and ever hope to live to a ripe old age. There had already been many
brushes with death. Who would continue his mission after he was no
longer around to guide it?
His sons and grandsons, surely. But how could he be sure that
they would rule as he had? The greatest regret of any great leader, he
knew, was that he could not lead forever. Many great kingdoms
collapsed soon after their great king died. He had to ensure that this
would not happen. The Mongols had come so far, accomplished so
much.
There came a sound of footsteps behind him. He whirled and
drew his sword. Despite the ferocious wind, his exceptional hearing
allowed no one the luxury of sneaking up on him.
“Who?” demanded Genghis.
“It is only I,” exclaimed the massive figure, holding up his hands
to show that he was unarmed.
“Yes, I see. Good evening, commander,” said Genghis, hilting his
sword, “I am sorry. I have been a little fearful of foul play lately. The
men are acting so strangely. But they have been driven so hard, I
suppose, these last few months.”
“They are weak,” the commander said.
“No. Not weak. They are merely not as close to God as we are,”
the warlord explained, gazing at the much bigger, fearsome-looking
soldier he knew simply as “Bar.”
“I would not be worried, my Lord,” the giant said. “The men
worship you. We all do. You were not in your quarters. I was
concerned, so I came to look for you. Is everything all right?”
“Everything is fine,” the conqueror replied, the cold night air
smoky around his black beard, “Might I ask you a candid question?”
“Surely.”
“Do you fear Death, soldier?”
Bar smiled, revealing unusually perfect teeth. “I’d like to imagine
that Death fears me,” he confessed.
“Hmm.” The Khan grunted. “Well, we are to descend on the
Gregorians tomorrow, and it may be our biggest test so far. And
though I am prepared to die for Tengri, I worry that the Khanate will
suffer without my leadership. Perhaps I have made the wrong
decision. Perhaps I should have consolidated my empire better
before setting out on new conquests.”
Bar tried to offer humble words of encouragement, but it was not
in his nature to be humble. “I hope you don’t find this insolent,” he
H O L Y S H I T !
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