Being ahead of me, Tincommius was thefirst to rush up to where Ivomagus had somehow gotten himselfisolated and was now with his back pressed up to the last hut onthe righthand side of this street, surrounded by several Brigantes.The warrior nearest us understandably reacted first to Tincommius’approach, and without any hesitation, he launched himself in arushing attack at the Parisii. Probably because he was concernedwith the more immediate threat of Tincommius, the Brigantes had noteven glanced in my direction, a couple paces closer to therighthand side of the street and about four paces behindTincommius. The Parisii easily blocked the spear thrust, catchingthe point with his shield, but despite my intention of coming toTincommius’ aid as he had come to mine just moments earlier,Ivomagus gave another shout. While I did not see the blow, I sawthe result as the king’s brother dropped to his knees, and while hewas still trying to keep his shield up, the gladius-wielding warrior attacking him broughthis blade down in a bashing blow. There was no technique; thisBrigantes, sensing the kill was near, was relying on brute strengthand fury to batter down Ivomagus’ shield, raining blow after blow,intent on one thing and one thing only. This was why he was theeasiest kill to that moment, my blade punching right under hisright armpit, causing him to vomit blood and turn his head to stareat me in shocked surprise as I used my foot to kick him off myblade.
Ivomagus was trying to get to his feet,except that he was knocked down again, but by me as I snarled,“Stay on your fucking knees and give me your shield!”
He did sink back to his knees, but Icannot actually say whether he handed me his shield or I took itfrom him. What mattered was that it was just in time for me tothrust it across my body to block the spear thrust that originatedfrom the warrior to Ivomagus’ far right, which was clearly aimed atthe king’s brother. It was a powerful thrust, and our situation wasnot helped by the fact that this was a flat round shield, becausemost of what little practice I have had with a shield is with thecurved rectangular Legion shield. In fact, even in this moment, Irecalled that the last time I had even attempted to use a flatshield was at the Angrivarian Wall, and I had discarded it almostas quickly as I had picked it up. Not this time, however, and whilethe spearpoint of the first attacker bit deeply into the wood, hewithdrew it cleanly to prepare for another attempt, but I wasalready moving the shield back across my body because of themovement at the corner of my vision that gave me just enoughwarning there was another attack coming from a different direction.Even as I tried to piece it together later, I could not determinehow I knew to drop my shield lower than would normally beconsidered wise, nor do I know if the Brigantes spearman wasdeliberately trying to hamstring me, but I certainly was happyabout the outcome as, for a second time, I caught the thrust withmy shield. If anything, this thrust had even more power behind it,and I glimpsed the point of the spear protruding from the back.Consequently, I did not hesitate, twisting my wrist, discoveringone of the advantages of a round shield because of its balance. Bydoing so, I bound the spearpoint in a manner that I suppose wassimilar to how my spatha gotstuck in the bones of the Brigantes nobleman’s neck. Naturally,when he could not recover the spear cleanly, he gave it a yank, butthis time, I had seen Tincommius coming, and this warrior paid forhis stubbornness in trying to retrieve his weapon with his life.And then, there were only four Brigantes left, and with ourarrival, the odds had shifted dramatically, which they clearlyrecognized because, without any hesitation, they backed away,moving up the street towards the northern street as we stood therewatching. Once they were a safe distance away, I yanked the spearout of the shield then handed it to Ivomagus, who had climbed tohis feet, but he refused to meet my gaze, nor would he look atTincommius.
“How did you get separated?” I askedhim, not that it mattered in the moment.
“I…I do not know,” headmitted.
Then it was time to talk about the realityof our situation, and before I began speaking, I glanced over myshoulder, down towards the southern street, but it did not appearthat the Parisii defending the eastern gate had been pushed thethree blocks to the street where we were standing. Tincommius,seeing where I was looking, nudged me, then gave me a nod thatindicated he would watch in that direction so that I could talk toIvomagus.
“The town is lost,” I told himbluntly. “The only chance we have now is to get to the northerngate before Diviciacus’ men do, and head for the camp.”
Ivomagus stared up at me, and I noticed forthe first time that his face was spattered with blood, but heseemed unwounded.
“I cannot do that, Centurion!” heanswered immediately. Shaking his head, he continued stubbornly, “Iwill not abandon these men.”
I actually understood him, and in fact, Isympathized a great deal, but as green as I may be when compared tomy father, I was still infinitely more experienced than Ivomagus,so I am afraid I did not sound like it.
“Your men are the only thing standingbetween their families being slaughtered,” I said harshly. “Andyou’re not a good enough warrior to make a difference in whetherPetuar stands or falls.”
I did not expect him to like it, and heclearly did not, but after a hesitation, he gave an abrupt nod. Heturned to Tincommius, and they held a brief discussion, and theParisii bodyguard pointed to a spot down the street, and as Isuspected, it was another passage to the next street. This was howwe made our way all
