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Marcus kept up the steady tirade as he marched up and down the First Aleran's chosen ca hilltops, rocky rounded old nubs of mountains covered in thorns and brush The wide valley betas for the Cani their own camp with a will The massive, inhuman troops ell supplied with hand tools, and while they lacked the Aleran skills of furycraft, they more than made up the difference in raw physical power - and numbers

Marcus paused to stare down at the valley below Bloody crows, but there were a lot of Cani to risk bringing his noncombatants ashore until basic fortifications had been established Marcus could hardly bla in Canea with the last survivors of all Alera, he wouldn't have debarked theround only five miles from the most warlike city on the continent, either

Fros of rey-white stone that sat piled atop one another upon the bones of another ancient ht, its stones al the colors of the sky and the cold sea Whoever Antillus Raucus had left in charge of his home city, most likely one of his more conservative, trusty old cronies, was aluts out in consternation just then

Marcus took a moment to consider the place out from the city would have to pass one of the Aleran cae the arriors Not only that, but positioned as they were in the valley, the Cani of Knights Aeris had overflown thehtest amount of caution, the custodian of Antillus could keep quiet and prevent his civilian population fros out

Not only that, but - assuood order - the two Aleran Legions coe of terrain than did the Cania the bloodiest of prices Yet the Canie of numbers meant that an Aleran assault upon the south of the city, the landing Legions and Canim horde alike had placed the vord No ht be, he'd have to appreciate that little fact

Any nu and relative positioning of the various troops had all fallen into place so smoothly that it see could be less true, of course The entire business had been planned, and shrewdly But then, Marcus had co Octavian's grandfather had never been Sextus had been a grandion in the field, never stood and fought beside the with theionares Sextus had commanded loyalty, even respect, from his subordinates But he had never been their captain

Octavian was The men of the First Aleran would die for hi iiving perfection only stony silence It hat thewildly as word of the state of affairs in Alera spread a the troops, and the men were nervous The curses and snarls of the blocky old First Spear and the other centurions were touchstones, a constant fact of life whether the Legion was at rest or about to clash with the foe They settled the eh, capable centurions gave Marcus speculative glances, as if seeking out his thoughts on their predica but crisp salutes, letting the with business as usual

As evening wore on, Marcus stopped at the southern darkness According to Octavian, the body of vord slowly advancing on Antillus was still fortyto too many years spent in the field, Marcus knew that you never really knehere the eneh to touch with a blade

It was, he realized, partly why he had preferred his life as Valiar Marcus to the one he'd followed as a Cursor A soldier ht not knohere his enemy was, but he nearly always kneho the enehts?" said a quiet voice behind hi behind hi step away He had approached in perfect silence to within range of a killing stroke Had Magnus chosen, he could have struck with the gladius at his side, or a knife he'd concealed on his person Given Marcus's arets would have been the back of the neck - a thrust down, at the proper angle, could sever the spine, cut one of the large blood vessels in the neck, and shut off the windpipe all at the same time Done properly, it resulted in a certain, silent kill of even a heavily ar it, over and over and over, back in his days at the Acaderained into the muscles of his arms and shoulders and back It was one of the standard techniques taught to the Cursors

Magnus had just used hi student Cursors, though Marcus had never participated himself - a way to tell the other Cursor that you could have killed hinus's stance, relaxed and nonchalant to the casual observer, was centered and ready for e Anyone trained at the Acadenized that

So The older Cursor was fishing

The First Spear grunted as though nothing had happened The nearest group of laboring legionares was a good forty feet off There was no need to guard his speech if he lowered his voice "Wondering how long before the vord get here"

Magnus stared at hi out of the stance and walking up to stand beside the First Spear

Marcus noted the slight protrusion of a knife's handle, where it was hidden up the old Cursor's sleeve Magnusbehind him But that wouldn't make him any less deadly should he choose to act It was never the enemy's muscle or weapons or furies that nus's mind was still razor-sharp

"Quite a while, one would think," Magnus said "The Antillans don't expect them to make their first assaults for another teeks or more"