It was still drizzling. Little tears from the Gods. Caeles felt like he should cry, but he couldn't. He looked out across the fields and hills at the mass of bodies. Romans. Barbarians. Men. Boys. One was heaped on top of another in an unending sea of death. Caeles wanted to cry. He wished that he could somehow be sick, to purge the feeling from within him. It didn't come though. A small sigh escaped in the coldness of the salty air. He watched it dissipate out to the sea and began to pick his way back toward Fragosus. *** The Fate of Hearts By Joshua Trujillo *** Part VIII - Offerings on the River of Blood and Hate *** "Commander," a legionnaire said from his right, "Are you alright? We have everything well in hand here, sir." Caeles looked at the man, a dozen years older than him. "But-" Caeles began. His left eye began to hurt and Caeles reached up to hold it. His hand came away covered in thick, dark blood. His own. "You're injured, Commander," the older man said. "Arm..." Caeles looked down at his left arm. It didn't look much different from the rest of him. Covered in blood and bits of earth and people and mud. He knew that he'd been gashed on his arm too, though. "I'll get back to the city," Caeles said barely above the drizzle, "Try to gather everyone up and regroup. We don't know how much more of a force is out there and we're in no condition now." "Yessir!" The man turned and hurried off. Since when did Caeles start giving orders? And since when had the troops actually begun to follow them? Since this morning, that's when. The mud sucked noisily at Caeles's boots as he slogged through the terrain towards the distant city. Many of the horses had been killed in the battle and the remainder were being used to get the severely wounded back to the city before they died. Caeles looked around for his own mount among the dead, but didn't see him. Caeles smirked slightly. Knowing that beast, he was back enjoying a good rub down and bucket of oats. Many troops were lost. Too many. Caeles rounded a tree and found Mistura, being propped up by Vivo. Caeles smiled. He had wondered where his new teacher had gone. Caeles stumbled to them. He winced as he passed a horse that wasn't quite dead; it's breath rising in a shallow column above it, a monument against the cold gray sky. "Caeles!" Vivo smiled, "I'm glad you made it. The General's heavy..." Caeles got under one arm and helped prop her to a more vertical position. "She's been hurt, but I don't know what to do," Vivo muttered, "I'm no healer!" "We've got to get her back to the city," Caeles said as he tried to look into her face, "If you could, get a horse so we can get her back to the city. I'll stay with her and walk her back as much as I can, but I'm hurt too." Vivo nodded sharply and looked right and left quickly. "Vivo!" Caeles barked wearily, "Calm down. The fight is over. Take a breath and go get some help, okay?" Vivo breathed out and nodded, a new determination set in his eyes. "Caeles," he began, "I...Thanks for not getting killed." Vivo turned and began to run up the nearby hill. He slipped in the icy mud at the apex and slid down the other side, cursing all the way. Mistura stirred and lifted her head to Caeles. She smiled a weary smile as a thin line of blood appeared on her lips. Caeles helped her turn towards the city and the two warriors began to stumble home. "A good first fight, huh?" she croaked, "I'm sorry for this Caeles. It was my pride that got us into the fight..." "Don't talk." "We vastly underesti-estimated," she tried to say, "-the enemy." "C'mon Mistura, shut up already," Caeles muttered, "We'll get you back to Fragosus and Certus can fix you up." "I'm sorry..." she whispered. "Isn't your fault, General," he said, "There were mistakes we all made..." *** "We spotted'm about an hour ago, General," the sentry remarked, "They just look like they're standing there." Mistura looked out across the makeshift battlement along Fragosus' east wall. There was a small group of barbarians up the beach, just far enough along to make sure that they could run away. The storm that she and Caeles had spotted at dawn was now almost on top of them and it looked like it would be a bad one, too. There were simply too many for a scout party, or even a small retinue of advance troops. There were also small fires into the distance in the same direction, which meant that there were more barbarians that could reinforce this group. Which meant a stand-up fight. Mistura smiled. "Commander?" she turned to a grizzled man, who saluted smartly. "Sir!" "Get your troops together to march before the storm hits," she said smoothly, "I don't want to be caught out in the muck fighting someone who's used to it." "Yessir!" Caeles wondered what the trouble was. He looked out across the wall at the little men in the distance, jumping up and down. They seemed rather silly to him, but Mistura had said that they might have arrows, so armor was necessary up on the