Kanuro5: Another chapter long overdue. Teaching school this year has been the most stressful so far in my career, and that definitely put a halt on this. I am glad I got this released, this chapter also had a number of rewrites, such is why it was delayed. I hope you enjoy!
XXI
Why We Fight
Primus Pilus Gaius Aelianus left the Palace after being debriefed on the Twenty-Eighth's new mission after the refugees informed them of what had occurred in Apollonia. They had just slain the Black Masks that had attempted to burn the barracks. By the Gods, would this hunt ever truly end?
He didn't take but ten steps from exiting the Palace before five legionaries led by Centurion Titus Ennius of the Second Cohort, First Century, and Centurion Flavius Libo of the Third Cohort, Second Century, came before the senior centurion. Libo was helmetless, his face and neck were bandaged and bloodstained across the jugular.
Aelianus sighed harder than he realized, "How is that wound, Libo?"
"One of the bastards gave me a serious nick; yet wasn't deep enough." Centurion Libo, then snarled at the memory, "Quick, little bugs, they were."
"Yeah, they were. Gods be good that you'll live."
"Agreed, sir. Wish it was the same for some of my men."
"I know two of them died. But what about Menenius and Gallio? What of their wounds."
Libo lowered his head, "They both succumbed, Primus Pilus."
All the men present lowered their heads as well.
"Masked bastards…" a legionary under Ennius, named Piso, grumbled.
Aelianus turned to Ennius, "How did the search for the sewers go?"
"About that… they were hiding down there. The body slave to Scipio was right in that. We found charred remains of documents and equipment, remains of food not tossed down by the locals, bedding that was too big to carry was burnt, and we found captured Roman weapons. But the assassins were long gone."
"What were their exit points?"
"Only one, through the sea. Some of them may have swum out where the sewer met the water, but I believe, Aelianus, that these men escaped through the entrance. Half of my men are still searching down there."
"So, Primus Pilus, what occurred in the Palace?" Centurion Libo asked.
The men had eyes of subdued eagerness to hear the news. Aelianus clenched his eyes, reviewing everything that had happened, and the news that Julius Germanicus had told him that just broke.
He sighed before beginning, "The assassins came to the Palace with traitors in the rank of the City Watch. They sought to end the life of Lady Brutus and her child, yet Scipio Lupus' plan bore fruit and they boxed them in and vanquished the assassins. Scipio himself tracked down the ringleader at a tavern and skirmished with him, the assassin is dead."
The battle-hardened men began to exchange subtle grins of victory, some of the legionaries began chuckling.
Legionary Piso was the most vocal, "Gods be good, we did it. We did it! Now we can return on home and actually rest up."
Aelianus placed his hands on his hips; his head swiveled from side-to-side slowly. "No, we are not returning home boys."
The jovial mood ceased as a thunderbolt.
"What?" Centurion Libo asked.
Aelianus sighed harder, "We are not returning home to Italia. We shall sail to Illyria, and head to Apollonia."
"What?!" the centurion asked more incredulously. "But we vanquished all the assassins?"
"Not all of them. A core of them still escaped, and they sacked the Roman city of Apollonia at the head of a mercenary army."
The men were silent, some mutely sputtering their lips in disbelief. After a moment, only Centurion Ennius found his voice, "Apologies, Aelianus, but how have you come by this?"
"From Legatus Germanicus himself."
"B-But he just returned not too long ago, yes?"
"Not too long ago, a refuge ship from Apollonia landed, and they told the patricians, and the Legatus just told me five minutes ago exactly. 'Relay this information to all men in the Legion: We are leaving Athens by sunrise tomorrow, and we are heading to Apollonia, this mission of ours is far from over.' "
"Permission to speak, freely?"
"Granted, Ennius."
"For what purpose are these assassins so special that we, Julii soldiers, are tracking them down all across Greece? For what purpose do we have Sulla's men with us? What army have these assassins amassed that threatens a city held by the Brutii? For what purpose are we doing this?"
All the eyes turned to Aelianus. He stared at the face of the centurion who would eventually replace him as Primus Pilus, and he couldn't come up with a good answer, for he himself didn't know the purpose.
He finally answered, "Because we are good soldiers, and good soldiers follow orders. Good soldiers slay the enemies of the Republic. And we are not good soldiers, we are the best. And that's all there is to it."
Ennius nodded, "I understand, sir." He said it but didn't mean it. Sometimes, it was best to give an answer and just move on.
"That boy Legatus is a damn fool!"
Somehow, that one sentence was loud enough for the men of the Twenty-Eighth to hear clear as day through the crowd that surrounded the palace. They turned to its origin. Leaving the Palace was a group of a dozen senatorial legionaries, one of them being a centurion. Aelianus recognized the man as being Centurion Numerius Furnius, the most senior centurion of the senatorial legionaries that were attached to the Twenty-Eighth.
Furnius sneered audibly, "That boy has the nerve to be absent and then arrive when everything is in chaos and the matter is settled, then he orders us to leave somewhere else?"
"It baffles the mind," a legionary of the senate said.
Furnius continued, "A craven, that's what he is. Tribune Rupilius gets assaulted by that Scipio cur and he does nothing to settle that matter. Then he orders Tribune Rupilius to inform us instead of himself… is that the worth of the legion we are attached with?"
"Hey!" Ennius bellowed in their direction. "Silence that mouth of yours!"
The men of the senate ceased in their roaming and turned to the men of the Twenty-Eighth.
Legionary Piso was approaching them, followed by the rest, "Were you disparaging Germanicus? The balls on you bastards!"
"You must have been dropped on your head for speaking to me in that manner!" Furnius growled.
"What man are you to disparage the Legatus?"
"That is it. For speaking to me as such, I'm going to condemn you to flogging. Maybe the lash can cure your insolence."
Aelianus reached them, "You cannot order him flogged!"
"I can, and I have," Furnius retorted.
"Mind your tongue, you urchin! You speak to the Primus Pilus," Libo growled.
"That man is not of our legion; we swore no oaths."
"Indeed!" shouted another. "None of you hold the right to speak, Briton lovers. You shamed us all by surrendering to Britons."
"Enough! Cease in this petty argument!" Aelianus commanded.
