A Gladiator's Dilemma
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Heracles”told Zing to kill Eric, but Zing refused.
Eric whispered weakly, “He’s going...to kill us ...both...if you
don’t. ”
Zing held his sword over Eric but couldn’t bring himself to
strike it on Eric. Zing tried to imagine Eric as Vermin, or just a
tree, but he couldn’t. The gladiator who was lying on the ground,
waiting for his blade was his life-long friend.
Before Zing could react, Eric grabbed Zing’s blade and
plunged it into his own heart. But in his misery, he missed his
heart completely.
An agonized cry from Eric brought Siri to her senses. She decided
to do something.
She rushed to the body disposer and pleaded himnot to brand
Eric. The body disposer, dazed by her beauty, was transfixed. He
left red hot iron with Siri and lumbered toward Eric. Blood had
been pumping out of Eric’s body, leaving a pool of blood on the
ground.
All the Roman citizens were cheering. Sure, they loved Eric
because he had been very brave in the group fight, but everyone
knewhe was going to die.
Eric was dragged off the arena.
Siri held Eric in her arms, sobbing,“No, Eric, no...”
She had her servants carrying Eric onto a chariot and driving
to her house.
Eric was lying on Siri’s bed, coughing blood. She knew that
even with her greatest skills, she couldn’t stop the flow of Eric’s
stomach acid as it inched closer and closer to Eric’s heart.
Weakly, Eric asked Siri to bring his sword. Siri obeyed. Eric
plunged it into his own heart. His body went limp.
Eric Aldon was dead.
Ten months after Eric’s death, Zing received the wooden
sword of freedom. His head bowed down. He was excited, but sad.
Finally his gladiator life was over. Surviving 10 fights, he was now
an honored Roman citizen. He could see Siri waving at him in the
crowd, his opponent dead on the ground.
In a brief blackout, he remembered the day when the crowd
was shouting like they were now, and Eric was lying on the
ground, more dead than alive. With a roar, he ripped off the armor
he had worn for so long, and threwhis sword away. He walked out
the arena, leaving his fans stunned.
Siri was waiting for Zing just outside.
“Zing, let’s go to Carthage. ”
“What for, my homeland was going to be crumbled away, and
the Romans would sack it.”
Siri said,“To bury your friends. I have promised Eric to bury
themin Carthage.”
Death and Taxes
“Sure, ”tears streaming down Zing’s face.
The two arrived at Carthage one month later, carrying Eric
and Jan’s bodies with them.
Eric and Jan were buried by the dock, where they would see
the first merchant ship that came once again to the glorious city,
but no ship ever came again.
It had been a full year after the defeat in the hand of Rome.
The city was no longer the bustling city it had been before the ethic
war. No merchants came any more, few ships docked in its
beautiful harbor, and no more parades held in the city square.
But the Carthaginian still believed that they had a chance.
They overthrew the council of 300, who partied and drunk every
day. They tried to start the trading systemand trained their soldiers
day by day, made weapons night by night.
When Eric and Jan were buried, Carthage had just invaded
and successfully conquered Nubian, another part of the original
empire. There was hope in the city.
But in the third Punic war 21 years later, the Romans sacked
the once magnificent city of Carthage again, burned its beautiful
walls and structures to the ground, massacred its citizens, sold the
survivors into slavery and sewed salt into its charred soil.
Siri and Zing were visiting the graves of Eric and Jan. One
Roman fisherman stopped at the dock and said hello to them.
Looking at the ruin at the foothill, Zing asked, “Why did the Romans
destroy all this？”
The Roman said, “I am sorry, my friend. If Carthage had not
been destroyed, Rome would have been.” They looked at the spectacular
sunset in silence. The color of the peaceful sea was as scarlet
as blood.