FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The Centurion

By

Argo D.D.

"Since many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the events that have been fulfilled among us...I too have decided...to write it down...so that you may realize the certainty of the teachings you have received." Luke 1:1-4

The desert sand was cold under my naked buttocks. My tail was sore. The sharp curves of the brick wall pressed against my twisted back. The icy steal of my sword across my chest nipped through my greying fur. Only my tears warmed my body. I wasn't sobbing and my muzzle was stern, but all the fluids in my body squeezed out of my face at once as I sat there--naked. The moon's beams shinned down on me like a spotlight.

"Jasun." That was the only word that passed my lips. "Jasun."

These cold nights were the only real release from the desert.

"Come back here!" A voice shouted from beside me. I didn't move, but I knew whose it was. Two young lions darted out of the brothel passed me, each clutching their garments to their bodies. They stopped at the gate and huddled together in terror at the sight of the snarling wolf coming after them. It was Seclus, my junior officer. His bare body illuminated in the moonlight reflecting off his dagger, which never left him.

"I said come here!" Seclus hissed as he advanced on the two lion youths. It was all they could do. Even with the six foot burly wolf coming towards them, they dared not go out of the gate and into the streets. They knew too well that to venture into the streets of Capernaum, at this hour, and indecent, meant death by stoning.

"Let them be," I scowled. Seclus turned to me, his pale eyes were as sharp as his dagger. "You know the Roman policy for the conquered," he huffed.

"And you know the Roman policy of obedience," I reminded him.

Seclus stepped forward into the brighter beams of the moon. He was fully built as any legionnaire his age ought to be. I think he was in his early twenties as his firm body maintained a youthful slenderness. His fur was very dark though a bit matted. He looked at me with his flaring eyes as his lips curled over his fangs, but it was all he could do.

"Is that clear?"

"Perfectly!"

"Good," I scoffed, "now help me up." He complied. As I waved the two lion boys toward the door, Seclus took one final snap at them.

"What was the purpose of that?" he snapped, bits of saliva shooting from his muzzle. "It's already an insult to pay! The boys of this land are atonement for the idiot general who conquered it!"

"Are you questioning me?" I rebuked. "And store your dagger!"

He placed the dagger back into his belt, shaking his head. "Verbero. Centurion of Capernaum. Protector of Whores."

"Enough!" I sent the back of my paw across the side of his muzzle. "These people are always on the brink of rebellion. I don't need you stirring the pot."

"Our treatment means nothing to these people," Seclus snorted, unfazed by my slap. "You know that even they're too puritanical to sympathize with the likes of those two!"

"Be still!" I raised my paw again.

"Stow it, Verbero" he snickered. "We're both standing naked outside a brothel. You don't want to draw attention to us. Attention that could give rise to unfortunate misunderstandings." I froze, my paw trembling. He was right. Mere suspicion of legionaries engaging in unnatural acts with each other would bring the sword down on both of them. Though the prohibition didn't apply to slaves or conquered peoples, circumstances were circumstances.

"Further," Seclus's sneer widened. "Let's not forget that you asked me to bring you here because of_your_ particular desires." It was then that I thought he might see the stains of my tears. I backed into the shadows again.

"Have them bring out our garments and armor," I waved him off.

************

"I know who you're thinking about," Seclus hissed as we made our way down the cobble streets of Capernaum.

"Keep your bearings," I spouted. We were taking a risk being out at night. The people of this land hated the night, hiding in their dark mud-brick homes. But they hated us more.

"Drop the formalities, Verbero."

I panned the street again. "Not in this place."

Seclus chuckled. "Off of protocol then."

I hated him. He was a young pestilence who was as bitter as a wolf at forty-one--like me--and the soreness in my muscles and aching in my joints only intensified my hate, because he could be the bastard who'd replace me as centurion and his taunting made me believe that he did too.

There wasn't a single candle in a widow of a single house. Only the cold, blue moon lit the street. In this land, when the heat felt like rage in the day, there was nothing but emptiness at night.

"There's gonna be trouble in the next day or so," Seclus blurted out, almost pleadingly.

"Oh," I said blankly. "Another adulterer to be stoned? Or a tax collector to be gagged?"

"A revolutionary!" Seclus barked. I smirked. If there's one thing that I still managed to take pleasure in, it was pulling at the tight cords of Seclus's ego.

That and one other thing.

I pointed to the nearest house. "Is it that one?" Then I pointed at the house across the street. "Or is it that one?" I selected another. "How about that one?"

"I'm talking about a religious fanatic."

"A new priest?"

The high priests of this land were a radical bunch. They held more power over their people then our puppet king. They condemned, sometimes by death, those who ate shellfish, tattooed their bodies, and of course, engaged in unnatural acts (no matter the circumstance). And strangest of all, they preached to their core that there was no god but the god of this land who had no name. That is why they were so difficult to assimilate.

Of course, perhaps they weren't all that radical, they worshiped only one more god then I did.

"No," Seclus jeered. "Even the high priests hate this one. He's a real zealot"

I inclined my head. "Well...that may be a problem after all." If the priests of this land were radical, at least they were people of authority who had the ability to be practical, particularly with bribes. But their pragmatism wasn't shared by the zealots, a dedicated, incorruptible bunch.

"No matter, I'll take care of it," Seclus gleefully jingled money pouch. "And I'll compensate myself in the process."

"What are you talking about?" I said. "There's no extra payment for capturing rebels."

"No, but there is for turning heretics into the priests. They can take care of it and we get a little in turn."

I shook my head.

"Don't act so pious, Verbero," he hissed. "We left honor in Rome."

