Praetorian Series [4] All Roads Lead to Rome (54 page)

I skidded to a halt, nearly tipping over myself before I planted the crutch into the ground like a stake to keep me upright.  My body had reacted on its own, because my mind was still wondering why my internal monologue had been cut unusually short.  It wasn’t until I pulled myself upright and composed myself that I realized I’d stopped so that I wouldn’t have plowed into Merlin, who stood in the middle of the road as though waiting for me.

I looked around, taking in the screaming civilians and random Praetorian who ran in every direction.  The city had erupted into chaos, but here Merlin stood as though he’d expected me to be here the entire time.  He wore fancier clothing that I’d yet seen him in, almost like he’d been planning to attend a… well, a wedding.

I rolled my eyes and took in a breath.

“Fancy meeting you here,” I remarked offhandedly.

“You didn’t wait for Romulus, Jacob,” he said calmly.  “I told you not to shoot him.  I was just about to make my grand entrance.”

“Blame Agrippina,” I said, sarcasm dripping from my voice.  “Seems everyone wants to kill her today.”

“And this is why time travel isn’t all it’s cracked up to be,” Merlin said with a sigh.  “Something’s always bound to go differently.”

I looked at him quizzically, completely at a loss concerning what he’d just said, but then he held up a bag which had a pair of bulges at its bottom, and the thought left my mind as I reached for it.

“No need to ask what’s in here,” I said as I took the bag and slung it over my shoulder.

“No need indeed,” Merlin commented.  “Now go.  Find Remus and enact your plan, but make sure Romulus remains.  He has his own role to play still.”

I turned to leave but then second guessed myself and faced Merlin again.

“You know…” I started, unable to keep the anger out of my voice.  “I simply can’t understand why someone who constantly denies the existence of fate, destiny, divine providence, or the very idea that history can be changed by tampering in the past would say something like that!  Just what kind of role does he have to play?!”

Merlin shrugged.  “He’s my son, Jacob.  I have no desire to see his legacy, as made evident to me by
you
, lost to him.”

“Tell that to Remus.”

“Remus has earned his fate,” Merlin stated.  “Do not allow the same to befall the one innocent in all this.”

I snarled at his continued use of non-answers.  “Maybe when all this is over you’ll actually tell me something worth hearing.”

He smiled.  “Probably not.”

“Yeah, right,” I said as I turned again to rush off to war, but then another thought stopped me again.  “If you really are their father, able to use the orbs just like they can, why do you need me at all?”

He shook his head.  “Jacob, I can only use the blue orb.  The red orb is as beyond my ability to control as the blue orb is for Agrippina to wield.”

“How the fuck is that possible?”  I asked, completely ready to drop kick this man.

“I do not understand why it is not obvious to you,” Merlin said, opening his arms.  “Why is it not clear to you that it was a genetic marker from my wife that provides access to the red orb?”

I blinked, shocked.  “Let me guess,” I said.  “Guinevere.  Wait, no.  Morgan le Fay.”

He smiled.  “Very clever, but you know Merlin has yet to even encounter those individuals… if they even exist at all.”

I snarled again in frustration.  “So where is she?  Why can’t she help?”

Merlin’s smile turned immediately into a frown, and he looked crestfallen.  “My wife has been gone for many years, Jacob.  More than you can possibly guess.”

I looked up at him but the expression on my face didn’t quite match the apology I was about to deliver.  “Sorry, Merlin.  I guess I’ll go save the universe now.”

“Please do, Jacob,” he said.  Finally, I took off again, preparing to pull up my radio and ask for directions, but I almost stumbled again when I heard Merlin say behind me, “And make me proud.”

I remembered him saying that once before, and like in that instance, I felt a growing sense of determination well up in my chest.  For whatever reason, I had every intention of doing just that.  I wanted to save the universe.  I wanted to make him proud.

I just had to figure out how the hell I was going to do it.

