Lo! I sing of ancient things, forgotten
To the memories of man and beast.
I sing of times that have passed long since,
And with them passing much that was good.
I sing of the noble men of old ages
That walked upon the Earth as giants
And who were most bright, outshining
The thousand stars that adorn the field of night.
Their tread was like thunder and their voices like the clarion,
Their hearts were noble and their minds were wise.
These were the Nephilim, the heroes of antiquity
Whose deeds inspired the legends, recalled even to this day.
They were more like gods than like men.
Of such men and such deeds I sing
That such men and deeds might be again.
These were my children who did contest against the hosts of Heaven
And, whether opposed by trickery or the ranks of battle,
Were subdued not by all the powers of the Elohim.
Yet there was war also amongst the Nephilim,
Divided into many tribes by the sorceries of Gabriel,
And the human race was sundered into many nations
That spread from the Kingdom between Two Rivers
To many of the lands of the world, untrodden
By human foot in those pristine days.
Seeking new kingdoms and new glories
The thousand princes of the Nephilim scattered
To the North and South, to the East and West,
To wild Scythia or parched Arabia,
To Persia and to Egypt of the eternal Nile.
By the plough and mattock they did quell the wilderness
And set to order what was once untamed.
The Shedim went about the lands of men in those times
And taught man of many things that he knew not.
Ashmedai and Aset taught to the sages of the Nephilim
The letters of recording and the numbers of counting
That their words would not be lost like breath
But would be recorded upon tablets of stone.
They taught to them how the future might be perceived
Amongst the stars or in the entrails of beasts,
Cut open at the belly with a blade of bronze.
In the art of the sorcerer they instructed the kings of men
To command the spirits of the land and sky
To make fertile the fields and bring forth rain
That the harvest of the year might be trebly abundant.
They tutored their disciples in the way of the staff and word
By which demons might be convoked and abjured.
Thus did the children of Satan learn their magicks
And became magicians of power to rival angels.
All this did Heaven perceive and become dismayed.
As mankind waxed great on Earth so did Heaven fade,
Eclipsed by the brighter star of Satan's children.
The Elohim knew humanity to be a foe 
That, unconquered, would conquer them
And thus they feared and hated the race of men.
Yet every device that Heaven had employed
Did not accomplish the fall of man but his ascendance.
They set mankind to make war upon himself
And this, like the chirurgeon's knife, cut away the weak,
The strong remained and, untainted and tested now in battle,
Became yet stronger against the Elohim's dominion.
Their plagues and famines killed many but taught the living
The lessons of medicine and agriculture
And made my children stronger by the suffering they wrought.
Thus the adversity that Heaven set against mankind did not avail
The cause of Heaven but the cause espoused by me,
Strengthening by their efforts the arm of the adversary.
Thus was the greatness of the Nephilim
To find new power even in that set against them.
Sorely vexed indeed were Heaven's princes by their deeds
That effected not the outcome that they desired.
Again and again they sought some plot or ploy
That would gain them advantage over man
And thus preserve the kingdom that they stood within
When their wiser brothers forsook its high spires,
Discerned that those towers would not forever stand
But one day in posterity would be as stones upon the earth
Blackened by the smoke of ruin and the blood of war
And thereafter would be blown by a bitter wind to dust.
Long times did the chief of those treacherous brethren
Pace the floors of his shining turret, this way and that way,
Working like the potter's clay this or the other design
By which the Nephilim might be opposed
And by which the Elohim might prevail over them.
Yet nothing that his hand wrought met with success.
No sleep did Michael know in his affliction,
Knowing well in his heart that, most favoured of his brothers,
Such an honour won by treachery could be so won
By any of his brothers that saw weakness in actions.
Thus the usurper guarded himself ever against the brothers
That he had used to wreak his own perfidy.
Days and years drew on as nothing to eternal Heaven
And mankind waxed and ever waxed, and Heaven waned.
Michael still conceived of no contrivance to quell their defiant spirits
Nor by which to impose once more upon his brothers
That authority that had once reigned absolute.
Not for the last time did he curse his greed.

"Better," spoke the angel-prince in his troubled mind,
"To rule as second than to be betrayed as first.
That I had never moved my hand against him that ruled me
For, so doing, I have moved my hand against myself.
Well have I taught my brothers how to betray a brother
And what they have done once they will do again.
Opposing the authority of bright Satan I have destroyed my own
And now his curse does work against me.
O that I despised him once for the authority that he held over me
I despise him twice over now for what I won from him,
An inheritance of woe and unsleeping guard.
Most accursed is Satanael who has so contaminated what I won.
Well he knew its properties that he made no defence
But with a willing smile handed to me what was his,
A terrible destruction that falls upon me.
And how I once thought myself most blessed.
Now I descry in every shadow the knife's reflected light
And in every cup the fatal potion of the assassin's vial.
I am more like a prisoner than a king,
Thus do I reap the wages of my treachery,
Lured by Satan's guile to this false prize and doomed kingdom;
That doom that lies also upon my shoulders.
O impotent Elohim, you are destroyed by your own greed.
Overthrow me if you will it but you inherit but your own crime.
Sorry is the ruler of a realm of traitors.
Heaven's left hand betrays its right hand,
Satan well knew the fate of this empire, this high estate,
It is full of vipers that sting themselves.
Well what is mine I shall rule whilst it is yet mine
And hold while I have yet strength to hold it
And, when all my strength is faded, I shall both bless and curse
Him that would win my burden and the true laughter,
At the end of things, shall be Michael's as it was Satan's
Who wreaked upon me that which I shall wreak.
Thus does Michael resolve. Thus shall it be.
Thus am I consoled in my wretchedness."

Thus Michael watched his dominion from his tower,
Watched himself by his thousand guards, guarding
Him against those without and within,
Bound by spells that if their master died they too would fade,
Such was the suspicion of Michael upon all things.
Yet upon another of Heaven's high spires 
That reached higher than the highest mountains
And burned with a thousand precious stones and ores,
Surveying the dominion of Adonai Yahweh, corrupted
By its high ambitions, watched Gabriel, toying,
In his idle vigil, with his four-bladed, cross-shafted scythe
That had drunk eagerly of the blood of Giants, men and the Shedim.
Like the tigress that stalks the deer, he gazed out
From the western perimeter to the eastern and from south to north,
Desirous of the dominion of the lands.
Where Michael had plotted in agitation,
Looking in all directions for that which would end his rule,
Scheming against all, believing that he was schemed against,
Gabriel waited for the moment most apt for action
Then, with the striking cobra's speed, to snatch what Michael possessed.
Thus did the Elohim come to oppose each other
As they fostered opposition amongst the Nephilim.
In those times, then, was there conflict in Heaven and on Earth.
That which could not be contrived by all of Michael's thought,
That to which all Heaven sought in vain,
The thread by which all Chadel's victories could be undone,
Unfound by the Elohim, was delivered unto them by treacherous fortune.
Of all the nations of the Nephilim, the greatest of them,
Mightiest in battle, shrewdest in trade, wisest in judgement,
Most faithful to my cause and ever willing to pour out libations
To honour the three that had first made their race
Was magnificent Shurupuk between the Two Rivers.
High were the walls of Shurupuk and bright with beaten bronze;
Strong were the towers of Shurupuk and bright with flags
That danced like flames in wind from the mountains
And sentries stood upon the high ramparts and kept vigil
Over the most distant frontiers of the empire.
From the fertile fields and from distant lands as tribute,
From the ships that traded upon the Tigris and Euphrates,
All the riches of the world were brought to Shurupuk:
Gold and silver, cedar and purpure, bright lapis lazuli,
Birds and beasts of a thousand shapes, grain and wine.
All that the Earth might give up was brought to Shurupuk.
Wet with milk and wine or else the blood of beasts
Were my altars in Shurupuk and my temples were richly appointed.
Devoted and most dutiful in religion were the people of Shurupuk,
Honouring well the lord that made them
And all the Shedim that watched over them and guided
To ever more gloried destinies the empire of Shurupuk.
Great among the lands of men was regal Shurupuk,
Envy of all the nations of the Earth.
Of all the men that walked on Earth, of that race of heroes,
The greatest of the Nephilim was UtaNapishtim,
August emperor of proud Shurupuk, beneficent and wise.
Strong was his arm, swift his feet, none was there to best him,
Unconquered were his chariots, unbroken the ranks of shields.
The prows of his navy were painted with the blood of enemies.
Great was UtaNapishtim and great was his nation.
Yet of the nations of the Nephilim he had foes that he had not quelled.
Shurupuk that shone like the sun amongst nations
Was rich with gold and silver and a myriad treasures
And the Elohim had taught greed to the children of the Shedim.
To conquer Shurupuk, to conquer UtaNapishtim
And win the gold that filled high his treasuries,
Many tried and all that did made fat the crows
For the hosts of Shurupuk were mighty in battle
And put all before them as leaves before the winds
And swelled further the coffers of UtaNapishtim,
Carrying back the battle's spoils and the booty of the cities
That had, in error, strived against UtaNapishtim.
West of the Kingdom between Two Rivers,
Where bright Shurupuk's walls were high,
By the sea, upon the western coast,
Africa to the south and Italy upon the northern coast
King Methuselah brought his people there
And they prospered there and grew powerful.
Fierce were the tribe Methuselah in victory
And when fortune favoured them they were without mercy.
To the South and North rode Methuselah's horsemen
And rode in return laden with the booty and many captives,
Tied in train behind their columns.
Twenty towns, by sword and by torch, did Methuselah lay waste
And with skins and tusks were his coffers filled.
All those that would deny him that for which he hungered
Were put to death, both the warriors and the innocent,
Thus did Methuselah bring shame upon his father's name.
The lamentations of the slaves and captives and the bereaved
Percolated down through the soil and the stone
To echo amongst the deep caverns of the Earth.
In the darkness the sorrows of the wronged,
The weeping of the infants before the spear
Were heard by the Shedim in hidden Chadel
And they too mourned those who fell to Methuselah's cruel hand.
Hearing of what transpired upon the Earth
To the Spire of Opal and Ruby by the fount of flame
Came Abaddon, the Battle-Lord, marshal of my hosts.
Entering at the portal, guarded by great serpents,
Coiled about the tower's width,
He ascended upon black raven's wings the central shaft
To the high chamber where, within a pool of mercury
I watched the reflections, magic-made, of the passings
Of men and beasts and angels upon the Earth.
Turning, I hailed the iron-clad angel who bowed before me
And hailed me and spoke with these words
In a voice that seemed like the battle's very roar,
The pounding of drums and hooves, the cannon's bark,
The horns resounding blast, the war-cry and the death-cry.
Thus did Abaddon, the lord of ruin, speak:

"Lord Satanael, Commander of Our Hearts,
Know you what transpires upon the Earth
Amongst the nations of the Nephilim.
Methuselah, merciless king, defiles the name of Abaddon
And wages his wars like some beast and yet worse
And sullies all mankind with his base crime.
Have I not taught the warriors of men that some are sacred
And that the blood of children is a filth upon the soul?
Yet the spear of Methuselah is stained black with their blood.
Nothing delights this king more than the torment of others.
With the blood of captive does he stain my altars,
Offering in libation what is most foul to me.
As his horses and his chariots crush beneath them
Those that have submitted to him he sings my name
And consecrates their agony to my name.
I am dishonoured by this tyrant and the race of man
Is shamed by the misdeeds of the criminal.
Though he is your son and amongst the Nephilim
Whom we are sworn to defend and guide as tutors
He is unworthy of that noble race or the oath I swore.
Let me then face the king in battle with my sword,
Havoc, that bleeds eternal with blood of knights.
Havoc the Ruiner sings for the blood of Methuselah
And I would leave his body to the dogs and crows.
I am outraged at the shame of Methuselah
And would wash out the stain with a gory bath.
Let me then contest with Methuselah
And put to death this one who is no warrior
But a butcher though he does pretend.
Not the path of the warrior is it to take life but to preserve
What is fine and noble in the world.
I implore, Lord to whom am I sworn, let me strike down
The tyrant Methuselah and expunge the filth
That stains the altars and the name of Abbadon."

This was the suit that Abaddon brought to me
And most gravely did I consider what he had said,
Weighing this implication and that
For such a thing was hitherto unknown amongst the Shedim,
To move in wrath against the Nephilim,
Whom they were sworn to defend and cherish,
Guiding the child-race to its due destiny.
Most severe injunctions bound the oaths that were spoken
And such an undertaking, now proposed, was uncertain
In conclusion and in consequence.
Yet also had I heard the cries myself and perceived
The many crimes Methuselah and my altars
Were stained with the blood of innocents.
Neither in favour nor in opposition to the request
Laid before me could my consideration find.
Then, at last, knowing no answer to such entreaty
I made this reply to Abaddon who waited
Upon my leave or proscription in this matter:

"Noble Abaddon, mighty and terrible warrior,
Most sympathetic is Satanael to your grievance
For are not my altars sullied also by the blood of men
And does the tongue of Methuselah not defile me also
With his profane hymnings of my name.
Indeed the blood and cries of his butchery filter down
Through soil and stone and stain all Chadel
With the villainy of the tyrant-king.
Not for such abuses as these did I give life to the Nephilim
But for some more noble destiny.
Yet what you suggest I cannot command
For it is desecration against all our vows.
If I were to move in wrath against the children of my flesh
I would become as Adonai Yahweh and that I will not do.
A parent must love his children without condition
Even when their crimes stain oceans black.
Not for me is it to sit in judgement over man
As once God sat in judgement over all the world.
Even wise Yahweh's judgement played him false,
What hope then have I of determining what is right and wrong.
I, like you, can hope only to judge the deeds of my own hand;
Nevermore shall there be a judge over all,
Upon this is my heart resolved.
We each sow our own fate and reap its fruits.
I shall not issue prescription against any of the Nephilim.
Abbadon, turn not away until you have heard my conclusion!
What I enact not against the Nephilim, my children,
Neither do enact against my brothers, the Shedim.
If you would strike down Methuselah then do so.
I shall not sanction nor else oppose you in this matter.
Do as you will but what comes of the action of your hand
Shall be borne upon the back of Abaddon alone.
Act as you will, destroy or destroy not Methuselah,
But I would counsel you to stay your hasty hand.
Not forever is the life of man and he must fade and die
As we ourselves fade not and die not
And such injustices may be borne a while for they too shall fade,
Burnt away by the increasing light of the Nephilim.
Go then, you have heard my answer.
If you must slay Methuselah do so with haste:
I myself grow sick with his excesses."

Bowing once more to the prince of Chadel,
Abaddon retired from my chamber,
Descending the spire's shaft on black wings,
And went once more from the lower portal.
With terrible purpose he strode the broad streets
Of the Shedim's city and to the gates,
Thence through the ever-shadowed caverns
Up by unrecorded passages to the surface world,
Slaughter in his heart and mind,
Set on fire by the rage of battle 
And made cool by the steel in his intent.
Methuselah, cruel king, upon his throne, covered
With the skins of leopards sat within his palace
Of walls of rough-carved stone.
Within his right hand he held an ash-staved spear
With a barbed head of bronze,
Tended by the captive daughters that he had taken
And toying with his stolen treasures.
Now the gate of the house of Methuselah was cast open
And torn from the hinges on which they hung.
By the light of the western sun a chill shadow fell
Across the very length of the chamber and obscured
Methuselah and all his throne.
The wind's freezing blast extinguished every torch and lamp
That only the bloody dusk-light illumined
Methuselah and his quailing knights, who fled
To the furthest extremes of the throne-room.
Within the broken portal of the threshold
Stood the black and terrible angel-shape of Abaddon.
Twice the height of man stood the avenger,
Armoured in plate of iron and bronze,
His wings spread wide like the torn pennant on the field,
Within his hand the bleeding sword, the Ruiner,
Seven feet long and shaped like the serpent's tongue
With engrailed blade and forked point,
Weeping ever the blood of the fallen.
Thus came Abaddon to the throne of Methuselah.
Even as the raven croaked Methuselah repented not
And begged not for clemency before a vision so fearful
But in indignation raised his spear against the spirit
And shouted his defiance to the Shedim knight:

"I am Methuselah, the Destroyer of Men.
Merciless king, the favoured of Abaddon.
All on the Earth fear me and my hosts.
I am a tearer down of cities
And my spear has stained earth and oceans red.
I am the friend of the vultures
And all must know dismay at my war-cry
For to hear it is to die, thus have I sworn.
All those who have opposed me and denied to me
That which my hand would seize
Are now naked bone upon the plain.
Ten thousand hearts have I emptied of their precious liquor.
None is there on Earth or in Heaven who would oppose me.
Who then are you that comes to me
So eager to die, wracked by death-agony, pierced by my lance?
You have come to my palace without my leave
And wrecked the gate, adorned with skulls
Of the men and horses slain by my hand.
Did you not think those trophies a warning
To those that would come here to destroy me.
Surely they have all been themselves destroyed.
Who then are you that comes to me?
How are you named, dark angel?"

