25 chapter 25 : Glaber's Torments

Orion had no desire to kill Glaber in the middle of the night, he wanted to rest and take advantage of the magnificent glow of the next day to make Glaber suffer as long and cruelly as possible.

 Very early the next day he was awakened by a commotion outside and when he came out he saw Spartacus fighting with one of his archers while his other men surrounded them. He quietly watched the fight with some interest and knew that Spartacus was strong, very strong in fact, but each of his men was a monster of combat skill.

 Place two talented fighters in serious training bouts for months and their progress will be monstrous.

Orion had done the same with his men, the pairs they made up were responsible for fighting together for a full hour after each training session.

 These were not just simple training fights, they fought seriously with real but blunt weapons to avoid mortal wounds, each attack carried an intent to kill so wounds were frequent but Orion healed them all perfectly.

 All these intense fights between geniuses and against Orion's lieutenants have forged their own styles and given each of them solid experience.

 The fight between Spartacus who wielded two swords and the archer who only had two long daggers was slightly close but to the great surprise of Spartacus and his men behind him, it was Orion's archer who dominated.

 Uzziah (the archer): Not bad, I'm surprised!! The way you move, your rhythm! You have your own style but I can still notice my lord's signature in your intelligent movements. Were you taught by him ?

 Seeing the man in front of him smile as he asked this question, Spartacus clenched his jaw and attacked, answering

 "Orion is my friend, he taught me a lot but I have to see him so LET ME GO !" 

 Spartacus attacked in a spin but Ozias managed to avoid the blows.

 "It's quite strange! You see, I don't know why he helped you yesterday but the master never spoke to us about you !" Uzziah said as he spotted an opening in Spartacus, he was going to attack and seriously injure him when...

 "Stop Uzziah, that's enough."

 They heard a clear voice that all the men in the camp recognized, it was Orion. Uzziah immediately slowed down his actions.

 " My lord !" he said, putting one knee on the ground like each of Orion's men who put his hand on his face, embarrassed by this habit among his men of kneeling every time he presents himself to them at the start of the day .

 He had already told them that he didn't want that but they were doing it of their own free will because everyone had absolute admiration and loyalty for him.

Orion asked them to get up and he asked the reason for this fight.

 Spartacus: Orion, I came to see you for an urgent matter when your men immediately pushed me away without knowing the reason for my coming. Seeing this, my men became heated and to avoid a conflict where we would all lose, I proposed to your man a duel which he accepted immediately...now I know why.

 Orion: And what is this important topic ?

 Spartacus: Sura, she was seriously injured in yesterday's battle. We tried to relieve her but she suffered from intense fever all night after the bleeding was stopped by cauterization. I know you've already taken care of her and healed her once. I need you, Soura needs you.

 "And why would I do that ? As far as I know, we already helped you enough yesterday!!" Orion said calmly with an indifferent look. Demiclas, who knew Soura as much as Orion, looked at him with a serious look for a few seconds before resuming his impassive expression.

 Spartacus looked at Orion with obvious shock in his eyes, he suspected that his friend had changed but he didn't know to what extent or for what reason.

He knew Orion was here to avenge his friend and maybe help them but now he didn't even know what to think as he looked into his completely indifferent eyes.

 Seeing Orion neglecting Spartacus' request, those who had come with him including Crixus, Agron, Segovax, Oenomaus and Gannicus as well as a few others began to become agitated.

 Oenomaus: ORION!!

 Crixus: HEY! I thought Spartacus and his wife were your friends!

 Segovax:…

 "Spartacus, we are with you. If we have to convince him by force we are ready." Gannicus drew his swords and the others did the same.

 When Orion's 20 men saw the rebels in front of them get into a fighting stance, they did nothing and just looked at them and laughed at them.

 They were only 20 against over 100 rebels with Spartacus but knew they could beat them easily. Only one of them could match or surpass Spartacus in combat so they didn't need to take them seriously.

 "Gentlemen, if any of them try anything…kill them all. "

 Orion said coldly as his laughing men now had cold and murderous expressions. They were ready to rush towards the rebels and slaughter them like cattle.

