Turkey—Yek [The Black Death, 1346-1353]


"Do you believe in Yeks, Aimal?", Turkey asked his partner, a mercenary who might be acting like he was tough, but was just as scared as one in the sight of all of this.

"I do. Who doesn't, seeing this? Even Christians do. They call them devils, or demons, sometimes vampires." Turkey explained walking down the street, finding no one to shout him to go away. "They believe that people who die in sin end up thrown into a fiery pit where all kinds of monstrous creatures torture them for all eternity. Kind of like us. And they also believe that their god sometimes gives them permission to go up here and bring torture, sickness and death to those who deserve it."

Aimal grimaced at the sight of a dog gnawing at the foot of a woman lying in a corner. Turkey, however, only gave it a brief glance before continuing.

"Which is false, of course. Yeks aren't Allah's servants. That is stupid. They couldn't care less if someone is a sinner or not. Meat is meat. The guts they wrap up all around their bodies like they are necklaces look good on them regardless of the victim's virtue. And why waiting for permission? Since when does evil care about decency? They just want to hear some poor devils scream, see them in agony. Thinking that a good god sent them! That's almost blasphemous. Allah greatly rewards those who exterminate yeks."

He stopped, and Aimal did as well. The mask covering the former's face surely sheltered him from it, but the stench coming out of the open mass grave was so sickening that Aimal retched. Even though he tried to hold it, he ended up vomiting on one side. To which Turkey chuckled.

"Here goes your last meal." He joked. "Bad idea: I don't think we are getting another one in a while. There is barely any food here. And I'll be damned if I want to touch anything from this place." He said, pointing at the corpses piled up in there.

The ones of the top seemed to be still fresh but the tips of their fingers were already black. Some of the buboes in their bodies had exploded, making the stench worse and attracting flies. Turkey contemplated them with the apparent coldness of a doctor.

"That is the difference between them and us. For them, this is the end of the world. The punishment for their sins. Their god is angry at them and has unleashed the terrors of Hell upon them..."

He pulled his collar down to show Aimal the protuberances around his collarbone.

"We, on the other hand, are used to facing demons day after day..." He finished the sentence.

He put his clothes back properly and Aimal had the feeling that he was smiling under his mask.

"That's why, while they are desperately asking for their god's forgiveness with flagellations and fasting and dying, we are going to steal their strongholds and make their people our slaves." He said with a jovial tone, around all of that death. "That is, if there is someone still alive..."

Because it seemed there wasn't, in those empty streets, where Turkey walked like he was a demon in disguise, strolling in his infernal domain.