by Brian Godawa
Uriel just smiled and shook his head. He had successfully turned the tables, as he usually did with his superior wit.
Raphael laughed from the belly. “Very good, Uriel. Very good.” Raphael did not speak much, so when he did, he tended to cast the deciding vote on an issue.
“So what you both meant to say,” concluded Mikael, “was ‘not by strength, nor by might, but by verbal bickering and wordplay,’ saith the Lord.”
Enoch finally interrupted. “You know, I cannot believe that I am on my way to certain death in the bowels of the mountain of hell and you four are quibbling and jesting over your battle prowess. Is it too much to ask you to be more somber about our impending doom?”
“Forgive us, Enoch,” said Gabriel. “We mean no disrespect to you.”
Enoch felt better for the apology. “Thank you,” he said with finality.
Gabriel muttered to Uriel, “But it was five and a half to four and a half.”
“Six to four,” muttered Uriel.
“Elohim, deliver us,” muttered Enoch.
• • • • •
By the time Methuselah, Edna, Lamech, Betenos, and Ohyah caught up with the traveling Nephilim, their quarry had already arrived at their base camp a league north. The giants were not alone. As Methuselah had feared, they were part of a pack. But they were wearing armor similar to that worn by the Nephilim that had started them on this journey. The hunters were on the right track.
Fifteen of them feasted on what appeared to be cattle and human beings roasting on spits. If the team were discovered, killing the Nephilim would be difficult. Methuselah and his team were giant killers, but they were not archangels. Three and a half trained warriors against fifteen giants was not the kind of odds Methuselah wished to entertain. They had never even seen that many Nephilim together at once, let alone fought them. The rumors were true about Bashan. It had become an easy hideout for bandits, desperados and other packs of outlaw giants.
Thank Elohim, we have one Nephilim on our side, thought Methuselah. Ohyah possessed the enviable Nephilim fighting skills. They would have the element of surprise. These brigands would never expect one of their own to fight against them.
Lamech whispered to himself, “That is a lot of bounty.”
Methuselah gave him a dirty look. “We are not here for bounty. We are here to find Thamaq and Yahipan. And stop talking. You will give us away.”
It was a difficult task to sneak up on Nephilim. They had acute senses and usually would be able to hear them and smell them approaching. But this time, they were downwind from the hunters on a particularly windy evening, with a storm brewing overhead creating distracting noises.
The small camp sat in the center of a rather wide clearing around the butte. Methuselah and the others hid at the crestline of foliage watching the camp with high strung nerves. They waited for their planned deception to unfold.
Chapter 35
Enoch and the angels arrived at the foot of Mount Hermon and left their animals to climb the rocky crags. A short way up the foothills of the mountain sat the village of Kur, populated by the human followers of Ereshkigal. They had built a temple for this goddess of the underworld embedded halfway into the mountain, an expression of the union of heaven and earth within the sacred space.
According to legend, inside the temple were the seven gates of Ganzir that led to an opening to the Abyss, or Abzu, the cosmic waters under the earth, the barrier above Sheol, the underworld. Ereshkigal’s throne stood at the Gateway to Sheol.
The Abyss was home to the most frightening of all creatures, the sea dragon of chaos, Rahab. It roamed the waters as sovereign of the beasts, seeking whom it might devour. It was a creature of both utter destruction and yet utter perfection. A terrible beauty, armored scales covered its huge, three hundred-cubit-long body, its teeth were like sharpened iron, and it could produce a flash of burning fire from out of its mouth. It seemed its only purpose was to destroy worlds. No one could defy Rahab or subdue it, save Elohim alone, who created it for his purposes. How it was that Elohim controlled the untamed monster of the deep, Enoch could never understand. But then again, Elohim did not operate within human parameters of understanding.