*************

When we got back to the barracks, Seclus was still talking about the zealot. I was glad he stayed on that subject. Much of the story was common for local rabble rousers: repentance, end of the world, why the priests were corrupt, and why every other zealot was wrong. Still, there were some particularities. There was talk of delivering the world and some other ridiculous things about loving your haters. I didn't follow much of it, but at least it was delivering me from Seclus's mockery.

"He's been talking about how peacemakers will see their god. Bah!"

"So he'll roll over when confronted," I gloated.

"You don't understand. He's gotten whole crowds worked up. Whatever he says, it's making the people melt in his claws."

"Including you, Seclus?"

He returned another glare. "The bigger he is, the greater the fall, and the more pleasing the take."

When we came to our barracks, the guards at the gate snapped to attention as we passed. The gate was dark and I could only hear Seclus's disembodied voice.

"And I'm not getting to the meat of it," he said with an eager drawl. He sounded like a pup who'd snuck into the Circus Maximus and couldn't wait to describe it to his friends. "There's talk that he's working entire crowds into frenzies. All over...heh...miracles."

"Miracles?"

My ears twirled in his direction with such intensity that I was afraid that they'd make a noise. As we entered the courtyard of the barracks, and back into the moonlight, I strained my face from any emotion.

"Yes," he beamed. "All kinds of unsettling things too."

We soaked our heads in a water barrel.

"Apparently," water flew out of Seclus's mouth. "A lot of tall stuff. The dumb singing. The lame leaping. The blind gaping. Even the deaf straining to hear him."

I grunted. "Figure of speech."

"I don't think metaphors could incite these people!"

"Fraud then." I wiped my eyes, relieved to wash away any remnants of tears.

"Whatever it is, he's a heretic to the priests, and a seditionist to us. Therefore," he bowed his head contemptuously, "as a Roman and as a protectorate of this land, it is my duty to see to it that such pestilence is extinguished."

I cringed at his voice. I don't think he'd ever said one thing of virtue without his lips oozing of duplicity. He jingled his money pouch again.

"You know," Seclus's pale eyes locked on mine. "I was told that he was only a day's journey from here. That was two days ago. He could be wandering the streets of Capernaum now." His hot breath tingled against my nose. "Perhaps tomorrow we'll find crutches lying absently in the streets, or a strange absence of beggars, or a few empty tombs. Yes, he is quite... a healer."

"Silence!" I shouted as I flung the towel into the water with enough force to make it crash. Seclus stretched his lips, exposing his razor teeth that imprinted the eternal grin of his skull.

_ Why am I such an imbecile?_

"That's...that's what it is, isn't it?" Seclus asked softly. "I knew it!" He pointed to my quarters. "Your little concubine suffers, and you go to a brothel?"

I clutched my paw until it rattled. My feet were anchored and my eyes, burning in rage, I froze on his gloating face. Each bristle of every fur on my body stood erect. I was dumb silent.

Seclus nodded his head invitingly. "Don't be so infuriated. It's not like we didn't know that you had a soft spot for that little jackal slave of yours. Oh, it was all routine at first. When you rescued him from that Ammuzian temple, he was just your contraband. We thought nothing of it then. But Verbero, if that were the case, you'd of dropped him off somewhere when we reached civilization. Instead, the whole time, he's been at your side. That's when the murmuring around camp began."

I wouldn't move. I felt anything I did would only further betray me. Seclus leaned his head against my shoulder, taunting. "For what it's worth," he continued, "I was steadfast in my defense of you. I told them that a good body servant couldn't be wasted. But such defenses became hallow as we all saw you with him. How he sang for you, how he graveled before you, how you looked at each other when you parted and reunited, and, of course, at night, how intense were his squeals were when--"

In a second, I lunged at him with all force. But I was stopped dead at the end of Seclus's dagger to my nose. "Careful my friend. I'm afraid I can no longer defend you in good faith."

I was trembling to contain myself. "What do you mean?"

Seclus gleamed. "I won't lie for you. Don't get me wrong. We never wanted to see it--myself the most. But I can't deny facts. Shame. My fears were alleviated this afternoon when you asked me to take you to that brothel. I thought you were looking for a replacement. But the way you ran out of that place...and...how you look so paralyzed now."

"What are you babbling about?" I screamed. I no longer cared. I was out.

"You've fallen in love with him. And now he lies in your bed. Dying. I hope, in the short time he has left, he doesn't find out that you've been unfaithful."

Again, my body sprung. I felt the pebbles cut at my feet as I leapt forward and seized my sword. I felt it click as I snapped it out of my scabbard.

"Hold it!" Cried another voice.

Again, I froze. Seclus beckoned the shape behind me. I turned to see Julli, a wolf with white fur covered with bruises, dirt, and scars, including a big one down the side of his face and over his right eye that had no pupil. "Hold it," he repeated.

"Well done, Julli!" Seclus exclaimed as he stepped between us. "See how the right friends put you in the right places?"

"I've been watching the whole time," Julli reveled.

"I told him to stand by until we returned."

Julli made a mocking salute.

I turned to Seclus. "What are you going to do?"

"Nothing," he said flatly, his eyes flashing in amusement. "Monogamy between a master and his servant may be a scandal, even in this heaping outpost. But property is property, and that's not enough to get your commission as centurion reconsidered. Good officers in these parts are becoming scarcer."

Again, he pointed it in my direction.

"Of course," he lowered his blade, pointing it to the tracks I left in the dirt when I lunged at him. "I hasten to think what you'll end up doing for the boy's sake." I squeezed my sword's handle so hard I thought I could crush it.

