"There it is," El Murid whispered in wonder. He forgot the pain in his ankle. "Sebil el Selib."
The light of a three-quarters moon illuminated the mountain-flanked meadow which was second only to Al Rhemish in the hearts of the Children of Hammad al Nakir. Long ago, it had been second only to Ilkazar in the hearts of their Imperial ancestors.
A very old fortress overlooked the meadow, and the shrine and cloisters it contained. There were no lights to be seen anywhere.
The name Sebil el Selib meant Path of the Cross. It had come into being because of the event memorialized by the shrine.
It was in that meadow that, on the first day of the Year 1 in the common dating, the Empire had been born. The first emperor had made himself secure in his power by crucifying a thousand opponents there. The path of the name was the trail winding through the pass, along which the doomed nobles had had to bear the instruments of their destruction. From the meadow that trail wound on, connecting the old Inner Provinces with the cities along the coast of the Sea of Kotsum.
The weathered fortress, dating from the early Imperial era, guarded the pass, not the shrine and cloisters over which it brooded.
"Here the father of our dream found life," El Murid told Nassef. "Here the First Empire was born. Let our own gasp its first breath on the same bedclothing."
Nassef said nothing. He was looking with awe on a place drenched with history. It seemed too plain, too simple, to be so important.
Al Rhemish had given him the same feeling.
It amazed him that ordinary places could, in time, attain such a hold on men's imaginations.
"Nassef."
"Yes?"
"Are we ready?"
"Yes. Karim will take the Invincibles down first. They'll scale the walls and open the gate to the rest. I'll send smaller forces to seize the shrine and cloisters."
"Nassef?"
"I hear you."
"I'm no warrior. No general. I am but the instrument of the Lord. But I'd like to make a small adjustment to your plan. I'd like you to close the road to the coast. And to leave a detachment with me. I don't want anyone to escape."
Nassef thought that he had misunderstood. El Murid was always after him to spare and forgive their enemies.
"I thought about it all the way here. The Lord has no friends in this place. They're soldiers of the King and acolytes of the false path. Moreover, a clear, unequivocal message has to be sent to those who yield to the seductions of the Evil One. Last night I prayed for guidance, and it came to me that our Second Empire must also have its birth in the blood of its enemies, on the site where the First Empire was born."
Nassef was surprised, but not dismayed. "As you say, so shall it be."
"Slay them all, Nassef. Even to the babes in arms. Let no man, from this day forth, think that he can evade the wrath of the Lord."
"As you say."
"You may begin." But before Nassef had taken a dozen steps, El Murid called, "Nassef."
"Yes?"
"In this moment, before the armed struggle begins, I name you my war captain. I entitle you Scourge of God. Wear the title well."
"I will. Have no fear."
The attack went forth with the speed and precision that had become hallmarks of Nassef's caravan raids. Many of the fortress's garrison died in their bedrolls.
El Murid sat his horse on the elevation and awaited fugitives or news. In his heart he nursed a black seed of fear. If he failed here, if the defenders of the fortress drove him away, then his mission might never recover. Nothing impressed the men of the desert so much as boldness and success. Nothing daunted them so much as failure.
No fugitives came. Neither did any news till, as dawn began coloring the sky over the mountains before him, Nassef's man Karim rode up.
"My Lord Disciple," said Karim, "your war captain sends me to report that the fortress, shrine and all cloisters are in our hands. Our enemies have been gathered in the meadow. He begs you to come accept them as a gift of his love."
"Thank you, Karim. Tell him I'm on my way."
Nassef awaited him on a knoll overlooking the captives. There were at least two thousand of them. Many were from the fortress, but most were from the cloisters, innocent pilgrims who had come here to celebrate Disharhun and who had not yet departed for their homes.
The garrison had been a large one. The only other useful pass through Jebal al Alf Dhulquarneni lay hundreds of miles to the north. The Hidden Ones permitted passage at no other points. The defense was big because the passage taxes were important to the Crown.
The stronghold's defenders lived their entire lives there. Some of the garrison families went back to imperial times. Women and children lived in the castle with the men.
El Murid looked down on the captives. They looked up at him. Few recognized him till Meryem, veilless, on her white camel, came up beside him. They began to buzz in excitement. An officer of the garrison shouted something placatory, offering his men's parole. El Murid peered at him. He searched his heart for mercy. He could find none. He gave Nassef the signal to begin.
The horsemen rode round the prisoners, chopping with their sabers. The prisoners screamed. They tried to run. There was nowhere to go except to climb atop one another. Some dashed through the circle of death, only to be ridden down by pickets awaiting them outside. A few warriors hurled themselves at the horsemen, trying to make a brave end.
Thus it was that a man named Beloul escaped the massacre.
He was one of the under officers of the garrison, a man about Nassef s age. He came of a family which traced its roots well back into the imperial era. Fighting like a demon, Beloul seized both horse and sword, then cut his way through the pickets. He bluffed a charge toward El Murid. While the Invincibles rushed to protect their prophet, he galloped through the pass into the desert.
Nassef sent four men after him. None ever returned.
Beloul carried the news to el Aswad. Messengers immediately streaked from the Wahlig's castle.
"Is this really necessary?" Meryem asked when the slaughter was halfway done.
"I think so. I think my enemies... the enemies of the Lord will find it instructive."
It took longer than he expected, and eventually proved more than he could stomach. He turned away when the Invincibles dismounted to drag the corpses of mothers aside to get at the children they had shielded with their bodies. "Let's look at the shrine," he said. "I want to see my throne."
Nassef came to report while he knelt, praying, before the Malachite Throne.
Ancient artisans had sculpted that seat from the boulder on which the first emperor had sat while watching the crucifixions of his enemies. It was the second most potent power symbol in Hammad al Nakir. Only the Peacock Throne, salvaged from the ruins of Ilkazar and transported to Al Rhemish, had a greater hold on men's minds.
Nassef waited patiently. When El Murid completed his prayers, his war captain told him, "It's done. I've ordered the men to rest. In a few hours I'll begin the burying. Tonight I'll send scouts back into the desert."
El Murid frowned. "Why?"
"We're within the domains of the Wahlig of el Aswad. They say he's decisive and smart. He'll attack us as soon as he hears what's happened."
"You know him?"
"By sight. So do you. That was his son who attacked you in Al Rhemish, Yousif was the one who arranged our trial."
"I remember him. A thin, cruel-faced man. Eyes of jet, and hard as diamonds. A true champion of the Evil One."
"My Lord Disciple, do you realize what we've accomplished today?" A sudden awe filled Nassef's voice.
"We captured the Malachite Throne."
"And more. Much, much more. Today we became a major power in Hammad al Nakir. Because of the Throne, and its location. So long as we hold Sebil el Selib, we're a factor they have to reckon in every decision they make at Al Rhemish. So long as we hold this pass we virtually isolate the desert provinces from the coast of the Sea of Kotsum. We deny Aboud all the strength and wealth of the coast in his struggle to defy the will of the Lord."