An earthquake shook the temple and grounds.

The deities stumbled and regained their balance. Except Enki, who lost his footing and fell down, crushing to death a servant who had been behind him.

Below on the temple grounds, a large crack spread a hundred cubits from the base of the ziggurat. Dozens of such openings were beginning to appear all over the city.

The black ma.s.s of impending storm had ebbed to within leagues of the city.

"Today, this will all cease," said Anu to his fellow divinities in the White Temple.

"Elohim is a jealous, senile old deity," retorted Enki, "with a penchant for childish tantrums."

Ninhursag got to the point. "What is the sacrifice? I need blood."

Anu and Inanna glanced at each other with a smile. Anu offered, "Nothing less than the Chosen Seed himself."

The other Watchers looked at them with surprise, eager to hear more.

"From the Revelation?" asked Enki.

Anu nodded.

Enlil jumped in, "How did you manage such privilege?"

Ninhursag added quickly, "Why did you not tell us?"

Anu paused, then slyly said, "I am the supreme G.o.d, am I not?"

Each of the Watchers received a chalice of blood from a servant. Anu raised his in toast to himself and merely nodded to his own glory. The others toasted and they drank their blood deeply. Ninhursag gulped it down in one motion.

An earthquake stopped them all again. Enki lost control of his cup and it shattered on the ground, splattering blood everywhere. "Blast this infernal turmoil!"

Ninhursag muttered under her breath sarcastically, "Is that how the Tablet of Destinies slipped through your fingers as well?" Enki gave her an angry look.

She turned to Anu. "Well, Supreme G.o.d, I suggest you sacrifice with haste or we may all lose our divine privilege."

Anu clapped his hands. Within seconds, the sound of deep long horns bellowed from the heights of the temple, followed by a series of huge kettledrums at the base. He bade the G.o.ds follow him to the ledge overlooking the city.

Below them, they saw the ma.s.ses a.s.sembling. The crowds looked up, and cheered their presence to the percussive beats of the kettledrums.

Anu reached into a sack tied to his waist. He pulled out the head of Uriel, holding it high to look out upon the land before them. Uriel's silent eyes could only tear up with righteous anger.

Ninhursag muttered to Inanna, "I see he has found a way to make a toy out of an archangel. Clever."

Anu threw Uriel's disembodied head behind him into the White Temple.

It rolled up to his throne and thudded to a stop. Unknown to Anu, Uriel's headless body lay right behind his throne, a few cubits away, hidden there by Neela. The archangel's ram's horn trumpet was tied to the belt on the beheaded form.

Outside, Anu focused on speaking to the people below. His voice amplified thunderously throughout the city. It was one of the Watchers' special gifts.

"People of the land! Behold the divine council of your G.o.ds!"

The people cheered.

Another earthquake occurred. Another crack in the earth, but this time, it opened as a crevice and water from below sprayed the crowd.

Anu took advantage of this coincident timing. "What you see before you is the might and power of the pantheon!"

The crowd cheered again.

Anu bid Enlil step forward and speak. His voice too carried with a powerful resonance. "I am Enlil, G.o.d of the air, and I bring you storm!"

Above, the sky flashed with lightning followed by a crack of thunder. The people roared.

Enlil glanced at Ninhursag with surprise. They could not have had better luck than this. Of course they had the power to manifest certain physical disruptions in nature, but not to this level of spectacle. Only Elohim had that kind of control.

Ninhursag stepped forward. She could feel the vibrations coming. She waited a moment, then shouted triumphantly, "I am Ninhursag, G.o.ddess of the earth, and I bring you quake!" Seconds later, the earth rumbled and the crevice below opened wider.

Enki saw he only had seconds. He jumped forward and shouted rapidly, "I am Enki, G.o.d of water, and I bring you the deep!"

He timed it well, because the water already began pouring out of the crevice before he finished. It splashed up in a wave that pulled a cl.u.s.ter of people back into the crevice to drown. The crowd did not care; they went wild. These were the G.o.ds of the land, and they were showcasing their glorious power.

Inanna jested about the timing of these storm events, "Maybe Elohim is supporting us after all." She knew it was not true. Not in a thousand millennia would Elohim support their rebellion. He was a tyrant without an ounce of mercy. So if the old malcontent intended to crack apart the heavens and earth, they might as well use this opportunity to claim credit for it.

Inanna shouted to the people, "Behold, the Chosen Seed! A sacrifice to appease the G.o.ds!"

