Five months, that was how long ago it was since Damon Salvatore and the other gladiators and slaves had made their escape from the House of St, Augustine. Damon had been brought to the House of Saint Augustine against his will and in chains, as his punishment for refusing to follow the orders of the Praetor Atticus Shane. Damon and his younger brother had agreed to work with the Roman Army, with their own men to take down a hostile group of barbarians that were giving the Romans some trouble, but were too low on the priority list for the Romans to send their men and resources after. Due to the fact that they had other battles and conflicts in other parts of the region which needed the attention of the Roman Army.
Due to this, Atticus Shane had given Damon and his younger brother an offer, that if they helped take out the Barbarians they would be granted with Atticus Shane using his men to help the brothers take care of a problem which was plaguing the village they were coming from. The Salvatore brothers honored the deal at first, and used their infantry of men to take out some of the barbarians.
Atticus Shane, however, didn't honor his part of the deal and when the brothers asked that he use his Roman Army to take out a threat to their village, Atticus Shane refused and commanded the brothers that they were to stay to complete the task, until all of the barbarians were taken out.
This deeply bothered the brothers, as they realized the women and children in the village they came from would be left defenseless to the threat coming their way. So, together they left to head towards the village to try, with the urgency to try and save and protect the women and children who resided there.
But, Atticus Shane saw what they did as desertion and a betrayal to the Roman Army. Atticus Shane, with a portion of his Army, tracked down the brothers. They were seperated, where Damon was then taken to the House of St. Augustine. Which was a ludus where gladiators were trained under the control of Grayson Gilbert, the dominus of St. Augustine.
There, Damon learned he would be forced to train as a gladiator and then eventually fight gladiators from other luduses across Rome. At first, Damon resisted. Until Grayson Gilbert had promised him that he would be reunited with his younger brother Stefan, if Damon agreed to fight as a gladiator for him for a few years. So, with a reunion with his brother being the driving force, Damon agreed that he would put his all into becoming a gladiator.
The Eldest Salvatore fought under the roof of St. Augustine for nearly three years, rising as a gladiator, picking up many victories in the arena, becoming a legend to the people of Rome and becoming the champion of the ludus, usurping the champion who was there before him, Klaus Mikaelson.
For a time, Damon grew accepting of his life as a gladiator, he even embraced it some. That was until he heard of the death of his brother Stefan and how he had been executed. At first, he thought Stefan had been killed by a gang of thieves, as this is what Grayson Gilbert had told him happened. And for a while Damon believed Grayson. Until he discovered it was Grayson who had ordered Stefan to be murdered, as a way to keep Damon under the will of Saint Augustine. As Stefan had been the only reason why Damon still had dreams he could one day gain his freedom and be reunited with his younger brother.
This. Naturally incensed Damon immensely, he grew enraged and went from accepting his life as a gladiator, to wanting to see Grayson Gilbert pay a dear price for killing off his brother. So, Damon plotted with the other men to find a way to escape St, Augustine. Some men got on board right away, others took more persuading, such as Klaus, Klaus had fallen for Caroline, who worked as a body slave for Grayson Gilbert's wife. Sybil.
Sybil had accused Caroline of stealing some of her jewels, an accusation which Caroline strongly denied. But, Grayson Gilbert believed his wife and as punishment, had Caroline sent away. Which upset Klaus. Damon promised Klaus that he would help find Caroline, if Klaus agreed to join him in breaking out of Saint Augustine. Klaus went along with it, mainly because he wanted to find Caroline.
With the plan and plot in place, and all of the men in the ludus on board, the gladiators unleashed their wrath onto the Romans who had gathered one evening to watch Damon and Klaus fight to the death, but instead of fighting each other, they with the others, turned their wrath onto those who had gathered. Leading to a ton of blood to be shed and many lives to be taken.
Damon then came face to face with Grayson Gilbert, proceeding to use his sword to slit the throat of the man who had played a hand in the death of his beloved brother. Still Damon's thirst for revenge wasn't quite quenched as it was still Atticus Shane who had been the cause of creating the events that led to his younger brother, Stefan being killed.
