Chapter 49

A bitter cold wind had begun to sweep the land as everybody crowded themselves onto the ledge, hobbling and limping their way up the steps.

A few people had to be pulled back over the edge when they leaned over too far, trying to catch themselves a better glimpse of the duel which had broken out on the battlefield.

Lazarus was struck with a feeling of helplessness, and he hated it.

The display of Krista, their leader, battling Rome even when her army had been retreated gave the men and women around him a new burst of life.

Those that had been crying in pain were now rallying on the ledge, chanting Krista's name into the sky.

Lazarus doubted she would hear them, they were only a handful and she was too far away, but the image made his heart burst with pride.

Marcia was closest to the edge, her eyes scanning the crowd of soldiers and he knew that she was looking for her own parents.

If they were to believe Varinius then they were dead, including his father and uncles.

But Varinius had also told him that his mother was dead also, and yet clearly she was alive so Lazarus was not about to believe anything he had to say just yet.

Lazarus was about to tell Marcia this when someone yelled down the line.

"We need to do something!"

"Yes," Someone else shouted, "We cannot leave them alone. Krista would not leave us."

"But what can we do?" Another person answered; their voice hesitant and scared as they looked around at their small fleeting numbers.

Slowly and purposely, every pair of eyes turned to look at him.

Lazarus swallowed around the lump in his throat as it had been unconsciously decided that, without Krista or the others, it fell to Lazarus to lead them.

He stared into each of their eyes and his throat grew uncomfortable at what he saw.

He saw human beings, each with their own fears, worries and ideals. Each of them had been dragged from their home, either by force or servitude, and had ended up here.

These people, these ordinary folk, which had been called to arms to defend their freedom, were bleeding profusely from wounds and their bones were splintered and bandaged.

And yet here they stood ready to return to battle for the woman that held the name 'Krista', even though it surely would mean their deaths.

He looked towards Marcia, and he saw the same fire burning in her eyes that shone with tears. Tears for her parents whose fate she did not yet know.

To discover the truth, Lazarus gave her a small nod "We are going out there."

Marcia's eyes closed briefly in relief.

A collective cheer sounded around them, but Lazarus could see a few people looking worried and scared.

He knew that they must have been relieved to come off the battlefield, grateful to still be alive, but now he was ordering them to return there, to the same place they had just escaped.

"The decision is up to you," Lazarus added, "Those who wish to accompany me shall meet at the gate in five minutes, bring your swords. Those too injured shall remain here and await our return."

Lazarus turned and Marcia was immediately at his side as they hurried down the steps.

"Where are we going?" Marcia asked as they reached the bottom of the steps, their bodies pushed on with a new wave of determination and energy.

"The armoury," Lazarus looked at her, "There may be some weapons which had been left behind. We can use those."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Marcia turned and dashed across the courtyard.

* * *

"Arrest her!?" Leonidas shouted, "Arrest her! She just-"

"-Leonidas," Krista spoke his name quietly from beside him as he felt her hand on his shoulder, holding on to him.

Looking down he saw her other hand pressed against her chest where blood was seeping through her clenched fingers.

Her hand was cold against his shoulder and her eyes looked almost- almost pleadingly up at him but it was gone in an instant.

Looking back around them he saw the Roman guards had paused and each of them looking around to see what they ought to do.

They ought to follow orders but a soft murmuring had sparked up amongst the ranks. Most of them had seen the deal be made between Octavia and Krista and were reluctant to act.

Leonidas's breath caught in his throat for a second before the murmuring stopped and Hadrian reminded them of their duty.

Slowly but steadily, they all began to march inwards, surrounding them.

"We need to get out of here," Leonidas wrapped his arm around Krista's waist, reached down and took the sword from her hand.

Krista was now almost entirely leaning upon him; her breathing was loud and uneven against his ear despite the fall of hundreds of footsteps around them.

Krista murmured her ascent and he began to move them backwards, his arm outstretched with Krista's sword.

The guards watched apprehensible but they continued to march forward. They were less than ten feet away.

Glancing over his shoulder, he looked to where the crowd of soldiers was thinnest and moved towards them.

Krista winced when she jolted her side but Leonidas just gripped her waist harder, keeping her up right.

Hadrian was straight ahead of them, advancing forward.

"You cannot escape," He snarled with authority, his hands free of weapons, "You shall both be taken back to Rome and await your judgement."

The anger that had been boiling inside her flesh since this battle had started, since she had witness her friend's dead bodies, since she had held her husband in his last dying moments, suddenly broke the surface.