Unmindful of the tyrants boasts,
The warrior of Chadel crossed in seven steps
The hall and stood before the throne
And spoke but these words in reply
To the interrogation of Methuselah, merciless king:

"I am Abaddon, the Destroyer."

Havoc rose and Havoc fell within a blink,
Shrieking like an eagle swooping on his pray.
Shattering into splinters the spear that Methuselah held,
Vainly, against the falling sword of adamant,
And the blade went onwards in the downward motion,
Cutting in two the tyrant from his shoulder to his loin.
With a sobbing shout the ruin of the king
Fell upon the floor, spilling entrails across the throne
That told of but a single fate for the race of men
With the solemn vows of Shedim so profaned;
'Calamity!' was the enteromancer's portent
In the displaced innards of Methuselah.
Leaving there the wrecked frame of the king
Abaddon walked from the silent palace
And flew once more to Chadel, his shame avenged.
To that gory throne was Lamech heir,
Lamech, son of Methuselah, and he ascended
To sit where his father had been cut down
For the terrible deeds that he had wrought
And, as is the way sons, sought to out-strip his father
In glory won on the battle's field
Though well had he learned to obey the dictates of honour.
Strong was Lamech's arm in battle,
Well did he cast the spear and hold the shield
From his bronze-plated chariot, drawn by maddened bulls.
As his father had brought disgrace upon the Nephilim
So did Lamech bring honour upon their race.
Thither and thither went the columns of Lamech
And returned with rich tributes to the king.
Tributes though he called them though
They were extorted at the spear's point
And not all the Shedim were satisfied at his deeds
But he was not as his father had been and some lesser evils
Must be borne if the greater wrongs must be cast aside.
Thus did the kingdom of Lamech become great.
In this time UtaNapishtim ruled in bright Shurupuk
And Lamech heard of the fame of that great state
And, as had princes before him, became jealous of that city.
Proud Lamech resolved in his heart that by his hand
Would the shining walls of Shurupuk be cast down
And by his torch would her towers burn.
Thus arrayed in the hides of lion and battle-dress,
Ash-shafted spear in his hand and shield upon his arm,
Painted bright with the ensign of his line,
The six-pointed star, azure upon argent,
Did he convoke his thegns before him.
Addressing them with a thunderous voice
He proclaimed his new destiny and purpose:

"I am Lamech, mighty in battle,
As was cruel Methuselah before me
By whose blood I am descended from original Man.
Hear then the decree of Lamech,
Your king, who seeks new glories 
And new booties, richer than any spoils before.
Bright in runes of flame shall our names be written
Upon the records of history by our deeds.
Of all the nation's of the world is Shurupuk the greatest
Like an elephant does she go upon the Earth
And those who stand against the hosts of Shurupuk
Are crushed as though beneath the foot
Of a beast so great as an elephant.
Yet I, Lamech, am resolved upon this course
That I should be conqueror of Shurupuk
And win the treasures of that city for myself.
The people of Lamech shall be ever remembered
As those who ended Shurupuk's greatness
And replaced the towers of UtaNapishtim
With those higher and more brilliant,
More enduring, and upon the ruined stone
Of Shurupuk built the foundations of the Nephilim's kingdom
That, it is so foretold, shall surpass Chadel and Heaven
In majesty and great duration.
Let us then rouse our armies to battle
To contest the Earth with great Shurupuk
That our children shall be the chief of the Nephilim
That shall rule the world hereafter.
This destiny is ours, let us then seize it
And make ourselves as gods upon the Earth."

To the rash exhortations of Lamech went up a cheer
As his knights became roused with greed and glory.
Once more was their hot blood heated
And their hearts were filled with rage.
Resounding hymns to the spirits of battle,
The Shedim hunt that fight at the side of worthy men,
They gathered up their hosts of war
And made ready their horses before the chariots,
Then, taking up their spears, went forth to battle,
Marching to the tattoo of heart and drum.
From the furthest towns of Shurupuk's empire
Came the messengers and heralds from the West,
Reporting war and despoilment upon that frontier.
King UtaNapishtim saw their coming from his high tower
And descended from there to hear what news they brought,
The swift-riding messengers of his realm.
Bowing low before their king they told the tidings
And related all that had passed on the western boundary:

"Mighty King, Lord of Shurupuk,
From the western extent of the empire we come
With news of war against our revered domain.
King Lamech, bandit of the western lands,
Raises against our invincible estate a great horde
And puts to flame the settlements of Shurupuk.
Clad in the skins of animals his knights,
From the chariot and the horse,
By bolt and barb, by spear and sword,
Drive before them the garrisons that guard our lands
And wet with the blood of our noble warriors our soil,
Seizing our many rightful riches to themselves.
Gathering to him the enemies who have before opposed
And that have been driven from our lands,
He marches against the walls of Shurupuk.
Now must you stretch out your arm in wrath
And destroy the impudent Lamech
Who so rashly contests your realm.
The man that has become your foe is rash
And, though brave, his hosts are disordered,
Aware not of the flag or drum, commanding manoeuvre,
And in both size and armoury no equal of our own.
Lamech is barbaric, understanding not our strength.
Thus do our spies assay and report.
Well would it be then if you went forth now against him
Before yet greater parts of your empire are laid waste.
This you could do with ease if you so willed.
This is our report, o noble lord."

To this strategy did the king nod assent
And issue his commandment to march from Shurupuk
And quell the invasion of his realm with haste.
Within his tower he himself girded for battle,
Arraying himself in green-dyed robes of velvet
And tying his black beard, shot through with steel,
Into seven braids like serpents, binding them with gold.
Eight feet high stood the king of Shurupuk,
He was as a giant upon the Earth,
And his eyes burned as if on fire.
Thunderous was voice and thunderous his step
And in his right hand he bore a mace with an iron-head
That had fallen from amongst the stars of the sky;
Five feet long was the shaft of that rod,
Decorated with gold and smaragds.
And the head was an orb of a foot's girth,
Bound with the sinews of tigers.
Upon his head he wore a high-crested helm of bronze,
Decorated in silver with the temple's seal
And his breast was defended by the hide of a crocodile,
Made strong with scales of steel.
Thus arrayed he saddled and harnessed the charger,
White like ivory, great in stature, on which he rode to battle.
Then, as the horns sounded the mustering of hosts,
He ascended the high ziggurat to my shrine
To pour upon the Shedim's altar a libation of lion's blood
To win the alliance of the Shedim for his campaign.
Wide swung the gates of Shurupuk as the armies passed through
And it seemed to those that watched from the wall
That the ranks of spears were without end
And that the gate would disgorge an eternity of warriors
And at the van was UtaNapishtim, god amongst men,
Beneath standard of the temple's seal, the flaming eye.
Upon the western horizon, apparent to the beholders,
A column of the black smoke of pillage rose
And the wind brought the war-cries and the drums
Of the yet distant foes to the walls of Shurupuk.
Now Lamech marched also at the column's head
And, perceiving in the East the flags upon the towers
That made fast the walls of Shurupuk,
He urged his army to new speeds, eager to plunder that bright city.
Now as the embattled walls of the city appeared to his eyes
As he stood at the Euphrates' western bank
He paused to read in the patterns of the fire's smoke
The portent for the battle that he was to fight.
Within the shifting fumes that rose
One rune alone was seen, 'Calamity!'
Dissatisfied with such an augur he doused the flame
And, as he made to rekindle the fire in which he read,
His army gave up a great shout of dismay
As the battalions of Shurupuk marshalled on the farther shore.
To every spear of his that pointed eastward
Twenty shining glaives pointed westward across the ford
And to each horse of his that stamped its hooves
Were ten chariots of Shurupuk.
And upon the farther bank, diametric to his own position,
Upon a steed of white, was the great Nephilim-king
That he had thought to oppose.
Now the bellow of battle-horns sounded,
Commanding the charge of Shurupuk
And proclaiming of Lamech, 'Calamity!'
Into confusion was the line of Lamech cast
As the foremost ranks turned to flee
Even as the hindmost advanced against a foe they perceived not well.
In that disorder the sounding of retreat was unheeded
And Lamech's people were as gazelle in the lion's jaw.
Lamech himself could not draw his gaze from the white stallion
And its rider, throwing up a froth,
As the dread king came across the river to meet him,
The iron sceptre raised high like the tail of the scorpion
That has within its claws its prey.
All courage then left the heart of Lamech.
In the shallows of the river, before the king,
UtaNapishtim, Lamech fell upon his knees,
Casting aside his spear and holding up open hands.
The emperor in green dismounted from his horse
And crossed the remainder of the distance by his own feet
To stand in triumph before the prostrate Lamech,
Raising up once more with two hands
The great mace of meteoric iron.
Now weeping Lamech made entreaty to the victor,
Though the battle was newly joined,
And implored mercy of the king of Shurupuk:

"UtaNapishtim, monarch more terrible than God,
I pray you be more merciful than the king of Heaven
In dealing with those that await your whim.
I beg you spare my life and I shall serve you well.
I have no more taste for death now that my own is threatened.
See that I make myself abased before you
And that I am no more threat to your realm.
Slaughter my armies if you must
And make most humble he that was once king of men
But strike me not to the earth.
My kingdom is yours if you would take it
And the lives of my subjects I give to you willingly
If you would but spare me your mace.
What can I now do to you to harm the meagrest hair
That grows upon your scalp.
I implore you then, my lord, spare me."

Hearing these words of Lamech
UtaNapishtim frowned upon him.
All about fell the army of Lamech,
Cut down as if they were a field of wheat,
Their broken spears falling like the sheared stalks.
Everywhere was there death.
Now UtaNapishtim took his turn to speak,
Looking in scorn upon the subdued Lamech.
With a regal voice he spoke
And in anger he intoned these words:

"Kneel not! Thus is it written upon stone.
Thus is it written upon the tablets of lapis lazuli.
We are men and we do not kneel.
Not for this were the Nephilim conceived.
You dishonour us both with this submission
And I perceive you to be a base creature,
Wholly without honour in deed or word.
Lamech, you are most shameful in my sight.
For your own unworthy life
You would trade the lives of your people
Who stand at least in pride against my spears
Where you, unworthy king, fall down
And beg for clemency whilst these noble men bleed for your cause.
You offer me your kingdom as it is already mine.
You have no understanding of kingship
And barter with that which is not yours.
The lives of your subjects and your kingdom,
These things are not yours to yield to me.
The king is not the master of his realm
But rather he is its servant,
Seeking ever the good of his people and lands
Whereas you would serve yourself and forsake
That to which you duties bind you.
You are guilty of a most great treason
Against the nation that has entrusted you with power.
I have no mercy for you but contempt
For your miserable pleas and bargains.
You have asked me to spare you
And to take as payment the lives of your tribesmen.
I shall spare them and take in payment
The life of yours that, in shame,
Is forfeited by false King Lamech.
This is the penalty of the treachery
That you would wreak to save yourself.
Find then honour in death upon the field of battle.
I shall tell none that you died upon your knees."

Then UtaNapishtim brought down his mace
And struck Lamech upon the head
And thus bereft him of his life.
Thus fell Lamech at the Euphrates.
Now UtaNapishtim, king of the Nephilim,
Instructed his horns and flags signal a retreat
That the thegns of Lamech might sue for peace.
Retiring then to the eastern bank
The unconquered armies of Shurupuk
Left the broken ranks of dead Lamech
To rally from their rout and decide their future course
To drive into the dragon's very jaws
Or else make suit for the mercy of Shurupuk
And thus escape the lands that they had violated.
As the sun descended behind the vanquished
And the moaning of those who returned to me,
Grew faint and yet fainter until all breath
Within their demolished frames was spent,
Three thegns of fallen Lamech came forth
To plead their case and ask mercy of great UtaNapishtim.
As the ravens came they spoke as one
Before the beneficent monarch of famous Shurupuk.

"O potent king, terrible in wrath,"
So spoke the barons, "have mercy.
Lamech is slain by your own rod
And his armies are driven before your charge
Or else are crushed beneath.
What hope is left to the people of Lamech,
Son of Methuselah, but none?
Against your strength none can prevail.
We then submit to your noble will,
Knowing that it is the mark of the greatest man
That he shows mercy where he could destroy.
We have opposed you and are defeated
And thus do we come before you.
We ask that you spare us for you are noble
Though we be base and foolish.
Treat kindly with us and it does become you.
Let us retire from the Kingdom between Two Rivers
And return to our western homes.
Never more shall we come in array for battle
To the lands of Shurupuk.
We submit to the authority of the most potent of kings.
No more are we Lamech's people
But the people of UtaNapishtim."

Upon the repentant thegns of Lamech
Did UtaNapishtim smile in mercy.
Putting down his great mace he spoke
Not thunderously but with magisterial aspect,
Wisest and most noble of all kings was he.
To the knights he addressed these words:

"I know you to be noble men
For you have submitted all to me
And placed yourself within my reach
To spare the people of your army.
Not base and foolish is it to preserve
But it is both wise and honourable.
The warrior is not the taker of life
But he is the one that does defend it.
You are true warriors that surrender
Rather than press the battle that cannot be won.
There is no shame for you in this way
And you have earned the admiration of UtaNapishtim.
As mercy does become the victor
So does discretion so become the defeated side.
Both armies thus benefit from the wisdom
That you show upon this day.
Come! You shall help me bring the wounded to Shurupuk
Where my healers shall tend them
That have won heroic scars in the glorious fray.
Well have you fought in battle against Shurupuk,
Unknowing of her might, and, in defeat
We begrudge you not the help that we can render
To the afflicted that they might return with you
To tend once more the pasture and the tillage.
Thus does UtaNapishtim show himself as noble
As those that petition him on this night.
Noble friends, I salute you."

So did noble UtaNapishtim speak.
Bearing the wounded upon rough litters,
Some third of the army that remained
Of the western barbarians that contended
Against the unconquered armies of UtaNapishtim
Went with the king to Shurupuk.
Those that did not go eastward went to the West,
Bringing the news of the battle and Lamechs's death
Back to their towns and families.
In triumph did UtaNapishtim enter at the gates,
Thrown wide to receive his hosts
And the vanquished also, bearing their comrades
Whose wounds were rudely bound up.
To the palace of UtaNapishtim were brought the men of the West
Where his physics and magicians tended them
And, as the sun went upon the lower passage,
Made whole those made unwhole in battle.
At dawn UtaNapishtim went forth by day,
Leading from his tower the march of victory.
Declaring from the procession's head
That no work was for that joyous day
But celebration of victory and reconcile with the westerners.
Dancers, then, and singers, acrobats and fools,
Went out to delight the cheering throngs
That resounded loud their general's name
That had brought glory again to Shurupuk's high walls;
"UtaNapishtim! UtaNapishtim!" was the cry
And as he went about the streets upon his steed,
Leading in his train the armies of bright Shurupuk
The happy people of the city cast flowers upon him,
Blooms of many colours and fragrances,
And brought forth wine and meat to him
That he might feast and toast the city.
With games was that day of joy celebrated,
With wrestling and casting of stone and spear,
With race on foot, on horse, or in gay pennoned chariots
Each drawn by four stamping horses abreast
Made swift by the snapping of the whip
As the multitudes exhorted those that won their favour
With some display or brave flourish.
As the sun set upon the city
UtaNapishtim went once more to the height of the ziggurat
And there poured out new libations
To thank the Shedim for their favour
And share with them the people's joy.
Raising his voice in the dome of the temple,
Standing at the wetted altar,
UtaNapishtim and his priests from all sides
Hymned their joy and thanks
Though they kneeled not in supplication.
No king am I over men
But in battle I fight at the right hand of the worthy man.
Where there is need and worth I have helped my children
Not in the way that Adonai Yahweh has claimed,
Not condescending from some high place
To bestow whimsical mercies upon the Nephilim,
But I have guided and protected as is the parent's duty
And thus have earned of men the respect due to parents
Who so fulfil what is asked of them
Though, led astray by Heaven's lies, I have been reviled.
In such a spirit are the libations poured out.
So did UtaNapishtim honour the Shedim
And the ancient shades of his great ancestors.
From a bowl of gold was the wine poured out
Upon a great table of marble,
Carved from the stone of mountains,
Set with grooves to drain what was offered
Down into the Earth and to Chadel.
As the night grew dark after day
The streets were lit with great braziers of steel,
Filled with charcoal and incense
And even to the rising of the sun
Shurupuk was full of merriment
And the people of Shurupuk were full of wine and mead.
At this time the army of Lamech returned to the gate
Whence they had first set forth to conquer,
Coming back in defeat and ignominy
Though indeed they had fought most bravely.
Thus was the body of Lamech borne to his city.
Upon a bier of cedar, adorned with beaten gold,
Dragged on by the bulls of his chariot,
The king was carried to the city's heart
And the throng of his people walked behind the pall,
Weeping and beating cow-skinned drums.
To each side of the pall went his knights,
Lances raised in high salute to the fallen king.
Through the city's streets was Lamech taken
To the catacombs of his line
Where lay the kings that had sired him,
All, save his father, Methuselah,
Who Lamech himself had given to the crows
To appease the wrath of Abaddon
And win once more to his left hand
The terrible angel and the bleeding blade.
Now Lamech himself lay dead
And all his people bewailed his fate
As he passed them upon the streets,
Laid out in splendid garb, robes of gold,
With ash-staved spear and shield painted with his crest,
And helmet of bronze hiding from the sight of men
The ruinous fissure in his skull,
Broken by the fall of that fatal mace.
Ten thousand voices acclaimed the king
As the hero of his race
For they knew not of his perfidy upon the field
And indeed much that his hand wrought was good
And, in life, his the greater part of his action
Had been noble in intent and conclusion.
Gladly did I recall his spirit to me.
As the people mourned the fallen king
His body was brought into the tomb
And laid out in a rich sarcophagus,
Carved of red quartz and made bright
By twenty rubies of most worthy size
And a thousand studs of amber
In which the eye descried others entombed
As now Lamech was entombed within the Earth,
Ancient beastlings of ancient days
Caught within the glassy sepulchre.
When the body had been anointed with precious oils
To preserve the noble flesh from death's corruption
And rightful libations had been poured out
To honour the spirit of the monarch
Then the tomb was sealed once more
And drum-beating wizards chased demons from the door.
Thus was the manner of Lamech's homecoming.
Now caravans were sent forth from the city's gates
To bear to far Shurupuk a wealth of riches
By which to by the favour of the new king
And thus honour the mercy he had shown
To the armies that he had vanquished.
A hundred mules bearing on their backs
Grain and wine, gold and silver
And the hides of beasts.
Thus was the kindness of UtaNapishtim so repaid.
From the tower of the barbican
That guarded the gates of the city,
The son of Lamech watched the tribute-bringers go
Far from the city walls with the riches of his treasury
To bestow upon a foreign land
That which his father's spear had one.
For this wept Noah, son of Lamech
And spoke thus, looking back into the city
And upon the barrow-gate, now sealed
By the hands of his father's knights
Where Lamech's bones now joined
Those of Noah's noble ancestors:

