Match by match, as the day went by and the Sun disappeared beyond the line of the horizon, the number of the gladiators who would reach the primus dwindled, until only twenty-one of them remained: eight for the House of Batiatus (Gannicus, Crixus, Ashur, Dagan, Indus, Gnaeus, Narto, and Duratius) and thirteen for the House of Solonius. The older lanista could not help smirking, "It seems like I made good deal when I acquired Vettius' stables", he commented, "I have nearly twice the men than you in this final fight".
Quintus pressed his lips in a thin line and glared at his long-time friend, "Numbers are meaningless, a lesson you're about to discover!", he replied with fake cheerfulness, turning to shoot another glare at Flaminia, as she had been the one to convince him not to split the men from Vettius' stable between himself and Solonius: he had lost some discretely good gladiators that day because of it.
Still, she smiled and nodded, "Quintus has a point, good Solonius: numbers do not always mean victory…As you yourself have seen in recent times", she added, her voice gaining a dangerous undertone and Solonius shuddered slightly as he remembered the previous night, where Tullius and his men had been overpowered by a smaller number of fighters. "Yes, I…I do remember it well", he said, forcing himself to smile back at her.
As darkness fell over Capua, torches were lit inside the arena, so that everyone could see the bloodshed clearly. While magistrate Sextus addressed the crowd to announce the beginning of the primus, in the bowels of the new arena Crixus moved to stand beside Gannicus, a hard look in his eyes as he spoke. "So at last we made it to the sands", he said. "Among many others", the Celt replied carelessly, adjusting his bracers.
"I give no shit about other men! I shall prove myself against you in proper contest!". Gannicus frowned, "We face Solonius' men, not each other", he noted. "Only until they have fallen. Then we shall stand alone, absent all brotherhood", Crixus stated coldly. From where he sat on the bench next to the door, Ashur heard those words and remembered Flaminia's warning about the Gaul: she had been right about the man, he thought and resolved himself to never lower his guard around Crixus from then on.
"Attend!", Oenomaus called, causing the gladiators to regroup before him, "The dominus would have words". Much to the men's surprise, Batiatus walked into the room and moved to stand before them, his face set into an expression of grim determination.
"Everything we have dreamed of, suffered, died for, the worth of it all turns upon this single moment", he said, pointing with his thumb towards the sands, "Face the House of Solonius as a single man. You stand outnumbered, but not outmatched! Only one man will claim victory this day and hold the title of Champion of Capua! And by the Gods, that man will be from the fucking House of Batiatus!", he shouted and the men roared their approval, especially Crixus and Ashur, who wanted the title more than anyone else in the room.
As their dominus left, they all put their armour on, wielded their weapons and shields and steeled themselves for the upcoming fight, the most important fight of their lives until that day. Trumpets gave the signal for them to walk upon the sands, while from the opposite side of the arena Solonius' men came forth, all of them wearing white-plumed helmets and equally white clothing. Batiatus' men wore red instead, in obedience to Lucretia's instructions, as she wanted to honor Gaia's memory by having the gladiators of her House wear her friend's favorite color.
Magistrate Sextus stood to address the crowd once more, as the men of both Houses lined up before the pulvinus, "Many have fallen this day. Many have died, their blood staining the sands. Yet this arena towers above all others in the Republic! It is a vast beast and yet it hungers!". The viewers roared like the aforementioned beast, for they too hungered for the carnage that would soon happen before their eyes.
"Two great Houses face each other, yet every man must ultimately stand for himself and himself alone!", he said and nodded to the attendants in the arena, who brought some amphorae of oil and poured it on the sands to create a more or less circular boundary around the puzzled gladiators. "What are they doing?", Lucretia asked, frowning. "They're pouring oil on the sands", Flaminia answered, her heart hammering madly in her chest as she could easily guess what was about to happen and she feared for Ashur's safety now more than ever.
"Fire burns within their breasts", Sextus said loudly for everyone to hear, "And it is fire that shall find them in final contest!", he added as an attendant lowered a torch to the oil, the flames spreading with frightening speed to form a blazing ring around the men, many of whom shot worried looks at the fire.
