Final Campaign

that it did not look good;the bandage could not completely cover what looked like a hugebruise that was forming. When I took my tunic off, it extended allthe way to my hip, and ended just above the knee. It was swollenand purplish, but did not have the livid red streaks that announceda poisoning of my blood.

"How's Ocelus?"

Diocles rolled his eyes.

"He's a better patient than you are," hesniffed. "He's eating his barley and I gave him an apple. Now, willyou please go and at least put your leg up?"

I did not use Libo this time, going into myprivate quarters, where as soon as the flap dropped I hopped to thebed and collapsed on it, drenched in sweat.

By the end of the third day of work, we hadreached a point where it was time to make a decision about whichmines would continue. Unlike last time, where we assaulted from twodifferent sides, we were going to try and collapse sections of justthe southern wall. This was not ideal, but it was the fastest way;if we had spread out our mines, we would have had to spread out thelabor, and keeping all the men essentially in one camp, we savedeven more time. All of the wagons not carrying the bullion had beendismantled, and a series of plutei were already in place, aswell as the majority of the mantlets.

"If we continue at this rate, we should beunder the wall by middle of the watch tonight with one of them,"Flavianus told me during our evening briefing.

That got my attention.

"What about the others?"

Consulting his ever-present wax tablet, hetold me, "The easternmost tunnel is the worst. It's not flooding,but what they're dragging up is soaked with water, so it makes itheavier and slower going. I was going to suggest we stop work onthat one. Of the other two, I think the tunnel to the right of thegate will be ready to fire by tomorrow before dark, but not anyearlier. The westernmost tunnel will be ready earlier, but not bymuch."

Considering for a moment, I looked over atMacrinus and Flaminius.

"What if we go tonight?"

Although neither looked that surprised, bothmen were still hesitant, glancing at each other before Macrinusspoke.

"Going through just one breach is alwaysrisky."

"True," I granted. "But if we can bring thatwall down in the middle of the night, I think the element ofsurprise will more than make up for just having one breach."Neither of them put up an argument and I turned back to Flavianus."If we pull all the men from the other tunnels, can we bring thatwall down even earlier tonight?"

"Yes," Flavianus replied tersely, and Icould tell he did not like where I was going. "But I can't tell youexactly when. It might happen at the beginning of third watch, orat the end of fourth."

"I understand."

I looked back at the two Primi Pilis.Ultimately, the decision was mine, but I was not in the best frameof mind to make it. I was just aching for this to be over and forat least one problem to be solved. In the back of my head was thenagging thought that it was a distinct possibility that theMoesians of Naissus had in fact not recovered sufficiently in thelast five years, and that whatever we took in the form of loot andslaves would not be enough to satisfy the greed of the Legionaries.I was not overly fond of nighttime actions, but I was also awarethat I would not be fighting in this one, just directing it, thelast such of my career in all likelihood. Perhaps at the root ofit, this was the most compelling reason for my desire to launch anassault that night and not wait for at least one more breach toopen. This was going to be my final battle, and while I did notthirst for glory and honors the way I had when I was younger, inall honesty I did not know any other way. If there was going to bea fight, as there had to be, I have always preferred it to besooner rather than later.

"We're going to attack tonight. Pull all themen from the other tunnels and have them concentrate on the tunnelthat's the closest. But," I cautioned. "Don't pull them all atonce. If the Moesians see a rush of men heading for one spot,they're going to know at the very least where we're going toconcentrate. Right now, they still have to cover four spots."

"We can wait until it's dark; that willhelp," Flavianus said, and I agreed.

With that settled, the next question was whowould conduct the assault, and I looked from one to the other. Thetruth was that I had already made up my mind, but I was willing tohear what each man had to say.

"My boys are ready." Flaminius was the firstto speak, and my immediate thought was how far he had come in thiscampaign, remembering back to the beginning and his hesitance whenfaced with the same question.

"So are mine," Macrinus responded instantly,forcing me to suppress a grin.

Who else but me could understand thecompetitive nature of a Primus Pilus? I thought. Looking from oneto the other, I took a deep breath.

"It's going to be the 8t^h makingthe assault."

Flaminius stiffened, a look on his face thatI imagine he would have worn if I had physically slapped him acrossthe face. And he had good reason to appear that way; by rights, itshould have been the 13^th's turn to assault Naissus,since the 8^th had taken the fortress outside Serdica.Pride is a funny thing; while there is a significant part of aman's soul that is dedicated to self-preservation, there is an evenlarger portion that is in direct contradiction to what one couldargue is the more rational and understandable impulse to avoiddanger. And I would argue that this impulse is even stronger in menof the Legions, particularly those who have risen through theranks. Flaminius' reaction was a perfect example of thiscontradiction; he was angry at the thought that he could not exposehis men to the danger and violence that comes from assaulting atown through a breach in its wall. I did not expect