Hello, brave readers! Today, a beast of ages past is awakened for battle, and Elizabeth and the Lord-Commander reunite at lasts! As always, constructive criticism would be greatly appreciated, and I hope you enjoy...
The Oath Of Mars, Part 11: Cacophony
Even a minute later, as the clamor of stomping feet above began to fade, Asteria's eyes remained where Mars Gradivus once stood, boring through the open air. Elizabeth leaned against the shadowed stone at the base of the wall, the balcony above making it one of the few places where the noonday sun didn't tear down at the arena.
"...I know what it's like, you know. Hating someone like that."
"You don't know a damned thing."
"I know that you've killed innocent people. People trapped in here just like you. And I know-"
Lunging for her, Asteria roars.
"YOU DON'T KN-"
A gauntlet smashes into her faceplate, sending her keeling into the sand.
"-I KNOW WHY! I KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE!"
Staring down at the fallen gladiator, the Peacekeeper lowers her voice and goes on, hands clenched into fists around her weapons.
"I know what it's like, to have someone like that hanging over you. I know what that does to you. I know... that you're afraid. Afraid of him winning, dying with a smile on his face, vindicated! Because I had an enemy like that too. And she won. Despite everything I did, she left this world having proved herself right. And that fact burns itself deeper into me every single day. But Asteria... you've let that fear rule you! You've given up without even knowing it!"
Asteria looks like she wants to respond, to scream back at her that she was wrong, but the older woman cuts her off before she has the chance.
"As long as you survive, you have a chance, right? As long as you breathe, he hasn't won yet, he can't slap himself on the back and talk fondly of the days when Asteria made his arena shine. Even if it means killing a thousand innocent men, feeling their blood run down your arms every day, you'll keep living, so someday you might have a chance at proving him wrong. But tell me, Asteria... when is this golden opportunity? What's the slip-up you're waiting for?! Can't you see that this is the best chance you're ever going to get?! Of course, we both know the answer. There is no 'chance' for you! No way out! Even if Mars Gradivus came into the pits on his lonesome, pressed the trident into your hands, and threw his arms wide in front of you, you wouldn't strike! And that's because..."
Kneeling down, she speaks quieter now.
"...You're afraid. So afraid of slipping up, failing, making a mistake and letting him laugh at you like the toy you've always been to him, that you'd rather sit down here in the dark and butcher for the rest of your life. Until the day you finally grow too weak to come out on top, and you turn into that happy memory you've always been terrified of becoming, all the same. He's broken you."
"...You're wrong!"
Head still swimming from the blow that sent her to the ground, she gets up on her knees, her voice a scream.
"YOU'RE WRONG, GODS DAMN YOU!"
Throwing a weak punch with her buckler, Elizabeth leans away from the blow, and Asteria keels forward onto her hands and knees behind her. Turning around to face her again, Elizabeth places a hand on Asteria's back and leans in close, whispering into the gladiatrix's ear.
"Prove it."
Elizabeth wasn't sure how long Asteria laid, down there in the dirt, but eventually, Asteria speaks, voice quiet.
"Even if we do get out of here... do I even deserve it, after all this?"
Smiling softly, Elizabeth rises to her feet and offers her comrade a hand.
"I think we can worry about that later. Don't you?"
Slowly, Asteria looks up at the Peacekeeper, eyes bloodshot. Then, she takes her hand, something new in her voice. Determination.
"Yeah."
"Your orders, sir?!"
Again, the sons of Rome look to him in their confusion, their panic. They are the weapons of a new Empire, and he the hand that guides them true. Of course, Gradivus could do little true guiding now, with what little he knew, but he could make some guesses. Elizabeth was the mastermind of the detonation, no doubt, and that means that in all likelihood trouble was brewing in the pits.
"Send a half-dozen men to the cells, we shouldn't need more to contain any escapees. The stairway shall serve as a chokepoint. Have the rest investigate that explosion. The direction it came from, it's likely the armory's been targeted. Perhaps we can still catch the sabote-"
Another explosion from the opposite end of the Colosseum to the first. No chance both were caused by the same individual. What allies did this foreigner have, lurking in the shadows?
"Disregard that. Get men to the south end, now. And..."
The scarred veteran smiles.
"...get Typhon's barding ready. We shall give these invaders a show!"
"Goddamn, what is all this shite? This one's just a stick with rocks in it! And this is wot, a sword on the end of a glove?"
"We don't need a play-by-play soldier, just find your damned flail!"
"Alrigh', Alrigh'!"
Leaning out into the hall, Anna shouts to the commander and the Conqueror, another grenade in one hand and a flint striker in the other.
"Seems it's working, sir! Two men wounded by that blast, and the rest flee carrying them!"
