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 mens imaginations.

Nassef.

Yes?

Are we ready?

Yes. Karim will take the Invincibles down first. Theyll scale the walls and open the gate to the rest. Ill send smaller forces to seize the shrine and cloisters.

Nassef?

I hear you.

Im no warrior. No general. I am but the instrument of the Lord. But Id like to make a small adjustment to your plan. Id like you to close the road to the coast. And to leave a detachment with me. I dont 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. Theyre 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 Nassefs caravan raids. Many of the fortresss 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, Nassefs man Karim rode up.