Praetorian Series [3] A Hunter and His Legion

by Edward Crichton

  “My spy indicated your destination was the Isle of Mona, so we marched straight there, only to be told that we needed to continue venturing north…” she answered with a smile, playfully reaching out to grab my arm in a teasing gesture. “Were you not confused as to why the Druids were expecting you?”

  I looked at my arm for a moment before plucking her hand off of it. “Wait, you told them I was coming?”

  “I even gave them your name,” she said, giggling like a little girl. “I am not without a sense of humor, Jacob.”

  “Yeah, like the Joker’s,” I murmured.

  “Who?”

  “A demented clown.”

  “A what?”

  “Never mind,” I said with a chuckle, unable to help myself. And here I thought the Druids back on Anglesey had possessed supernatural powers of precognition, divination, or any other kind of -tion associated with black magic. Instead, they’d simply been told we were coming ahead of time, by someone who’d even given them my name…

  It was almost funny.

  Except for the indistinct memory of something bad happening to them.

  “Something wrong?” Agrippina asked, seemingly as observant as Helena was.

  “Everything’s wrong,” I said quickly, the memory trying to knit itself back together in my mind. “Remember?”

  “I do, but it is also good that you are willing to acknowledge such a truth. I must admit that I grievously misjudged you before.”

  “Yeah…” I whispered, memories of Helena dying in my arms, Bordeaux’s skull being shattered to pieces, Titus crushed in half, Vincent’s severed arm, the sight of Santino hanging from a cross, all memories I had because of nothing but Agrippina’s misjudgment, “…no biggie.”

  “I had thought the orb to have completely warped your mind,” Agrippina continued. “However, I am glad such a suspicion has been proven untrue. I believe you would have been most difficult to work with had I been right.”

  I supposed she had a point.

  “So how much further?” I asked.

  She held out a hand. “We are already here, Jacob Hunter. Behold.”

  I could tell from my peripheral vision that we had just reached the edge of a clearing, but I was suddenly too nervous to turn my head and look. In my mind, I envisioned a dozen different things that could be there in that clearing: something that looked like Stonehenge, some piece of long lost technology, an alien being, a time machine of some kind, and so many more. My imagination was running wild as I forced myself to turn toward the clearing and discover what I’d waited all these years to find.

  I moved slowly, but eventually my eyes met the clearing and saw what it contained.

  My eyebrows rose in complete amazement, shock, and surprise.

  It was a simple cottage.

  ***

  I looked at it skeptically before looking at Agrippina, back to the cottage, then back to Agrippina, but I wasn’t the first to voice my disproval.

  “That’s it??” Santino asked angrily with a pointed arm as he came up beside me. “A dinky little house? That’s what was so important?”

  Agrippina simply smiled. “Come with me.”

  Reluctantly, we did as we were told and followed Agrippina off to the left. We rode for a few minutes around the perimeter of the cottage before she stopped abruptly and gestured back toward the structure.

  “Behold,” she said.

  I turned more quickly this time, half expecting the cottage to have disappeared and be replaced with one of my earlier predictions, but nothing had changed. The cottage remained in its original, uninspiring, and mundane form.

  I turned to my friends. “See anything special?”

  Archer shook his head and Santino shrugged while Boudicca too seemed confused, but Vincent seemed to be looking at it intently.

  “What?” I asked.

  He shook his head. “I don’t see anything out of the ordinary, but the architecture of the building doesn’t seem contemporary with this time period.”

  I returned my attention to the cottage and noticed what Vincent was talking about. There was an oddly distinctive medieval look to the cottage, straight down to the roof that looked to be made from an entire field of thatched reeds or wheat stalks, making it look like it belonged in Braveheart rather than Gladiator.

  I shrugged. “Familiar with British housing structures circa 40 A.D.?”

  He glanced at me, at a loss. “Not really.”

  “Me neither.”

  Only Artie looked at the cottage with any kind of real interest, but even then, she didn’t offer an opinion so I left her to think. Instead, I turned back to Agrippina.

  “We’ve long ago established that you like to play games, Agrippina. How about we just skip to the end of this one.”

  Her smile returned once again, a beautiful and beaming one. “Do not concern yourself, Jacob, for this is not a game I am playing on you this time. It took us quite a while to understand as well. Come.”

  She started forward again, and I couldn’t help but sigh and follow, the rest of my friends falling in behind me. Once again, our ride didn’t last particularly long, but it ended when we reached the opposite end of the cottage from where we arrived. I didn’t even bother to wait for Agrippina’s “behold” as I looked back at the cottage, noticing her Praetorians standing opposite us on the other side of the building.

  But again, nothing seemed to have changed, and the cottage looked exactly as it had before. Just a small, round building with a sloped, thatched roof. I glanced at my friends, but while Archer and Santino continued to look just as confused as I was, Vincent now stared at it as though he was trying to piece together some complex puzzle in his mind, while Artie’s eyes were wide and clearly surprised at something.

  “Artie?” I asked. “What is it?”

  She raised a hand to cover her mouth and slowly turned to look at me. “It… Jacob, look!”

  I did, but again didn’t see anything out of the ordinary.

