The Augur

As the sun dipped below the horizon, the blood-red rays of the day’s final light strained through the window that had once belonged to the Temple of Jupiter. It now served as the central building of our encampment, its original purpose a thing of the past.

It was better that way. The Olympians weren’t worthy of praise and their actions throughout history were enough reason for me to reject serving them. Looking back at the past, I felt disgusted at myself for being blind enough to serve them.

All that I had achieved thus far, was all thanks to hard, dangerous work… Months of plotting, months of working in the shadows, where one slip up could see me executed.

This was my reward, for risking everything. Power. Such that not even the Olympians dare face me, despite what I’ve done to their sacred buildings.

Never had I been worthy of military leadership in the eyes of the senate. An oversight they’d not repeat, that, I was sure of. Those that were still alive could come begging on their knees all they wanted, crying for my forgiveness. I’d grant them a quick and painless death, that courtesy I’d allow them, but while they continued to resist? They deserved punishment.

And that they got, death being something they begged for by the time Thaddeus, my torturer, was through with them.

I had no plans to take too many prisoners though, my army sharing that view with me. Rome’s long-ago abandoned allies, the cynocephali and the two-headed men tribes were more than happy to tear apart what remained of the Twelfth Legion Fulminata.

A nameless contact, one who had supported me from the very start of the war, was responsible for the monsters, and without him, nothing could have come to fruition. When a letter had first appeared from seemingly thin air on my desk, I had had my doubts, but ever since that large force arrived at the camp’s borders a day after I had agreed to their terms, I knew I had formed a strong alliance.

Combined with the ex-legionaries returning and stepping up as leaders, as well as being experienced fighters themselves, we were almost a perfect force. If their ability to cooperate wasn’t as abysmal as it was, the war would already be over.

And to make matters worse, a few of the more recent patrols had finally run into meaningful opposition. First, it was the group of demigods arriving at the Forum and taking on an entire raiding party by themselves, only to get out of it unscathed, then it was the numerous small clashes that ended with a few extra piles of dust littering Rome’s ruined streets. Neither of them had been too catastrophic however, I had the troops to spare after all.

The happenings of yesterday had been different though. Three patrols had been almost destroyed by what was about a dozen or so legionaries, according to the accounts of those survivors that returned. None of them had been the captains of their respective patrols and returning to the scene of the battle confirmed their fate. Brutus, Steven and David were three people I could’ve used alive.

At least this had served as a true gauge of their strength. They’d not escaped the fight without casualties, including one that I remembered from before the war. A centurion, a shame we couldn’t capture him.

Instead, we had a mountain of a man under the caring hands of Thaddeus. It wasn’t a matter of if he broke, but rather when. His secrets wouldn’t remain that way for long.

As my thoughts wandered to other matters, I was suddenly and annoyingly ripped from them by a voice.

"Good evening, Pontifex."

"You’re back.” I muttered, “Do you have better news than what you brought me last time? Start from the beginning, after your failure.”

Turning around, I looked at the assassin standing at the bottom of the stairs. She took a small step backwards. That effect was too new, and I couldn’t help but enjoy the moment.

She bowed her head, starting her report, "A scouting group of theirs fought with our forces whilst out on a mission-"

"That's old news. Is that all?"

Her smile faltered, "No, of course not, Pontifex! Praetor Gloria is dead."

I raised an eyebrow, “Explain. Carefully. I hope even you aren’t idiotic enough to assume her death without concrete evidence to back it up.”

"I planted one of my firebombs just outside their command tent while there was an opening and detonated it when she returned. The flames engulfed the tent and its surroundings, destroying a substantial part of their supplies with it.”

“And how does that amount to her being dead? Did you see her corpse?”

“The Romans held a funeral for her and elected a new leader, so I’m certain she’s gone.”

She deflated under my gaze.

“New… Leader?” I asked icily.

“They elected a new leader, a-a legate. Drake Viscount.”

“Him?” I rubbed my chin, “He might prove a problem, he’s a strong leader, liked by those who serve under him if my memory serves me correctly. Kill him the next chance you get, crush the hope of the traitors once and for all.”

I watched her open her mouth, then close it, trying her best to find the right words.

“Pontifex…”

“What?” I saw her flinch at my words.

“I- I tried killing him, but my attempt was foiled by a Greek. The same one who led those at the forum, who Brutus mentioned fighting with a shapeshifting beast by his side.”

Now, my attention was piqued.

“Who is he?”

“Daniel James Greenfield, a camper from Camp Half-Blood and the son of Ragnos... Chaos itself.”

I felt the blood drain from my face.

“A half-child of a primordial is fighting on their side? That must be a joke, it’s surely some form of propaganda… Lies spread by-“

“I’m afraid this is no lie. I had a chance to tap into his power, and… I’ve never met anyone as strong as him. He was also a part of the scouting party fight I mentioned earlier, which can explain why they emerged victorious.”

“So I assume you can’t return because they know what face to look out for?” She nodded sadly, “Shame. I could’ve used a blade inside their walls, alas I’m not surprised you failed against such a force of nature.”

“Please, accept my apology, Pontifex. I will not fail you again.”

“Both of us know what’ll happen if you do.” I glared down at her, “Now, for your next assignment. Make your way to a place known as Alvarez mansion, you will get a map from the quartermaster. Destroy the mansion and everything else atop the hill, most importantly the owner, Francis Alvarez. Do all this, then return. If you fail, I advise you to get yourself killed, that’ll make it easier for all of us. Understood?”

“Yes, Pontifex, I’ll be leaving at once.”

“Do what you wish, just get it done. Go.”

