“In the name of God!” Alfred called, then said no more for suddenly a clap of thunder crashed, a vast sound that consumed the heavens and was so loud that some of us flinched. A crack of lightning splintered white inside the fort. The rain pelted now, a cloudburst that hammered and soaked us, and more thunder rolled away in the distance. Perhaps we thought that noise and savage light was a message from God for suddenly the whole army started forward. No one had given a command unless Alfred’s invocation was an order. We just went.
