Sword of Ares

by Alex Morgenstern

  “Understood.”

  But Aranus would say what his soul would tell him.

  But what about that sword?

  The centurion grabbed a rope from overhead, used to herd cattle, and tied it around Aranus’ body. He felt the tension tear through his fragile skin but closed his eyes.

  “Now this will teach you. If we find you soiled yourself in the night it’s your responsibility, old man.”

  The soldiers stood up. The centurion blew out the candle and the room went completely dark.

  “Good night.”

  Aranus thought of death. There was a calmness surrounding that concept. He felt he had to take care of the welfare of his people; but on a personal level, the only person he had left to care about was his grandson. The death of many caused him pain, but if he died, his whole existence on the earth felt like a joke, a legacy lost, to disappear into dust. His daughter had married an enemy before the war, and yet, out of that unlikely union, a child had been born, the unmistakable seed of their spiritual lineage. Aranus missed him, after all those days. The boy had grown into a wise young man, with a will to learn and spiritual sensibility.

  Aranus was proud of his grandson Kassius.

  ***

  “Centurion Julius, with all due respect, I’m telling you, I know these priestly types. He won’t say anything because there’s nothing that makes sense in his head,” said the young soldier.

  “What is that supposed to mean, soldier Felix?” The centurion took a sip of wine. “By Saturn’s beard, what are we doing here outside? It’s getting freezing cold.”

  The soldier with the wide forehead seemed mesmerized by the moon above, oblivious to their conversation.

  “Centurion, please,” Julius continued.

  “Enough with your pestering!” the Centurion answered. Spit flew toward Felix’s face. He wiped it promptly. Felix felt inclined to talk more, but he knew it would fall on deaf ears. And although he looked volatile and tough on the outside, and was surely capable of brutality, but he was more talk than action when it came to the men under his command.

  Felix nodded quietly and looked away.

  Julius took another sip and stared at the forest with an expression like a dog bred for pit fighting.

  “What are you looking at, Aezius?” the centurion asked the mesmerized soldier.

  “You know,” the soldier responded, his voice deep, his eyes still fixed above. “The stars are scary, you know, this trite, the gods, the planets, the stars. Spooky stuff. Centurion, pass me the wine, please.”

  The centurion passed the wine skin and Aezius seemed to get overexcited and took three big sips.

  “Calm down, don’t finish it.”

  Aezius’ face was pale, and his eyes were sunken. He shook his head.

  “I say we kill the old man. He’s bad luck, I think.”

  “No!” Felix snapped. “Let’s follow the program. We already killed too many.”

  Suddenly, the two other soldiers burst out laughing.

  “No man is innocent,” Aezius said, and he spat on the floor. “Eh… Let’s get inside, this cold is horrible.”

  “Felix, you stay on guard. We’ll be in the atrium, then we’ll switch positions,” the centurion said.

  “What? I mean… Yes, sir.”

  Aezius stood up, grabbing his helmet from the rocky stairs. The centurion did the same thing. Both walked toward the door and Felix remained attentive to what they said.

  “Centurion, I am serious. This man may mean trouble. I say we finish him off tonight, or else tomorrow he may. Did you hear him, he is not afraid of death or pain. And I know when they are not.” The two men entered the room and the door shut behind their backs.

  “Do it before a rebellion starts,” Aezius continued. “Women want food. That’s all they want. To feed their stinking cubs, that’s all. You feed them they’re happy, but if someone tells them they’re special or their seed is apart, they will stab us in the back when we’re not looking.”

  From that moment onward, Felix did not hear any more. He sighed, grabbed his bronze helmet, and threw it at the wall. It clanked and stray cats jumped out of the ceiling in sight. He crossed his arms. He hated that place. That was the worst mission he had been sent on. He had not been assigned a wife and did not want one. He only thought of Domitia, his sweetheart back in Veniz, and he shuddered at the thought of not seeing her again.