She bowed and left the chamber, silence returning for a short time.

“You trust her competence too much.” Came a voice from one of the large pillar’s shadow.

“I don’t keep you around to voice your opinions Dravin, so you’d do well to keep them to yourself. Though she might’ve done little to prove her worth as of yet, she’s good enough to get the job done.”

“But what if she fails?”

“We lose someone who wasn’t any help to us. Maybe she can at least do some damage before she dies, who knows?” He grunted as he emerged from the shadows, taking his hand off the hilt of his sword, “What is it?” I turned towards him.

“The Greek.”

“The demi-primordial? What about him?”

“The blood of my kin is on his hands, I’m certain of it. When the time comes, I want him for myself.”

“What is it with your folk and paying for blood with blood? You going up against him can only go one way, and I cannot lose my bodyguard because of this stupidity.” He glared at me, “However, if he looks vulnerable, I’ll let you leave to take care of him, how about that?”

That seemed to sate his need for vengeance, and he changed the topic back to Valentina in an instant.

“And what about if she fails with all of her tasks?”

I thought about that option for a second, “I guess you’re right… Maybe you do have other uses.” I mused, “I need a plan B.” My eyes fell onto a piece of parchment laying on my desk, “And I know just whom to write to…”

Daniel

I was still sitting on the ground, taking small sips from the nectar canteen and listening to the recounting of the legionaries, when two lifeless bodies were taken past me on stretchers.

The assassin, Valentina, had met one of the patrols head-on after scaling the walls using her knives. Both soldiers had died before they could process what they were up against. My skin tingled as the witnesses retold their deaths in gruesome detail, and I dismissed them with a floppy shake of my hand, not wanting to listen to it any longer. My mouth still felt weird, but my ability to speak coherently had mostly returned.

"I need to stand up," I muttered, gathering together all the strength I could muster, and pushing myself off the ground. Viscount grabbed my arm before I could fall back onto my ass, "Thanks."

"Don't mention it." He replied. As the pins and needles left my legs, I started pacing back and forth in front of the legate, feeling my anger boiling hotter and hotter inside me. I just wanted to punch something, but the nearest thing was Viscount, "Are you okay?"

"Does it look like I am?" I spat back, putting more anger behind the words than I wanted to, "I saved your life and in turn, others died."

He pouted, thinking about what the best response could be.

"I don’t want you to think that I believe my life is more important than someone else’s… Yet I feel like that’s the case. Think of it this way. We just lost a leader and the emotional wounds from that are still fresh. What do you think would’ve happened to these people if they, not one day later, lost another?”

“I guess-“

“Those that died in my place, that’s a sacrifice that I think had to be made to keep everyone’s hope intact.” He looked at the section of the wall still dotted with knife marks, "Plus, we now know whom we have to look out for, and Valentina knows that we’ll do That. They'll be trying some other tactic instead..." He trailed off, looking at the ground, deep in thought.

My rage was gone as fast as it had come. A regular occurrence for a while now, my temper flaring like that. Before, I hadn’t exactly been the confrontational type, and my anger had been exceptionally hard to bring out. Was my new life really changing me to such an extent?

"You got something?" I questioned, trying to stop myself from digging myself too deep into that topic.

"Well," He shrugged, "Just an idea, but one that I should discuss with everyone else." He looked around for someone, before finding them, "Catullus, signal the centurions to join me here, on the double! There’s no time to waste."

The kid standing nearby nodded and raised a horn to his lips, the clear notes of the instrument rebounding off of tents and watchtowers.

It took less than ten minutes for everyone to get to us, and they all looked at Viscount with various looks of fear, exhilaration and confusion.

"Welcome, I’ll cut straight to the point. We need to attack the Augur. Not in a month, not in half a year. This week. And if not this one, then the one after that."

Various muttered words of disbelief washed over them.

"Shut the fuck up!" Grawon barked and everyone fell silent. Viscount nodded thankfully towards the older centurion.

"This civil war cannot go on any longer. How many more people do we have to see die before we realise we're digging deeper and deeper into shit? With each day we remain at war, more monsters and exiles arrive to serve the Augur! We still have a chance if we attack as soon as possible."

"And how do we do that?” Magnus said, “We're out of food, just to name the most important problem. We could attack today, but we're nowhere near as prepared as we need to be. A quarter of our army is hurt, and half of those wounded are bedridden. Our best bet is to hunker down and wait for The Augur to come to us. Once we defeat him here, we can chase him back into his fort and strike the killing blow."

"You speak like you're the fates themselves! It's not as easy as you think, you dumb-" Max started retorting.

"Those are all things that we need to take into consideration." Viscount cut him off before he could insult the centurion, "After I dismiss all of you, I'm contacting our sponsors to try and speed up supply deliveries. We have enough to last until the next supply drop if we ration it well enough. That one week is necessary for our people to heal back up, and to prepare for the coming battle, however, we can't stay here forever. The Augur won't attack, he has enough supplies to last him a lifetime and suffers no downsides from drawing out this war. After a while, our sponsors will run out of money, or worse..."

"What do you mean by that?" Grawon asked, his eyes narrowing.

"The assassin who infiltrated our camp was Valentina Tipani. The Augur knows better than to send her back here now that we know to look out for her, so she'll be getting a new mission. What's a different way they can cripple us?"

"You're suggesting that she'll be sent after the sponsors," Mary muttered.

"Exactly."

"Only a select few know about where the sponsors live, or who they even are, how-" Grawon started.

"The Augur was never a senator, but he followed Gloria and Harrison around like crows follow an army. He saw everything… Remembered everything. Such information is important, and he knew that then, and he knows it now. I might be wrong, but if I was him, I’d certainly do this.”

