22. The Forests of Eden
Otherworld
The three of them were standing at the beach, near the edge of the shore. Behind them was the small boat where the ferryman still stood, as he waited until he could once more venture across the seas of infinity. Paul Dane stood side by side with Valerie Mendoza as he looked around. Whether they were standing on an island or part of a continental landmass he wasn’t so sure, but then again this was a place where anything was possible. It was daylight, but where the sun was located he just couldn’t tell, it was as if the star was just over the horizon. Paul could see a vast forest out in the distance. He wasn’t a botanist, but the plants seemed both oddly familiar, yet completely strange. It was as if the flowers and trees had yet to crossbreed with other plant species in order to produce the fruits and herbs as he knew them. The greenery were all still in their original, primordial state.
“This is where I leave you,” the old man said as he stood in front of them. “The ferryman waits for me.”
Valerie smiled faintly. She had grown used to being with him and considered the wanderer a friend. She had a distinct feeling she would see him again. “Where will you go from here?”
The old man smiled back. “Perhaps I shall journey to the upper realms. Where the contented spirits go. Then perhaps even to Irkalla, where some of my family dwells. Then after that, who knows? Perhaps I shall wander the wastes again.”
Paul nodded. Irkalla was the name for the Sumerian underworld. A place somewhat akin to Hades of the Greek myths. “I wish you’d stay for awhile. There’s so much more I can learn from you. I still have so many questions.”
The old man laughed a little as he turned his scrawny head and gazed out at the bluish water along the shore. “I must be on the move, it gives me a purpose. I made a vow to myself to wander these plains forever until I can find the answers to which I seek.”
Paul took his glasses off and placed them in his front shirt pocket. His vision was perfect in this other world. “I have a feeling that you’ll never find those answers.”
“Perhaps you are right,” the old man said wistfully. “Though it gives me something to do. What is life without a purpose?”
Paul laughed. “Back in my time you’d be called an existentialist.”
The old man seemed puzzled. “I am not familiar with that word.”
“An existentialist is one who believes that life has no meaning,” Paul said. “Yet one creates meaning by giving oneself a purpose in one’s life.”
“I see. That is one new word I have learned today,” the old man said.
“The Righteous Sufferer,” Paul said. “You’re him, aren’t you?”
“I have suffered in my life,” the old man said. “Though again, I am not familiar with that title.”
“It’s an old Babylonian poem,” Paul said. “About a man who becomes sick and loses everything. He asks the gods what he has done wrong to deserve such a fate. Later on, the Hebrews adapted it and sort of made their own version of it- except that instead of many gods, they just made it one. They called it the Book of Job.”
“Yes, you can say that the poem is a reflection of my life story,” the old man said. “It is a story that has been told many times by many people over the course of history. Such is the way with mankind, we create new stories from old ones and retell them in a slightly different way each time.”
“The Book of Job is a timeless story,” Valerie said. “I gotta ask though, is this all the work of one god or multiple gods?”
The old man shrugged. “Does it really matter in the end if all these gods are truly different beings or just different aspects of a single god? Does it really change anything?”
Valerie looked down on the white sand. “I guess not.”
The old man turned and started to walk towards the small boat at the edge of the shore. “Then I shall leave you both to it. I am sure Urshanabi is getting restless just standing on his boat. He might try to leave so it’s best that I go too. Farewell and I hope we shall meet again.” With those words, the old man waded into the clear waters and then climbed into the boat. The ferryman began to paddle away and both were soon lost in the mists that surrounded the waters.
Valerie looked confused as she turned and looked at Paul. “Urshanabi? That was the name he called the boatman with. I thought that was Charon.”
Paul shrugged. “Well, Urshanabi was a companion to Gilgamesh and he was the one who ferried that great hero across the underworld. The Sumerian ferryman has very similar traits to Charon so I guess it’s a universal theme. They both could be the same person.”
Valerie pointed towards the forest. “Well, we might as well get moving. He said there would be a friend waiting for us somewhere here.”
They both held each other’s hands as they started walking towards the distant forest. Paul was quiet as he kept thinking about his ordeal and he felt shameful about it. Despite all the knowledge about myths and legends that he had, Paul had felt totally powerless when he was trapped in the infernal city of Dis.
Valerie stole a glance at him as they continued walking. “You’re more brooding than usual, Paul. Is everything okay?”
“I’m just mad at myself that I couldn’t have broken out of that prison I was in,” Paul said. “I mean, I’m thankful for what you did and all, but—”
“As a man, you felt that you should have been the one to rescue me, is that it?”
Paul sighed. “I guess that’s it. I’m not saying that I think men are supposed to be stronger, it’s just that I felt that I’ve let myself down more than anything. I mean, here I am, the great mythology professor, brought down by my own guilt. It’s not something to be proud about.”
Valerie nudged him slightly with her elbow. “It just goes to show that you’re human, Paul. It proves that we all need someone to help us out every now and then. That’s what the world ought to be about.”
