The villagers in the town were fearfully watched as the army of Egypt surrounded the town walls. It was eerie. They knew they were already in the heart of a war, soon the battlefield itself, yet it was quiet and peaceful still, as if nothing had happened yet.
A lone diplomat was through the gates by Egypt. It was an eunuch, dressed in fine clothing, jewelery, and having shadings around his eye. Smiling warmly the diplomat said "You have been abandoned by your so called leaders. Left with only a small group of soldiers to defend you, as good as dead.
The Egyptian army was visible behind the wall, standing on top of the hill as an reminder.
"We do not seek war with the people of Numidia, only the belligerent and cowardly leaders who sacked Carthage when they were defensless, and abandoned you. That is why, we are offering you to become our protectorates. Become a part of Egypt, and serve under the rule of Pharoh, and you shall avoid death"
There was a murmur among the crowd of villagers. They did not like the Egyptians, nor this man, but they could care less about that when cronfroted with death.
However, the small unit of Numidian soldiers did not whisper. Only slinging their Javelines across their shoulders, and silently glaring at the diplomat. The diplomat felt those stares, and turned to them. For a second, the diplomat had a grim face of annoyance, however he quickly gave a bright smile and stretched his arms, cheerfully saying "Who is your leader? Let me speak to him, on behalf of the pharoh!"
A short, but stout man in his 40's approached the tall eunuch. With sunburn and scars across his body, he had lived through many things.
"What do you say soldier? Surely, you won't be responsible for these people's death?"
The man shook his head. "No. No I won't be"
The Eunuch smiled.
"That is why I refuse"
The Eunuch opened his eyes widely and saw the soldiers behind the captain begin to walk towards the eunuch.
"Wh-what?! What are you saying? Stay away from me!"
The eunuch began to walk backwards towards the townspeople, but tripped on his long robe and fell into the dust.
Groaning and whispering a curse, the eunuch was suddenly grabbed by the captain. "You think I will allow my people to become slaves to your pharoh?!"
The eunuch couldn't speak. The only thing in front of him was the captain's dark face, the sunlight being completely blocked out behind him. He was being sucked in by the dark muddy image, as if he was being swallowed by death.
"I won't be fooled by you. I'll rather die as an free man before I become nothing more than a dickless woman like you"
The captain let go of the diplomat and calmly walked backwards.
After a few seconds of bewilderment the eunuch gathered himself off the ground. Furiously patting the dirt off him, his face became a fury of lines and veins. "You fucking PIGS! I'll remember you especially! I'll make sure that this army doesn't kill you, so that I can personally take you to the pharoh's dungeon and make you nothing more than a pillow of flesh, unable to see or speak, without any arms of legs. I'll make sure that your entire skin is composed of keloids. You will be such an abomination, that not even Ammit would want to devour you!"
And quickly the diplomat stormed out, his sandals skidding across the desert, letting the wind blow the kicked sand into the air.
Muttines did not know if the Egyptians had reached Siwa yet, however, now was not the time to worry. He shouted orders to his officers and looked at the army of Egypt that caught up to him. He did not know if he miscalculated the distance the Egyptian army could cover, or if he failed to scout far enough, but now he was met with 3 armies.
The war drums of the Egyptian army could be heard from his position now. Dust and sand whipped around him from the west, carried by the wind. It was as if the sand and wind carried a bitter and angry curse.
But Muttines only snorted and chuckled as he quickly unsheathed his sword. The Egyptian army was now visible. "To battle!" he roared, and his men and mercenaries responded in kind.
....
Several hours later, after the battle of Memphis, 261 BC.
Smoke was in the air as the men burned the bodies of their own dead. The Egyptian bodies however, were allowed to stay in the sun's hot light. Bodies in the desert, where food was scarce, were quickly devoured by the desert's creatures, whether they be buzzards, insects, foxes.
"Hurry up men!" Muttiness shouted to his soldiers.
"We want to get to their city while it's still empty" he said, grinning.
The vultures will soon be getting another feast.
