Wolf’s Empire: Gladiator (70 page)

“It doesn't add up,” I said. “They're enemies. They've always been enemies.”

“Yes. They were going to fight over the ichor, but without you there was nothing to fight over, they couldn't find the ichor. So the proconsuls were wise, prepared to compromise and work together to get to the point where the ichor was uncovered.”

“I don't believe you,” I said. “You'll have to do better than that.”

“I know how to beat Aquilinus,” Crassus said quickly. “I know where he's weak.”

“Tell me now.”

“It's not as simple as that,” he pleaded. “I need to see what the situation is aboveground. You know that.”

“What if I demand your life?” I asked. “How loyal will you be then?”

He got up on his knees and beat his chest. “My life is yours.”

“You betrayed me from the beginning,” I said.

“Aquilinus tampered with my mind. When I spoke to you, my feelings were real, what I felt was real, but there were blocks, things I couldn't say, or think or remember. And now? I'm whole again, and my feelings haven't changed. More, my eyes are opened. The Hyperboreans have chosen you as their handmaiden because you see what is best for all of us. If you need my blood, then take it. Take it now.”

Handmaiden. I didn't like that at all. It made me sound like some delirious white-robed Vestal Virgin throwing spring flowers into the air. Crassus' broken, skeletal body hardly looked ready for a fight. How much of him had been sustained by ambrosia that the absence of it had left this wreck? He was a pig and an enemy, but he was a great warrior, a masterful gladiator. And then to see him like that. So much for the overman. Strangely, though, I didn't feel hatred for Crassus. Only pity. I didn't buy that every bad thing he did was driven by Aquilinus. He was still a Sertorian, but my time in the Hyperborean cell and my connection with Lumen had opened something inside of me. Lumen's request that Crassus live wasn't just based on some future prognostication. Lumen truly believed that if I killed Crassus now, then it would send me down the wrong path and my goal to help both the Hyperboreans and the empire would never be realized.

“I'll take you both on if that's what it takes,” Julia said, sensing my hesitation. “I'll play this game out by myself.”

Gods. This wasn't happening. I wouldn't let things fall apart again. I couldn't go against Julia again. Her pragmatism was my touchstone. She stopped me wandering off track. She'd always been there for me, as my mission compass, my conscience. I owed her, but I'd sworn to serve the Hyperboreans as well. I needed to manage those allegiances. Crassus was the odd one out. Killing him was logical and just. It made no sense to bring him along, and if that was the price of getting Julia on board, of earning her trust, then it was worth it. Whatever insight Lumen had, he didn't understand Crassus; any use he may be would come at too great a cost. I formed a fist. A sharp blow to the throat, collapse his trachea, break the epiglottis, and the throat would swell. He'd choke to death in minutes.

Crassus was desperately calling out my name, begging incoherently. Julia yelled at him to quit his whining and urged me louder and louder to prove my loyalty. “What are you waiting for, Accala?” And Lumen? Lumen's body was still, but there was a noise, not the Hyperborean song, but a hum so loud that I could barely think straight.

I had made myself a sacrifice at Crassus' behest. Now it was only fair that he sacrifice his life in exchange. That would cancel things out, create a balance. The thought of him dead at my feet, struggling to breathe on dry land, just like drowning, sent a raw, thrilling spark through my body.

Then, in an instant, the far wall of the cell, the one Crassus had been propped up against, blew out, and giant black insects swarmed into the room wielding long scanner weapons. Arachnoraptors. They'd found us.

XXXVII

T
HERE WAS NO TIME
to argue. We fell into a wedge formation. I was at the fore, Crassus and Julia flanked me on either side. We were naked and unarmed, but we were Roman. We were trained fighters, and now all conflicts were put aside. Now there was only survival.

There were a dozen arachnoraptors armed with transmission staffs, long antennae with power spheres at the rear and a small dish at the front end. The dishes boosted the creatures' scanning power but were also laced with razor-sharp edges and small ion blasters. A pike extended from the center of each dish, enabling the weapon to be used to shock or spear an opponent in combat.

