As Ananel neared, the gaze of the taller angels turned toward him.
He simply nodded in acknowledgement.
“Menn eru inte leyft i a stad,” one of the guards bellowed. Though loud and commanding, his voice sounded more human than Ananel’s.
Ananel replied in the same language and both the guards suddenly looked down at the human intruder.
Enoch felt his legs go limp and he had to avert his eyes to keep from falling over. From the corner of his vision, he saw the angels nod. Ananel stepped forward and Enoch followed, keeping his eyes on the ground. As he passed by the guards, he could almost feel heat coming from their eyes.
With the wall towering overhead, casting a shadow in the moonlight, Enoch followed his angelic escort through the passage until it widened at the crest of a hill. Feeling confident enough to lift his head once more, Enoch looked out over miles of water encircled by jagged mountains that appeared as the teeth of a ravenous animal. If the mountains were its gaping, deadly jaw threatening to rend the sky, the water was its endless throat ready to swallow it.
“The Kahyin call it Mudena Del-Edha, City of the Gods,” Ananel said, anticipating Enoch’s question.*
Enoch just nodded, struggling to grasp the vastness of what his eyes were witnessing. Without being told, he knew that this place had been constructed, but he couldn’t comprehend how such a thing was possible. Around the inside of the mountains, where they descended into the water, a wide road circled the valley and disappeared into the mist clinging to the shoreline. As his eyes followed the route that they were obviously taking, his vision settled upon something which exceeded anything else he’d yet witnessed. Rising from the mist and water on the south end of the valley was a tower, shaped like those flanking the entrance they’d just come through. Only this one was so wide and tall that Enoch couldn’t really tell how far away it was. His eyes made him believe that it rose even above the surrounding mountains, but the thought seemed impossible.
“And that?” he asked the Ananel.
“Aryun Del-Edha. Eyes of the Gods.”*
Enoch was silent for a moment, lost in the grandeur of the peak that seemed impossibly high.
“Let’s go,” Ananel said, interrupting the moment.
~
For the better part of an hour, the two walked along the road which traversed the base of the southern mountains. The wide lake was still and menacing. Above its dark surface, a gray mist floated, with tiny swirls developing where it met the water. Minutes passed while they grew closer and closer to the tower. With each step, its height seemed more dramatic—less real. Finally, they reached a narrow peninsula of stone that extended out into the water, connecting the tower to the southern shore.
As Enoch followed Ananel across the land bridge, he noted three lesser towers protruding from the water to the north, east, and west. Each bore the same look, with three steep faces that eventually converged at a peak. Enoch thought about the simple habitations of his tribe, made of wood, thatch, and animal skins. These massive structures were something entirely different.
The path on which they walked ran straight toward the southern face of the tower, into which was carved a gigantic doorway of the same triangular shape. The path also diverged at this point and appeared to encircle the base of the tower, but Enoch’s attention was drawn to the guards posted at either side of the doorway.
This time, the menacing angels remained silent and still.
Ananel walked past them without slowing and Enoch followed as closely as he could, trying his best to look like he belonged in this foreign place.
The inside of the tower was just as grand as its exterior. As he looked across the cavernous interior and to the ceiling far above, Enoch thought that he might be able to fit the entire Shayeth village into the first level. Fires burned in small bowls carved into the walls, casting a flickering yellow light throughout. As he followed, he watched Ananel’s shadow slide across the stone and land on numerous surfaces and details graven into the rock.
At the center of the room, a wedge-shaped wall rose from the floor to the ceiling. Ananel circled it and Enoch hung back, afraid of what he might see. To his astonishment, the floor on the other side seemed to rise in a series of platforms that extended toward a triangular-shaped doorway in the ceiling. Just as confusion began to set in, Ananel stepped onto the first platform.
“Don’t be afraid,” he said. Then he turned and began to climb the stairs.
Enoch couldn’t help but be afraid. He’d never seen anything like it in all his years.
