Gladiator (Part XI)

Gladiator (Part XI)

Waken Servius
Seems the people want to see you fight
These are the words that greeted me from my dreams of death
It had been weeks since my last fight and days since any contact with my Latista
Not since that forbidden night when he brought me Serena
‘Latista I need to thank…’

‘Enough Servius we have no time for this
Of some things we can never speak
The risk in price is too high
Now concentrate, and call me Gaius, it is my name after all’

His tone of word was one of anger
Still one I understood
For everyone in this place is here to listen
Words spoken of betrayal make a wealthy man
And words spoken in such ways usually results in a mans death

I asked Gaius about the Emperor
It seemed he was leaving me to rot down here
Having not even been allowed to train in weeks

Gaius explained
‘The emperor has deemed you undeserving of further training Servius
He believes your skills more than adequate
And though I believe he would love to leave you to rot in this hell
Even the Emperor must answer to his people
Your displays have left quite an impression on them
You have found a place in many of their hearts and minds
To be released only in death or ultimate freedom
To some you are a hero of Rome
The Emperor knows this
He needs you to die in the arena
For while you live his hate grows
You are indeed a problem for him
One he intends to end’

On my way through the labyrinth of tunnels
Gaius informs me of my challenge
A ship battle
A grand spectacle indeed
The lower chambers flooded to form the stage for Rome’s latest massacre
Two modest vessels crewed by slaves
Scheduled to end only when one crew remains
As far as battles in the coliseum goes
This is one where survival chances should be fairly good
So why have me participate
Surely a gladiatorial battle to the death would be much more effective
The reasoning soon became clear though
As a weighted chain was applied as I boarded the vessel
Should I find myself thrown overboard
I would surely drown
A death of little honour for a Gladiator of my stature
Though one of great satisfaction no doubt for the Emperor

After several minutes of waiting
The gathered and restless crowd erupted
As the signal was given
For carnage to begin

For this recreation it was quickly apparent that I was expected to be on the losing side
Our vessel crippled from the start
Our crew the only ones chained
Destined to be the boarded ones
Destined to die

Very quickly the slaves from the other ship
Forge onto our bow
Swords in hand
Flooding the deck with blood as soul after soul now laid to rest
The crew fought bravely
Still disadvantaged as we were
For each one of them killed at least 3 of us laid to rest
Some wrestled overboard to drown till death
Others simply decapitated to bleed the ocean red
Despite the odds I refuse to die
Not today
A strong band of us gathered in mid ship
As back to back we held back our aggressors
To the disbelief of the crowd and the horror of the Emperor we stood firm
As one by one we evened the numbers
Limbs littering the deck
Blood staining our faces
It’s putrid taste filling our mouths

Glory was to indeed be short lived though
As the Coliseum’s archers intervened
Usually used only to contain wild animals and protect the crowd
Still the Emperor had learned from previous embarrassments
This time he was prepared
With one signal of his hand
Arrows rained on my fellows
Laying each to their death
I now left to fight alone
A solitary slave

To recount how I survived
Fills me with fear
As with blow after blow I hacked at all in sight
I never even saw their faces
By the time of the archer’s intervention at least eight aggressors remained
I should have surely died
Still I am here
I remain to write this
Though I sit here scarred by wound after wound
Limbs devoid of flesh
I live
It must be the God’s will
But why?

The crowd revere me as a hero
The same crowd I have once again learned to hate
Though if what my Latista states is true
Their desire for me keeps me alive
For blood always satisfies the mob
And I have provided oceans