I Think About the Roman Empire

"Hey Sterling."

I looked up from the history book I'd been buried in. My ma's face was peeked just inside the room.

"Hey your grandparents are here, honey," she said.

"Alright, I'll be right down."

After she left, I sighed and looked up at the map I had pulled up on my computer. I sat lost in thought for a minute or so, the images in the stories I'd been reading replaying in my mind, before laying back on the bed. The book was still open next to me.

Without meaning to, I drifted off into a dream...

I thought at first the doorway was in a candlelit chamber, floating above an alter, marble columns all around fading into shadow...

But in the next moment I was standing in a shallow pond under a gray sky, looking up at the ethereal doorway where it floated above the water. It was made of nothing, but left an undeniable impression in the air. As though I could feel it more than see it.

A procession was approaching, a line of red-garbed legionnaires flanking a shorter figure I couldn't yet see. When they came closer I saw the boy, draped in white and crowned by a golden wreath. His eyes were tired, and though he carried himself proudly, there seemed to be a heavy weight borne in his frame.

When they neared the doorway, one of the legionnaires--gray and balding--pulled the boy aside.

"Are you certain about this, Augustus? You remember what happened last time."

"I am, Gaius," the boy said. "I was brazen and malignant the last time. I tried to step through in spite and arrogance. This time I will accept what comes."

The older legionnaire nodded in respect. He then beckoned to one of the others, who approached holding a gold-trimmed wooden box.

From the box, Augustus took what looked like a small green herb. He nodded to Gaius before putting the leaf in his mouth and swallowing.

"The portal awaits, Caesar," said the aged man.

Augustus turned to the doorway. There reaching from it, ripples in the air surrounding, was a hand; the outstretched arm wore a silken silver sleeve.

The young emperor turned back to his legionnaires, now addressing all of them.

"Nothing will be the same after this day," he said. "I ask only that you stand with him in the days to come... as you have stood with me. For the wars to come are among the fiercest of any you have faced."

He looked down the line of legionnaires.

"He will need your grace."

A silence stood across the pond as the boy Augustus brought an arm to his chest in salute, and offered a bow that was slight, but bore more weight than any the men would see again.

Gaius was the first to return the salute, but all the rest followed. Augustus took the arm of each man, going down the line until the last. He then returned to the doorway, Gaius at his side. He looked into the void before him, as though somehow seeing what was beyond, before regarding the older man.

"I am complete," he said.

He reached up and grasped the hand reaching down from the doorway. The legion looked on as he was lifted into the air; with solemn eyes they watched him go beyond the veil.

Another silence stood in the air. Each of the men found that a void had appeared in his heart. Yet their salute remained.

They looked to the sky as the clouds began to darken, many wondering what terrible thing might befall them now. Nonetheless, they stood fast, keeping their eyes upon the air above.

A trembling began in the air and in the ground beneath, disturbing the surface of the shallow waters. Many of the soldiers sought their balance as the tremors grew. Eyes widened in awe at the sight before them.

A seam appeared in the air, a light pouring through, splitting the doorway in blinding rays. The split grew and a figure appeared, a silhouette distorted in the light. And as they watched, he sprang into the air, landing at the head of the legion.

The seam closed behind, and as the light from that unknown place receded, the soldiers saw that dawn was breaking. And as the sun rose behind this new figure, they looked on him in awe.

He was tall and slender, and seemed to be just on the line between boy and man. He wore a strange silver shirt and black pants, dark boots on his feet, all of a kind no legionnaire had ever seen. His skin was pale, and upon a head of dark curls he wore a silver wreath. And if they looked with a keen eye, he seemed to resemble the one who had gone before. He stood proudly, and his face was lit with eagerness and joy.

"Come and lift up your spirits!" he called. "For it is time we begin!"

Hesitant, Gaius approached him. The brightness in his countenance remained. After a moment of study, the old man too smiled, and put an arm to his chest. The others came as well.

"What shall you be called, Caesar?" Gaius asked.

The legion behind him knelt.

"Septimus," the man said. "I am called Septimus."