Epic Of Ahiram (Book 1) (39 page)

“I do not understand,” replied the commander.

“Perhaps you might find this analogy helpful: consider an inhumane tyrant who rules over the world until the Malikuun defeat and lock him away in a deep pit. Then the Malikuun, for reasons unknown, leave us to our own devices. Human tyrants spring up and vie for power. They battle each other for supremacy, spilling the blood of countless men, women, and children. The cruel irony is that this supremacy will elude them, since no one is the equal to the tyrant locked in the Pit. This, my dear Commander, is the perennial lot of man: either we let the Pit rule over us, or we choose our own tyrants. Tyranny is our lot. If no matter what we do, there will always be a tyrant over us, then better a benevolent tyrant with the means to pacify the land than a so-called liberator, who would either turn into a worse tyrant, or end up reopening the Pit. This is why filling the heads of men with the hope of a liberator is sheer cruelty, for there is no freedom from tyranny. The choice is between law and order; between the benevolence of a moderate tyrant, such as the Temple, or the chaos of a liberator.”

“Your Majesty believes the thirst for freedom in the hearts of men to be evil, and their subjugation to the Temple a good?” asked Tanios.

“Does it matter what I believe?” asked the Queen with a bitterness that surprised the commander. “Baal fashioned man from the spittle of the primordial chaos and the dust of earth. In my veins courses a blood tainted by darkness, and no matter what I do, or do not do, I will always tend to chaos. This is the unbending law governing man’s heart: we are broken twigs amusing the gods for a passing moment and tossed into the fire to be turned into dust, and no one can change this fact.”

“There is El,” replied Master Habael softly.

“Dear Master Habael,” replied the Queen with a sorrowful pity in her voice, “I would ardently believe in this benevolent, gentle god of yours, but where is he? Where can I find him? The might of the Temple governs the earth, and all around us the strength of the gods resonates in the heart of man. No, my dear Habael, I would rather believe that man is alone, the Pit a fantasy, and the gods a mere illusion before I believe in a benevolent god who stands back and impassibly watches our pain and suffering. According to the story you told me once, the Lords of Light came to the aid of man in the great battle of Silbarâd. Man then broke the covenant, and El commanded the Lords of Light to withdraw their aid. Tell me, my dear Habael, if your child is hurting, living the life of a slave, and you do not aid him, are you not just another tyrant?”

“Even as we speak, El is working in the world, Your Majesty. How else do you suppose, that despite the tyranny of the gods, man still finds joy in the world and the strength to hope? Yet, a broken covenant must be restored, or how else will man come to know El and worship him properly? Unlike the tyrants you spoke of so eloquently, who seem bent on imposing their will on man, El sent forth a call and waits for a response. But I do not wish to bore Her Majesty with a matter she is already familiar with,” said the old man, bowing gracefully.

The Queen laughed. “I would more readily believe in you, my dear Habael, than in any god, for I have yet to meet such goodness so beautifully integrated with humility. Even though I do not agree with you, I thank you for your honesty and courage in sharing with the dreaded Queen Ramel, your deepest belief. Enough of this, you did not come here to hear me wax poetic about the gods. You are trying to solve a mystery, so let’s get back to the problem at hand. As I was saying earlier, according to Bahiya, these artifacts are the Power of Tanniin, and El-Windiir hid them somewhere beneath Taniir-On-High.”

“The high priestess knows about these matters?”

“She is more informed about them than anyone else, including the King and myself,” replied the Queen, carefully watching the commander. He met her gaze, and she gave him her warmest, most charming smile. He bowed gallantly. The Queen’s gaze lingered on the commander for a moment before she resumed her explanations.

“Not so surprising, my dear Tanios, when you consider that Bahiya is in charge of keeping peace in this part of Baal’s Empire. When she came to Babylon to present me to the King, she spent countless hours studying these prophecies with the great masters of the Inner Circle. This is what my uncle told me. At the time, I did not give it any thought, but I confess that her sustained interest in these matters surprises me.”

“Indeed,” added Tanios, “surprising indeed. So what happened after El-Windiir fashioned his weapons? Did the Temple punish him?”

