by Tod Eten
After the battle Marduk had taken the beautiful Neteru who had convinced him to fight as his mate and they had lived the next age in peace and happiness living alongside the humans. But at the end of that age when the time for the great sleep was once more upon them he had told his mate that he wished to follow the path of the Taruti in payment for the breaking of his vow. His mate had tried desperately to stop him doing this thing, this but in the end his will had prevailed and he had allowed himself to die. He now remembered all the lives he had lived up to this his present one, reincarnation after reimcarnation. Like a film going at one hundred times the normal speed he saw the the many and varied lives he had led as a human, being born, living life and dying, over and over again! He saw the people’s faces whom he had known and loved through the ages, places he had lived, the jobs he had done. All these things and more he saw as he finally remembered who he truly was.
Aiden focused his attention back on two men once more and found he could see into their hearts.
‘You said that you did not know, what did you not know?’ He commanded the terrified Hanif.
‘I did not know who you are, I thought you were the devil but you are not!’ Hanif replied grovelling at Aidens feet.
‘And who do you think I am?’ Aiden pressed him.
‘You are the sword of Allah’ Hanif said head bowed in the dirt.
‘And you’ Aiden said looking at Rafferty ‘who do you think I am?’
‘You are an angel from God’ Rafferty answered.
‘Get up both of you’ Aiden ordered and two men got up awkwardly heads still bowed avoiding Aiden’s eyes.
‘Look at me’ Aiden said coldly and both men obeyed his command.
‘I am neither the Sword of Allah nor an angel’ Aiden said looking at each of them. ‘But I now hold your lives in forfeit and you will both do my bidding from this day on is that clear’
‘I will gladly give my life for you!’ Hanif exclaimed.
‘Yes that may well happen!’ Aiden agreed ‘There is a great storm coming from there’ Aiden said pointing at the Planet Nibiru which could now be seen even in day light. ‘There are a race of beings called the Anunnaki that will be coming to Earth from there and all they will bring will be destruction, death and enslavement for man. Both of you have been given gifts. You have the gift of organisation’ Aiden said pointing at Rafferty. ‘And you have the gift of faith’ Aiden now pointed at Hanif. ‘You must both work together to save the innocent, no matter what faith or race. You must find them places to hide where the Anunnaki will not be able to find them. Do you understand me?’ Aiden looked at both men who nodded.
‘Good then go and go quickly this will not be a safe place to stay’ Aiden ordered them and as commanded both men ran away down the cut in the mountain side.
Aiden now remembered what Nimrod had said to him before he fought the two Demos and he knew what he now had to do next. ‘Let’s go he told those that remained’ and he started up the narrow path with the others following.
The narrow path rose up between the two mountain peaks for two hundred paces where it crested and then began to fall once more for another two hundred paces. At the end of the path Aiden turned around and looked back up the passage way that he had just come down as his friends walked past him into the valley behind. Then Aiden took his sword out and held it high above his head in both hands. The sword started to shine getting brighter and brighter. His friends backed away from the now burning sword having to shield their eyes from its powerful glare. Aiden brought the sword down in line with the passageway ahead of him and a hollow thud reverberated through the ground. Then there was a sound of rock grinding against rock. In awe everyone watched as the two mountain tops began to fall in on each other the earth convulsing as the passageway was sealed and the earth beyond torn asunder. When the noise had finally died down Aiden turned and looked at his friends who stared at him open mouthed as were the hundreds of people behind then. It was as if Aiden had been revealed to all as some kind of God!
‘Aiden, Aiden’ it was Gagan’s voice coming from somewhere in the crowd. ‘Aiden’ Gagan Shouted again as he finally broke free from the crowd, ‘Aiden come quick, it’s Aya she’s alive’
‘What’ Aiden cried out and sprinted past Gagan towards the crowd of people.
‘What happened here?’ Gagan said pointing at where the passage way had once been scratching his head.
People parted before Aiden opening a corridor to where Aya lay on the grass with Hoshi carefully tending her. He came skidded to a halt beside Aya quickly kneeling down and gently grabbing hold of her hand. Aya on feeling his touch opened her eyes and seeing Aiden gave him a weak smile.
‘I thought you were dead’ Aiden said tears running down his face. Aya smiled and squeezed his hand as best she could looking at him carefully. ‘I see you remember who you are at last my Lord’ she smiled.
‘Yes I remember who I am and I see you my mate’ Aiden smiled.
‘And I see you’ Aya whispered back with a smile.
Aya healed rapidly from the bullet that had hit her in her in the side, a wound that would have almost certainly have killed her had she been human. But Aya was a Neteru and after two days rest she was once more up and about and shooing away people who wanted her to lie down and rest. Aya now stood beside Aiden their arms about each other’s waists as they looked at the valley below them. The valley was two miles across by seven miles in length and was surrounded by tall mountains. Through the middle of the valley a river flowed filling a large lake towards the far end and there beside the lake was a great golden pyramid. The valley itself was lush and green with many trees and meadows and was alive with all kinds of animals and birds.