"Good work! Buy us more time, and Garth-"
"-Yeah I know, hurry up!"
Throwing the two weapons aside, he digs further into the disorderly pile. A curved broadsword, a great two-handed steel mace, some sort of spring-loaded dagger concealed in a bracer... It seemed that every possible configuration of edge, club and point could be found within this armory, save a mace and chain.
"Ser Garth, surely your weapon would be closer to the surface, rather than deep within? We are the newest so-called captures of this place, are we not?"
"Cor, yeah, it would, innit?"
Turning to Anna, more words on his lips, they promptly die in his mouth as he spots his trusty flail, hanging from a nail just left of the doorway.
"Well goddamn! Ye little rascal! Come 'ere!"
Seizing the weapon from the wall, he kisses the spiked ball as a mother would their baby's forehead.
"Heaven's sake, Ser Garth!"
"Yeah, well, you didn't see it either!"
"That's enough out of both of you! We need to push up to the cells and meet with Elizabeth!"
Hefting his polearm in one hand and tossing Anna her sword with the other, Marius recalls Quirinus' description of the fortress. An armory on north and south, and a route down to the cells on east and west. The east led to the cells of the prisoners, and the west was a wider channel, meant for transferring wild animals in and out of the colosseum. To get to Elizabeth and whatever ne'er-do-wells she's rounded up, they needed to reach the eastern passage. Quirinus, meanwhile, broke off from the rest of them to find her underlings, convince them of Gradivus and Ultor's treachery, and get them out into the grounds around the Colosseum, where they could ensure the escaping slaves could do so unmolested by pursuers, by spear-point if necessary. Then, she would rejoin them and help convince the freed slaves that she and her honor guard were trying to help them.
Of course, all of this is hypothetical. If Elizabeth didn't do her part to make this escape work, all they'd be doing is beating a hasty retreat, and likely getting cut down for their trouble. But it was too late to bother thinking about that. Polearm in one hand and grenade in the other, Marius lets forth a warcry.
"FOR THE IRON! FOR THE ROSE! FOR THE LEGIONS!"
Stepping out from the armory, he roars at the second wave, raking the edge of his axe along the black iron casing of the bomb in his other hand. Sparks fly where the blade and bomb meet, setting the fuse alight, and he throws. The legionnaires, learning from the unfortunate predecessors, lock their shields together, forming a wall impenetrable to arrows, spears and axes... but not the red hot shrapnel the hellish orb lets loose, the small metal shards smashing through the wooden shields and tearing into the men behind them. The damage was grievous, but unpredictable, leaving three of the half-dozen men able to fit side by side into the hallway unharmed as the others beside them lay maimed on the ground. Taking point, Anna shouts to the remaining soldiers in Latin.
"Flee now! We desire not blood, but liberation!"
Shocked and enraged by the damage done to their comrades, the three legionnaires don't bother responding as they charge. As the leading roman soldier raises his arm to strike down on her helmet, she raises her own sword to meet it, one hand on the hilt and the other at the middlepoint of the blade. Meeting the coming blow with the space between her two hands, she swings down, both redirecting the blow into the stone at her feet and slicing through the boiled leather shoulder piece with the tip of the longsword, cutting into flesh. Still holding her blade halfsword, she brings her blade's point around to her side and slashes for her opponent's throat. Sword arm wounded from the parry and shield arm wounded by the bomb, her opponent fails to meet the blow, stumbling back with blood pouring liberally from the mortal wound. Not wishing to leave him there to bleed out slowly, she seizes him by the shoulder with her offhand and drives her blade through his heart with the other. As she pushes her slain foe off her blade, she looks back to her comrades.
Smashing the butt of his polearm into his foe's shin, he drives a plate-clad knee into his now-kneeling enemy's face, crushing his skull between stone balustrade and steel plate. Then, to make sure, he brings his polearm back and drives the spike through the remnant's of the fallen man's head.
"Oi, boss, move outta the way!"
Looking to the Conqueror, Marius can see he had his opponent trapped, flail chain wrapped around a certainly broken wrist. Pulling hard, he slings the soldier, screaming, towards the Lawbringer, and as asked, he steps out of the way, allowing the staggered soldier free access to the bloodied railing, which he promptly tipped clean over, dropping ten feet to the bare dirt below. Rushing to the window, the Conqueror shouts down at the fallen man, laughing as he struggles up to his feet, an impolite fluid running down one leg and a curse in Latin gasping from his lips.
"Go back to your mammy, ye dumb wanker!"
So enamored he was with the sight of his humiliated opponent sprinting clean out of the fort as fast as his legs could carry him, the Conqueror almost fell to the ground as Anna shoved him roughly on the shoulder.