Holy One, go before me as I tread upon the path of the unknown!
Ananel disappeared through the doorway at the top.
Enoch took a deep breath, then climbed quickly to catch up. At the top of the stairs, he could see that the doorway was actually a tunnel twice his own height, which cut through the ceiling of the first level, and in turn, became the floor of the second chamber. Sound moved differently through this level as the ceiling was nowhere to be found. It might as well have been open to the sky above. This chamber was more brightly lit than the previous one, and slightly smaller. The walls and floor were constructed of a stone that Enoch had never seen. They were almost transparent, like water, but with veins of different colors running throughout. All of this, Enoch noticed in an instant. For an instant was all the time he had before a deafening noise attacked him from behind, shattering the silence and bringing an end to all thought.
“VAD AR A UTTRYKK AV DETTA VALDSHU?”
Enoch grabbed his ears and fell to the stone stairs. Already, his head was pounding in the aftermath of the noise. But through his tightly held grip, the muffled sound of Ananel’s voice could still be heard.
“The outrage is that your supposedly careful plans have failed.”
Enoch uncovered his ears carefully and looked up to Ananel who had reached the top of the stairs and was facing the other direction.
“Hvorfor gera du tala i a tunga av a Shayetham?” the voice replied, quieter this time.
Enoch instantly recognized the name of his tribe.
Ananel looked down to him. “Get up and turn around.”
Enoch turned his head as he slowly rose to his feet and climbed the last few steps. At the far end of the chamber, the floor was elevated by another flight of steps. At the top, a massive figure sat upon a throne carved from stone darker than the night sky. Its surface was covered in facets, each reflecting the fire light so that it gleamed with a dark radiance. The angel who sat upon the throne looked similar to the guards, but larger, with skin that held a reddish hue beneath its earthen tone. His black hair fell almost to his shoulders. His eyes burned with the color of the embers from a fire. And like the guards, he wore nothing except a loincloth of pure white, smoother than any clothing Enoch had ever seen.
As if the sight of this angel weren’t intimidating enough, he was flanked by four others.
Standing before the left side of the throne were two winged angels who appeared similar in height to Ananel. Each had two massive wings sprouting from his upper back, and two smaller wings below that. The one whose skin was darkest had sleek, black feathers and piercing, red eyes. The other had a mottled brown appearance, with softer looking feathers.
Seated on the steps to the right side of the throne, were two wingless angels of brown and gray tones. Their elongated facial features reminded Enoch of Ananel’s animal form.22
“This is Enoch, a prophet of the Shayetham. I met him today on the southern slopes of Murakszhug. One of the smaller Kahyin tribes was trying to offer him as a sacrifice to the Akila Lena Lahaema. You can see as well as I that he is different from any other human. When I asked him what he was doing so far away from his people, he told me he had been given a message from the Holy One—a message to the Wandering Stars of Heaven!”
The angel upon the throne suddenly leaned forward.
“… ones who shaped creation,” Ananel clarified. “Isn’t that right, Enoch?”
Enoch
nodded, then looked to the angel on the throne. He couldn’t be sure, for he was not yet familiar with these beings, but he felt some tension between Ananel and the one on the throne.
The large angel slowly turned his fierce eyes from Ananel to Enoch. “Come here, little one.”
Enoch obeyed immediately, but slowed his pace as he neared the steps.
“What is this message?”
Enoch swallowed. His throat now seemed too tight to allow the passage of air. But he tried to ignore it. This was the moment he’d been meditating on since he left Sedekiyr. All those weeks of reflecting on the vision he had been given, had eventually turned into words in his mind. Words that he knew, without a doubt, had been placed there by the Holy One. He also knew that this message was currently keeping him alive in a city that seemed to be forbidden to humans. And he feared that when it was delivered, he’d no longer be needed. But stronger than any of these realizations was the knowledge that his duty was to obey the voice of the Holy One, so he continued.
