Enoch Primordial (Chronicles of the Nephilim) (24 page)

The heavenly court reconvened for the satan’s litigation against the third part of God’s covenant with humanity. He took the bar and spoke with the particular disdain he had for rules.

“Ethical stipulations,” he said. “The laws required by the suzerain of the subject if he is to maintain his status as protected vassal before his lord.”

The satan launched into a new diatribe. “In this most primitive of law codes in the Garden, Havah was told by Elohim, and I quote, “
You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of knowledge you shall not eat, neither shall you touch it, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.’”

The satan paced around shaking his head with ridicule. “We will have much to say about this curse of death in our fourth complaint. But for now, we would like to focus on this silly demand that humankind stay mired in unenlightened ignorance by submission to an impossible command. I ask the court, did Elohim
actually
say this? Could his childish motives be any more obvious?”

“Now,
I have said this before, and I will say it again, this whole thing is a set-up by a god who is spiteful, mean, obsessively jealous, and self-protective. He wanted to keep humanity from becoming like us —
from becoming gods
. Elohim must have known that knowledge would allow man to control his own life and to discover all the secrets of the universe, and well, we just cannot allow that kind of competition, can we?”

The satan paused
for effect. His cohorts smiled at the progress, but the heavenly host sat unmoved. He delivered his conclusion, “I submit to you that Elohim’s covenant is not the legal treaty of a suzerain protecting his servant, it is the declaration of a monomaniac oppressing his servant, and protecting himself from being outdone by his own creation!”

The satan sat down.

Enoch stood. He carried with him a tablet and
dove right into his rebuttal. “The testimony we have just heard from the satan has several half-truths in it, or as I would more accurately define them,
lies
.”

Enoch read from the clay tablet in his hand. “Yahweh Elohim
did not say that the couple could not
touch
the tree, he said that they could not
eat of it
. That is an exaggeration of the command to make the Creator appear excessive and overbearing. Secondly, it was not ‘the tree of knowledge’ that was forbidden, it was the ‘tree of the knowledge
of good and evil
.’ Yahweh Elohim was not forbidding knowledge to humanity, he was commanding reliance upon him as their ultimate authority to define good and evil. And we are right back to ultimate authorities that I spoke of earlier. Yahweh Elohim is the only ground of morality that can justify the satan’s own attack on morality.”

Enoch paused for a moment in thought, then said, “It would not surprise me if one day, the serpent will have effectively convinced the masses with more of these kind
s of distortions. I can imagine him twisting the ‘forbidden fruit’ into
sex
, and turning Yahweh Elohim into a cosmic killjoy prude who just wants to keep people from having fun.”

Enoch launched into his conclusion, “No, the forbidden fruit is the essence of freedom. The satan would have us believe that boundaries of protection are restrictions of oppression; that rules repress human potential and laws take away freedom. He and his Watchers argue that freedom is the ability to do whatever one wants without an external code imposed upon them. Let each man be a law unto himself. Yet, look around the earth below to see the consequences of such ideas. Humans have achieved the self-determination from the knowledge of good and evil and in so doing have become slaves to their own lusts. Prisoners of their desire. They claim to be free, but they are everywhere
in chains of their own making. Only in the boundaries of a loving Creator can humanity be free. Is a fish out of the water free? Is a bird out of the sky free? Only in fulfilling our god-given purpose can mankind experience the liberty of obedience. Disobedience is not enlightenment, it is pure blindness; it is not freedom, it is slavery.”

Enoch stood for a moment as his words sank into his own soul. He realized that he had fought God’s purpose for himself so many years — that he prayed when he should have fought, fought when he should have prayed, and pursued the ultimate sin of spiritual pride.

Enoch fell to his knees and wept in repentance before Yahweh Elohim.

In the early morning
, the Nephilim horde arrived at their beachhead destination in the mountains on the edge of the vast Lake Urimiya. Inanna allowed them a few hours rest. Utu had been wrong. They did not lose exponential numbers of warriors in the final push toward Aratta. They only lost five thousand total gimps and weaklings to the extreme running march. That left her with about twenty five thousand Nephilim fit warriors, plenty of fodder to accomplish her goal.

