“Brigantes blood. Good!” I said with agrin.
“Brigantes blood.” This time, he usedthe Latin word for it, nodding. “Good.”
We took the moment to get a better idea ofthe overall situation, and it was immediately apparent that we werein serious trouble. We could see that the Brigantes still along theeastern street had been put there as a delaying force only, whilethe largest group of the enemy had managed to push Ivomagus and hisgroup of defenders back down the northernmost street runningparallel to the river, but without being able to get near thecorner, it was impossible to tell how far they had retreated. Thiswas bad, but it got worse when, from behind us at the eastern gatewhere I had started, there was a sudden uproar, over and above thenoise of the fighting, and if I have to describe it, it was thesame bellow of triumph that I had just heard from my recently deadfoe, but multiplied by what sounded like a few hundred voices.
“Pluto’s cock! They’re trying to cut off our ways toescape!”
Tincommius said something at the exact time,and while I never had the opportunity to ask him through Ivomagusor Bronwen, I am certain that he was saying the same thing. And, tohis eternal credit, he was the one who reacted first. Rather thansay anything, he grabbed my sleeve as he began moving quickly, butback in the direction of the eastern gate, which brought me to astop.
“Are you mad?” I gasped, then pointed to where, evenobscured by the light of the fire, we could clearly see a swarm ofmovement in a much larger number than the forty-odd men who hadbeen left at the gate. “We can’t go that direction,Tincommius!”
He shook his head and shoutedsomething at me…but resumed heading in that direction, and I wascertain that he was about to launch himself into a suicidal chargein some mad quest to attain glory among his people. As unpalatableas it was, I also knew I could not afford to be on my own, so witha bitter curse, I headed after him. Just before he reached thenearest of the buildings that were burning, he stopped, turned tosee if I was following, then beckoned to me, just before hevanished by seemingly walking into a wall. Of course, he did not;only when I got to the spot did I notice the space between the pairof buildings, something that had escaped my attention before this.However, while it was aspace, it was only by exhaling as I turned sideways that I couldmanage to squeeze myself into it, instantly fighting a sense ofpanic. So far, it is still the most acutely uncomfortable moment ofmy life, and even as it was happening, I recalled reading in thePrefect’s account that he had a similar fear of being enclosed likethis.
Consequently, I sidestepped as quicklyas I could, unable to draw a full breath, and what little air Icould draw in was so foul because, as my feet confirmed, thetownspeople who lived in these buildings dumped theircac here. It was close to absolutedarkness, but I could hear Tincommius panting a few feet ahead ofme, then it became a bit lighter when he emerged out onto the nextstreet that ran parallel to the eastern wall. My head was swimmingby the time I reached the end of the gap, and I had to pause amoment take enough air in to clear it. Tincommius had stayed nextto the wall, and I joined him to stare north, but we quicklydetermined that the movement we were seeing had to be Brigantesbecause they were moving from our left to right, meaning that theywere hurrying to join the fight, which was obviously a block deeperin the town. Tincommius dashed across the muddy street to theopposite side, then moved a building south; when I reached thespot, there was another gap that allowed us to move to the nextstreet perpendicular to the river that, while it was narrow enoughthat I had to turn sideways, it was only partially. When we got tothis next street, we immediately knew we had reached the spot wherethe fighting was still going on because of the noise, and even as Istepped out into the open, there was a shrill cry of agony,although it was impossible to know whether it came from a Parisiior a Brigantes. Tincommius still led the way, but I was happy tosee that he was a bit more judicious, not dashing headlong down thestreet to join the fight, though he did move at a rapid pace thatwas not quite a trot. I followed him after I paused to turn andlook south towards the river, trying to determine if the Briganteswho had forced the eastern gate were this deep into the town, but Icould see no movement of any kind. It was
