Flavius glanced at the riders and paled, a worried frown settling on his brows.
Rainer picked up on his apprehension and sat up before reaching out for Flavius' waterskin.
"Seems like you got a story for me. Help a friend with a drink while he listens, will you?"
Flavius glanced at him.
"A friend? Well fine."
He untied and tossed his waterskin, and Rainer caught it, muttering a thanks.
"So? What's the problem?" He goaded.
Flavius took a deep breath and began.
"After the siege was won, Lord Praefect sent our turma to escort Provincial Governor Gaius back. However, upon reaching the Governor, he sent us to help escort some mercenaries on the way here locate our camp, adding that they were here to provide important guidiance at his province..."
He scoffed and shook his head in disbelief.
"Imagine our surprise when we later discovered that they were all women!" He exclaimed.
However, Rainer calmly thought through this.
Although, In his past lives across other Earths of similar eras, he had never encountered an all-female mercenary band—but he found the idea plausible. Still, a nagging suspicion lingered within him that this Earth was stranger than most.
"Who would have thought that they were so skilled?"
Flavius swept a hand through his hair with a haunted look in his eyes.
"And, to think we were almost condescending towards them... The gods bless our Decurio, Sabazios for being respectful throughout initial interactions, and quelling any insultingly snide or lustful remark from the men."
Rainer pinched his nose with a light groan.
"Alright. You're losing me."
Flavius gazed at Rainer with a fleck of mania in his eyes.
"They rode better than us, Rainer! Faster than us! We were only able to sense that the Praefect's company were being attacked because of them! Even predicting and preemptively going around to make their escape impossible!"
Rainer nodded in understanding.
"Mm. They're frightenly good warriors. I saw how they cleaved through the raiders. But why fear them? You're the best eques, aren't you? A man to boot! I say we go over there and have a nice chat with them."
He cherrily coaxed, glancing at the mercenaries with a wolfish smile.
"Who knows...maybe later you could even teach them some riding skills—if you know what I mean."
Flavius shuddered at the thought, and Rainer rolled his eyes at this.
"Sheesh! Man up, or I'll go there on my own."
He nagged before having another swig of water.
"They are Bructeri women."
Flavius said lightly and water splurted out of Rainer's nose.
He bent down, coughing hard, and when he recovered himself, he looked up at Flavius with reddened eyes.
"You didn't think to say that sooner!?"
Who were the Bructeri? A brutal tribe of warriors with the knack for combat flowing in their veins. So much so that even the women were fierce warriors, known to fight alongside their men with unflinching resolve. Hardened by tribal warfare and life on the northern frontiers, they were known to wield spears and blades with practiced ease, and their presence in battle was both a rallying force and a terror to enemies.
Many Roman accounts had spoken of their fearless charges, shrill war cries, and refusal to yield, embodying a culture where the lines between warrior and woman were blurred by necessity and pride.
In the Bructeri tradition, courage was not confined by gender—it was proven on the battlefield.
Flavius thought of something and paled even more.
"I've heard that they extract the testes of men they've felled in battle and have their seeress decorate their clacky staff with them."
Rainer grimaced and Redshade's ears perked up.
"Unfaithful men are treated even worse! The process is carried out while they live!"
"S-stop!"
Rainer paled, shuddering, but Flavius appeared not to hear him, lost in the terrors he envisioned.
"Th–they would even strip lustful men of their skin, and make cloaks with them!"
"Enough!" He yelled, reaching out a hand.
Rainer's breath became shaky, and for a moment, he seemed shaken up. Not because of Flavius's dubious tales, though. But because he received several flashbacks from his encounter with the Bructeri during a past life.
His expression became grim as another flashback hit him.
FLASH—
Torrential rain and distant thunder.
Rainer found himself on his knees, groveling on a mix of mud, blood, and innards. He was peppered full of arrows and looked to be on the verge of death.
Around him lay dead legionaries in the thousands; butchered, riddled with arrows, and pinned to trees with spears.
Tribals surrounded him, slowly encircling his dying form–shivering in the rain.
Soon, an individual stood before him and when he looked up, there was a flash of lightning and the silhouette of a frightening figure holding a seax knife in hand, loomed.
The lightning's effect faded and he saw his executioner in full. A woman—hands bloodied, knuckles whitened and trembling with adrenaline.
Her face, painted green from colored plants revealed no mercy, and her dark eyes were dulled.
Rainer looked down and scoffed faintly at his pitiful situation.
"To think it would be a Bructeran who ends my story here. A woman as well, funny how common that has occurre—"
*Shuk!*
The knife was ruthlessly jabbed through his chest plate, into his heart. He wasn't even granted the dignity of finishing his last words before darkness came.
—
–
-
"Rain—Rainer! Rainer! Where are you going!?!"
Rainer soon snapped out of his thoughts, hearing the shouts.
'Hmm. Why am I moving?' He wondered. 'And, why are the Bructeri women getting closer—'
He soon snapped out of his lethargy and snagged the reins.
"You bloody horse! Where are you taking me?!"
Redshade had been racing toward the Bructeri mercenaries while Rainer was deep in his thoughts.
Flavius chased after him with a hesitant expression.
"Rainer! We should head back before they notice us!"
But then he noticed something and revealed a perplexed frown.
"Wait! Are you struggling with Redshade? I thought you had tamed him?!"
He yelled as Redshade fought wildly against the reins in an attempt to reach them.
Hearing this, Rainer softened his hold on the reins and glanced back with a strained smile.
"W-what? No! I intentionally planned to race toward the manhood reapers!! I'm toootally under control!!!"
Rainer then leaned down toward Redshade's ear and whispered heatedly.
"Stop this madness, you warg! You trying to turn me into a cloak?!"
Redshade neighed and increased his pace, seemingly motivated by those words instead.
Rainer scowled.
"Evil beast!"
He looked ahead and noticed that the riders were already reacting to their approach.
Letting out a sigh, he sat up straight, deciding that since things had already escalated this far, he might as well embrace it and make the best of the situation.
Reflecting on his past, he realized he had a bone to pick with the Bructeri.
A grin formed on his face, and he looked back to Flavius, who appeared nervous but courageously, even perhaps foolishly—accompanied him.
Rainer was pleased to have him along and grateful that he wasn't alone.
"Back straight, Flavius!"
He yelled back.
"When dealing with tribals, you show no fear! They sense it, like the smell of prey in the jungle! So ease up, eques!"
Flavius took a deep breath and sat up straighter in his saddle.
Rainer nodded in approval.
"That's it! Show them you own your space!"
The mercenaries had split into two groups and were closing in on them from both sides to surround them.
"Don't worry. I'll do the talking."
Rainer placated and Flavius shot him a dubious glance.
"If I die here, I'll curse your descendants."
Rainer chuckled heartily at that.
"I'll die before I let them hurt you, friend. And when I'm dead, there'll be no descendants to curse!"
They came to a stop as the mercenaries formed a closed, revolving circle around them.
There was no escaping now—no turning back.