David Ascendant

by Brian Godawa

  More than anything, Goliath just wanted revenge against the vermin that killed his parents.

  Chapter 3

  Goliath and Ishbi stood at attention with a thousand other military reinforcements preparing to join their brothers in battle north of the city. They had come from the surrounding five cities of the Philistine pentapolis. Philistia had been settled generations earlier when the Mediterranean Sea Peoples had left their habitations in search of new territory and landed on the shores of Canaan. They were not a singular people, but consisted of a variety of Aegean clans; Cherethites, Pelethites, and even Caphtorim, from the island of Caphtor, also known as Crete.

  These Sea Peoples had quickly established their presence on the coast and immediately launched an invasion of Egypt. They were repelled and so accepted a form of vassalage under the Pharaoh’s authority. They became known collectively as Philistines and maintained a profitable control of the access to shipping routes to the rest of the world, including Egypt, for travel and trade. The land route from Canaan to Egypt eventually was called the Way of the Philistines.

  Hundreds of years in the past, the wandering Israelites first entered Canaan like a plague upon the land. They were a warmongering tribe that sought to empty the country through the merciless slaughter of all of Canaan’s inhabitants, including Goliath’s people. As he learned it, a cruel and violent general named Joshua led the Israelite Habiru, or Hebrews, as they were now called. They first plundered the Transjordan, the eastern side of the Jordan River, where Goliath’s Rephaim ancestor, Og of Bashan ruled. The few surviving Rephaim fled into Canaan and some of them ended up in Philistia on the coast.

  The Israelites hunted down all the giant clans of Rephaim and Anakim, but for unknown reasons, stayed away from the five cities of the Philistines. These were Ashdod, Ashkelon, and Gaza on the shore with Ekron, and Goliath’s hometown Gath, a short way inland.

  Over the next few generations, the Israelites became annoying gadflies to the Philistines. The two nations found themselves in constant battles over territory. The Israelites were a loose confederation of a dozen lawless tribes spread out like lice on sheep in the central hill country from the south Negeb all the way up to Laish in the north.

  The pentapolis of the Philistines was a more cohesive and civilized confederation of cities, each led by Lords called seranim, who met in a Council of Five. They were less like kings and more like governors of a unified military confederation. Their entire civilization was so much more advanced than the ruffian Israelites, it was a wonder they could not exterminate them.

  The Philistines had brought beautiful painted art, sculpture, and pottery to the land of Canaan. The Israelites were still scratching on rocks and using stones for utensils. The Philistines had developed blacksmithing and the new art of forging iron. The Israelites were still using bronze, copper and tin for crude implements and few weapons. The Philistines had iron chariots; the Israelites cowered on foot in the hills and mountains. The Philistines had developed a cosmopolitan culture that traded with the nations of the world, and adopted many ideas and gods into its own. The Israelites still worshipped a primitive invisible demon whose insane jealousy demanded his people avoid contact with other nations. It was a wonder they were having so much trouble overcoming these ignorant, uncouth and uncultured Hebrews.

  The Lord of Gath, Achish ben Maoch, announced to the mustered reserve forces before him, “Aphek is twenty-eight miles north of Gath. You will engage in an all-day speedy march to bring aid to your fellow soldiers on the battlefield. You are being called upon because the Israelites have brought forth a magical talisman of great occultic powers that has struck fear into the hearts of your countrymen. It is a golden box that houses their demon god, and releases a great terror upon their enemies.”

  Goliath and Ishbi had been taught about this magical object. In ages past, it had toppled the mighty walls of Jericho, slayed thousands of warriors, and opened the gates of Kiriath-Arba to the hordes of barbaric Hebrews who wiped out the last of the Anakim.

  Achish continued, “You will provide your support for our forces and you will sacrifice your lives for the glory of Dagon!” The soldiers cheered. “These dirty leprous Hebrews have terrorized us for too long! It is time we stamp them out for good!”

