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Good story, I like it.

Poor little bugger. Can I be the one who stole his shield.

But seriously, it is enjoyable. Nice and gritty.

Sorry, my real life friend stole his shield. You can still have a character

this is very good, cant wait for the next chapter.

Chapter four is up on the first page.

I thought it was good.

why not continue the Zombie Story?

BTW, Awsome Chapters!

I appreciated this. Is there more? Or does it end here?
-Etsharrin Hopsarrith

There is more. I'm just struggling with the next chapter a little.

Here is the new chapter! It's also on the first post.


Chapter Five


Six months had passed, and it was now 698 AUB. Months of constant drills and marching had worked their effect on me. I now had amazing stamina, and I was well drilled in using my weapons. Today, we would be leaving the lands of the Helveti and marching straight to Caesar himself, finally. He was wintering at a large camp in the North Western tip of Gaul. The edge of the world. Our three Cohorts assembled on our final day in the camp. Virgil and Petronax would be marching with us back to the legions. Virgil was my Centuries Centurion, and he had picked me as his Optio. I held second in command of a Century, and I was beaming with pride. We stood in ordered ranks, our standard bearers and officers in their right places. I took my position behind the Centurion, my plumed helmet standing out amongst the rest. The camp Prefect was stood in front of us, patrolling up and down. His speech echoed along to all the men in the line of legionaries.

"Good morning, men of the 13th Legion. You are no longer raw recruits from months ago. I have watched your progress, seen you sweat under the harsh sun and and glare from your superior. I have seen men punished and men become hard and tough. You are legionaries of Rome now. Caesar will be expecting these three Cohorts for his depleted 13th Legion, and you will arrive there safely, under the guide of Petronax. I know that with the aid of men like you, the Gallic campaign will be over shortly, and much new territory will be awarded to the Republic. You are seeing Rome become the mightiest of all nations right now, and you all have the honour in making her the great nation she is destined to be. Now, at the sound of the horn you shall march from the gates of this fort. And then you will be Rome's most fearsome warriors. Men of the 13th, Salute!"

The Prefect saluted and walked off out of the path of the the Cohorts. We faced the gate, and then the horns blasted, echoing over the silence. Alongside the road that moved through the camp, the garrison had lined up and they all stood at attention. I heard Virgil yell the order to march. "Porro incedo!" and then we moved forwards. Each Centurion called out the step, "Sin! Sin! Sin, dex sin! Sin! Sin! Sin, dex sin!" The gateway loomed closer, and eventually we passed under its arch, the sound of hundreds of heavily armoured soldiers marching in step drowned out everything else. We would march 20 miles today.

At the end of that day, we threw our camp up. And we were resting in our goatskin tents, when it began to rain in the night. That bastard who stole my shield, Gallus, was in my Contibernum and I did my best to ignore him. Which was fairly easy. He'd grown quiet as the months went by. The men were tired and fell right asleep. I was the last one awake, and I sat polishing my helmet and sword. As I examined my gladius and slid it back into the scabbard, Gallus suddenly sat up from his bunk. "Your name is Crito, isn't it?" I blinked away my confusion and answered back curtly and harshly.

"Yes, what of it?" He walked over and sat down next to me, on my bunk. He picked up my helmet and began polishing it for me.

"I want to say I am sorry, Crito. Taking your shield, it was foolish of me. And I know you went through a lot of pain because of what I did. And I want to know if we can put the incident behind us. What do you say?" When Gallus said this, it was something I did not expect. I saw that he was genuinely sorry, but despite this... My anger remained. I tore my helmet from his grasp. I stared him down.

"You will refer to me as Sir from now on. I am your Optio, you will treat me with respect or I will have you own shit shovelling duty for a year. Get back to your bunk."

In the morning, the land was sodden and as we dismantled the camps and set out on another 20 mile march, the mud overflowed into the Caliga, making them uncomfortable and freezing the feet. During small breaks, men would take off their scarfs, rip them in half and tie them around their feet. I abstained from this. As an Optio, I had to maintain appearances and discipline. This day was the day I first took a mans life. As we were marching, still in Helveti lands, there came a sudden noise from the trees on either side of us. the banging of metal against wood, and the yelling of men driven into feats of fanatacism by their leaders. We were attacked by a rogue band of Helveti tribesmen who refused to accept Roman rule.

It came unexpectedly, and completely out of the blue. We were marching, to the familiar drone of the Centurions. "Sin! Sin! Sin, dex, sin!" When the clatter started from the sides. We halted immediately, and without the Centurions yelling a command, we were battle ready. Our soldiers packs were slung off, we practically tore the shields out of their covers, and then our helmets were on. Then pale shapes emerged amongst the trees, surging towards us, their blood crazed yelling carrying them forward. Virgil turned to me then. "Split Century in half. You command 40, I command 40! Century in half!" The men split immediately. The 40 under Virgil took one side of the trees, while my 40 faced the other half. The rest of the Cohorts followed our commands until there was a solid line of red shields facing the advancing Gauls. Not a second later, they were upon us.