Mount Hermon was not the only location that had direct access to the waters of the Abyss that led to Sheol. There were several openings to the earth. One of them lay in Lake Urimiya at the very Garden of Eden. It was said that Yahweh Elohim at the lake held back both the waters of the Abyss and the dragon of chaos in order to establish the “heavens and earth,” his covenanted cosmic order with his covenant people, Adam and Havah. It was also said that the Abyss and Rahab were the only things that the Sons of God and the Nephilim actually feared.
Enoch hoped in his heart that he would simply be killed by the Watchers rather than being thrown into the Abyss. He did not want Rahab to sport with him before tearing apart his body and consuming his flesh. He was thankful that at least they would not need to journey through the pagan village, and the temple, and the seven gates of Ganzir to get inside the meeting place of the Watchers. Mikael knew a secret way in, through a cave opening in the side of the mountain, out of sight of the village near a terebinth tree.
• • • • •
The pack of fifteen Nephilim were busy about their camp site when they heard a lookout whistle. They grabbed their weapons in unison and peered into the brush near their camp. In walked a disheveled Ohyah with a lookout giant behind him.
The team’s plan had been for Ohyah to disguise himself as a wandering loner desert Naphil looking for a pack to join. The Nephilim would of course be suspicious at first. But their guard would eventually lower as they got to know Ohyah. Eventually they would lead him to their headquarters. Ohyah would study the branding on the Nephilim to see if any were owned by Thamaq and Yahipan. He would gather any other information he could on the whereabouts of the two Rephaim. If there were any so branded, he would give Methuselah the sign by going to relieve himself on the edge of the camp, and signing how many had the mark. Methuselah’s band would then follow the pack of Nephilim at a distance until Ohyah could find an opportunity to slip away and rejoin them.
Ohyah surprised the pack. But after some discussion, they calmed down and offered Ohyah some food. He chose the cattle over the human meal and partook as a hungry loner would. Soon, Ohyah went to relieve himself, heading toward Methuselah’s hidden team. When he signaled, they were surprised to see Ohyah excitedly indicate the number fifteen.
It shocked Methuselah. All fifteen had the branding of Thamaq and Yahipan? How could that be?
Lamech interrupted his thoughts, “We hit the payload. They will lead us right to those sons of Sheol.”
A Nephilim war cry burst behind them, an ugly sounding scream that pierced their ears and shuddered their souls. Methuselah jerked his head around to find the lookout Naphil in the bush, hovering over them. He had scouted the grounds and found them. Their cover had been compromised.
Methuselah looked back at camp. All the Nephilim faced their direction, taking up arms. By the time they took out this Naphil, the others would be upon them. They would not be able to outrun these muscle-bound monsters.
They would have to stand and fight.
Chapter 36
Anu and Inanna presided over the parliament of gods in the cavern of the Watchers. The huge stalactites and stalagmites created the sensation of being in the fanged mouth of the sea serpent. The cosmic mountain and divine council room of the gods rebelliously replicated Elohim’s original council room on the Edenic mountain, complete with throne and source of waters. Enoch noted the irony that this sacred space was a garden of stone as opposed to Eden’s garden of living vegetation. The source of its waters was a fiery black quagmire in contrast to the rivers of fresh living waters of Paradise.
The dripping of mineralized water built the stalactite formations, sparkling with gemlike iridescence. It created a kind of glow through the subterranean grotto in even the faintest of light. But there was no
need for a light source, because the Shining Ones emitted a brightness when emotionally charged, a glow like that of burnished bronze or gleaming metal. Their heated discussion created flashes of fire and sparkling beryl that stalactite reflectors amplified.
Anu and Inanna sat on the thrones of Ereshkigal and Nergal to lead the discussion. They did so whenever they were in Bashan for the divine assembly. Over a hundred others gathered before the throne, along the burning black liquid shore of the Abyss.
They were discussing the possibility of capturing Rahab the sea dragon of chaos, to use her as a weapon of war. Enoch, Mikael, Uriel, Gabriel, and Raphael slipped into a dark recess of the cavern through their secret mountain tunnel.
Anu announced with authority, “The throne recognizes Enki, patron of Eridu, Lord of the Abyss.”