  More cheers rose from the ranks. Goliath could only think of one thing, his vendetta against the Israelites. He loved death as much as these Hebrews loved life, and he was not afraid of their god who hid himself in a magical box. He had already figured out what he was going to do.

  It would be glorious.

  Chapter 4

  The Philistine reserves from Gath arrived at Aphek late in the night. They were fed a meal and told to rest up in preparation for battle the next day. But Goliath did not sleep. He pulled the exhausted Ishbi aside in whispers.

  “Ishbi, come. Let us creep out into the night and plant ourselves deep within the enemy territory.”

  “Are you mad?” Ishbi whispered back. “What do you hope to achieve, our hanging?”

  “No. We are going to steal this magic golden box and change history.”

  “You really are mad.”

  “There is a madness in the mighty. We will do the one thing no one else would even consider doing, and thereby secure for ourselves instant gibborim status.”

  “We will secure for ourselves instant death.”

  Goliath responded, “Will not your familiar spirits protect you?”

  Ishbi was the offspring of an Ob, a female necromancer who conjured spirits from the underworld and who had conjugated with Ishbi’s father in an adulterous fling. Some of those spirits followed Ishbi and gave him an otherworldly advantage in battle.

  Ishbi complained, “My familiars are whispering to me right now that they will not go anywhere near the golden box.”

  Goliath sighed. “Ishbi I do not want to work my way up through the ranks. I do not have the time, nor the patience.”

  “That is for certain,” interjected Ishbi. Goliath was constantly taking great risks in his headlong pursuit of glory.

  “Are you with me, brother?” said Goliath.

  Ishbi stared long and hard at Goliath. He wanted to walk away from this. He wanted to wash his hands of such absurd notions. But he knew he could not. He was tied to Goliath in life and like all Philistine soldier companions, he intended to be tied with him in death. He just realized that was going to come more quickly than he had planned.

  “Let us go,” said Ishbi.

  Goliath grinned with satisfaction. He punched Ishbi in the chest. Ishbi returned the affection but with a bit more sting to the hit.

  Ishbi was united with this warrior in spirit and in flesh. He wasn’t going to let down his companion, his lover.

  They slipped out of their camp and headed toward the enemy hive.

  Chapter 5

  The Philistine forces lined up in the valley between Aphek and Ebenezer, where the Israelites were encamped. In the morning, the mysterious golden box that housed their malevolent divinities was paraded before the Israelite front line. The entire army gave a war shout that sent chills down the spines of the watching Philistines. They thought that the Hebrews were possessed by evil spirits let loose from the box. There were even murmurings among the ranks that these demonic gods had struck Egypt with plagues and that they might do the same to them.

  The box was returned to the back of the army to be cared for by a cadre of their priests. The Philistine captains enjoined their men to take courage lest they become slaves to their barbaric enemies.

  The Israelites could see that the Philistines’ were planning on overwhelming them with a massive blitz of their entire armed forces, including additional reinforcements. It was a total of nearly three thousand men. So, in response, Israel called up every man in reserve to counter that blitz with close to three thousand of their own.

  In doing so, the Israelites called away the entire garrison that guarded the golden box in its own tent, leaving it and its company of fifty
priests completely unprotected at the rear of the horde. Goliath and Ishbi had found a hiding place near there the night before, when they reconnoitered the troop movements.

  As soon as the armies engaged in battle, all attention focused on the skirmish at the front line. The action left Goliath and Ishbi completely free to attack the priests. Goliath led and Ishbi stayed back to catch any priests trying to escape. They cut down the ones with ram’s horns first, so no alarm could be sounded. A few had arms with them, but the giants swung their swords in great arcs with such speed and power that they decapitated, disemboweled and dismembered all fifty of the holy men in mere moments. One Levite was able to get out of the tent and sprinted to tell the camp. An arrow from Ishbi’s bow took him down.

