The Raven Will Come

The Raven Will Come

Inaya Chase

SPRING, 542 BCE

I will tell you of the Beast, the south wind crushing on mankind under her weight. I will tell you of the She-Devil of the people of what was in the nights of ancient days. I have seen her in the flesh; and I have lived to see the morning. Since the night I first saw her, I have feared to utter her wicked name, fearing that she would come to me in the night and drag me to Irakalla. But now I am the last, and I can already hear magnificent Ereshkigal calling for me; beckoning me to allow her galla to bring me to her. The demoness has marked me for death. What have I left to fear from her foul name, or the evils that I saw when I crossed paths with the Devourer of Men's Flesh. I am Sin-Uballit, a citizen of illustrious Ur, the great city of old: and with my final breaths I tell my account of Lamashtu, the demon-goddess of Sumer and Akkad.

I was a humble merchant in the great city of Ur. I was not alone in opposing Nabonidus' religious reforms: his blasphemous attempt to soil the holy name of Sin[i] by claiming he would overthrow the great Marduk. We all knew he would anger the gods because of this great sin and incur their terrible wrath - and many of us in the city agreed it would bring disaster to all of Sumer and Akkad should he be successful. This is why, when I received word that Persian spies of Cyrus were infiltrating the land of the south, I agreed to meet with them in the ancient cemetery of Umma. Cyrus had his eye on Babylon, to conquer it. If these Persian spies could convince the men of Ur to support the Persians, he could gather support in the southern cities and wage war on Babylon from the south, with the combined forces of Persian and our own troops. Babylon wouldn't stand a chance. I come to report the situation and guide the spies to Ur to assess the situation.

I approached the campfire at the Umma cemetery with apprehension, not knowing with any certainty whether I would find myself aiding in changing the world for the better and be blessed by the gods or be slaughtered for merely speaking with these foreigners who had eyes set on the glorious Gate of Babylon. As I surveyed the men, I found 10 profound men of strength and cunning who to my surprise who dressed as proper Babylonian merchants like me. One of them hastily approached me and growled as he reached for his hidden sword.

"The palace: one day a mother giving birth," he growled at me, hand at the ready to draw his sword. It was a test - seeing if I was who they were expecting to meet, or if he needed to kill me on the spot. I smiled a friendly grin.

"The next day a grieving mother." I responded, gently grasping his shoulder. "You must be Katana, the Huzarapatis of this fearsome company. I see you've all already dressed the part."

"Quiet, fool!" he snarled in return. "Do you want to alert all of Babylon who we are?! As far as anyone is concerned, we are Babylonian merchants, and you will do what is required to make sure everyone suspects no less!" I nodded understandingly, and he took me to meet the camp.

"This is my company - Manu, Derafsh, Vidarna, Araxa, Farheng, Haxamanis, Majidi, Sasan, and young Naudar - the newest and youngest among us."

I introduced myself and sat down among the warriors of Persia. After the usual formalities and some drinks, we began discussing our plans and how I would be involved.

"We came here under orders to assess the situation in your city of Ur. While fighting Croesus in the east, a messenger came from Susa saying that he had been in contact with some traders out of Ur, who told him that your people were ready to revolt against Babylon. Is this true?" Katana asked after I had given them some information about who I am.

"Revolt? Gods, no. There is much complaining about Nabonidus, but the hearts of Ur's men have turned to jelly. Things in Ur have not been easy since the king restored the temple. A number of prophets have spread messages of doom for the city, saying that the river will dry up, that the city will be abandoned and fall to ruin. They say that Ur has abandoned Sin and have invited his rage against the city. Certainly, this is all just an attempt to squash any talks of rebellion; but it's enough to stay the peoples' hands. Their hearts are filled with fear of Nabonidus' soldiers, or worse yet. They need... persuasion--They need something to rally around that will ensure their prosperity. Can you give them reassurance? Perhaps if King Cyrus can..."

"The King of the World will do his will as he chooses, Babylonian! But our way is not like yours or the kings of your past. I make no specific promises, but I can promise that when he conquers Babylon, he will take care of his subjects, will ensure your city's prosperity. What is good for Ur is good for his kingdom. And as for your god, we do not care what you worship - you will, at the very least, be able to worship whatever you wish in peace. If you are helpful in aiding the Great King's campaign, he will reward your city abundantly - and he will also reward you, Sin-Uballit." I nodded in gratitude, and asked Katana what the plan was.

