CHAPTER IXAt the crest of the valley, the eyes of Tancorix looked over the many tribes of Pictdom. So numerous were the men and women that arrived she couldn’t count their numbers. All of them came to the fight, but they celebrated all the way. At the periphery of the great forest of Syn, at the edge of the enormous plain of Kassidee, thousands of them amassed, sharing mirth.Tancorix stayed back in the dim forest, seated on fallen logs, but let herself be seen many times by the multitude.“It’s good to be seen by them all, but in small numbers. Let their wonder wrap about their minds.”Tancorix heard and understood the words of Weaver, her wizardess of the wood. She read wisdom in her words, but made a curious observation over the diminutive assistant to Weaver, Ragala, and wondered if the elder was wise enough in her ways to comprehend the younger lass wanted her elder’s place. Then again, Tancorix mused, that was the natural order of the wood.Quite a few chiefs of the Pict tr

CHAPTER XI“Back!” August yelled, not caring a wit if anyone or thing heard him.From over the stone lip of that cavern, one of the Greymen leapt, bounding like an acrobat toward them, as if summoned.August didn’t need to tell the archers to fire, for they drew back and pegged the Greyman twice, a shaft in his right thigh and another in his belly that burrowed deep into the flesh. Feeling the moment of his death at hand, August faced the wounded, furious Greyman. Blood pounded in his ears. He charged forward, a move the bloodied Greyman didn’t expect.Flavius didn’t expect August to turn and charge back, either. He cried out, afraid at the loss of the strong cavalry man. However, he didn’t run after August.August threw himself, rolled over, and swiped across at a low angle like a legless gladiator toward the Greyman’s calves.The creature pivoted on the wounded limb, but that didn’t make the gladius cut toward him any different. August’s wedge dug in deep and struck bone hard.

CHAPTER XIIIPorcius stood not far from Quintus and the twins, still stunned from their entry into the underworld they currently inhabited. He remembered taking the point after Severus’ death, going down with Quintus at his back into the cavern. His mind reeled at seeing the two reptiles behind stone bars. He shivered at that memory. He’d seen crazy animals from the African continent, but those things they left behind on their way down were incomprehensible. Like the beastmen, those were something spewed from the doors of nightmares or the realms of real demons. He did note the five sided star on each set of bars, and recognized that symbol as one used by the tribes in Britannia. What perplexed him was the crooked cross over the pentagram, and what that power implied. Some symbols were older than man, or things dealt with ones not from here, be they gods, devils or men of a different epoch.But they’d had little time to ponder these things or sights, nor see farther into the inner ch

CHAPTER XVTaloric beat his chest with his fist and then extended both arms over his head, continuing the loud yell he’d authored long before. After a half minute, though, he dropped his arms pulled his sword from the ground where he’d shoved it to rest before. He yelled the shout not at the Romans but at the rest of his tribe, asking them if they were ready. They all answered in the affirmative, punctuated by rowdy sounds from deep in their guts. His eyes, untamed and wide, turned to Weaver. His words were near to buried in the frenzy of the Pict multitudes, all shouting.“We shall take it to them!”Weaver’s eyes remained steadily on the Roman divisions as they slowly advanced out into the grassy valley. Her arms, down in front of her by the remains of the white horse, stayed steady, not quivering as those of her apprentice did as Ragala tried to hold them still at her sides. Weaver gave Ragala a slow glance, then returned her gaze up to the Roman lines, all starting to move like a

EPILOGUE“There’s one alive over here,” came the words into the ears of the prone Roman soldier, his body in the mud and brush at the edge of the forest.Hoof beats rang out loud in his ears. The horses and men speaking were very close. The soldier heard a voice command with force. “Turn him over for me and tell them to stop trying to put out the fires of Eboracum. May as well let it all burn down.”“Yes, sir.”“Bloody Picts, they ravaged and burnt it beyond our ability to recover.”Hands flipped the horizontal soldier over. “Yes, he’s breathing, sir. First one we’ve found in the territory.”The hoof beats stopped nearby, but the eyes of the soldier didn’t open. “By the gods, look at him, covered in blood and filth, his shield broken and no sword.”Many hands shook him. “Come on, soldier.”A voice commanded, “State your name and rank, soldier.”Eyes blinked, and the parched mouth opened, but gave no sound.The officer on horseback ordered, “Give him wine. Loosen that tongue u