The New Era Chapter 10

IN THE FIRST YEAR OF THE NEW ERA
Pericula looked at Gaius amazed. "Gaius, how did you get those? What are you doing?"
Gaius smiled. "I'm going to kill you, Pericula. You should have known better then to mess with me."
While Gaius and Pericula were talking, Kile had subtly removed his dagger from his belt, were it hung in a small sheath. Kile threw the dagger at Gaius. Gaius was able to dodge the missile, but while he was stepping out of its way, Drusus sprang to his feet, like a coiled up spring released. Almost immediately, he had grabbed both of Gaius' wrists, and pushed them to the sides, so that both of the laser guns were pointed harmlessly away. Gaius tried to kick Drusus, but before he could Drusus had pushed him down. A kick by Drusus put Gaius sprawled out on the ground.
"I'll take care of him." Drusus heard those words coming from behind him. When he turned around to see who had spoken them, a fist hit him in the face. Drusus fell to the ground, and looked up to see Blanka towering over him. "You go get the other two," he said to Gaius.
Gaius rushed back into the tent, but to his surprise, neither Pericula nor Kile was in it. Gaius dashed outside, and quickly scanned the camp. He saw the two running, about seven dekameters away. Gaius fired at them, but missed. They ducked behind a tent to escape, and Gaius ran towards them.
Meanwhile, Blanka allowed Drusus to stand up. "So Drusus," he said, "we meet again, only this time the odds are in my favor. I almost beat you in our last fight, now I am armed," Blanka held up his sword, "and you aren't."
"Blanka, what are you doing? You can't possibly be on the side of Gaius!"
Blanka smiled. "Gaius is a very powerful friend to have." With that, Blanka charged forward. Drusus ran, with Blanka in pursuit. Circling around the back of Pericula's tent, Drusus quickly grabbed a tent pole. The pole was wooden, and about four centimeters in diameter, while being just a little taller then Drusus was. As soon as Blanka's face was in view, Drusus hit it with the pole. Blanka fell over but was back on his feet just as quick. He approached Drusus again, but this time kept his distance. Drusus charged toward Blanka, and acted like he was going to hit Blanka in the chest, so when Blanka got ready to parry the blow, Drusus struck him in the left leg. Blanka didn't allow the blow to throw him off balance, and no sooner had Drusus dealt it then he swung his sword, slicing open Drusus' shirt and leaving a line of blood down his chest. Still running forward, Drusus struck Blanka in the face with the pole, knocking him to the ground. Drusus kept on running, dropping the pole so he could move faster. By the time Blanka was back on his feet, Drusus was nowhere in sight. Blanka gazed out at the seemingly endless rows of tents in all directions. Which ever one Drusus was hidden behind, if he kept moving quietly through the rows he had a good chance of not being found.


Pericula had run been running away with Kile, when Gaius fired at them. She heard the laser gun, and saw the lasers fall all around her. Immediately, she ducked behind a tent, and Kile followed her. They both lay down flat. Gaius fired again, holding down the trigger. The laser beams cut right through the tent, and landed all around Pericula and Kile. Pericula covered her head, as things were exploding all around her from the laser beams. When Gaius paused briefly, Pericula signaled to Kile. The two crawled slowly on their bellies, through the rows of tents.
Gaius ran to where he saw the two duck behind a tent. Pericula and Kile heard him running towards them, and sprang to their feet, running in a zig zag pattern through the rows of tents. Gaius followed them, shooting both laser guns.
Amid the confusion and noise, Pericula shouted to Kile, "head for the field. Jot is drilling the soldiers out there."
"No don't," Kile replied, "we'll only draw Gaius' fire on the soldiers. Head for the lake." Pericula and Kile kept zig zagging through the camp, barely avoiding Gaius' shots. When they reached the edge of the camp, by the lake, they made a beeline for it. Pericula dived into the lake. Kile was almost to the lake when a laser beam hit the ground by his foot, causing a small explosion that through him off balance. He fell to the ground, but was back on his feet in almost no time at all. Kile dived into the lake, swimming underwater for as long as he could.
Soon, Gaius had also reached the lake's edge. He tried to look for Kile and Pericula, but the lake was murky, impossible to see through. The trees around it effectively cut out the sunlight, and the lake was filled with all sorts of fallen trees, lillipads, and other things Kile and Pericula could be hiding behind. Gaius swam out into the lake himself, but he knew his odds of finding either was dim.


Keeping low to the ground, Drusus snuck through the rows of tents. Once he was sure he was safely away from Blanka, he began sprinting through them. Blanka's men tried to halt his escape. One leapt out in front of him with a spear. Before he could through it, Drusus made a ninety degree turn and kept on running. He then did some zig zagging to lose his pursuer, only to run into another man holding a sword. Drusus turned to run the other way, but his path was blocked by yet another man wielding a sword. They approached Drusus simultaneously, each swinging his sword wildly. Drusus moved like lightning, grabbing the wrist of one in a split second move, almost getting his arm cut off. Sweeping his leg, Drusus tripped the man. Once he had lost his balance, Drusus whirled around and threw him at his comrade. Both men fell to the ground. Drusus ran past them.
A spear flew over Drusus' head. It was soon to be followed by two arrows, each barely missing him. One man hid behind a tent, and tried to ambush Drusus, leaping out at him. Drusus was too quick for the man, kicking him while he was still in the air. The man was knocked backwards and landed on a tent, which collapsed on him. At once, Drusus was on top of him, and pounded him until the man let go of his sword. Drusus grabbed the sword and continued running.


