Perseus Jackson: Gladiator (Percy Jackson Fanfiction)

Escaping Execution

  Copyright © 2015 runwild14. All rights reserved  

*THIS HAS BEEN EDITED*

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THIRD PERSON POV

As soon as he returned to his tent, Perseus began packing. He knew that with Lucas as the new Caesar, he could be dead in minutes. He was throwing belongings into his bag with only one thought in mind. I have to get out. Sadly, that was not to be. Just as he finished packing, Imperial guards broke into Perseus' tent. Forcing him down onto his knees before them, they took his belongings and weapons by force. As they dragged him outside, one soldier threw a last dig at Perseus over his shoulder. "Where you're going, these will be of little use to you."

They tied his hands together and threw him on top of a horse. Then without waiting for him to get settled, they hopped up onto their own mounts and rode off into the dark woods. Perseus thought about escaping, that is until he noticed that the same ropes that were attached to his hands were also attached to his horse and the horses alongside him. If he tried to escape, he would just be dragged along behind the other horses. He would die before they even had a chance to execute him. Although, he though bitterly, maybe that wasn't such a bad thing.

They led Perseus deep into the forest, the falling snow muffling their horse's footsteps as they went, and covering up all signs of their passing. After a couple of minutes of travel, they came across a clearing filled with decaying bones-an ancient battlefield maybe. Or perhaps a slaughterhouse. The guards dismounted and dragged Perseus off of his horse, before roughly shoving him into the center of the clearing. After forcing him to kneel, the guards took up their positions around him-one stood to his immediate left, sword in hand, and the other stood about five meters in front of him.

As he was about to die, his thoughts drifted to his wife and son, and he began to worry for their lives. Without him there to protect them, Lucas' army would surely come for them. They would be dead within days. He needed to save them – and he couldn't do that after death. Knowing this, Perseus started to formulate a plan in his head. In order for it to work, everything would have to be timed to perfection.

As the first guard prepared to bring down his sword on Perseus' neck, he spoke. "At least give me a clean death. A soldier's death." The first guard looked to his companion for permission, and after a short nod, he walked behind Perseus, sword angled downwards with the tip of the sword over his neck, ready to strike a blow that would sever the spinal cord and lead to a quick, painless death.

As the first guard brought his sword up for the second time, preparing to strike the killing blow, Perseus threw his head back, catching the guard in the stomach and forcing him to drop the sword. Perseus caught the sword before it hit the ground and smashed the hilt of the sword into the second guard's helmet, throwing him backwards onto the ground. Spinning to face the first guard, who was still frozen in shock, he slammed the sword into his chest, piercing the breastplate and puncturing the guard's lungs. As the first guard dropped to the ground Perseus spun around once more to face the second guard. He had picked himself up off the ground but was having trouble un-sheathing his sword. The hilt had frozen to the sheath. Perseus, observing his struggle, gave him a cruel smile before commenting easily, "It's the frost. You'll find it sometimes makes the blade stick." With that said, he swung the blade at the second guard, severing his head from his body.

As he was surveying the ancient battlefield once more, his thoughts were interrupted by the sound of horses neighing. He looked off to his left where the sound had originated from and saw that the two guards that were left behind to secure the perimeter had taken notice of the happenings in the clearing and were headed towards him. Quickly gathering his thoughts once more, Perseus ran for cover, hiding himself behind a group of trees. The first rider took the reckless approach, urging his horse to top speed, unaware that he was headed straight for a trap. He didn't see the sword spinning end over end coming towards him until it was too late. The throw was near perfect, as the sword impaled itself just below his heart and cut all the way through his body. As he fell from his horse, his steed kept running, eager to escape the danger that it's rider had ridden into.

As the sword met its mark, Perseus stepped out of the cover of the trees and observed the results of his throw. While walking over to retrieve his blade, he noticed that the second rider had stayed atop a hill near the clearing. After he picked up his sword, Perseus readied himself before making his presence known. "Centurion!" he called out. The rider spun around in his saddle, and upon seeing Perseus, urged his horse into a gallop towards the general. Perseus stayed on the rider's sword arm side, waiting for the right moment. When the rider was nearly on top of him, Perseus jumped to the opposite side of the horse and struck a deadly blow to the rider. Unfortunately for him, Perseus also received a cut, although not fatal. The horse came to a stop, before turning to run at Perseus again, not realizing the state that it's rider was in. The steed had covered no more than two meters when it's rider slumped in the saddle and crumpled to the ground. The horse started in surprise, before stopping to graze on the grass that was uncovered during the scuffle, no longer paying attention to Perseus.

The man himself stabbed his sword into the ground so that he could check his wound. He put his hand to his left shoulder to discover the severity of the wound. When he removed his hand it was drenched in blood. Wiping his hand off on his already blood-soaked shirt, he retrieved his sword and approached the lone remaining horse. Sheathing his sword, he swung himself into the saddle and spun the horse around before ridding off towards his family, his home.