Enki stood and spoke to the assembly. “Brothers and sisters, I have organized an advisory committee on the Rahab matter with the gods of Canaan.”
The Canaanite deities stood up. Enoch had not seen them before. There were whole families of gods that administered different locations on the earth that Enoch did not recognize.
Enki continued, “We have been developing spells that will render the sea dragon Rahab vulnerable to capture.”
“Are you mad?!” interrupted Resheph, one of the Canaanite gods of plague and destruction. “You think you can domesticate Rahab for our purposes? She is not tamable. She is the very heart of chaos itself!”
Enki replied, “I do not suggest Rahab is tamable. I merely intend to subdue her long enough to capture her in such a way as to release her upon our enemies for their destruction.”
“And what way of capture might that be, O brilliant shining one?” snorted Resheph, his scaly skin burning with arrogant luminosity.
“If you must know,” Enki answered curtly, “we believe that we can lure Rahab into an underwater cavern where we have engraved tranquilizing spells on the walls of rock. Her spirit will be lulled into a trancelike state. We then have a large cedar box, with the spells carved in the walls to contain her in that numbed state until release.”
“Oh, so, now Rahab has a fear of enclosed spaces?” asked Resheph.
“No. It is a kind of catatonic dream state the monster goes into. I cannot explain it. I do not understand it,” said Enki.
“May I suggest that what you do not understand, remains out of your control,” sniped Resheph.
Inanna listened closely. If what Enki said was true, she could use this weapon one day to great advantage. Resheph was a fool to scorn innovation in combat tactics. Such risks often brought victory on the battlefield. It was true, the sea dragon lived resplendent in its mighty power to wreak havoc and destruction. It was the mightiest of all created things. But it was still a created thing, and no created thing was invulnerable. If they could merely unleash that chaos in the direction of an enemy, why could it not accomplish great devastation? She would have to converse with Enki on this further.
Anu asserted authority again, “Enki will report back to us with the final results of the investigation. But now, we must finalize our strategy for the lawsuit we are to bring before the divine council of Yahweh Elohim.” The Watchers, faithful or fallen, referred to Elohim by his covenant name within the sacred space of the divine council in heaven. That surprised Enoch a little.
Anu continued, “I yield the floor to the satan.”
Satan was the legal term for “accuser” or “adversary” used in the heavenly court of Yahweh Elohim. Of all the Shining Ones, the satan drew the most respect and admiration. He was Nachash, the Serpent of the Garden, a seraph of great intellect and cunning. His single act in Eden had accomplished more for their cause than anything anyone else had done. Unlike the others, he was the sole Watcher who had not taken on a new divine persona in the pantheon of gods. Semjaza had became Anu, and Azazel, Inanna in order to spearhead the earthly violation of the created order. But Nachash remained the heavenly Accuser before the divine council in order to accomplish their massive legal assault upon Yahweh’s kingdom. He even preferred being called simply the satan. It brought attention to what he sarcastically referred to as “his calling.”
Anu looked about for his colleague. The satan was not there. Everyone looked around for this titan of malevolence, but he was no longer present. He had sensed what was about to happen.
• • • • •
The lookout Naphil died in seconds, pierced through with Methuselah’s javelin in the heart and Betenos’ arrow in the brain. Edna took off its head with her multi-bladed angelic weapon.
The Nephilim raced toward them. They broke through the foliage like a wind storm. They held to some discipline, as two remained guarding the camp.
The giant killers called upon all the best of their training in this battle. They used an integrated defense system of covering for each other. Rather than one team member taking on a fight alone, each lent their skills to create a “one-two” punch. An arrow from Betenos was finished off with a slice by Edna, or a javelin from Methuselah. But in order for this system to work, they were constantly on the move, flowing in and out of each other’s space with a dance-like choreography. Crisscrossing one another’s paths, diving, rolling, spinning and flipping. This was the dance of the Karabu.
