Gladiators of Rome:Short Stories

Bonus Chapter - Chapter 29, Gladiator of Rome

This is the extra bonus chapter set in Chapter 29 of the first book in the series, Gladiator of Rome. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

. . . In Ludus Magnus, Leonidas, Frieda, Rheia and the other gladiators learn of Myra's death and Krista's supposed capture by the Romans. Angry, the gladiators rebel against Pompeia and a fight breaks out between the gladiators and their captors with unforeseeable consequences . . .

The rain, at first a light patter, was now a thick curtain as it poured from the heavens, covering the ground beneath their feet in inches of water.

The sky had grown immensely darker as the sound of water being quickly dispersed by a torrent of boots echoed through the courtyard of Ludus Magnus, followed by grunts of exertion and the clanging of swords.

Long tendrils of hair were plastered to Frieda's face and neck as she reached out and rammed the heel of her palm up into a guard's nose. Over the splatter of raindrops hitting the ground, Frieda heard the man let out a grunt of pain, his head being knocked back severely. Still holding the guard's shoulders, Frieda raised her leg and kicked him in the side of his knee. His lips parted to scream in agony as his knee grew distorted and he fell to the ground.

Throwing her arm out wide, Frieda hurled a solid punch into the man's head, silencing his mouth and sending him crashing to the ground unconscious. Reaching down, Frieda picked up the sword he had been carrying, whilst removing the second one he carried from the sheath on his hip.

Breathing heavy, Frieda looked around Ludus Magnus and felt somehow that everything had been leading to this. Guards fought gladiators, well-armoured captors fought bare slaves. The battles spewed throughout the entire school until it reached the baths and even the kitchens. Glancing across the courtyard, Frieda spotted the unmistakeable figure of Leonidas as he smashed two guards' heads together, their bodies falling to a heap at his feet immediately afterwards.

She spotted the Gaul's blonde head rise up and look across at her and she was sure that she saw a smirk play across his mouth. Frieda's upper lip lifted in a low growl as she muttered something unkind under her breath. As she did so, the smirk left Leonidas's lips and his eyes widened in shock as he reached out an arm in her direction, pointing behind her.

As she began to turn, Frieda saw a flurry of movement from the corner of her eye and her muscles tensed in apprehension. Raising the swords in her hands, Frieda paused as she watched Rheia slam a pot against the back of the guard's head, the pot shattering on impact. The muscles in the guard's face fell before his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he crumpled to the ground; the sword in his hand clattered through the flood of water around their ankles.

"You should watch yourself, Albion," Rheia joked as she reached down for the guard's sword.

Frieda rattled her swords over Rheia's head, fighting the urge to decapitate her for that remark.

"We are overcoming them," Rheia said as she stood and looked around them at the dwindling number of guards. Frieda had lowered her swords.

"They shall send reinforcements," Frieda grumbled, glaring at Rheia from the corner of her eye.

"We shall be waiting at the front gates," Rheia told her, as if it was obvious.

Frieda rolled her eyes, "That is not the only way into Ludus Magnus." Turning around, Frieda ran out of the courtyard and down the passageways, splashing water out behind her as she hurried towards the tunnel.