In the blue sky, around three feet off the ground, a black shape had just appeared. Like a shroud with torn edges. It got bigger, slowly, and a breeze of icy air came out of it. It was a black spot that reflected no light.
Tiny objects, which he could not identify, were thrown out of the dark shape. Then all of a sudden she appeared.
Majestic, royal, eyes the color of the sea, golden hair, sitting on a throne of iron, the Great Goddess just surged out of the center of the black shape. The throne dropped into the green grass. The black spot disappeared. The body of the Goddess was bound to her throne.
Dumuzi fell to his knees, bent forward and placed his hands on the ground. He straightened up and bowed down again several times as a sign of adoration.
In an unknown language that he did not understand, the Goddess pronounced one word, something like, “Eramaï?”
Yes, what he was thinking was just confirmed. “Innana!” He had just heard the name of the Great Goddess! He knew what the dark shape was. Innana was coming back from hell and she was carrying her chains with her. If she allowed him, he would unbind her and lead her gloriously into Uruk where her return would be celebrated as befit her.
On the laboratory’s metal armchair Sylvie was slowly regaining consciousness. She saw a man prostrate at her feet and in the distance a city that looked like it was straight out the ancient past. Where had the Engineer sent her with his infernal machine? She did not know but she would do whatever it took to find out and act accordingly.
The man stood up, approached her and untied her from the chair. A few feet away, lying in the grass, she saw a strange-shaped pistol that she knew was the terrible weapon created by her torturer. She grabbed it, figuring that the disintegrator pistol might come in handy. The man who was before her obviously believed she was a supernatural creature. Maybe she could use this to her advantage to guarantee her safety. He was pointing to the city and offering to take her down there. She followed him, wondering what she would do once she was in the city.
That was how Innana came back from the underworld. Many centuries later the people still invoked this Great Goddess, whom they called Ishtar, Astarte, Aphrodite or Venus the fair-haired. Nostradamus himself had a vision of the Goddess when he predicted in his Prophecies the coming of the Golden Virgin whose fate would be determined by the return of the Antichrist. It was this “Golden Virgin” whom Léo Saint-Clair, the Nyctalope, had married after his battle against Leonid Zattan—Sylvie Saint-Clair, née Mac Dhul, who was bound to be annihilated by Engineer Korridès on the day that almost saw the destruction of the Nyctalope.
Notes
1 Beech Grove.
2 After Alphonse de Lamartine (1790-1869), French writer, poet and politician.
3 Pierre Jean Georges Cabanis (1757-1808), French physiologist and materialist philosopher. His principal work, Rapports du physique et du moral de l’homme [On the relations between the physical and moral aspects of man] (1802), is a sketch of physiological psychology. Psychology is directly linked on to biology, for sensibility, the fundamental fact, is the highest grade of life and the lowest of intelligence. All the intellectual processes are evolved from sensibility, and sensibility itself is a property of the nervous system.
4 100.2 F.
5 101.3 F.
6 102.6 F
7 97.4.
8 Assignats were paper money issued by the National Assembly in France from 1789 to 1796, during the French Revolution. Backed by the value of properties formerly held by the Catholic Church, they became immediately a source of political controversy. While their proponents argued that land was a more stable source of value than gold or silver, the opponents saw them as based on an illegitimate seizure of property.
9 Louis XVIII (1755-1824) was a monarch of the House of Bourbon who ruled as King of France from 1814 to 1824, except for a period in 1815 known as the Hundred Days. He spent twenty-three years in exile, from 1791 to 1814, during the French Revolution and the First French Empire, and again in 1815, during the period of the Hundred Days, upon the return of Napoleon I from Elba. Until his accession to the throne of France, he held the title of Count of Provence as brother of King Louis XVI.
10 A style of woman’s jacket that was fashionable from the mid-18th to early 19th centuries. Caracos were thigh-length and opened in front, with tight three-quarter or long sleeves. Like gowns of the period, the back of the caraco could be fitted to the waist or could hang in pleats from the shoulder in the style of a sack back. Caracos were generally made of printed linen or cotton.
11 Raquel Meller (1888-1962), a Spanish singer and actress. She was an international star in the 1920s and 1930s, appearing in several films and touring Europe and the Americas. A vaudeville performer, she sang the original versions of well known songs such as La Violetera and El Relicario.
