by Oliver Ma
A Gladiator’s Dilemma
Eric Aldon couldn’t wait to go on to the big ship docked in
Carthage. Not only was it big, it was a war ship. Though he could
hardly see the hard bronze ram at the end,he admired it. Joining
the army was all he could think of.
Hector, beside him, was jumping up and down, obviously
with the same feeling as Eric.
Eric had dreamed of joining the army all his life. His dad had
fought the Romans. Though Carthage lost the war, his once thin
daddy came home, muscular, rich, and full of honor. Now a young
of 18, black haired man, Eric was strong for his age. He was fair
and nearly everyone liked him. He had colored light skin and a
credit to his father. To think of it, he might be a war hero and came
home rich too.
Afriend led a whole band up the hill toward him. It was Zing,
Eric’s childhood friend and companion. Zing was going to join the
army too.
He shared many good feelings with Zing. They were like head
and body that couldn’t be separated.
As they talked, a 7-foot-tall huge man came up to them, carrying
sharp swords, shields and armors. He was“Old Man”Beren,
Captain of the Carthaginian elites. Beren handed out armors to the
group. The armors were big and heavy, but the youngsters didn’t
mind. They thought this was their first step to winning the war.
As each was equipped with big ox hide chest guards and
shoulder straps, the training began. The young men practiced fighting
strategies, stepping forward when the trumpet blew and retreating
when the drum rolled. They also practiced how to tend a
wounded comrade.
For them, the war was nothing but fun time where men went
to earn glory and wealth. Many thought they could whip a dozen
Romans.
After a full month of constant training, they set out for Spain.
Certainly they would reach Rome in a month and won the war.
When they landed in the south coast of Spain, orders were
called and the soldiers were packed in formation. Eric was with
Zing when suddenly, trumpets blasted and Romans charged down
the hill. The Romans were wearing bright red armors. Everyone
raced to confront them, acting like a hero and withstanding the Roman
attacks. Eric was surrounded by a bunch of Romans when he
saw Zing shot by an arrow. Angrily, he charged at the men surrounding
Zing. Before long, they were both surrounded. They saw
the Romans pushing the Carthaginian forces back.
Just when the situation looked really bad, “Old Man”Beren
came to the rescue. He expertly slashed his way into the circle and
saved the two boys.
When the battle was over, few were hurt but Hector was
missing. Eric prayed for a full night, but still, Hector didn’t show
up. For this, Eric hated the Romans. But soon, he forgot all about
it. He had something else to think about, for their next destination
was the Alps.
Zing raced to catch up with his friend, Eric. When they finally
marched side by side, Eric noticed the gradual change of temperature.
He knew they were heading towards the mountain of Alps,
but he had no idea it would get so cold.
As howling winds tearing at them, Zing asked Eric,“When
do you think we will meet the Romans？”
Before Eric could answer, they heard a giant beast snorting
behind them. They didn’t need to turn around to realize what it
was. It was one of the 37 war elephants, coming all the way from
India. Its 28-year-old driver was yelling,“Move aside, younglings”.
Just because the man was an elephant solider didn’t mean he
had authority over them. Eric, with one hand on his cold short
sword, retorted,“Move aside yourself, Hermit”.
As Zing struggled to pull Eric aside, the driver, cursing and
swearing, pushed his beast at them. That did it. The two companions
ran as the driver chuckled.
Charge of the Elephants!
The two friends caught up with“Old Man”Beren who was
like a dad to them. An officer of the Carthaginian elites, he had
much power. He was wise and always made good decisions. As
Eric told on the elephant driver, Beren suddenly drew his sword.
The experienced solider always knew when a battle was going to
start, even before the battle front reached them. Seconds later, a
shout of a mountain tribe attack went up. Eric and Zing also drew
their swords.
Few were injured. In 3 minutes, they moved on as if nothing
happened.
“I hope the Romans are tougher foes. This is too easy, ”
said Zing.
