Condemned

I stood in silence. Looking out the rusted iron gate, wishing I didn't have to go out there. There air was thick and still. Beads of sweat dripped down my face from the unforgiving humidity. The hairs on my neck prickled as the cheers outside grew. I could vaguely here someone addressing the crowd. After each pause the crowd would cheer again and again. I could not make out what he was saying overall of the noise. Not that it mattered, I could guess what the voice was saying.

I looked across the caged room, the others looked about as good as I felt. And I don't think I'd ever felt such despair, such loneliness. One of the men looked as if he had just seen a ghost. His skin was deathly pale, which was pretty extraordinary considering everyone in this parts had quite a tan. His eyes looked vacant, as if his very soul had departed him. He just stared outside, at nothing in particular.
I looked at him closer, it wasn't like I had anything else to do.

He was horribly thin, I doubt he had eaten anything much in the past week. He was that thin you could see his bones, his rib-cage and his jawbones. But at the same time, he looked quite fit. I mean, as fit as anyone in his state of health could. Though I wasn't much better, nor was anyone other doomed soul in this cage. It would begin soon.

I decided to sit down next to the skinny man. Trying to think of something comforting to say as I did. I wasn't really sure what to say, I didn't even know what he had endured, outside of the obvious. For all I knew, his whole family could have been killed, his best friend perhaps. Or maybe he had been one of the unfortunate ones to be tortured in Uthguard Keep. My mind wasn't working very well anyway, I was hot, tired, hungry and I don't think I had ever been so thirsty in my life. Hours ago I would swallow my saliva to try and wet my parched throat. But now swallowing had become too painful. It felt as if I was swallowing burning pieces of cinder. I couldn't think of anything to say at all, my mind ached as I tried to think.

Fortunately for me, the man spoke first. And what he said was much to my own surprise. I had thought he was lost blah blah fix this up later.
“I think we can survive this. We can beat these guys, we can use the terrain to our advantage, for starters.” the man said, without shifting his gaze. I looked at him, taken a breath. Here I had resigned myself to death. I was saying goodbye to the world, to my friends, to everything I cared about. And he was thinking about strategies, about surviving. We were gladiators... Slave gladiators... Sentenced to death for resisting the Imperials. Slave gladiators never survived, they aren't meant to survive. We aren't meant to survive.

A dozen of slaves with dilapidated weapons, put up against several veteran legionnaires, equipped from head to toe with plate-mail, who bore huge swords, maces and flails. We were half starved, dying from thirst, our minds destroyed by despair. They were strong, well fed and well trained. We were the sheep, and they were the wolves.

I decided to follow his stare, trying to figure out what he could see that I couldn't. Finally I realised what he was looking at. He was looking at a large piece of debris, from a building of some sort. There were pieces of debris all over the arena floor, put there by the Imperials. There were various mounds also, of varying gradients and shapes. All intentionally put there by the Imperials. They thoroughly believed in including terrain into their training exercises, because terrain was an integral part of warfare. Terrain could cost you a war if you weren't careful, and it could win you won if you were smart. Still, we were hugely disadvantaged, I couldn't see what a few debris could do to help us against experienced men with plate-mail and terrifying weapons.

I repeated my thoughts allowed, still gazing outside, trying to ignore my stomach clenching furiously, as if it were tearing itself apart. “Condemn yourself to death, and that is surely what will result. Don't give up hope,” the main whispered. I turned to face him, not feeling even the slightest bit better. He smiled weakly at me. It was a kind of an awkward smile, but it was a smile nonetheless. I don't think anyone who had been in our position before had smiled, how could they? Except, perhaps for the delirious.

His eyes now seemed so full of life. A quiet, reserved kind of energy seemed to emanate from him. My mind drifted. I remembered myself back at our small little farmhouse, back before the war begun. I was with my elder sister, Natalie. We were walking, I don't remember where, or why. I kept taunting her cheekily. Oh how I loved to annoy her! I kept poking her. At first, she would brush me away, muttering to herself, as if I was an insect. Then much to my frustration, she ignored me. I poked harder, but she paid me no attention. I begun plotting my revenge. How dare she ignore me! I'll teach her, I thought.

Finally, I thought of a plan, it was ingenious. I smiled to myself mischievously, playing over how it would happen in my mind. I sensed her looking at me. I looked away, trying to hide the grin on my face. I had to catch her unaware. I just had to wait until the time was right. I couldn't wait! She would always get the last laugh on me, but not this time! I gazed at the gape vines, itching with anticipation.