  Inside the tent, they saw two remaining priests standing guard before the golden box, the one they heard the priests call the “ark of the covenant.” The two Israelites appeared to be important with their special blue colored robes and head miters on. When they saw Goliath and Ishbi approach them, the priests dropped their weapons, fell to their knees in fearful tears, and bowed low before the giants.

  Ishbi’s familiar spirits told him these Israelite priests were actually worshippers of Belial, one of their own. Traitors to their god, he thought with curious amusement. But then the spirits left him in a frenzy.

  One of the priests cried out, “Please don’t kill us. We are the sons of the high priest, Eli. We are Hophni and Phi…”

  Goliath’s sword cut them both in half before he could finish his pleading.

  They kicked the body parts aside and stood before the gold box. It was small for such an important relic, only about four feet long and three feet wide and high. It was carried with two long poles that passed through rings on the bottom of the ark.

  It was a curious artifact that sported two cast sphinx-like Cherubim images on the top. Goliath knew that Cherubim were the symbolic hybrid guardians of royal thrones as their own lord Achish had such images at the base of his throne. It seemed like a portable throne chariot to them.

  Ishbi approached the gleaming box and reached out to touch one of the two winged guardians on its lid.

  “Stop!” shouted Goliath. “You may release the deity inside.”

  Ishbi stopped inches short of the object.

  Goliath concluded, “These carrying poles are obviously safe enough for us to grab hold. Quickly.”

  Ishbi wiped his slippery, bloody hands on his battle skirt to get a good grip. They hoisted the ark up. It was a featherweight to their muscular Rephaim arms.

  They left the tent. But before they ran, Goliath grabbed hold of the large tent fabric and pulled with all his might. The entire structure came down like a death shroud onto the corpses. He wanted to take the opportunity to leave an insulting statement to complement their theft of this most holy and precious idol.

  Within moments, they were sprinting back out into the forest that surrounded the valley. They made a wide arc away from the battle, circling back to their camp.

  It had been so easy. The weakness of resistance they had encountered surprised Goliath. This Hebrew deity was pathetic if this was all he would muster to protect his little throne, his meager magic box of residence.

  By the time the Israelites noticed that their camp had been ransacked and the ark stolen, Goliath and Ishbi were already safely behind their own lines.

  The Israelites sounded a horn. Word spread that their precious idol had been taken. It caused such despair that their unity broke down and their forces melted away in cowardice. It was as if the absconding of the ark had been the bursting of a lung that sucked them all away like a rushing wind.

  By the time the Philistines had secured the valley and the city of Ebenezer, thirty military units of close to five hundred Israelite warriors had been slain. The Philistines chased the fleeing Israelites twenty miles back to Shiloh where the tabernacle of Yahweh resided. They destroyed the city and burned the sacred tent to the ground, slaughtering the Levite priests who lived there.

  The Israelites had lost the central symbols of their faith and their hope of unity.

  Goliath was right. No one had anticipated such a bold and risky move. But he and Ishbi had changed history.

  They were heralded as gibborim, and given a hero’s feast and reward ceremony. They were allowed the pleasure of raping a dozen captured Israelites in a frenzied orgy of violence, and were given the glorious honor of accompanying their golden booty back to the chief city of Ashdod. But through all the celebration, Goliath was haunted by the memory of how easy it had been to capture the magic box of deity. The thought occurred to him that this may have been a set-up.

  Chapter 6

  Lahmi and Ittai were inseparable comrades. They worked together assisting metal smiths, worshipped together in the temple of Dagon, played together in the fields, and trained together in the gymnasium every moment they could find.

  This was one of those moments. The two ten-year olds were coming home from battle practice at the end of the day. Ever the competitors, they began quarreling over who was a better swordsman. Before long, they were sparring against each other in the street with their wooden swords and shields.

  Though Ittai was smaller, he handled a weapon better. They were both exhausted from a long practice, but Ittai seemed to find a new reserve of energy to mount an attack of blows that pushed Lahmi back against a wall.

