Wolf’s Empire: Gladiator (56 page)

They clashed with the line of five Tullians. Six of them to our twelve, and we had the high ground. “Drive them down,” Licinus yelled. “Keep them in the basin!” The Tullians held the chariot at bay while the Blood Hawks defended the side advances of Marcus and Carbo. Discus, bow staff, and war chain defended against gladius and darts, crossbow bolts and snaking lasso, throwing spears and steel club. Our line was like an unbreakable shield, stopping the Wolves' advance dead in its tracks.

Surprisingly, though, the Viridians with Marcus and his invulnerability amulet made a powerful team. The Tullian charioteer Galleo fell, Marcus' gladius ripping his life away as he passed. He virtually flew his skirmisher around the basin, using the bowl's arc to gather momentum for an assault that would breach our line.

“Mania!” Licinus yelled.

“Soon,” she called out.

Then Nervo's chariot breached the lip, pushing up between the Tullians. They were going to get through.

“Not soon enough,” Licinus replied. “Push!”

I was confused by the order until the Blood Hawks drove forward, shoving their Tullian allies in the back, forcing them down into the basin, onto the Viridian chariot. Arvinus Tullius fell on Nervo, and the chariot slipped back.

It had the desired effect. The Viridians were trapped in the bowl, forced to waste valuable time cutting down the Tullians. it took to cut down the Tullians while they struggled to preserve their lives.

“Now the driver!” Licinus ordered, keeping the pressure on.

His war chain lashed out, aiming for Nervo. I couldn't let him die, though; I needed the Viridians alive. I threw Orbis, aiming at Nervo, making certain that my hand was steady. There would be no more accidents, no more dead Viridians. The discus traveled on a wide arc, just enough time for Nervo to see and hear it coming and throw himself backward to avoid being struck in the head. The move had the added effect of dodging Licinus' war chain as well as forcing Nervo's hand to pull his reins sharply to the right, causing his chariot to flip onto its side and skid to a stop at the bottom of the lip, creating a barrier between the Viridians and us. This was perfect. It looked like I was working to keep the Viridians trapped down in the bowl, but in reality I'd created a ramp that Marcus could drive up with his skirmisher. Now all I needed was to be on the right side of the fight to make use of it, and judging by the speed with which Marcus was coming at me, I didn't think that was going to be a problem.

Then the Hyperboreans spilled out from the tunnels and swarmed into the cavern, hundreds of them drawn by the scent of Mania's ambrosia, and to get at it they were going to have to come right up through the Viridians in the basin.

“Forward, drive through the Hawks!” Carbo ordered when he realized that he was about to be trapped between a rock and a hard place. His strategy made sense, but in another few seconds we'd be in the chariot and away, and the Caninines would never cover the ground to the tunnels above before the Hyperboreans brought them down.

“Retreat!” Licinus ordered. “Leave the dogs to their fate.”

Licinus and Barbata retreated to the chariot, and I turned, pretending to go along and praying that Julia had come through. Sure enough, the chariot, instead of moving forward, just started spinning in a circle in place. Julia had done well, and removed the port stabilizer.

I had to make my move now. Marcus was heading for the makeshift ramp in his skirmisher, coming right at me. It was easy to take on a fast-moving attack craft as long as you didn't mind breaking your back or neck. As the nose of the skirmisher sailed up over the lip of the basin and struck me in the chest, I borrowed a move the bull chief had used on me earlier and dropped under the craft, using the basin lip as a fulcrum. Using all my strength, I tipped it up and over, sending Marcus falling back onto Carbo's craft. The upturned skirmisher came down on top of both of them, driving them down into the center of the bowl, and I rode with them, on the upturned belly of the craft.

I hit the center of the basin right behind where Caninus, Pavo, and Metellus were holding back the advancing barbarians. Caninus' darts seemed to strike home; each one saw a crystalline body fall back. Pavo's crossbow alternated between black bolts and energy nets that filled the air, entangling the Hyperboreans as the Viridians fought to keep aliens from breaching the lower lip, while Nervo struggled with the upturned chariot's controls, trying to right it. The bull chief appeared. He clashed with Metellus, steel club against icy fists, but I'd swear he'd looked right at me. I leaped down from the desultore skirmisher as Carbo and Marcus pushed their way clear of their craft, and got ready for the fight of my life.

