Kanuro5: Man, a lot of things have been going on in life since the last update. My career with nonstop work, finding a new place to live (still looking btw), and the good ol' writer's block. Again, I apologize, but please know that updates are infrequent, but I continue to work on the story. Enjoy!


XVII

Retribution of the Gods

The streets were quiet that night in Apollonia. The only lights were lit torches that hung on the side of the buildings every ten meters. Umbra and Biga had skulked through the alleys and stuck to the shadows as they moved. They came upon several sentries and patrols with torches present at their stations, the only sound was the stomping of boots and jingling of equipment. The assassins trailed the patrols from a distance, always staying outside the light.

The two men traced their way back to their destination of the eastern gatehouse. From the shade, they could see the gate mechanism was a wench-like contraption where two men had to operate it for total efficiency. The torches around the gatehouse and surrounding buildings illuminated the watchmen. There were six guardsmen who stood by the wooden gate, four who roamed the stone ramparts, and two sentries who stood directly over the gateway, looking outward into the dark world.

Biga grunted, "There is a dozen of them, as I said."

"Fucking piss…" Umbra groaned.

"Indeed… How should we go about this?"

"I am thinking of a plan…"

"We could always rush to slay them all?"

"Last resort," Umbra declared. "We don't know if another patrol is on the way, or if they may alert the entire city. No, such is a last resort. Hmm… perhaps we can use the shadows and slit their throats, one-by-one."

"A viable option, yet there is a dozen of them, and they seem rather clustered together. They may notice us if we move jointly."

"A solid point, but what can we do…?" Umbra took a better look through the darkness at the sentries at the gate. "If half of them could leave, such would be preferable… but how can we—"

"Umbra, do you trust me?"

The man turned to his partner, "I do, but for what purpose do you ask?"

"Trust me on this, stick to the shadows, and move quickly when the chance arise!"

"Wait, to what—"

Umbra was too late. Biga shot up from the shadows and darted towards the gate. Umbra cursed silently, was that reckless fool planning a direct assault? Umbra placed his hands on the hilts of his swords and prepared to rise as well.

Yet Biga removed his own mask and was waving it in the air, tightening his cloak around his body with one hand.

"Guards! Guards!" came from the maskless Biga in Latin.

All guardsmen turned to the commotion. Their hands instinctively went to their swords. Biga came rushing down the street, huffing air as he bent over, unmasked.

One of the guardsmen sneered venomously, "Halt, citizen! State your purpose for breaking curfew!" He and three of his men came down the stairs and approached Biga cautiously. Their torches illuminated Biga clearly through the dark.

"I saw him!" Biga gasped.

"Who?!"

"The Black Mask assassins who attacked the Brutii! I had a visitor come to my home, but he was suspicious, so I investigated his pack when he was fast asleep, and I found this."

He held up his own black facemask.

"What?!" the guardsman remarked in surprise, grabbing the mask forcefully. "Where is this man?" the guard demanded of Biga.

"I live within the Marble sector, I shall lead you to the assassin, but I expect to be well compensated."

"Oh, that you shall be, citizen. You have done well."

"He is a big man, bigger than me. You will need many men to take him alive."

"I understand." The guard called six of his men by name off the gatehouse. They all bore torches and lined up behind the commander. "Lead on," the commander told Biga.

Biga gave them a firm nod and rushed off deeper into the city, leading a good portion of the guardsmen away. Now there only remained five guardsmen left at the gate.

Well done, Umbra thought of Biga. You wondrous, rash fool.

"What do we do now?" Umbra could hear one of the sentries.

"We stand guard at our posts. Titus, watch the gate. Manius, guard the lower level. You two, stay up on the gateway."

And so, the men moved to their posts, distancing themselves greatly than they had before. In his mind, Umbra was giving blessings to Biga. Three of them were still manning the gatehouse up top, with the remaining two on the ground, one guarding the gate mechanism and the other the actual wooden gate.

Umbra moved in the shadows and got near the wooden gate, close enough to hear the private talk between the two sentries.

"They finally found the Black Masks, eh?"

"About time. I was tired of all the searching."

"What do you suppose shall happen to the assassin upon capture?"

"I don't know. Crucifixion?"

"What about stoning?"

"I heard they struck throughout the Republic. Perhaps they shall bring him back to Rome in shackles? Love to see that, eh?"

Umbra unsheathed his dagger and dashed forward from cover, he came upon the first sentry and shanked him thrice in the throat in rapid succession, the man made a quick gurgle sound before dropping. The 2nd sentry jumped back in surprise, yet he was too astonished to react properly, Umbra was on him before he made a sound. He lunged his arm out, driving the dagger straight through the man's eye. He dropped heavily.

Umbra held his breath, he could hear movement, as if someone were coming down the stairs. He skulked behind the corner, his bloody dagger out. He listened carefully for each step. A sentry came downstairs through the gatehouse, apparently looking for the two guards.

Umbra came in the rear of the sentry and applied a blood-choke from behind, his arm wrapping around the guard's throat. The guard gagged suddenly and tried to fight it. Umbra kicked out the back of the sentry's knee, sending him down into a kneeling position. Such a move applied leverage to the throat, ensuring the chokehold effectiveness to double. He kept the hold on for fifteen seconds, then relinquished his grip. The guard was barely conscious, gasping hard for air. This reprieve allowed Umbra to remove his dagger and slice the coughing man's throat.

With three dead, the remaining two were on the ramparts. Umbra made his way up silently until he got to the top of the gate. He saw the two men standing meters apart from one another, still looking out into the black horizon. Umbra had to move quickly. He came behind the closet guard, shoving the dagger through the jugular and covering the mouth. The sentry made a quick, muffled noise, but he fell still and silent.

Umbra gently rested the corpse on the rampart, his partner some distance away did not notice. Fortuna favored the assassin, for he moved forward and repeated the same action on the sole sentry, slicing his throat from behind.

Umbra could hear footsteps approaching from the bottom of the gatehouse. A dark figure was moving towards one of the corpses. Did he miss one?

"Umbra?" the figure asked through the quiet night.

"Biga? Is that you?" Umbra darted down the stairs, reacquainting with his partner who was wearing his mask.

"Damn good work," Biga chuckled with pride. "My plan seems to have worked."

"That it did, Biga. But how did you escape them, along with your mask?"

