“Sire, though we can’t be certain, I’m pretty sure those arenot our men. No moderately competent under-officer would ever allow his men tolounge about in that manner. And because we aren’t certain, we can’t possiblyescape that way,” Aestius insisted.
“Ridiculous. We shall leave by the front gate. I am the primusimperio. I demand that you follow my instructions.” He put every ounce ofroyal bearing into his voice. It wasn’t much.
“No sir, my job is to protect you. I will gladly faceyour father afterward for insubordination if it means keeping you alive now.We’re going to do the following …” He laid out a quick plan, finishing with,“We’ll escape through the lower entrance. They can’t be guarding everywhere.”
The party backed away from the corner and retreated to thelast set of stairs. They descended. A short while later, Lucius found himselfbeing guided through the facilities below the main level of the coliseum, stillused by human gladiators who occasionally fought for pay-and died. The trainingyards were empty, but blacksmiths and artificers still worked down here,building, repairing, and modifying the mecha-gladiators that fought in thearena above them. It was darker here, the corridors more confined, those movingthrough them sounding like skittering denizens of the dark due to distance.They passed sputtering gas lanterns as they hurried toward the workers’entrance that opened at street level.
Several times, Lucius demanded a halt so he could catch hisbreath. Sweat had soaked his toga. “We’re almost there, My Lord.” Flavius said.“Once we’re out into the city, we can conceal our identity, blend in, and getback to the Palace.” Lucius nodded and reluctantly pushed away from the wall.
They entered a wider passage and Aestius pushed for a fasterpace, their shoes clattering hollowly on the cobblestone floors and theirshadows flickering ahead of them along the walls. They raced around acorner-the last corner before the exit, Flavius told Lucius-and stopped dead. Ahuge mecha-gladiator stood silhouetted in the maintenance entrance. Lucius sawthe flag on its head and realized it was the same one that had been victoriousin the earlier match. The massive trident was still held high in the air. Asteel net hung in the other hand, ball bearings the size of a man’s headweighting its edges.
No one moved.
“Sir, what should we do? Is it active?” Flavius askedAestius. A dark stain of sweat made a V down the back of his tunic, and hisspatha seemed heavy in his hand. After a moment he sheathed it and wiped hishands on his trousers.
Aestius looked around. Lucius followed his gaze, saw noother way out other than right past that giant, steam-powered death machine infront of them.
“We’ll split up,” Aestius said decisively. “I’ll take HisHighness right. Flavius, you take the woman left. We’ll meet up back out on theplaza.” Everyone nodded, and Aestius beckoned for Lucius to press his backagainst the left wall as Flavius and Aura crept to the right side.
“I’ll go first, Your Highness. If for some reason I’meliminated, keep moving. Don’t stop. Run until you find somewhere you can hide.Someone will come rescue you. Do you understand me? You are more important thanI. Do not stop for me.”
Lucius nodded, his cold arrogance washed away by peril. Thiswas life or death. It was not a play or a game in the coliseum. He wouldcertainly not be coming back for any uncouth soldier, bodyguard or not.
Flavius looked over at Aestius. Aestius motioned himforward. “Go!”
The two pairs bolted toward the exit. They had just barelycrossed into the sunshine when the mecha-gladiator moved. Pistons shrieking, itrotated, thrusting the giant trident at Flavius and Aura. Flavius raised hisshield as Aura sprinted past him. The left tip of the trident grazed theshield, splintering it and hurling Flavius against the wall. He slumped there amoment, stunned, his left arm hanging limp. The trident stabbed into the wallabove him, digging deep into the layers of brick and concrete. Flavius, stillwoozy, slithered out from under the trident and staggered forward. For a briefmoment, the automaton’s pilot tried to pull the huge weapon free, but itsinitial thrust had penetrated the solid Roman construction so completely thatit was a lost cause.
Lucius and Aestius sprinted past, then continued runningacross the marble-paved plaza. Aura caught up with them. Lucius, wiping brownhair now slick with sweat off his forehead, took a quick look behind him.Flavius, still shaky, was approaching-but so was the mechanical gladiator; ithad turned and was taking great strides toward them. It would catch Flavius anysecond now.
“Keep moving!” Aestius shouted.
Scrambling across the road, they ran toward the massivecomplex on Palatine Hill. “Get out of the way!” roared Lucius as a steam haulerstopped just short of them. If they could just get to the Temple of Venus, theycould hide amongst its towering columns. Fixing his gaze on the two large Venusmecha-statues on either side of the temple’s large, ornate doors, Lucius movedtoward them with the others, then hesitated as a scream split the air behindthem.
The mecha-gladiator had caught up to Flavius, who hadturned and swung his sword in a useless gesture of defiance. The pilot broughtthe automaton’s free hand around and swatted Flavius aside as if he were a bug.The young man flew through the air and crashed into the side of the steamhauler. The impact left a dent in the side of the vehicle. Its operator bailed,bolting across the pavement and out of sight. Flavius slid to the ground andlay in a crumpled heap, blood leaking from his helmet.
Aestius cried out when he saw Flavius fly through the air.Pedestrians fled in all directions. With adrenaline pumping through his veins,Lucius found new strength, and led the remainder of the party onward, away fromthe death machine.
A shadow fell over them.
Lucius turned his head to see the massive net dropping downaround them, just before its weight knocked them all to the ground and engulfedthem, knocking Aura unconscious. He struggled to get to his feet, but the heavynet weighed him down and cut into his skin. Scrabbling for his belt knife withsweat-slick hands, Lucius finally freed it and started slicing at the net’sthick metal strands. Aestius soon joined him, hacking away with his long curvedcavalry sword. We only need to free one strand, Lucius thoughtdesperately. Then maybe I can squeeze through and escape! He looked atthe tight weave of the net. Okay, two strands, then I can escape.
Screech, screech, screech. Sparks flew as the two menworked hard to cut the metal cables. Lucius’s arm burned with the effort.Beside him, Aura moaned as she slowly regained consciousness. The twined wiresgave way just as a shadow loomed up behind them. Aestius glanced upward, thenpushed Lucius through the gap. Then he turned to face the monstrosity.
Without pause, the mecha-gladiator reached down-andsquelched the veteran officer. Shards of wood and metal shot like projectilesinto Lucius’ exposed legs as the guard’s shield shattered. He screamed in pain,then scrambled away on all fours. Her dress soaked with the dead bodyguard’sblood, Aura crawled out of the gap behind him. The automaton’s pilot raised themecha-gladiator’s arm, gears and crankshafts whirring as it moved closer.Lucius crawled faster.
Aura suddenly gave a high-pitched laugh. Lucius turned hishead to see what was happening. The mecha-gladiator had stopped and nowseemed to be waiting for something.
“Quick, Aura! Help me up, we’ve got to get out of here,” Luciusordered, his voice raw with panic and pain. He gasped when he saw the bloodygashes crisscrossing the backs of his legs.
Aura moved closer, carrying Aestius’s discarded spatha. “I’dbe glad to help, My Lord, but I’m just your paid wench, someone to beused and discarded. Isn’t that what you were thinking earlier? Hmmm? I’ll showyou how I feel about being discarded.” With that, she plunged the spatha intoLucius’ chest.