It was a rare day off so Maximus decided to spend some time in his tent mainly because the Egyptian heat was so hot and unforgiving. The young man lay flat on his bed flat on his back reading about the different Phalanx formations. As a Lieutenant, Maximus had to keep himself mentally sharp, the physical part was important sure but a leader must always keep a calm mind and assess every option. The war was starting in earnest and Maximus spent the entirety of it trying to imagine the blood, the clashing of shield's against the scimitars that he heard that the Egyptians wield. A big problem would be their chariots and how they could disrupt the Phalanx formation, Maximus would hope that the skirmishers or archers could hold them back but he doubted it. These chariots were unlike anything Maximus had ever seen, they were large yet mobile carrying two Horses carrying two people: a driver and an archer.



Maximus had only seen chariot races in an arena once but never had he seen one personally in battle. It would only be a matter of time before he enters his first legitimate battle. Not the ambush two years ago where Maximus hid beneath the corpses of his brothers as the Barbarians slaughtered everyone in sight. He still couldn't get the images of that ambush out of his head as the screams of his fellow man sometimes took over his dreams. First time experiencing action and years worth of training forgotten in a matter of seconds, his father did teach him though that all the training in the world could not prepare for the heat of battle, that was the last test he must faced and he failed. Maximus closed his eyes placing the book over his face groaning behind it.



He supposed he was lucky he wasn't saddled with a nickname like Max the Craven, to still experience nightmares and be affected by them after all these years was troubling. Was Maximus a man or a boy again? He was a Colchian soldier! A warrior! He made mistakes in that ambush and he vowed to fix them yet here he was still unnerved by the ambush. They were all dead, slain by Maleous and his men. Still when he was promoted to Lieutenant, the first thing Maximus vowed was to never have his men die by an ambush like that again.



“Package for Lieutenant Maximus of Laconia.”



"Package?" Maximus got up from his bed to see a soldier plop a box in front of him. Raising an eyebrow Maximus approached it while the soldier did a brief salute before exiting the tent. "Where did this come from?" He knelt down examining its contents, did his parents send him something? It wasn't uncommon for soldiers to receive packages of food or clothing by their families. Maximus though bought what he needed and he was taught by his father that too many things could overburden him or have him emotionally distracted. "Let's see what's inside," Maximus drew out his sword began propping open the top of the box and began to peer inside.