"So, we warn the sponsors and then what?"

"We're fighting against time here. If we warn them, do you think they'll be able to gather together enough to stop Valentina? She managed to sneak into and out of our heavily-defended camp, probably on more than one occasion, and she managed to escape without a scratch while nearly killing the demigod son of the most ancient primordial."

I winced and took another sip of the flask of nectar.

"What's our plan then? From start to finish please, Viscount." Hector told him.

"We need Nico and Sophia. I'll talk with Sophia, discuss battle plans with her and figure out our best course of action. All of you are free to join me if you so wish. Meanwhile, we have to figure out what could we possibly have that’s considered by a nymph to be a sacrifice worthy of the gods. Nico might be able to help with that, he’s got the closest connection with her, after all." He looked at me and I bowed my head in acknowledgement, "As for you, I had some time to look over the old maps of Temple Hill that we managed to save from the flames, and I believe I’ve found something.”

“A way in?”

“Unfortunately, no. The Augur was smart enough to not build his walls over the caverns… However, our maps weren’t updated to show the cleared basilisk nests.”

“And that’s a good thing?”

“Fuck yes!” Hector smirked, “You know how big those bastards’ nests are? After torching it, a massive hole is left behind that we just simply block the entrance off to. I remember doing that job more times than I would like to admit.”

“Exactly, and our good engineer Marcellus remembers working on one that might stretch as far as their lake-side wall. We set off a big enough bomb, and that entire section will collapse in on itself.”

"And he’s sure it’s there?”

"He said it’s where he was promoted from Probatio, so I’d say his memory can be trusted,” Viscount smiled.

“You mentioned a big bomb, right?” Mary interrupted, “I'm no child of Vulcan, but what you’re suggesting is to carry a large device that’s too big to defend towards the wall guarded by hundreds of monsters. One stray ballista bolt, or javelin or fuck knows what, and the entire cohort accompanying it will be gone in the blink of an eye.”

“And that’s what I want to discuss with Sophia. I’ve got some ideas, but they need refining.” He looked around the circle, waiting for someone to complain but there was no dissent, “Dan, how long do you think it'll take for us to be ready?" He turned to me.

"You're asking me?" I snorted, "Well, about a week if we get enough food, enough equipment and we get some training sessions in. The legion is no longer the same force as it had been when we arrived. There's a chance that we'll win, especially if the help my father promised us arrives in time."

“What exactly is that help?” Magnus questioned.

“Not sure, but even if it’s just Pandora returning, that alone could change the tide of the battle.”

"What we know for sure-“ Viscount summarized, “Is we don't know what we're facing yet, so I’m not exactly happy to be sending everyone in head first. The Augur would be an idiot to have all his cards revealed at this point, and one thing that he isn’t is an idiot.”

"Maybe if we had a spy of our own in there, we could even the odds a bit, but I don’t see how we could infiltrate a camp filled with monsters.”

Viscount closed his eyes in thought, and I suddenly had a feeling that I’d just given Viscount an idea that I wasn't going to like.

"The prisoners, they've been there for quite a while. They’ve seen more than any spy could ever see in a week. Not to mention that there are few humans inside, and all of them probably know one another, so blending in is out of the question. But the prisoners..."

"Are you for real?” I muttered.

"This is important, and nobody else in this camp could pull it off! Come on! You do this, and that’s a massive win in our books.”

"Are you fucking serious?! I'm not a one-man army!"

"I wasn't talking about assaulting the bloody place on your own!” He retorted, “I don’t know how you should do it, but remember that your friends are just as much prisoners as my legionaries. Take your time, plan your moves and do it without alerting the entire encampment, if possible.”

"Okay, say I understand why I’d be doing this, but what am I supposed to do alone? If I fuck up, then that’s only setting you back.”

"Well, that’s simple. Don't. You’ll get through this, just like you got through everything else thus far.”

I mumbled a few curse words in ancient Greek under my breath, but I knew that he was making sense. I was by far the fittest to go on a solo mission, and the most likely to return alive.

"Fine. Give me three days’ worth of rations, I'll be leaving this evening if I can sober up a bit more after what Valentina did to me."

"Excellent!" He smiled, slapping my shoulder, and I couldn't help but grin along with him, even though I could already start to feel my heartbeat quicken.

What the hell was I getting myself into?

Valentina

Alvarez Mansion sat atop a hill, no more than a day’s hike away from the ruins of New Rome. Was this really how he tried staying anonymous, by hiding in plain sight?

It was a surprisingly effective way, I had to give him that, but that was going to end today.

As darkness slowly engulfed my surroundings, hundreds of small flames danced to life, illuminating the tents spread across the hillside.

Sneaking through the grass, slowly approaching, I darted from tent to tent, keeping to the shadows. A patrol or two here and there, even more civilians, and even some fauns trotted past me. These weren’t legionaries, more like a militia. Some overly enthusiastic civilians who decided to band together to provide a false sense of security.

Nothing I couldn’t deal with.

Finally getting past the refugee camp, the mansion grew in size quickly, the two-storey building looming over me in the darkness. Reaching the wall, I heard a door open, and a heavy-footed individual stepped outside.

A brief glimpse revealed the dim light of celestial bronze before I pulled my head back. Whatever it was, its movements looked too unnatural, and if it was human, it was the biggest person I had ever laid my eyes on.

It took me a moment, but I finally put together what I had seen.

An automaton.

The dregs of the legion and fauns were one thing, they could be outplayed, but this changed things. A lot.

