Blogtober 2021 Story Project
The centurion walked into the torch light of the archway. Lucius stepped back to keep his distance. The other soldier ran and leaped upon Lucius like a wildcat, snarling and howling with an inhuman hunger. Lucius was bigger than the centurion, but he knew at once he did not have the strength to hold him off for long.
The centurion’s eyes were black where his irises should have been, the whites of his eyes blood red. He opened his jaws wide to reveal sharp, pointed teeth in jagged rows. Lucius remembered Kamali’s caution to not let the hooded men bite him, and he tried to keep his bare arms clear of his attacker’s teeth.
A shower of sparks flew into Lucius’ face as Kamali struck the centurion with a torch. As he rolled away to steel himself for another attack, Chaim thrust a spear through his back, one of the weapons abandoned by the garrison that should have been in place at the gate.
The iron head burst through his chest, followed by the wooden staff, and the centurion screamed like an animal caught in a trap. His body shrunk out of his uniform and dissolved into a foul black liquid that bubbled and steamed on the ground.
“Jupiter’s cock!” Lucius shouted. “What was that thing?”
“The hooded men have already swept through here,” Kamali said. “He was bitten like the others.”
“We’ve got to get out of here,” Lucius said.
“Not this way,” Chaim said. “The others are coming.”
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