The crowd roared again as Inanna gestured below to a Stone Temple right next to the ziggurat, about fifteen cubits down. The Stone Temple stood right next to Eanna as a support structure that was used for the messy work of sacrifice so the White Temple could stay clean. On the Stone Temple stood a newly arranged sacrificial altar display consisting of Noah stretched out on frame made of angled and crossed wooden poles. Behind him, Shem and j.a.pheth were tied back to back on a post, kindling around their feet. Across the way from them, Lugalanu stepped forward with a reluctant Emzara. She wore the regal Sumerian wedding dress of white linen robes with gold lined patterns, lapis beads, all scented with cedar oil. The night before, she had been shaven completely of all her hair as was the custom for a priestess, and for the wife of the king as well. On her head she wore a lapis-lazuli headdress with ostrich feathers and precious gems inlaid with gold.

Neela watched the pageantry from a small a.s.sembly structure at the back of the Stone Temple terrace. Ham stepped forward next to Lugalanu. The king performed a prayer and incantation before the younger man to initiate him into the high priesthood. The crowd applauded. Then Lugalanu handed Ham the sacrificial dagger, a long sharpened slate blade.

The crowds below cheered for the sacrifice. Ham looked over at Noah, tied to the frame.

Up above on the temple parapet, Inanna fumed impatiently to the other G.o.ds. "All this pomp and ritual bores me. I wish they would just hurry up and kill them all."

"Patience, my dear," said Anu. "We will be drinking Chosen blood soon enough."

Ninhursag chimed in, "These humans are loathsome creatures."

Inanna added, "I would just as soon see them all crushed to death as see them worship me."

Enki wondered with genuine amazement, "And they worship us so freely instead of Elohim." Inanna gave him a dirty look.

Anu spoke to the spectacle below them, "So begins a New Year of abundance and fertility! Of marriage and sacrifice!"

The crowds shouted in support. "Of G.o.ds and war!" They went into a frenzy, shouting Anu's name, which pleased him greatly in sight of all the others.

Inside, Uriel's head no longer sat on the floor near his throne.

Another seismic quake sent shock waves through the city. It was the biggest one yet. A part of the ziggurat foundation crumbled. Several new crevices ripped open, gushing water. They sucked people into the depths. Some screamed for their loved ones who were taken. Others went back to their enraptured worship.

Everyone heard the horn blast of Uriel coming from the White Temple area. It boomed out over the land to heaven itself.

Uriel's head had found his body. The angel had regenerated. He ran full tilt toward the line of Watchers at the edge of the Temple.

The Watchers turned, too late.

Uriel hit Anu and Inanna suddenly. They were at the top of the stairway. The three of them tumbled down ten stairs at a time. Uriel held onto Anu with a vise grip. Had they been human, the pressure would have broken every bone in their bodies. But they were not human.

Inanna fell alone. She steadied herself before Uriel and Anu did. In the tumble, her gaudy horned headdress and vulture winged robe flew off her, revealing a bizarre costume of black leather straps and nothing else. When she rose with dagger firmly gripped in hand, she looked like what she was, the G.o.ddess of s.e.x and war.

Uriel and Anu shook off their dizziness about twenty cubits below her.

The sound of a distant trumpet drew everyone's attention to the desert horizon.

Ten or fifteen leagues out, Uriel could see the armies of the human tribes break over the far ridge. He knew then that the archangels had accomplished their task. They had rallied the last of humanity.

Another trumpet sound drew Uriel's smile. He would know Gabriel's trumpet anywhere.

Anu bellowed with a voice of thunder, "ALL G.o.dS TO WAR!"

The G.o.ds raised their own war horns and blew.

The army encampments outside the city walls transformed into rapidly moving hives of armed soldiers organizing and flowing toward the attacking forces on the distant ridge.

Anu was absorbed in his call to war. So he was not ready for Uriel's second running leap. The righteous angel hit him square-on. They flew off the edge of the staircase and down into the crevice below, disappearing from sight.

Lugalanu saw the falling bodies. He knew he had to move fast. He yelled to Ham, already in position before Noah's weak hanging form, "CANAANU, KILL HIM!"

Emzara withdrew her dagger from where she concealed it in her wedding dress. Back in her bedchamber, she had decided not to take her own life in exchange for the privilege of taking Lugalanu's instead.

She raised the blade high to plunge it into him with as much force as she could muster.

Lugalanu saw her motion and grabbed her hand before she could deal the death blow. He jerked away the knife, hit her in the jaw, and threw her violently to the ground.

She hit her head and almost lost consciousness.