  I turned back to Artie. “What?”

  This time she gave me a frustrated look. “Look at the door!”

  I did, and at the same time heard Vincent whisper, “My God…” and seconds later, Santino say, “Holy shit…”

  Now I was growing frustrated that my usually keen ability to notice details had apparently eluded me. I was about to speak up and yell at Artie or Vincent or even Santino to just tell me what the fuck they’d seen, but then I noticed it.

  The door.

  There wasn’t anything particularly interesting about the façade. It was boring and lacked any kind of detail or personal touch, but it wasn’t the door itself that was of interest. What I found interesting was that even though we had completed half of a rotation around the structure, now standing opposite the position we’d originally occupied, the face of the door was still there.

  Every single time we’d moved to look at the cottage, the door had moved with us.

  “Huh,” I breathed. “Well, that’s a thing.”

  ***

  I looked at Santino. “John, ride back to the Praetorians and let me know if you see the door.”

  It seemed like a stretch of a concept, but it was the first thing I thought to do, and I wasn’t sure anything could possibly seem like a stretch anymore.

  “Yeah,” he whispered, still amazed. “I think I’ll go do that.”

  He kicked his horse and rode around the cottage, giving it an exceptionally wide berth as he returned to the Praetorians. When he arrived, he didn’t even bother using his radio.

  “There’s a fucking door over here!” He yelled

  I didn’t reply but waved a hand indicating he should come back.

  “Has it always been like that?” I asked Agrippina.

  “Ever since we arrived at least,” she confirmed. “It is quite amazing, is it not? Were you to walk around the cottage, never taking your eyes off of it, you would observe the door rotating around the structure with you, but your mind would hardly even notice
the oddity of it, or even be aware of it.”

  “I’ll take your word for it,” I mumbled, unable to tear my eyes from the door. “Have you tried going inside?”

  She responded by kicking her horse into motion again. “Come.”

  Although I was starting to feel anxious at how odd the cottage seemed to be, I couldn’t help but follow, my curiosity bound to doom me sooner or later.

  So why not now?

  It was a short trip to the door, but I felt a strange sensation of nausea overwhelm me when we grew closer. There was a light mist surrounding the cottage, obscuring the snowy ground, but I couldn’t detect any odd smells or see anything ghastly that would make my stomach roil like it had.

  “Your stomach will settle momentarily,” Agrippina reported, and I found myself thankful that, for once, it wasn’t just me being affected by some outside influence.

  When we arrived at the door, I couldn’t help but notice all but one of Agrippina’s Praetorians stayed firmly where they were. Whether they were scared, superstitious, or simply planning something treacherous, I didn’t know, but for some reason I envied them. This place was, simply put, odd.

  Agrippina pointed at the door. “As you can see, the door is made of simple wooden planks arranged vertically. There is no handle or other form of entrance device, nor does it seem to be latched from the inside, but I assure you none of my men have been able to pry it open.”

  “No shit?” Santino whispered, amazed.

  “And there is this…” Agrippina said.

  Taking a torch from the Praetorian next to her, she threw it on the roof, but I barely had time to register the action, let alone stop her, before it was sailing through the air.

  “Why the hell would you…” but then the torch landed on the roof and did…

  Nothing.

  The seemingly flammable material that made up the cottage’s roof didn’t even spark. Not a reed or branch or whatever it was seemed to even notice. The torch simply sat atop the roof and burned itself but nothing else.

  “That’s impossible,” Artie whispered.

  “Yeah,” Santino said, “but so is time travel.”

  We all turned to look at him nervously but no one said anything. My mind was blank at the moment and I found myself speechless, and my friends didn’t seem much better off.

  Finally, after minutes of silence, I turned to Agrippina. “Is it okay if I speak privately with my friends for a few minutes?”

  She gestured toward them with a hand. “Please.”

  I shook my head at her politeness, still not quite believing this wasn’t actually Agrippina’s doppelganger – the good one. I reeled Felix around and faced my friends, but looked at Boudicca first.

  “Do you mind?”

  She simply nodded, clearly not happy about being left out of the conversation but perhaps understanding we couldn’t completely trust Agrippina. I nodded my thanks and switched to English.

  “So?” I asked.

  “We’ve reached an all new low,” Santino said helpfully.

  “Won’t get any argument from me,” I mumbled.

  “Who do you think is in there?” Archer asked. “Or what?”

  I shrugged. “Could be anything. Or anyone. I mean, it could actually turn out to be some legitimate ancient Druid that still has some magical abilities that our modern world has simply forgotten. That or it could be…”

  “My bet’s on Yoda,” Santino offered.

  I rolled my eyes but I wasn’t about to rule it out.

  Archer just looked confused. “Who?”

  Santino’s eyes went wide and then sad. He placed a hand on Archer’s shoulder consolingly. “There are times when I truly pity you, Archer. Truly pity you. Truly.” He looked at Artie. “Did I mention truly?”

  She chuckled. “You did.”

  I ignored them and thought, but then noticed only Vincent seemed aloof from the conversation, wrapped in his own thoughts. He’d been like that for too long, months really, that much I remembered while under the orb’s influence, and I was now absolutely convinced he knew more than he was letting on.