  Suddenly, a rock hit the back of Ittai’s head, stunning him. Lahmi promptly knocked Ittai to the ground with a well-placed hack to his rib cage.

  They both turned to see the source of the projectile. A group of three other young kids had followed them home from their workout.

  The children were a bit older, maybe twelve or so. They approached Lahmi and the prone Ittai. The lead bully, a Rephaim himself, led the children in a chant, “Ittai the Gittite! Ittai the Gittite! Fingers, toes, but no height!” Gittite was the word for citizens of Gath.

  The cruelty of children found and exploited every abnormality in their peers with unrelenting ruthlessness. Extra digits were not usually mocked in Rephaim because of the imposing size of their possessors. In Ittai’s case however, his small height turned his polydactyl link with the giants into an opportunity for mockery.

  He was used to being picked on. It inspired him to overcome his handicap with skilled fighting. He had a will of iron that drove him to practice battle exercises longer and harder than anyone else.

  But he would not need to defend himself today. Lahmi would. Lahmi stepped up to the bully, who stood a full six inches taller than him. He looked up into the bully’s eyes with fierce determination to protect the honor of his best friend in the world.

  The bully grinned maliciously and glanced at his two comrades by his side. “I bet his puny loins match his puny size.”

  The other two chuckled at the insult.

  “Take it back,” growled Lahmi, “or you will be sorry.”

  “No. You take back your little runt and get out of my sight or you will be sorry you ever chose him as your boy love.”

  Ittai rose to his feet and gripped his wooden sword tightly.

  “He is not my boy love,” Lahmi fumed. “But now that you say it, I think I would like to make you my boy love, weakling.”

  The bully’s eyes went wide with anger.

  Without warning, Lahmi thrust the handle of his wooden sword upward into the bully’s jaw. It made contact with a sickening crunch of shattering teeth. The bully fell back to the ground in a daze.

  Lahmi used the flat side of his weapon to crack one of the comrades in the head and the other one in the stomach. Both went down, one stunned, the other retching.

  Lahmi dropped the sword and jumped on top of the big bully and began to pummel his face with a flurry of blows.

  The bully’s face broke. Blood began to splatter everywhere.

  The other two perpetrators came to their senses and ran away crying.

  The bully was unconscious. Lahmi would not stop beating him. H
is victim’s nose was a pulp, his cheeks shattered, his jaw broken and his skull was about to be pulverized. Lahmi had been overcome by his fury. It was one of the things he had picked up from his big brother Goliath; a temper that would overtake him.

  Ittai grabbed Lahmi before he would kill the bully.

  “Lahmi, enough!”

  Lahmi stopped. It energized him. He felt release and could finally think straight again.

  The sound of a trumpet at the city gates interrupted them. The armed forces had arrived in the grand procession celebrating their victory.

  Ittai said, “Let us get out of here.”

  They left the bloody, beaten body of the bully in the alley and ran to see the triumphal parade.

  The citizens of Gath lined up along the main thoroughfare of the city to receive the triumphal procession of their returning warriors. It had been some weeks in the coming. They had originally taken the ark to Ashdod on the coast. Gath was the second city in its tour of Philistia.

  Lahmi and Ittai pressed their way through the crowd to get a better view of the military parade. When they got to the front of the line, they could see the long array of soldiers, followed by their captives.

  Normally, a triumphal procession consisted of captured kings, soldiers and booty, dead or alive, paraded in victorious display on carts or dragged in the dirt. But this procession consisted of a sole object of conquest: the golden box called an “ark” that held the Israelite deity trapped in its confines.

  It was unimpressive to Lahmi, small and unbefitting the glory of a powerful god. He was glad he worshipped Dagon the storm god, father of Ba’al, and ruler of Philistia.

  The Philistines were a syncretistic people that adapted the best wisdom and culture from those they conquered or with whom they traded. The Mesopotamian god Dagon was one of those borrowings, from the region around Mari in the northwest.