The ear splitting sound of weapons hitting shields could be heard all along the line. I felt something impact with my shield. Had I not been holding it tight, it would have fell out of my grasp. My gladius was held between the gap between my shield and the man next to me. I thrust out, and felt my arm jar as the sword went into someone. I ripped the blade out immediately, feeling the warm spray of blood on my hand. Screams began ringing out, and I lowered my shield to be able to see over it. There were swarms of the barbarians heading for us, carrying farming tools, axes, spears, anything. I saw one of them sprinting towards me. He held an axe high, and when he reached me, he swung it down towards me. I stuck my head back just out of reach of the axe, and let it hook onto my shield. As soon as the axe hooked onto my shield, I quickly yanked it back. The axe fell out of the barbarians grip, and he fell to the muddy earth. I slammed the bottom edge of my shield onto the back of his head, and heard a dull crack. His body spasmed, and I stepped over him.

The fight continued on, the barbarians being no match for Roman might and discipline. They fell, one by one, bleeding from wounds to the torso and neck. I struck out at my latest victim, felling him with one thrust. He collapsed heavily against my shield, and he slipped off on his own blood. I saw the remainder of the barbarians running back into the forest, and a ragged cheer erupted from the legionaries. We began banging our swords on the rims of our shields, making a cocaphony of noise to rival their screaming when they first attacked. Their dead were piled high around us.

When we made camp at the end of the day, we had only suffered some minor wounded. One man had taken a spear to his ankle, and would have to be carried on the spare horses for a while. The Helveti dead numbered around 500. With around 40 wounded. They were interrogated by Petronax. Then they all had their throats cut and were uncaringly tossed out of the camp. Sleep came easily to us that night. In the morning, I awoke to find a small detatchment of horsemen. Around 60 in all. They were preparing to hunt down some of the renegade Helveti to ensure justice was properly served. They were taking volunteers.

I rode from the camp with the others, Gallus among the volunteers as well as Virgil. We knew from the survivors where the Helveti were hiding, and it would be easy flushing them out. I was given cavalry equipment, including the oval shield, the spear and the spatha cavalry sword. After some hard riding, we reached a small river. We let the horses drink and rest for a while. The Decurion called us all over. He carved a map in the mud with his dagger, marking the Helveti hideouts with and "X". He split us into groups of two, and we were to close in on the biggest. I was paired with Gallus.

When we reached our section of the river, we saw a man bathing in the water. When he saw us his eyes widened in surprise and fear. He ran ashore and tore through the trees near the bank. Gallus spurred his horse after the lone man. I tried to catch up, wading the shallow water, I made it to the bank. My horse took one step into the treeline, and I felt hands grasp at my leg. I barely had time to look at my assailant before I was dragged from my horse. I lost my shield as I fell and I rolled down the small incline. I fell half in the water, half out. I spluttered and coughed and as I rolled over onto my back, the barbarian was stood over me.

He slammed his boot into my chest and held me under the water. Then he fell on top of me, his hands clasped around my throat and held my head underwater. I held what little breath I had in my lungs, and began tearing at his eyes.Panic overtook me, my vision going blurry. My chest burned in the need for oxygen, while the hands of my killer tightened ever further. I felt my body start to fade, and I knew death was coming. My hands feebly dropped back into the water, and the Gaul had a grim look of determination on his face. Then, without warning, his hands left my throat, and the weight of his lifted off mine. I quickly bobbed my head up and gasped in mouthfuls of precious air. I heard splashing to my right. I sat up, my head spinning. Looking right, I saw a horse stood in the water, and next to it was Gallus.

He was stood over the thrashing figure of the Gaul. A hasta protruded from his stomach, and the water around him was tinged with red. I stood shakily up as Gallus bent and swiftly cut the throat of the barbarian. He ripped the spear from his corpse and got back on his horse. I was speechless. Gallus had just saved my life. "Crito, Sir. Your horse is on the bank." I looked to my left and saw my horse drinking from the water. Gallus handed me back my shield, which he had carried himself. He rode back up the bank, and came back seconds later with his own shield. "Mount your horse Sir, we should carry on with the attack." I nodded idiotically and clambered onto my horse. I stared at Gallus. He gave the briefest glance towards me, and then he spurred his horse onwards. I followed.

I liked it. I especially like the part where Crito is about to be drowned and Gallus saves him, and doesn't demand anything.

I will continue reading this.

Good story, I was surprised Gallus wasn't being a smart ass afterward.

I love it!

The writing itself needs some refinement, but the plot, characters, attention to detail is all fantastic. I look forward to reading more.

Ruski wrote:I liked it. I especially like the part where Crito is about to be drowned and Gallus saves him, and doesn't demand anything.

Death no more wrote:Good story, I was surprised Gallus wasn't being a smart ass afterward.

That's discipline for ya.

Angatar?! You read?!