Just Another Patrol

The night's breeze found its way into the room through the open window, making the man sitting near the bed shiver lightly as the rifle of air reached him.
Pallaetes woke up, confused, staring idly at the roof for a few moments before realizing something was covering his left eye and the majority of his face left side. As he tried to reach for the bandages, he felt the other man's hand gripping his own. "Don't touch it, you'll likely reopen the wound."
Pallaetes turned his head to face the man, recognizing the old priest sitting near his bed.
"So, how is our survivor holding up?" A deep voice came from the doorway, announcing Ignatio's arrival. As he saw his superior, Pallaetes tried to bring himself up on the bed, but the Captain stopped him right away. "Lay down soldier, this is an order."
While he layed back down, Ignatio continued. "You seem concious enough to speak. Care to explain me how a regular patrol turned up in this mess?"
Heh, just a regular patrol..right. Seemed just another sightseeing trip to many of us...we were so wrong...




They had just finished to equip themselves up, when the Corporal stormed inside the room. He barely noticed the others saluting him, before starting to speak. "Pallaetes, Dilios. The Captain wants to see you both. Immediately. As for the others, prepare yourselves for patrol duty."
The two young soldiers nodded and saluted the Corporal as he left the room as hastily as he entered it.
"Well, he seemed quite in a hurry." Started Pallaetes as they were walking towards the East gate. "He surely seemed to...this might get interesting.." Replied Dilios, allowing an amused smirk to open on his face. Pallaetes eyed his old friend for a few moments, arching a puzzled eyebrow.

They had grown up together, considering themselves more like brothers, rather than friends. It was Dilios' fascination with the military that pushed Pallaetes to join the Guard alongside him. A choice, he had to admit, hardly regrettable. Eight years they had passed in the service, showing dedication and respect for the military traditions. Pallaetes had always thought that his friend was overly focused and too much into the job, so he took Dilios' change of attitude as a welcomed news, a few months back. With time though, he felt that it was getting a bit out of hands, since his old friend kept being absent more and more often, growing almost careless about the job.
He'd given up trying to understand it though, as Dilios always trailed off the subject whenever Pallaetes tried to bring it up.

"What's funny about it?" Dilios' green eyes turned to Pallaetes for a moment, before focusing back ahead as he replied. "Well..you know me. I like unexpected situations."
Pallaetes shrugged and let the subject drop. He knew better than to keep insisting over it.

The soldiers saluted the Captain, who fetched a quick nod in response. "About time you two got here! As you know, you're scheduled for patrol," Ignatio kept talking without giving them time to elaborate an explanation "but I want you to go a bit off the usual route this time. I had reports on a group of Nemedians taking camp on our southern borders and I want you to check up on this. Do not engage if not engaged first. I only want a closer check and to know what those bastards are up to. Clear?"
Both Pallaetes and Dilios nodded, letting out a "Yes, sir!" at the same time.
"That said," the Captain continued "I'm appointing you patrol leader this time, Pallaetes. Dilios will be second in command. That is all for now, dismissed!"




The man stormed inside the tent, stopping his running to briefly catch his breath before starting to speak. "Sir, it seems our man has some news for us."
He put a small, rough parchment on the table as the Commander glared at him for a moment, considering if to point out the fact that his subordinate didn't even care to salute. Given the situation, he decided to let it drop.
"Good, seems everything's in order." He glanced up from the papers, shifting his gaze on each one of those present in the tent, before continuing. "Tell the men to prepare themselves. Stick to the plan, everything is proceeding as expected."
He leaned back on his seat with a satisfied, malicious grin spreading on his face, as the others left the tent.




"Single column!" Pallaetes shouted back at the men as the path leading up on the flank of the rise narrowed, leaving enough space for a man to thread there safely, but making a double column formation too dangerous to maintain. Not that there was anything to fear for that trait either.
The path was leading up straight to the raise, the terrain conformation on the left too impervious to be used for ambushes, and the right flank was protected by the raising fall to the river running beneath towards the village of Corvo. If the Nemedian would have wanted to try something at them, the only option would have been a frontal assault.
They finally reached a widening in the path, the terrain levelled, right before the path narrowed again leading to a sharp turn a few meters ahead. Pallaetes glanced back at Dilios for a moment, receiving a short, approving nod to his unspoken question. "Break the ranks, take a few moments rest. But keep sharp, we're nearing the Nemedians camp area."
After a second thought, he called out for the patrol's scout. "Valerio!"
A man of a slim build approached him, a bow and a quiver slinged on his back, his eyes darting incessantly at the surroundings.
"Valerio, I want to know how far out we are from their camp. Go ahead and take a quick look. If you see anything out of place don't push it, get your ass back here immediately. Understood?"
The scout quickly nodded in assertion before jogging off to start his assignment.

