Clay Warrior Stories Boxset 1 Read online

  Clay Warrior Stories

  Box Set #1

  Books #1, #2 & #3

  Clay Legionary

  Spilled Blood

  Bloody Water

  By: J. Clifton Slater

  Clay Legionary

  Clay Warrior Stories

  Book #1

  J. Clifton Slater

  Clay Legionary is a work of fiction. While some characters are historical figures, the majority are fictional. Any resemblance to persons living or dead are purely coincidental.

  Clay Legionary takes place in 271 - 268 B.C. when Rome was a Republic and before the Imperial Roman Empire conquered the world. While I have attempted to stay true to the era, I am not a historian. If you are a true aficionado of the times, I apologize in advance for my errors.

  I’d like to thank my editor Hollis Jones for her work in correcting my rambling sentences and overly flowery prose. Also, I am grateful to Denise Scherschel for her help in structuring the book. Her amazing illustrated book Zippy McZoomerman Gears Up is a must read for children with disabilities.

  Forget your car, your television, your computer and smart phone; journey back to when making clay bricks and steel were the height of technology.

  J. Clifton Slater

  E-Mail: [email protected]

  FB: facebook.com/Galactic Council Realm & Clay Warrior Stories

  Content

  Clay Legionary

  Content

  Act 1

  Chapter 1 - Cooperative Village

  Chapter 2 - The Sisera’s Farm

  Chapter 3 - The Sisera’s Villa

  Chapter 4 - The Harvest

  Chapter 5 - The Grain Field

  Chapter 6 - The Great Room

  Chapter 7 - The Cooperative Village

  Chapter 8 - The Bully’s Turn

  Chapter 9 - The Collection Town

  Chapter 10 - The Dangerous Pub

  Chapter 11 - The Town’s Guard

  Chapter 12 - The Officer of the Day

  Act 2

  Chapter 13 - The Road to the Capital

  Chapter 14 - The Capital’s Wall

  Chapter 15 - The Legion Transfer Post

  Chapter 16 - The Old Gear

  Chapter 17 - The Corral

  Chapter 18 - The Tournament

  Chapter 19 - The Arena

  Chapter 20 - The Betting

  Chapter 21 - The Conspiracy

  Chapter 22 - The Corral Fight

  Chapter 23 - Flight from the Transfer Post

  Chapter 24 - The Docks at the Capital

  Chapter 25 - Warship Sailing Towards the Massina Strait

  Act 3

  Chapter 26 - Main Harbor of the Eastern Providences

  Chapter 27 - The Harbor Transfer Post

  Chapter 28 - The Acting SOG

  Chapter 29 - Guard Post Fifteen

  Chapter 30 - The Medical Tent

  Chapter 31 - The Training Century

  Chapter 32 - Recruit Training

  Chapter 33 - Gladius Drills

  Chapter 34 - A Little Jog

  Chapter 35 - Hand Launched Missiles

  Chapter 36 - Every Recruit Has a Weakness

  Chapter 37 - Recruit Guard Duty

  Chapter 38 - Five, No Seven Republic Golds

  Chapter 39 - Graduation Day

  Act 4

  Chapter 40 - The Selection Process

  Chapter 41 - Traveling Raider Style

  Chapter 42 - Raider Post Eastern Province

  Chapter 43 - Legion Raider Camp

  Chapter 44 - The Eastern Pass

  Chapter 45 - Quarters of Raider Optio Horus

  Chapter 46 - Nocte Apibus / Night Bees

  Chapter 47 - Dulce Pugno / Sweet Fist

  Act 5

  Chapter 48 - A Troubling Report

  Chapter 49 - The Harbor Transfer Post

  Chapter 50 - Centurion Quarters at the Transfer Post

  Chapter 51 - Preparation, The Hallmark of Legion Raiders

  Chapter 52 - Three Blocks Out

  Chapter 53 - The Rebel Warehouse

  Chapter 54 - A Rescue and a Prisoner

  Chapter 55 - Fight in the Warehouse

  Chapter 56 - Medic up, Medic up

  Chapter 57 - Cleaning Up and Clearing Out

  Chapter 58 - Intelligence, the Rarest of Commodities

  Chapter 59 - For the Specialist, a Chit

  Chapter 60 - Raider Post

  Act 6

  Chapter 61 - A Small Caravan

  Chapter 62 - Sticky Hands

  Chapter 63 - Rebels on the Trail

  Chapter 64 - Ambush in the Night

  Chapter 65 - Dangerous Travels

