The Tenth-Volume II by Unknown

Author:Unknown
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 0000000000000
Published: 2022-09-28T14:27:53+00:00

Chapter Six

It did not help Publius Vellusius at all that he overheard Pullus admit to Domitius that he was as frightened as Vellusius felt, even as the men assigned to the oars battled the wind, rain and battering of the waves against their transport, heading in what they could all only hope was in the right direction. Packed together as they were in the middle of the barge, Vellusius was at least able to keep his feet, although the men were swaying back and forth in the rhythm created by the heaving sea, and he soon realized he had one of two choices, both of them bad. If he faced inboard, he was slightly protected from the lashing rain and the spray from wind-whipped waves, but it made his seasickness worse. Facing outboard, however, was a more frightening prospect because there was nothing to see but the whitecaps of the nearest waves, and nothing resembling land, no matter how intently he tried to peer ahead, although he was slightly less seasick. All around him, the men of the First Century, loaded in the forward part of the transport, were either retching, silently miserable...or muttering prayers to Neptune, to Jupiter Optimus Maximus, and to every god they knew in the vast pantheon of Roman gods. Only later did he hear other men offer an estimate that a full third of a watch passed after Vellusius overheard Domitius’ and Pullus’ exchange, an interminable period that, for the most part, Vellusius spent in something of a daze, willing himself not to think about the likelihood that he, and all of his friends and comrades, would be sinking to the bottom of the sea in the near future.

Finally, from the bow of the transport, a voice shouted, “There it is, off to the right!”

Thanks to his spot closer to the starboard side of the transport, it did not take long for Vellusius to spy the flickering light, nor did it take him long to see that, given its position off their right quarter, if they had continued on their original course, their barge would have missed the island and headed out to sea and, he was certain, a death by drowning.

“By the gods, we almost missed the cursed island.” He recognized the voice as a man in the First Section of his Century, but Crastinus cut off further conversation.

“Well, at least we found the damn thing.” Raising his voice, the Pilus Prior continued, “Listen up, boys. You just saw how long it took us to get to the island. It won’t take them half as long to get back because the wind is at their back, but it’ll take them just as long, if not longer, to bring up the next four Cohorts. In fact, we’ll probably be on this island for at least a full watch by ourselves, so keep that in mind. No heroes; make sure we stay together because it’s darker than Pluto’s bunghole out here. Hopefully, the boys on the island will be able to point us in the right direction.

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.