"God's sake, Ser Garth! Who do you think we are? We can't play around with our food like some band of wild-eyed savages, we're knights!"
Cowed by the harsh words, the Conqueror looks back to his comrade guiltily.
"I-i know, eh? Wasn't tryin' to... look, that kid's chin was as smooth as a baby's, he couldn't 'ave been older than twenty. I was just givin' him a chance, is all. I'm sorry."
Stepping back, Anna looks to the bodies at their feet.
"Oh. Of course. I apologize, it's just that... if these men knew what we knew, about this situation and the ambition of the man they served, would they still be fighting against us? We aren't here to hurt their people."
Sighing, Marius turns back down the hallway, to their destination.
"It cannot be helped. We will do what we must for the people of the Legions. It is up to Quirinus to keep the undue bloodshed to a minimum."
"Of course, sir. I pray she succeeds."
"As do I."
"A-aye."
Cleaning the blood from their weapons, the three knights continue onwards, to the holding cells.
Her lieutenants had not been expecting a battle. As Quirinus entered her visiting century's temporary barracks, she was met with the sight of her most trusted officers scrambling about in a panic, desperately donning their armor to meet the unknown threat. She had caught them in time.
"To me, Praetorians!"
Even in this rush, their response was immediate as they dropped what they were doing and assembled before her, half-armored and sweaty.
"Yes, my Aspect!"
They stood tall, straight and in file, awaiting their aspects orders. But what they received was not what they expected as she walked closer, sweeping her gaze over them all and meeting eyes with each and every one of them as it passed.
"At ease, my brothers and sisters. What I tell you now... will not be the orders of an Aspect to her subordinates, but the heartfelt request of a daughter of the Empire to her truest, truest comrades. Do you understand?"
The one closest to her responds quickly, though confusion tinged his voice.
"...Y-yes, my Aspect-"
She cuts him of quickly, with a curt shake of her head.
"No. There are no Aspects here. No century. Just kin. Do you understand, Agrippa, my brother?"
"...Of course, Lady Quirinus. Tell us what it is you desire."
She steps back, folding her hands behind her back, and lets out a shaky sigh. She looks again to the nine decanii that led the Praetorians of her honor guard, and speaks.
"Tullus. Octavia. Sextus. Maio. Agrippa. Lucia. Opiter. Gnaeus. Sequnda. Nine you stand, and to you and the Emperor I am equally faithful. That I promise you, on pain of my death and the damnation of my soul. Hear me now, and have faith. Within our walls are slaves myriad, taken unjustly and slaughtered in a manner most cruel. They were put here, in illegal bondage, by the master of this fortress, and the greatest general of our united lands, the Aspect of Mars Gradivus. By breaking our Emperor's laws, he has shown me, time and time again, that he has lost his respect not only for the Emperor, but the new society that has become his life's work! But his betrayal has not merely been covert. Last night, he struck plainly, without finesse, against myself, a loyal soldier of the Empire. He sent assassins after me, my friends, and after Legionnaire Delilah, a soldier of your squad if I am not mistaken, Maio?"
Aghast, Decanus Maio nods. Pacing before her companions, Quirinus catches her breath for a moment before continuing on.
"These assassins were sourced from the Salii, with the tacit approval of my fellow Aspect, Mars Ultor. Long have the Three Aspects been the pillars that lifted our armies to their rightful place as the finest military on this continent, but now they have rotted! Our fellows threaten to collapse upon one another in civil strife, and bring down the citizens of our Empire with it! To avert this, I must confess that I have taken... drastic measures."
She swallows.
"As of this moment, a small group of soldiers from the northern lands are assaulting this fortress, working in concert with the slaves kept here to liberate themselves and escape back through Mars' Passage to their homeland. I am assisting them in this endeavor."
She waits for the shock to pass. Then, thankful that her friends have chosen to listen further, she continues on.
"Is this treasonous? No. I fight to keep safe the laws and people of this land. My conscious is clear. But all the same, to walk this path is to meet your brothers with your swords, to stand against them instead of alongside. I intend to speak my piece as long as your fellows will allow me, but if they intend to take my life, I will fight to protect it. Preferably, I would like to see the people kept here to be released without bloodshed. That is untenable. But, with you all alongside me, more lives will be saved than lost. If the century of the Praetorians stands alongside myself, and alongside my companions, yet more loyal men of the Empire may be shown the wickedness of their general. Yet more will live in peace, rather than die in senseless carnage. For the sake of preserving life, I ask you -ASK you- to stand alongside me. You will bloody your hands. You will wake in the night, thinking of this day. But you will fight for what is right, and for the Emperor. And you will become paragons for everything that this country stands for. Duty before comfort. Justice before ease. So, as I end my plea... will you follow me?"