“At least we managed to prove ourselves. But this didn’t
even satisfy my battle blood,”complained Eric.
However, as they continued marching towards the top of the
mountain, more and more tribes attacked. The cold took its tow on
the army, too. Hundreds died and Beren lost a toe to frostbites.
Even Mother Nature wasn’t able to stop the Carthaginian
army from paying the Romans back. Soon, the troops passed the
Alps, and the green rolling land of Italy was lying before them.
The war began.
Eric chuckled as Zing muttered“Damn you, Romans”. The
first battle had gone well. The Romans, with their’powerful’army,
charged at the Carthaginian soldiers, waved their swords over their
head, and shouted war cries. The Carthaginians held their ground
but were slowly pushed back. That was, until the war elephants
came charging down. Instantly, the Roman lines buckled and the
victorious Carthaginian massacred them. Some Romans fled like
the mountain tribes had done, some cried, while still others begged
and bowed like they would to the God of War, Mars.
Romans scattered over the hill. Eric and a group of young soldiers
had just returned after combing the hillside with a handful of
Roman captives. They would be rewarded well.
At noon the next day, the troops gathered and feasted in the
honor of their first victory. They didn’t lose many troops, and they
had the experienced Roman army on their knees.
That night, as Eric was about to sleep, Lunan, Claude and
Zing mobbed him. They sat and talked about their victory.
Claude and Lunan had been at the center and were cowed by
the battle. They did little more than what the general green hands
were expected to do. They just finished off wounded enemy soldiers
and distracted the Roman elites as bait.
Zing was more productive. He managed to protect wounded
Carthaginian elites and killed a Roman green hand. After that, he
met Eric when Eric was in big trouble. He not only lost his sword
but was pierced with many spears. Though none pierced him in the
vital, the wound still looked bad. Zing protected him with his
shield as they ran around the battlefield. Aside from that, he j
ust
lured the Romans to the elephants.
After the masses of Romans fell back, Eric and his friends
limped back to their camp after helped by the medic.
The sky was growing dark, but their camp was alive with
lights, sounds, men drinking, and armor clattering.
Eric was proud of himself.
The Carthaginian army was ransacking the small Italian village,
named Loas. Eric and his three friends were knocking on a
large door. They didn’t really enjoy stealing and robbing but they
had to starve or rob.
The door opened and out came the prettiest girl they had
ever seen.
Claude was the first to recover and muttered “Um, could we
by any chance dine here？”
The girl froze, then backed off and yelled, “Mom, some
Carthaginians are trying to rob us.”She shut the door in their face.
The group was about to leave when Beren came, arms full of
hams and bread. He laughed, “You’ll never get in that way. ”
Then, he shouted, “Open up, swine. ”When no one came, he simply
kicked the door open.
Inside was a family of four, a boy, about 14, the girl, about
16, an elderly woman and a dead man with an arrow sticking
out of his back.
The girl said quickly,“We have food, but we won’t
feed you.”
“Howabout we guard your door so you only get robbed once,
if you feed us, ”Zing suggested.
The girl was just about to disagree when the momsaid,“fine”.
Eric volunteered and was rewarded with an empty stomach.
The meal was served. Everyone ate and left. Eric was happily
guarding the door when the girl said to him,“Get out of here”.
Eric didn’t want to leave.“But you have my words that I will
guard your door.”
“I don’t care. You Carthaginian killed my father. I won’t let
a murderer inside our door, so get out. ”
Little did they notice, a dark figure was creping up to the
house, tip-toed. When he saw Eric, he hid himself behind a tree,
listening to their conversation.
Eric lost the argument and left the house reluctantly. The
looter charged into the house, snatching gold and food. The girl
screamed, ran to the door and yelled for help.
In seconds, Eric was back and the looter fled. Gratitude in her
eyes, the girl smiled quickly at Eric and mumbled“thank