Lost Legio IX: The Karus Saga

by Marc Alan Edelheit

  “Ha!” he said with triumph, spotting a large bloodied boot print. None of Karus’s men had been wearing boots. They wore only sandals. He spun on Flaccus. “Were the druids wearing boots?” Karus asked. “Think, man, this is important.”

  “No,” Flaccus said, brows drawing together. “I don’t believe they were.”

  Karus turned back, studying the floor. The intruders into the city and those dead that had been found in the forest had been wearing boots. With everyone watching curiously, Karus followed the prints. After a few feet, by the main door that led up to the administrative building, he noticed a blood trail.

  “Flaccus,” Karus said, stopping suddenly. “Are you missing any men?”

  “No,” Flaccus said. “The druids were locked up in that cell. Those three were the guard detail for their shift. The rest of the century was quartered on the floor above. When they heard the commotion, they rushed down here. By the time they arrived, it was all over. Karus, I swear, the door leading down here was locked. Those druids could not have gotten out and to the surface.”

  Karus nodded as he thought it through. He studied the blood trail again. It continued on past the door. He pointed it out. “Maybe your boys got in a few licks of their own.”

  Flaccus studied the floor.

  “I think,” Karus said, kneeling beside one of the boot prints and placing a finger on it, “the druids had help escaping.” Karus gestured at the blood trail. “This, I think, is proof one of your boys stuck one of them before he went down, possibly Severus there.”

  Flaccus nodded at that, but Karus was still deeply troubled. Somehow, he suspected the intruders had known about the druids and had come to free them. Karus did not yet understand how or why, but his gut told him it was so.

  He continued to follow the tracks, working his way down the corridor. He checked each cell for tracks or blood. He found nothing but years of grime and mold. The blood remained confined to the corridor. Delvaris, Pammon, and Flaccus trailed behind him, along with the men. Everyone was hushed and quiet.

  Karus stopped. Without any of the magical lanterns nearby, this section of passageway was darkened and it was harder to see. He held the hissing torch closer to the ground. The boot prints were becoming fainter, yet the blood trail was still easy to see.

  The trail ran up to an alcove with a set of stairs that led downward to the right. Karus started to move down them, but then stopped. There was no blood on the steps. He retraced his path and looked around. The trail led right into the alcove and then stopped cold.

  “What is it?” Flaccus asked.

  “The blood trail,” Karus said, rubbing his jaw. “It stops here.”

  “Surely it goes down the stairs?”

  “No, it doesn’t.”

  Karus’s eyes narrowed. He waved the torch around the alcove, then bent over and studied the floor more carefully. A draft caught the torch, and the flame fluttered ever so slightly. Karus put a hand out to the floor and felt a cold breeze upon his fingers.

  “There’s a door here.” Karus straightened. “I feel a draft. Get me more light.”

  There was a scramble, followed by someone handing forward one of the magic lanterns. Karus handed the torch to Flaccus, who began to examine the wall with him.

  “Look.” Flaccus pointed.

  There was a bloody handprint on the rock about waist high. Karus felt it, hoping there was a secret lever. He gave the spot with the handprint a push. Nothing happened. It was just solid rock. They began exploring the entire wall.

  “This appears to be a seam,” Flaccus said, running a finger down the wall.

  Karus looked closely and agreed. “Yes, but how do we open it?”

  “There must be a mechanism,” Flaccus said to those behind them. “Look around.”

  They searched for several moments, but found nothing.

  “What about this?”

  Karus turned completely around. Delvaris was pointing at a chain affixed to a small ring on the opposite wall. It was the kind of ring manacles were secured to.

  “This is a landing for a stairway,” Delvaris said. “Why put a ring for manacles here?”

  Delvaris gave a small tug on the chain. Nothing happened. He tugged harder and the chain, secured to the wall, moved just a bit. There was a loud click behind Karus. Delvaris let go of the chain. There was another click.

  Karus turned and pushed on what he thought would be the door. It didn’t budge.

  “Pull it again,” Karus ordered.

