Hero of Rome

Titus

Unfathomable dread swelled in Titus’s soul at Sporus’s news as Logan’s spirit eagle flew them to Mount Vesuvius. It further intensified when several bolts of lightning shot past them. The precision of the bolts made Titus think that they were from Jupiter-blessed who rushed to the volcano to deliver the freshly made fireproof potions.

“What can we do?” Titus said as they passed through the dark storm clouds. They would not be able to out race Jupiter-blessed. It was only a matter of time before Caesar’s servants found the Orb of Morpheus in the lava. Above them, Logan was hacking out his lungs. The disease was rapidly killing him. Titus worried he would not make it through the night. This could very well be a one-way trip.

“We cannot let the orb pass into the hands of the Jupiter-blessed,” Sporus said, his dark eyes determined. “If we do, it is all over.”

“How many men are stationed there?”

“Enough to be a challenge. Here, I’ve got two stamina potions,” he said, handing them to him. “I’ll be honest, this will be brutal.”

“Thank you,” Titus said, pocketing them. “So, take the orb and fly away?”

“That’s the best we can do. We will have to find a way to destroy it later, but for now, removing it from Caesar’s hands is the most important step. I doubt he will be there given the distance and his divine blessing, but we should be ready for a fight while we try to escape.”

Titus nodded. He prepared himself as the volcano came into view beneath the stormy clouds ahead. From their distance, he could see dozens of Romans leaping suddenly into the volcano. Titus winced at first, expecting to see them disappear in flame. But when their heads came up a moment later, completely unscathed, fear accelerated in his heart.

They were running out of time.

It was trying enough to have it confirmed that Caesar was behind his and Maximus’s betrayal all along, and to know that Livia and Cleopatra had to escape for their lives lest they suffer like Decimus. But to add another mad attempt for unlimited power via the orb was too much. Maximus had been wise to hide it before. He only wished that it could have been destroyed instead.

Logan choked above them, shattering Titus’s thoughts.

Titus turned around, looking through the transparent eagle’s flesh. Logan clawed at his neck, struggling to breathe. The disease-ridden native shouted something to the eagle in desperation. In response, the eagle spiraled down at an alarming speed as if trying to rapidly land.

Through wheezing breaths, he uttered his last words. “Do n-not stop until there is p-peace!”

Logan collapsed dead onto his spirit eagle, which released a piercing cry in lamentation. Sporus and Titus looked at each other with fear.

Suddenly, the spirit eagle vanished, leaving Titus and Sporus in a freefall as Logan plummeted past them.

“Logan!” Titus yelled, feebly reaching out for him.

They were too high up to land safely. With a panic, Titus realized he was going to die as they fell to their deaths. To his surprise, Sporus didn’t look quite as troubled by their fatal condition.

Titus closed his eyes, accepting death again. “Livia, I—”

Something collided into him. At first he thought it was the mountain, but when he opened his eyes, Sporus’s face was inches away from his.

“Uh,” Titus muttered, uncomfortable being so close to another man in this fashion as Sporus wrapped his arms around his waist. Given what he knew of Sporus and Nero, he had no desire to be this close to the boy.

“Oh come on,” Sporus said, rolling his eyes. Abruptly, their fall came to an end. The sudden stop jolted Titus’s spine as they hovered in mid air.

Titus looked down, shocked by what he saw. Maximus’s Boots of Mercury flapped with fury on Sporus’s feet.

“You stole his boots?” Titus said as Sporus landed them next to Logan’s shattered corpse on the mountain slope.

“Borrowed,” he said, removing his arms from Titus. “Technically, you stole his loot before they burned him. I simply borrowed it.”

“I was protecting his gear so that it wouldn’t fall into the wrong hands,” Titus corrected. Though he was bothered that Sporus had somehow found where he hid Maximus’s belongings, he was more troubled by the gruesome sight of Logan’s remains before him. Titus knew they didn’t have time to grieve their newest friend, but he quickly bent down, placed his hand on his head, and blessed him. “May Hahgwehdiyu give you rest, Logan.”

As Titus stood up, he felt conviction to bury him and not let the vultures feast on his flesh. But he knew there was no time. The more they tarried, the greater the chance Caesar’s men would find the orb.

“No going back now,” Sporus said. “Come on. We can still take them out and flee on foot. There should be horses down there in the village.”

Even as Sporus said the words, Titus could hear that Sporus too knew it was a rather bleak situation. More Jupiter-blessed would come with the storm. They faced impossible odds.

They took off running up the sloping mountain. Titus’s legs burned as he pushed himself to climb with haste. His speed only increased when he heard triumphant shouts of joy from inside the volcano.

Titus looked at Sporus briefly. They had it.

“Faster!” Sporus said as they sprinted up over the last mound. Titus had to yank the young man down to avoid being spotted.

“Wait!” Titus whispered, keeping both of them down behind a rock formation. Ahead of them and standing near the edge to observe the lava swimmers were ten Praetorian Guards, presumably Jupiter-blessed as electricity sparked around their bodies much like Maximus had. Around them were dozens of normal Roman infantry. All of them looked relieved to be finished so quickly with their task and to leave the bubbling volcano behind them.

They had minutes until those inside could climb out and deliver the orb to any one of the ten messengers.