‘This is exactly how I thought Eden would look’ Aiden said.
‘It is beautiful’ Aya nodded and rested her head against his shoulder.
‘But why is there a pyramid there, did the Ancient Egyptians live here at one time?’ Aiden pondered.
‘Possibly, Egypt is not far from here. I think we should take a closer look at it’ Aya replied.
‘The key’ Aiden exclaimed, ‘I had forgotten about that. What is the key for exactly?’
‘That I do not know, but I am guessing that we will find the answer over there’ Aya nodded towards the Pyramid.
‘Yes but you are not going anywhere until you are fully healed’ Aiden said sternly.
‘And I will be fully healed tomorrow, so you are welcome to join me when I go there!’ Aya retorted.
‘Do you think all these people will be able to live here’ Aiden said looking at the two hundred or so people who were milling around nearby.
‘Well yes there is enough room and lots of food so they can survive for a generation or two’ Aya replied.
‘But the Anunnaki if they are not defeated will be around for a thousand and more years’ Aiden said confused. ‘So these people will have to survive in this place at least till then!’
‘There are a few hundred people here today but in ten generations how many more? I doubt if this small valley would support more than a few thousand’ Aya shook her head.
'I do not see how this Eden is going to save the humans' Aiden said unimpressed.
The next day despite pleadings from everyone Aya set of towards the pyramid with a grumbling Aiden close behind with most of the group trailing behind him. Only the children stayed behind with Zaher and his family. The group followed the river down through the valley walking along its sandy banks. The river water was crystal clear and in it they could clearly see the fish as they darted this way and that.
‘Are those cows’ Gagan said looking at a small herd of horned animals grazing in a field on the other side of the river.
‘I think yes, they look like cattle I once saw in nature programme on telivision. They had long horns like that’ Demitri agreed.
‘They look dangerous, I would not like to milk them’ Oleska said disapprovingly.
‘And there look those are sheep
’ Bridget said pointing past the cattle.
‘Well this is Eden! It has everything’ Demitri laughed plucking an apple from a tree.
‘I wonder where the snake is?’ Faith said half seriously.
‘Well it looks safe enough so far dear’ Aaron said rubbing his wife’s back gently.
They saw many more animals and birds and even recognised plants and herbs that would help for curing illness and healing wounds. As well as for flavourings for food as Demitri kept reminding everyone and all the while the pyramid grew larger as they drew nearer.
‘That pyramid looks as if it is new’ Gagan pointed out as they finally reached their destination, ‘the ones I saw in Egypt were aged with time and had blocks missing but that looks perfectly smooth.’
The group could see that the sides of the pyramid as Gagan had said where perfectly smooth and it was made of a golden material.
‘It can’t be made of gold can it?’ Seth asked.
‘I doubt it there is enough gold on the whole planet to build something that big’ Aiden said.
‘Today maybe, but thousands of years ago, maybe there was a lot more of it around’ Gagan countered.
When they got to the pyramid Gagan immediately ran his hand across the surface of the building and pressing his thumbnail into its surface he managed to create a small indent.
‘Well it is gold and no mistake’ Gagan whistled, ‘probably just an outer coat though.’
They could now all clearly see a golden stair way that rose a third of the way up the pyramid and seeing no other way into the structure they began climbing the steps. At the top they found their way barred by a huge golden door that was covered in engravings in a language that only Aya and Aiden could understand.
‘What does it say’ Gagan asked impatiently.
‘It talks about a path that leads to Eden’ Aya said ‘It says that here we will find the last hope and the way to sanctuary, and ah yes this is what I was looking for.’ she took the ankh that Aiden had taken from Selinus, which was now around her neck and removing the ankh from the chain she placed it in a recess in the door that fitted its shape exactly. A few moments later they heard the low rumble of hidden machinery coming to life and then slowly the large golden door slide open.
Beyond the door there was an empty golden chamber the far wall of which was covered in what looked like a stylized painting of the stars where there were representations of all the main constellations that could be seen in Earths night sky. The side walls contained more of the Neteru text that Aiden and Aya now studied.
‘It says that this is the sacred store of the gatekeepers and goes on to list tools and seeds and instructions on how to grow the crops, it’s an instruction manual on farming the land in this valley.’ Aiden said.
‘Over here it gives medical information on different illnesses and diseases and how to treat and cure them’ Aya said looking at the opposite wall.
‘It sounds like these are guides to help us survive here’ Faith said.
‘A guide for the gate keepers’ Gagan corrected her reading one of the inscriptions.
‘What does that mean gate keeper?’ Bridget asked.
‘It means there must be some kind of a gate here I guess’ Gagan said.
‘A gate? I still don’t understand’ Bridget said confused.
‘It means that we have not yet found Eden’ Aiden said with a sigh.
