Deep in the belly of the mountain, they finally stopped at a small cavern blocked off by an iron gate. One of the men pulled out a very crude old-fashioned key that had been tied to a leather strap around his neck, and unlocked the gate. Allan was suddenly shoved forward, and he tripped on several pieces of rubble strewn on the cavern’s floor before falling to the ground.
“You… stay.” one of the men spoke as he attached one of the torches to the wall.
Allan tried to object, but his words were muffled by the gag. The gate swung shut with a clang, and he heard an audible click as they locked it. He looked around at all of the rubble, and knew some type of seismic event must have occurred to cause so much damage. He trembled, fearing at any moment that the walls could cave-in and become a death trap.
Hours passed in silence. The torch petered out after the first hour, and darkness had engulfed him. Fortunately he had been able to force himself back into a seated position, however the damp air caused Allan to shiver uncontrollably. He didn’t know what time of day it was, but the groaning from his stomach told him it had to be late in the afternoon.
His mind raced as he reflected on the events over the past several days. Twice now he had unintentionally broken free from imprisonments. If only he knew how to summon these powers on queue! He knew his Amulet must have something to do with it, but with his wrists tied behind his back he was unable to reach his front pocket to extract it.
As he sat there, he worried relentlessly about Lily. He knew she was somewhere here in this world, but how would he rescue her? He toyed with the idea of riding in gallantly upon a white horse dressed as a knight in shining armor to save his damsel in distress, but who was he kidding? Knowing how much of a klutz he was, he would likely fall off the horse and get trampled. Likewise the armor would weigh him down, and he would find it impossible to get back up after he had fallen. As for a sword, he probably wouldn’t be able to lift one let alone wield it in defense. He felt so out of place in the foreign world.
He moaned in despair as the day waned on with no sign of relief.
Chapter Thirty Seven: Tower of Babel
And the depths of the sea didst swell from the bottomless pit. Verily, thunderous waves didst crash upon the land insomuch that they didst drown both of the wicked armies and the last of the Nephilim…
– Methuselah 11:12 –
Lily’s arrival late last night was greeted with enthusiasm, and the many years she had studied Hebrew in college seemed to finally be paying off. The Chief of the tribe of Reuben had greeted her with a humble bow while reciting a prophecy about her arrival. She felt humbled by their immediate acceptance of her.
Lily stared off into the bright sunlight gleaming off of the swirling gusts of snow, having found solitude with Tiamat on an ice shelf in the outskirts of the village. Though her hosts had been extremely accommodating, she needed some time to process everything. As she reached out and touched Tiamat’s scaly chest, her eyes blurred again and she gasped for breath in reaction as the frozen tundra transformed into what appeared to be an underwater ocean floor.
“Take me…” she sucked in another gasp of breath as she mounted Tiamat’s saddle, “…to the surface.”
Tiamat kicked off and flew into the frozen air. To Lily’s view however, it appeared that Tiamat was swimming in the depths of the ocean. After several minutes they breached the surface and Lily took a deep breath.
Didst I not say unto thee that thou cannot drown in a vision?
“Yes, you did.” she took another deep breath to calm her chronic hyperventilation, “But I almost drowned as a child, so sometimes it’s difficult to overcome my phobia of it. I can’t even let my face or ears get wet while I’m in the shower without freaking out.”
Tiamat continued to gain altitude as Lily looked around. There was water as far as her eyes could see. At first there seemed to be no signs of life until in a flash of brilliant light a large wooden vessel appeared out of nowhere.
“Where did that come from?!”
As they flew closer, she recognized it was a massive boat shaped somewhat like an enclosed canoe. The closer they got to the curious vessel, the larger it appeared. When they finally reached it, she determined it was slightly larger than a college football stadium. A man with a white beard stood on a platform near the center of the vessel, and released a white dove into the air.