"I have been given the authority to see for myself what the situation is in Ur, to gather anyone willing to aid in the King's victory, and--if necessary--take any action to encourage rebellion against the Babylonian king, Nabonidus. If the men fear their god's wrath more than they do Marduk's, then we will burn the temple and make sure they believe Marduk has done so to disarm Sin in favor of Cyrus's might. However, I have been ordered that this mission must be covert. No one must know what we are doing here. It must look as though the Babylonians themselves are revolting of their own accord: so we must remain in the shadows--unseen, unheard, unnoticed. Persians were never here. Do you understand?" I nodded in agreement, and then Katana turned to the oldest of his men, Farheng, and nodded.

"At dawn, we'll head south to Larsa and stay in the city." Farheng began to speak as he knelt to the ground and drew a crude map of the area on the ground. "The tavern there should give some entertainment, and some information about other cities who may be willing to join our cause. The next day, we'll make our way to Ur separately - two or three of us at a time getting separate rooms in the inn there to keep from any suspicion of our activities. Sasan and I will begin our work in the--Hormaz avaya!!" Farheng suddenly stopped his drawing, and like lightning jumped up to his feet in a crouch, snapping his hand to grab a viper near where he was drawing. In one continuous snap of his arm outstretching itself to the snake's body and back again that my eyes could barely register, he threw the beast into the fire.

"For an old man, your reflexes haven't lost their touch, Farheng! Too bad your aging face can't keep up to speed." Sasan snorted a boisterous laugh. Farheng grinned devilishly.

"Too bad your mother nursed you with dog's piss instead of her breast. Your wife might have had something better to look at than your mangled grin." The entire troupe lit up in raucous laughter. Suddenly, flames burst out from the campfire in a blazing roar, startling the men. A terrible shrieking noise crashed through the night air, and blue flames began to jet upward from the fire. As if the inferno had given birth to an evil unknown to this world, a great mass formed from within the blazes and gave shape to a hideous figure standing over the campfire. I was slightly taller than a man, but had the body of a woman with large, round breasts hanging from its chest. The skin of its body was a shade of blueish gray, like impure lapis lazuli. Its feet were the talons of a giant thunderbird with razor-sharp claws protruding from the tips of its talons. And its head - it was the head of a fearsome lion! It had hands with long, scraggily fingers, each adorned with blades for fingernails like sharp daggers. With another terrible shriek, it unfurled enormous wings from its back that spanned the length of two men, then looked over the company of men with a hatred that chilled the bones.

Suddenly, it sprung out its powerful arm and ploughed through Farheng's torso, who was nearest the fire. We could see the spear-like claws of the beast sticking through his pierced back, soaked in his scarlet blood. The demon lifted his mangled body high in the air before flinging it away from the camp and into the darkness like a scrap of rotten meat. It roared victoriously and I was filled with dread. I knew what this awful creature was.

Vidarna was the first to draw his sword. He lunged at the hideous creature with a battle cry, sword raised in an attack position. The creature evaded the swipe of his acinaces, and used its elbow to deliver a powerful blow to Vidarna's face, disorienting him before using its other arm to knock him backward through the air a few feet. Manu was next to strike. He ran to the monster silently, his acinaces held inversely against his arm for close-quarters combat. He leapt through the creature's attack, and quickly spun around, using the edge of his blade to cover his arm and slit the creature's leg as he punched forward. The creature screamed in pain before making a mad swing at Manu's head with its deadly claws. Manu dodged the attack, and flipped his sword forward to strike again, but the demon used its back talon to grab Manu's leg and pull him, face to the ground. As Manu quickly got up, the monster gripped his neck and pulled him up to its face, legs dangling in the air, before snapping its jaws around his head and snatching of his head from his mandible up. Blood sprayed out in all directions as the creature quickly spit the top of Manu's head out of its mouth, then flung his corpse to the ground nearby. The soldiers all watched for a moment as his arms twitched and flailed in the body's shock of suddenly being without a head.

