Chapter 26

Rheia sunk her blade into an unsuspecting peasant that looked barely able to hold a sword before taking a moment to judge the situation.

Bodies covered the ground in their own blood as her men continued to push through; though they were outnumbered their skill and training enabled them to hold the upper hand.

Krista’s men were weak, ex-slaves that had never held a sword in their lives, and they fell easily to their strength.

Turning her head to the side, Rheia looked across the forest and paused.

For there, through a gap in the trees, far from the main battle, Rheia saw a face she did not expect to see.

Hurrying over, Rheia was interrupted by one of Krista’s women. She was a frail thing with dirty blond hair and blue eyes filled with fear but there was courage as well.

Rheia wasted no time or energy on the woman.

Kicking the sword out of her hand, Rheia swiped it from the air and turned the blade on its owner, sinking the short sword into the blond woman’s stomach.

Leaving her to fall to the ground, Rheia ran through the forest to reach Dianna.

As she closed in, Rheia saw Frieda cradling her arm against her chest as she battled a pair of Roman soldiers unarmed.

Artorius was knelt on the ground, a dagger in the back of his thigh but he still continued to battle on.

His sword rose above his head, it was only a matter of time before the Roman’s bore down on him with their strength and he lost the battle.

Rheia grabbed Dianna by the arm and threw her to the side, “What in Jupiter’s name are you doing here!?”

Dianna seemed frantic, babbling away to herself as she couldn’t keep her eyes off of Artorius, “She will be happy now,” Dianna bit at her nails, “I did good. The Empress will be happy now.”

Rheia gazed over Dianna’s face with pity, she seemed to have been driven to the ends of her mind.

“Yes?” Dianna suddenly snapped her head around and gazed at Rheia, “You shall tell the Empress what I did, yes?”

“Traitor!” Frieda’s voice rang through the air like a knife causing Dianna to shrink back.

Looking over her shoulder, Rheia saw Artorius with a sword to his throat and a group of Roman’s around him.

However, Frieda was a mad creature and with only one roman left to fight, she kicked his ankles out from beneath him and lunged for the sword she had dropped nearby.

Charging forward, Rheia booted the sword out of reach. As she did so, she kicked the mud up into Frieda’s face, causing her to turn away or risk her own blindness.

“Dianna,” Rheia pointed the tip of her blade against Frieda’s neck and never took her eyes away, “Dianna!”

“Y-yes,” Dianna’s reply was weak and afraid.

“Go back to the camp,” Frieda ordered her.

“The- The camp?” Dianna whispered.

“Krista does not know about you yet,” Frieda rationalised, if Dianna returned to Rome she would be killed by Pompeia for failing.

“Take this dagger,” Rheia slipped the dagger from her belt and replaced the one that was still imbedded in Artorius’s thigh, “And finish your duty.”

Artorius let out a horrific yell of anger as he charged the Romans around him but the blade at his throat and the injury to his leg kept him there against his will.

Frieda simply glared up at Rheia.

Dianna did not reply but Rheia felt her take the dagger from her grasp and heard her running off in the distance.

Frieda was pulled to her feet at Rheia’s request by two romans, her arms wrenched behind her back, “I may not be able to kill you now but I promise you,” Frieda placed her face close to Rheia’s until she could see the flecks of colour in her eyes, “that one day, when you least expect it, I’ll be there with my own dagger.”

“Take them away,” Rheia ordered the men when a sudden ball of flame roared above their heads, crashing through the tall trees before landing a few hundred yards from their feet.

The ground beneath them shook as the boulder of flames hurtled into the floor, burying itself in the ground before bouncing and hitting a handful of Roman soldiers.

Turning her head to look at where the flaming mass had come from she saw nothing but darkness as the sun set behind the hill.

Sound first alerted Rheia to their close presence as she heard their unifying battle screams before a group of nearly a hundred broke over the brow of the hill and charged straight for them.

Leading them was a man atop a horse, his legs guiding the beast forward as he held an armed bow in his hands, looking for his first target.

“Diomed,” Frieda let out a loud cheer of support from beside her for this man.

The sudden arrival of these extra slaves overwhelmed Rheia considerably.

“Quick!” Rheia ordered the men, “Take them to the horses,”

“What about the men?” One of the soldiers asked, yanking Frieda to the side as she tried to escape.

Reaching forward, Rheia ripped the horn from his belt and ordered them once again to leave before they were overrun.

Following the men through the trees and down the hill, Rheia brought the horn to her lips and sounded the sequence for a full retreat.

* * *

Swinging her sword above her head, Krista planted her boots into the ground and pushed against his axe as Argus tried to bring it down on her head.

Placing her other hand at the end of her blade, Krista pushed with all of her might against his strength but it was like pushing against seven grown men at once.

He seemed to have the strength and stamina of a God.

Krista winced in pain as she felt her own blade cutting through the flesh of her palm as Argus continued to push down with his axe.

Knowing that it was only a matter of time, Krista stopped pushing and rolled out of the way as Argus stumbled forward.

His weight was an advantage however it made him slower and less agile than Krista.

Pushing up off of her knee in one swift movement, Krista turned and jumped into the air, planting her boot firmly against his jaw.

Feeling his flesh mould beneath her boot, Krista pushed off of him like a catapult and landed a few feet away her breathing heavy as she clasped her palm shut against the blood that dripped down her fingers.

