War God for Hire- Gladiator by David Burke (books under 200 pages .TXT) 📕

worry about that right now, though. I believe you said it’s better to learn to walk before running. Well, you need to learn how to crawl first.”

“I don’t think it’s quite that bad. I’m sure this will come to me naturally. I will work for a few more days and then have enough money to buy a house, and we can go from there,” Kyle said.

“No, you aren’t listening to me. This is not a game. You can’t go back to the quarry—”

Kyle interrupted her. “I have to. I gave my word that I would.”

“Argghh,” she screamed in his head. “I can’t help you, if you won’t listen.”

Then her voice went silent. Kyle felt like she was suddenly very far away.

He waited for her to bitch him out more, but she didn’t say another word. “Hilde,” he called out. “Did I upset you?”

No matter how many times he called to her, though, she clearly wasn’t listening or at least wasn’t responding. He just had to hope that she would eventually return.

For now, he would try to get some sleep.

Chapter 7 - Digging for Trouble

The following morning, Kyle followed Lucas out to the quarry. He couldn’t help but notice the coliseum again. There was a pull that he felt, but he couldn’t say exactly what it was. It was just that he kept looking at it even over his shoulder as they headed down the trail to the quarry.

When they got down there, the rock he had brought down was still there and men were up overhead, dangling by ropes and working to create the ledges necessary to stand guard against aerial attacks. It was strangely quiet in the area. Perhaps only a tenth of the workers who had been there the day before had come back today.

Equally odd was the fact that there were soldiers stationed all over. He couldn’t ask Lucas about what was happening, because Hilde wasn’t answering. He had picked up a few basic words and thought he had the beginning of the understanding of some simple verb conjugations, but unless they were going to talk about the piss pot or blind mice, he didn’t know what they were saying.

When he reached the workstation, Darron and a couple of his assistants came running out. Well in Darron’s case, given his weight, it was more of a rapid waddle, but Kyle just watched.

“Lucas, Kyle, thank you… I… your money… you… I… you… work,” Darron said.

Kyle could only figure out a small number of the words. It kept going on and the fat man pointed to piles of rocks and a sled with chains attached to it. They had to tell him a dozen times, but finally he got the idea that they wanted him to pull the sled. It didn’t make much sense to him, but they kept asking.

He figured that if they needed his help hauling the rock away, that was probably a good thing. The more they needed him, the more money he could make from them. He balked when he was trying to pull on one of the chains and a man snapped the manacled end of another chain onto one of his ankles.

A moment before the man came at him, Kyle heard Hilde say, “Watch out.” But the warning came too slowly. A moment later, she was cursing in the back of his head, at him and everyone around them.

This was going sideways fast.

Kyle couldn’t think of any scenario in which being forcibly chained to a sled of rocks was a good thing. He swung his fist in an awkward punch which slammed into the man who had just shackled his ankle. The guy was in some type of leather armor, but even with armor and an awkward punch, there was the distinct sound of bones breaking when he slammed his fist into the man’s side.

He watched almost in disbelief as the target of his rage flew across the quarry like a ragdoll and then crumpled up against the pile of rock he landed on. There was no movement, but Kyle didn’t stare to make sure; he looked around to take in his situation as quickly as possible. Darron was speaking rapidly to another fat man who could just as well have been his brother. They were both gesturing at Kyle and the man he had just hit.

The newcomer waved and suddenly the soldiers who had been lazing around all stood up and moved at Kyle with spears at the ready. This had gotten ugly fast. Kyle wasn’t fool enough to think that, even with his strength, he could stand up to a squad of trained soldiers. It was definitely time to blow this joint.

In desperation, he felt power tingle through the back of his hands and once again the oversized pickaxe with a hammer head on the back end and the rune-marked black handle appeared in his hands. It was as though he had called it from nowhere. Quite exhilarating but, again, not something that he could stop and focus on at this time.

Instead, he slammed the pickaxe down into the chain connected to the shackle at his ankle. The chain shattered into so many pieces. He did notice that the chain was a dull gray that he associated with crude iron but the shackle on his ankle was perfectly shiny, like highly polished stainless steel. Again, though, nothing he had time for.

The soldiers with their spears slowed down as soon as the weapon appeared in his hands. They ended up forming a circle around him. Every time he moved towards one group they backed up while others harried him from the side. Yet they were all afraid to come within reach of his weapon. Seeing as the guy he had punched was still laying unmoving on the ground, it was likely well-founded caution on their part.

The man next to Darron kept yelling at the foreman and by this point his face was beet red, to the point that