Roman Mask by Thomas M D Brooke

Author:Thomas M D Brooke
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Thomas M D Brooke
Published: 2015-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-one

My feet kept on sticking in the cloying mud. ‘By the gods! What sort of trail is this?’ I asked aloud, before realising I was on my own.

Where had Marcus got to? If being stuck in this infernal swamp wasn’t bad enough, I should at least expect my subordinate to be there to drag me out if necessary. I surveyed the trees; the mist was descending again, and the surrounding forest was obscured further by the fading twilight. ‘Marcus!’ I shouted to the trees. ‘Marcus, come back here!’ I demanded.

Where was he? I pulled myself out of the mud with the help of an overhanging branch, but almost lost my sandal in the process. If I get stuck in this mess once more, he’ll answer for it by spending his next few weeks in the records office –no more exercise yard, no more training with the men. Just boring records. I might even get him to re-catalogue the reports we’d already processed; not that it needed doing, just because I was sick to death of this damn forest, and right now blaming Marcus for it seemed the right thing to do! Stupid boy.

I stumbled along the trail, tripping on a protruding root and tumbling to the floor. ‘Ouch!’ I exclaimed, holding my stubbed toe, whilst sitting on my backside. ‘The whole bloody forest is out to get me,’ I muttered angrily, looking around in annoyance at the surrounding ancient oak trees, with their thick boughs and intertwined branches that so effectively cut out the light from the sky. Between the trees and the mist, was it any wonder I was completely lost?

I was lost. Funny, only now did it occur to me. I appraised my situation again, scanning the trees for any sign of movement, but I couldn’t see further than twenty paces, and even that only dimly. ‘Marcus?’ I shouted again, trying to keep the panic from my voice.

I got to my feet, and tried to pick up the pace, running along the narrow trail through the woods, leaping a rotten branch that had fallen across my path, and snagging my arm on brambles that lined the undergrowth to either side. I ignored the grazes and pushed on through the trees, intent on getting through them as fast as possible.

There! What was that? I could have sworn I saw a flash of red in the path ahead, before a fresh fold of mist floated in the wind and concealed the way ahead. ‘Marcus? Is that you?’ I implored.

I stopped to listen, to see if he had heard. The trees creaked in the deathly still of the forest, but other than that I heard nothing, not even the sound of the forest animals, or the hoot of an owl or bird. ‘Marcus!’ I shouted again.

A breath of wind went past my face and the faintest trace of sound came with it. ‘Cassius’ it said. That must be Marcus! At last! I ran forward and again saw the flash of red ahead before the mists once again obscured it.

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