 Spartacus saw that things were going to escalate so he immediately reacted and tried to calm his men down.

He was about to leave with them when they heard a noise and a commotion.

 In the distance a large group of men was seen, Orion first looked at them for a few seconds before smiling.

The people who came were Orion's thirty men whom he had left on a mission to Capua returning with dozens more men and wagons.

 Wearing, what made Orion smile was another person, it was Ilithya who was being dragged by Vayline on horseback.

 Orion looked back at Spartacus with a satisfied smile.

 "Okay, I'm in a good mood now so I'm going to treat your wife, take me to her" 

 Orion said casually as Spartacus and the others looked at him strangely, for a while he appears cold and indifferent but the next second he is in a much better mood.

 They went to the temple where Orion accompanied by Theokoles and Galatea was greeted by the looks of curiosity and contemplation of the rebels. Compared to them in appearance, hygiene and even clothing, Orion and his men seemed from another dimension, especially him.

 "Orion"

 A female voice called out to him and he looked in her direction to see Mira shyly approaching him.

She had changed a lot since the last time they saw each other, her gaze was firmer and despite a pungent body odor, she remained a very beautiful woman.

 Orion: Mira (nods in greeting)!

 Mira: Do you remember me ?!

 Orion: Perfectly, the pretty slave that this idiot guard wrongly accused of theft. How are you now ?

 Mira: I am now a free woman and I know how to defend myself.

 "Thank you for the good news!" Orion said as he continued on his way with the others. Saxa who was next to her watched Orion leave with a greedy look but she was treated to a dark look from Galatea which made her smile.

 Due to the latter's young age, Saxa certainly wasn't afraid of a child if she wanted to possess a man.

 Inside the temple, Orion saw two people tied up and under heavy surveillance, it was Ashur and Varro who once saw Orion had an incredulous look gaze. 

Orion : These two aren't dead yet ? 

 Spartacus: Varro will go very far away to never find himself in front of me again and will manage to find his family. As for Ashur, he'll die today by the hands of those to whom his tricks have cost a thousand sufferings.

 Orion: Um, it's legit. 

 They arrived in the room where Sura was, lying down and semi-conscious. The room was lit with candles and Naevia was taking care of her.

 Orion moved closer to the injured woman and just looked at her for a few seconds, then he also looked at Naevia who was also looking at him.

 Orion: Naevia, you are going to do exactly what I tell you to do. So you will know how to treat your patients without coming back to bother me.

 She simply nodded repeatedly like a hen pecking grain off the ground to indicate that she understood. Orion reached into his small bag to pull out two refined glass vials.

 Spartacus and Naevia had seen glass at Batientus's before but it was on rare occasions and upon seeing the two magnificent bottles before them, they could not help but marvel in curiosity.

 In the two bottles there were ointments made from herbal mixtures by Orion, they were there to be used in cases of emergency for his men.

 Orion did not touch Soura, he asked Naevia to bring back some hot water to clean the wound and give him all the instructions to properly treat the wound and cover it properly.

 As Naevia applied herself, Spartacus began to ask Orion questions.

 Spartacus: Can I ask you some questions that have been lingering in my mind since your time at ludus ?

 Orion: Go ahead.

 Spartacus: How come you were already so strong despite your young age at the time that you could train your elders in battle ?

 Orion chuckled looking at Spartacus' serious face and replied,

 "Let's say that for my personal strength, I simply have a monstrous Analytical Instinct in combat.

 And the reason why I can train others without having the necessary experience like Oenomaus for example is that just like him I have acquired advanced intelligence in combat, he through experience and teaching but me through analysis, movements and probabilities.

 While Oenomaus analyzes and then applies the classic and disciplinary reaction, I teach the adapted reaction while giving my students the ability to develop their own fighting styles. »

 Spartacus: I understand better! So the man I confronted this morning-(interrupted)

 "Uzziah was only an archer in my ranks, not an advanced hand-to-hand combatant. He's not even one of my lieutenants. » Orion responded indifferently to Spartacus whose look had only fear etched on it.