"You purple dogs!" Ennius spat out, "Your memory would have been damned if we hadn't rescued you!"
"Hey! I said enough," Aelianus tried to shout louder.
"We stand damned for what your Legatus did all those years ago!" Furnius spat back. "Him and your whole damn legion are filled with nothing but disgrace!"
"Oh, you sack of filth!" Piso roared.
The legionary charged forth, dropping his weapons and shield, he threw a hard right hook into the officer's face.
A senatorial soldier delivered a right hook of his own against Piso. Two men of Twenty-Eighth rushed that soldier, followed by three senatorial soldiers. In a blink, a growing brawl emerged between the Twenty-Eighth soldiers and the senatorial soldiers. Fists and profanity were exchanged viciously, the Greek populace watched on in bewildered silence. The only ones seeking to break it up were the centurions.
"ENOUGH! ENOUGH!" Aelianus pushed and shoved his way into the middle.
Promptly, the men began to calm, staring at one another with simmering anger, enough to boil a kettle of water.
Centurion Furnius wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, pointing at the legionary, "That man struck me! He ought to be crucified!"
Ennius was holding back Piso, the man under his command, "And you dare slander your own Legatus! You ought to be decimated!"
Aelianus spun around and stuck his finger in his face, "Ennius, silence! Let me handle this!" he roared.
He spoke to every man present, "There has been enough fighting today! We have orders, and every man shall fall to command! Any man who still desires a fight with one another, shall face me in single contest! Come! Who desires a fight?! What?! No man? Good! Because if you do not cease now, Mars won't be able to save you from me!"
Aelianus was absolutely seething, he didn't even realize his own sword was half-drawn. Many of the men, both Twenty-Eighth and Senate, were drawn to the sword halfway out the scabbard. A lot of them failed to meet Aelianus' eyes.
"Every man, fall out, now!" the Primus Pilus barked. "Except you."
The brawlers began to disperse, some mumbling under their breath. Aelianus remained, along with Centurion Furnius.
"Walk with me," Aelianus commanded.
The both of them walked in silence for a few minutes, moving past the crowd and around several corners. Aelianus stopped in front of a statue of a Greek hero once revered by the ancient Athenians. Aelianus turned to face the man, disappointment masked his face.
"As a centurion, is this how you conduct yourself and your men, Furnius?"
His face was stonelike.
"You disagree?"
"Permission to speak, freely?"
"Granted."
He looked to Aelianus, "We soldiers of the Senate rather be in Rome where we belong. Not here in the ass end of the world looking for shadows and myths."
"You are of the Senate; we are of the Julii. But as soldiers, we all go where we are ordered. Can we at least agree on that?"
He exhaled softly, "Yes, Primus Pilus."
"As for 'shadows and myths', you see the bodies being removed and gathered. Nothing mythical about that, isn't it?"
"I want to know the enemy that we are fighting, so do my men."
That got a chuckle out of Aelianus, "On that, we agree once again. But what does Rupilius tell you?"
"The same thing your general does, that we are hunting the Black Masks to exterminate them."
That last remark caused a stiffening in Aelianus' back. "He is our general. Yours and mine. You are attached to the Twenty-Eighth, and as soldiers, we follow those in command."
"He is no Sulla."
"For better or for worse. He is Germanicus."
"The man who brokered with barbarians."
"He did… you were there, at Samarobriva, weren't you?"
"I was. With Praetor Maxentius as our general, we marched up there as five legions, but—"
"You left with less than a thespian troupe."
"Yes."
"I recall that you wanted to die instead of surrender."
"Over 25,000 men were casualties for that town… all the horror that we endured… and to have a boy convince our Praetor to surrender to the very enemy that caused our misery? We were the arms of the Senate… and we were forced to surrender. Yes, I would have rather let those barbarians kill me."
"And yet you stand before me now, years later. For what purpose did you not take a sword and open your stomach when you returned to Rome?"
Furnius was silent, he stared ahead.
"Because there exists a purpose for you, in which you choose not to take your life. There's a purpose out there that has you serving under a man you despise. A man who fought through trials on par with yours, who lost his father in the middle of a blizzard, who could have chosen to return back to his home, but he chose to risk it all to save the Praetor and your men. Because that was his mission."
Furnius did not utter a sound.
"You hold no confidence in Julius Germanicus, eh? Fine. I shall not convince you. But he shall. He makes a habit of changing the opinions of others about himself. You despise him, you despise me, and all the men of the Twenty-Eighth? Fine. You swore no oath to serve us loyally, but you were commanded by the Dictator. Live with that hatred. But on your honor as a Roman soldier, as a centurion of the Republic, you owe it to yourself to uphold the discipline of your men, as I owe it to myself."
Furnius' exhaled through his nose. He then looked into the eyes of Aelianus, "This lecture of yours changes nothing between the men of the Senate and the Twenty-Eighth."
"Of course not, but we both need discipline and civility. You can go on hating us and wishing you were in Italia, and we'll go on hating you and wishing you were away from us. Civility and discipline."
"I agree, Primus Pilus, gratitude."
"Dismissed."
Aelianus initiated a salute. Furnius saluted back. He then turned, and he left.
Aelianus removed his helmet and reclined against a low wall next to the statue. He felt a migraine coming on. This turmoil with the men of the senate and the Twenty-Eighth was agonizing for him. He lost count of how many fights he had to break up between these groups of men. A part of him was more than content that they were leaving Athens, but another part of him was irritated beyond measure that they weren't returning to Arretium. He thought of what the men had told him. He wanted to know as well. Why are they fighting this enemy?
He sat there, lost in his own thoughts for ten minutes, until he heard the familiar voice of his general. He looked up to see Vitus Julius Germanicus instructing his bodyguard of Thracians as they walked through the street. What luck.
"Legatus!" Aelianus called over. "Over here, may I speak to you privately?"
Vitus saw him and waved. He told his Thracians to move on ahead and went to see his senior centurion.
"Aelianus, I did not expect you here."
"I chose to take a slight break. I passed your command to several centurions, and they shall relay that onwards."
"Good."
"Legatus, would you sit beside me?"
"Oh, uh, sure."
Vitus took off his helmet and sat next to the reclining Aelianus.
"Is there a problem?"
Aelianus sighed, "Yes. Within the Legion."
