Dawn Of The Aakacarns

by John Buttrick

  Roddy’s arms came outward in a calming gesture. “Flood it all, Jubal, this is why I shelter you from these types of things. My friend, you are unquestionably brave and fearless in the frontiers of the wild and in the realm of Melody-wielding, but too soft-hearted when it comes to discipline and keeping order within a dense population. Matters of politics, government functions, and criminal justice, these things only upset and distract you from your realm of expertise. Up to now you have been so focused, and rightly so, on the creating of Aakatools, and the expansion of our knowledge of Melody-wielding, that you may not have noticed how peaceful this kingdom actually is. Perhaps you need me to give you a different perspective and speak of what I have achieved. The quality of life for everyone is better than ever before in the whole of human history, even for the convicts. They have shelter, plenty of food, and more than adequate clothing,” and also little to no hope for freedom, he left out.

  While true, it had been years since men brawled in the streets with each other and lifestyles had improved since leaving the settlement, even for the convicts, Jubal realized there was another reason for the increase in convictions and the lengthening of sentences. And it was partially his fault. “You are correct, I have noticed the improvements, and simply failed to consider the resources that go into maintaining an ever expanding city with its ongoing projects.”

  Nimrod gave a firm nod and leaned back in his chair. “Precisely, I do not waste resources, not anymore. You were the one to convince me of that. We need the free labor force and before you mention Imhotep and the wonders in construction his team has wrought using my Aakas, tell me the number of Aakacarn-builders you trained and their rankings.”

  Jubal knew the answer instantly. “I sold twenty-three Nephilim-builders rings and staffs and taught them to use those tools. Imhotep and Golyeth are Amber-tridents, Berktor and the rest are Jades.”

  The king nodded. “The amount of work to be done is greater than their potential alone can accomplish. Not everyone is as powerful as you and capable of forging an entire house out of the ground. Therefore the Tinies are needed to make up the difference. Their sentences, of necessity, had to be extended and the quotas and endless list of infractions were designed to give a legal reason to ensure a large enough workforce to complete the projects. Eventually those more stringent rules will be done away with and the convicts who have stayed beyond their original sentences will be released,” Roddy explained as if the feeble justification was perfectly reasonable.

  Jubal realized there would be no end to the expansion of the city as the population grew and could see only one last way to shift his friend from the troubling policy. “Unless you allow scouting for sites where you can build other cities for people to live in throughout the world, there will always be a need in Semidon for such workers.”

  Roddy’s eyebrows drew down, veins appeared at his temples, and he seemed on the verge of shouting, but then took a deep breath, calming himself. “We have discussed the imperative the priest spoke of and I have given my position on it. Mankind is better off living under my rule.”

  Jubal nodded his head. “I agree on that and can think of no better person. My thought is; why be king of one city when you can be king of many cities, especially if doing so furthers your goals and also the imperative?”

  Nimrod shook his head, but his brows relaxed, meaning he was no longer angry, and no doubt because his right to rule had been unquestionably recognized. “It is as Semi said when you nearly convinced me to do that very thing a year ago, it would be impossible to rule at such distances. I would have to appoint governors and trust them to heed my edicts while at the same time the hearts of the people will drift far from me and the sour dream I had about people being unable to understand my commands would then come true. No, like some of your wilder notions, the idea just is not feasible, and so the criminal justice policy stands. And friend, anyone can claim to speak for the Creator. There are plenty of seers I could bring in who will tell you mankind will flourish here and that the priest has been overstating the consequences. I know you respect the man, but do not allow him to trouble your mind with such things. Like you, the man should stick to his realm of expertise and stay out of the political arena.”

  “A crisis will arise compelling you to act if the king refuses to honor the imperative.”

  The priest had made the statement at his last visit years ago. The ancients, Noah and Vivian, believed in the man and had heard the imperative with their own ears, and so had Herara and Shem. The matter came down to belief. Who was right and who was wrong? Jubal’s innards seemed to twist at the choice, especially since it was not in favor of the mighty hunter and king.

  It was clear Nimrod would never change his mind on the matter, especially with Semiramis counseling him otherwise. Jubal knew he had been warned and was again torn between doing what he knew to be right or following his friend, a course which would be easier by far until they were all struck by turmoil from above. What would it be, fire from heaven, earthquakes, a flood, perhaps all three?

  Setting aside the impending disasters, failure to honor the imperative would always provide the excuse to continue the unjust practice, especially since it was far cheaper than paying people to do the tasks. No wonder Hades agreed to reduce the sentence given to Betsenadab, Older-brother knew it made no difference. The question that suddenly came to mind had to be asked in order to be sure of the conclusion, but in a conciliatory tone. “Am I the only one who needed the matter explained to him? Do the judges know about the extended sentences and the real reason why?”

  The king gave a little chuckle. “They all know. But do not feel bad about the need to have it explained. Your naiveté on matters such as these is balanced by your ability to boldly explore where no one else dares to go.”

  Jubal forced a smile in response. “Thank you for taking the time to see me,” he stated as light-heartedly as he could feign.