Biga chortled in response, "It was challenging, they were following close behind me. But I was quicker. I led them through several alleys and dipped behind a corner, and they ran past me. The man who held my mask dawdled behind in the rear, his unfortunate mistake. But we must hurry before the rest return."

Umbra was laughing, "You have the look of a brute, and yet you still surprise me, Biga."

Biga was laughing back, "Truly? After all these years?"

The two got to the levers and placed them within the winches and began to pull with all their strength. The eastern gate creaked open as the two continued on, until the mechanism firmly locked, the gate of Apollonia fully opened.

Umbra raced to the top of the battlements. He took a torch and burned the Brutii flag that blew in the night wind. The flapping flame shone across the obscure vastness outside the Apollonian walls. Umbra peered into the remote darkness outside of the city, all was black.

A small candle of light flashed in the distance. Another flicker of light shined, then another. Dozens of little flames began to spark in the distance. And those flickers were moving closer to the city.

Here they come, Umbra thought. Here comes the wrath of Jupiter.

Within half a minute, Umbra could hear the galloping of hooves and the whinnying of horses. The candle-size flames grew to the magnitude of a blazing inferno as the mercenary cavalrymen galloped through the eastern gate.

Hell had arrived.

Scores upon scores of horsemen came thundering into the quiet streets of Apollonia. They galloped as far as they could without stopping, whooping and laughing in splendor, tossing their torches onto the rooftops and windows of homes. The frantic cry of horses and their clopping of hooves had mixed with the shouting mercenaries. The Eastern sector of Apollonia began to stir awake. Soon, the cheering and war cries of the mercenaries were being joined by the screams of terror from the Apollonian citizens.

Those who were cursed with curiosity had left the confines of their abode to investigate. Such inquisitiveness led to calamity. Fathers and husbands who exited their doors were promptly slain by swords and javelins. With doors wide open, the mercenaries invaded the homes; cries of horror could be heard within a multitude of homes. Families began to lock themselves within their domiciles. Those doors which were locked were kicked, hacked, or burned down by the frenzied soldiers of fortune. Other mercenaries cared not for the trouble of getting in homes and elected to throw jars of pitch and oil through windows, followed by handfuls of torches. Many families were smoked out, only to be set upon by these vicious wolves who wore the skin of men. Wailing wives and distressed daughters were torn from the arms of their husbands and fathers by the enemy raiders, who laughed wickedly as they butchered the men and children in front of the women. The families who were blessed with living further away from the gate had the good sense of fleeing deeper into the city and abandoning everything they owned, not choosing to risk being trapped by these mysterious invaders. Within minutes, throngs of terrified citizens were fleeing as a mob, their cries threatening to shatter the sky. Fire and smoke held dominion over the eastern sector of Apollonia.

Umbra looked on in silence, he remembered something when he was a boy. When old Lentulus would tell the youth in his neighborhood about how brave Aeneas spirited his frail father, Anchises, and other Trojans out the burning city of Troy. Was this what it looked like to them?

Biga was shouting over the chaos to be heard, "Umbra, what are we to do now?"

Umbra's eyes raced to the palace.

"Biga, follow me! We move to the palace; we must secure the Brutii governor and his family before they escape."

"It shall be a challenge to maneuver through the streets among this madness."

"Such is why we shall not take them, and to not be mistaken as foe by Heracleo's men. We move on the roofs, follow me!"

The assassins descended the gatehouse, keeping close to the walls in order to hide themselves. They dashed through the open and panicking citizens until they came upon a home that had not caught fire at the moment. Biga hoisted Umbra up on his shoulders, Umbra traced his fingers to find dents within the walls. When he found suitable ones, he used all his muscles to scale the side of the house until he reached the roof. Umbra unfastened the rope from his waist and dangled it low to be caught by Biga. The smaller assassin pulled back on the rope with all his strength to allow Biga to scale the side until he reached the top as well. Umbra pointed to the palace, both assassins sprinted on the rooftops of the homes of Apollonia.

Of this city, the homes were all interconnected and were simply separated by thick wooden walls within the interior of the home to separate families. Such design allowed for maximum capacity in cities, alas it proved a mighty danger if a fire broke out, allowing the flames of one home to spread wildly. Yet such proximity had turned to fortune for Biga and Umbra, who were dashing on the rooftops of various homes with alacrity, covering entire blocks within a short span of time. Whilst the ground was a warzone, these two were safe.

When the rooftops ended, both men had to jump across from roof to roof to clear alleys three meters wide. Occasionally, one of them may stumble as they tried to catch the ledge of the roof they tried to jump, but the partner would assist them into regaining their footing and they both would continue. They leapt through thick smoke and ran across burning rooftops, praying that their weight would not cause it to collapse. All through this marathon of roof jumping, the sounds of death and cries echoed through this once beautiful city. Umbra could hear the weeping and begging of civilians who futilely believed their pleas would be answered by their tormenters.

He looked down to the street below, the horsemen were cutting their way through the crowd. It was as if he were racing them himself, which one would get to the Palace first. Though it seemed the Town Watch and the legionaries gathered in a coordinated defense. They formed a line within the street with several ranks deep, their shields locked and their spears out. The horsemen crashed into them and a fierce melee began. Though the defense was solid, Umbra knew that sheer numbers and chaos would overcome the Roman defenders.

The shadowy duo made their way to the center of the city, the Palace was clear in their view in front of them. On the ground, it looked as if a crazed mob was trying to force its way through the exterior gates, and the thoroughly pressed guardsman, in order to storm the Palace. But they did not seek the head of the Brutii, merely their sanctuary, for this "mob" were survivors who were pleading for the guards to allow them entry into the Palace before the invaders caught up to them. But the Brutii guards stood their ground and pushed them off from entry. Several citizens were futilely trying to climb the gates, only to get prodded with spears and bashed with clubs by the guardsmen within.

The assassins were catching their breath on the rooftops, looking down on this madness. Biga spoke up, "I do not suppose you have an idea how to get through this frenzied mob and guards, eh?"

Umbra's eyes were racing through any avenue to sneak through, but the entire perimeter of the exterior gates was crowded with civilians. In the distance to the rear, the flames and screams of slaughter were growing closer. With each passing moment, more civilians were trying to break down the gate to the Palace.

