Our troops formed our ranks as the enemy waited in tension. This was just a battle in the war that had lasted a millennium and a half. Though our abilities, strategies, and codes of conflict had evolved, though our commanders were replaced, our heart was the same. We were always impelled by a loathing of the other skin and a yearn for the other’s vulnerable yet undeniably invaluable prize. The Shah. It was our skin faced against their skin. Black against White. But beyond all else, it was our prize faced against their prize. Shah against Shah. Lifeline against
