Aquila:Rhine River Patrol - Freedom!!!!

Now he had done it!!!! The slave had turned on the master. The overseer, a great brute of a man, lay groaning on the narrow path, holding a broken arm. Badly broken if the sharp point of the bone projecting through the skin of the lower arm and accompanied by severe bleeding was any indication. The load of lumber he had been carrying tothe mine and which he struck the overseer with lay across the trail. Two guards were looking his way, and along this treacherous trail high on a stony ridge there wasn't much of a choice about where to run. Deciding quickly, he snatched the large knife at the downed man's belt, and the stout cudgel that had been used on him many times. A quick swipe across the overseer's throat with the knife took care of his debts to the brute for the ill treatment dished out in the past weeks, and the slave jumped off the trail and onto the steep gravelly slope. He immediately lost his balance and began to tumble head over heels towards the rocky pit somewhere below. Shouts from behind him heralded that he had been seen and the chase was very likely to follow close behind. He had killed a man, and the penalty for that was an immediate and very unpleasant death!! In the tumbling he hit his head on something hard and he blacked out completely.

Gaius' crazy run and fall down the steep slope had started a small landslide and the dry slope erupted in a wide dust cloud as the dirt, gravel and rock caried the slave down toward the lower slopes.

Slowly coming back to his senses, he heard voices nearby and he lay completely still. His head hurt from the blow, and he felt dizzy as well. It was hard to make out what the voices were saying. He was on his stomach lying down slope with his head lower than his feet. He felt a heavy covering all over his body as though covered with dirt or gravel. His head was wedged under a large boulder or he probably would have bashed his brains out during a further tumble down the hill. He opened his eyes, and all he could see was the heavy dust raised by the landslide that he had started. There was no wind and the dust cloud hung over the slope area like a thick fog. The dirt, gravel and rock of that landslide now covered him and left only the top half of his head free, and shielded from view by the boulder he was wedged against.

"Where in the hell did that scrawny bastard go!??!," said a nearby heavy voice.

"Shadup and look for him slugfoot. You're here for a reason, and that ain't to exercise yur waggin' jaw!!!," responded another harsh voice somewhat further away. "And be careful stupid," added the second harsh voice. "he got that dumb begger's knife!!!!"

"I'll shut yur yap for ya, you overbearing son of a _________!!!!" said the first nearby voice in a low growl, but much lower in volume.

'How long before this guy finds me', thought Gaius. 'Can I jump up and get this guy, and die fighting or wait till I am found and enjoy a liesurely crucifxtion.' Not an enviable choice. He still had the knife in one hand under this cascade of dirt and rock, but the staff-cudgel was gone. The man closest to him walked closer, his footfalls heavy in Gaius' ear. The man knelt close by Gaius' head and muttered, "Well, what's this," and Gaius could feel the guard's touch on the knife.

No time to reason it out, No time to contemplate the likliood of killing the guard. Was his arm free?? No time!! Gaius gathered his strength and burst out of the dirt and gravel blanket that covered him. He made a blind wide slashing sweep with the knife and felt it jerk in his hand as he moved toward the voice of his closest threat. He had connected!!! He could feel the warm blood on his hand, The guard sank to his knees with a low groan. He was holding his belly. The knife stroke had opened a gaping wound, through which the guard's life was spurting away.

"What the hell is yur damn problem Marcus? Can't you keep yur mind on what we're doing? Find that damn slave!!!! He's probably buried in this gravel somewhere!!," The voice was closer now and Gaius could hear his approach from below his position. Gaius grunted an answer that he hoped would pass for a reply. At the same time he rammed his fist into the kneeling guard's mouth and cut his throat. The man slumped in death under his hand, staining Gaius with a second rush of the guard's blood from his cut throat. The dust cloud was fast clearing, and Gaius cautiously looked around the boulder under which his head had beeen jammed. His body ached all over. He could hear the yells from above on the trail demanding some kind of report. The second guard was coming his way, wiping his running eyes, and cursing to himsel. The man had lost his helmet in his wild run down slope, and Gaius picked up a large rock at his feet. In the same instant that the second guard saw his dead partner on the ground, Gaius hit the man in the back of the head as hard as he could with the rock. The man fell stunned. 'God what luck!!! How long could it last,' he thought. Gaius moved around the boulder and crouched out of sight from those above. He looked down slope and saw a line of low brush extending into and across the gravel slope. Probably some sort of water spring or seep. It was almost four small ship-lengths away. If he could get to that cover he would have a chance. He had killed or maimed three times, and they would not stop their chase, but in the brush which led to the nearby woods he would certainly have a better chance than out here on the open mountainside. Quickly deciding, he gathered his strength for a second time and lurched down the slope being careful not to stumble and fall again. He ran raggedly for his brushy goal. Shouts broke out above him on the trail, and an archer took careful aim at the running figure.

(To be continued)

Respectfully Submitted;

Marcus Audens