Umbra closed his eyes briefly, and her voice reverberated in his mind. Do you see that opening before that gate? Promise not to tell others, but the guards do not patrol that sector too often. If you can get through the outer gates and wait by the outside of the palace

"I know how to get in," he told his partner.

I shall meet you in the morning.

"How can we sneak in?" Biga asked him.

"We shall not. Do you trust me?"

"I do."

"Then we need to walk up to the gates, and to the guards."

"What?! Are you—"

Umbra already leapt from the roof and landed with a controlled roll to break his fall. Biga followed suit. Umbra told him to draw his dagger and stick close to them. They had to reach the front of the mob at all cost. They had to push, shove, even prod civilians sharply with the point of their blades if they had too. But they made their way through to the front, there were four guardsmen with spears and shields, forcing everyone back. But Umbra moved forward.

The guard looked to his direction, "Get the fuck back! Back away from—"

Umbra's arm flashed outward like lightning. The dagger entered the man's throat with a bloody squelch. He retracted the blade messily, a tactic to ensure the splattering of blood would be even more gratuitous. The warm blood splashed against the faces of the pressed mob around him, women screamed in horror. Biga was to the right of him, lunging his dagger into a different guardsman's throat, equally shedding his blood in the messiest way possible.

The two remaining guards turned their full attention on the assassins, yet the guardsmen failed to react in time to attack them. The sudden burst of surprise from the spontaneous killings caused the civilians to panic. They pushed forward with the force of a mighty typhoon. They busted through completely, trampling the guards before the soldiers could react to the assassins. And like a flood, the terrified civilians broke through the opening and ruptured through the courtyard of the Palace. Just as Umbra predicted.

He looked to Biga, "Follow me! Go, go, go!"

The two men were the foremost people who entered the premises, rushing ahead of the panicked civilians. The guardsmen in reserve saw the breech and sent all their men to contain the civilians. Several tackled them to the ground, others flash and pointed their weapons at the citizens, the remainder formed a defensive line at the entrance to the Palace itself. But the assassins took cover behind statues and trees and moved deeper in the compound, away from the crowds and away from the guards. Umbra led Biga to the spot where Vibia told him to wait. The door was locked, but Umbra looked up the wall and spotted something fascinating.

The wall led up to a bedchamber's balcony, and the stones jutted out enough for a professional to scale it.

"Hope you have enough strength to climb," Umbra remarked.

"More than you," Biga countered.

Both men placed their calloused hands on the stones and forced their way up the walls. Umbra's hand grasped the wooden balcony and he pulled himself up to observe if it was occupied. From what he could see; the bedchamber was empty with the bed itself being disheveled and the sheets were on the floor with the door open. Whoever was here must have left in a hurry once the news broke. He could hear panic inside the hallways through the bedchambers and see glimpses and flashes of people moving about in the hallway. He motioned for Biga to follow him up there. Their feet touched the interior of the palace.


Umbra held out a hand to Biga. Both men moved back against the wall and into the dark. Seven guardsmen rushed past them. They moved out once it was clear. They went higher up the stairs, their swords at the ready. Umbra could feel how wracked his nerves were. The two of them were in the lion's den where all the beasts were stirring. They could be detected at any fleeting moment and could be descended upon before they knew it. But they had to keep moving until they reached the Governor's Meeting Chambers.

Slaves, ancillaries, and guardsmen ran all over the Palace to get to their stations and report to whoever was above them to solve this mystery of the attack. Since it was late at night and everything was sudden, the torches and braziers of the Palace were not adequately lit, allowing the assassins to stay in the shadows and crouch low as they maneuvered through.

Upon leaving the stairs on the highest floor, the duo came upon a hallway that led to the atrium of the Governor's residence. They followed a distance behind three guardsmen who were jogging down the hall. They followed them until they got to a pair of wooden doors that were wide open yet guarded by two watchmen. Umbra and Biga ducked in the shadows, behind a large bust on a marble pedestal. From their position, they could peer inside the atrium.

Inside, there was a sizable group of people surrounding a table, all trying to speak to one man. He knew instantly that the man surrounded by slaves and ancillaries was Vibius Brutus, the Governor of Apollonia. His brown hair had thick patches of grey that surrounded the sides of his head. A body slave was frantically fastening on green armor to the governor's torso as another slave was bent over to fasten greaves to the governor's shins. The man looked to be in his late forties, but he was a soldier through and through with the expression on his eyes and the scars on his face.

There was a younger man in his late 20s who was already dressed in armor. The man bore a striking resemblance to the Governor, for he too wore the emblem of the Brutii. By deduction, it was his son.

A middle-aged woman whose slaves were dressing her in luxurious clothing stood by with frantic eyes, praying that whatever was going on outside the Palace would suddenly cease. The Governor's wife, Umbra surmised.

Out of these aristocratic Romans, Umbra's eyes fell instantly on one who stood out to him. Vibia was there, clutching a small boy to her lower body. The boy was wielding a wooden sword in his hands. Umbra blinked in surprised. So that was what her son, Amelius, looked like. She hugged her son tightly; she rubbed his head assuredly and whispered into his ear. The boy seemed more confused than frightened.

Umbra couldn't distinguish from his vantage point, but it seemed as if they were looking over a map of Apollonia. Umbra could hear the fear in the Governor's voice as he barked orders to the Urban Prefect in front of him.

"Who is attacking the city?!" he demanded from his Prefect.

"We cannot tell, Governor. Reports from the officers say they cannot recognize their armor, but the Eastern sector of Apollonia has already fallen. Their cavalry rampages through the Southern sector, and the Roman quarter of the South is burning."

"What of the garrison?!"

"They are being overrun by this onslaught and the legionaries are doing what they can to hold the Southern sector, but the enemy has seized the Eastern sector. Fleeing citizens add to the chaos and inhibit the timing and spacing for proper formation. And these raiders are exploiting such as they run down our men and the people. We have reports that several of the Greek watchmen are deserting and are fleeing to the port."

"What?!"

The younger man in Brutii armor looked to the Governor, "Father! Allow me to take the command, I can rally the remainder—"

"No, Vibius!" the Governor snapped. "You are to remain here."

"But we cannot just wait and do nothing, Father! we can counterattack and—"

"With what, Vibius? All our men have been deployed! And we hold no notion of the number of the enemy."