Seclus returned his own dagger to its scabbard. "After all," he called over to me as he and Julli turned to go. "The healer is coming. Make straight the paths. Maybe I can get him to conger up his sorcery before I bring him in. It'll cost you, though."

**************

My living quarters was wedged between the mess-hall and armory. By Rome's standards, it was a hole; by Capernaum's, it was nobility. When I passed through the doorway, covered by red drapes, the smell of the fizzling fireplace filled my snout. It used to be welcoming, but now it was flat and extinguished, like what remained of a funeral pier. I covered my nose but quickly retracted my paw.

Get ahold of yourself! What if someone sees you? What if he sees you?

I straightened my head and closed the drapes. Starting for my bed, I passed through the silk curtains that surrounded it. Then my eyes came beheld my most prized possession, sheltered between the covers of my bed: a little golden jackal. He was motionless, the blood red covers soaked across his slender frame. I almost smiled, until I saw the lioness, sitting on a stool next to the bed, lying beside him. I must have made a noise because she sprung up and gasped.

"You little bitch!" I shouted.

She shot to her feet. "I...I'm sorry my lord," she pleaded.

"I pay you to look after him and you indulge in sleeping on my bed?"

She cowered under her arm. I grabbed it and raised my own. "I'll have you--"

"No! Please my lord! You'll wake him..."

I froze.

"Damn you," I muttered. Even she was able to corner me by using him.

"Please my lord," her eyes began to water, "I was only resting beside him. It gives him comfort to know I am here." I released her and knelt down beside my jackal.

"Jasun..." I muttered as I ran my paw up the side his face. He was burning up. "Didn't you give him any water?" I snapped at the young lioness.

"Yes my lord, but..." she stuttered. "It's no use. He just gets hotter."

"Go get some now."

After she had gone, I put my lips to his forehead, like I remembered my mother doing when I was an ill pup. My lips were scorched. "Please, Jasun. Hold on."

She returned in less than a minute with a dipper of water in paw. She crouched over Jasun, holding the dipper to his lips. Tilting it, she let a couple of drops fall on the side of his mouth. Jasun barely stirred. It bothered me that even in his state of infirmary, the sight of his wet lips could still insight my passions.

"Give me that!" I snatched the dipper from her, cradled Jasun's head, and gently poured water down his throat.

"Careful," she pleaded. "He could choke."

"Shut up. He listens to me."

Jasun was still. If not for the faint heat of his breath on my arm, I would have thought he was dead. The lioness looked on helplessly as I withdrew the dipper, letting the water drip on Jasun's mouth. I lowered my nose to the tip of his.

Then his left eye peeked up at me. I beamed, which startled the lioness more than my shouts and fits. I lifted the dipper back to Jasun's mouth, this time his lips slightly perked and his tongue made some futile attempts to lap at the water. Again, I took the dipper from him, waited a minute, and repeated the process two more times. But I stopped abruptly when he lifted his paw and rested it on my arm for a moment. My jaw dropped. I looked up at the lioness who was as stunned as I was.

"Look," I hissed. "Even now, he tries to please me."

She lowered her head. I tossed pieces of silver at her. "Now get out of my sight. I am sick of looking at you just standing there." She put up her veil and scurried out. "And be back by dawn. Do you hear?" I ruffled the pillow and placed his head down on it. Then I lowered my head to kiss his nose. "Thank you." I got undressed and slipped into bed with him, spooning his little frame in my brawny arms. I trembled at his touch, breathing in his aroma as I placed my snout between his pointed ears.

"Please...Jasun...please..."

I pressed my face against the pillow as to prevent my tears from dropping down on his head. This was our favorite position. Everything he did to me, and everything he let me do to him, was always an act of worship. I was his idol with the fervor of a fanatical cult. In this sense, Jasun was more a believer then the infernal cult of Bail, in their temple at Katar, where I rescued him. The priests there made the ones here look docile. They believed that ravaging and consuming the blood of youths could give them euphoric experiences. Sacrifice was too civilized a term for what they did--mutilation.

Of course, we Romans normally didn't interfere, as was our policy regarding the rituals of any occupied people. That was, however, until these priests of Bail had the audacity to snatch the son of a local Roman citizen. We raided the temple, slaughtered the priests, and looted their temple. We rescued the boy and among the contraband were some precious metals, incredible stimulants, and my jackal.

We were almost too late because when we began our raid the priests of Bail tried to summon the powers of their deity by slaughtering all the youth they had in the temple. I found him in the holy of holies, he was spread across a stone alter to Bail, bound and gagged, and his flushed yellow eyes filled with terror. He was convulsing and trying to scream through his gag. A gold knife hovered above his head, held by a tall priest in black robes and a ghastly mask, speaking in muffled tongues as my jackal wept and braced for the blow.

Before I was conscious of it, I saw my sword plunge into priest. What overcame me, I don't know. I unbound the young jackal and he embraced me. He sobbed on my shoulder as I knelt there motionless. The boy was uttering something in his language. Something I didn't need to translate.

"Bless you!"

Seclus's sneering voice broke the stillness. "Little fool. He thinks we saved him." "Shut up," I snapped. "He's my prize." That was the last he ever spoke to me of the boy--until tonight. When we came out of that temple, the jackal was holding onto me. We spent that night together, for which he was all too willing. When we were done, he whispered into my ear, "Jasun." I returned with "Verbero." I was astonished at the way he looked up at me, like he knew I was lying. Somehow, I couldn't resist him, so I revealed the truth. "Titus." His yellow eyes glowed in radiance and acceptance.