She employed thirteen thousand in cutting down trees and building pontoon rafts to cross the great lake. The other twelve thousand
, she sent thirty leagues around the lake to the volcanic fields of Sahand. They prepared to climb the rocky face of the mountain for an incursion on the south of the Garden simultaneous with the amphibious landing in the west. Their attack would launch at midnight when the moon was high in the sky, allowing them enough darkness for cover, enough light for battle.

She noticed that some of the trees had been carved and used to impale a host of about twenty Nephilim in the sight of all. These were the “mutinous whisperers” that Hobbler had hunted down and punished. It was a pathetic indication that a cripple
could be more loyal than the other Rephaim generals who seemed to prefer ordering others around.

The undead Cain
arrived the night before on an Anzu bird. Ohyah and Hahyah had heard through their officers that Inanna did not know exactly where the Tree of Life was located in the Garden, having only rumors and legends to go by. The twin giants had relayed to the goddess their connection with the Cursed One. They were allowed to send one of their thunderbirds to fetch him. Cain’s knowledge from his parents of the Garden and the location of the Tree of Life could be just the intelligence she needed to strike with a more accurate ferocity.

Because of his nefarious reputation, Cain was awarded a
dmission to the presence of the goddess and her Rephaim generals. Inanna knew that any enemy of Elohim was an ally of hers.

But Cain brought with him
another idea that would prove of inestimable value for her. The rock face of the Sahand on the interior of the Garden was precipitous. The sheer cliffs would severely impede the attackers’ ability to attack with swift surprise.

Cain shared with Inanna an invention he had developed to traverse the heights of his own mountainous paradise. By sewing together cloths and animal skins into large “sails”
five times the size of an individual, they could create a traveling source for each individual warrior. When grasped through some ropes the skins would allow them to jump from the great height and “sail” a pocket of wind down quickly and safely. It would delay them a few hours to construct these “sail chutes,” but it was an ingenious invention.

They
buried Cain in the ground according to his request, to avoid the light of day that was dawning on them. If exposed to the sun, he would burn up into ashes as a consequence of his curse. At nightfall, he would be allowed to return to his Hidden Valley on one of the Anzu birds. It was a great loss to give up one of their six thunderbirds, for they were crucial to their air strike, but it was worth it to Inanna. Cain’s information might actually help them win the war on Eden. She could use this Cursed One in her new administration — or kill him as a potential usurper.

Inanna performed a valuable service to her cause by apologizing to the troops.

She gathered the horde to speak to them before their Rephaim leaders set out. They assembled around the clear-cut tree stumps. She spoke to them with her amplified voice of divinity.

“Children of the Watchers, progeny of the gods! If ever you listened to me, give ear to me now, I plead with you. First, I beg your indulgence. I know I have pushed each and every one of you beyond what any god has ever asked of their servants. I know that you are hungry, exhausted, and strained to your limit. I know that many have paid the price with their lives. And for that my heart bleeds. I feel your pain. The life of one warrior is the life of all.”

A low base rumbling chant of agreement interrupted her. It was the horde’s way of uniting in morale. The thought flitted through her mind that perhaps she had finally become Anu’s equal. His oratory was impressive, but she doubted he could inspire as she was now doing.

She
continued, “But today marks an achievement unheard of in the annals of history. And you, my horde, are the titans who have risen to prove your worth of becoming gods!”

The horde rumbled again in affirmation.

“We are on the verge of a war the likes of which will change the world forever. And we are the agents of change. We are the ones we have been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.”

She paused again for dramatic effect. And she received it.
The ground vibrated from the noise of the Nephilim.

“We are about to occupy the Garden of the mountain of God. This god, who was born with a golden spoon in his mouth, this deity who claims to own everything and leaves nothing for the ninety-nine percent of the rest of us, we are about to show him who is god!”

She paused for another moment of rumbling before finishing.

“You are about to storm a fortress guarded by mighty Cherubim. I know you are exhausted. I know you have been worked to the bone. I know you barely have anything left to give to this campaign because you have given all you have and more. But I ask you this one thing. When you are crossing the lake, when you are climbing the rocks, when you hear the horns of war bid you attack, when you find yourself battling the evil Cherubim, when you have reached the end of your strength and have nothing left to fight with, just remember one thing:
tomorrow you will taste of the Tree of Life and you will be gods, and you will tire no longer -- for you shall live forever!”

