One love

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A man laughed as the shine in Reyna's eyes turned bland.

He turned to the cage next to him and spoke, "Isn't it beautiful when a plan comes together?" The wolf in the cage growled at him as he positioned himself in front of her. "I should have killed you for what you did to the legion." The wolf growled.

The man's eyes flared up. "I was trying to save the Legion!" "So you killed the praetors to save us!?" The wolf barked out. The intruder gripped the bars holding the wolf. "They wouldn't listen to me! If they had, those monsters wouldn't have overrun camp!" The wolf snarled. "Look at what you've done! This is your way of helping the Legion?!" The man laughed. "Oh, Lupa. Hopefully your current praetor isn't as stupid as back then. Or else it'll be worse than just burning a few buildings and killing a couple dozen of soldiers." He turned from her and faced the land below. "You were the one that taught me to take power. I think I remember you saying it wasn't 'Roman' of me not to." The intruder chuckled as his army wheeled the cage down the hill and into the Principia.

Reyna POV

Reyna couldn't feel anything except the feeling of her heart falling deep in the pits of her stomach. She could feel panic rising up her throat and she clamped her mouth shut in case she actually screamed. She could hear the gasps from behind her and the smell of burning buildings and the pools of blood in front of her. She felt the heavy hand of Frank as he staggered from behind her and she could feel herself almost stumble. She felt her hands and knees tremble under her own weight.

Frank said something to me but I couldn't process what he said or give him any sort of response because I had already walked forward. I couldn't believe what my eyes were seeing.

It was only then did I feel the hopelessness of all of it.

It was only then that I witnessed why Lupa had drilled into me that thought process to never be weak in front of others. To not associate myself with weak people because you are only as good as the people that surround you.

So when I saw my soldiers lifted on stakes I felt complete and utter despair and misery and I allowed my powers to spread this despair and misery to my legion. And in turn as always I felt what they were feeling.

But their pain was like a slap in the face. I had to calm down and I had to raise morale. My body stopped trembling once I did and although what they did was horrific, I couldn't let them do that to the soldiers I have left.

So I stared straight forward at them and even though the thought of my soldiers being killed and shamed like this pained me like no other, I had to be strong for the safety of those around me. Instead of spreading panic I spread courage to my legion. Their feelings went over me like a wave, but I stood firm against them.

"You are the infamous Reyna, praetor of camp Jupiter, correct?" I heard someone call. I tilted my head towards the voice and found a young man walking towards me. The young man was about 6,1 had dark wavy hair and olive skin. What most stood out was his blood red eyes and smug smirk. "Yes, I am. And who are you?' 'Best not to give him information on the situation.' I thought. "My name is Azazel Hills. But, you may call me Azazel." He said curtly. "I hear you're the only praetor in charge. Is it true? Lupa told me that your co praetor had left to join the pathetic Greeks." By now he stood in front of me with an eyebrow raised and amused glint in his eyes. I made sure to hide my rage with an indifferent face. "He is now the Pontifex Maximus." I confirmed.

His laughter came out of no where. It was wicked, evil, uncontrolled, and disgusting. "What a stupid, insolent little boy! Who in their right mind gives up Rome? Rome, the ruler of all nations, the best of the best! And for the Greeks no less!" He finally stopped laughing and he signaled for his soldiers to bring Lupa. When I finally saw her clearly I almost gasped.

She was chained. With a silver collar and bear traps stabbing into all her legs. Her body was littered with deep scaring and red blotches. She stared at me, but with fire still intact. Her eyes told me a million plans at once, but in the end she turned her face from me as if saying it was a lost cause. "I looked towards Azazel. "I was hoping we could come up with some sort of an agreement. " He smirked. 'What in the world could he want?' I thought. "You see, we come from North Canada. And up in the islands there isn't a lot of resources as there is down here. Neither are there gods for that matter since they don't rule that domain. The gods from neighboring tribes do and they don't like as at all. We fight for our survival everyday so forgive us if we come off as savage." He chuckled and continued. "We are in dire need of imperial gold. We don't want any of that weak Greek bronze."

Once he said that anger blossomed inside of me. To think that this could have all been avoided and that lives were taken only because of metal. "This bloodshed was unneeded if all you wanted was metal." I ground out. " Oh, but that's only one part." He looked around my army. "I want your strongest soldier. Just one is enough. Living like we do there is no doubt that many of us have died. And I want..." He looked around until his eyes landed on me again. "You."