Paul clasped her hand even tighter. She was his guardian angel. Valerie was everything he could have asked for. “You’re right. I owe you my life and my very soul, Val. I love you.”
“And I love you.”
For a long while, neither of them said anything further. They both were content just to be with each other as they walked along the base of the tallest mountain they had ever seen. The short grasslands were dotted with occasional shrubs and flowery trees. There were strange looking fruits that neither of them ate. The one peculiar thing about the Otherworlds was that they didn’t feel the need to eat nor did they feel tired. The time of day didn’t change as the shadows of the land stayed the same, it was as if the hours had stood still in this world, except that they were moving along on it. Paul wore a watch and as he looked at it, the hands on the dial had apparently stopped moving the moment the demon Dantalion had transported them into these planes.
As they moved through a small forest of coniferous trees, Paul soon realized that these very plants had been extinct for millions of years on earth. Small, knee high plants with oval leaves and grass that resembled overgrown bean sprouts attested to the primeval nature of this world. Paul smiled to himself as they kept on walking. Many of his colleagues in the scientific fields would have killed somebody just to have a chance to study all this lost greenery. They would have been envious as to what he was seeing now. Then he remembered the state of the world, and the fact that many of his colleagues might already be dead.
A light rain had started. Paul cried out in pleasant surprise as they both ran underneath a huge cedar tree overlooking a grassy clearing. As he ran his hand over Valerie’s hair to brush the droplets of water away, he noticed that his hands didn’t get wet as every single molecule of water slid off the skin of his palms and hit the wet grass below.
Valerie noticed his slight confusion. “The water doesn’t seem to stick to our clothes. That’s why they look and feel as if brand new. I was stuck in a world of mud before the Righteous Sufferer found me. Even though I was wallowing in all that muck, none of it stuck on
my clothes or my body.”
Paul shook his head and smiled. “It’s strange, the rain affects the land, but not us.”
Valerie nodded and smiled at him. Just as she was about to say something, she caught a movement in the corner of her eye. She turned and noticed a figure near the center of the clearing. She tapped Paul on the shoulder and pointed to where she saw it. “Look.”
Paul twisted his head slightly. There was an old man wearing a bathrobe as he crouched down near a small stream. The robe that he was wearing looked modern and it looked like it had a sales tag still embedded in its collar. Paul took Valerie’s hand and they both started walking towards him.
The old man stared at the stream for awhile, as if contemplating something. He had a white stubble on his chin and cheeks, and wisps of silvery strands on the top of his head. Just as Paul and Valerie got to within thirty feet of him, he noticed them as he stood up and smiled. Valerie could see that the old man had crooked yellow teeth.
Paul raised his hand in a gesture of peace. “Hi there. I’m Paul and this is Valerie. We came through a boat from the beach that was past the big mountain. The wanderer told us we would meet a friend of his here.”
The old man nodded. “Yes, I have heard of you. My friend the raven god told me of your imminent arrival. I go by many names, but my current one is Atrahasis.”
Paul’s eyebrows shot up. “Atrahasis? Of the great flood?”
“Yes,” the old man said.
Valerie looked at Paul as she stood beside him. “I’m sorry, do you know him?”
Paul nodded. “I know of him. He is the original Noah, of the flood. The Hebrews took the flood stories of the Sumerians and the Babylonians, and adapted the story to fit their own religion. In the original version, it is a decree by many of the gods to destroy mankind, but one of the gods took pity on one man and tasked him to preserve humanity. Atrahasis is the original one, though I think he went by another name.”
The old man was impressed. “Yes, I was also known as Ziusudra. It has been such a long time ago and I have had so many names. Now I like to change my name every now and then. It keeps my mind fresh.”
“If I could ask,” Valerie said. “Where are we? This place seems so serene, so peaceful as compared to the hellish lands we just came from.”
“You are in a land that is sometimes called Dilmun,” Atrahasis said.
Valerie looked around and smiled. “It certainly is pleasant, like the garden of Eden.”
Paul winked at her. “That’s because it probably is. Dilmun was supposedly a historical place on earth, an actual land of prosperous, healthy people who traded with the Sumerians. There were other theories that it was an unearthly paradise, the home of the gods. The Hebrew concept of Eden may have been influenced by that myth.”
Atrahasis clapped his hands. “Most impressive, Paul. Your knowledge of the ancient world is very good.”
“It’s an honor to meet you,” Paul said. “Did you also mention the raven god? How did you get to know him and how does all this have to do with us?”
“The raven god is currently the mentor and guide to a few of my friends. They mentioned to me that you would make your way here soon and they would meet you. They told me that the ancient empire from the south of your lands is now threatening to engulf your world,” Atrahasis said.
Paul glanced at Valerie. “That would be the Aztecs. Yes, it seems that before I was forcibly taken by a demon and sent out here, my government had warned me of an impending invasion by them. My guess is that it has started to happen while we were away.”
Valerie frowned. “That’s not good, we need to get back to earth then and do what we can to try and stop them.”