Ashur, for his part, looked straight at Flaminia and when he felt the warmth of the flames caressing his skin, a small yet tender smile curved his lips, as he found himself thinking of how closely linked her name was to the element which now surrounded him, just like her arms had been around him during their lovemaking.
"Hold to the sands beyond the flames, or find yourself removed from the primus", the magistrate went on, this time addressing the gladiators, "Fall within them and be removed from this world. Take position!". They obediently moved to form two teams, facing each other and Ashur found himself flanked by Indus at his right and Dagan at his left. "Let us show these cunts our strength, brother", Dagan told Ashur with a confident smirk, speaking in Latin as he had learned to speak the language perfectly thanks to his young countryman. "With pleasure, brother".
"Reach Heaven with the sound of your fury!", the magistrate shouted, raising his fist, then he lowered it with a quick gesture, "BEGIN!". With war cries and roars, the two teams charged forward and the battle began.
While their brothers thought only about themselves, Ashur, Indus and Dagan fought as one, protecting each other and combining their attacks to better defeat their opponents and between the three of them, they managed to successfully get rid of seven of Solonius' men: five were slaughtered inside the ring of fire, the other two were pushed out of it as soon as they were close enough to the borders.
Crixus for his part fought like a man possessed, dishing out kicks and slashes at every opponent who was so fool or unfortunate enough to get too close to him, until one of Solonius' men managed to dodge his blow and retaliated by kicking him in the chest with such force that the Gaul flew a few steps back, dangerously close to the fire. Ashur knew he should not care, but despite his misgivings, he still considered Crixus a friend and so, he ran forward and put himself between the two men just as the opponent struck, the spiked ball meeting the Syrian's shield with a loud metallic sound.
"You will pay for this, fucking cunt!", Ashur snarled at the white-clad man, who raised his weapon to strike again, only to be impaled from behind by Indus. "Surprise!", the Macedon joked and the Syrian laughed, then turned to help Crixus up. The Gaul did not even bother to acknowledge them though: quite the contrary, as soon as he was back on his feet, he pushed them roughly aside and charged like a madman towards the nearest opponent, as obsessed as he was by his desire to become champion.
"Oh, you're most welcome", Indus grumbled, annoyed, but he was not given time to dwell on Crixus' ungratefulness, for two of Solonius' men attacked him and Ashur, only to be slaughtered like boars. "We make a great team, brother", the Macedon beamed and the Syrian nodded. "That we do, brother", he agreed as Dagan rejoined them.
Eventually, all of Solonius' men were either dead or disqualified, Narto and Duratius had died, Gnaeus had been kicked out of the circle and only five men remained standing inside the ring of fire: Ashur, Dagan, Crixus, Indus and Gannicus. They exchanged hesitant glances, none of them really wanted to attack his own brothers.
Well, nearly none of them: Crixus did not hesitate and with his sword poised to kill, he charged towards Indus, who barely had the time to raise his shield to avoid being beheaded and then found himself being pushed backwards, until he fell out of the ring with a look of shock on his face. "What…?", he chocked out, eyes round as quarters: his friend had just tried to kill him!
Dagan and Ashur shared a look and then, as one, they retaliated by charging towards the Gaul with their shields up: they did not want to kill him or inflict him any serious injury, but they very much wanted to punish him for turning against a brother. And so, before he could even realize it, Crixus found himself falling flat on his face outside the ring, the title of champion now out of his reach and those he considered as inferior gladiators watching him with amused smirks on their faces.
"Apologies, brother", Ashur said, his tone dripping sarcasm, "We mistook you for opponent, since you raised sword against one of our own". "Fucking cunts!", the Gaul roared, seething. Gannicus laughed out loud at that, "Move well executed, brothers!", he complimented them, twirling his twin swords, "Now you only have to defeat me and then one of you shall become champion".