Verily, ‘tis Noah. Yea, Noah was the second Seraph. The Ark thou dost see here ‘twas his Amulet. With the Ark, he was able to transport thousands of species of animals and righteous people from Earth to Zion for preservation from the flood.
Lily was stunned. She had always imagined that the story of Noah and the Ark was a fictional bedtime story for children.
Her eyes blurred and the vision faded. The water disappeared to reveal a barren wasteland far below them. As Tiamat descended, Lily recognized that the ground was covered in mud and there was very little vegetation. As they flew northward, Lily spotted what appeared to be the remains of a city buried in mud. A small group of people were digging out the buried homes and looting them of whatever they could find.
“Who are these people?”
This is the family of Cush. Verily, Cush was the grandson of Noah. They were exiled to the barren wastelands of Earth after rebelling against God.
“But why?” she queried, “What did they do?”
Together they had taken up arms against Atlantis in an attempt to overthrow Noah. Cush was jealous of his grandfather’s powers, and thought he could take them for himself by conquering the throne. They failed in their attempt, and were cast out of Zion for their acts of rebellion.
“So, these are the only people left on Earth?”
Verily, the family of Cush didst begin to repopulate the Earth. The rest of the descendants of Noah chose to remain in the fertile lands of Zion for a time.
Lily’s eyes blurred again, and the wasteland had transformed to reveal a lush green undergrowth and small tree saplings had sprung up intermittently across the land. Below them she could see a wide dirt road extending in a northwest direction.
“Where does this road lead?”
Alas, ‘tis the road to Babylon and the second great machine.
“Wait...” Lily stammered, “There’s another machine? Like the one underneath Atlantis?”
Verily, there is.
“Take me there.” she paused, “...please.”
As thou dost command.
Lily felt a surge of momentum as Tiamat stretched her wings and they rose higher into the sky. Lily’s red hair billowed in the wind and she gasped with exhilaration. The land shrank below them as they soared into the atmosphere.
Eight hours had passed as they followed the road to Babylon from high above. In the distance loomed what had first appeared to be a lone mountain in the middle of nowhere. As they got nearer however, she recognized that instead it was a massive building that was shaped somewhat like a mountain. An overpopulated city surrounded the giant building and the huts extended as far as her eyes could see.
Yonder lies the Great City of Babylon.
“What is that giant building in the middle of the city?”
Yea, ‘tis the Great Tower of Babel.
“Wait... the Tower of Babel?!” she stammered, “As in the story in the Bible?”
I know not what thou dost mean by Bible. I am not familiar with the customs of Earth. What, pray tell, is a Bible?
“It’s an ancient historical record of the Earth written and compiled by the Jews.”
Ah, yes. The ten tribes doth have many scrolls containing their records that hath been passed down from generation to generation. These ‘Jews’ you mention, pray tell could they be the Lost Tribe of Judah? Yea, perchance the Lost Tribe of Benjamin mayest be interspersed among them?
“Yes.” Lily corrected, “But they’ve never been lost. The Ten Tribes are the ones who have been lost.”
Verily, I suspect this error of judgment ‘tis caused by perspective. Yea, thou art
from Earth. It wouldst appear to thee that the Ten Tribes art those who wouldst be lost. Alas, the perceptions of those in Zion hast been that the Two Tribes were regrettably left behind to be slaughtered by the Assyrians. ‘tis pleasing to learn that they hath survived.
The Tower of Babel loomed ever closer. It was glorious to behold, and its size rivaled that of the City of Atlantis to the south. On the roads below, thousands of men were marching toward the great tower. She watched curiously for several minutes.
Alas, these are the armies of Babylon who art the descendants of Cush.
“Why are they marching like that?”
Yea, they are gathering to the great machine in preparation for transport to Zion.
“Wait…” a realization struck Lily, “The tower of Babel is a transportation machine? Just like Atlantis?”
Verily, my child. Cush and his immediate family members were wroth that they had been expelled from Zion, and they longed to return to its beauty and splendor. Cush passed this enmity of Noah to his children.
