The Great War.

[Incongruous]

Here is the next chapter, hope you like it, I really do .

Chapter Three

The clouds raced across the sky, all was silent. All accept the terrible thunder of the vast grey horde that was the Seleucid army. Through scorched fields and barren deserts they marched, so vast and dense was the dust cloud they had kicked up, that when a man breathed in he was in danger of choking. It had all happened quickly, Kassander had been riding at full pace to where he expected his army was. Yet he had instead found another army, an army unknown to him, under the command of a certain Kastos of Scythia. “Where did you come from”? Asked Kassander in a domineering tone.
“I have marched from Scythia as my Lord Alexandros bid me”
“I was not informed of such a move, how can I trust you”?
“Lord Alexandros does not tell you much, has he told you of his attack upon Africa?”
“What! When did he decide this?”
“Two years ago, just before you attacked Roman territory in Asia, I have been slowly hacking my way through the Bosphorus region, Dacia and Thracia, I have with me over two thousand Sarmatian nobles and their attachments, a few Thraco-Dacian tribes plus my special contingent”, with these last words Kastos smiled. Kassander caught it at the corner of his a eye, a wave of fear swept through him.
“What special contingent?” Kassander’s voice trembled.
“Why have you not heard of these great warriors, you yourself have fought them” he said, with a smirk.
“What do you mean, I have fought them?”
“Romans, I have five thousand of them, all willingly joined me from the Northern extremities of Italia”
“What! Romans, from Italia, how is that possible, by the gods, how much have you conquered?”
“I have conquered all north of Greece and Macedon, Illyria is under my direct control. And northern Italia is on its knees, gods man, where have you been, Pluto?”
Kassander was taken aback, how was this possible, the man had conquered over half of the Roman empire, he was… He was Dangerous.
“How many men came with you from Scythia?” the question was asked carefully so as to not cause suspicion.
“I left the Parthian Satrapy five years ago with me I took over two hundred thousand men, since then I have added to my force, but I have had to release men in order to garrison towns, so here with me I have only a hundred thousand, but yourself how many pikes do you have?”
“I have thirty thousand men of Antioch, the emperors finest, Alexandros has another thirty, all from Seleukia”
“Bah! And yet you were able to overcome the innumerable hordes of Roma, by Zeus we shall have them soon enough”, Kastos seemed generally pleased; he drank from a wine skin.
“Roman hordes? What nonsense, we have met only one army and that was only around fifty thousand, these hordes you speak of do not exist”, Kassander was laughing, what a fool this man must be.
“It is no laughing matter, and hordes they do have, in Dacia we came up against an army of hundreds of thousands, and there will be more, just wait till you get to Italia, the place is swarming with legions”, Kastos seemed quite serious.
“But we have not come up against any armies in Greece, nothing they have all retreated”, Kassander could hear his heart, fear was taking him.
The grizzly old Kastos looked a him through his one eye “No, they haven’t left Greece, for I would have found them, no good Lord there are a good many left, and were going to meet them, so you should take me to your army so we may strengthen ourselves, for the Roman army in Greece is terrifying”.
“But… But where could we find them? It will be impossible”
“No, it won’t, because this particular horde is called the Hammer Of The Greeks, they’ll light up bonfires so we can find them”
“What?” now Kassander was shaking.
“Aye, they light bonfires, human ones, they earned their name”, he chuckled at his last comment.
“So do you know where they are, the Romans?” the situation had changed completely, Kassander was like a school student eager to learn more from his master.
“The great white city, which sits upon the rocks”
“Where’s that?”
“Byzantium lad, Byzantium”

[Incongruous]

Heres the next part, hope you enjoy.

Chapter Four

“What! Where are they, by Zeus what madness is this, where did they come from”, Lysander was astounded by the news Kassander had brought with him.
“I met with them not a day past, they came by way of the great Scythian plain”
“But, we…I knew not of this, by whose decree did he march, by the gods I will…”
“By the gods! By the gods I shall indulge you as I see fit, I am in command here”
“Ha! Your command is know more than a string, one slice and it is broken”
“How dare you! I shall have you executed for you impudence!”
“You will do nothing, the army will not follow you if I wish it not!”
“I have the power! This is my command, and mine alone”
“You have no power, the power lies-
“The power lies with me, I have a hundred thousand men under my command, you have thirty thousand”
Lysander eyed up the grizzled form of Kastos, he despised the man immediately, “Ah, of course, forgive me my lord, my mind was not straight”, Lysander looked up at Kastos, “please exscuse me”. With a bow he left, a smirk on his face, a few beautiful slave girls would have Kastos on his side, and Kassander isolated. “I apologise Lord Kastos, he is bitter you see, he wanted a command”, Kassander tried to sound apologetic, but the scorn was clearly audible. “I know, you resent me being in charge, you resent being left in the dark. But I do not wish you to be an enemy, I wish you to be second in command of this great host. That intolerable fool is just a pansy, chosen for his good looks, he is no real fighter”, Kastos’ tone was a assertive but not unfriendly, he took a skin of wine and poured some of it into two goblets, “here drink with me, a pact, that you will accept my command and that I will give you secondary command”.
Kassander bowed his head in compliance, he poured some of the wine into is mouth and almost gagged, it was foul tasting stuff. “Aha! I see my Thracian red is not too your liking, its strong stuff, and acquired taste. I still hate it but, it’s all I could get, other than some good vintage stock from Noricum which I pilfered”. Kassander let a smile sneak pass his face, he was coming to like this old man, despite his rugged manner and course language. A sound of ruffled canvas was heard, Kassander spun round, and saw it was a train of slaves carrying dishes, “Now! For the feast, you would never of seen such a fine selection, hmm, the beef is first class, here some pigeon I’m told its good, but…This is the best, they tell me it is the meat of a mythical beast, which the Germans call an Auroch, apparently if you eat it you will gain super human strength”. Kassander stared at the table before him, the foods of a thousand kingdoms, the finest wines on earth and spices from the great kingdom of the east, “I must admit I am taken aback, but by god how much you have, from so far, what an empire you must have carved for Alexandros”.
“Bah! It was child’s play, these Roman have only one decent commander and they’ve sentenced him to death in exile, fools”. Yet again Kassander couldn’t absorb the amount of information bombarding him.
“Tell me, who is this great general, how great is he?”
Kastos’ face darkened at the inquiry, he dropped his meat, slowly he leaned over as if to say something, which should not be spoken out loud, unless the shadows should hear. “He is undefeated in battle, I have faced him and failed, but pushed him into Italia because he could not fight again, numbers you see”. The old veteran gave a sigh, and prepared himself for his next words, “he fights in blood red armour, he leads his troops from the front, an oh! His men, never have I seen such mighty warriors, he is feared throughout the army, and…Do you know what they call him?” Kassander felt a wave of dread run through him, he slowly shook his head. “They call him, Crucifixus, the Crucified one, apparently he escaped from his cross after being defeated in Asia Minor”. Kassander’s heart stopped, his blood froze over. The goblet hit the floor and smashed into a thousand pieces, “By the gods! What ails you?” cried Kastos.
“Wha…What is his real name, do you know?” Kassander felt as if his life depended upon the answer.
“Aye, I know his name, its Marcus”.
Kassander’s face turned white, how was it possible.
“The gods wept, what ails you? Your skin is as pale as ice”
“I know the man, I saved his life at Essus”.