“What are you planning, Mina?” she asked, ruffling my hair. I couldn't believe it. Did she know? No way, she must have just been guessing. Quickly, I removed the smile on my face, and tried to replace it with an innocent look.

“Nothing,” I said, trying to sound as innocent as I could. Then, just up ahead, I saw what I was looking for. A large tract of manure, which my parents had put there to help the vines grow. I put a few feet between us as we approached. She was a lot bigger than I was, she was sixteen and I was only eight. I was going to need a bit of room if I was going to be able to push her hard enough. I just had to catch her by surprise.

Finally, I was in place. It was surely the perfect opportunity. “What's that?” I said, pointing into the distance. My plan was to get her to face away from me, so she didn't see it coming. It worked. I dashed forward, my arms outstretched. I laughed to myself, finally I was going to get my revenge on her! I am a genius, I thought to myself. Suddenly, she stepped to the side! I didn't even realise that she was on the balls of her feet. She had been expecting it all along! How?

A moment later, I realised my true problem now. I tried to stop, I put one foot forward and braced it in place to stop. I lost my balance a bit, falling forward, but I was going to be all right. That would have been so embarrassing if I had fallen in it! Then suddenly I felt Natalie give me a push from behind. I was already off balance, I wasn't going to be able to stop. I couldn't believe it. I fell wide eyed, letting of a small shriek before landing straight into it.

I felt her grab me around my waist, laughing hysterically. I grumbled defensively, as she wiped the manure off my face. She had now stopped laughing, and was just smiling at me. “Sorry,” she said. “I couldn't resist. I can read you like a book,” she chuckled.

A noise snapped me back to reality. It was the thin man, he had said something, but the noise made no sense to me, my brain unable to process the information. He looked at me, concerned. “What? Sorry?” I said, trying to remember where I was again. Quickly, I begun to remember the situation I was in. How could I have dazed of like that? In a time like this?

“Are you okay?” he asked, just loud enough for me to hear. I paused, was I okay? Only then did I realise that I did fell quite a lot better. Well better than a few moments before anyway. Before I had drifted off. Strangely, I felt lighter, happier, more hopeful. I begun to remember my friends, and my sister. I wonder how they are? Where they okay? I hadn't heard from any of my friends in over a month now, and I hadn't seen my sister in several years. I wasn't sure about Natalie, but I was quietly confident that my friends were okay.

“Yes,” I replied shortly. “Sorry about that.” Only then did I realise that I was laying flat on the ground. Everyone was looking at me. I tried to ignore them, for now. “What happened?” I added quietly, so that only he could hear.

He shrugged, “you passed out or something? I was hoping you could tell me.” he said, giving me a hand to my feet.

I laughed, for the first time in a long while. The images of my sister smiling at me, of me and my friends laughing, of my family, stuck in my mind. I especially held onto the distant memory of my sister, from all those years ago. Something about that moment seemed so pure to me. I realised the experience I was feeling was hope. Hope had become such a strange, alien emotion to me, one that I hadn't truly felt for a long, long time. “Thank you,” I whispered to him.

“For wha-” he started to reply, but he was cut off by the deafening roar of chains screeching. The gate lifted rapidly, sending dust sprawling throughout our little caged room. I picked up my blade and walked out into the flaring sunlight. The blade was pretty small, and heavy, and was rusted in a few spots. I figured it was made of bronze. Still walking, I ran my finger along the blade. It was pretty blunt. I'd have more luck trying to bludgeon them to death than to cut them.

I saw the thin man out of my peripherals, only a few steps behind me. “What is your name?” I asked, without turning around.

“Angus, and yours?” he replied.

“Mina.”

At the other end of the arena marched four heavily armoured men, each wielding different weapons. One of them bore a massive flail, which was basically a steel shaft with a steel chain attached to it. On the other end of the chain was a large iron ball with spikes covering its circumference. The ball was perhaps a little smaller than an average human head. The others bore a two handed sword, which must have been at least four times larger than my impotent blade; a sword and a large shield; and finally the last man had some exotic weapon I hadn't seen before. It looked like a staff gone wrong. The shaft was made of some kind of metal, I'm not sure which. It was curved, and at both ends was a large curved blade. It was like a staff with two scimitars attached to it, one at each end.

“I don't suppose you have a plan, Angus?”