“The Holy One gave me a vision of what you have done, what you are doing, and what the result will be if you continue on this path.” The words coming out of Enoch’s mouth were filled with conviction, though he was inwardly paralyzed by fear. “I saw the stars, the angels of heaven, descend to the earth and transform it to keep it from dying by the poison of the Dark Ones. When their work was finished not all of them returned to their home. Some stayed behind and inhabited the earth. They were no longer doing the work of the Holy One, but they continued to shape creation as they saw fit. They were deceived by their own pride. They took wives from among the children of men and from the creatures of the earth. To these were born abominations that filled the earth with evil—”
“What is he talking about?” Ananel, whose eyes had been fixed on Enoch, glared at the angel upon the throne.
The other simply held up his hand in protest. “Continue,” he said to Enoch.
“Then I felt His heart breaking. I saw His tears of sorrow fill the whole earth. And everything was destroyed. Everything. If you continue in your wickedness, none of us will survive!”
When Enoch was finished, his words seem to hang in the air. Silence filled the stone chamber for what seemed an eternity.
Finally, Ananel broke the silence. “You set us up. You used us, then you betrayed us!”
“I did nothing of the sort,” the other replied calmly.
Ananel cocked his head slightly. “He spoke nothing of you or your soldiers. ONLY THE MYNDARYM!”
The other remained silent, while those near the throne turned to face Ananel, obviously positioning themselves to protect their superior. The tension in the room was increasing and Enoch wished that he could leave, now that his message had been delivered.
“Taking wives?”
“That’s none of your concern,” the other angel replied.
“It’s absolutely my concern!” Ananel shot back. “Since you couldn’t do it without our help. This was not the plan we agreed on. Who is helping you?”
Suddenly, all of the angels looked up as if they’d heard something.
Enoch followed their gaze and saw a winged angel silently descending through the open air of the tower above. It came from the shadows, the firelight barely illuminating its massive wings until it was almost on top of them. Enoch cowered in fear.
The angel landed quickly and gently upon the floor of the throne room, while the fires moved erratically and threatened to blow out from the sudden rush of wind. Instantly, the dark angel faced the throne and knelt, pulling his wings around himself like a cloak.
As he and the one upon the throne began to exchange words, Enoch whispered to Ananel. “What’s happening?”
Ananel inclined his head without taking his gaze from the one on the throne. “A Speaker of the armies of Heaven is at the gate, seeking council with Semjaza.”
Semjaza looked past the winged angel. “You see, Ananel. It is not just the Myndarym. In fact, He sent only a prophet to you, while he sent an army for me.”
“Vad skal ag ger, minn Rada?” the winged messenger asked.
Semjaza looked slowly from the messenger to Ananel, then to Enoch and back before answering.
“Ja, Rada min,” the angel replied. Then he rose, unfurled his massive wings, and leaped into the air. As his wings thrust downward, several of the fires set into the walls blew out. In an instant, the angel disappeared into the shadows above the chamber.
“What’s happening?” Enoch asked again.
Ananel kept his eyes on Semjaza and only held up a finger to Enoch, indicating that he should wait.
“Little one,” Semjaza said. “Since you claim to know the voice of the Holy One, and have shown faithfulness in delivering His message, you will now deliver a message for me.”
Enoch looked quickly to Ananel, whose face was now unreadable.
“Go to the Speaker at the gate. Tell him that I repent of my disobedience. I will need time to meditate upon my actions, but I will take council at the break of daylight. Then I will be ready to accept whatever terms he is offering. Do you understand all of this?”
Enoch nodded.
“Good. Ananel will escort you to the gate.”
Ananel’s face still showed no emotion as he descended the steps through the doorway in the floor.
Enoch looked once more at the angel upon the throne and his guards, then hurried to catch up to Ananel.
~
Once outside, Ananel’s pace quickened and Enoch was running again to keep up.
“Who is this Speaker?”
