In the next breath, Nasir entered the townhouse. He allowed his eyes several moments to adjust before taking any further steps. The dimly lit interior was free of any visible threats. He appeared to be standing in what must have been a sitting room. Several worn reclining couches in the old Roman fashion sat on the edges of the room up against the walls, “Hello?” He said in a loud voice hoping to draw any damned out.
Nasir waited for several moments before repeating himself, “Hello?” and then adding, “Is there anyone in here?”
Nasir heard boards overhead creak and shift up above. He tensed and tightened his grip on his ax. He looked about for possible staircases. Seeing nothing but a doorway ahead cast in darkness he took a deep breath and started moving forward. He paused in front of the opening to the next room as his eyes strained to make out the dull shadows of the objects within the darker room.
Before he could take another step forward, he heard a low growl ahead. Nasir brought his shield up in anticipation of a damned attack. He stood there, shield thrust in front of him, and ax held overhead ready to deliver a killing blow to whatever attacked out of the shadows. Oddly nothing did. A patient damned waiting to ambush me? He thought to himself.
Surprised at not seeing a damned fling itself at him from the next room he stood in silence. His ears picked up a sound that it took him several moments to identify, If I didn’t know any better it sounds like something in there is sniffing the air. As the three ladies entered the room behind him, he decided to press forward.
Taking a step through the doorway, the growling resumed. It sounded like it was coming from underneath the table just ahead. The sound didn’t seem to belong to a person living or damned. It was familiar somehow but he couldn’t quite place it. With the room filling up behind him, he decided he had better take care of whatever it was.
Before he could act, a light flared to life just behind him and Maarika said, “This will help you see.”
Nasir turned his head to the side and looked behind himself at Maarika and gave her a smile and nod in thanks. He turned back toward the origin of the growling that he had now heard twice. The, room contained a long table, crafted from wood, with benches on either side. The table could comfortably seat ten people. Four on each side and one on each end. Ahead was an open doorway cast in shadows and to his right was a staircase that lead up to the next level.
The low growl again issued forth from underneath the table once more. Before he had the chance to step forward a figure ran from underneath the table toward the stairs. Nasir, reacting on instinct, raised hi ax to strike it when Maarika yelled, “Nasir, no!”
As Nasir held his swing, he noticed the beast for what it was, a dog. What once must have been a well-fed family pet looked famished and emaciated. The outline of the animal’s ribs clearly showed on its flanks and the dog’s fur coat was a dull grayish black in coloration.
The animal stopped on the stairs and made eye contact with Nasir. The eyes looked imploringly at Nasir before the dog wagged its tail faintly. Nasir holstered his ax, and reached into his pack to pull out a piece of bread. The dog’s tail wag intensified as its nose picked up the scent of the food.
Nasir held his open hand out to the dog, who gently pulled the food from his palm with her teeth and swallowed it in one gulp. As Nasir slowly reached forward to scratch the dog behind the ears a shadowy figure leapt from the top of the staircase and tackled him.
He fell back hard onto his back. As he looked up the sight turned his blood turned cold. Above him was a damned woman, likely the lady of the household. She grabbed the sides of his helm as she thrust her head forward to bite his nose. Nasir, his arms pinned beneath her, could do nothing to stop her. He closed his eyes and braced for the feel of teeth upon his flesh.
Instead he heard a dull smack and felt the head of the woman strike his chest instead. Opening his eyes, he looked down the length of his nose and saw nothing but black, dirty, and knotty hair. Purple blood, slowly leaked out from underneath the head onto his chest as the corpse slowly slid to the floor. He sighed in relief and said, “Thanks, Maarika.”
Maarika let out a small laugh and said, “Don’t thank me, I was holding the lamp. Thank Athea.”
Nasir pushed the corpse of the woman off of him and he looked around. Meeting Athea’s gaze he said, “Thank you, Athea.”
As she nodded and smiled at his words, the dog walked over to the corpse of the damned. She poked at it with her nose, and whimpered mournfully.