Only a few minutes had passed, when Dilios recognized the unmistakable 'thud' of arrows hitting something, coming from above their heads. "What the he-.."
His words were choked in his throat by the weight of Valerio's body crushing on him. Dilios barely had the time to raise his hands up to avoid the body to end on his head, likely ending up snapping his neck for good. He roughly pushed the dead man off himself before raising back to his feet, and noticing the two arrows stuck in Valerio's back.
In the meantime, Pallaetes had already started to shout out orders, assembling the patrol to a defensive formation.
While the men took their positions, he quickly analized the situation.
He didn't need to see them to know it was the Nemedians, the problem was that they had them at a disadvantage. In their current postion, they could have easily be rained down by enemy arrows. Pulling back to the narrow path wasn't an option either, as it would have left the enemy even more time for some target practice. As risky as it was, their only chance was to push forward and close the gap with the enemy as fast as they could.
"Turtle formation! Onward!" He shouted. "I'll get the rear!" Dilios shouted back as he took position.
As they pushed forward on the narrow path, the single column of shields was almost impenetrable, but what started worrying Pallaetes was that no arrow was sent flying towards them.
As they came out of the sharp turn, he was surprised to see no enemy expecting them. Nobody on sight, not even beyond the suspended wooden brindge lying only a few steps ahead. He kept scanning the surroundings as they advanced and the men moved to cover their right flank with the shields while crossing the bridge.
"Single line formation, move!" Pallaetes shouted once they all got to the clearing on the other side. It was a big risk, but with the eight of them they barely had enough men to cover the small pass gap between the rocky formations lying ahead of them, for what he could see. Forming more than one line to allow rotations was clearly not an option.
"Move forward, we'll stop at the pass! They can't try anything big in there, and as long as our arms and legs will support us, we will have the upper hand!"
Once they reached the pass, the situation that presented in front of them materialized all of Pallaetes' fears.

The Nemedians had taken up base in the valley past the pass, a dozen tents scattered around, watch fires and pyres strategically positioned to ensure a practically full illumination coverage of the camp.
They surely aren't concerned about passing unnoticed..
A number of Nemedians were gathering at the other end of the pass, outnumbering the patrol at least three to one, by Pallaetes' rough estimations. What felt wrong in his mind was that the Nemedians were all equipped for battle, and there was something in the easyness with which they gathered that made him firmly believe that something was clearly off.
"Don't move!" He shouted at the men "If they want a fight, they will have to come get it."
As if the Nemedians were just waiting for him to say that, they started to close in right as he ended to speak. Pallaetes started to feel the adrenaline grow as the enemy drew near, now advancing in a full charge. Once inside the pass, the Nemedians had to narrow their ranks and their first line slitghly dropped their guard while doing so. He needed just a second to spot the possibility for an advantage, and when the enemy was at the right distance, Pallaetes shouted.
"Throw!"

As if unleashed by a single man, eight spears flew towards the first line of Nemedians. Due to the realtively short distance and the coupled speed of the spears and their run, the Nemedians had practically no time to raise their shields.
The spears found their targets, and those that were lucky enough to not get killed were thrown to the ground by the impact, making those behind them trip on their bodies and putting the charge into a chaos.
A satisfied, grim smirk appeared on Pallaetes' face as he unsheathed his gladius.
The Nemedians did not falter for long though, quickly regaining their pace and throwing themselves at the shields barrier. The patrol held the line, and the cacophony of close combat filled the pass, echoing into the valley.
Pallaetes gritted his teeth as a Nemedian axe felled on his shield. He quickly opened his guard, sending the Nemedian soldier off balance and with a quick thrust he plunged his blade into the enemy's low abdomen, twisting his wrist before yanking the gladius free again. The man felled to his knees in excruciating pain and Pallaetes' shield bashed him in the head, sending him lying on his back on the ground.
The entire patrol line was moving likewise. The shields raised, waiting for an opportunity to land a quick forward thrust into a vital area or, in the worst case, in a spot that would have possibly left the enemy harmless.

