The ungarrisoned city was quickly surrounded, and the men were slowly but surely tearing down the great gates of Carthage.

Captain Bodeshmun never took a city before, and he was unsure of how to approach the situation. He cannot go too easy on the people, lest they riot and kill his own men. But he would not like to kill the women and children of the city if possible.

Sighing, he would have to figure out a way to restrain his men.

However, his momment of calm was interupted by the sound of hooves. It was another messenger, appearing to be hastily sent as his skin was gleaming with sweat.

"What urgent message do you have soldier?" the Captain said stoicly, as an officer should.

"King Gisgo commands you and your men to NOT show any mercy. He wants two thirds of the populace killed, with their property siezed. The men are free to sack the city and take any women they want. Buildings are NOT to be destroyed, discipline your men and make sure to restrain them captain."

The Captain blankly stared at the messenger, as if he saw some illusion or mirage.

"Did... did you say two thirds?"

The messenger silently nodded. It was now the Captain who was shaking, and the messenger standing calmly.

It had to be a joke. "Restrain your men?" from destroying buildings? But they were free to loot, rape, and kill as much as they wanted?

"And what if I refuse?" the Captain quietly said.

"Then you are to be dishonorably discharged, and resign your command to Captain Yutpan, who is on his way here"

It did not satisfy him. Bodeshmun was already responsible for this, no matter what he did now. He crushed the last defense Carthage had, and left them defensless, either to his wrath or the other Captain... still.

Suddenly he was patted from behind by Ezena, who was smiling. Bodeshmun never realized how young the officer looked. He was no stranger to battle, and he might even have had a little bit of blood lust. However, the boy never enjoyed the act of murder because his young mind didn't accept the death of soldiers as murder. He was always too idealistic and romantic.

But there was no way to see the massacre of women and children as an justified act of war. There was no way to romanticize it. Ezena was never told of stories about soldiers commiting attrocities. It would be more than apparant to the boy that he was commiting murder. And it may break him.

"Sir? Did you hear me?"

The Captain, as if he pulled out of the water, saw the world again. The men were almost done with tearing down the gate.

"Ezena"

The Captain said emotionlessly.

"I've always told you to obey your commanding officers. And I want you to listen to my final order"

"Sir?"

Bodeshmun whipped around and grabbed the young boy that he disciplined and yelled at so many time. "Listen to me soldier!" the captain growled. "From now on, I want you to only follow your own orders. If you are faced with something you feel is wrong, a sin, I want you to disobey. From now on, I want you to act as a soldier, as you think a soldier should be. Obey any order you wish, and disobey any order you wish. That is my final order."

Bodeshmun looked at the stunned officer's eyes and the air was silent.

"Captain... by final order..."

Bodeshmun let go of the boy's soft hair, patted it out, and gently smiled. He finally realized that Ezena was like the son he never had after his wife died during her pregnancy.

"You can't just leave sir. That's desertion! Cowardice! A soldier, especially an officer, shouldn't abandon his comrades to fight on their own!"

"I know Ezena. You're a soldier. But I just realized that I'm not."

Ezena opened his mouth slightly. He couldn't believe that the hard Captain that was feared throughout the camp, the demon who wouldn't think twice of flogging a man and had the only real experience in war, would be saying he was no soldier.

"Ezena..."

The Captain said, already mounted on a horse, with his back turned on the young soldier.

"... stay strong. Make up for my weakness please"

Ezena stared at the figure that rode towards the setting sun, westward.

"You're a liar sir..." Ezena muttered bitterly

He feared that he would never see the captain again, and he looked hard, very hard, at his ideal. The man he looked up to and dreamed to be, became one with the horizon and was swallowed by the large red sun.

Gisgo smiled as his messenger returned. Although their captain left the army, the men were still loyal to him and obeyed his order. In fact, morale was reported to be at an high due to them being allowed to sack and rape for themselves.

He was especially pleased however, when he read the financial report.

The sacking of Carthage had given Numidia an injection of money, that could now be used to develop the nation and her infastructure. They could use this money to become more self sufficient, and develop trade and business with the Romans instead of relying on the pitiful agriculture in Africa.

Not only did he have a full treasury, but he had also become the largest nation in the world. Nobody, could ignore Numidia now.

While there still were obstacles in front of him, Gisgo smiled. They had succesfully taken the first step, and now they were able to take a second.

