Radulf.
Radulf knew I was alive, and likely guessed that I had the bulla. From the expression on his face, he wasn't particularly happy about either of those facts.
From his seat, Radulf pointed at me and shouted orders at some soldiers in the aisles. They pulled out their swords and began running out the doors. It would only take them a few minutes to get in here. Every passing second threatened any hope I still had to escape. I redirected the horse into denser jungle and glanced back only long enough for a quick look at Radulf. His face was nearly as red as his uniform.
The next face I saw was even more familiar. Sal leapt out from behind a tree -- one I had put in place myself only the night before -- and tried to jump on the horse, but he missed and fell to the ground instead. If he had caught me, with my feet still attached, he'd have sent me to my death.
So I concentrated again, just as I had before, and as I thought about the strength I needed, it wasn't hard to snap my legs free from the ropes.
I immediately led the horse to where Sal was standing on the ground. He was limping from his failed attempt at taking my horse, and, I noticed, also bleeding from a wound in his shoulder. "The bestiarius has a good spear," he said. "But terrible aim."
I slid off the horse. "Get on, but avoid the griffin. She hates horses, and probably hates you too. So get out into the open -- she won't be there. When you have the emperor's attention, tell him I'm alive, right now while he can see me. It's your only chance to prove your innocence."
Sal climbed onto the horse and started to ride away, then said, "Why are you helping me?"
Instead of answering such an impossible question, I asked, "How's my sister?"
"I don't know." Sal's eyes flickered with something that almost passed for regret. "When they arrested me, they took her."
Spurred by a mix of panic and anger, I lunged forward and grabbed the horse's reins. "Who took her? How could you let that happen?"
Sal kicked me away with his foot and I landed on the ground. "Let it happen? Do you think I wanted any of this?" He prodded his horse away. "Wherever your sister is, it's your fault, Nic. You started all of this!"
I yelled at him to give me a better answer, but he was already gone. My mind raced to fill in its own explanation. When had she been taken? Because only yesterday morning, Crispus said he would ask his father to get Livia from the mines. The timing was tight, but that had to be where she was, because nobody else would've had any reason to take her. I made myself believe Senator Valerius had her, and she was safe here in Rome, because if he didn't, then she could be anywhere ... or not. I felt a swell in my emotions, terrified at the possibilities that ran through my mind. Wherever she was, Sal was right about one thing. This was my fault.
Above the jungle leaves, I saw the tip of a spear. The bestiarius had probably heard me yelling at Sal and was following the sound. I immediately ducked behind a tree, causing an audience uproar as they tried to point me out to the hunter. So I sprinted back in the direction I had come, calling Caela's name. The arena seemed so much larger than it had been the night before, and with the heat and the yelling crowds, I could barely hold two thoughts together.
So I let there be only one thought. Livia. I had to find my sister. And for that, I needed Caela's help.
I passed the remains of one of the criminals who had been killed and several of the animals that had been sacrificed to the games earlier that morning. It was repulsive to think that this day was only half over. The biggest event still remained for the gladiator battles that afternoon. And the audience cheered on, with an appetite for blood that might never be filled.
On my entry into Rome, I had been able to reach for Caela with my thoughts. Maybe that was the way to find her now.
Where are you? I thought.
I heard nothing in response, and wondered if she was still angry because of the horse. It was a stupid grudge, compared to our much bigger problem. So I called her name, which was even more stupid, considering the bestiarius wasn't far away. Seconds later, his spear missed my head by less than an inch. Above the crowd's noise, I heard its whoosh in the air and I was pretty sure it grazed my cheek because I felt a sting that hadn't been there before.
I turned to see the bestiarius facing me, bare-chested except for a strap to hold his weapons, and with a brass mask designed to look like a bull's head. He was snarling because he had given up his hiding place and gotten no one's death as a reward, something that gave me a small amount of satisfaction. The audience was booing him now, which he deserved, but I wouldn't have minded also hearing some cheering for my escaping such a close call.
