Gladiator Clash (Time Hunters, Book 1) (8 page)

“Disqualified!” Atillius barked.

Isis looked at Tom with narrowed eyes. “Four against one now…”

Next came the
scissor
, creeping forward with his double-bladed weapon. He lunged at Hilarus, wielding the heavy blades through the air as though they were as light as feathers.

“He's good,” Tom said, nodding his approval.

But Hilarus twisted and turned, this way and that, tumbling backwards like a gymnast out of harm's reach. Suddenly the strong, meaty arms of the scissor fighter were of no use, as Hilarus wedged his own sword between the two blades of his opponent's weapon. With a sharp flick of his wrist, Hilarus prised the double-bladed sword out of his opponent's hands and tossed it through the air like a toy.

The defeated gladiator stumbled backwards and groaned aloud, as his only means of defence hit the ground with a
clank
!

The crowd erupted into deafening applause, and cheered for their hero.

“Three against one,” Isis said, looking over at the net fighter who was baring a mouthful of rotten teeth. “Good job this isn't a beauty contest. He'd never win.”

Tom eyed Hilarus warily. He was smiling broadly and waving to his adoring fans. Unruffled, unhurt, hardly breaking a sweat. And there was the amulet, safe in the middle of his shield, dazzling orange in the afternoon sunshine.

Tom gripped his swords in his sweaty hands. He muttered under his breath, “Have I got what it takes to be a hero?”

As if in answer, Anubis's mocking laughter rang shrilly in his ears.

“A mere boy like you? A hero? Ha ha ha!” Sneering, snorting guffaws blocked out the noise of the cheering crowd. “Are you serious? What can
you
do?”

“I can try my best!” Tom shouted.

Anubis's voice fell silent. The god was nowhere to be seen.

Come on, Tom. Remember to breathe,
he told himself
. Keep your cool. Hilarus is just a normal guy. Imagine him looking stupid in his undies, like Mr Brain-ache Braintree when he tells you off for daydreaming in Maths.

Sadly for Tom, Hilarus was anything but a normal guy. Close up, he was a giant. Worse than that. He looked like a giant who ate an entire cow at every meal. As he gripped his broad sword, the muscles in his forearms stood out like fat lengths of rope. His neck was as thick as a tree trunk!

To his left, Isis's horse stamped and whinnied. To his right, the net fighter was gnashing his teeth.

“Attack!” Rufus shouted some way behind him.

Hilarus gave a battle cry that was so scary, Tom was sure he could feel his heart racing around his chest looking for a place to hide. The golden giant thundered towards him. But fear made Tom suddenly braver.He remembered his plan.

It's now or never!
Tom thought. “Look out, Hilarus!” he shouted. “It's helicopter time!”

Tom lifted both swords into the air as he spun round. Tom whirled across the arena towards Hilarus like a kitchen blender gone mad. He hoped that Hilarus was getting dizzy so that Isis could grab the amulet.

But then the net fighter swung his net around in the air like a lasso and released it. The net swooshed past Tom's head and then down over Hilarus… and his shield!

“Ah, get it off me!” Hilarus bellowed. He strained and struggled under the heavy net, trying to throw it off.

“Ha ha ha! Not so cheerful now, are you, Hilarus?” Isis called out. “But you do look pretty funny!”

“I'll keep him busy – you get the amulet,” Tom hissed at Isis.

He lunged forward and slapped the flat of his right sword hard against Hilarus's breastplate.

“Ha! Take that!” Tom shouted.

Hilarus jeered at him from under his net. “Trying to tickle me, are you, boy? You don't look as if you've got the courage to defeat the great Hilarus!”

He suddenly threw himself towards Tom. A writhing mass of giant shoulders and kicking legs sent Tom tumbling. With ice-cold dread, Tom felt Hilarus's strong grip close around his ankle.

“Who's laughing now?” Hilarus snarled.

“Get off him, you big clown!” Isis shouted at Hilarus.

Tom looked up. Isis had an arrow stretched tight against the string of her bow. She was ready to strike. The arrow whizzed through the air.
Doink!
It glanced off Hilarus's helmet. Hilarus released Tom's ankle from his vice-like grip. Tom scuttled away quickly and watched as the hero stumbled to his feet, clutching at his head. He seemed dazed.

The crowd's frantic cheering for Hilarus hushed to a low murmur. Then came the booing and hissing.

“Oi! He's a legend. Leave him alone!” Tom heard a man shout.

“I hope you fall off your horse,” another bellowed at Isis.

“Hilarus!” came a girl's voice. “We love you. Come on! Grind them into flour!”

We've almost got the amulet
, Tom thought.
Hilarus isn't so invincible after all.

But in order to get at the shield, they needed to cut a hole in the net. Tom ran in and slashed at Hilarus with both swords. The swords were sharp, cutting through easily.

