Time and Again

16

Time and Again - Part 1: In The Beginning

Ereshkigal's Hall - March 2532 BCE

Deep in the dark, dusty vaults of the Netherworld, Ereshkigal shifted irritably on her throne. Throughout the hall, the clustered galla demons watched their mistress nervously, fearful of becoming the next target for her increasingly short temper. The Queen had called her far flung servants to the central chambers in preparation for the invasion of the lands above, but the greatly increased overcrowding among the lower level demons caused a lot of squabbling and fights which annoyed her greatly.

Now, whenever the deathly white waxy skinned face turned their way, the demons would freeze in their tracks and wait trembling until she looked away again. The dull black featurelessness of her eyes heightened their nervousness because it was impossible to tell exactly where she was looking and whenever the slow turning paused, every galla in her field of view would prostrate their short spindly bodies on the ground, quaking visibly in terror. Several small crisped corpses, some still smoking, littered the floor in evidence of what would happen to the next creature to incur her wrath.

The few casualties so far, however, had done little to reduce the size of the horde and each of the fifteen upper level demons who would lead the attack had more than a hundred galla under their command. Despite the thick air of fear, the room also buzzed with excitement. The time was nearly here. Soon the moon would be full again and the gates to the surface would open. Then the conquest of the human lands could begin.

Temple of Inanna, Uruk, Kienger - 9^th March 2532 BCE

In the pale light just before dawn, Ibbi-Nansh woke with a start from yet another nightmare vision of demon armies. His recurring dreams had to be tied into the signs and portents which continued to disturb the peace of the temple and they deeply worried him. With each passing month he had become increasingly convinced that a demon war was in the offing and he had even found an 800 year old prophecy that might be relevant.

The other priests were not entirely convinced of his interpretation however, since the single copy of the prophecy he could find was a badly eroded tablet and almost indecipherable. Indeed, large parts of the text were in such poor condition they were completely unreadable.

Worse still the Lugal (18), Gilgamesh (19), was using the dissension amongst the temple elite as an excuse for ignoring the issue. although the En knew that it was not his place to question his ruler's actions, he couldn't help thinking that Gilgamesh and his great friend and brother warrior Enkidu were spending far too much time away at various hunting lodges. After all, Gilgamesh's mother was a goddess and his father a demi-god, he should be taking the warnings much more seriously.

Ibbi-Nansh gazed out the window into the brightening sky and shivered slightly at the sight of the morning star Ninanna shining so brightly in the east. With the goddess of war so clearly looking down upon the world, such dark thoughts must be considered, and the correct observance of the temple rites be still more important to all. Yet the city's rulers ignored him and even some of his own priests were more concerned with arguments over the allocation of the taxes levied from the winter grain harvest than with their holy duties.

Shaking his head sadly Ibbi-Nansh wondered if their lack of religious fervour was perhaps a reflection on his own running of the temple. Would it be different if his father were still alive? Snorting in self-disgust he dismissed the thought. Dwelling on might-have-beens was a particularly pointless exercise to his way of thinking. Better to get on with the task at hand. He needed to cleanse himself and put on his robes for the ritual celebration of the dawn.

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