By the time we got to Capernaum, Jasun was my body-servant. My living quarters was bland and dank until Jasun got his paws on it. Almost everything here was placed by him. He did everything--cooked, cleaned, and enlightened--and never out of obligation. Every night when I returned, the aromas of a meal and sweet perfume tickled my nose. The scent of his love. There is a saying in Rome: "Women for procreation and status, but boys for pleasure." I never agreed with it more than when it came to Jasun, because he was all my pleasure.

Again, I brushed my nose against his pointed ears and stroked his neck. "Please don't leave me...please get well...please don't..." my voice trailed off as I dozed off. "Please Jasun. Don't go. There's no other righteous person in this world. Not one."

His tranquil breathing was my answer.

**************

By early morning, it was Jasun's stillness that bolted me from my sleep. When I ceased to feet his warm, faint breath fall onto my nose it was like a hit in the face. I bolted out of bed, pulled the covers off him, and pressed my ear to his chest. Nothing. My heart collapsed and I let out a horrid scream.

"Jasun! No!"

I damned everything in that moment and wanted to tear at the gods for not being there to damn.

"Jasun!"

I slapped at his chest and put my head to it again. Still nothing. I tried again. Nothing. It was then I realized that we were not alone. The lioness had returned. She stood by the drapes, her paw covering her mouth. I ignored her and continued the process. With the consistent slaps, Jasun's chest was getting red. A good sign. But it was his damn heart and lungs that refused to go on. But before I began to despair, as if possessed by some spell, I forced my mouth against his and blue air into him. It was a trick some magician in Gaul told me could rejuvenate life into another, but at the expense of the donor.

"Come on!" I yelled at him. The lioness gasped. I blew another chest full into him.

Suddenly, he coughed.

I forced another breath down his throat. Now he was coughing violently. As he settled, I held his head to my chest. "That's it," I whimpered. "That's it." It was then a familiar coldness filled the room.

I turned to see, Seclus was standing beside the nervous lioness.

"What do you want?"

"I've come to tell you that the healer is in Capernaum now. I'm gathering some men to go on the hunt."

"Fine! Just go away!"

"I'm sorry to find you..." he began to chuckle, "so indecent."

"Get out of here!"

"But I thought I'd first ask if you wanted me to bring him by before we take him to priests."

I burst up. He smiled, like a pup egging on a feeble neighbor boy to punch him in front of his mother. Julli then appeared through the drapes and he took a position between Seclus and I. But that is not what stopped me; it was the crash of a pot followed by a shriek of the lioness.

"You clumsy little..." But she gave me no heed as she looked at Seclus as if he held some kind of dark secret.

"Shhh." I couldn't tell if Seclus was addressing me or her. "I guess," his voice smoothly hissed. "There is no need to trouble you. No matter, the prize is mine." He turned to leave and Julli followed. "Poor child," he said. "Probably won't last the afternoon."

"Seclus!"

When he turned to me, his eyes sparkled like water falling over clear glass.

"If he dies," I panted. "You're going with him."

Seclus stroked the handle of his dagger. "I wouldn't want it any other way."

When they walked out, I stood there frozen for an unknown time, finally ended at the touch of the lioness trying to clothe me in my night robe. I snatched it from her and returned to Jasun's side.

Pressing my lips to his nose, I was relieved that I could still feel his breath. I moved my mouth up to his eyes. My heart swelled as it crossed my mind that last night may have been the last time I would ever see them. Below my feet, I could feel every speck of dust cut into me. The dust. The ground. I felt Jasun's fur through my paw. The dust. The ground. Forever.

"You! Come!"

The lioness feebly approached. "Y...yes...my lord."

My glance didn't leave Jasun's. "Do you know of this healer?"

"I...I don't..." her voice trailed off.

"Answer me! Do you know him?"

"I know of him."

As I let Jasun's head fall to the pillow side, my stomach clapped together on both sides. Self-torture to prevent the loss of my footing, especially in her presence. "And..." my voice rasped. "Do you know of his whereabouts?"

"No. I'm sorry--"

I seized her by the arm and she cried out in pain. "Listen!" I locked onto her terrified eyes. "Don't you think that I've noticed the anticipation of this place? Word spreads quickly, especially to the likes of you when it involves hope."

Her body gave in to my grip, but she held my gaze. "And if..." I pointed to Jasun. "If he dies, I'm going to kill someone. I think you know who" She nodded. "And if it comes to that, you and the rest of Capernaum ought to pray that I am successful, because if I fail, he will be the centurion, with all the wrath of Rome. I am the merciful one. Do you understand?"

Again, she slowly nodded. "So," I continued. "You know where he is going?"

"I..." her mouth trembled. "I've heard about something important happening at the market today.

"Good. Let's go."

*************

The sun glistened off my armor and my nose tingled with perspiration. The market was bustling but there was a haze of apprehensive hesitation. The lioness, who stood at my side, tried to tuck her head as far down into her veil as possible. Being seen with a Roman soldier was enough to warrant the suspicion of collaboration. But I didn't care, I was at least giving her the liberty of looking the least bit a willing party.

There was nothing.

Every inquiry I made was answered by her in the same manner, a brushing shake of the head. With the sun so high, and my head pulsating, it was hard to tell how long we stood there, but it was too long. The heat was becoming so irritating and sticky. The heat. That scorching...

In one flash, the touch of Jasun's forehead shot through my mind. The voices around me were like hushed insults. The faces were all ugly lions. That's what they were good for. Torment. Nothing but torment. Nothing could be worse than these people, not even Seclus. For the price of seeing him wreak his careless wrath on these unsuspecting I'd give him my position as centurion. Nothing else could be better...not even...

