Gladiator of Rome (#1 in Gladiator Series)

Chapter 21

Chapter 21

The smoke rising from Krista's village blocked out all the stars in the sky. Sat at the edge of the cliff, Krista stared out at what remained of her home in a daze as quiet tears rolled down her cheeks. She could see licks of red flames all through the streets and spreading to the crop fields beyond it. 
In her mind's eye Krista could see the dead bodies slowly burning in their huts just as she could see her mother's body wrapped protectively around her brother just before the fire engulfed them both, melting their flesh and charring their bones. Krista's stomach churned as she thought she could smell their burning flesh on the wind. 

The men and women around her cried as their lives came tumbling down around them in a matter of hours. Their family had been murdered and torn apart. Children had been ripped from their mothers arms, husbands forced to watch as their wives were raped and then if somehow they survived they were then given the torture of watching them home burn before being sold into slavery. 

Krista had cried uncontrollably at first. Nothing could stop the tears from spilling out of her eyes or the anguished screams leaving her lips, not even the threats from the guards that they would kill her if she didn't stop. She was still not fully able to comprehend what had happened but as she stared into the darkness, with only a small flicker of fire in the distance that signified her village, Krista only felt numb. 

She had stopped feeling the cold hours ago but what was worse than the cold was the uncertainty. Krista did not know what was to become of her. Her entire family had been killed in a single night and now she was alone. She did not know why these Roman soldiers, soldiers that were meant to protect it's citizens, had attacked and killed them. There was too much she did not know and she began to feel like a small baby, frightened and alone with no one to care for her with only one possible outcome for her - death. She could not survive on her own. 

An overwhelming  and unbearable fear began to settle on her shoulders as she looked out past her village and into the distance. She had never been out of her village except to go to market and even then she was with her father. How was she supposed to navigate this without him beside her? 

"Krista?" 

The young girls frowned as she thought she heard her voice being called but surely she was mistaken, everyone who knew her name was dead. Her memories were playing tricks on her as she began to hear her name being called louder and louder. Pressing her hands to her ears, Krista willed the voices in her memories to be quiet when she felt something touch her shoulder. 

Flinching in surprise, Krista turned around and saw Lazarus. Her eyes widened and her lips parted in shock as she gazed up at him in disbelief.

"Krista," He collapsed to his knees in front of her but before he could utter the last syllable she had thrown herself at him, her arms clambering  around his neck as she held him tightly. She thought he had died and it was the most wonderful feeling in the world to realise she was wrong. She began to cry into his shoulder, "They killed mama and papa!" 

"I know," Lazarus murmured quietly before he pulled back and raised his shackled hands that had been resting between them to brush a strand of hair behind her ear, "It's going to be okay, Krista. I'm going to look after you."

She stared into his eyes, shining from tears, and saw that he shared the same pain as she did. They had both lost their families and their home but at least neither of them were alone anymore. But as she remained in his protective embrace, her cheek resting on his shoulder, Krista's young mind was startled by an horrific thought.