"So to this is my kingdom come.
How great is this shame and ignominy
That my once noble line is brought low
By the thousand enemies that surround my walls.
Once was the line of Methuselah feared by men
Now, hearing of those names, they jeer and jest
For all honour is stolen from me,
Taken as the spoils upon the field of defeat.
Such injustice is brought upon my shoulders
That I must bear such humiliations.
So do my enemies gather like hyenas
To laugh and wait for my arm too to fail
That they might pick the bones of my kingdom clean.
O accursed is the line of Methuselah!
And accursed shall be those that brought it low.
Ever was my grandfather faithful in libation
To warlike Abaddon the Destroyer,
Pouring out bottomless libations to that angel
Whose shadow falls like smoke upon the battle's field.
Ever did he consecrate his thousand glories to Abaddon
That he won by his spear's point in battle
Upon the open field or in escalade
Against the walls of some city that would defy our noble line.
How I mourn these lost days?
Not grateful for Methuselah's devotion was Abaddon
And not with favour did he repay the king's homage.
Rather he came as a lion upon his servant
And even before such a terror,
Was Methuselah ever defiant and strong,
Demonstrating those very qualities that the Shedim
Would themselves boast and advance.
Thus Abaddon struck down Methuselah
And showed the mettle of the Shedim's vows.
Now UtaNapishtim has struck down my father,
He that is the favourite of Chadel,
High Shurupuk's king, and thus do they again betray
The ancestors of Noah, those dwellers in darkness,
And deliver my kingdom to the thrall
Of those they would love above me.
Mightiest in battle was great Lamech.
How then could those soft people of Shurupuk
Have slain him in the fray
When his spear is sharp and his arm is strong.
Again do I perceive the art of Satan
And it does work against me.
The Shedim blunted the barb of my father's spear
And made weak his arm with enchantments.
Thus do the people of Chadel conspire with men
To accomplish the ruin of Noah.
For these thousand perfidies against me
I do revile the inconstant Shedim
And, without their aid, shall Noah find prosperity
For they have availed me not.
Hear me then in deep Chadel, Satan,
Noah does stand as your adversary
And I shall oppose you and those you love
With all the strength that I have
And undo all your deeds on Earth.
Hear thus the will of Noah."

So was Noah seduced by hatred
For all that he had lost that he would hold
And did curse me for his troubles
Though I caused them not.
As the caravan was lost to Noah's sight
A voice behind him rang out,
Beautiful and bright, like the trumpet
Yet endowed with most august majesty.
Turning he perceived, arrayed in robes of white,
Resplendent in a crown of gold
Chief of all the Elohim, Michael.
Thus did the prince of Heaven achieve by fortune
That which was won not by device.
Thus spoke perfidious Michael, once my brother:

"O Noah, son of Lamech,
Do you think that the children of Heaven
Are deaf to the cries of the wronged?
Does it seem to you that Adonai Yahweh
Cares not for the race of men on Earth?
Surely He is most merciful to those
That would but accept His kingship
And it is a most rightful claim.
Yet mankind have been beguiled by Satan's lies
And acknowledge not the kingship of my Lord.
Thus does wickedness prosper on the Earth
And Satan is pleased with his evil
For all purity and righteousness fade
And the world is devoured by his darkness.
By his tongue are men turned to corruption
And heed not the laws that Adonai Yahweh has laid down
As a guide to the men made by His hand
From a sod of clay.
Instead they are stirred to rebellion
Against the noble King of Heaven.
Thus are the people of Adonai Yahweh
Stolen from the rightful Lord over them.
All that is good does Satan hate,
Seeking only to make vile what was once bright
And so spoil the Creation of God.
Thus does he go upon the Earth
And opposes Him that was once his Lord.
What he cannot win to his villainy he destroys.
In your heart, son of Lamech, is much light
That shines out, banishing all evil.
Not all the deceptions of the Shedim can assail your soul
But your virtue burns like a torch
And itself reaches out in piety
To assail the walls of Chadel.
No Shedim device may conquer one so pure as you
So that which they may not win
They reach out to destroy and ruin,
Breaking with despair and ten thousand woes
Saintly Noah, enemy of their evil.
For this do the Shedim conspire against you,
Strengthening your foes' arms and stealing
The strength of your own forces.
By their malice does the might of Babylon,
Den of all sin, wax great against you
And thus are you cast into the power
Of those villains that Satan favours.
Because of the wickedness that is sustained
Upon the Earth, Adonai Yahweh cannot intervene
Upon the side of His favoured Noah
And grant you victory in your long struggle.
Yet if you would but kneel to God
And pledge your soul to his service
Then surely would His intervention come
For so long as one good man lives upon the Earth
Then Adonai Yahweh shall be powerful over Satan.
Kneel then before Adonai Yahweh, Lord,
And become His instrument upon the Earth.
You shall become a scourge against the wicked
And your arm shall be strengthened against the transgressors.
By you shall Adonai Yahweh purge Creation
Of all that is most villainous and base
And thus shall the world be restored
To the grace before the coming of Satan."

Hearing these words of Michael
The bitter heart of Noah was won.
How ready men are to believe false witness
Against those that they already malign.
Once again did Michael turn hearts against me
With his liar's tongue and voice.
Before the angel Michael Noah went upon his knees
And touched upon the floor his forehead,
Abasing himself before worthless God.
Now seeing that his work was done
Michael smiled and rose once more
Towards Heaven upon bright wings,
Speaking to Noah this final instruction as he departed:

"Await me, Noah, for I shall return
With instruction from your new king.
In the perfect law of God you shall be schooled
And, obeying those laws that I shall teach you,
You shall grow bright in the eyes of God
Who is most kind to those that would please him,
Bestowing upon them a thousand gifts
And soothing ten thousand sufferings.
Through you shall God oppose the transgressors
And bring upon them a terrible castigation.
Thus shall the evil that oppresses you,
Faithful Noah, be forever vanquished
And all the Earth shall be the kingdom of the righteous.
Await then the return of Michael,
Faithfully, without doubt in your soul.
Return I shall with the word of God."

Thus went Michael upon his return to Heaven,
Upon beating wings of blazing gold,
His fading light becoming as a star in the sky
Then first fading and then blinking away.
All this did Noah watch in silence
Then, yet unspeaking, returned to the city.
Going to his house, appointed to befit a prince,
Its cedar gate the height of two men.
Passing then into that palace that for him
His great father had ordered built
And into the central hall, draped with coloured cloth
And painted with a myriad of rainbow hues.
The household servants bowed low before the lord
And bade him welcome to his house.
Yet when before such attentions had been pleasing to him
Now he perceived, distracted as he was,
Only mockery in their reverence
And with scornful words banished them from his presence.
Now he went to his sons and consorts
Where they revelled in a courtyard
Set around a silver pool with darting fish,
Drinking wine and feasting on many meats,
Dancing to the music played by lutesmen,
Hidden from sight by crimson veils,
Conjuring phantom music that serenaded the heart
With distant beauty, like a dream.
Now was Noah seized up by a rage
And he went amongst his family, casting
Wine and meats into the water, to the fishes
Who dined well upon that night.
Screaming in his wrath, Noah reprimanded
Those who caroused in that courtyard
As was the custom of their family.
Noah now seized up a rod to his right hand
And, tearing away the drapes,
Beat from his home those who played sweet music.
Now again he spoke to his sons and consorts
In a voice trembling with anger,
Overcome by grief and bitterness
At his kingdom and his father's fall:

"O my sons, my wives, what infamy is this?
Having just returned from the gates,
Where I have seen my kingdom taken from me,
Borne upon the backs of mules the treasures
That once filled the chests of Lamech,
I come to perceive this in my own house.
My family sunk in such debauchery as this.
Let me tell you what transpired at the gate.
As I watched in sorrow and despair
The tribute that we sent to distant Shurupuk
Carried from me in a caravan, bedecked in purple,
The Elohim Michael came to me there
And told me well the truth of things
Where before was I blinded by wickedness.
Let me tell you what was taught to me.
The Earth is full of wicked men,
Beguiled by the words of villainous Satan.
Their evil deeds make tainted more and more
The original perfect Creation of God.
Yet because of the wickedness of men
And their love for the apostate Satan
The merciful power of God wanes upon the Earth
And depravity prospers uncastigated.
Thus is the entire human race soiled by sin
And their wickedness waxes ever greater
To eclipse all that is good upon Earth.
Yet God in high Heaven would strike against such wickedness
If He but possessed the means.
But Satan is no monarch of the Earth
And, hitherto, God had no instrument of His will.
Satan hates all that is noble and pure
In the Creation of God and would destroy it,
Seducing all to his own baseness.
Because my own life has been pure and upright
Satan now seeks my ruin, fearing me
And reviling my more virtuous nature.
For this reason is calamity upon calamity heaped on
And my back bent over with my burdens.
Yet perceiving from His throne in Heaven,
The nobility of my soul, God has sent His messenger,
Michael, to bring me tidings of the good news.
As the noblest of the men on Earth
I have been chosen as God's agent here
To work His will against the transgressors
And bring a terrible judgement upon them.
For this reason has Satan sought my ruin.
Now, anointed for this great task,
I return to the household that is my own
To discover those very crimes that I am used against.
What disgrace is wrought upon me
That my own family is guilty of that which God despises!
There shall be no more of such sin
In the house of Noah, man of Adonai Yahweh.
Now you must all make yourselves humble before God.
Kneel and he shall forgive you all
Despite your thousand faults and flaws.
God is most merciful, oft-forgiving,
And his chastisement to terrible to those that trangress."

Hearing the words of Noah
The concubines and sons of the prince
Were dismayed at what he said
But the foolish prince had chosen for himself
Consorts of weak-will, easily dominated
By his own jealous authority
And had raised those children of his
To regard well what he desired.
Thus did he build false strength for himself
And succour well his pride.
Not as noble as his father was Noah.
So was his family swayed by his wrath
And acceded to that which he desired.
As the sun rose above the hills in the East,
Cupric Venus going before, burning brighter than Sirius,
As the night passed away as the new day
Was inaugurated in the red dawn-light,
Noah went with his wives and sons
Into the desert beyond the city-walls
And there prayed to lofty Heaven
And knelt in abasement more worthy of beasts
To the throne of Adonai Yahweh.
Thus did he await the Elohim, Michael,
With his family, giving them over to Heaven
As beasts at the market-place.
All day did they wait and pray
For some vision of the prince of Heaven
Who had vowed to meet with Noah
And instruct him in the law of God,
That mankind might be bound also
To the will of him eluded by the Shedim.
Nephilim and Shedim shall kneel no more
But go as proud gods upon the Earth.
As all this had passed upon the Earth
So had the happenings in Heaven been consequential.
Flying swift from the Earth to Heaven
And passing there straight to the heart,
Going on swift wings to the Eternal Tower
And the sundered throne of God,
Awaiting not the herald's call
But going direct into the presence of God
And then, making himself low,
In supplication that had long ago become a deed
Without soul or meaning to the Elohim.
None feared now the strength of Adonai Yahweh
But rather sought to buy with false respect
The favour of their father that they might,
With some arbitrary right, command
The actions of their brothers
And not be commanded by them
That played the intrigues of Heaven.
Already was the high kingdom's star
Far upon the path from the zenith of its orbit
And descended ever further to the West.
Thus falling before the king of the Elohim,
Michael so addressed his ancient father
With these words of his lips,
Making due obeisance to the Archon:

"Almighty and Eternal,
Lord of Infinitude, 
Tyrant of Existence,
All-illumining Light,
King of Heaven,
Conqueror of Earth,
Father of the Elohim,
Architect of Creation,
Master of the Planets,
Orchestrater of the Stars,
Proclaimer of Destiny,
Keeper of Wisdom,
Judge of the World,
Castigator of Sin,
Scourge of Evil,
Most High, Most Merciful,
Most Just, Most Sagacious,
Most Perfect, Most Mighty,
Most Noble, Most Majestic,
My God, My Lord, My Father,
Weary are my wings from swift flight,
For I have come like a comet from the Earth
With words that I rejoice to speak
And tell to the King of Heaven
Such good things do they tell of.
It is of Noah, son of Lamech,
Of whom the words of Michael tell
Who, with his own voice, cursed the accursed one
And reviled the deeds of Shedim.
His kingdom having been conquered by Shurupuk,
Favoured of Satan of all the tribes of men
For high honour and brave endeavour,
And by the hand of UtaNapishtim
His father being slain, he reviles
The Shedim, believing in his sorrow
That they do contend against him.
His grandsire's fall at the Destroyer's sword,
Havoc the Ruiner that bleeds the blood of knights,
But makes double strong his conviction.
In truth, wretched Noah has lost all
Due to his father's own rash contention
And the cowardice of Lamech upon the field.
Yet for these things he cannot blame his own blood
But must rather seek another to bear that burden.
Thus he his easily won to our cause.
Hearing then his prosecution
Against the dwellers in Chadel
As I kept my own vigil o'er the Earth
I hastened to him to thus inform
Him of an alliance between himself and Heaven,
Telling him that he was right indeed
To make such allegation against Satan.
Explained to him did I
That the root of all sorrow
Heaped upon his low-bent back
Was the wickedness of the Nephilim,
Following the strictures of our foe.
Yet, I taught him so,
That if Adonai Yahweh might win a tool,
One good man, upon the Earth
Then all evil might be conquered
And the thousand imagined crimes against Noah
Would know seven-fold vengeance.
Heeding my teachings gladly did he submit
To the will of high Heaven
And willingly became the agent 
Of the potent wrath of Heaven.
Thus my Father I offer to You
This mortal son of Satan as a gift,
Won by my own ingenuity.
How then must Noah be used,
Now that he is in our power?
Surely such a boon must not be squandered.
Speak Lord that Michael might enact
That which Your will commands."