  “You have your suspicions, don’t you, Vincent?” I asked.

  It took a while before he finally nodded absently. “I do. Ever since Alexandria, learning the things that we’ve learned, seeing the things that we’ve seen, going to the places we’ve gone, it’s like we’ve been acting out a story from a book I’ve already read before.”

  “So do you know who’s in there?” I asked impatiently.

  “I don’t know anything, but as you said, I have my suspicions.”

  “And you still won’t tell me?”

  His smile grew wider. “Sorry, no spoilers.”

  Santino laughed hysterically and raised a hand in the air, which Vincent quickly high fived, something I never thought I’d ever live to see. He chuckled now himself, looking very much like an old man who was taking too much enjoyment out of knowing something his grandchildren simply could not understand, and thinking him crazy for it.

  “I’m so confused,” Archer chimed in.

  I dropped my head, realizing none of them were going to be of any help. Whoever or whatever was in there didn’t seem able to go anywhere without us knowing it, and the mystery wasn’t going to solve itself, so I turned back to Agrippina. “So why bring me here?”

  “Because I believe this to be the source of all your answers. Where Marcus Varus always intended for you to go. Where the Druids on Mona sent you. And where I believe your destiny lies.”

  “And what’s it to you?” I finally asked.

  She reeled back in annoyance before answering. “While I no longer feel the desire to destroy you, Jacob Hunter, the sooner I am rid of you the better. I wish you to go home just as much as you do.”

  “Mhmm,” I hummed, still suspicious. She certainly was singing a different tune this time than when we’d last met. “I’m sure.”

  “Believe what you want,” she said, “but I did bring you here, did I not?”

  “I suppose you did,” I answered, although that was hardly comforting. “So now what?”

  “Go inside.”

  “Just like that?”

  She glanced at the door. “I haven’t any idea, but if my suspicions are correct, then going inside should be as easy as a… what was it you once said to me… a walk in the park for you.”

  I shook my head but hopped off Felix all the same. I looked at Agrippina as I walked past her toward the door. “I’ll give you one thing. At least you pay attention to the things I say.”

  She smiled and lowered her head in acknowledgment of the compliment.

  I looked away and thought to toss Felix’s reins to Archer, but then another thought popped into my head. Sheepishly, I turned back to Agrippina and held out the reins for her to take. She looked at me knowingly, and accepted them

  “Here,” I said. “I… uh… want to thank you for loaning your horse to me. He’s been the best.”

  Agrippina smiled and pulled Felix in close to her so that she could stroke his mane. “This one always had been my favorite, Jacob, but since you’ve ‘owned’ him longer than I by now, consider him a gift.”

  I was further surprised at her answer, but didn’t want to risk changing her mind, so I glanced back at my friends and my sister one last time, each of them offering me gestures of reassurance. I nodded in thanks and turned back to the door.

  It was close now, only an arm’s span away, but I felt an unexpected energy around the door, like some kind of invisible barrier I had to force myself through. It didn’t seem particularly resilient, but at the same time, it was like trying to push my way through Jell-O, and the more I pushed, the less progress I made.

  It didn’t hurt, but it seemed impenetrable.

  I turned to look up at Agrippina, who had backed away considerably along with the rest of them.

  “Good plan,” I commented.

  “I suspected it might not work,” Agrippina said, “even for you, but there
is one last thing I suggest trying before we abandon this place.”

  “What’s that?”

  She gestured to the Praetorian beside her, who then rode up to me and placed a round object in my hands. I accepted the gift but as soon as my hands made contact with it, I dropped it and recoiled away, shooting a venomous look at Agrippina.

  “Why would you give that back to me!?” I demanded.

  “A simple test,” she said casually. “Tell me, Jacob, do you feel its draw now?”

  My friends looked between us nervously, each of them knowing exactly what the orb could and probably would do to me if I reconnected with it, but Agrippina’s question was an interesting one because I didn’t actually feel anything. I glanced down at the object wrapped in cloth but felt nothing. Cautiously, I leaned down and picked it up, and carefully unwrapped the cloth from around it, finding that the orb seemed more inert than I’d ever seen it before.

  “I don’t actually,” I finally replied, still looking at the orb.

  “Then perhaps this structure is even more powerful than we suspected. And beneficial.”

  I looked back at her. “You gambled with something more powerful than even you know! I was this close to the edge last time!”

  “It was an educated guess,” she said without concern.

  “Based on what?” I demanded, but she didn’t answer.

  Frustrated, I looked back at the orb and turned it over in my hands, noticing that it really did look like nothing more than a blue bowling ball lacking its telltale holes.

  I whirled my head back toward the door, and with a surge of confidence, approached it once again, but my care was unwarranted. The door’s defenses were down, and my hand moved towards its wooden planks without resistance until I felt the smooth contours and warmth of what felt like freshly cut wood.

  I looked back at Agrippina. “Want to come?”

  She shook her head. “I do not think I was meant to.”

  I craned my neck further to look at my friends. “And you guys?”

  “Not on your fucking life,” Santino muttered and Archer was nodding in agreement.