"Water!" I shouted. The lioness looked at me, as if I asked her to crawl through broken glass. "You heard me. Bring me some water." She looked helplessly around. I shoved a couple of Denarius coins into her paw. "Don't just stand there, go to that man over there and get me some water." The man with jugs of water was looking at us and hunched over his supply as if shielding it. "Go on!"

Once she left my side, I was alone again, with my thoughts. They were full of images of Jasun, his smell, his touch, his lively eyes, and a faded image of Seclus's arrogant face cascaded over each one of them.

_ No. They may all be ugly, but not like him._

Noises of the crowd, the bitter smell of the revolting products, the heat all came flooding in on me at once. The throb in my temple was becoming an ulcer. All the more I thought of Jasun, of the mere possibly of hope for him, everything came to fight, to prod, to break. There was no escape. My eyes were drying in the dust carried by the breeze. I was going to lose him and I couldn't even morn. What was I thinking? There was no hope. In my foolishness, I put myself out here to the scorn of these people, of the elements, of my own men, and my jackal is holding onto his last hours.

Alone.

Like me.

I'm such a fool.

The lioness returned "Sir..."

"What?" I hissed. Her face looked on mine stunned. I'm sure it was pale.

"He's got no water to spare."

I pushed the lioness aside and advanced on the fidgety marketer who took cover behind his many vases. They didn't serve their purpose as I smashed right through them and grabbed the marketer by his neck. His face went pale, his mouth hung in a silent scream. My grilling eyes burned with such intense heat that even I was disturbed. As if I could see through the marketer's own eyes, I could see my own grizzly face with my own sword pointing down. There I was, frozen before me and scaring the life out of myself. More so that even the marketer could ever imagine.

Suddenly, a calm, easy voice entered my ears. "Let him go." I realized that there was another lion standing beside me with his paw on my shoulder.

"You heard me. Put him down." His words were stern but not forceful. "You know you don't want to see yourself like this. Especially now."

I gasped and released the marketer. When he fell to the ground, he cowered; he certainly didn't believe that I was going to let him go so easily. I couldn't believe it. The mysterious lion moved between us and I finally got a good look at him. His mane was long and dark, his eyes glistened yellow. He, like his counterparts around him, was wearing worn and simple garments. But he looked different. The way he stood was like nobility, though not pious, and his face illuminated in the hot sun. I never saw him before, but I wasn't even sure if that was true. It was his eyes that were familiar. They looked so much like Jasun's.

He turned to the marketer groveling on the ground. He helped him up and discussed something with him in his native tongue. Those of this land spoke in different dialects, some I knew better than others, so I only got bits and pieces of it. The marketer at first looked offended by whatever the mysterious lion was proposing, but his protests ceased after the lion said something. Perhaps the lion reminded the marketer that he was the one who saved him from my clutch. If he did, I didn't hear it. There was only one sentence this strange lion with the yellow eyes said that I could understand fully:

"Let us fight fire with water."

With that, the marketer whimpered and handed me a cup of water without payment. The lioness led me away from the stall and the surrounding crowd slipped back into its usual rhythm. When I finished, I handed the cup to her.

The strange lion smiled at me. "I hope that helps."

"What business was it of yours to interfere?" I scoffed.

"Well," the lion chuckled. "By the result, I would say that business is good."

My ears perked. "Is that how you address a soldier in the Roman Army?"

The lion shrugged. "Soldier or civilian, we are all naked underneath."

He then looked over to a group of lions standing nearby. I could tell that they were friends of hi because they looked at him with concern and at me with sneering. But the lion held his paw out to them and returned his glance to me.

"Besides, what soldier of Rome wanders the streets of Capernaum by himself?"

"Do not question--"

"Are you looking for someone?" He said looking right at me, as if he hadn't heard my voice. I couldn't understand it. When he spoke, it was like I was talking to another native Roman. In fact, I couldn't even tell if he was speaking Latin or his own language.

"We're looking for the healer," the lioness yelped as she stepped forward to embrace this lion. "The one who has come to Capernaum."

"You two know each other?" I asked.

The lion smiled up at me from the lioness's embrace. "Like an eternity."

"Siblings? Lovers?"

The lion shook his head. "In a sense," then he looked at the lioness and dried her eyes with his nose. It was horrific. Jasun once did the same thing to me in the same manner.

"This healer," the lion asked. "May I join you?"

"You know where he is?"

"Yes."

"Where?" I howled.

The lion grinned. "He moves frequently. How about I follow you and tell you if you are getting closer?"

I drew my sword. "You know, I've had to extract information before."

The lioness shrieked, but refused to back away. The lion was unmoved. "There is nothing you could do that isn't already coming to me tenfold," he said in a matter of fact tone, like an honest warning. "Besides, you wouldn't."

"AND WHY NOT?" I slammed the sword against a stone wall. Sparks flew from it and fell on my muzzle.

"Because...I remind you of someone you wouldn't to hurt. I can see it in your eyes."

My face melted and I walked into a shaded area to shield it. No one, not even a Roman could speak to me like this. But I could do nothing. He was right.

"Fine," I said in the shadows. "To your luck, I am in haste. But don't think--"

"Come back into the light," the lion said stretching out his paw. I hesitated, but did so. "Permit me." With his paw, the lion wiped from my muzzle the spots of ash left by the sparks. When he was done, I snapped away. "Who are you?

The lion rubbed his paw against the lioness's shoulder. "This is Rufus. And I am Yeshua."

