CHAPTER SEVEN: MARCH

  “Frost giant’s tits, it's cold,” someone complained from the mass of legionnaires. Cassius couldn’t see who it was, but the sentiment was echoed as misty air rose up around the armored men and women as they quickly formed marching lines five wide. Horn blowers would herald their advance, but when a legion was on the move, nothing could slow it.

  “I’m sorry you weren’t able to receive blessings here,” Vira said as she arrived, still dressed in her full plate. The smell of oil was fresh on it, polish having been freshly applied, she was an image of martial might as she walked up to them. All four of the survivors had been told to stay with the noblewoman to ensure her security.

  Marcus had told Cassius last night it was the heavy losses and Cassius’ low level that kept them from being reintegrated. They couldn’t even form a half line and the century had been fully replenished with no spares left to help form it up. Instead they were now under Vira’s command to be used as a reserve force.

  “There is no stone here. I will use the one at Villa Ore Mundi to receive the blessings of the system,” Cassius said. Vira smiled softly, the creases around her eyes deepening as she clasped him on the shoulder.

  “I will buy you your first drink as a true legionnaire then. I am sure your file mates will ensure that there is no way you’ll be able to walk back afterwards,” Vira said with a sly wink. Marcus grunted in affirmation as he shuffled his pack around, making sure that it sat right.

  “I have never been part of a legion on a march. Seen them pass by me, but never in them,” Vira said.

  “My apologies my lady, but you still won’t be a part of it. You do not have the class nor the skill, but there is an effect, like a wave, that can be ridden. If there is an officer to use [Cohesion] on us. Without that, then we just move slightly faster than a normal man.” Marcus explained as politely as he could, but the defensiveness was heard. There was a line between the nobles and the legionnaires, even if they shared the same fight.

  “Of course. I shall ensure we are where there is glory,” Vira promised, slapping Cassius on the shoulder before turning and walking out of the assembled legionnaires and mounting her horse.

  “She’s going to get us all killed,” Pius said calmly. Valerie grunted in agreement and then Marcus was in front of him, hands full of straps as he checked Cassius pack.

  “Don’t worry about it. Don’t fight the pull when the centurion uses her skill. You’ll tire quickly, but not exhaust yourself until we all do. You have your water and rations ready? When the [March] breaks you’ll be ready to eat a horse and drink a lake,” Marcus said. Cassius tried not to gape, the care and help he was showing far exceeded anything that they had shown before.

  “You bled and killed next to your brothers without falter. You are one of us now. When replacements come up, you’ll understand better,” Valeria whispered to the side as she took her place in the formation. Their small four man line was at the twentieth row of the formation, thus they saw as centurion Lucilia walked past everyone. The centurion wore her full armor as she walked to the front, her attendant Hostus behind her in his own set of armor. Lucilia began to speak as she marched down the lines.

  “Soldiers of the Thirteenth! We have been called to protect our beloved republic! We shall be outnumbered for our foe summons devils from beyond the walls. But we are the Thirteenth Legion and we have always known we are outnumbered. We are those who live, fight, and die in the shadow of the Shifting Wall, who battle the horrors who sneak through the gates. This is just another battle for us, but it shall be this enemy's last!” Lucilia roared her speech, her voice tinged with mana as it reached out across the staging ground.

  “NOW, [March] for the republic!” Lucilia’s command was obeyed with haste, every man and woman moved with the precision beat into them in the training camps deep inside of the republic. It was the first thing they had learned, to march as one so they could properly use the blessing, [March], as a unit.

  Cassius had never used the skill in such a large group before. Mana rose through his body, an electrical tingle that caused the hair on his arms to raise. His feet struck the ground and pushed with ease, carried forward by the magic that the system stones had imbued in him. As he [Marched] he couldn’t feel a difference, his mana drained slowly as they moved, but Lucilia was only waiting for them to find their stride. She didn’t say anything when she used her officer’s skill, [Cohesion], but Cassius could feel it pull at him, dragging the mana out of him.

  Marcus had been right, he wanted to fight it at first. To drag that electric power back to himself and hoard it. Controlling that urge was a struggle, but he managed to suppress the fight just in time to feel the power settle back. It was different now, a steady flow of strength rather than pulsing beats of his footsteps. There was a constant drain, but more power entered him than left.

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  “This is…strange,” Cassius whispered to Marcus. All around them the sounds of boots striking the paved road echoed out, the perfect noise to hide their conversation.

  “Look at how fast we travel,” Marcus said, not bothering to speak quietly. Cassius peered around him and gawked as the land flowed past them, faster than if he had been sprinting. A haze of red energy filled the air above them, the strength of the century on display as they moved forward.

