“What is it?” Lucius didn’t mean to sound rude, but exhaustion and stress were warring for dominance.
“Sir, one of the men found a path running up the rock face that leads to the top of the ravine.”
He groaned as he stood up. “Show me.”
Lucius followed the man to the wall near the back edge of the camp. A legionnaire from Aegyptia waited for them.
“Ramses. I hear you found a back way in,” Lucius said.
The man shrugged. “Not really. We haven’t found a way it can be used. It leads up to the top from here, but as far as we can tell, there’s no way up from the other side, at least not without coming from further up the mountain.”
Lucius nodded, gesturing toward the trail. “You better show me, Ramses. Josephus, let Venextos know where I am.”
He followed Ramses up the narrow and often dangerous path until they crested the wall. Wiping a hand across his brow, he huffed and puffed from the hard climb. The view the climb afforded nearly robbed him of his breath once he regained it. In the west, the edge of Sol Invictus’s chariot had nearly finished its journey for the day, leaving brilliants oranges and pinks edging into purple.
After thanking Sol for another day, he turned to find Selene, letting her silvery light bath over him as he raised his face to the sky, and closed his eyes. He wasn’t sure if it was wishful thinking or if he could actually feel Selene’s presence in the light as it caressed his face. Opening his eyes, the corners of his lips tipped up, the tension leaching out of his body under the goddess’s gentle embrace. He thanked her for watching over him and asked for a peaceful night if it was in her power to provide.
He didn’t know Ramses well enough to know if he was a nervous man or if he needed something that prompted his feet to shuffle noisily on the rocky ground. Once Lucius turned and nodded at the man, he pointed into the distance.
“Sir, I think I see something.”
Lucius squinted, holding up a hand to block out the light of the moon. It looked like the telltale flickering light of campfires, quite a lot of them. He couldn’t be sure, but they appeared to be on the same trail as them, though still a ways back.
“I wonder if that is our Parthian friends, Ramses.”
“That’s not a small encampment,” the legionnaire said.
Lucius nodded absentmindedly. “I don’t fancy finding out how many Parthians it would take to need that much space.”
“No, sir.”
They stared at the flickering flames for a while. Lucius was nearly ready to head back down when the flames went from orderly and contained to something closer to a conflagration. Something had caught on fire. Soon, something else went up.
“The tents…” Lucius said quietly. “Shit. What’s… Oh! Oh, no…”
“What is it, sir?”
Lucius stared into the distance as the fires grew, his mouth hanging open. “The monsters… They’re attacking the Parthian camp.”
“I can’t say it hurts my feelings much.”
Lucius looked at Ramses. “I’m not sure even our enemy deserves to be ripped to shreds by creatures like that, but at the same time, I have to hope they keep each other occupied long enough for us to get a safe lead.”
He continued to watch for a while as the fires leapt to more tents. Others dimmed as they burned out, leaving lower glows of smoldering debris and ashes. “I think I’ve seen enough.” He turned, stopping at the edge of the trail. Down in the dark wasn’t the best idea he’d had, but his hot water and some food waited at the bottom of the hill. As hungry as he was, he had no desire to take the fast way down.
THIRTEEN
The peaceful night Lucius had hoped for graced them with its presence. When he stirred from his bedding, he felt a modicum more rested, nearly feeling fully human again. Outside his tent, he could hear the activity of the camp waking and packing. He’d ordered a quick but hearty hot breakfast before they hit the roads. The cooks had it ready. The scent of porridge and salt pork drifted into his tent.
What he didn’t like was the steam clouding from his mouth as he exhaled into the crisp morning. Pulling on his woolens, he gently shook the two Armenians awake, telling them he’d bring a couple bowls back for them while they got ready. When he returned, he broke his fast with his young friends as the morning’s earliest rays slipped over the edge of the horizon to fall in their sheltered ravine.
They’d broken down their camp and were on the move by an hour after sunrise. Though he was curious about what had happened last night, he had no intentions of sending any of his limited number of men to find out. He didn’t want to risk them being caught, nor did he want to provide anyone for enemy scouts to follow back. Their best defense was in speed and stealth.
A full night of decent sleep did them all wonders. The horses stepped a bit more crisply, and the men rode straighter in their saddles. Despite what he’d seen in the distance, he kept up the hard pace, taking advantage of whatever had happened.
“Do you know how far we are from your mountain?” Lucius asked Ariazate as they rode next to each other.
“We’re maybe six days if we can make up some ground. If we’re hiding day and night, it’ll take forever.”
“What’s the land around the lake like?”
“Beautiful in the summer when it’s lush and green all around. Stunning if she’s frozen in winter. The land is high and the air thin for those who aren’t used to the elevations. If the timing is right, the steppe eagles can be seen making their way north or south, soaring high and free. I spent a lot of time near her eastern shores as a child when we weren’t in the mountains.” Her face was serene as her half-closed eyes focused on images somewhere and somewhen else.
They made it three more nights without seeing either of the enemies trailing them, but at the end of the fourth day as they rose out of the highlands surrounding the lake and into even more serious mountains, their rearguard spied a column in the distance. Trailing back to the end of their own line, Lucius rode out with the scouts to inspect the distant smudge crawling across the highlands they’d just passed through.
“Hmm, maybe a day?” Lucius mused.
“I’d say so, Centurio,” the lead scout said.
“We’ll just have to rely on our lead and our local guides.” He stared into the west for a few minutes before pulling his thoughts in. “Keep an eye on them. Let me know if anything changes.”
“Aye, Centurio.” The man saluted as Lucius turned his horse and nudged the gelding into a canter so he could rejoin the main force.
“We need to pick up the pace?” Venextos asked by way of greeting.
“Not yet. We have maybe a day’s lead on them. I’m not ready to spend our horses quite yet…” Lucius trailed off at the sound of raised voices coming from the north.