Marcus came at me, and Carbo left him to it, turning to help mighty Metellus against the bull chief. It was too late. Metellus and the alien warrior clashed again, but it was over in a few fast blows. The chieftain sent a spiny fist into Metellus' chest, the crystal spine emerging through his back. He was impaled again through the eye and out the back of his skull, rearing in agony before his lifeless body fell like a tall mast in a shipwreck, splintered and broken.

“Crassus, Barbata, Castor. Get in there and get her!” I heard Licinus yell above the cacophony.

It seemed Licinus wasn't so eager to see me leave the flock.

I needed to scatter the Sertorians, send them separately into the tunnels so I could pick them off one by one, and the key to that was Marcus. His immunity amulet made him the perfect candidate. I'd throw him into the midst of the Hawks, a raven with a sharp beak that couldn't be harmed. That'd stir up the nest. But I needed to make my actions look natural right up until the last moment. The Sertorians couldn't suspect I was setting them up—having them regroup and attack all at once was a no-win scenario.

I faced up to Marcus, but before I could say a word my former lanista bashed me with his shield.

I attacked with Orbis, swinging it around his shield, batting toward his head. Orbis bounced off the force field generated by his amulet, but the move surprised him, allowing me the second I needed to step to the side so that I was right behind his unmanned and now upright skirmisher. I hit him again. A buffet to the side of the head. I couldn't do him any damage, but the blow pushed him aside. It was an insult, a way of letting him know that I regarded him so poorly that I could afford to waste time and energy playing with him as I would a child. I needed to keep his energies focused on me and no other. His face was flushed red, his eyes wild. Now I just had to suffer the results and pray that my plan would work. My lanista drove forward with his shield, crashing into me. I left myself open and glanced up to see that three of my Blood Hawks had entered the basin. Marcus hesitated a split second when he could see I wasn't defending, but Marcus had something in common with Licinus. If he saw something he didn't understand, he didn't ask questions. He struck to kill. His shield hand grabbed my wrist to stop me bringing Orbis back into play, and then my old trainer delivered a fast thrust, plunging the point of his gladius into my breast, piercing my heart. The pain was quick and fast, it took my breath away. But, thank the gods, I could feel the ambrosia doing its work keeping me alive. I threw my arms around Marcus. I couldn't defeat him, but the shield formed close about his body and there was nothing stopping me from pulling him down on top of me. The action drove his sword through my torso, up to its hilt, and we fell back together onto his skirmisher.

I could see the surprise in his eyes as he thought he'd just killed me. Shock, even.

“The ambrosia in us keeps death at bay,” I said quickly. “Rally the Wolves to take the high ground and I'll help scatter the Hawks into the tunnels. Let me finish them. Carbo knows I'm on your side. Tell him:
troia
.”

Marcus' sword hand was still trapped between his body and mine, wrapped around his sword. I hooked my foot into the metal stirrup of the skirmisher and threw my elbow back, driving the thrust control to maximum. We were away.

We shot up the makeshift ramp that was Nervo's upturned chariot, knocking over Barbata and Castor, who were coming to get me, and then sailed through the air, right up over the lip, crashing into the still-circling Sertorian chariot. Marcus was flung from the skirmisher. The Sertorian chariot slid across the icy floor into a curved outcropping, riding up on its side until it flipped over and rolled upside down, throwing Pollux, Licinus, and Mania out onto the ground. Crassus was hanging back near the tunnels, waiting to see which path Licinus would choose so he could follow and kill him. I ripped Marcus' sword from my chest, dropped it, and retreated to Crassus' position, leaving the weapon for Marcus to recover. He snatched up his sword, surveyed the scene, then turned from me, heading back to the basin to attack Barbata and Castor from the rear. I mouthed thanks to the Furies; everything was going like clockwork.

Licinus' trap was designed so that the Golden Wolves would hold the aliens at bay for some time before being overwhelmed, but now that I'd given them the chance at taking the high ground, they could retreat and live. Just the same, it'd take them some time to hold the Hyperboreans at bay while they got the whole team up the rise. Time enough. The Blood Hawks must die at my hand, not at Marcus' or Carbo's or some alien's spear. Plenty of time for me to take care of business. I'd come in search of them when I was done.