As time passed, the screams and noise of metal meeting metal or wood had mixed so much together that it was almost impossible to make out which was which. The patrol was still holding the line, but the men were starting to tire, especially since they were short of one now, making the situation even more difficult.
They had been able to cut down a good number of Nemedians, but the constant stream of blows was starting to exhaust their muscles, while the enemey forces they were facing were always fresh.
A scream coming to his left caught Pallaetes' attention. One of the guards dropped to his knees, his sword arm broken. The forearm was just a lifeless hanging limb, as the blow had broken the bone making it cut through muscle tissues and sinews, popping out in full view.
As the Nemedian plunged his offhand dagger into the soldier's throat, Pallaetes didn't indulge on it a single moment and shouted out new orders, hoping the others were not too focused on the fight to listen to him.
"Circle formation! Step back!"
To his relief, the men started to move immediately, making up the new formation while withdrawing slightly, bringing shoulder against shoulder and keeping on retaliating to the Nemedians' attacks.
Pallaetes tried to catch his breath for a short moment as he found himself out of enemies reach. Breathing heavily under his helmet, his shield still up, he tried to quickly analize the situation.
There were six of them left standing while the Nemedians numbers seemed to have dropped down to a dozen. They were still outnumbered two to one, they were tired from the long fight, and they ultimately lost their only advantage. In a single minute things had gone from desperate to likely lethal.
Either pulling back or trying to push forward were not a suitable option. Their only chance now was to hold their ground, hoping to even the odds and that no more reinforcements were at the enemy's disposal.
Another couple of Nemedians felled under the guards blows. Then, the last glimpse of hope vanished.
Three of the guards suddenly dropped to their knees in a matter of seconds. Catched apparently off guard, they were quickly dealt with by the Nemedians. Pallaetes found Dilios standing close to him, but the formation was now broken. The three of them pushed their backs against each other, but as Pallaetes kicked a Nemedian off, Lucius, the guard standing on his right, dropped on the bloodstained ground, lifeless. Pallaetes was about to throw himself at the enemy, when the Nemedians suddenly stopped, Dilios taking a few steps away from him. As he was still trying to figure out the situation, Pallaetes heard a voice coming from behind the Nemedians.
"Good job! Really. But I had preferred you had moved earlier, avoiding me such a waste of men." A figure covered in heavy, metal layered armour from head to toe approached.
Clearly the boss around here... quickly realized Pallaetes, still curious as to whom the Nemedian was talking to.
Then the realization struck him, choking his breath in his throat.
"Well, I wanted to be sure they were exhausted enough to be unable to react. You had enough men to spare, anyway." Dilios replied to the Nemedian Commander, a wicked smirk on his face.
"Hmpf! Just finish your job."
That said, the man turned back to return to his tent in the valley.