Outsmarting a machine was going to be hard and fighting against it one on one would be even harder. Who knew how many the sponsor had?

One thing was certain. Getting into the house was out of the question. Maybe I could draw everyone outside by destroying their supply plane first.

Keeping to the walls, I skirted around to the far side of the building, spotting more than a few, regular-looking figures in the dark, far enough away to not notice me passing. Maybe they were refugees, or possibly mercenaries.

No matter, they’d not cause me any trouble.

With the runway in sight, I let out a grunt of annoyance as I realised it was empty. Lit up by a single, bright spotlight off to the side, I could see at least half a dozen human guards standing around the hangar.

Surprisingly, some of them held guns.

I didn’t realise the sponsors of New Rome were so uncaring about tradition. Nevertheless, I had to give it to them that for what little skill they required, they were effective against demigods, plus they were loud. Even just a shot into the air would alert everyone to my presence.

While I observed the pattern of the patrolling guards from a nearby bush, I heard a sudden rustling from beside me and the jangling of equipment. Whipping my head towards the source, I was up on my feet in an instant, blade in hand. His hand didn’t even have time to move away from his zipper as I thrust my knife deep into his neck, a small gasp escaping his lips before his eyes rolled up into his head.

Thick, warm liquid coated my hand, as I pulled my weapon back out, quickly wiping it on the coat of the dead man. Someone could be waiting for them to return… There was no more time for thought.

Going around the outskirts of the hangar, staying far enough to remain hidden in the darkness, I made my way to the spotlight, a generator silently chugging right beside it.

“That’s enough of that,” I muttered, and with one swing, I chopped through the cables connecting it to the light.

The white rays blinked out, amid some sparks from the cable, causing the guards to instantly raise their weapons and stop in their tracks.

“What the hell happened?” Asked one of them in a Spanish accent.

“Shut up and check the generator. It might be acting up again.”

With footsteps approaching, I gave them a wide berth and headed to where I had seen the side door.

The outline of a figure moving near the door made me stop in my tracks, and gently remove one of my knives from my belt again.

“Gods, I hate this fucking dark. Can’t see shit.”

“Why couldn’t the old bastard give us at least one of his machines? He’s got more than enough for his house.”

“If you ask me, I’m happier with them far away from me. They creep me out.”

“Well, you’re alone with that, brother.”

Pinpointing where the voices were coming from, I threw the first blade, a deep grunt signalling that I had hit something.

“You-“

I thrust another blade deep into the standing man’s chest, pulling it upwards, letting the imperial gold slice through bone and flesh. He tried escaping from my grasp with whatever strength he had left, but the only direction he could have moved was towards the door, which he was already pressed up against.

As he toppled sideways, I flipped the body of the other over, prepared to finish him off.

What I wasn’t prepared for was a meaty fist closing around my neck and squeezing tightly. I heard the deep gulp of a man about to call out, and the sheer terror of getting caught took over. Pressing my free hand, not struggling with the man’s grip, against his sticky chest, I concentrated as hard as I could. Instantly, the force clutching my neck disappeared, and no noise escaped his lips apart from a pained sigh.

Stabbing him in the forehead, the stream of energy stopped suddenly, and I let off a small grunt of annoyance. The energy entering me had had the same effect as drinking three energy drinks at once, but that boost was quickly fading.

Grabbing the door handle, I pushed the bodies out of the way with my foot and entered the hangar.

Taking a torch from my bag, I switched it on and panned it over the relic the sponsors were using to deliver supplies. An old bomber of some kind, which should’ve long ago been placed in a museum, and it was a surprise it hadn’t fallen apart on its own thus far.

It had to go sadly, there was no way I could save it for a collector. Laying two charges underneath, that much explosive power was sure to leave nothing but plane dust.

Carefully stepping back outside, I was making up my mind about where to retreat to, when my ears picked up the tiniest of sounds. The whirring of gears.

Quick as a flash, my legs were kicked out from underneath me, and the cold metal of a blade was pressed under my chin.

"Now ain’t this a lovely surprise? We have a guest, and by the looks of it she needs a refresher on the proper etiquette of setting foot on another person’s property.” Lights came on, briefly blinding me, while the old man cleared his throat of phlegm, spitting it somewhere near my head, “First off, tell me who in the name of Mars' ballsack are you?"

"Suck a dick..." I retorted in Latin, trying to squint past the light.

"That's no way for a lady to talk, is it?" He replied fluently as something violently pulled me up onto my feet, "Now then... A2, restrain her. That asshole augur sent you to kill me, correct?”

“I’m not telling you jackshit, fucker!” I spat, my arms roughly shoved behind my back.

“My, my, you really need to be taught proper manners. Well, it’s too late for that, I guess. I know the legion has its way of dealing with traitors, and while at heart I might still be a legionary, I'm afraid you're standing on my land, and there’s a way we do things here… My way.” He grinned.

“I don’t-“

“You better shut your mouth, lady, you’ll just make things worse for yourself. You’ll have enough time to curse me out tomorrow when I show you what we do with people like you. I hope you like skydiving, because you’ll be dropping in with tomorrow’s supplies, and I can assure you that that’s how you’ll be spending your final minutes... If you’re lucky.”

Showing me his tobacco-stained and crooked teeth, I leaned back, a million thoughts rushing through my mind.

How did he know I was coming? I had been set up, that much was certain, but was it Christopher’s doing, as punishment, or did we have a spy supplying the Romans with information?

Neither option seemed likely but then how could this happen?

“Shit…” I whispered, my fingers grabbing hold of my watch, “Go fuck yourself, old man.”