Damon, Klaus, along with about seventy gladiators and thirty other slaves who did different tasks and labors for Grayson Gilbert and Sybil, made their escape from Saint Augustine on that night, with the desire to make Rome tremble in blood and gore.
They eventually discovered that Caroline had been taken to the mines. Once Klaus found out about this, he was eager to save her. And in keeping his promise to Klaus, Damon agreed to go to the mines with him to get her, along with about fourteen other men who also agreed to come along with Damon and Klaus to rescue the woman that Klaus grew to love.
They were successful in rescuing Caroline from the mines, but it came at the price of Klaus being captured and taken back to the house of St. Augustine. The rescue mission had also caused them to lose a good number of the men who went on it, due to the Roman soldiers who had gone after them in the mines.
Several times, Damon and the rest of the men had to fight off Roman soldiers who were pursuing them through the forest. They finally were able to kill the remainder of those pursuing them and then they ran into the rest of their fellow gladiators along with the others who had escaped St. Augustine with them five months before, but had not gone on the rescue mission for Caroline.
And now, all of them were making their way through the forest towards Mount Vesuvius, after a couple of days' journey on foot through the forest, they finally neared the base of the mountain.
Damon and a few of the other men were leading the way in the front, with the core group of people behind them. When Marcel, one of the most talented fighters amongst them, approached Damon and the other men.
Marcel, flanked by a couple of men, had gone ahead of them to look for other potential dangers or for something which would be useful to them.
"We found something." Marcel told Damon.
Damon then proceeded to follow Marcel, until Marcel led them to the edge of the forest where the tree line ended.
"There." Marcel pointed.
About five hundred yards from the edge of the forest was a large stone temple, surrounded by a big stone wall.
"Great discovery." Damon told Marcel.
"Could be the shelter we need for all of our people." Marcel stated.
"Seems abandoned." Damon observed.
Marcel studied the temple. "Looks run down as if no one has been there for a while, yet we won't know for sure from such a distance."
Damon decided. "We should go and check it out with a handful of men, to make sure it's safe before we have the others go there."
Marcel nodded. "Yes, let us scout it first to make sure there are no dangers."
So, Damon, Marcel and some of the other men went ahead to scout the temple, as the core group waited in the tree line.
They made their way around the stone walls, until they found an entrance way, then walked in. The outside of the temple contained a large area of concrete, before leading to steps which led to the entrance of the temple held up by large stone pillars.
Damon. Marcel and the other men made their way inside of the temple to look around.
"Search to make sure everything is safe and secure." Damon ordered some of the men.
Those men moved deeper inside of the temple to do as Damon said, while he and Marcel remained near the entrance of the temple.
"Looks like we've found a roof over our heads." Marcel said.
"Yes, this temple is rather large, large enough to contain all of the men and women we have with us so far." Damon's eyes scanned the area.
Suddenly, they saw movement w cahichught them off, Damon and Marcel pulled out their swords, preparing to defend themselves to whoever was in the temple besides the men who had come with them.
From the left and a few feet away from them, merged a woman with brown skin, green eyes and braids that fell over her shoulders and back. And she didn't look like she was happy to see Damon and Marcel before her.
"Who the hell are all of you?" The woman bellowed out with her bow and arrow in hand. "And why have you stepped foot into my home?"
"Easy." Damon returned trying to keep his tone peaceful.
"That doesn't answer my question." The woman with brown skin and green eyes pulled back on her arrow. "About who all of you are and why have you stepped foot into my home."
Damon and Marcel exchanged glances, whoever this woman was, she appeared to be fiery.
She then warned. "Speak, before I put an arrow between your eyes."
However, before she could even think about doing this, a couple of the other men who Damon had sent to search the temple, came up behind her with their weapons drawn. One had a spear and the other an ax. They had them at the woman's back, ready to strike if she shot her arrows towards Damon and Marcel.
She looked over her shoulder at the two men who now had their weapons drawn on her, yet this didn't make her flinch, as she still had her bow and arrow pulled back towards Damon and Marcel.
"Easy." Damon spoke to the woman. "We mean no harm, we're just looking for shelter for our people."
The woman narrowed her eyes as if she wasn't sure she should believe him.
