Waking up was pure Agony for Spc. Frias. His thigh felt like it was on fire, the hard floor left him sore, the stench of unknown source filled his nose. Opening his eyes he saw the others of his unit also passed out in a cage on a moving wagon. In the cage with them were the three Japanese Police officers that made the last stand with them. Trying to sit up he saw that his hands and legs were chained together. Looking around he could see that he was in a long caravan of wagons each loaded up with prisoners and other items they probably looted.
Looking down to his thigh he could see that it was wrapped up. Carefully undoing the wrapping he could see that the wound was stitched up and had some sort of salve put over it. Looking over everyone else in the group he could see all of them had been treated as well.
Along the sides of the caravan he could see various soldiers on horseback in full armour guarding the caravan. They were driving through farmland as far as the eye could see. Absolutely no chance for escape. Especially with the wound to his leg.
Being careful to not bring too much attention to himself he nudged Kopman. "*pst* Kopman. Wake up!"
Kopman shot up awake and was about to say something before Frias quickly silenced him. "*shhh* Not too loud. Looks like we've been taken as POWs. Probably back from wherever these assholes came from. Cuz this sure as hell doesn't look like Japan to me. Wake up the others. Make sure they remember their SERE training."
"Roger that. Although I doubt they could really torture us for information, since I highly doubt they speak the same language." Kopman responded in a whisper.
"Yeah that would have been way too convenient." Frias responded as he quickly rewrapped his wound.
"You good Frias?"
"I doubt any of us are good at the moment Kopman."
"Yeah, I'm not liking our chances here. Especially since they have a bunch of civvies in other wagons. Mostly women. I think we both shouldn't delude ourselves as to what's going to happen."
"Yeah. They look Roman, fight Roman, I shouldn't be surprised if we are on our way to be sold right now."
"Well we only have to survive and keep our heads down. It won't be long before Uncle Sam finds us and brings us back home."
"Yeah we just have to do what we can to make sure we all stay together."
"Either way I trust our country. They'll get us back in no time. I'm sure that Hell will be raised when they find out we were taken."
"Yeah, but until then just take it one day at a time. Make sure the guys understand that. We just have to survive. Don't act out or do anything that could possibly get us killed early. I know it sucks, but we can have our revenge later. Just keep on keeping on."
With that the Kopman went about waking the others and informing them of the situation. They talked with the police as well to make sure that nobody in the wagon acted out or attracted attention. It was a wise decision as in the distance they could hear outcries being quickly silenced with loud cracks of a whip. They just and to grit and bare the sounds of absolute misery coming from the other wagons. It tore at the hearts, but there was simply nothing that they could do. They were in absolutely no position to help.
The Caravan stopped every night and set up camp for roughly nine hours. At the beginning of the break they were given a loaf of bread between all of them to share. In the morning they were once again given bread. They would be taken out of the cages once a day and each with a double guard to relieve themselves in the wilds. They quickly noticed that they were far heavily more guarded and well treated in comparison to the other wagons. It wasn't great treatment by any means, but they were never beaten and given some food. Not nearly enough, but much more than the others were apparently given. They also had a young woman with blue hair and robes come by every night to check and clean their wounds.
This continued for a whole week until, finally, they entered what seemed like a city with high walls and sentries all around. Entering the city they could see hundreds of people milling about as they entered the city. Immediately the caravan received the attention of all the citizens looking at the otherworldly slaves.
Looking out towards the crowd the unit could make out many of the civilians who weren't quite human and a great many slaves amongst the crowd. Dressed in rags and collars.
Soon the other wagons diverted towards a large merchant square while the wagon that carried the men continued on deeper into the city. They carried on carrying a huge crowd that looked at them as if they were a zoo exhibit. The Men handled the awkward situation as best as they could. They kept their heads up and looked straight ahead. Never reacting to the external stimuli, showing a level of discipline that pleased Nero.
"They will make fine fighters. Look at that not a single peep or reaction the entire trip. No complaints. We didn't even have to beat them into submission. It's almost like they were meant to be slaves!" Nero exclaimed with a hearty chuckle.
"Now now Nero. I don't believe it to be so. They fought hard against our men. Their military completely obliterated our forces, we were lucky to have been taking our spoils back across when the fortunes turned. So don't believe them to be cowed so easily. They are smart, they won't fight a useless fight. They are conserving their energy. That makes them dangerous. I would watch them carefully. They could make us a lot of money in the arena, however we must be vigilant and not allow them any freedoms." Aurelius replied with a dangerous gleam in his eyes. "We have captured lions, but we still have not tamed them."
"Now now. There's no need to be so worried about them. They are injured, besides we are a very long distance from Alnus now. We should thank the Gods that we came out with few losses and some spoils. Regardless It will be awhile until they can fight in the arena. You can do as you wish with your slaves. I trust my uncle will turn them into fine gladiators. Don't you worry." Nero responded evenly.
"Very well then. Let us continue. My Villa is not too far from Telta. We should arrive before nightfall."