  Delvaris gave the chain a hearty yank. When the first click sounded, Karus pushed his weight onto the door. With a grating sound, it slowly began to shift.

  “Throw your weight into it,” Karus grunted to Flaccus, who leaned forward and pushed with him.

  Hinges screaming, the door slowly opened. When it was wide enough to admit a man, Karus stopped and grabbed for the lantern. He shined it into the darkness. A small passageway that was thick with dust stretched out before them. Karus lowered the lantern to the floor. The dust had been recently disturbed. More importantly, the blood trail continued.

  A sound echoed back to them from farther up the passageway. Karus looked to Flaccus.

  “Let’s get some payback for your men,” he said.

  “Aye.” Flaccus drew his sword. “Let’s go get the murderous bastards.”

  “Sir.” Pammon stepped forward. “Let the men go first.”

  Karus thought on it a heartbeat. He was angry over the deaths of Flaccus’s men. He looked over at Flaccus and then firmly shook his head.

  “This is something that I need to do,” Karus said, “for our boys back there.”

  “We need to do this together,” Flaccus said, clapping a hand on Karus’s shoulder armor. “The men can follow behind us.”

  “Pammon,” Karus said, “we will take Delvaris and five of these men with us. Summon help and follow as soon as you can.”

  “Yes, sir,” Pammon said, sounding not particularly happy.

  “Let’s go,” Karus said and ducked into the passageway, holding the lantern forward. It was only wide enough to admit one man at a time, and his armor rubbed and scraped against the tight stone walls. Behind, he could hear Flaccus and then the bulk of the men following. The noise they made in the tight confines of the passage was surprising. As a result, he could no longer hear anything ahead. Karus advanced, sword ready and lantern held out before him lighting the way.

  The passage smelled old and musty. It had an unused feel to it, and with each step, centuries of dust kicked up and tickled at his nose. Two hundred paces in, it made a slight curve to the right. Karus began encountering a step down every few feet. Thinking on the terrain above, and the distance traveled, he decided the tunnel was taking them downward from the palace district and into the city.

  Seeing something, Karus paused and held the lantern to the floor. The blood went from a light trail to a heavy flow. It also looked fresh and glistened with reflected light, meaning they were gaining on the escapees and whoever had helped them. Karus continued on, counting his steps.

  At four hundred, the tunnel led them to an abrupt turn. Karus stopped before making his way around it, careful lest someone was lying in ambush. It was clear. He paused and motioned for everyone behind him to quiet down.

  Once everyone had stilled, noises and voices, sounding somewhat desperate, could be heard ahead. By the sound of it, they appeared not too far off, though Karus realized that the acoustics of the confined passage could be deceiving and likely were. Once around the bend, the passageway opened up a little. Karus found he was able to move quicker and easier, setting a faster pace. Flaccus followed close behind.

  “Chavak!”

  Karus was abruptly slammed into the wall, and hard. The breath whooshed from his lungs with the impact. Something connected painfully with the armor on his lower chest and grazed off. Karus went down in a tumble, losing his sword and the lantern.

  He tried to roll to his side to see his attacker, but he was kicke
d hard in the back, sending him down again. Something wet sprayed across the side of his face. This was almost immediately followed by an animal-like roar of pain, then the repeated clang of sword on sword.

  Struggling to get air back into his lungs, Karus drew his dagger. He rolled to the side and saw the leg of his attacker. He struck, neatly hamstringing the ankle. There was another roar of anguish, and the attacker went to a knee. Karus struck again, this time in the meat of the leg, eliciting another roar. This was followed immediately with a meaty thwack above, and the body of his attacker crashed down atop him, once again forcing Karus back down.

  Finally, Karus’s lungs started working again, and despite the weight on his back, he sucked in sweet air, relishing it.

  “Come on,” Flaccus said and rolled the body off. He helped Karus up with a hand. “Are you all right?”

  “Only my pride is damaged,” Karus said, sucking in a deep breath.

