‘Fall back!’ a voice cried out. ‘Fall back!’

There was a brief hesitation, then Ajax saw the legionaries begin to shuffle away from the end of the surviving ramp. More of them took up the cry and the leading century began to break up as it fell back towards the breach.

‘Stop!’ Macro bellowed at them. ‘Stand your ground! Damn you! Cowards!’

Ajax saw him half rise as he cursed his men, then Macro looked down at the still figure at his feet. For a moment the centurion seemed torn, then he bent down and heaved his superior on to his shoulder and began to pace after his men under the awkward burden. Ajax felt sick to the core at the thought of his enemies escaping, then a handful of arrows landed in the sand close to Macro.

‘Shoot at the officers!’ Ajax shouted, stabbing his sword towards them. ‘Shoot them down!’

In the frenzied excitement of the attack only those men nearest to him heard the order and had the presence of mind to pick out the two Roman officers. Ajax watched intently as more shafts whirled through the wavering light of the fire arrows still burning where they had landed. Macro picked up his pace, scrambling away as fast as he could, jinking from side to side to put off the archers’ aim. An arrow glanced off the prefect’s armour and another flew past Macro’s helmet as he made a last dash towards a cluster of the screens that had been erected by the auxiliary archers. Macro unceremoniously dumped Cato down in their shelter and stumbled to his knees beside the prefect.

‘Shit,’ Ajax muttered furiously, clenching his spare fist. He continued to glare at the archers’ screens as Macro dragged his friend in to make him as safe as possible from the Arab archers, whose arrows struck the screen or buried their iron heads into the dusty ground instead. Most of the men from the First Century had already reached the safety of the breach, or were also taking shelter behind the screens. As Ajax watched, the Romans continued to withdraw, the prefect protected by several archers holding their screens up as Macro and some of his men carried Cato to safety. As the last of the Romans fell back through the breach, Ajax ground his teeth.

‘We should save our arrows, sir,’ said Karim.

Ajax cleared his mind of rage and nodded. ‘Give the order.’

‘Cease shooting!’ Karim called out to each side. ‘Cease shooting!’