  Cassius craned his head behind him to see Vira and her entourage on their horses. The column of nobleborn had been thinned considerably, the senator and his men still at the camp, but all those who remained were warriors. Hard eyed killers in polished steel as they rode their mounts at a gentle lope, the remnant energy of the mass [March] drug them along.

  Hours passed, the countryside passing by in rapid succession as they marched. Horns blew out frequently and oftentimes they saw carts and people off to the side of the road, watching in awe as the century pushed on.

  They passed a village that was still, small huts of baked mud and straw roofs abandoned. Cassius didn’t have time to stare and look it over, they were past it too fast to truly look.

  “We don’t stop?” Cassius asked Marcus, shocked out how little strain appeared to be showing as they raced across the republic.

  “Once we’re moving it takes precious little to keep us moving. Stopping and restarting would exhaust us quickly. It’s better to push directly to the town,” Marcus explained.

  “I wonder why they don’t teach us this in the camps?” Cassius asked out loud. A series of snorts interrupted him as several of the other legionnaires shot him a look.

  “The senate doesn’t like having officers close to their seat of power. Not when they can empower legionnaires like this. Officer training is in a different place, training takes place when officers meet their legionnaires. Far away from the senate and Aurum,” Marcus said.

  “Seems foolish to me,” Cassius grunted.

  “A few failed coup attempts and the senate became understandably nervous about fresh recruits who are bonded to their training officers only minutes from the seat of power,” Marcus said with a dark laugh.

  “How did they fail?” Cassius asked. He couldn’t imagine a legion fighting as one like a [General] was supposed to be able to do. When a legion became a breathing organism, how could anyone stand against it?

  “The Old Guard. Each of them is worth a century by themselves and they’re sworn to the senate. Senators are not without their means either. The class stones that the upper strata have available to them are powerful indeed,” Marcus said.

  Cassius attempted to lure Marcus back into conversation, but the older man had no desire to speak. Silence fell back upon them as they kept pushing, through the morning, into the afternoon, and into the early parts of the evening before Villa Ore Mundi became visible.

  Leagues away it could be seen, stretched out along a sloped rise that ended with a single tower with a blazing beacon in it at the apex of the rise. Fifteen foot walls of stone made a crescent in front of the city, anchored by the fall of the cliffside behind the city.

  “It’s big. Not as big as Aurum, but not bad,” Cassius said. A few looked at him but didn’t say anything as Lucilia led them right to the very gates. Green metal with a lion’s roaring head emblazoned on each of them. The gate was wide enough they could have marched through without slowing if it wasn’t for the dozen guards who stood before it with spears and shields in their hand.

  Cassius looked them over, each of the guards looked like a strong man, well fed and grown, but there was a lacking edge. An edge that Cassius was beginning to recognize as having seen battle. He was willing to bet a week’s wages that the men who protected the entrance to the city were green, with little to no combat experience.

  “Brace yourself,” Marcus warned. Cassius hardly had time to open his mouth to ask for what when exhaustion hit him. His knees nearly buckled as he took a staggered step, falling out of formation for the first time since they’d begun. The rest of the century kept moving in a smooth rhythm, but the supernatural speed disappeared as fast as it had come. Sweat burst out across Cassius’ body, a hunger burst forth, deep and horrible, comparable only to the thirst that scratched at his throat.

  “Told you it was rough,” Marcus rasped. Cassius couldn’t see what the man was doing, too desperate in his attempt to grab his canteen and relieve some of the pain in his throat. Body temperature water ran over his parched lips and swollen tongue as he gasped and choked on the pleasure of the simple drink.

  “Stop that, you’ll colic,” Marcus said without heat or venom, slapping Cassius on the shoulder. The half drained canteen came away from Cassius’ lips as he glared at Marcus, tempted to finish the canteen to snub the older man, but he forced down the desire to be unruly.

  Lucilia was talking to the knot of guards, too far away to hear while the rest of the century grabbed water and pulled jerky or hardtack free of their belts, gnawing and drinking as fast as they could.

  “They look jumpy. Think our friends beat us here?” Valeria asked. Cassius looked around the wide rise, toward the golden wall that rose far into the sky and disappeared above the clouds. A thin wood started not far from the grassy plains that the city had been built by, the trees young and without the heft of age. Nothing moved and he had a hard time imagining a horde of the imps waiting to launch themselves forward.

  “Possibly. That or the fact no local villagers have been seen or any foot traffic has come toward them for several days. First thing we do is head to the class stone so that Cassius may receive the blessings of the system. Lady Vira and centurion Lucilia commanded it to be. Then we are to wait with the nobles, not bunk with the legion,” Marcus reminded everyone as the cluster of gate guards broke apart and the century could take refuge behind the walls of Ville Ore Mundi.