Pollux hadn't escaped the chariot in time. The flipped vehicle trapped him underneath, forming a perfect barrier that divided the Hawks. When they fell out of the vehicle, Mania had landed on my side of the craft and Licinus on the other, on the same side as Crassus. Crassus nodded at me and then called a retreat. Licinus yelled at him, outraged that he'd assumed command, but there was no countermanding order. If the Hawks didn't retreat now, they'd have to fight the Viridians, and then both sides would be overwhelmed by the aliens. Crassus moved into the shadows of the tunnel, waiting for Licinus to follow. Barbata and Castor retreated as Marcus harried them, creating a way through for his team. The Viridians had righted their chariot, and Nervo now shot up over the lip of the basin to take the high ground.

Mania pulled her precious casket of ambrosia phials out of the upturned chariot, stuffing it into a pack that she clutched possessively as she ran for the nearest tunnel entrance. The Hawks were scattered about the cavern, so each fled to the tunnel nearest to them, ensuring that only Crassus and Licinus shared the same exit.

Crassus expected me to follow after and help him finish Licinus, but he'd have to wait or hold his own because I didn't plan to lift a finger until my position was firmed up with Mania's treasure chest.

I strode after the small, white-haired woman as she fled down a long tunnel, running Orbis' edge against the shining wall, creating a dramatic trail of sparks.

“Mania!” I called out. “Come back, little sister. I've got such a fun game we can play.”

XXX

L
ITTLE
M
ANIA FLED INTO
the darkness ahead.

“You're making a big mistake, Accala!” She was tapping at her armilla, wondering why the bracelet wasn't shocking me. Using the torch on my armilla to track her, I caught her white hair and gleaming knives in the light. The spirit of the Furies infused me. I threw Orbis on a zigzag arc and he made a satisfying gong each time he ricocheted off the tunnel walls, my own terrific drumroll.

“Mania? Can you hear me? I'm conducting a review of team performance. The word is that some heads are going to roll!”

A swift death was not enough. There had to be suffering to balance the ledger. Rifling through and polluting my dreams, controlling my intake of ambrosia, weakening me from without and within, shocking me with the bracelet. And she'd enjoyed it so. The twinkle in her eyes when she saw me suffering. She'd treated me like a doll, a toy for a pretty little girl to play with. Suffering, yes, but how much suffering? Ah, there was my training in philosophy rearing its head. Exactitude can be measured only by feeling, not logic. When it felt right, I'd stop cutting and take her head. Crassus' idea was to keep the head and body apart long enough for the ambrosia to wear off. That was going to take some inspired, and more than likely pleasurable, innovation. Perhaps I'd tear her flesh from the bone, hack at her, and eat it raw.

I paced along behind her like a wolf, closing the gap. As the tunnel exited into the next cavern, she put the pack with the ambrosia casket down on the floor and fired arrows from her bow staff. One missed, another took me in the shoulder. I let it hit. The pain was blinding. The ambrosia must be wearing off, but I didn't mind. Soon I'd have plenty to repair whatever damage I suffered. Orbis soared down the tunnel and severed her right arm below the elbow. She cursed, and having to choose between the ambrosia casket and lost limb, abandoned her arm and scuttled off into the darkness, awkwardly grasping her treasure.

I gathered up her arm as I passed. Did the dark blood that dripped from it contain ambrosia? Holding it upright, I allowed the drops to fall onto my tongue. Salty and sour to the taste but sweet all the way down. Ambrosia saturated. One hundred percent. At some point she must have looked back and seen me, because she howled with outrage. What must I have looked like to Mania? Licking at her severed limb? Some terrifying demon from the underworld, no doubt. That struck me as such a strange observation, because on the inside I was flying, elated beyond measure. I was experiencing catharsis, a great unloading of negative emotion, and the more Sertorians I killed, the better I'd feel. This was my time.

I lost sight of Mania in the darkness ahead. She wouldn't make the mistake of trying to match me with long-range weapons again. She'd be positioning herself for an ambush.

My torch revealed a half-circle archway ahead of me, leading into a cavern. The moment I passed into it, Mania was on me, jumping down from a high rock, needle knife in hand. Even though I expected the attack, she came at me with such speed that there was no escape. I was forced back onto the ground, a crazed expression on her face. She stabbed at me repeatedly with the knife like she was hacking at ice. My shoulder, heart, lung were all hit. I beat her with her own arm. It must have looked farcical, absurd to anyone watching, but it worked. Mania flew off me after I started on her head, landing awkwardly on her side.