  The king raised his hand in a gesture of benevolence. “I am pleased to know of your progress and to have this amulet; these alone are worth my time. I will be sending you that list of animal forms and some few I would have you create exclusively for me and Semi.” He was capable of creating his own forms but clearly did not want to expend the time.

  “It will be as you say,” Jubal replied and then exited the room; having lost his enthusiasm for sharing the many subtler forms he could assume using Metamorphosis. The visit had not ended the way he initially intended.

  He collected his daughter, the Weapocarns, and went back home with a new intention.

  I will be changing more than my perspective when the sun sets.

  Chapter Eighteen: The Need To Act

  Jubal’s nerves were on edge, the research in wielding potential he had in mind was not the only risk he would be taking in a short while. The fact that he felt his experiment should be safe did not actually make it safe. He knew there was a fine edge between boldly and foolishly exploring where no one else dared to go. Even so, it was best not to think on what could happen should something unexpected occur at a critical moment. The need to begin the testing after dark, so no one could see what he was doing, also made the attempt all the more dangerous.

  After leaving the royal palace, he had spent multiple turns of the sandglass in his workshop, not only forming new amulets containing the Aaka, Metamorphosis, but also using Forge to make some subtle changes to the house built by Berktor and his crew. Jubal also made extensive use of the Melody, Burrow. His promise not to go outside for the rest of the day was enough to persuade the Anakim to give him privacy. They did not need to know his plans for after dark or they would have insisted on accompanying him, especially Cassi and Anak, who would rightly be questioning the wisdom of going through with either plan.

  Part of him felt guilty over creating things meant to keep what he needed to do a secret from his long-time friend and also over how quickly his mind bent toward subterfuge. Necessity to act had inspired him in a way he had not experienced sinc
e scouting a viable trail for the caravans to reach high ground and later for him and Rue to survive. He thought of a way to make Cassi’s vision come true, but there would be little to no room for mistakes.

  The sun would be down soon and Hermes should have completed his assignment. Hopefully he had been successful in gathering the information and delivering a message to the individuals needed to help with the other matter. It could take a month of days and would take the help of people Jubal trusted completely in order to accomplish what he had in mind, at least to make a start on a mission that could go on for years. If he guessed wrong about any one of the recipients of the missive the consequences going forward would be severe.

  The study was illuminated by a sphere of light that bathed the chamber in his indigo life-force energy. The tint affected his perception of the objects in the room, altering their color from what he knew the shade would be had they been viewed in sunlight. The five white chairs arranged in front of his desk appeared to be blue.

  Jubal had arrived home from his visit with Nimrod to find Lilith had made the journey down river to be with her daughter and to welcome her new grandbabies into the world. She moved into the guest room on the fifth floor and Vicky, who came to welcome her nieces and incidentally learn another Aaka, had been given one of the guestrooms on the fourth floor. Jubal knew Lilith and Fysicia were with Vashti and discussing the blessed event to come, in detail, a conversation few males, with the possible exception of Pan, desired to take part in. Victoria was entertaining Laara in one of the rooms on the fourth floor, Jubal knew not which, but was confident his younger sibling could handle a three-year-old, reasonably confident.

  The bell rang and in walked Hermes carrying a sackcloth bag, followed by Pan, Thanatos, and Bast, who came back after going home to eat dinner. Ursa entered last and closed the door. Four of them, like Jubal, were wearing the red and black silks. The collector of the dead, who had resigned his seat as a judge a year past, was dressed in unrelieved black. All except Vashti’s nephew, who was older by five decades, were within three years of each other’s ages, but what that said about the collective wisdom of the bunch Jubal had no idea.

  The trainer had long black hair, light skin, and a lithe form that stretched to just shy of six cubits. She could almost look Jubal straight in the eyes and so could Ursa. The attractive dark-skinned giantess was the same height and nearly twice as wide as Bast. The Nephilim sister of Andromeda was bulky rather than fat and fate help the fool who had to discover that fact the hard way.

  Jubal motioned vaguely toward the chairs, indicating that they should sit down, and then fixed his gaze on his original assistant. “You do have the documents?”

  “Yes, yes,” the son of Zeus replied and then reached into the rough sack. He pulled out the documents and unrolled them on the desk.

  It was good that he did accomplish his assignment, seeing as that was the purpose for which he had been sent, but Jubal chose to study the three sheets rather than point out the fact. “Are these all the names or just the ones convicted and sentenced by Hades?”

  “Just Hades,” Hermes confirmed. “These are copies I made, which is why I took longer than we estimated. Someone might have noticed if the originals had gone missing, even temporarily” he added, demonstrating good thinking on his part.

  Jubal quickly scanned the names using his finger as a guide and then nodded, satisfied. “You did well. I see Betsenadab’s name. He and twenty-eight more inmates sentenced by Hades should have been released months ago. The rest on the list have not yet served their time and are not my concern. That brings me to the question, you have all read my message, so what do you think of my objections to the policy?”

