The Last Day

The rat sniffed at the body that lay in the cell. It was an old rat, and knew that food was not to be given up when the chance arose. As it leaned in to take a bite, it was scared away to the other side of the cell by the body’s movement. It watched warily; food was important, but life was even more valuable. The body stood up, causing the rat to flee back into its den. It didn’t get to be an old rat by making stupid choices. The old rat found a younger rat on its way back and quickly killed and ate it. Life was forever a struggle to the old rat, if the young one didn’t die, it would. 

The body, a young man, stretched as he walked toward the front of his cell. Across the cell was a sleeping guard, dressed in the usual armor of the Roman military. The man watched the guard for a moment then called out, “Excuse me, but can you tell me what day it is today?”  The guard didn’t look up, but instead choose to continue resting. The man walked to the back of his cell, picked up a sizeable stone, and lobbed it at the resting guard. It hit off of the man’s helmet with a satisfactory clang and knocked him out of the chair he was resting in. The guard leapt to his feet, quickly drawing the short sword at his side. He glared at the man inside the cell.

“You know,” growled the guard as he re-sheathed his blade, “If you were just a prisoner, I would have killed you already.”

“Calm down,” said another prisoner, “He just wanted to know what day it was...”

“THE SAME GOES FOR YOU TOO!” the guard bellowed at the second prisoner, “I hate working this shift because of you two. The other prisoners show respect! But for whatever reason, the governor likes you filthy cowards, forcing me to not ‘discipline’ you when you aggravate me. So do a favor to yourselves and I and stop…or your next challenge won’t be as easy as the others.”

“Relax, we mean no disrespect.” Said the first man, “But you just don’t give us anything to respect. Now will you please tell me what day it is?” The guard stared daggers at the first man, grumbled, and walked away. As the two men watched him go, the first one smiled and said “How rude, he didn’t even answer my question.”

“You need to stop angering the guards, Coriander,” said the second man, with hints of exasperation in his voice, “One of these days it will end badly.”

Coriander laughed, “How could it end badly? We are prisoners of war being forced to fight who knows what, and in some cases, who knows who. We are in as bad of a situation as possible. But…things could be looking up. Do you know what day it is, Adad?” Adad walked to the back of the dank cell he inhabited. Along one wall were many small scratches all in a row. The scratches were in sets of ten, and there were two large groups of the sets. Adad bent down and, with a small, sharp stone, scratched another tally on the wall. In doing so, he completed another set.

“Today is the day,” said Adad with relief as he turned back around, “Freedom is now on our doorsteps…but we still have one more fight to win.”

“Ha! A fight is nothing! We have been fighting here for five years,” Coriander said excitedly, “let alone our time in the army. We are the best fighters here! There is no reason to be worri…”

“Don’t be a fool,” spoke Adad. It was not a loud statement, but there was a power in it that silenced Coriander in mid-sentence. “We may be good, but getting cocky is what brought us in here.”

“We could have beaten them and you know it!” scoffed Coriander as he pointed at Adad, “You may have been my commanding officer, but that doesn’t make all of your decisions good. If we didn’t retreat, we would have beaten the Romans at Agrigentum and would have not been captured. And even if we lost, we would have died for Carthage instead of being forced to fight in this cursed arena!”

The two men stared at each other from within their cells. Finally, Adad broke the silence, “If you wanted to die, then you should have given up. I tried to give you and the rest of my men a chance. I thought they would execute us, but we were captured instead, so I did not wholly fail. The ones who died in Agrigentum died for a good cause, but those who died here died for life and for freedom. That is a much better cause in my opinion. But I choose not to die, and if I taught you anything in these years it was that life is worth preserving.”

Adad went into the back of his cell, leaving Coriander to brood in silence. Coriander sat in the back of his cell fuming. What did Adad know?!  He was old and could barely keep up with me these days. I will show him how good I have gotten when we are freed. I will face Adad down and… do what? Coriander pondered. Adad had taught him all he knew. He even managed to stop them from executing his men. He had asked to have his life sacrificed instead, earning respect with the Roman commander. So they were merely captured and forced to fight in the arena. Coriander looked over at Adad in his cell and said, “Fine, I guess you are right. But it doesn’t change the fact that we are trapped in here until we fight.”

Adad didn’t move but rather asked, “What do you think our last fights will be? Will we fight dumb animals that do not deserve the death we have given to so many of them? Or will we fight men, who all have lives of their own, who all have hopes on this earth?”

“Don’t talk like that,” Coriander replied, “that talk is depressing. Just think of the life we will have when we get out of here! You will be back with your wife and kid, and I…well I haven’t figured out what I will be doing.” When Adad didn’t reply, Coriander said, “I personally hope it is animals though. The lions they are having us fight these days are so weak.”

