by Overton, Max
Khu confronted Mose over the excesses of the people. "The Khabiru I came to know in Zarw were upright, decent people, but you have turned them into a violent, narrow-minded race."
"You are Kemetu," Mose replied, "Whereas I am half Khabiru. God speaks to me and tells me what I must do, and I tell the people."
"In Kemet, priests wash and dress the statues of the gods in the temples, laying food and drink before them daily, but anyone--king or peasant--can approach them in prayer and have those prayers answered. Only one Kemetu god was different, Mose. That was the god that you worshipped--the Aten. You put him beyond the reach of the common man; you made him accessible only by yourself. Now you have done the same with this Yahweh of yours. Only you can talk to him; he only talks to you. I think you have created this god for your own purposes, and he is a cruel god."
"You blaspheme, Khu of the Kemetu, and the penalty for blasphemy is death." Mose stroked his beard thoughtfully. "Yet I am minded to be merciful, for you have rendered the Khabiru a small service. You may live, but you are exiled from the company of the Khabiru. Take any among the Shechites who are of like mind and depart today. If you are here at sunrise, I will tell the priests to have you killed."
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Chapter Forty-Nine
The water of the lagoon rushing out to sea reminded Scarab of the cataracts in the Great River in Nubia, though on a much smaller scale. Even as they watched, the flow diminished and stopped. The last of the water trickled away leaving fish flopping in pools in the muddy strip of sea bottom uncovered.
"What is happening?" Jesua asked in a shaky voice. "I have never seen its like."
"Neither have I, but it seems the gods have opened up the way for us." Scarab called to the Shechites. "Quickly, across to the far shore."
She led the way, slipping and sliding in the muddy sand and splashing through the pools before clambering up the far side to dry sand again. Her men followed, but by their pale faces and staring eyes it was apparent that fear gripped them. They reached the other side in time to see the Geb legion with Horemheb and Djedhor arrive on the far side.
The legionaries were staring all around--at the sea pulled back hundreds of paces, revealing a huge expanse of wet sand and shells and at the lagoon now reduced to a series of interconnected pools. Horemheb exhorted his troops, pointing over the gap toward the Shechites, ordering them down into the shallow valley.
"Come on," Scarab said. "It is only a matter of time before the legion crosses. We have been given an escape by the gods. Let us use it."
The men of the Pillar turned and ran along the short sand bar connecting with the land at the northern end of the Lagoon. As they ran, a breeze picked up from the sea, carrying with it a strong smell of salt and seaweed, and distantly they heard a low rumble, building slowly into a roar. Scarab glanced behind her and saw that the first of the Geb legionaries has gained the far side of the gap.
"Horemheb is coming," she called. "Find somewhere defensible."
Jesua pointed to a small rocky hill a little inland. "Will that do?"
They altered course and ran for the hill, the unidentified roar from the sea building in their ears. Scarab reached the first rocks and looked back again to check on the progress of the legion--and gaped, her left eye wide and staring.
The sea had risen into a long low line of hills, growing taller as she watched, and racing toward the shore faster than a hawk could fly. Scarab felt her legs tremble at the sight and she backed away up the hill. Around her, men cried out to the gods. The towering hill of water crested at its peak, breaking and curling forward as the base of the hill met the uprising shore line. The mass of water fell, the thunder of its passage drowning out the cries of the men on the sand bar, overwhelming them and carrying them away in a welter of water and debris.
The water surged inland as if the sea was hungry to claim the land so long denied it, foaming almost up to the base of the hill. The Shechites withdrew in horror from the dirty water and watched in relief as it receded, sucking back into the seabed. They scanned the shore for any sign of the Horemheb and the Geb legion, but even the sand bar had disappeared, swept away by the powerful wave.
After a while spent staring at the changed landscape, the Shechites ventured down from the hill, but another huge wave sent them scrambling for the rocky security of their refuge. This time they stayed on their hill long after the water receded again and were rewarded when the sea built once more into a towering wash of water that roared across the land and broke against the rocks, soaking them even on the top of the hill. The water pulled back again, sucking and gurgling, ripping the soil loose from between the rocks and undermining their refuge.
Scarab pointed inland. "The waves are getting larger and the next may sweep us away altogether. Run inland, beyond the reach of the water."
They ran, splashing through puddles and slipping in mud, avoiding piles of weed and the detritus thrown up by the giant waves. One of the men found a large fish flapping on the sand and picked it up with a laugh, carrying it with him. They passed beyond the farthest boundary of the previous wave and looked back to see another wave wash around the base of their rocky hillock and start to swirl across the wet sand. The water did not come near them though, and they knew they were safe from the sea waves. Scarab led them in prayer, giving thanks to the gods for their deliverance, and then they set off inland, seeking to find their comrades.
Many people were moving inland with them, people from coastal villages, and travellers on the main trade route, and the stories grew in wonder as the tales of the day were passed from person to person. One fisherman, carried far inland in his battered boat, told of seeing drowned soldiers piled high like driftwood, and another swore he had seen the king of Kemet laid low by the great wave. Scarab and her men kept quiet, but listened to all the stories, sifting fact from obvious fiction.
