Chapter 30
The javelin that entered his body from the back literally pierced the man and its bloody tip emerged in his chest. The man fell on the rock that protected him and then his body spilled down to the bottom of the steep slope of the path that passed through.
The Kazakhs turned their heads to see who attacked them from the rear, from higher positions on the mountain. Realizing that the rifle would be of no use to him in these circumstances, Nurislam Aliyev drew his pistol and managed to make two shots against the shadows that were pouncing on him and his men, but as a result of the speed with which the new attackers slipped on their backs the shots only ricocheted off the stone wall. In a new instinctive assessment of the situation, the Kazakh leader also dismissed the use of firearms and brought out his burnished saber. The fight would be melee and deadly.