When the first three Nephilim reached them, weapons swinging, Edna went right into the thick of them. She flipped and twirled her weapon around the three of them. They swung maces and clubs in thin air, missing Edna. Betenos’ arrows and Methuselah’s javelins caught them unprepared. The team took care to make head shots or gut shots to avoid the alloy armor the Nephilim wore. Lamech with a slashing Rahab in hand beheaded the third Naphil in midstride.
The other Nephilim reached them, and it became a frenzied attack. It might have been an unequal fight of these four against the ogres, but the giant killers had a secret weapon: Ohyah.
Once the fight ranged into the bush and out of sight of the two guards left at the camp, Ohyah rained down fury upon his fellow Nephilim from behind. They did not even know what hit them. Ohyah took out four of them before the others realized they were betrayed.
With Ohyah behind them and the four giant killers before them, the last five did not stand a chance.
It discouraged Methuselah. This was not really as glorious a victory as he had hoped. But he could not complain. It was more important to win than to have a close fight.
When the Nephilim lay at their feet, Ohyah and the four humans took a moment to catch their breaths. They had been taxed, but invigorated as well.
“Well, that was some much needed exercise,” said Methuselah.
Ohyah picked up a pear mace. He walked up to Methuselah and knelt. He offered the mace to Methuselah. “Hit me,” he said.
“What?” asked Methuselah.
“I said hit me. There are two guards left at the camp, and we cannot sneak up on them. We will have to use subterfuge. It will appear suspicious if I am the only one left alive without significant wounds.”
“Of course,” agreed Methuselah. He grabbed the mace, swallowed, and swung it at Ohyah’s head.
He knocked Ohyah unconscious to the ground. When he came to, he had a black eye and a large bruise on his noggin.
“I did not ask you to knock me out, just give me a bruise,” said Ohyah.
“You did say ‘significant wound.’”
“Evidently our definitions of ‘significant’ do not coincide.”
“Sorry.”
“You will have to give me your weapons,” continued Ohyah. “I will walk you in as my captives. When we are close enough, we will be able to overtake them before they catch on.”
“I hate to be the killjoy,” said Lamech, “but we just slaughtered an entire pack of branded Nephilim. I suspect in this territory, we will be the wanted outlaws now.”
“Unless we can get rid of the bodies,” said Edna. “That might gain us time before they are discovered.”
“Let us finish the job first, then discuss strategy,”
said Methuselah.
Chapter 37
By the time the Watchers inside the mountain realized that the satan was not with them, Enoch and the four archangels had found their way to the far side of the black lake. Across the water, they could see the Watchers congregated around Anu and Inanna on their thrones. They heard the Watchers discussing some way to capture Rahab for their nefarious purposes and then announcing their plan to bring a lawsuit before the throne of Elohim. Enoch had no idea what that was all about. He just knew what he was supposed to do: prophesy and die.
Though Mikael, Gabriel, Raphael, and Uriel were the highest of archangels, and could no doubt take out a good number of these Watchers, they would eventually succumb to the sheer force of enemy numbers. There were just too many of them. The loyalty of his guardian escort impressed Enoch. They did not even question their duty. They told jokes and argued amongst themselves on the way to this spot, as if they were just going to march right into this nest of vipers and prance right out, job accomplished.
He could not imagine facing their possible fate. Unless they knew something they were not telling him.
The four archangels surrounded Enoch, with weapons drawn and ready. He bellowed out, his voice amplifying as it carried over the pitch black waters of the Abyss.
“Praise the Most High, the Great and Holy One!”
The entire army of Watchers fell silent. All heads turned to stare straight at Enoch and his four puny guardians on the other side of the lake. It simply did not enter their minds that these insignificant fools would ever do such a moronic thing as to enter their very cosmic mountain.
Inanna reacted first. “Well, well, well, what have we here? A silly loud-mouthed meat puppet and four yipping lapdogs on a leash?”
Enlil recognized Enoch. “Utuabzu? What brings you into our lair uninvited?”
Anu thought, This little insect has gall. Where did he come from and how did he get these archangels?