Remus Rising

  Remus Rising

  Jonathan Williamson

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  Email: JonathanWilliamson.Author@outlook.com

  Twitter: @JonathanWAuthor

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  About the Author and the Book

  At the time of writing this book I am 22 years old and have lived in a small town in the Staffordshire Moorlands for almost my entire life. Throughout most of my life I have had a dream to write a book and publish it. I can trace this writing fever back to my year 6 English teacher who, upon finding my creativity in one of my lessons, encouraged me to write along with several others that ultimately led to the formation of a ‘writers club’. During the rest of my time at middle school I regularly attended the writing club and the English teacher who ran the club became a published author herself as well as organising a book to be published containing works of literature by various students, including myself. ‘A hunter’s poem’ has officially allowed me to call myself a published poet ever since. Despite this though I have never finished one of my stories, usually only managing as far as the plan or first few chapters. Fortunately, I disclosed my dream to my girlfriend who began to encourage me to start and finish a book in its entirety. After almost 11 months of work, with far more periods without writing than intended, I have finished the book which you are now about to read, ‘Remus Rising’. Finishing much longer than originally anticipated and the original plot thrown away somewhere after the 1st chapter I can say it has been a rather interesting adventure. It is also one that I now happily share with you for your enjoyment. I hope that you enjoy reading the book as much as I have writing it and look forward to hearing from you with any feedback or comments you may have about it. Thank you for choosing to read ‘Remus Rising’ and if you like reading the book please leave a review.

  Table of Contents

  About the Author and the Book

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Epilogue

  Afterword from the Author

  Prologue

  Water lapped the river bank as a light mist drifted towards the river and a single barge creaked into sight on the river with a single man aboard. The barge was shallow based with a loose frame over its main body. A long bench lined each side of the barge, under which were sheets of animal hide to be fastened to the loose frame overhead, providing any passengers with minimal cover from weather if needed. At the head of the barge a single lantern hung in front, yet no candle burnt inside instead, shining brighter than any flame, a flake of a distant star, lighting the way across the river. The man aboard was old and hunchbacked, but despite this he steered the barge with little to no effort. His tattered grey cloak was wrapped around his body and his feet covered with rough leather sandals.

  As the barge neared the riverbank the old man looked ahead into the mist that slithered on to the river. With a slight murmur he fastened the rudder down and walked down to the front of the barge and peered through the mist, narrowing the gaze of the lamp. With a slight thud the barge met the riverbank and came to a halt. Slowly the old man clambered off the barge and unhooked the lantern before shuffling along the riverbank.

  He stopped and waved the lantern around until he saw a tall figure deep in the mist.

  “Lord Pluto! I have answered your summons. How may I serve you my Lord?” He shouted at the figure. Silence echoed back. “Lord Pluto?” The man shouted again.

  This time movement replied. The figure pulled a rounded object from behind his back and tossed it at the man, landing it short allowing it to roll the last few feet. In horror the old man staggered back as the severed head stared blankly up at him.

  “L- L- Lord Pluto...” He looked back at the figure in the mist and with shaking hands lifted the lantern, expanding a small scope on the front, concentrating the light on the figure. The figure was that of a young man with strong physique and a narrow, grizzled face.

  “Wh- Who are you demon?” His fear turned to anger as he began moving closer to the man.

  “Remus.” The old man stopped dead and the lantern shattered as the light from the star flake evaporated into flames, throwing them both into darkness. He turned his head and looked back at Pluto’s head.

  “Forgive me, lord Pluto.” Gently the old man lowered the burnt-out lantern to the floor. In one swift movement he stood up, throwing the grey cloak from himself. It was now that the true form of the old man was shown. Although hunched over his body was strong and lean. Fastened to his belt were two twin short swords.

  “You will not leave the underworld, I will not permit your crossing!” He drew both the short swords and stood ready for Remus who didn’t even flinch.

  “If you will not attack then I shall! Cerberus come and feed!” The old man moved forward towards Remus stopping as an ominous shape appeared behind Remus. A deep long growl moved up beside Remus as the large 3 headed dog came into full sight.

  “I am the lord of the underworld now old man; this beast is mine to command.” Remus said before gesturing his hand at the old man.

  In a flash the Cerberus launched forward with all 3 jaws snapping. The old man repelled the attacks as swift as they came almost cutting one head from the beast. Then in a brutish manner the Cerberus forced its central head into the old man’s stomach before tossing him up into the air to come crashing down. Bloodied and his swords lost in the mist the old man stared down the Cerberus as it approached to claim its kill.

  “You will not take the seat of your brother now Remus! Rome is stronger than you could ever have realised!” The Cerberus began its attack halting only at its master’s command. Remus stood over the dying man and leant down to him.

  “I don’t intend to ‘take’ his seat... I intend to burn it.” Out of the mist mythical beasts emerged, all armed and prepared for war.

  As they began to board the barge the Cerberus continued its feast, the old man screaming his curses as the beast tore his last breath from him.