Vitus pursed his lips, he silently thought over it.
"The men are not getting along," the general stated.
"No, they are not, Legatus."
Aelianus could see the young man was deep in thought.
Aelianus spoke up, "Legatus, what is harming the Legion is the infighting."
"The senatorial men?"
Aelianus nodded.
"Legatus, the Twenty-Eighth shall be with you. It's just these new men… Sulla's men, they hold no faith in you. Only one of them was a veteran of the Samarobrivan War, yet they all heard what we did with the Britons. How you spoke with their prince and brokered a surrender."
Vitus rolled his eyes, "So only one of them was there, and yet they all judge me? That sounds about right…"
"Indeed."
"I thought our inclusion in this mission would form a bond where our differences could be settled."
"There is no settlement because… because… there's no… purpose, Legatus."
Vitus exhaled through his nostrils.
Aelianus rubbed his mouth, "Legatus, we know the threat of these Black Masks exist, we put them down in this city. Yet this could have been a task for the Town Watch, not soldiers. We're all meant for a battlefield, not garrison duty. The men of the senate feel that, as our men do. We sail across the sea, and we are stuck in a city that hates us. And…"
"And what, Aelianus?"
He pressed his lips tighter, "They, mostly the Senate's soldiers, think less of you for leaving Athens. You were gone when most of the action was here, and you returned as soon as the fighting ended."
Aelianus witnessed the irritation on his commander's face, "As if I have to explain myself to them… I had to venture with Brutus Equestris, we procured vital information about the enemy."
"Of that I have no doubt. Yet that does not change that you were absent from the city."
"I gave you command over the legion, as well as Rupilius when—"
Aelianus saw the young general's eyes shoot up suddenly.
"What is the matter, Legatus?"
Vitus lowered his gaze, his eyes seemed to have sharpened, "Have you bore witness to Rupilius attempting to conciliate the tension of the men?"
"No, Legatus."
"Have you bore witness to Rupilius addressing the men of the Twenty-Eighth, in an attempt to raise their spirits?"
"No, Legatus. I have only witnessed him doing such to his own men, he gives command to the Twenty-Eighth soldiers."
"Aelianus?"
"Yes, Legatus?"
"What is your measure of the tribune? What do you think of him as a man and a leader?"
Those eyes that can pierce armor, he is his father's son… "Is this confidential, Legatus?"
"Yes."
"As of this moment, I hold little faith in Tribune Rupilius, and I do not believe that to change. Rupilius and Scipio Lupus do not get along, and though Lupus isn't the most… professional, he held desire in his work, and his plan paid off. Rupilius, holds ulterior motive. I believe that he was sent to spy on us by Sulla, as do the other centurions, and as I believe that you may suspect yourself, Legatus. He orders the men brashly and shows preferential treatment to the men of the Senate, he frequently recalls the cohorts I order to search a certain area that has less activity and assigns the cohorts of the Senate to those positions. He belittles my action in front of others, and he refuses us to ask further questions about the Black Masks. I was there where he killed that Black Mask who would have been our prisoner. What rational man would have done such? His quality is substandard, Legatus. I desire to be wrong in this regard, but he has proven otherwise."
"Anything else I should know?"
"Yes, sir. You cannot leave the Legion when we are in a foreign land. Unless you hold political office, you cannot leave us alone. Not more than two days."
"I understand. Gratitude for your words, Aelianus."
Vitus ended that with a smile. A smile that Aelianus recalled he had when he first sat down to talk to him in earnest nearly four years ago, when Aelianus was once a legionary and a part of the Mighty Three. That genuine smile of his that spoke of honesty and gratefulness.
Aelianus had said all he had to say. He knew Vitus couldn't remove a tribune, especially one so connected at the political level. Aelianus also knew that Vitus had an inkling of what was going on, he was sure that he had spoken to Scipio Lupus about what happened, and Lupus was the vocal sort who would speak out if he had felt that he had been wronged.
It felt… good to get all of that off his chest. He just hoped that Vitus would come up with a plan to unify this legion.
Three days the voyage on the waves has been.
The Gods must have favored their purpose; the wind has been with them since they left Athens. Gaius Scipio Lupus had his entire fleet at full sail. The mood of the men was sour, and Vitus Julius couldn't blame them. He recalled how they all were when they left Athens, sullen and quiet. They wanted to be home, not out looking for more assassins. As did he. All this occurred because Vitus left Arretium to reunite with his wife.
He was currently reclining against the deck of Scipio's flagship, twirling and spinning his dagger between his fingers, a trick the Thracians taught him. He stared into the steel of his weapon and remembered Genua during the Bloody Ides. He remembered how Titia saved his life.
I hope you are doing well, Titia, he thought to himself.
Something in his chest grew heavier, but he couldn't place a feeling of what it was and why he felt that way when he thought of her. This whole journey was beginning to feel like a campaign that kept on extending for seasons on end. He wondered if we would see her again within a year. Perhaps longer.
He looked up from his knife and gazed at Marcus Brutus Athenus Equestris, resisting his arms off the side of the ship, staring into the endless waves of the sea. Both of these men were guest of Scipio's Lupus on the ship. Their retinue were onboard as well. Ardunas was boasting his skills of archery as he flirted with Equestris' decurion, Serapia, yet she—to her credit—held a smile of sweetness and poise as she turned down his advances, wishing instead to just hear about improving her own archery skill. The boys, Domitius and Labienus, were sparring one another with renewed vigor, they had such energy since bloodying themselves during their first time in combat. Equestris' lead decurion, Vardanes, was giving Oroles a lesson in advanced Greek, while using a few phrases in Thracian to assist translation, a language that Vitus was himself surprised that Vardanes knew quite satisfactorily. Yet the third decurion under Equestris' command, the Roman Lucceius, was absent, and he had been so when they left Athens.
From where Vitus was sitting, he could witness the eyes of Brutus Equestris, they were empty and distant, not knowing what would become of him. That emptiness that Vitus saw, he knew why he had that. His family that he left behind, the day after they were attacked.
Vitus recalled the hour they were to leave Athens. The Prefect of the city, other senior officials, Demetrius who would now stay at the Brutii residence, and Servilia Brutus and her son, came to see them off. Servilia approached him and made a short bow that was defined with grace.