battlement. Caeles didn't want to argue the point of the armor not being able to stop an arrow, so he just followed the order. The grizzled commander turned and hurried down the battlement, calling the battle orders out to his messengers, who would run it to the rest of the troops. Mistura smiled and began to climb down. If it was a stand-up fight they wanted, she thought to herself, Then it would be a stand-up fight they'd get. "General!" the sentry shouted, "There's something happening out there!" Mistura climbed up the ladder again and looked to where the sentry indicated. The barbarians had lit torches as the darkness of the storm began to close in around them. There was a man they had pushed out to the front of the group. By the Gods, he was dressed as a legionnaire! One of the larger barbarians raised his crude sword and brought it down, cleaving the legionnaire almost in two. How dare they...How DARE they! Mistura fumed. Caeles felt his breakfast coming back to him and quickly hurried down the ladder. "Saddle up as many as we can, NOW!" she shouted into the barricade below, "They want a damned fight, we're gonna go give'm one!" Mistura almost flew down the ladder as Vivo came out of the hotel. He had heard the shouting and had donned his armor. Mistura flashed both he and Caeles a smile and shouted more orders to the troops. "It's time?!" Vivo asked excitedly. "You and Caeles get saddled up," she said, not looking back, "You'll ride in my group." Caeles looked to the men on the battlements and below in the barricade. Everyone was scrambling around and shouted at one another. He figured there'd be a fight sometime and had learned how to get into the uncomfortable armor fairly quickly. He didn't want to fight, but he'd make sure he was protected if there was one. He adjusted the armor around him and sighed at the weight of the sword at his hip. Vivo grabbed his left arm and dragged him towards the stables, where horses were being saddled with amazing speed and effectiveness. The horses kicked and brayed against having to be out with the incoming storm. Caeles had similar reservations, but he supposed the enemy wouldn't wait. "You take that one," Vivo shouted as he swung into his own mount, "He seems to like you anyway." Caeles turned and looked up at the monster of a horse that looked back at him. The horse snuffled once and nudged Caeles in the chest, knocking him down. Oh yeah, he remembered. Caeles picked himself up and swung easily into the saddle. The horse looked back at him questioningly. "Well?" Caeles said, "The battle's THAT way." The horse whinnied once and trotted out to the line of legionnaires that had gathered, all on horseback. Caeles looked over the group and frowned. "General," he shouted to the front. Mistura rode out in front on her black charger, it's nostrils puffing in excitement. "Today, we fight for Rome," she shouted at the group, "Kill every one of them." An icy wash of fear and uncertainty settled Caeles back into his seat as a cheer rose around him. He looked to his right and was almost disappointed that Vivo was another who broke out in cheer at that. "General!" a voice barked from the barricade, "Not all the troops are ready yet!" "Commander, have them follow as they can," she shouted at him, drawing her sword, "We ride into battle!" Another cheer rose as the barricade was opened and Mistura threw her steed into a full run. The others followed and it was all he could do to keep his own steed from galloping away from him. The barricade flowed quickly behind him as the rain began to fall. Caeles pulled sharply around the dunes at the coast and came up to Mistura's horse, Vivo close behind. "General," he said bouncing along, "We have to wait for the troops! We don't have enough to take them by ourselves!" Mistura barreled ahead, as the rain began to pelt harder. Caeles figured that she hadn't heard him and looked over to Vivo, whose horse had fallen off a little bit. Caeles looked between Vivo and Mistura as he tried to keep between the two. A flash of lightening cranked the rain up to new levels as it pounded on the small leather cap. Caeles threw off the cap and rode a little faster as they came upon the fallen Roman. He figured that, if they had something to hit him over the head with, then the cap wasn't going to protect him better than his hair. Mistura almost flew off her horse as she came to a stop, dismounted and knelt to the Roman. She heard mutterings in the distance as Caeles rode up and dismounted. The barbarians were close by, but still keeping enough distance to run further. Vivo rode up and the rest of the column was close behind. "Damn them all!" Mistura yelled as she scrambled back to her horse. Caeles looked down at the man. He wasn't Roman. He was barbarian who wore stolen armor. The armor had been worn over the furs and hides of their kind. And they'd still killed him. They'd sacrificed their own man to... *** Mistura coughed again. She stopped and shoved Caeles