Meanwhile, south of Carthage, news of the massacring and sacking of Carthage reached the ears of Hasdrubal. His fist turned white as he gripped his sword. He could not believe how it came to this. How the great nation of Hannibal was reduced to this. And how a group of simple nomads could kill so many fine men and women.

And he realized. His family, including his wife and child, was in Carthage.

Hasdrubal emptied out his body of all the air he had, and crashed his sword into the table in front of him. Rolling into a ball, as if waiting for somebody to hit him, the floor below him was covered in tears, spit, and mucus.

There was no space for anger, the entire being of the general was consumed with grief.

Some months later...

Carthage, at this point was in turmoil. Their leader, Hasdrubal, was down south in the desert, too far to save the capital.

Thapsus quickly shared a similar fate as the capital did, and Carthage now only had a village stronghold south, a colony in Spain, and an island near Iberia and Gaul. However, the king of Carthage was not to be taken lightly.

Meanwhile war had been declared by the Spanish tribes. Seeking to invade and pillage the defenseless cities in Numidia's homeland.

And on the east, Egypt was shown to be making its move against the isolated portion of Numidia. With Carthage blocking any access to the Eastern process by land, and with no troops to spare in the first place, the eastern provinces were in panic.

However, the prince of Numidia was calm. Muttiness left the village garissoned with only a meger force, and began marching eastward, avoiding the armies of Egypt and towards the rich regions of the Nile.

Even if they did not turn back towards them, and take the Numidian's city, Muttiness would take 3, one of them being the grand capital of Alexandria.

Muttiness, despite taking drastic measures, only smiled knowing that he was making a lopsided trade off with the Egyptians. 1 large town, for 2 cities and a capital. And he would gladly take the offer.

Gisgo hadn't heard from the Muttines himself in years. Carthage's resistance took reinforcement out of the question. Only the news of Egypt declaring war on Numidia managed to cross to him. He was unable to give orders to the Numdian heir, nor even know the situation. All he could do was focus on the homeland, while trusting Muttines to handle things on his own.

Muttines had managed to slip through the Egyptian forces. He was approaching the border and he ordered his men to take camp in order to rest. From the reports from the scouts and watch towers however, it seemed like Egypt had emptied most of the Nile region for their offensive against Numidia.

Grinning Muttines muttered "The fools..."

Ahiram, who was left with defending Siwa, was given an letter from an messenger. He was to take as many men as he could and to escape Siwa and assist the counter offensive against Egypt.

It did not sit well with Ahiram to act like a coward, however...

Looking across the desert plains, he understood that only death awaited those who stayed here. It would be better for this town if he helped Muttines and forced the Egyptians to abandon their invasion and withdraw their troops.

And so the Egyptian and Numidian forces, already tresspasing each other's territories, were in marching distance to each other's cities. It was now only a matter of time for the countries to actually declare war, than continue their silent cold war.

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.

Wanting to get away from ruined city of Memphis, Muttines took a tour of the province that was now under Numidia's domain.

He silently admired the great pyramyds of the Egyptians. And when he finally came to the grand pyramyd of Giza, he understood how small of an existance he was.

"Hmph"

So much effort was put to commemorate the past and deeds of the deceseased. However that effort had not helped them in actually defending their very homeland itself. No matter how grand of a memorial, the dead were dead, and all that was there before will eventually turn to nothing more than dust like the rest of the desert.

Muttines laughed as he turned around.

He felt an feeling of purpose in his life suddenly. As if he were an prophet. He will soon bring total destruction to the Egyptians and destroy their past and pave a new future.

"You can have your fucking bricks" the heir of Numidia said, as he walked towards his bodyguards.

As brief as it may be, an truce had been formed between Numidia and Spain. However, nobody expects it to last for very long.

Muttines marched his army out, and ordered them to make camp and create a fort. They will camp for now, and then head out soon to Alexandria before the other armies arrived in time. Once they take the capital, they will truly throw the Egyptians into an downward spiral. However, until then victory is not yet assured.

Ahiram couldn't abandon Siwa. He could only feel guilt that he already left the city undefended. However, he would not run anymore, not even from his shame.

Ahiram watched silently as the gates of the town was finally reopend and the surviving soldiers he commanded were reunited with their wives and children. What good was conquest, or escaping with one's life, if they had nothing left to protect? One would lose semblence of their self, and become nothing more than a drifter.