“Your friends are of a similar mind,” Atrahasis said. “All we should do is to wait until they arrive.”
Paul nodded. “I hope the kids are alright. Hopefully those Aztecs haven’t advanced as far up as the Midwest.”
“The others will surely give you the latest information when you finally speak with them,” Atrahasis said.
“Thank you. I’m glad we’re not the only one in this fight,” Paul said. “If I can ask, why have the gods come back like this? What do they want?”
The old man looked away for a moment, as if he was thinking about Paul’s words. “It is very hard to discern the motivations of the gods. Their wants and needs are somewhat different than that of mortals. In my time they caused a great flood because they felt that there was too many of us and that we were making such a multitude of noises that it disturbed them to no end.”
Valerie sighed. “I can’t believe that the gods would just decide to kill off most of humanity just because we were making too much noise. It’s such a silly motivation for genocide.”
“The one main trait of all gods is that they are mysterious,” Atrahasis said. “One cannot know what motivates them, for an immortal life bestows a different way of looking at the world and at the cosmos beyond.”
“Yet they compel us to worship them and show them respect,” Paul said angrily. “It isn’t fair. Are we nothing more than cannon fodder to them? Just mere playthings to do with as they please?”
“I cannot give you the answer to that, I’m sorry,” Atrahasis said. “My ruminations have given me some insight, but I do not know if it is the truth. What I can say is that perhaps the gods view us as their children and that they expect obedience and respect, just like a father would demand from his offspring. They created us and therefore our destinies are decided by their whims.”
Valerie folded her arms over her chest. “Wow. Big freaking deal. If the gods are our parents then they have done a terrible job at it. They leave us alone for a long time, without any signs as to even whether they existed at all, and then bam! They come right back and throw all sorts of monsters and demons and kill an awful lot of people. What kind of parenting is that?”
Atrahasis looked at her solemnly. “Let me tell you a tale of the gods in my time. It is said that civilization was a gift from the gods. It was civilization that elevated mankind from the beasts of the land. With the advent of cities we were given prosperity, peace and luxurious living. But this blessing also had a curse- civilization would also bring about war, famine, disease and drought. The arts of beauty, music, pity and justice had their own counterparts in fear, terror, strife and deceit. All this was the gift of civilization, these things were all given to us, and once the gift was given, it could never be taken back. To the gods, all their gifts have the power to bless and to curse. Such is the way with all benefactions. One cannot have one without the other. We could not pick and choose what gifts could be bestowed upon us, we had to accept them all.”
“I don’t doubt the wisdom in your words, Atrahasis,” Paul said. “Though despite our weaknesses, our present day world before the Glooming happened wasn’t such a bad place to live in. Granted, we still had wars and there were people who were starving in some parts of the world, but the majority of us were living decently. The rule of law was followed by most nations and many of us had a great standard of living. Then all of a sudden the gods just decided to return, and now there’s so much chaos and destruction. So many dead. So many wasted lives.”
“The gods give, and the gods take away,” Atrahasis said. “Human life is fragile and so is that of our achievements. It can all be ground to dust in a manner of a short season. In my time, it was our civilization that became our own undoing. It was our very gift that ultimately led to our destruction. My people were once prosperous, and then the salt in the earth rose up and ruined our crops. The cedar forests that we had cut down were no more, and the once fertile land became barren. The cities in the land between the rivers began to weaken and many people moved away. In the end, our nation had become so pitiful that it was conquered by other civilizations. Humanity is capable of making great accomplishments, yet it can all be undone. Such is the way of the world. I have seen it happen in countless civilizations.”
“Of all the gifts the gods could ha
ve given us, eternal life would have been good. At least, we wouldn’t have to die by the millions right now,” Paul said.
“That is the one gift that the gods could never bestow upon humanity,” Atrahasis said. “I am perhaps a rare exception but I feel that it is not much of a benefit. I have seen my loved ones grow old and die. I could not bear the thought of having to love someone since I know, deep in my heart, she would die and I would go on living. It would drive one mad if one thinks too deeply about it. A world full of immortals will be like Irkalla, the underworld- it shall be a grey and dreary place, one bereft of purpose or of hope. A great champion had once sought me out, just so that he could learn the secret of eternal life.”
Paul looked at the old man. “Gilgamesh?”
“Yes,” Atrahasis said. “His great companion Enkidu had died and he lamented his loss. He felt that if he could live forever then perhaps it would take some of the pain away. In the end, it was a futile quest for even when he found the plant that would give him eternal life, it was stolen from him by a serpent while he was asleep. He should have listened to the tavern keeper Siduri, she met him while he was searching for me. Siduri told him that it was better to enjoy the simple pleasures in life than to search for the unattainable. Little things such as holding the hands of your children, the embrace of one’s wife, hearing the cries of the night creatures while in the comforts of your house, enjoying the pleasures of a simple meal. It is these things that matter. Humans have but short lives so it pays to live it to the fullest.”
A World Darkly (Wrath of the Old Gods Book 3) Page 32