Vulcan's Fury: The Dark Lands by Michael R. Hicks Page A

claw marks, made by some sort of animal. His horse was in little better shape, and had to be given mercy. I’m surprised the poor animal made it so far.” Sergius frowned as he took another sip of wine. “The man was delirious, the wounds already festering badly. All we could get out of him before he died was that the village had been attacked.”
    “By whom, sir?” Tullius asked.
    Sergius regarded him over the brim of his golden goblet. “Dark Wolves.”
    “Impossible,” Pelonius breathed.
    “Why is that impossible?” Valeria asked, confused. “I’ve read that the forests here have wolves aplenty, along with bears and lions, and even tigers. Why couldn’t there be dark wolves?”
    “Because Dark Wolves are not at all like the wolves with which you are familiar, princess,” Pelonius explained. “They are mythical creatures dating back to a time of the First Spring. Legend says that a bridge once existed for a time between this continent and the Dark Lands, and the Dark Wolves and other creatures, some far more frightening, used it to cross the Haunted Sea to feast on the flesh of men. But Neptune took mercy upon us, and as the world warmed during the First Spring he commanded the waters to consume the bridge and made them deadly so that the evil of the Dark Lands could reach us no more.” He grimaced. “The accounts surrounding the Dark Wolves and the other spawn of the Dark Lands are among the oldest and most obscure in our history, and few of our people today have ever even heard of Dark Wolves. My compliments to you on your knowledge, general.”
    “My thanks, Pelonius.” Sergius raised his goblet in a mock toast. “And so it was, based on the ravings of this poor soul, that I suspected he had simply fallen victim to an animal attack during his travels, for that happens with tragic regularity in some areas of the deeper forests. But I could not take the chance that something more serious had taken place: brigands and thieves have been known to menace villages now and again, but never in recent times have they posed any real threat to more than the smallest habitation. So I dispatched a cavalry squadron of thirty men to Camaracum to investigate.”
    “What did they find?” Valeria asked. She realized that she was leaning so far toward the general that she was steadying herself with one hand on the arm of his chair, but didn’t care. She was near to trembling with excitement.
    “I wish I knew,” Sergius told her in a grim voice. “They never returned, nor did they send word via messenger. The village is a day and a half away for men moving fast on horseback, and even allowing for unexpected delays along the way, they should have reported back by now.” He caught Tullius’s questioning look. In answer to the centurion’s unasked question, Sergius said, “Their commander was an experienced soldier and should not have been easily caught unaware. ”
    “Bugger all,” Septimus breathed.
    “Not quite the way I would have put it,” Sergius said, arching an eyebrow, “but eloquently said nonetheless. And so it is that come dawn tomorrow, the bulk of Legio Invictus will march to Camaracum. I’ll be taking six cohorts and half the cavalry with me, while the rest of the legion remains here to safeguard the city and act as a reserve for the province should any additional threats emerge.”
    “We’re coming with you,” Valeria blurted.
    All eyes turned to stare at her.
    “I must beg your forgiveness, princess,” the general said with what could only be a patronizing look, “but that’s quite impossible. A woman has no business on such a potentially perilous expedition.”
    Valeria slowly straightened, her spine becoming ramrod straight as she held the general’s gaze. Her nostrils flared, and she saw Marcus’s lips press into a thin line as he forced himself to keep his mouth shut. “I am the daughter of the Emperor, General Sergius,” she said in a tone of voice she had learned from her