“I will go, Centurion,” he called tome, then indicated himself. “I am wearing armor and amarmed.”
“Take your horn player with you,” Isuggested. “In case I need to send some of these men toyou.”
I was feeling vulnerable, and it was not afeeling I cared for at all. Unarmored and unarmed, with only theshields of men who could not understand a word I said to protectme, I alternated my attention between watching Ivomagus and hishorn player rushing down the street before being forced to pause tohug the wall because of the terrible heat from the burningbuilding, and back in the direction of the center of the town,urging Tincommius to return. I was still looking for him when, fromthe opposite end of the eastern wall, the horn sounded in a seriesof notes that, while I may not have recognized the call, the otherwarriors around me did, and it was obviously a call forreinforcements. I was somewhat surprised when instead of rushingoff, they all looked at me, and I took advantage by holding up tenfingers and pointing to the parapet. They did as I asked, the restof them rushing down the muddy street, flattening against the wallacross from the burning house before disappearing beyond the ringof light. It was fully dark now, so it was impossible to see beyondthe fire. The rain of arrows had subsided some time before, butwhether it was because they were out of missiles or they did notwant to waste them in the dark I did not know, and there was abarely visible dark mass that was out there, down the road from theeastern gate that I knew were Brigantes. The chariots had loopedback around and returned to that spot, and my guess was that theywere still there.
“Pullus!”
I turned in time to see Tincommiusdismount, holding a bundle under one arm, and he ran up, droppedthe bundle on the ground, and unrolled it. Even without the lightfrom the burning house, I could identify by the sound what it was,blades clanging together, and yet I just stood there, unable tomove as I stared down at the offering. It was not the quality ofthe blades, although it was difficult to tell with any level ofprecision because of the light. Instead, it was a very basic thing,and honestly, I do not know why I thought it would be anydifferent. Simply put, every single gladius, of which there were ten, was at least afoot longer than the GladiusHispanensis that I could handle with my eyes closed,and actually had on occasion as practice for fighting in the dark.Even worse, most of them did not even have the kind of point thatwould make them work as a stabbing weapon, and in frustration, Ikicked at the pile. Whether it was the gods who caused me to do so,or it was just a complete accident, I learned that I had not seenall of them, because hidden under the blades on top was what, to myeyes, appeared to be almost identical to the Romanspatha, which I had trained with, albeit years earlier when Iwas a youth doing my exercises on the Campus Martius. I am, afterall, or I was a member of theEquestrian Order, and this was the weapon that young equestriansare trained to use, and I wasted no time in snatching it up. It didfeel a bit awkward, though not in the sense that it was completelyunfamiliar; it was as if I was greeting an old lover and giving hera kiss after a long time apart. I made a couple of moves, feelingthe eyes of Tincommius on me, and when I glanced over at him, Icould see that he was not just impressed, he seemed reassured. Thiswas the moment Diviciacus chose to unleash his finalsurprise.
It began with a wailing sound, not fromwhere Ivomagus was, but from the darkness beyond the gate, althoughit was instantly drowned out by a roar of voices. I ran to theparapet, stumbling over the pile of blades and sending themeverywhere, hopping up onto the plank. They were still too far awayfor me to pick out distinct and different shapes, but I could seethey were closing, fast, and I heard the distinctive rumbling soundthat I had observed during the first attack by the chariots. And, Ithought with a sinking feeling, I’ve got ten men. With that inmind, I spun around and leapt down to the ground, running up toTincommius, shouting like a madman.
“Go get the other men in the square!Bring them here! The main attack is here!”
Even as the words poured out, I knew thatTincommius could not understand a word, so in desperation, I thrustmy arm in the direction of the center of the town, then, using myfingers, mimed men running. Thank the gods, he understoodimmediately, and most importantly, he did not head towardsIvomagus, but leapt on his mount, spun it about, and went gallopingoff into the darkness. Once I saw he was heading in the rightdirection, I ran back to the parapet, and we did not need to speakthe same tongue for me to see these men were terrified. And, I wascertain, they were looking for someone to lead them.
“All right, boys,” I did not make aconscious decision to do so, but I just spoke to them as if I wasstanding next to my Century. “Let’s show these cunni what a fucking mistake they’re making!”The response I got was nothing but blank stares, so I heldmy gladius out in thedirection of the Brigantes, and roared, “Kill these bastards!”
I will say that they all respondedwith shouts of their own; if they were lacking in enthusiasm, Icould not really blame them. But then, the first of the chariotsmaterialized out of the darkness, but this time, there was not aman with a torch, and I could just
