Chapter 16- The Fall of the First Cohort

"Every warrior must learn the simple truth. That pain is inevitable and suffering is optional."

Malcolm Merlyn

When Cassie had informed Gina of a warband of monsters gathering around, she had just assumed it would be a group of monsters that were causing trouble in the area that needed to be eliminated. Just a standard drill for her Cohort, scout the target, identify and eliminate the weaklings using her archers and ridding the rest using her front-line legionnaires. But there was nothing that had prepared her for the fact that there was a demigod leading the charge. Normally that wouldn't be a problem for her. Fighting demigods was what every roman did as a part of their day-to-day training. But this was wasn't any ordinary demigod. For one, he gave off an aura of power that she had never felt before. It reminded her of Jason's aura whenever he got angry. Almost, electrifying. Just a few moments away from destroying the very land that they stood on.

They didn't even get time to identify what or who they were up against, or set up any traps. The moment they were in the clearing, the demigod seemed to sense their presence. He snapped his fingers and all the monsters turned as one, growling menacingly at her Cohort.

"Send a message to the runners and ask them to contact Cassie or David for back up. This won't be an easy fight," Gina said in a low tone to the legionnaires behind her. She could hear the line of whispers spread back, hoping that either Praetor would be able to send another team in time to help them.

"Archers! Ready your bows!" Gina called out. The sound of bow being drawn was all she needed to hear.

"Gladium Stringe!" The sound of metal scraping out filled the air.

"Enemy Half Blood!" Gina shouted, "This is the First Cohort of Camp Jupiter, The Twelfth Legion Fulminata. On behalf of Rome, we give you one chance to surrender now. Should you co-operate peacefully, we can give you a fair chance at Camp Jupiter and in time give you amnesty for opposing Rome. This is your one chance to lay down your weapons and surrender or we will be forced to take you and your entire army down!"

The demigod let out a laugh, as a wide smirk appeared on his face. "You Romans think you're so great and invincible. Once I'm through with you, you'll be the ones begging for mercy, that I can promise you. You all think you have the upper hand with your flashy swordsmanship, army and repetitive tactics. Allow me to show you real power."

"Cohors, Ad Aciem!" Gina responded, pulling into formation.

"ATTACK!" the demigod roared. He snapped his fingers and Gina's eyes widened in fear, watching the air behind him shimmer, almost like an illusion. It broke like glass, revealing a far larger army than what was reported to them. Unconsciously, she took a step back, trying to analyse the situation that she was facing. Her confidence began waning as she counted how many enemies she was facing. Not to mention this suddenly powerful demigod that stood in front of her.

"Archers! Eiaculare Flammas!" The sky was filled with the familiar flaming arrows raining on the enemy lines.

"A pathetic attempt," the demigod laughed, "Prepare to meet your annihilation!" He thrust his hands forward as a group of hellhounds surged forwards.

"Ue! Ue!" Gina called out as they braced themselves against the force of hellhounds hitting them headfirst with full force. They were given a small moment of relief as those hellhounds were extinguished by flaming arrows, but Gina knew the battle was just beginning.

"Pila Iace!" Gina shouted out of desperation as she attempted to clear the area to give her Cohort some breathing room.

It didn't work as more monsters filled their fallen comrades and spared them no opportunity to gain the upper hand. The First Cohort was forced to fall back as they were being surrounded on all angles. She could see many of her legionnaires were exhausted, some were bleeding through their armour. Gina knew that nothing short of a miracle could save them.

By the grace of Fortuna, the gods answered her prayers.

"OPPUGNARE! HIT THEIR FLANKS!"

Gina let out a gasp of relief, her ears couldn't believe at the stroke of luck. Right on time, the other team from her Cohort led my Michael had joined in time.

"Thank the gods you got here in time," Gina said as he joined her. "I wasn't sure how long we would've held up here."

"Tell that to Alex. He was smart enough to set up sensors at your site. If it wasn't for him, we wouldn't have known to join you up."

"I'll have to thank him later." They pushed forward trying to retaliate against the monsters. With the full force of the First Cohort joined together, they managed to gain some ground.

Or so they thought.

"Allow me to introduce my power, Romans," said the demigod. A cruel smile broadened on his face, his eyes glinting with a sickening look of madness. He stretched his hands forward and a large mist slowly began to envelope the area. Gina's vision began to fog up and then something weird happened. Which, being a demigod, was saying something.

Her vision began to darken. But not like she was passing out. Quite literally her surroundings began to darken but she still felt fully awake. She felt pulses flowing through the wind, gently passing through her body. Then, an overwhelming sense of fear began to flood her. She had never felt so hopeless or filled with so much terror in her life. Her body began to tremble uncontrollably and she couldn't think straight.

All around her, all the other legionnaires were reacting similarly. They were all shaking convulsively as a sense of fear began to seep through their minds.

Then all they saw was a flash of light and the sound of an explosion tearing through the field.

Author's Note: I'm really sorry for the short chapter but I've really really sick the past few weeks. I just wrote this entire chapter last night when I felt up for it. I wrote this chapter in a notebook and had a friend type it up for me so I hope people can appreciate that I can't write my usual 5000 words on pen and paper while in bed. I am confined to home for the weekend though so with the spare time, I'll try to write the next chapter, can't promise right now on when I can get it out, still under recovery and supervision. Hope everyone else is keeping safe and doing fine.

Thanks to all the people who reviewed, sorry I can't give any shoutouts since I'm not the one typing on fanfiction right now but regardless thank you and I'll reply to your comments in my next chapter which, fingers crossed will be very soon.

Take care, everyone

SpiritsOfTheWorld