"Lower your weapons." Damon told the others, as he lowered his sword to show the woman he had no intentions of harming on fighting her.
The other men did as Damon said and lowered their weapons.
This was when one of the other men who was with the group, Vincent Griffth ran up to Damon.
"Damon…" Vincent started with what he had to tell the leader of their band of gladiators.
"Damon?" The name alerted the woman. "Your name is Damon?"
"It is." Damon replied to her.
"You're Damon Salvatore?" She pressed further.
Damon confirmed. "I am."
Just like that the woman's demeanor did a 180, as her mood changed from hostile to lighthearted. "Then I mistake my enemy for an ally."
Her sudden change in mood made him raise his brows out of curiosity.
The woman lowered her bow and arrow. "Welcome! You all can come on in!
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After they had been invited into the temple this woman apparently lived in, they all gathered the others who had been waiting in the forest to scout the temple. And with the rest of the men and women who had traveled with them now in the temple. They all were getting situated and settled down to make the temple the place they would stay for a while.
As the others were making preparations to get settled down in the temple, Damon wanted to speak with the woman who had welcomed them in. He found her in a more private area of the temple where there weren't as many people.
She looked towards him as he stepped towards her.
"I wish to give you gratitude for opening up your home for those who traveled with me to stay here." Damon began.
"I was more than glad once I figured out who you were." The woman responded back.
"And what name would you go by?" Damon inquired.
She smiled slightly with her answer. "Bonnie, my name is Bonnie Bennett."
Damon remarked. "Gratitude to you Bonnie for sharing your temple with us."
Bonnie commented. "You're very welcomed, Damon Salvatore, you and your people can stay here for as long as you need to collect yourselves."
"It's a little close to one hundred of us with the men and women combined."
"This temple is big enough for them all, in fact it could fit a couple hundred more."
Damon observed the room they were in, from it's appearance and the things in it, he recognized that this was one of the rooms she stayed in the most throughout the temple. "You know my name, even if you didn't know my face."
Bonnie eyed him. "Of course I did, everyone knows about the legend of Damon Salvatore."
Damon cocked his head to the side. "Do they?"
"We've all heard about your grand victories in the arena." Bonnie murmured. "Myself included."
"And are you a fan of the games?" Damon asked her.
"They are of no interest to me." Bonnie shrugged.
He watched as she moved towards a table. "They aren't an interest to me either, at least not anymore."
At the table, she had a number of items she used to help herself survive her stay at the temple. She also had maps of the area around them and Rome as a whole. "So, what made you decide to go from fighting for the entertainment of Romans, to taking part in the uprising against them?"
Damon gave his explanation. "I was once settled into the life of a gladiator. And I didn't always envision myself rising up."
She waited for him to go on.
"Then I discovered how the dominus of the ludus I resided in, directly ordered my younger brother to be executed. He then misled me into thinking that thieves played a role in his death when it was really him."
"I've heard about Grayson Gilbert and the other high elite Romans who got slaughtered with ruthless bloodshed under the roof of Saint Augustine. It left many of them terrorfied of what you and the other gladiators were capable of."
Damon thought how it was a great start, as the whole idea was to have Rome tremble. "There were many who passed away with bloodshed on that night, from the hands of myself and my men. I can say, I personally saw it to end the life of Grayson Gilbert."
Bonnie voiced. "Apologies for the loss of your brother."
Damon signaled. "Gratitude."
She rearranged some of the items on the table. "You said you killed Grayson Gilbert, the man who ordered your brother to be killed. Doesn't that mean the scales of vengeance are now balanced for you."
"The scales of vengeance won't be balanced until I go after the one who is the reason for my brother being in the position to be murdered in the first place."
"Of whom might that be?"
"Atticus Shane." Damon pronounced like the name was something bitter in his mouth.
"Atticus Shane? The praetor of the local Roman Army." Bonnie realized.
Damon continued. "He is the one who set into motion the circumstances which led to me and my brother being captured. He is the ultimate reason for my brother's death and I will not rest until he is dead."
Bonnie could hear the anger in his tone. "I've too have felt the grief of what it's like to have ones I love taken away from me due to the actions of cruel men and the enraging desire for revenge afterwards."