Her fingers, which had been helping to staunch the flow of blood, curled around the hilt of the dagger and, with a hiss of pain, pulled it from her flesh.

The blood on her hands caused her fingers to slip on the blade slightly but she managed to extend her arm and hurl the dagger across the short space between them.

One- two- three- four times the blade flipped through the air before it sunk itself into the neck of the man stood beside Hadrian.

Every infantryman paused and glanced as where the Roman soldier collapsed to the ground.

Krista let out a small breath of defeat and returned her hand to her side; she had been aiming for Hadrian.

Leonidas looked around at the Roman army with hesitation; he could see the doubt slipping from their eyes.

A few moments earlier the soldiers had been reluctant to harm them, knowing deep down that Krista was rightly free to return to the fort after the deal she had made with Octavia.

However as they watched Krista attempt to kill Hadrian, their new leader, Leonidas saw their doubt and concern wash away like the sea from the shore.

Their spines straightened and their chests broadened as they gripped their weapons tighter and took larger, more menacing steps towards them.

Leonidas decided it was time to leave.

Still holding Krista tightly, he turned and dived towards the thinnest link in the circle.

He cut the first two guards down as they still grappled to understand what had happened. The third was a little more difficult as he lost his grip of Krista.

Kicking the guard away, Leonidas saw Krista fighting with another guard. She was holding his sword above his head where he had attempted to strike them from the side.

Leonidas saw Krista bring her leg up to kick the soldier before he was forced to duck a swipe at his neck.

Hitting out with his elbow as he stood back up, knocking a soldier backwards behind him, Leonidas wasted no time in sinking his blade into the abdomen of a close Roman.

Kicking the man off his blade, Leonidas turned to the next when there was a dull pain behind him. Someone had just knocked him hard on the back of his neck with their blade.

He swung to attack when he felt a blade slice open the skin on his upper arm.

Hissing in pain, he kicked out with every limb he could. He had just pushed one man away with his boot to his gut when he heard Krista release a small scream of pain.

His heart pounded as he shoved four men away from him, clearing a small space, and turned to see Krista a small way away, bent over to the side as she clutched at her side.

She was surrounded, ducking low swipes at her neck before jumping to avoid a swing at her ankles. She was growing tired as she missed a blade and it cut open the skin on her forearm.

"Krista!" Leonidas shouted when he saw blood spurt from her arm.

He reached out and gripped the head of a man which suddenly stepped between him and his line of sight to Krista.

With a growl, Leonidas snapped the man's neck and let his body drop to the ground but not before he had taken the sword from his now limp hand.

Holding his arms out, a sword in both hands, Leonidas spun fast in a circle and ripped open half a dozen men's abdomens.

He spun one last time before he located Krista, now struggling to remain standing, and pushed his way through.

Roman soldiers were flying off the sides as he extradited her from the group, "You need to get back!" Leonidas shouted before he reached stretched his sword behind him and blocked a strike to the back of his head.

Krista was now deathly white as she quickly ducked forward, missing a swipe at her neck, and reached behind her. She looked almost annoyed as she caught the man's head in a headlock and snapped his neck.

Leonidas drove the man's own sword up into his abdomen. Looking around them, Leonidas was overwhelmed with the vast majority around them.

Both of them were not going to escape this.

"Leonidas!" Krista shouted as loud as she could, her arm pointing behind him.

Leo's eyes widened in shock as he turned and raised his sword to defend himself but he was too slow.

He saw a glimpse of the soldier's red uniform as he darted past him, his blade slashing open Leonidas's chest.

"Aah!" Leonidas exclaimed as he wobbled backwards a step. He could feel something wet running down his chest, the cold air stinging at the open wound.

"Leonidas!" Krista hurried to his side, pulling a guard back that had taken hold of his arm.

Krista kicked him in the back of the knee before landing a solid punch to his face, knocking him out.

"Leonidas!" Krista shouted again when she turned and saw that the Roman guards had set upon him.

An agonised scream filled the air.

Krista's heart was pumping so fast she could barely distinguish one heartbeat from another, her stomach also seemed to have dropped to her knees.

Glancing through the gaps, Krista spotted a sword sticking out of Leonidas's knee.

"No!" Krista curled her fingers around a man's robes, attempting to pull him back but she was too weak. Her fingers did not seem to want to cooperate and her breathing was growing heavy.

