Chapter 478: Burden
Chapter 478: Burden
About 30 miles to the north of Sinuessa City, one could see a long streak of humans marching on the snowy landscape, heading further north. The group of rebels was currently making their way toward the massive mountain range on the horizon.
These rebels had lost half of their number because of the battle they had just gone through. In a matter of hours, a total of 40.000 men were killed, captured or simply separated from the main group during the chaos. This was certainly an astronomical loss for their cause.
Thrax, who was currently walking in the middle of the group, watched the myriad expressions on the people’s faces with a heavy heart. Some of them showed expressions of hatred, some of apprehension and some of them were listless.
The initial plan was to just wait out the winter inside the city, holling up behind the warmness it provided. But now, these people had to walk through the freezing snowy plains with him, in the middle of the night, with no definite destination. All because he wasn’t able to push back the Romans.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, many of them were injured, with the majority hungry and cold. All of them suffered various degrees of pain.
Thrax knew they couldn’t go on like this, but all he could do right now was comfort them. While doing his best to keep the people’s spirits up, he silently prayed the scouts he had sent would find some place they could take refuge in.
…
Several hours later, after walking through the snowy plains for who knew how long, Thrax finally spotted his scouts in the distance. They finally came back, hopefully bearing good news.
From them, Thrax found out the path ahead diverged in two. One was heading deeper north, away from Rome, while another was heading to the east, which meant closer to Rome.
One path led them to safety, with the prospect of freedom. Meanwhile, the other path led them to achieve their initial goal, unleashing their deep-seated grudge and enmity onto the Romans.
Hence, Thrax fell into a dilemma. Which one should he choose?
He knew he had to decide quickly as he was sure the Roman legionnaires hadn’t given up chasing them. If his calculation weren’t wrong, those Romans were just an hour or two behind them.
Turning around, Thrax locked gazes with his men. With a glance, he immediately knew what these people were thinking. He didn’t even have to ask them, to know that they were determined to go to the Roman capital and take their revenge even at the cost of their lives.
But Thrax couldn’t do so, not with deep contemplation. At the moment, he was Spartacus, the one who assumed the burden of leadership. The lives of 40.000 living beings were in his hand, his responsibility, and his decision would determine their fate. Their doom or glory.
Thrax, lost in thought, subconsciously looked up and saw the night sky. The sight of limitless expanse currently embroidered with hundreds of lustrous gleams welcomed him.
He prayed to the Greek gods, asking for their guidance. Moments later, under the watch of his thousands of men, he got up and straightened his back, his expression determined.
“We are heading to the east!! We shall see our cause till the end!!”
The rebels were cheering in excitement, as they heard their leader’s firm words. The weather was chillingly cold, but it had no impact whatsoever on their burning passion.
40.000 men were quickly moving through the snowy plains, where they quickly reached the divergent path and continued their journey to the east. Each of their steps were filled with vigor, fueled by their determination of giving the Romans their retribution. Nothing could stop them, not even the freezing temperature, not even the growing stomachs.
After hours of walking in the middle of the night covered in snow, the rebels were stopped in their tracks. They were astonished and dumbfounded when they saw what was in front of them.
The path which should have been clear and passable was currently blocked with walls of stone, 10 meters high and 500 meters wide. It was a construction they had never seen before, something that definitely hadn’t existed a few days ago as this path was one that travellers normally used to go to Rome.
As Thrax and the rebels went closer to said obstruction, they were gasping for air, as there were more surprises for them. There were pit holes spreading throughout the 500 meters wide terrain before the construction. 10 meters deep and 10 meters wide. These were definitely not something that could be made by humans in a matter of several days.
Looking at everything before them, Thrax once again shouted in rage. “JULIAN!!!”
As if his shout was a summoning call, several figures were seen standing on top of the wall and, among them, stood the Roman Tribunus, Julian himself.
“Spartacus, leader of the rebels! You are at the end of the road, there is nowhere for you to go! Surrender now or meet your doom!”
Thrax looked up and locked gazes with Julian, who impassively stared back at him. Gritting his teeth, he replied, “Never!”
After searching for Julian throughout the previous battle, the man finally stood before him. Without the slightest hesitation, Thrax quickly took a javelin from his subordinates and mustered all his strength as he threw it at the former.
The javelin swiftly flew through the air, moving so fast it was as if the air was being cut off by its journey. The hundred meters distance between Thrax and Julian didn’t seem to exist, as it was accurately heading towards the latter.
But of course, Julian, whose strength was comparable to Thrax, could clearly see it coming and casually shifted his position to avoid the speeding javelin. The javelin missed its target by a hair breadth and disappeared into the horizon.
“Your anger has always been the source of your strength, but now, it will be the reason for your downfall! This is the third time I advise you to give up! There won’t be a fourth time!” said Julian, staring at Thrax.
At the same time, Thrax and the rebels could hear marching sounds coming from behind them. Looking back, they realized the Roman legionnaires, who chased them, had caught up and blocked their path of retreat.
Realizing their precarious situation, Thrax quickly sent orders to his gladiators, who then commanded the 40.000 rebels into formation. But then, when the rebels had already entered their formation, he realized these Romans were not approaching and attacking them as he had previously thought.
Instead, they were setting up camps, building walls and barricades. In short, they were securing the whole path.
“Why don’t they attack us?!”
“The fucking Romans are waiting.”
“Waiting?! Waiting for what?”
Thrax, who was once part of the Roman auxiliary army, could somehow guess the other party’s intention.
“What else besides us dying of cold and hunger? Their fucking commander want to come and watch!”
Trepidation appeared on the faces of those who heard Thrax’s words, while Thrax fell silent.
…
Morning soon came and the rebels were preparing for their final battle. However, they were bound to be disappointed because the Romans clearly had no intention of attacking, even after nightfall again.
Meanwhile, in one night, hundreds of rebels who were in a weak condition had died. Not only because the cold was too terrible, but also because of the exhaustion from the journey they had taken.
One of Thrax’s gladiators, the most courageous one, Crixus went to Thrax and asked the latter to order them to fight. It was clear the man wanted to die a glorious death in battle, rather than die like a dog. And this sentiment was definitely not only in him, because other rebels were also thinking the same.
“Spartacus!! We should attack! Now!”
Thrax was hesitating. Charging toward completely prepared Roman legions in their own formation wouldn’t be the same as the scattered and unprepared ones they faced when they tried to charge out of Sinuessa.
In addition, there were at least 4 legions packed in the layers of the formation – a force that shouldn’t be compared with those they wreaked havoc before. Thrax believed it would be lucky if half of them could survive the endeavor.
As frustration and anger overcame him, Thrax once again approached the stone wall. His glare was received by Julian, who was calmly watching what was happening from above.
The two secretly looked at each other, but the other could clearly feel the tension gradually reaching its peak. In such a tense moment, a green-colored, unique-looking bird suddenly swooped down from the sky and gone dissipates into light particles. At the same time, the symbol in Thrax’s hand was glowing and a notification came to his mind.
[“Hey Mister Rebel Leader, let’s come and meet for a chat. I brought our Briton friend with me.]