‘Thanks.’ Cato tested his weight on the narrow plank and found that it bowed slightly. Taking each step carefully, he crossed over and waited for Macro before continuing towards the fort, They were close enough now to hear the crackle of the dying flames. Cato paused.

‘I can’t hear any voices.’

Macro strained his ears. ‘No. Nothing. Looks like I was wrong about it being an accident.’

‘If the enemy took the place, then why aren’t they still here?’

‘Maybe it was a hit and run raid,’ Macro suggested.

Cato nodded. ‘Perhaps. Let’s get a closer look.’

They reached the bottom of the knoll and began to climb towards the fort. The acrid smell of burning filled the air and as they neared the gate, a new odour was added to the stench: burnt flesh. The gatehouse had collapsed and the two officers cautiously poked their heads round the side of the ruined arch. Cato winced as the heat struck his face, forcing him to squint. The interior of the fort had been destroyed by the blaze and by the light of the small fires that still burned he saw the blackened, twisted shapes of bodies.

‘That’s proof enough for me,’ said Macro. ‘They were attacked. And no raiding party would have dared take on a fort like this. It might be small, but even so it would present too much of a challenge.’

‘I agree. We’d better report back to the legate.’

At that instant a voice cried out in the distance. A rising ululation. It continued for a moment and then stopped.

‘That came from the direction of the boat,’ said Cato. ‘Let’s go.’

They hurried down the slope and entered the field they had crossed a moment earlier, following their trail back through the trampled wheat. Then another cry rose up in the darkness, behind them now, some distance beyond the fort.

‘Shit,’ Macro hissed. ‘Whoever that is, there’s more than one of ’em.’

They reached the far side of the field and then entered some long grass. This time it was impossible to determine which direction they had come from. Looking at the dull mass of the distant hills to their left, Cato estimated the direction they should take and they set off again. Another cry came from ahead, closer, and was quickly answered by another some distance behind, and then another, away to their left.

‘Right, now I’m starting to worry.’ Macro spoke in an undertone. ‘We’d better get a move on, before any more turn up.’

But Cato was still. ‘They can’t be hunting us.’

‘Why not?’

‘How would they know we’re here?’

‘Maybe they saw us by the fort. Let’s think it through later on, eh?’ Macro nudged his arm.