‘Sir, there was scores of ‘em… waiting for us inside the forest… We was following them down a trail… then suddenly they came at us on all sides, shrieking like wild animals… Didn’t stand a chance… Cut us to pieces.’ For a moment the scout’s eyes widened in terror at the vivid memory of the terrifying enemy. Then his eyes refocused on the legate. ‘I was at the back of the column, sir. Soon as I saw we’d had it, I tried to turn my mount. But the trail was narrow, my horse was scared and wouldn’t turn. Then one of them Druids burst out of the forest and swung his sickle into me… I got him with my spear, sir! Got him good!’ The scout’s eyes gleamed with savage triumph before twisting shut as a wave of pain wracked him.

‘That’s enough now, lad’ Vespasian said gently. ‘Save the rest for your official report, once the surgeons have sorted you out.’

Eyes tightly clenched, the scout nodded.

‘Centurion, give me a hand here.’ Vespasian reached under the scout’s shoulders and carefully lifted the man. ‘Help me get him onto my back.’

‘On your back, sir? Shall I get one of the men to do it instead, sir?’

‘Damn it, man! I’ll carry him.’

Macro shrugged, and did as he was told. The scout put his arms round the legate’s neck and Vespasian leaned forward and supported the man’s legs.

‘That’s it. Macro! Detail a man to lead that horse, then let’s get moving.’

Macro gave the order for the century to move towards the camp. In close formation, the century’s pace was necessarily slow, however much the men wished to hurry back to the shelter of the camp. In the centre of the square the legate staggered under his burden. To one side Figulus and Sertorius carried the body of Maxentius on Figulus’s shield. Beside them walked Cato, staring directly ahead, his aching arm outstretched to keep the head he held as far from his body as possible. Macro, marching at the rear of the square, kept looking back towards the forest, watching for any sign of the Druids and their followers. But nothing moved along the dark treeline and the forest remained absolutely silent.

When The Eagle Hunts

Chapter Nine