The roar of the crowd was nearly deafening. The slathering and hungry calls of a people desperate for blood. Eager for a savage display of violence as they watched the figures circling each other on the sands of the arena below. The coliseum was filled to capacity with men, women and even children, all of them cheering and calling for carnage, for the death of the slaves standing on the killing grounds. The gladiators condemned to fight and die for the pleasure of the people.

Three men stood in the arena under the blood hungry stares of the people. Two of them, slender and athletic men, wore nothing more than loin clothes around their waists, standing side by side with swords clutched in white knuckled hands. Small bucklers strapped to their forearms offered the men their only protection. Their hair was cut short with only a single thin braid left to hang down their backs, the sign of a gladiator, and rough stubble shadowed their chins. Staring across the sand at their opponent, they waited for an opening to strike and draw blood, to lay him low for the pleasure of the crowd, and earn both prestige and coin for their efforts.

Their opponent stood apart, dressed in leather trousers, his chest left bare to display the network of red scars running across his flesh. A true gladiator specimen, he stood tall and proud, listening to the calls of the people. Nearly seven feet, his body was a mass of corded muscles, each one tense and firm beneath his bronzed flesh. Iron greaves protected his legs, and a scaled arm guard covered his right arm and shoulder. A secutor helmet hid his face from view, only two small eye holes allowing the man beneath to see his opponents. The heavy battleaxe the man clutched in his hand seemed almost too big for him to swing, the steel head resting against one broad shoulder. The razor sharp blade held a dozen wicked dents from previous battles, and the metal was covered in the dark stain of dry blood.

It was the two slender men that began the fight, charging their opponent across the hot sands. They ran side by side until they were almost upon him, and then split their course. One ran wide to the left while the other continued on down the middle, launching himself into a hard thrust at the large gladiator’s chest. But the big man was quicker than he looked and he turned on his heel, slipping inside the thrusting man’s arm and bringing his fist up into the man’s stomach, knocking the wind from him.

At the same time the big gladiator stepped to the left, toward the second slender man who was moving in on his flank. Swinging his big axe like an extension of his arm, the big gladiator aimed low at the approaching man’s legs. But this time it was his opponent who was faster, skipping back out of range of the massive weapon. However, the attack had never been intended to hit.

Stepping in behind the swing, the big gladiator reversed his momentum, slamming the butt end of the axe into the slender man’s face, splaying the man’s nose across his cheek and dropping him to the sand.

A shout from behind him warned the big gladiator that the first man had recovered, and he turned to face the man’s poised sword. The first strike came in predictably at the big gladiator’s belly, and he easily countered, putting the shaft of his heavy axe in the path of the man’s sword and turning it aside. The second strike was a low slash at his knees, and the big gladiator jumped back to avoid it. Thinking he had the advantage, the slender man pressed the attack, reversing his swing and aiming high, thinking to decapitate his opponent.

The big gladiator saw the swing coming and, displaying more agility than a man his size should have, he bent back under the sweeping blade. The frantic attack left the slender man off balance and the big gladiator was quick to seize the advantage. Rocking forward he slammed his helmet into the slender man’s face, knocking the man back on his rear. Without breaking his stride the big gladiator dropped his heavy axe on the top of the man’s head as he stepped past him toward the second man who was just beginning to recover from having his nose broken.

Seeing his companion dead, the second man opened his mouth it a savage battle cry. The shout of a man who knew he was doomed, but was determined to go down fighting. With wild abandon the slender man threw himself at the big gladiator, swinging his sword frantically before him. Without losing a step, the big gladiator spun, bringing his axe around in a sweeping arch, increasing its power with the rotation of his body.

The slender man never felt the deadly blade slice through his body, severing him cleanly in half. He only realized his doom when he landed a few feet from his lower half. He stared in horror for a few last moments before the light left his eyes, watching as roses and coins rained down on his opponent from the frenzied people, and the last sound he heard was the roar of the crowd cheering his death.

*   *    *    *   *

High above the arena floor a large balcony of white marble looked down on the carnage. A canopy of fine silk kept the hot sun off the spectators beneath, and a short railing hung with crimson banners displaying a golden sun standard ensured no one stumbled over the edge into the killing grounds below. Brilliant green ivy clung to the railing and balcony supports, dotted with tiny white flowers that gave off a lovely fragrance to cover up the smell of the hundreds of unwashed bodies crowded into the common seats. From this fine vantage point the nobility of Legacia watched the bloody spectacle.