Ananel stopped and turned around. Kneeling, he looked straight into Enoch’s eyes. “Prophet, you’re going to have to do this on your own.”
“Wh…? You’re not going with me?”
“No. I’m afraid not. I have more pressing matters. Just follow the road the way we came in. When you get to the gate, announce yourself as the prophet who speaks for Semjaza. They’ll be expecting you.”
Before Enoch could reply, Ananel’s form began to dissolve into a multitude of embers, drifting into the air. When they converged, they took the shimmering form of a four-legged animal. Then the radiance subsided and a massive wolf stood in its place. “Good luck,” it growled, then burst into a run along the land bridge, moving faster than at any time during the previous hours.
When Ananel was gone, Enoch looked up to the sky.
What have I gotten myself into? Holy One of Heaven, I am beyond my capacity to understand what You’ve laid before me. Give me Your wisdom and Your strength to discern what is right. Give me the words to speak, for fear holds my tongue captive.
With a deep breath, Enoch put one foot in front of the other and began to make his way back in the direction he’d come.
CHAPTER 9
BAHYITH
When Sariel crossed the shallow stream, dozens of the Chatsiyram were gathered on the shore. His leaving to investigate the cursed valley was an unusual event in the life of the tribe, and now they waited eagerly to hear what he’d found. Unfortunately, Sariel didn’t have good news to report. In fact, between what he found at the lake and his conversation with Tarsaeel, he was deeply troubled about the way events were unfolding. He must have worn this concern on his face, because when he caught Sheyir’s beautiful gaze, the smile drained from her face.
Once across the knee-deep pool, Sariel headed straight for Sheyir’s father who stood in the shade of a nearby tree.
The elder looked Sariel up and down, then leaned from side to side, inspecting him. Apparently satisfied, he raised his eyebrows, but remained silent.
“We have much to talk about,” Sariel said.
The man nodded. “We will go to the place of meeting and talk about what you found.” Without another word, the elder turned and began to walk toward the village.
Sariel followed in silence, trying to avoid the stares of the other tribe members.
The place of meeting turned out to be one of the large hut structures located near
the center of the village. Without walls, its columns of thick tree trunks supported a massive thatched roof which could easily shelter one hundred people from the heat of the day. On this day however, it seemed that every man, woman, and child in the village was present and there wasn’t enough room for everyone.
At the center of this crowd, Sariel sat on the ground, across from Sheyir’s father and the other senior members of the tribe. Looking at the eager faces of the men around him and the women behind, Sariel was reluctant to start. “Is there somewhere more private that we can talk?”
The elder looked around and his eyes grew stern. “I have no secrets from my people.”
This seemed to contradict their previous meetings where only the men participated. Sariel had apparently misjudged the tribe’s custom on the matter.
In the absence of discussion, the elder tried to initiate something. “You were taken to the valley and you stayed until the evening.”
“That’s correct,” Sariel replied. “How long have you known about the curse?”
The elder’s eyes went wide and he glanced quickly to the men sitting on either side of him. “Two years,” he answered with a scowl.
“And how did you know that the valley was cursed? Did you see it with your dathrah?”
The elder leaned forward. “No. I sent a gathering party to take reeds from the lake. Only three men came back. They told me that the others had killed each other, or killed themselves. They looked sick. I didn’t want their sickness to spread to the rest of my people. I put them away.”
“Put them away?” Sariel asked. “What does that mean? Are they still alive?”
“Only one. He is very sick. We keep him outside of the village. No one is allowed to go near him, except for the one who brings him food.”
“Can I see him?” Sariel asked quickly.
“I want to know what you found in Arar Gahiy,” the elder stated, getting straight to the point.
Sariel sighed. “I found those who cursed your people. But I need to speak with the man to understand how they were cursed and how to keep their sickness from spreading to others.”
“The sickness will not spread,” the elder assured with a wave of his hand.
“How do you know that it won’t unless you understand what the curse is?”