I stand alone; clinging to my sanity like a jealous man to his lover. I don’t know what’s real anymore, I see everything… the past, the future and the present; the lines defining each have blurred. So here I stand, alone; knowing everything and knowing nothing.

Around me the walls of the Coliseum reach towards the sky’s deep abyss, its magnificent structure filled with thousands of people cheering for one cause.

XxX

Decius looks down on the arena with boredom; having another man slaughtered for the amusement of another never did appeal much to him.

Standing in the center of the field was just a boy, his head bowed and his arms hanging limply at his sides, details of the males appearance however, was lost to Decius due to the distance laying between the two.

A loud noise drew the aristocrats’ attention; the lions had just been released. The crowd grew in volume, excitement evident in their voices as the lions ran towards their first real meal in days…maybe even weeks.

The boy just stood there, not phased in the least by the noise of the stands or the lions running at him at full speed.

Decius let out a sigh and redirected his eyes, he did not want to hear the boy cry out in pain or see the blood gushing from wounds inflected by the lions, nor did he wish to see the pack of starved cats feast on a human.

In the stands of the Coliseum, commoners gathered, mainly for sport or a pass time, none of them seemed to mind that, with their thumbs pointing towards the heavens they were wishing for the death of another.

The words ‘Gods damn them’ rang through Decius’ mind as the crowd suddenly became quiet. Decius looks back on the field, the lions had stopped short of their meal and were now circling the object of their desire; however, it did not appear that they wanted to harm the boy.

Decius raises an eyebrow as he directs his attention to the lone figure that had just dropped to his knees.

XXX

What have I done; I saw it, and yet the will to live seemed to overpower my judgment.

In this life, I will die, I should have died by the teeth of the lions whose minds I have tightened my fingers around, I should have died when the alpha male dug his teeth into my neck and tore my head from my body.

I should have died.

Yet, I stand here now, a new vision entertaining the spot behind my eye. I fall to my knees in horror, now whishing I could extract the finger that control the lions, my lions… fear stops me.

I can’t choose, the lesser of two, a quick death by the lion’s teeth, or a chance to live a little longer and die a painful death that seemed longer than the years spent in solitude.

I cannot choose, thankfully, the crowd has chosen for me. For my death they scream, gladiators now move to the arena. I close my eyes.

I see him now, he’s searching around him, a panic over coming him, he wants me, I can see it in the way his eyes narrow with a longing that I have only seen in the predator as it spots one that is weaker than itself. And I know that nothing good will come of me living longer.

I pray the gladiators will reach me before ‘the man’ reaches the master of arms. But once again the fear of death overcomes me. This fear is what I must rid myself of I remind myself.

The gladiators, practice men, who kill for glory and fame, walk towards me with a cool gate, I can see it… no almost feel the steel of the mans sword seething its self in my skin, slicing through muscle and bone alike. The pain is excruciating, worse than the lion’s… worse because I do not die right away… worse because that path leads only to hours of suffering.

I call on the lion’s whose minds I have ensnared and tell them that no one can come near. They get the message; I know because now the yells of a man fill my ears, my lion’s have gotten their meal.

XXX

Decius looks to the field again, the alpha lion is attacking a gladiator, and others follow suit. A single thought takes the man’s mind and it is a thought of greed, he had to have the boy as his own.

Continuing his search, Decius sought the master of arms, the only man other than the king himself who could sell the boy to him ensuring his safety for a decent price.

XXX

I start to panic, my lion is in trouble, my lion, I can’t let him die, if I do, I will die, undoubtedly and with me, all of my lion’s. I stand, I know I have to help, I have to do something; I focus in my mind, seeing where my lion was.

Behind me, I turn and now I see it, and without weighing the consequences I charge, I cannot let my lion die. I let out a small cry, catching the gladiators attention.

He turns to me pivoting on his heel …he has his sword raised… I see where it will fall and I dodge to the left. The gladiator is stunned, he didn’t think I could doge, but this is enough time, my lion jumps on his back, his teeth sinking in the man’s flesh.

I hear his cries and I’m glad they do not belong to my lion. Looking around I can see that I have won, my lions and me. The crowd is in a stupor, all but one that is.

