The Demons of Rome

XXVII - Happy Reunions

"I spy with my little eye..." Illiria said jovially.

"What is she going on about now?" Max said in Iatus' ear.

Iatus sighed, he wished Aelith was with them instead of her, she just had too much energy for a long walk, however he didn't want to dismiss her in case there was trouble.

They had found a small track through the forest and had followed it south. Eventually they had reached the end of trees and the track had joined a main cobbled road. The sun was setting now and Illiria bounded about in front of them, thoroughly enjoying herself.

"Something beginning with... flub!"

"I think it's some kind of riddle..." Iatus mused.

"Why is she spouting riddles?"

"I don't know, but Aelith once told me that Mara tend to get driven mad by their own power. That could account for her... behaviour."

Max nodded, thoughtfully.

"Come on you two!" she turned and shouted at them, smiling giddily, "Play the game with me!"

"If we don't play... what would happen?" Max asked.

Iatus bit his lip, "Well, she strolled through the summoning circle with no problem, so I'm not exactly sure if she's bound or not..."

"WHAT!" Max gasped, "She could kill us at any point and we wouldn't be able to stop her!"

"I think playing her game might be the best course of action..."

"Really? You think!" Max said in an unusually high pitched voice.

Before the two boys could consider all the things that Illiria might have seen with her little eye that began with flub, they crested a hill and saw an army marching towards them.

"Hooray! It's the 11th!" Max shouted and the boys started to run towards them.

Out in front of the column was the Legate on his big white horse. They were still quite far away but they were certainly moving at a reduced pace. As they drew closer they could see that the legion had encountered some difficulties. Only half as many standards were visible as before and the clatter of arms and armour wasn't nearly as loud as it should be.

As they got closer they saw that the army was in a bedraggled state, every piece of armour had one or two dents in it and it didn't shine nearly as brightly. Shields had holes in them and the golden eagle that was painted on each of them was scratched away beyond any recognition. Even the commander was showing the strain, his shiny armour had dents and the plume of his helmet was gone.

"MAGI!" came a shout from inside the ranks and suddenly they was a hive of activity as the legion formed into battle lines.

The sound was like a thousand drums playing out of time as shields locked together and archers formed into ranks.

Suddenly there was a roar from behind them. The boys spun around to see a giant black leopard, twice the size of a horse bounding towards them. The three of them screamed and Illiria jumped into the undergrowth that lined the road, turning into an orange tabby cat mid leap.

The leopard floored the two boys with one final bound, pinning them down.

"Iatus! Max! Where have you two been!" the leopard hissed, it had a soft and luxurious voice.

"Nice to see you two Niana," Max gasped.

The leopard hissed at them again, "Claudius was beside himself with worry! He sent out demons in every direction to search for you! Where were you?"

"We were kidnapped by Gauls," Iatus wheezed.

"It's fine boys! They're with us!" she roared at the legion and they fell out of formation, wiping brows and calming their nerves.

A rider came racing out from behind the lines, galloping up to them.

"Where have you two been!" Claudius shouted at them, purple with rage.

"We were kidnapped," Max protested.

"From inside the middle of our camp! A likely story!"

"They were magi!" Iatus chipped in.

"Really, then how did you escape?"

"Iatus..." Max began.

"By running very fast," Iatus finished.

Claudius bit his lip, looking between the two of them, suspiciously.

"I helped too!" came a little voice from beside the road.

Claudius, Max and Niana looked at the cat's head that was just visible above the grass. Iatus hung his head, rubbing his face with his hands.

"Who are you?" Claudius asked.

"I'm Illiria, nice to meet you," she said, smiling.

Claudius looked at Niana and she gave a shrug of her powerful shoulders.

"Well, okay then," Claudius said thoughtfully, "I suppose the fact that you came back shows that you didn't just run away. Can you tell us anything of your captors?"

Claudius gestured for Niana to let the boys go and they sucked in deep, painful breaths.

"Yes, they're all settled into Alesia, they've got perhaps 30 magi and a couple of hundred fighting men, along with about five thousand civilians who wouldn't be beyond picking up their farming tools to use on you. But they also have built some kind of weapon, using captured magi as a mana source, they said it could destroy whole cities."

Claudius bit his lip, "That could be a problem."

The Legate had now wondered over to them, "Who are these boys, Claudius?"

"Don't worry, Legate, they're students of mine, they're the boys that went missing a few weeks ago.

Had it been weeks since they had been taken? Surely not.

"Well, normally I would say hang them as deserters, but these are not normal times, if they can fight get them back in the fold."

"Very good sir," Claudius said and the Legate rode away, ordering the men to start marching again.

"We may have to rethink things, now that you've told us how well the city is defended. We have to destroy the rebellion, at any cost, at least we can plan a bit better now. You two should fall back in line."

Max and Iatus saluted and walked off to their cohort, right at the back of the line.

"Look who's back boys! I see you've found a pet on your travels, all strays together I suppose," the centurion laughed, "You should be hung as the deserters you are! Shame you're magi."

Iatus glared at the man, "We were taken in the night by Gauls, why didn't you have a man on watch?"

The centurion sucked in a breath, drawing himself up to his full height, "Why would I possibly have a man on watch in the middle of an army this big, we have plenty of men on watch, anyone coming in would have been seen, it's only the ones going out we don't watch for! Boy! If you want to question me, go get a command!"

Iatus huffed and stormed off to the back of the cohort.