“But how did they know how to build this machine?”
After the flood, the family of Cush didst slave away many painstaking years trying to dig out the old cities from the mud.
Lily’s eyes blurred and her surroundings changed again. The Tower of Babel had disappeared, as well all of huts that had been surrounding the great tower. The lush landscape also disappeared, again replaced by a barren wasteland. Not far to the east Lily could make out the remains of another city buried in mud. She saw a lone man digging out the mud, when the ground caved-in and he fell down into a hollow opening. She could hear him screaming for help in an ancient dialect of Hebrew.
“We should help that poor man!” Lily stammered without thinking.
Alas, thou are seeing visions of the past. The young man thou didst see digging is Nimrod, the son of Cush. ‘twas this moment that he didst stumble across the ancient King of Seth’s tomb. He didst find many blueprints upon scrolls that had been sealed in glass tubes and preserved from the flood. He didst also find small-scale replicas of a transportation machine similar to the one beneath the City of Atlantis, though they had been damaged from the flood and were no longer functional. Nimrod vowed to seek vengeance for his family’s suffering, and so he established a new kingdom. Together they built the city of Babylon and began constructing a large-scale transportation machine in the center of the city with the intent to bring his armies to our land to conquer our beautiful kingdom.
Lily felt dizzy as her eyes blurred again and the landscape transformed into a frozen tundra. Lily stared up at the remains of the structure and immediately recognized that though it was still massive and buried in a mountain of snow, it stood at only a fraction of its original size. She also realized that they were at the edge of a shoreline that hadn’t been there during her visions, and nearly half of the Tower of Babel appeared to have broken off and fallen into the ocean. She struggled to comprehend why the people chose to build such a magnificent building on a beach.
“What happened to the rest of the tower?” Lily asked as they flew closer to the base of the tower, “And why did they build it on a beach?”
Yea, upon completion of the tower, King Nimrod didst assemble his armies for battle and he activated the machine. God was wroth with Nimrod’s evil intentions, so He didst cause a great earthquake to divide the tower asunder. The great tower cracked in two, causing the machine to malfunction and transport only a fourth part of the land surrounding Babylon to this world. The land of Earth was then divided with multiple successive earthquakes into multiple different continents. God scattered his people and confounded their languages so that another machine couldn’t ever be fathomed again.
As she continued to watch the vision, a curious sight drew her attention. At the base of the Tower the snow above one of the arches began to give way. Seconds later she saw a dark figure emerging from the snow. As the figure climbed out of the pile of snow and stood erect, she realized it was a man. Another man followed after, and then another. Several minutes passed to reveal a hoard of people. Men, women and children alike huddled together for warmth as yet more people continued to climb out of the snow.
“Who are these people?”
Verily, thou seeth the arrival of the Ten Tribes of Israel from Earth.
“But how is that even possible?” Lily countered, “Biblical scholars have dated the story of the Tower of Babel back to over two thousand years before Christ, but yet the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel weren’t captured by the Assyrians until about four hundred years before Christ. The timelines don’t even nearly coincide.”
Alas, thou art correct. When the great tower didst shatter during transport, it didst leave behind an open portal between Earth and Zion.
“Wait a minute…” Lily stammered, “Do you mean to tell me that somewhere inside these ruins there’s a way to get back to Earth?”
Verily, my child.
A light bulb turned on in her mind. Without warning she let go of Tiamat’s scaly chest and in an instant her eyes blurred to reveal much more snow covering the entrance she had just seen moments before. She stumbled forward in the snow to where the entrance had once been, and began digging at the snow with her bare hands.
“Come help me dig this snow out!” Lily turned her head to face Tiamat, “If everything you’ve said is true, then I need to get back to Earth to figure out what Timur is planning to do with that machine.”
