The Kin

  ***

  As the darkness fell the men were grouped around the mouth of the mine, each one holding a flaming torch and a medium-length stake in their hands. Across the hillside, there were other groups of men similarly armed, all waiting nervously for the sun to fall behind the horizon and the Kin to wake.

  Marius was grinning with anticipation. They wouldn’t be expecting them to be waiting outside, so there would be carnage for a few moments until they realised and raced back inside for cover. But he had plans for that. They weren’t going to get away tonight; he’d promised himself that he wasn’t going to leave this place until he was certain he’d wiped out as many of the monsters as he could.

  At least Junius wasn’t amongst them. The messenger had arrived in the late afternoon with the amazing news that Tribune Junius Silanus had appeared unexpectedly at the fort. He was weak and in a bad way, but they were sure that he would survive despite nearly drowning in the flood. Marius had no doubt that Junius would be on his way to his friends later, but at least for now he didn’t have to worry that he could be one of the creatures they killed.

  The murmurings from the men broke him from his revere. The Kin were coming, they could sense it; somehow the atmosphere had changed and though they weren’t making a noise their clothes and their feet were giving them away.

  Suddenly they burst from the darkness as a huge mass of monstrous faces and grasping claws. His men didn’t wait; as a unit they moved forward as if they were meeting a human enemy on the battlefield. Holding out the torches in front of then for light they impaled the unsuspecting Kin on their wooden spears.

  The ones at the front fell and those behind instinctively threw back their heads and yelled. But more were coming and these new ones pushed their fellows forward and into the range of the fires and spears. More died and soon the night was filled with their shrieks, as the creatures poured from the cave and fell onto the stakes and into the torches.

  Marius had never seen such chaos; there was no rhyme or reason. No one seemed to be taking charge and calling them back. They were mindlessly impaling themselves and from the shrieks that were echoing across the night, the same situation was playing out at the other openings.

  If the Kin’s strategy was to overwhelm with numbers it didn’t seem to be working. The Romans they were up against were hardened professionals, who’d fought deadlier and far more cunning foes. They were men who’d trained every day with their weapons and were used to defending and fighting for their Empire. This was a wholesale slaughter and every single man was revelling in it.

  Eventually the Kin were able to stop their number pushing forward and the few that were left retreated into the blackness of the mine.

  Immediately, Marius ordered the traps and wires to be set across the inside of the cave, so that they’d know if they attacked again. Some of the Romans wanted to follow them inside, but Marius flatly refused. The darkness was the domain of the Kin, they were the masters there. Any man entering the cave at night would be easy pickings.

  Once the traps were set, Marius allowed the men to relax but left five on guard to monitor and check for signs that the Kin were returning. Then he sat quietly watching as the men began to unwind and share a few jokes, but it was clear that the horrors of the last two nights stayed with them. Most remained quiet and thoughtful, and a few gave thankful prayers to their personal gods for their deliverance.

  As the night passed, men appeared from the other camps telling similar tales of slaughter and carnage. Marius listened and nodded, relieved that no men had been lost in the night. But near dawn the Kin tried again. Most of the men were asleep and only those on duty and a few watchers like Marius who couldn’t sleep heard them coming.

  The traps worked perfectly, and as the monsters lay sprawling on the floor of the opening, Marius led the men inside and dispatched them as they lay helpless. The rest quickly retreated.

  As instructed before dawn, a group of men from the fort who were fully rested arrived relieve to them and to begin their watch for the day. Tired, but strangely elated, Marius led his men back to Salinae and to bed where they could catch up on their sleep before returning the next night and the next until they were sure every single monster was dead. Once they were satisfied, they would turn their attention to the higher caves further away.