"Your time in our city was short, but he held a good conversation when you were here. Gratitude unto you for keeping my husband safe, Julius Germanicus," she said to him.
He bowed his head before speaking, "And gratitude for you in opening your home to us. It is an honor to fight beside your husband."
"And with that, I continue to ask that you keep my husband safe in your journey. Please eradicate all those who wear that mask."
"We shall, I promise."
She had then turned to Lupus,and gave him a regal bow, "I was prejudiced against you. You held my disdain, I thought you a lecherous wastrel, and yet you risked everything to save this city, the life of me and my son. Words can never express my gratitude and apologies, Gaius Scipio Lupus."
"Raise your head, Servilia Brutus. I am many things; I am lecherous, I admit. You cannot paint me with one stroke of a brush. But what can be said about me, that I ardently stand by, I shall always protect my allies and their families. I was not the most hospitable guest, but I extend my gratitude for opening your home to me."
"I ask that you keep my husband safe."
"I shall try my utter best."
Servilia then had turned to Suba, "To you I was also prejudiced, yet you love your husband as I do mine. You saved me and my son, I shall be in your debt, Princess Suba."
Suba had giggled cheerfully, "Gratitude, Lady Servilia. But please, do not call me Princess. I enjoyed our talk, and I believe that we leave as friends. My husband loves Athens, we shall return, and I hope we can dine together, us and our husbands."
Servilia smiled, "I shall like that."
She then turned to her husband; her smile began to disappear. "Does there stand no pause in your judgment to leave Athens?" she asked him.
"Many things give me pause, Servilia. But this insidious threat has not vanished. It strikes out west, and as a Brutii, I cannot stand aside and let allow it to fester."
"But Julius and Scipio, they shall go!"
"If not for them we all may have been killed in the shadows. I owe it to them that I must follow and aid these two."
She hugged him tightly one final time. He was smiling, "I shall return, of this I know."
"Indeed, I demand it."
Vitus continued his staring at the form of Equestris. To leave your wife and young son behind because duty and honor demands that you go…
Titia….
He sheathed his dagger and thought of that impish smile she would often give when she teased him.
"Smoke! White smoke!" someone above deck shouted.
Everyone ceased what they were doing and rushed to the starboard side of the ship. Vitus pounced quicker than a cat to investigate. Wafting in the distance were multiple plumes of smoke, rising in the air to the heavens. These plumes were thick, thicker than a bireme. From the distance, one could make out the port and city of Apollonia, but with great swathes of missing infrastructure that should rightly be standing tall but had now vanished.
"Admiral! Corpses off the bow!"
Tunic-wearing corpses rocked with the waves, bloated and grey. Some had the gulls perched on their backs, picking off pieces of exposed flesh. Some were facing downwards; others were on their backs with their heads submerged. What they all shared in common was the grey and empty stares of their water-logged eyes, forever transfixed into a dark gaze.
Domitius squirmed, "Gods' mercy… how… wh-what… there are so many…"
Labienus grimaced, "How did the mercenaries kill this many so quickly? Did they sink a ship?"
"No, lad, these corpses have been dead for days." It was Plinius, Scipio's second-in-command, "Immediate death, and bodies sink. Give them a day, and they float. They've all been slain days ago. That's why they appear so… grotesque."
"Oh Gods…" Domitius said once more.
Vitus Julius took it all in silently. His hands clenched to the side as that of a bird of prey.
The ships parted the rug of corpses in the water, the decaying bodies lightly thudded into the stern of the ships. By now, every man above deck was peering over the side of the ships, some of these hardened marines and sailors covered their mouths with cloth to wade off the stench.
Plinius went to Scipio Lupus, "Admiral, from what I can see, they set fire to the ships that were docked."
"Indeed, I see that as well."
"The piers are most likely destroyed, where do we dock?"
"Bring us in, there has to be a pier that is still standing. Some ships made it out."
"And the rest of the fleet?"
"Signal them to hold, allow our ships to process first. Give them fifteen minutes. Once we land, find where they can dock, if no space is available, then we rotate piers."
"Understood."
Plinius turned to leave, but he ceased. He noticed the forlorn expression on his patron's face. The guise of laxness that he usually wore had been stripped away, he wore a true face of horror. Plinius placed his hand on Gaius Scipio's shoulder, "Lupus, we shall have our revenge."
Scipio Lupus's face began to contort. He nodded surely, "Yes, Plinius, we shall." He inhaled before bellowing "Bring us in!"
The ashes of the city were caked to the ground.
Vitus's nostrils were clogged by the horror around him. More than half of the buildings were burned to the ground. Citizens that wore the masks of phantasms roamed the streets, their eyes hollow and gaunt. Fatigue and misery were on everyone's face. They were still sifting through the rubble and pulling out corpses. Those that had not yet been cremated were draped in sheets, rotting beneath.
An hour ago, the moment the ships could safely dock in the ravaged shipyard, the survivors of Apollonia nearly wept at their arrival. Elements of the First Cohort were the first to disembark, and it took them nearly half an hour to pass through the crowd, begging them for entry onto the ships.
By now, the majority of the ships had docked and most of the Julii soldiers, Scipii marines, and Brutii cavalrymen had disembarked and roamed the desolation. Vitus had now passed an entire row of such bodies; he stopped county after twenty. The bathhouses were set ablaze, the prisons were ransacked with the prisoners killed where they were held, and the Temple of Apollo was desecrated. The vestigial remains of the golden Sun God himself littered the steps, broken and undignified. An old woman came to him and clung to his leg, thanking the Gods that he had arrived, and he and his men were their savior.
He couldn't even bring himself to scoff at that.
Whom did he save?
He stood there watching. Watching with those multi-colored eyes of his, eyes that some sneered behind his back which was a curse, a blight upon the Julii, how he stood an apparition made flesh. And such is how he felt.
Inhuman.
Wrathful.
Confused.
Foolish.
Dead.
He could not weep. He could not shout. He could not curse. He could only speak soft commands to others, and yet when he spoke, he could not recognize his own voice. It was worn-down, tired, defeated. A man he stood no more. A man of blood he was not. Living? He did not feel as if it was so. This was not his first time seeing a Roman city destroyed, but it never got easier for him. For among the ruins of a Roman city that burned, of a mission he undertook, he stood nothing but a hollow man.