“She must have been his owner.” Nasir said.
Maarika nodded sadly in agreement, “Aye, so much death.” Her voice trailed off as she said the last three words.
“What are we going to do with her?” Nasir asked.
Liana said, “Can we take her with us?”
Nasir shrugged his shoulders in indecision, “I don’t think it’s a good idea. The dog could give us away to the damned if it barked.”
“What’s not a good idea?” Gor asked as he entered the room.
The dog, seeing the newcomer, looked up at Gor and barred it’s teeth while a low growl rumbled up from her chest, “Easy there. I don’t mean you any harm.”
“We can’t just leave her here. She’s almost starved as it is.” Maarika said. As she held the lamp up high looking about the room, she noticed two wooden bowls sitting in a corner. She walked over to them, paused, and knelt down to pick a bowl up off the floor. She held one of the bowls up, it had Greek writing on it. Curious she looked over at Athea, “What’s this say?”
Athea, crossed the room to where Maarika was standing and took the bowl from her hand. She held it up to the light being cast by Maarika’s lamp and read the Greek letters that had been carved into the wooden bowl, “Daisy.”
As Athea said the name, the dog looked up and walked across the room toward Athea wagging her tail. “Is your name Daisy?” The tail wagging intensified as Daisy presented her head to be scratched. Athea scratched Daisy in-between the ears and said, “You’re a good girl. Staying with your master like that even though she probably tried to eat you.”
“If we can’t leave her here to starve, and we can’t bring her with us, should we put her out of her misery?” Nasir asked.
“Certainly not!” Maarika said. “There has been enough death already.”
Athea pulled out a piece of bread from her pack and held it out to Daisy. The dog wagged her tail and gently took the piece of bread from Athea’s hand, careful not to bite her fingers. Athea started to pet Daisy on the head as she said in a childish voice, “Who’s a good girl?”
Daisy noticeably brightened at all the attention she was getting. Nasir sighed loudly in frustration and said, “We had best get on with figuring out where the back door is.” He pointed toward a doorway that led to a dark room beyond in the direction of the back of the townhouse, “It’s probably in the next room. Maarika can you hold the lamp up so I can see into this room?”
There was a cold edge to Maarika’s voice as she said, “Yes.”
Nasir threw Maarika a confused glance over her tone. She stared back at him with steely eyes, a frown upon her face, I wonder what her vexation is? Nasir thought to himself.
Focusing his thoughts back on the mission at hand, he walked into the next room, followed by Maarika who held her lamp high. The room appeared to be a kitchen. It had a large fireplace set into the left wall, a large wooden table with a flat top in the middle of the room, and the right wall held a large shelf which held about a dozen large wooden plates, smaller plates, and bowls. In addition to the tables, several pots and pans hung down from hooks in the ceiling.
On the other side of the room, Nasir saw a wooden door set into a frame. A dull light showed clearly through several cracks in the wooden surface, “Over there, that must be the door to the alleyway. Gor with me.”
Nasir, with Gor right behind him, approached the door and quietly lifted the bar to unlock it. He set the bar down and leaned it up against the wall to the left of the door. Nex
t, he drew his ax, and gently pushed the door open. Using the door as a shield to cover his left side, he peered down the alleyway to his right. A large cat bared its fangs and hissed at him, over the sudden interruption to its meal. It was standing over the half-eaten corpse of a large rat.
Before Nasir could take a step toward the cat, Daisy shot through the gap between his legs and gave chase to the cat. With a hint of frustration, the cat, hissed one more time, and then it scrambled up a nearby wall and disappeared. Daisy growled in the cat’s direction. As soon as the cat disappeared from sight, without missing a beat, Daisy scooped up the corpse of the rat, and started eating.
Nasir chuckled lightly to himself before whispering, “Some things never change.”
“What’s that, sir?” Gor asked.
“Even in the midst of this damned scourge, dogs and cats are still not getting along.” Nasir said.
With Gor now in the doorway, Nasir held up his shield and peered around the open door up the alleyway to the left of the door. It was empty, “All clear. Which way, Gor?”
