Veragus nodded, released his grip and laid his spear and shield down on the rampart. He fumbled with the strap of his auxiliary helmet and then placed that with the rest of the equipment he had been issued only weeks before. He stared at the gear briefly, nodded to Cato and then scrambled down the inside of the rampart and ran off into the maze of thatched huts. Cato looked round the remaining men.

‘Anyone else?’

No one moved.

‘Fine. Then pass the word to the rest of the cohort. Mandrax, you’re with me.’

As the centurion watched his men spread out along the rampart he could hear Macro bellowing orders from the main gate. Cato glanced back and saw the legionaries hurling more javelins down on the enemy force renewing their assault on the entrance to Calleva. But this time there was the distinct thud of the battering ram striking home as the enemy tried to smash their way in, under the shelter of their wicker screens.

04 The Eagle and the Wolves

Chapter Thirty-Two

The palisade above the gate was suddenly deluged with slingshot and arrows; the slingshot striking the timbers with sharp smacks, punctuating the splintering thuds of arrow strikes. Above this din came the cries and screams as some of the missiles found their targets amongst Macro’s small command. As he looked round there were already six men sprawled on the walkway. Still their comrades hurled javelins down on to the wicker screens below, desperately trying to pierce them and reach the enemy sheltering beneath, or at least make them unwieldy under the weight of the javelins embedded in the tight weave of willow. They were having little effect, Macro decided as yet another man fell back from the palisade, clutching at an arrow shaft that had pierced his throwing arm.

‘Take cover!’ Macro shouted. ‘Get down!’

The legionaries heeded the order at once, crouching behind the palisade. Silva and his clerks scurried up the rampart and bent double as they carried away the injured. The fusillade of enemy missiles quickly subsided as the Durotrigans saw that there were no targets for them. But when Macro rose to take a quick look at the enemy, he drew an immediate response and ducked down as half a dozen arrows whirred over the palisade and arced down amongst the thatched roofs beyond. There was nothing for it but to keep down. He had seen a number of ladders in the enemy ranks, so some men would be needed on the palisade. The rest would have to defend the entrance the moment the gates gave way. Every so often the gateway shook with the impact of the ram, and the dust and earth shimmied amongst the timbers as small pieces of grit, shaken loose, pattered down under the walkway.

‘First two sections, stay here! Rest of you, follow me!’