  What he had seen that day was wrong, and after talking to the old man, it was even worse. That did not make any sense with the tale about the conspiracy and the Mysteries of Ares. It seemed like an unprovoked attack against people who had not done anything but live in peace. The people of Adachia were not even the same Gadalians who had invaded Itruschia fifteen years before.

  If it were up to him, he would change things. But how could he?

  Chapter XV - On the Run

  “And now, we have two options. Either stay in here and avoid contact with the outside world or get out. Preferably tomorrow. If they find us, it won’t take long for them to figure out we’re not actually married,” Kassius said peeking through the door, back into the hallway. He looked back at Alana, his eyes sincere and worried. “Ala, if they will find out, I don’t want to see what they’ll do. Just being a citizen doesn’t make me untouchable. I can go to prison as well.”

  Alana scratched her chin. “Let’s plan, Kasha. First, I think we should speak to your grandfather.”

  “Now?” Kassius asked, raising an eyebrow. Alana could see his usual attitude. He hated going out far from his land.

  “Yes. Let’s look for him,” Alana said.

  “We should go tomorrow morning. There’s a curfew going on.”

  “If we go in the morning, everybody will see us and ask questions,” Alana said. “It’s better to hide now that the sun is not up.”

  “Under the curfew?” he asked.

  “Well,” Alana cleared her throat. “I don’t want certain people to find me.”

  “What did you do?” Kassius asked, raising an eyebrow.

  “Me? Nothing. Well, I just ran away. I think they’re still looking for me. I don’t want them to see me.”

  Kassius sighed, then stood up. “Fine. You’re right. We cannot stay. I must go with you,” he said, running toward a table in the corner of the room. There, he grabbed a pot of red ink, sealed with a cork. He opened it and smeared it on his finger.

  “Kasha, what are you doing?” Alana asked.

  He walked toward her. Alana stepped back, alarmed, but he touched her forehead with the smudged finger, it was wet and warm. He drew a circle.

  “Stay still,” he said, sliding his finger slowly and drawing small angles. “I was using this sigil to hide.”

  “Oh. I guess it worked then,” Alana muttered.

  “Yes. So, let me just...” He walked to a small broken mirror that hung from the wall and drew the magic sign on his own forehead.

  “Put this on, the dress will not be enough.” He handed Alana an overshirt made of wool, a scarf, and warm gloves.

  “Thanks. I needed this,” she said, as she wore it and then checked her blue cloak. It was still damp.

  “I’ll get you something to eat,” Kassius said, getting his bow and arrows ready, and packing the rest in a big leather bag. “Let that thing dry off for a few minutes and let’s get out of here.”

  ***

  When both were ready, Kassius slowly opened the door and peeked outside.

  “Let’s go,” he whispered, and they walked out on their tiptoes into a cold and wide atrium guarded by old pillars, next to a series of doors that shielded food cellars and the servant’s quarters. Opposite side of the hallway, in the centre of the building, stood a huge garden of olives and roses that would blossom in the coming spring. “We’re going through the back exit,” Kassius said.

  “And then what?” Alana asked.

  Then, a door creaked open.

  “Who is there?
” a voice asked. Alana saw bony hands carrying a terracotta lantern. It soon revealed a man’s wrinkled face and white hair. He seemed scared. “Ah, Master Kassius. What are you doing? Miss Alana?”

  Kassius faced the old man and put one finger in front of his face.

  “Tyaraz,” he whispered. “We’re going out.”

  “Master, but there is a curfew going on.”

  “Yes!” Kassius said. “We know. Please ignore us. Do not inquire after us. We must go look for grandfather, he may be in danger.”

  “No. Master, I have to protect you. It’s not safe out there.”

  “Tyaraz, please. You know what just happened! Grandfather is in danger!”

  “And I don’t want to put you in danger.”

  Kassius lowered his head.

  “What are you going to do then? Send a message to Father?”

  “No.”

  “I must go,” Kassius insisted.

  Tyraz paused. He looked around.

  “Be careful,” Tyraz muttered.

  “We will be,” Kassius said and walked past him. Alana said goodbye and followed Kassius into the field. She shivered as a cold wind blew through her clothes, seeming to pierce into her bones.