  Thanatos opened his cloak and pulled out a scroll. “I agree with your statement that something must be done about the practice and am open to hearing your proposal. This is a list of the people I sentenced to hard labor. Thirty-five of them have been kept beyond their time. This is one of the reasons I resigned. Why take the trouble to hand down a fair sentence that befits the violation when the person will end up serving time indefinitely? I am with you in this. I do not know what you can do, but will help in whatever way I can.”

  Jubal turned to his female assistant. “You are under no obligation to help in this. Whatever I end up doing for these people will not be approved by the government.”

  “You are wandering into the weeds here and I will have your back,” Ursa replied without hesitation.

  Pan stroked his wooly beard nervously. “Let me get this straight. You are willing to oppose even Nimrod on this issue.”

  Jubal nodded his head. “I will have Roddy’s back on all other issues, but what is happening with the extended sentences is wrong, enslaving people in such a way is wrong,” he declared and then sighed. “I will be helping him in the long hunt even while opposing his policy.”

  Pan choked on what probably was meant to be a laugh. “Exactly in what way would your opposition be a help to him?”

  “My learning of Betsenadab’s situation is what led me to question Nimrod about the practice and his answers convinced me he will never allow mankind to settle elsewhere. He will continue to expand this city to accommodate the growing population. So, I am compelled to action because Roddy is opposed to the mandate from above and we will incur divine wrath if I do not act,” Jubal explained, hoping they would understand his rational, and the importance of the greater issue. Too many folks received the imperative from on-high as if it was nothing more than a suggestion.

  Thanatos raised a long and bony finger toward his host. “You see the extended sentences as an injustice and rightly so. I must inform you this practice has been going on for years. I do not see why the situation is worse now than a year ago or what it even has to do with the imperative to fill the earth? The connection is convoluted.”

  The missive had only covered the topic of people being forced to stay beyond the original sentences, so the question about how it might relate to filling the earth was completely reasonable. Would the pallid Nephilim walk away if he did not like the explanation? Would the others who had come do so as well?

  Hermes had been staring at the document, but looked up at hearing the question. “I will help with whatever you intend to do, but truly, I also fail to see what one has to do with the other.”

  If he did not approve of the answer, would the brother of Apollo and Artemis side with his father who approved of the practice, or worse, would Hermes not only refuse to help but decide to turn the matter over to the authorities? The young man had not known why he had been asked to retrieve the documents, yet seemed willing to back his uncle no matter the goal or consequences.

  Jubal leaned forward with his elbows on the table. “Since Roddy will not take up the task to implement the imperative, the priest has made it clear the duty falls on me. Failure is not an option. I will have to scout out new places for settlements just as I originally found this spot upon which Semidon now stands.”

  “Now that is an ambitious project and will take years, perhaps flooding decades,” Pan clearly understood the scope of what would be involved.

  Thanatos raised a second bony finger. “It occurs to me the only way to free the convicts who have served their time is to snatch them. If we do so, none of them would ever be able to go home.”

  Jubal smiled, knowing the former judge had made the connection. “And so those convicts and their families will have to live elsewhere. They and any other people who feel compelled to go will make up the new communities.”

  Pan’s eyebrows shot up. “That is bold, filching convicts right out of the compound. More than that, it will take a lot of planning and coordinating with their families. Scouting a new spot would be easier by far and even that will not be easy. The settlements will have to be remote enough so as not to be discovered by a Weapocarn patrol.”

  “He is correct, and we would have to be very careful about who we approach with the offer to live elsewhere,” Bast added to the list of cha
llenges, but the difficulty of the task had never been in doubt or underestimated. “Fortunately, since the exodus, meat is supplied mostly by domesticated flocks and herds rather than wild game brought in by the hunters. The Weapocarns seldom go far from the city and only then to keep the surrounding wilderness free of dangerous animals. The patrols usually go no farther than tens spans from the city in any direction, except up river to the original settlement. Instructor, I have no doubt you are stealthy enough to get past them unseen and scout beyond the patrol areas, but doing so will take up a lot of time, and I am talking days of time, perhaps months on end as time goes by and the distances increase. You will be missed during those absences.”

  Jubal leaned back from the desk, having considered the challenges involved, but had desired for everyone in the room to do the same before asking, “So, now that you know what I mean to do and how difficult the task will be, are you with me?”

  Thanatos raised a third finger. “I have no skills as a Weapocarn. I can neither hunt, nor scout terrain, but will do whatever I can to assist in this endeavor.”

  “Who else is going to be with us?” Hermes asked.

  Jubal eyed his guests. “It is best if only we in this room know of it for the time being. No one here should gloss over the fact that our actions will result in us being arrested if we are found out.”

  Hermes nodded. “I will help you, but like Thanatos, I am not skilled in the woods. However, I am good at sneaking and it will take sneakiness to move entire families out of this city without attracting attention.” If he had doubts he was hiding them well.

  Ursa stood proudly. “The priest has been warning people for years to heed the imperative and it is time to act. If the rulers will not, then I see it as a mandate from heaven to help fulfill the obligation set upon you by Melchizedek.”

  Bast smiled. “The difficulties I pointed out were to let you know I understand what we will be up against, not as an attempt to change your mind. Like my large friend here, I want to have a part in seeing that the divine imperative is carried out.”