The Slave's Gladiator

Chapter 16: Freedom

They rode out as soon as the sun had set. A cloudy, starless night greeted Valeria and her group as their horses pounded across the grasslands of Sicilia. Their steps joined the crickets' songs as Divco led them toward the very edge of the mind borders.

Moonlight glowed down on the large stone cairn. There had to be hundreds of stones, all piled up high to mark the edges.

"The mine shouldn't be too far from here." Divco spoke. "They'll have Gamba either working or locked away."

Rocca nodded. "That means Valeria and I will check the area near the mines. Divco, you check the guard's area and try not to get caught."

Divco snorted. "I never get caught."

"We have until the moon reaches its center before Oyo sets off the decoy."

Valeria glanced up toward the sky. Through the clouds, the moon was already one-fourth the way there. Which means we need to find Gamba and fast.

With the plan in motion, they dismounted their horses and left them tied near the cairn.

Valeria followed Rocca close to the ground as they made their way toward the mine's entrance with their backs pressed against the piles of ores and other materials for cover. With each step closer, the clanging of rocks and pickaxes filled the air.

Holding up a finger, Rocca pointed.

A guard was approaching their hiding spot from the other side.

Three...two...one...Rocca's hands snapped around the guard just as he passed. Before he could even speak, her dagger ended his life.

"Here." Roccas tossed Valeria the bloodied helmet. "I'll go see if I can find some more armor. Start near the north side and meet me in the center. Remember, you can't speak their language so you have to get Gamba's attention another way if you spot him."

As Valeria slipped the armor on, she tried to ignore the tremble of her fingers. It's time. Pinning up her hair with her dagger, Valeria silently praying the night would hide any filling issues.

She stepped out from around the ores and moved toward the sound of pickacts. Some mines worked on the outside, hacking away at the entrances as if to make them wider. Chains hung around their limbs just like back at her master's estate.

"Keep moving!" She turned to see a guard leading a group of men. A figure stumbled forward. The boy could hardly hold the pickaxe, much less carry it toward the mine's entrance. With his body nothing but a skeleton, mine's swallowed him whole.

This is where they send you to die. If it wasn't the falling rocks, then the poisonous air suffocated you. Those that survived those hazards were soon claimed by sickness, overworking, or the hungry dogs and bored guards.

Valeria followed the group in. Hung lamps illuminated the war criminals and prisoners around her. They were sickly and thin, with some without limbs. Their coughs filled the tunnels, pained and dry from the days of working and inhaling dusk.

Valeria faltered with a young man knelt over, coughing up a patch of blood. Her heart ached at the sight before her. She had seen torture, death, even suffering but here, surrounded in the mines, Valeria's mind couldn't help but wonder to Agustin.

Was he still alive? Did he suffer like these miners? Did he get crushed or, even worse, suffocated?

A scream cut through the mines. Valeria's head snapped to the sound before she hurried down the tunnel. Turning two rights and a left, she slowed to a stop. A guard stood over what seemed to be another boy. His age reminded her of Tulia.