by Brian Godawa
Enoch said, “This is too dangerous.”
Edna now joined in, “She survived having her tribe wiped out by Nephilim.”
Enoch barked, “Because we saved her!” He felt put upon.
“And she returned the favor.” Methuselah held up Edna’s bandaged arm. He was forever grateful for the healer’s salve.
Enoch sighed with exasperation. He stared at Betenos and asked, “Why do you want to join us so desperately? Are you trying to seduce my grandson?”
Everyone went silent.
Betenos looked offended. She puffed up indignantly and said with a slow burn, “No, I am not trying to seduce your grandson.” She gave that back with a sting. “I was the daughter of a tribal elder. I do not need your grandson for my betterment! Although, I suspect your concern should be that your grandson is trying to seduce me.”
Lamech flushed with embarrassment. She could not have insulted him more.
“But you do not have to worry about that,” Betenos continued proudly, “because I never want to marry and have a family anyway! I want to do something much more important with my life. I want to fight for justice. And that is what you are doing.”
Enoch sighed, his resistence cracking. “If you slow us down, we will leave you at the nearest city.”
Betenos pushed on, relentless and unyielding, “Did I slow you down in the Greater Zab valley?”
When they had been too exhausted to go any further, Betenos had given them those special roots that renewed their strength like that of eagles when chewed.
“All right, all right!” barked Enoch. He put his foot down. “But you will be our healer and cook, and you will do as you are told.”
“Will you teach me the bow?” asked Betenos.
Enoch burst out chuckling. Everyone joined in, relieved. She was growing on them all.
Enoch said, “Well you certainly do have the requisite stubborn-headedness to be a part of this tribe.”
They all laughed some more — except for Lamech. Her remarks had deeply hurt him. He had truly been enjoying her presence, not trying to seduce her. Her arrogance of caste superiority left a foul impression on him. He looked for a way to leave the room without drawing attention to himself.
Edna could see her son’s hurt. She held back from mothering him. She knew he had to go through this rejection on his own. It would mature him.
A knock at the door frightened them all. A curfew ruled the city. Anyone out in the streets at this hour could be arrested. The four of them found their weapons. Egibi opened the door to a six-year old child.
“Child, what are you doing out there!” yelped Egibi. He grabbed the small shoulder and pulled him quickly inside. “Do you not know, you could be arrested or killed outside past curfew!” he scolded.
The child nodded. He held out a small box to Egibi, a scribe’s writing tablet with wax embedded in wood. When opened, a person could mark the wax and close it for storage. Egibi opened it and looked at it, but he could not read.
Enoch took the tablet and read it. His eyes went wide. “It says it is from an ‘Ohyah’, the Nephilim Captain of the Guard. He wants to speak with me in secret. He says he has important intelligence for me. He wants to meet outside the city walls by the garbage dump.”
“That smelly pit?” said Betenos.
“He does not want us to be discovered,” said Enoch. “No one is going to be snooping around the city garbage dump in the late of night. And there are not many places a giant’s presence can be discreet.”
“A trap,” offered Methuselah.
Enoch did not agree. “He would not admit to me that he was a Nephilim Captain of the Guard if he wanted to trick me,” he said. “That would be about the last thing he would pretend to be.”
“A double cross?” suggested Methuselah.
Enoch countered, “He is telling me a disadvantageous truth to place himself in a vulnerable position. And this little child is more evidence of that sentiment.”
“Just the same, we are going with you,” said Methuselah. “We will keep out of sight in case it does turn out to be a trap.”
Chapter 22
The city dump lay just outside the walls on the north side of the city, downwind from the sea and river breezes that jostled their way through the streets. The stinking festering pile of refuse made Enoch think of Sheol and what it would be like to be cursed.
He walked toward some trees at the edge of the dump. How anything could grow here amazed him. The stench of the rotting garbage drew too many flies and made him gag. He shooed away a couple hyenas fighting over a cattle bone and looked around. The nearly seven cubit tall dark figure standing in the moonlit shadows of the tree foliage gestured just enough to draw Enoch’s attention. His heart raced. He wiggled his fingers in preparation to draw his dagger. Methuselah, Edna, and Lamech moved in and out of cover amidst the piles of rubbish, ready to charge at his command.
