Note from Kanuro5: Not much to say about this chapter I guess or in general. Except that I celebrated my birthday yesterday and I pushed this chapter for today to publish. Anyway, I hope you all will enjoy this chapter.
XVI
The Aftermath
One hour after the Battle of Praxus Hill ended in a Roman victory, Lugotorix and his 200 men had withdrew about six miles away from the battlefield to a barbarian held stronghold, hidden deep within a forest. The stronghold was actually an abandoned Roman fort made by a rearguard century from the legions of Praetor Marcus Maxentius, but before the rearguard had a chance to disassemble their own fort, they were set upon by the Germanians and quickly killed off. Now the former Roman fort was the neutral camp for Germanic and Brittonic forces.
As the Brittonic king entered the fort with his cavalry, they were immediately greeted by a force of 100 dismounted Germanian cavalry, who at Lugotorix's original request to Cunovindus were ordered to stay behind to be a light quick reaction force. However, Lugotorix and cavalry's arrival was met with lukewarm reception, as he was absent without a single Germanian beside him.
"Lugotorix, why have you come back here? What news of the battle? Where is our king?" one Germanian growled.
"First, I am King of the Britons and you will show some proper respect," Lugotorix added with a snobbish sneer. "And to answer your question…the battle was lost to the Romans; and the King of the Germanians, Cunovindus, has fallen in battle."
The Germanians bowed their heads and began to shout and cursed, utterly dismayed at the fall of their leader.
"How…did you see him fall?" one Germanian asked.
"He had engaged all of his forces into the Roman trap. The Romans then encircled the Germanic army and completely destroyed them. Cunovindus was in the center of the fighting and was killed."
"Yet you have no blood on you or your horses," one astute Germanian noticed, "Neither does your horsemen? What has happened? Were you not fighting?!"
"I was ordered back here by Cunovindus," the Brittonic king lied, "He would not want my cavalry to fall prey to Roman hands, so he forced me with heavy heart to retire from the battle, without any of my men engaging the Romans."
"And how should we come to believe you? The only truth that exists is your words alone? Why should we believe your words?"
Ermanar descended from his horse and angrily confronted the rude Germanian, "Your foolish tongue flows with many accusations! If you desire to keep it, then silence fucking mouth and show respect!"
The Germanian clenched his teeth and instinctively grabbed the hilt of his sword. Seeing this, Ermanar did the same along with the rest of the cavalry. The Germanians gritted their teeth and subsequently backed off of the Britons, seeing that they were clearly outnumbered. Lugotorix dismounted from his horse with a tired sigh, "The day has been long and unfortunate, and I seek some valued honeyed-mead to alleviate this...ill-fated loss."
The Brittonic king made his way through the dispirited crowd of Germanians as ten of his own men accompanied him to a table while the rest of the Britons dispersed across the fort. A huge jug of mead was given out to Lugotorix and his men as they sat quietly in contemplation of today's events.
Ten minutes later, a Germanic sentry spotted a single horseman riding towards the fort. "A rider approaches!" the sentry shouted to the inside of the fort.
"A rider? Who is it?!" a Germanian asked.
"He is…Germanian! He wears the colors of…dear Tyr! It is Cunovindus! The king has returned!"
Lugotorix's heart nearly skipped a beat. He looked up at Ermanar, who also wore a shocked expression at the revelation. Lugotorix replayed the last aspects of the battle in his mind. The Romans had surrounded the Germanians completely and Cunovindus was in the middle. So how could he have escaped?! Once he returned with the news that Lugotorix betrayed him, the Germanians would quickly attack his own men! This was going to be a bloodbath, Lugotorix just knew it.
The Germanians greeted their king with initial cheerfulness and relief that he was alive, but quickly silenced themselves when they took a better look at him. His once mildly tan skin was pale from blood loss, he had multiple bags under his eyes which betrayed his age into looking like an old man, and he had two protruding Roman arrows sticking out of his back.
Cunovindus began to swagger from side-to-side and required assistance to walk into the fort, but once his eyes laid on the figure of Lugotorix that sat across the fort at the table, pure primal fury gave the Germanic king enough strength to walk.
"LUGOTORIX!" Cunovindus screamed at the top of his lungs as he limped forward to meet the man who betrayed him.
Lugotorix stood up from his seat and faced the dying Germanic king, and with surprise on his face, he said, "By the gods. Cunovindus, you live."
"YOU FUCKING CUNT!" the furious leader drew his sword and rushed forward to gore the Briton that ruined him. But he was so delirious from his wounds that he stumbled over his own feet and collapsed to the floor. He quickly got back to his feet and ordered his men to draw their swords.