And yet the one whom seemed to match him in this regard was the man he met only in the span of weeks. Marcus Brutus was silent the entire time.
He walked among the city, his feet weightless, carrying him in a dismal trance. He could have roamed on unto the end of the Earth. A meteor from the heavens smiting him would have brought him relief from this waking nightmare that he now found himself in.
Vitus peered at Marcus, and wondered whether he himself was to blame for this Brutii's misfortune.
"Equestris!"
Serapia came running up, Marcus couldn't even respond, he turned his head to the woman.
The gasping Serapia spoke the words, "We have a survivor from the Palace. A slave. She bore witness to everything."
The slave's face was heavily bruised, the swelling was compressing from its apex. Her lips had slash marks that would lead to permanent scarring. She was draped by a raggedy blanket, stained with someone else's blood. Dry streams of tears had formed a somewhat permanent mark on her filthy face, caked by debris and ash. She had not bathed, and her eyes were filled with bags of exhaustion.
Marcus looked at this slave girl, who couldn't have been more than seventeen. He kneeled in front of her, peering into her eyes, Vitus finally heard Marcus say something for the first time. "What is your name?"
Her head craned slowly towards him, "Lucia, Dominus…" her voice was hoarse.
"Lucia, I am Marcus Brutus Athenus Equestris. You are with us now. Speak. We know invaders attacked Apollonia, but what happened with Governor Vibius and his family?"
She clenched her eyes in remembrance before speaking, "The invaders… they were speaking in Greek. There was a man who had a patch of cloth around his nose, I believe it was missing. His name… was Heracleo…"
Vitus noticed Marcus Brutus gnashing his teeth.
The slave continued, "He spoke to the Dominus, Governor Vibius Major. He had vengeance in his heart; he spoke of the sins that the Brutii committed against the Greek people. Then, Heracleo ordered the death…" she was fighting back tears.
"Speak," Marcus commanded softly. "Inform me."
She nodded with regained composure. "The Dominus's son… Vibius Minor… Heracleo ordered his men to throw him from the Palace window…"
Marcus lowered his head with shut eyes. Serapia knelt beside him and patted his shoulder. Vitus craned his neck upward and examined the sheer height of the Palace. A shiver ran through him as he visualized the mess.
"Did they kill Vibius Major and his wife in the palace?" Marcus asked, but he didn't raise his head.
"No, they dragged them out. And they killed them in the courtyard."
"Who else…?"
"Vibia, their daughter…" a tear fell down her cheek, on the same path of those dried tear streams.
He raised his head, opened his eyes. His fists were shaking, his voice was breathy, "What happened to her?"
"One of the Black Masks that infiltrated the Palace… he dragged her to a closed room… she was screaming… then she stopped… another Black Mask then entered… once the two of them left, I went in, she was… it happened… in her heart she was stabbed…"
The slave began sobbing.
More Roman soldiers began to gather around the weeping slave. Vitus could hear Domitius gasp at that moment.
"But the grandchild… Heracleo abducted Amelius, he abducted her child!"
"What?! For what purpose did he take him?"
"He claimed he was going to mold Amelius in the way of a mercenary, as Romans do to the conquered… He took the child with him. I know not if he lives…"
Serapia sighed, "We received issue that several citizens were abducted as well, women and the youth. Last count was around fifteen."
"How long did they remain here, Lucia?" Marcus asked her.
"They pillaged from night to midday. We thought they would occupy and slaughter everyone. I believe the last of them left a few hours after sundown… they left by road and were seen heading north."
Marcus placed his hand on the slave girl's cheek, she wept more at his touch.
Vitus noticed a figure walking up right beside him. He turned his head to see Gaius Scipio, nary a smile nor grin on his shaved face. His eyes were like his, cold and furious.
"They took most of the food and burned down the rest, we have little here for ourselves," she told him. "A few survivors even took their own lives, their children were dead, their businesses burned, Apollo was destroyed. We heard those monsters cheer, they said that Rome was in their reach. He boasted that their 30,000 men would utterly sack Rome…"
That last comment struck as a lightning bolt. The men around them murmured at the sheer number of what they heard. Gaius turned to Vitus, as if questioning the validity of what they heard.
The slave continued, "He said they would desecrate Rome as they have done here in Apollonia. Leaving her with nothing. Nothing… nothing… nothing…"
And so, she repeated, until her voice strained, and then she cried. She forgot her station, she clung to Marcus, weeping into his armor. He grabbed her firmly and held her tight in his embrace. His eyes peered outward for miles, looking at nothing.
Vitus grunted suddenly, "Labienus, Domitius, fetch all the centurions. Bring them to the Forum."
"A-All of them?" Domitius repeated.
"Everyone. From the Twenty-Eighth to the centurions from the Senate. Get Rupilius too. And once you do, join us as well."
Primus Pilus Aelianus had the centurions in ranking formation from the junior cohorts to the more veteran ones. The officers of the Twenty-Eighth stood in a block formation to the right, whilst the officers who were attached from the Senate stood in a separate block formation to the left.
"Attention!" Aelianus shouted. All men snapped themselves straight.
"At ease," Julius Germanicus told them. All men returned to a parade rest.
Normally, this was where Germanicus would be channeling the interior of his father, the dutiful general who always spoke with authority. But as he looked around at this despair, he felt that another approach was necessary. Germanicus would be entombed for now, and Vitus would come to the forefront.
Vitus removed his helmet and placed it under his left arm; he rustled his auburn hair with his right hand. He commanded with an exhale, "Everyone, remove your helmets."
No man moved initially. Their heads were turning, their eyes shifting from corner-to-corner as if to verify they heard him correctly.
His voice was soft, yet clear enough to be heard, "Go on, seriously. Every man present, remove your helmet."
The men followed their general's command. They removed their helmets and held them under their arms. Aelianus did so, as did Domitius and Labienus, Rupilius was the last man to remove his helmet. Vitus allowed a moment of silence to pass. He inhaled through his nose, allowing the stench of death to permeate further in his mind.
"Look around you. Go ahead, look around you," he commanded.