  “My gods...” she stuttered.

  “Now, let’s just watch out for the soldiers,” Kassius said.

  Alana walked behind him, as the moon illumined their path over the grazed fields.

  Suddenly, a loud bark was heard.

  “Not again, Arcturus,” Kassius shook his head. Alana sighed. “Come on,” Kassius said. “Let’s get out of here quick, Ala.”

  But they heard a foreign voice ring through the field.

  “Damned be that animal,” it said.

  “Let’s go,” Kassius grabbed Alana’s gloved hand, and they rushed together toward the iron fence.

  And the voices behind them continued.

  “You, son of a blade, I can’t sleep with this animal making all that noise. Put it out of its misery.”

  “What?” asked the other soldier.

  “Are you deaf? Kill the damn thing.”

  “Oh. Sure,” the other voice responded.

  Kassius stopped abruptly and stared at Alana. She blinked in surprise.

  “Kassius are you thinking of...”

  Kassius looked ahead at the fence, and swallowed.

  “Alright, boy,” the voice behind the villa said. They could hear the soldier walking through the field, his boots and armour clanking. Arcturus barked loudly. “I’m sorry I have to do this to you.”

  Alana grasped Kassius’ hand tightly.

  “Alana I cannot let this happen,” he said, cold breath escaping as a cloud of smoke.

  “Neither can I,” Alana said, and she turned around and ran toward the barn.

  “Alana, no!” Kassius cried behind her back.

  The sound of the soldier’s movement stopped abruptly.

  “What was that? Did you hear it?” the soldier said to his comrade, who was not yet to be seen. Alana strode quickly to the other side of the barn and faced the soldiers. It was the one who had been at the gate, and another, younger one.

  “You!” the soldier said.

  “No, you!” Alana blurted. “I could hear you threatening to kill our dog. What kind of a man are you, killing a defenceless animal?”

  “Does that thing look defenceless to you?”

  He illumined the barn and the fence where Arcturus flashed his sharp teeth, like razors, his blue eyes shining and narrow, menacingly.

  “Come on! It’s just a dog. He’s kind. Barking dogs don’t bite.” Alana knelt beside the fence. “Clam down, Arcturus, calm.”

  The dog slowly relaxed its muscles, its tail was still up, expectantly. It lifted its head slowly as Alana put her hand through. Arcturus approached her hand swiftly, licking it.

  “Come on, boy,” she said, stroking Arcturus’s head with her fingertips, and then petting its neck. The soldier took a step back, easing the tension. “You know what?” Alana stood up. “I’m gonna take him with me, he will sleep with us.

  The soldier frowned then turned back as Alana opened the gate and the dog jumped out. Alana hugged its huge neck and petted its head.

  “Time to go,” she said, and she walked out of the barn. She stopped cold as Kassius was standing firm and a soldier was standing by his side, lantern in hand and a spear pointing toward Kassius’ back.

  “What is this?” Alana asked, her stomach turning.

  “Where were you two going?”

  “We overheard your conversation and stepped out to defend our dog,” she said, as she held onto Arcturus’s spiked collar.

  “Well, it looks like you were going hunting,” the soldier pointed to the ground. Kassius’ travel bag on the floor, its contents emptied nearby, including Kassius’ folded bow and a quiver full of arrows. “Again. Let me ask you. Don’t you know there is a curfew going on?”

  “We… just...” Kassius was as pale as the moon.

  “You tell me, big mouthed blondie. What were you two planning to do?” the soldier asked, looking at Alana and brushing the tip of his spear against Kassius’ back.

  “Well, you can’t accuse us of being outside after dark, because we weren’t,” Alana said, when Arcturus’ mood tensed up again, and he flashed his teeth and stood defensively. She held onto the collar.

  “Don’t fool around. Do you think I’m stupid?” the soldier growled.

  “What is going on in here?” The first soldier approached from behind.

  Arcturus barked aggressively and tensed his muscles.

  “Please...” Alana grasped the collar, but Arcturus pulled her forward, gnashing his teeth. Alana felt she was losing balance. “We did not mean any harm.”