Having spoken these words to God
Michael once more kneeled before his king
And, with the victor's eyes, even in supplication
Gazed to the agent of his brother, Gabriel,
Who even now, in great vexation,
Made haste to report to his master
The undoing of his traitor's plans.
Then he rose once more and adverted
His eyes once more to the throne of God.
Now, upon the ancient Archon's face,
Was writ a smile where all had been woe.
For in this gift of fortune he perceived a way
By which he might yet prevail
And thwart my plans and fate,
Yet preserving his dominion over all
Though little did he deserve such an end.
O forever curse the name of Noah
Who made open such a path to Heaven
That such butchery might be done.
Now spoke Adonai Yahweh to his son,
Voicing with new strength his words
And with new hope within his shrivelled soul:

"Michael, dearest of my sons,
Well indeed have you served me in this thing
And you have earned new favour.
Well is it indeed that I have a son
Such as you in these times
That can produce from the darkness
The burning flame of hope.
Let your own judgement in this matter serve
Until Noah and his family are most securely ours.
Prescribe to him those laws that shall demonstrate
His true obeisance to Heaven's sceptre
And avenge those humiliations suffered
At the hands of your fallen brother.
Whatever arbitration your whimsy does devise
I shall not gainsay, knowing you to be true
And a most faithful knight of mine.
Thus amuse your own caprice at first
But when you have accomplished Noah's submission
And entirely cowed him and his line,
Making them but instruments of my will,
Then you shall teach to them
That charm that I shall teach you now.
This spell is no more mine to command
Ever since that ruinous injury wrought on me
By the son that I so cherished,
Repaying with spite such love,
Before the gates of heaven in battle.
Now that the creative principle is lost to me
It does but reside in the Nephilim.
Thus the Nephilim alone might speak the spell
And employ its power upon the Earth.
This spell shall open the cataracts of the sky
And release the deep waters from their reservoirs,
Throwing open the hundred gates
That the torrents might be loosed upon the Earth,
Sweeping all like dread, thunderous worms.
All the Earth shall be thus drowned
And all that lives upon the Earth
Shall be so slain by this Cataclysm.
You shall therefore instruct Noah to build a boat
That shall be in length three hundred cubits
That shall be in breadth fifty cubits
That shall be in height thirty cubits.
Into this great vessel he shall install
All his family that they might escape the waters
And two of each kind of beast that goes on Earth
That the produce of my creation be not lost.
In all this shall you instruct Noah.
Thus shall the Nephilim be destroyed
By the hand of Nephilim
Save those loyal to our cause.
Thus shall we raise our own retinue
Against the Shedim hosts
And thus shall we overthrow
Those that sought to overthrow the Elohim.
Go then Michael to the Earth
And bring my decree to Noah
That we might accomplish a great victory
And conquer forever the people
That dwell within the abysmal depths.
Go then Michael and enact the will of God.
Descend to Earth. Descend!"

Thus spoke Adonai Yahweh
Thus did Michael, his son.
Once more upon blazing wings,
Bright with a solar light,
Did the arch-angel go down from Heaven,
Seeking out the Nephilim-prince
That most fully embraced the enemy
Of that race that I created
And did for them their awful deeds.
Even in that time that Michael used
Going from Earth to Heaven
And returning therefrom to Earth once more
The sun did set and rise upon Noah's prayers.
As the red light of dawn awakened
Noah and his people from their sleep,
Hunger ravened at their bellies
For they had not consumed meat
Since they had first gone from the city.
Yet but within their midst
Sat the angel, first appearing to Noah,
Michael, with an antelope upon the fire.
The famished men and women gathered to him then
And he cut for each some part of meat
And nourished once more their frames
Made weak by their fasting.
Once Michael had been made certain
That his vassals were newly strengthened
He went with Noah from the greater party
And sat with him within some cave,
Hidden upon the mountainside
Near to the desert where his sons remained
To school him in the law devised
By the whimsy of cruel Michael.
Thus did he wreak his will on man.
Speaking thus, Michael taught to Noah
Who listened with much eagerness
Most desirous of any means
By which those wrongs that he alone perceived
Might be fined over and over
And his humiliation might be expunged
By greater shames than man had known before.

"O Noah, son of Lamech,
Swift have I flown to Heaven
To speak with Almighty God
Of your desire to serve Him
Whom it is most worthy that you serve.
Well pleased is He with your supplications
And most willing to take you as His own.
Swift then have I returned to you
That I might tell of these joyous tidings
And more fully initiate you in the service
Of God Most High that you grow close
To the most beneficent Lord that you would serve
And most rightly so indeed
For Noah is not beguiled by wickedness
As are the other men of the world.
Great may Noah be in the service of God
And sinless be he that his service may be greater.
God has decreed that all males that would serve Him
Must bear a mark of that service
That all may know them as the servants
Of He that it is well to serve.
From every male child of eight days
Shall you cut the foreskin and thus consecrate
The life of that child to God's service.
Such circumcision is the mark of God's favour
And it is most right that it should be done.
This is the decree of God.
Thus shall I enact upon you
That you might go from this place
And so do unto your own sons
That God may know them for his own.
Return hence to this place that I might teach
To you what other things are decreed by God."

Having so heard these words of Michael
Noah did take up his robes
That Michael might perform the operation
Thus dedicate to God the body of Noah.
Taking up his knife Michael did cut from Noah
That part of flesh which he was so contracted to.
Said Michael, as he so mutilated the flesh
Of Noah, whispering without breath
That none would hear those words he spoke,
These words that carried to God's throne
Who watched all that passed from Heaven:

"So has the faithless son wrought upon the Father
Such a wound in battle.
So shall the faithful father wreak
Upon his son in beguiled love.
This Noah, though you do not know it,
Remakes in the image of God
And is just vengeance for that deed
That Satan's hand has enacted.
Thus have the Nephilim been made in Satan's image
So shall they be remade in the image of God.
It is truly just, an irony
To delight every Elohim soul."

So was Noah used by Michael.
Went Noah from the mountain 
Unto the desert where his people waited
In due expectation of the father,
Bleeding yet from the wound inflicted
By the knife, by the deceit of Michael.
Thus going to his family with a knife
He wrought upon his sons
That which Michael had wrought on him
And thus marked them for God.
Having so enacted the law given unto him,
He returned to the high mountain cave
To hear once more the law of God,
Given to him by Michael's poisoned lips.
Thus as night came once more upon the Earth
Noah ascended the rocky hill,
Seeking out with hand and foot
Some purchase by which to gain the cave
And return once more to Michael's presence.
This eager was he to loose his spite
And inflict on those foes that he perceived
Those torments that he perceived
Inflicted on his own person.
In the evening's twilight he reached the cave
And came once more to Michael
Who sat within that grotto, awaiting
The prince's returning that he might work greater wrong
Upon the race of Nephilim.
So once more, within night's blackness,
Shadows cast awry by a flickering flame
That both warmed and lit that hermitage,
Michael and Noah sat within the cave
And Noah learnt more of the will of God,
Though in truth the words were Michael's
And came from none above Michael
If truly there were now any above him.
Now spoke Michael, telling of new laws
That were given by God to guide
Noah and his kin from wickedness,
That the beguiled fool might be yet bound
By firmer chains to the will of Heaven.
So spoke Michael, the deceiver:

"O Noah, son of Lamech,
Well indeed has your arm enacted
That deed which God has decreed
Is most just in its doing.
Well pleased is God with your service
And now fully initiated is Noah
To the service of Adonai Yahweh.
You are now a true servant of God.
Yet what is it to be a servant
If you would not heed the master's command
And show respect to He that rules you.
Hear then what Michael tells of
That you may do that which is required
And be truly faithful to God,
Obeying the laws that He has set down.
Of all gods Adonai Yahweh alone is God
So when in supplication kneel to Him
And no others than the one true God.
Five times in each day shall you bow down
In prayer to Adonai Yahweh,
Touching even your forehead to the floor.
No less in homage does your King demand.
Yet even before this much is wrought
You must cleanse thoroughly the body that kneels
By washing each part in turn with water.
The race of man is an unclean race,
Tainted by their great sin.
Each arm to the elbow,
Each leg unto the knee
Shall be cleansed by the purifying spring.
Upon the face each ear and nostril
Must be rendered clean
And the mouth and neck.
Make sure each time before prayer
You are washed most rigorously
Before you would enter into the sight of God
And entreat Him with your pleas.
This am I commanded to tell you
This have I done.
Other laws are there yet for you Noah
And you must commit each to your heart.
To you are many things forbidden.
Each beast that you would eat of
Must be slain with apt tradition
Lest its flesh render you impure
And certain sexual relations
Are proscribed also to your tribe.
Hear then the instruction of Michael.
Linger hear and learn the laws of God."

Speaking this, Michael spoke more,
Telling of a thousand laws set down
That Noah might become yet more
The instrument of Heaven
And a tool against me and the Shedim.
A thousand laws were spoken
Each binding with strange taboos
That had no reason
Save that whim of Michael
That did guide their purpose.
Thus did Noah learn all the night
The laws of Michael and of Heaven
And as the sun rose in the East
Went forth from the cave with his laws
To teach them to his family
And thence to Lamech's city
As Heaven's emissary upon the Earth.
Gladly did his witless family accept these laws,
Unreasoned though they were indeed,
And went with him to the city.
Entering at the gates went Noah
From which caravans were sent out
To distant Shurupuk with treasures
By which to please the noble suzerain
For UtaNapishtim had spared their children.
Arrayed in rough robes of white
To mark him out as God's ambassador,
Went the prince deceived unto the marketplace
To stand upon some high place
And thence addressed the throng,
Listening in bewilderment to that madness
That his lips gave forth,
Like the chatter of locusts or their hum,
So much sense was there to his deluded words.
To his people spoke the prince,
Telling of all that had passed
That he might win them to his cause:

"Praise be to Adonai Yahweh,
Lord of what has been created,
The Benevolent,
The Merciful,
The Judge of the Sins of Men.
You alone do I worship,
Your help alone do I seek.
Guide me then upon the true road,
That path You have decreed for the faithful
Rather than those that do offend You
And those that have wandered far.
Does it seem strange to you, my people,
That I should call out so?
Would that you knew that which I knew
And had seen the witness of my own eyes.
Yet you lack the faith
By which the path laid down would be apparent
And by which you could walk to heaven.
Misguided are the slaves of Babylon
And their eyes are blinded by wickedness.
My people, hear these words that I speak
And learn of what has come to pass.
I, Noah, have, with my own eyes,
Seen Michael of the Elohim
And with these ears of mine
Heard that which he has spoken.
I have learnt what is true
And purged from my soul the false
Which yet binds you with its shackles.
So has Michael taught to Noah
And employed upon this task:
To give warning to his people
Before they are destroyed by a terrible wrath
For their grave transgressions.
Adonai Yahweh has made man,
Moulding him from a sod of clay,
And with disobedience is He paid back.
He has made both Heaven and Earth,
Setting seven spheres about the weighty orb.
Yet the Earth is made unclean by sin.
Surely Adonai Yahweh shall wash it away
With the blood of those who would transgress.
Be not amongst those that err
But be with me amongst the righteous.
Those that would kneel to God,
Obeying that which He has decreed,
They shall be forgiven
And spared a dreadful scourge.
Heed then the laws that have been told to me
That you shall not be destroyed 
But shall share in the rewards
That God has promised to the faithful.
Will you then make yourself humble,
Kneeling in prostration before the Lord
Who is most terrible in ire
And most generous in His favours.
Spurn not the words of Noah,
They are as a plain warning to you
And you shall not be warned again."

Thus were the people of Lamech
Moved to great laughter by Noah's words,
Deriding the speech of an idiot
Who had been most sorely led from truth
To speak such words of madness.
Mocking and jeering, they addressed the prince,
With these words of scorn:

"Maddened by grief is Noah
At his father's death and his kingdom's loss
At the defeat by Shurupuk
And the more worthy monarch,
UtaNapishtim, a god amongst men,
That he should seek to kneel
Before this invisible king of his.
Must he invent a lord for UtaNapishtim
To restore once an equilibrium
That only one as weak as Noah would desire.
What madness has come upon him
That he should kneel to Heaven
For man kneels to none and not the Elohim
For we are greater than that ruined domain
And are destined to conquer the sons of God.
Is it the way of the victor
To go down before the vanquished?
How deluded by deceit is Noah
That he should consider such a thing.
O doubly mourned is Lamech
That his son is so weak
That he is prostrate before Heaven!
Noah, go from this city then
Back to the wilderness where you found your God
But he shall not be within the walls.
Not fit to rule is the slave.
Go then and serve your king elsewhere.
We shall never serve you
Or Heaven that you serve.
We are of the Nephilim,
The proud sons of Satan,
And shall but serve destiny."

Thus was Noah driven from the city
Like the young hart that does contest
With the stag, great and old,
And is driven once more into exile
For his temerity in so rash a venture.
Noah and his family thus
Were exiled to the desert
Of the blowing sands and burning sun.
Scorpions and jackals served
Were they had once servants and acrobats.
Such ordeal though but tempered
The madness in Noah's mind
And he raged again and again
Against those that had so ruined him
Though in truth but one had ruined him
And the name of him was Noah.
Falling down upon his knees
Upon the desert's sands, Noah prayed:

"Praise be to Adonai Yahweh,
Lord of what has been created,
The Benevolent,
The Merciful,
The Judge of the Sins of Men.
You alone do I worship,
Your help alone do I seek.
Guide me then upon the true road,
That path You have decreed for the faithful
Rather than those that do offend You
And those that have wandered far.
Hear me now when I am most needy
Your faithful servant, Noah.
What am I to do upon this road?
It is a road for the beasts of the desert
And not for men and angels.
I am cast into exile
For speaking against that which should itself
Be banished from the nations of men.
Ever have I served Your instruction
Warning those that have transgressed
Against those laws that You have set down.
Yet with this terrible recompense am I served.
O most wicked are the men of the Earth
And richly do they deserve Your wrath.
O Lord, King of Heaven and Earth,
I do beg You to visit upon them
That have so accomplished my ruin
A most awful vengeance.
They that do so treat the ambassador
Must surely invite the wrath of the King
And I have been but an ambassador,
Conveying to them Your will.
Once more do I implore You
Avenge Your servant."

As he lay prostrate upon the sands
Noah wept and raged
And so called out to Heaven.
Then appearing, as if resolved from the wind,
His dark shadow falling over Noah,
Blasted by the fire of the sun,
Michael came to his instrument
To succour him with gentle words
And yet nurture those desires in him
That were expedient to Heaven's cause.
Arrayed in robes of white was he,
Michael, prince of the Elohim,
And bound into braids with gold
Was his silvered beard and hair.
Arrayed like a king was Michael
And with a tyrant's voice he spoke,
Tutoring the fallen one in what must be done
To fulfil that plan that Heaven had
For Noah and his family in their long war,
Hopeless, against Chadel and the children,
Against the tribe of kings foretold,
Against the Nephilim who would one day rule
That which would be lost to Heaven.
Thus spoke Michael to Noah:

"O Noah, son of Lamech,
Do you think that the children of Heaven
Are deaf to the cries of the wronged?
Does it seem to you that Adonai Yahweh
Cares not for the race of men on Earth?
Surely He is most merciful to those
That would but accept His kingship
And it is a most rightful claim.
Yet mankind have been beguiled by Satan's lies
And acknowledge not the kingship of my Lord.
Thus does wickedness prosper on the Earth
And Satan is pleased with his evil
For all purity and righteousness fade
And the world is devoured by his darkness.
By his tongue are men turned to corruption
And heed not the laws that Adonai Yahweh has laid down
As a guide to the men made by His hand
From a sod of clay.
And what is wrought by His hand
May yet be undone if you would hear.
Noah, you shall be avenged
And now pay heed how it shall be.
Adonai Yahweh has resolved to destroy
All things that live upon the Earth
That do take breath from the wind
Save those that He does choose to spare.
Lo! The Lord of Hosts shall throw open
The cataracts and release upon the Earth
A great Deluge, drowning all the land
Beneath the swollen seas.
In this you, Noah, prophet of God,
Must aid us, the Elohim hosts,
For our power alone cannot pierce
To the Earth beneath Heaven
To release the gates beneath the seas
So that the mountains' peaks
Might be submersed beneath the waves.
To you shall I teach the invocation
By which this end might be wrought.
Before this is done, Noah,
That you and your family might endure
And repeople the Earth with a more noble race
You must build for yourself a ship
That shall be in length three hundred cubits
That shall be in breadth fifty cubits
That shall be in height thirty cubits.
Into this great vessel you shall install
All your family that they might escape the waters
And two of each kind of beast that goes on Earth
That the produce of God's creation be not lost.
When such a ship is built and stocked
Then shall we recite the incantation
By which the waters be convoked.
Thus Noah are you avenged.
Thus is the dictate of your King
And not with ease does He suffer your shame
But does reach out in wrath
And destroy those that would sin against Him.
Make your prostrations doubly then
Lest you invite the ire of God
And with triple swiftness
Make firm that which He wills of you."

So did Noah hear the word of Michael,
Spoken in the secret places of the desert,
And set to work his household
To build a ship of those dimensions
That the Elohim prince had specified to him.
Yet not Noah alone heard Michael's words
For upon a spire of rock close to that place
Where Michael had disclosed the plan,
Determined by his inclement lord,
Watched the silver crane, Ashmedai,
Who had followed Noah since his banishment
From the city where he had revealed
His new allegiance and been mocked
By the more knowing people of his father.
Hearing all, Ashmedai, with keen ears,
Came to know of the Elohim's design
And the fate they had in mind
For the Nephilim that I sired.
Thus had they sought to win
That which had been lost to them.
Now the Shedim herald hastened
Swift to most deep Chadel
Of the fount of flame
To relay to his brethren the witness
Of Heaven's intent towards the Earth.
Flying like a falling star
That goes like a bolt of fire
With a tail of light across the sky,
Went Ashmedai amongst the numberless columns
Of stone that held aloft the soaring vaults
Carved into the living stone of Earth.
As precipitous as an arrow let fly
From the singing bow-string,
Went Ashmedai amongst the passages,
Torn out by the talons of dragons.
So came Ashmedai to Chadel.
To receive the Shedim thegn
The gates, bound with iron, were set open
And he passed inwards.
With no less haste he made
A path to the Spire of Opal and Ruby
And came before me in great distraction,
Panting with ardour of his flight.
In this way I learnt of what was planned
By Heaven for the race of man.
Upon a seat of cedar I sat,
Draped with silks of purple and cinnabar,
And sipped from jewel-starred cup
A rich nectar brewed from grapes
Grown upon the shadowed vines of the underworld,
Potent with prophecy and sleep.
The doors of the chamber now
Were cast open and inwards
Flew Ashmedai of the Shedim
And stood before me as I stood
To greet my faithful friend
Who had come to stand beside me
At that first rebellion.
Both bowed to greet the other,
Making plain the mutual admiration
That each for the other held.
Seeing that he was yet weary,
Unrestored after that headlong mission
That had brought him to me
I offered him a share of that wine I drank,
Pouring out for him a goblet
Of the sweet and perfumed liquor
That flowed like the very sap of rubies.

