Praetorian Series [3] A Hunter and His Legion (33 page)

And Helena did not come to my side to take the pain away.

I was alone
, and the pain lingered.

I clenched my teeth and forced myself to crawl to my cot.  It seemed to take hours, but eventually, I found myself atop my wonderfully soft bed, sweating bullets and unable to shake the chills
that stabbed at me like icicles at the same time.  Every other time I’d come to this bed since setting out from Camulodunum, I’d found some level of comfort, but not tonight.  Tonight, the pain was only intensifying, driving my mind through a maelstrom of negativity.

It was almost too
much to contain in my chest, as it wasn’t nearly big enough, but then another feeling snuck its way into my mind, something soothing, something calming.  It was coming from the side of my bed, so I rolled to the right and fell from the low perch, not knowing what I was doing or caring what would happen.  I simply craved relief, something to take the pain away, and I found it in my footlocker.  I didn’t know who had blessed it with such healing properties, but someone obviously had, because as I wrapped my arms around it and laid my head upon its lid, I felt immediately better.  All the sorrow and torment my body and mind had felt was gone.  Like a wondrous drug that could take away all pain, I’d found my salvation.

I was asleep s
econds later, but in an odd way.

I
nstead of the peace that normally accompanied sleep’s sweet embrace, I drifted off with a billion thoughts surging through my mind, over and over, with trillions of answers and possibilities.  It was enough to drive a man insane, but it only comforted me now as I finally fell asleep, too exhausted to realize that someone had left a blue tinted flashlight aimed directly at my face.

VIII

Angles
ey

Western Britannia

December, 42 A.D.

It had been two days since Helena and Santino initiated Operation:
Dissuade the Shit out of Them, and we were now deep into modern day Wales, only a day out from the Isle of Mona.  In that time, little of consequence had happened, and we had made excellent progress through bare and frozen but dense forests.  More importantly, I no longer felt bogged down by inane thoughts out of my control, and I found myself focused.  Even though I spent my nights alone now, Vincent no longer attended my nightly mission briefings, and most of my team seemed to go out of their way to avoid me, I felt peaceful, almost happy.  Only at night did I find my mind whirring out of control, but slumber came easily now and I would awake more refreshed than ever.

It was a good feeling, one I didn’t want to see interrupted.

We hadn’t yet made any further contact with the indigenous population, but our Celtic shadow force still paced us at a distance.  They seemed cautious now, sending fewer of their forces into visual range, apparently more inclined to simply watch instead of challenge us.  It left many uneasy just knowing they were out there, but it took more than a few thousand barbarians to spook the Romans, and I, too, was unconcerned.

I
t was late in the day as I rode atop Felix near the vanguard of our formation, alone and cold, as had become the norm recently, but nothing clouded my mind besides our destination.  And even then, I was less worried about the possibilities of what could happen there, and was more focused instead on simply getting there.

W
hich was when Wang rode up from the rear of our formation to ride with me.

I looked at him
in surprise and offered him a nod in greeting which was returned in kind, but our interaction ended there, so I ignored him and shifted my attention back to the path before us.

Two minutes later, Wang finally turned to me.
  “Something on your mind, mate?”

“Actually…
” I said, without turning.  “No, nothing in particular.”

“Really?”  He asked.

“I know,” I replied.  “It’s pretty nice not to have any thoughts in my head.  This must be how the rest of you people live your lives…”

Wang adjusted his seat, and
returned his attention forward.  “I’ve actually had quite a bit to think about lately.”

“Wait…” I said, confused,
“…you’re coming to
me
to talk about
you
?”

“Blimey, it’s right embarrassing, but yes.”

“Interesting,” I said, legitimately so.  “Been thinking about the fight a few days ago?”

“No,” he replied
.  “Archer deserved it for sure, even if it was bloody stupid of you, but no, I’ve been thinking about home mostly.  Not about how to get home, but memories of home, my parents, Cardiff, school friends, my chums in the SAS.  Even thoughts of fighting a real war instead of the bloody mess we’ve gotten ourselves into here make me feel better, and even remembering McDougal brings on happy memories.”

I fr
owned at the mention of our one-time, and far too brief, commanding officer who had died before even reaching Ancient Rome.  His death had been my fault, but unlike everything else that was my fault, I was at peace with what had happened to him.  There were far too many other deaths for me to feel responsible for, and his had come on the field of battle during an operation that had been sanctioned by my commanding officers in a theatre of war openly engaged against me.

Unfortunately, the rules were different now.

“So being here has been melancholic for you then, is that it?”  I asked.

He
nodded.  “I don’t know what your deal is these days, but at least you’re still sharp.  I’ll give you that.”

“I guess I’ll
take it.”

“Take
it if you will,” Wang said, without humor, “but you are right.  There’s something about Anglesey that’s always bothered me, only I didn’t really remember until recently.”

“So what’s on your mind
then?”

He looked over his shoulder, left and then right.  “T
his place doesn’t feel that different from home really.  Oh, it’s missing the roads and towns and pubs, but if I didn’t know any better, I’d say we were taking a stroll through the country back home.”

“Sounds nice actually.”

“Aye, it is,” he confirmed, “but I didn’t come here to waffle on about memories of home.”  He fidgeted atop his horse to find a more comfortable sitting position, which was in turn making me feel the opposite.  When he was successful, he turned back to me.  “Ever since Alexandria, I’ve been thinking about some looney stuff…”

“Just fucking tell me, Wang!”  I said, exasperated that it was taking
him so long to get to the point.