"I think we can be certain Horemheb is dead," Scarab said. "The Geb legion with him, too. As long as we don't run into Ramesses, we should be able to rejoin the Khabiru without any great difficulty."
"Where do you think he is?" Jesua asked.
Scarab laughed. "Depends whether he caught up with Abrim and the goats. No, I shouldn't laugh, if he caught up he might be so angry he'd kill everyone."
"Not much we can do about it," Jesua observed. "We have no idea where he might be now."
"I could find him if my gifts are still with me, but I sort of don't want to test them. It seems to me that the gods have achieved their purpose with the death of Horemheb and the escape of the Khabiru."
"Who knows what the gods desire? Abrim is our brother. We should find him."
"You are right, Jesua. I am sorry; I will try." Scarab concentrated, her lips moving silently. "That way." She pointed.
It took them five days, and several changes in direction, but they found Abrim and about thirty of his men sitting around a fire one evening, roasting a goat. Sentries challenged them--Scarab was glad to see that they had not lost all thoughts of security--and sent word to Abrim of their arrival.
"By all the gods," Abrim said, getting to his feet and embracing Scarab and Jesua. "It is good to see you. Everybody else seems to have disappeared." His men got up too, welcoming their friends from the Pillar and dressing some more goat carcases for the fire.
"What happened with Ramesses?" Scarab asked.
"That is an angry man," Abrim laughed. "He pursued us so hard we ran the goats ragged. In the end, we had to leave them they were so exhausted. We just broke up into twos and threes and slipped off into the hills. When Ramesses and his men caught up, all they found were a lot of goats sitting around. They slaughtered some of them in rage before the others ran off and then they turned around and marched south. We came back and helped ourselves to some meat before wandering north and west. Then you turned up. What happened to you?"
"Did you feel the earthquake?"
Abrim nodded. "We lost a few men to landslides in the hills." He
shrugged. "It came from the gods, I suppose."
"Indeed it did," Scarab said. "We lured Horemheb and his legion to the coast where the gods sent great waves from the sea to destroy them. The king and his entire legion were drowned." She and Jesua filled in the details as Abrim questioned them.
"Where to now?" Abrim asked at length.
"Well, perhaps we had all better decide that together." They called all the members of the Pillar together and Scarab outlined the position to them all. "We came together to fight for the Khabiru..."
"And you, Eye of Geb," called out one man.
"Especially you," chorused a dozen others.
"Thank you," Scarab laughed. "And me then. But you fought for me against Horemheb and Horemheb is dead. Ramesses will now rule alone and hopefully over a stable Kemet. I have no quarrel with Ramesses, but I can no longer live in Kemet. I intend to seek the Khabiru and live with them." She paused and looked around the assembled men. "Men of the Pillar, you have given good service and I thank you from the innermost part of my being, but your duty ends here today. You are free to return to your families in Shechite lands."
"Have you forgotten, Eye of Geb?" Jesua asked. "Our families joined the Khabiru migration. Where they are, we must be too."
"That is true," Abrim agreed, among a murmur of acquiescence. "Our service will not be complete until we have brought you safe to the Khabiru and rejoiced to find our wives and children safe in their care."
"This is the decision of you all?"
"It is." The men cheered, "Eye of Geb!" and "Scarab's Pillar!"
"Just one thing," Jesua said. "Where are the Khabiru?"
Scarab smiled. "I can find out."
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Chapter Fifty
The direction the goddess pointed them was unexpected, a north-easterly course that led them through the territories of several tribes, none of whom had heard of the Khabiru.
"How is that possible?" Jesua asked after the third or fourth time a tribe had denied all knowledge of the mass migration. "Has Yahweh made them all invisible?"
They reached the northern end of the Salt Lake and turned north along the course of a beautiful river running through a lushly vegetated valley. The air was sweet with the scent of flowering trees and sufficient game inhabited the forests that the Pillar could hunt for fresh meat. There were few people in the valley though, despite its richness, and the few they saw fled at their approach. A few days later, they came across a burned village and several graves.
"War has passed through here recently," Scarab said. "Yet where are the conquerors? I would expect them to be enjoying the land and its produce."
They came to the trail of the conquerors the next day. It led up into the hills and the road was trampled by thousands of feet and the vegetation stripped by the people's herds. Scarab and her men followed cautiously, with scouts ranging out on all sides. A ruined city lay on their path, with a sparse population trying to rebuild from the fallen stones and burnt timbers. The people grabbed their weapons as soon as the Shechites appeared and were slow to put them down, doing so only when Scarab walked alone into their midst and sat down.
"I am Miltades, son of the governor of Yariho," said a middle-aged man covered with the dust and grime of his city's ruin. "Who are you and where is the rest of your tribe, for we see only one woman and many fighting men."
"I am called Scarab and I am from the south." She hesitated, aware that the goddess Nut's guidance had led them here. Something was wrong, but she could not think what. Where were the Khabiru and the other Shechites? "My companions search for their families, who came north with the Khabiru. Have you seen...?"