The gladiator suddenly stopped thrashing about like a fly caught in a spider's web. Tom thought for a moment that he'd hurt him. But then the gladiator stood up tall, pushing the net off.
Uh oh
. Tom hadn't just cut a hole, he'd accidentally
freed
Hilarus!

All at once, heavy footsteps thundered behind Tom. He looked round to see the net fighter moving in for the kill at speed. Tom dodged out of the way as the two giants crashed into one another in a clash of metal and muscle.

“Kick him up the bum!” somebody in the crowd shouted.

Sure enough, Hilarus wrestled the net fighter to the ground and, as if to please his crowd of cheering fans, he kicked his opponent's bottom with his enormous gnarly foot.

Oof!
The
retiarius
landed face first in the sand, sending one of his rotten teeth flying.

“You're not even worth blunting my sword for!” Hilarus bellowed.

“The
retiarius
is defeated!” Atillius announced.

The crowd collectively sighed with relief, then clapped and started cheering again. Now it was just Tom and Isis left.

Seeing Hilarus spring nimbly back into position, Tom started to twirl around again, readying himself for another attack. But the golden hero was quick off the mark. Hilarus hurled himself headlong into Tom and jabbed his broad sword up against Tom's two spinning swords.

Clank!
Hilarus knocked both swords right out of Tom's hands. They clattered on the ground several feet away.

“Oh no!” Tom cried. He turned to Isis. “My swords! I'm unarmed.” He watched, as Hilarus approached with a wicked look in his eyes. Any trace of good humour had disappeared.

Tom stared desperately into the crowd. The blood was rushing in his ears.
Come on, Tom! Think!
he told himself.

Hilarus held out his sword, pointing to Tom's heart. “Do you surrender?”

Tom looked at the sword's tip and then at his chest. He opened his mouth, still wondering what to say, when the words, “
No way
!” popped out.

“That's the spirit, Tom!” Isis shouted. “Never surrender!”

She galloped up beside him and with a surprisingly strong arm, snatched him up into the saddle.

Once Tom was out of Hilarus's reach, Isis reined in her horse and dropped him gently to the ground. “Teamwork! Remember?” she said, winking. “We're going to get that amulet!”

Isis drew her bow and aimed her arrow at Hilarus's grimacing face. He stood with his legs apart, bashing the hilt of his sword against his shield. Now he wasn't laughing – he was growling! The crowd was going wild, shouting for their hero to charge at the child on the horse.

“Think you can scare me?” Isis shouted to Hilarus. “I've seen worse than you!”

With her bow and arrow still trained on the golden gladiator, Isis galloped towards Hilarus.

“Go on, Isis! You can do it!” cheered Tom.

Hilarus barely had time to swing his sword at Isis. She yanked on her horse's reins, pulling it hard to Hilarus's left – the side of his shield arm. Just beyond his sword's reach, Isis leaned out of the saddle of her cantering horse. She gripped her arrow like a dagger and thrust it towards the amulet. Edging the sharp tip underneath the gem, Isis pushed with all her might and… FLIP!

“Got it!” she cried.

Tom watched as the amulet leaped free of its setting and hurtled through the air. The whole crowd gasped as the glittering, precious jewel flew across the arena.

It landed in the sand, right in front of the barrier that bordered the seating.

“It's mine!” Isis shouted. “We did it, Tom!”

But as Isis galloped over to the jewel, a girl sitting in the front row bent over the barrier and snatched up the amulet.

“No!” Tom shouted.

“Come back here so I can crush you!” Hilarus roared, sprinting after Isis.

Tom's heart was pounding again. He was unarmed. But Isis, who was arguing with the girl, had her back turned. And an angry Hilarus was closing the gap with his sword drawn.

I've got to distract him
, Tom thought. He stuck his fingers in his mouth and let out a piercing wolf whistle. “Oi! Hilarious Hilary!” Tom cried. “Your leather skirt is tucked into your loincloth.”

Hilarus stopped dead in his tracks and swung round to face Tom. “What did you say?” he said.

“Everyone can see your bum,” Tom shouted. “Ha ha ha!”

The gladiator's face had turned an alarming shade of beetroot. Despite being called Hilarus, it didn't seem like the gladiator could take a joke. Tom was almost paralysed with fear, but he knew he had to keep taunting Hilarus. For Isis's sake!

“They all think you're an idiot now!” Tom yelled. “Big bum!”

Half of the crowd started to shout, “Don't listen to him, Hilarus!” The other half burst out laughing.

Hilarus tugged self-consciously at his leather skirt. “Are you making a mockery of me, boy?” He narrowed his eyes and started to stomp towards Tom. “I should have killed you when I had the chance.”