He turned around, back to where we had came from. “Better to go down fighting, than hiding in a dark hole if you ask me,” he called. He was talking to the rest, who stood hesitantly in the caged area. They stood on the edge of the shaded area, as if the sun would spontaneously set them alight.
He turned back towards me. “Well one thing is for sure, we have to separate them if we are to have any chance. They are experienced legionnaires, and work effectively as a group. If we can separate them, perhaps we can rob them of that advantage.”

I nodded in silent agreement. My muscles were itching with anticipation, I felt as if every muscle in my body was alert, ready to spring into action at any moment. I'm not sure what caused my new found energy exactly, but now certainly wasn't the time to ask questions. All I knew was that I desperately wanted to see my friends, and my sister again.

I heard the others walk up behind us, treading heavily in the sand. “I'll try distract the guy with the flail for as long as I can.” I said to the rest. “I'm pretty sure I can avoid that flail. I mean, I'm pretty nimble, so I should be alright.” Angus nodded.

“Do you guys think you can take care of the guy in with the shield on the two-handed sword?” Angus asked, talking to the rest. Seeing doubt flare into their eyes, he quickly added, “all you have to do is distract them, draw them apart, and keep them busy as long as you can. You can use the terrain to your advantage.”

“And they have heavy armour,” I added. “They will tire, their strikes will slow. When the opportunity arises we can move for the kill.” I'm not sure I really believed my own words, I mean these guys were huge, and were probably incredibly fit. Even with all that armour, there was a good chance that they would last longer than us. Especially when you consider they were well fed, whereas we were running of sheer adrenaline. However, it seemed the others seemed to believe in the possibility of my words, or at least more so than me.

One of them stepped forward, and nodded wholly, “you got it.” He had long wavy dark hair, a sunburnt skin and well toned muscles. Unlike the rest of us, he seemed to still have some weight left in him. The man was huge, he must have stood at least 6 foot 4 inches.

I quickly gazed back up to the other end of the arena. The legionnaires were closing the distance fast. I figured they would be on top of us in about fifteen seconds. “Make sure you draw them apart,” I repeated for the sake of the others, and dashed off to one of the piles of debris. Only one of the legionnaires seemed to pay me much attention, and that was the one with the exotic weapon. I guessed that he was the leader. My guess was quickly confirmed when he muttered something, and the other three quickly responded. They formed a wedge formation, loosely packed. At the front stood the man with the shield and the short sword. To his back right was the leader, adjacent to him was the man with the two handed blade. And finally, at the rear was the enormous man with the flail. They watched us intently, as I did them.

“How do we get them to separate?” a voice behind me asked. I turned around, startled wide eyed. I hadn't heard anyone follow me. It was one of the others, and the only other female besides myself. She was a little taller than myself, around 5'8 I guessed, with long and dirty brown hair. She had a petite complexion, and I was doubtful she would be able to do much to help. For one, she looked as if she wouldn't hurt a fly. I'm not sure what made me feel that way, but something about her just rang “innocent” to me.

“I'm not sure, we can try just hold our positions and draw them after us.” I began, thinking it over as I spoke. My mind was getting a little better at thinking again, but it was still a bit awkward. Kind of like with problem solving. You think of something, and decide it can't work, but then your mind gets stuck and you end up thinking the same solutions over and over, instead of coming up with new ones. That is kind of like what it was like for me now.

She looked across at me, “but then they can just go around in their formation, dealing with us one group at a time.” She was right, of course. We would be picked off one at a time, until we all lay dead on the scorching sands, blood pooled around us. So how to get them to separate them? Angus was right, we had little to no chance if they stayed in a group. It was already evident that they worked effectively as a group.

I looked around, desperately looking for something that may work. I needed a plan. I looked at the legionnaires, they were rapidly heading towards four of the others. I didn't know any of them. Three others stood in the distance, they didn't look like they knew exactly what to do. I certainly could relate to that, right now. Angus and two others headed up behind them like us, just from the opposite side. Angus was taunting them, but I couldn't hear what he was shouting over the noise from the crowd. The crowd wasn't nearly as noisy as they were before, but it was still enough to prevent me from being able to hear his words.

“Genius,” the girl next to me whispered. I followed her gaze. She was looking at Angus also. I glanced back at her, but before I could ask she took off from behind the cover, pacing forward quickly towards the legionnaires. She was holding her sword by the blade. What was she doing? I couldn't figure it out. What could she hope to achieve against all four when she stood by herself? She didn't even look threatening, for one she wasn't even wielding her sword in an even remotely threatening fashion. And she was walking flat-footed all of sudden. She would be about as nimble as a tortoise with that kind of stance.

