The Emperor, a skeletal man draped in purple silks, had resurrected Varro’s first kill—a slave boy named Dagon, whom Varro had slain twenty years ago to earn his freedom. Now Dagon returned as a revenant gladiae , a construct of black sand, cracked armor, and remembered hatred.
For the first time, he fought to lose.
Varro the Unscarred stood at the gate, his gladius singing a low, hungry note in his grip. He had won two hundred and seven fights. His name was etched into the obsidian pillars of five cities. But tonight, his opponent was no Thracian or murmillo. swords and sandals iii gladiae ultratus
The Last Echo of Ultratus
Varro charged. Not for glory. Not for coin. The Emperor, a skeletal man draped in purple