Enoch stepped up to the giant and found cover out of sight of the city watch above on the walls.
Ohyah towered over Enoch in both size and strength. Tattoos covered him, but he was one of the more handsome looking giants, if one could say that about such beasts.
“Are the three following you your own?” asked Ohyah, trying to keep his deep voice to a whisper.
Enoch nodded. This giant was also highly trained, highly attuned and preternatural in his senses. He could easily grab Enoch and crush him before any of them could come to his aid.
“I am grateful you came tonight. I know it was not an easy decision,” said Ohyah.
“Then make it a worthy one,” said Enoch. He would not fear this monster. He knew whom he served and did not fear death in the least.
Ohyah said, “The Nephilim you killed were not random thieves wearing stolen uniforms. They were from the deep west in Bashan by the Western Sea. From the area around Mount Hermon.”
Enoch had heard of Mount Hermon. He knew it was the place of descent, where “the gods came down from heaven” to rule among men. It was an area shrouded in mystery, separated from their fertile crescent by hundreds of leagues of harsh arid desert. No one he knew had ever travelled there. All he had heard about it was rumors, gossip, and speculation. Nothing he cared to trust.
Ohyah continued, “After the Gigantomachy, some Rephaim escaped the Great Purges and found sanctuary in the one place that the Watchers would not consider looking for them. Their own territory of Bashan. The gods left their cosmic mountain to reside in the cities, so the criminal Rephaim and Nephilim went to hide out where the gods had left. They congregate and secret themselves like cockroaches in the nooks and crevices of the mountains and foothills. The giants you brought in were branded with the mark of Thamaq and Yahipan, Rephaim originally from Sippar.”
Ohyah did not know that Enoch had been in Sippar during that fateful event. Enoch heard everything Ohyah told him, and knew it was all true. This earned the giant a modicum of trust. Of course, he was still a Captain of the Temple Guard of Inanna, and the best lies were mostly true. So Enoch remained guarded.
Ohyah offered, “If you want to kill outlaws, Bashan is one of their hideouts.”
Enoch narrowed his eyes and looked suspiciously at Ohyah.
“Why are you giving me this intelligence?” Enoch asked.
Ohyah did not expect Enoch to believe him easily. He knew he had to be vulnerable first, to reveal information that would place Ohyah himself in jeopardy. It was the only way he could earn trust.
“I have been having dreams from a god named Elohim,” Ohyah said.
Enoch’s attention perked up. How could this dark minion of Inanna know about Elohim? Did he know that Enoch and his band served Elohim? But how?
Ohyah, continued, “I saw the Ancient of Days, the ruler of heavens come down to earth and sit on a throne surrounded by ten thousand times ten thousand of his holy ones. He proclaimed a sentence upon all flesh and then wrote it on a tablet. The tablet was immersed in water and when it came out, all the names were washed away
but eight. I fear for my life, Enoch. I want to join the forces of this god Elohim.”
How could a demonic chimera receive revelations from Elohim? wondered Enoch. This was madness.
Ohyah said, “Elohim told me that you served him.”
He could not possibly have known Enoch’s calling except by revelation. But what was this water judgment?
“And he said that you would be going to the land of Bashan.”
Ah, there he is wrong, thought Enoch, I have been called to pronounce judgment upon the Watcher gods and their progeny, but Elohim has not told me to go to Bashan. Though it would provide the most opportunity for his bounty hunting of giants.
Ohyah said, “I have a twin brother, Hahyah, who I believe is hiding out in that region. We have had an inseparable spiritual connection since we were born. I am sure he has had the same dreams and is most likely looking for me. I want to go with you to Bashan to find him. We will both repent and serve Elohim the Creator.”
Enoch simply could not accept this insanity. A demonic spawn repent to worship Elohim? But was it possible that the truth was more than he understood? Could Elohim regenerate the soul of a Naphil? They were half human after all. Why could not their sin be as forgivable as his own? He wondered, if one of these could turn, could a Watcher god turn?