They didn't rush us, though. They clustered together, climbing each other's backs, forming a pyramid shape. Black and shiny like beetles, stacked into a heaped pile, long spidery legs intertwining.

“They're forming a transmission cluster,” Julia yelled. “They need to pool their power to transmit their message through the rock to the surface. Keep them apart, or Aquilinus will have us within the hour!”

We charged, and a half dozen of them moved from the rear of the cluster to bar our way. They leveled their staff weapons and opened fire. Needle-thin ion blasts peppered the space before us. As the blasts struck one another in midair, they broke out into star-shaped formations, clustering together to form an energy net that sought to ensnare and trap us. Arachnoraptors and their webs.

I rolled under the energy net and came up a few feet from the defensive line. The black alien shell that protected their lower extremities from damage didn't extend to their human upper bodies, which were less well protected by leather and steel armor.

I kicked the hooded head of the one nearest me, nearly breaking my foot in the process as it impacted with a metal plate inside the mask, and then shot past, heading for the organic pyramid.

“There!” Julia yelled, pointing at the largest of the human hybrids. It was climbing up to the top of the pyramid, and a beacon behind the dish on its transmission staff was pulsing a bright orange. “That's their broadcaster. Take him out and they'll be dead in the water.”

Julia had reappropriated her armilla and was using it to generate a shield that Crassus was cowering behind. They were held down by incoming fire. It was up to me, but how could I do anything? More of them were breaking away from the pyramid. I couldn't take them all on my own.

Concretus brushed me aside as he came barreling past. He blasted through the guards, opening the way to the pyramid, before moving to kill those who were trying to kill us. I followed fast on his heels and jumped up onto the side of the formation, planning on climbing up until I got to the broadcaster. Instead, I was struck by a massive shock from one of the creatures' weapons. I hit the ground, my calves painfully locked, the muscles in my back in agonizing spasms. More arachnoraptors streamed in from the tunnel, joining the pyramid, reaching out their weapons toward the central broadcaster's staff to boost its power. Others threw themselves at Concretus as he pulled creatures off the pyramid, slicing at them with his ice-pick arms.

There were too many arachnoraptors. The broadcaster's beacon was glowing with power. I couldn't reach it in time. I forced myself up, ignoring the pain. Julia's shield was down, and she was being overrun by them. Crassus would fall after her. We were finished.

Then suddenly Crassus was charging at the pyramid. He had his hands on a transmission staff. He didn't jump on the side of the cluster of arachnoraptors like I did. He dove under, in between the dozens of spindly legs.

He wasn't going for the broadcaster; he targeted the pyramid from below. Crassus was lit by electrical sparks as the first shock hit him, but it didn't stop him. I lost sight of him in the cluster. And then nothing. I got my legs under me. There was no sign of change. The beacon was glowing like never before, and then without warning, the pyramid was breaking apart, toppling. He had levered it from underneath with the staff! The broadcaster fell down hard on its side and the beacon on its staff went out. Crassus was on it in an instant, his teeth buried in the creature's throat, tearing at it until it stopped moving.

The other arachnoraptors desperately tried to re-form the pyramid, but Concretus was relentless, his massive fists and ice-blade arms pummeling and cutting simultaneously. Their voice boxes removed, their death screams were silent. They scattered, heading back to the tunnels.

“Didn't you know they were coming?” I asked Lumen.

Yes, but it seemed that you needed to join together, and my memory of old stories you and Father used to read was that adversity creates bonds like none other. You faced the adversity and survived.

“Don't do that again. This isn't a child's story, this is real. The arachnoraptors are getting away, and if they manage to reach Aquilinus he'll send an army here to find you. Then it's all finished.”

He nodded and raised his arms. There was a sudden fluctuation in the song, like an orchestra's crescendo, and then the rear cell wall glowed and rippled, becoming transparent, revealing the fleeing enemy. The arachnoraptors stopped in their tracks as a solid wall appeared before them, blocking the way. Then the walls to either side liquefied and rushed over the hybrids, flooding the tunnel with liquid crystal before solidifying, leaving the creatures trapped like flies in amber.