  Chapter 66 - Duel in the High Desert

  Chapter 67 - Caravan Town

  Chapter 68 - Divide, Conquer, or Die

  Chapter 69 - Only Defenders Like Funnels

  Chapter 70 - Rest, You’ll be Fine in a Month

  Chapter 71 - Coin of the Realm and Other Currencies

  Act 7

  Chapter 72 - Mountain Trails and Quail

  Chapter 73 - Natural Defensive Position

  Chapter 74 - Entrance to the Golden Valley

  Chapter 75 - The Golden Valley

  Act 8

  Chapter 76 - The Return of Four Nocte Apibus

  Chapter 77 - The Retribution Trial

  Chapter 78 - Honor Among Assassins

  Chapter 79 - Daylight in the Valley

  Act 9

  Chapter 80 - Down from the Mountains

  Chapter 81 - Legion NCOs Fix Stuff

  Chapter 82 - The Harbor at Crotone

  The End

  A note from J. Clifton Slater

  Books by J. Clifton Slater

  Clay Legionary

  Act 1

  Prodigy

  Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines Prodigy as a young person who is unusually gifted with special talent. These advanced talents, no matter how extreme, tends to be beneficial for those associated with the prodigy.

  A prodigy can come from many different fields: musical prodigy; mathematical prodigy; engineering prodigy; literary prodigy; or artistic prodigy.

  Usually, the talented child poses no threat to strangers who encounter the youth. However, dig a little deeper into the Latin origin of the word and you’ll uncover a threatening dark side.

  The Etymology of prodigy is prodigium. Prodigium means omen or monster – Thus the gifted can then become the feared. Now, imagine the gifted youth as a Swordsman Prodigy.

  Chapter 1 - Cooperative Village

  Alerio Sisera broke from the corner of the school house and sprinted away with one thought in mind - escape. The path lay across the yard and threaded between two grain storage buildings. With arms pumping and knees raising and falling, he raced towards the trail leading to his home and safety. The buildings grew closer and his escape seemed assured.

  For the last year, three older boys had terrorized him and the younger students in his small class. The bullying began with pushing and verbal harassment. But recently the levels of aggression had sunk to a new low. Physical punishment and petty theft were now part of their itinerary of pain and suffering.

  Unfortunately for Alerio, he became a primary target when the older boys discovered his father had been an Optio in the Legion. Each of the three boys’ fathers had served short stints in the Republic’s army. Their fathers carried resentment for NCOs when they were discharged. They passed on the negative emotions to their boys.

  He reached the alley between the grain buildings with a vision of open fields in sight. Relief washed over Alerio and he slowed. Suddenly his attempted escape was abruptly cut off.

  “Going somewhere Sisera?” One of the
boys asked as the three stepped into his path.

  One circled around behind Alerio. The one who had spoken shoved his face in close as if to dare the younger boy to take a swing. The third boy moved close to Alerio’s side.

  “What, no time to say hello?” he whispered in Alerio’s ear. “Got to get home to your stolen land and that pretty mother of yours.”

  Alerio’s hands clinched into fists, his face reddened at the mention of his mother, and he started to punch the boy. But, the boy on his side had placed a foot between his legs and when the boy behind him pushed, Alerio found himself face first on the ground.

  A kick to his ribs rolled him over and he lay looking up at three sneering faces.

  “What do you have for us today?” One asked as he reached down and plucked the pouch from Alerio’s belt. “Your payment for stealing our best land,” he explained as he spilled the content of the pouch into his hand.