“No,” said Enoch, “We are not going to Bashan. If you want to find your brother, you will have to go alone.”
“It is treason to leave the side of Inanna. I will not be allowed to return. At least with you, I have a chance.”
“Why do you say that?” asked Enoch. “You are a mighty warrior.”
“But Elohim favors you,” said Ohyah.
Enoch paused and measured his words carefully. “And Inanna favors you.”
Ohyah understood the obvious implication. They served different gods. Enoch could never trust him because Inanna was a treacherous scheming demon of war and sexual perversion. He did not blame Enoch. But it dashed his hopes nonetheless.
Enoch could see Ohyah’s crestfallen expression. A Naphil, Captain of the Guard, mighty warrior, and demigod looked as if he was a kicked cub. Maybe more truth hid in this matter than Enoch thought at first. But he had to trust his intuition, unless Elohim himself told him otherwise.
Ohyah spoke with sad respect, “May your Elohim bless you on your journey with protection and success.” With that Ohyah melted away into the shadows of the trees.
Methuselah arrived first. “What happened?”
Enoch stared into the blackness. Edna and Lamech joined them. Enoch paused thoughtfully, then finally offered, “He wanted to help us.”
“Help us?” sniffed Methuselah, “You mean betray us.”
“That may very well be,” said Enoch. “But if so, then he fooled me.”
Methuselah, Edna, and Lamech all looked askance at Enoch and then into the dark, hoping that Ohyah would come back and explain the impossible. But no explanation was forthcoming. Enoch said, “Let us get back to the house. I need sleep.”
Enoch’s thrashing awakened Methuselah and Edna from their sleep. When he sat up, they saw the sheen of sweat bathing him. He gasped for air. They knew it was another dream vision.
“Elohim told me to go to the land of Bashan,” said Enoch.
Methuselah and Edna could not believe their ears. Edna reached over and softly closed Methuselah’s gaping jaw.
“That is near Mount Hermon, the cosmic mountain of the pantheon,” said Methuselah. “Do you consider it wise to tread so close to the headquarters of the gods?”
Enoch said, “The Naphil guard captain told me that Thamaq and Yahipan were hiding out in Bashan.”
Methuselah took one look at Edna and said, “We are going with father to Bashan.”
If the Rephaim of Sippar, the murderers of his beloved Edna’s parents, were still alive, if these abominations of desolation still breathed the good air of terra firma, then Methuselah had his purpose: to hunt them down and kill them.
The revelation of the Naphil dreams still bothered Enoch. Elohim had told Ohyah Enoch’s charge before Elohim had told Enoch. How could this be? Should he have welcomed the giant into their company? Was that from Elohim? Or was it occultic sorcery? Was this a test? Did he fail it? It chewed into his brain. The giant knew Enoch’s destination before he did. Elohim spoke to a Naphil!
Enoch stared into the distance like a holy man in a trance. “If you are going to go with me, you had better wake the others. We leave immediately for Mari.”
Chapter 23
The city of Mari sat a good one hundred and thirty leagues up the Euphrates River from Nippur. As an economic trading center between Shinar in the south and Syria in the north, Mari channeled timber, stone, pottery, grains, and perishable foods up and down the Euphrates. It was also a way station to cross the vast desert to reach Bashan by the shorter and more hazardous path. The longer circuitous, and safer, route swept northward around the fertile crescent.
Enoch’s traveling band of giant killers hired a boat to take them up to Mari. From there, they would strike out across the desert. The legendary Thamudi, primitive tribal peoples, roamed the desert, filling it with danger. They were said to skin victims alive and roll them in the sand to increase their unbearable pain.
Enoch left the snow tribe women with Egibi as he had promised. But he took Betenos with them, as he had conceded to her.
They avoided staying in the city proper so they would not be easily tracked by enemies. They chose a thick forest off the river’s edge. They burrowed deep into the wildwood far from civilization to rest before their westward crossing of the desert.
After clearing a camp, they started one of the first fires they had been able to burn in a long time. They roasted wild boar on a makeshift spit and sat back, bellies full, mugs topped with beer. The women slept as Enoch, Methuselah, and Lamech sat around the fire planning the next leg of their trip.
