The Fearless

Dedicated to many fallen heroes, who sacrificed their lives so that we can live ours free of tyranny and oppression.

 

Prologue

This book is an attempt to "touch" the pillars of Western civilization, which are habitually ignored, forgotten, or willfully denied. Often the truth is found when our fundamental values are taken to the real test. And often enough it happens on the fringes of Christian civilization, where the fight to defend these values is the fiercest.

Chapter 1

The Holy Land

It was hot, but not as hot as in Palestine. Basile de Loussac would prefer his native Nevers in French heartland to standing in this field in the middle of nowhere, with a strange-sounding name "Didgori", on this hot August day. But then again, many names and places in this kingdom of Georgia sounded alien to him. There were a few familiar names too, though. For example, their king's name was David ("Davit", as they pronounced it in local tongue). Their main saint's name was Giorgi. So, it felt about right, standing under white banners with red crosses flying over Georgian army.

It felt almost as if he was in Palestine, with the crusaders army, about to fight another battle with Saracens. But he was thousand miles away from Palestine, on the other side of Seljuk empire. Beyond the Caucasus mountains. And only with 300 of his crusader companions. They were standing alongside 50,000 Georgians, looking at 300,000 Seljuks gathered in front of them. Seljuk avalanche was about to descend and crush everything on its way with the full might of Middle Eastern military power, assembled under the banners of Prophet Muhammad.

It was almost surreal that Georgians even contemplated an open battle with this largest army ever assembled. Six to one, - these were not just impossible odds, they were beyond real.

"But at least this will ease things back in Palestine for us, if we kill enough Seljuks here", thought Basile uneasily watching the sea of green banners in front of him.

It was the year of our Lord 1121.

 

Chapter 2

Apocalypse

Iranians soon realized that previous day's losses from Georgian artillery were still not significant enough to change the balance, or rather imbalance between only 5,000 strong Georgian army of king Heraclius II, and 40,000 Iranians led by Shah himself.

Heraclius fought on the side of Iranians before, as did many Georgian kings before him, pacifying for them provinces of Afghanistan and venturing into Northern India. He remembered when he was a leading contender for Iranian throne itself, during a brief period of internal troubles Persian empire went through just few years prior. He declined to pursue Iranian throne back then. And now he was facing the new Iranian Shah's army, hell-bent to take Tbilisi, his capital city.

He smiled, appreciating the irony of not pursuing Iranian crown for religious reasons (not to convert to Islam), while being betrayed by his fellow Orthodox Christian Russians, who did not come to his help (again) as agreed in a friendship pact signed 20 years before.

To top it all off, Iranian army would not even be here, if he broke his alliance with Russians, as Shah asked him to do "as a reasonable man" a few weeks before this invasion began. He refused to break his alliance with Russia, invited this invasion, and was now enjoying the full gratitude of Russian empress Catherine the Great: a commander of Russian forces north of Caucasus received the strict order not to help king Heraclius against Iranian invasion.