His grin faltered as I pressed the button on the side. Flashing him a small grin of my own, the robot holding down my arms seemed to realise what I had done, immediately letting go of me to jump in front of its master.

Using my powers on the nearest humans standing around me, I let off a small chuckle as I absorbed their life force, the explosives exploding behind me a second later.

Focusing on staying alive with all the extra energy I had absorbed, shrapnel bounced off of my skin and flames licked at me harmlessly. Then came the shockwave.

I opened my eyes to find myself sailing through the air for but a split second, my journey quickly coming to an end when I crashed against a tree, and continued spinning deep into the woods, pain exploding all across my body. Breaking through branches with my momentum, I finally came to a stop somewhere deep inside the woods, a sharp pain rushing up my leg.

Groaning, I looked around and using what little willpower I still had left, I pulled myself up using the tree beside me, hobbling onwards. If those automatons caught me, I was dead, there was no way I could win against them.

Especially not with what was most probably a broken leg.

I was preparing myself for the worst, that at any moment I could get grabbed from behind by cold metal arms.

Nothing arrived.

No branches broke under the feet of heavy celestial bronze war machines, there was no sharp pain in the small of my back, or sword piercing through the front of my chest.

After what felt like hours, I finally collapsed, breathing heavily with sweat dripping down my face. The pain was reaching unbearable levels, and it took everything I had not to scream. Even as I contemplated staying here for the night, alarm bells rang in my head.

The sponsor would be combing these woods for me, or my body and those automatons didn’t need to rest.

Not like me.

Struggling to stand up, I got halfway before pain lanced through my entire right side and I fell back down again. Whatever had been driving me forward until now, was gone. Call it adrenaline or survival instincts, it wasn’t there anymore.

Maybe this was how things had to end, I was dead sooner or later, it didn’t matter what it was. If I managed to return to Christopher, it’d be he who’d kill me, rather than the automatons.

At least the machines would get it over with quickly.

“No…” I muttered to myself, “I can’t think like that. I’m worth to him more than just some disposable dog-headed warrior. He’ll be disappointed sure, but I managed to cripple their supply delivery system. That has to count for something, no?”

My eyes fell on a thick stick laying on the ground. Reaching for it, I pushed myself onto my feet, and taking a deep breath, I dragged myself forward, using the piece of wood as a crutch.

I could just leave all of this, while I had the chance, far away from this war. I had done fine before all this, I could do fine after.

No, that wasn’t an option either. The damage I had done to the Romans meant I’d live the rest of my life always looking behind my back, no matter who won the civil war.

Whatever was going to happen, I had to accept it. That was the only way forward.

And just like that, I set off back towards the war-torn city. Back to the Augur.

Daniel

"How many of you assholes are there?" I muttered, grabbing the newest war trophy dropped by the canine-headed warrior I had just vaporised, kicking its sword into the darkness.

Thank the gods that the disgusting odour of the two-headed men permeated the enemy encampment’s air, completely covering the smell of monster dust left behind.

The monsters were dumb as dirt and oblivious to their surroundings, however, they did have a knack for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Their camp was littered with abandoned weapons after I had come through.

Brushing the monster dust off my cloak, I looked over the camp-side of the wall. One down, two more to go. The torches dotted around the camp had made it incredibly hard to traverse the terrain, so much so that by the time I had reached the base of the wall yesterday, the horizon was already showing the first signs of dawn approaching.

I was doing better now, all that remained was finding the prison. With the slope leading up to the top being too narrow to accommodate a building the size of a prison, only the plateau remained as a viable option.

But that was dangerous. With every step I took inside here, I ran the risk of being found. One wrong turn and I could find myself face to face with The Augur himself.

I needed someone to interrogate. Monsters wouldn't care about getting killed, they'd be back sooner rather than later, and there was little I could threaten them with.

I needed a human.

So far they had been a rare sight, and the few that I had seen were never far from their own cohort’s worth of monsters.

"Where's Sophia when you need her?” I grunted under my breath, “I'd bet a day’s worth of rations that she'd have something better than my half-assed plan."

Scaling down the walls and jumping into the bushes growing at the very edge of the path, I crouched as low as I could, watching as the distant flames danced closer and closer, before passing me as if I wasn’t even there.

Once the monster patrol was far enough away, I dashed across the path and stuck my blade into the wall. Finding a foothold, I pushed myself upwards, slowly, but surely moving towards the next level.

Sweat started its distracting journey from my forehead to the tip of my nose, some of them going astray and into my eyes. How could I be sweating in this bloody weather?

The last thing I wanted was for my palms to slip off of my knife hilts.

As I neared the top, just as I was about to pull myself onto the wall, footsteps clattered above me, freezing me in place.

Gritting my teeth and saying silent prayers to every god that came to mind, I hoped whoever was walking there didn’t get the sudden urge to peek over the wall’s edge.

The boards creaked as whoever was on top of the wall stopped, the faint sound of a zipper unzipping carrying through the air and a relieved sigh escaping the lips of whatever stood above me. A stream of something passed by my shoulder close enough for me to feel its warmth on my cheek.

Of all possible places, this guy had to pick this exact fucking spot to take a piss?!

Could monsters even do that?

Inching slowly upwards, the waterfall finally stopped, and I heard the man dress back up. I took one last breath right before making my move. Wrenching myself up the last meter or so, I jumped onto the wall, landing behind the soldier that had nearly pissed on my head. One hand quickly moving over his mouth, I kicked his legs out from underneath him and pulled him further into the darkness.

He struggled under my grip, but my unexpected assault left him completely helpless.

