Noah Primeval (Chronicles of the Nephilim)

by Brian Godawa

  Uriel looked up at him. “I have discharged my duty. I protected you to accomplish your calling. The box is built. I must now help lead the armies of man to a war that you will certainly be caught in the middle of.”

  Noah smiled. “Fear not, Uriel, Elohim is the God of the impossible.”

  Uriel would not let that one go. “He is God of impossible men.”

  Noah grinned, grabbed wrists with him. “My guardian, my protector.”

  “My friend,” finished Uriel with the first tear in his eye Noah had ever seen.

  He rode away with his sons into the forest.

  Uriel turned to Methuselah and Tubal-cain.

  “The time has come. We ready for the morning.”

  Chapter 26

  They reached the plains outside Erech at a quick pace. Noah, Shem, and Japheth found the outcropping of rock that was on the map. They hid their horses and slipped into the entrance. After going through the Gate of Ganzir and the Abyss, this long dark tunnel seemed a minor inconvenience to Noah.

  Outside, past the river, the armies of the gods camped in military order. They filled the fields around the city and river like a massive hive of soldier ants.

  Twenty cubits below the milling armies, Noah, Shem, and Japheth slithered through the catacomb tunnels on their way to rescue Emzara and Ham from their prison of paganism. From the moment he had discovered that Emzara was alive, Noah could not sleep. He could barely eat. His mind burned with desire to be united with his beloved. What had she endured all these years without him? He could barely contain the pain of knowing that she was alone in a world of evil without his protection and love to give her life—for her to give him life. Did they torture her? Would he have to carry her through great loss of her own dignity? And a son. A son! She named him Ham. Ham ben Noah. What had he grown into? Was he a soldier? A servant? A craftsman? Had he been corrupted by the world that enslaved him? The questions would not stop invading his mind as he traversed the shadows of the hewn caves lit by their pitch-covered torches.

  Then Noah stopped. He thought he heard something. He looked back at Shem and Japheth. They nodded. They had heard it too. They strained to listen for another sound. There was none.

  “The rock must be settling from the mass of godless minions above us,” said Noah. He waved them on.

  Without warning, Shem and Japheth were both lifted off the ground by their necks.

  Noah turned to see an eight cubit tall Naphil grasping his sons by their throats. They clutched at the six fingered hands choking them to death.

  Noah drew his sword. It was pitifully small compared to the ogre before him. The creature was a Naphil, but not a soldier of any kind. It was completely naked and its skin seemed as dirty as the rock around them. It seemed more like a cave troll, something sent to live down here to do precisely what it was doing to Noah and his sons, catch intruders and eat them.

  The monster snarled at Noah and stepped forward. His sons had seconds before their larynxes would be crushed.

  Noah yelled a battle cry and prepared to fight to his death.

  The Naphil arched back in response to Noah’s scream. It stumbled backward and dropped Shem and Japheth. It tumbled to the ground. The young men landed hard and rolled out of the way, gasping for breath. They marveled that a mere scream should frighten a Naphil. How could that be?

  The Naphil clawed at its own neck, grasping at some invisible object. It whirled.

  Noah saw the true cause of their good fortune: Uriel had jumped on its back. He strangled it with the unbreakable binding cord he used on Watchers.

  The Naphil spun around, unsuccessfully trying to grab the archangel just out of his brawny reach. It backed up against the tunnel wall trying to crush its nemesis into the rock. But its nemesis was not human. Like a lock-jawed crocodile, Uriel would not let go. The Naphil grew weaker. But these creatures did not die easily. They could go without air much longer than any human.

  The Naphil had lost control of its defenses while focusing on its attacker.

  Noah, Shem, and Japheth grabbed their swords. They found their opening to thrust the weapons into the Naphil’s abdomen and sternum, piercing its bowels and heart. Blood poured out. The Naphil gave a choked scream. It fell to its knees, and then to its face on the ground. Uriel quickly drew his two daggers and plunged them into the monster’s ears on both sides, skewering its brain.

  For the first time in battle, Noah saw Uriel catching his breath. Fighting a Naphil was extremely difficult, even for an archangel.