"My king, what has clouded your mind with rage?" one of the Germanians asked Cunovindus.
"It is due to that fucking coward!" he jeered as he pointed at Lugotorix with his sword. "He ran in fear of the Romans when I needed him most. Like a dog without honor! He led to the destruction of my army!"
That was all the Germanians needed to hear. They drew their swords in an instant and were preparing to spill the blood of their former allies. The ten Britons formed a protective circle around their king and drew their swords as well. But Lugotorix, who anticipated this from the beginning, shouted loud into the air, "Strike now!" Every single Briton that was in the fort immediately drew their weapons and ran towards the Germanians. The Britons pounced on top of their bodies and held their swords and daggers close to their throats, effectively taking every Germanian in the fort hostage. If Lugotorix gave the command, 100 dead Germanians would clutter the grounds of the fort in the blink of an eye.
"W-What is this sacrilege?" Cunovindus demanded, looking on helplessly at his men with swords pressed against their throats.
"Do not question me, you were the one who started this," Lugotorix politely stated as he motioned for one of his men to give him a refill of mead.
"You Brittonic shit…you doomed me and my army!"
"Oh no, I was not at fault for your demise, you were doomed from the very beginning. Refusing to set up ambushes along the road to slow the Romans, being blinded by hubris to attack the Romans head on, I knew from your follies that you would lose to Julius the Mighty."
"You lowly cretin! You forget your fucking place, Briton!"
Lugotorix slowly shook his head with a smirk, "No, I secure it. The fact that is evident here is that you are no longer in command. Simple as that."
"You are in my lands! I am the one who holds the better warriors! I reign over you and your fucking island!"
Lugotorix smirked devilishly and said, "Really? You and what army?" He then quickly cupped his mouth and feigned a hurt surprise, "Oh, what? Too soon?"
The remaining blood that was still in his body quickly flowed to the Germanic king's face. Cunovindus drew his sword and charged at Lugotorix, "You insolent cunt!"
Yet the Brittonic leader swiftly pulled a hidden dagger from his side and threw it into Cunovindus' leg, right above the knee. Cunovindus collapsed, clutching his knee and trying his best to remove the dagger, yet it was too deep to pull out and Cunovindus was too weak. Lugotorix casually walked around the whimpering, pathetic king; the Brittonic king still held on to his cup of mead and was nonchalantly taking light sips from the drink.
"Cunovindus…do you understand why in that thick skull of yours…why I went through such burdened trouble to forge an alliance with you and the Gallic king, Segovax?"
"What rabble do you spit now?!" Cunovindus venomously groaned.
"Again, you are a terrible listener. Are your ears filled with wax? Answer the question."
"You…fucking forged the alliance to deal with Rome, what other reason would exist?!"
Lugotorix snickered and pointed his finger playfully at the Germanian, "Alas, that was only half of the truth. Rome is indeed a threat. But that is only secondary in my goals. I am here to reclaim what was lost to us."
"Nothing was lost to you! You have always had your island!"
"Now why would you mention, 'my island'? Hmm? Is it because that your clan and your people betrayed my grandfather's father, Ingomar, one hundred years ago?"
"H-H-How do you know that?" Cunovindus stammered in confused fear.
Lugotorix's face contorted in aggravation. "Oh I have come to known a lot of things, Cunovindus. What? Do you think that since me and my people are isolated from the mainland that we are fools?! Have you not come to think about the possibility of your Germanic sins being passed down in tale to every Brittonic soul? I know that your ancestors had formed an alliance with the Gauls behind the backs of my people! I know that the ancient alliance attacked my people and butchered hundreds of thousands of innocent Britons! And I know, that my grandfather had personally witnessed his father, the Great Brittonic King Ingomar, being skinned alive and set aflame! And for you Cunovindus to be a descendent of such cursed, traitorous blood; do you know what that means?"
Lugotorix dropped to his knees and leaned in close to Cunovindus, their faces a few inches apart so that the Germanic king could feel the hatred off of Lugotorix's breath. Lugotorix hissed with anger, "I know you are a fucking thief!"
"You and all your ilk are fucking thieves!" Lugotorix shouted to the rest of the Germanians as he sprung to his feet. The Britons cheered in agreement. Lugotorix continued, "You all connived together like the ravenous gluttons you are and waged war on my people a century ago and had us exiled back to our island in the North! This land, half of your land belonged to the Britons! Innocent people ripped prematurely from this world because of your greed! And I would see our land return to rightful hands."