  He distributed the five copper coins to his companions. The iron spinning top he kept for himself. A dried root shaped like a dragon was tossed to the ground beside Alerio. As the young boy watched, a heal pulverized the dragon into shredded mulch.

  “Do better tomorrow; I’d like a new knife,” another of the boys said as he bent down. He ended the instructions with a hard punch to the center of his victim’s chest.

  It was then Alerio cried out in frustration. The physical pain was temporary while the mental anguish burned deeply into his mind. Plus, he knew tomorrow would bring more abuse from the older boys.

  Chapter 2 - The Sisera’s Farm

  He left the small village behind and raced down the path towards his home. The trees surrounding the small villa came into view and the dread faded. Faded until he entered the kitchen and met his mother.

  In a panic, she asked, “What happened to your face?”

  A cloth was dipped in a bowl of water and applied to his cheek. It came away stained with dirt and blood. His mother studied the bruise.

  “Was it those boys again?” She asked as she dabbed at his cheek. Then she added. “I’ll have your father speak to their fathers.”

  “No! Ah, no, I fell,” he lied.

  The thought of his father being involved in the dispute was unbearable. Alerio imagined it would make the assaults worse and he’d rather face the boys alone than have his father interfere.

  Over the last year, his father had tried to teach him self-defense. But his tendons were too immature to apply wrestling holds. His arms too thin and under sized for boxing so, after those attempts, his father gave up on teaching him to fight.

  The afternoon was filled with chores and Alerio had already put the fight behind him. At dinner, he avoided the eyes of his parents and his two older sisters. They ate and his father talked about planting and the need to rotate fields. Alerio had stopped listening when his sisters interrupted to comment on the scrapes and scabs on his face. His father didn’t comment. He simply looked long and hard at the injuries. For the remainder of the meal, Alerio feared that his father would become involved.

  After dinner, retired Optio Sisera motioned for Alerio to follow. He guided the boy through the courtyard, around the grain separation racks, and into a storage shed. Three walls of the shed held farming tools. On the fourth hung weapons.

  Large heavy infantry shields and smaller shields used by skirmishers occupied the center and lower part of the wall. Shelves above and beside the shields were filled with javelins, bows, and swords. The senior Sisera reached under the shields and moved a barrel filled with arrows. From the recess, he pulled out a wooden sword. He swung it effortlessly a few times before carrying it outside. Alerio followed.

  They walked around to the rear of the shed, and Alerio’s chest swelled with pride at the farm. What once had been a rocky, barren track was now a field of grain. Stalks swayed in the evening breeze and appeared golden in the light of the setting sun. Between the rock wall at the edge of the field and the shed, a tree trunk had been planted. It stood taller than the boy and was twice his thickness. Stripped of its bark, the post appeared to glow golden in the fading light.

  Alerio watched as the retired Optio laid the wooden sword against the shed, struck flint and lit a lantern. He hung the lantern from the roof’s overhang before picking up the sword.

  “This is a recruit training gladius,” his father stated as he walked to the tree trunk gripping the sword in one hand. “You strike the post from the side twice before swinging the sword to the opposite side and striking it backhandedly. Twice and once then repeat.”

  He demonstrated the two slashes and one backhanded strike before handing the sword to Alerio. The tip of the wooden sword drooped towards the ground.

  Alerio had played with his father’s gladius when he was younger. It had taken two hands to hold the short sword yet, he had been able to lift it. The wooden sword was almost twice the weight of the metal weapon.

  “It’s heavy so when you transition to a real gladius, you’ll be stronger and better able to handle the drills,” his father explained. “Practice until you get tired. Then come in and clean up.”

  His father disappeared around the shed and Alerio concentrated on lifting the sword tip from the dirt. He managed three repetitions before his right arm gave out.

  In frustration, he switched to his left hand and managed only two repetitions. With the sword back in his right hand, he struck twice, but, as he shifted the gladius to the opposite side of the post for the backhand strike, the wooden sword slipped from his hand. It landed in the dirt.

