Dragonthorn Chapter 11: Binah

It is written in the scriptures how the elohim called Yahweh discovered humans on a world that circled around her, and set apart from the humans a priestly people, the children of Abraham, to receive the oracles of Yahweh and worship only her, a female sun, even though Yahweh had been represented to them as a transcendent male warrior-king to avoid scandalizing them.

For the Hebrews (so named from the Semitic word for Immigrants) were immersed in a culture barely out of the hunter-gatherer stage, heavily dominated by the male, and extolling the virtue of masculinity above all else.

And it is also written how the elohim named Koth, with the assistance of Yahweh, had transplanted some of the humans to Gorpai, a mostly icy world that circled around Koth, and how Koth caused them to change by degrees into the nephilim.

And later Koth engineered the rise of family Gerash to rule all of Gorpai
according to laws he established through prophets, until Koth seized control of power directly through the agency of possessing the line of the ruling Gerashites, each patriarch in his turn.

But the elohim Binah noted how the gods of myth, which is what humans and nephilim believed the elohim to be, were always portrayed as having the power to create worlds and life. Yet Binah knew Yahweh merely discovered the humans, and even Koth's nephilim were mutations of preexisting human stock. Also the projects of the elohim were subject to the limitations of the physical laws that covered everyone.

Then Binah, who had no world of his own, proposed to create a world according to his own specifications, a world operating according to regularities of succession ordained by the elohim.

From that world, shortcut tunnels through space maintained by the elohim would link to the Earth and Gorpai, and human and mephilim would mingle together openly.

But Koth refused, and said no tunnel would link to Gorpai, and no nephilim would be permitted to enter Binah's proposed world.

Then Yahweh, an ally of Binah, said she would yield to Koth's long courtship with her, and permit him to sire a child on her, if he agreed to permit a permanent open link between Gorpai and Binah's proposed new world.

And Koth jumped at the chance, but he was required to make a solemn oath, which Binah knew would hold him firm, never to block access to Gorpai from Binah's new world, nor block the passage of nephilim between them.

Now when Koth and Yahweh came together in the act of love, Yahweh diminished herself, and withdrew the living portion of herself from half of her sun-body's own inner core, letting that half return to the state it was in before it woke up and became Yahweh.

Then when Yahweh and Koth attained their nearly infinite pinnacle of physical joy, Yahweh's reproductive ripple found an empty sun immediately, and Krista was conceived within the same sun that was the sun of mankind and also the body of Yahweh.

And Koth knew what had happened, because he found he had a spiritual link to his newborn daughter Krista which lay outside of creation, and it had formed in one instant, and not after the months and years it normally took for the ripple to find a fresh sun.

Then Yahweh spoke directly to Krista without using the spiritual link that bound together the suns, and at the bidding of her mother Krista severed her link to Koth as her first act as a conscious being.

And Koth was angered, because Yahweh had contrived a final end to his scheme of setting aside a private harem of elohim females, but it really was Binah who developed the strategy.

Koth could do nothing in retaliation, because he had sworn a solemn oath to permit passage between Gorpai and Binah's new world. But Binah had yet to create that world, and Koth doubted it would ever come to be.

Yahweh and Krista were in close physical proximity, and they had no need of the spiritual link of the elohim to communicate, yet at the bidding of Binah, they flooded their link with dark light, and on account of their unique closeness, the link inflated to a far greater diameter than the tunnels Koth and Yahweh had used to move people and goods between worlds.

Their link, in fact, became a great bubble, somewhat greater than the size of the sun itself, which was their shared body, but this bubble lay outside of creation, much as the tunnels and spiritual links between elohim also do. And for as long as Yahweh and Krista both shall live, this new pocket heaven shall continue to exist.

Then Binah and Sophia tapped into the bubble with their own tunnels, and even Koth did so as well, not only because of his oath to Binah, but simply because the bubble had now become the common arena between the five elohim.

Then Binah said, Behold, the laws in this place remain as yet indeterminate, and it remains for us to establish them as we will, for we are not constrained as we are by the laws that govern the heavens where we live.

And Binah brought into existence a giant stair with two steps, and set it to float in the center of the bubble suspended by winds, but it could not be seen, for light had not yet come to the bubble.

Then Sophia contrived a changing white light to illuminate the bubble, but this light was not confined to a small spot in the sky as are the stars and suns which shine upon worlds. Rather, the whole sky changed from the dark of night to glowing white every day, and this light also brought warmth.

And Sophia created seasons by causing the light to shine for timespan of two parts in three during summer days, but only one part in three during winter days, and equal parts on spring and autumn days. But there were no stars.

Then Koth set water flowing down the two steps in a roaring cataract many miles high, and on the far western edge of the bottom step the water fell off the stair and drifted through the bubble, where it was broken up into a fine mist. This mist was carried by the winds that suspended the stair until it reached the top of the stairs again far above and in the east, where the vapor fell as rain and kept the cycle going without end.