“That is what the legends say, but the shepherds living in the remote areas of the mountain have told me of two ancient songs that seem to tell a different tale. These songs are difficult to translate, and if it were not for Ibromaliöm’s knowledge of these languages and ancient customs, we would not have been able to decipher them. According to these songs, Baal did not defeat El-Windiir; it is El-Windiir who asked Baal for help.”

“What?”

“I know that this must sound blasphemous to your ears Commander Tanios, but listen to this slave’s lament It is El-Windiir who speaks:

In the steely darkness that devour

the heart of man and his soul,

In the darkness of mines so deep

A slave’s life is cruel and cheap.

Then came the day when I stood free,

Rejoicing in the land from sea to sea,

I beheld the beauty of a rising world

When I flew in the skies, wings unfurled.

Wings of steel now hound me,

A voice, I feel, now binds me,

Hounding, taunting, tempting.

My face and the land are foreign to my sight,

I lay awake in the depth of the night,

My hand never departs from my blade,

Alone, awake, cold and afraid.

Who will come, who will deliver

this Slave from a cruel slavery?

Who will rise, who will sunder

the shackles of this tyranny?

“This fragment is older than the poem I previously recited. It seems that El-Windiir is lamenting his fate. When a human entreats the god without sufficient foreknowledge, he becomes a slave to the god, and thus, under his total control.”

“El-Windiir became a slave of Tanniin?” asked the commander, who was struggling with the implications of the Queen’s words.

“Yes. This is a common occurrence. In fact, it is one of the most severe punishments the Temple of Baal inflicts on criminals.”

“So, when El-Windiir called on Baal, he was freed?”

“This is what Bahiya says, but I do not believe it. Baal would not have delivered El-Windiir; he would have crushed him. This is Baal’s customary law for those who oppose him. Something else must have helped El-Windiir: an encounter with someone he calls ‘The Lady of the White Tower
,’
who seems to be endowed with amazing powers. Both Garu and Ibromaliöm are lost in mere conjectures here. We do not know exactly what El-Windiir saw, but whatever it was must have been more powerful than Tannin to set him free. This encounter was the turning point in the life of your founder. I cannot explain it. In any case, it seems El-Windiir—having been freed from his chains—imposed the curse on the power of Tanniin, and according to the last verse, he has hidden the power with him, in his sarcophagus. The sarcophagus was closed, sealed, and the curse applied. Anyone who opens it, and is not the Seer, will be cursed. It seems that the beast was set as the guardian over this famed sarcophagus.”

“Why did he not destroy them?”

“Garu speculates that he may not have had the strength to do it. Ibromaliöm believes that somehow El-Windiir kept the power of Tanniin—his weapons—in the foreknowledge that someone would come after him and use them appropriately. The verse ‘Only one may utter what mortals may not’ makes him believe so. Bahiya is ambivalent on this point. Taken out of context, ‘one’ in this verse could refer to Baal, who alone may utter what no mortal can. But the context does not permit such interpretation, for it would be strange for El-Windiir to keep the power of Tannin until Baal takes it. Bahiya has come to believe that this power was kept for another mortal. At any rate, the real reason is lost amidst various contradicting hypotheses.”

“So, he keeps them in his tomb. Then what happens?”

“In his sarcophagus,” corrected Ramel before going on. “He utters the curse. El-Windiir XIII attempts to open the sarcophagus and tries to seize the Tanniin’s power. What we know of him is not reliable, but it seems he was a ruthless ruler. That he may have been tempted by the power is not impossible. The curse sets in. The beast is its exterior manifestation, and madness its interior manifestation.”

“So, then, Namiir IV succeeds him. He follows in his father’s footsteps, fights the beast, and loses his sight?” Tanios clarified.

“He
may
have fought against the beast,” corrected Ramel. “The dwarfs have a song titled ‘The Last Battle of Xur’, which is about a dwarf commanding the forces of Namiir IV. In it, they mention the beast. But Garu and Ibromaliöm believe the reason why Namiir IV lost his sight was not linked to the beast. Losing one’s sight is an interior manifestation of the curse. It may have been because Namiir IV got even closer to the power than his father, and since no mortal may see this, he lost his sight.”

“This brings us to the end of El-Windiir’s dynasty and the beginning of that of Dilandiir I, the brother-in-law of Namiir IV, doesn’t it?” asked Master Habael.