The men once again turned their heads, observing the devastation of the Forum. Carts full of corpses were being pulled, the homeless drifted endlessly in a mindless stupor. Crows were feasting on the carrion of rotting animals. The officers were absorbing it all.
Vitus pointed to the cobbled stones beneath him, "This. This is the heart of any Roman city. Other patricians claim it would be the administrative palace of the governor or the grand temple. I'm not like other patricians, as many of you are aware. I know that the heart of any city is its Forum, where all walks of life descend to conduct business and live. Observe now, this heart of Apollonia."
The men once again took another ponderous look.
Vitus continued, "You probably heard from interviewing survivors of what happened. That bands of mercenaries assaulted the city… and burned it. Well, such is true. Greek mercenaries in the thousands razed Apollonia to this state you see before you. They attacked in the middle of night with no warning, no siege, they somehow got in, and destroyed everything.
"For what purpose am I telling you this? Because you deserve the truth. After a long campaign in Germania, you all needed deserved rest. Then after the Heir of the Julii…" Vitus paused. He still recalled Statius asking him about purchasing a monkey for his suitor. "… my cousin, was killed, you were looking for assassins who wore black masks. And then I brought you to Athens, where we searched endlessly, until a few days ago, they were rooted out with the help of Gaius Scipio Lupus. And now we are here in Apollonia… I told you to tell the men that we were hunting the assassins. But such a chase has grown larger than we could have initially imagined.
"I hear some of the men, and some of you, whisper that now that these men are dead in Athens, our mission is accomplished. It is not. These masked assassins have a name. They are known as the Arcani, and you probably learned since being in Athens and speaking with the Scipii marines and the Brutii watchmen, that they murdered key patricians in every Roman city. They are an insidious threat that needs to be exterminated. I was personally tasked by Sulla himself. If you recall, I left Arretium a few times and I met Sulla in Rome. We tracked them down in Athens, and I yet again left the Legion and traveled with Equestris. It's time I told you the truth.
"When I was with Brutus Equestris, we engaged with raiders who actually belonged to notorious mercenary bands, their leader is Heracleo, a man who hates Rome with an inferno in his black heart. These Arcani have hired these mercenaries and merged them into a singular army. And it is that army that sacked this city you are standing in… And yes, these citizens are Brutii… but they are still Romans. The Civil War is over, we are all Romans once more.
"These mercenary bands are marching on Rome. And they plan to sack whatever city stands in their way. They are moving north. And soon, they shall leave Brutii territory and enter the northern lands of the Julii at the head of Italia. Our home. This is why we fight. This is why I brought you across the sea and into Greece. This threat must be stopped. Heracleo must be stopped. The Arcani must be stopped."
Vitus exhaled. He could read the faces of his officers who silently stared at him. The only one with a hint of irritation was his tribune. Vitus walked down to his centurions; his voice held steel in it.
"You are to inform your centuries of what I have told you. Every man in this Legion is to know our purpose, to know why we march, why we fight. This menace shall be stamped out in the province before they come to our home. We face assassins and mercenaries who seek to destroy all that is Roman."
He stopped in front of the Senatorial centurions, he stared into the eyes of Centurion Furnius, "But they shall not destroy us. Look around you, does this not fill you with anger?"
The volume of the centurions matched that of eager recruits, "Yes, Legatus!"
"I march to avenge my family and Apollonia. I march to fight! Shall you fight with me?"
"Yes, Legatus!" they shouted louder. As did the senatorial officers.
"Good," he said softly. "Tell the men our purpose, why we fight, look among the rubble, hear the stories of the survivors. We catch these bastards, and they shall feel the wrath of our legion. The Senate and the Twenty-Eighth. For this is no longer for the Three Families or the Senate. This is all for Rome. Dismissed!"
All centurions snapped to attention. Centurion Furnius had eyes of energy.
"Centurion Furnius, I've heard some things said about me from the men of the Senate. Those comments must keep, but for the good of Romans everywhere, could you convince your men to fight with me?"
"I could, I believe I could, Legatus Germanicus."
"Good. That is all I ask. Dismissed."
Vitus walked past his tribune, who suddenly seized the young patrician's arm forcibly.
"You were not supposed to speak of the Arcani to anyone!" Rupilius said with hushed breath.
"Did you hear me mention their involvement with the Senate? Or their origin? I only gave them a name. You must know what it is like to march and fight and not know for what purpose. If these men are following me to the ends of the earth, they deserve to know why I am asking them to risk their lives."
Vitus yanked his arm away from Rupilius. "And what gives you the right, to seize the arm of your commanding officer?"
"I— I… Could we speak privately, Legatus?"
"Yes, follow me around the corner."
As they were moving, Rupilius couldn't refrain himself any longer, "You are brimming with wrath, I understand. But to divulge knowledge of the Arcani to our men is—"
"I divulged nothing salacious. Only their name. If any man knows of archaic history, color me impressed."
"You were not to say of anything. That was absolute!"
"Do you not believe that we are now past this? Look around, Rupilius!"
"I bear witness to this desolation, yet I can still think rationally."
"And you claim I do not?"
Rupilius didn't say a word.
"Fine. Then what would you have said to the men?"
"I would have kept the label of assassins and only that! Forget about the mercenaries as well."
"So, keep them in the dark and let their shock and anger fester over?"
"They are soldiers, Julius Germanicus! You should know how much soldiers whine and complain and think that they know better than their generals. Let them grumble. Let them be cantankerous. A general who placates to his soldiers is ruled by his soldiers."
"And cantankerous soldiers become mutinous soldiers."
Rupilius scoffed, "These men shall never mutiny."
"A sentiment every overthrown leader had once believed. Men who fight need a purpose, if no purpose is clear, they grow mutinous. If it could happen to Alexander of Macedon, then it could definitely happen to us."
Rupilius rolled his eyes, "And such mutiny shall occur based on what you said. You are going to march against a vastly superior army with only a legion?! Have you gone mad, Germanicus?! This is larger than our mission in tracking down the Arcani in Athens. I may be your tribune, but I have the ear of the Dictator. Sulla needs to be wary of this situation!"
"Yes, he does. It is for that purpose that you must venture to Rome and inform him."
The huffing tribune suddenly began to quiet. His apprehensive glare had eased into one of genuine confusion, caught off-guard by this sudden remark.
