"It's a large collection of writings, sir."
"The world is bigger than any one book and some are superior." Rapheth frowned at this.
"Oh yes, young one. I have read your holy book but I stand by my word and I shall let you see it for yourself when we visit the library." He smiled expansively. Rapheth leaned back in the soft grass and looked up. He could see a few stars above the splayed branches of the orange and lemon trees planted long ago. Greater than all that he knew? What would Ilim have to say about such a thing? He reserved his doubts about anything being greater than the Holy Aishanna but the man seemed supremely confidant, as if he knew. Maybe he did know. He was a teacher and a wise man. He would learn at Injep's feet what he knew and then he would find others to teach him other things. He was finding that he was hungry for knowledge now. After all, Rapheth had been greatly sheltered, as were his closest friends. But he, most of all. His background had been shrouded in mystery for so long. Jhis, the great danger, as mother put it, seemed far off and alien. As long as I do not give away too much of myself I have nothing to fear. He raised his head and glanced at the people around him. Since his close and involved conversation with Injep more people seemed to warm to him now. Other young men there grinned and held up their goblets as if in toast to him or acknowledged his presence with a nod. He returned the acknowledgments. It would be more dangerous now, venturing out of his own neighborhood but this was worth any danger. He would make sure he was well-disguised before leaving the house ever after. Nothing, not even a Hatchet Man would get in his way of acquiring more knowledge. This was a new world he was embarking on.
Chapter Fifteen
Her calls were finally answered on the third night before the city guard and the spearmen from Galieh could catch her. Tired and thirsty with her staff and the hungry babe clasped to her breast - where there was no milk - to her rapturous relief came the Sons of the Mountain. The Sons of the Mountain seldom interacted with other tribes or came down from their abode unless it was for trade, so she knew her prayers had been answered. A tribe distantly related to the Ostrites farther north, these called themselves Domites in honor of an ancestor, Domiah who broke off from his brothers the Ostrites and many went following him. They were also known as Necharites by the people of Galieh, since many of them lived in a mountain village called Nechar during the late fall and winter seasons.
She was now traveling with their small caravan of donkeys. They had some milk from one of the female donkeys and she fed the child through a cloth-made nipple covering the opening of a waterskin.
"Our father of the tribe has heard of your workings and your words. We too, hear and listen to the word of your god. Through the sands of the desert we hear them."
"Then you are my brothers. If not for you men I would be dead! Thank you for rescuing me."
"Where do you go and how far?"
"I have a place near here, not far from the sink where I can hide and follow the way back to the Hill of Shima."
"The Hill of Shima. That is a long way."
"Yes, but if I get to the Crescent Moon Sink, beyond the Plain of White Bones, from there I will have others to help me."
"I must warn you. The snake-queen's men, they have stepped up their evils against the tribes. The town of Rhe, it is no more. In place are men mining the ground. All the houses they have torn down, the people run off or killed." Said their leader.
"Yes, we found a mass grave where the small marketplace once stood." Said another tribesman. Anet closed her eyes.
"And not only that," said another. "But when we were coming up, near the foot of the mountains near the land of the snake-queen, called the Soudan, there was a terrible sight! A forest of people, impaled upon stakes. Some of them were men and women we knew. Good mountain people. Such horrors visited upon men. One still cannot believe it."
"The forest of men. I saw this in a dream." Anet said quietly.
"Omens are everywhere. A few nights ago I saw a frightening sight. The moons were as eyes of blood!" Anet felt as if her heart had been stabbed at hearing this.
"Blood. Yes." She mouthed quietly. The baby hungrily suckled the dripping cloth. She nestled him against her cheek.
"May she choke on all the blood she has spilled and may those who follow her drown in it. God be merciful." Said the leader.
"If you are going to move against her I hope it is soon. She and her dark gods will drink us all down, the whole land from here to the sea if she is not stopped."
"One of her temples, the one that burned in Galieh, underground I saw hundreds of clay pots. In them were the remains of children." Said one of the men.
"The time is coming for her to be called to account. She will not live forever, no matter what her priests and supporters say." She said quietly.
They shared with her black seed bread with sheep's cheese and water, for the Domites drank no wine. Nor did they cut their hair, which they wound round in great braids around their necks. They also gave her dried goat's meat and a raisin cake and another skin of milk for the baby. They used one of their falcons to send a message, of one of Anet's teraphim, to tell of her coming, and they journeyed with her to the place by Crescent Moon Sink where one of the Karig tribal mothers was waiting for her. It was Belith.
"May your steps upon the sand always be blessed!" She called out to them. The leader of the band of mountain men smiled and lifted his hand in acknowledgment and then they kept going their way east.
The Crescent Moon Sink was shaped like a scythe. It was filled with fresh water and beyond it was one of the prime hiding places of the Karig. Its walls were made of sandstone and right above the water line was a doorway hidden by a large slab of rock, large enough for a caravan to pass through, single file.
"Ahaifa, my daughter!"
"Ahaifa, mother! How does Kela fare?" Said Anet.