Silence. Yet more silence. For ages, they agonized over their choice...
...Or, at least, that's what Mars Quirinus had expected. What she got was quite different.
"I will gather my men, Quirinus! For the Emperor!
"And for you, of course. I shall do the same."
"We are with you to the end. To deepest depth, and through all maelstrom."
Six more voices, all coming to the same decision. Her lieutenants were with her.
"...You will never be free of my gratitude. Mars forgive us for what we are about to do."
At the west end of the Colosseum, where Mars Gradivus' private booth exited into the hallways, two red blurs steadily slashed their way through anything unwise enough to get within arm's reach. Lifting an impaled soldier up into the air on her trident's tines, Asteria flipped the man over her head and slammed him head-first into the stone floor with a sickly crack. Hearing another opponent coming up on her rear, she turns to meet him and throws her buckler like a discus, crushing his throat before he could reach her.
Hurling her trident to finish him off, she pulls weapon and opponent both closer by the leather cord wrapped around the shaft and kicks him off. Scooping her small shield up with her trident and taking it in her hand once more, she turns to see Elizabeth making similarly short work of her own opponents. Running her sword through the legionnaire's right side and out the left, she grips the handle of her long blade with both hands and swings, sending her mortally wounded opponent off the blade and into his comrade. The shocked man leans around his dying friend to keep her in his sight- only to meet a dagger through the eye. Both men slump to the ground, and crouching down, Elizabeth neatly slits the moribund man's throat before retrieving her dagger and standing back up.
"Honestly, how clumsy these goons are. Maybe they should've fought a few rounds down there to hone their skills?" she said, chuckling. Asteria looks at her, muscles still tense, and replied curtly.
"We just killed four people." And with that, she continued down the hallway, weapons at the ready. Looking a bit taken aback, Elizabeth follows behind.
"You do realize these men would have seen you caged down there your whole life, right? You're really telling me you're not enjoying this at all? Gutting blackguards is my hobby, I'll have you know."
"I've never once reveled in a killing. Once someone starts enjoying murder, they're no better than an animal."
"This isn't murder, my dear. It's justice. Once we're done here, not one of these bastards will ever wrong anyone like they wronged you again. Does that means nothing to you?"
Asteria shifts uncomfortably, looking away from the peacekeeper now at her side. "Of course it means something. It's just..."
"Just?"
"This was never the life I wanted. My father chose to live his life as a warrior. I didn't."
"And if you could? You'll have your chance soon, you know."
Before Asteria could reply, the pounding footsteps of yet more soldiers echoed down the halls. Asteria takes her trident and grunts, "Soon doesn't mean now. I'll get there when I get there. For now, we've got a job to do."
"Of course. The objective is to escape- and to take care of the most glorious Mars Gradivus on our way out, I presume?"
"Our objective is to kill Mars Gradivus, and escape on our way out."
As the approaching soldiers turn the corner and catch sight of them, Elizabeth grins, lunging forward with her twin blades.
"Good answer!"
His loyal steed can speak no tongue, but his great grey ears know two; that of the Ayyubid's, Asteria's half-forgotten mother tongue, and his own.
"We ride again, my son. Forgive your father his impatience, I know your wounds still ache, but I have need of you. Today, we show the savages among our midst the might of Rome!"
Crouching down low, the great beast gives his master permission to come aboard, the long, winding limb at his front reaching around and helping Gradivus push up into the howdah upon his back as the war-beast rises once more. Unsheathing his blade, Gradivus points forward, towards the open air of the fortress grounds, and shouts his order down.
"Forward!"
Meeting his call with a great, whistling roar, Typhon marches out into the sunlight, steps shaking the earth.
"Here we are, sir! Stairs down on the east side! We have reached the pits."
"Very good. Garth, you take point, shield up. If the Imperial forces took the slaves to be the cause of all these blasts, we may meet hostiles on the other side. I'll take the rear in case we get flanked. Anna, you've got the lightest protection, so stay between us and keep a grenade at the ready. You can hurl over our heads if need be."
"And needs better bloody well be, if yer gunna! I ain't gettin' blown to bits cause you got the angle wrong."
"Have some faith, Ser Garth! Let us proceed. The sooner we get out of here, the better."
"Indeed. Forward, Garth."
With a grunt, the Conqueror stalks forward slowly, shield at the ready, flail spinning gently at his side so he could swing it quickly if need be. As they approach the door, Garth listens intently for any noise from the other side. Nothing.
"Sounds clear, boss. We bustin' it down? I'd try the handle, but, ah, me hands're full up."
"If whoever's inside bothered to close it, they bothered to lock it, too. Hit it."
"Aye aye!"