Pallaetes remained frozen by the shock, unable to say a single word. In his mind a stream of confused thoughts started to flow, making it impossible for him to focus on anything specific. He surely had not seen this coming. An arrow in his back would have hurt him less. And in all this, Dilios seemed to enjoy the situation, a mocking smirk on his face.
"Nothing personal, old friend. Just...buisness. Good buisness, that is." Dilios then closed in and lowered his gladius down on Pallaetes.
His mind was still frozen by the revelation, but his reflexes allowed Pallaetes to raise his shield just in time, the clumsy parry resulting in the impact sending loose one of the straps used to wield it.
The concussion bringed him back fully to the present. He quickly dropped the now useless shield and unsheathed the short pugio from the left side of his belt. Not that it was of much help, but it was still better than nothing in case he needed a crossed parry. Seeing his combat readiness, the Nemedians started to move in, but Dilios shouted back at them. "Stay back! This is a two men matter. Any of you try to interefere and I'll feed him to the crows with the others!"
While the Nemdians stopped again, Pallaetes quickly weighted his chances. As he immediately realized though, he had only one option: play on the defensive and try to lead the fight into a spot that might have allowed him a safe retreat. There were only two problems.
He had to be careful not to strike Dilios in a serious way, and he had to hope his muscles would have supported him as much as needed, also considering that his former friend might have spent less energies than himself, until now.
He started pulling back, dodging and parrying Dilios' relentless blows at the best of his capacities. On the entire mountain, only the clashing of their blades could be heard. They were now back to the wooden bridge. Pallaetes started to feel exhausted, while Dilios' attacks did not seem to lessen. He needed a way out, and he needed it immediately.
The sound of flowing water came to him like the most beautiful thing he ever listened to. The river running down the mountain towards the village of Corvo broke into a small fall, a couple of meters beneath the levelled terrain situated between the bridge and the sharp turn of the path. If he had a chance to survive that day, the river was his best bet.
As he kept walking backwards on the bridge, too focused on avoiding Dilios' lashes and thrusts, he stumbled on one of the planks, falling off balance. Dilios immediately aimed at his head with a levelled slash from left to right. Pallaetes managed to duck just in time to avoid the lethal blow, leaving the other man's blade to meet with the mane on top of his helmet, chopping off a small portion of it. He was too slow in regaining his guard though, as Dilios' shield bashed him on his flank sending him lying on the ground, his helmet sliding slightly upwards on his head.
Another blow came down on him and once again Pallaetes was quick enough to deflect it, but this time the gladius found a target nonetheless. The tip of the blade cut him right beneath his left cheeckbone and up to his forehead, before being deflected by the helmet.
Blood started to pour out of the wound, dropping on Pallaetes' eye, which was still miraculously intact, and starting to limit his field of view. In a burst of rage he kicked Dilios' shin square footed, making him loose balance. Pallaetes threw his pugio aiming at the kicked leg, the burst of pain making Dilios drop his sword to reach for the dagger. He didn't have time to.
His former friend's foot hit him on the chest, sending him flying backwards on the ground.
Now, it was the only chance.
Pallaetes made a run for the river, hoping the Nemedians would have been too slow in reacting.
The arrow struck him on the back of his right shoulder just as he was about to jump. The impact disrupted his momentum, making him spin partially and hurtle down to the rocky flank of the mountain until he was into the water, senseless.
Dilios and the Nemedians got to the edge as Pallaetes' body was inceremoniously carried downwards by the fall. After following it for a few moments with his gaze, Dilios turned to the Nemedians. "We're done here. let's head back to the camp."




The kid was happily playing with the family's dog in the afternoon sun, when the animal suddenly started barking towards the river bank. The kid looked puzzled towards the direction the dog was pointing at, trying to calm it down.
"Shhh! Shut up Mico, what's wrong with you?!"
As an asnwer to the kid's pleas, the dog freed itself from his grasp and trotted towards the bank, starting to sniff around something the kid could not make out from the distance. As he got close, he recognized the figure of a man in full armor lying prone on the ground, a thin, broken wooden stick stuck on the back of his right shoulder.
The kid's eyebrows jumped up in surprise and he started to run back towards the house while shouting "Da'! Da'! There's a man by the river, da'!"
A man with short cropped, dark blonde hair got out of the house. "What's all this fuss about, Lucio?"
The kid grabbed his father's forearm and started to pull him towards the river. "A man! There's a man there, da'!"
Once they were back at the river, the man recognized the guards armour almost immediately. "By Mitra!" he esclaimed, dropping down on one knee to check if the guard still had pulse. After a positive feedback, he turned to his son. "Go, call your mother. We need to bring this man to the priests in Tesso. Hurry!"
The kid didn't need to hear it twice and started running back towards the house.




Ignatio's face was grim. He was visibly shoked and saddened about what Pallaetes had just finished to tell him. He could only expect more troubles from all this, and the fact that a trusted member of the Guard betrayed them was not something to look on lightly. What about the rest of the garrison? He couldn't risk another similar incident. Pallaetes' words bringed him back to the present.
"Sir. I think...I believe this has been my last patrol."
The Captain gazed at him with a puzzled look.
"I'm resigning, sir." the soldier continued "I...I need some time on my own, and I don't think remaining in the Guard would help me, sir."
Ignatio looked intensely at him for a few moments, then let out a long sigh and nodded shortly. "For now, get back to rest, you earned it, soldier." He stood at attention and saluted, than left the room.
Pallaetes clumsily saluted back from his reclined position, then turned his head the opposite way, closing his eyes and trying to get some rest.
I just hope today's ghosts won't hunt me down for too long in my dreams.