The two men were circling each other with all the angry energy of fighting bulls, in front of a crowd that was already wild with excitement. The Pankration was what most of the onlookers had come to Olympia to see; the strongest men in Greece fighting bare-fisted and unarmed, until one of them surrendered, or died. This was blood sport.

Nic is on the run; from the plague in Athens, from savage pirates, and from the slave who wants him dead. If only he can reach Olympia and find his friend Gellius, he'll be safe - or will he? At Olympia the last and most terrible of his enemies is waiting.