Leaning back, he slams the door with his shoulder twice, then his boot twice more. Nothing.
"Ah, son of bitch! Guess it would be solid, huh? Awright, here we go! A-one, A-two..."
Taking a half dozen steps up the stairs, he crouches down for a moment before leaping straight at the door, shield up for a flying tackle.
"FOR THE ROSE!"
The door no longer exists. In it's stead is a heap of shattered oak wood and splinters, topped with a Conqueror laying flat on his stomach with all the wind knocked out of him.
And at all sides stood slaves, armed with the mass-produced roman weaponry they had pilfered. With a shout of surprise, the nearest prisoner raised a pilum up in two hands, ready to stab down at the prone knight.
"Ser Garth!" Anna shouted, drawing her sword as the slaves prepared to attack. Just before the one at the head thrust down, however, a shout came from amidst the throng.
"WAIT, YOU IDIOT!"
Storming through the massed crowd, a familiar praetorian drives her shield into the man's back, sending the man onto his front alongside the wheezing old conscript. Surging to the front alongside her was a sturdy-looking Centurion, one with a faceless helmet tucked under one arm.
"Hold! We're with you! Assuming, of course, that you are the 'other people' that... Delilah..." the Centurion's voice slows down as he looks from the man on the ground to the two beyond the doorway. In particular, the one in the very back.
"Spoke... about. Ah."
Stepping past the Warden, the Silver-plated Lawbringer offers his hand.
"Alexander. My mysterious saviour."
"Knight of Roses. 'Undying' warlord of the south. I am pleased to meet you in better times. Gaius Marius Flavius, was it?"
"Indeed. I thank you for your help that day. You more than likely saved my life. Forgive our..." he turns to Garth, writhing on the ground. "...Intrusion."
"...ahw, god damn it all..."
As the tension winds down, the gladiators relax, though they keep their hands on their weapons and turn their eyes to the now open doorway as the twin Legion soldiers step through. As Marius steps over his splayed-out compatriot, Delilah raises an eyebrow. "He can still fight, right?"
"...jus gimme a minute..."
Taking a place within one of the open cells, Alexander sits in an open bunk, with two legionnaires bound and beaten silly at his feet. Looking down at them mournfully for a moment, he sighs.
"I'm afraid we might not have that long. Delilah's given me the basics of your plan. We group up, find and retrieve Asteria and Elizabeth, steal torches for the way, and flee north for Mars' Passage. Take refuge with your people under the care of the Rose Legion until Quirinus informs the emperor of what has taken place here. The emperor frees the rest of your men and deals with Gradivus and his allies. Then, she sends a small group through with your missing troops, the freedmen follow her back, and the Empire makes sure every slave once held here is returned to their homeland. Is that right?"
"Exactly. Is there a problem?"
"There's two. Did you hear that strange noise earlier? Echoed clear across to here from the other side of the Colosseum?"
Marius shakes his head, but Anna perks up, rising to her feet from her place kneeled at Garth's side.
"Now that you mention, I did. Like a demon trying to play a broken bugle! The adrenaline bade me ignore it in the moment, but now... I should assume you know what it was?"
"Yes, unfortunately for us all. That was Typhon."
With a grunt, the Conqueror forces himself up to a sitting position, wincing as he works his shield arm. Looking to the Centurion, he leans forward and says, "Tha' was wha' now?"
"Typhon. Mars Gradivus' personal war steed. Possibly the most fearsome creature to ever let a man sit on it's back."
Marius looked amused. Anna did not.
"A beast made that noise?! What in the world is it?!"
"Well, he's said it already. It is his steed, is it not? I, too, have a fine steed whose cry can carry for miles. What's the problem?"
Laughing nervously, Alexander shakes his head. "I am afraid you badly misunderstand, sir. Your horse is indeed one of the finest horses I have ever seen. This is not a horse. It is a monster, and the only one of it's kind I or anyone else I know have ever seen. Your horse is a battering ram on four legs. Typhon is a fortress that you have to feed."
Marius steps closer. "...What?"
Delilah decides to take over for the Centurion, leaning up on the wall next to his cell and crossing her arms.
"Imagine this, big man. Think of something like a bull bred together with a large rock, with four pillars for legs, which is about as tall as a house and as long as five of you lined up foot to head, with skin that can the take the point off a blade. At it's front end, it's got a long, flexible arm that's six feet long, which is strong enough to crush a human being into a slurry and sling your 'fine steed' halfway across Aquilus like a skipping-stone. It's also got two fangs poking out of it's mouth. They're the length of pikes, and they're topped with sword blades. Oh, and the whole thing is covered in enough steel barding to crush a human being to death by weight alone. And Mars Gradivus is on top of it. Is that a horse?"
