A Gladiator's Dilemma



  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