From Darkness by C. K. Ruppelt

Author:C. K. Ruppelt [Ruppelt, C. K.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781732907614
Publisher: C.K. RUPPELT
Published: 2018-11-18T05:00:00+00:00

***

Lucius Cornelius Cinna and Quintus Titurius Sabinius reached the front of the stairs to the small fort’s southern wall and stopped to hand their reins over to a camp servant. They joined the Ninth’s Legatus, Publius Vatinius, and the fort’s three cohort prefects on the wall, all scanning the enemy fortifications in the soft pre-dawn light. Cinna was surprised to see fighting on top of the Transcudani wall towards the eastern end. Of course, something had to go wrong. The plan was for the fight at the gate to start well after first light.

As he looked on, the morning’s first sunrays penetrated the heavy clouds to illuminate the peaks of the surrounding mountains, adding clarity to his view. The enemy manned the wall in big numbers, all keeping their backs to him. He could only assume that the ground behind the walls must be swarming with legionaries. If the gate could be taken, it would happen soon or not at all. He turned his sight to the troops of the small northern camp, standing ready in marching lines pointed at the fort’s closed gate. Cinna’s gaze went back to the Transcudani wall, and he watched as Roman troops took part of the wall before pushing closer and closer to the gate.

“Do the troops on the ground mirror the men on the wall?” he broke the silence, receiving only a vague nod from Sabinius in response. He is as tense as me, willing the unseen cohorts on to get to the gate.

As the fighting on the distant wall made it to within steps of the gate, legate Vatinius moved into action. “Open both gates!” he shouted down to the soldiers. The gate in the Roman wall opened first, followed by the southern gate of the fort. The legionaries marched out to cover the thousand feet to the Transcudani fortifications while the officers hurried down from the wall. Vatinius and the legion prefects joined the aides and standard bearers at the end of the marching column, while Sabinius and Cinna joined the few Celtic cavalry riders close to the wall gate.

“Where are they?” Sabinius asked impatiently. They didn’t need to wait long before the thunder of many hundreds of hoofs came their way. Just now the clouds decided to empty their heavy load of water over the six hundred Celtic cavalry and the two hundred Cretan archers. The officers waited until the first hundred riders had gone through the gate, then kicked their horses to join the rush. In the dim light Cinna could see the Transcudani gate had opened wide. They passed the quick-marching legionaries and approached the gate where the now visible fighting soldiers formed a corridor for them. They were close to riding through when some of the enemy foolishly moved into the opening, eager to get to the gate’s doors. They were far too slow and the first rank of the Celtic horse hit these brave warriors like a hammer.

Without slowing down, the cavalry with Cinna and Sabinius in their midst moved ever deeper into the sea of enemies.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.