{"id":7,"date":"2010-05-08T06:00:17","date_gmt":"2010-05-08T06:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.iudaeanovel.com\/?p=7"},"modified":"2010-05-28T17:42:13","modified_gmt":"2010-05-28T17:42:13","slug":"chapter-1-first-half","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.iudaeanovel.com\/?p=7","title":{"rendered":"Chapter 1, First Half"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Chapter 1\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

We were galloping along a ridge when the rain began to fall. \u00c2\u00a0It was late afternoon. <\/span>A thick fog was forming in the lower valleys and the sky was heavy with clouds.\u00c2\u00a0 The spring rain was cold but it provided some relief from the day’s ride and the stiff leather armor.\u00c2\u00a0 The horses thundered along the hillside as the sound of creaking saddles and loose saddlebags mixed with the steady beat of the hooves.<\/span><\/p>\n

There were sixteen of us, half the unit, led by Speratus, our decurion and commanding officer. \u00c2\u00a0His red cloak billowed in the wind as conspicuous as a rooster’s crest. \u00c2\u00a0He drew his sword and waved it in the air to get our attention.\u00c2\u00a0 Still at a full gallop, he pointed off to the north just below the horizon. \u00c2\u00a0I was the duplicarius, second in command, and in the back keeping the men in line. \u00c2\u00a0Through the mist, I could barely make out a cart being pulled by a mule with a handful of men walking alongside.\u00c2\u00a0 We turned our mounts off the ridge and down the steep slope.\u00c2\u00a0 The horses jumped and slid to keep their footing on the muddy ground.\u00c2\u00a0 When I looked up again the men with the cart were running and whipping the mule to go faster.\u00c2\u00a0 They were heading for the tree line and a small opening in the brush where the trail disappeared into the woods.\u00c2\u00a0 We urged the horses into a full gallop across the plain between us and the brigands. <\/span>We dodged stumps and mud holes left from when the forest was cleared for timber and firewood.\u00c2\u00a0 The cart was in the woods by the time we reached the opening and the trail was little more than a muddy stream.<\/span><\/p>\n

We barreled into the narrow opening.\u00c2\u00a0 I leaned close to Tempest and cut away branches and briars with my sword.\u00c2\u00a0 What little sunlight there was disappeared, and my eyes slowly adjusted to the dark woods.\u00c2\u00a0 Not more than a couple hundred feet ahead of us, I saw a bright spot in the thick canopy.\u00c2\u00a0 The ruts left by the cart led into a clearing. <\/span>We rode into the glen, and Speratus swung his sword above his head instructing us to fan out.\u00c2\u00a0 The clearing was encircled by bunches of blackberries and other thorny shrubs.\u00c2\u00a0 The mule stood harnessed to the cart in the center of the meadow munching on the wet grass, oblivious to the horses.<\/span><\/p>\n

Our six archers readied arrows and scanned the woods beyond the underbrush.\u00c2\u00a0 We knew it was an ambush, but it was going to take more than a bunch of muddy brigands to defeat fully trained, Roman cavalry. \u00c2\u00a0For a moment everything was silent except the heavy breathing of the horses.\u00c2\u00a0 The rain had died to a light drizzle, and the woods beyond the clearing were dark and full of mist.\u00c2\u00a0 I heard the bow creak before I saw the first arrow.\u00c2\u00a0 I turned Tempest toward its source and jabbed my heels into her sides.\u00c2\u00a0 We lurched forward. <\/span>My shield protected my head and torso.\u00c2\u00a0 Guttural screams echoed off the trees. <\/span>Arrows whizzed by in all directions, and my shield shuddered as they stuck in the wood.\u00c2\u00a0 I urged Tempest toward the edge of the clearing.\u00c2\u00a0 She vaulted over the brambles. <\/span>Thorns cut her belly, as she crashed to the other side.\u00c2\u00a0 Landing outside the clearing, I saw two men drawing their next arrows, one on either side of me.\u00c2\u00a0 I swung my sword at the one on the right splintering his bow and knocking him back.\u00c2\u00a0 The other one ran for cover giving me the advantage. \u00c2\u00a0Using the bottom of my shield, I opened a bloody gash on the back of his head.\u00c2\u00a0 He stumbled and fell to the ground. <\/span><\/p>\n