"Is that why you betrayed me?" Cunovindus mockingly laughed in pain, "How? How would your vengeance come to fruition? You would not have a village to reinforce you on the mainland, so how would you get back what was yours?"
"Quite easy actually. The village that would help me is currently the village giving you and Segovax trouble now."
The eyes of Cunovindus shot wide open at the realization. "By Tyr, you do not mean Samarobriva…"
"The very city that the Roman, Maxentius, is defending as we are currently breaking words. It is a valuable port city and the closest settlement to the Isle of Britons. A perfect objective to launch a campaign from to retake the mainland."
"But…how would you go about it?" Cunovindus muttered excitedly, as the pieces of Lugotorix's plan began to become clearer by the second.
"The biggest influence that the gods could have grant me: another enemy to preoccupy your time. Rome. Even though the Gauls had injured us grievously, the Romans quickly destroyed the Gallic tribes and their armies. This made it one less nation to conquer over time. So that left you Germanians, and as the Romans were fighting with the Gauls, they were also fighting with you, vastly crippling what you once were. Such is the price for bordering close to Rome."
"So this entire alliance to crush Rome, equaled shit to you?!"
"The only reason I spawned this alliance was so that I would have a credible excuse to move my army unto the mainland. My army's original purpose was to occupy the Gallic settlement, Samarobriva, and take control from within, and then target you."
Cunovindus shook his head in disbelief. "…So you could attack us from behind…while Rome attacks us from the front…"
Lugotorix grinned fiendishly, "And here I stood believing that you were a fool. Even if Maxentius had fallen months ago and the city was reclaimed, with our forces in the city, we would attack your weakened army and destroy the last Gallic settlement at the same time. It would have been glorious if it was so."
"Even with your army here, you never will be able to contend with the might of Rome!"
"Do not worry about Rome. I will deal with them when the time comes. You see, Rome's borders expand across the world; although their vast amount of land proves their might, there exists one critical flaw exposed: they overstretch their resources. With land from here to Africa; Rome does not hold the manpower to defend every region with above adequate strength. Plus, they always keep the bulk of their army in Italia. But with my army at the tip of the Northern Coast and an island filled with millions of warriors close to sea, I can gain as many reinforcements as I want and claim the Northern Coast for myself."
Cunovindus tried to stand up with the dagger still in his leg, only to be kicked back to the dirt by Lugotorix. "Do not fucking stand, lie there in dirt, it is where you and your kin belong."
"How long have you plotted this betrayal? The entire month that you were here?"
"No, I plotted this for my entire life! When I was young, my father always whispered to me when I closed my eyes at night for the pursuit of dreams, 'Never forget the betrayal of the Germanians and the Gauls.' I made it my life's desire to regain what you and the Gauls have stolen. I have an unfathomable hatred for your kin, I thought it near impossible to retain from vomiting when your presence was beside me. For us Britons, we hate you and the Gauls more than the Romans…and that is saying something. I will ensure that my sons and their sons after them will live like kings on the land that once belonged to our ancestors. And that starts with your demise."
Lugotorix placed his heavy boot on the Germanian king's throat and slowly began choking the life away from Cunovindus. As the air was fleeting from his lungs, Cunovindus grabbed the ankles of the King of the Britons and tried to remove them; but after suffering from two arrow wounds and heavy blood loss, Cunovindus found that he didn't have the strength to push Lugotorix off of him.
"You poor, Germanic shit," Lugotorix sneered with a twisted smile, a smile that was filled with brimming satisfaction at a lifelong dream of vengeance coming to fruition. Cunovindus began to gag louder, but such raspy gags only provoked Lugotorix to apply more pressure. "If only you had listened to me, Cunovindus, you would still be alive right now, and we would have trapped the Romans. But instead, your blinded indolence has allowed the destruction of your army, the legion's victory, and worse of all; you have left me to contend with this elite Roman legion alone. The only thorn in my side, that could destroy what I have dreamed of most: a future for the Britons."
Cunovindus began to thrash wildly as the last remnant of air was being constricted in his throat. His pale face began to turn crimson, his eyes were bulging out of his skull as tears were flowing out of the edges of his eyes, and the only sound he could make was a violent wheeze. Lugotorix took one last minute to look down at the pathetic king who had cost him so much unneeded trouble in the past. He laughed at him as he applied more force, before finally leaning close to tell him the last words he would ever hear before he would be sent to the afterlife.
"Oh Cunovindus the Butcher, the King of the Germanians…may history forget your name."