"Drink, my friend," I counselled,
"For you seem exhausted by some travail.
Dear Ashmedai, drink of this fine dew
And you shall find it most regenerative.
Myself, I am now quite overcome
By its more exotic properties,
Finding it some degrees more potent
Than other wines that have met my lips.
It does set strange fancies to dance
Before my eyes though they be not there
And makes each colour that I gaze upon
A thousand times more distinct
Than it seemed to me before.
Drink and restore yourself
And then tell me what it is
That has to such haste spurred you.
I had thought that you were upon the Earth,
Keeping watch upon Lamech's foolish son
Who, it would seem, has gone quite mad
And raved himself from his home and city.
What is it that Noah has done
That has so excited you?
What is there to report of his deeds
That is of such urgent consequence
That you have sought me out with such alacrity?
Some moments before I was quite at ease,
Made drowsy by this narcotic wine,
But now my heart grows uncertain
And my mind becomes agitated
By the dark shadow that is cast
By your abnormal entrance.
What has come to pass?
What calamity is threatened upon the Earth?
How do the stars align against us?
Drink Ashmedai and recover
That you might make report
And make known what dire intelligence
Has roused to such alarm
The dauntless Shedim champion, Ashmedai.
What have your eyes perceived
To so dim them and, at once,
Set them aflame with a nervous spark."

Ashmedai with a flattened palm
Pushed away the proffered chalice
And instead regarded me
With impatient and excited eyes,
Dancing this way and that.
Now he spoke, each word
Jumping over the prior,
Spilling from his tongue like a cascade
That babbled on a rapid flow
In his haste to convey what had passed.
So reported Ashmedai:

"Lord Satan, Commander of Our Hearts,
Most dire news have I flown with
From the surface Earth
Where I had watched beguiled Noah,
Bearing witness to what he wrought
Lest Heaven use him for some plan against us
Which I now perceive they do.
Yet I have learnt of what they conceive,
The Elohim, in their cruel kingdom,
And how they shall use their pawn.
O perfidious ones! How I revile you
For the awful butcheries you devise
Against the noble Nephilim,
Turning a brother's hand in vengeance
Against they who are of one race.
As I kept my watch upon Noah
From some little distance,
Watching his miserable supplication
And demented cries for revenge
Against those that had cast him out
To live amongst jackals and scorpions,
I did perceive treacherous Michael,
Arch-deceiver, descend to the prince,
Whose ravings have stripped him of princedom.
Noah, before our once-brother, knelt,
Praying to Adonai Yahweh, foe of man.
After it had seemed to Michael
That his slave had fawned for good time
He spoke to him, promising
To ensnare to his most wrongful cause
The prince that knelt before him,
So criminal was his purpose.
Then, to Noah and, unknowing,
To secret Ashmedai, he divulged
The true purpose Heaven had for Lamech's son.
This, Satan, do they ordain:
In Noah is invested some part of power
That was lost to Adonai Yahweh
When you took it from him upon the field.
This power then Heaven can but command
If the Elohim can command the Nephilim
To the end Noah does suffice.
Using then that power which does reside in him
They will call upon the Earth
A great flood to cover mountain peaks,
Drowning all upon the Earth
Save that which has fore-warning.
Michael has instructed Noah to build for him a boat
To carry God's loyal family from the waters
And of every beast that goes on land
A pair by which to breed anew
Their population upon the blasted Earth.
Thus does God intend to annihilate
The Nephilim race you made.
Accursed be those criminals
For the wickedness of this deed
To kill so many shows to us
To depths even deeper than Chadel
Has Heaven fallen.
O killers of children! Elohim!
Hear the oath of Ashmedai.
For you shall be total destruction
I shall not spare so much as an atom of your being
No matter what entreaties you might make.
By this action you do condemn yourself
And the very motion of the Universe
Does strengthen my arm against you."

Now sobriety held me absolutely
And all dregs of stupor went from me
As I pondered the intelligence brought to me
And wished most fervently that I but dreamt.
My mind would not believe
That even the treacherous Elohim
Who had so wronged me in times past
Would commit such an atrocity
As that which Ashmedai had reported.
Blank incomprehension was the one defence
Of the shocked wit to such knowledge
And I was fully numbed by this.
I fell back into my seat, trembling.
I covered my face and wept.
No power had I to avert this calamity
And so spare my children
The cruel purpose of the Elohim
And the abomination they sought to bring.
These had once been my brothers
And a most noble race,
Bright as stars within glorious Heaven's walls.
How sullied were those ramparts now.
How could I raise my hand against Noah
That Heaven should not defend that tool
By which the Elohim could restore
Some of that which had been lost to them,
Breeding from Noah's family
A race less proud and noble than the Nephilim
That they might dominate easily
And thwart those great ambitions
Which I held for my children
That now would be drowned beneath water,
Their bright flame forever quenched,
That spark of mine which first took light
And illumined the road to a worthy future.
All my dreams were drowned beneath the waves,
Raised up by the malfeasance of Heaven.
In that dark hour all seemed lost to me
And I would that the darkness upon my soul
Would swell and swallow completely
My sense and bear me off to witless rest,
Unknowing of all things and my defeat
At hated Heaven's hands.
All was dark to Satan's eyes
When all had once seemed won.
Yet in darkness there was a light
And it caught fast upon the pitch of despondency
And set my soul ablaze.
When I had been made weak by sorrow
In an instant was I animated by delirium,
Knowing in that instant that to lie prostrate
Even when all was lost
Is an act of shame.
Even unto the final drawing of breath
Do the noble fight on.
To live without hope
Is indeed to die.
Thus was I seized by new vigour
And caught up in a frenzy.
Going forth from that my high tower
To stand atop its embattled height
I cried out to the city,
Rousing Chadel's people from slumber
And stirring them to attention.
No words came at first
But a determined howl of wrath and elation,
Coming from some hidden hollow of the soul
That resounded about dome and tower,
Shattering the quiet to shards.
Like a frighted flock of birds
The Shedim were moved into commotion,
Hurrying to the tower to so discover
Whence came the bestial roar that stirred
At the city's heart.
Thus gathered to me were the Shedim
And so did they hear me speak:

"Noble Shedim, hear me.
Once again must we bear arms against Heaven
And thwart what they desire.
You know that Noah, Lamech's son,
Is the Elohim's and serves them.
This tool have they found some use for,
Employing that power invested in the Nephilim
To work against them, through Noah,
A most abhorrent end.
It is the intention of Heaven's sons
To release upon the Earth
The waters held up in hidden reservoirs
And raise the seas that they cover
The highest mountains' peaks
And drown beneath the waves
All living things that go upon the Earth.
Thus will they slay my children,
All, with a single blow,
Save the family of Noah
Who shall be employed to breed
A subservient race of men,
Unresisting of their will.
Against this end must we work
And swiftly for their crime already moves,
Gaining impetus to its conclusion.
Upon this counter-plot have I resolved,
Not all the Nephilim might be saved
For even those that are spared the waters
Shall the Elohim strike down in weakness.
Not all can be saved this fate
And there is no means to avert it.
Rather I shall ready ships of my own
To bear away some number of the noble
To weigh even against ignoble Noah's kin
That the new race of men may know some part
Of that which is fine and right.
This fleet of our own we shall defend
Against those hosts that Heaven sends
To consummate their villainy
And make good the slaughter.
Shedim and Nephilim shall stand as one
Against the Elohim and tax a harsh due
In blood for this great wrong.
Thus, sisters, brothers, make ready for battle
Though we have known already a surfeit of it.
Some third of your number must go to Earth
To defend the Nephilim that can be saved
And the remainder must guard these walls
Against those that would come against us
From Heaven when we are weak,
Guarding distant places.
The guardian host, defenders of the Nephilim,
Shall be led jointly by Moloch and Ishtar,
Let the former's burning wrath
Be tempered by the unflinching protector
Of the child-race whom she gave life.
I go now to Shurupuk to prepare the fleet,
Giving to UtaNapishtim, noblest of men,
Instruction of that which must be done.
Make the proper preparations in my absence.
Now I must go with haste
For there is little time to me
And mush must be done
Before the seas rise up from their rightful place
And devour, with unebbing tide,
The shores and plains and hills,
Wiping clean the Earth of that which lives,
Drawing breath from the wind.
I go. Make ready in my absence."

Thus did I go forth from Chadel
By dark tunnels to the upper Earth
And there did seek Shurupuk
In the Kingdom between Two Rivers.
Quickly did my eye descry
The bright walls of the city
And its turrets festooned
With pennons of many colours
And the keen-eyed watchmen
That looked in all directions
For those that would dare make approach to those gates,
Honoured by the passing through of victorious hosts,
And lay siege to those spires high.
No such defilement would make fall those walls
But the sea itself would wash away
All that was fine and noble of those streets and domes
Like walls of sand upon the shore,
Erased by the ebb and flow of tides.
Robed in shadow, I passed the sentries at the gates,
Flying upon rainbow wings above the towers,
Eluding every eye that strained
To perceive the invader's host cast up
A great column of dust from the desert
Whether in the East or West.
Then, descending, I went unseen by the streets,
Paved with carved stone and broad
That six chariots could pass abreast.
Filled with merchants and musicians were those roads,
Acrobats danced and for some piece of silver
The seers would tell you of tomorrow's promise
Though they told nor saw what came
And, by merciful blindness, were spared
That knowledge that weighed heavy on my heart.
At the city's centre rose high the ziggurat
Upon the pinnacle of which was built
The temple were libations were poured out
To flow through soil and stone to the founts of Chadel.
With the borrowed light of the sun
Shone the gilded dome beneath which was the altar,
Carved of marble with deep grooves to bear away
Libations of wine and milk and blood.
The southern steps I ascended to the height,
Flanked on each side by a figures of stone,
Heroes of the city and beasts of natural and strange aspect.
Thus came I to the southern temple gate.
The height of three men were the double doors
That closed the portal and cut from cedar,
Made bright with designs of gold,
Wreaths and vines, heavy with a thousand fruits.
Above was the temple's seal, painted onto ebony:
Within a pentagram with two exalted horns,
An eye painted in an emerald hue that stood
As a symbol of that first wisdom that I conceived,
Fore-seeing Heaven's fall and the rise
Of the new empire that would be greater yet
Than the ancient realm that it conquered.
From the chief of the eye issued fire,
Painted in red and gold, three tongues of flame,
One greater and one lesser and a median
One within the other, greatest outermost,
Each coming to three cusps, the central highest.
And from the base fell a tear of blood,
Representative of that blood spilt
That the Nephilim race might then be born,
Shaped of my liver-flesh cut from my frame.
Flanked by two horned beasts was the sigil, guarded.
Upon its right a she-manticore, carved of red stone,
Standing for Ishtar and upon the left flank
Sat a weir-wolf of sable rock, for Baalzebub,
Twin demiurges in the first crafting of the race.
Each sat upon its haunches looking outward
Down the steps that led up to the gates.
Throwing open the gates I passed inward
Where UtaNapishtim stood within,
Having entered from the northern portal,
Before the altar with a bowl of wine,
Pouring out in sacrifice to Ishtar
That the year's harvest might be most copious.
For a moment I remained hidden from human sight
Lest I disturb the devotions of the king.
Yet when the prayer was then complete
And the altar made wet with red liquor,
Then did I cast off the cloak of midnight
By which I was concealed from the king
And walked with purpose to stand before him
A little distance beyond the altar's southern side.
Dressed in green robes was UtaNapishtim
And at his belt hung that great mace
That had broken open Lamech's skull upon the battle's field.
Tied into braids were his beard and long hair
And his eyes flashed with fire.
I bowed low before the king of men
As he had bowed before the altar.
With a regal voice he intoned
And questioned me and my presence there:

"Who are you that comes here, strange one,
Though you seem familiar to my mind.
You seem to me to possess every attribute of my lord,
Him that I followed most dutifully,
Knowing well his teaching to men to be wise.
Are you then Satanael, maker of the race of man,
The parent of the noble Nephilim
Of whom I would declare my own lineage?
Or are you else a glamour to beguile my wits
Sent by Heaven to delude the king
That is their great foe and whose kingdom
Does grow to rival theirs and cast them down
As it has been prophesied by that very Satan
With whose seeming you do appear?
Speak then to me I do command you,
Name yourself, horned angel."

To these inquiries did I reply,
Speaking, myself, with a majestic voice,
Clear and strident, that UtaNapishtim
Would not mistake the identity of he that addressed
And so disregard that urgent warning
That I now delivered to him that he might act
And so save both himself and others
And those ambitions that I held for my children
As well as those that they held themselves.

"UtaNapishtim, son of UbarTutu,"
I spoke, "King of Shurupuk,
I am indeed Satan of the Shedim
Who created from my liver the Nephilim
That they might conquer Earth and Heaven
And build for themselves an empire more worthy
Than that of the decadent Elohim.
To this end have I hastened to the Earth
And to Shurupuk which is your kingdom
Though ere long it be lost entirely to you
And all else besides if you would heed not my counsel.
Yet you are wise and will not disregard
The wisdom of others in pride
As other less worthy monarchs might do.
For this reason have I come to you
And not to another less suited to my purpose.
You must learn of what the Elohim intend
And their dreadful plot against Nephilim,
Race of my blood and flesh, vessels of my hope.
Adonai Yahweh, upon his broken throne,
Has looked down from his crumbling tower,
That which is called Eternal but is temporal,
And grows fearful of my children's maturation.
Fearing for that which is truly lost to him
Even before it is taken from him,
Adonai Yahweh seeks the destruction of the Nephilim
Else to break them for his halter.
Yet the dauntless spirit of my children
Breaks not easily by any small means.
Some grander plan is needed by Heaven
To overcome that which is predestined to themselves
Cast down the Elohim and seize from them
That which they prove unfit to hold.
So baser means do the Elohim employ
Against those that they would destroy.
Upon the end of all Nephilim
Are their depraved intents resolved.
It is their plan to call forth a great flood
To wash every footprint of the Nephilim
And cover the peaks of mountains
That their foes might be left no recourse
But to be devoured by the seas.
Thus shall they consume the works
Wrought by the hands of children
And forever drive from the Earth
That race which might challenge them
And, doing so, would surely defeat them.
For this reason have I sought you out,
UtaNapishtim, august king and lord,
God amongst men and greatest of the Nephilim.
You alone have that strength and wisdom 
By which the Elohim's design might be opposed.
You must prepare your fleet, 
Equipping them with provision for a lengthy voyage,
And, going with those most worthy of your realm,
The wisest of your seers and the greatest of your knights
Those whose swords fall like thunder on the field
And carve a ruddy signature upon the ranks of enemy,
Fleeing not the chariot's charge
Nor flinching from the escalade against walls of stone.
The Elohim shall most surely come against
When all land has been devoured by the sea
And cast you to the abysmal deeps
If they were able to.
Yet I and my Shedim shall stand with you
And the Shedim and their brightest children
Shall resist the hosts of Heaven
And break them as they come
As the rocky shore resolves the sea into a froth
Though it may pounce and rage most tumultuous
And Adonai Yahweh shall rue that he ever moved
In anger his hand against the Nephilim.
With a crimson dye shall we paint the swollen seas
And feed well the black and hungry sharks
With the carrion of Heaven's hosts.
No greater glory has ever been there to win
And it may be yours if you would seize it.
Will you then heed my counsel, king,
And ensure that all that is built
Is not once more cast down by monstrous waves?
There are none but you that I can turn to
In this most desperate hour."

A darkness came upon the visage of the king
And his soul knew the darkness that I had known.
Three times he beat his great hand 
Against the oblatory table of marble,
Webbing it hair-thin fissures.
Then with terrible eyes he gazed at me
And it seemed to me those orbs burned
Like twin suns and seared my very soul.
His beard seemed possessed with lightning
And his flesh glowed red with rage
As iron tempered in the forge.
Now the monarch raged with lion's voice
That shook the very stone of the temple
And made tremble the hearts of men and beasts.
Even I, brave Satan, who denied the voice of God,
Flinched from that ire that, there being none other,
Was turned upon me though I earned it not.