12 See “The Ides of Mars” in Night of the Nyctalope and The Return of the Nyctalope.
FRENCH MYSTERIES COLLECTION
M. Allain & P. Souvestre. The Daughter of Fantômas
M. Allain & P. Souvestre. The Death of Fantômas 1: The Hemp Necktie
M. Allain & P. Souvestre. The Death of Fantômas 2: The End of Fantômas
A. Anicet-Bourgeois, Lucien Dabril. Rocambole: Two Stage plays
Guy d’Armen. Doc Ardan and The City of Gold and Lepers
Guy d’Armen. Doc Ardan and The Troglodytes of Mount Everest
Guy d’Armen. Doc Ardan and The Abominable Snowman
A. Bernède. Belphegor
A. Bernède. Judex (w/Louis Feuillade)
A. Bernède. The Return of Judex (w/Louis Feuillade)
A. Bernède. The Shadow of Judex (w/Louis Feuillade et al.)
A. Bisson & G. Livet. Nick Carter vs. Fantômas
V. Darlay & H. de Gorsse. Lupin vs. Holmes: The Stage Play
Harry Dickson. Harry Dickson and The Heir of Dracula
Harry Dickson. Harry Dickson vs The Spider
Paul Feval. Gentlemen of the Night / Captain Phantom
Paul Feval. John Devil 1: The Chateau de Belcamp
Paul Feval. John Devil 1: The Trial of John Devil
Paul Feval. The Parisian Jungle 1: The Engraved Armband
Paul Feval. The Parisian Jungle 2: Trois-Pattes
Paul Feval. Heart of Steel 1: Marguerite de Bourgogne
Paul Feval. Heart of Steel 2: Monsieur Coeur
Paul Feval. ’Salem Street 1: Clampin, alias Pistolet
Paul Feval. ’Salem Street 2: The Demoiselles de Champmas
Paul Feval. The Companions of the Silence 1: The Seven Iron Rings
Paul Feval. The Companions of the Silence 2: Prince Coriolani
Paul Feval: Bel Demonio
Louis Forest. Someone Is Stealing Children In Paris
Emile Gaboriau. Monsieur Lecoq 1 : The Investigation
Emile Gaboriau. Monsieur Lecoq 2 : The Honor of the Name
Emile Gaboriau. The Casebook of Monsieur Lecoq
Arnould Galopin. Harry Dickson and the Man in Grey
Arnould Galopin. Harry Dickson vs Tenebras 1: The Invisible Man
Arnould Galopin. Harry Dickson vs Tenebras 2: The Secret of Tenebras
Goron & Gautier. Spawn of the Penitentiary 1: From Devil’s Island to the City of Lights
Goron & Gautier. Spawn of the Penitentiary 2 Cosmopolitan Pirates:
Goron & Gautier. Spawn of the Penitentiary 3: Scientific Detectives and Bandits
Jean de La Hire. Enter the Nyctalope
Jean de La Hire. The Nyctalope on Mars 1 : The Mystery of the Fifteen
Jean de La Hire. The Nyctalope on Mars 2 : The Triumph of Love
Jean de La Hire. The Nyctalope vs Lucifer 1 : Enter Lucifer !
Jean de La Hire. The Nyctalope vs Lucifer 2 : Drama in the Bermudas
Jean de La Hire. The Nyctalope vs Lucifer 3 : The Triumph of the Nyctalope
Jean de La Hire. The Nyctalope Steps In
Jean de La Hire. Night of the Nyctalope
Jean de La Hire/J.-M. & Randy Loff
icier. The King of the Night + The Return of the Nyctalope
Jean de La Hire/Emmanuel Gorlier. The Cross of Blood + The Nyctalope and the Tower of Babel
Etienne-Léon de Lamothe Langon. The Mysterious Hermit of the Tomb
Maurice Leblanc. Arsène Lupin vs. Countess Cagliostro
Maurice Leblanc. The Blonde Phantom
Maurice Leblanc. The Hollow Needle
Maurice Leblanc. The Island of the Thirty Coffins
Maurice Leblanc. 813
Maurice Leblanc. The Many Faces of Arsène Lupin
Gustave Le Rouge. The Mysterious Doctor Cornelius1: The Sculptor of Human Flesh
Gustave Le Rouge. The Mysterious Doctor Cornelius2: The Island od Hanged Men
Gustave Le Rouge. The Mysterious Doctor Cornelius3: The
Gaston Leroux. Chéri-Bibi: The Stage Play
Gaston Leroux. The Phantom of the Opera
Gaston Leroux. Rouletabille & the Mystery of the Yellow Room
Gaston Leroux. Rouletabille at Krupp’s
Jean-Marc & Randy Lofficier. Tales of the Shadowmen 1: The Modern Babylon
Jean-Marc & Randy Lofficier. Tales of the Shadowmen 2: Gentlemen of the Night
Jean-Marc & Randy Lofficier. Tales of the Shadowmen 3: Danse Macabre
Jean-Marc & Randy Lofficier. Tales of the Shadowmen 4: The Lords of Terror
Jean-Marc & Randy Lofficier. Tales of the Shadowmen 5: The Vampires of Paris
Jean-Marc & Randy Lofficier. Tales of the Shadowmen 6: Grand Guignol
Jean-Marc & Randy Lofficier. The Shadow of Judex
Frank J. Morlock. Sherlock Holmes vs Jack the Ripper
Jean Petithuguenin. The Adventures of Ethel King
Pierre-Alexis Ponson du Terrail. The Police Agent
Charles Rabou. The Secret Bureau
Charles Rabou. The Secret Bureau 2: The Brothers of Death
Charles Rabou. The Secret Bureau 3: The Bloodied Girl
Charles Rabou. The Secret Bureau 4: The Marquis de Lupiano
Antonin Reschal. The Adventures of Miss Boston
P. de Wattyne & Y. Walter. Sherlock Holmes vs. Fantômas
David White. Fantômas in America
Pierre Yrondy. The Adventures of Therese Arnaud
Pierre Yrondy. The Adventures of Marius Pegomas
IN THE SAME SERIES
Jean de La Hire. Enter the Nyctalope
Jean de La Hire. The Nyctalope on Mars
Jean de La Hire. The Nyctalope vs. Lucifer
Jean de La Hire. The Nyctalope Steps In
Jean de La Hire. Night of the Nyctalope
Jean de La Hire / J.-M. & Randy Lofficier. Return of the Nyctalope
Introduction Copyright 2018 by Jean-Marc Lofficier.
La Croix de Sang translation Copyright 2018 by Jessica Sequeira.
La Tour de Babel Copyright 2018 by Emmanuel Gorlier; translation Copyright 2018 by Michael Shreve.
Cover illustration Copyright 2018 by J.O. Ladrónn.
Visit our website at www.blackcoatpress.com
ISBN 978-1-61227-701-1. Printing. January 2018. Published by Black Coat Press, an imprint of Hollywood Comics.com, LLC, P.O. Box 17270, Encino, CA 91416. All rights reserved. Except for review purposes, no part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The stories and characters depicted in this anthology are entirely fictional. Printed in the United States of America.
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