All three northlanders are silent for a very long time. Anna leans against the far wall, dizzy.
"Ah... no, good lady. That does not sound like a horse."
"Yer tellin' me ye've got a bloody DRAGON running around out there?!"
Sighing, Alexander continues. "No, but we might as well. Suffice it to say, the Praetorians will not be able to circle the grounds and help our escape as long as Typhon is on the prowl. And that's only the first problem."
"And the second?" Marius says.
"The second... is that, from what your comrade told me, she and Asteria intend to kill Mars Gradivus before they leave."
"Which means they are, as we speak, in the processing of trying to apprehend this 'Typhon'?"
Delilah nods. "-And when they do, your friend and everyone's favorite Gladiator are more than likely gonna end up as greasy smears on the ground."
"And if any of us try to go out in the open to join them, we will be swarmed by our enemies and slaughtered like dogs."
"That's the long and the short of it."
Sitting down at an open bunk, coarse cloth stretched to it's limits by his armor's weight, Marius furrows his brow, wracking his mind for a plan.
"...Fuck."
Delilah nods once more, a scowl on her face as something dawned on her.
"Uh-huh. Look, Lord-Commander. This is gonna sound... bad, but... your objective is to escape with your people, right? And ours is to inform the Emperor of the coup before Gradivus can hit Rome. And at the end of the day... We don't need either of them for that."
Marius and Alexander both raised their head at that, their heavy gazes enough to make Delilah look away. When Marius speaks again, there is an edge to his voice.
"...What?"
Alexander, meanwhile, does him one better, and shouts.
"You cannot be serious! I refuse!"
Delilah shifts uncomfortably, voice tense.
"Well, I don't. I don't know what that woman is to you, Centurion, but whatever she is, she's a single person. Keeping a war from breaking out is more important. If it comes to it... We should consider leaving them behind."
"Th-that's ridiculous! I-"
"Alexander."
As Marius cuts him off, the Lawbringer returns his gaze to the ground.
"Elizabeth is many things to me. Most of them bad. We have our fair share of enmity between us... but she is not disposable. If they will only escape after Mars Gradivus' draws his last breath, then Mars Gradivus will stop breathing. That is all there is too it."
The room is silent as Delilah tries to conjure up an answer to Marius' ultimatum. Eventually, shrugging her shoulders, she gives up.
"...Well, what then, catamitus?! Saying 'it is not an option' in that cool gravelly voice won't make us any less fucked in a battle on open ground! If we leave the walls of the colliseum, we'll either get crushed to death by Typhon or swarmed by soldiers! We're outarmed and outnumbered. We're not gonna win this battle. The best we can do is survive it."
"It is true that a dozen men will always kill one man, if both groups are similarly equipped and on flat ground. But that is only in a battle between infantry."
"What?"
"Lamri is close by. She always is. She will come if I call, through the broken gate. Atop her, I am a match for a group of armed men, and faster besides. And judging from your description, she is likely faster than your war-beast, If only slightly. I shall go out alone, and support them. And as I said before... that is all there is too it. If we can sacrifice two people, we can sacrifice three. If we fail, run as if the devil were at your back. Do you accept that, Delilah?"
"With due respect, I do not accept it, sir!"
Anna steps forward with a shake of her head.
"That is not an option! You are the Lord-Commander of the Rose Legion! L-let me do it! I can ride well enough!"
"But have you ever fought on horseback, Anna? Perhaps you can ride, but well enough to outmaneuver this beast they have? From what we've heard here, it has an arm! A beast that can move at a horse's pace, with a limb strong enough to hold one down? We cannot let it get close, even for an instant. I am the only one here that can guide Lamri to that end. Anyone else would get caught."
"But sir-!"
"Anna."
He sighs, eyes cast down between his feet.
"Don't misunderstand. As bitter a medicine it is to take, I understand that, in an army, in times of war, there are some lives more readily risked, or even sacrificed than others. I understand that it is irresponsible to put my life at risk for someone lower on the chain of command than myself. You, Garth, and Elizabeth are all of lesser strategic value than myself."
He takes off his helmet and turns it's ruined visor to face up at him, inspecting the gashes and rips across the silver-gilt surface, pristine but a few weeks ago.
"But there is no other way. We both know that. If we are to do this, I am the only person that can be our rider. And if we do not, our only other option is to leave her behind. I imagine you share my thoughts on that plan?"
Anna clenches her hands into fists.
"I... Yes. I do, sir. She is... She's very important to me, sir."
"I know. Will you let me do this?"
Anna steps closer, laying a hand on his great steel pauldrons.
"The Rose is too young to survive after a loss like this. If you die, the Legion dies with you. And I rather like our colors. Come back, sir."
