Souvlakios knew that the day, which had begun with the promise of holding exclusive rights to the high ground overlooking the Drilon River, was going to end on a very sour note.

That much became immediately evident to him as this newest scouting party approached. Four horses, three of them blown and limping badly. As they neared him, Souvlakios could clearly make out two arrows protruding from the flank one of the mounts, who was having difficulty breathing. Shifting his gaze to the horse's rider, he saw that this man was also sporting a broken arrow shaft protruding from the armor covering his left shoulder blade. In fact all of the men in the scouting party were in bad shape. What in the name of Zeus is going on here?!

As one of his staff helped the lead scout down off his horse, he gave a cursory examination to the wounded animal and, looking at Souvlakios, shook his head. The Cavalry Parefect nodded in response, and turned away as the man slit the beast's throat in order to release it from further suffering. "What in the name of Hades happened out there?" he demanded of the scout.

"Romans" the man gasped, grimmacing in pain as his fellows tried to remove his cuirass as gently as possible.

"I figured it wasn't wood nymphs!" replied an increasingly agitated Souvlakios, "but where, dammit? Where!"

"Emerging from the valley between the river and the ridge, and atop the ridge. We tried to find out how--"

"Atop the ridge? ATOP?" Souvlakios turned to his aide, his voice a low growl. Bring me that other scout...and my horse whip." Turning back to the man, who was now being tended by a physician, he said "Continue!"

"It's not the full Roman force, lord Praefect...perhaps four, maybe five cohorts, and many archers--" he stopped to draw a sharp intake of breath as the physician probed the wound with a metal instrument.

"Yes, son. Archers, obviously." Souvlakios was speaking more softly now, realizing how grave this wound was. "Can you tell me anything else?"

"They--the Romans, they're forming up as infantry but when we first saw them they were mounted on horseback, riding double. It wasn't pretty" the man half choked, half laughed, "you could tell they hadn't been on a horse before, hanging on for dear life to the cavalryman in front of them! And the ridge..their horse are on the ridge. I think the King is preparing to face them as he looks to have a slight advantage in numbers and--" the rest of his sentence was lost in a scream as the physician gave a tentative tug on the arrow shaft. Looking up he said, "Praefect, I must cut now if I am to save him."

Souvlakios nodded his assent. Leaning down, he caressed the man's brow. "You did well, son. We'll get you fixed up now."

Looking up weakly, the man nodded and tried to smile before they inserted the stick in his mouth with orders to bite down. Souvlakios turned to see that the guards had brought him the first scout, now very pale indeed. "Tell me again, boy, about those horses you saw on the ridge? Ours, were they? Did you talk to them? TAKE THEIR REPORT FACE-TO-FACE, DID YOU??" The Praefect was now beside himself in rage, spittle flying onto the face of the terrified scout.

"I...they looked like...I just assumed--" the sentence was never finished, because the back of his commander's hand came crashing across his cheek.

"You ingnorant wretch!" Pastitsio shouted, as he uncurled his whip. "I'll show you all about assumptions..."

Soon, two sets of screams could be heard drifting across the Illyrian cavalry camp. The first, one muffled by the sound of a stick between clenched teeth, grew gradually fainter and eventually stopped. The second, punctuated at regular intervals by the crack of a whip, persisted long after the first had ceased.

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In the accompanying image, Lissus lies just off the map to the southwest. You can see the ridgeline and the Drilon River, which has formed a natural chokepoint which was the concern of both Catulus and the Illyrians. The explosion labeled "1" is the site of Appius' famous stand at the bridge; he has withdrawn north. The green box labeled "1" is the position of the Illyrian Infantry forces, with the Praefect's cavalry forces also present. The yellow & red box "2" is the Roman advance guard, and "3" is the Roman main body, under the command of Catulus.

What happens next? We'll see...