**********

We went on, proceeding to just outside the boundaries of Capernaum to a sizable hill. I'd known the place as a popular destination for zealots and seditionists. If this healer was visiting Capernaum, then he had to have come here. If he wasn't here, then someone must have seen him.

Yeshua bothered me. Though he barely spoke, whenever I looked at him, terrible thoughts--all about me--sprung into my head. I saw the barbarian bear I slit down the middle in Gaul, the hundreds of rebellious hyenas we burned alive near Carthage, and so on down to the marketer of this morning, all with a vision of Jasun, sick in bed, imprinted over them. All I knew was that I had to find this healer now and be rid of the presence of this Yeshua as quickly as possible. I even entertained an appeal to the gods, before I scoffed at myself.

The hill was empty, except for a few strolling around its base. As I approached, they ran off. When I demanded that the lioness, Rufus, ought to go talk to them, Yeshua suggested that I remove my sword.

"And leave myself open to the likes of these people?" I hollered.

"You can't expect a warm heart when you've offer one of stone," Yeshua responded. "With swords come walls."

"With swords come power," I snapped, hopelessly brandishing my blade in his direction. "If you think there is any other thing that keeps the world in order, then you're delusional."

Yeshua shook his head like a disappointed father. "When you gain the world with a billion swords, threats, and lies, just remember that they were accompanied by a billion heads who will think the same thing."

"Stow the wisdom," I snorted. "If you could put at least half of it to find the healer, then we might have a chance." The lion chuckled. I glared down at him. "Is there something you're keeping from me?"

His eyes gleamed.

Before I could respond, I felt a something sharp strike the side of my face. I rolled back and almost fell over but the lioness dutifully kept my balance. I touched my cheek. I was bleeding. An edged stone hit me. In that moment, a vision flashed into my mind: Jasun wiping the blood from my face before disappearing. I shuttered.

I looked around. Standing on a ledge off the side of the hill, I had an expansive view of the village and the space below. Then I saw a young lion dart from the base below us and toward Capernaum. I dove down the side the hill after him. When I landed, a sharp pain shot threw my ankle. I made chase of the young attacker. Though the pain in my ankle intensified with every step, I managed to get to about a leap from him. But the boy was clever. He swerved to the sides, requiring me to make sharp turns to keep up. Dust flew in all directions as we moved. He dodged my grasps and wailed something out, a call for help I suppose.

With my good foot, I kicked dirt up in his direction. It got into his eyes and he paused for just a moment--and that's all it took. My arms collided with his hips, and he fell to the ground, and I was on top of him. He tried to strike at my face, but my paw snatched his claw and bent it backward. His other claw was beneath my knee. The boy was indeed young; his dark mane was not even half grown out. Part of me could admire his audacity and sympathize with his fate, so I let the boy beg his last for a few last breaths before I encompassed his slender neck under my paw.

"That's enough, Verbero!" I knew the voice, though his use of my name through me off. "Let go!"

"Look!" I laughed. "I'm not even going to use my sword."

"And what of it?" Yeshua responded. "Do you wish to inflame his family who will have their vengeance? Do you want to disrupt your men who will take the opportunity to avenge their vengeance? And from that, do you want rebellion?"

The young attacker's eyes were becoming hallowed and the fur on his muzzle was withering.

"Besides," Yeshua continued. "You're wasting time. This healer will not be here for much longer."

For a second, my paw wavered, but I tightened it again. "This won't take long, and he's just one..." Yeshua knelt down beside me and, with his paw in front of my face, made a circular movement.

"Everything has a spiral. I've told you what this will spiral into. But an act of mercy will..."

"Alright!" I let go. The boy crawled away. The lioness hovered over him until he got his breath back. I lunged for Yeshua, grabbing the collar of his garments. "Who are you?"

He held his paw up to my face again. I could see that it was worn. "Yesterday, I built houses."

"And now?"

"Now, I'm helping you find this healer." Before I could do anything else, the lioness spoke up.

"My lord, the boy has something to tell you."

I threw Yeshua off and glared down at the boy. He spoke in a dialect I was not familiar with, so the lioness translated.

"He says that they he's heard of someone out on the lake sailing up and down the shore in a fishing boat preaching to those gathered there and performing miracles."

Yeshua smiled at me and again performed the same spiraling motion with his paw. I groaned. Then he turned to the boy. "Alright," he said to the boy. "Run along now and sin no more." The boy darted back to the village.

**********

The other side of Capernaum was bordered by a vast salt lake, more of a tiny sea (like everything in this land, everything was undersized except for fanaticism). The fishermen were out, flinging their nets from one side to the other. There was some commotion on and off the lake as one boat managed to pull in a decent catch with their catch. But nowhere was there any sign of some healer. I was losing faith. Never in my life had I ever felt so useless and at this time of all times. With every muscle in my head, I fought back the tears.

"Who is he?" Yeshua's voice rung.

"Who?"

"The one you are out here for."

"Why do you think I'm out here for anyone?" It turned away. But Yeshua persisted and there was no use lying.

"Your body is fine and you're certainly not looking for a healing of the soul. So logic prevails. You are looking for this healer for the sake of someone else."

"What is it you?"

Yeshua inched closer. "To better understand you. You wouldn't go through all this for a simple favor. This is a struggle for someone you value dearly."

I turned in the sand, looking out to the young lioness as she conversed with some of those who were wandering the beach. "Why do you care?" I said weakly. "No one else in the world can care."

"And that's why I'm here."

I looked at Yeshua, he was smiling. My scows and glares did nothing to him, he could see right through me. He could see my weakness. Who else could reduce me to this--and take no advantage of it?