Yahweh built a dam of cliffs and mountains on the eastern wall of the Land We Know, and he called this dam the Glob Nab, and it was a sheer wall of rock thirty thousand feet high. Then the cataract pouring onto the lowest step was stopped, yet in four places water from behind the Glob Nab emerged near the base, and became three rivers which wound their way to the west over lands newly exposed by the building of Yahweh's dam.

And the first of those rivers was Armak, which flowed southwest through the land of Nath. In aftertimes men would build another dam in pale imitation of Yahweh, and form lake Enkaa upon this same river.

The second river was Arhena, which flowed due west and divided Nath from the land of Hamar.

The third and largest river was Sabik, which flowed northwest until it was joined by the river Arhena then flowed west to divide Hamar from the land of Alodra.

A fourth river named Nanki flowed north through Hamar to join the river Sabik, but it did not have its source on the Glob Nab, but arose instead from rainfall on the northern slopes of the mountains that divided Hamar from the lands of the Saiph League.

And the Sabik, swollen from the water of its three tributaries, twisted its way to empty into the western sea in a wide delta, and this vast swamp was called Murzi Bog.

Krista called the sea Thalury, and carved many coves and headlands into it, and set two large islands off the coast, and many lesser islands also. And the large islands were called Elendal and Avior.
The coasts extended north and south from the mouth of Sabik, far beyond the knowledge of the humans and nephilim who would come later, and they would settle many of Krista's far-flung coves and bays and capes and beaches, but there were ever more.

Then Binah brought forth on the Land We Know many growing things, and trees with leaves of many colors, red and green, yellow and gold, such that the land looked to be perpetually in the full glory of autumn as it was known on Earth. Yet Binah's trees were never bereft of leaves, even in winter. They fell from their trees individually after a span, and were replaced by another.

Some beasts were brought from Earth, and other beasts were introduced by the elohim after they had changed them from original Earth stock. And for the most part these creatures were benign, and fitted in well with the ecology of the Land We Know, and the sea Thalury, or they were herd animals which men and nephilim would tame later when they came. But no plant life was introduced from Gorpai, for it was too aggressive, and would soon displace all the tamer samples from Earth.

Koth saw that the animals would soon breed far beyond the ability of the Land We Know to support them, and chief among these animals, he knew, would be the human beings and nephilim themselves. So Koth introduced to the Land We Know monstrous predators from their darkest dreams to keep them in check.

Then was seen in the Land We Know many trolls, and goblins, and Leviathan, the dragon under the sea who devoured those who foundered therein. But the most fierce predator of all was the winged dragons, who nested in aeries high above the Land We Know on the unassailable cliffs of the Glob Nab. Then all who went on two legs had to keep one eye on the sky, for they were the dragon's prey, as surely as the small creatures who went on four legs were ever the prey of eagles.

Then Koth thought himself revenged on Binah and the others by irreparably marring the world they were creating. But the predators created by Koth were taken to be strong threads woven into the growing tapestry that was the Land We Know, and the other elohim honored the wisdom of Koth, yet Binah sought a way to put a leash on the dragons.

Then time was come for the Land We Know to be peopled by humans from Earth and nephilim from Gorpai. And Koth was first, for he sought to have his people settle the land early and order it more to his liking than if they were latecomers.
Koth established a temple atop a mighty cape south of Murzi Bog, ringed on three sides with steep cliffs. And this temple was the permanent home of the end of the tunnel that linked to his temple on Mount Koth on Gorpai.

Through that tunnel came many nephilim, but first were the White Beards of family Gerash, from the Middle Lands of Gorpai, and they settled both fertile banks of the mighty river Sabik as far as the foothills of the Glob Nab, and built the cities of Sadl, Atria, and Kochad.

Then came the Brown Beards of family Bellon, one of the two original sea-faring peoples of Gorpai who dwelt now in the West Lands, and they came together with the Red Beards of Family Antero. Family Bellon built the city of Mintara on the Isle of Avio, but Family Antero settled the coast lands which stretched south from the river Sabik farther than men knew, and they were the first to build ships in the new world, but more often than not, these ships carried soldiers and weapons of war rather than goods.

The Gold Beards of family Sala came next, they of the East Lands of Gorpai, and they established their farms in the north ringing the Eliath Wood, which also they traversed by many paths. And the names of their cities were Glenah and Shedal and Linan.

But when revolution was come to Nath and the men abjured their god Yahweh, the nephilim of Linan would be driven west to join their brothers in
Menkal, and the men of Nath would seize their farms. Last to come from Gorpai were the Black Beards of family Larund, who also made the East Lands their home. In the Land We Know, family Larund built the city of Difda on the isle of Elendal, and also settled the coastlands that stretched to the north farther than the ships of men would ever go. And they too built ships, and carried the grain and livestock of the Gold Beards to many ports, but their chief occupation was the capture of fish.