  He looked down at the body and saw it was an orc. The creature wore black leather chest armor, brown pants, and boots like the intruders who had tried to sneak their way into the city and those in the forest.

  “What is going on here?” Karus said to himself. He wondered how it had gotten into the city. Had it come over the walls? Or had it and others been here the entire time? How many others were there?

  “That was a nice hamstring,” Flaccus said. “Until you struck, that beast had me on my heels. It was frightfully powerful.”

  Karus picked up his sword and retrieved the lantern. One of the glass panes had shattered, but the flame still burned brightly. He glanced behind Flaccus. There was some distance between him and the others, who were led by Delvaris.

  “How about we call it a team effort,” Karus said, “and not mention how close we both came to being fodder for the worms?”

  “Agreed.” Flaccus chuckled and kicked at the dead orc. “We could say we just killed that big old bastard with no trouble at all, like right proper officers.”

  Karus shot the cantankerous centurion a slight grin and chuckled.

  “It’s a deal.” Karus looked over Flaccus’s shoulder. “Stop dragging ass and keep bloody up.”

  “Yes, Karus,” Delvaris said.

  He spared the tribune a withering look and then turned and continued, with Flaccus right behind, staying close. They moved quickly and with purpose. A glance behind, and he saw Delvaris lagging again. Karus considered reprimanding the tribune, then shrugged and turned back to the task at hand. He did not want to slow his pace and allow the druids to get away.

  Fifty feet farther on, Karus thought he detected a reflected flash just ahead in the darkness. Possibly from a blade. There looked to be another hidden alcove. He slowed, turned slightly, and pointed two fingers at his eyes and then ahead. Flaccus nodded his understanding, and together they crept forward.

  When the attack came, Karus was more than ready for it. He had expected an orc, but this time it was a man. Karus dropped the lantern and blocked with his sword as Flaccus reached over his shoulder in a deft move and jabbed the attacker in the chest, eliciting a grunt.

  Wounded, the man stepped back. Karus pressed forward and punched out with his short sword, aiming low. The sword slid easily into a thigh. Karus twisted the blade as he pulled it back. Blood sprayed across his hand and arm. An artery had been nicked. The attacker stumbled to his knees. Though he would be dead in mere heartbeats, Karus did not want to take a chance and thrust his sword into the other’s exposed neck. The man gagged before falling backwards, dead, his blood pooling out around him in the dust.

  “Nice work,” Flaccus said, admiring Karus’s work. “Would you mind leaving the next one for me?”

  Karus picked up the lantern and shined it over the body. He wore black leather armor, brown pants, and boots, like the others.

  A noise ahead drew his attention back to the task at hand.

  “Let’s go,” Karus said. “They can’t be too far ahead.”

  Another fifty paces farther on, light began to illuminate the passage. Karus could see what looked to be an exit in the distance. He and Flaccus picked up their pace. Once they reached it, Karus cautiously poked his head out into the afternoon light. In their haste to flee, the door had been left open.

  Judging from the massive buildings to both sides, Karus realized they were in the temple district. Specifically, in a narrow alley between temples. Twenty steps forward, a man was half-carrying and half-dragging one of the druids. Spying Karus and Flaccus, he carefully laid the druid down. Then, calmly, he drew his long sword and moved toward them with confident intent.

  “This one is mine,” Flaccus said. “Do you have a problem with that, sir?”

  “No,” Karus said, hearing Delvaris and the others emerging from the passage. “Take him.”

  Flaccus moved forward, sword held lightly in his hand. The man sprang at him. It was over in the blink of an eye. Flaccus dodged right and away from the strike, even as his own blade punched forward and deeply into the other’s belly. Flaccus stepped in close and drove the sword deeper, right up to the hilt, before giving it a savage twist. His opponent let out an agonized cry, sword clattering to the stone.

  Flaccus held the man there for a moment, then roughly shoved him back and off his blade. The man fell to the pavement, intestines landing around him. Flaccus drove his sword viciously downward into the other’s neck. The strike was delivered so powerfully that the tip rang on the stone paving.

