SEVENTEEN: SHIFTING WALL

  Marcus had ordered them to march without their skill, using only their own strength as they moved quickly across the skill made roads until they found the beaten down path that would lead to the lumber camp. It was the closest path they had toward the wall and Marcus led them across it without slowing.

  The strata who had come with them wore only half-plate, the rest of their battle wear stowed as they wore breast plates, vambraces, and greaves. A line of mules had been found and they were strapped down with the excess armor, weapons, and food that had been acquired before their deadline.

  “Damn mules will slow us when we reach the forest. Attract monsters as well,” Marcus grumbled for the fifth time as he and Cassius walked side by side off to the side of the front line. Thirty-seven legionnaires had been healthy enough to join the expedition and with the ten nobles and their five porters, the scouting expedition had swollen to fifty-two people and eight mules.

  “The extra food will be worth it,” Cassius said, trying to calm the other man as they moved into the outer edges of the forest. The ground had been cleared here of the stumps, burned away or pulled out by local fieldhands or [Farmers]. Wheat swayed and weeds had begun to encroach upon the crop, a creeping, green death.

  “Hell with the food. The wilds are not like the dungeons that the nobles use. The monsters are not limited in power. We can face things on the very edge that would slaughter us all without slowing down. Silence would have been our best chance,” Marcus insisted.

  “Then you should have just asked for a few volunteers to go,” Cassius said.

  “What’s the point of that? They’d lack the strength for retribution and with the shifting gates, we wouldn’t be able to find them quickly enough to finish the summoner,” Marcus complained. He did keep his voice low enough that none of the other men would hear him.

  “We should pick up his trail quickly enough if he did go beyond the wall,” Cassius said, trying to change the subject. Marcus grunted and shook his head in annoyance.

  “Lady Custos still sent riders out along the coast line. I don’t know if I wish the success or not.”

  “I believe this is the right choice. This was a raid and scouting party mixed together. Their strength has been diminished and they will return to their home with their spoils,” Cassius said.

  “I know. It is easy to be certain when you are in the room, but it changes when you are on the road and fifty men’s lives rely on you,” Marcus said. Cassius had nothing to say to that as they pushed further onward. The line of trees were a clear sign where the fieldwork had stopped and the lumber yards had begun. Thinner trees were left behind while wide trees had been felled and cut. Others were marked with notches in their bark, piles of limbs that had been sheared and left behind scattered about.

  It took only another ten minutes before they came upon the abandoned camp. Small shacks scattered around massive piles of seasoning wood, firepits dug deep and wide and abandoned. Cassius had expected signs of violence, but it was as if the entire camp had gotten up and walked away.

  “Push through! Don’t stop!” Marcus ordered, raising his voice to be heard over the crowd.

  “Cassius, go around and check all the huts. Make sure there’s nobody in there,” Marcus said a second later, quieter now as the formation continued on.

  “Yes, sir,” Cassius responded, the change in Marcus’ tone more than enough to revert Cassius back to his trained responses.

  He broke apart from the pack, picking up speed as he ducked his head into each of the shacks, finding nothing but abandoned clothes and tools. When he reached the largest shack he saw a well-crafted single sided axe leaning against the far wall. Its weight was hardly noticeable as Cassius tucked in through the straps on his pack, making sure its blade was pointed away from his body as he ran back out to catch up to Marcus as they finished clearing the camp.

  “Nothing and nobody there,” Cassius told him, only slightly out of breath. The increases to his body were still surprising to him, having hardly had time to acclimate to the sudden shift in endurance and strength.

  “Nothing? Nothing at all?” Marcus glanced at him from the corner of his eyes while a smile pulled at the corner of his mouth. Cassius kept a straight face as he replied.

  “Nothing to speak of.”

  “I’ll make a legionnaire out of you yet,” Marcus said, breaking into a chuckle as they left the lumber camp and kept pushing forward. So close to the golden wall that stretched up and out of the forest to brush the heavens, Cassius could feel a current of energy in the air. The hairs on his arms rose as they grew closer to it.

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  The men started to mutter curses and perform hand signs to warn off evil as they reached the base of the wall. Cassius refrained from it as well, hyper aware of his position next to Marcus. The men turned to look at Marcus for direction, they couldn’t see his attendant being flustered by the wall.

  “It sends a shiver down my spine every time I see it.” Marcus stopped what he was saying as he looked up and down either side of the wall before turning to issue his orders.

  “Set down here. Eat, drink, shit. We move in an hour and push beyond the wall!” Marcus’ declaration was met with a few relieved sighs as the men broke apart and settled down, Valeria and Pius quickly instructing sentinels to take their places around the camp and rotate out.

