Cleric Bin Amar tried in vain to turn and see the man holding him, all the while screaming as he grappled futilely with the warrior’s vice-like grip. “Shoot him!” he wailed, “Shoot the prisoner! In Allah’s name, I order you to shoot him!”

The second accuser was facing Shahim, though, his neck grasped from the front, and he was silent. The grip around his neck was tight, his very breath barely wheezing through his constricted throat. Shahim planned to deal with them in the order they had accused him and he did not want Cleric Barakahto Wa-Alahd interrupting the first cleric’s brief trial.

Shahim’s voice boomed out once more from behind the first man’s head, “Cleric Bin Amar, you say that you would die for God, and you accuse me of being a traitor even though I told you I would kill you for doing so. Therefore I will grant your wish to meet our glorious maker. Allah, accept this man’s sacrifice to your cause, allow his faith to guide him to you.”

The cleric scrabbled frantically at the fingers of his captor, his eyes wide at Shahim’s words. Dear Allah, the bastard was going to kill him, but, no, wait, no, this cannot be! His fear was palpable and he screamed, “No! No! Stop him you fools! Stop h—”

With machine ease, Shahim snapped the cleric’s head to one side like a giant light switch, shutting the man’s life off instantly. Shahim liked the image. He had switched the evil man off, permanently. Shahim released the cleric’s now limp neck and the body slumped to the floor. Shahim allowed his raw pleasure at what he was doing to show on his face, and the other man imprisoned by his grasp began to weep at the site of the grin now etched into Shahim’s dark features. Why had he accused this beast so lackadaisically?

The sudden death of the first cleric awoke the guards from their vacillation and they started shouting at the prisoner with renewed vigor. No one was prepared for this. No one was willing to fire the first shot. Not here. Not during the tribunal. This was simply unprecedented. But the men continued thrusting their guns into Shahim’s ribs in the hope the man would desist.

Shahim ignored them, his eyes glued now on his other victim, who was weeping with fear, urine dripping down his quivering legs and pooling at his feet. Shahim shouted at the remaining man, “Do you still doubt my ability to escape the Americans, Cleric Wa-Alahd?”