 A simple Orion archer could compete with him without much problem and could even beat him. However, he was considered the strongest of his men alongside Gannicus, Oenomaus and Crixus whom he considered as strong as him.

However, Spartacus had just discovered that Orion's army was made up of monsters whose weakest in close combat were at least as strong as him.

 Spartacus: I...I see.

 Orion looked at the expression Spartacus had and couldn't help but smile before reassuring him.

 Orion: You have nothing to fear from us, as long as you and your men do not provoke us. If all goes well, we will even fight against Rome alongside you until the republic stops trying to deprive men and women of their freedom.

 Spartacus while listening to Orion had the impression that the sun had just risen in his head, he was going to receive the help of a being considered divine by many as well as his army composed of monstrously strong fighters.

 "Orion, I'm done. " 

 Naevia said with the expression of a child wanting to show his father that he had done something right.

 Orion looked at the result and was quite satisfied.

 "That's a good job Naevia!!" he said calmly before taking the ointments and leaving, he had nothing more to do there.

 Spartacus followed immediately to thank him for everything and Orion stopped to look at him and the other rebels.

 "Where are the bodies of the Romans we killed yesterday?" he asked with a strange look.

 Spartacus: In the forest, we will burn them later.

 Orion: And their armor?! Look how you and your men are dressed...

 He didn't finish his sentence and turned to leave, leaving Spartacus to think and hope that the latter would have the intelligence to act accordingly. Orion returned to his camps to welcome his men back from the mission.

 He arrived in his tent where his lieutenants were already waiting for him, among them, Vayline, Stratos and Ajax began to give him a report on their mission.

 They had killed the rich families of Capua and plundered all their property.

 By the greatest chance, while going to pillage the villa of Senator Albinius, they found Ilithya there with some guards and her father.

It was Vayline's team that took charge of this place and they killed everyone effortlessly except Ilithya who they captured, she had thought that would make Orion happy and he praised her for it .

 Ajax meanwhile made his raid with his team in a ludus of the city, they killed everyone except the slaves and the gladiators who chose to follow them.

 Orion also approved of this, each of his lieutenants had done a good job.

 Although the gladiators were useful, he saw no point in keeping them because his men were more than enough for him. He would rather lead a small pack of strong, disciplined wolves than a large herd of disorderly sheep.

 So, he asked Ajax to send gladiators to swell Spartacus' ranks.

 After arranging everything on this side, Orion looked at the cargo brought by his men, there was a lot of food and wine, weapons as well as money, tens of thousands of denarii.

 As for the money, he already had enough so he asked his men to share the money.

 He sent some of his men to complete a certain task before going to see Ilithya who was blindfolded.

He stood looking at her with a certain smile before approaching and taking off her blindfold.

 Looking at the man in front of her, she was startled before her expression turned incredulous.

 Ilithya: O...Orion?! What is… ?! Were you the one who organized all of this?! My father is dead. WHY ?!

 Orion: "Why?!" that's the QUESTION. The same question that was certainly on the mind of the wife and children of Marius, whom your husband had crucified.

 Ilithya : MARIUS ? Marius the traitor who helped the Thracian and his dogs? I didn't want his family executed, I wasn't even there...

 Orion: Um, you're making fun of yourself Ilithya . During my investigation I heard that you attended with a certain smile on your lips, encouraging the soldiers as well as the representatives of the rich families of Capua to nail this couple and their innocent children.

 Ilithya: This man was a Traitor...a miserable bastard who betrayed our republic. But you...you are different, everything in you is...divine, if you release me and eliminate this Thracian dog, I will ask my husband to forgive you and reward you. Your name will be known to all as Orion, the hero who saved Rome by killing Spartacus.

 Orion, listening to Ilithya, began to laugh louder and louder, he gagged her before asking one of his men outside to bring him Glaber.

 A few seconds later, the celestial brought Glaber securely bound and gagged. When the latter and Ilithya saw each other, it was a big shock for them.

 "HUUUMMMMM! HUUUUUUUUUM!"

 Ilithya tried to shout who knows what when she saw her husband arrive tied up and almost naked like a slave.

 Glaber meanwhile had his face become more and more serious seeing his wife in this condition, he gave Orion a cold look filled with hatred, if a look could kill then Orion would be in the afterlife now .

