The sun was at the middle of the sky and stroking my face between the rusty metals. I wasn’t looking at outside because I have already known what was going on. Probably this would be my last day before I went to a nasty, neglected cemetery where thieves were digging graves for any crumbs of money with a little hope. I was deploring and also being rave to their perseverance. Although they knew gravediggers hadn’t left anything to them…
People had wanted to embroider themselves because of the bad location where their country had fallen. They didn’t want to think about what would happen a few days later. Their wives as bitches to the Roman Empire and their sons as slaves... They want to see atrocity under their feet and only up to them. I heard the voice which my ears got used to it. After that would be my turn to die for some ignorant and miserable people who seemed to me like little ants, on the other hand ants were hard-working but those people were just… I can’t fit them the right word and it wasn’t my work too.
The same voice sound again and I understood that whether I hadn’t be calm all over the fight, I would die certainly. I heard my name in the speaker’s voice like he was splitting an unpleasant thing from his wide mouth. I stood up, stretched my whole body for an instant and then again made free them. While the iron door was going upwards my back shuddered with knowledge of having my last minutes or maybe seconds.
I took my blind sword from the sand floor and wore my helmet. These were the only things that I have owned for the last three years and also a piece of rug for covering my confidential places. The voice, sound my name again: “Slave Magnus Maximus” I stepped three pace to the sunlight between the whole people who disguised as tramps. They were all shouting and doing some rude acts with their arms and hands. Although it’s not the biggest Arena in the country people were usually preferred this one because the managers were skillful to find wild people or turning them to savageries but they couldn’t do it to me. I always stayed as a human between them.
Because of the sun’s luster my eyes were glaring; I couldn’t see the battlefield excellently at the first. Maybe it was my sensitive warrior senses which consisted because of the experience of years maybe I just felt the vibration in the air I threw myself to aside. I was right. A gladiator was standing on my place where I where there split-seconds ago. I wrinkled my face because there was never be a fair fight between a gladiator and a slave. Extra they had lots of protections on their bodies and they were using the best and sharpest swords also a mesh at their left hand.
He walked slowly to me as he was a lion which were trying to tuck into the corner its chase. I stood calm as I knew this were my only chance to survive; if I panic I would die without honor. When there were just two steps between us he dashed to me with his sword. At the same time I was thinking what if he would use his gin and how could I go to a wide place. He tried to enwrap his gin to my feet but I jumped so it just touched to my soles of my feet. When my toes contacted with the floor I turned around myself and hurled my sword towards the gladiator. Maybe it could be a crucial damage but my sword just ricocheted from his fancy cuirass.
As I gave a deficit to him so he used it and impacted me with his sword. It hurt; I lost my patience and attacked with my whole power and speed. I was always hitting him but it didn’t mean anything but when he hit me I had to stay back for a while to wait for pain to pass. The audience was bellowing with all the excitement and began to opening bets. I couldn’t hear them but probably majority would support that steer front of me. At the end I had remain no energy for the fight so I retreated to defense. He was using also his weight as an advantage and I was gasping every time our swords hit to each other. Finally he threw his gin on me and I fell down.
The temperature was at the highest level between the spectators. The gladiator came near me and slowly raised his hands within the sword when he was looking around to the seats as if he were looking for something. People were thumbing down. I knew the meaning of it because generally I was at the gladiators place usually in my old matches. I couldn’t believe that I will be gone for just seconds later. I thought my whole life in just a moment and understood that I wasn’t ready for die yet. Not yet.
I looked around for something to help me and then I saw the knife which will be my best friend later and took it. Obviously it was a fallen gladiator’s knife because it was looking like expensive with its inlaid hilt. I took it slowly and the gladiator how hot up with the high temperature almost forget me didn’t see anything. With a grinning on my face of the knowledge of I was far away from the death I plunged the knife to his right feet until the knife came to its hilt’s beginning. I was lucky that I found a gladiator weapon unless it wouldn’t be able to pierce to his foot. I threw away the thing on me in an act and couldn’t stop me think how it could be easy to break blocks with the new hopes. I didn’t take his sword although he dropped it when I damaged to him. I knew I could do it by just my hands and walked on to him. He got on to his left foot soon and was seeming very pathetic now. Who could guess he was thinking if he would kill this man in a slow way or to finish this job and celebrate it seconds ago?
I ran toward him and jumped onto him as powerful as a cheetah because I weren’t feeling any weakness inside of me. Because of my weight both of us fell down but the one thing was important; I was the one who was on. I ejected his helmet from him and punched him and again and again until I thought it would be enough hitting to him and then let him go half-deadly. I looked to the crowd and there wasn’t a crumb of any type of voice. The speaker spoke soon: “The victory belongs to Markus Maximus” the difference was there was no unpleasant tone in his voice anymore. “The first slave who has beat a gladiator in a one on one battle”. The crowd didn’t need more things and everyone stood up with acclamation and some whistles. It sounds in my ears even now: “Maximus, Maximus, Maximus…” They were throwing all the types of flowers…