‘What?’ everyone chorused in bewilderment.
‘We have not yet found Eden’ Aiden said calmly ‘look here ‘Aiden pointed to some wording above the star map on the far wall. ‘This says ‘The path to Eden is protected only the invited may enter’, and look here at the sides of the wall here and along the bottom, see these symbols I have never seen this before they are like numbers but they make no sense to me.’
‘If this is not Eden then what is it exactly’ Seth said in frustration.
‘It is the start of the Path to Eden, we just have to find the path’ Aiden said.
‘So we have to find another path through the mountains out of this valley?’ Seth said scratching his head.
‘I do not think it is quite that simple’ Aya said, ‘I am sure our answer lies somewhere here’ she indicated the pyramid that they were standing in.
‘Yes Aya is right, why would anyone go through all the trouble to build something like this? Not just to inscribe some survival guides on two walls I think’ Aiden said in agreement.
They stood in silence looking at the information on the walls each now lost in their own thoughts about Eden.
‘Those numbers’ Gagan said breaking the silence looking at Aiden, ‘You said they did not make any sense to you, why don’t they make sense to you?’
‘Well each of these numbers consist of nine digits which are split into three groups of three’ Aiden said.
‘So these are a list of numbers’ Gagan said pointing at a long list of inscriptions that flowed down the edge of the far wall.
‘Yes’ Aiden nodded.
‘And these are the same numbers here’ Gagan pointed to another set of numbers that ran along the bottom of the wall.
‘Well they are all different numbers but the same nine numbers split into groups three groups of three yes.’ Aiden agreed.
‘Here again the same sort of numbers?’ Gagan pointed to the other edge of the wall and Aiden nodded.
‘What are you getting at exactly?’ Aiden said curiosity getting the better of him.
Gagan stood back looking at the drawing of the star map and then at the numbers at the edges. ‘They are map coordinates’ he said finally looking at the others. ‘Those would be the X, Y and Z axis and they give a precise point in a three dimensional space.’
‘But why are there three sets of numbers?’ Aiden asked.
‘To triangulate, if you take three points you can use them to pin point your exact destination in space’ Gagan replied.
‘So where is this destination?’ Seth asked.
‘Here’ Gagan pointed to the centre of the star map ‘it is somewhere there is my guess!’
‘Where is that?’ Demitri now asked looking to where Gagan pointed.
‘I believe that that is the constellation of Orion’ Gagan answered.
‘The Ancient Egyptians believed that that constellation was connected to their God Osiris’ Elden now said.
‘Not just the Egyptians, many other cultures were interested in that constellation.’ Aya agreed.
‘So we have to go to this Orion place’ Faith said, ‘how can we do that?’
‘Aya and Aiden are right, somehow this pyramid will take us there’ Gagan said.
‘OK so how does it do that, is it a space ship?’ Seth said.
‘I don’t know!’Gagan said with a shrug.
Realising that Eden was as far away as it had ever been the travellers made their way back to their camp. As they descended the pyramid steps they found that a door had opened in the base of the pyramid that lead to a vast storeroom full of seeds, grain and tools, but there was no information on the star map or the coordinates.
‘You know I think I am wrong’ Gagan said as they walked back to their camp. ‘That pyramid is made of solid gold, its not just an outer coating!’
‘Well then that makes us very rich no’ Demitri beamed, ‘but what can we now buy with all that gold!’ and he burst out laughing with the others soon joining him.
By the time the group eventually got back to their camp it was already well into the afternoon and no sooner had they sat themselves down than a delegation representing the rest of the people in the valley approached Aiden and Aya, whom they had unofficially adopted as their leaders. The delegation wanted to agree about who should live where and how best to share the resources as they all still believed that the valley was Eden and would be their future home. It seemed pointless to Aiden to tell them that this was not in fact the case as it would only cause more problems and besides he thought keeping everyone busy would be good for them all. So it was a
greed who would be responsible for food and who would be responsible for building homes and how they should go about their tasks. By the time the meeting finished it was already evening and they were all by now exhausted.
‘So what do we do now about finding Eden?’ Seth finally asked the question they had all been thinking now that they were alone once more.
‘We have to find out how to use that pyramid’ Aiden replied.
‘There must be something else in this valley that will tell us right’ Seth said, ‘I mean we have hardly explored this place.’
‘Yes good point Seth’ Aya said.
‘We can split up and explore the whole valley. I am sure we will find something!’ Demitri said with a grin.
‘Toth will know’ Skyla said sleepily from her mums lap.
‘What did you say Skyla?’ Aiden asked.
‘Toth will know’ Skyla repeated ‘he is coming!’
Chapter 19 - Two Keys
The next day Aiden was busy lending a hand in building some shelters when he felt someone tugging at his hand. Looking down he found Skyla pointing up at the sky. Aiden looked up shielding his eyes from the glare of the sun. He could see that there was something high above the valley.
