, but the golden light would draw out contrasts between the different shades of green on the trees, the rocks, and the various grasses struggling to survive on the side of the cliffs and mountains.”
Liana closed her eyes and tried to imagine what Baltazar was trying to describe. After a few moments she opened her eyes, smiled, and said, “Sounds beautiful. I would like to meet your mother.”
Baltazar wrapped his arm around Liana as they walked side by side. As he looked down into her eyes, he said, “I’d like that very much, love.” He pressed his lips to hers, and they kissed.
As Baltazar and Liana ended their kiss Maarika said, “The desert too, can be a place of great beauty. During what you call golden hour, the sands of my home shimmer with the golden light. If you lay on the ground and look in the direction of the sun as it is low on the horizon, tiny pieces of quartz in the sand will sparkle with the golden light.”
Liana smiled at Maarika, “That sounds beautiful. Like a dream almost.”
Maarika smiled back and said, “It is indeed.”
Maarika closed her eyes and tried to imagine laying on the ground at sunset and watching the sands shimmer and sparkle. Her thoughts quickly drifted to the person who had showed her the shimmering sands for the first time. I miss my family. Maarika tried to quell the emotions rising up inside her. She was mostly successful at not showing any outward stress, but a single tear rolled down her cheek.
Nasir noticed the tear and asked, “Are you ok?”
Maarika, no longer able to hold the emotions within, started to sob. In between sobs she said, “I miss my family.”
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