"They don't think you're very good at this," I yelled at the bestiarius. "Better you give up now and avoid further embarrassment!" And then I grabbed the thick spear and borrowed enough strength from the bulla to splinter the long handle against the tree. It was useless to him now. The audience definitely reacted to that. Maybe they were cheering me this time. So I gave them an elaborate bow and then continued running.
I finally found Caela in a thicker part of the brush, where she seemed to have created a bed for herself in the jungle foliage. In her claw was the gold nugget. She didn't look happy to see me. No doubt she still smelled the horse on me.
Well, I wasn't happy to see her here either. The bestiarius couldn't be far, and Caela and I were his prime targets.
"This isn't the time for a nap!" I yelled at her. She got to her feet and silently stared at me. Then her eyes darted behind me, to the right.
That was the direction the bestiarius came from when he attacked me. He jumped directly on my back, knocking me down, and my face skidded in the yellow sand. His next punch landed squarely on the Divine Star, hard enough that I nearly passed out then, and I felt his weight change as he reared back for another hit.
But Caela charged directly into the bestiarius. She came at him with both talons spread apart and then used her hind legs to kick him a short distance away. I tried to prop myself up on all fours, but still couldn't draw a complete breath, much less sit up. Caela moved toward me as if to help, then suddenly screeched in pain.
That got me up. The bestiarius must have found a second spear, which was now lodged deep in Caela's side. I stumbled over to her and pulled out the blade, but blood poured from her wound. The bestiarius yelled out some sort of battle cry and came charging toward us, swinging a mace in his hands.
"You first, and then your bird!" he yelled.
"Stay back!" I held out my hands to block him, knowing full well I couldn't do much to enforce my warning. Then the bulla warmed so fast that I felt the burn on my skin. I thrust an arm down to move it, but the sudden action caused the entire ground to shake, as if the gods had pounded their fists into the earth.
Off balance now, the bestiarius's mace slammed to the ground and he crumpled beside it, then slowly stood up again, his eyes wild with confusion. Like us, the audience had gone still, waiting to see what might come next. I couldn't explain what had happened any more than they could. Based on the energy that had flowed from my hands, I knew I had caused the quake. Or maybe it was the bulla, acting through me. Perhaps there was no difference anymore.
I had wanted the quake to happen -- or something to stop him. The thought had nestled in the far reaches of my mind, but not too far for the bulla to find it.
Simply as a test, I brought my hands up overhead again and then, with the bulla still burning at my side, I slammed both hands down to my waist. They didn't fall naturally, but rather felt like I was pushing them through a thick mud. Once they came to my sides, I was more tired than I'd ever been from working in the mines or raising the lifts or anything else I'd done in my life.
And I would've tried to rest, except that my actions were already having an effect. Areas of the arena floor were collapsing. The ground upon which the bestiarius stood rumbled a second time, and when he took a step forward, the wooden floor completely gave way beneath him. His body and legs fell, but he held to the edge of the floor
and cried out for help. I ran forward to answer his pleas, but somehow my legs had lost all strength and folded before I could get there.
"What have you done?" he cried, and then, even while I lunged for him again, he fell to the level below. I saw his body there, broken and still, and workers around him, pointing up at me and yelling that I would bring down the entire amphitheater.
I stood and looked around, wondering how to stop what I had somehow started. I wrapped a hand around the bulla, but even through the tunic, it burned too hot and I had to let it go. Above me, a great cracking sound was echoing throughout the amphitheater, like rolls of thunder. The wood supports for the enormous canopy were folding like twigs and the ropes had failed. The entire canopy was floating to the ground, a red sky falling. It was what I had wished for earlier. But so much worse.
As the ground continued to shake, and as the canopy came closer, audience members screamed, panicked as they hurried to leave the amphitheater. I yelled for Caela and found her back in the nest she had created, trying to snatch the gold with her wounded claw.
"Enough of this, Caela! You'll suffocate in here to keep that gold!" I grabbed her nugget in my hands and began running, intending for her to follow me.