That man, the one whose future I am doomed to share, he is searching, he’s almost there and soon I will be pulled from the arena by weary men from the army. I cannot fight against them, if I do my lion’s will die, he will tell me this.

For now, I sit down, one of my lions sit next to me, while the others fill their bellies with their hard earned food. I absently stroke my lion’s main, and soon I can see a grass filled savannah.

He misses this place, I have not been there and a part of me yearns for its peacefulness, in the distance I can see a lioness with two cubs and it tears at my heart to see each of them fall to a mans arrow.

I pull back my hand, time has passed, an hour maybe two; I have no more time here; I can see the men coming for me already. My lion gets up, he’s angry, even as I tell him not to be, all of them are angry, angry that they would come so close to their food, and angry that they would come close to me.

I send them a feeling of calmness, my fingers in their minds tighten and they stop pacing. The men are wary of my lion’s, deep down, they are wary of me too; I can almost sense fear radiating from them.

XX

The boy, he was Decius’ now, at a ridiculously high amount, but all the same, that boy, the tamer of lion’s, the killer of gladiators, the slave, he was Decius’.

At the moment that was all that mattered, the crowds bemoaned their lost entertainment and screamed for more, screamed to have another killed in the boy’s place.

The man doesn’t pay attention to them, they had been complaining of their lost entertainment for some time now.

Decius doesn’t care; now, he moves towards the stairs that descend to the slave pins, his boy will be there. With one last glance to the arena, he sees a man walking closer to one of the lions, in his hand is a collar to contain the beast.

XX

The men reach me, and pull me to my feet with the utmost brutality, my lion roars at the injustice, I tighten my fingers on the mind driven by instinct alone and he groans in pain, to tight I tell my self and back off slightly.

My lion now stares at me, almost as if betrayed, I merely send him an image of the lovely savannah, and he forgets my mishap.

“Be good or all of the beasts die,” I have heard this before, yes, the guard said this to me, I make a mental not of this, for the second time, I cannot have my lion’s dying. That truly would be a form of betrayal and I don’t think I could handle that again.

I see a hardened hand coming at the back of my head, I jerk to the right to avoid it, but I move to soon and the man adjusts his aim. He hits me and I feel my knees buckle, but I won’t fall, he won’t let me, I can feel it already, his arms circling my body.

I won’t fall, but without consciousness I cannot control my lion’s, I cannot stop them from acting on animal instinct.

I fight against the black void that threatens to overcome me, I’m moving again, and I welcome this, the sooner I am away, the sooner I can give in to the warmth of the night.

That man, he will come for me, in fact, he is waiting for me, I do not want to be conscience for our first meeting, the consequences would be dire and I’m not ready for the pain.

The building is becoming larger, my lion’s are far enough away, and I let go. I don’t see the slave waiting in line, but I know he is there, his knees are quaking with fear of death, I want to calm his troubled mind, but I am already to far gone.

I also see the curly black hair that falls to the shoulders of that man, with his amethyst eyes staring at my limp form appraising my worth, in his hair is a golden circulate signifying that he is of noble birth.

His skin is golden, and smile lecherous, for a second I wish never to wake, but I see already that my time spent asleep won’t last. An hour, was all I had, an hour till the pain began.

I let my mind drift away, now black surrounded my inner eye, I relinquished in this gift, a moment for me to rest, a moment to truly know nothing.

XXX

Decius if furious, the insolence of the guard to dare strike out at his angel, Decius raises his hand and slaps the guard who had only begun to apprehended his mistake.

But for now, Decius leaves, his angel now in his arms, he studies the lion tamer’s honey skin and golden locks, already he planned to dress that hair in curls, lovely ringlets with a crown made of the delicate twigs of an olive tree, and woven with flowers of the purest white.

His eyes run over the delicate curve to the boy’s high cheekbones and delicate slightly upturned nose, and an overwhelming desire to see the angel’s eyes grasped his heart. He fought against the urge to wake him.

No, the boy needed to sleep, sleep in the last peace he would have in a while, Decius felt terrible about what he was about to do, but he knew that it had to be done, for he could not allow another to touch his gift from the Gods.