  Wind howled as it threw the drizzle of rain at the advancing column of Roman Legionaries. Their line stretched back for over a mile as they marched slowly north. A top a small hill overlooking the column the various Officers watched from their horses.

  “We should arrive at Eboracum by midday Legate, assuming the locals don’t cause any trouble on the road.” One commented, wiping the rain from the front of his helmet.

  “Our primary focus here is to finish the reconstruction of the Legionary fortress not get engaged in fights with the local populace, Praefectus Marcus.” Legate Cornelius answered, stroking his horse’s mane.

  “Of course, Legate, I am merely suggesting...”

  Cornelius turned to face Marcus “I know what you were suggesting, news of our recent quelling will probably have reached the area by now and should be enough to keep any who would challenge us at arm’s length.” Marcus nodded to the Legate.

  “But perhaps you are right, the locals seem to be getting rowdy of late and we have vital supplies coming along the roads. Praefectus Marcus I will put you in charge of ensuring any who would seek to delay our construction are... delayed. Take your full cohort with you and Decurion Gaius, you will lend your cavalry to this effort.”

  A chorus of ‘Yes Legate’ replied at which the various officers disbanded and returned to their respective units along the column.

  Marcus and Gaius rode down together. Both were veteran soldiers who had
risen through the ranks across long military careers.

  “Do you really expect trouble Marcus?” Gaius asked as they drew up alongside the cohort.

  “I always expect trouble Gaius, but something feels wrong.” Marcus looked up as a large flock of birds flew overhead. “That’s the 5th large flock I’ve seen fly south today but it’s too early for migration. Something is driving them south.”

  Gaius looked up at the flock, still flying past. “It is strange for so many to move in summer, even with this weather.”

  Marcus looked back down to the cohort with thought all over his face. Gaius looked down to him.

  “Seeing as the Legate has given us permission to keep the locals in check I see no reason I can’t go ahead with my men, see where those birds are coming from.”

  Marcus looked at Gaius. “If you were to engage though you would have no support.”

  Gaius laughed, “then I better not engage”, before turning his horse and riding back down the column.

  “I fear you won’t have much choice...” Marcus muttered as he returned his gaze to the birds.

  Chapter 1

  Sunlight broke through the tree tops lighting up the narrow road through the forest as droplets of water still slipped from the leaves. Gaius looked around the forest with caution. He never liked riding through wooded areas. It left little room to manoeuvre as he had discovered on more than one occasion with the scars of his last forest encounter were still present on him.

  “It’s too quiet Gaius.” Lucius, Gaius’s second in command, said as he rode behind him. “We haven’t even spotted a squirrel since we entered this forest.”

  Gaius looked around the forest. Lucius was right, the only movement in the forest was the 30-strong cavalry unit.

  “We are almost at the other side, keep your eyes sharp.” Gaius replied seeing the trees thin out further down the road.

  “Send up a rider to see what we are emerging onto. I don’t want any surprises.” He said, his eyes still fixed on the trees around them. With a quick hand signal from Lucius a single rider broke from the unit and galloped ahead, slowing at the edge of the forest. He circled round just beyond the edge before returning to the rest of the unit.

  “No signs of anyone or anything but a small village another mile or so further off the main road to the west sir.” The rider reported before returning to his place in the unit.

  “Think it will be worth speaking with the village? We are too close to Eboracum for them to be outright hostile and they might have information.” Lucius asked.

  “The horses could do with the rest as well and the men a chance to dry themselves. I don’t see any harm.” Gaius sat up in the saddle and signalled the unit forward.

  Cautiously the Equites rode out of the forest and followed the main road before branching off toward the village. Gaius scanned the village with a look of concern.

  “There’s no smoke.” He said turning to Lucius.

  Lucius peered at the village settling on the same conclusion.

  “It’s the middle of the afternoon and it’s being raining most of the day, you would expect there to be smoke from a fire from at least some of the houses.” Gaius gave another signal to the men, fanning them out into a wider formation.

  With swift precision the unit moved into the village before halting in the centre. Gaius looked around as he dismounted from his horse. He knelt and placed his hand on the ground.

  “This ground is too well trampled with hooves.” Lucius dismounted and inspected the ground himself. “A mounted raiding party perhaps.”

  Gaius shook his head, tracing his finger around one of the hoof prints.

  “These are far too large for a horse and there’s no foot prints to be seen. What kind of raiding party rides in and never dismounts?”

  Lucius looked around the village. “The doors are kicked in, someone had to have dismounted.”

  Gaius signalled for the men to dismount and inspect the houses. Cautiously Gaius and Lucius walked towards the central house and pushed the door open. The house had been ransacked and the lifeless bodies of its occupants were strewn across the far wall. Lucius staggered back, covering his nose from the smell.

  “From the smell they’ve been dead since yesterday.” Gaius looked around the house, more hoof marks littered the floor. He looked back at the door. “This was not an ordinary raiding party. Could you ride your horse through that doorway? And the valuables are still here.” Gaius pointed to the coins on the table. “What kind of raiders don’t steal money?”