The horde rumbled yet again. They
caught the spirit of the moment. She knew no amount of exhaustion could quench their strength in the light of that hope. And she was proud of her ability to lie through her fangs with every single word she spoke.

Methuselah woke. He looked around with curiosity, squinting at the morning light. Their sentinel wolves were gone. The people of the village were also gone. Methuselah, Lamech, and Betenos had been left all alone. It did not fit with the way they had been treated up until that moment. He tried to figure out what trick was being played on them. Did they want their prey to escape? To hunt them down like rabbits, to make the feast more enjoyable?

Methuselah
’s searching gaze passed over the bush next to him.

Uriel the archangel
stood there.

“What are you doing here?” asked Methuselah. Lamech and Betenos jerked their heads
up to see Uriel step out in front of them.

“You sound disappointed,” said Uriel. “Would you rather I leave?”

“Praise Elohim,” said Betenos. “I knew he heard our prayers.”

“Great. But
are you not here to miraculously free us?” said Methuselah.

“Oh no,” said Uriel. “I was sent to encourage you. Be strong and courageous, mighty warriors of God, for Elohim hears your prayers and will help you to endure.”

“Wait a minute,” said Methuselah. “What kind of angel shares words of encouragement but does not help us out of our bonds?”

“What, do you expect Elohim to do everything for you?” said Uriel. “While you sit and do nothing?”

The three of them could not believe what they were hearing.

Uriel said, “I just emptied the village for you
! How many more miracles do you want? Respond with some faith will you?” Then Uriel walked away into the jungle.

H
e stopped and turned back for one last comment.

“A word to the sage, lower your demands on Elohim. He
does not owe you a thing. You are blessed that he gives you anything at all.” And then he vanished into the foliage.

Methuselah watched him leave with utter incredulity.

“The gall of that archangel,” said Methuselah.

Lamech
retorted, “He is right, father.”

Methuselah and Betenos turned to look at Lamech
. He stood with his bonds cut loose and a knife in his hand.

“I was fixing mother’s makeshift weapon when we were caught the other night. I
could not pull it out while they were watching over us like — wolves.”

Methuselah sighed. “Well, cut us loose, and let us get out of this godforsaken place. If I catch that archangel, I am going to give him a piece of my javelin.”

Lamech cut the vines. They darted into the jungle, wondering where in the valley the village lycanthropes were.

They reached the narrow ravine exit covered with vines and found their way through to the other end. They knew something waited for them there, something huge and monstrous.

Methuselah stopped Lamech and Betenos. “Stay here,
I will be right back.”

Methuselah stepped out into the open and started screaming at the top of his lungs, “Over here, you son of iniquity! Come and get me!”

Lamech and Betenos looked at each other with shock. What was he doing? They heard the loud bellowing roar of Behemoth reverberate across the rocks.

Methuselah
ran full tilt back to their exit. Behemoth raced after him, lunging and snapping for flesh.

They
fell back as Methuselah dove into the narrow opening just out of reach of the snapping jaws. Behemoth belched out another roar that could be heard across the entire Hidden Valley. It scraped furiously at the rock, trying to get through.

Methuselah stood with his finger pointing at the beast
as if it would understand him. “One day,” he declared, “I am coming back, and I am going to slaughter you and turn you into a feast for the vultures, for what you did, you instrument of evil.”

Behemoth backed up a step and roared again.
Lamech swore to himself that the creature almost looked and sounded as if it had a tinge of fear.

Methuselah turned and walked back toward the Hidden Valley interior.

Lamech yelled after him, “Hey, wait a minute, father, what are you doing?”

Betenos joined in, “You just made it impossible for us to escape.”

“I do not want to escape,” said Methuselah. “I want to make the wolf tribe
think
we escaped.”

Betenos blurted out, “Whatever for?”

Methuselah explained, “To maintain the element of surprise. Because we are not going to escape, my lovely daughter-in-law, we are going to stay and fight.”

Understanding flooded over Betenos. Lamech
smiled with pride.

Methuselah said, “
It is too far for us to help fight the war on Eden. But we can fight our own war on the son of perdition. It is time we cleanse this garden of evil. You never know when we might need it someday for refuge.”

Lamech added, “That seed of the Serpent wanted a war with the seed of the Woman. Well,
he has got it.”