"We have the Palace Guards; we can use them!"

"They are the ones keeping the citizens and those invaders from breaching here! We must not use them." The Governor turned to the Prefect, "What other reports?"

"The fire from the Eastern Sector is spreading out of control and threatens to reach the docks soon if not contained. The citizens are either trying to congregate to the Palace for sanctuary, or to the dockyard to escape. There were several reports that only a handful of the enemy cavalry had reached the docks, but they are being fought back. We do not know when the main cavalry force shall breakthrough."

Vibius Brutus Major growled, "We cannot let them seize and destroy the ships!"

Umbra could hear the rushing of footsteps behind him. He moved deeper in the shadows. A messenger passed by Umbra and Biga, dashing into the room.

"Governor!" the messenger gasped. "They have broken through the gate of the Palace!"

"The mob broke through again?!" asked the Prefect.

"No! The enemy!"

Umbra could feel the aristocratic air of that room being sucked away.

The messenger continued, "Right as the Palace Guards forced the mob back, horsemen in strange armor charged the opening and slaughtered the guards outside. They are trying to break through the doors of the Palace now!"

"Oh, Jupiter Optimus Maximus above! Please offer us thy protection in this hour of our need!" the Governor's Wife prayed through tears in her eyes.

Vibia clenched her son and wept into his hair, seemingly giving her own prayer.

"The city is lost…" said the Governor, "If they have already broken through the Palace, then they are making their way to the dockyards…"

Vibia went to his arm, "What shall we do, Father? How shall we escape with our family?" she asked of Vibius Major.

The Governor looked to the Prefect, "Organize a defense in the palace, bring all available guardsmen to hole up in the lower floor, my family must escape."

"Understood, Governor. This is my city; I shall not let it fall whilst I still breathe."

"What of our possessions?" the wife asked of her husband.

"There's no time, hopefully you brought all things of importance that can be carried that I told you to bring when the news first broke. We leave now! We move to the dockyard." He looked to a slave, "Is my trireme ready?"

"It is, Governor, but the crowd is pressed to frenzy, you must hurry before the invaders seize the docks!"

Vibius Major looked to his family, "We take the ship and sail across the sea, back to Brundisium, back to the safe shores of Italia." He looked to the remaining guardsmen, "Lock the atrium gates, we shall use the passages to escape."

The soldiers that were present saluted. The slaves and ancillaries were beginning to escort their masters away. The Prefect left the atrium, he ordered the two atrium guards behind him to close the heavy doors. The guards nodded and began pulling in the doors to the atrium to close. Umbra yelled back to his partner, "Hurry, Biga!"

Both men dashed forward as quick as they can. Umbra moved to the Prefect first, who didn't even react quick enough to see the sudden shadowing figures emerge from seemingly nowhere. With a quick swing of the arm, Umbra slashed the throat of Apollonia's Urban Prefect with his gladius. Using his swing as momentum, Umbra spun and darted off his feet and charged the door. The doors were close to closing, when the duo slammed into the backs of the guards who were closing them. All four men tumbled inside the atrium, the assassins falling on top of the guards. The sudden action startled the nobility within and their entourage of guards and slaves, they all jumped back in surprise.

Umbra looked to Biga, "Hurry! Seal the doors!"

As the stronger of the two, Biga placed both hands behind the door and pushed them closed himself.

"Who are you two, identify yourselves?!" the Governor demanded. The duo's backs were turned, the light was dim, and only their black capes were visible.

Biga took a curtain pole and placed it within the door handles, locking everyone inside.

"I said identify yourselves!" the Governor screamed louder.

Umbra stood to his feet. He spun around and drove both his blades into the back of the necks of the downed guards. He retracted his blades sharply. He turned to face the Brutii family, the light hit reflected the blood that was dripping from his black mask.

Pure horror was painted on their faces.

"NO!" the wife cried aloud. "Not again! Not you phantoms again!"

His eyes fell upon Vibia. Her tears were descending. She clutched her son in her chest, and she screamed at the sight of him.

Vibius Minor trembled at him, his jaw shaking as if frozen. But as the son quaked, the father growled in fury. Surprise quickly evaporated into rage.

"Kill them!" the governor ordered. "K-Kill them!"

Five of the guardsmen who were to escort the family out, came at Umbra with shouts. The first guard rushed forward, yet Umbra moved first with both blades in his hand. This guard was a novice, he didn't equip his sword fast enough. Umbra descended on him and slashed opened his throat with a strong swing.

Umbra dipped out of the way of a sword lunge from the second, he used the sword in his left to plunge into his attacker's knee, sending him to the floor, screaming. With his sword in his right, he drove it through the cripple's throat. The veteran assassin retracted both blades and chopped the arm off his next target at the elbow. That man collapsed in utter agony; he no longer would pose a threat.

The remaining two spearmen charged Umbra at once, but Biga came rushing in with a furious roar. Biga was quicker than they expected and Biga came down on one of them with a vertical slash to the face. The man screamed as he collapsed, clutching his disfigured face. Umbra blocked the spear of his attack with one sword, before driving his second sword through the man's neck.

Umbra spotted an armed ancillary trying to lead the family out in the chaos. With dexterous reflexes, Umbra dropped one of his swords and picked up the spear of the man he just killed. He held the spear like a pilum, his instinctual training in the legion all those years ago had never left him. He hurled the spear at the centurion leading the family out. The polearm skewered the man through the door, he cried out as blood exited his mouth. The women of the Brutii screamed.

The Governor did not falter, he seized the skewered man's gladius that he dropped and yelled to his son, "Vibius! Get them out!"

Vibius Minor argued back, "Father, what of you?!"

"Get the family out of here, now!" the Governor screamed passionately.

Vibius Brutus Major bellowed, dashing forward to kill Umbra to save his family.

The two men engaged. Even as a man in his late 40s, Brutus was surprisingly spry. He moved quickly with constant hacks and lunges, even pushing Umbra backwards. His ferocious attacks could not save him or his family, however. Umbra was the younger man in the prime of his life.

Umbra dipped out of an over-zealous hack from the Governor. The assassin brought his sword down to the Brutus' left leg, the blade hamstrung the older man. Vibius Brutus Major fell to the floor growling in agony. Umbra looked up to find the family had vanished.

