Antioch Burns Read Online Free

ignore that .” He left his men to rebuild the barricade, and walked back over to the strange old man who had helped engineer such an abrupt turn of fate.
    “Thank you. You truly saved us back there.” The man shook his head and proffered a canteen.
    “Victory drink?” he mumbled. Regillus grasped the canteen and took a swill of the liquid. Harsh and strong, it burned his throat and filled his belly with fire. He gasped.
    “My own special brew.” The man smiled at him.  “Engineer Crius Monventus. Formerly of the Western Air Fleet, before that, the Central and Southern Air Fleets. Now, I’m just looking for a chance to join the Eastern Air Fleet.” 
    Regillus introduced himself as well. The men shook hands.
    “Why don’t you stay on with us for a while? I know that the IV Syrian could definitely use a man of your talents.” Monventus shrugged.
    “Might as well. It certainly beats starving.”
    “What was that back there? That light was brighter than the sun!”
    “A phosphorous flare. Perhaps you’ve heard of my other recent invention, the igniculum ?” Regillus shook his head. “Well, it contains a special chemical that can burn extremely bright and hot for a short period of time. I turned it into a projectile for some of our legions. But it is too dangerous to carry around a lot of it, and in my…disagreement with the Western Air Fleet’s leadership, I was only able to take this small amount.” He gestured to the crate at his feet.
    “So, do you think that light has gotten Antioch’s attention?”
    “Young man, if it didn’t, I’d think that every guard in Antioch is blind.”
    Sure enough, the next morning, a relief column of heavy cataphractii rode into Janeria, drawn by the mysterious light in the sky. While impressed with the valiant defense of Regillus’ auxilia unit, they were even more impressed by the creation of Engineer Monventus. Wasting no time at all, the exhausted unit and its civilian charges were hustled back to Antioch.
    “How bad is it, sir?” Regillus asked the commanding officer of the cataphract detachment.
    “Bad. We’ve no word from any of the river defenses, and only brief communication with some of the river cities. It looks like the Mongolians took them all within a few days of each other, and managed to sabotage the wireless and wired transmitters somehow. It’s a miracle your message reached us. We thought you were dead.”
    The heavily armored knight paused for a moment.
    “Of course, we may all be dead in the next few days.”

Day Two: The Siege Begins
    “That imbecile of a governor can take his fancy orders and shove them where the sun does not shine,” growled Legate General Orestus Lucretus Flavian as he prowled the command tent of the IV Syrian. Around him, the assembled officers of the IV Syrian stood ramrod straight, their backs stiff at attention.
    “It is all his fault anyways, siphoning the money meant for our defenses into his private bank accounts. I should have three times as many men, and twice as many cavalry,” he complained bitterly. There was a silent pause, as his officers steadfastly avoided any overt sign of agreement. The general was untouchable, but they were not. Anyone could be a spy of the governor, and this stranger was, as yet, an unknown quantity.
    “At least we have gained a newly competent officer.” His voice returned to its normal volume as he gestured to his new Praefectus Alae .
    Marius Quinctius Regillus had spent few moments reveling in his advancement to Praefectus Alae , or Prefect of a Cavalry Alae, roughly 500 men. Unfortunately, his current advancement was likely to be short lived. The governor of Antioch had ordered the IV Syrian to mobilize and strike at the Mongol army while it encamped north of the city. While the order made strategic sense, striking an enemy before they could invest the city entirely, it was tactically dumb, thought Regillus. Even he knew that attempting to assault a primarily mobile horde