"Listen up fucker, one loud word and you're dead-“ I pressed one of my knives against his back, making sure he felt its presence, “-and I'll be out of here before reinforcements can come. Don’t believe me? I managed to get in undetected, and I sure as hell won't have trouble getting out. You understand?"

The man nodded like crazy.

"If I take my hand off of your mouth, will you scream?"

He shook his head this time.

"Good."

I let go of him but kept my knife close enough to his back so he could feel its presence.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"Captain Alex Morin, you?"

"I’ll ask the questions.” I poked his back, eliciting a sharp hiss from him, “Now then… Alex. You willing to work with me here?"

"You'll kill me either way, why would I?"

"I’m not like your leader, I actually have honour. You help me, and you get to keep your life, that sounds like a win-win situation, no?”

"You realise how much of a risk I'd be taking with that?"

"Let me reiterate.” I growled, “If you do anything else, I’ll find someone else to work with, and you can start counting your final seconds.”

He stayed silent for a moment.

"Alright… Fuck, I'll help. Now come on, ask what you need, otherwise one of those rotten-smelling, two-headed fucks will come looking for me.”

"Where do you keep the prisoners?"

"Top courtyard, easy to find. It’s a wooden building, one of the few permanent structures up there, and the only one that isn’t a temple. Has tons of guards surrounding it though, so good luck trying to free your friends."

"You don't know what my plans are." I pressed the point of my knife slightly forward.

"Right. You’re the boss. Anything else?" I slowly stepped back, and the man let out a sigh of relief, turning around, his hand hovering near the hilt of his sword. "A deal's a deal, yeah?"

I nodded, "Swear on the River Styx that you’ll keep me a secret."

"On the River Styx? You gotta be-" I flipped my knife over with a flourish, and he gulped, "Ah, fuck off.” He moaned, “I promise on the River Styx that I won't raise the alarm on you, and I won't try and alert anyone else that you were in here. It’s like we never even met."

I smiled as thunder boomed in the distance, patting him on the shoulder, a soft chuckle escaping his lips.

“What is it?”

“Guess I need to thank you for saving some of my dignity, and not capturing me with my pants down.”

“This entire conversation might’ve gone differently if you pissed on my head.”

“Got it, I’ll stop doing that then, might keep me alive longer.”

He walked away, muttering something under his breath in Latin.

Wasting no time, I quickly climbed down the far side of the wall, once again waiting for a clear path across the slope, before making my way up the final wall. Taking out the nearest guards, and cleaning up after them, I soon found myself standing on top of the hill’s earth, unlike anywhere else though, there was actually grass covering it this time.

Multiple buildings stood all across the courtyard, most probably the temples the hill was named after. Other than that, there was also one large tent and a massive pen filled with horses whose heads were illuminated by long horns sticking out of their forehead.

Unicorns.

The otherwise heartwarming scene of seeing my first unicorns after hearing so much about them was ruined by the fact that there were too many of them crammed into the pen, and more than one sported wounds clearly made with whips.

This wasn’t why I was here though, I had to keep that in mind. The prisoners were my priority. The building Alex had talked about was right where he said it was and was indeed swarming with guards.

Thankfully, most of them were spread out all around the building, leaving the entrance itself fairly unguarded with just two monsters standing around it at all times, with a third occasionally appearing above them.

Skirting around the edge of the light, trying to get the best angle of approach. Whispering a small prayer to Tyche for good luck, I hoped the goddess was in a giving mood today because I sure as hell had already used up a lot of her goodwill.

Throwing my dagger into the darkness, I let it clatter against the ground, before ordering it back into my hand.

Just as I thought, one of the guards left his post to check out what it had been, leaving the other by himself. The two-headed man was well-illuminated by the torch sputtering beside him, the guard on the roof absent for the moment. With any luck, the other guards would be looking outwards, rather than inwards.

It was now, or never.

Throwing my knife towards the monster, I wasted no time sprinting after it, the warrior spotting me, but not the blade speeding towards it. Connecting with its body, I reached it just in time to scoop the blade it was carrying out of the air before it could clatter against the ground.

Quickly, but carefully, opening the door, I kicked the ear it had dropped inside, before shutting it behind myself.

Something let out a noise of confusion, and I was spinning around, sword in hand and chopping deeply into the neck of a curious cynocephalus.

It was then that the smell hit me. This wasn’t the odour of bicephali… No, this belonged to people.

With no alarms blaring outside, or shouts of anger, I let out a small sigh of relief.

“Thanks, Tyche.” I smiled, whispering the words.

Inside the prison, against all odds... And to think that the hard part was yet to come. Multiple doorways lead to other parts of the complex, but I was certain I was right where I needed to be. Sitting in a large cage in the centre of the room, were numerous gaunt-faced and barely-clothed people. They reminded me of the unicorns, having no room and many of them sporting wounds.

And despite the noise I had made and the monster I had killed, they had yet to notice me.

The clatter of footsteps from behind one of the doors sent my senses tingling, and I was beside it in a flash, tightly gripping the hilt of the monster’s sword I still held.

A deep voice was speaking in what I recognized as Latin, though I couldn’t understand what it was saying. Another replied to it in a similar voice, earning a chuckle from the first speaker right as the door swung open and a foot cleared the frame of the door.

I chopped upwards without hesitation, cleaving the two-headed man’s heads almost completely in half.

It collapsed to the ground and turned to dust, and after checking the corridor for any more enemies, I kicked the sword inside and closed the door.

"Who in Mars’ hairy scrote sent you?!"

That was English and definitely human, familiar even. It had also come from the cage, and I turned around to face the source.