***

TJ, Archer, and I crashed through row after row of well-trimmed, waist high hedges that lined the perimeter of a once lovely garden that now resembled a war zone rather than a place of serene leisure.  I lifted my arms to cover my face as I encountered a much higher shrubbery, but hadn’t been prepared for the razor sharp thorns dotting its branches, and winced and grunted as I felt my arms ripped apart.  They weren’t much more than nicks and cuts that would probably heal on their own, but they were still painful.

I glanced to my left and saw TJ plow into a particularly razor endowed branch, his face emerging with a dozen tiny gouges.  He barely even reacted, but when he noticed my attention, he turned to me and uttered without any pain in his voice, “Ow.”

“Tell me ab…”

I was cut off by the sound of Archer firing his pistol ahead of us as we emerged from the brush, and I looked up to see Romulus and Remus continuing their destructive clash.  Now that we were closer to them, I could see them in more detail, although it was still nearly impossible to keep up.  They moved so quickly, far, far faster than was humanly possible.  The moved so fast that outsiders looking in could only see a blur of motion, but from their perspective, it must have seemed as though it was the world that had slowed down around them.

Romulus still had his chain as a weapon but despite their near identical stature, Remus was clearly older thanks to his stay in his time-bending prison and was quite probably stronger.  However they were matched, I was rarely ever able to actually see the random punch or momentary grapple, or even the swift kicks that could have knocked over buildings – and did on occasion.  The only time I was ever able to really see anything specifically was when one brother would gain the upper hand for a moment and throw the other off of him to land through a wall or pulverize another human that got in the way.  The battle would slow down momentarily but even the act of catching up to each other was a blur.  In fact, the only thing keeping us within range of them as they rampaged through the city was that they were, in fact, engaged with each other.

TJ noticed Archer’s intermittent blasts of fire as well and joined in, firing four bullets slowly, but then Archer waved him off and raised his radio.

“In position, Santino?”

“Santino can’t come to the phone right now,” I heard James say through Archer’s radio.  “He’s still a wee miffed that you stole his girl.”

“I am not, I…”

I could hear John’s voice come through the radio weakly as well but then Archer squeezed the transmit button and cut him off.  He shook his head with a clenched jaw and turned to me.  “What do you see in that clown?  I mean… what?”

I shrugged.  “I like clowns.”

He shook his head and pulled the radio back to his mouth.  “In position, Wang?”

“Aye,” James replied.  “We pulled ahead of them and are now directly east of their position.”

“Lay it on them then.  Drive them west.”

“Yes, sir!”  He said with far too much enthusiasm, and I could hear John complaining indistinctly in the background again.

John hadn’t been happy when Archer had somehow managed to inherit command of everyone on the ground, and James, of course, had to take advantage.  No one was really sure how it had happened, but I certainly couldn’t complain.  Once Archer had received Jacob’s orders to corral the twins back to the wedding venue, he’d immediately split the group into smaller teams.  John, James, and Titus had been sent east, Gaius and Marcus west where they’d hopefully linked up with Jeanne and Georgia, while TJ, Archer and I had taken the middle route to drive them south.

Everyone had responded immediately to his orders, odd and reassuring at the same time, but then as soon as he had finished issuing orders, Archer had yanked the pistol out of TJ’s hip holster and thrust it into my hands.

“You’ve learned how to use this, right?”  He’d asked.

“Yes,” I’d responded.

He’d nodded and said.  “Don’t hesitate should you need to use it, Diana.”

I’d looked at it for a moment while everyone vanished out of sight, but then had to rush to catch up to TJ and Archer as they too had taken off to follow Jacob’s orders.  I still wasn’t sure I could in fact use the weapon should I
need to use it
.  I didn’t even know when I could justify
needing to use it
.  So far, I hadn’t even shot at Romulus or Remus even though I knew the bullets would practically bounce off them, if I was even able to hit them at all.

I still wasn’t sure what I was capable of.