"Wh-What did you ask of me? You desire me to go to Rome?"
"I do. Rupilius, you are right. This is bigger than our mission, and Sulla needs to know, immediately. You need to inform him of what has transpired."
"But… I did say that… but to speak to him about—"
"Rupilius, a provincial city was sacked. A port city of commerce was attacked by a group who stole the treasury of Rome and are making their way north to attack Rome as we speak. They murdered a governor and his family. Sulla needs to know firsthand what has occurred, here and in Athens. Who else has Sulla's ear to the degree of you?"
"But… I cannot just leave here; I am your tribune."
"Who else can I send? A random courier? A message? It has to come from word of mouth, and you are Sulla's servant. He needs to hear this from you! You have seen this firsthand; you know what this is about. This is bigger than all of us now, you said so yourself. This enemy is marching to destroy Rome, and it is larger than a legion."
"But what are you going to do here? You can't march against 30,000 men."
"Of course not, my legion shall stay here for a week, then sail back to Italia. We need to help rebuild this city, clean up infrastructure and resume commerce as quickly as possible, and ward off the exposed city to brigands. And possibly keep the mercenaries at bay if they decide to return."
"But you told the men—"
"—What they wanted to hear, Rupilius. They're furious. That was to invigorate them to passion, to help the citizens of this poor settlement. We're not truly marching against that horde; we shall remain here to the assist the population."
The eyes of the tribune were locked on him, they still held the state of uneasiness.
"It has to be you. I cannot leave my Legion again. Please, Rupilius, the Republic is in danger. Romans are in danger; Sulla needs to know. He values those he can trust and imagine what he can do to assist you in the future."
"All right, I shall take my leave. But the boys, both Labienus and Domitius, they should still remain with you."
Vitus smiled, "I agree, I've grown fond of them, and they have much to learn."
"What would you have me say to Sulla?"
"That we believe the mercenaries of Heracleo are moving north to Italia to wreak havoc. Legions need to be raised if this is the case. You can fill in the rest. Tell him that the treasury was most likely used to hire Heracleo's army and the Arcani march at the head with him. Can you do this, Rupilius?"
"Leave such to me, Sulla shall hear this news."
"Good, I shall speak to Scipio in allowing one of his ships to sail back to Rome to drop you off. Gods bless you, Rupilius. Mercury grant you swiftness."
Rupilius saluted, and Vitus returned it. The tribune dashed off to accomplish his mission. Vitus looked on with a smile.
Vitus didn't have to roam far to find both Gaius Scipio and Marcus Brutus, talking to each other by the ruins of Apollo.
"Scipio, Brutus, a word?" he asked both of them.
"What is it?" Gaius Scipio asked.
"Brutus, do you have a map of Illyria?" Vitus Julius extended a hand, already knowing the answer.
"I do. I brought it from Athens, it stretches from Illyria to Dalmatia and back to Italia."
"May I see it?"
Vitus took the beige map and unraveled it at a table nearby. The map had the basic outline of the land with small black lines that indicated roads that led out of the major cities. He scanned it for a solid minute in silence. He exhaled, before jabbing his index finger at Apollonia.
"Here we are at Apollonia, and we know that they are marching north." His finger was tracing the road as it moved upward. "If they are marching on Rome, then they will have to pass the city of Dyrrachium, which if they had a week's time, they should be there already."
Both Scipio and Brutus were looking over his shoulder. Gaius Scipio spoke, "But that's if they are taking a straight march. All we know is that they could have been satiated with their plunder and have halted."
Marcus Brutus shook his head, "No, no, no. They would not have ceased in their march. One does not kill the cub of a bear and still remains near its lair."
"Fine then. Let us say that they are on the move, do we know exactly that they are moving towards Rome?"
"This is Heracleo and the Arcani, if they stooped this far to attack Apollonia, then they have no choice in going forth to Rome. Or at the very least, attack enough cities to gain their plunder. I am under the impression that they are going for Rome."
"As am I," Vitus Julius nodded, "And as Brutus stated, even if they are not, they are moving north, for we would have heard or seen them attacking south. Speaking of movement… Scipio, permission to have a ship borrowed for Rupilius?"
Scipio's face devolved to agitation, "Where's that damn tribune of yours going?"
"He's leaving my legion."
"What?" both Scipio and Brutus said at once.
"Yes, I sent him on a ship back to Rome, to warn Sulla."
"For what purpose did you send him?" Marcus Brutus queried.
Vitus Julius sighed, "Because… Because I knew when he was sent to me, I knew what his real purpose was. Rupilius is a spy for Sulla. Scipio, I know that you knew. I made my peace with him being a spy, for I had nothing to hide, and I conducted this investigation with diligence. But after what you told me about him killing that Arcani mid-speech, and how he was adamant not to let anyone else know about the very name of the Arcani… he's a spy meant to cover Sulla's tracks, even at the cost of hindering us. I cannot have such a man in my employ."
A smirk was developing on Gaius Scipio Lupus, "It lifts heart that you see the color of that snake. It is my experience that those who seek to silence those who speak, often have things to hide."
"Agreed."
"What did you tell him?" Marcus Brutus inquired.
"That we all shall remain here in this town and settle and help the citizens and not dare go after Heracleo and the Arcani. But once he takes ship and is hours out at sea, we leave Apollonia and track them down."
Scipio's full wolfish grin emerged once more, "Ha! I am beginning to like you, Julius!"
"Clever move," Brutus agreed.
Scipio spoke again, "But that being said… you seriously plan to march on an army of 30,000 men with less than 6,000?"
"I do. But I am not looking for a decisive victory."
Scipio scoffed lightly, "Looking for your death, more like."
Brutus shook his head, "I do not follow, Julius."
"The legions of the Brutii are in Anatolia, the legions of the Scipii are in Africa. The only ones close enough with legions are the Julii and the Senatorial legions, Sulla's legions. By now, the entire Republic has heard of what happened here. By now, the news of Apollonia's sacking must have reached Rome a few days ago. If I know Sulla, he's currently mobilizing the Senate's legions. By the time Rupilius reports to him, Sulla should be marching north to the top of Italia at the head of the army, he'll probably ask my uncle to already have his legions raised so he can have it attached to his own."
