The hourglass forest left the Byzantines trapped; a hallucination of sun and hidden archers, arrows screaming through branches. The emperor- abandoning his men? “Coward!”, a petty soldier cried…

In the counter-attack, the army of the right belief cut down many Seljuqs. Yet by morning, songbirds chirped only to corpses. After the disaster at Myriokephalon, would deepest Anatolia too be lost? An unknown Seljuq warrior cried out for it first; he condemned his fellow survivors: did not our god, the true god, love all which he created?

Silence; then a cheer. Yes. Let Allah’s will be done! With short dull knives the Seljuqs began, with glad hearts, methodically, to circumcise the infidel dead, so that they too might be allowed into heaven.