The lead legionnaire shouted something. The group came to a halt, and formed a loose defensive formation. The leader eyes her suspiciously, probably as confused about it as I was. I quickly shot a glance around the stadium, it seemed that everybody was now looking at her, probably as perplexed as I was. The crowd went quite, probably waiting anxiously for blood to be spilled. Or at least that was my guess.

Now the suicidal girl was dragging her sword along the ground behind her, still holding it by the blade. She was now about twenty yards away from them. Then much to my surprise, she started laughing. Not a quiet chuckle, or even just a normal laugh, but a semi-hysterical laugh. I was convinced that she had lost it. She was delirious, out of her mind. She was throwing away her life, and making our chances for survival even worse.

Then she came to a stop, and began shaking her head, still laughing. She began choking for air. She was laughing so much she could barely breath! What a joke! I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I had to stop her! We couldn't afford to have people throwing their lives away so meaninglessly.

Without thinking it over properly, I abandoned my cover and darted out in the open, into no mans land, towards the delusional girl. I sprinted towards her, my heart thudding furiously, beads of sweat pouring down my face. The heat was insane, the sand seemed to make it even worse. The heat radiated. But I didn't have time to worry about that. I had to stop this loon from getting herself killed. I looked at the girl, she was still laughing stupidly. I looked at the legionnaires. Two of them were looking at me fiercely, weapons drawn and in position. The other two defended their rear flank, suspecting an attack from the others. Was that her plan, to distract them so they faced towards, thus giving the others a chance to strike them down from behind? If it was, it definitely wasn't working. They were too smart for that.

I approached the delirious girl. I stretched out my off-hand, to wrap around her and tow her back. To stop her from throwing away her life. She shifted her wait, and stood loosely. I thought nothing of it.

“Get back,” I spoke, trying to ensure the legionnaires' didn't hear. If they knew what I had said, they would surely realise we were very little threat, if any at all. Then they would move fast, and take us down. Just as I reached her she stepped back and to the side a bit, facing me side on. In one swift movement she planted one foot behind me, and used her non-sword arm to push me forward over it. What was she doing! I tried to stop, but it was already too late, I might have been able to stop in time normally, but she was shoving me forward. I tried hopelessly to lift my foot over hers, but it was useless. My leg folded as it collided, and I fell forward hard. I extended both arms to try break my fall, but it was pointless. I was going too fast, and I didn't have enough strength. My arms collapsed under the force instantly and I smashed into the ground, dust and sand was everywhere. I gasped as a shots of pain shot through my body. I choked helplessly, winded. But instead of air I swallowed dust and sand. I coughed even more.

My world went fuzzy and dark, I'm not sure for how long, but it felt like an eternity. Eventually sense started to restore, but I was still coughing useless for air. I felt the unmistakable feel of cold steel press up against my neck. Were the legionnaires already on top of us? No, if they were I would be dead. None of this holding a blade to my neck business. But that meant that we had been betrayed! She had betrayed us!

She knelt down beside me, her blade still pressed up against my neck. I tried to say something, I wanted to let her have it, but my lungs and voice failed me.

“Sorry. I'm on your side. Just listen and get ready to run back. Sorry,” she whispered in my ear hastily. As she stood back up she lodged one foot underneath my chest and heaved it up, making me roll to my side. I heard her start laughing again, but not as much as before. What is going on! I couldn't figure it out for the life of me. Perhaps if I wasn't dying of thirst, and starving, and if I didn't have jolts of pain tearing through my body, I would be able to think straight. But obviously that wasn't the case. I felt like if someone asked my name, I wouldn't have the capacity to even answer.
I just lay on my side, feeling defeated. I decided to just let air re-enter my lungs. Need air to think. I listened to the girl beside me, who had begun talking to the guards.

“You guys are a joke,” she said, chuckling like she had lost all sense and reason. “Ya' all have your great big frightening weapons and your ironclad armour, and you walk around like some mothers club, all huddled together closely.” she continued. She faltered to one side awkwardly. She sounded, and acted almost drunk. She sounded truly drunk and delusional. But what had she said, “Sorry. I'm on your side. Just listen and get ready to run back. Sorry,” I echoed to myself. Was she playing them? Manipulating them? If so, she was an extraordinarily convincing actor.

