gates
allowing two more gladiators to enter the rain drenched arena. Petronia let her
friend slide down her knees and to the soaked ground. She gave her one last,
loving look, then stood, focusing her attention on the approaching gladiators. There
was murder in her eyes!
When
the two gladiators were within five meters of her outstretched sword tip, she
began her charge. She was liked a possessed beast, a mad woman who had been
transformed by grief from gladiatrix to beast incapable of being vanquished.
Her opponents came to the same conclusion and froze in their tracks. The man on
Petronia’s right was slightly forward his companion, and her first victim. She
hit him with a tornado-like spinning attack, as her body spun, both gladius and
pugio struck the man’s shield, left to right, and knocking the huge piece of
metal completely from his muscled arm. Her forward momentum carried her past
him and right into the second gladiator, sweeping aside both his weapons with
her sword. As her body finished her last revolution she buried her dagger in
his throat, sending a fountain of blood bathing the back of his partner before
he fell face first in the muddy ground.
The
remaining gladiator tried to turn and reorient his blade on Petronia but she
was moving too fast. She leapt into the air, her feet climbing up his body like
some fleshy steps until she was literally standing on his shoulders. He stabbed
his sword upwards thinking he would skewer her between her tanned legs but she
was already dropping to the ground. As she stepped off his shoulders she spun
around to face him seeing the fear in his eyes just before she extinguished
them with a single thrust of her gladius up beneath his chin and out the top of
his head. He was dead long before his body hit the ground.
The
crowd erupted in pandemonium never before heard in the 500 year history of the
old Arena. This was the spectacle they all came to see but didn’t know it yet.
She, Petronia from Floretia became on that day a Goddess of the Arena! The
Praetor could have released half his Roman guard on her that day and she’d have
slain them without breaking a sweat. It was time to reward the girl.
It
took ten minutes for the crowd to acknowledge the Praetor and quieten down. Now
that he had their attention it was time to show Roman mercy.
“My
fellow citizens of Rome. What you have witnessed this day has been beyond
spectacle. You have been graced with seeing the pinnacle of what the human body
is capable. My fellow Savonans, I give you Petronia, Goddess of the Arena!”
Now
he held up both thumbs in a traditional gesture, both horizontal ready to turn
up and give life, or down signaling death.
“My
good people, what say you of Petronia, Goddess of the Arena, life or death?”
Their
voices were as one single shout of life! Petronia smiled grimly. The Praetor
had just signed his death warrant.
Part Two…
Petronia
awoke with a start. Instinctively she reached for her pugio as she rolled off
the side of her palette opposite the cell door. A sharp cry of surprise stopped
her hand mid motion as she grabbed the stranger’s long dark hair. She had
intended to jerk the person’s head toward her chest as she jabbed forward with
the point of her blade. The result would have been one dead slave girl and a
lot of explaining to do. Petronia let go of the girls tresses and stepped back,
her dagger still between herself and the strange girl.
“Sorry
to wake you mistress, but Dominus says I must present myself as gift for your
triumph in the Arena today.”
“Gift?”
Petronia was outraged. Her best friend had died today. She wanted no reminders
of the afternoon’s events. “I do not want Dominus’ gift. Leave me to sleep.”
“But
I must not. If I do not please you Dominus will make me please the pigs and
goats.”
Petronia
thought about it for a moment. That sounded truly disgusting. “Alright, you can
stay with me tonight but I need my sleep. If you let me sleep I
allowing two more gladiators to enter the rain drenched arena. Petronia let her
friend slide down her knees and to the soaked ground. She gave her one last,
loving look, then stood, focusing her attention on the approaching gladiators. There
was murder in her eyes!
When
the two gladiators were within five meters of her outstretched sword tip, she
began her charge. She was liked a possessed beast, a mad woman who had been
transformed by grief from gladiatrix to beast incapable of being vanquished.
Her opponents came to the same conclusion and froze in their tracks. The man on
Petronia’s right was slightly forward his companion, and her first victim. She
hit him with a tornado-like spinning attack, as her body spun, both gladius and
pugio struck the man’s shield, left to right, and knocking the huge piece of
metal completely from his muscled arm. Her forward momentum carried her past
him and right into the second gladiator, sweeping aside both his weapons with
her sword. As her body finished her last revolution she buried her dagger in
his throat, sending a fountain of blood bathing the back of his partner before
he fell face first in the muddy ground.
The
remaining gladiator tried to turn and reorient his blade on Petronia but she
was moving too fast. She leapt into the air, her feet climbing up his body like
some fleshy steps until she was literally standing on his shoulders. He stabbed
his sword upwards thinking he would skewer her between her tanned legs but she
was already dropping to the ground. As she stepped off his shoulders she spun
around to face him seeing the fear in his eyes just before she extinguished
them with a single thrust of her gladius up beneath his chin and out the top of
his head. He was dead long before his body hit the ground.
The
crowd erupted in pandemonium never before heard in the 500 year history of the
old Arena. This was the spectacle they all came to see but didn’t know it yet.
She, Petronia from Floretia became on that day a Goddess of the Arena! The
Praetor could have released half his Roman guard on her that day and she’d have
slain them without breaking a sweat. It was time to reward the girl.
It
took ten minutes for the crowd to acknowledge the Praetor and quieten down. Now
that he had their attention it was time to show Roman mercy.
“My
fellow citizens of Rome. What you have witnessed this day has been beyond
spectacle. You have been graced with seeing the pinnacle of what the human body
is capable. My fellow Savonans, I give you Petronia, Goddess of the Arena!”
Now
he held up both thumbs in a traditional gesture, both horizontal ready to turn
up and give life, or down signaling death.
“My
good people, what say you of Petronia, Goddess of the Arena, life or death?”
Their
voices were as one single shout of life! Petronia smiled grimly. The Praetor
had just signed his death warrant.
Part Two…
Petronia
awoke with a start. Instinctively she reached for her pugio as she rolled off
the side of her palette opposite the cell door. A sharp cry of surprise stopped
her hand mid motion as she grabbed the stranger’s long dark hair. She had
intended to jerk the person’s head toward her chest as she jabbed forward with
the point of her blade. The result would have been one dead slave girl and a
lot of explaining to do. Petronia let go of the girls tresses and stepped back,
her dagger still between herself and the strange girl.
“Sorry
to wake you mistress, but Dominus says I must present myself as gift for your
triumph in the Arena today.”
“Gift?”
Petronia was outraged. Her best friend had died today. She wanted no reminders
of the afternoon’s events. “I do not want Dominus’ gift. Leave me to sleep.”
“But
I must not. If I do not please you Dominus will make me please the pigs and
goats.”
Petronia
thought about it for a moment. That sounded truly disgusting. “Alright, you can
stay with me tonight but I need my sleep. If you let me sleep I
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