[h3][i]Auxilio Mauritanius[/i][/h3] As Auxilio was calming his mare, the dead began to attack the barricades. The horse was bound to agitate once more, but there was no time to ponder that. He bound her to a nearby arch before running towards the men who were already in battle. At the very forefront of the defense was the centurion Lucius, a battle-hardened soldier Auxilio looked up to a bit. Sure, the man knew nothing of the hardships one endures through a life on the outskirts of the Empire, but he had seen victory and defeat, even losing a hand. That was nothing to scoff at. Seeing as the Mortui were already up close and climbing the barricades, Auxilio picked out his shortspear to start. More wieldy and lighter than the longer counterpart, it would do nicely for a situation such as this. Noticing that one of the flanks was more sparsely guarded, Auxilio found his place furthest to the left of all the defenders. After all, a cavalier was naturally drawn to the flanks. Two young boys, no more than twelve or thirteen years of age before they met their doom, were rabidly gnawing at the wooden poles that made up this particular section of the wall. One might think that young corpses awoke misplaced mercy or compassion in Auxilio, but in that case one would be wrong. Young or old, these risen dead were unnatural and vile. Auxilio struck hard and fast, first plunging the spear into the mouth of the closest of them, driving the the tip into the base of the skull. Not waiting for the first to fall, Auxilio jerked the spear back and gouged at the head of the second boy. He hit the very center of the face, between the eyes, and the tip was lodged into the bridge of the nose. Auxilio lifted the handle of the spear, so that the weapon was angled diagonally downwards, before he put all his weight into a new trust. The facial bones were crushed, and what was once a set of eyes on the young corpse dissappeared into a mess of bone, brains and blood. The two Mortui laid before him, finally at rest. [i]"Rest in peace, young souls."[/i] Auxilio muttered, grinding his teeth in fearful anger. In a short moment of respite, Auxilio noticed a noblewoman with a longspear within the fight, mildly surprised at a woman's presence in the battle. She appeared to be attempting some sort of small talk or chattering in the middle of this struggle, to Auxilio's utter disbelief. However, giving it a second thought he should hardly be surprised, he thought to himself. Was it not the absolutely most typical thing for an Equite, and a woman at that, not to realize the gravity of a situation such as this? Who knew, maybe she thought herself immortal. Auxilio held his tongue, as he had to do in the company of nobles. [i]"For now, we must put the dead to rest. And protect the living"[/i] he answered the woman calmly, full of restraint. And with that, the moment was over and an arm lunged at Auxilio through the barricades, which he dutifully answered with his spear.