The Kingdom

She stared hatefully at the wall that ran from one end of the valley opening to the other. The people would rather put their trust in a creation of mortar and stone than they would the God of their creation.

If she could, she would crush the wall before her so that her people would have no other choice but to awaken spiritually and stop being caught up in the ancient traditions that had no spiritual meaning. Now, though, if the wall came down they would all die.

An enemy host numbering well over a hundred thousand lay encamped against the wall. The enemy's numbers swelled daily by a figure of ten thousand or more. It was as if the whole world had risen up against them.

Ayaya rose up and made her way to the colossal wall. By torchlight she began the long climb to its top.

Her people had built the wall well, but it would be their undoing in the end. Bitterly, she stared out over the vast plain dotted with campfires. Tomorrow the enemy would attack.

The end had begun and her people had not been ready for it. The need for a miracle was high and earnestly she prayed for one.

Horn blasts rent the night air apart and drove the drunken revelry of the enemy camp into consternation. Ayaya gripped hold of the stone wall before her and watched as dark shadows sped past enemy campfires.

Tents were knocked down and caught ablaze as enemy combatants were either run down or cut down by fast-moving blurs of motion. The onrush of the unknown force was concentrated in its approach to the solitary gate in the wall.

Ayaya broke away from her spot and ran towards the gatehouse screaming, "Open the gate!!!"

Strangely, a people who had played deaf to her voice and everything that she had to say for days now, leapt into action to do her bidding. The massive gate began to inch upward just in time as the front runners of the unknown force converged on it.

*****

I ducked under the steel teeth of the still rising gate and sped onward into the valley that I and Kuri had helped drive clear of unclean beasts. Pulling off to the side, I held up as my army continued to stream by in great volume.

The enemy encampment, roused from their rest and drunken debaucheries, formed a disorganized force that now raced for the open gate that had begun to lower as the last few riders streamed through. The enemy was cut down by massive volleys of arrows that sheeted down on them from the wall tops.