  Uriel looked up at Noah and said blithely, “I knew you would still need me.”

  Shem and Japheth massaged their necks.

  “I thought I got rid of you, pestering guardian angel,” smiled Noah. But he sobered quickly. “What about the war?”

  “Methuselah will make a fine general,” said Uriel. “He is almost as old as I am.”

  Shem and Japheth were able to smile again.

  “Well, we have to hurry,” said Noah. “It appears the escape route is no longer a secret.”

  Two soldiers guarded the hallway outside Emzara’s quarters. She would not have the freedom she previously treasured.

  The secret passageway opened a crack, just a few cubits away from them. It caught their attention. They readied their spears and approached the opening. Anything that came through that passage would not live long enough to know what happened to it.

  But nothing came.

  Cautiously, they slipped into the darkness with their weapons ready.

  They were both clubbed to the ground by Shem and Japheth.

  “What do they teach these numskulls?” whispered Shem.

  Noah hushed him. He led them into the hallway. They sought the doorway that matched the one on the map. Noah’s heart pounded with excitement and a heightened awareness of danger. When they found the door, they used the special knock that Hannah had shown them.

  Emzara was visiting with Ham when they heard the rap on the door. Emzara clicked her tongue for the maidservant to answer the door. Ham slipped silently behind one of the large pillars by the fireplace. Who could be visiting like this? Since they had been caught, no one had used the secret knock or tunnels. It would have been stupid. Was this a trick?

  The maidservant brought Noah and his sons into the room. Emzara knew it was not a trick. It was a miracle from God in heaven above.

  “Utnapishtim, you are alive!” she gasped.

  “My Naamah,” said Noah. They walked straight into each other’s arms. They kissed boldly, desperately. She could not stop saying over and over again, “You are alive. You are alive.”

  Noah pulled her back. “And our sons.”

  Then Emzara noticed them behind Noah. They stepped forward with tearful eyes.

  Emzara fainted.

  When she awoke, she saw the faces of Shem and Japheth staring at her.

  “My sons,” she said, “back from the dead.”

  They moved in close to kiss their mother. She ran her hand down their rough cheeks. She held onto their arms.

  “You have grown,” she said simply.

  Noah could not help it. His joy brought out his humor again. “You have aged,” he threw in.

  It was true. She had—gracefully, but she had. She looked closer at him. “You have not.”

  It disturbed her. Was he a phantasm? Was this all a dream-vision?

  “It is a long story,” said Noah. “But I will never let you go again.”

  She saw the beaten copper bracelet on Noah’s wrist and smiled. “My husband, you never did.”

  She looked past them to the pillar in the corner. “Ham.”

  Noah, Shem, and Japheth turned. Ham stepped cautiously from behind the pillar.

  “Ham, these are your father and brothers, Shem and Japheth.”

  Shem and Japheth gave an uneasy nod. But Ham stared at Noah.

  It was strange for all of them. Ham was hairless, with temple tattoos, and an elongated head. The men before him were hairy, bearded human
s in animal skins worthy of slaves. Noah had prepared them for this possibility. And it did not matter to him.

  “My son. My son,” said Noah. He stepped up to Ham, looking at him. He was not sure what to do.

  Ham broke down in tears.

  Noah moved closer and embraced his lost son, the son he could not save, the son he was not around to raise, to teach how to lead and fight, and how to love; the son who was stolen from him and violated by an evil god.

  Ham cried like a child in Noah’s arms. It was as if he had reverted to the childhood he lost.

  Noah shared his tears. “We have come to bring you home.”

  Japheth jumped in a bit too eagerly. “A war of gods and men is brewing. The human tribes are amassing for assault on the city.”

  Ham snapped out of his emotion almost instantly. “Are they led by the Chosen Seed?”

  The others exchanged uneasy looks. Ham could not understand what it meant.

  “I am the Chosen Seed,” said Noah.

  Ham stepped back in shock. “You will end the rule of the gods?”

  “Exactly my reaction,” said Uriel, stepping out from behind everyone.

  “Meet Uriel,” said Noah, “my guardian angel.”