I know this is no game,
Lumen said,
but if I had not brought you together then you could have killed Crassus.

“And we need him?” I asked.

Yes.

“He can do that?” Julia asked.

I can,
Lumen said,
but it costs me. That's the last time I can offer help of this kind.

“If he does it too often, then they won't have the power they need to leave,” Crassus added weakly. “We must do all we can to prevent Lumen from expending power. Every drop is sacred; the loss could be critical.”

It worried me how much Crassus seemed to know. He was burned, his skin red and peeling. He was coughing up blood, not a pretty sight.

“Arachnoraptors,” he coughed. “The legs are weak if you can tip them past a forty-degree angle.”

And then he fell forward, hitting the icy floor face-first. I ran to his side and turned him over. There was a hole in his abdomen, beneath the right ribs—caused by the sharp pike on the end of the arachnoraptor's transmission staff.

“They did get a transmission out, but I don't think it was strong enough to reach the surface,” Julia said, checking the readout on her armilla. “And if anything did get through, it'll take hours, days maybe to reach Aquilinus. I think we're okay for now.”

Quickly,
Lumen said.
This way. I left a small passage for our escape.

I crouched down and struggled to help Crassus to his feet.

“Accala…” Julia started, but I gave her a sharp glance. He'd earned the right to live, at least for now.

“You don't have to understand or agree, and I'm sorry I'm not taking orders. But I've changed, got better, and I'm not leaving him behind, so you can either leave or help me,” I said.

She cursed and helped me hoist him up, putting his right arm around her shoulders so we could walk him along. Before we could take three steps, Lumen signaled Concretus, who took Crassus from us and threw him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Julia retrieved the broadcaster's transmission staff; we needed all the weapons we could get.

Lumen led us through a narrow passage back to the main tunnel network.
We have to move quickly. More of these will come.

The shining tunnels of the Hyperboreans were unwelcomingly familiar. I couldn't wait to get out of there, back up to the surface for some fresh air.

I can't spare the power to make new tunnels. You'll have to follow me through existing tunnels, and we can't risk any more arachnoraptors finding us.
His light faded, leaving us in pure darkness.
I'll lead you back up to the surface via the weapon store my people have accumulated. Listen to the song and you'll be fine. Don't wander from the path I trace out.

I explained to the others what was happening.

“Song? What song?” Julia asked.

“I can hear it,” Crassus whispered hoarsely. “Like a distant whisper.”

“I can't hear anything,” Julia said.

“Keep hold of my hand,” I said. She took my hand with her one of ice. It wasn't cold. It was warm, like Lumen's hand.

“Don't let go,” I said to her. I needed her with me now more than ever.

We walked for hours, an uphill course that burned my calves. Crassus tried his best to stifle his hacking cough. Julia was right. I didn't know why I was bringing him along. He deserved to die, by any fair measure, but I couldn't work out how to kill him without picking up the hot ember of revenge and madness that had burned me and led me down the path of destruction. I couldn't shake Lumen's words, that the Sertorian and I were linked. I'd fallen and been given a second chance. I'd asked Lumen and Julia for the opportunity to earn forgiveness for my sins. I wasn't sure I could deny Crassus the same opportunity without damning myself. For better or worse, the three of them—Lumen, Julia, and Crassus—were my touchstones with reality, they helped me focus on the path ahead toward redemption instead of the destruction behind me.

Lumen's song was like a road that I could follow despite the darkness. I could see him even with my eyes closed as a kind of ghost image. Suddenly that image vanished; the song was silent and I froze in place. I heard the sound of Crassus being dumped on the ground by Concretus. I was leading Julia, and suddenly I couldn't feel Lumen, couldn't hear his song.

The arachnoraptors were back. They were close. I could hear them talking in their skittery whispers, and it sent chills up my skin.

I reached out for Lumen in the dark but found nothing. He was gone. Fear crept over me like a suffocating blanket. Self-doubt needled at me. Was it his song that had faltered? Or was it my belief? I pulled the pin out and gripped it tightly, but there was no heat, no directional pull that would indicate a right path to follow.