Titus made the slightest move of his head to speak to Sporus when suddenly a sharp cut slashed across the edge of his neck. There was only a momentary confusion before Titus realized who it was.

“Cassius!” Titus yelled, blindly punching with his freehand to the space around him. His fist connected with something invisible in the air, leading to a grunt and blood to splash on his face. He could feel Cassius trying to evade him, but Titus did not let the invisible serpent out of his hands. With a roar, he launched himself onto the vile man, crushing him with his body weight and slamming the assassin into the rock. The movement exposed Titus to the swarm of guards.

Sporus cursed under his breath as the Romans charged at them.

“I’ll take the guards!” Sporus said, snatching arrows from the shadows and unleashing a barrage against the oncoming brutes.

Several sharp cuts tore across Titus’s fingers where his Vulcan Bracers did not cover. Because he was invisible, it was impossible to keep Cassius’s blade from jamming into his chest. It was only due to his legionnaire regalia that Titus did not suffer fatal wounds.

“You were supposed to die!” Cassius hissed as Titus wrestled blindly against him, blood spilling onto Cassius’s face and illuminating portions of his glare.

The creature’s thoughts only enraged Titus. He didn’t have much time to deal with this vermin, but that wouldn’t be a hindrance to him. His bracers added twenty percent strength to his arms. He knew what the Shadow looked like beneath his invisible cloak. He was nothing but a worm who betrayed everyone for his own wicked gain. It was the very opposite of what Titus stood for. Cassius had almost killed him and his wife.

And like Caesar, Cassius had been instrumental in Maximus’s death.

“You knew, didn’t you?” Titus growled, slamming the assassin into the ground repeatedly. Everything in him wanted to scream as he broke the man’s back against the stone, but Cassius didn’t deserve the right to make him lose his stoicism. Instead, he let his muscles, forged strong from years of blacksmithing, shatter the spineless man who had helped kill his best friend. After everything Maximus and his friends had gone through, all to be undone by men of dishonor like Cassius.

It was the least Titus could do to avenge his best friend.

“A little help would be appreciated,” Sporus said as he chugged a stamina potion and continued firing.

Titus glanced up to see only a few Praetorian Guards had fallen. The rest, who would be on them in a heartbeat, had dozens of arrows protruding from their armor and shields. Titus looked back at Cassius whose disturbing soul had left, leaving only a broken vessel now visible and clutching a strange amulet. Titus wished he could have revoked the glory he gained from killing him.

With no time to waste, Titus jumped to his feet and delivered a crushing below to the closest Praetorian Guard. Paxbreaker completely disarmed the guard. Sporus followed up by ramming his jeweled Dagger of Deceit into the man’s unprotected neck.

Lightning rumbled in the dark clouds, causing the hairs on the back of Titus’s neck to stand. There was no time to think. A Praetorian Guard ahead of them by the volcano’s opening leaped impossibly high to the sky and summoned a lightning bolt. Using Paxbreaker’s magnetic pull, Titus drew in the next Praetorian Guard, ducked down, and shoulder-checked him into the sky. The lightning meant for Titus and Sporus zapped the guard instead.

“We need to grab the orb!” Titus said, hitting the next three Praetorian Guards in one swoop. He felt swords bite into flesh as he charged forth and cleared a path for Sporus who took down the Jupiter-blessed guard. Titus could see his health declining but he ignored it, such was the great extent of his health that he received from so much time in the forge.

The only deterrence was the stamina drain from so many attacks. Additionally, at the mouth of the volcano, a Roman soldier dripping with lava emerged with the Orb of Morpheus in his hands. The remaining Jupiter-blessed ordered him to hand it over so he could fly back to Caesar.

It was now or never.

“Follow me and take out that Jupiter-blessed!” he yelled, chugging both stamina potions at once. Immediately he felt alive, more so than that strange coffee Maximus had been so fond of. And that black drink was very powerful. With a puff of stoic rage, he held out Paxbreaker horizontally with both hands, one on either side of the shaft, and he charged with all of his might.

To the Romans, he probably looked like a Minotaur, barreling towards them and knocking down anyone in his way with the warhammer. Titus didn’t care. It would be the end of the world, again, if that orb was retrieved.

Some of the guards started shouting behind them, but he couldn’t make it out with how fast his heart was pumping.

Sporus fired arrows inches from his face, wounding the remaining Jupiter-blessed as Titus plowed through the horde. There were only a handful of Romans between them as the lava-immune soldier stretched to give the Praetorian Guard the orb.

An evil, feral snarl erupted behind Titus. Sporus yelped in pain, redirecting Titus’s attention. Turning around, Titus came face to face with a monster. Cassius, whose eyes were now a dead milky white, gorged his teeth on Sporus’s shoulder as if he were biting into a steak. The amulet around Cassius’s neck glowed a sickly black. Titus had never seen anything like it and froze for the longest second.

“Help!” Sporus cried, stabbing his dagger uselessly into the undead Shadow.

Snapping out of it, Titus slammed his warhammer into Cassius’s face, knocking his head clean off and sending the corpse tumbling down the volcano.

Lightning thundered behind them.

Titus turned too late to see the last Jupiter-blessed with the Orb of Morpheus in hand seized onto a lightning bolt and launched to the thunderous clouds.

Before Titus could even lament their failure, the dozens of Romans overwhelmed them.