With one last raspy wheeze, the Germanian King Cunovindus died. His life extinguished, literally, under the heel of a barbarian king who he once called ally. Lugotorix looked down at the body with a dark yet victorious smile, and spat upon the corpse. With the king dead and gone, that only left his men to deal with.
The Brittonic King looked upon the Germanian warriors who were now hostages to him. In their faces contained a mixture of emotions; but mostly that of rage directed at the Lugotorix for betraying their people in battle and murdering their king in cold blood. They would shout infinite obscenities at the Northern King, but with blades pressed deep into their throats and backs; the Germanians thought it best to remain silent. This was fine with Lugotorix, who had something of importance to say to the Germanian warriors.
"What I have done is just! Blood demands blood! He carelessly forfeited the life of his army and himself to foolishly engage the Romans, and as such, he has forced me and my kin to deal with the Romans, in which we will most likely suffer great casualties. But his folly can be redeemed by you all who open ears to my words. I will undoubtedly fight the Romans, and I beseech you all for your help. Drop the banner of your loyalty, swear off your blood as Germanians and take the name of Briton and serve under me and help me fight the Romans. Your crimes shall be forgiven and you will be spared with great honor!"
The reply was universal.
"To shit with your fucking honor, you Briton cock-swallower!"
"I would rather perish than fight under your banner!"
"Bend over so I may place my cock in your ass, you Brittonic fuck!"
Lugotorix sighed and lightly shook his head. He tried, he really tried reaching out to them for future assistance. But alas, what honor of redemption could one expect from a Germanian.
"You had your chance," the Briton king said in a regrettable tone, almost feigning true sadness, "But you have chosen your fate." He looked at his Briton warriors who had their steel pressed against Germanian flesh and nodded. "Do it." In several quick moves, the Britons quickly and brutally executed every Germanian in the fort.
With the ground littered with Germanic corpses, Ermanar stepped over the bodies with a cocky smile and spoke to his king, "Did you truly mean what you said about forgiving their crimes?"
The king chuckled, "Of course not. After we had disposed of Julius' Legion, I would have had them all killed immediately."
"So…what happens now?" the loyal captain asked his king.
"Without the Germanians, we are the only army stopping the Romans from reaching Samarobriva. Segovax and his weakened Gauls still have Maxentius' legions under-sieged at Samarobriva. And there are only 200 of us Britons who are out here and who are this close to the Romans. The rest of our army is a long ways back. We will regroup with them at once." A sudden, cold gust of wind sliced across Lugotorix's face, sending chills down his spine. "Can you feel it? Winter is here. The snow is coming, and with it, the blizzard that will slow the Romans down, giving me enough time to create a strategy. Now for this to work, you told me once the Germanian flanking attack failed, that "he" was there?"
"Yes, my king, I am sure of it."
"Then I will give you a special mission, it will be very dangerous, but I know that you will be able to accomplish it."
"Thank you, my king, I will not fail you," Ermanar bowed.
"I am sure of it. For now, I will tell you of your mission later. We need to leave the area. The Romans are most likely resting on the hill right now. They already destroyed Cunovindus' army completely, so they have no reason to make pursuit of stragglers. I want you to order the men to take all the supplies from this fort to bring with us. And once you have found everything of use, burn this place to the ground. And leave the bodies here."
"Even the Germanian king?"
Lugotorix peered at the corpse that had a large boot print engrained on the windpipe. He contemplated for several moments of what to do, before finally reaching a decision. "Actually no, take his body and leave it for the Romans on the road. And please make sure it attracts their attention."
Ermanar smiled wickedly and bowed, "Yes my king," and moved on to carry out the orders. Lugotorix walked outside the fort to collect his thoughts. He crouched to the ground and scooped up a handful of soil and felt out its consistency; it was just as thin, unrefined, and soft and it flew out of his hand against the wind just as easily as the soil back on his home on the Isle of Britons. But this was different, this was the soil of the mainland, the soil that once belonged to his ancestors. It was different, and yet at the same time it was still the same. Regardless of what would transpire in the future, and as the gods as his witnesses; Lugotorix vowed that he will reclaim his ancestor's lands and defend them to the death against any enemy; be they Gauls, Germanians, or Lucius' Romans. Lugotorix smiled determinedly, it was time to hunt the wolf.
And thus concludes Act 1 of Invictus.
I am truly happy that I have gotten this far in Invictus and it is thanks to the people who read it. But now, I will take a little hiatus from Invictus so I may work on my other fics and focus a bit more in college. So just stay tuned.
I would like to thank everyone who is continually reading this fic and leaving comments for me. I want you all to note that it is keeping me committed to the story. Truly, thank you all!
-Kanuro5