As Rainer slept, he felt Era's haunting presence cradling about him, and he soon found himself falling—sinking into a thick dark miasma...
For a moment, silence reigned all around him, and then he heard it.
*Swuk!* *Swuk!* *Swuk!*
Arrows, cutting through the miasma from all directions, and then the booming of a horn seemed to blast the dark fog away to reveal him standing side by side with Roman legionaries in the rain.
Vast forests pressed tightly against the formation on both sides, and arrows upon arrows kept showering out of the trees.
"Form testudo!"
"We've been ambushed!"
"Centurion! What are your orders!?"
Rainer turned to the soldier and realized he was the one being addressed.
He looked ahead, down the long formation, and realized he couldn't see the end of it. It was no different when he turned back.
To the sides, out of the trees sprang hundreds of feral barbarians.
"Centurio Rainer!"
He looked back at his Optio, a dear friend and he revealed a wry smile.
"Ah, it's this moment." He muttered sadly to himself.
He reached out and brought the Optio's head against his with a slight clank of helms.
"I'm sorry I couldn't protect you, brother."
The Optio looked back at him, at first perplexed, but then he smiled.
"We had good times."
Rainer nodded.
"That we did."
Suddenly, there was a bright flash, and the next time he looked around, he was a bloody mess kneeling in mud, gore and feces. Dead legionaries lay all around, many pinned to trees and boulders with spears.
When he looked down, he saw in his hands the head of his Optio.
He didn't even acknowledge the barbarians standing silently around him, staring at him with a vengeful viciousness about their countenance.
Rainer slowly closed his eyes, and he was gone.
Darkness, smoke and flames.
*Bam!*
Someone rammed into him, and he stumbled forward. He opened his eyes and swiveled back in annoyance, gazing into the grand building, between great towering pillars as soldiers streamed out.
"To the western gate! The Visigoths are surging through!"
Legionaries rushed past him down the stairs, and when he looked ahead from his high perch out into the blazing city—he laughed; a hard, resentful laugh.
"What are these dreams? Why remind me? Why..."
*Bam!*
He was rammed again, and he stumbled, falling down the stairs. However, he found himself suddenly unable to breathe, and a cold chill bit into his skin through his armor.
He opened his eyes and found that he was submerged in deep waters, around him barrels, soldiers, and broken ships sank down into the dark blue. In a panic, he swam upwards, and when he burst through the surface, there was a flash. Lightning struck the water close to him, momentarily blinding him, but he pushed through and looked around.
There was a great storm, one that made terrifyingly large waves smash great ships together without care for Roman or Carthaginian lives.
"Why!?!" He cried out. "Why do you remind me?! Era!!!"
Suddenly, a high wave filled with dangerous debris rose before him and came down on him like a death sentence.
Darkness.
—
–
-
"—ner! Rainer!"
Water was sprinkled onto Rainer's face, and his eyes abruptly opened to the morning sun.
Above him stood Kotys with an open water skin.
"It's morning, wake up."
Rainer groaned at the brightness, shielding his eyes while wiping water from his face with a groan. He seemed frazzled and perplexed, wondering if he was still dreaming.
"!!"
Suddenly, he gasped, rolled and pushed up on all fours to gaze up at Kotys with a horrified expression.
"It's morning!?"
Kotys frowned slightly. "You fell asleep. I tried waking you up but you kept pushing me away. In the end, I thought it might be better if you had a good rest."
With an astounded expression Rainer glanced aside to find soldiers marching out of the camp in orderly columns, arching away toward a small fortress a distance away.
Kotys squatted on the ground, brought out his dagger, and began sketching on the soil.
Rainer let out a long sigh, head tilting to the ground. He was disappointed that he couldn't train during the night.
He was distraught to realize that his rest didn't do him much good either, feeling languid and heavy, like a statue hewn of lead.
Kotys glanced at him and spoke.
"While you slept like a literal corpse, I took the time to think."
Rainer pushed himself to his feet and stretched.
"Ugh! I'm not ready to fight this battle."
Kotys' eyes hardened and his face wrinkled faintly in consternation.
"No one ever is."
Rainer rolled his eyes and looked down at the sketches on the ground. It seemed to be an outline of the garrison fort.
"What's that?"
Kotys sighed and glanced up at him.
"My observations from yesterday's siege. What you do with this information is entirely up to you."
With that said, he turned back to his sketches.
"The wall top is tight, barely enough for two horses to trot side by side. There should be stairways leading down on either side, so you should take the ladders at the extremes. Once you clear the wall of enemies, you could head down and take the door below leading up into the wall, or stay put and keep the wall top clear for reinforcements."
Rainer's head tilted slightly as he grimaced with uncertainty in his eyes. Kotys cut a line downward.
"The wall itself isn't fortified but we are lacking in siege equipment, possessing merely ladders and a ram."
"Hm." Rainer squatted, taking it all in.
"Why did you mark 'X' on that window?"
Kotys bit his lips with a thoughtful frown.
"The Chieftain leading this group of rebels is a renowned archer, and I think I glimpsed him on that window the day prior..."
Rainer blinked back surprised at the information, and then he smirked with an intrigued look in his eyes.
"I'm guessing this chieftain is important?"
Kotys scoffed, shaking his head.
"An understatement, but he is. He was responsible for many ambushes we had to endure on our journey here. The Praefect definitely wants him dead."
"You don't say..."
Rainer squatted, a slow, predatorial grin pulling at his lips.
"Well then." He chuckled, glancing at Kotys. "I guess I have my target."