Fear.
"It will be fine, child. Just go with him." His mother hadn't called him "child" since he was small enough to sit on her lap. At thirteen years old he still felt like one. Especially with that big man looking at him.
Daniel had known Asriad all his life, but never had he been scared of the man until now. But then, never had the man put a sword in his hand. Their small neighboring village had warned them that the Romans were invading. The village Katrine, were crushed, with only a few survivors making it to Daniels village, Mortally. His older brother told him that was ironic, because "mort" was latin for death, the only future their village had now. In his own language it meant river, and they were called that because his was the closest village to the biggest river.
Every man strong enough to carry it had been given a weapon and drafted to fight in battle against the Romans.
"Don't worry, Daniel." Asriad's smile was soft, but Daniel could see the fear in his eyes. "We will have the biggest army of any of the towns. We will have almost seven hundred people, you know." We don't know how many the Romans have. Thought Daniel. Because no one had seen it and lived to tell us . He nodded though. He had to fight. He had heard that in Carthage the Romans had taken every town, killed or enslaved every man, raped every women, of every age.
Daniel looked around his own small town. there were small wooden building scattered about, with their own small garden. People ran around, hiding or preparing to fight, in the same clean, but worn robes he had come to know all his life. Closing his eyes he could hear the wind blowing softly through the trees and flowers in the meadow. He could imagine them dancing their the way he knew they would be, could see the river their town was named for, flowing quaintly, elegantly, next to those beautiful, dancing flowers.
He could also hear the crying of children being hidden. The tears, the goodbyes, the fear, the hopelessness, were all sounds he somehow knew that he would remember forever. He could hear the shouts, the pounding of the blacksmith, the scraping of the grindstone, as it sharpened some weapon. He could not let what happened in Carthage happen to these people. To his people.
He took a deep breathe, and then followed Asriad down to the valley and the bend in their precious river. They weren't really organized very well, so Daniel stood next to his brother. If he died today, he wanted to die there.
Suddenly everything became quiet. In all Daniels life it had never been so quiet, every bird stopped singing, every bug buzzing, every man breathing. Through the silence he heard it. It must have been quiet but it seemed louder, because he knew exactly what it was.
The sound Daniel heard was a rhythmic pounding. The pounding of the Romans feet on his soil. Every nerve in him spiked, ready to attack the intruder. He raised his sword, hand tightening around the handle. He could feel the adrenaline pulsing in his veins, giving him confidence, giving him strength. Of course they could defeat the Romans. All his previous worries seemed so stupid now.
"Fire!" the word startled Daniel. He realized it was spoken by Asriad, but he couldn't see where the arrows would land from where he was standing. His older brother had moved protectively in front of him.
"Shields!" Came from the far side of the valley. He heard a thunking sound, but didn't know what it meant. The words were spoken in the same commanding voice that had said "shields".
" We do not have to fight like this. Surrender now, or we will surely overtake you. Our conditions are reasonable, please, listen." The voice was loud, but at the same time reassuring and certain. Like a parent speaking to a misbehaving child.
Asriads voice was scared, uncertain, unlike Daniel had ever heard before from the man.
"Fine, we can talk."
"Surrender." said the other voice simply.
What was Asrid doing! They could take the Romans. How hard could it be? We have seven hundred men, it doesn't matter how many they have! And without thinking it though any more than that Daniel spoke out.
"Don't do it Asriad! We can take them, don't worry." He must have said it a lot louder than he thought he did, because in that moment every head turned to look at him. From across the field came a deep, hearty laughter. A few people called out in a language he didn't understand. The people surrounding him just shook their heads disapprovingly. Immediately Daniel felt red embarrassment flood his cheeks.
Asriad hurried to speak.
" I am sorry. He does not speak for us. We willingly surrender."
The other voice chuckled.
"It seems that you have quite the confident lad among you. Lower your weapons and lead us to your town. We will discuss the terms of your surrender there."