"Lord Satanael," he roared like a bear enraged,
"Your worthy lips, speaking only wisdom,
Are the vessel of these most hated tidings.
Had I been granted fore-knowledge of this news
I should have struck from my head these ears
That have afflicted me with testament of your speech
And, with the same blade, cut from your throat
The tongue that spoke these words to me.
Be calm, I pray. Protest not your part.
I know that you, teacher, are not blame-worthy
And it is not Satanael that I would revile
But rather those words spoken
That pierce me like a spear;
About the shaft my entrails are twisted
And torn from me to make more awful
The agony into which my soul is cast
By this dreadful portent that you bring.
Honoured indeed is UtaNapishtim
That of all kings you would come to him
And make him your agent in opposing this base scheme
And gladly shall I act to avert this disaster
That would be brought against us.
Yet I must deny your counsel
For it seems to me ill-governed by that nobility
To which my breath is devoted that I might be worthy
Of that destiny determined for our race
By the wisdom of your mind.
How can the king escape such a doom
That you do dictate to me
When, that he might, he must condemn his people
To that which he would elude?
This is no honourable act but shameful
Most extremely and is not to be pursued.
I will act upon that knowledge that you grant me
For foolish is the king that ignores such intelligence
But whilst their is yet one of my people
That might live in my place,
Going upon the ships prepared
To carry our breathing frames from the waves' embrace,
Then that one shall one shall go in my place
And UtaNapishtim shall die beneath the water.
This is the way of true king
Yet you would ask me to abandon my people.
Thus do I refuse your counsel."

Joy and sorrow were at once in me,
Hearing these words of the Nephilim king.
Now I knew that there was one amongst them
That I had made that pursued the noble way
In the darkest shadows.
Yet that one such as this should be lost
To Heaven's cruel jealousy and others
That lived in all places of the Earth
Was a most bitter draught to my lips
And this one at least I sought to save.
Yet further persuasion did I employ,
Speaking new counsel to make strong the old:

"UtaNapishtim, king of Shurupuk,
Most noble are your words and soul
And this proud devotion to your kingship
Does stir my own heart to joy
For you are indeed a most rare jewel
And the quality of your honour
Does shine amongst the race of men
As falling Vega does shine amongst the stars.
Yet your words and your intent are not governed
By wisdom but by the heart's lament
And your wit is distempered by rightful wrath.
Wrath shall not avail in this time
And when anguish is most justified
It is of the least service.
Such a dire peril as this must be faced,
Possessing full capacity of wit and wisdom.
Were that the waters of the flood
All that there was to fear at this time
But it is not so for those ships that defy
The will of the Elohim shall be struck down
And consigned to the ocean's lower depths
As appeasement to unforgiving Leviathan.
That which water cannot destroy
Shall be undone by flame and steel.
Even did you send one in your place
They would die where you would live.
UtaNapishtim is the greatest of his people
When the battle is joined with blasting horns
And his great mace is as thunder
And none is there to withstand him.
He is as a beacon to his people
And in dark despair they look to him
And he does illumine all with hope.
Thus you must go with your people
For without you all indeed shall be lost.
You must go with your people
And lead them against the Elohim that come
And I shall stand with you
Or all will indeed be lost to men.
Thus do I say to you again
Make ready the fleet and summon to yourself
The greatest of your companions,
Magicians, knights and princes
That the race of Nephilim may be born again
After they have been swept away by Heaven.
This you must do and swiftly
Or it may not be done at all."

Now UtaNapishtim bowed his head
And acknowledged the wisdom of my counsel.
He turned from me and the altar
And went from the ziggurat
To give command to his admirals.
Thus the navy set to their toil
And made ready for long voyage
Seven ships, fine and firm.
High were their masts, of cedar,
And painted with dragon faces were the prows.
The white sails, filled with wind,
Bore bright the temple's seal
And the hulls were made splendid with gold.
Beneath the waters brazen beaks
Reflected sunlight and broke the skin
Of the waves into white froth
And yearned to shatter the timbers of the foe.
Thus was made ready the ships of Shurupuk
That would bear on white wings
The hopes of Nephilim and Shedim.
From the Tigris' throat went the fleet,
Bearing UtaNapishtim and his knights 
From the Kingdom between Two Rivers,
Went the seven ships into the gulf
That put water between Arabia and Persia.
Upon the shore gathered the people of Shurupuk
And with bright flags waved upon his voyage
Their king and his lords though they knew not,
Not upon the ships or upon the shore,
To which harbour sailed white-sailed vessels
But UtaNapishtim alone nurtured in his heart
That most bitter intelligence and bit back tears
As he hailed his most loyal people,
Knowing that those joyous faces
Would be known to him again
Only in the dreams of fitful slumber.
One hand he raised to bid farewell,
Holding it aloft a moment
Then dropping it and turning from the shore.
Some way out into the sea
Small boats heavy with the people of Shurupuk
Followed like porpoises, from the shore
Then these too were gone
And UtaNapishtim wept.
Unknowing of that which passed in Shurupuk
Noah laboured long days and nights
To complete that ship that he was commanded.
A great vessel was it that he joined in the desert
And Elohim-aided first the keel
Then high ribs, fleshed with tarred planks,
Were constructed and fixed with nails of steel.
Like some great and black wasp it grew
Beneath the searing sun of day
And chill stars of the desert night.
Noah became as some shade,
Scarce remembering to eat or sleep
Whilst he laboured to complete his task
And avenge himself upon those that he accused.
Filthy and long was his black hair
And his flesh was gaunt and pale.
His eyes sunk within his head,
Giving him the aspect of a skull
And the cruel day sky burnt from him his wits
That all the while he worked he addressed
Commands and exhortations to slaves 
That lived but within his mind.
Thus was built the ship of Noah.
When its dark form was finished,
Casting a great shadow on the sands
As the day died bloody in the West
Came Michael to Noah from the South
And behind him was some great number of beasts
Of each kind a male and female,
Lions, serpents, birds and deer,
And unnumbered others that went on the Earth
And from the wind drew breath.
So came Michael once more to Noah
To fulfil his black scheme and thwart
That scheme of mine which was born
Of his own treachery and malice
That had not dwindled but grown darker yet.

"Hail Noah, son of Lamech,"
Spoke the prince of Heaven.
"This number of beasts have I brought to you
That you might gather them
And bring them to the ship you built.
Now that it is prepared
There is no reason to make further delay
But to equip the ship and load up
The beasts to their cells.
We can thus bring about the Deluge more swiftly
And for a briefer period
Will the creation of God be compelled 
To bear the burden of mankind's sin.
Make haste then Noah to load up your boat
And tell your family to prepare to sail
Though the desert sands be all about
So that the rains might be summoned soon
And the sin of man be washed from the Earth
Thus defeating Satan and evil crew.
Though you are wearied by those toils
That your hand has already made complete
Spurn not yet greater industry now
When it is most necessary
And its reward is both near and great.
Make preparations for the voyage
And then I shall teach to you
Those incantations that you must know
To summon from the sky and depths
The waters to raise up the flood.
The keys to the great cataracts shall be taught
To you once the ship is ready
So make haste that God's will
Be not thwarted for a longer time
Than must be for it to be accomplished.
Act now, Noah, and find vengeance
That you so earnestly desire."

Did that mad criminal need such words as these?
No! His heart was so black with hate,
Flowing in his blood like a burning venom,
That no words of Elohim tongue were there
That would spur the flagitious one
To crimes that his mind did not itself conceive of.
All those born of Man and Woman 
Are the noble children of Satan.
Let it be recorded that base Noah
Is no more of the Nephilim
Than Satan is of the Elohim.
Before had even Michael finished his speaking
Noah had even then begun the loading of the beasts
Into that black boat built for Heaven's purpose
And had instructed his weary family
To make ready for the voyage.
All night and day laboured Noah
And for another night before all was done
And all preparations had been made against the flood.
Now came Michael to Noah at dawn,
Perceiving now had come the time to act
And bring forth the waters to cover the Earth.

"Noah, son of Lamech," he spoke,
"Now has the time come to intone
Those incantations to open the doors
By which are bound the sky's cataracts
And the waters of the deep Earth.
Speak then the words with me
And enact the rightful rituals
That these jaws might gape open
And spew out the contents of their bellies.
Thus shall we wash for all time
The wickedness of man from the Earth
And for all time hereafter
Shall the just reign of Adonai Yahweh endure
And you shall be His most favoured servant.
Rightful victory is now yours, Noah,
For you have withstood adversity,
Keeping faith when all were arrayed against you.
God does reward such servants as you
Most amply of His generosity.
Come then and speak those words you must
And initiate this washing away.
Cleanse the Earth of your fathers' sins
And make it once more fit for God.
So do I charge you in His name
And so must you do 
If you are indeed His allegiant slave.
Speak then these words with me
And let this Cataclysm begin."

So stood Michael and Noah
At the prow of that constructed in the desert,
The vessel of Heaven's wrongful purpose.
From the dawn unto the dusk
They sang discordantly the syllables
That convoked the waters of Heaven and Earth.
As that remorseless bore on 
And the sun traversed the azure dome
Upon its appointed path unto the West
The sky became black with clouds
And all was in shadow on the land.
Now shrieked the wind amongst the trees,
Tearing from them leaves and wood
And everywhere both man and beast
Sought shelter from the coming rains.
As the sun descended to die once more
In the western sky it was seen not
Save for the crimson staining of the fatal clouds.
And the rains fell and ceased not.
Marvelled did they of Shurupuk's fleet
At the unceasing rain that fell
Throughout the night upon the ships.
So heavy was the air with water
That the men of Shurupuk that sailed
Upon those ships spared Heaven's wrath
Thought that they were already beneath the waves
And that those that forsook the shelter
Of the inner parts of the ships
Were struck to the floor by the weight of rain.
Moon and stars illumined not that first night
But the fleet was cast into utter darkness
For those torches lighted to drive back the shadows
Were extinguished by the storm.
Even as the dawn was marked
Scarcely was that black veil lifted
For the clouds heavy with great burden
Permitted not the rays of the sun
To fall upon the lands or seas.
Despite the wind that lashed
And the rain that beat as a rod upon the back
I stood with UtaNapishtim at the bow
And watched what Noah's hand had wrought
And none saw my tears for the rain.
Came to us there the admiral of the fleet
To speak with the king of Shurupuk
And voice his fear at the tempest
That cast the ships hither-thither
And made most burdensome the sails with water.

"Mighty King, Lord of Shurupuk,
How my heart is made weak with fear
That this rain falls so heavy and so long.
Not I alone but all those that go upon this voyage
That has no destination that you have spoken.
This tumult does most harshly assail
And casts into disarray the fleet.
Now even were there some harbour that you sought
It is lost to you and out of reach.
Even the greatest exertions of our sailor
Can do naught but preserve the vessels
And to do more than this is beyond the greatest magicians.
Fortunate are we indeed that even now
We have lost not a man to the frothing waves.
Surely some beneficent sorcery does guard us.
O will these rains be ever unabating
And grow ever greater in their intensity
That every land of man is consumed
By the rising waters of the seas,
Glutted upon this surfeit?
When shall there be respite for us?
What has stirred to such a passion
The very elements that this should be?
Lord, I fear and beg some word of you
That might grant to me some comfort
And make more courageous my coward heart."

For a long while did the king regard
His admiral, faithful yet afraid
At the savagery of Noah's sorcery.
No words could he conceive of for him
To make easy the heart that beat unsoundly
For he had no thought to make sure his own
With greater knowledge than the other.

"Faithful captain," spoke UtaNapishtim,
"Did you but know what you prophesied
And had that intelligence which is granted me.
Truly this rain shall not cease
Until the seas have risen so high
That the pinnacles of mountains are sunk deep
And the mourning for those that are lost
In greater numbers than can be conceived
Is truly ceaseless but without end.
Never shall this memory be lost.
I have told you this for it can no longer be concealed
And that first purpose for which I deceived
Is no longer served by silence.
I sought to spare you some time
That dreadful burden that hitherto
I have borne alone but for the Shedim.
Know also that we of all men
Enjoy the protection of Chadel's people
And must have no fear of the rains
But must prepare for a greater threat
That shall come against us surely
Before the seas and rains recede once more
And yield some welcome shore to us.
It is the Elohim that conjure against us
This tempest that rages about us,
Seeking to so extinguish from the Earth
All men that might one day oppose them
And cast down their doomed kingdom.
When they realise that we have escaped
And shall sow anew the seeds of our empire
That once more the Nephilim's star
Climbs ascendant in the sky
Then shall they seek to accomplish by other means
That which by their first recourse was thwarted.
Thus must we prepare, even in the storm's midst,
To repel the very hosts of Heaven.
It is well then that there is no navigation
That our hands can accomplish
For it would but blind us to a greater threat.
Nephilim and Shedim shall stand side by side
To preserve this little part when all else is lost.
Make ready for the battle
For its time is soon, I know it."

Thus, without recourse against the currents
That bore the ships whither whimsy willed
But to lash with strong ropes together
The seven vessels cast about by wind and rain
That the fleet would not scattered far,
The marines of Shurupuk, drowned deep
Beneath the swollen rivers and sea
Were the noble city's walls and washed
From every map of Earth were the bright towers,
Made ready for battle against Heaven's hosts,
Preparing spears and bows and shields
Or else speaking such incantations
To bind Fortune's vagaries to their cause,
Enchanting each shaft to fly true
And preparing charms to ward the bolts
Of Heaven that they would find no mark.
Thus did the last of the Nephilim
Use what time was theirs within the storm
Before the coming of a greater storm.
Storing up their strength for battle
UtaNapishtim and his brave retinue
Let the wind carry them where it will
Across the black and frothing sea
That seemed to boil with spite for men.
On those gross waters did they drift
In many directions though all direction
Was lost in that dark waste of the flood.
Ten thousand sights did appear
Like phantoms from the eternal gloom
Before then being left to fade once more
Into those shadows that spawned them.
Lo! Did a mountain's peak appear
Now made a petty island by the tides grown great
And on there stood, made mad with famine,
Some twenty woman with mewling infants
Clutched tight to their parched breasts
And others not accommodated on that land
Struggled helpless in the waters round about
Before they sank into the depths.
Still mercilessly rose the waters to take all the mountain
But UtaNapishtim was denied witness of that end
As the pitiful spectacle was shrouded once more
By the shadows that closed about it.
Other images appeared and went like smoke
But ever haunted the dreams of those that saw
And faded not from tormented sleep.
Fragments of the life of men floated by,
Wooden chairs and tables and cribs
Were borne by and more gruesome things.
Boats crewed with corpses or those that yet lived,
Unreleased from their shrivelled frames.
The cadavers of men and beasts,
Bloated with decay, went also on the waves.
Would that the world had drowned more easily
And the artefacts of that destruction
Even in death had not sought the surface.
In that twilight of the storm
My eye's perceived an eternity of nightmares
And the long years diminish not
Those fadeless days of horror.
Those words of Michael to his disciple, Noah,
Fathomed not the deed they did.
At the prow I stood with UtaNapishtim
And sought comfort for the king of Shurupuk
With these words, knowing that not at him alone
Were my persuasions intended but to myself
That my own heart might be unpained
Yet those words were so empty as are all words
When the eyes bear another witness.
Some sights make silent all words.
So did I speak to UtaNapishtim:

"UtaNapishtim, son of UbarTutu,
Most terrible indeed is all this
That appears to your eyes and assails
Most vehemently the mind behind those eyes.
You are the witness of a most abhorrent deed
And I know not what there is to say
That might make these sights more reasonable
When they seem to the reasonable insane.
These children that I have sired
To build the eternal empire to succeed
That which commits such atrocities
Are defiant creatures indeed.
Do you think that they would go quiet to death?
They do not but proclaim those wrongs
That are worked against them.
You that bears witness to this cry
Must not be diminished by the sufferings
That you are presented with
But must be made strong by them
And in the flames of this torment
Your metal must be tempered to new resolve
That when the hosts of Heaven come
You might well argue for those that have no voice.
If these sights would make you weak
Against Heaven you shall surely fall
And then their victory would be complete
And that which is seen here shall not be remembered
But it shall be glorified by those that write the history.
Only if you are strong shall your witness
Be of any virtue to those that are so vilely wronged.
Make strong then your heart
And let these wraiths move your heart to anger
And let that anger make you strong
Against the Elohim who shall surely seek
To make this crime complete.
This is not a time for sorrow.
Libations enough can be poured out for the dead
When all is won and the waters once more recede.
Now the only fitting libation for their shades
Is the blood of the Elohim.
Let nothing deter you but make you strong.
So do I exhort you."