Biga was currently fighting the remainder of the guards. He had just skewered one guard with both of his swords and turned on another man. That guard managed to disarm Biga's right hand, yet the big man just used his now free hand to choke the guard, allowing him to stab the man with the sword in his left hand.

Biga turned to his partner, "Go after them! I can handle this here!"

Umbra nodded, he vaulted over the table and sprinted to catch up to the family. He saw them going down the stairs when he was engaged with Vibius Major; he hoped that they hadn't escaped or joined up with some palace guardsmen.

Halfway down the stairs, he spotted the retinue. One of the slaves alerted the family. Two male slaves pulled out daggers and ran up to fight off Umbra, willing to loyally die for their masters. Umbra would oblige.

These unarmored and untrained slaves couldn't even last a fancy of a thought. Umbra simply used a slash a piece to kill the slaves. Their bodies tumbled down the stairs. The son, Vibius Minor, ordered his family to keep running. He pulled out his sword, he was willing to buy them time to escape.

Vibius Minor moved up the stairs with a shout. Umbra deflected the attack with the first sword, and with experienced control, slashed Vibius Minor's leg with the second sword. Vibius Minor fell to the stairs, clutching his knee with a howl. The wound wasn't too deep that he'd bleed out, but it also was not too shallow where he could walk normally.

Umbra leapt down several steps and cut off the rest of the family. Vibia was gasping hard at the sight of this blood-covered man, her mother prayed and begged for them to be spared.

Umbra huffed out some air, pointed his bloody gladius at the women,"Does anyone else elect to run?"


The pacified slaves who accompanied the aristocrats carried the limping Vibius Minor up the stairs. Umbra was in the rear of the family and slaves, his sword out and pointed at the back of Vibia, urging them to hurry. She was carrying her son in her arms, his head resting on her shoulder peering into the black eye-slits in Umbra's mask. He had his mother's green eyes, and they were wide in morbid fear, yet fascination of Umbra's mask that was drenched with blood. The veteran assassin wondered if the silent boy could even fathom what was happening. Amelius was still holding on to the wooden sword that he had just received today, Umbra's gift to the boy on perhaps the worst day of his young life.

Umbra escorted them all back into the atrium where they bore witness with the only man standing in a room full of corpses. Biga was exhaling through his mask to catch his breath, he was covered in blood as well. The Governor was crawling with one arm, clutching his bleeding leg with the other. The slaves placed Vibius Minor down in front of his father, and the rest of the family ran to their patriarch.

"Vibius!" the father said to his son.

"I am well, Father, but what of you!" Vibius Minor asked his father.

The wife looked to her spouse, "Vibius, your leg!"

He shushed them all and forced himself up on his knees to comfort them all in a familial embrace. Umbra approached Biga, "You did well, were they much trouble?"

"Touch-and-go, they were skilled in numbers, but they could not overpower me. I can hear Heracleo's men fighting below, what shall we do now?"

Umbra could hear the commotion of fighting downstairs as well, "We wait," he told his partner.

The Governor looked at the assassins with pure hatred, "For what purpose do you leave us alive?! You sought to end our lives weeks ago, now you torment us by sparing our lives?"

Biga approached him, the slaves instinctively got in front of their masters with their arms extended. Biga looked through them and at the wounded patriarch. "As a Brutii to think so, you believe your life to be spared?"

A strong rhythmic banging was coming from the atrium door that the two men sealed. Loud voices of clammer could be heard outside.

"My men shall come inside and kill you both!" Vibius roared. "You dare attack me and my family?! You shall have the most excruciating death that one can imagine!"

"Again, the arrogance of the Brutii," Biga chuckled lowly. "Do you not know that all your men are dead? Do you not know it is you and your family who shall suffer an excruciating death? For your life as you once knew it, is over once those doors break."

The door burst open. Men in armor and leathering rushed in with weapons drawn. Yet they ceased as they spotted the Arcani already present. Umbra and Biga breathed easier as the leader emerged from the rear and entered the atrium. Heracleo, covered in blood, roared in ecstasy at the sight of the Brutii family cowed and on their knees.

"Amazing!" he cried out. "You two are fucking amazing!"

Behind him were the four leaders of the mercenary bands, they too were coated in the blood of their foes. As the seconds passed, more mercenaries filled the atrium. Heracleo gave them a simple command, "Pillage," and he unleashed his horde of savage soldiers to plunder everything within the Brutii Atrium and bedchambers.

The servants of the Brutii screamed as they tried to flee, others fell to their knees pleading for their lives; it mattered not, for they were chopped to grisly pieces by the rapacious raiders. Some of them tried to clutch to their Brutii masters, but the invaders simply ripped them away. Other slaves tried to stop the ravishing, but they received blades in the stomach for their troubles.

Five swordsmen who wore Macedonian armor were seizing three struggling slave girls by the throat and arms, dragging them into the bedchambers. One of them slapped a girl with enough force to send teeth flying out. The men laughed raucously as they closed the doors behind them.

The women of the Brutii hugged each other, weeping bitterly at the sight that occurred all around them. Umbra looked to Vibia, she held her crying son to the bosom to reassure him the best she could, but her eyes were soaked with tears.

Heracleo hugged Umbra with a joyous cackle. He kissed him on his bloody mask. "You beautiful Black Masks! I knew you could achieve this! You have done the unimaginable! Because of you two, Apollonia has fallen to Heracleo! We actually took a city from fucking Rome!"

Heracleo then moved to Biga and kissed him on the mask as well, "What a beautiful mess you made in here." He turned back to his fellow leaders, "Two men! Did all of this! Do you still believe their status 'unfounded', Deon?"

The Black Dog leader looked to the side.

Vibius Major scowled, he slurred in Greek, "Your name was 'Heracleo'…? I see, you bastards are The Fists of Kronos…"

The noseless mercenary leader laughed gutturally, "My renown has reached the ears of the Vibius Brutus, I am thrilled."

"Do you know what you have done? Can you even fathom it?"

"Yes, thanks to these two men in black, and my army, I have taken the city of Apollonia. The Palace is in my control, my men are already at the harbors and burning the ships, and the city shall completely fall within an hour. That's what I have done, Brutus."

Vibius was sneering through the pain, "You have declared war on the Republic…"

Heracleo shot his arms out as if an actor, "And what a grand way to do so."