  Flaccus strode over to the druid, who had rolled onto his back. Karus stepped up next to him. The druid looked up at them. Like Severus, he had been stabbed in the gut, and the front of his black robes glistened darkly.

  The druid’s face had been blackened by something. Karus thought it might be ash, but it could simply have been a mixture of dust and grime. Underneath the coating, the face almost looked pockmarked, as if it were going through the beginnings of a dreaded disease. Karus found it was hard to focus on the druid’s face. The druid glowered back at them menacingly.

  “You should have let me kill them,” Flaccus said.

  “You are right,” Karus said. “I should have. I should not have accused you of failing in your duty either. I will not make that mistake again. You have my word on that.”

  “That’s enough for me,” Flaccus said, glancing over at Karus, face hard. “I will not hold back on my opinion, when I think you wrong.”

  “I expect you to give it to me straight.”

  Flaccus nodded, then his gaze turned back on the druid. “Can I kill him now?”

  “Yes,” Karus said. “Send this piece of shit on his way.”

  “My Lord is coming for you, Karus,” the druid said in bad Latin. “He will take—”

  Whatever the druid was going to say ended abruptly with a sword thrust through his throat.

  “I always despised those who spouted on and on about religion. They always seem to think they know better than the rest of us,” Flaccus said. He used the druid’s cloak to clean his sword. “Better that he talk to his god directly than with you and me, eh?”

  Delvaris came up, along with the handful of legionaries from Flaccus’s cohort.

  “I only see one druid,” Delvaris said. “Where do you think the other one’s got to?”

  Karus and Flaccus looked at one another, rushed to the end of the alleyway, and looked out onto the empty boulevard that ran through the temple district.

  “Wouldn’t you know it,” Flaccus said with palpable irritation, “the bugger got clean away.”

  “He probably left the other behind and legged it,” Karus said. “There likely was never any real chance we’d catch up to him.”

  Flaccus sheathed his sword.

  “We’ll search the city for him,” Karus said and turned to Delvaris. “Send a man to each gatehouse with word to double our patrols on the wall and keep a sharp eye for anyone trying to leave the city.”

  Delvaris nodded and turned away.

  “With your permission, Karus,” Flaccus said an
d breathed in deeply, “I am going to muster my cohort and start turning this city upside down.”

  “Granted,” Karus said, “and good hunting.”

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Karus turned as Amarra descended the steps from the palace, her guard trailing a few steps behind. She wore the same plain grey dress that had clearly seen better days. He was sure that, with all that had been found in the city, there were better available than those a servant or slave had worn. He decided he would speak to Delvaris about finding her better wear.

  Karus shrugged his shoulders, shifting his armor about for a more comfortable fit. He had left his helmet and shield behind. He had not worn his kit for a few days, and under the morning suns, the heat was building inside. Perspiration began to bead his forehead.

  Karus’s escort waited at a respectful distance; the men without their shields stood at ease. Under the watchful and stern gaze of Ipax, there was no talking. The hard-faced optio had taken a position to their side. He had remained there, motionless, as if rooted in place. Karus almost smiled, but refrained. One thing service with the legions taught was how to hurry up and wait.

  “Are you sure this is wise?” Dio asked him quietly. “Because I am not. With people falling ill, they have become scared, and the men are talking about her.”

  “Are they saying anything new?” Karus asked absently. His mind was on the trouble in the dungeon and the druid on the loose. Despite turning the city upside down over the last week, the bastard had yet to be found.

  “No,” Dio said, “but it is getting worse. You know how this sort of thing goes.”

  “She’s a witch and I’ve fallen under her spell, is that it?”

  “Yes,” Dio said unhappily. “Well, that is one of the more common claims flying about. There are also people saying she is responsible for the sickness. Add to that the escape of the druids, the death of Flaccus’s men … With everything that has happened, Karus, we really don’t need this sort of thing right now. Pammon and Felix agree with me on this.”

  “Nonsense.” Karus let out an exasperated breath. “I am learning her language to gain intelligence. That is all.”