"She is well enough. I have a message from the prophet by way of the Mother of the citadel in Gamina." Said the woman. Anet's face lit up. Belith looked haggard and more tired than usual but Anet herself had been through such an ordeal that she did not press.
"Whose babe is the little one? Where did you find him?"
"I rescued him from death at Nimnet's temple in Galieh. Is there anyone who can see about him?"
"I will see to it that someone can take him in." He was a very pale child with blue eyes and a shock of dark brown, straight hair and they wondered where he came from or who his people were. It made her shed tears that someone would give him up to a horrible fate.
"He looks so different. I wonder if he is from the far north. Why would they travel so far? Why?" Anet wondered aloud.
"It may be that he was snatched away or kidnapped. Not all families willingly give their children up, Anet." It seemed that Belith had read her thoughts.
"I'd forgotten."
"I am sure you have seen the blood marks in the sky?" Said Belith giving her a searching look. Anet nodded.
"I have burned a temple. I expected as much."
"But these marks are not a good sign. They came with nightmares, Anet. Many in the tribe collectively have been plagued by bad dreams following this sign."
They entered the hallowed and grand network of cave chambers deep underground, climbing down below the sink hole on wide rough-hewn steps against the wall that separated them from the waters and blindly through the damp sand and stone. The baby fussed and cried a little but soon they came to a narrow way, a path with room for only two people at a time and finally they came to a crossroads and he stopped fussing. Belith led her through a maze of rock until they came to one of the vast cave chambers housing the great gathering of temporary tent dwellings. The tribe was settled here, each family within the tribe either in their own small cave dug out in the walls with hangings draped over it for privacy or several groups of families sharing the floor of the bigger chamber in large tents. The familiar scents of the tribe filled her nostrils and she felt comforted. Belith lead her into the cave her own family was residing in and a fe
w children came out to greet her. Her sister, Yalitha, took the baby from her and cradled him.
"He will need a name and a naming ceremony, and soon Yalitha. A child should not go too long without a name or he will never know himself."
"You found him without family?" Yalitha's face was pinched, her eyes red.
"In Nimnet's temple." Said Anet.
"Ai, me!" She said.
The emotional air was different now that she was back. She heard wailing and crying. The tribe was in mourning. Anet did not have to guess why.
"How long?" She asked.
"Seven days now. Some of our own died in the massacre at Rhe. The Raeaites are like brothers to us. Many of them have married our daughters and our sons their daughters.They survive as a tribe but many were killed." Said Yalitha. Anet did not react to this news. She did not know how. They led her to a private room in one of the larger tents, a small place with soft rugs and hangings for privacy. Yalitha then left with the babe. Anet dropped upon the large pillows and quilts thinking she was ready to fall into slumber but the mourning now surrounding her and her latest mission kept her from completely giving in. Her relentless duties as prophetess would not let her give in to rest or mourning. Ilim's message. The tribal mother seemed to understand this intrinsically and had a young girl bring Anet the letter along with a cup and a small clay pot of tea. His letters were usually always scrolled up and tied with twine or wrapped tightly with wire instead of sealed. She opened it carefully and unrolled it. It started off with a greeting asking after her welfare and how she fared and an exhortation to keep on the path. He was like a father she never had and cherished these letters, especially since they were becoming less frequent. Hard times. Sometimes falcons were shot down and messages intercepted. There was something else, as if written at a later time in haste, perhaps the next day. This part of the letter said:
Daughter, I have had a dream concerning you, a prophetic one. The boy I am raising, wicked men will someday come after him to kill him. I have seen a vision; out in the desert they are chasing him. Somehow you must stop them. I trust that when that day comes, with help from Above, you will find a way.
Ilim
It was short and to the point, just like him. But how would she accomplish this? It was too vague. And when? Emotion washed over her like an overwhelming tide and she fell into tears for some hours, the wailing of the people finally overcoming her self-control. When she finally lay her own head down to rest she dreamed but this one was different from all the others in that it frightened her. She did not understand it.
She dreamed she was facing the queen herself. They were both in a nest, in eggs. She broke from hers first, only to see the queen sitting there eating part of Anet's own egg shell. A monstrous-sized snake lay coiled around the nest watching balefully and in an instant Queen Taliat lept upon her like a hungry cat and attacked her with such ferocity that she awoke with a heart stopping cry. What sort of dream was this and what was its source?
Chapter Sixteen
Not all monsters breathe fire or ice or possess scales and sharp teeth. Beware the monsters in men.
- The Book of Nagilla
More ladre! More ladre was needed for all the future projects she had. Queen Taliat was in the bowels of the great blue temple. She was staring at the grand altar. Here in the underworld, away from the eyes of the dirty pigs, outsiders to the cult, here they would see Nimnet's true form. She was her same sacred self, except her face was the face of raw energy and power, not serene but full of rage and her eyes were not the white tranquil stones as in all other temples to her name but her eyes were fitted with the brightest and reddest of rubies and her tongue was long like a powerful snake, lunging through her mouth between fangs. Elyshe sat above in haughty and proud form with ruby eyes as well. Mother and daughter. One day it would be a trinity instead of the duality for Nimnet and Elyshe were her true ancestresses. The mothers of her paternal and maternal line, of her father Tenan and her mother, Eilannat. In the high halls the images of the queens of heavens were carved in the walls in sprawling reliefs. The builders conscripted had done a magnificent job and they would get their reward when the last of it was finished by being buried here on her ascension. On her transformation she would call them forth.