“Just remember Coriander,” spoke Adad softly, “when fighting a lion, avoid the front half.” Coriander laughed in agreement as two guards came up to his cell. One of them unlocked the door and barked for Coriander to come with them. But, Coriander was already almost out of the door, cheerfully telling the guards how he would never, ever see them again. He waved goodbye to Adad and yelled, “I will see you on the other side!” as he was escorted to the preparation room.

In the room, he was given a full set of armor, a shield, a sword, and a large spear. He could hear the roar of the crowd as he put on his equipment. Adad had given Coriander this opportunity to fight, and had even gone further. When Adad bested a champion, the governor gave him one request. He tried to free his men with it, but settled for complete freedom for himself and his soldiers after surviving the ring for five years. He had gotten freedom for Coriander, and he was not going to waste it like some of the other men who died before him.

When he was prepared, he stood waiting outside the great gate that allowed him access to the arena. While standing there, he could watch what the current fight was. He watched impassively as a man was chased around by a very angry looking beast. Coriander had never seen such an animal. It was larger than a lion with a thick, grey hide and two horns coming from off its snout. It soon caught up with the man and flung him into the air with and upward swish of its head, causing the horns to crunch into the man’s spine. The fighter screamed with pain as he fell back to earth and was trampled by the beast when he landed. The crowd screamed their approval and Coriander was for once without words. Whatever the beast was, it could be used as a siege weapon.

Suddenly the crowds grew silent and there was a fanfare of trumpets. “Now presenting His Grand Excellency, Vibius Lucretius Cethegus, Governor of Ostra!” Coriander could barely see the tall governor get off of his seat at the head of the arena and come out onto the balcony prepared for him.

“Romans,” he yelled, “today we have come to witness a great spectacle. Five years ago, by the request of Captain Adad Lezzoth, I promised freedom to him and his men if they could survive the arena! However, only the good captain and one of his men remain. Today is the day that the two men earn their freedom! If the first of these fine men will enter the arena…I present to you, Coriander Hamilcar!” As the portcullis rose, Coriander slowly walked out into the arena. He let the yells of the crowd wash over him. In the cell, he was a prisoner, out here, he was among the gods.

As the crowds roared, he looked up at the balcony were the governor stood addressing the crowd. He looked so much older than he did five years ago, but that wasn’t what caused Coriander gasp. For behind the governor stood the guard that Coriander had tormented so many times. The guard looked down at Coriander and gave a small, sinister smile. A chill shot down Coriander’s spine as the governor quieted the crowd again. “His opponent today,” the governor began with smile, “will be the strongest he will have ever fought. But who is strong enough to defeat the great Coriander?! His opponent will be the one and only…Adad Lezzoth!”

The portcullis on the other side of the arena rose, revealing Adad’s armor clad figure. Coriander started to step back as the crowd cheered its approval. Coriander didn’t want to kill Adad. But there was no other choice. Adad’s walk slowly became faster and faster until it was a silent charge. Remembering himself, Coriander brought up his shield to defend himself from the lunge that Adad made with his spear. Coriander was about to make an assault with his own spear, but Adad was too fast. As soon as Coriander lowered his shield, Adad shoved his spear through Coriander’s shoulder and kicked the now screaming Coriander onto the ground.

Coriander quickly dropped his spear and unsheathed his sword while he rose. Without a shield arm, there was no point in such an awkward weapon. He cut off the shaft of the protruding spear and readied himself again. Adad started an assault with his own blade, which was now also drawn, but Coriander was not going to lose. Adad had said he would sacrifice himself once, now he would be forced to own up to that promise.

Bearing the pain in his shoulder, Coriander fended off the assaults and even heaved his shield into Adad’s face, knocking the warrior down and removing his helmet. Coriander stifled a cry, the bash to Adad had opened the wound even more, but he had to win. He had to be free. Adad stood up and Coriander got a full view of the man’s face. Adad didn’t seem to even be looking at him; his eyes were merely the cold, blank eyes of a killer. Coriander brought up his sword again, but to no avail. Adad had already charged forward, smashing his shield into Coriander and bringing the sword down onto Coriander’s arm.

Coriander, struggled to get up, ignoring the pain from his ribs, shoulder, and now the stump that used to be his forearm. Adad loomed over Coriander and kicked him back into the dirt. The crowd roared more loudly than ever as Adad looked to the governor for a signal, and cheered even more when it was a thumbs-up. Adad looked to Coriander and said, “I am sorry.” The crowd screamed with joy as Coriander’s head rolled away from his body. As Adad walked away from the last of his fallen comrades to his freedom, he realized that he would never be free of the guilt.