horrors2

Hantu.I__Lucius_.tex

  1\chapauth{Hantu}
  2\chapter{I, Lucius Baiuvarius}
  3
  4
  5It is mid winter in the year 177 of the Christian god. As I write
  6this, I, Lucius, son of Baiuvarius of Aalen am recovering from my
  7injuries. My grandfather and his father before him fought against
  8the Romans and their foreign ways. Both of them are long dead,
  9slain by Roman sword. My father was no warrior. He is a herder and
 10did his best to bring me up in the Roman ways so that I might
 11ingrain myself with the Romans and profit by it. Yet the warrior
 12blood runs deep. On my 17th birthday, I said goodbye to my family
 13and travelled to the new Roman fort of Castra Regina. There I
 14joined a ragtag unit of foederatus, made up of people of many
 15tribes.
 16
 17
 18
 19My company consisted of 20 men, only a few I made friends with. We
 20were employed as light infantry or as Uhlan, my Swabian commander
 21calls it, arrow fodder for the Legio Tertia Italica against the
 22rebellious Marcomanni tribes. The pay was not much, but my youthful
 23adventurism was satiated. In my fifth year of service, I have been
 24in many battles. Many we won, others we lost. I have seen acts of
 25extreme bravery, worthy of the old gods. I have also seen villages
 26burned to the ground, the women raped, the men beheaded, the
 27children enslaved. Yet what I saw during my last encounter was
 28beyond anything a mortal should see.
 29
 30
 31
 32It was two months ago. The first flakes of snow had fallen. The
 33campaigning season was over and I looked forward to a few months of
 34rest. I was sitting by the campfire with several others when a
 35legionnaire guard came to our encampment and talked to Uhlan. They
 36were out of earshot but I saw him gave Uhlan a piece of scroll and
 37left. Uhlan shook his head and walked towards us. ``By Belenus
 38and Camulus!'' he swore, ``A Roman patrol is lost in the
 39Black Marshes and we are to look for them.'' He spat on the
 40ground and swore again. ``It's not enough that we fight
 41and die for them, now we have to baby sit them too! Lucius, Hauff,
 42and Dumnorix, pack your gear and come with me. We will have to go
 43on foot as the ground is too rough.''
 44
 45
 46
 47I reluctantly moved away from the comfortable fire and found my
 48longsword, leather armour and metal helmet. For some reason, I also
 49decided to bring along my long knife that I don't usually
 50carry on missions. I tied the knife in its scabbard around my torso
 51and put on my leather armour. This decision will end up saving my
 52life. Our small band of four sets out of the camp just as the
 53snowfall was beginning to get heavy. We made slow progress, even on
 54the Roman roads. After 2 days, we arrived at the edges of the Black
 55Marshes, tired and cold. Uhlan was unusually taciturn during the
 56journey. He was not a jocular man by any means but he seems to be
 57even more troubled than usual. Finally, I decided to ask him what
 58it is that's troubling him. He fell silent, only the
 59condensation from his breathing betraying his thoughts. ``Do
 60you know anything about the Black Marshes lad?'' he finally
 61spoke. I replied in the negative. ``The locals stayed away
 62from this place and for a good reason. None who ventured in ever
 63came out again. Those Roman fools are too arrogant to believe in
 64folk tales and look what happened to them. Yet here we are, on a
 65fool's errand. May Belenus protect us all.''
 66
 67
 68
 69We camped in a clearing near the Black Marshes for a day while
 70Dumnorix and I scouted around for tracks. The fresh snow made this
 71task even more difficult. The afternoon sun was falling when out of
 72the corner of my eyes, I saw a glint of metal among the bushes, 20
 73yards away. I silently signalled to Dumnorix to come near and we
 74cautiously moved towards it, swords drawn. There is no doubt about
 75it. It is a Roman scutum, cleaved in half, not cleanly like by an
 76axe or sword but as if it was ripped into two by some great force.
 77On the ground, there were drag marks and copious blood and it let
 78deeper into the Black Marshes. I debated with Dumnorix about what
 79to do next. The Helvetian wants to follow the tracks into the marsh
 80before the snow completely covered it while I wanted to report our
 81discovery to Uhlan. We argued for a while until we decided on a
 82compromise. We will follow the tracks a little deeper until dusk
 83falls and then turn back.
