Section 19: The Taking of the Fortress

Word of this battle reached Salm, and of the darkness that had fallen over his fortunes. Behind his back stood a fortress, its head raised up to the blue sky. He planned to fall back to that fortress, since fate has its ups and downs. Then Qaren fixed his mind on this one thing: that Salm had turned his face away from the fight. That great fortress will be his refuge; we would do well to block the road before him. For if that sea fortress becomes his hiding place, no one will ever tear him from its roots. It has a stronghold whose head touches the clouds, raised by cunning from the bottom of the water. Treasure of every kind is stored inside, and the shadow of good fortune falls upon it. I must move on this plan at once; stirrup and rein must be worn hard with riding. If the king sees fit, from among his warriors let him give this humble servant a heavy force. And let the royal banner of the king, and Tur's own ring, go with me on the road. Now we must devise a scheme to throw our troops into that fortress. Just I and brave Garshasp and this dark night; breathe not a word of this secret to the wind. When the face of the sky turned black as ebony, they set the war drums on the elephants' backs. All the famous, battle-hungry lords turned their faces from the land toward the sea. He handed the army to Shiruy and said: I mean to hide myself away. I will go to the fortress keeper as a messenger and show him the seal of the ring. When I enter the fortress I will raise a banner and make our purple blades flash bright. You all turn as one toward the fortress, and when I strike, charge in and give it your all. He left the army near the sea with lion-slaying Shiruy, and rode off alone. He came, and when he neared the fortress, he spoke, and the keeper looked at his seal. He said: I have come from Tur; he ordered me, so I paused there a while. He told me: Go, tell the fortress keeper to seek neither rest nor food, day or night, for from here King Manuchehr's banner is being sent toward the fortress with an army. Stand by them through good and bad, guard the fortress and stay alert. When the keeper heard these words and saw the seal upon the ring, at once they opened the fortress gate; he saw what was plain but did not know the hidden truth. See what the wise storyteller of old has said: only he who hides his own heart can read another's secret. Let service be the trade of both you and me, yet let thought and foresight go with our trade. In good and in bad, whatever may come, we must keep telling the old tales. When the fortress keeper and warlike Qaren came face to face, one against the other, one full of malice, one simple of heart, the commander was ready for any trick. He kept up the act from dawn until night, the keeper never suspecting the deceit. He fixed the seal of kinship on a stranger, and recklessly gave his head and his fortress to the wind. When night turned to day, warlike Qaren raised a banner bright as the ring of the moon. He shouted and gave, one by one, the signals to Shiruy and the proud, defiant champions. When Shiruy saw that hero's banner, he set his face to vengeance with a bold heart. He seized the fortress and stormed inside, crowning its chiefs with a crown of their own blood. Qaren on one side, the lion on the other, mace overhead and sword: fire above, water below. By the time the sun reached the dome's peak, neither the fortress nor its keeper could be seen. You would say there was no fortress, no ship on the water, only smoke rising into the clouds. Fire flared, the wind rose, the roar of horsemen and their cries rose up. When the shining sun climbed the heights, nothing remained: neither that fortress nor that broad plain. They killed more of them than could be counted; smoke rose from the fire, black as pitch. The whole face of the sea turned the color of tar, the whole face of the plain became a river of blood.