She wandered the halls until she came to the burial rooms, her own chamber, a grand crypt with an ivory throne beside an ivory sarcophagus trimmed with silver just like Nimnet's throne, in the altar room. Her sarcophagus was cedar with pure fine silver laid over it and lapis lazuli, the magical stone, taken from the former queen's crown, fitted upon the covering. One the walls in here were plaques carved with her family legends and how they were birthed by the goddess Nimnet through Elyshe who was inseminated by a great serpent. In the crypt were finely built, graceful boats, jewels and gold and silver ingots and fine delicate glass urns, harsi and pithoi filled with fine wines and jeweled amphoras of blue and red and green glass, jade and all manner of other riches and reams fine clothing for her journey to the heavens. There was so much to finish, so much more to do but to be with them, sit on high would require the greatest sacrifice yet. They required a high price for their blessings and gifts. She had the great courage, unlike her uncle the coward, to pay it and she would make the whole land pay it. Pay it they must. If all the men, woman and children in the land had to go down into the bowels of the black well, she would have it so.
She left one of her maidservants to stand in as her double, clothed behind veils so that they could not see her face so that she might come here to pray and bask silently with the queens of heaven. And for another reason. They had finally captured Ilim the prophet. She smiled inwardly like a cat who had a mouse cornered. They had captured him right on the western border of Hybron, traveling south on the Zazor river by barge. Waylaying the barge they brought him to her and to their shock, instead of having him beheaded which many had expected she had him taken to the palace dungeons. From there she had him transferred here for safekeeping in a room with air vents and a large cot for a bed and a small lavatory room, a luxury considering his crimes.
She was actually on her way to visit him. Fear, hatred and fascination warred within her. He was an avatar, one of the most powerful ones that had risen in years. She had only read about such people who were blessed, or cursed depending on who one talked to, that had the power of a god conferred upon them. Or were the very manifestation of a god in the form of man. Such people were worth more than all the powerful beasts or pure and innocent ones sacrificed to the goddesses. She wanted that power. If it would not be conferred upon her has a mortal she would achieve it through godhood. The hall leading to her most prized treasured room was guarded by four strong spear men. There was also a scorpion's cave that would soon be operational and filled with scorpions that stood as tall as a man's waist, in case anyone thought of escaping. Torch light was low which cast an eerie, slithering light across the hallway floors. Her steps were soft upon the stone. The warrior guards at the doors stood like statues with long spears at their sides. When she approached they bowed.
"Your Greatness." One of them glanced at the huge snake that slithered behind her, apprehensively.
"Open the door." She touched the stone blade by her side and clutched her flail. They unlocked the doors and let her in. Her serpent came in behind her. He was now large enough to eat a full grown man.
Ilim had been kneeling by his bed, no doubt in prayer to his god when he turned slowly to face her.
"You look worn down and tired, prophet." She said softly. She lifted the soft, voluminous skirt to her dress and sat down in a chair by the door. Her step chains tinkled.
"I am an old man."
"An old man who has managed to escape punishment for all his abuses of the law. But I finally have you."
"Why did you bring me here instead of killing me?"
"Oh no, no, no, no. You are quite special. I see that now, so I have changed my mind. I have great plans Ilim and you figure greatly in them."
"How?" He asked. She smiled, revealing the faint sight of the beginning scales on her skin. Ilim, recoiling, rose and sat on the far side of his bed.
"I plan to become a great one, like you Ilim. I am sure you are familiar with history. The history of the kings of old and the ancient chieftains before them. When they went hunting or when they killed a great, ferocious beast they did so with the express wish and agreement with the gods that the power of that beast would come upon them and strengthen them."
"God be merciful." Ilim whispered in horror. She laughed, light silvery.
"Oh no, prophet." She said pleasantly. "I am not so barbaric as that, though barbarism flows in my blood from very long ago. I make no bones about it. But I am also a descendent of Elyshe and Shaitan, the greatest of the serpents, the greatest of the sons of God."
"Name him not, serpent queen!"
"Now you say that like it is a bad thing."
"Standing from here, it is!"
"Well, I suppose it is, from your point of view. But do not worry. I have no intention of eating your organs, Ilim. Your blood will be offered up to Nimnet before me along with many children. It is their innocence and youth and your powers that will enable me to become the goddess I am meant to be."
Her eyes glittered with a weird fire. In them he could see the family resemblance to her son and it stabbed him to the heart, cold. Is this what the people would have to look forward to under his rule? If he ever came to rule?
"I will give you a choice, prophet. Agree to serve me when I become like the gods and you shall live. Instead of gutting you on the day of the dead sun I will only use some of your blood. Your life will be spared and you shall reap rich rewards in your service to me. But you must take on oath to me as your queen and goddess." Ilim recoiled.
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