Kile remained still. He was hidden behind a fallen tree. Most of the tree was still on shore, and so the tree had not sunk to the bottom of the lake but remained on the top of it. It had obviously only recently died, for it was still covered with green leaves. Kile had his hands wrapped around the tree, while his feet dangled in the water. He could hear Gaius moving through the water, but the light was so bad that he could not see Gaius.
All of a sudden, Kile heard laser fire. He cringed, wishing he could see what was happening. He heard Gaius shouting, and much thrashing about, all almost drowned out by the laser fire. Then he realized what he heard was Pericula making her escape. Taking advantage of the commotion, Kile quietly swam toward the shore. Once at the shore, he quickly fled. He ran back into the camp, and saw Pericula running ahead of him. He soon caught up with her.
"I think we lost Gaius," he said.
Pericula nodded. "I don't see him around."
"We sure had some close calls didn't we. I'm surprised we're still alive."
"Yes, we were lucky, but part of it is that Gaius is a bad shot. You see, my people do not fight often. A man trained in the arts of war is extremely rare. I bet before Gaius came to Calet, he had never fired a laser gun before in his life. In short range, he does pretty well, but as long as we keep our distance we have a good chance of escaping."
Kile nodded. The explanation had made him even more confused about Pericula's people then he was before, but he didn't show it. "We should get out of here before Gaius gets back."
"Agreed, but we can't leave the soldiers in his tender care. You go get Jot, tell him to disband the army. Tell any soldiers you see to get out of here well they still can. I'll go get my computer pad."
"You're what?"
"Never mind, just move." Both Kile and Pericula ran off on their missions.
Running toward's the field where Jot was training the soldiers, Kile soon found his path blocked by a man wielding a sword. Turning around, Kile saw that he was trapped, for another man was behind him, also holding a sword. Kile drew his sword and got ready to fight, afraid that this might be his final stand. All of a sudden, the man he was facing made a face of great pain. Kile looked to see that there was a spear point protruding from his chest. Someone had thrown a spear from behind the man, and it had gone straight through. The man fell over dead, clearing Kile's line of vision so that he could see Drusus, who had thrown the spear. Sword already drawn, Drusus charged the other man. The sword fight was over before Kile could see what was happening. Drusus was the victor.
"You're still amazing," Kile said. "That's twice today you saved me."
"There's no time to talk. We need to warn Jot."
"That's just where I was going," said Kile, as he ran off after Drusus.


Jot had heard the shouting from camp, as well as the unmistakable sound of laser fire. He knew there was trouble, but he also knew it was his priority to protect the troops. He longed to lead them in a charge at the camp, but if Gaius had the laser guns he could possibly take out the whole army. Jot had acted like he hadn't heard a thing, and continued drilling the soldiers as usual. The soldiers were nervous, but Jot's stoic attitude was somewhat calming them. Jot had sent to messengers into camp to find out what was happening, but they didn't come back.
Jot had mixed emotions when he saw Drusus and Kile running towards him. He was glad to see they where safe, but fearful of what news they might bring. The news was as bad as he expected. Gaius had both laser guns, and was once more on the lose. Jot wasted no time in informing the soldiers.
"Your lives are in danger," he shouted. "Flee while you can. This army is officially disbanded." Panic immediately took the soldiers, for they could guess what kind of danger Jot was warning them of. They ran off immediately.
Jot turned to Kile and Drusus. "I guess this means it's up to us to stop Gaius."
Kile laughed nervously. "Stop him? Are you insane? We can't stop him, we'll be lucky if we escape with our lives."
"No, Jot is right," Drusus said. "Gaius will kill many more if he isn't stopped. We must stop him, or die trying."
"Are Pericula and Kirtten alright?" Jot asked.
"Pericula's okay, or at least she was a few minutes ago," Kile responded. "As for Kirtten, I can only hope he's still alive."


Pericula knew the camp was filled with assassins. She ran to her tent cautiously, watching for an attack from any direction. Since she had no time to arm herself, she feared for her safety. Even if she did have a sword, she was not well skilled in using one. Fortunately, she reached her tent without incident. Grabbing her computer pad, she decided to swing by Kirtten's tent on her way out of the camp to see if he was alright. She knew it was out of her way, and put her in even more danger, but she hadn't seen Kirtten since this morning, and he could be in serious trouble.
When she reached his tent, all she found of him was his lifeless body and severed head. Another victim of Gaius' madness. "No matter what it takes, I swear I'll stop Gaius," Pericula said to herself.