“Crikey Moses, Hunter, give me a moment.  I thought you were supposed to be the patient one…”

“What little patience I have left is waning quickly, believe me.”

Wang sighed.  “Well, I’d better start then, because I won’t blame you for losing
it completely once I’m done.  It’s just that ever since Rumella told us to come here, to Britain, to Wales, I’ve been thinking a lot about things like magic, time travel, orbs, Druids, fairy tales, epic quests to save the world… it’s all pretty fantastical rubbish but believe me, me mum will believe every detail of all this when I get back to tell her about it.”

I looked at him
, suddenly curious.  “Yeah?  Why’s that?”

“You know my fam
ily history,” he said, “about me dad’s parents coming from China after The Great Revolution and him marrying a local lass and all that, but when I say
local
, I mean her family is
old
local.  Her family’s been in Wales since… well, now, I suppose.  I wouldn’t be surprised if I ran into some ancestor of mine, actually.”

I didn’t bother explaining to him that the chances of that were
surprisingly high.

He laughed for a second.  “M
e mum’s dad never seemed happy that she married a
Chinaman
, as he always called me dad, but it turned into more of a loving nickname as they never fought, and granddad always spoiled the knickers off me.  I love that man.  He
never
got along with me dad’s dad though.  I think the language barrier was just too much for him.”

I
actually found myself smiling, always finding family drama that wasn’t my own humorous.  Family dynamics and how members of extended families and in-laws treated each other had always been fascinating to me.  Both sets of my grandparents had died well before I was even in middle school, and my own family life had never been particularly enjoyable, so I’d never really gotten to experience the pangs of having a big family on my own.

“Sorry, Hunter, didn’t mean to go off on a tangent
like that.”

“So
that’s
what it feels like,” I said, feeling surprisingly cheerful in the moment.

“Aye, now you know how the rest of us poor
nutters feel most of the time.”

“
Just get to the point,” I ordered.

“Crikey, now
you
sound like Helena,” he said, cutting off my retort with a smirk, “but you’re right.  As I was saying, me lovely mum’s family has been in Wales forever, and as you may know, many Welsh are a superstitious folk.  Some do all sorts of nutty things, and me mum was very into it.  Told me lots of stories as a lad.  Most were more terrifying than spooky-fun like your American fairy tales.  Was the Brothers Grimm shit they were, extra grim, and for some reason they always had a lot of fairies in them…”

“
Seriously, Wang.  Cut the shit.  What are you trying to say?”

“Bloody Christ, Hunter, I’m just saying that I always thought mum was o
ff her trolley about all that stuff!  She was right barmy about it, I thought.”

“For crying out loud, Wang
, I left my ridiculous British slang dictionary back in the 21st century!  Speak.  Real.  English!”

He fidgeted in his saddle again, seeming just as annoyed with me as I was with him.

“She seemed nuts, okay?”  He asked in his best American accent, which sounded distinctly Southern.  “She was convinced the local folklore was real.  She thought Wales in particular had some legitimate connections with magic and the supernatural.  She thought Wales actually was the
home of fairies
!”

“
So what’s your point?”  I asked, my patience and curiosity returning.

He shrugged.  “I’m not sure yet, Hunter, I’m not.  All I know is that we should be careful.  I can’t shake this feeling that we’ve entered into
some unknown realm of necromancy.  I think that was a word me mum used once.  Black magic maybe.  Something evil.  I know you’re going to want to grill these Druids for information, but I don’t know if that’s so wise.  You might not like what you learn.”

I chuckled.  “Thanks for the warning, Jame
s, but unless we run into a three headed giant, a fire breathing dragon, or hot chicks in sexy nerd-envisioned armor that can cast level twelve frost spells, I think we’ll be just fine.”

“I wouldn’t joke about that, Hunter.  I wouldn’t.
  No, mate, I would not.”

“We’ll be fi
ne,” I snapped, annoyed again.

The last thing I needed right now was talk of magic and
fairies and shit like that.  There was no need to complicate things any more than they already were, and there was certainly no need to throw in more challenges to overcome.  I really couldn’t deal with a fight against a dragon right now.  I really couldn’t.  And if we encountered a troll or an elf or a fairy or a demon or a wizard… I truly was bound to go off my own trolley.

***

The next day, I stood with my bootless feet in the water that made up the narrow straight that separated mainland Wales from the Isle of Mona.  The distance between shores was not that great, and the great expanse of the island was laid out before me like a large, flat chunk of earth that looked like it had been gently lowered into the water by some ancient mythological hero.  Judging distances was something I was good at thanks to my sniper training, and it took me no more than a few seconds to determine that the opposing shore was only four hundred and twenty five meters away.

I turned to Wang who stood beside me.
  “So, have you ever been here before?”

“Once,” he answered.  “When I
was a lad.  No more than nine, and thought the place was right creepy.  It’s flatter and emptier than Santino’s personality, and even back home the area was very sparse and not very developed.  Lots of sheep.  Even a small city like Cambridge probably had twice the population of the entire island.”

I looked at
the water and immediately felt I could easily swim across it, even though the current seemed rather choppy. 

Wang noticed my scrutiny and pointed out over the water.
  “I wouldn’t think about it, mate.  The current is worse than it looks.  I remembered seeing whirlpools in the straight as a kid, and dad told me that they were more common than most would think here.  Besides, the water is bloody freezing, so I’d advise you to step out it, you git.”