"Hah. Not to worry. We'll all be kitted out in pink and silver for a long time coming. Right, Garth?"
Sitting on the ground now, back to the rough stone, it took a moment for him to realize he was being addressed. Usually, he was happy to be left out of this sort of grim business. But it looks like his Lord-Commander could use a vote of confidence. He grins.
"...'course, boss! Pink's me favorite color! For the Iron!"
Smiling, Anna picks up the call.
"For the Rose."
Rising to his feet and donning his helmet once more, Marius' expression softens under the layer of dented steel.
"...For the Legions."
"My god, is that an elephant? What the hell is an elephant doing here? You can ride them?"
"What? Wait, what? You've seen one before? Something like Typhon?"
"The bones of one, yes. After the bull held at the Imperial Palace escaped, we-"
Elizabeth stops. Turns to Asteria.
"How have you not?! They were native here, weren't they? Where did this thing even come from, if you've never seen one before?! They're herd animals!"
"Herd animals? So that's why he's so lonely."
"What the hell do you care if he's lo-!"
Typhon turns. From their place on the third floor of Aquilus, They are out of Gradivus' earshot, but not his. Both shoot down under the parapet. Whispering now, Elizabeth turns back to her comrade, bewildered.
"How do you even know that he's lonely? He's a beast, what does lonely even mean-"
"Don't do that."
"...What?"
"Don't call him a beast. I mean that. He's smart. He can draw. Understand people when they speak. The only reason he can't say words is because his mouth isn't built for it. I've spent my whole life in here with him. He's..."
Asteria debates with herself for a moment, then sighs.
"Look... this might not be what you want to hear right now, considering what we're trying to do, but... Typhon's my friend. The only one I had for a long, long time. Don't hurt him."
"Are you joking?"
"No, I'm not joking. He only does what Gradivus tells him to do. Typhon loves him. He doesn't understand that what he does is wrong."
"Th-that's not what I meant. Look down at our hands, dear?"
"What?"
Asteria does so, with some annoyance at the patronizing tone.
"Now if you see what I see, you should be laying eyes on a sword, a dagger, a trident, and a buckler."
"A what now?"
"A small shield. Like yours."
"...And?"
"And I think the only way we could possibly hurt your 'friend' there with weapons like these is if we fed them to him. And I've got to say, he doesn't look very hungry."
"...Right. Made your point."
"I should hope so. Now, do we have a plan?"
Asteria looks furtively over the parapet. Typhon's turned away. Gradivus leans over the rails, whispering in his ear. They were out near the outer wall of the fortress. Gradivus' shoulders were slumped. Disappointed. Chances were he was expecting an northlander army for Typhon to wade through. Instead, they sat out on the empty sand, waiting for a challenger.
Waiting. With dozens of meters of open ground between them and him.
"No."
"Wonderful."
Elizabeth furrows her brow.
"Now, what counts as... hurting?"
"I know you just got your mini-bow back, but I'm not letting you shoot him just to lure him over, Elizabeth. It'll hurt."
Looking down at her hand crossbow like she was a child that was just told she couldn't play with it, the Peacekeeper grumbles. "...Jumping on his back will hurt, pillock..."
"What'd you call me?"
"N-nevermind that! What's your idea, then?"
"I could go down."
"You could. We could also hack one another to death right here, if we wanted to die."
"Would you quit being a smartass for one second? Typhon wouldn't kill me, even if Gradivus was shouting too right down his ear. He cares about me. And even if the racket brings any soldiers out, I could always go back in right after, lose them in the halls. All I have to do is get him up against the wall. You jump down and take care of Gradivus. Unless you think he'll knock you out again."
"H-he took me by surprise! Look, I suppose... I suppose it'll work."
"It'll work."
Elizabeth looks over the parapet. Sighs. "...And nothing else will, will it? Damnation."
"It's settled, then."
"...I suppose it is. Good luck then, dear."
"You'll be the one on Typhon's back, fighting Mars Gradivus to the death. You need it more."
"...I-I will, won't I?"
Elizabeth chuckles nervously.
"I'll have you know this is the single most reckless thing I've ever done."
"I don't doubt it. Be glad you don't have to deal with Typhon's arm, though. He doesn't like touching things he can't-"
Asteria, peering over the parapet, stops dead in her tracks.
"What the fuck?"
"A-Asteria?"
Looking over it herself, Elizabeth's jaw drops.
"Oh shit."
"Elizabeth? Who's that?"
"YOU GOD DAMNED MADMAN!"
"Hello to you too, Elizabeth!"
