Chapter 5 Revenge

Anibal ran down the stoned hill with his sword in hand. It was not like the gilded Arabic sables he hung on the walls in his villa, but this recently traded rustic weapon was useful enough to kill a few moors. Revenge glowed in red and clouded his sight and thoughts. The dim memories of the moors attacking his home and the vicious murder of his wife and son pushed him to take the imprudent decision to run down the road and join the legionnaires to fight the Benimerines.

His heart drummed in his chest making the erratic and rushed pulse in his veins reverberated in his ears. He could hear nothing... only his steps hurtling on the cobblestoned paved path down La Seu Vella.

The dim lights of the torches and the full moon in the sky glittered and reflected on the legionnaires' metallic armors and shields. Adrenaline pumped in his body even stronger than blood in the way Anibal got closer to the soldiers posted along the walls that encircled the city of Lerida; a line that ended right around and behind the humongous cathedral on the top of the hill, where the refuges and wounded remained safe... for the moment.

"Wait, señor! What are you doing here?" A soldier stopped Anibal by the gate that separated the steep road to La Seu Vella from the rest of the city.

"Just let me pass, soldier." Anibal replied determined.

"I can't let you pass señor! There are specific orders to keep these gates closed and protect the lives of the citizens of Lerida."

"But that's precisely what I aim for! Look, soldado, my family is in the cathedral. If I remain there I would not be able to do anything! I want to protect them too. See, I brought a sword..."

"I'm sorry señor, but orders are orders and you are not a legionnaire... I can't let you pass... go with your family. It is safer for a caballero of your status to remain inside the church. Let the soldiers fight." The soldier didn't let Anibal finish the sentence. Arching his eyebrow, the warrior studied Anibal's clothes and features and it was easy to infer he was from noble lineage.

"¿Qué pasa soldado? What are you doing? You are supposed to be on duty and not speaking with the civilians."

"Mi general... I was just telling this caballero that he can't leave La Seu Vella... Sir!" The legionnaire stuttered while facing his general and trying to explain why was he off guard.

"Really? And why would Don Anibal de Albis want to cross the gate? The Studi General is closed and we are under attack, señor." The general spoke with disdain in his tone.

Both men stared to the general in awe. The armada leader knew who Anibal was.

"General... I only want to help. I brought a sword and daggers and I can fight!

"I never thought of a scholar to be gifted in the arts or war. Are you trained in weapons?

"No... but I..."

"Well in that case I am afraid I'm forced to reject this brave but fool wish of yours to join my army, Don Anibal. Why don't you go with your family and let us do our work, señor? The general was about to walk away when Anibal replied.

"My family is dead... Those bastards broke in my villa and killed both my wife and son!"

The general turned to face Anibal. Pity drew all over his face. "I'm so sorry to hear that Don Anibal. I... I understand your grief, and anger..."

"No you don't understand! Have you lost your family, commander?" Anibal walked closer to face the general defiantly. His eyes were filled with tears and his voice broken with ire.

"No... but..."

"In that case you can't understand what I feel... I am not a soldier but I can fight. I killed that bastard with my own hands after he murdered my wife... and I can kill a few more... General, you need men and I am willing to do this for..."

"Revenge!" The general completed the statement Anibal begun and glowed a mischievous grin. Anibal nodded with a stoic expression. "Fine. But we won't babysit after you, señor. You better watch your own back... and kill a few of those pagans for your own pleasure! That will help Don Anibal." Then he turned to speak with the soldier next to him. "Legionnaire! Find a sword for this gentleman. The one that he has will break after the first moor is stabbed!"And the general walked away."

Anibal waited for the bell, or the horn... or whatever was the signal to fight. In his mind there was only determination. His heart was burning with wrath and his soul was flooded with grief. There was only one main goal in his life: kill as many moors as he could... and take revenge on his family.

The cries of those innocents that remained in the city, hidden who knows where, but now being found and their lives terminated. Those were women and children, victims of a war that met no end after five centuries of invasion. Women and children like his wife Ana and his son Augusto. And with every cry.... with every sharp and painful scream, maybe the last exhalation given by that vulnerable life, a cold shiver ran down Anibal's spine and goose bumps rose all over his skin. He stood firm, straight, with a new and shiny sword in hand, assuming the posture the rest of the soldiers in the lines by his side bore, yet he feared. Not for his life but for those lives that stayed hidden... under a bed, in a barn... in a latrine; and of those who were inside the cathedral on the top of the hill.

Anibal looked to La Seu Vella where Saint Peter and the Virgin Mary peeped between the cypress and the pine oaks that bordered the church and he remembered his father, his mother and sister and that boy Felipe who reminded him so much of his son... Augusto. A tear rolled down his face and he tried to swallow in vain the huge lump in his throat.

An explosion was heard and made those near Anibal jump. There was confusion. The loud sound echoed on the city walls and more than one shrieked scared and dumbfounded. The dark column of smoke rose up the sky and the blazes gleamed between the nearby buildings.

"Greek fire." Anibal whispered.

"What?" The soldier next to him asked confused.

"They are near."

The horns sounded amongst the lines and the bell rang on La Seu Vella. The soldiers waited for the order. It was the call to battle.

***"Greek Fire" was an inflammable subtance, an incendiary weapon designed and created in 672 aC. and used in wars held in the Middle Ages in Europe.

What do you think of this story so far? Do you like the chunks of history inserted throughout the story? What do you think of Anibal's decision of join the armada and fight against the Moors? What do you think will happen next?

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