Ham saw it all. He also saw the truth of what was before him. This was what his mother had spoken of for many years. This was what he could not understand nor see in agreement with her. Yet, suddenly, it was all clear to him, as if scales had fallen from his eyes. All the riches, all the power, all the sensual delights, all of it was a big lie. In that instant, he knew the truth he had known all his life, but had suppressed; the truth that his mother had sweat blood trying to get him to see. It was the truth that Elohim himself had just confirmed with clarity: This world system was evil.

Ham did not want it anymore.

He turned to Noah and confessed in tears as he cut him loose, "My name is Ham ben Noah. Father, forgive me."

Neela had gone to Emzara's rescue, laying over her as a covering, a desperate attempt to divert the blows onto herself.

Lugalanu yanked her off of Emzara and cast her aside. She flew over the edge of the Stone Temple precipice.

Ham screamed and ran over to the ledge, "NOOOOO!"

Lugalanu raised the knife blade high over Emzara's p.r.o.ne figure. She lifted her arm over her head in a hopeless attempt to shield her head.

"This is your last rejection of me, Nindannum!" he screamed, and plunged.

Midway through the stroke, a spear impaled him from behind. I In pain, he turned to see Noah holding the spear, a determined look in his eyes.

"Leave my family alone, you son of iniquity," growled Noah. He pulled Lugalanu around and pushed him over the ledge and out of sight. He fell right past Ham helping Neela up from her precarious hold on the edge. She had somehow grabbed the ledge in her fall.

Down in the crevice, below the churning waters, Uriel fought for control over Anu. He thanked Elohim for the fact that the Watchers were weakened by water. Uriel had his opponent up against a ledge of rock, trying to pin him. But he underestimated Anu's strength underwater. Anu slowly regained an upper hand.

Uriel saw his moment. A large wall of rock above them crumbled. It tumbled down toward them. Uriel released his grip, surprising Anu He kicked himself away from the wall and Anu. Anu did not have time to avoid the falling debris that cascaded down upon him. He was buried in the depths under tons of sinking landslide.

Uriel kicked toward the surface. Suddenly, he was lifted by a torrential upsurge. The swelling water gushed out of the crevice, launching Uriel out onto land. He rolled to his feet.

Neela and Ham released Shem and j.a.pheth from their post. Noah embraced Emzara with the fervor of eternal devotion.

Ham pulled the sword Rahab from beneath his cloak and handed it to Shem. Shem looked at his brother startled. Then he grinned. This was indeed a son of Noah.

They heard a whistle from below and ran to the ledge. They saw Uriel waving them down.

Ham turned to Noah and asked, "Are we to join the war, father?"

"No," said Noah. "We obey Elohim. We must get back to the tebah."

"The tebah?" queried Ham. "A box? What box?"

"I will explain on the way," said Noah. They all dashed off, running down the stairs inside the Stone Temple.

Inanna saw them escaping. She let out an ugly howling screech that resounded above the din and chaos. Below her, the people had scattered to the deceptive safety of their homes or places away from the temple. Up above, the G.o.ds had gone, on their way to lead their troops. Inanna jumped the distance between Eanu and the Stone Temple, fifteen cubits down. She landed on the Stone Temple terrace, her supernatural legs absorbing the impact. She ran to the edge of the terrace and jumped again, landing this time on a ledge ten cubits below.

At her feet lay the silent unmoving figure of Lugalanu with the spearhead sticking out through his belly. She reached down and held him in her arms with an uncharacteristic gentleness. He opened his eyes weakly. She grabbed the shaft of the spear and pulled it out through his body. He screamed in pain and blacked out.

Inanna bit her own arm, drawing blood. She let the blood drip out of her lesion onto Lugalanu's fatally wounded torso. It sizzled when it came into contact with the mortal body. The flesh began to regenerate. The blood of a G.o.d surged through him and revived his body. Inanna put her mouth to Lugalanu's cold blue lips and blew a gush of air into his lungs.

He gasped and coughed awake. He was revived.

"Now, my little pet," she said to him "muster a company of soldiers. We have a Chosen Seed to catch and kill."

Chapter 30.

The armies of man broke over the ridge and lined up in formation, awaiting command. The Mesopotamian plain spread out before them. This drier region that was called the desert of Dudael. It would be the battlefield. They all knew it would shortly be drenched with flowing blood of warfare. None of them had any pretentions, with odds of ten to one glaring them in their faces.

Three generals galloped forward on their horses, each accompanied by an archangel. Each led a battalion of about seven hundred soldiers, Tubal-cain and Raphael commanded the left flank division, Jubal and Gabriel were over the right flank division, and Methuselah and Mikael led the center division.