The Lost Knights. William Speir

their territory. The Cohort was over three week’s hard march away from the protection of the other Roman Legions in Britannia, and none of the Roman outposts in the region could provide much protection from the Caledonians – the four destroyed forts proved that clearly.

      Gaius Valerius also knew that they couldn’t stay where they were. The base camp had proven indefensible, and if nine Cohorts hadn’t been able to defend the position, then one Cohort certainly could not. He gave orders to gather as many supplies as would fit on the supply carts that the Cohort had taken with them to Camelon, including swords, spears, and shields. He also gave orders to find the Aquila, Vexilla, Signum, and Imago for the Legion and the other Cohorts. If the Caledonians hadn’t taken them, then Gaius Valerius wouldn’t allow the symbols of the Legion to be left behind.

      Gaius Valerius went to his tent and looked around. There were items that he wanted to take with him for sentimental reasons, but in the end, all he carried out was his traveling altar to Mithras. Perhaps his prayers to the god had spared his men, and if so, he intended to continue making prayers and sacrifices until his men reached safety.

      After almost two hours, the carts were loaded and the men reassembled for the march. They hated leaving the bodies of their fellow Legionnaires behind where they had been found, but any delay increased their chances of being discovered and meeting the same fate. As they left the base camp behind them, each man mourned the loss of his friends, his brothers, and his fellow Legionnaires. After the last man left the clearing, an eerie quiet returned to the area, broken only by the sound of wings as the birds returned to finish their feasting.

      Gaius Valerius had little time to plan before the Third Cohort left the base camp for the last time. He led his Legionnaires east – the same way they had just returned from Camelon. He was acting purely on instinct, but once the base camp was more than a league behind him, he called a halt to the march and summoned his Centurions.

      “What are we going to do?” Titus Aurelius asked once the senior officers were out of earshot from the resting Legionnaires.

      “We’re going to survive,” Gaius Valerius answered.

      “How?” one of the other Centurions asked.

      “I’m not sure, yet,” Gaius Valerius admitted. “We needed to get away from the base camp, but now we need to decide where to go and what to do. If we’re lucky, the Caledonians think that the entire Legion was at the camp and don’t know that we survived. If that’s the case, then we have a chance, but eventually someone will discover us. We’re too deep in Caledonian territory to get back to Eburacum and the Legions unnoticed.”

      After a moment, he continued. “If I were the Caledonians, and I thought that I had just destroyed an entire Legion, I’d think that the Roman defenses to the south were diminished, and I’d start moving in that direction to begin the invasion. That rules out taking the direct southern route out of here. We never deployed to the west, so we don’t know what’s waiting for us there. We have deployed east, and know there’s little there including Caledonian settlements. I propose we go east and work our way down the coast. We may be able to get back to Eburacum slowly while avoiding contact with the enemy. I think we should make for Elginhaugh as quickly as we can and take some time to explore south along the coast to see if the way is clear. We can discuss other options depending on what we find. Agreed?”

      The officers all nodded in agreement. They understood the seriousness of their situation and were grateful that their commander was thinking clearly. The eastern route made the most sense. They were abandoning their original mission; survival was the number one priority, and someone had to alert Rome of the loss of the Legion.

      Legions had been lost before, and it was a tremendous blow to the Emperor and to Rome. Over a century before, three Legions had been wiped out by the Germanic tribes along the River Rhine, leaving the provinces of Gaul undefended. Rome mourned their loss until an expeditionary force could be assembled to extract retribution and subdue the Germanic tribes once again. There would need to be some sort of reprisal for the loss of the Ninth Legion at the hands of the Caledonians.

      It took several days to reach Elginhaugh, and the fort was in the same condition as the other forts that the Legion had been sent to inspect. At no time did they see anyone else along the way. Everything along the River Esk seemed to be abandoned. Each Legionnaire hoped that they’d continue to find the same thing as they moved south.

      The Legionnaires of the Third Cohort deployed to make camp. It would be another cold camp until scouts could confirm that there were no Caledonians nearby. The fort at Elginhaugh guarded a bridge over the River Esk, and guards were placed there in case anyone should attempt to attack from the direction of the river.

      Scouts were sent to the west and the south. The scouts sent to the west were tasked with removing any traces that the Cohort had passed that way and to see if they had been followed on their march eastward. The scouts sent to the south were tasked with seeing if the way was clear and determining potential options for alternate campsites.

      Two days later, the scouts sent to the south returned. “We found the enemy,” they said to Gaius Valerius as they came up to him to report.

      “Where are they?”

      “About a day’s march south of us, directly between us and Eburacum. The force is immense – larger than any enemy force I have ever seen.”

      “How many?”

      “I would estimate between thirty and forty thousand, plus women and children. It’s as if the entire country is preparing to move south, but with so many people, they can’t move very quickly.”

      “Is there any way we can get around them?”

      “Not that I saw. The terrain is mostly rolling hills with few trees in that region. The Caledonians are spread out for leagues. We’d almost have to travel all the way to the western coast before turning south to pass them, and we don’t know what reception we’d have in that direction.”

      Gaius Valerius thought for a moment about the information he had been given. They were cut off from the other Legions with nearly the entire Caledonian nation between them and safety. Tactically, it was an almost hopeless situation. But they were still alive, and that was something.

      Another day passed before the western scouts returned. They had erased as much of the evidence of the Cohort’s march as possible, and they reported seeing none of the enemy. Gaius Valerius had the southern scouts return to spy on the enemy and report back as soon as they could.

      As his Legionnaires continued to clean up the remains of the fort, a chamber was discovered under the garrison commander’s former quarters. Descending the stairs, Gaius Valerius recognized what it was immediately: a mithraeum (temple of Mithras), which was designed to resemble the cave in which Mithras was born. He felt that this was a good sign, and he ordered the men to have it cleaned and prepared. That night, he and his men worshipped there, sacrificing and giving thanks for their survival.

      Scouting reports from the south noted that the Caledonians hadn’t moved in several days. It was as if they were waiting for something, but the scouts had no explanation as to why the Caledonians hadn’t attacked the Roman territories.

      Several days later, Gaius Valerius called for a meeting of the entire Cohort to discuss their options.

      “Under normal circumstances,” he began once everyone was assembled, “the officers would decide upon a course of action and issue orders to see that it was carried out. These aren’t normal circumstances. We’re deep inside enemy territory, and we’re completely cut off from reinforcements. The enemy has already proven that it can overwhelm a force of our size with ease, and if they attack the two Legions along the frontier in their current numbers, they’ll easily defeat the Roman forces defending the province of Britannia. After what happened to our Legion, I truly don’t see how our other Legions can defend themselves against the Caledonians. So, we’re left in a very bad position.

      “Let us look at our options. One, we go north. The problem with this option is that it puts us deeper into enemy territory and farther from the safety