Fall of the Nizari

As I stepped through the door, I could just make out the dark figure in the corner. The embers in the fireplace cast an orange glow in the otherwise unlit room.

“Must we always engage in such theatrics?” I asked with a sigh as I crossed to light the torches on the far wall.

They blazed suddenly to life as I neared; a trick he often employed for the entertainment of the serving boys in the castle kitchen.

“It is hardly the time for such party tricks” I rebuked, the shadows melting away from the corners of the room.

With a small nod, he gestured to the empty wooden chair and as I have done many times before, I took a seat and waited.

Waited to hear who it was I would be asked to kill.

“It is madness”, I whispered once he had finished speaking. “To go against the Mongols is to go against the wind that blows through the valley beneath us; they are unstoppable”

Our leader, our Imam stood and started to pace the tiny room.

“It will be difficult yes, but God has spoken to me on this, Ashur. It is not madness but necessity which prompts this decision. I have been shown what awaits us should we hide away in our stone fortresses like eagle chicks unwilling to leave the nest and it is death for us all.”

“We made peace with the khan’s grandfather Genghis,” I implored. “Why would we choose to poke the snake now it has retreated from our lands?”

“This new khan, Möngke is crazed with power,” the Imam said. “He will not be content with what has been achieved in uniting the tribes. They wish to wipe away from the earth any that do not bow to their sky God. You will travel with two others to Karakorum with the annual tribute and you will strike down this barbarian where he believes he is most secure. His death will bring disorder and chaos as his siblings vie for control.

I sat for a while contemplating on what he had said, the brazier he had lit diffusing the hashish into the air around us. Regardless of my concerns, the Imam was God’s vassal and His word was not to be questioned. As I rose from my chair he held out his hand.

I knelt and kissed the fingers of Rukn ad-Din.

“Your will my lord.”

***

As we three rode slowly into the Mongol camp, I kept my eyes lowered as we passed through the mass of people crowding around us. I patted my horse, mouthing soft words to try and quell the unease she felt at the hands which pulled and pushed at her sweating body.

I heard a shout and glanced up to see one of my companions dragged from his horse. He half rose and began dusting himself off as the armour clad warriors hemmed him in. A large Mongol pushed through the group pulling a curved weapon from his belt. Pointing once at the fallen man and back to himself he spat on the ground and moved towards him.

“Enough”, a voice rose above the excited chattering and the crowd backed away to allow a man riding one of the short ponies these nomads favoured to come forward.

“I am Hülegü, war leader of the Mongol nation and right hand of the Supreme Khan. Come with me.”

We followed the khan’s brother through a forest of short fabric structures until we came upon a larger more ornate tent decorated with silks and animal skins. Dismounting, Hülegü gestured that we do the same and pulling the tent flap to one side he beckoned us through.

The smell as I entered almost turned my stomach. The heavy smoke which hung like a morning fog in the hot air wound around a cloying fusion of excrement, sweat and animal fat. Taking a breath, I knelt before the small wooden dais upon which sat the khan of the Mongols.

“Great Möngke, beloved of the Sky Father and Supreme Khan of the great Mongol nation, I bring for you gifts from our divine Imam, Rukn ad-Din in tribute to your honour.”

Still kneeling with my face against the hard mud of the floor, I heard muffled movements around me as I waited for the acceptance.

I received only silence.

To rise from my position of supplication would be an affront to his hospitality yet to cower in the dirt like a filthy animal was to accept my place as such. These dark skinned warriors respected strength above all else and to shrink from such a challenge would be even more dangerous.

As I raised my head, I gasped as the Mongol leader stood before me with the dripping heads of my two companions in his fists.

“You talk of tribute and honour yet come to me with death in your thoughts and treason in your blood” he spat.

“Great Khan, I beg…”

“Do not beg anything of me, worm. My shaman has spoken to the spirits and has seen the deceit that riddles your body. You speak of honour yet seek to poison me with words and then with potions as I sleep. You will take my message to your Imam and others will learn what it is to oppose me. Once again my people will march and we will devour the World.”

***

I stand alone in the rooftop garden letting the scent of jasmine caress me in her silken arms. The chants of the Mongols echo through the valley as the barbarian horde edges ever closer. I can feel the mountains themselves tremble at their approach and wrap my arms around my body against the first icy fingers of winter’s touch.

They tell me the Mongol army seeps from the horizon like an endless tide swallowing all in its path.

All I see is darkness and where eyes once were, phantom tears flow down my ravaged face.