The Horse Changer by Craig Smith Read Free Book Online

Labienus, had served as Caesar’s second-in-command in Gaul for many years. He must always have resented Caesar, for when the time came to pick a side, Labienus had joined Pompey Magnus. And now, having no choice but to live with a very bad decision, he rode with Pompey’s son.
    He saw us coming at the start of our attack and being hated by Caesar imagined we came for him. That was the point of Dolabella’s charge, but as we closed behind our left wing a few hundred of our number hit Labienus’s cavalry. As for the rest of us, we turned toward Caesar. Now completely screened from the enemy’s view by the dust in the field we rode at a controlled canter. I was coughing and blinded, like every man and horse out there.
    Circling behind Legio X, I could see the fight being pressed with terrifying fury. Caesar’s cavalry had come against the infantry’s flank. Pompey’s cavalry answered with every man available. I heard horses and men screaming; I saw hundreds of combatants from both sides down with wounds or already dead.
    At the centre of it the two cavalry forces had mixed completely together. A man could be fighting one enemy even as another closed on him from behind. The heavy lances were gone; this was sword against shield, and sometimes only the naked blades.
    And all so that we might pass by like a stream of ghosts through clouds of dust.

    We took arrows and stones from squads of archers and slingers at the rear. A few hundred reserve horsemen started to intercept us. Realizing our number exceeded three thousand, they turned back at once and retreated.
    We met three cohorts of men on horseback close to the camp palisade. We hit them with our lances lowered and broke through without any trouble. I brought down one rider in this charge; those behind him had already turned back toward the open gates of their camp. I stabbed another’s back as he rode away. I was ready to chase down a third victim when one of my decurions shouted something.
    He was pointing at the battlefield behind us and I pulled up for a better look. Gazing through the dust it was impossible to guess the number, but a mass of enemy cavalry had started across the plain in our direction. As I considered them, I felt my horse’s hindquarters dip; then the animal skittered excitedly.
    It could have been an arrow struck its haunches, or my horse might have stumbled on a corpse, but I knew the truth. I had committed the great error. I had let one of the enemy on the ground leap up behind me. As his grip closed around me, I lifted both arms. I sought to block easy access to my neck. Stopped in one assault, my assailant drove a dagger through my cuirass and into my ribs. The pain of the steel coming into me was like touching fire. Cold, then white hot. Having no chance of resisting the man as long as he hung on my back, I could only think to throw myself to the ground. My assailant came off my horse as well.
    We hit the ground together, his weight leaving me stunned. He rolled away. I blinked and tried in vain to breathe. I watched him pick up a heavy lance and tried to reach for my sword. A sharp pain in my shoulder stopped me; I had broken my collarbone without realising it. I hadn’t even strength enough to grip the weapon.
    I sat up facing him, thinking I might dodge the killing thrust. As for fear, I was strangely without it. Utterly calm, if you can believe it. I hoped to anticipate him, somehow to dodge the blade. This was pure folly, but in my innocence I was not prepared to admit this was my death.

    Dolabella rode over the man at a gallop; I had not even seen him coming. My would-be-killer flew several paces before landing in a heap. Once he hit the ground Dolabella’s Guard finished him, and that was it. Two of Dolabella’s men dismounted and lifted me up and carried me toward the enemy camp, which was already in our possession.
    I saw a slave coming for me with clean rags. I looked down at the dagger in my side and realised, finally, that I