The pair approach a long hallway, on either side is a forbidding gray wall covered in dirt and cobwebs, and soon screams reach their ears.

XX

I wake, I hear it, I see it, and the smell of burning flesh plagues my mind.

That man, Decius is his name, he will cry later for the guilt will soon become to great for him to bear.

I’m scared, I’m trembling I know this, Decius knows this too but he refuses to look at me. Already I place my blame on him, I close my eyes and I see what will be, I scream in fear and pain erupts on my unscathed skin.

Decius stops, he looks down at me, my eyes are closed tightly and my hands claw at my chest. But I know a look of rage is slowly crawling over his face.

“Quiet little angel,” he speaks now, I hear his voice, its deep, but I already knew this, it’s soothing but it doesn’t help.

“Do NOT make me ask you again,” I hear his tone and my vision changes to what could be if I disobey him, I quiet, whimpering as a sense of helpless overcame me.

With the peace returned, Decius once again began taking calculated steps towards his destination. The place where the pain will start, I’m scared, I’m terrified, and he knows this, yet, his steps don’t falter.

He wants me as his, and he won’t let anyone take me away, that I am afraid will be his downfall.

The smell of burning flesh becomes nauseating and I fight to urge to hurl.

XX

Screams became clearer as they neared, and the sound broke Decius heart, but his angel will not know this, and he will not know how the man will mourn for the loss of his innocence. It will be better that way. That is at least the thoughts that repeated in Decius’ mind.

The pair arrive in a timely fashion, and ushered to the front of the small line, after all the only person who could possibly occupy the space in front of Decius would be the king himself, his dearest brother.

Decius’ angel clings to him with a death grip as the man consults the brander about the services he would require. Of course he complies with his every wish. The man went to the back to grab Decius’ personal brand and returned to his side with a brisk pace.

Decius sets his angel on the table and inspects the brand; it is a hollowed sun, the sign of Apollo. The metal is thin, thinner than it should be, but the effect is much more pleasing to the eye.

With only a half lidded glance, Decius looks at the terrified boy, tears were streaming down his angelic face, coming from pools of the most beautiful teal blue one could ever look upon.

“I will be back in ten minuets,” Decius says as he coolly turns on his heal and walks from the room.

XX

Two men came at me from either side, I knew they were coming and I knew that even if I fought against their binding hands, I would be branded today with the brand of Apollo, one God among many that has forsaken me.

The men tighten their calloused hands around my wrists and strap me tightly to a slab of stone, I do not fight them, one of the men bind my feet in the same fashion as the other rips my shirt down the middle.

I roll my head to the side and close my eyes, I see the brand enter the flame and slowly turn red, I want to stop this, but if I do, the unimaginable will happen. Now I just pray that the pain will render me unconscious. I scream, I can already feel the metal scalding my skin.

The metal is now ready, and I feel a pair of hands on my shoulders making it impossible to move too much.

My breath quickens and my blood pulsates with a deafening beat, I’m terrified, I know it, and I know I shouldn’t be.

I hold my breath, feeling a searing pain around my right nipple, my mouth opens, I cannot control it, and I scream the sound loud enough to travel across the empty hallways, Decius hears me, I know.

My lower back arches as I try to move away from the pain, I close my eye and suddenly I see everything, I see everyone, they are all looking down at me, and none of them help. Tears pour from my eyes and all I can see is the condemning looks of the people I once thought of as family.

Finally the pain has faded, I stop screaming, and the brand is removed. My body still trembles, my mind draws a blank. I know something is wrong, but I don’t care, not right now.

I feel a cold rag against my skin, I wince and draw away, but the man does not relent, pressing the rag firmly to my newly acquired wound.

Letting a sigh escape my lips, I close my eyes, and then I see it. The lion’s, my lion’s are dead, a strangled sob escapes my lips, because I know I am the reason they are dead.

There was too much pain, I felt it, and I made my lion’s feel it, the pain pulsated through their body before their minds slowly crumbled underneath the pressure of mine.

I allowe myself to cry, I have proven them right, and now I am alone.