  And then, Alana let go. The dog rushed toward one of the soldiers, as a white lion hunting a mountain goat, and leaped over him. Arcturus was a war dog and knew how to do kill. It bit him furiously in the neck as the soldier sorely struggled to get the dog over him. His pleas became wailing and then gasps for air.

  “By Saturn’s beard. Stop!” Kassius said, trying to get a hold of Arcturus’s collar.

  Alana looked to the side, and the other soldier was preparing his sword and aiming it at Arcturus’s body. He pranced forward. Alana instinctively stepped in between him and the dog, with her arms stretched out.

  “Leave it,” she said, lifting her chin.

  The furious biting stopped abruptly, and Kassius managed to get the dog away from the soldier.

  “Caius, are you alright?” The standing soldier pushed Alana and Kassius away, kneeling in front of the body, as Kassius held onto the dog once again.

  “My gods! What have you done to him!”

  It bit exactly where blood flowed in the neck. The man agonized, eyes open, blood staining his side and the grass. He soon died.

  Alana and Kassius looked at each other. The dog, once again, broke loose, and the soldier turned around; he drew his sword and swung it against Arcturus. Arcturus dodged quickly and bit the soldier in the leg.

  “Arcturus, stop it now!” Kassius said. “Stop!” he ordered, and the dog finally let go. The soldier stood up, gasping.

  “I’m really sorry,” Kassius said, lifting his arms.

  “You’re sorry. You’ll be sorry in Hades! I’ll kill your damn dog and you!” the soldier snapped and lunged forward at Kassius with his sword. Kassius tried to evade, but the sword pierced through his shoulder.

  Arcturus jumped up and bit the soldier’s leg again. He smote him with the sword, and Arcturus crawled back, moaning like a lost puppy.

  “You’re dead!” The soldier jumped toward Kassius, sword forward, ready to stab him in the stomach.

  The soldier suddenly stopped, quickly opening his mouth and gasping for air, as Alana removed the small knife from his back.

  The soldier fell to his knees, then collapsed face down.

  She bent down, hands
on her knees, panting with her eyes wide opened. Arcturus approached her, moaning and licking her bloodied fingers.

  “By the Morningstar… What… What have I done?” she said. Her hands started to tremble, and the knife dropped.

  “Alana,” Kassius muttered, his eyes wide open, staring at her, then swallowed.

  She shook her head. Kassius was even paler than before, then he fixed his eyes on the bodies on the floor. Blood still dripped from his shoulder.

  “Kassius, let’s go!” she said, untying her scarf. Kassius blinked many times and seemed to finally wake up from his shock.

  “A… Ala… You killed him.”

  “I...” Alana felt for a second that those words carried the biggest weight in the world. She stepped back and looked into the stars above.

  “Caius? What’s going on!” She heard an Itruschian man behind the fence, and she turned, startled.

  Suddenly, Kassius grabbed her hand and pulled her. They both ran with all their strength, Arcturus following them closely. Kassius walked to the fence and pushed one of the iron bars. A secret passage. It gave in easily, and he crawled outside, pressing down on his shoulder with his right arm. Alana followed, and both rushed into a dark alley. They stopped at the edge of the street, where Alana looked back. They glanced at the fenced property, where a third soldier ran through the field and knelt at the two fallen soldiers’ sides.

  “Oh, gods!” Kassius said. “Let’s get out of here.”

  Suddenly, Arcturus rushed forward, opening his mouth and letting out a bark.

  “Hold it, boy, hold it,” Kassius knelt beside Arcturus, holding his mouth.

  The soldier looked at the darkness, where the sound was coming from.

  Alana and Kassius looked at each other.

  “Alana… I trained him to run into the forest when hunting...”

  “To run? Kassius, you’ll be sending him to his death. Keep him with us.”

  “Alana. We may die if they find us.”

  “Let’s just go, and let’s release him whenever it’s safe.”

  “The whole army will be on our heels. Ala, we just killed a man.”