Methuselah interrupted the discussion. “We are being followed.” Lamech started, for he had not noticed.
“I know,” said Enoch. “I sensed it about half way up the river, and whoever it is has trailed us into the forest.”
Lamech grabbed his weapon, Rahab. “Should we wake the women?”
“Yes,” said Enoch. “But do not cause a commotion, because they are very near.”
Lamech lightly nudged Edna and Betenos awake. He gave them a shushed gesture of warning. They understood the danger and picked up their weapons. Edna gripped her multi-bladed weapon and she handed Betenos an axe from the wood pile. They stepped up slowly to the campfire.
“Backs against the flames, in a circle,” commanded Enoch, who pulled an arrow from his quiver and nocked it on his bowstring. “It is time we face our stalker,” he said.
They heard the rustling of the leaves in the wind in sync with the rustling in the underbrush. Whoever lurked there had a hunter’s skill for blending into the natural background.
Or whatever.
They heard a soft growling. The iridescent glow of eyes reflecting the firelight from the brush appeared. Pairs of eyes. All around them. About twenty.
The lead alpha male stepped out of the bush. It focused on Enoch, seeming to know his equal. It was a bizarre creature that none of them had ever seen before, a chimera, a hybrid mixture of several animals. It crept on all fours, and was about thrice the size of a man. It had the long scaly neck and head of a horned dragon, the forelegs of a feline predator, the taloned hind legs of a bird of prey, and its tail was a living snake.
The creature showed no fear of its prey. It seemed to merely be sizing up how easily the game would be taken. It snarled.
Lamech rolled out Rahab. He could tame this thing with a whip of his sword, but twenty of them? That was another story altogether.
The alpha hissed. Its forked tongue tasted the air that carried their scent. It backed up a bit into the shadows. The eyes of the others moved slightly forward, lowering to the ground. They prepared to strike.
Suddenly, the al
pha beast yelped as its tail was jerked from behind. Something dragged the monster into the brush and out of sight. Its roar cut off in a squeal of pain.
One of the surrounding chimeras jumped out of the bushes at the humans by the fire. A seven cubit tall Naphil leapt through the air, intercepting the chimera. It met the beast with a crunch and they rolled to the ground in a mass. Then the giant stood up, victoriously, his blade dripping with chimera blood.
He stood stripped naked except for a loincloth, the ritual Nephilim hunting attire, holding a pearheaded mace in one hand and a battle axe in the other. Was he on their side or was he claiming them as his prey?
Another squeal cut through the dark. Another chimera flew out from the bush and landed in a dead heap for all to see. Its killer followed, a second leaping Naphil. He landed on the other side of the blazing fire, loincloth naked and ready to kill with a mace and sword. Two down, eighteen to go.
Enoch suddenly recognized the second Naphil as Ohyah, the Captain of Inanna’s guard. The first Naphil stared at Ohyah with a look of surprise, like he had not anticipated Ohyah’s arrival.
Enoch had no time to sort out what was happening. The gang of monsters pounced in unison. Most of them attacked the two Nephilim. The others went for the humans.
These hellions fought fiercely. Methuselah thanked Elohim the Nephilim were on their side. They might not have survived without them.
Enoch killed a couple of the chimeras with his bow With such close quarter fighting, he dropped the bow and switched to an axe.
Methuselah used his javelins as pikes, poking out eyes and throats. He caught a quick glance of Edna, spinning and slicing more furiously than he had ever seen. But her wounded arm, though mostly healed, was a bit stiff and slow. She was tiring and getting sloppy. Killing hybrid giants was one thing, but these obscenities were five-part hounds of Sheol. Their freakish nature resulted in confusing unpredictable fighting behavior. They were flexible, agile and fast.
Betenos was not a warrior. Lamech had been working with her, and she had been catching on quickly. But this was not any kind of battle to practice in. It was not even a battle that Lamech, with all his experience, had ever been in before. He had double duty snapping his sword Rahab and covering for Betenos behind him with their backs to the bonfire. She snatched up Enoch’s bow and arrows. She had time to aim and release from behind Lamech.