  It was almost too much for Ham all at once.

  Noah continued, “The judgment of Elohim is coming upon the land. This family is to be spared, and you are a part of this family.”

  Ham looked away in retreat.

  “Husband,” said Emzara, “our son’s past is not our own. He is a stranger to Elohim.”

  Ham felt like a total outsider at that moment. Then Noah smiled at him and slapped him on the back. “Sometimes, I too feel a stranger to Elohim. We shall get along well, you and I.”

  Ham blurted out, “My wife, Neela. She is in the temple of Inanna.”

  Noah looked at them all and gave a shrug. “Well, then, we shall have to go get her.”

  They needed to move quickly. Ham went to retrieve his wife from her bedchamber. Emzara led Noah, Uriel, Shem, and Japheth to the courtyard of Inanna. They did not want to chance another encounter with a Naphil guarding the tunnels below. They decided to do the one thing that no one would expect. They would simply walk right out the front door of Inanna’s Temple district, right under their filthy noses.

  They met in the garden area. Neela was overwhelmed to meet her true Father-and brothers-in-law, men of whom she had only heard stories. Now, here they were before her, in the flesh, ready to take her away from everything she had known and into a new world of danger and the unknown. She hesitated at first. But she loved her husband so terribly that she would go to the very gates of Sheol if he asked her. He was a good man, a devoted husband and lover. She could see that the way he treated his mother was proof of a man she could trust, who would love his wife and family as deeply as he loved life. It was the only point of departure from his obedience to the gods. Still, she wondered how he could give up the royalty, the privilege, and the security of this, the only life that they had known.

  They crossed the open courtyard under the moonlit night. Ham was well known by sight, which would create enough of a diversion for them to take the gate guards by surprise.

  A Naphil warrior jumped down from the gate into their path.

  Uriel drew his swords and stepped in front of Noah.

  The Naphil snarled and held his mace at the ready.

  The circle tightened. They all drew their weapons, pulling Neela and Emzara into the middle for protection. Shem’s sword Rahab unfurled in his hands, ready to strike like a cobra. Japheth’s bow was drawn and ready for attack.

  It was futile.

  Nephilim started jumping from the courtyard roof all around them, hemming them in—ten Nephilim in all.

  Noah looked to Uriel. The angel shook his head. It would be a slaughter.

  Ham backed away from them, drawing Neela with him.

  Everyone noticed. Noah felt a stab of pain deep in his kidneys.

  Shem spit it out first, “Ham? You betrayed us?”

  Shem stepped toward Ham, preparing to whip Rahab in his direction.

  Noah shouted, “Shem!”

  A Naphil stepped in between them, blocking the attack.

  It was all over before it had even begun.

  Ham stated simply, “My name is Canaanu.” He pulled Neela close to him and walked away.

  Chapter 27

  A pair of Nephilim dragged Noah roughly up the long stairway to the heavens of Anu’s temple. The chains hanging from his tortured limbs made the climb exhausting. Swirling clouds and flashes of occasional lightning with booming thunder made a sea of turmoil on the horizon. It was getting closer. An earthquake shook the city and temple. Noah and his guards stumbled, regaining their balance.

  At the top of the White Temple, the guards ushered Noah into the sanctuary and into the presence of Anu and Inanna. They sat on thrones, guarded by their bull-man and lion-man aladlammu. Noah expected them, but he was not prepared to see what was off to the side of the thrones.

  Uriel hung from the ceiling. He was upside down, bound and chained like a animal for slaughter. He was so badly beaten, Noah could barely recognize him.

  Anu saw Noah’s reaction. “If he were human, he would be dead. But alas, he is not human.”

  Noah remembered that angels could not die. They could suffer, feel pain, and even experience limitations of the flesh this side of the heavenlies, but they could not expire. Uriel barely held to consciousness. He let out a groan.

  The sound pierced through Noah’s soul. This archangel, this warrior who had sacrificed all for Noah, now hung like a captured animal for slaughter because of the recklessness of Noah’s own choices. What had he done?