"You believe this a jest?! How can a man who leads armies believe such a dereliction of this magnitude being salvaged? Do you truly seek to court suffering?"

"What would a noble Roman know about the sufferings of a Greek? What do you know of me, Vibius? What of my suffering? What of all those who hold Hellenic blood? What do you know of our suffering?!"

Vibius spat on Heracleo's boot.

Heracleo didn't blink, "There it is."

"Mercenary scum, you hold no honor but to that of gold."

"Hypocrisy, Vibius Brutus, hypocrisy. But gold is pure, gold provides. And your city is soaked in it."

"Do you believe that you have achieved success? You attack Apollonia… and what shall you do now? Retire in your filthy Greek mountains?"

"No, it goes beyond that. Rome is my goal, it is my jewel, my treasure. But here, Apollonia, I take this city for my pride, my honor, and my legacy."

"What does your pride and legacy have to do with this slaughter?"

Heracleo waggle his finger slowly in front of the wounded man, "It comes from you, Vibius Brutus… it all comes from you…"

His eyes flickered in irritated confusion, "What mad words do you speak, cretin?"

Heracleo squatted in front of Vibius' face, his jovial expression was gone. "Do you recall the uprising of Athens?"

Vibius nodded silently, yet with a sharp glare.

"Yes, you do," his voice was a razor whisper. "Rome was warring with Mithridates, just because he wanted to expand his kingdom in a land that wasn't even of your concern. Across the fucking sea. It wasn't your concern, or that of Greece. Pontus tried to show that they weren't afraid of Rome and tried to grow strong, and we Greeks tried to rise to do the same. And do you recall what you all did? I do. With Sulla at the head of your forces, you brought forth an indiscriminate wrath on any Greek you could find, until you reached Pontus. How many villages and farmsteads did you burn on the way, Brutus?"

The Governor's glare did not falter.

"Can you even recall?"

He was still silent.

"You finally descended on Athens who rose from freedom against the Roman yoke, and you starved them out. That is not what I harbor hatred over, no, such is what you do in a siege. But, once the city was weak, Sulla attacked, and according to many witnesses, your legion was the spearhead, was it not?"

"It was."

"You put all the rebels to the sword, slow and bloodily. But did you stop there?"

The Governor grimaced.

"No, no, no." Heracleo continued. "Your soldiers were not content in slaying just the rebels, but you sought to massacre the innocent, those who were too young and old to even wield a weapon properly. Sulla gave you the order, and you ordered your men to carry it out. With such barbarity, you would believe us Athenians for Pontians… you massacred so many. And when I heard of the destruction, I spirited to my home of Athens, the quarter where I grew up was an ashen remnant. And my father and mother…"

This was the first time that Umbra could see genuine emotion welling up in Heracleo's eyes.

"My father and mother… were slaughtered like animals in such a way that I could not even find their bodies. I was told from a survivor who saw your soldiers chucking javelins into them and then slicing them to pieces… my father, and my mother."

The Governor's eyes did not soften.

"Do you have anything to say in your defense?"

Vibius Major's eyes were resolute, "Heracleo, what do you fucking desire me to say? Huh? That 'I had orders'? That 'I felt horrible giving the order'? Or should I plead that 'it was not my fault', or that 'it was you fellow Greeks that provoked Rome's wrath'? Do you desire to know what I believe you desire to hear? You desire to hear a Brutii grovel before you, yet you don't care of the sincerity of my words. If I say anything, it would be an excuse to your ears. You have no interest in an apology. If you have come this far in sacking a Roman city, why would you demand an apology, no, you only desire me to suffer…

"I shall not beg for my life; I am of the Brutii!" The wounded Governor looked over his shoulder, "The only thing I could beg you is that of my family, for they are innocent."

Heracleo looked at the teary eyes of the women, and the anguished look in the son. He stood to his feet and looked back to the father, "Evil breeds evil. They share your blood, and thus your sins."

The Governor stood tall on his knees; he masked the pain through a glare of murder. "Words wasted on you. I knew you would not spare my family, and yet I ask. Why, I do not know… Of course, we shall not be spared, you only seek base pleasures in flesh and violence, words of empathy shall never reach the apathetic…"

He shot his finger out at Umbra, then moved to Biga, "The both of you! You miserable phantoms!" he shouted in Latin. "You came for me once, but I killed the man who sought my life! Oh yes! I did… he came for me in the night, but he was sloppy, I fought him off and threw him off the balcony." His finger then shifted back to Umbra, "I guess your master decided to send you, a man of a higher caliber… I killed your friend; my kin killed your friends! You are nothing to us but patches of dirt beneath the wheel of a wagon!"

The Arcani said nothing.

The Governor twisted his head to the Apollonia conqueror, "And you…" he slurred venomously, "You… I hold more respect in my heart for those black phantoms than I do you… They attack us yet hide in the shadows and cover their faces. You have the brazen GALL!" he suddenly screamed, "To attack my city! To sack it! Those masked bastards have the better sense than you, you with your putrid air of splendor you put on for yourself, attacking a Roman city with a savage army of mercenaries! You desire fame? Congratulations, you have won your infamy. Oh yes, infamy. You believe you fly within the wind as if you are above all? Rome shall descend on you with a fury unbeknownst to history. As the gardener spots the weed, Lucius Cornelius Sulla shall come forth with a grip of iron and envelop you all, to rip you root and stem, and discard you in the wind until you crumble to dust, and there! THERE! There is your legacy, there is your damn legacy, Heracleo. A feather in the wind."

Heracleo shook his head, a grin emerging, "Truly? 'That' is my legacy? 'A feather in the wind', eh? Well then—"

The noseless mercenary captain looked to Vibius Minor, the son of the Governor, and gave the order to make him fly, as if he was a feather. His family screamed for him. The Governor channeled what energy he had left to rush Heracleo, but the vicious Greek simply drew his sword and plunged it into Vibius Major's stomach. The Governor collapsed on his back writhing in pain, his wife came over to him, weeping.

The son of the Governor tried to struggle through the grips of the mercenaries, but it did him no good. They dragged him, kicking and screaming, to the window of the room and tossed him. His screams shrinking as he plummeted to the earth. An inhuman wail escaped the lips of the women.

