Zealot Page 12

  More time passed by as he watched the soldiers walking back and forth along the tall, thick wooden wall. Occasionally, Salius would see a guard be replaced as a fresh soldier took his shift. He also, once in a while, would see a man relieve himself over the side of the wall; and at times others would rest, leaning on their Spears, looking as though they were called by sleep's seductive enchantment before they immediately snapped themselves out of rest's charm by resuming a patrolling March. Sometimes Salius also saw the soldiers huddled together to talk for brief moment, and at times one would laugh heartily at a joke the other told before moving on to continue his duty. There was even a time when one soldier isolated himself from the others just enough that Salius was tempted to make his move. But Salius instead choose to remain, deciding it would be a risky move made out of impatience and the desperation he felt to achieve his goal.

  Then suddenly, after much time had passed, Salius thought he heard a faint sound, a sound carried by the mild breeze which blew through his hair as he slowly cocked his head toward the direction from which he believed it had come. There it was again, still faint, but loud enough to make out the nay of a horse off in the distance, back toward the main road. It could be anyone, a villager, traveler, farmer, but what if it was an Imperial soldier, could he be that lucky?

  Salius teleported immediately, dagger still in his right hand, leaping away from the encampment toward the noise; deciding that it was worth at least checking out the possibility, especially since he doubted any progress would be made by continuing to simply watch the wall.

  He leaped again and again, heading toward the origin of the noise which he had heard. Finally, as he grew within sight, Salius leaped quietly behind a bush which overlooked the narrow dirt road that would take one straight from the main road, which led eastward, to the gates of the Imperial encampment which lay at the trail's southern tip.

  Excitement, neither negative nor positive, gripped Salius as he watched the lone uniformed Imperial soldier sit atop his horse as it trotted south at a patient pace. In this moment he hesitated with thoughts that kept him from moving to complete his plan. His hesitancy was caused not by the question of, could he do it? No, it had more to do with the far more difficult question of, should he do it? But the answer to this question remained elusive.

  As Salius watched, the soldier moved forward undisturbed, and unabated by the knowledge that his fate was being decided at this very moment by the twenty one year old Salius, who currently performed the roles of both judge and executioner while skulking around in the shadows unnoticed.

  Does he deserve to die?

  In his reading, Salius had found much truth in Emperor Lucius' simple, but famous quote, “In order to find the correct answer to a most complicated matter, it seems to me that one must first find the right question to ask, before one can even begin to postulate the answer to one's quandary.”

  And that, to Salius, was indeed the correct question; does this man deserve to die?

  The answer was still difficult as he discovered within himself in these moments that, despite the personal importance of his agenda, he would not kill an innocent man. Salius could not personally verify whether or not the soldier had done anything that would, in Salius' opinion warrant death, like murder. However, the man still volunteered, as he was clearly not a conscript judging by his uniform, to serve under a powerful man who had openly murdered countless men, women, and children. Since this fact was apparent to Salius, and the man was now standing directly in the way of justice, he decided that as long as the soldier stood in his way, voluntarily serving under Emperor Maximillian, the chiefest of murderers, then he at the very least was not innocent, and, therefore, Salius would consider him an enemy in the same way that one army fights another.

  With certain decisiveness, Salius then silently teleported toward his enemy in mid-strike. Upon exiting his leap, after using the bottom of his dagger to impact the soldier's head with as much force as he could muster, Salius hit the ground feet first as the soldier, not even having enough time to respond to Salius' presence, fell off of his horse unconscious, hitting the ground with a loud impact as his open faced helmet tumbled away.

  As Salius worked vigorously to remove the soldier's Imperial gold colored uniform which had certain pieces of armor plate latched over the gold standard, he wondered to himself if this king which he now apparently served, would approve of the decision he chose to make. At that, he also pondered whether or not the king was a just king in the first place. Salius assumed so when he considered the message which the runes on his dagger pronounced. However many kings assert their own brand of justice, claiming the essence of their crimes to be righteous. But as far as Salius was concerned, a crime committed by king was the same as those committed by lesser men. It wasn't a very popular opinion for those who wanted to keep their heads, but Salius never did care about what was popular, he only cared about what was right, about the truth. In that, Salius' curiosity pondered about the potential existence of a king who felt the same way he did.

  Wouldn't that be something? A just king.

  A few more moments passed by as Salius dressed himself in the gold colored, standard Imperial uniform. Then, putting out of his mind the unpleasant and slightly disturbing idea that he was indeed dressed in the very uniform of those which he despised, Salius reached for his dagger which he had placed near himself on the ground before walking over to the still unconscious nearly completely unclothed man. Salius then, after picking up the soldiers head, continued to end the man's truly unfortunate life.