off lightly. She bent over and put her hands on her knees as she coughed. She shuddered and looked sideways to Caeles. He said nothing, but got back under her arm. "That's when they attacked, wasn't it?" she asked softly. "Yeah." *** Caeles clambered back up on his horse and turned it back to Fragosus. He stopped as he saw what Mistura had seen. The troops from the city had followed her out along the beach. Along one continuous front. Spread out. An easy kill. "By the Gods!" he whispered. Vivo looked to Caeles and Mistura, who nodded sharply to each other and spurred their mounts back to the city. "But what about him?" he shouted as he began to follow. Caeles and Mistura pulled up short as another flash of lightening illuminated the hills surrounding the beachfront. At the crest of each stood a number of barbarians, each shouting in their demonic tongue, each weapon raised high. At some given signal, they yelled something else and charged down the hill. Mistura swore and whipped her sword from her scabbard as she charged into the group. Caeles looked at the mass of people as the barbarians began to clash with the troops on the beach. There had to be something, he looked around quickly but couldn't see what he was looking for. There was always a key to every battle...If he could find it...Vivo whipped past Caeles and into the fray. The horse bucked and kicked the head of a barbarian who got too close. Caeles clung desperately in the saddle as the brute bucked at a couple more adversaries. Blood fountained over the horses' head and onto Caeles. He stared for a second at the crimson that had splashed on him, but only until the ground harshly met him when he let go of the saddle. He landed roughly on his back, but had taken another barbarian off his feet in the process. Caeles tried to get up, but ducked as the horse kicked. There was a wet, muffled crunch as another man flew off into the rising surf. Caeles rolled to one side and pulled his sword free. He put it up in time to ram it squarely into the gut of an attacker. He fell back and let go of the sword, still awash with blood. Caeles thought the pounding sound was his own blood in his ears, but soon recognized the drumbeats he'd heard an hour ago, while on the battlement. Another barbarian charged up to deliver a blow. Caeles rolled to his side as the crude ax came down; he raised his foot hard into the barbarian's nether regions and scrambled up. This man wanted to kill him! They ALL wanted-There was another grunt behind him as the horse split another barbarian skull in half. Caeles turned to the horse. "Go!" he shouted, "Get out of here! Go!" Caeles reached down and picked up the crude ax. The barbarian he'd kicked was staggering to his feet. They WANTED to KILL him! Caeles felt the anger rise to his face. These men were no different than his FATHER! Caeles let his anger surface. They were like FATHER! Again. All they wanted was to USE him or KILL him! Again. They wanted to hurt the ones he loved... Caeles dropped the ax. The barbarian wasn't going to get up again. Tears came easily, but he had no time to think about what he'd just done as the attack grew as great as the storm around him. Another barbarian tackled Caeles into the rushing surf. He pulled himself to one knee and side stepped the man, who rushed at him again. The man flopped in the surf and Caeles ducked under the swing of another. He rushed back up the beach to the first man, who still had Caeles' bloody sword jutting from his gut. He grabbed at the sword, but couldn't find purchase on the slick pommel. The younger attacker pulled him off and threw Caeles back into the sand. Caeles reached up and brought all his anger to a punch on the younger man's jaw. He stood for half a second with a questioning look before he crumbled forward. Caeles shook his head and jumped over the man to the sword again. He pulled and it easily came free this time. Caeles wondered for an instant why it was easier this time. Maybe less than an instant as the other attacker yelled something in his tongue and charged. Caeles let his training take over as the barbarian swung his...Whatever it was...Club? Bludgeon? Caeles ducked under the swing and thrust the point into the side of the man, ripping a hole to his back, letting the man's momentum open him up. Caeles fought down the bitter taste in his mouth and walked over to the young man who had staggered back to his feet. Caeles stopped. The rains had come full force now, washing the boy free of the mud and blood that caked over his body by some religious sacrifice of his people. The boy looked weary and scared. Caeles nodded up the coast, away from the battle. The boy looked that way and began to run. He looked over his shoulder into the distance, expecting Caeles to kill him from behind, but it never came. Caeles smiled. Caeles turned back to the battle and was lifted into the air by a blow he never saw. Pain washed through his arm as he landed on something