Heracleo looked to the quivering Governor, "—and there goes your legacy."

In the sudden moment of horror, Vibia had released her son unconsciously to cover her mouth with her hands. Amelius, possessed with juvenile anger, chucked his wooden sword at Heracleo. The toy bounced harmlessly off Heracleo's armored chest.

His eyes descended on the child, "Oh, I was mistaken, you still have a legacy."

"No!" Vibia screamed constricting her son in a bearhug.

"To what do you want of the boy, Heracleo?" Deon asked him.

"The Romans take the children of the nobility of their vanquished foe, to be brought up in their ways. How many children did you force into slavery or Romanization? Eh, Brutus?"

His hands masked the bleeding wound, "No! Not my grandson!"

"The boy seems young enough not to recall his past, perhaps a life with the Fists of Kronos shall mold him into a warrior of worth. And if not, then he shall be molded to pleasure my men, if they request. Seize him."

Vibia screeched as a harpy, but a mercenary delivered a powerful slap that busted her lip. She fell to the floor as young Amelius tried to cling to her. Two mercenaries brutishly seized the boy by the arms and dragged him away downstairs per Heracleo's orders. Vibia recovered and tried to run after her son, yet Umbra sheathed his swords and grabbed her tightly to pull her back. Her son's name was the only thing on her lips, tears ran down her face like a waterfall.

The Governor yelled for his grandson, but the mercenaries took him down the steps, the boy was still calling for his family.

Heracleo jeered, "You see, Brutus, you cruelly eradicate my family and people, and I do the same to you. The scales are now beginning to balance, and yet, it is not enough. Sulla in Rome shall feel our wrath. I shall burn Rome to the ground, and I shall ravish her for her jewels, like the prized whore she is."

Heracleo looked to the fellow mercenaries, "Somebody take him and his wife out of our new Palace. They shall no longer be occupying it."

Deon looked at the crying Vibia, "What of his daughter?"

"To shit with his daughter," Heracleo scoffed disinterestedly.

Deon smirked at her, "Hmm? I shall take her then."

"No!" Umbra suddenly shouted. "The woman is mine."

"What did you say to me?!"

"She is not yours, I had to fetch this one and her family, she is mine."

Heracleo looked to him in surprise, "I didn't believe your order allowed carnal pleasures?"

"You seek to gain this city, then this woman is my only stipulation. I have done the impossible for you, you can at least grant me this concession."

"Hmm, suppose I can. Fine then, the Brutii bitch is yours. Do with her as you will, her son is mine. Once you're done, you shall give to the captains."

"Understood, gratitude Heracleo."

Biga grabbed his arm, "Umbra, what are you doing? We are not—"

"Just follow Heracleo, I shall seek you out shortly," Umbra growled in a whisper. "I shall give her something."

Umbra seized the lamenting woman by her arm and yanked her to her feet. She was fighting the entire time. Vibia was screaming in a teary-eyed frenzy for her father, mother, and her son. Umbra was pulling her into an unoccupied bedchamber, the last sight he saw of Brutus and his wife were them screaming for their daughter, as the mercenaries seized them. He slammed the door close and threw her to the bed.

He held out an arm to her, "Be calm, woman."

But she jumped up and ran to the door screaming, "Father! Mother!"

He wrapped her arm around her waist, pulling her back. "Be calm, be calm! I shall grant you mercy!"

"Release me, you bastard! Release me! Give me back my family!" She was wildly flailing her hands into his mask. She kicked, screamed, and spat on him. "Give me back my son! Amelius! Amelius!"

"I cannot give him to you! And you do not seek to be with your family!"

"For what purpose do you keep me from them?!"

"If I did not take you, your fate shall be in the hands of those mercenaries, and with your youth and complexion, such is a fate worse than death, I… I chose to give you mercy…"

She grunted in annoyance and tried to charge Umbra to get past him, but he simply held her back in his arm. "To the pits with your mercy! Release me!" she demanded, clawing at the door to escape.

"I shall grant you mercy, I promise!"

"Amelius!" she cried out, hoping her voice could reach the one that was lost.

Umbra spun her around to look on her face. Her green eyes were filled with utter fear, he called her name, "Vibia!"

"Amelius! AMELIUS!"

"Vibia! Vibia!"

She still cried her son's name. Her tears fell on his shoulder. He gnashed his teeth subconsciously.

"Amelius! Ame-hyuk!"

Her arms were quivering, her breath was caught in her lungs.

Umbra was biting down on his bottom lip as he pushed the dagger deeper in her chest.

Her head was trembling, her hands gripped tightly into his shoulders. She looked into his bloodstained mask, seemingly begging him. Why?

A phantom force was moving his left arm, his hand went to his face. He couldn't control it. He gripped his mask and removed it.

Blood seeped from the corner of her mouth. She saw his face. Her eyes grew as the water draped her cheeks.

"Q-Quintus…?"

Her breath left her. Her limbs fell limp. Umbra cradled her body in his arms. Those green eyes that sparked with life and wit yesterday were now dull and lifeless, forever fixated on his face. He lowered her body on the floor.

Something wilted within his heart.

The door opened. Biga's voice came behind him.

"Umbra…"

He placed his mask back on. He stood up and stared at her body.

Biga looked over his partner's shoulder, then back to him. "For what purpose did you do this, Umbra?"

He walked past Biga.


The Governor and his wife were gone, dragged away by Heracleo's brutes. Umbra eyed the trail of blood that came from the Governor's wounds, it led out the door. The cries of slaves reverberated throughout the atrium. But Umbra didn't care.

From the palace windows, he could see the dockyard, now on fire. The sheer orange illuminated the dark waters of the ocean as a giant beacon of destruction. From the light of the inferno, Umbra could see at least a dozen ships had already disembarked from the port and were sailing into the darkness. He wondered who and how many were on those ships.

With those ships crossing the ocean, he knew the entire world would now descend on them.

He felt Biga's silent presence behind him. "Let's go," Umbra commanded him softly.

The two men descended the Palace wordlessly, anarchy running amok within. This once dignified center of administration and authority was now a place of blood and madness. Corpses ranging from guards, slaves, ancillaries, and nobles had littered the floor. Mercenaries were darting out of rooms, carrying gold, silver, fabrics, and slaves with juvenile glee. Whatever they could carry and had value; it was plundered.