“Exactly,” replied the Queen. “Dilandiir I, who seemed to be in good standing with the dwarfs, commissioned them to build Taniir-the-Strong, which they did. He moved the sarcophagus and hid it somewhere in the depths of the mines, where no one has found it.”

“Amazing. How did he get past the beast?” asked Tanios.

“Amazing indeed. Garu and Ibromaliöm have spent countless nights trying to understand how Dilandiir accomplished this feat. To take the sarcophagus away from the beast is almost impossible, unless of course, one has at his disposal forces so great as to restrain the beast.”

“Dilandiir was a magician?” exclaimed Tanios.

“Close, my dear Tanios, very close. Garu believes that Dilandiir did not move the sarcophagus; Ibromaliöm believes he did, but neither could advance solid evidence in support of their respective positions. Tellingly, I found the answer in Babylon.”

“Babylon?”

“Yes. How great are you, O Babylon. While on a pilgrimage there, I visited the Temple of Baal. The Master Treasurer is an old friend of my father’s, so he gave me a tour of the most prized gifts made to Baal. In one of the oldest sections, I found a gift from King Dilandiir to Baal in thanksgiving for the wonders accomplished by Alissaar Ben-Nadam.”

“The legendary magician?”

“The very one. Now, who could have kept the beast at bay while transporting and hiding the sarcophagus? Who would have the power to contain the beast? Alissaar Ben-Nadam was one of the greatest magicians of Baal that ever was. If anyone could have done it, he could.

“I extended my stay in Babylon and talked to my old masters and other learned men and women. My pursuit seemed to be in vain. No one knew about Alissaar’s travel to Tanniin, nor his feat here. I was about to abandon my search, when during the carnival of Adonis, I saw a play, a rather interesting play. Four clumsy men were carrying a long box, and a monster followed them. They were trying to enter into a cave, but men kept thwarting their attempts because they wanted to see what was inside the box. Every time the box was opened, the clumsy men would hide their eyes; the curious would fall dead to the delight of the crowd. The four men would hastily close the box and start moving away from the monster. Several unsuccessful attempts and a half dozen dead men later, a magician showed up. He repelled the beast, ushered the four men into the cave, and closed it on them to the delight of the crowd. Here is the best of it all: the play is called ‘Alissaar and the Dead Slave.’ ”

They all fell silent, trying to absorb what they had been told. Tanios could not help but admire the Queen for her perseverance and tenacity. She was able to piece together an old puzzle that had stumped many. Truly, this was no small feat.

“So, Dilandiir calls upon Alissaar Ben-Nadam to hide the sarcophagus, right?” asked Tanios.

“Yes, but there is more. According to Bahiya, Alissaar Ben-Nadam was a Methodical. His school believed, and continues to believe, that an act of magic is part of a whole, and unless the whole is complete, the act is lacking. We are not certain how Alissaar hid the sarcophagus, but from similar sealing…” Noticing Tanios’ confused look, Ramel explained further, “I mean sealing with a curse, of course.” Tanios nodded. The Queen continued, “We can safely assume Alissaar hid the sarcophagus and cast an additional curse against anyone who would attempt to open it. Bahiya is convinced that Alissaar’s curse is directed against the one who could utter the word.”

“How so?”

“Alissaar’s curse would be triggered when the one who can utter the word is in close vicinity. Even if he is unaware of the sarcophagus and has no intent to open it, the curse would be immediately triggered. Her explanation is justified, since this was Alissaar’s usual mode of operation.”

“Is she saying that, if the one who could utter the word were to walk by or look at the sarcophagus, the curse would be triggered against him?”

“Yes, my dear Tanios. This is what High Priestess Bahiya has implied.”

“But how could this be? How could the curse distinguish between one man and another?”

“I do not know much about magical lore, but according to Bahiya, if the one who can utter the word were to enter the mines, then inexorably, he would be attracted to the sarcophagus. This is due to the work of Tanniin. This motion would be somehow detected and the curse triggered. More, I do not know, for I have a real dislike for magic. This might explain why I did not become a priestess,” she added with a smile.

“Where did the high priestess acquire such a detailed knowledge of the works of Alissaar?” wondered Tanios.