sharp. Caeles winced and coughed from the pain as he tried to crawl to his sword, which had been thrown up against a nearby hill by the blow. He looked back to his attacker. A hulk of a man, more like the orations of Homer than a real man. The beast raised his massive sword and brought it down hard. Caeles rolled again and gasped as he felt the earth shake under him from the blow. Caeles reached out and kicked the hand of the monster, which made him drop the sword, but did little other damage. The beast grunted and bent to pick up the sword. Caeles scrambled up to the hill and recovered his own sword in time to bring it around in a block that actually worked. The monster stopped in amazement that Caeles actually blocked him. He smiled a yellow and black, toothy smile and nodded slightly. Caeles then had an idea. The monster swung his sword again and buried it again in the soft earth near Caeles' head. Caeles leaned forward and sliced carefully at the man's hands, hoping to get lucky. Caeles dodged and cut, but the man still lunged in great strides. The man swung his sword with one hand, but when Caeles moved in for another stab, the man lifted him up the hill with a great punch. Caeles doubled over in pain and he could hear the beast laughing a hearty laugh as he tromped up the hill after Caeles. Caeles rolled to his back and was met with the man's huge sword in his face. The man used it to raise Caeles' pained face for a look, the flat of the sword under his chin. That's it! Caeles lunged off the incline of the hill onto the man's arms as he grabbed at the huge sword. The sword came free as they tumbled down the hill and Caeles brought it behind him as he shoved the point into the man. The momentum of both of them rolling down the hill had the desired effect of shoving the huge sword deep into his gut. Caeles spit out dirt at the bottom of the hill and pulled himself to his feet. He collected his nearby sword and looked back up the hill. He climbed up the hill and silently hoped it would be enough. The winds bit as Caeles reached the top of the hill. Some of the rain now turned to snow as the muck below became wetter and wetter. There came to Caeles another sound. As he turned around, a young barbarian came to the apex. They stared at each other, this one no older than Caeles and probably a good bit younger. Like Caeles, it looked like this was this young man's first battle, and like Caeles, he carried a Roman sword, no doubt stolen like the armor that some of the barbarians wore. Caeles and the boy stared at each other. The boy then gurgled as a fount of blood gushed from his mouth. He looked down at his chest, horrified to see two feet of wooden spear extended from it. The boy gurgled once more and fell to his knees and then backward down the hill. "Caeles!" Caeles looked down the hill. It was Vivo and a small group of men. "Get up here!" Caeles shouted back, "I've got a plan!" *** "That was the moving phalanx," Mistura said. "Yeah," Caeles responded, "It seemed like the only way to keep from losing more people than we already had." *** "Okay Commander," Vivo shouted back sarcastically, "You've got us in a damned circle. What now?" Caeles looked below them and smiled. "Just watch." Caeles had gathered as many men up on the hilltop as he could. On the way, they grabbed spears, the barbarian long swords, clubs or whatever else could keep troops at range. Caeles then told the men to form a circle with the hilltop being the middle and face outwards. It would then be a simple matter to just kill everything not in the circle. Watch out for comrades, of course, but most of the targets would be worth killing. Vivo watched as the barbarians would rush up the hill, but couldn't break the line. Occasionally, one would leap over the line, which is where a few legionnaires, including Caeles and Vivo would be waiting to take them out. "Well Commander, we've got a defensible position," Vivo said, "Now what?" "Quit calling me Commander for starters..." Caeles sighed. He drew several circles in the sandy soil on the hilltop, placing concentric lines facing outwards, like the face of a sundial. There was a little point in the center of each circle. "Vivo, this is what's next," Caeles said as another legionnaire looked on, "We form these positions on ALL the hills. Then, once we've got things set, we march slowly down the hills. When we meet at the bottom of the hills, they're close enough together so that we should be able to crush the enemy without much problem." "That's one helluva plan, Commander," the legionnaire behind them said, "I'll get it to the troops!" And with that, he jumped over a line and disappeared. Caeles looked after him, but couldn't see him. "That is a good plan," Vivo muttered, "One that *I* could have thought of, but good. Okay, I'll take some troops and we'll take that hill over there." Vivo pointed to a nearby hill where some legionnaires had already followed suit and formed a position. Caeles