Damon looked over the exposed skin of her arms. "You do not bear the mark of a dominus or domnia."
"No I do not, I am a free woman."
Damon pondered. "Why would a free woman such as yourself risk all by housing the enemies of Rome?"
Bonnie sighed. "Because I too have known what it is to suffer under the cruelty of the boot of the Republic."
"And just what heinous acts did Rome take against you?"
"My family for decades owned acres of farmland, in which we sold grain and tended to cattle and did so with our own labor as we never believed in owning slaves. We remained peaceful, just using the farmland we owned to make a living for ourselves. And we had a good life, as the grain and cattle, along with the other animals we had on the farm kept us all well fed and clothed. We were all happy together and close knit. And as I said we had a good life." Bonnie elucidated.
"But, it didn't stay such a way." Damon guessed.
"We were double crossed by a family of noble Roman blood, the McKittricks. The McKittiricks used their position and their wealth to steal all of the land and farmland that my family owned. They took it all, the farmland and everything we had on it and kept it for themselves and then took the grains we had grown and sold it to put thousands of denari into their pockets. Denari which rightfully belonged to my family. And just like that, because of the Mckittiricks our way of life was in peril. We risked starving now that we no longer had the farm and our lands."
Bonnie recalled with resentfulness in her tone. "They not only took our farmlands, but seized our houses and kicked us off of our property, leaving us homeless. And we couldn't do anything about it because their family held a much higher position over ours, due to some of them being members of the Senate."
Damon uttered. "How could the Gods allow men to get away with such depravity?"
"It seems like the Gods abandoned us at least during that term of our lives. When my father and his brothers raised objection to our lands and home being stolen. The McKittiricks again used their position to do the most vicious acts towards my family. They gathered up my father, three of my Uncles and my male cousin and had them all crucified. Only the women of the family, including myself, were left to survive these evil acts."
He could sense her grief and anger as she talked about what was done to her family and how all of the male members of it were executed. He could relate to her since it was the Romans who executed his brother. "Condolences for your losses."
"Gratitude." Bonnie said back.
"You said the women in your family survived?"
"They did."
"And do they yet live still?"
"They still breathe and are still of this world, of that I am grateful for."
Damon questioned. "What happened to them, the women of your family?"
Bonnie appeared troubled as she thought about it. "After all of the males were killed, the McKittiricks attempted to have me and the other Bennett women punished. They were planning to have them sold into slavery and wanted to keep me as their personal slave."
Damon commented. "You said you were a free woman."
Bonnie returned. "That I am."
Damon wondered. "Then how were you able to escape the shackles of slavery?"
"We received a warning beforehand that a group of men were coming to round us up. But, none of us were about to let ourselves be enslaved under the Republic. So, when a small handful of men came to get us, we fought back. They somehow underestimated us I guess, being women and let down their guard. While they were sleeping one night, we killed them before they could wake. And made our escape."
He was transfixed as she told him her story.
"We managed to get away for a few days, but they sent more men after us. While we were on a road, this time I caused distraction, allowing the other women in my family to get away. They wanted to fight for me, but I demanded they go, promising I would find some way to reunite with them upon a day."
Damon adjusted the strap which held his sword. "And do you know the fate of the women in your family?"
Bonnie shook her head. "They were able to flee, successfully slipping from the grasp of Rome's intentions for them, yet after that I do not know where they are."
He eyed her and could relate to her anxiety about being seperated from a loved one and not knowing where that loved one was. Because this is how he felt when he got parted from his younger brother Stefan.
"As for me, I was kept prisoner for some days by the other men they sent after us. As I was captured, causing distraction to allow the others in my family to escape. Again, they underestimated me and before they could get me to the destination they were ordered to take me to, I was able to get away from them into the night." Bonnie vocalized. "But, ever since I have had a bounty on my head placed there by the McKittiricks, offering thousands to anyone who will accost me and bring me to them. So, although I'm a free woman, I'm still a prisoner in a way under the heel of the Republic."
"The bounty that's over you, would explain why you were on your guard when me and my men entered into this temple." Damon voiced.