The entire cage of prisoners was staring at me, wide-eyed.

"Umm... Hi. I was sent by the Romans. I’m Daniel."

"The kid from the winter solstice? You chose the worst fucking time and place for sightseeing, now why the fuck are you here?”

“It’s a long story,” I stepped close to the cage door, squinting at the face talking to me.

Greying hair, sky blue eyes, the haggard face of a man who had seen hell itself during these last few weeks, yet was somehow still keeping strong.

On his forearm was a legionary tattoo, with more year stripes than probably the other inhabitants of the cage combined.

"Centurion Julius, thank fuck I found you!" I smiled, relieved that things were going as planned.

"About time you did, boy. Now how about letting us out? And call in the others for fucks sake, there’s much more of them out there than in here.”

“Others?” I looked at him, confused.

“Yeah… Who else is crazy enough to come on a rescue mission like this? Drake? Maybe that overly optimistic idiot Flavius? Gloria?”

“Just… Just me.” I muttered, trying to hide the pain from my voice.

“Just you? You mean you’re alone?” I nodded, and he cackled with delight, “You’re a crazy sunnuvabitch, boy! Now, what are you waiting for, an audience?”

“I can’t commit to freeing you. Not yet. Where are the others?”

“Not much in terms of others, as you put it. All of the Non-Romans and a few others are kept in another cell. There’s less than a hundred of us at this point.” He spat onto the floorboards outside the cage, “Couldn’t afford to feed all of us, not like we saw much change in rations after they killed those they deemed too weak.”

"Shit… Look, if I let you out, there’s no going back. We’re assaulting this fortress in a few days, it might be safer-“

“Fuck that! We’ve been working day and night for that teddy bear-molesting cuntwipe, digging a hidden trench around the walls, filling it with spikes before covering it back up. We know this place and all of its traps, but we can’t bloody help from behind these bars. I’d rather die than spend another day in here.”

“Fine.” Jamming my knife into the lock, I twisted once and the entire thing snapped in two, the door swinging open, “Tell me what else you know.”

"Let’s see… Dozens of cyclopes recently joined the Augur’s army, though they’re mostly kept as craftsmen. They can give you trouble if you’re inside the walls."

"Don’t forget about the crate, sir.” Croaked a guy beside him. He too looked familiar.

“Oh yeah, the crate.” He went silent, thinking, “What fucking crate are you going on about, Horatius?”

“A crate arrived today which was immediately taken to Mars’ temple. Definitely a monster, I could hear its roars and its scuffling, though I’m not sure what it was."

“Good thing your young eyes are better than mine,” Centurion Julius chuckled, slapping his thin shoulder, “While at it, you should remember to focus on the humans leading them. Without a captain, their ranks become even less ordered than they already are and they stand no chance against a Roman cohort that way.”

“Thanks. Here, take these.” I handed my two swords to Julius and pointed at the other dropped weapons, “I’ll help you free the others, just point me where I should go.”

“You want to help?” He grunted, “Clear the Ditch.” He shoved a finger towards a door stained a slight red near the handle.

“What’s down there?”

“Thaddeus’ cave of horrors. The sadistic bastard happily takes everyone down there for what he calls interrogation. Truth is, you’re lucky if you come out of there alive. I’m sure as hell ain’t going down there for round two, even if it would mean that I’d get to thrust a gladius through the asshole’s heart.”

“What can I expect?”

“No monster in their right mind would go down there, but that doesn’t mean it’ll be a walk in the park… Words can’t describe what you’ll see, it’s impossible to prepare beforehand. The last two to go might still be alive, however, the Ambassador and that jackass Kimball.”

“Terry? He’s alive?” I couldn’t help but smile.

“If he’s lucky. We told him to stop resisting and tell them whatever small bits of info he had, but the proud bastard wouldn’t listen. Now go, we’ll gather the others and raid the armoury in here. Ten minutes enough?”

“Plenty.”

“We meet here.” He nodded, slapping my back as I passed him.

Carefully opening the door to reveal a staircase leading down into the ground. The walls turned from soil to wooden panelling as I descended lower and lower.

For something that had the courtesy of being called the Ditch, it was pretty well-lit with torches. That at least confirmed that the Ambassador was being kept here.

A voice, speaking unintelligibly, made me slow down and crouch low, the ground evening out as I reached the room Julius had talked about.

The first thing that struck me was the smell.

There was only one way to describe it.

Death.

Entering the room, the tiny stairwell suddenly expanding, my eyes widened in horror as I laid eyes upon the interior.

Right in front of me was a table, covered in blood that must’ve been left there for a while now, the colour of it much too dark. At the very end of it sat a human ear.

On the opposite side, pushed against the wall, was a rack, the body of a man hanging from it by the nose, his limbs missing.

My stomach churned as I took in horror after horror, yet what stopped me in my tracks was a mountain of a man, tied to yet another rack.

Running up to Terry, I searched for a pulse and found a faint beat still there. He was alive, even if he wasn’t awake right now.

Five daggers were thrust into him, two into his hands, two into his calves, pinning him to the wall, and a fifth sticking out of his lower abdomen. Upon closer inspection, one of his ears was also missing.

“What the fuck have they done to you?” I muttered. No response.

I thought about taking the knives out and setting him down somewhere safe, but however shit he looked, he was in a semi-stable state. I had to clear this place first before I could think about saving him.

Following the voice, the words being thrown around became clearer and clearer, the deeper I went inside the Ditch. I passed a familiar face, even if it was hanging with a hook through its eyeball.

It belonged to Victor, one of the legionaries that died during the scouting mission ambush.

