Posted by Phillip Marlowe on October 09, 1999 at 07:10:51:
"You fight again."
She remembered, and went back to the middle. From the opening came Elora. So this was the special plan
the arena master had for her. Adriel remembered that new girls were set up for easy kills for Elora, her
reward for being the praetor's lover.
She could see her naked body now. She was a big woman, very muscular. Round shoulders leading to a
muscular chest, topped with two firm breasts. Her stomach looked like a washboard. Her whole body
seemed to ripple as she walked. She had a strong, almost masculine face. Her skin was deeply tanned from
daily practice in the sun. Her biceps swelled as she swung her sword.
This time they both saluted the consul, the praetor sitting next to him, smiling at his lover. He had promised
Adriel to her last night. "She'll be an easy kill," he had told her. Elora returned his smile, the memory of
last night fresh in her mind. He was a wonderful lover, and his help had kept her alive for a long time. She
loved the arena. Killing was the greatest excitement she had ever known. She almost felt sorry for Adriel.
In a few minutes she would be dead, and as her body rotted in the mass grave, she would be enjoying a
night of passion.
The trumpets blared again. Adriel got into her fighting stance. Elora struck at her quickly, with ferocity.
Adriel could barely block her blows with her buckler. Every time she raised her sword to parry, Elora
shoved her buckler back her face. Adriel retreated and moved away from her sword arm. The woman
moved to her again.
"I can kill you quick; one stroke and it will be over," Elora spoke to Adriel.
"You're the second one to make me that offer today," Adriel replied defiantly. "The first is dead."
'It's your choice."
"That really scared her, " Adriel thought to herself.
Elora struck again, again driving Adriel's buckler back into her, keeping her off balance. Adriel slashed
back with little effect. She backed off as quickly as she could. Elora kept up with her though. Adriel was
tiring. Sweat soaked hair fell into her eyes as she struggled to keep the sword at bay. Elora slashed down
hard on the top of Adriel's buckler and knocked it down, exposing Adriel.
Elora quickly thrust toward Adriel's chest. Adriel pulled the buckler back up as quickly as she could, but
she couldn't get out of the way. Burning pain instantly swept through her as the blade went into her just
under her collarbone. She retreated frantically. The sword ripped her as she fell back and the blade tore
from her.
Elora thought about moving in and killing her right then, but she let her go. She had watched people die
from lesser wounds than that. There would be time. Besides, this one didn't want a quick death.
Adriel backed away, surprised that she was still alive. Blood streamed down her chest. She had never been
stabbed before. She wasn't sure what all the sensations were, but she understood pain. She tried to raise the
buckler, but it felt like it weighed a ton. Every time she tried, a jolt of pain went through her again. The
wound began to throb. Each throb felt like she was being stabbed again. She kept away from Elora. She
fought to stay conscious. She dropped the buckler; it was of no use now.
Elora moved to her again. Adriel swung her sword with what strength she had left and parried Elora's
attack, turning away from her. Elora hit her with the buckler as she turned. Her head was spinning as she
almost fainted again. She ran clear of the galdiatrix, holding her arm hanging limply at her side.
"I offered you a quick death," Elora reminded her as she moved slowly toward her wounded opponent.
"I'm not dead yet."
Elora admired her. Most of the new girls were slaves who could not comprehend the meaning of the arena.
They were easy. Many of them just stood there as she had stabbed them to death. This one was tough.
"You'll die a warriors death," she told Adriel.
Adriel knew what that meant, a blade in the heart rather than the throat. She held her arm tightly against her
side. Rivers of blood flowed down her chest and over her breast. She thought to herself, "I'll probably
bleed to death first."
Elora moved in. She charged quickly, sword extended, looking to knock Adriel to the ground, and finish
her there. Adriel backed away, this time away from the buckler. Elora's thrust went by her and she quickly
slashed backhanded. The tip of the sword caught Adriel on her shoulder blade.
The chest wound hurt so much that she didn't even notice the scratch on her back. Adriel wondered if she
shouldn't just give up. She knew she was going to die. Why not end it.
Elora moved in again. Adriel moved out of instinct. She ducked away from the sword again. Elora was
waiting with the buckler and hit her again. Adriel got her sword in between her chest and the buckler. It
provided some cushion. Elora kept coming, slashing across her body. Adriel was tiring; she could barely
keep her sword up.
"Time to end it," Elora thought. She pulled the buckler in front of her and ran hard toward Adriel. Adriel
couldn't get away fast enough, and she found herself face to face with Elora, sword arm pinned to her chest
by the woman's buckler. She tripped on her own feet and slipped. Her sword was free, but all she could see
was the buckler coming toward her.
"One last chance," Adriel thought. She rolled into Elora as she charged. The two women fell together on
the sand. Adriel remembered seeing a blade pass by her head and stick in the sand just before she passed
out.
Adriel felt a buzz in her head. She opened her eyes. She could see the sky above her. "I must be dead," she
thought. The cheering of the crowd and the resurgence of pain in her chest told her that wasn't true. She
had no sword. She rolled to her side, and used he good arm to push herself up. There was Elora, on the sand
behind her, curled up with her back to Adriel.
Adriel crawled to her. She grabbed her arm and pulled her over. Elora moaned as Adriel pulled her on her
back. Adriel had found her sword; sticking out of her abdomen, just beneath her rib cage.
She had won. Adriel got to her feet and looked down on the defeated woman. Elora looked up at Adriel in
amazement.
"This little slave waif has killed me," she thought. Elora could feel her death orgasm building inside of her.
She had seen it in the eyes of others before. She knew that someday, she would feel it. She moaned as the
pleasure intensified.
Adriel reached down and pulled the sword from Elora muscular belly. Elora cried out as the blade was
pulled from her. What had been a trickle of blood was now a stream as the sword was removed. Elora put
her hand over the gash to stop the bleeding. She didn't want this wound to kill her.
Elora could taste blood in her mouth. She was bleeding inside. She wouldn't last much longer. She looked
up at Adriel. "Give me a warriors death," she asked.
Adriel looked to the consol. She could see a look of horror on the face of the praetor as the consol gave the
signal.
"Now Marteus," she thought, "your lover dies."
Adriel turned to her. She put the point of the sword against her chest, between her breasts, just up against
the left one. "A quick death for you," she told Elora, "the death of a warrior," then she thrust with what
little strength she had left. The blade stopped for a moment on the woman's ribs; Adriel could hear them
crack before the blade began to slide easily, deep inside her chest. Elora lifted her head to look at the blade
that was killing her. Her head dropped back to the sand as Adriel pushed the sword until she felt the blade
hit bone in the back. Elora felt her orgasm peak as the blade sliced her heart in two. She moaned loudly and
arched back as Adriel pulled the sword out. Blood spurted from the wound and covered her breasts. She
shuddered for a few moments, and then she was dead. Her head rolled to the side, eyes wide open, blood
dripping from her mouth.
Adriel waved the sword over her head, drinking in the adulation of the crowd. She was so cold. She looked
up at the sun, bright and hot, and wondered why. She grimaced as pain shot through her again. She dropped
the sword and put her hand to her wound; her world began to spin, and she collapsed to the sand. She rolled
on her back. She had never seen the sky so clear, so inviting. "Yes," she thought, "this is better that being
crucified."