  “Noah ben Lamech,” Anu interrupted Noah’s thoughts, “the Chosen Seed. I was ready to wage war to find you. Yet, here you are, delivered if you will, by the very hands of Elohim.”

  Noah hated this evil miscreant with every fiber of his being.

  Anu’s chin rose pompously in contempt, a common pose for him. He gestured flamboyantly with his hand. “Welcome to my holy temple. I am Anu, the supreme god, king of kings, and lord of lords. My consort, Inanna, Queen of heaven and earth.” He paused ceremoniously with an arrogant grin. “But you already knew that.”

  Then, the mocking stab, “So, where is your god?”

  Noah would not dignify the remark. Instead, he prophesied, “I know who you are, Semjaza and Azazel, fallen Sons of God. You have laid the nations low, you sit on the mount of assembly, you have made yourselves like the Most High. But you will be brought down to Sheol.”

  Inanna broke in bitterly, “He imagines himself a prophet now, and privy to the Watchers’ secrets.”

  Anu chuckled in mockery, “I shall call you ‘Atrahasis,’ ‘exceedingly wise one.’ Or would you prefer, ‘Ziusudra,’ ‘He of immortality,’ since you fancy yourself a slayer of gods?”

  “WHERE IS YOUR GOD?” Inanna interrupted with a roar, her voice echoing like thunder through the temple mount and in Noah’s ears.

  Noah would not answer.

  Another groan from Uriel drew their attention. His parched lips parted enough to force out a few words with great effort. “Elohim—is—coming.”

  Anu would not tolerate any more of Uriel’s insolence. He rose from his throne and strode over to Uriel’s vulnerable form. He picked up one of his swords and promptly cut off Uriel’s head.

  Noah screamed, “NOOO!” He lunged toward Anu ready to kill him with his bare hands, but the Nephilim held him back from his futile gesture.

  Inanna snickered, “That will shut him up.”

  Anu spoke to two servants watching Uriel, “Throw the body in the dungeon. Keep it away from the head. Archangels have a nasty habit of regeneration.” He reconsidered. “On second thought, give me the head. I will keep it with me.”

  One of the servants brought Uriel’s head to Anu. He grabbed it by the hair and looked into Uriel’s face. He turned it to show it to Noah.

&nb
sp; Noah gasped. Uriel’s eyes found Noah’s. He was still alive. He could not speak because his vocal cords had been severed from his lungs. But their eyes made a connection far deeper than words.

  The servants cut down Uriel’s body and took it away. Anu placed the head on the floor next to him.

  Lugalanu and Ham entered from the rear of the temple. They were dressed in the royal robes of the priest-king and soon-to-be ensi high priest. At Lugalanu’s other side was his new consort, Emzara, bedecked in splendid queenly robes.

  Ham could not look at Noah. But Emzara would not take her eyes off him. Noah knew exactly what she was saying to him: she was and always would be only his alone. A silent tear of vengeance slid down Noah’s cheek.

  Anu announced, “Ah, my faithful priest-king and his entourage.”

  Lugalanu and Ham took their place beside the thrones and bowed to Anu and Inanna.

  Anu proclaimed with characteristic self-importance, “Tomorrow is Akitu, the New Year festival. The gods of the land will convene in divine council. Canaanu will become a high priest of Inanna. Lugalanu will marry this woman, Nindannum, who I understand has some relation to you, my captive?” It was a rhetorical question designed to twist the dagger in Noah’s liver rather than receive an answer.

  Emzara’s expression plead with Noah for rescue. But rescue was not forthcoming.

  “As rite of passage,” continued Anu, “the new high priest’s charge will be to sacrifice the Chosen Seed to the pantheon.”

  Emzara looked at Ham with horror. She had not known this monstrous plan.

  Ham could only look down in shame. But he knew his place and his need for affirmation of devotion. He looked back up. He raised his chin high in royal emulation of Anu’s own conceit. Lugalanu beamed with pride.

  Noah’s eyes blurred with the sting of betrayal. He could not believe his son would do such a thing. It defied his comprehension. His son had been ripped from his family culture and tradition, raised in a world of slavish idolatry, but still, how could one do such a thing to his own flesh and blood?