Gor pointed up the alley toward the left and said, “The Temple Mount is that way, sir.”
Back on the main boulevard Jerry entered the townhouse as Baltazar and Athos took a step back into the doorway. The damned, despite their heavy losses, seemed to just keep coming. As the two men held the doorway, Jerry closed and barred the shutters to the townhouse, “The shutters are secured. Disengage if you can.”
Athos looked over at Baltazar and said, “You first, my friend, I’ll follow.”
Baltazar nodded and in-between kills, he kicked the next damned in line, a large male wearing a white linen robe and a keffiyeh with a red checkerboard pattern in the chest to buy him a moment to step through the doorway. As he did so, Athos took a step back into the doorway. The large keffiyeh wearing damned, clearly of Gassanid origin, barred its teeth and snarled before charging.
Athos held up his shield and the man slammed into it. Instead of standing firm, Athos allowed the damned’s momentum to push him into the townhouse. Baltazar quickly closed and barred the door as Jerry cleaved the damned’s head with his ax through the keffiyeh.
Within a moment the damned outside on the street began banging on the shutters and door trying to get at them, “Alright, let’s move.” Athos said.
The group quickly filed through the townhouse and out the back door. With Gor in the lead they walked briskly in single file up the alleyway and away from the damned horde that had beset them.
Chapter 60
Midnight, October 19th 636, Joppa Road West of Jerusalem, Palestinia Province, Byzantium
A line in the darkness
Hrag’s eyes slowly shut. As he felt his body giving in to sleep, he jerked himself back awake. Behind him he could hear the sounds of his 5th Babylon comrades digging. He sighed deeply and thought to himself, Don’t fall asleep. Your brothers are depending on you. Be thankful you don’t have a shovel in your hand right now.
Hrag inwardly smiled at the thought. The men in his Kontoubernion had cast tallie bones to determine which of their number would get to stand watch while the others had to dig. Off in the distance his ears picked up a faint thumping noise that disappeared after a few moments. Was that a noise? Are my ears playing tricks on me? He took a deep breath and said in his deep baritone voice, “Stop digging I think I heard something.”
Tired and exhausted, the men behind him paused in their work. Many sighed in relief as they dropped their shovels and collapsed to the ground. Others took the opportunity to quench their thirst with a nearby waterskin. Hrag trying to pick up the noise again with his ears, cleared his mind and concentrated. Another man, standing guard in front of the earthen wall about twenty feet to Hrag’s right said, “I can hear it now.”
A moment later Hrag’s ears once again registered the dull noise, thump, thump, thump. Finally recognizing the sound, he exclaimed, “I think it’s a rider coming in!”
A moment after Hrag spoke, a rider burst around the last bend before the men of the 5th Babylon. The man rode low in his saddle and hugged the neck of his horse as the animal covered the distance between itself and the 5th Babylon line in a few moments. Seeing the line of men ahead and the earthen wall, Tovig pulled hard on the reins of his horse. As the animal skidded to a halt on its hooves in front of Hrag he said, “Take me to the Tourmarches.”
Constan looked up at Amata and smiled. Her breasts were on prominent display as she sat atop him without a stitch of clothing on. He looked down at himself and noticed that he too seemed to be without any garments. He placed his hands on her narrow waist and moved her body into position just below his waist line.
She looked down at him and saw his excitement on prominent display. She turned her head to meet his gaze and began lowering herself onto him. He felt a hand on his shoulder and a voice behind him that said, “Sir.”
Growling in frustration he responded gruffly, “Can’t you see I’m busy right now.”
“Sir, Komes Tovig is here to see you, he brings word of the damned.” The voice responded.
As the dream faded away Constan cursed under his breath and said, “Bloody bad timing.”
“Sir?” The voice asked.
“Never thee mind. Send him in.” Constan replied.