 Orion's smile began to widen to become more and more sadistic, he imagined countless scenarios to make the Roman couple suffer as cruelly as possible.

 As he contemplated the drama before him, two of his men entered, informing him that the task he had ordered had been done.

 Immediately, upon hearing this, Orion had a very happy expression. He asked his men to take them outside to a location a little further from the camp, and once there, Glaber and his wife became afraid.

 Ahead of them was a small clearing where they saw a small campfire and an extremely sturdy looking wooden post that was driven firmly into the ground.

 A few meters from the post, they saw a large wooden cross on the ground like the ones they used to crucify people. Glaber and his wife felt shivers run through their bodies, they immediately had an idea of ​​what was coming next when they saw a hammer and long rusty nails near the cross.

 "HUUUUUMMMMPH! HRUUUUMPH!!" 

 "HWWWRRUUUUUUUUPH !!" 

 The unfortunate couple tried to speak but they were gagged and couldn't speak properly. Orion nodded to one of his men who removed Glaber's gag.

 His mouth freed, the Roman tried to speak but one of the celestials punched him hard enough to knock out two of his teeth.

 Orion: Let there be no misunderstanding Glaber, I did not remove the rag from your mouth to hear you speak but to hear your cries. (looks at his men) Go ahead. 

 Once the green light was given by Orion, the celestials firmly grabbed Glaber, still a little shaken by the punch, and one of them took a knife from the campfire that had been heated.

The celestial moved closer to the immobilized Glaber under the cries of Ilithya who screamed while tears flowed from her eyes for her husband.

 As Glaber's jaw was held so that his mouth was held open by someone, the celestial put the knife into Glaber's mouth and began to cut out his tongue as he screamed in pain. 

 Once the tongue was properly cut, the organ was burned to prevent hemorrhage.

 However, while the Roman still thought he had the opportunity to breathe, the same celestial went and took another heated knife.

 Glaber, seeing this, tried to struggle while the celestials pinned him to the ground on his stomach, grabbing his legs at the same time to limit his movements.

 The celestial came back to him with the knife and cut the Achilles tendons of both his legs so that he would no longer have the opportunity to escape.

 Ilithya then saw her husband being tied to the post so that he remained sitting on the ground, she cried while trying to speak to her husband but in vain.

 Orion asked his men to wait for Glaber to recover a little from his physical pain, he wanted the Roman to be fully conscious for the rest of the events.

 [At the temple]

 All the men Orion gave to Spartacus were not only gladiators, there were also some maids and other people including Varro's wife Aurelia and their son Janus.

 Spartacus had arranged for them to do a check on the men and count them, as he was doing so he heard a female voice calling out to him.

 "Spartacus, I found someone !" 

 It was Mira who had come to him, she had found Varro's wife and child. When she was at Batiatus, Varro had already come to see Spartacus with his wife and son so she didn't have much trouble recognizing them.

 Spartacus looking at the mother-son duo in front of him felt immense pain because of their condition, they were thin and in very poor health.

Aurelia who could barely speak their captivity by Glaber so that he could control her husband and force him into his ranks.

 She recounted all the treatment she received from the Roman soldiers and how poorly fed they were because according to Glaber, seeing his family in this state would facilitate his full cooperation.

 Spartacus listening to all this clenched his fist in anger and immediately understood why Varro fought alongside Glaber.

 Quickly, he gathered the little family together and Aurelia rushed crying into the arms of Varro who looked at Spartacus with gratitude. He thanked him but Spartacus explained that it was thanks to Orion and his men, Varro looked embarrassed and began to think.

 Orion had seen him fight alongside Glaber so he wondered if he was still worthy of appearing before him.

He asked Spartacus to grant him the favor of accepting him into his ranks so that he could redeem himself.

 For his wife and son, he was certain that they were no longer safe anywhere.

 Spartacus agreed to his request and later informed the others, he had arranged a meeting to find out the others' opinions.

 Crixus, Oenomaus, Gannicus, Segovax and Agron, Spartacus' lieutenants were all there gathered to discuss Varro's joining their cause with a few other gladiators also present.