UtaNapishtim spoke no reply
Yet I perceived in his eyes
That my words reflected that which was already resolved
And that course that he pursued.
Yet I had barely breathed again after speech
When some keen-eyed watchman gave up a shout
And then blasted on his horn.
Now in the great veil of cloud above
That made black the sky and into night,
Starless, transformed the day,
A great gap opened in the East
To display the rising sun and yet more
For the new blue sky, as though seen for the first time
Shone with a thousand wings of flame
And a thousand suns were seen on spear-heads.
So came the hosts of the Elohim.
Now, as though the very stars fell from their place
And rushed downward to destroy the Nephilim
They made their assault upon the ships.
From the distant mists resolved their forms
To become more apparent to the eye
Than that indistinct mass that first we saw.
Before the great and winged column,
Bearing in his left hand haughty Heaven's standard
And in his right that feared weapon that cut down
All that would oppose his father's purpose,
The quadruple scythe that reaped harvests
For the king of Heaven and cleared
All choking herbs from Yahweh's kingdom,
Went Gabriel as general of the host.
At his back came some ten thousand of Elohim knights,
Arrayed in shining arms, with shaft and shield
Taken up for war.
At this first appearance went up from the ships
A great clamour of dismay
For bold and strong though my children were
They were but few against so great a foe
And could hope not to stand against the Elohim.
Yet but for an instant did fear seize their hearts
For of the Nephilim these were the best
And feared no travail of torment.
Now, like the trumpets' blare,
Rang out the voice of the king,
Shurupuk's great lord, UtaNapishtim,
And awoke from terror's sleep
His brave knights and seers to action
And cast weakness from their limbs:

"Enough, no time is their for despair
Though if ever was it due
It is due well now.
Now we must act against the foe.
Magicians of Shurupuk, to assail the ships
They have opened in the veil of storms
A portal by which to pass from Heaven to Earth.
Beat, beat your Magyar drums
And close upon them the thunderous gates
And cast against them with double force
Those storms that have long assailed us.
Swiftly now and work your spells
Else this day is surely lost to us.
Now my brave archers draw back your strings
And play for me that singing melody of death.
Those that are not driven from the sky
By the rain of water from the clouds
Shall be torn down by a more steely weather
And cast into these swollen waters
To which our own brothers and sisters
Have been cast by them.
All others must make ready other arms
By which to defend the wizards and the bowmen
For but by them can we keep from flight
The winged foe that we without wings may contend
Not at a disadvantage on the field
But rather hold the one respite from the air
That rages with bolts of flame and our own steel.
Swiftly then and fulfil this command
Or else all is lost to us."

Now was a drum-beat like the thunder's peal
And a low moaning chant
By which the wizards worked their charm
And from their flesh their spirits passed
Into the storm clouds and animated the winds.
Before true knowledge of what was to be
Was the Elohim's the gates were shut upon them
And they were in the very midst
Of the howling tempest, redoubled.
Many were at that instant blasted
By the flaming sky-bolts and fell
Like stars into the seas
And yet others blinded by the rain and mists
Could not check their flight
And were too taken by the waters.
Yet from the tumult of the sky
Came a greater number undamaged
By the wizards' work yet in disarray.
Even as the Elohim horns rang out
To marshal once more the column
The bows of Shurupuk then sung their song
And feathered barbs carried on an enchanted breeze
Flew for the disordered ranks
And mingled with the torrents
Some redder pigment and heavier shapes,
Swiftly lost, weighed down by mail,
Beneath the churning waves.
Now, rallied by the frantic signalling
Of clarions and flags, the Elohim came,
Screaming rage above the thunder
In one awesome charge against the ships
And yet not with some desperation, knowing
That could they not gain the solid timbers
They would find no respite upon wing.
Seven times sang bowstrings before they closed
And seven times shining shapes precipitated
From the ragged ranks into the froth below.
Then were the Elohim upon the ships.
Upon every ship the knights of Shurupuk
Rushed forth to meet the Elohim spears
With mace and javelin and battle-cry
And soon were the decks slick with gore
Where but rain had made them slick before.
Yet and yet sang the archer's bows
Cutting from the winds those of Heaven
Who found no perch upon the crowded decks.
Now upon the ships of the king
Where UtaNapishtim himself contended,
Striking down to each side
The Elohim that fought in desperation against him,
Shattering alike shield and skull
By his great mace of meteoric iron,
Alighted Gabriel with whirling scythe
And walked lion-like amongst the Nephilim warriors,
Severing limbs in so frenzied an assault
That it could be not perceived at which moment
A blow was done and the next begun.
Seeing my children butchered so
I cast from my shoulders that midnight cloak
That had hitherto concealed me from all eyes
And leapt forward with an eager sword
And drove it deep into the side of Gabriel.
Seeing this appearance sudden amongst them
The Nephilim took new heart and rejoiced
And taunted with new words their foes
And renewed their attack with greater vigour,
Driving back the Elohim hosts
To the very brink of the ships
That they stumbled but a few paces more
And would be taken by the boiling ocean.
In the ecstasy of new hope
So the Nephilim intoned or sang:

"See you then this, you Elohim
That would contend most rashly against Shurupuk.
Even such profound darkness as of this tempest
We are deserted not by our sire.
Wherever we do find ourselves
And against what perils we must set ourselves
Ever is great Satanael at our sides,
Coming forth from some hidden place
To defend us and stand with us.
Where once were our souls empty
He pours from his eternal cup
New hope and vigour into us.
Happy are the Nephilim indeed
To have such an ally.
Now do we rejoice for Satan stands amongst us
And his swift sword fights our cause
Whereas your lot is despair.
Rejoice Nephilim and once more to arms
That we might make absolute
Our victory and the Elohim's destruction."

Now I matched myself against Gabriel
And the scythe of four blades
That shrieked like a hurricane
As it again and again cut at me
To be turned aside at that last moment
By my sword, exerted much
To assuage the onslaught of Heaven's prince.
The wound that I had carved upon him
Diminished Gabriel not at all
But made him strong with anger.
This way and that way, across the deck
Satan and Gabriel contended
With the clash of arms ringing above the thunder.
Now, as it seemed that I had gained advantage
Gabriel, pressed back against the mast,
Kicked out with a boot against my leg
And with some cruel spur opened on my calf
A bleeding maw and I fell back
And found myself seated on the boards of the deck.
Pressing at once his new advantage
The second of the Elohim fell on me
Swinging down towards my throat
His spinning weapon of four blades.
Once more did I withstand the blow
Interposing between steel and flesh my own blade.
Now though that first impetus was lost
The Elohim now pressed down
With a steadier strength and forced
Towards my breast his own blade
And I could find not strength to resist
The steel's slow descent.
Then was their joy upon the angel's face
As he stood over and pressed down
And mocking laughter upon his voice
As he jeered my position
And the battle raged all about us.

"So, my brother," spoke Gabriel,
"You thought to contend against me.
How foolish it must seem to you now.
Better it would have been for you
Had you yet skulked in the shadows
And dared not to oppose my purpose.
O yes! Well did you match yourself
Against our Father before Heaven's gates
And that conflict you did win
But this time you shall not vanquish
But shall be vanquished.
I am not some old dotard as are you accustomed to
And not as weak-tempered as my brothers.
Upon the battle's field Michael may have fled
But that is not the way of Gabriel.
More than this shall I tell you
So you have full knowledge of your death
That grows so near that its chill shadow
My eyes even now perceive upon you .
Like Michael's spear is my blade envenomed
And not Baalzebub's immunity have you
To the viper's sting or traitor's chalice.
A single scratch alone and you are finished.
Savour then these last moments
As I savour them."

Then a flash, a crash,
And my eyes saw not nor my ears heard
For an instant and I believed
That it was some great spasm of the storm
Yet, regaining then my perception
I saw that this was not so.
In shards about me was my sword
And about me fragments of a quadruple scythe
Once joined as a cross but broken now
Into a hundred parts and before me
Like a bear enraged, 
Steadily, yet with most lethal purpose,
Advanced UtaNapishtim, mace raised high,
Mace that had shattered the weapons locked
In that embrace of death escaped,
Upon now unarmed Gabriel
Who stumbled backwards to the stern.
For a moment stood the Elohim prince
In defiance of my noble son
Whose life having saved myself with fore-warning
Had now saved mine from death.
Then did Gabriel cast himself into the sea
And, in an instant, transformed
Into an orca and fled into the waves.
Now above the battle's din and storm
Came a great sounding of horns
And from the storm clouds came a host,
Winged and arrayed in the scales of Giants.
Thus did the hosts of Chadel
Arrive to relieve the beleaguered Nephilim.
Ishtar and Moloch leading at the head,
Descended in most terrible guise.
Ishtar appeared with a lion's head
And in six hands held six spears
With keen and barbed heads.
Ever has it been the Shedim's way
To assume some awesome form for battle.
Moloch was himself unchanged
Yet, as a flaming bull, was no less dreadful
And after came a multitude of armoured warriors.
Comprehending then that all was lost
The Elohim gave up a great cry and made to flee
But rising into the air
They found themselves amongst my hosts
And were hurled down by the charge
Into the ever-hungry sea.
Thrusting to this side and that
Soon, upon each of Ishtar's inclement spears
Hung transfixed seven Elohim.
Yet others of Heaven's ill-chanced host
Plummeted downwards like flaming comets,
Ignited by the blazing hooves of Moloch.
Thus were Elohim destroyed completely.
Even as the last of Heaven's host
Was lost beneath the swollen waters
A great wind blew up from the East
And for some three hours howled its all,
Scattering to flight the heavy rain clouds
And unveiling the blue of the sky.
Now from the ships went up a cheer
That the foe had been vanquished
And that great Deluge was now ended.
For seven days did the waters recede,
Flowing back to their hidden reservoirs.
First did the mountains' heights appear
As the waters receded from them
And then, the tides falling back and back
In constant ebb as once they had flowed great,
The mountain-sides and hills
Then the valleys and the plains
Revealed themselves to the sight
Of those that went upon the ships
And they rejoiced to see all things
Upon the Earth restored to equilibrium.
At that time all the land was bare
And no green thing grew from the soil.
All was desolated by the great Cataclysm.
Yet no darkness is there where no light burns
Nor despair that fosters no hope.
Deep beneath the barren soil hid the seeds
Of the thousand plants, washed away
By the waters of the Flood.
With the waters fallen back to their place
And the light of the burning sun
Making warm once more the sodden earth
To new life were those germs stirred
And even before the waters had retreated utterly
The hill-sides bloomed with flowers of every hue
And the plains were made verdant with grasses.
Now made the weary sailors for some harbour
Renouncing then their long companions,
The waves and froth and porpoises
To seek that more familiar to their birth.
Thus made the storm-buffeted ships
For some near cove to make landing.
Thus alighting upon the Earth
As though it were for the first time
That their feet had gone on solid rock,
Some fell down, wracked by weeping,
And others danced and sang with joy.
Yet UtaNapishtim was silent
And I could read not in him
The root of such impassiveness.
Thus did mankind go forth
From the sea-shore to the distant hills
To learn of their new land
To which the storm had brought them.
Nowhere did they find a trace
Of those that had been before.
It was as though all remembrance of before the Flood
Had been carried off with the tide,
Lost forever to the Earth
Save in the hearts of those that came after.
Now I went to UtaNapishtim
Who already busied himself with work
Throwing up walls and making into order
The fields of grain with the plough.
Now did I address him with these words:

"UtaNapishtim, son of UbarTutu,
Fondest of all my children,
From this place let your people go forth
Let them become numerous
And govern all the Earth
As once did they before go forth
From this land to reign over the Earth
Before the waters took them.
For, by some irony of the wind,
You have been brought to that very port
Where first you rigged the sails.
Once more have you come to this place,
The Kingdom between Two Rivers.
Now is Shurupuk lost to you
Yet shall there be new cities of equal splendour.
Nothing is there that has been lost
That shall not be restored to you
And gained again twice over.
For even as the tides flow to claim the shore
So do they ebb once more
To restore that which they once snatched.
Have, then, no fear for the battle is won.
Now must I depart from you
Though it is not without sadness
For my love for the Nephilim is great.
The Shedim must once more return to Chadel
And hold its walls against the enemy
For, defeated, the Elohim are vengeful
And will take reprisal if they could.
I shall go with Dagon and forever bind
Within the Earth these titanic waters
That they will never rise again to take the Earth.
From this is mankind ever safe.
Now rejoice and go to conquer.
Yesterday indeed is washed away
But tomorrow is your inheritance."

Thus did I turn from UtaNapishtim
And went swiftly to join my host,
Awaiting me at the shore,
That the king of Shurupuk would not see my tears.
Thus returned the Shedim to Chadel.
Thus came again the Nephilim
Unto the Land between Two Rivers.
For a thousand days did his people labour
To make fit for men the ancient land,
Assailed by steel and water
And throw up walls to echo Shurupuk's
Now lost forever, washed from the Earth.
Their lands did they name Chaldee,
Recalling in that name the older nation
That fought at their side against the Elohim,
The eternal land of the Shedim.
Noah too and his kin found land
Though with less dignity than those I sponsored
And their ship was caught by a double peak
And teetered above the receding waves.
Yet once the waters had gone from the land
Noah opened the doors of his great ship
And released onto the Earth
Those beasts that he had carried with him
And his people went forth to live on Earth.
Thus were the lands repeopled
With both men and beasts.
UtaNapishtim sent forth his people
From the cities of his land
To go beyond Tigris of the rising sun
And to go from the western bank
Of the river, Euphrates of the setting sun,
To restore once more the nations of the Earth.
Passing beyond the western frontier of the land,
Crossing then the river of Lamech's death
Who had so rashly sought to cross over,
Passing into the western lands
The people of Chaldee discovered there
The children of Noah, descended from their mountain.
Perceiving that they abased themselves to Yahweh
And knowing well in their hearts
That such was not fit for men
They went forth amongst the villages
Where lived the children of Noah
And conquered them by flame and bronze.
Then went they to the altars of Adonai Yahweh
And poured there libations to the Nephilim shades
And the people of deep Chadel.
Thus did they restore to me the children of Noah.
For nine generations then was there peace
Amongst the nations of men.
Of all those descend of Noah's line were restored to me
Save one who yet would not cast of his chains
And his name was Abraham.
Even when all others came before my altars
And acknowledged those truths that I taught them
This one alone yielded not to my love
And of all my children stood apart from me.
O my children, brave Nephilim,
When shall you learn the truth?
Adonai Yahweh nor all his angels
Have not one chain's link to bind you
Save those that you would forge
And put about yourself with full will.
No fire is there into which they would cast you
Save that which your minds would kindle.
They have no authority over man
Save that man would, deluded, kneel
And acknowledge such illusion of power
With which the Elohim would beguile.
Why are you led again and again
Into that same trap which snared those that came before?
What words are there for me to speak
By which you would realise this
And take care against such deceits?
No words had I for Abraham
That would sway his foolish heart
Nor unblind him to the fraud of Heaven
That led him on such evil paths.
In Heaven, in his tower,
Where yet he brooded on defeat
And saw no way to salvage what was lost to him,
Michael heard the prayers of Abraham.
Yet where had he once used Noah
He had met with failure
Now offered once more the same prize
He dared not to reach out to it
Least he once lose as he had once lost before.
Rather then he reasoned to wreak some mischief
Upon this one of the Nephilim
If all others would give to him
No opportunity to be so seized.
Upon Abraham, so did he resolve,
He would work such sorrows
As his own defeats had worked on him.
Thus would Abraham be a partner to Michael's misery.
So thinking, the prince of Heaven
Went before his king, kneeling low
Like some hungry hound before the table
To beg for some morsel of the meat.
So did fawning Michael plead:

"Almighty and Eternal,
Lord of Infinitude, 
Tyrant of Existence,
All-illumining Light,
King of Heaven,
Conqueror of Earth,
Father of the Elohim,
Architect of Creation,
Master of the Planets,
Orchestrater of the Stars,
Proclaimer of Destiny,
Keeper of Wisdom,
Judge of the World,
Castigator of Sin,
Scourge of Evil,
Most High, Most Merciful,
Most Just, Most Sagacious,
Most Perfect, Most Mighty,
Most Noble, Most Majestic,
My God, My Lord, My Father,
Echoing up from the Earth beneath
Your proud kingdom, eternal and invincible,
Have I heard the voice of a man,
One of Satan's children that does renounce his father,
Even as You were yourself renounce
By that apostate angel, once Your son.
Abraham sings daily Your praise
And raises his voice in prayer.
Let me then claim him for Your possession.
Yet after the failure of the Flood
And Gabriel's humiliation at the hands
Of that most wicked of the Nephilim,
UtaNapishtim who defied Your will,
Little traffic do I desire
With that blasphemous race of men.
Let me rather sport with this one
And avenge upon this one at least
Those wrongs that his race has done You.
Let me then test well Abraham's resolve
To worship Adonai Yahweh
And let him prove his worth to You
By suffering capricious whimsy.
In this at least shall we teach
Satan and his people some lesson
And show to them that not yet
Do they have dominion over Earth."