  Now that the fallen soldier would not alert those in the encampment while Salius was sneaking around pretending to be one of them, Salius sheathed his dagger. If even one of the soldiers suspected something was awry, Salius would very likely be found out quickly, a chance which he could not take. Besides, Salius figured one less Imperial soldier would do the world some good anyways. Who knows how many innocent men, women, and children he had just saved. That alone did not justify killing, but it did give Salius some small amount of comfort as he briskly slipped his sheathed dagger into the satchel which the now slain soldier had been caring not long ago.

  Many years before, Salius had vowed never again to ride a horse, so, after watching the dead soldier's steed begin to trot away, Salius turned, heading in the opposite direction, toward his target, toward his long-awaited chance of obtaining some small amount of justice, toward retribution, and vengeance.

  Chapter 12

  407 days before day 1

  “Yes, I have a message for the centurion,” said Salius to a soldier who stood addressing him as he leaned over the top of the gates.

  “Very well, open the doors,” commanded the soldier as he spoke to those who stood below at their posts on the inside of the tall double doored entrance.

  Salius heard the sound of a plank being lifted from steel upward facing latches which braced the gates shut. Then, the entrance opened inwardly, before Salius, stepping forward, headed straight into the lion's den with the satchel that contained his blade held close against his side. As he entered the encampment, which seemed somehow larger when standing on the inside than it had whilst observing it from the outside, Salius began to feel apprehension and anxiety once again rise to the surface, making him sweat as his heart began to pound in his chest. He quickly put his mind and body at ease, reassuring himself that his enemies, who now surrounded him, would not know him any different from any other Imperial messenger. Immediately his walk turned from that of nervous paranoia, to a walk of poise and confidence, which allowed him to move through the camp as if he was one of them, as if he belonged there.

  Looking around, Salius saw that the camp was now dimly lit due to the fact that most, except for the few who were still on duty, were sleeping.

  Salius, as he walked by, noticed the lanterns which were held up by hooks that protruded from certain posts which stood here and there throughout the encampment. He also observed the many tents which hosted the sleeping so
ldiers, some larger than others, scattered in loose groups all around. Many of the small, portable dwellings stood apart for the various, designated, small walking paths, such as the one which Salius currently traversed.

  He glanced up to the right noticing a few wooden buildings near the wall, then, looking left, Salius saw one building far in the back which stood directly opposite to the gates. The large building was no doubt the officer's quarters, but Salius knew that the Centurion wouldn't necessarily be in occupation of his sleeping quarters at this time.

  Seeing a campfire lit in the distance, Salius made casual movement in its direction, deciding that, as much as he hated the idea of asking for directions, it would probably end up saving valuable time, and therefore, be well worth the risk.

  After walking a short distance, and nearly tripping on the outstretched foot of a soldier who decided to sleep out under the stars while allowing his leg to lay dangling out on the small narrow path, Salius began to hear hushed voices and occasional chuckles coming from the area surrounding the small fire as he neared. Coming within sight, Salius saw three men sitting around the fire talking to each other quietly so as not to disturb those who were trying to sleep. They continued to talk as Salius arrived unnoticed, “You never heard about the fall of Persus? How's that possible? Oh yeah, I forgot, you're new, and from the jungles of Southern Ameritus of all places. I'll give you a break this time, but this is something you gotta' know so listen up.

  "The beautiful, towering stone pillars and statues of Persus are said to be as tall as mountains, for the vast city itself is built upon a mountainous sheer cliff which overlooks the docks that are built upon the sandy beaches which lie at the tall cliff's base. In order to enter, one must travel through a wide canyon that goes through the middle of the cliff top city, before riding one of the many platformed pulley systems which line either side of the canyon that will pull one up the city's gates; the gates which stand at either side on top of the enormous cliff. The only thing connecting both sides of the large divided city is a series of bridges which align the tops of the city walls that can take one from one side of the canyon to the other...”

  The younger looking soldier sitting to the left clearly on the outside of the current discussion suddenly chimed in, “How are the women there?”

  Suddenly the man who was listening intently to the soldier who had just been interrupted, responded in annoyance with a thick, suave, Ameritus accent, “What do you care, I thought you liked boys; now shut up and let the man talk.”

  The soldier who was previously speaking about Persus, chuckled before continuing, “Well anyway, long story short, the only one to ever defeat the impregnable towering city was none other than Praetor Tiberius himself. Of course, after it was taken by the praetor over a few years ago, the Tet capital became permanently a part of Librium leaving its capture to forever symbolize Tet's crushing defeat at the hands of the youngest legatus in history. I'm tellin' you, the man's a legend, unbeatable. Whatever he sets his sword to conquer, it's defeat is inevitable, and that's no doubt why the emperor both loves, and hates him. Well, that and the fact that Emperor Maximillian supposedly gave strict orders to break the siege and leave the Tet capital alone in the first place. See, Tiberius knew that Tet's king would send the greater part of his army to reclaim Persus immediately, upon receiving word of the siege. And ultimately, the king fell into Tiberius' trap which is how he stole the glory from Malcus who was slowed down by fighting in the canyons which protect Tet to the North.

