*****
“Drop your weapons!”
With three iron spear tips burning the skin of her throat, Jade had no option. She dropped her staff and held her hands up at shoulder height, palms outward. Her brain seethed with panic and anger. They had been tricked. Behind her, she heard Marcus gasp and Phoenix swear in shock as they stepped through the portal from the druid realm.
The Druids had betrayed them.
Six Roman soldiers placed their weapons at the boys’ throats and demanded surrender. Marcus and Phoenix unslung their weapons and dropped them slowly to the ground.
It wasn’t like they had a choice, she fumed. At least a hundred Roman soldiers awaited their arrival at this point. Rank upon rank stood motionless, swords drawn, arrows nocked, pila at the ready. Many held burning torches aloft. In the flickering darkness, their hard, angular faces were terrifying.
Brynn! Jade felt a small spark of hope leap as she remembered the boy was still with his brother. Dewydd had chosen to protect his young brother. Perhaps, if they were very lucky, Brynn could find a way to help them.
Her heart plummeted again. Brynn was just a kid. He had no powers and no great Warrior skills. Even if he could get into the Roman camp, there was no way he could defeat a bunch of trained Roman Centurions. He was better off alive and safe with Dewydd.
“Move!”
She was shaken out of her thoughts by the prod of a spear to her ribs. The iron tip burned her skin like fire. She gasped in pain and stumbled ahead. The body of soldiers before them parted and the three companions were guided roughly into the middle of the force. Ranks closed around them and they were surrounded on all sides by a wall of points and armour. There was no possibility of escape unless they could fly.
Jade thought briefly of the magic horn given her by Aurfanon. This would definitely qualify as Dire Peril. Unfortunately, all their backpacks were now in the hands of Roman soldiers.
Oh! Her heart sank further. That included the Hyllion Bagia and all it contained – the horn, money, javelins, food and half of their travel gear. She turned her head and opened her mouth to speak to Phoenix but a pilum tip dug uncomfortably into the base of her throat: hot ice on her skin.
“No talking.” A soldier growled. “My orders are to bring you in alive but just how much alive wasn’t specified.”
Jade swallowed and nodded. The tip withdrew and he motioned for her to keep walking. She did but the ground blurred as tears of despair and fear filled her eyes. How could they have come so far and failed now? It just wasn’t fair. The end of Level One was almost in sight. She was so close to home she could almost hear her father’s voice.
What would happen now? Would she be tortured or killed in this realm? If she were, what would happen back in the real world? Would it be destroyed as the old woman predicted? Right now, she would gladly swap her looks and magic for her sister’s teasing and her mother’s impatience - and a hug from her father! Oh, how she missed him.
More tears gathered. She clenched her teeth, trying to stay calm. Her heart thudded uncomfortably. Two salty drops spilled down her cheeks. She hung her head to hide them. It would only make things worse if the soldiers saw her as weak. She had to think. If only she were better at these things. There must be a way out of this. No matter how real the old woman said it was, this was still just a computer game. There were always ways to get out, weren’t there?
Jade almost laughed at the idea – what she needed was a keyboard, a mouse and a power button. The Escape Key would be helpful, she thought whimsically. Or how about Control-Alt-Delete to just quit out of the stupid thing altogether? Yeah. She briefly derived satisfaction from the idea of all of these big, stupid Roman bullies being obliterated and deleted completely. The moment of black humour was fleeting as fear came surging back. No. This was too real to be deleted that easily. She had to deal with this world as it was.
A short while later they were marched into a large Roman encampment. Row upon row of tents were neatly pitched around two huge, central pavilions, in the middle of a vast, rolling plain of grassland. Beads of dew from the grass soaked her feet and Jade shivered with the chill, envying the warmth promised by small campfires flickering between the tents. Flowering pink-grey light in the east told her dawn couldn’t be far away. Here and there, soldiers poked dishevelled heads out of the canvas to watch them go past. It hadn’t felt like a whole night had passed but perhaps time moved differently in the Druid realm, as it had in the Faery one.
Jade wondered how the Romans got ahead of them so fast. How did they know the Players were going to see the Druids? Did they know the Druids had the Jewel of Asgard? Even worse, did they already have it? Was the Quest over?
Surely not. The Druids had said they couldn’t let it fall into Roman hands – not that they could be trusted, really. No, if the Romans had the Jewel, why would they still be here? They wouldn’t, she reasoned; they’d be out conquering the whole country, not wasting their time capturing a few fugitives. Wouldn’t they?