Watching Argus closely as he straightened back up, he turned his head to face her and Krista’s eyes widened at the expression that brewed there.

His eyes had narrowed and his lips were curling back in anger as his skin grew red with rage.

Blinking, Krista gazed at his axe as he drew his arm back over his head and turned his body to the side.

Knowing what was going to happen, Krista turned and darted for the nearest tree.

Ducking behind a tree just as Argus hurtled an axe through the air at her neck, Krista managed to jump out of the way just in time.

Splinters of wood blasted the side of her face as the axe imbedded itself in the tree a hair’s breadth away from her head.

The tree shook behind her from the force of the throw, reminding Krista that this was no ordinary man.

Raising the palm of her hand to her head, Krista wiped away the blood that threatened to seep into her eyes and blind her.

Taking deep breaths, Krista risked a glance around the tree, avoiding the sharp edges of the axe to see the terrifying image of a seven foot giant charging straight for her.

Her chest was rising up and down with exertion as a layer of sweat covered her skin, her mind running wild.

She had barely gotten a few strikes in and the strikes that fell true hardly seemed to affect him.

His skin felt as hard as rock against her strikes, causing her wrists to ache.

With nowhere to run to, Krista turned to face the tree.

Gripping her sword, Krista bent at the knees and volleyed herself into the air.

Using her momentum to catapult her further, Krista gripped a branch with her spare hand and swung herself up over the branch.

Landing softly on the thick branch of the tree, Krista edged slowly forward, keeping herself as silent as possible.

Peering over the edge, Krista tried to keep her balance as her growing abdomen placed all of her weight at the front.

Argus was just reaching the tree, his fingers wrapping around his axe as he tried to remove it from the tree.

Knowing that she could not let that happen, Krista pushed herself off the branch and into the air and allowed herself to hurtle towards the ground.

For a moment Krista enjoyed the wind howling around her, the coldness soothing the heat that raged beneath her skin.

Keeping her eyes trained on Argus, Krista glanced at the patches of hair and baldness that covered his scalp right before she landed against his back, her arm wrapping around his thick neck as she tried to slice his throat open.

But before she could even get her sword into position, Argus had reached behind him and gripped her with his large hands.

His strength was unbelievable and Krista could not protest as he lifted her off his back and hurtled her over the top of his head.

A flash of panic and fear raced through her as she fell towards the ground.

Before it was too late, Krista snapped into survival mode and flipped mid-air until she was facing Argus, the giant, her stomach pointing towards the ground.

Bending her knees, Krista took the landing on the balls of her feet, the force causing her to bend one knee into the ground, her hands reaching out to steady her.

As Krista landed she was still travelling backwards from the force of Argus’s throw.

Her boots imbedded themselves in the soft ground as she slid backwards, leaving track marks, her sword still clasped in her hand even as she rested her palms against the ground.

As she drew to a stop, Krista jerked her head up causing the hair that had covered her face to flip over her head and to rest down her back.

Still knelt into the ground, Krista looked at Argus as he twirled the axe in his hand.

He took a step forward and Krista felt her leg muscles bunch together as she prepared to run when a new sound filled their ears.

Bouncing off the trees the sound of the horn seemed magical to Krista’s ears.

“Your dogs are calling you,” Krista rose to her feet slowly, showing him that he had not succeeded in making her surrender.

Argus took a step forward and Krista raised her sword.

“I shall see you soon,” Argus pointed his axe towards her throat where a cut lay across her flesh from the very same weapon he now held.

Krista bowed her head to a worthy opponent though one she hated, “I look forward to it.”

Keeping her eyes trained on his figure, Krista watched him slink away into the darkness before she turned and hurried back to the battlefield.

Argus had drawn her away from the main battle, isolating her from her friends.

Finding her way back, Krista ignored the way the child seemed to jostle about inside of her and raced to find Artorius.

They had been separated.

Returning to the battle field, Krista was grabbed by numerous people in victory as they cheered and jumped in the air even as the bodies of their comrades lay on the ground.

And there were more bodies from their side than from the Romans side.

But Krista knew how important this victory was to the people that followed her so she smiled back where she could even as her eyes scanned the battlefield.

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion as Krista turned in circles, trying to find someone when the crowd around her seemed to part ways and there, at the other end of the path, was Diomed with Leonidas.

Krista felt her lips pull into a smile at seeing her friends when she noticed the expression upon their faces.

Krista knew that expression far too well; it was one of sadness and regret.

Her legs felt like lead as she trudged the seemingly endless distance across to them, their eyes watching her with sadness.

Krista’s eyes flickered towards the ground at where Leonidas was cradling Cato in his arms. He was badly wounded but he was still breathing and reached his hand up to Krista.

Clasping his hand in hers, letting him know that he had done well, Krista sent him a small smile before looking at Diomed, still holding Cato’s hand for strength.

“Frieda?” Krista whispered when she failed to see the Briton.

Diomed looked at the ground in answer.

Then a worse feeling entered Krista’s mind and her throat seemed to close up, she didn’t want to ask it but she knew she had to.

“Ar- Artorius?”

Krista’s eyes were glued to Diomed’s as he raised his head and looked her in the eye.

And in that moment, as if sensing the situation that was unfolding before her, the baby stopped moving.