  Chapter 3 - The Sisera’s Villa

  In the weeks that followed, Alerio managed to evade the older boys. When they did catch him, he noticed their punches weren’t as devastating. Compared to the burning and soreness from the sword practice, their attempts seemed weak.

  One day he returned home to find his father entertaining company. Two big men sat on the patio talking with the former Sergeant. They were laughing and each held a clay mug of vino.

  “Alerio come here,” his father said calling him over. Dropping an arm over his shoulders, he stated proudly to the men, “This is my boy. Alerio this is Centurion Efrem and Optio Egidius. We served together in the Legion.”

  Alerio was taken by surprise. His father wasn’t expressive with his emotions. He worked hard, treated his family and slaves fairly, but he was stingy with his praise.

  “I can see much of you in him,” Centurion Efrem observed. “Back when you were a scrawny, raw recruit who didn’t know the difference between a shovel and a gladius.”

  “I know the difference, sir,” Alerio boasted.

  “Oh, you do, do you?” Centurion Efrem asked. He stood, pulled his sword, and spoke to the other man. “Optio Egidius, give the boy your gladius.”

  The Optio slid his weapon free and handed it to Alerio hilt first. Compared to the heavy wooden sword, it seemed light.

  “Let’s see what you know,” the Centurion demanded holding out his weapon.

  Alerio wasn’t sure what to do. He swung twice at the other man’s blade before swinging to the other side and backhanding the opposite side. Efrem’s sword rocked from the blows.

  “Impressive,” the man said. “Now, strike harder and I’ll provide resistance.”

  This time Alerio’s gladius didn’t rock his opponent’s blade. It was as if he were striking the unmoving post. On the backhand move, the Centurion’s blade struck back. Alerio’s sword stopped cold, jarring him from hand to shoulder. His fingers went numb and the tip of the sword touched the ground. Even in that state, he didn’t drop the weapon.

  “That wasn’t fair to the lad, Centurion,” Optio Egidius scolded.

  “Better he learned defeat now than think himself an expert and die from ignorance,” the infantry officer said. “Had enough boy?”

  Retired Sergeant Sisera hadn’t said a word during the drill. He did have an odd look on his face.

  “No, sir,” Alerio replied as he switched the gladius to his left hand. He brought the blade up t
o guard position and waited.

  Centurion Efrem smiled and glanced over at the former Optio. “Sisera. Did you teach him to be ambidextrous?”

  “Not me Centurion,” Alerio’s father replied. “I was never that good a swordsman.”

  “Alright young Alerio,” Efrem said bringing his blade up to touch blades with the boy. “Begin.”

  This time Alerio was ready for the counterstrike. While it stung, it wasn’t disabling and he managed to fend off the Centurion for a flurry before the older man’s strength won the drill.

  “Optio. If it’s alright with you,” Centurion Efrem offered. “I’d like to train the boy while we’re here. He has promise.”

  Alerio hadn’t thought about being ambidextrous. He’d been switching hands because he could only swing at the post with the training sword for so long with one hand. In order to prolong the training, he had switched from right to left and left to right.

  Centurion Efrem and Optio Egidius were on fall furlough from the western Legion. Both men grew up in the Capital and neither wanted to go from the orderly life of a Legionary to the chaos of a city. So, they’d accepted former Optio Sisera’s offer of home cooked meals, wine, conversation, and a soft bed in exchange for working the harvest. They’d leave well fed with a few Republic gold coins in their pouches before returning to their duty post.

  During the four weeks before harvesting began, Centurion Efrem drilled and taught Alerio. By the time the sickles, shovels, and baskets were distributed, Alerio knew all of the Legionary drills. While not proficient at them all, he knew enough to practice each drill daily.

  Chapter 4 - The Harvest

  Two years ago, for the harvest, Alerio had been assigned to the separating screens. Along with others, he scooped up handfuls of stalks and thrashed them until all the grain fell from the husks. He hadn’t been that helpful but he tried.

  Last year, he graduated to shovel duty. As the seeds filled the space under the screens, he and others shoveled the grain from under the trashing racks and into bags. He got more on the ground than in the bags. But he didn’t get in anybody’s way.