My vision slowly began to return. My eyes had to readjust to the glaring sunlight. All I saw was a silhouette of the girl. She was once again holding her sword by the blade. I couldn't see the others. “I mean,” she continued. “Why do you bother marching around in your fancy little formation, against us? Seriously, you guys are a joke. Parading around like that, against what? Against slaves? Against starving slaves, who have nothing but these puny little letter openers.”

I couldn't believe just how convincing she sounded. I felt like getting angry at her and she wasn't even talking to me! Just the way she spoke, breaking into delirious chuckles with each pause. She was a genius. Everything about her, from the way she talked, walked, laughed, and branded her weapon was so convincing. Maybe we do have a chance. As she finished her sentence, I turned my head to look at the legionnaires. One of them was marching towards us. It was the one with the two-handed sword. The leader said something, but I couldn't make out what. But I could guess, “take care of those fools.”

I realised that the girl had already started to retreat back. She was skipping merrily back, still keeping up the act. I looked back, the legionnaire was approaching me rapidly. The other three walked off towards the others, but no longer in formation. Their once synchronised movements had become irregular. That girl was a genius... And a great performer.

Panic became the only emotion I could feel. No longer did I feel pain, thirst, hunger or anything else. All I could think about was the huge legionnaire barraging towards me, sword drawn. I struggled desperately, trying to get my muscles to respond. I argued with my muscles, in a desperate bid to get out of here. The distance closed, 20 yards, 15, 10.
I couldn't die like this. Lying hopelessly on the ground, like a fish out of water. Finally my arms began to respond, but my legs were still disobedient. I scratched away furiously with my arms, trying to move myself away. There was no hope for me trying to escape back like this. He would outrun me in a matter of seconds.
With adrenaline pouring through my veins, and the power of sheer desperation and fear behind me, I used my arms to propel me to my feet. I begged my legs to hold, to not collapse from underneath me like pieces of balsa wood. My left leg buckled and I stumbled helplessly. I could here the legionnaire closing in behind me. Each time he took a step there was a loud clunk from him armour. His pace quickened. I pressed my left leg furiously, launching myself back upright. Without looking behind me, I staggered off as fast as I could towards the debris. My left leg – which had bore much of the grunt when I had fallen to the ground – was screaming at me. I looked across to the huge pile of debris, looking for that girl. I couldn't see her. Had she abandoned me? Left me out there for dead, after leaving my out there helpless in the first place?

I didn't know what to do, so I did the only thing that seemed reasonable. Run away, to the debris. Then worry about what happens next. But I didn't even get that far. My left leg buckled again, and this time I completely lost my balance. I feel back down to the unforgiving earth. I could taste blood on my tongue. I could her the man closing in, he must have been only a few feat away now. Surely it was over. There was no way I could escape from here. He was too close. I rolled upright. The silhouette of the man was the first thing I saw, towering above me like the mighty mountains. The sun was directly behind him, so I couldn't make out his face. He lifted his right foot and stamped it on my chest and gave a devilish laugh. I gasped for air, completely winded. My lungs screamed at me. Nothing new...

I gazed up at him, resigned. There was nothing I could do. I just waited. He sheathed his enormous sword, and promptly pulled out a dagger from his belt. I realised I still had my sword. How could I have forgotten. I gripped it, as he knelt down over me. Placing his right need on my gut, he lowering the dagger towards my chest.

“So what is it like to stare death in the eyes?” he taunted wickedly. “You tell me,” I whispered coarsely, still struggling for breath, and wiped the blade towards him as I hard as I could. That wasn't very hard, it seemed. My muscles seemed to be failing me completely. The blade struck uselessly against his plate mail, giving only a soft “clang”, before falling out of my grasp, back down to the earth below.
“Pathetic,” he leered. I closed my eyes. So this is what it felt like to die? I thought.

Suddenly his body went limp, and he collapsed forward on top of me. I screamed silently, unable to gain enough breath to fill my lungs, as the dagger plunged into my chest. At first the pain was intense, I felt like my chest was ablaze. Then the pain begun to rapidly subside. At first I thought I was only imaging it, then I realised... My mind had nothing left, I felt my mind drifting away, my senses fading. My heart beat slowing. I was dying.
I thought I heard voices, but I couldn't be sure. Not that I really cared. What difference did it make now? The last thing I thought was, 'maybe now I can go see my sister.'