Ahiram will protect Numidia no matter what, with her glory being second to it.

The season passed, and Muttines ordered his men to march on. The Egyptian reinforcements hadn't arrived at Alexandria yet, however, if Muttines was to lay siege to Alexandria now, he would be attacked by the combined strength of the Egyptians. Fortunately he sent out an small intercepting force to delay the reinforcing Egyptians. With that, he would be able to take apart the Egyptians piece by piece.

The truce was an facade to allow Spain to send its troops via boat to the Numidian mainland. The leader of the Iberians was truly a clever one.

Meanwhile, Gisgo was preparing to finally crush the Carthagenian resistence in the mainland. Ordering the army to hide in forest, he had an small unit of soldiers begin to harass and pillage the surrounding villages and farms. If the Cartheginians took the bait, they would walk right into the hands of the Numidian leaders.

Muttines smiled as his men were preparing the rams to breach the city's defenses. The enemy reinforcements haven't arrived yet, and by the time they would it will be too late.

However, Muttines quickly glared at the clouds of dust behind the enemy walls and the shouts coming from it. He could not take this battle easily. The consequences were both dire and great if he lost or won.

Unsheathing his sword, he gave a roar and unleashed his army upon the Egyptian capital.

There was not a single soldier left in the city. Any wounded soldier was ordered by Muttines to be killed.

Already the men have lost a semblence of an army, the organized lines dissolving into a mad scramble of men waiting to pillage and rape the city dry.

Muttines smiled as he looked into the dark night sky, illuminated by the orange glow of fire.

"Gisgo... what are you doing over there? You're missing out on so much fun..." Muttines muttered and chuckled, as he was escorted to the governor's villa.

Bisaltes' heart was pounding rapidly with anticipation and fear. He could not believe that he was given the opportunity to retake Carthage's cities. He never proved himself in battle, but was given the opportunity to do so with this grand task.

The men were mostly militia men levied, and mercenaries, but he held confidence in them that they could win against the Numidian oprresors up north.

He looked up at the cloudless blue sky, and felt the sun's rays hit him. Closing his eyes he sighed, Baal was with him today.

Suddenly he felt his skin go cool, and no longer felt the sun's rays hit him. Puzzled he opened his eyes and only for a second, did he see the inhuman scene before he was pushed back by his bodyguard. The sky was filled with and the sun was literally blocked by a shower of arrows. There was no escape. It was as futile to run away from it as it would have been to run from the rain. One can only count the few seconds they had before the sharp objects from heaven impaled them to the ground.

His bodyguard, screamed as he held up his shield and took the full brunt of the arrows for Bisaltes. Dozzens of arrows hit the shields, but a 3 or 4 pierced through them, cutting into his arms, shoulders, chest, and eye.

The large circle shield could not protect however his lower body and the horse, and the large man and horse cam crashing down. Bisaltes fell down with with him and everything was dark. The world dissapered from him. And the only sensation that he experienced, that reminded him that he was alive was a warm wet feeling.

This could not be happening...

"Sir?"

This had to be a dream... an nightmare

"Sir?!"

He should be in Carthage... where he would have been attending the finance, laws, and treaties by his harbor side room.

"Sir?! What are your order?!"

This is strange... who was he? What is this feeling? Why am I feeling this? Why am I feeling this sickness?

"Sir, you have to get up! Somebody get a medic! Who's in charge of the left flank?!"

I don't want to get up... I want to sleep... I don't want to open my eyes anymore and see... it's too bright... it's too hot... too sticky... too loud.

"SIR!!"

Bisaltes felt a loud smack as his helmet was knocked off. Then he choked as water was splshed into his face and got into his mouth.

He fluttered his eyes in shock, trying to comprehend the situation.

"Oh gods... what a relief, you're alive"

The captain in front of him gasped. That's strange... you don't look so relieved...

He saw some men running towards and past him. That's strange... they had red paint on their bodies...

"Is he good?"

"No, he's out of it... gods save us... Withdraw the men. If we stay here we shall all perish"

"But the commander!"

"The commander is unable to give us orders! I'll take responsibility when we meet the king. But we must retreat while we have some semblence of an army!"

"Yes sir..."

As he was carried, Bistales stared at the cloudless blue sky, and felt the sun's rays hit him. Closing his eyes he sighed, Baal was with him today.