Before the man could turn to gesture for the Komes to enter Constan’s sleeping chamber, Tovig stepped forward into the small room. It was part of Constan’s large command tent which consisted of three rooms, separated by canvas. The main room in the front, held a table and several stools. It was used to plan strategy. The back of the tent was divided into two chambers, one an office for the Tourmarches, held a small campaign desk, and another stool, and the chamber that Constan slept in, held a simple cot, and chamber pot.
Komes Tovig, failing to wait for Constan’s permission to speak said, “The damned are near.”
Constan, the cobwebs of slumber instantly fading from his mind sat bolt upright and replied, “How long do we have?”
“Forty minutes. Maybe an hour at most.” Tovig replied.
“Bloody hell.” Constan looked over at the other man in his small sleeping chamber and said, “Jivan, alert Droungarios Hovig and the Kentarches Commanders. Have them get everyone up and onto the wall. If the ditch and wall are complete have the men currently digging bed down behind the wall until the damned get here. They can go into the line then. Rouse the cooks and have them give the men whatever they have on hand. They are then to start cooking and give the men whatever they can as they finish it. This is going to be a long day and this will likely be the last chance the men get to eat for a long time. Dismissed.”
The Skutatoi saluted and said, “At once, sir.” Before spinning on his heels and leaving the tent. Within moments Constan could hear Jivan saying, “Droungarios, wake up, sir.”
Constan reached over to his nightstand, grabbed the clay jug filled to the top with wine on it, and poured himself a cup. Turning to Tovig he said, “Would ye like one, Komes?”
Tovig smiled showing white teeth that contrasted sharply with his swarthy skin, “Aye, sir.”
“Grab ye self a cup. There should be several on the table in the war room.” Constan replied.
Within a moment Tovig returned and held his cup out to Constan. The Tourmarches poured wine into the cup. When he finished, he set the jug down and raised his cup up into the air, “To victory.”
Tovig brought his metal cup together with Constan’s and they clinked. Both men tipped their heads back and downed the contents of the cup in one gulp, “Another?” Constan asked.
“Aye.” Tovig replied without hesitation.
Constan poured them another cup. Not pausing on fanfare this time both men simply downed the contents in one gulp, “Well I’d best be getting up and getting on with it. Gather your men together and have them standby in reserve behind the line.”
“Aye, sir.” Tovig replied.
Within a few moments Jivan returned, “Help me get my armor on.” Constan
asked.
“At once, sir.” The common Skutatoi replied nervously.
Constan, with the help of Jivan, quickly got his armor buckled on and his weapons situated into their sheathes and holsters. He walked out into the crisp October night and took a deep breath. Letting it out slowly he looked to his left. He could see the men of the 5th Babylon, his men. Being roused from their slumber. Having not received a full night’s rest many awoke bleary eyed and befuddled.
Droungarios Hovig stepped out of his tent, it was about a third of the size of Constan’s and yawned. The two men’s gazes met in the flickering torch light, “Good morning, Sir.” Hovig said.
“Heh, I wish the damned had the common decency to wait until the sodden morning to get here.” Constan replied gruffly.
Hovig chuckled lightly at Constan’s statement. He yawned again as Constan said, “I’ll take command in the center and you can have the right. If Athos were here, I’d give him the left, but he’s best where he is at, so I’ll command the left as well. Hopefully the unholy bitch will take some time before she figures out we are stretched out well beyond the road.”
Hovig nodded, “Aye hopefully, that will buy us some valuable time. What time is it?”
“Not quite the first hour yet.” Constan replied.
“So we have around six hours until daylight?” Hovig asked.
“Aye, let’s hope we can hold the line until then. If we lose it in the darkness, we’re fucked.” Constan replied.
The two men fell silent as they turned and began walking toward the earthen wall stretched out across the road. As Constan approached he marveled at the progress that had been made while he slept. Stifling a yawn, he walked toward a group of men directly ahead. The men lay on the ground covered in dust and sweat from their recent efforts. He tried to silently tip toe his way through them hoping not to disturb them, but a voice gave away his presence, “Kontoubernion, attention!” Hrag barked.
Byzantium Infected Box Set Page 92