  “Cassius, we need to find the gate. It shouldn’t be far from here, but I can’t see it. Find someone and move west down the line. I’ll send Pius east. Don’t go past the gate.”

  Cassius nodded and turned to look at the lurching lines of legionnaires and wondered who’d he take. He didn’t know his brothers as well as he should and with the losses the few he did know were gone. Vira solved his problem by marching toward them, angled directly for Marcus.

  “Will we be here long?” She spoke softly. Marcus was polite with his answer, holding none of the rancor Centurion Durum had.

  “We need to find the gate. Cassius is moving west and Pius east. We will move after we find it and recover.” Vira’s head snapped to Cassius and there was a flicker of an emotion that Cassius couldn’t identify.

  “I will go with you. And Julius will go with Pius,” she said, pointing to a lean man in her delegation who was watching them like a hawk.

  “Thank you, my lady. We appreciate all the assistance you have offered,” Marcus said, bowing his head deeply as Vira snorted and shook her head. She held her tongue though, simply turning on her heel and starting to move west.

  “Careful with that one. Strata and plebeians are separate for a reason.” Cassius nodded, but didn’t understand what it was that Marcus was warning him about. He took off in a brisk walk to catch up to the noblewoman who hadn’t slowed as she walked the perimeter of the wall, hand on her sword.

  “Lady Viridina, please wait a moment,” Cassius asked as he tried to keep up. Vira hesitated for a moment to allow him to catch her before she resumed her long stride.

  “You may call me, Vira. I had not revoked that,” she said stiffly. Cassius nodded but didn’t say anything as they kept walking.

  “I apologize for my outburst yesterday. I stepped past propriety and placed you in a place that was untenable. You have my apologies,” Vira said slowly. Cassius glanced at her and saw the pained expression on her face as if she had never had to give an apology before and found it bitter.

  “Thank you, my lady,” Cassius said. Vira winced but didn’t say anything as they kept walking.

  Long moments stretched out as the two of them found a companionable silence. Cassius wondered how far they’d go before they were forced to turn around but after a half hour of walking he felt it. The rush of power that had occupied him when he had received the blessings of the system stone.

  “What is that?” Cassius said, sucking in a breath as he lifted his shield up and tightened his grip on the new spear, looking around the edge of the area they were at. There was nothing moving aside from the gentle breeze through the green boughs, shadows danced along the ground.

  “You’ve never felt a gate? The other side of the wall is filled with powerful monsters and the land itself is rich and strong. Every gate allows a sliver of the wilds to enter,” Vira said.

  “We should be close then?” Cassius asked.

  “Very,” Vira said as she drew her sword silently. The two of them prowled forward, Vira behind Cassius to allow his shield to act as a bulwark for both of them. They let the wall itself protect their flanks as Cassius kept his shield angled forward and toward the forest.

  “There,” Vira said and Cassius turned his head to look at the empty expanse where the wall suddenly just disappeared. It was ten feet wide and tall, a perfect square of empty space. Cassius looked through the gate and into the wilds for the first time.

  “It looks just like our forest. Just bigger,” Cassius said.

  “Rumors say that forest doesn’t go far, no more than a day or two of walking, but nobody has confirmed it,” Vira said.

  “Hopefully we won’t have to,” Cassius said as he started to move. Vira’s hand shot out and grabbed him before he walked closer.

  “Look at the ground before you trample it. Marcus was right, the summoner did come this way,” Vira said. She lifted her sword and pointed toward tracks in the soft ground, dozens of them that overlapped each other.

  “You know how to track?” Cassius asked. There were a few in the legion who learned it, but most relied on those who had found skills for it.

  “Well enough to know that we are outnumbered. The ground is too muddled to see more. They came from further west,” Vira said.

  “They moved up the coast and then scaled the cliffs there, not further down the coast,” Cassius finished for her. They both stayed there for a moment, looking at the gate before turning to each other.

  “Run back to camp and I’ll watch the gate,” Cassius said, feeling braver than he had any right to.

  “Foolish. If either is waylaid, nobody would know. We move back and gather the rest and push through together,” Vira said. Cassius wanted to agree with her, but he couldn’t take his eyes off the gate. He wanted to pass through it, to see the wilds before anyone else.

  “You’re right. Let’s go,” Cassius said, swallowing around the lump in his throat as he remembered Marcus’ orders. He couldn’t allow his own personal desires to overcome discipline, not now. Slowly the two of them turned around and started back, jogging at first but slowly picking up speed until they were racing towards the rest of the hunting party.