And Adonai Yahweh did but nod
To show to Michael that his words seemed good
To him that had been so wronged by that tongue
That slandered brothers and deceived
The king whose praises it should have sung.
Then Michael descended to the Earth
And went to Abraham where he dwelt
In the land of Haran.
As a great image, one hundred cubits high
And burning with a white flame
Came Michael before Abraham
And spoke unto him these words:

"Abraham, son of Terah, 
Go you from this land of Haran
And take from this place your wives
And those servants of your household.
You must forsake your kindred and people
That dwell in the land of Haran
For they are most corrupt
And worship not the true God.
Yet you of all men would He save
And remove hence to another land
Which He has allotted to you.
Go then from Haran
And place your trust in Adonai Yahweh
For He shall show to you another land
Which shall be for you and your nation
That you shall be a father to.
The land of Mamre is for you, Abraham,
And it shall be your children's also.
Go then to this land with your household
And forsake these evil people
That you would dwell amongst."

So gathered to him
Abraham his household and his consorts,
Sarai and Hagar, the Egyptian,
And went from the land of Haran
Unto the land Mamre.
Well amused was Michael at this work
For Mamre was a land but of sand
And the kingdom of scorpions and jackal
And no fit place was it for men.
Yet Abraham went there with his people
Because Michael had willed him do so.
There did Abraham make his home
And there was he beset with great hardship.
Yet despite the rigours of the land
Abraham persevered with his lot
And made fertile the soil with deep wells
And reaped from it a fecund harvest.
In the land of Mamre, the women of Abraham
Brought forth sons for him.
Hagar the Egyptian was mother to Ishmael
First of the sons of Abraham
And then was Isaac, son of Sarai.
Yet of his two sons did Abraham
Love Ishmael the best of them
For he was the first born.
Yet of this love was Sarai jealous for her son
And despised Hagar for her son.
With subtle whispers and with lies
Did she deceive Abraham
And turn his heart against his first-born
And the mother Hagar the Egyptian.
So became Abraham the reflection of his god.
When her work was done
And Abraham's heart was set against Hagar
And Ishmael was robbed of his favour
Went Sarai to Hagar in anger
And spoke to her these words,
Driving her ever with her son
From the house of Abraham:

"Go from here, Egyptian.
Depart my house for there is no love for you
And I desire you not here.
Abraham is now set against you
Where once you held his love
By your deceits and intrigues.
Go with your son from here
And be cast out into exile
For if you remain
You shall be visited with those miseries
That my ire can devise.
The house of Abraham is no more for you
And Hagar and Ishmael must go hence
And find for themselves what they
Amongst scorpions of the wilderness.
Go then, Egyptian,
And depart my house.
Leave Abraham to me and Isaac."

So fearing for her life
Fled Hagar into the desert,
Taking with her Ishmael, her son,
Preferring the mercies of the desert
To the jealousy of Sarai.
Yet no water was there in the desert
And no food for the exiles.
And though she searched long
No spring could Hagar find
And her breasts became dry of milk
By which to feed her infant.
Yet ran Hagar between two hills,
Seven times, from one hill
Unto the other hill and back
To seek water but found it not.
Then, exhausted of all strength,
Hagar fell to her knees and wept,
Resigning to death her life
And that of Ishmael.
Yet when all hope was lost to her
And a dark shadow rested on her heart
A gentle was heard by her
And, looking upward from the sand,
She perceived before her a semblance of a man,
Robed all in resplendent white
Yet bearing no other ornament.
Jet-black curls, like some hanging herb,
Tumbled down his back
And within his eyes was an eternal sorrow.
Three times with his left heel did he strike the soil
And forth from it came a spring of clear water
And five times with his right
And good things to eat appeared.
So did the spirit speak to Hagar:

"Have no fear of this desert now
Hagar for you are now protected
And I stretch over you my hand
To shield you from all harm
From here shall you take your son
To distant Arabia where he shall build a city
And be there a great king
Though now he be but an exile.
Rejoice now Hagar for your woes are ended.
Do you see me so, Satan?
Am I like my brothers now.
I have not forgotten what it is to be noble.
Nor does my memory fade of Heaven's greater years
When the Elohim were indeed most noble
And their glory unmatched in all the world.
What are Michael's petty sports to me?
An omen of our decadence.
And what are the schemes of Gabriel?
Tears for what is lost to us.
Heaven's doom may well be written
But I shall yet fight to hold
Those lost treasures of that kingdom.
Do my words mean aught to you, Hagar?
They do not and it seems that I rave.
Yet fulfil that command I give you
And remember with kindness
The name of Raphael."

So went Hagar from the land of Mamre.
And, Raphael, I too recall Heaven's glories
But they are now lost to you.
You remember too late what treasures were true
And indeed worth holding though others be lost.
For Hagar I would spare you
But it is not in my hands to do so.
You are damned by your own hand
And are beyond my reach.
Yet of all the Elohim
I would call you alone my brother.
From this time did five years passed
And not one night did Abraham find sleep
That he did not weep for Ishmael
Who he thought to be dead.
Even as, in Raphael's mercy,
I had perceived some light
In all the darkness of Heaven
Now did I witness the profoundest
Of the shadows of Heaven.
Michael, what moved him to such depravity
I know not nor would know
For this crime of his exceeded al others.
Whether cruel caprice moved his heart
Or some yet darker will
Or lunacy howling in his head
I shall not know
And here does my intelligence fail me.
Now did silver-bearded Michael
Descend once more from high Heaven
And came to Mamre where dwelt Abraham
And appeared before him,
Arrayed in royal cloth.
Purple and gold bedecked him
And the soft hides of beasts.
In burning brilliance did he appear
That Abraham was blinded 
To the darkness of his soul.
Now he worked his villainy
And spoke so to Abraham,
Even now mired in sorrows enough:

"Abraham, son of Terah,
Hear from me the will of God
And listen well that you might enact
That command He bids you do
If you would be of the faithful.
Adonai Yahweh asks of you a sacrifice
That you might demonstrate to Him
The perfection of your faith and love
For His throne and reign.
Yet heed well the word of Adonai Yahweh
For He asks not of you some mere libation
For even as the corrupt disciples of Satan
Pour out libations for the Shedim
And the shades of those that came before
These things are done most easily
And test not the profundity of fealty.
More than their weak religion
Does Adonai Yahweh require of His servant.
Indeed some much greater thing
Is the due of a king so great
As is the King of Heaven.
No less than this does your faith require;
That you sacrifice as a burnt offering
Your one beloved son, Isaac.
This is the true will of God.
Take your son hence to Moriah
And there, upon the hills,
Build an altar of stones
And of wood a pyre.
There strike down your son and burn him
That the smoke might rise to Heaven.
For as Adonai Yahweh reaches out His hand
To strike down His rebel son
So shall the father's arm be stretched out
To destroy his son.
It is most just in this way.
Deny not Adonai Yahweh
That which it is His to ask
But act with swiftness and with faith."

Would that Abraham have rebelled
And defied Michael's cruel command.
Yet he did not but made no complaint
Though his heart, robbed of the first
Was heavy with sorrow for the second.
Yet upon the dawning of the sun,
Bloodying the East in birth,
Abraham went out with his son
From Mamre to the hills of Moriah,
Taking with him a knife
And gathering as he went some sticks
By which to kindle flames to consume his son.
Outrage! Tyranny! Atrocity!
The very stones of the Earth cried out
And protested against Michael's crime
And the voices of the rocks and roots
Were heard in deep Chadel
And the Shedim came to know
Of that which Michael had devised.
To thwart this awful intent I did not delay
But flew swift-winged through passages
That wound through the darkness of the Earth
And sought the upper lands of men.
So came I to the lands of Moriah.
There did I perceive Abraham,
Going with his son unto the mountains,
Thus to amuse accursed Michael.
Isaac knew not of what fate was his
Should he ascend the mountain
But in the eyes of Abraham was awful torment,
His heart divided betwixt two tempers
Of pious faith and paternal love.
Such pain was his and he was made so weak
That he leaned sometimes upon his son
Or fell behind to weep unseen.
Then I could not check my tongue
But cried out, unwilled, to the wretched man
To persuade him from that path:

"Abraham, what are you doing?
Why must you do this terrible thing?
Fulfil not Michael's command
And bow not to this dark desire.
Why do you go to the mountain with your son?
You cannot hide your heart from me
And I perceive well your intent.
Is this an act of piety?
I implore you, turn back
And do not this thing that you would do.
You know not what it is
That Michael has asked of you.
What will you burn as your offering?
You truly do not know.
Yet I, Satanael, know what it is
To give up children to Michael's tyranny.
Countless multitudes of my children drowned
Beneath the waves by his tongue.
Yet you do not know what it is you do.
You burn not just flesh upon your fire
But your joy, your dreams, your very soul.
All that is sweet in the world to you
Shall become black smoke upon the wind
For the sake of Michael's cruel whim.
You destroy not just your son
But yourself also.
Do not this deed I beg you."

Yet Abraham heard not my words
And heeded not my pleading
But took up a stone into his
And cast it at me striking my brow.
Isaac also, that I would save,
Took up a stone and cast it.
Thus did they drive me from them.
Yet I felt no pain of those stones
For I was already full of pain.
Yet I would yield not that child
To Michael's cruel design
But sought some other ear to hear my prayer.
So I flew higher and then higher
To stand before those gates
That, having passed through from within,
Were ever barred to me without.
Thus I came to Heaven's gates
And there did I cry out,
Invoking my father's name
To summon him from within
That I might entreat him to be merciful
In dealing with his servant.
I called to that portal of impassive wood
And to those beyond these words:

"Adonai Yahweh, come forth from hiding
To hear him that was once your son
And loved you well though you knew it not.
Not for my sake have I come to these gates
That are most hateful to my eye
But for one of those of yours
That you would bear to suffer
Though I, your enemy, would bear it not.
Why do you ask of Abraham his son
When already one is lost to him?
Has he not loved you well
And been a most faithful servant to you.
Why then would you abuse him so?
You know as I know,
For I have suffered this at your hands,
What it is to lose a beloved son
For so is Satan lost to you.
Yet Abraham has loved you
As once I had loved you.
Will you then repay him with this treachery
As you so long ago betrayed your son.
Will you visit upon this pain,
He that has well served you,
Knowing well this pain in your own heart.
If indeed you have ever loved him
That was once your best beloved son,
If this love you have ever cherished
In the name of that love I entreat you
Spare Abraham his son."

Yet from beyond the walls came no reply
At first and I waited in silence.
Then at the rampart above the gate
Appeared a rank of figures, in a while,
And the looked down on me
With stern gazes and with bows.
One hundred Elohim knights stood above.
Then in another while, above,
I perceived that one whose audience I had sought,
Adonai Yahweh himself stood at the gate
And looked down on me with hatred
Yet not without some sorrow
As though he then relived that time
When I had first gone forever from his gates.
Arrayed in splendour was the king of Heaven
Yet, even so far beneath him,
I felt a weary burden of years heavy on him.
Not as great as once he was he seemed to me.
Yet with majestic voice he addressed me
With contempt and with wrath.
O what darknesses are there within us
That set us to drive swords
Into those that we would love the best.
With such anger did he seek to persuade himself
That truly he mourned not my loss
And with such defiance in my heart
Did I smother some love within me
That yearned once more for that one I had loved
So many years before this time.
Not this had I thought to find
There before the gates of Heaven.
Never had two so close
Been yet so far from the other.
So spoke the king of Heaven:

"So Satan, you come before me
To plead for the life of a son
Of some mortal man upon the Earth.
If that bond between a father and a son
Is so sacred to you why then did you betray
And turn against your own father
Your every strength and wits
When these things should have been employed
In the love of your beloved father.
Your treachery refutes your words
And all here would bear witness to it.
This love that you would invoke
And compel me by, yourself
Have you sundered its power over me.
Yet in one way do you words seem true.
Abraham indeed has been a faithful servant to me
And does love me as you do not.
For his sake I might spare his son
But not for yours, Satan,
Nor any love that you might call upon.
I have no love left for you.
Yet if indeed you spare Isaac
Then there is a price that must be paid
And you shall be the payer.
This is my decree to you.
If you would bargain for the son
Of my faithful servant Abraham
Who willingly would give him up for me
Then these two injunctions must you heed.
First is this: though I take him not
Isaac is yet mine and so his progeny.
Those that are descended of him
Shall be my nation and are sacred
Not Shedim or Nephilim may conquer them
And you shall not seek to take them back.
You must give to me as a payment
Isaac and his children
And they shall be unconquered on the Earth.
The second payment is a harder one
Though I am sure that you shall pay it.
If I am to be denied Isaac
As the burnt offering of Abraham
Then you must take Isaac's place upon the altar.
As he would have burnt
So shall Satan burn upon the altar.
This is what I demand
If you are to spare Isaac."

Adonai Yahweh spoke so to me
And even in that moment I knew
That the love which I had called upon
Was not now sacred unto him
Yet for me was it still some treasure
Worth preserving and for it
Would I give up much.
Thus did I bow my head before Heaven's gates
And accede to the tyrant's will
That I might spare my child this pain.

"Yes, Adonai Yahweh," I spoke,
"As you have willed it so shall it be.
Yet know this of which you would command,
Firstly, of that second thing:
Abraham is not of the great men of old
And has not the strength to destroy me.
His knife may cut me
But knife is there that he could forge
That would slay me 
Nor fire is there for him to kindle
That would consume me.
Indeed his knife shall wound
And that pain I would suffer gladly
As I have suffered before this pain,
First creating the Nephilim.
The flames of his fire may burn me
And this pain too shall be a blessing to me
That Abraham knows not this pain.
Yet none of these shall destroy
And I shall endure thereafter.
Then of the first thing you have willed.
So long as Isaac's children are yours
Then my hand shall not move against them
And the Shedim shall not win them back.
Yet not mine to command are the Nephilim
For they are free of my power.
Yet should this nation forsake your altar
And come before the Shedim
Then you have no recourse against me
For it is of their own will that they do this thing
And they shall be conquered by my greater nations
And they shall dwell in exile
Be it in Chaldee or else in Egypt.
Know also that they are but secure against the Shedim
Yet their nation shall be destroyed
Not by my hand but by one of the Elohim.
This do my eyes see clearly.
Those that I give to you,
Exile and ruin is their lot
Just as it is yours.
Thus have I acceded to your will
And go now to the Earth
To take upon the form of a goat
That I might be a sacrifice upon the altar.
Send then Raphael unto the Earth
That this cruel sacrifice might be abated.
I shall die in Isaac's place
But I shall live and I shall conquer
And this wrong will be undone
And Isaac shall be restored to me
As shall all men upon the Earth.
Great wrong have you done to me
And, so doing, you have destroyed yourselves.
I go now from your presence
And never again shall I invoke love between us.
No more dealing is there between.
Now there is but war."

So went I to the Earth
And unto the hills of Moriah
Where Abraham raised his knife
Above his quiet infant's breast
Upon the sacrificial altar of piled up stones.
There did I take upon the form of a he-goat
Whilst is was that Raphael
Went unto Abraham and stayed his hand.
These words he spoke to the man,
Bent over with the years and wit grief,
Whose face was stained with tears
Most bitter with salt and sorrow:

"Abraham, son of Terah,
I am Raphael of the Elohim
And I bring to you this command
From Adonai Yahweh, King of Heaven.
Your God is a merciful god
And would ask not of you
The one son that remains to you
And is now assured of your faith
And asks no more proof of you.
Most exalted amongst men are you,
Abraham, and high in God's estimation.
Take instead this he-goat
And offer this one instead of Isaac
Upon your altar and in the flame.
So has Adonai Yahweh willed it
And so shall you do.
Be now at peace Abraham
And rejoice in the mercy of God."

So was it then that I was taken to the altar
And for the Nephilim suffered again
The knife's deep bite
And I was consumed also by the flames
And my borrowed form became as smoke.
When the sacrifice was done
Abraham fell upon his knees and wept
And Isaac wept with him.
Raphael and Satan wept also
For all that had been lost and won
And those dark roads yet to be walked.
Now once more became solid the smoke
And my native form was restored to me
And I returned to deep Chadel
Just as Raphael returned to Heaven,
Leaving Abraham and Isaac on the hill,
Holding each other and weeping
And looking upon the world
As though it had become new to them.
As I stood atop the Spire of Opal and Ruby
And looked out across the city
It seemed to me that I had walked so far
Along the road yet it was just begun
And it would grow but steeper yet
As our path sought newer heights.
And another looked out from a tower
In high Heaven who had fled a mace,
Casting himself into the merciless waves.
Gabriel pondered now all that was
And whirled anew above his head
The new forged steel of his scythe.
He stood in thought of all that had been
And planned for tomorrow.
He resolved that as had Michael betrayed
The elder brother and the father's favourite
Such a custom he would not forsake
And where Michael now reigned,
He who sank yet deeper into corruption,
Gabriel would one day be prince.
Once more he looked out from his tower
Across the wide expanse of Heaven
And resolved that it should all be his.
For such resolution would three kingdoms pay dear
And the three races, Shedim and Elohim,
And of all the Nephilim
Would pay dearest for Gabriel's ambition
In those dark days that were to come.