Son of Rome

Chapter 5

                 

Attacks continued in a blur, flashing back and forth between the two men. Chips of armor and blade clatter into the arena floor, the tinkling sound lost to the crowd's roar. Cassius brought his shield up in time to block a heavy blow. The mace crashed into the shield with a resounding crash, forcing it back into Cassius' face.

Cassius bellowed as the cartilage crunched in his nose. He stumbled back and spat blood into the dust. The sight of more blood, however little, incensed the crowd. A grunt sounded behind him, enough warning for Cassius to roll away. The wind from the mace's passing fluttered across his back. A blind, backhanded strike elicited a roar of rage as the blade bit deeply into the Celt's calf.

The two turned and faced one another again, chests heaving for breath. Cassius hawked and spat blood into the dust at his feet. The Celt eyed his foe with a new respect as he stretched his leg; blood coated his leg from mid-calf down. At some unseen signal, the gladiators rushed together. Their battle took them nearly the length of the Coliseum, until they fought beneath the Emperor's box.

They fought on, oblivious to the crowd's incessant cheering although, from the corner of his eye, Cassius saw the self-satisfied smirk smeared across the Emperor's face. The man was assured of the death of his most dangerous foe, the son of the man he betrayed. The muscles along Cassius' jaw twitched as he ground his teeth. His lungs burned for air.

He had to end this now.

There.

An opening.

The Celt swung his heavy mace and Cassius, rather than duck, took the blow upon his shield. The iron banded oak shattered beneath the blow, breaking Cassius' arm as well. Screaming in pain, Cassius struck with his Gladius, lopping off the Celt's weapon arm in a spurt of blood. He used the momentum of his strike to step forward, reverse the grip on his sword and plunge it into the Celt's armpit. The blade struck fast and clean; piercing a lung.

In a blur, Cassius ripped the blade form his opponent's armpit in a spray of blood, spun, and sliced both hamstrings to send the Celt crashing to his knees. All of this done before the giant's severed arm crashed into the dust. A gasp went up from the crowd.