There was no way of knowing yet, so she tried to concentrate on her surroundings. Fatigue made it difficult to think. She made an effort to examine the Roman camp, looking for an opportunity to escape either now or later.
The camp stirred as they moved through it. Guards challenged them at the every turn. Cooks bustled around numerous campfires, getting breakfast ready for hundreds of troops. Jade estimated there were at least a hundred tents in the area. That had to mean at least two full Cohorts of soldiers, plus all the support staff that went with them. They can’t have been in the area too long, she decided shrewdly. The grass around the tents was not worn away and the smell from distant latrine areas wasn’t overpowering yet. Maybe only a day or so, at a guess.
With that in mind, she had a rough idea of who they might meet when they made it to the ornate pavilions that dominated the central camp. There was only one person in this game who would go to this much trouble to catch them. Only one person who had a vested reason for moving two Cohorts of soldiers across a hundred leagues on a forced march, just to capture four people. One person who stood to lose most if they succeeded in Level One: Feng Zhudai.
Contrary to her expectations, however, they weren’t immediately led before the great wizard. Instead, they were pushed into the largest pavilion. It was furnished but unpeopled. At least twenty guards took up posts all around the tent and two inside, so escape was impossible. Trapped, the three companions stood and stared at each other.
“Umm...” Phoenix inspected the luxurious furnishings and decorations surrounding them. “This isn’t exactly the prison I was expecting. Whose tent is this, do you think?”
The canvas walls were hidden by drapes of exotic-looking fabric; Persian rugs littered the floor; richly-embroidered cushions lay scattered across every seat and couch. Four main posts holding up the roof were carved with a riot of fruit and animal shapes. On a nearby, ornate wooden table, a large, gold-inlaid jug held some sort of red liquid. Four wine-glasses stood empty next to it. A massive ceramic bowl held figs, oranges, apples, pomegranates and dates. The bowl was decorated with black and gold images of Roman gods and goddesses.
Right in the centre of the back wall was a wide, low dais. Upon that sat a richly-inlaid and carved throne-like chair. A banner hung behind it, embroidered with a golden eagle with wings spread and the words:
CN IVLIO AGRICOLA LEGATO AVG PRO PR MUNICIPIVM
Jade pointed to the words, a chill settling around her guts as she mentally translated the Latin script. “Gnaeus Julius Agricola, Legate of the Emperor with pro-praetorian power.” She paused, taking in the opulent surroundings again. “Somehow, I don’t think it’s Zhudai’s tent. It must belong to the leader of these soldiers – one of Agricola’s commanders, at least.”
“Phoenix!” Marcus’
urgent summons brought both of them to his side.
He stared at the banner. For the first time since they had known him, the Roman boy looked anxious. He laid a hand on each of them, his dark eyes intense with some emotion.
“There’s something important I have to tell you.”
Before he could finish, a new voice spoke pleasantly from the doorway.
“Ah! There you are Marcus; and you’ve brought some friends, I see.”
Catching the sick, frightened look on Marcus’ face, Jade spun to see this new threat.
A tall, aristocratic man stood just inside the door. He wore the dress of a Roman soldier but with much extra adornment and gilding to indicate a high rank. Over one shoulder was a soft, white drape of cloth edged with gold and purple. The helmet in his hands had scarlet plumes of feathers and more gilding. He placed it gently on a small table and advanced. His movements were that of a seasoned fighter while his voice and manners were of a civilised gentleman. The coldness of his dark eyes, however, spoke of a hard, intelligent man used to getting what he wanted by any means necessary.
“So, Marcus,” he nodded slightly, “will you introduce us or shall I do it for you?”
When Marcus simply stared at the floor in silence, the Roman smiled – but it was not a nice smile. Jade shivered as he turned it on her.
“Jade, isn’t it; and Phoenix? I’m so pleased to meet you, finally. My son obviously thinks a great deal of you.”
When the two did nothing but gape at him, he raised one eyebrow and shook his head in mock regret. Smoothly, he sank into the thronelike chair, leaned back and waved a hand at the banner overhead.
“Youngsters these days. Such manners. Didn’t Marcus ever mention that his father was the Governor of Britannia? You’d almost think he wasn’t proud of my achievements.”
****