Chapter Thirty Eight: Coronation
And the many waters of the deep didst recede back into the bottomless pit. Verily, many rumors among those whom had survived didst sweep the land: Zion hath fled! The Great City of Atlantis hath sunk!
– Methuselah 11:13 –
Allan awoke later that morning to the loud screech of the iron door as it opened. The small cavern was dimly lit by the guard’s torch as he entered.
Allan could see now that there was rubble all over the floor. It appeared that at one point in time the cavernous room had been sheared up by cobblestone walls. It was clear however, that the walls had long ago crumbled from some type of seismic event. His anxiety screamed at him that another quake could be only moments away, crushing the life out of him.
“You… come!”
Allan gratefully stumbled to his feet. The dark voice of the Leviathan had been clamoring for his attention inside his head all morning. With his wrists bound, he was unable to reach his Amulet for relief.
The guard approached and untied his bonds. Allan rubbed his sore wrists, and pulled out the warm seer stone from his pocket. Peace washed over him for the next twenty minutes they climbed the great staircase. As they approached the top, Allan could hear the murmur of many people speaking in a foreign tongue.
At the top of the staircase the guard directed Allan down a tunnel to the right. After several switchbacks, the tunnel opened to a great room. It was well-lit with the orange glow of the morning sunlight streaming down from several small openings in the ceiling.
In the center of the room a long table seated about fifty men who were eagerly eating a bountiful breakfast. Allan’s stomach growled with desire. He was growing weary of eating weeds and roots that John had foraged over the past day and a half as they travelled.
“Allan, my boy!” a familiar voice called from the table.
It was John, though he was hardly recognizable. He was clean shaven and adorned with ornate apparel. Strangely, he even appeared to be much younger. Though he still had a full head of white hair, his face didn’t appear to have a single wrinkle. As for his wardrobe, it was a stark contrast to the tattered rags he had been wearing earlier. His beautifully ornate robe could be fit for a king.
“Go wash up and then we can talk.”
The guard escorted him across the room. Several of the men whom had been eating seemed to suddenly drop their food and stare at him in awe as he passed.
Do I really look that terrible?
Another set of tunnels opened up, and Allan was escorted to a washroom
.
“You… clean.” he pointed to a large iron washbasin in the center of the room that was filled with water.
The guard then stepped out of the room. Reluctantly, Allan peeled off his clothing and stepped into the washbasin. Surprisingly, the water was warm. On the ground next to the washbasin was a small tray with a crude block of what appeared to be a dried-up brownie. He reached down and sniffed it. It smelled like perfume, but was a bit grimy to the touch.
Soap?
Allan shrugged, and began to use the medieval-looking bar of soap. Just then, a young woman stepped into the room. Startled, he tried to lower himself further into the washbasin.
“Some clean robes for thee.” she struggled with a heavy accent as she laid a folded set of robes and a rough-looking rug on the floor next to him.
She appeared to be just as embarrassed as he was as she quickly gathered Allan’s soiled clothing. She bowed her head and curtsied, then abruptly stepped out.
As Allan hurried to finish scrubbing, he reflected back to this morning’s turn of events. First he was a prisoner, and now he’s being treated as if he were an honorary guest?
These are some strange people indeed.
As he stood to get out, he suddenly realized he didn’t have a towel.
“Hello?” he called while lowering himself back into the washbasin.
Nobody responded. He waited a few minutes, but the young woman didn’t return. The water was beginning to turn cold, and Allan wasn’t quite sure what to do. Everything about this world was foreign to him. Frustrated, he stepped out of the washbasin and reached down to pick up the set of robes. He then noticed the folded rug again.
Is this supposed to be a towel?
He stared at it curiously for a moment as a pool of water formed at his feet. All of a sudden the young woman appeared again. Her face went crimson as she acknowledged his naked frame, and Allan snatched up the rug and scrambled to wrap it around him.
Conquest: Rise of the Fifth Horseman (The Fifth Horseman Series Book 1) Page 16