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  1. #1
    Stable Servant Kolodis's Avatar
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    Apr 2012
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    The Life of a Gladiator

    My attempt at a fan fiction. Comments and criticism greatly appreciated.

    Chapter 1

    The first thing his senses registered when he woke up was the smell.

    Gagging, James pulled himself up to a sitting position and cupped his mouth the best he could, looking around blearily. He’d been brought to this slave block a few weeks ago and then apparently been led and left to rot with a couple hundred other pathetic excuses for people in an underground dungeon. The room was still dim, with only a single torch by the door to give illumination. Miserable clumps of people were scattered throughout the room, many shivering as the wind periodically blew through cracks in the stonework. Squinting, James wondered if he’d missed the daily ration of gruel passed out to the slaves for their meals. A squat dunder noticed James’s awakening and shambled over.

    “Oy, you’re finally up manling. Thought you’d sleep forever like one of those trugs over in the mountains.” Gamling was an old dunder, small for his kind, meaning he barely came up to James’s waist when standing. Despite being only 3 feet tall however, Gamling weighed nearly 270 pounds, a fact the dunder attributed proudly to his upbringing in one of the mines in the northern dunderen kingdoms. The two had struck a friendship shortly after James was captured and James was heartily thankful for their relationship. He couldn’t count the times another slave had come to steal his food, only to sneak away upon seeing the presence of the dunder.

    James stretched. “Well, there’s nothing else to do in this place besides getting high off dung and sweat. Any idea when our next meal is?”

    Gamling grinned and produced a bowl of porridge from underneath his rags. “Had a feeling you’d say that longlegs. What would you do without me, eh?”

    James took the bowl but before he could start eating, the door burst open and a slaver dressed in chainmail swaggered into the dark room. He carried a whip tipped with flint in his left and a small hammer in his right. James had never seen him before, but then again, the whole two or three weeks they’d been cooped up here, their jailers had been different nearly every day. Slaves nearby cringed, shying away from the man as if he bore a contagious disease. The man grinned, revealing blackened teeth and discolored gums. “Time for you lucky fools to go on the slave block. I’d say to wash up, but it’d be a waste of effort, so line up and get going,” he bellowed.

    James dropped his bowl sullenly and joined the line of cowed men and women lining up to get out. The slaver lounged against the doorway, leering and occasionally cracking his whip at the passing people as they left the room. As he was getting close to the exit, an emaciated elaar a few feet ahead of him suddenly turned and slammed a sharpened piece of stone against the slaver’s head—or at least he tried to. Casually dodging the desperate attack, the man slammed his hammer against the elaar’s head and knocked the slave unceremoniously against the ground. Yawning, the slaver then proceeded to pulp the elaar into a grisly mess of crushed bone and flattened muscle until the slave stopped moving.

    James watched transfixed while the slaver visited casual brutality upon the elaar. “We should do something. Rush him, or—“

    “Don’t be stupid manling. One hammer’s not gonna do anything against all the other guards around this place except get everyone killed. Just keep your head low, and do as you’re told.” The dunder’s voice was unnaturally subdued as he walked past the bleeding pile of gristle by the doorway. James couldn’t keep himself from glancing at the elaar as he walked out. I’m not gonna die, I’m not gonna die, I’m not gonna…

    ***

    Another slaver led the slaves aboveground to a raised wooden platform where the slaves stood, blinking eyes at the sunlight after having lived in darkness for so long like bats. James tried to make sense of his surroundings through tearing eyes. There was a huge parade ground of some sort before them which didn’t make any sense. Who would honor slaves with a parade? Looking further off, James saw a wooden palisade surrounding the field, upon which grim-faced men with bows patrolled. A giant gate stood there as well, heavy enough that James doubted that the combined strength of all the slaves on the block could shove it open. The young slave shuddered. Gamling had been right. Any attempt at a riot from the slaves, and this place would turn into a killing ground. As if to underscore his realization, a spite a scant two feet away howled, apparently unable or unwilling to wait for whatever the gods had in store for him and jumped off the platform. He landed and was only able to take three steps before four arrows found him, two in his chest, one in his leg, and the last in his eye. A pair of slavers appeared and dragged the corpse away, leaving a trail of dark blood on the dusty earth in front of the platform.

    James turned in despair to Gamling. “We’re all going to end up like that, aren’t we?”

    The stout dunder shrugged, although James could tell he was fighting the same hopelessness James felt. “Speak for yourself longlegs. I’m planning to get out of this mess.”

    James didn’t bother asking him how. It was nothing but bluster, and both the man and the dunder knew it.

    A roar went up from beyond the gate, and the twin portals slowly creaked open. The slave auction was about to begin.
    Last edited by Kolodis; 11-09-2012 at 09:04 AM.

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