With a rough pull on his shoulder the boy was wrestled down to the deck. He resisted with all his might but the pirates managed to get his head into the vice, with three turns the boy was transformed to a cripple with a small whole in the place of his mouth and two slits in the side of his head where his ears were. Now when he talked a laughing noise was heard in the background and the pirates christened him the “Laughing Man”
The journey to Constantinople took six days in which he was forced to man an oar all day and all night. As they arrived in Constantinople the Laughing Man was amazed to see a city of such wealth with massive stone buildings flanked by the most beautiful flower gardens in the whole of the Middle East. Looking over these gardens stood great statues of former heroes of the city of Rome. As he walked though the streets he felt as these statues were looking down at him with those piecing eyes, reaching to the depth of his soul.
The slave market was in the Eastern side of the city and smelt of excretion and sweat, for the people here had not washed in days. Around the square stood tents of all shapes and sizes. The centre consisted of a plaza with thousands of slaves, all races, heights and religions.
As a buyer browsed though the crowd he spotted out of the corner of his eye the Laughing Man’s bulging muscles and walked over to him.
“How would you feel working in the Coliseum”?
The pirate captain walked over.
“How much is it worth to me”
“I’ll give you 100 Shekels for him”
“200” replied the Captain.
“He’s never worth that much, that’s the price of a fully trained Gladiator; I’ll give you 120”.
“You drive a hard bargain but it’s a deal,” replied the Captain.
As the months went by the hot desert sun dawned over the olive groves of Byzantium and set over the sparkling clear waters of the Mediterranean. The Laughing Man trained long and hard in the art of gladiator fighting. Through sweating days and freezing nights the Laughing Man trained in the art of halberd, trident and sword fighting, beating every opponent who was put before him.
Word of his victories swept the city and soon, Sirius the Syrian Assassin, the greatest Gladiator ever to grace the fertile pastures of Byzantine, wanted to challenge the Laughing Man to a 1 on 1 duel to decide who was the Greatest Gladiator ever.
So the big match was scheduled for the 11th of July 1418, the Birthday of Emperor Augustus the 1V of Byzantium. As the day of the duel neared thousands of people bought tickets for what was going to be the fight of the century.
As the sun dawned on the 11 day of June thousands of people were sitting in the Coliseum waiting for the competitors to come out.
The sight of the crowd was immense as the Laughing Man stepped out onto the sand to a great cheer
“ Will you accept my challenge, thy emperor?” shouted the Laughing Man.
“ I accept your challenge,” replied the Emperor
From the other side of the coliseum came an equal great applause as Sirius the Syrian Assassin, winner of 600 defences on this very stadium, walked out onto the sun dried sand.
“ Will you accept my defence thy Emperor
“ I accept your defence Sirius, let the fight begin” said the Emperor to the applause of the crowd.
The two opponents started to circle each other trying to find a weakness in the others seemingly impenetrable armour. Out of nowhere Sirius charged at the Laughing Man and landed a blow of his sword on the shoulder. The Laughing man let out a cry of pain and trashed at Sirius with his trident, catching the knee of Sirius. Sirius dropped onto the other knee and swung his sword at the Laughing Mans head. The blow caught him on the helmet and stunned the Laughing Man. With his last bit of energy the Laughing Man thrust out with his trident one more time and caught Sirius in the heart, killing him instantly.
The crowd stood up in applause and the sound filled the whole valley telling the world that the Laughing Man was now the greatest gladiator of Byzantium. The Emperor stood up and raised his hands. With this the crowd went silent and the Emperor started to speak in his crisp clear voice.
“Well done on your great victory, you have proved yourself to be on of the greatest gladiators of all time. What do you want from the Kingdom of Byzantium?”
“I want a great ship with a well trained crew to hunt down the evil unforgiving pirates who crippled me” replied the laughing man in his melodic voice.
“Your wish shall be granted” the Emperor pronounced to the applause of the crowd.
So it was on the 16th day of May 1424 that the great ship the Colossus set sail with the Laughing Man at the helm. It was a very hot day with a light breeze blowing off the land and the sparkling Mediterranean beneath them. Off on the quest to revenge the pirates who crippled the Laughing man in such an awful way.
After 20 sun drenched days sailing, Concus Maximus, the best sighted among the crew noticed a small white spot on the horizon. On the top of the mast he saw a skull and cross bones, a symbol that struck fear into any peaceful traveller sailing on the sparkling Mediterranean.
The pirate was a 56 gun 3rd rate. This ship was black with powder smoke and a sleek fast beast. The ship had been in many a fight and every thing about her suggested war and suffering.
The opening shot was fired at 12noon out of one of the mighty cannons of the Colossus and the shot echoed across the sea like a giant thunderstorm and the cannonball shot across to the pirate ship like a rocket. With a deafening blast the aft deck of the ship exploded in a shower of splinters. The Colossus then fired a broadside of its forty great cannon at the gun decks of the pirate ship and the side exploded in a cloud of splinters. In reply the pirate ship fired all the cannon it had left on the port side and these smashed onto the deck of the Colossus killing many a brave soul and scattering cannon parts and wood splinters everywhere.
With a grating crash the two ships collided and with this the Laughing Man gave the order.
“Kill the rapscallions, kill them all”
With that order the crew rushed onto the ship their sword and muskets raised, hacking down the villains that had killed their families and friends. The pirates fought back bravely but they were outnumbered and they didn’t have much of a chance against the well-trained warriors of the Colossus. From the aft deck came the shout,
“I challenge you to a duel Laughing Man, to see who is the real fighter”
“I accept your challenge, you choose the weapon”, replied the Laughing Man.
“I chose pistols,” said the captain sarcastically.
So the two contestants stood back to back on the deck, both arms raised holding duelling pistols.
“Take ten paces,” shouted the umpire ”Ready, Set, Fire”
With that order two pistols fired simultaneously with a deafening roar. The pirate captain collapsed clutching his chest and the Laughing Man slowly walked over to him and took off his mask for one brief second. In the Laughing Mans eyes the captain saw something of his sister who had died seventeen years ago for she had mothered a son who was both intelligent and strong. As he breathed his last breath he felt satisfied to have encountered the nephew he thought he would never meet.