"I still do not understand why we didn't sell the slaves at the capital? I'm sure the nobles would pay a good price for them."
"Yes yes I'm sure they would, however, I don't trust that the king wouldn't try to confiscate our spoils. I'm sure the king would use them to better understand the enemy rather than as gladiators. Especially after such a devastating routing. I won't let him steal my prizes solely to save face. Besides I wouldn't mind seeing many of these slaves stay in our vicinity. I know our men enjoy them greatly."
"Ah, so this is in order to boost morale in the province! Very smart. Let the people of Telta enjoy your conquests."
"I have my reasons Nero. Let it be left at that. You and your men are free to stay the night at my Villa. I know it's another half a days travel to your Uncle's Villa. I'm sure he will enjoy the gift."
"Yes you have my gratitude for you hospitality."
"No need for any thanks. It's merely a favor amongst friends."
They continued on through the city and headed north crossing a river. They traveled on for a few more hours until the scenery changed from sparse woodlands to a vineyard. Row after row of grapes. Amongst the grapevines various slaves could be seen picking the grapes with armed guards watching over them. Saluting the two men on horseback as they rode by. All the slaves quickly dropped to one knee and bowed as their master rode by.
At the end of the road was a large gate guarded by four soldiers in full regalia. They quickly opened the Gate into a large courtyard. Waiting for them were three women in splendid robes and jewelry. Beside them were three women in white robes and collars carrying fruits and jars.
"Welcome home beloved husband" One of the ladies dressed regally spoke as she gracefully made her way towards Aurelius. She was a beauty who had aged well. Her hair was done up with no effort made to conceal the grays that dotted her lovely brunette curls. "I see that the conquest of the new world has gone well! It seems the gods have graced our land once again! I assume these men are to be sent to the pit?"
"The Conquest did not go as planned, It ended in disaster for the empire. Most of the Army was destroyed. It was solely thanks to the grace of the gods that we had crossed back across before the enemy made its lightning fast counter offensive. We came home to leave these men. I will have Cassius train these men with the new slaves. These savages killed a great number of our men. We must make sure that they pay back their debt to us with blood and gold in the Arena." Aurelius said as he got off his horse to embrace his wife. "Now dear how have Priscilla and Sabina behaved themselves? The Gods only know how they have frightened off any suitors so far with their sharp tongues." He said looking towards his daughters. They were both beauties in their own right having fair skin, lithe bodies, brunette curls, and beautiful faces. They would have looked angelic if it weren't for the impish grins on their faces and the sharp look in their eyes
"Now now dear. I have made sure to re-educate them on how to comport themselves as proper ladies, however it seems they still haven't given up their juvenile dreams of joining Pina's knights."
"I wouldn't mind if they joined the Rose Order, if only to make closer ties with the royal family. However they would only bring embarrassment to our family if they did so. They have fragile bodies, they wouldn't withstand the training. For gods sake Sabina can't even stand up too quickly without nearly feinting. I love my daughters my dear, but their dreams and their destiny are two entirely different things."
"I know my dear, they are simple being stubborn. I know I was that way when I was their age. It will pass with time." She said to her husband before turning to the rest of the gathering and speaking up louder. "Now let us feast. The cooks have made a bountiful banquet, I'm sure you are all famished after your long journey!"
"That we are my dear." Aurelius said before turning to his men and speaking louder with command. "Take my slaves to the pit! Have Cassius get to work on them immediately tell him he has a month to get them into fighting shape! Leave Nero's slaves in the wagon. Give them supper and let the sleep in the wagon."
At his command the men were quickly taken to another section of the villa. It was a large semi arena with high walls and another gate. This gate was guarded as well by another two armed guards. Opening up the wagon the group of otherworlders, excluding Newlin and Kopman, were harshly dragged out and brought to the gate. Then one by one they were uncuffed and brought into the arena. The arena was quite simple It was just a large oval open area that had coarse sand instead of cobblestone. Standing in the middle flanked by six guards was a large imposing man with various scars across his lightly tanned skin. He had brown leather armor and a sword strapped to his belt, while he had a whip in hand. He stood at roughly six feet and had just as much muscle as Newlin had. As soon as they crossed into the Arena they were arranged in a line in front of him, quickly other slaves were brought to stand with them. Many were human men just like them however two of them clearly weren't human. One of them was a woman with one and a half brown bunny ears and fur that went up her legs to mid thigh. The other was a man with long pointy ears. Obviously an elf. In total there were twenty people lined up in order.
As soon as they were all settled the man began to speak in a booming voice, "Good Afternoon you pitiful scum! My name is Cassius! You shall call me Doctore! You now belong to Aurelius' Ludus. Many of you are slaves, some of you are free men who sold you service in the arena to pay off debts. Regardless of how you begin you are all equally worthless as of this moment! It is my job to train you into something of worth so that our Master can get his money's worth out of you! Fear not! For if you die in the arena I am sure the Goddess Emroy will smile upon your death and your afterlife shall be blessed. If you are lucky enough to reach that rare one hundredth win. Well then you shall walk away a free man. However I do not see anything here that will make me think you bunch will make it that far. Excluding those in the middle. These men aren't from this world. So they don't have a clue of what I'm saying. These have killed a great many men on the battlefield. Let's see if they can show us some of their skills? Throw them a practice sword and shield! They shall spar with Magnus one on one. I want to see what skills the other world has."