Derafsh and Sasan cried out a shout that boiled the blood and sprang towards the monster simultaneously. As Sasan attacked first towards the legs, Derafsh swung at the creature's neck. The brute dodged both swords, and used its wing to knock Derafsh, back to the ground. It pivoted towards Sasan and used it immense talon to grip his head, snapped it back to break his neck, then crashed it to the ground, dust flying in the air from the impact. With a shriek, the monster slammed its talon down on Sasan's head, crushing his skull. Blood, brains, and fragments of bone jetted out from under the thing's talon. Derafsh flung his sword upward from behind, slicing the back of the demon from hip to shoulder. The demon screamed, then again used its talon to reach underneath and grabbed Derafsh's foot. It pulled it out from under before the monster sliced at his upper body with its claws and roaring furiously. Derafsh stood there in shock as blood began to pour from the five gashes in his torso, and his organs began to fall from the wounds. He dropped to his knees and fell face down in the dust. The monster roared a final shriek, then before anyone else could attack, it lifted its massive wings, and flew off into the night, shrieking as it flew.

"Wha...What the hell was that?!" Naudar finally broke the silence, trembling.

"It was a Simurgh." Araxa said softly, unsure of his senses. Majidi whipped his head toward Araxa.

"A Simurgh?! Bullshit! They don't..."

"It was an ancient evil, from before the creation of men. In the oldest tongue, she was called Dimme. In the common tongue, she is known as Lilith. But the priests call her Lamashtu." I pronounced as I slowly tottered toward the soldiers. The soldiers all looked confused, so I continued. "She is a demon-goddess of old. At night, it's said that she walks through the streets, looking for newborns to devour. She is the bringer of nightmares and likes to lure men to their deaths - to drink their blood and eat their bones. She is the most feared of all creatures on the earth." The soldiers turned white with fear. I couldn't hardly keep my wits myself. Of course, I had heard the tales of Lamashtu. I had kept the amulets when my children were born, and had even been present during exorcisms, when the priests would display images of Pazuzu the fierce demon that even Lamashtu feared and heard them utter the incantations to invoke him to chase her away. But I had never before seen her, nor did I know anyone who had. I had come to believe these were just stories told to fill the priest's purses and to strike fear into the hearts of women at night. Yet I believed now.

"We are not safe here. If we have intruded on Lamashtu's grounds, she will not relent until we're all dead or leave. Myself, I would rather keep my life. Please, let's leave this place!"

Katana stood there, expressionless. "No, we cannot leave until dawn. This creature has retreated in fear of us. We have nothing left to fear. We will take turns at watch while each of us rest a little before our difficult journey to Larsa tomorrow." I tried to argue a little more, but stopped when I saw that Katana was not going to change his mind. Katana took the first watch as the rest of us set up our camp and laid down to rest for the night. It was difficult to sleep though, after that harrowing encounter. I laid there, switching between gazing at the campfire that birthed Lamashtu and watching Katana, who never took his eyes from the dark horizon of the wilderness. Before I realized how long I had been lying awake, I saw Vidarna get up and gently put his hand on Katana's shoulder. Katana nodded and made his way to his bedding while Vidarna took watch. As I watched him in his motionlessness, my eyes became heavy, and I drifted off in slumber.

I woke up to the horrid sounds of shrieking in the night. My eyes shot open to the sight of Vidarna, acinaces drawn in his hand. His knees were bent, and he was in a defensive position. I rose to find all the soldiers were up, surrounding the camp with their backs to the fire so they could guard the perimeter.

"He's finally awake! I would have thought the first scream would have aroused him!" I turned my head to Majidi, who was now striding towards me with a second sword in hand. As I rose to my feet, he handed me the sword. "Take this, Babylonian. If what you said is true, you're going to be needing it tonight. Your demon is calling out to hell to prepare for us!"

I gripped the sword and took a position around the camp. Peering out, I saw nothing but plains and darkness. Then another shriek bellowed across the wilderness. Then another, towards Majidi's position. We all turned to face Majidi's spot. Then it came from Naudar's direction. She was everywhere! She was playing games, luring us in every direction she chose.