The man turned and backhanded her across the face, dazing her as he wrapped his fingers around her throat.

Krista stared at the sword about to descend into her throat when she was suddenly falling backwards, the Roman guard on top of her.

Gritting her teeth in agony, Krista managed to grip the man's wrist as they feel, angling her body to the side so that as they fell she aimed the sword up into the bottom of his jaw.

As they landed, a blinding pain seemed to paralyse her for a second. Her eyes were scrunched shut as a white hot pain radiated through her body, causing her chest to tighten and tears to stream through her clenched eyelids.

"Krista," Leonidas's hands were on her arms, pulling her to her feet, "Krista, open your eyes."

Krista took a gulp of air, hissing when it felt as if her lungs were on fire, but she opened her eyes and impossibly saw an open field before them.

Leonidas was beside her and they were alive. A smile played on her lips before she caught movement from the corner of her eye.

Glancing behind her she saw a small section of the roman army hurrying towards them in an arrowhead formation.

"Leonidas . . ." Krista began to warn him but something told her that he already knew.

"You need to get back," Leonidas gritted his teeth.

Krista remembered seeing the sword in his knee and looked down to see his left calf completely covered in blood, as well as his chest and arms.

In fact, there did not seem to be a single part of him that was free from the substance.

"Leonidas . . ." Krista began but he stopped her.

"You need to get back," Leonidas told her again.

"No, Leonidas . . . both of us can . . ." Krista was having difficulty saying much more as her body swayed. She glanced down and saw that blood was now seeping down her legs from her chest.

Leonidas grunted and shook his head, telling her exactly what he thought of her idea. Both of them could not make it back.

The guard was nearly upon them. They did not seem to think that they had to rush and were strolling towards them at a leisurely pace.

They were teasing their prey.

"Yes-"

Leonidas shook his head again, his fingers tightening around her waist, urging her to see.

"Then . . . you go-" Krista turned to head back to the Romans but Leonidas just hurled her forward.

"You need to get back . . . you not me . . ." Leonidas scrunched his face up as he forced himself to limp forward.

Krista could only shake her head as tears began to blur her vision.

"People . . . need . . . you . . . you not me." Leonidas told her as their footsteps began to grow smaller until eventually Leonidas could not take another step and he collapsed to the ground.

Krista fell with him, "Leonidas."

Leonidas looked up and saw the sky in twilight, he imagined Cato waiting for him on the other side.

"Leonidas!" Krista gripped his shoulders, pleading with him to answer her, "Leonidas, you cannot . . . please . . . alone . . ."

"Ca-" Leonidas took a shuddering breath, "Cato's waiting."

Krista leaned forward and rested her forehead against his, tears falling from her eyelashes upon his face.

"Go," Leonidas whispered and a smile broke out on his lips, his eyes still looking up at the sky.

"No-" Krista shook her head, clutching his chest, "We die . . . we die together."

Leonidas looked at her, "I shall . . . the others . . . watch over you . . . waiting." Leonidas's breathing began to catch in his throat.

Krista rested her forehead once more against his own before she kissed him in the same spot, her hand holding his, "I shall see you all soon."

"Go," Leonidas whispered before he let out a small breath and his fingers relaxed in her hand.

Krista squeezed her eyes shut against the tears as she kissed him one last time. Looking up, Krista saw that the guards were still approaching quietly and slowly.

They were less than ten feet away.

Turning, determined not to let them simply catch her, Krista crawled before she slowly got to her feet and hobbled slowly up the incline.

Her feet caught a few times and the blood that had been flowing from her chest began to recede.

A shiver ran down her spine as she hugged her arms around her chest and looked up at the fort, it seemed almost a hundred years away.

She would never make it.

Stumbling forward, her body growing dizzy as the world seemed to spin, Krista fell forward. Reaching out her hands to steady her fall, Krista found herself resting on her hands and knees.

Looking over her shoulder, Krista saw that she had barely taken half a dozen steps.

She looked through the legs of the soldiers at Leonidas's body, "S-Sorry-"

As she was looking she heard someone shouting.

Why were they shouting? Krista was no longer going anywhere. They would get their dead Gladiatrix.

The soldier's legs suddenly broke out into a run around her but Krista could not look up when a Roman guard collapsed to the ground behind her, an arrow protruding from his chest.

Frowning, turning back to look up at the fort, Krista's heart constricted in her chest when she saw a small party heading towards them.

Her eyes widened when she saw that it was a young Artorius and Frieda leading them forward.