• 3 •
Mikhail took me to the edge of Sur, to the main Bawadir entrance, where many hands had dug a sizeable trench. Admittedly, half the hands trembled in fear, while the other half lacked strength. The invading hoard was expected to try to storm the city at Bawadir since the two other entrances via the mesquite groves that surrounded the city were smaller and had been sealed up.
Regular army forces, led by Colonel Erdeeb, were stationed there along with many of Sur’s inhabitants able to carry a sword or spear, or shoot an arrow, and who had the courage to cut off a head or slit a throat. Faces daubed with warpaint, everyone sang horrific martial songs full of s*******r, in which the enemy were skinned alive, had their bellies ripped open and their intestines devoured raw. I thought the
