End-April – 3,390 BC
Earth: Village of Assur
Jamin
“Harlot!" Anger turned his cheeks so red it made him sweat. How dare the winged demon flex his wings and show off like a cockerel greeting the dawn in front of the entire village? Any minute now Mikhail would start scratching the ground and crowing! Oh, how he obsessed about plucking those wings and turning them into a feathered cape!
“Let’s go,” Siamek glanced to where Ninsianna stood in intimate proximity to the five cubit tall winged stranger who had now taken up residence in their village. “We are finished planting for today. Let’s go practice someplace else.”
“She deliberately makes a spectacle of herself to dishonor me!” Rage shuddered through his body as the winged demon reached out to tangle his fingers in his fiancé’s hair.
“Did you see the way he spread their seed in only a few minutes?” Firouz said with admiration. “That would have taken me all day.”
“Look!” Dadbeh said. “He's helping Yalda and Zhila plant their fields now. The beer will be flowing tonight!”
“I wish he would come plant my field,” Tirdard looked forlornly at the basket of seed he'd yet to plant. “I can’t go with you until I finish planting my parent's field." Tirdard was the youngest warrior in Jamin's elite group.
“That’s because you daydream about Yadidatum all day,” Kiarash said. “Instead of focusing on what you should be doing." Kiarash was one of the older warriors from the Chief's generation. He referred to the young woman to whom Tirdard was betrothed.
“All that Yadidatum daydreams about these days is the winged one,” Tirdard said mournfully. "She said I should strive to be more like him."
“Just like every other female in the village,” Siamek laughed. “A man can't get any action since he showed up.”
“Oh, beautiful winged one,” Dadbeh said in high-pitched voice. “Carry me into the sky with those big dark wings of yours.”
“No, fair maiden,” Firouz donned a respectable facsimile of Mikhail’s unreadable expression. “I must follow Ninsianna around like a large, winged dog.”
“Sit, boy,” Dadbeh changed his mannerisms to mimic Ninsianna at her bossy best, “Stay. Fetch. Go plant my neighbor's fields so Yalda will bake me some bread." For emphasis, he reached out and touched Firouz’s cheek.
“Yes, my love,” Firouz mimicked Mikhail’s stiff stance, “anything to avoid eating your mothers cooking." Firouz walked in lock-step behind Dadbeh as he mimicked Ninsianna leading Mikhail around by the nose.
“He is only here to gauge our defenses so he can attack us!" Jamin snarled. How could they all be so stupid?
“Come, now, Jamin,” Kiarash said. “The only reason he is here is because of Ninsianna. You don't go from riding a sky canoe to planting fields unless you wish to win over the girl." Kiarash was a warrior from his father's generation, the Chief's watchdog assigned to babysit the younger warriors.
“Enough!” Siamek had been friends with Jamin long enough to see when he was about to lose his temper. "What Ninsianna does is of no concern of ours. Only that we train as Jamin has asked!"
“It's time to face the truth,” Kiarash said. “Ninsianna strung you along because you were the biggest dog in the village. Now she has found an even bigger dog to grant her every whim."
“You're better off without her,” Siamek said. “Let’s go practice someplace else." He reached to turn Jamin away from the sight of Ninsianna and her two elderly neighbors buzzing around the winged one like bees to honey. In the air above them, two enormous golden eagles circled the fields, looking for a mouse. The wind carried them higher in an updraft.
'Jamin … it's time to let her go…'
“Get your hand off of me,” Jamin snarled.
He stalked off, leaving his friends wondering what they'd done to become the focus of his ire. Moving off into a grove of date palm trees, he hid, watching Ninsianna coax the demon to do her dirty work for her. His friends were right about that much! Ninsianna had found a bigger dog to do her bidding.
Chapter 47
Sword of the Gods: The Chosen One Page 51