What the hell was his body doing down here? Why was it here, of all places?

The voice was too close now, and I slowed down to a crawl. Every syllable sent chills down my back.

“You haven’t talked… Yet. This is your last chance to confess before I throw away my nice-guy farce.” His voice was coarse, like gravel, and barely above a whisper. There was a tinge of joy, in his words.

“I don’t-“

A dull thud ended her sentence prematurely with a pained yelp, “Who. Is. This. Greek?”

As I crept forward, I caught the scene through the clutter sitting atop one of the shelves. A girl, who couldn’t have been older than fourteen, lay sideways, tied to a chair. Spatters of fresh blood were across the slab of concrete.

“I-I-”

“Speak up.” He leaned down to grab her chair, his oily, black hair dangling in front of his face, his maniacal grin still visible, however. Then he stopped, and I felt my pulse start to rise.

What was he doing?

His head darted upwards, and his eyes connected with mine. Red irises, bloodshot, and utterly deprived of sanity.

I stumbled backwards, knocking over a rack of tools. I drew both of my knives, ready for a fight.

“So… You visit me just as I’m asking about you from your-“

“Shut the fuck up, psychopath.” I spat back at him.

“There’s some spirit in you!” He chuckled, “A surprise, from someone that stinks of broken oaths. You’ve been surrounded by them your entire life, haven’t you? Your life itself was created from a broken oath.” He was slowly approaching me, his footsteps measured, clicking against the concrete, “You are an abnormality against the balance of nature itself, and as such, you must die and suffer for your crimes in the afterlife.” He gave a shrill laugh that made the hair on my legs stand on end.

“You’re insane!” I gripped my blades harder, not having felt this nervous before a fight since my first capture the flag.

“Oh, I’m aware! Iustitia!”

Something moved behind me, and I spun around quickly, only just dodging out of the way of an enormous snake. Sailing past me with fangs bared, it twisted mid-air and knocked a bucket off of a table. Unfazed, it prepared for its next strike.

The son of Orcus darted around the corner, thrusting a bident at me, which I deflected into a rack, knocking it over.

The metal the weapon was made from was as black as my own blades and surrounded by a faint aura of dark purple light. The shadows around the chalk-white-skinned man seemed to deepen as he strode closer, the snake curling around his feet.

“You creepy motherfucker!” I roared, letting off a flurry of cuts, causing him to stumble slightly as he tried parrying each.

“I was born to punish those who broke oaths, you’re denying my birthright by keeping me from killing you.” His sneer was maniacal, “Father will surely grant me a place by his side for this, but not before I make sure you gain just punishment in the world of the living.”

Knocking my hand to the side, I dodged past the thrust of his bident, only to get knocked backwards by the other end of it, sending me crashing against the table to my side.

My eyes made contact with blue, lifeless ones, and in that brief moment, I recognized the face.

I could almost hear his voice, only his mouth was frozen in the O-shape it had been left in as he had died.

Flavius.

Something sharp pricked my side, and I wildly cut sideways, feeling my blade connect with whatever it had been.

Kicking off of my dead friend, I looked down at the ground to see the snake struggling for its life, a cut across its body killing it slowly as the chaos metal did its work.

Whatever it had tried doing, it had failed to pierce my cloak, and it was now going to die. Its owner’s mad smile didn’t wane, even as he looked over his dying pet.

As the son of Orcus approached, twirling his bident, I backed away towards the concrete.

All of a sudden, he was lurching forward, my knives driving the point into the ground. Charging the man, I used the weapon as a fulcrum, flipping him over me.

Crawling backwards, I kicked his weapon to the side, and lifted him off of the ground, punching him in the face once.

One of his teeth flew out past me, clattering against the floor.

Smashing him against the wall, I punched him in the gut and let go, letting the man drop to the floor.

The Ambassador had meanwhile, somehow, untied herself, though she was still laying on the ground.

I paused, looking at her to see if she was okay when her already terror-filled eyes suddenly got even bigger. Lifting my forearm was what saved me from a pitch-black kopis heading straight for my skull.

All feeling left my arm, pain travelling all across my body quickly flaring into anger. Grabbing his wrist with my good hand, I twisted it as hard as I could, feeling it crack under my grip.

He tried saying something, but my knife piercing his chest knocked the air from his lungs. As blood flowed from his mouth, there was no fear of death etched on his face, and even as I pulled upwards as hard as I could, it only caused him to smile more.

“You do not deserve death.” I whispered, and his smile faltered for the first time, “YOU DO NOT DESERVE DEATH!”

Placing my hand on his chest, I concentrated on one thing even this son of a bitch had.

His eyes widened in shock, his body twisting and turning weakly, trying to get away.

There was no escaping this.

The knot of power in my stomach soon appeared, and with every passing second, it got harder and harder to hold. It was as if I was trying to hold back a dam from breaking with nothing but my hands and glue.

With a yell that echoed throughout the chamber, the pent-up energy erupted through my hand, into his chest. Into his very being.

I didn’t know how I was doing it, only that it was working.

His bloodshot eyes turned pitch black, his mouth opening to scream yet no sound escaped from it. Spreading from his head, darkness engulfed his entire body, until there was nothing left but a black statue of a man frozen in eternal terror.

Turning around, I met the horror-filled eyes of the Ambassador. She was using the abandoned bident as a walking stick. Judging by her body language I was sure she was contemplating whether I was a threat.

“What did you do?!” She exclaimed.

“I ended this.”

“But his soul. It’s… Gone.”

“I did what I did, there’s no going back now.” I looked deep into her eyes, “He deserved his fate.”