The Syrians grinned at each other, then they attacked the Celt in unison, pushing him back with each blow and trying their best not to injure him, but Ashur frowned as he noticed that Gannicus was not really putting all of himself in that fight: to him, it seemed like the blond man was only putting on a show.
Before he could open his mouth to protest about that charade, Gannicus' lips curved in a small smile as he allowed himself to be pushed out of the ring of fire. "What the fuck?!", Ashur snapped, pissed off, but the Celt just stood and shrugged with his trademark grin. "Title is yours to take, brothers. I am out of this", he said simply, "Good luck".
Dagan turned to his countryman, "It is only the two of us now, brother". "Yes", Ashur sighed, "I do not wish to cross swords with you, but we have to fight". "That we do. But it need not be to the death", the taller Syrian grinned and his friend instantly understood his meaning. "Indeed". They took position, facing each other and they fought with all their ability as they did during their training in the ludus, putting up a convincing show but at the same time making sure not to land any fatal blow.
After a good fight that enflamed the audience, Ashur managed to catch Dagan off-guard: he struck with the flat of his blade at the other man's knee and used his shield to push him to the side, causing Dagan to trip and fall out of the ring.
As the crowd roared louder than ever, it took the two gladiators a moment to realize what had just transpired, but when it sank in, Ashur's face lightened up in a wide triumphant smile and he tossed his sword and shield aside to take his helmet off. "I am fucking victor!", he exclaimed, laughing with a mixture of joy and relief as he turned towards the pulvinus to meet Flaminia's eyes. She beamed like sunshine and let out a shout of delight, "YES! Ashur is champion!".
"The House of Batiatus stands fucking triumphant!", Quintus shouted as well, jumping to his feet, then shot a look at the magistrate, "Uh, ah, apologies", he added sheepishly. Sextus was not offended in the slightest though and actually laughed at that enthusiastic display, "None required", he replied, "I'm most impressed by show". "I only honor this city and my champions continue to do the same!".
"I have desire to have your man for my own games", Cossutius said. "As do I", Varus agreed, "Listen to how he ignites the crowd!". The lanista shot a look at Flaminia, but she didn't notice, as she was too busy chanting Ashur's name at the top of her lungs, soon imitated by the crowd, until the entire arena resounded with the Syrian's name. Where before the voices had been mixed in a wordless cacophony of bloodlust, now they were all united to repeat Ashur's name over and over.
"Ashur, Ashur, Ashur, Ashur!", they all chanted and his heart swelled with pride as in that moment, he truly felt like a God, worshipped and revered by the mortals around him and especially by his beloved Flaminia, his beautiful, iron-willed, fiery Goddess.
Meanwhile in the pulvinus, senator Albinius was very much pissed off at seeing his wife so enthusiastically calling out another man's name and wanted to get rid of that gladiator for good, so he spoke up addressing Sextus, "Would they not forever remember this day and the man responsible for this, if Ashur were granted freedom?", he said.
Flaminia's heart skipped a beat and for a fleeting moment, she actually looked at her husband with gratitude, instead of the usual mixture of disgust and hate that even the mere thought of him always invoked in her, "Freedom?", she repeated, trying not to sound too eager, "I…I do not know…He stood upon the sands for the House of Batiatus as well as for the glory of the House of Lutatius today, so Quintus should have a say in this as well".
"Well, I think it is an excellent suggestion!", Sextus exclaimed, then turned to Batiatus, "You can always train another gladiator, yet, to conclude the opening ceremonies with such a blessing…". Quintus hesitated, but as he met the young woman's gaze, he knew what she wanted and so, he nodded, "As I said, I will honor this city", he replied, sitting down and the magistrate turned to Flaminia. "What say you, do you agree to grant freedom to your man?". "I do", she did not need to think on it.
Sextus stood and gestured for silence and the crowd obediently shut up, "Ashur has proven himself to the city of Capua", he declared, "Let him be rewarded, with freedom!". The citizens shouted their approval, while Ashur gaped, stunned. "Freedom…", he whispered and a new rush of joy washed over him: now he was the Champion of Capua and from that night on, he would be a slave no longer.