She squawked with anger at my theft and took off after me. When she reached out with a talon, I stopped running, grabbed her feathers, and swung myself onto her back. Once I was balanced, I yelled, "Fly, Caela. Now!"
She tried to obey, but with only one wing, we quickly tilted back to the ground. I encouraged her again and this time we took off at a better angle.
Below us, I caught a quick glance of Sal, still on the horse. He was close to an exit, and in the pandemonium I had created, I figured he would make it out alive. But I worried that everyone else might not be so lucky. From here, the destruction that had come from a simple swipe of my hand was clear, and it horrified me.
Caela arced higher into the air. I ducked as the falling canopy came closer, but with her other talon she created a long scratch in the cloth, and, as we continued to rise, we tore through it. I looked down and noticed the ground had stopped shaking, but one man stood out from them all. Radulf. Even from this height, I felt his eyes pierce right through me. He would know that I had caused the trouble below. Worse still, he would know how I had done it.
Felix had warned me what might happen if even one person found out I had Caesar's bulla. After what I'd just done, I figured it was safe to assume that I had been found out -- by everyone.
Once we cleared the amphitheater, I had no idea where to direct Caela to fly. She was still bleeding, so I knew she wouldn't get us far, and with that injury, and my weight with the gold, she was on an uneven, downward angle. We might not even make it out of the city.
I pointed to the Tiber River, the same point we had crossed to enter Rome. If she could clear the city wall, then get us across the water, we had some chance of escaping into the hills.
Below us, Roman soldiers had already collected to follow our route. One of them shouted up for us to land at once, or we'd be killed.
By now, I knew better than that. The more correct order was that after we landed, then we'd be killed. The emperor had already given his orders concerning both of us. Why would I think they had changed now?
I reached down to pat Caela's shoulder. "Stay strong," I told her. "Look at this mighty city, and how you soar over all of it."
We were still higher than even the tallest apartments, and I saw the forum stretched out behind the amphitheater with its mighty temples and buildings. Rome was so much more beautiful than I'd ever imagined. Caela had given me the view of the gods.
Surely there had never been a city like this in all the world. Perhaps nothing so great, or so terrible, would ever match this empire again.
Caela's arc took us toward the Tiber River. Once we crossed it and she was healed, we'd have to search for my sister. Then the three of us would find the ends of the Roman Empire, if such a place still existed in this world.
Suddenly I heard a whoosh past me and saw an arrow fly through the air. Soldiers had taken to the rooftops and were shooting from there.
"Higher, Caela!" I ordered.
Caela started to climb, but she was struggling and couldn't get us beyond the arrows' reach. We were almost to the banks of the river when I turned and saw an arrow coming straight for us. There was no time to think. I stuck out my arm to protect Caela from any further injuries, and instead felt a sting above my elbow, like a thousand furious wasps had targeted that one spot.
With a cry, I instantly lost my grip and fell from Caela's back. Panicked, I clutched at empty air, but there was nothing. Nothing but the hard ground lay below, rising up at me far too quickly.
Then something curled around my chest and slowed my fall. Caela had me wrapped inside her talon and was still speeding toward the earth. I yelled at her to slow down, but she only listened when she wanted to. We were lower than the treetops, and still diving. Then as smoothly as we had dived, we leveled out. I opened my eyes and saw the nugget of gold inside Caela's other claw. I had let it go when I fell.
Just like that, Caela had what she wanted, and she released me from her grip like a wad of garbage. I didn't have far to fall, but it wasn't the softest landing either.
I rolled to my side and tried to draw in some air. My hands sank into mud and I realized I was still on the city side of the Tiber River. On my best day, I couldn't swim across. And the way I felt now, I wouldn't make it three feet into the water before the current carried me straight to the underworld. Soldiers on the nearby bridge gave a call of alarm and began running toward me with their spears raised. Caela, somewhere overhead, had vanished. With her injury, I wondered if that was the last I'd ever see of her.