Miltades signalled and a dozen men snatched up their spears again. "You are Khabiru? You come among us and admit that?"
"My men are Shechites, and seek only their wives and children. The Khabiru they travelled with were peaceable."
"Khabiru did this," Miltades said, gesturing at the ruins. "An earthquake toppled our walls less than a month ago and an army of Khabiru marched in immediately after and slaughtered all they could find, pillaging and burning the city. Now you say you claim kinship with these beasts?"
"As I said, Miltades, the Khabiru I know would not do this. They love peace. However, it seems as though our journey does not end here. We must go on and find our families."
"Why should we let you go?" demanded one of the Yariho listeners. "I say we take vengeance on this one at least for the injury caused us. I have a daughter dead because of the Khabiru and another dying. Let her pay for our blood with hers."
"We do not war against women, Essanil, even if this woman was Khabiru." He stood aside and gestured. "You are free to go, Scarab, but if your tribe returns we will fight them."
Scarab stood, but made no move to leave. "Show me your injured ones. I have some skill with healing and would like to repay your kindness."
Miltades stared but then shrugged. "If you can heal any of them, we will be in your debt. Show her the hospital."
Scarab was led to a building which still partially stood and that was roofed with cloth to offer some protection from the hot sun. Flies arose in clouds as she walked between rows of injured people laid out on bare dirt.
"People with minor injuries work, but these are waiting to die as we have nothing with which to treat them." Miltades squatted beside one woman and brushed the hair back from pain-filled eyes. "My wife, Issul. Essanil's daughter is over there."
Scarab prayed that the power of Geb extended this far from the borders of Kemet. Why should it not ? The earth itself does . Then she laid her hands on Issul, the wife of Miltades, son of the governor of the ruined city of Yariho. From her, Scarab moved along the row of dying people and by the time she reached Essanil's daughter, the fourth in the row, Issul was sitting up and talking with her husband. Of the twenty people in the hospital, nineteen recovered quickly from the laying on of hands. The twentieth died just before she got to him.
"Your god is powerful," Miltades said with tears of joy in his eyes. "Tell us how we may offer up our sacrifice of thanks."
Scarab told him of Geb and his attributes.
"Why, that is Eluhil, god of the fertile ground and harvests," Miltades said.
"Then worship him in that name," Scarab said with a smile. "He will know."
Scarab was escorted with honour to the boundaries of the city, where she found Jesua and the Shechites waiting impatiently.
"You are unhurt?" Jesua demanded. "Say the word and we will teach these men a lesson they will not soon forget."
"Put away your sword, for the people of Yariho are our friends from this day on."
They set off in the direction the Khabiru had taken. Scarab was quiet, thinking about what she had heard and seen. Jesua and Abrim walked with her, respecting her silence, for half a day before Abrim could bear it no longer.
"Why did the men of Yariho curse the Khabiru?"
"They felt they had good reason, Abrim. He says the Khabiru attacked their city without provocation and killed many people."
Abrim frowned. "You believe him? I cannot imagine Khu allowing that."
"No, nor any of the Khabiru elders I know," Scarab agreed. "But what reason would he have to lie?"
"We shall know the truth of it when we find the Khabiru," Jesua said. "And if I find it was a lie, I shall return to Yahiro and teach them truth at the point of my sword."
The goddess Nut's pointer ran before them in the flight of birds or a drift of butterflies, north and west into the forested hills above the river valley until the hills flattened out into a broad plain rich with grass and watered by rushing streams. There they found herds of cattle and flocks of goats and sheep, tended by young boys they recognised. Some of the boys came to meet them and others ran to shout the news, so that by the time they neared the tents of the Khabiru they had both an escort and an army waiting to meet them.
Scarab ran her gaze over the men arrayed before her and recognised Chemos
h, the husband of her friend Miriam, and the elder Eli. She stepped forward smiling.
"It is good to see you Eli, Chemosh. You are a lot further north than I thought you would be. Is all well with you? I do not see Khu...or Mose. Are they well?"
Eli looked troubled but Chemosh scowled. "You are a long way from home, Kemetu. Better had you stayed among the demon worshippers than come up here."
"What are you talking about? Where is Khu? Or Mose? Or any of the other elders?"
Jesua pushed forward and stared at the Khabiru warriors. "Where are the Shechites that came up with you, Chemosh? We have come to be reunited with our families."
"They are not here, and neither are you welcome unless you renounce your gods and embrace the true worship of Yahweh."
"Mose has never asked that of anyone," Scarab said. "Only that Yahweh is put first when he is around."
A tall man in a turban pushed through the Khabiru warriors and confronted Scarab. "How little you know the Prophet, woman," the man said with a sneer. "Renounce your demon worship and I may let you live."
"And who are you?"
"I am Levish, High Priest of Yahweh."
"Well, Levish, I am Scarab, sister to Mose and I have known him for nearly forty years, far longer than you, and I know that my brother would never condemn a man for his beliefs, even if he totally disagreed with him. Let him come forth from among you and deny it if it is not true."
Levish scowled. "He cannot. The Prophet Mose has ascended to the heavens and I am his successor. God speaks through me now."