 Because he was in Glaber's ranks, many refused to accept him, especially those who didn't know him.

 Crixus: It's out of the question! Although he bears the mark of the brotherhood, he is above all a Roman just like his wife and his son. He's already fought on their side, what's to say he won't do it again?!

 Nemetes: For once, I agree with the Gaul! I don't believe we can trust the Roman sooner or later he will side with them.

 Agron: Shut your big mouth, you shit! Duro and I fought Varro during Glaber's assault, he is almost as strong as Spartacus and could have easily killed us but he didn't.

 Segovax: While I was fighting the Romans, I saw him fighting the others and he was not inflicting mortal wounds on them. Despite having his wife and child in captivity, he tried to do us as little harm as possible. He can be one of us, he bears our mark.

 Oenomaus: I know Varro and I partly trained him, he is more of a gladiator than Roman, he's one of us.

 Gannicus: Like Segovax, I also saw him fight and he clearly avoided killing our men. He is strong, very strong in fact but he held back, we would clearly have had more problems if he had fought seriously in addition to Ashur and his scum.

 Crixus: And speaking of rot, what are we waiting for to kill this filthy Syrian?! He must pay for his shenanigans that Naevia and Sura suffered from.

 Spartacus: And he will die soon enough depending on the girls' choices, they suffered from his maneuvers but for now, we have a bigger problem.

 With the arrival of our new recruits, there remains a problem, we are seriously lacking in food.

 Gannicus: Of course, we don't have any, but your friend and his fifty monsters have a lot. In addition to the food that was in Glaber's camp, other of his men brought back more in wagons.

 Spartacus: I'll go see him later and hope he'll give some.

 Gannicus: "hoping"?! Isn't this guy supposed to be your friend ?!

 Spartacus: Yes...Orion although arrogant was always friendly but this time he's...different. Although I've known him for a while, but now when I stand in front of him, I feel like I'm facing a stranger.

 [In the clearing]

 Orion, who was tasting an apple, looked at Glaber, whose eyes showed only fatigue and despair.

 He stood up and walked quietly towards Glaber then crouched down to talk to him.

 Orion: So, how are you feeling?! Not too tired ?!

 Glaber: Hrom wirr krukrr you (Rome will crush you)

 Orion: He still has so much energy, that means you're ready for the rest of the program!

 Glaber upon hearing this was frightened, he knew that Orion wanted to make him suffer and upon hearing about a "continuation of the program", he began to tremble involuntarily and nothing could come out of his mouth.

 " What ?! Did you give your tongue to the cats ?! Ah ah ah ah !! » Orion said, mocking.

His men themselves were surprised to hear him laugh, Orion since he learned of Marius' death, he had not shown the slightest serious smile and now he was laughing.

 Unbeknownst to Orion, his personality was changing, he had deprived himself of his emotions but this lack of feeling led to a fixed personality which itself was evolving. He didn't really feel anything but could still take pleasure in certain areas.

 "Gentlemen, let's move on to the next step"

 Orion told his men who immediately grabbed Ilithya who was screaming and trying to struggle. Glaber was trying to shout something but he couldn't articulate it well. Orion stood next to him and started talking to him

 Orion: Now we're going to move on to the emotional phase I wanted to take you into. You will understand what my friend Marius felt when he saw his wife being crucified before his eyes.

 Glaber struggled and screamed even louder as the celestials began by undressing his wife first.

 Leaving him with only his underwear, they placed her on the cross while Orion took the hammer and nails himself.

 He carried out the fixation himself, pushing the points into Ilithya's flesh who at times could not even scream properly because the pain was so great.

 The defeated praetor saw his wife being crucified before his eyes and his helplessness, he screamed trying to console his wife completely crucified and installed, while he began to curse Orion, another celestial kicked him in full face.

 "You see Glaber, that's fucking justice! But you see, it's not over for you yet and you will understand much later how sweet death would have been.

 First you'll watch your wife slowly die before your eyes, then you will die… but not now."

 Orion said with an innocent smile before gagging the Roman once again and leaving two men to watch the place.