"I left building houses to build a new one," he continued. "One never built before. With all the wood of barren trees and the stones builders rejected. When it is done, it will be big enough to house the whole world."

"Pash!" I exclaimed. "I've seen the largest buildings in the empire and not one of them could come so close as to fit an entire city!"

"You want to know what can save your boy?" Yeshua interjected.

My tail stiffened and my ears perked. "If you've had an answer to that this entire time, I ought to..." my voice trailed off.

"Take that fire that you've had this entire time in your heart and put it to use." He pointed to my sword. "Before, you knew no other way to tame that fire. Now I say take that energy and release it as the same passion and affection your boy has given you. Only his love given to the world can save you and the world."

"I want to save him!" I snapped. "Not myself."

Yeshua inclined his head, like a parent expecting a confession from a pup. "Which is easier? To save one from an infirmary, or to save them from the fires they've built up in their hearts? In time, with the sciences of this world, we will be able to find a remedy for every ailment under the sun. But no remedy made of paws, claws, or wings will be able to heal the heart. That requires something else."

I shot to my feet, bearing down on the lion with the eyes like Jasun's. "I don't have time to wait for every illness to be cured! I need a cure by sundown! Sooner!" Then I staggered to the lake's edge. "I...I might've run out of time already. And I'm not there."

"There is still time to..."

I flung my paw in Yeshua's direction. "I need a healer! Not your words! I don't need words! Your words can do nothing to save him! I need a cure! Sure, you can bend me but you can do nothing to--"

"And what would he want for you?" Yeshua got his feet and joined me at the lake's edge. "Threatening everyone who comes near?" He pointed to the lioness. "Scourging all who show you the least bit of compassion? Is this how you honor his love?"

"I'm trying to save him!"

"No!" Yeshua's voice was like thunder. "You're reacting the only way you know how. Now look at you, you're hallow without your sword."

I covered my ears and grinded my fangs. "Stop!"

"But he saw something else in you and he loved you for it. And you repay him by being the exact opposite of what he loved?"

My muzzle trembled. "Why do you delight in tormenting me?"

"You were his rescuer, Verbero."

"How could you know all this?"

"He saw the compassion you could give. And now in his death, what he loved will die with him."

"Stop!" I drew my sword and raised it to my own neck.

"No Verbero!" Yeshua roared. "That's not how you."

"Why? All is lost."

"No. Now you have the answer. So guide yourself out of the darkness."

The blade trembled in my paw. Just only one slide and that would be enough to take me out of this world and away from him. But it was like my arms were trying to break from a stone encasing.

"Yeshua! My lord!" The lioness's voice echoed as she came running down towards us. As she got nearer, she hesitated, seeing the blade to my neck.

"It's alright," Yeshua consoled. "What is it?"

"I just spoke with those who know the healer well. They said that he is preparing to move on but that he will make a final stop in the shrine."

Yeshua nodded. "Yes, that is customary."

I threw my sword into the sand and darted past them. "Wait my lord!" I heard the lioness call from behind. "Do you know the way?"

************

The shrine was not too far off. The locals would gather there to listen to readings and hear the ranting of their priests. It was a barren building, which is what the people of this land seemed to worship: the barren. When I arrived, a crowd had already gathered around the tight alleys that surrounded the shrine. There was much chatter and I could make out enough of it to know that they too were waiting for the healer. Some were covered in bandages, others had their faces hidden because of boils or lost fur. So we waited. An hour went by and no one came to take the crowd by storm with miracles. The crowd, and I, were getting restless.

"My lord!"

I turned with surprise to see the lioness slipping through the crowd towards me. I grabbed her by the shoulders. "You said he'd be here!"

"Please my lord," she wiggled out of my arms. "I know he will be."

"Who told you he would be here?"

She pointed to a small cluster of lions hovering near the entrance of the shrine. My jaw dropped, it was the same lions who were with Yeshua back in the market. And where was Yeshua? But before I could move, there was a sudden disturbance in the crowd. I looked to the street to my right and saw three Roman soldiers pushing through the crowd. It was Seclus, Julli, and Broto (who had been a legionnaire with me from the beginning). I hoped that they wouldn't see me, but of course, my black wolf fur stood out in this crowd of lions like a two headed beast.

"Verbero!" Seclus exclaimed when he saw me. The three of them joined my side. "I see you've come to see the show after all. Don't think I'm giving up the prize."

"Neither of us are getting a thing, Seclus. There's no healer here."

"Faith," Seclus snorted. "No crowd gathers for nothing. Besides, the most suspicious looking bystander will do."

Suddenly, the crowd began to part obediently for a group of five lions dressed in long black garments and holding silver staffs. It was the priests, who stopped just shy of the shrine's entrance. "Convenient," Seclus pointed to the group of priests. "I won't have to carry him far." Broto stood beside me and looked on me with sympathetic eyes. I nodded in return and savored this little bit of comfort.

Still, no one came and the crowd grew restless. In a distance, I could hear pots smashing and carts turning over. Seclus, agitated at the sight of the crowd, drew his dagger. The priests were gloating. And here I was, stuck in this crowd, and never to see my Jasun again.

"THERE IS NO HEALER!!!" I shrieked. Seclus and the others drew back. The rows in front of me went silent, but only for a moment. The crowd echoed my words.

"And why should he come?" A voice boomed from the entrance of the shrine. The crowd began to settle, the priests looked on with disapproval, and Seclus's sneer turned into a hopeful grin. I didn't need to look. There was Yeshua, standing on the steps of the shrine where the streets intersected. "Well? Why should he come?" he repeated. The crowd had quieted and Yeshua continued. "Is this what we have come to? We need to hope for the miracles of some magician? Have we fallen so far that we attend a traveling freak show to give us an hour's sustenance? Is that all you came for?"