My arm was still burning, and I rotated it to see how bad it was. The tip of an arrow was stuck in my flesh, though most of the shaft had broken off in my fall. I couldn't run this way, so with my left hand, I grabbed the remaining shaft and yanked.
It hurt enough that I screamed, drawing the soldiers to the very spot where I had fallen. They edged down the steep bank with drawn swords. I had to move.
Dizzy with pain, I ran. My left hand was clasped tightly over the wound but blood still dripped between my fingers. I stumbled forward, with no idea of where I could possibly go now.
Then, in the darkness, I tripped onto a concrete spillway. Water flowed beneath my hands and legs into the river, but the smell was horrible. Felix had already told me what this was, the exit for the Cloaca Maxima. The sewer.
I nearly became sick from the odor, but reminded myself that it wasn't too different from what I had smelled beneath the amphitheater. Maybe the stench was stronger here, but I could manage that -- I had to. Hopefully, the soldiers could not.
Another arrow whooshed past me when I took my first step into the sewer, but it hit the far wall. I needed to go faster. I had to crawl in on all fours, and duck even lower to squeeze beneath a brick overhang. It was a tight fit, but I was inside.
It was almost as dark in here as Caesar's cave had been. Considering how things had been going since that adventure, it was hardly a comforting thought. Even when I got all the way into the sewer, I couldn't quite stand upright, but I moved faster on my feet.
Outside, I heard the soldiers arguing about whether they should continue to pursue me. Finally, two men were ordered in, chosen because they were smaller than the others.
They had a torch with them, casting distorted shadows along the sewer walls. It didn't give me much light, but it was better than nothing and allowed me to move more quickly.
A narrow walkway lay on one side and the sewage streamed in an equally narrow ditch beside it. To keep from falling in, I kept my weight against the wall, ignoring the rough brick that tore at the knuckles of my left hand, still pressed against the open wound in my right arm.
In some places, the tunnel became even smaller, forcing me into the mucky water. At least I seemed to be handling the smell better than the tw
o soldiers. One in particular had already stopped twice to be sick. His companion said if it happened again, he'd be killed in here.
I hurried faster, until I outran the flickering torch and their echoing voices. Surely there would be an outlet soon. I found a few, but they were covered in bars that kept me as caged in as the animals in the venatio. A few others were open, but so much water poured from them that I'd never reach the top without drowning. The longer I walked, the more my hopes of finding an exit faded.
At one point, the sewer widened and divided into paths, much like the intersection of a road. It was impossible to tell exactly where I was. I didn't know the lines or the outlets to the surface. But I was somewhere beneath Rome and with so many paths, it was probably a busy area. I recalled a large exit opened into the hypogeum, but Felix would be there waiting to hand me over to the emperor. Not exactly the ideal solution to my problems.
I turned right, or left, or right again. I walked in any direction I thought the soldiers wouldn't. If it was dark, or small, or smelled particularly bad, that was my choice. I ran so far and so fast that when I finally stopped to listen, I heard absolutely nothing. I saw even less. I had lost them.
But in doing so, I had also lost my way out. I had become a rat in a never-ending maze without food or light or anywhere to rest. I couldn't survive in here, and I'd never be allowed to live if I tried returning to the surface.
I stumbled on something that squeaked back, and tried not to think about how big it had been. Then, in regaining my footing, I felt the bulla bounce against my waist. It was as heavy as ever, but also cold and lifeless. It had brought so much bad into my life. I couldn't see how anything might get better if I continued to wear it, and yet, I couldn't bring myself to throw it down either. Whether keeping the bulla was a sign of strength or weakness, I didn't know, but I brushed my hand over it and continued on.
I stumbled again, but this time fell to the sewer floor, completely indifferent to how it smelled and without a thought for the filth that surrounded me. Then I removed my hand from my arm and nearly blacked out when my wet fingers dripped into the wound. The pain was beyond anything I'd ever before experienced.