nodded. "You just give the signal," Vivo said as he drew his sword and went back into the fray. Caeles wished that he could watch all the formations as the legionnaires used their vastly superior fighting ability and force of will to take the hills. He had to be satisfied with runners that occasionally entered the circle. Sometimes a younger barbarian would leap through the line and it was up to Caeles to run him through and pitch him back out into the battle. Caeles silently hoped that one of these cretins would be their leader so that they'd be demoralized enough not to attack. That didn't seem to be the case though. More and more barbarians pushed at the walls of the position and had to be either beaten back or run through. The time seemed to drag into forever. Caeles didn't want to think about it. Just to keep the line from collapsing and the formation straight so that, when the time came, they could simply march outwards. The lines would thin, but if they marched slowly enough, if wouldn't matter. He hoped that the others had figured this out too; otherwise it would be a long day. "Commander!" a runner called from behind him. "I'm NOT a Commander!" Caeles yelled as he stuck a barbarian in the throat. "Very well Commander," the runner said, "I'm here to tell you that General Kalendis says to get a move on because everyone's ready, sir!" Caeles stepped back from the wall and looked around as he could to the other hills. Sure enough, as far as he could see, the other hills were covered with the red of Rome. Then it came to Caeles. He had no way to signal everyone. "Move!" he yelled to the next hill, "Now!" It seemed silly to him to yell like that, but it seemed to work. The troops moved forward. Sometimes just a sword length, perhaps even just a hair, but always forward. Caeles spent his time running all over the hill trying to keep up with the leaks in the wall. He yelled at men to slow down, but the legionnaires were excited and had a difficult time keeping still. Caeles sighed. He'd be dead after this. Figuratively, of course. As the legionnaires squeezed the enemy down the hills and into each other, panic ensued and, just as Caeles thought, the enemy turned in short order and the ambush that caught them up against the sea turned into an all out rout. Caeles hacked at another barbarian who had an ax. His foot caught on something in the muck at the bottom of the hill and Caeles went down. Pain flashed quickly on his face and Caeles lashed out blindly with his sword. When his vision cleared, the barbarian's throat lay open. Caeles stood as best he could. He felt nauseous. It worked. The plan worked. They were able to squeeze the enemy army until they fled. His father would be proud as all those years of study were put to good use. Caeles chuckled humorously. It was ironic that the training he received from Vivo was the one thing that actually saved him. Caeles looked around him. The blood mixed with the earth in little rivulets that flowed on the waning storm out to the endless sea. They had won. *** "How is she?" Caeles looked into the warm amber light of the hotel. "Resting. She took a gash on her side," Certus said, "We have a lot of wounded like that." She looked haggard. But then, most of the troops looked that way. Except for Vivo. He seemed to have endless energy. Caeles smiled, he was a good man though. "Then they were doing it on purpose?" he asked. "Looks like it," Certus sighed and pushed an errant lock of hair out of her eyes, "By the way, she wants to see you. But, make it quick, okay? She needs her rest." *** Lagena pulled her furs up around her. The air coming off the mountains was wonderfully fresh, but it was also damnedably cold. She had just come on to the watch, taken her first post at the guard tower and was looking out over the lands beyond the gates when a set of horses whinnied from below. Four of them at the main gates. Lagena watched the legionnaire check the papers that the man had and the man and his entourage proceeded inside. Who in the world would be coming in at this hour? Not to mention have the credentials to make it inside the gates... Lagena made her way to the front gates. "Ma'am," the legionnaire said as he saluted. "Who was that that just came through?" she asked, "It's a bit late for visitors." He dropped his salute, but kept his stance at attention. Lagena smirked. She'd trained these boys well. "Ma'am, the letter the man carried was from the emperor himself. Emperor Vespasian," he said nervously, "The man was Effero Soter." "And you remember what the letter said?" "Yes ma'am," he continued, "It said that Proconsul Soter was to take sole control of Urba Tertius and that he would relieve Governor Neocorus of command of the province." Lagena cursed softly and tried to think. "Not good, is it ma'am?" "Not good for any of us," she replied, "But all we can do is wait." "Yes, ma'am." Lagena looked out into the night and silently hoped that Mistura would hurry back.