"Don't you see our illnesses?" Someone shouted.

"I do." Then Yeshua pointed to that person. "And you do!" Then he pointed to another. "And you do!" Then he pointed to me. "And you do! If a healer could heal all of you now, there will still be sicknesses tomorrow and he won't be here. Have we forgotten the words of our forefathers that where there is love there is god? You want a quick fix and would rather let the world burn. You want something to numb the pain and not the true antidote: the thing that can cease the pains of this world and the next."

The crowd began to grown. "And what is that?" One of the priests cackled.

Yeshua looked right at him and answered. "To see a benevolent god in every animal we meet. From the jackals to our West, to the tigers to our East, to our own lions, and yes," he looked back at me, "to the wolves of Rome. And receive the love of a pilgrim for that benevolence." Then he waved his arms over the crowd. "We've done the opposite, and look what the result. If you still want a cheap trick, then you've wasted your time. But if you want the words that will save this world, you've found what you are looking for."

"What you're calling for is impossible!"

Yeshua smiled. "And it is impossible to hate everyone at all times, but which is the better extreme to run for? One has led to ruin. So what could the other lead to?" He was looking at me again. "Is there anyone who has tried the other extreme?"

"Yes!" I shouted, though I don't know if any sound came out of my muzzle.

Jasun.

He worshiped me like a god, one who saved him. I worshiped him. What was between us? Peace, happiness, comfort and trust. Weapons were left at the door. The smallest amount of food could feel like a feast. My quarters felt like a palace, its dank coldness filled by the warm fragrance of each other's scent. If it was foolish, we didn't care. But what did we do? We kept it to ourselves, hidden in a small sanctuary. What bravery did I have? None. I was a coward to keep that happiness from the world. And what has it brought me? Misery and loneness. Was I addicted to both?

Seclus clapped his paws in applause. "You words are indeed wise." All eyes turned to him as he, and the rest of us, stepped through the crowd to the foot of the steps of the shrine. "So tell me...should your people pay taxes to Caesar, or not?"

No.

I shuttered. This was Seclus's favorite trick to incriminate whoever he wanted.

"Yeshua, don't." I whispered. "It's a trap." If he said yes, that taxes should be paid, then he was saying that his people should support the pagan empire that ruled them, which could lead to his stoning. But if he said no, he was preaching sedition and he would be Seclus's.

Yeshua looked at Seclus and asked if he had a Denarius. Seclus was taken aback, but before he could say anything, I tossed a Denarius coin to Yeshua. The lion held up the coin and asked, "Who's image is this on the coin?"

Seclus scoffed. "Caesar's."

Yeshua tossed the coin back to me.

"Then give to Caesar what is Caesar's. And give to god what is god's." The crowd gasped. The priests were dumbfounded and turned to leave. Seclus's face dropped so far down that I couldn't help but chuckle. But as Yeshua turned back to the crowd, I heard Seclus draw his dagger. "How dare you!"

I screamed. "Stand down!"

I reached for my sword, only to find that it was not there, it was somewhere in the sand of the beach. I could hear the crowd shout and the young lioness, Rufus, shriek. Without hesitation, I moved between Seclus and Yeshua and felt the dagger go through my shoulder. Seclus gasped and pulled it back out. He stood their frozen. I looked up to see Julli fleeing and Broto looking at Seclus with contempt.

"You stabbed your own officer, Seclus," Broto hissed. "I think you know the penalty."

"He stepped right in front of me," Seclus whimpered. "And to the defense of this lion."

Broto shook his head. "Only after you disobeyed his order to stand down."

Seclus laughed through his chattering jaws. "And what of evidence? Two old wolves?" Seclus took out a cloth and wiped the dagger. But the blood wouldn't come off, it just kept spreading. As Seclus continued to wipe, he only managed to get blood all over his paws, arms, and armor. In fact, it was as if the dagger itself was bleeding and it cut at the cloth and Seclus's paws as he whipped it harder and harder.

He was shaking and screaming in horror as the blood expanded to the top of his snout.

"What trickery is this?"

I grabbed him by the shoulders. His face was as pale as his eyes.

"Leave us, Seclus. You will speak nothing of this and I will say that this was an accident." Seclus lowered his head like a helpless pup.

"Understand?"

Seclus nodded and I let go. "Now...go."

Seclus fled.

I turned to Yeshua, who was beaming.

"Yeshua," I spoke like I was addressing a brother. "You saved me and I know you can save him. Please, whatever compassion he gave me I will give tenfold." Rufus came up to me with a wet cloth and wrapped it around my wound. "Thank you." Then I embraced her.

"You want me to come see him?" Yeshua spoke. "Just lead me."

"No!" I pointed to the crowd. "The people of this land need to hear what you've given me. Besides, I am unworthy for you to enter under my roof. But only speak your words and my servant will be healed. Like you did with me."

Yeshua's yellow eyes glistened in the sun, but he said nothing.

"You see," I went on. "I too am in a position of authority, having soldiers under me. I say to one 'Go' and he goes; and to another 'Come' and he comes; and to my servant 'Do' and he does."

Yeshua raised his voice to the crowd. "You see? I've not found such great faith among my own lions as with this wolf." Then he lowered his head to mine. "I say to you, go. You're servant has been healed and so have you. And please, go with your given name. Titus."

I shot up and darted down the street toward the barracks. I was laughing uncontrollably. Without the weight of the sword, my body leaped through every step.

The End.