Rainer abruptly opened his eyes.
It was nighttime and the stars seemed to stretch on for eternity. Peeking off the side of the tree he lay under was the moon, gleaming like an estranged new wife, beautiful and bright, yet cold and aloof as it offered Rainer no comfort.
Lying under a lone tree before the camp, looking up into the sky. Rainer's eyes gleamed thoughtfully—and then a slight frown skewed his face.
'I lost.'
He had awakened here an hour ago, and Hoplite was kind enough to be there with his meal. He had been told what happened. How he was brought back unconscious on a horse, and despite Flavius's attempts to preserve his dignity, claiming that he fought well, the news festered that the son of Mars was beaten up by a woman.
Rainer rolled to the side, letting out a low groan.
He could already imagine the idiots at the camp laughing themselves silly over drinks.
"I hope they laugh so hard, they roll themselves into the campfire." He angrily muttered, balling himself into a fetal position.
"Ouch!" He winced in pain.
During his fight, he had received several light cuts from slashes he thought he had completely evaded. He never knew adrenaline merely kept the hurt back until now.
A sudden gust blew by and Rainer trembled, sniffing.
"Damn. I knew the night would be cold. That fight wasn't worth it in the least." He whispered with a depressed sigh.
*Crunch!* *Creach!*
He heard footsteps approaching and he frowned.
'Who is it now?! If it's someone trying to gloat, I'll make them pay!'
Rainer raised his head and saw that it was Kotys.
"Oh, Kotys. It's you?"
Kotys came to a stop and looked him over with his dark, seemingly emotionless eyes.
"Hoplite informed me you had awoken... How are you feeling?"
"Meh. Good, I guess..."
Rainer straightened from his pitiable balled form with a wince.
"Well, for the most part. If you discount my martyred ego, and limping sense of self-confidence, then yes... I've never been better."
"..." Kotys momentarily appeared lost for words.
Rainer glanced up from him to the camp.
"So, how are the soldiers taking the news?"
Kotys glanced back toward the camp and grimaced with a long, imperceptible groan.
His reaction spoke more than any explanation Kotys could give, and Rainer looked away, revealing a wry smile.
He felt like hiding under a rock.
"You know what, I don't wanna know! Let's change the topic to..." He glanced at Kotys. "You! Yes, you! Why are you out here? Patrol duty?"
Kotys licked his lips and shook his head.
"No, I simply came to check up on you."
Rainer seemed doubtful. "Milites can do that as they please now? Or has that old fox given you special privileges?"
Kotys cocked his head slightly, seeming a tad confused, and then he realized something.
"I am an officer now. I guess I hadn't informed you."
Rainer's eyes widened, looking pleasantly surprised.
"By the graces of the Lord Praefect, I have been promoted to the rank of Tesserarius of the second century."
Rainer's mouth fell open and he sat up.
"Oh! Wow! You've gone up in the world, little Ko! I'm happy for you!"
Kotys' eyes twitched at the way he was addressed, but still, he allowed a small smile.
He glanced back at the camp and shrugged.
"Yes. But there are those not satisfied with the decision, given my age. But the Praefect trusts me, and seeks a young adaptable mind to help with the security of the cohort."
Rainer nodded at what he said.
"He has good eyes, and his judgment is exceptional. I don't call him old fox for nothing, you know."
He chuckled lightly and Kotys smiled ruefully.
Soon, they both fell into a moment of silence, listening to the gentle caress of the wind against the grass.
"...The cohort lost that many, eh?"
Rainer suddenly muttered and Kotys took a deep breath.
While Kotys was capable and had proven his valor in battle. He was indeed young and hadn't participated in many campaigns, unless many of the veterans were dead, unwilling, or simply too dumb for the task, there was little chance Kotys was getting that rank.
"After the siege, we lost many officers and good men. It was then, Commius got promoted to lead the 2nd century."
He turned and gazed into the darkness, at the path they had taken here with a solemn expression.
"The unexpected ambush on Lord Praefect's vexillum also depleted our numbers significantly.
"While an elite auxiliary cohort of our size could, and did accomplish our assigned mission—in the end it was an overreach of our abilities."
He added with a heavy sigh before looking back at Rainer.
"Tomorrow, the Praefect would likely head for Apulum to bring in new recruits, filling our ranks before heading to Elysium.
"We might be camped here for a week while we restock from the city and train the new recruits."
He looked around.
"The terrain around here is good for training them too. I don't feel they need much training, either. They're auxiliaries, after all."
Rainer's head cocked to the side, picking out a word from Kotys' report-like speech.
"This Elysium place is composed of dense forests, right?"
Kotys' head whipped to him.
"Do you know of the place?"
"What? Like looking down on the lands through some sort of divine lens kinda knowing? No."
Rainer shook his head and looked away with a wry smile, an intrigued glint in his eyes.
"I just know it's a land valuable enough for some foolish governor and his allies to make some...ill-fated decisions over."
Kotys' brows furrowed at this. He could sense Rainer was implying something. Given that a governor was mentioned he knew it was important.
He took an unconscious step forward and asked.
"What do you know?"
Rainer shot him a warning glance.
"Careful now... Knowledge kills."
He warned under his breath and glanced past him toward the camp.
"You knowing could result in either of us being killed... Not saying you don't know how to keep a secret, I just meant you could be in cahoots with the wrong team. Either way, I couldn't care less for now. I'll live my time here while I complete my plans."
Kotys frowned, wanting to say something but he bit back his words and regained his calm.
"I have to go. I will be busy in the coming days but I might come visit you."
This made Rainer smile.
"Well, that's good to know. Not like I was going to sit here idle anyway. If you didn't stop by, I was always going to seek you out."
Rainer said with a playful wink and Kotys sighed. A sigh which incited a short laugh from Rainer.
Calming down, he grew quiet and said.
"Say... I'll be training here for a while. You know, building some muscle and recovering my martial skills. You can come spar with me whenever, just put on your shiny new armor so I don't rough you up too much." He joked, but Kotys apparently took it seriously, nodding.
"Very well. I will be leaving now."
Rainer nodded, and with that, he turned and left.
Watching him until he was close to the camp's gate, Rainer closed his eyes and let out a sigh.
When he opened them again, they were dead serious.