A glance out at the horizon showed that the smoke was waning. Had they ceased their attacks? There weren’t any thunderous sounds infecting the countryside. It was too quiet. As the day went on, she had to know what was happening. She couldn’t stand waiting to see when the army might be travelling back in her direction. After feeding Alexander his dinner, she wrapped him up and placed him inside the shelter. She took her mule and rode it to the closest farmhouse. Her heart raced as she urged her beast of burden into a run. If the Assyrians appeared in the distance, she’d have to turn back and ride for her life. Once she reached her neighbour’s home, she knocked on the door, breathless. An older man answered the door with a grim expression. 

Zara took a step back, guilty for disturbing him.

“What do you want?” he asked grumpily.

“Do you know what the state is of Samaria?”

He pointed at the smoke in the distance and shook his head. “Use your own eyes, girl. What do you think?”

“I was just wondering if anyone knew of the Assyrians’ plans.”

“Have you been in the sun too long? Do I look like a spy to you?”

“No. It’s just …”

He slammed the door in her face. She backed away, in shock at the rude display of neighbourly behaviour before turning around to go back to her mule. That was when the idea hit her to ride a little further – just to the top of the hill then she’d turn back. When she rode up the rise, the sight before her made her heart nearly stop. A long line of Assyrian soldiers with captured Israelis travelled north. The Assyrians claimed them as prisoners while the rest of the city burned. Much of it was already reduced to ashes – destroyed and gutted of its people. 

Zara brought a hand to her throat and gaped in horror. The Assyrians conquered Northern Israel, dragging her back to their immoral lands, while Zara watched it happen. If they could so easily overtake Samaria, would they attack Judah in the south one day? She shuddered, horrified at how close she was to the tragedy taking place before her eyes. She had been spared from being captured a second time, but those people had yet to experience what it was like to be subject to the cruel men. She could sense their fear from miles away. 

She watched the exile for a little longer, crying for the prisoners and soon to be slaves. For thousands of years, Israel thrived and claimed a great heritage for the world. The taken Israelites would be forced to denounce their God, immerse in the Assyrian culture, and make sacrifices to Ashur. The tribes would be scattered and possibly lost forever. Zara marveled at the sad history taking place in front if her – and there was nothing anyone could do to stop it.

“May God strike you and your kind dead, Turgal,” she said between clenched teeth.

*

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Today, up on this hill

I’m counting all the killers

– Slipknot