  “What I heard was that beforehand all of the legatus' had laughed and scoffed at Tiberius, saying that an assault from the sea was impossible due to the cliffs which guard Tet's coast. But, Tiberius thought otherwise and responded by sailing his armies straight to Persus; a move which most thought was foolhardy of course. See, Tiberius thought that the armies which guarded Tet would withdraw the city's pulleys to the top, locking themselves inside their walls instead of guarding the wide canyon that acts as Tet's gateway from the coast. Well, his gamble paid off and he marched his armies straight through the canyon, laying siege to the city, in turn letting Tet's armies come to him; then the praetor set a trap which was simply brilliant...”

  Salius, growing impatient, interrupted, “Excuse me but I'm here to deliver a message to your centurion.”

  The man who was speaking turned immediately, startled slightly by the unexpected intrusion, “Of course, yeah he's probably over in the command tent.”

  “Thank you,” said Salius as he turned and began walking in the direction to which the man pointed after speaking.

  The command tent was not difficult to find as many lanterns lit the open faced tent which, as a result, acted almost like a beacon amidst the faded light of the dark encampment. Upon closing the distance, Salius saw three men circling a large square table which stood between them. The man in the middle was pointing to a map which lay on the table while either discussing with, or giving commands to the two other officers of lower rank.

  There he was, Salius would never forget the face of the man in the middle; it was him, the Centurion. He walked quicker now as he approached, still maybe a hundred feet away. Anger and solemn hatred rose to the surface causing a resolute focus as his heart began to pound, and his mouth began to dry. Salius reached down into the satchel which hung at his left side. He felt for the dagger as it lay amongst his peasant clothes; a raggedy once white shirt, loose legged pants which had been patched up more than once, and a pair of suspenders to keep his pants from falling to his knees. Salius pulled out his dagger as the officer to his left, noticing him, said, “Yes, what is it soldier? Wait... Centurion!”

  But it was too late for him as Salius, standing over fifty feet away just a second ago, had already leaped, severing the officer's throat. As the dying officer's abrupt warning trailed off with a gurgle, Salius leaped to the other side of the table while the other two drew their swords and a few in the camp began to stir. Salius, exiting his leap by mistake right in front of the second officer, was immediately impacted by a reflexive fist which came flying in his direction. Salius reeled backward, spinning uncontrollably as the large heavyset man's blow threatened unconsciousness. But, the determined Salius speedily recovered from his mistake, regained his bearing, teleporting quickly behind his attacker as the man's sword cleaved through the space which Salius had just occupied. After sticking his curved blade into the officer's neck, he withdrew it, teleporting just a few feet outside of the tent in order to lure the charging centurion away from the tent's umbrella and into wide open space.

  Yelling as he charged, the Centurion fell into Salius' trap; and with his finger on the trigger, Salius then waited for the right moment. Upon nearing, the Centurion, being a smart man and therefore catching on quick, turned to strike behind himself thinking that Salius would do to him the same thing which he had done to the other two. But Salius having made exaggerated movement to cause the Centurion to believe that Salius would teleport, simply stood still as the man made his mistake. Not wanting to waste the opportunity he had just gained, Salius, in this moment, as the officer's back was turned to him, reached out, grabbing the man's collar with his left hand, pulling the trigger.

  Salius let go of the man as he exited the leap which brought them past the wall, thirty to forty feet up in the air. He immediately pulled the trigger again, placing himself beside were he had anticipated his enemy would impact the surface. Now standing on the ground, Salius patiently waited a full moment as he watched the Centurion fall to the ground beside him, feet first. Pop! Snap! Salius winced at the gruesome sound which the man's legs made as they shattered. With the incapacitated officer screaming in agony, Salius then reached down, grabbing hold of him before leaping him away from the shouts of the soldiers who were scrambling inside of the wooden fortress to rescue their commander from the phantom who had just whisked him away in the night.

  Salius leaped again and again until he was far enough away to be sure that he and his mark would not be disturbed. />
  The Centurion, still writhed in pain as Salius moved his left hand up to see if his currently bleeding nose was broken in the place where the lower ranking officer had struck him. Finding that it was still intact with its bleeding already beginning to slow, Salius moved to a nearby rock, and, after throwing off his helmet, he sat, patiently awaiting the murderer's screams to come to an end.

  Salius admitted to himself while waiting, that he was slightly disturbed with the small amount of pleasure he took from watching this man suffer. But, he quickly decided that it wasn't the agony itself which he found enjoyment in, rather, Salius enjoyed the justice which it symbolized.

  Finally, as some time past, the vile man's screams began to fade, turning to whimpers. He then spoke, after glancing once again at his mangled misshapen legs, “Who are you?”

  Salius responded quickly, “I am... Zealot.”

  There was a pause before Salius continued, “You don't remember me do you. Well, it's not surprising, I mean why would you, I was just a child last time we met.”