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Men and women dressed in fine clothes milled about the balcony. A long table set back in the shade held a feast of expensive cheeses and fresh fruits, and slaves moved about carrying crystal decanters filled with the finest wines the Legacian Empire had to offer. One corner of the balcony was occupied by a troupe of minstrels playing traditional music on drums and pipes, though the tune was difficult to hear clearly over the roar of the arena crowd.

Standing at the railing, Gaius Annius Decmus watched as the bodies were dragged from the arena and he scowled, “A poor showing,” he commented to the gorgeous woman draped across a lectus beside him, “Kaeso promised me the Nebinians would offer a true challenge, but once again Servius’s champion has prevailed. The man gives no thought to spectacle. His fights end too quickly,” Gaius looked around at the crowd, still screaming for blood.

Tettiena rose from the lectus and came to stand by her husband’s side, a small smile playing across blood colored lips, “You must admit he is a brutal specimen. His savagery excites the crowd,” her words were accompanied by a gentle touch running down his front.

Gaius grunted at her grasp, “True, but what good does it do us if his opponents cannot last more than a few minutes?” He faced his wife and curled a hand behind her head, “Such excitement is best when it is….prolonged,” he growled and kissed her before turning his attention back to the arena sands were wild beasts were being released to tear each other apart while the next gladiators prepared in the dungeons below, “How am I to elevate this cesspit of a city if I can not even provide adequate entertainment to entice visitors.”

Gaius brooded as he considered the matter. He had only taken over the governance of Aricia two years ago, and already he was beginning to believe the station was more a punishment than an honor. A way for his rivals to get him out of the way.

Aricia was as far from the empire’s capitol as one could get and still claim to be in civilized lands. Any further north would put one in the hills of the White Spire Mountains where the savage, non-human tribes dwelt. It was essentially the ass end of no where, and a political dead end for Gaius.

Unless he could find a way to elevate the city, he would languish here for the rest of his life. Aricia held no military value, and it provided nothing in trade that could not be found in a dozen other cities across Legacia. His only hope was to build the city into a prime destination for holidays. A resort city of grand entertainment and luxury to rival the very capitol itself.

However, that was proving to be extremely difficult. Not only was he having trouble securing the trade agreements to import decent wine and food to the city, but the local gladiators were failing to provide adequate sport. Matches were frequently too short or lacking in skill or savagery.

Breathing heavily, Tettiena grinned and spoke without releasing her grip on her husband, “Then perhaps it is time to find a new ludus to provide challengers? Kaeso has obviously lost his touch, so why not let another try their hand?”

Gaius smiled, “Yes. Perhaps what we need in Aricia is some new blood,” he kissed his wife gain and allowed her to lead him from the balcony, “But I hold doubts that any ludus outside the capitol will provide sufficient stock to rival Servius, and no one is going to travel out here from the heart of the empire,” he paused on the stairs that lead down and out of the arena, “I shall send word for Domnall. Perhaps he and his little band of mercenaries can round up some fresh blood for us.”

His wife frowned at the mention of the sell sword’s name, “Are you certain? I would not trust that brute to know which end of his sword is sharp, let alone to choose proper gladiators.”

Gaius laughed, “Worry not my love. Damnall will round up a proper stock from those savages in the north and we will simply weed out the inferior chattel from the prime candidates. We will have ourselves a new champion in no time at all.”

Tettiena remained unconvinced, “And where will we house this new stock?”

Gaius thought for a moment before offering a response, “I have heard young Titus Durus is in sore need of gladiators, and he’s hungry for a spot in the games. We’ll house the new stock there until a champion emerges. Then we will have them moved to a proper ludus, and he can keep the cast offs.”

Tettiena laughed, “A touch cruel don’t you think?”

“Nonsense. The boy reaches beyond his means. Claiming that little farm of his to be a ludus since his father passed. It is absurd,” Gaius said, “We will be doing him a great service to leave him with anything at all.”

His wife smiled and leaned up to kiss him, “Come oh generous husband mine,” she cooed in his ear, “Your plans can wait for morning. You have husbandly duties to attend.”

Gaius chuckled and allowed himself to be led from the arena.