Just then a hail of gunfire to my left erupted like pinpoint pricks of thunder going off in rapid succession, and I could see John, James, and Titus approaching from the east, their weapons drawn and firing continuously as they advanced on the twins.  Remus reacted first, throwing up a hand to protect his face, while Romulus took advantage and dived at his brother once again, renewing hostilities.  I couldn’t see what wounds were sustained by either twin, if any, but the action seemed to have the desired effect as Romulus and Remus shifted course, heading in a westerly direction.

A strong hand landed on my shoulder and I looked to my left to see TJ staring at me, using his other hand to direct my attention to the right.  “Come on, Artie,” he said, Archer already heading out.  “We need to peel out and link up with Bordeaux and Brewster.”

I nodded as I started to move, no longer sure if I had any actual control over my actions.  I wanted to run away and find safety but I couldn’t deny that this was all kind of… fun.  I didn’t feel in direct danger at the moment, and our success at maneuvering Romulus and Remus was uplifting.  I couldn’t deny the thrill anymore, but when I finally looked up, I saw Archer place his rifle against his shoulder and shoot a pair of bullets in the direction we were heading.  It wasn’t until I ran past where he’d fired from that I saw a pair of dead Praetorians on the ground, a pair of men who couldn’t possibly have much idea of what was happening, but had died nonetheless.

And suddenly I didn’t feel so elated anymore

I felt my feet beginning to slow, but TJ clutched me by the arm this time and pulled me along after him.  Reluctantly, I ran with him, knowing I was safest with them.  They would brazenly rush headlong into the thickest and worst of combat if it meant accomplishing their goals, which meant that was exactly where I needed to be as well.  Ironically, in their presence was the safest place in all of Rome right now, and was bound to be where Jacob would end up himself.

And if I was going to do anything to keep my idiot brother from foolishly getting himself killed, I had to be there too.

***

I was just arriving at the venue, no one else in sight yet.  The sound of gunfire had been my constant companion as I’d shambled from where I’d encountered Merlin, alerting me to the fact that the twins were still on the move.  They had to be, but whether my friends were able to successfully maneuver them back here was an, as of yet, unfinished story, but I was confident they’d get the job done eventually.

I looked around for a means to ascend to higher ground, finding a ladder of shoddy construction pressed against the wooden framework that supported the wedding platform within the amphitheatre.  Taking hold of the first rung on the ladder, I started to climb, hand over hand, as quickly as I could, only a single leg able to help.  By the time I reached the top less than a minute later, I was completely out of breath and my arms burned, but I reached into my pocket to retrieve my binoculars.  Finding them, I placed them against my eyes and searched for my quarry, fighting to steady my field of view as I steadied my breathing.

It wasn’t difficult.

Romulus and Remus had left a clear trail of destruction through the city that was simple enough to trace.  And they were clearly heading this way.  They were already descending the Esquiline Hill and were posed to make their way into the valley between said hill and the Palatine Hill – here – in just a few moments.

I took in a deep breath and readied myself to take hold of the orbs and do what I came here to do, but then a subtle movement off to my right distracted me.  I tried to turn, but barely had enough time to twist my waist before I saw Agrippina lunging at me from a nearby high point, knife in hand and coming straight at me.

Surprise gave way to instinct, and I brought up a hand to deflect the blade.  I was successful, but only in the sense that while I managed to block it from impaling me through the neck, Agrippina was still able to drive it into my forearm.  She let go of the knife almost as soon as it made contact with my skin, but was still able to push it through deep enough that it remained lodged in my arm as she then tried to tackle me to the ground.

But, weakened and injured though I was, Agrippina was no match for me.  Pain shot through my arm and damaged leg as I had to use it to steady myself, but I’d dealt with enough pain recently that such detriments were easily ignored.  I kept my focus and grabbed her by the hair, swung her around, and sent her back in the direction she’d come at me from.  She hit the ground in a sprawl and rolled into a wall.