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Teucer breathed out in ti as it left his bow The arrowhead pierced through the pict&039;s long red beard and into his throat - his life extinguished in a half-forle The intake of breath from his cousin was taken in both shock and pain as Oppius&039; arrow buried itself easily and deeply into his storoan did cause the air to shudder Mourning his coe shield up in a defensive position and ordered the agent to stand behind hih as he raced away in the opposite direction to the attack He caught the sight and sound of an arrohistle past hi hiround between the tree line and his ene pict unsheathed a large Roman cavalry sword, a spartha, in reply - another spoil of war The centurion took in his opponent He was equal, if not superior, in size and strength to the Roman As the barbarian snarled he noticed that there were plenty of gaps where teeth once resided Few Britons seeood teeth His nose was as crooked as a Ro red welt of a scar, in the shape of a lightning bolt, ran across his chest

Swords clashed upon each other The barbarian roared wildly, but there was still ile for his size and his power made up for any deficiencies in technique The centurion tried to get inside but the large sword and shield kept him at bay Oppius believed that he could perhaps ulti away at him and picked his ent escaping out of the corner of his eye he realised that tiuard

Oppius soon formed a plan He tried to keep his distance fro any attack, and used his footwork to circle his ene of his now defensive rinned at his ahts the barbarian would see was that of his ene back at him, as an arrow from Teucer struck him in the spine The pict arched his back in pain, his ar in and slashing his gladius across his opponent&039;s unprotected chest Lightning can strike twice in the sarant a portion of respect to his opponent for his skill and courage as a fighter, he stood over his defeated enemy not - but rather set off in pursuit of the agent immediately Confusion and fear had driven the Roman to head off in the opposite direction to the settleht up with hi between the trees, and called out to halt, in his native language Where words slowed the agent not, Oppius&039; knife did - as he threw the blade into the back of his prey&039;s thigh during a clearing in the woods

Both men panted as they atteent winced in pain upon the ground too

"Who are you working for?" the agent scornfully exclaier in his leg

"It&039;s customary for the captor to ask the questions Noho are you working for? Tell ue," the centurion replied, drawing his sword and s the agent back to Caesar for interrogation, Oppius thought it prudent to try and extract soent spat back with disdain "You&039;re just a soldier, a dog You&039;re no better thanthan a snake in the grass And if I&039;uard, at least I can say that I&039;ve gotfor"

"Never I am arainst any of your bribes or threats," the agent announced, his intended boldness not quite beingvoice

"Your shield didn&039;t perforer It&039;s doubtful it&039;ll be able to blunt the point of my sword Everybody talks - and sooner rather than later," Oppius replied, slightly distracted by the appearance of Teucer

"I see you caught up with the bastard Has he talked yet? I&039;d be happy to loosen his tongue, in either language"

"He&039;ll talk Caesar will make him screas out there?"

"We&039;ve started to cause a stir A few people have just seen the bodies We should leave, now"

"I will take my leave of you too My death is the final duty I owe to ent exclaih his features were twisted in fear and hesitation, he closed his eyes and rammed the point of the knife into his neck Oppius was too far away to prevent the agent&039;s sudden and draushed from the mortal wound and his face quickly became ashen

"At least on&039;t have to now carry the bastard back with us and listen to his ya," Teucer remarked, after a pause

"Let&039;s return to the caarden of Britain not to want to see any more of it," the centurion replied, disappointed that he would not be able now to bring the agent before Caesar and unmask the traitor in Rome