986 AD Coimbra, Kingdom of Leon.
The stench of death and fire was still strong throughout the area, hundreds of unburied corpses of peasants, workers and people who tried to defend their city, now rotting on the outskirts of Coimbra, which lay in ruins.
The wall was destroyed, and the Moorish soldiers entered the city looting and looking for women and children to enslave them; since their leader, the warlord Almanzor[1], allowed them to choose them as payment for their services.
Salamanca, Cuéllar and even Barcelona had been destroyed because his terrible actions. For the Spanish, Al-Mansur, or Almanzor, as the Spanish knew him, was the representation of the end of time, the Beast that the book of Revelation warned.
The Muslims arrived from the Maghreb desert in North Africa more than two centuries ago and they had managed to seize almost the entire Iberian Peninsula. Certainly, the Christian kingdoms had made gains and victories since then, but they were counted against the might of the now called Caliphate of Córdoba in the south, which was generally seen as one of the most advanced civilizations in the world. It was a shame that its military tactics always ended in such a vile and shameful way.
The soldiers dressed elegantly, wearing white, blue and ocher tunics, turbans and zaragüelles. They were armed with scimitars, spears, bows, triangular shields, and mails, which were far superior to the few defenses the men could use to protect themselves, many of them tools of the field. Since the Kingdom of León was suffering from constant fighting against Córdoba, there were few soldiers to defend their cities, and, technically, they left the city of Coimbra to its fate.
The Moorish leader, Almanzor, who was slightly overweight, arrived in the city mounted on an elegant white steed, accompanied by his personal guards, who all wore conical helmets that covered part of their eyes, spears, and very elegant white tunics. Al-Mansur himself was dressed in a turban and a red robe, carrying on his left side a golden scimitar with the face of some pagan god, which he said was a djinn, mythological creatures from Nabataean[2] folklore that were mischievous spirits. that tormented humanity.
Almanzor gave the order to his soldiers to make way for him, since he was heading to the Coimbra cathedral, which stood at the top of the city, to thank Allah for his victory. Almanzor's elite soldiers, who accompanied him as if they were his shadow, viewed with contempt the uncivilized attitudes of the common soldiers in treating the people who cried out for their lives and knelt to avoid being killed or, in the case of women and children, enslaved.
—They are animals, but we need them to achieve our goal of seizing this entire peninsula— the Moorish leader previously told his elite soldiers.
Behind Almanzor, an imam and a retinue of women blindfolded in dark robes accompanied him.
The crows began to arrive to devour the corpses that were outside the city. Several felt into the river, which turned red from the enormous amount of blood that spilled on the battlefield. The women inside the city cried and cried out for mercy so that they could give a Christian burial to their husbands, who died defending the city, but only ended up beaten and abused by Almanzor's soldiers.
In the center of the city, the soldiers began to round up the people who survived, mostly women, children, and the elderly. The soldiers tore their clothes and put shackles on their hands to proceed to take them out of the city as, now, slaves.
Coimbra was next to a river called Munda, which served as a kind of barrier to prevent invasions. The soldiers from Córdoba entered the city using the bridge that was over said river and served as an access gate to it. Some soldiers were guarding the bridge; however, these soldiers were Berbers, who were originally from North Africa. They were generally seen as inferior to the Arabs and had dirtier and more humiliating jobs. As expected, they kept watch while the Arab soldiers could steal loot and choose slaves. Berbers could not participate in any of these activities.
—They must be having a lot of fun, with all the scandal that sounds up here— one soldier commented to another in Berber.
—Someday, Allah willing, we will be at the top of this empire. Don't forget that. He just bows his head and continues without complaining— the other soldier replied in Berber.
The Berber soldiers, unlike the Arabs, did not wear chain mail, only a gray tunic and a white turban. They held a spear to defend themselves, and as a particular feature, their skin was darker than the rest of the Arabs.
At that moment, a noise like a wind was heard, which made the soldiers turn to the opposite side of the city, but they saw nothing. Strange, they returned their gaze to the bridge, when, unable to communicate with each other, they fell dead one by one, without even being able to realize what happened.
The soldiers who were in front of the town caught a glimpse of a lone man standing on the bridge of the Munda River. He couldn't be made out because of the Spanish summer heat, but they could see that the subject was wearing a brown cloak, which he held in his left hand and covered his head like a hood fluttering in the dusty wind. The shine of a sword that he carried in his right hand was also notable.
—Hey kid! What business do you have in this place?— a guard yelled in Arabic, holding a blonde girl by the hair, who sneaked out of the city to look for her father, but the soldiers caught her to punish her.
—This city has fallen into the hands of the great Al-Mansur, get out or we will kill you— the soldier continued shouting.
But the lad was completely immobile, as if he not heard or had completely ignored him.
—Don't you understand Arabic, you Christian jerk?— the guard yelled at him while the other men laughed when they saw that said lad seemed to challenge them.
—Well, we warned you brat— the guard yelled as he released the girl and reached for his scimitar to fight the lad, when suddenly, before the horrified eyes of the soldiers, the lad disappeared like lightning.
Then a guard screamed in horror, as the arm of the soldier who yelled at the lad was now circling the skies. He still wielded the scimitar with which he threatened the caped youth.
Incredulous, the men looked behind them as the arm fell to the ground and the guard screamed in pain from the wound caused. The young man was right behind them with his sword drawn. The soldiers instinctively rushed to attack him, but the lad turned around and could see them with green eyes full of anger that could be seen from his face, and in moments, the soldiers fell to the ground, some decapitated and others cut in half.
The girl that the soldiers kidnapped was looking with surprise and tears at the young man who killed her captors.
—Run away— the lad said in old Galician to the little girl who was wearing a blue dress that the soldiers tried to tear. —I'm going to finish off all these bastards.—
The girl, still unable to formulate a coherent sentence due to the trauma she suffered, nodded between sobs and sobs, and ran from there.
[1] Muslim conqueror of the Caliphate of Córdoba. He achieved several victories in Spain and North Africa during the years 973 and 999.
[2] Culture in the northern and central Arabian Peninsula.