"Hold position! Steady your heads forward! We won't be distracted and taken to hell by this creature!" Katana bellowed. Suddenly we heard a whoosh and Naudar yelped and thudded to the ground. We saw nothing; but heard a loud flapping of wings as we turned and saw Araxa jump to Naudar's aid. Suddenly I heard a thud to my right, followed by a gushing sound and a whimper from Haxamanis. I turned to find Haxamanis dropping his acinaces to the ground and slowly retracting his arms upwards towards his shocked face. His throat had a huge gash from ear to ear, and blood was pouring out and jetting forth from it. Behind him, Lamashtu towered over his bleeding flesh, a wicked grin on her face as she stared furiously into my eyes. I felt the fear of the gods sink into my chest as she glared even for a moment before spreading her wings and flying away. She knew what I was here for.

At the very break of dawn, we packed our things and began our journey to Larsa. I was glad to leave the cursed place. The morning light breaking through the eastern horizon offered refuge from the terrors of the night. Now that we would be safe in the city by nightfall and had left her domain, Lamashtu would surely leave us alone now.

Shamash, the god of the sun, was harsh on us that day. I could feel the heat of his glory on the top of my head, even through the black wig and linen cloth I had on. We continued southward for five long hours before we stopped for a meal. None of us said much as we ate. None of us laughed or made jokes about another. When we were finished, we continued our long journey to Larsa.

We arrived in Larsa in the early evening. The crowds in the Shuqa were beginning to thin, and some of the sellers were already packing up for the day. We came to the inn, and I spoke with the innkeeper and got us two rooms, three men for each. The rooms were on opposite ends of the inn, but they were all that were available. Katana said this was best, to keep suspicions down - even if we were here only for a night. I took a room with Araxa and Majidi; while Katana, Vidarna and Naudar took the room on the other end.

That night we all met at the tavern, got our drinks, and spread out to mingle in the crowds. After we got our beers, Majidi came with me to sit and play a game of Pack of Dogs with a couple of the local palace guards. I played first, and took on one guard, Uppulu while the others watched to play the winner. I was in a favorable position early on--my Swallow landed on the first rosette from the house ahead of it.

"Ha! Looks like it will be a woman's love for those who stay here late! I don't know about you boys, but I plan on sticking around for a while!" I bellowed gleefully, placing my Swallow in its place. After a few more rounds, I gave my opponent a serious look.

"My Raven is in the sixth house. If it doesn't land on the rosette, it will mean starvation for the pack."

Uppulu gazed back at me. "If Nabonidus doesn't return to the rightful place, we all will face starvation."

"Uppulu! Mark your tongue!" scorned the other guard, Balath. "It's not wise to speak of these things in public to strangers!" I smiled a friendly grin.

"Don't worry, my friend. We're all in agreement here. There is no need for fear. Let's place our bets then and see what the gods have decreed."

I have played Pack of Dogs since I was a boy and am very, very good. I can throw the knucklebones just so, so that they have a fair chance at landing how I want them to. It has given me a rewarding victory often in Ur. I threw the knucklebones to the table, and Uppulu's face dropped as they landed. My Raven had to leap past the rosette.

"This is a bad omen" was all he could muster to say.

"Fools! Did I not warn you?" barked Balath. "You bring bad omens against the emperor tonight with your loose tongues! Now we will have to spend the night making offerings and prayers for the gods to relent of this. I wanted to be drunk off my ass and my cock in a woman tonight! Dammit, Upullu!" Upullu looked at me, face full of concern.

"And what of you, Sin-Uballit? You've marked you and your friend with death." I chuckled light-heartedly.

"Don't worry about us, friends. We have plenty of provisions and will be home and happy in Ur soon. But what of King Nabonidus? What of the empire? Prayers are good and well, but what if they are not enough to sway the gods?" As we continued the game, we continued to dance around the idea of preventing the fate I manipulated for the Babylonian kingdom in the game. The more we talked, the closer we got to Uppulu and Balath admitting that, if the opportunity arose, they would join forces against Nabonidus. After a while all my pieces were home, and I had won the game easily.

"A rematch?" Upullu looked at me, hopeful that I would say yes.

"Not now, Uppulu!" Balath sneered. "We have to start those offerings. I want to get some rest before our watch tomorrow!" Reluctantly, Uppulu nodded and rose from the table, wished us luck on our journey, and the two guards trudged out of the tavern. I looked up at Majidi at my side. He was smiling devilishly. The rest of the Persian troupe gathered around our table, and Katana sat where Uppulu was, slid a fresh beer across the table to me.