The two men left the entrance of the Palace, they approached the gate they stormed and had to walk over the endless corpses of the civilians that were cut down by the mercenaries. They walked through the burning chaos, the pillagers ignoring them to attend to their own base desires. Umbra and Biga spotted a temple to the wondrous sun god, Apollo, now writhed in flames. Men of The Band of the Red and Prometheus' Pawns were sacking the temple and butchering the priests. Three men used ropes and hooks to wrap around the neck of the statue of Apollo. They laughed raucously as they pulled it down, smashing it to pieces.

"Burn it all! Burn it all!" cried out a drunk onlooker.

Mere moments ago, Umbra could not believe he could feel any lower… until right there.

His body took off before he knew it, his target was the man who wanted everything to burn. Umbra roared as he charged, bringing his sword arm back as far as it could. He descended on the man and lopped off his head with a single stroke possessed with great fury.

The three men who toppled the statue jumped back in surprise. Umbra ran towards them in bloodlust, as did Biga who also spotted this vile desecration. Those three mercenaries stood no chance from the wrath of these Arcani.

Biga was stomping on the head of one of the slain desecrators, "Fucking animals! Have they no respect?!"

But Umbra could not answer, the fire was already raging in Apollo's temple, it was too far gone to extinguish, with most of the mercenaries having fled with their spoils. The raiders were so lost in their plunder, they failed to witness the Arcani murder their own.

Both men stared into the flames of the temple.

Umbra's grip failed him, his swords clattered to the ground, his breath was lost now. The majestic Apollo, the Radiant One, sacked in his own city by raiders who also acknowledged him in their own pantheon… Where was the fury of the Gods?

Spastic cheering turned the two men's attention to the rear. A crowd of cheering mercenaries were forming around a procession, in it, were all five leaders of the mercenaries on horseback: Deon of the Black Dogs, Glaukos of The Band of Red, Ilus of The Cyclopes, Theopompos of Prometheus' Pawns, and the one riding the grandest horse was Heracleo of The Fist of Kronos.

Tied to the saddle of Heracleo by a long piece of rope was the wounded Governor, Vibius Brutus, being dragged on the ground on account of his wounded leg. Also tied to the saddle was his grandson, the boy Amelius, bawling his eyes in unholy fear of the ravenous men surrounding him.

Heracleo shot his arm in the air, "VICTORY! This is a glorious victory for us! It was said to be impossible to take a city from Rome and look what we have done! We have done the impossible! We have gained glorious plunder and prestige from such an act! And now, I ask all of you, shall we do the impossible, one more time?!"

The mercenaries grunted thunderously in an agreeing chant.

"We have become wealthy men through taking Apollonia! But we can be more! Follow! Follow me once more into the 'impossible'! Follow me to our destiny! Follow me to Rome and with the help of the Black Masks… WE. CAN. BE. KINGS!"

The mercenaries roared in triumph. They shot their weapons in the air, cheering the names of their captains and their bands. They all were enraptured on this historic day.

The only silent onlookers were the Arcani. Umbra could still smell the smoke from Apollo's temple through his mask.

"We gave our coffers to this man," Umbra muttered.

Biga turned to him, "What?"

"The coffers from the Treasury of Rome… and we gave it to this man," Umbra continued, "Heracleo the Hypocritical. He claims that he fights for our will, but he seeks to destroy Rome. He imputes Rome for plundering his home, yet he shall plunder Rome."

Biga shook his head, "Rome needs to fall. We were all on one accord."

"No, not Rome. Sulla, the Three Families, they need to fall, not the city. This attack on Apollonia… the plan was to get Rome's attention, but would it have to be this way?"

"We have awoken the sleeping giant, Umbra. Our plan worked, didn't it?"

"But must it have been this way? Our duty by Jupiter Optimus Maximus was to purge the wicked men of Rome… not the women… not the children…"

Biga looked down at his boots, his voice was softer, "Too late for all of that, eh?"

"Is that all you can say?"

"What do you desire me to say? It's too late for such thoughts, Umbra. We had orders from Taurus to allow this to happen."

"Yes, but not from Vipera. Would he have wanted this?"

"He the most experienced man we have, Umbra. Taurus would dare not act without Vipera's acknowledgment."

"So Vipera approved this slaughter?"

"Umbra, it is done. This is just one vile deed that we had to do. These savage mercenaries… their but tools to use… a means to our end of saving the Republic…"

"At the price of ourselves, Biga. We never did this before…"

Biga was silent for a moment, "Have you ever seen a city be taken by a legion?"

"When I was in the Legion, we always fought our battles in the open, we never sacked an actual city before…"

"Never?"

"We raided villages, but never civilized cities."

"I had forgotten, you weren't in Rome when Sulla marched on it…"

"I was not… I was with Vipera, thirty miles away, we only witnessed the aftermath."

"I was there, alongside Taurus, we witnessed it all, and were powerless to stop it."

"Was… it just like this? Just like Apollonia?"

Biga turned to him, "It was."

Umbra looked at the sprawled corpses in the street, and how the flames danced from building to building. Biga looked to him, "This is retribution. Rome should have overthrown Sulla; this is the punishment of the Gods."

Umbra blinked; a thought came to him. He motioned for Biga to follow him. They returned to the household that gave them shelter for the night. But it was now a remnant. The entire sector of homes was burned, corpses were everywhere, the boots of the Arcani were splashing with each step through the puddles of blood.

An old man and his wife were lying on top of one another. Both men kneeled to examine the bodies. They had arrows in their torsos, as did the neighbors.

Umbra softly muttered the name of the man, "Deimos…"

Biga clenched his fist, "Why didn't he listen… we told him… we told him to stay in the cellar!"

Umbra's voice was devoid of life, "All these bodies have arrows in them. I believe the mercenaries set fire to houses and shot those who were fleeing out to escape the flames. Deimos and his wife…"

The dead man was the most hospitable Greek Umbra had ever met, and he only knew him for a half a day…

Deimos… I…

Umbra stood to his feet. His head turned, his eyes transfixed on the burning flames and plumes of black smoke engulfing the night.

Vibia… Deimos…

"So, this is the 'retribution of the Gods'?" Umbra said listlessly to Biga. "Even to those who aided us?"


Thank you for reading.

-Kanuro5