Soon a wooden sword and shield were thrown at the feet of one of the Japanese officers. He still had his uniform on much like the other two officers. Then a man in leather armor and a scar stretching from his hairline down to his chin came out from behind the guards. The man was well muscled and had a strong tan. He had a long brown hair that was tied into a wolf's tail. The man grabbed a wooden shield and sword from the bucket next to Cassius. The man pointed at the sword and shield on the floor and then pointed at the officer. The orders were clear. No words were needed.
The officer slowly picked up the shield and sword and stepped forward. With the crack of the whip the fight began with the slightly larger gladiator charging at the officer. The man swung at the officer who blocked it with his shield, however he was congratulated for his efforts with a shield slamming into his chest making him take a few steps back. The man had no mercy and continuously assaulted the officer, ripping the shield from the officers hands and then whaling on him with his wooden sword until the officer was bloodied and on the floor.
"Cease! The fight is over! In Magnus' favor. Next match!" Cassius yelled out. A few slaves came from a tunnel at the far end of the arena and dragged the officer away. Magnus then threw the shield and sword at the feet of the next Officer. The Officer took the sword and shield. This time he decided it would be better to be aggressive rather than defensive like his comrade was. This quickly proved to be a mistake as Magnus easily avoided each swing and retaliated heavily. A few swings to the face and body quickly took the officer out of the fight.
Once again a few slaves grabbed the man and took him away. Before the shield and sword were thrown at the feet of the next officer Frias spoke to him. "Hey you were the officer that was able to speak english right?"
"Yeah my name is Tenshi. What do you want?"
"Well Tenshi, the name is Frias. In your fight don't be so quick to stick to one strategy, stay mobile and keep your distance. Don't commit fully to your attacks, just do short swings and stabs. Try to disrupt his footwork."
"Alright, I'll try." Tenshi said before receiving the sword and shield.
Keeping Frias' advice in mind he kept his distance and tried a few probing attacks. Eventually Magnus went on the offensive. Tenshi blocked and tried to counter attack, however Magnus spun around the attack with quick feet and slashed him in the back before Tenshi could defend. The match lasted much longer thanks to the advice, but Magnus was too quick and agile for Tenshi and eventually he got his face beat in for it.
Frias was next and decided to forgo the shield entirely, something that raised a few eyebrows amongst the crowd. Cassius was inwardly pleased, they were learning that they could not defend against someone so agile with such a rigid defense. This fighter seemed to acknowledge that he wasn't efficient with a shield yet, so opted to fight in a different manner. It was yet to be seen if that strategy would pay off, but maybe there was some hope amongst this bunch after all.
Slightly limping to get in front of Magnus the rest of the crowd was able to see the sizeable height advantage that Frias had, which only confused the rest of the crowd excluding Cassius even more. By their logic he could have hidden behind the shield and lashed out with his longer wingspan.
With the crack of the whip the fight began and surprisingly both fighters charged at each other. To everybody's confusion Frias just threw his sword at Magnus which was easily deflected by his shield. Frias took advantage of the distraction to dive to one knee and away from the incoming shield bash and shoot up into Magnus' ribcage in a classic wrestling takedown. The tackle brought Magnus to the floor and made him lose his weapons as he was smashed into the ground. Frias used his Enemies momentary confusion to lay punch after punch on the man. However Magnus quickly regained his senses and started to defend and send some punches back doing what he could to get out of the hold. Then as if a lightbulb went off in his head Magnus punched Frias right in the thigh where his wound was. This quickly got Frias off as he howled in pain, Magnus quickly lept on his prey and rained down blows forcing him to unconsciousness.
Cassius was inwardly impressed with the strategy, however he knew that with real swords and shields that would have been a suicidal attack. Nonetheless it showed that at least they had some promise. He signaled for the man to be taken to the nurse to be healed. They needed to be up and ready early in the morning after all. He silently asked Magnus if he was alright to take on the next otherworlder. The man did take some heavy hits from the last fighter after all. Magnus signalled that he was good to go. Volk was given a sword and shield. Unlike Frias he kept his shield and sword. With a final crack of the whip the last fight of the day began. Volk showed so quick feet and speed being able to avoid most of the hits. This fight turned more into one of attrition only ending due to Volk getting tired and losing his footing. He fought valiantly, but in the end the result was the same.
"Well seems like they have some spirit and skill. Not much. But some. Make sure they are fed and healed. They need to be prepared for training in the morning." Cassius spoke to one of the Guards. "Okay rodents! Hopefully you can fight like them, we will find that out tomorrow! Today rest for tomorrow your time in Hades shall begin!"