Free RomanQuest by Herbie Brennan

your Mercury Phone quickly), “if it isn’t the clown wot accidentally on purpose put paid to my best friend in this very ring not so very long ago. Bleeding foreigner! Shouldn’t be allowed to take part in my opinion!” He moves towards you threateningly.
    â€œSo, you’ve come back,” murmurs the grey-haired Senator languidly. “Possibly not the best idea in the world.”
    â€œBattle royal!” shouts a woman in the crowd.
    â€œBattle royal! Battle royal!” comes the call from other voices.
    â€œBATTLE ROYAL! BATTLE ROYAL! BATTLE ROYAL!” the whole bloodthirsty crowd begins to chant.
    â€œWhat a great idea,” calls the Senator. “Last one left alive is the winner!”
    Dozens more gladiators begin to pour through the arch to join those already in the arena. You begin to look around you desperately, well aware you’ll never survive something like this.
    â€œGet the foreigner first!” somebody shouts.
    â€œGood thinking, Bat Person,” mutters the samnite who has it in for you. He signals and at once every gladiator in the arena forms a marching, warlike rank and heads towards you. There must be more than a hundred of them, all reflecting how nice it would be to dispatch you to 13 without further ado.
    You watch them approach, wondering how on earth you’re going to get out of this one when there is the sudden sound of distant cannon-fire. Except cannon haven’t been invented yet, so it can’t be. But it can’t be a thunderstorm either since there isn’t a cloud in the sky. Except there is a cloud in the sky now, a black, pine-shaped cloud that looks far more like smoke than water vapour - and dense smoke at that.
    But it has to be cannon-fire, because now huge flaming cannon-balls are raining down from the sky. Except the cannon still hasn’t been invented yet so it can’t be -
    It’s Vesuvius! The volcano has erupted, showering red hot cinders and balls of molten lava down on the city. You’re doomed! Like everybody else, you’re going to be engulfed by lava and -
    But wait a minute! The stuff coming down is dangerous all right, but it’s not a tidal wave of lava. If you can get under cover, you might survive this yet.
    You race for the exit tunnel, elbowing aside a few dozen gladiators who have had the same bright idea. In a moment you are safe inside. The fiery rain outside makes not the slightest impact on the stonework of the amphitheatre. You’re saved! You’re (cough) saved!! All you (cough) have to (cough, cough) do now is (cough, cough, cough) get ... out ... of ...
    Your thinking processes slow as lethal sulphurous fumes penetrate your lungs. Your legs weaken and your eyes dim. You sink to your knees, aware that those around you are sinking too. So this is the way it happened. Pompeii wasn’t buried in lava as you’ve always thought - at least not straight away. The people were suffocated by volcanic fumes and died before the lava flow arrived.
    How very ... very .... in ...in ... interes ....ting ....
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    Your thoughts stop completely as the familiar preliminary to your trip to what must just now be a very crowded 13 .
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    Please select an option from the previous page.

80
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    â€œI’m terribly sorry,” you say in your best terribly sorry voice, “but I fear I am but a humble tourist brought here by my parents in order to see the sights, improve my education and eat a great deal of pizza and Italian ice cream. So, as you will realise, I am in no position to assist you or anybody else in any way whatsoever and especially not just at the moment, thank you very much.”
    â€œRat fink!” exclaims the wild eyed woman and launches herself upon you with astonishing ferocity.
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    This peculiarly dressed and oddly spoken maniac is a lot more trouble than she looks. First off she has 40 Life Points which makes her quite a tough old boot, but more