Gaius Scipio scoffed once again, this time darkly, "You think that old bastard shall leave the comfort of Rome? As many enemies as he has? Sulla's no fool, the moment he leaves is the moment some senator takes control of Rome."
"Normally, yes, I would agree with you. But I do not believe it so… at least, not now. When Sulla left the first time, the only legions that opposed him were the Senatorial Legions, because he had no control of them. But now, Sulla is the Senate. Unless I am wrong, Sulla will take all the soldiers of worth from Rome, and all the generals. There is no one like Marius, no other opposing faction, Sulla purged the lot of them, and the Consuls in power are his men. Sulla marched on Rome twice, we all know he could do it again."
"You really believe Sulla would leave?"
"I do. Especially if there's a threat of this magnitude coming to Italia."
Marcus Brutus chimed in, "How many legions do you Julii have in Italia?"
"Currently two. One is in Ravenna and the other Arretium. The rest are in Gallia and Hispania because of the Suebi Invasion. Those legions under Oppius should be returning back to Italia…"
His mind flashed to the governor's face; Oppius was still missing last time Vitus heard. What happened to that man?
Gaius Scipio leaned over the map and pointed at Ravenna, "If Sulla can get his five legions to Ravenna, he wouldn't even need to march to Illyria, he can just sail and that'll cut down his time considerably."
"And such is what I desire."
Marcus Brutus crossed his arms, "Hmm, I see what you mean, Julius. A delaying action, that is what your legion is."
Vitus Julius nodded, "Exactly. We slow them down by nipping at their heels, redirecting them, whatever we have to do in order to keep them out of Italia at all costs, and wait for reinforcements from Sulla, or perhaps some reinforcements from Brutii land."
"A sounds strategy, Julius. But I ask again, do you truly intend to march your singular legion against 30,000 trained and armored mercenaries? These aren't the barbarians in Germania."
He exhaled through his nose, "I am aware. Could you sit back and witness marauders raze and murder Romans with impunity?"
His head shook slowly, "Never."
"Exactly. I must do something. My plan will be to seize their attention, perhaps have them wheel around and pursue us, and we let them chase us. Anything we can do, in order to buy the Republic time, to destroy them. That is my plan. But I cannot do this alone." He looked up at both of them, "Now is the time that we are one in this."
Gaius Scipio Lupus held a look of assurance, "I already gave you my support. And you shall have it."
Marcus Brutus Equestris' look was of subdued fire, "You have my support as well. If practical, Heracleo is mine."
Scipio looked at the map, his finger jabbed at the coast of Apollonia, "My fleet shall stay close to the coast. When your legion marches on the road, keep close to the sea as possible. We shall provide support and patrol the waters, ferry supplies if needed. And if the time calls for you to retreat, you can board my ships and we escape to the seas."
Brutus jabbed his finger back where Athens would have been, "Before we left Athens, I sent Lucceius out to mobilize all of my horsemen. I told them to meet us at Apollonia. What's good about us Brutii is that we have watchtowers all over the frontiers of Greece, Thessaly, Dalmatia, Illyria, and et cetera. They have stables and postings. My cavalry shall screen your advance and flanks, I shall send horsemen out on regular intervals to relay our movement. Your legion shall have a cavalry support the likes of which you have never witnessed."
A smile formed on Vitus, "This impromptu alliance of ours is already the likes of which I have never witnessed. I suggest we depart tomorrow. We do as much as we can here in Apollonia to assist the people."
"It pains me to leave these people, but I know the Brutii are sending relief to assist them. Them, or Sulla, but they shall receive support."
Scipio Lupus uncorked his wine pouch and drank from it, speaking as he exhaled, "Now that we have a stratagem, how do we plan on catching up to Heracleo and the Arcani? You plan on force marching your legion, Julius?"
"I considered it. But force marching your army to catch a numerically superior force, well, that isn't sound. Fortunately, our size should permit us to close the distance, especially if they are laden by plunder and high spirits."
Brutus Equestris stood taller, "And also, we shall not be venturing blind. Vardanes!" He suddenly called for his second-in-command.
The Roman-Parthian was close by. "What is it that you need?"
"Vardanes, it's time."
"Yes, I… I understand."
"I told you this before, and you still hesitate…" Brutus Equestris approached him closer, "Good, it means you're still not a fool. You know the risks that I ask you."
"I do, yet I thought you mentioned this hypothetically."
"Well, my mission for you has turned more literal."
"After seeing the scale of what they have done to this city, I understand, Governor."
"Take four men of your choice. You need to leave within the hour."
"Understood."
"Vardanes, I cannot express enough gratitude for what I am asking of you."
That placed a smile on the decurion, "If I make it back and all goes well, then I shall conjure an idea of the appropriate recompense."
He left at that, leaving the other two patricians visibly confused.
"Brutus, what was that about?" Julius Germanicus asked.
"Yes, explain," Scipio Lupus insisted.
Brutus Equestris continued to watch the shrinking form of Vardanes. "We all knew Heracleo's army would be long gone by the time we arrived. I've sent Vardanes ahead with four men of his choice. Five men on horse can close the distance quicker than a legion."
"Uh-huh, what can five men do to this army that an entire cavalry unit can't?"
"Infiltrate. Shed their armor, dishevel their appearance, have them all speaking Greek, and one would not associate them with Rome."
Both of the patricians looked at each other before turning back.
"I have dealt with many mercenaries," Brutus continued, "I've seen what happens when they number in the thousands. Many leave when they are too discontented or content enough. The only man who has more experience with mercenaries than me, is Vardanes. If they are planning ulterior motives, Vardanes shall uncover it."
All three patricians looked at the devastation around them, breathed in the smell of ruin once more. They would avenge this, they swore it.
Vitus gasped, then chuckled hollowly, "Wow… I cannot believe it…"
Both men turned to him.
Vitus exhaled, "I just recalled… I am twenty now… today is my birthday…"
Gaius Scipio sighed before patting him on the shoulder, "Quite a milestone today. A new decade for you, huh?"
"Indeed…"
Finally, the legion is on the road and hunting down the mercs.
Next chapter will focus on the Arcani leadership, with an interesting figure formally introduced.
If you have stuck through reading, even with the frequent hiatus breaks, I am truly grateful.
Thank you for reading.
-Kanuro5