"At first I thought your group may have been bounty hunters either coming for my head or coming to put me in chains to take me to the McKittiricks. It was a great relief when I found you weren't some force aiding my deepest foe. '' Bonnie commented. "I've been in this temple for close to a year, in hiding away from those who wish to see me to the cruelest of treatments."
Even though Bonnie was a woman he just met, he still could empathize with her rage and resentment towards the Romans and what they did to her family.
Damon expressed this by saying. "Then you and I share equal grievances against Rome."
Bonnie clenched her fist in fury. "I can admit how strongly I desire to see the Romans pay, pay for seizing the lands and home from those who share my blood, pay for executing all of the male members of my family, pay for attempting to enslave the women of my family, and what they did to me. Yes, I have often dreamt of giving the Romans justice through blood and death at my own hands."
Damon nodded again, understanding where she was coming from.
"Yet, I am but one woman who is all by herself." Bonnie stared at her arrows. "I alone am not enough to take on the mighty numbers of the Roman Army, especially not with this bounty over my head and life."
"You no longer have to go it alone." Damon gestured.
"What are you implying?"
"Your desire to see the Republic pay through blood and death matches mine and the rest of my men. Why don't you join our ranks and help us to see them to such deserved fates."
She turned to face him. "Are you offering me to join your rebellion?"
He inched closer to her. "Think about it, you wouldn't be alone from henceforth if you joined us, you'd have me and my men to back you up and ensure that whoever the McKittiricks send after you, would soon meet a bloody fate."
She muttered. "So, what you mean is that if I joined with you and your men, I would less likely have to worry about being outnumbered by any bounty hunters who might catch up with me one day, the scales of numbers would be more balanced on my side."
"Exactly, we would aid you in protection from the bounty over you and you in return would aid us in adding yet another number to our ranks."
"Having not to go it alone and having added protection against anyone who would come after me, does seem like a weight which would be lifted from my mind, it would certainly help me sleep better."
Damon emphasized. "You would be able to have many nights of sleeping more soundly, with my men on guard during the night watches."
Bonnie had to admit that no longer having to sleep with one eye open was an intriguing idea, as it would allow her to get a more relaxed and rested slumber during the night.
"And as you said, you desire to see the Romans pay with blood and death."
The look in her eyes matched the fury she was feeling. "Yes, I aspire and yearn to see the Romans reach their deserved end, starting with the noble family who robbed me of the most important piece of my life."
"Then unite with us and together we can see it done." Damon offered with determination in his voice.
Bonnie eyed the man in his warrior, gladiator style wear. The Romans had first grown to love Damon Salvatore and the entertainment he gave them in the arena. That was until the night he and the other gladiators under the house of Saint Augustine, had slaughtered all of the elite in the villa who had attended that night.
And now the Romans were out for his blood and to stop the rebellion of him and his men. She had heard the rumors about how there were whispers and talks amongst those who were still enslaved, who wanted to break away from their masters and join his cause.
Yet, she never envisioned herself as having the opportunity presented to her to join up with Damon Salvatore and the other rebels who followed him. And yet here he was before her, giving her an offer to do just so. And she had to admit that the idea intrigued her. Yet there were still other things which troubled her mind.
"I must confess that your offer to unite with you and your cause is a tempting one for me." Bonnie admitted.
"Good." Damon said.
"But, there's something else which concerns me, in which I can't disregard or ignore."
"Name it and see concern lifted from mind."
Bonnie furrowed her brow. "As I have told you, the rest of my family, all women fled to get out of the grasp of the Republic. Yet, I do not know where they are or even know where to begin my search to look for them. All I know is that, My grandmother, mother and woman cousin are all I have left now and I will not rest until I find them."
Damon returned without hesitation and sincerity for her plight. "We'll help you find the rest of your family. Even if we have to search every inch of the countryside to do so. We'll use our resources and what we know of this land to help you reunite with them."
This perked Bonnie up. "You will? You will assist me in finding them?
"I'll do everything in my power to make sure you'll be in their presence once more, you on that you have my word. Join us, join our cause and together we can see the fields overflow with Roman blood." Damon offered her his hand. "What say you?"
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Author's Note: The characters in this story are all human and the themes will involve talks surrounding slavery.