The fire crackled with fir branches and resin, sending up thick smoke that smelled of old blood and damp earth. Wulfgar crouched beside his spear, staring across the dark plain beyond the forest. The camp bustled with the sounds of metal, footsteps, and shouting. Not chaos—preparation. Like a beast awakening.
Ariovistus had returned.
The riders had escorted him to the great tent, where the elders, clan chiefs, and chosen warriors waited. Some wore bearskins. Others had ritual tattoos etched in ash and lime. None of them smiled.
Wulfgar had no tattoos. Not yet. But he would. Soon. If he survived what was coming.
—What did the Roman say? —a young man beside him asked.
—That we should turn back —another replied, laughing with contempt—. That we should leave our women, our lands, our spears… and return with the river at our backs.
An elder spat on the ground.
—The Romans always speak as if their words are chains. They wrap you in them before you can raise your sword.
The flap of Ariovistus' tent opened. The Germanic king stepped out—tall, grim-faced, his skin as weathered as his leather armor. He wore no crown. Only the scar of a spear that had slashed across his cheek. His eyes sought the central fire.
—The Roman general told me his legions don't fear mine! —he shouted.
There was laughter. But not mocking. Bitter laughter. Laughter from those who knew that death was already circling.
—So I told him that our women fight like his men! That our children don't fear wolves or their golden eagles! And that we will not give back what we took in blood!
Wulfgar felt something ignite in his chest. It wasn't hate. It was hunger for war. A thirst to prove that the Rhine was not a boundary—but a birthplace.
—They say their leader never loses —muttered the young man next to him.
—Then he will die for the first time —Wulfgar replied, eyes fixed on the fire.
In the distance, drums began to beat. Not like Rome's—steady and ordered—but raw, uneven. They called to spirits. To the dead. To the wolves.
And the wolves were already walking.