Of Blood and Darkness

Senate Meeting

Half of the fifth cohort went along with the original plan, throwing themselves at the fortress with reckless abandon. The defenses activated almost instantly. High-pressure water jets locked in and blew them away, surprisingly not injuring anyone.

Valen's group rose from the shadows behind the fortress, and the first thing they did was target the jets, destroying them before they could retaliate. Simultaneously, the remaining water jets exploded, causing mayhem in the fortress.

"Well?" He heard Frank's voice from the top, "Attack!"

Valen grinned, "You heard the man, let's cause some chaos people!"

A cry of agreement went up, and their shield bearers slammed into the wall, breaking through. The amount of chaos inside reminded him of the first time he had played the game.

His grin widened. "For the fifth!" he yelled, joining the fray.

By the time the rest of the cohort caught up with them, Percy's group had disarmed the enemies, grabbed the banners, and climbed onto Hannibal's back. They marched out of the keep triumphantly with the enemy colors.

The Fifth Cohort formed ranks around them. Together they paraded out of the fort, past stunned enemies and lines of equally mystified allies.

Reyna circled low overhead on her pegasus. "The game is won!" she sounded as if she were trying not to laugh. "Assemble for honors!"

Slowly, the campers regrouped on the Field of Mars. But the happy atmosphere didn't last for long.

"Help!" somebody yelled.

A couple of campers rushed out of the fortress, carrying a girl on a stretcher. They set her down, and other kids started running over. It was Gwen, one of the centurions of the fifth cohort. She was in bad shape. She lay on her side on the stretcher with a pilum sticking out of her armor—almost like she was holding it between her chest and her arm, but there was too much blood.

Frank shook his head in disbelief. "No, no, no..." he muttered as he ran to her side.

The medics barked at everyone to stand back and give her air. The whole legion fell silent as the healers worked—trying to get gauze and powdered unicorn horn under Gwen's armor to stop the bleeding, trying to force some nectar into her mouth. Gwen didn't move. Her face was ashen gray. Finally, one of the medics looked up at Reyna and shook his head.

For a moment, there was no sound except water from the ruined cannons trickling down the walls of the fort. Hannibal nuzzled Gwen's hair with his trunk.

Reyna surveyed the campers from her pegasus. Her expression was as hard and dark as iron. "There will be an investigation. Whoever did this, you cost the legion a good officer. Honorable death is one thing, but this..."

Valen stared at the pilum. It was engraved with the legions marks : CHT I LEGIO XII F.

The weapon belonged to the First Cohort, and the point was sticking out the front of her armor. Gwen had been speared from behind—possibly after the game had ended.

He glared at the first cohort, his gaze washing over them until his gaze fell over Octavian and his distinct lack of a pilum.

Time seemed to slow down, his own hearts thumping filled his ears. Octavian smiled smugly at him, knowing he could not do anything to him.

How wrong he was.

He shot through the air, grabbing Octavian by his throat before Frank could charge at the augur.

He heard Reyna call out his name, but he paid that no heed.

"Honorless cretin," he whispered through grit teeth. "Admit your crime, and maybe your sentence in the underworld would be lighter."