Читать книгу The First Darkness - Mitchell Boone's Gibson - Страница 3

Melvina struggled to cover herself with the tattered remnants of a shawl that she had stolen from one of the slaves in the lower dungeons. She knew that her situation was hopeless. Melvina and her sister, Salva, were surrounded, desperately attempting to flee from a growing mob of young gladiators that had been set upon them. Salva was barely 10 years old. Melvina had hoped to see her eighteenth birthday in a few days. That was before the centurions burned their home, slaughtered her parents, and took the two of them captive. Now their lives had been reduced to sport.

Salva had been wounded by the first band of men that had rushed toward them. They had been thrown into the arena naked, hungry, and covered in honey. The shawl provided little more than a scant semblance of dignity. Fortunately, Melvina had been able to pick up a broadsword that had fallen onto the ground during the struggle. She had nothing to lose by at least trying to use it.

Melvina’s brother, Taras, had taught her some rudimentary broadsword fighting moves, but in her dazed and weary state, she had little hope of holding the men off for any significant length of time. Salva was frozen with fear and Melvina circled her sister’s body warily. Three men lunged at her and she gored one cleanly in the liver with a clumsy but effective strike. The remaining two looked at their fallen comrade for a moment, kicked him aside, and renewed their awkward attack.

The crowd grew quiet as they approached. The other slaves scampered away and cleared a path to the two girls. Melvina looked at her sister, smiled, and began swinging the sword in wide circles. Her hand grew sweaty with perspiration as she nervously gripped the handle. The crowd remained deathly quiet. The two men laughed as Melvina quickly tired herself, swirling the heavy broadsword above her head. After a few moments, she could barely lift the sword. Faster than her eyes could follow, one of the men grabbed her throat and yanked her off the ground. Her tiny feet dangled above the dusty coliseum floor. She dropped the broadsword as she gasped for air. The crowd began a muffled cheer.

The young gladiators in training were expected to rape and murder the newly captured slave girls thrown into the arena. The act was considered to be a sort of reward for their hard work. The biggest of the two men grabbed the shawl and threw it to the ground. He pinned Melvina’s arms back as his companion ceremoniously removed his tunic. Melvina glanced to her side and saw that Salva was already being ravaged by three new gladiators who had rushed into the fray.

White-hot rage began to build within Melvina as she saw her sister screaming in agony as the men seized her body. The three of them grabbed her and attempted to hold her still. In a desperate lunge, Melvina tore her arm away from her attacker and grabbed a small bloody knife that she spied lying half hidden in the dirt. She thrust the blade into the chest of one of her attackers and then, just as swiftly, cut Salva’s throat. Bright spurts of red blood stained Salva’s face as she closed her eyes in anguished relief.

The crowd roared its disapproval at the sudden turn of events. The larger gladiator tore the knife from Melvina‘s hand and thrust the blade deep into her stomach. Melvina spit into his face and fell flat onto the dust of the coliseum floor. The weight of her attacker’s body fell onto her chest. The crowd cackled and cheered as the remaining gladiators flung their dead companion’s body aside and took brutal advantage of the fleeting moments of warmth that gradually left the dying girls’ frail bodies.

Melvina‘s fragile spirit slowly separated itself from its now lifeless body and floated silently into the cold night air above the arena. She tried to strangle one of the gladiators, but she could not grasp his throat with her spirit hands. She saw her sister‘s weak spirit energy hovering several feet above her blood-soaked corpse. She willed herself to her sister and grasped her form. Unseen by the cheering crowd, the two spirit forms walked away from the coliseum floor and disappeared into the silent darkness of the neighboring forest.