A Most Dangerous Weapon

Chapter 70: The First Target

"Hey, are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

"You don't look so good."

"I said I'm fine."

The four of us were hiding behind a fabric store as we waited for a troop of Galacians to pass by. They were just dispatched to join the forces further down the hill. Apparently the Romallian forces were about to break through the gate again. Soon the whole city would become a battle ground.

Arrian was clutching his side with his free hand. Blood continued to slowly spill out of the arrow wound in his abdomen. With all the running and exertion of force, the wound never had a chance to close or dry into a semi-scab. I was able to get a closer look to confirm that it wasn't that deep or serious, yet he was still turning slightly pale and wincing in unimaginable pain. I couldn't understand why something so small and seemingly insignificant was affecting him so badly. But of course Arrian wasn't going to let me dwell on his well-being while we were in the midst of our mission.

"The Galacians have passed. Let's move." Arrian moves back out onto the street. He pulls his hand away from the wound and stands a little taller in an attempt to prove just how fine he was.

We snuck further into the Capital at a brisk pace. Once we covered about two-thirds of our journey we stumbled upon another battle that was taking place in an open, large intersection. It was a loud and frightful sight to behold. Bodies littered the street as blood guttered between the stones. There were even animal carcasses from some of the higher ranking Romallian officials on horses that had breached the wall with Maximus. I looked around for the man himself, but he was nowhere to be found. His forces must have divided again to better conquer the palace. Maximus and his group would surely be taking the west road up to avoid the brunt of Gaius' enemy forces that had been sent down the south road, which was what we were following.

We were about to turn down a side street to avoid this carnage, and in hopes of catching up to Maximus, when I saw Rowan frozen in his tracks. I followed his gaze to see what had captured his attention.

If the crown didn't give it away than his appearance and ferocity certainly would. The man raging through the middle of this battle was none other than Gaius himself, the Emperor of Galacia. He shared similar facial features with his older brother, only his were not as weathered down with wrinkles and scars. He had a matching pointed nose with a bump on top, thin lips, dark eyes and a permanent scowl. His facial hair was more full than Maximus' and not spotted with grey patches yet. And unlike his brother who was balding, Gaius had a decent amount of brown locks framing his face. The battle had made it sweaty and messy, but at least his golden crown was pulling it out of his eye sight. He towered over the other soldiers. I was positive that this was a subject of much teasing during their childhood as the prideful older brother remained shorter than his little brother. But despite the height discrepancy, their muscles and frame seemed to be similar; both muscular yet lean in their old age.

Gaius was brandishing his blade like a true warrior. I had always thought he was more brains than brawn in battle given his schemes, yet here he was in the middle of the fight holding his own! He must have been training for this very day, not wanting to give anyone else the satisfaction of taking down his brother. This was always personal for them, and the rest of us were just a means of succeeding as we became collateral damage.

He swung his sword low across the front legs of the steed that had been galloping towards him. The horse buckled from the break and fell forward, tossing its rider high into the air before crumpling to the ground. The Romallian crashed into a Galacian soldier hard, knocking them both out of the fight instantly. Gaius laughed at the scene. It was an ear-splitting sound that rivalled Maximus' nightmarish snicker.