Before I could pull up, a giant of a man charged out from behind a large oak.\u00c2\u00a0 He was bare-chested and standing his ground.\u00c2\u00a0 He swung a large axe and screamed like a banshee.\u00c2\u00a0 The axe sunk deep into Tempest\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s chest.\u00c2\u00a0 She rolled forward tossing me out of the saddle.\u00c2\u00a0 I used my shield to ease the fall and rolled away from the madman, but before I could get up, the axe was slicing toward me.\u00c2\u00a0 On one knee, I held up my shield and braced myself.\u00c2\u00a0 The axe caught the edge of my shield and ripped it off my arm leaving a long red burn from my elbow to my wrist.\u00c2\u00a0 The axe came at me again.\u00c2\u00a0 I rolled to the side.\u00c2\u00a0 It clipped my scale armor and sunk into the forest floor.\u00c2\u00a0 I slashed back wildly managing to nick him in the side.\u00c2\u00a0 In one motion he ripped the axe from the ground and swung it again.\u00c2\u00a0 I jumped back hitting a tree. <\/span>The axe came within inches of my face and sprayed me with mud.\u00c2\u00a0 Continuing the motion, he brought the axe over his head and with both hands brought it down toward my skull.\u00c2\u00a0 I dropped to the ground; the axe sunk into the tree.\u00c2\u00a0 His abdomen exposed, I drove my sword into his chest under his ribs.\u00c2\u00a0 His expression shifted from rage to surprise, as he looked down at my sword.\u00c2\u00a0 He let go of the axe with his left hand and grabbed my shoulder.\u00c2\u00a0 The bastard was strong. <\/span> <\/span>I couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t pull away.\u00c2\u00a0 The surprise left his eyes, and his right hand reached for a large knife at his waist.\u00c2\u00a0 He raised the knife above his head. \u00c2\u00a0Instead of trying to get away, I pushed my sword up to the hilt.\u00c2\u00a0 The point came out his back, and he slumped over.\u00c2\u00a0 He stunk of sweat and dung, and I twisted to the side to slough him off.\u00c2\u00a0 He fell to the ground like he was made of lead.<\/span><\/p>\n

Remembering the other archer, I turned to look for him.\u00c2\u00a0 He was standing on the other side of Tempest looking down at the dead man with a dumb look on his face. \u00c2\u00a0Before I could stand up and straighten my armor, he turned and bolted into the woods.\u00c2\u00a0 He had no armor and no weapons besides the broken bow.\u00c2\u00a0 He would easily outrun me, so I picked up a dead branch off the ground and threw it at his legs.\u00c2\u00a0 I got lucky.\u00c2\u00a0 It caught him behind the knees, and he fell into the underbrush.\u00c2\u00a0 I had my sword at his back before he could stand.\u00c2\u00a0 He rolled over to face me, and I realized that he was not more than sixteen, no older than my eldest son.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chapter 1\u00c2\u00a0 We were galloping along a ridge when the rain began to fall. \u00c2\u00a0It was late afternoon. A thick fog was forming in the lower valleys and the sky was heavy with clouds.\u00c2\u00a0 The spring rain was cold but … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[8,9,12,14,10,24],"class_list":["post-7","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-story","tag-bar-kokhba","tag-fiction","tag-historical-fiction","tag-iudaea","tag-novel","tag-roman"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.iudaeanovel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.iudaeanovel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.iudaeanovel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.iudaeanovel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.iudaeanovel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.iudaeanovel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.iudaeanovel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.iudaeanovel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.iudaeanovel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}