 84
 85
 86
 87The both of us cautiously moved into the marshes. Why I agreed to
 88this, I never knew. Every ten yards or so, I broke a twig and
 89pointed it towards the direction that we came. After an hour or
 90walking, we came to a small cave where the tracks and blood trail
 91thinned out suddenly. The sun was setting rapidly and an ominous
 92hush descended on the Black Marshes. I told Dumnorix that this is
 93as far as I will go and we should turn back before it gets too
 94dark. He agreed though he wanted to mark the location first. We
 95looked around in search of a large rock or stick that we can use as
 96a marker when the wind suddenly picked up. I was digging through
 97the snow cover when Dumnorix gave a sudden shout. I looked back but
 98he was no longer there. Snow was now being blown sideways and
 99quickly, I could see no further than my hands. I shouted for
100Dumnorix many times but there was no reply, only the howling of the
101wind. I clutched my longsword tightly and readied for battle.
102Warily, I crouched towards the small cave to seek shelter from the
103storm, my senses on alert for trouble.
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105
106
107The cave entrance was about 7 foot high and just wide enough to let
108two man through. The surface was covered in lichen and the dank air
109smelled of rotten vegetation or worse things. Inside was pitch
110black with pools of stagnant water looking like broken shards of
111mirrors. I hesitated but staying out here meant certain death by
112freezing. Muttering a prayer to Lovantucarus, I went into the cave,
113my trusty longsword drawn at the front. The howling of the wind
114took on a haunting aspect in the cave, as if thousands of lost
115souls whispering together. The hairs on my neck pricked up while my
116heart was beating loudly in my ears. I could no longer see
117anything, only vague shadows. A movement! Where? Was it my
118imagination? Calm down. Trust my instincts. Another movement, this
119time, closer! There is no more doubt. Someone or something is here
120in the cave with me. ``Come out and show your self!'' I
121yelled into the darkness. ``Come out you coward and fight like
122a man!''
123
124
125
126A sudden rush of air smelling of carrion and an inhuman growl went
127directly towards my face. I instinctively crouched but something
128hit hard on my right shoulder, just missing my head, causing me to
129fall and end up face down on the damp cave floor. My sense of
130direction is now gone. In the commotion, I lost grip of my
131longsword. I grabbed my right shoulder and it was bleeding
132profusely. My leather armour torn in pieces. I've had enough.
133I tried to scramble up and run but a vaguely man-shaped thing
134pounced on my torso pushing me down again with great force while
135shredding at my chest. I nearly passed out from the impact but I
136called upon strength buried deep inside me, the strength of a
137cornered animal and flailed at my attacker with my fists. I must
138have landed a lucky hit, as the thing jumped off and howled.
139Remembering my hidden long knife, I tore away the shredded remnants
140of my leather armour and unsheathed the knife. The thing lunged
141again with an ear piercing shriek but this time I was ready. I
142waited to the last second before, with a rapid thrust, I stabbed
143the thing in its chest. My knife made contact and hot blood spewed
144on my face.
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149
150The full moon was probably out now and dim light reflecting on the
151pools of water lit up the scene. For the first time, inches from my
152face, I could see my assailant. The horror that I saw could never
153be truly described. It was vaguely human but where the eyes should
154be, there were only blood soaked sockets. Hot carrion stench
155emanated from the mucus filled holes where the nose should have
156been and the face was also covered with leprous purple scars. There
157were no lips, only a gaping putrid mouth dripping with venomous
158saliva. I let out a scream of horror and kicked the thing away. The
159thing was breathing heavily and so was I. It clutched at its chest
160where the knife was stuck while blood sputtered from its mouth. I
161saw my longsword lying on the cave floor and quickly picked it up.
162I cautiously advanced towards the prone creature when with a
163gurgling voice, it spoke. `` You have beaten me but I lay a
164curse on your sons and their sons for eternity. Once every
165generation, they will face a horrid enemy and that enemy will be
166themselves!'' At the final word, it let out a final putrid
167breath and ceased moving.
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170
171I slumped on the ground and stared at the corpse. I must have
172stayed that way for an eternity when the pain of my injuries
173reasserted. I crawled my way towards the cave entrance, trying to
174understand what had happened. I was almost out of the cave when I
175caught my reflection in a pool of water. Suddenly I was sobbing. 
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