  As the two looked in confusion one of the Equites came through the door.

  “Decurion, we’ve found something that you need to see.” Gaius nodded and followed.

  “We were searching a house on the edge of the village and found one of the inhabitants had fought back but there something not right about it sir.”

  As Gaius left the house he saw similar scenes from the other Equites, ransacked houses and no survivors. Gaius entered the house the Equite guided him to finding two more Equites stood over a dead man’s body. In one hand he held a small round shield and in his other a short sword.

  “What am I looking at?” They signalled to the sword and shield.

  The shield was heavily battered with a large chunk missing from the top and the sword was covered in a black liquid.

  “What is this liquid?” Gaius asked as he knelt to wipe it off the blade.

  “We don’t know sir, but we thought you’d want to see this, it’s the only sign of fighting back in the entire village.” The Equite replied.

  “You’re saying out of 10 homes only 1 man picked up a weapon and retaliated?” Lucius asked inquisitively.

  “Yes sir, it’s possible the attack was at night and they didn’t have much warning.” Gaius traced his fingers around the split in the shield.

  “Takes a lot of force to do this” he muttered.

  “An axe perhaps?” Lucius said.

  “Then one hell of a man to swing it.” Gaius looked down at the splinters of wood on the floor.

  He brushed his hand over the floor, it was damp. Slowly he moved across the floor following the trail of damp until he reached a rear window. On the window edge a small black mark stained the wood.

  “The attacker left through here.” In a swift move Gaius leapt through the window hotly followed by Lucius and another Equite.

  “The rain has washed most of the black liquid away but not the hoof prints.”

  Carefully the three of them traced the hoof prints down away from the village until they came to a cluster of large rocks near the foot of the hill.

  “Did they dismount here sir?” the Equite asked. Gaius began looking around the rocks.

  “If they dismounted the hoof prints would more than likely have carried on somewhere, but I don’t see anything.” Lucius said as he watched Gaius look around.

  Gaius staggered back drawing his gladius from his belt. The others quickly drew their own weapons and joined him.

  “We need to get back to the Legate.” Gaius said in horror. Lying out in front of the rock was a dead Satyr.

  Much of its upper body was that of a man but its lower body were hairy and closer to the hind quarters of a goat. While its face was like that of a man’s it has two small horns sticking out from its forehead and pointed ears. Next to it was a large axe covered in blood.

  Gaius approached cautiously, holding his gladius out at the creature.

  “That explains the hoof prints in the house and the broken shield.” Lucius said.

  “That creature is no more than a myth, how can it be here?” the Equite asked, shaking slightly.

  “I don’t know but we need to get it back to the Legate and tell him what we’ve found.” Gaius said, pushing the tip of his gladius against the creature’s chest.

  In a sudden move the Satyr shot up, driving the gladius into its chest and wailing its arms at the three men. Gaius held firm with the gladius pushing the Satyr back against the rock despite taki
ng several blows to the chest. With a final kick into Gaius’s leg the creature dropped its head against the rock releasing a loud deep groan that echoed off into the distance.

  Gaius collapsed to the ground, clutching at his leg and leaving the gladius in the Satyr’s chest. Lucius rushed to Gaius, aiding him in sitting up.

  “Are you alright Gaius? Run back and fetch the others quickly.” Lucius commanded the Equite who nodded before scrambling back up the rocky hillside.

  “I think my leg is broken Lucius.” Gaius said undoing some of the straps on his legs to relieve the pressure.

  “It will be alright; the others will bring the horse and we will get you to Eboracum.”

  Gaius looked over at the dead Satyr, “Gods help us if they are all as strong as that, we will need half the Legion to deal with them.”

  Lucius nodded as he tried to examine Gaius’s leg. The thunder of hooves and shouting of men drew their attention up the hill as a dozen of the Equites rode down to help.

  “Decurion, we have brought your horse, do you believe you can ride?” The lead Equite asked pulling Gaius’s horse forward.

  “I doubt I will be able to mount it myself, but I should be able to.” Gaius answered as Lucius and another Equite lifted him up.

  “Bring the Satyr with us, the Legate will want to see it.” Lucius ordered as the helped lift Gaius onto his horse.

  A deep horn sounded in the distant as a strange rumbling began and overhead a flock of birds fled away. The horses began to stir. Gaius peered out across the landscape, looking for the origin or these mysterious sounds. Back towards the forest trees rustled and the rumbling grew louder. Lucius continued to fasten the Satyr to the back of his horse before looking over to the forest.

  Bursting from the trees a herd of Satyrs charged towards the village.

  “God’s help us!” Lucius cried.

  “They must have heard this one’s dying cry.” Gaius proclaimed, circling his horse. “We have to get back to the village and get the rest of the unit out and to Eboracum, now!” He ordered, waving for two of the Equites to gallop back up the hill.