Atop his saddle, Marius Gaius Flavius slams the flat of the Rose against Lamri's barding, the metallic echo sounding through the open square of the castra. First turning to Elizabeth's voice, Typhon starts at the clang of metal on metal, and Gradivus turns along with him to face the knight. As his gaze draws onto the silver plate, Gradivus' grip around his sword slackens, and his eyes grow wide behind his mask. The horse-bound knight. Struck down by Quirinus. Returned, once more, to clash against his steel, as they should've all those days ago.
He laughs. Not mocking, but truly, innocently joyous. The kind of laugh that emerges from a man when he falls in love.
"MARS! You are a hero, my friend! I thought you died there, hanging limply from your stirrup like a sack! I am ever so glad to see you once more! And that steed! Such a noble beast! Steadfast, even after such a journey!"
Looking down, his smile grows wider. Typhon's great bulk rumbles beneath him.
"...And such a destination, as well! Did I ever avail myself of your name, champion?"
"Gaius Marius Flavius, Lord-Commander of the Rose Legion."
Gradivus scoffs.
"Hardly 'Elizabeth Morley', is it? So plain! Is that your name by birth, or do you imitate us?"
"I took this name with my knighthood! Latinisation is all the rage with our nobles. Is Mars Gradivus yours?"
"Hah! I took this name as Aspect! But I will tell you mine if you tell me yours!"
Elizabeth looks to Asteria.
"Does he always do that? Those trades?"
"Those what?"
"N-nevermind, it's hardly important."
Placing a calming hand on Lamri's flank, Marius goads the horse closer.
"...Mario Sforza! But only my mother is allowed to call me that!"
"That's more like it! Sforza! A fine name! And now, your answer! As my mother drew her last breath, killed by the agony of birth, I was cut from her cold womb! And so my grieving father, with bloodied hands, held me high and named me Claudius Julius Cordus, for like the father of the Old Empire, my midwife was the point of a sword!"
"Let us end this then, so you might know the face of she who birthed you!"
Clapping his hands, Gradivus laughs. "Hah hah! That's a very good line! But... I am afraid I have other plans today!" Tapping his gladius on the howdah's railing, Gradivus shouts an order, and Typhon turns away from the warhorse...
...And charges straight at Elizabeth and Asteria. With a shout, both throw themselves back, slamming into the stone wall across from the parapet. A mere foot away was the grasping point of Typhon's long, flexile trunk, stretched to it's full length. Out of reach, just barely.
But, as it turns out, they were just within reach of Mars Gradivus. Striding upon the outstreched trunk, Gradivus leaps onto the third floor with an agility almost as unbecoming of a soldier his age as Elizabeth's own. Grabbing her by the wrist, Gradivus smiles as Typhon takes his other hand and pulls him back over the parapet. With a scream louder than any her lungs had let out for at least a decade, Elizabeth is pulled with him, landing in an unkempt heap in the hot sand below. Gradivus, by virtue of his well-trained beast, lands with considerably more ease, coming down with Typhon's boneless, meaty trunk as a landing pad. With another command in Latin, Gradivus winds his arm around Typhon's trunk and is lifted back to his place on the Howdah, leaving Elizabeth and Marius on the ground and Asteria alone on the third floor.
With a roar, Asteria leaps from the parapet, descending a single floor only to be stopped by the caestus-clad hand of the Aspect, clasped around her throat from his place on Typhon's back.
"We practice once a week to pull stunts like that, him and me, ever since he grew large enough to be ridden! Just to let him get used to handling people without crushing them, mind you, but seems it has paid off on the battlefield! Typhon is a fine dancing partner, wouldn't you agree, O noble lion?"
Throwing her back onto the solid stone floor, Gradivus steps off, leaving the two of them on the second floor, and Typhon alone with the Ashfelders on the open sand. Laughing, Gradivus shouts out over the commons, to the horse-bound knight. "Oh, how I would like the clash steel with you, Marius my friend, but I have more pressing matters! I made a deal with this woman, and I'm due to pay up!" Turning back to Asteria, he spreads his arms wide. "To my tower, if you would? We won't be interrupted there. Neither our talk, nor what comes after!"
Looking down at Elizabeth groaning two stories below, Asteria turns to Gradivus, eyes full of rage.
"Like hell I'm going to do what you tell me! Never again! Gods damn you, I'll gut you right here!"
"Oh, really? This is hardly a place for a duel, you know. Soldiers or slaves could come along any moment!"
Feining deliberation for a moment, he rubs his chin.
"I'll tell you what, I'll fight you anywhere you'd like..."
With a sudden turn, cape billowing behind him, Gradivus sprints away.
"...If you can catch me!"
Turning to his steed, he laughs and salutes as he retreats.
"And do be careful with Typhon, you two..."
One massive foot pounding into the ground, Typhon roars, the trumpeting call sending birds from their trees a mile away.
"...He likes to break his toys!"