Next was come Yahweh, who established his temple in the land of Nath on the grassy plains east of the farms of family Sala, where he fixed the exit to the tunnel leading from Earth. The entrance side of the tunnel was in no fixed position, but moved ever and anon about the Earth according to the purposes of Yahweh.

Now in this time on Earth the federation of twelve tribes comprising the children of Israel had formed a kingdom, which after a time was divided in two. One of these kingdoms, called Judah, was comprised of the tribes of Benjamin and Judah, and it remained strong and secure, and loyal to Yahweh. The priestly tribe of Levi, which had no fixed holdings of land, were also supported there.

But the other kingdom, called Israel, which was comprised of the tribes of Dan, Asher, Naphtali, Manasseh, Zebulun, Issachar, Gad, Ephraim, Reuben, and Simeon, had largely accepted the polytheism of its pagan neighbors and grown weaker until it was conquered by the king of Assyria, Sargon II.

Sargon deported all of the people of those tribes he had captured, and settled them far to the east in Medea, where they slowly lost their tribal identity through interbreeding with the people of that land, for that was the deliberate policy of the Assyrian Empire as a solution to the ancient problem of tribalism.

But many of the people of the ten tribes of Israel escaped to Judah and united themselves to the people there. Only the remnant which Yahweh brought to the Land We Know retained their original identity and forms of worship, but this he did to fulfill his promise to Abraham to raise up from his loins a great nation, and he would not be held faithless in his covenant.

But he selected only those families who rejected the worship of Baal, and who rejected the golden calves which were set up in Bethel and Dan, and who disdained the cult prostitutes and all other forms of idolatry. Only a small remnant with zeal for Yahweh alone was permitted to colonize the new world, and this remnant numbered about seven thousand.


The tribe of Ephraim built the city of Hadal far in the north and east of the Land We Know, in a cool vale between Shaula Wood and the Glob Nab front, and Hadal became the leading city in Nath.

The tribe of Simeon built the city of Adjara on the western edge of the Shaula Wood, nigh to the temple of Yahweh, and it was a great crossroads in that land, and the center of the weapons trade that came to be in later years.

The tribe of Reuben built the city of Mizal at the foot of Mount Narutha, but the land about was dry and impoverished, for the mountain cast a rain shadow. And ever the tribe of Reuben made war upon the nephilim of Linan to the north for the rich fruit of the orchards round about that city, until after the revolution when the humans prevailed and drove all of their rivals out of Linan, and extended the borders of Nath thither.

The tribe of Gad built the city of Kabark on a rich plain south of the river Armak, but the land lacked for water. So they built a mighty work, a dam of cunning stonework upon the river, and backed up the river into a man-made lake called Enkaa. Then the tribe of Gad dug many canals and ditches from the lake toward Kabark, and using this water they planted farms that became the envy of the Land We Know.

The tribe of Dan built the city of Fatho at the foot of the Glob Nab wall, where there were many natural caves and mines dug by men, and there they reaped the underground treasures buried there by the elohim with the founding of the Land We Know.

And those were the five tribes which founded the nation of Nath in the northeast of the Land We Know.

The tribe of Issachar founded the city of Nyduly in the forest of that name, which stretched along the southern bank of the river Sabik, and they were skilled in felling timber and all manner of woodcraft. But their women were the first to fall away from the exclusive worship of Yahweh, for they embraced Krista, and they enticed their men to worship Krista also. And the sacred pool of Krista in the heart of the Nyduly Wood was a second way to travel to and from Earth.

The tribe of Asher built the city of Alnitar on the river Nanki, and they too fell away from Yahweh to follow after Krista. But Krista herself was troubled by this, and she greatly honored her father Yahweh herself, obeying him in every thing he asked, and she never asked her Immigrant followers to abandon him or his law, although her Gentile followers were released from observing the purely ceremonial aspects of the Mosaic Code.

Fish migrated from Thalury to the source of the river Nanki, and many men in Alnitar made a living catching them.

The tribe of Zebulun built the city of Eltan far up the valley of the river Nanki, and it was a crossroads in the trade between the Saiph League and Hamar, and caravans would unload their goods in Eltan and be set on rafts made from logs felled from the endless forests covering the mountains to the south. The rafts then were allowed to drift down down the river to Alnitar or Sadl, and after they were unloaded the rafts themselves would be sold as raw timber. Eltan, too, had converted to the worship of Krista.

The tribe of Naphtali built the city of Wazol at the very headwaters of the river Sabik, and the Glob Nab loomed over it. Wazol was a rival city to Fatho, for it was engaged in mining as well, and if ever one city tried to corner the market in one metal or another, the other city would undercut their prices. Yet the city of Wazol retained Yahweh as their only God, and looked with disdain on the heretics who followed after Krista.

The tribe of Manessah built the city of Menkant in the valley of the upper Sabik between Mount Rasal and Mount Menkant, and it was the leading city among the five tribes in the south, which formed the kingdom of Hamar, and Menkant remained loyal to Yahweh alone

So it was that the two tribes which sprang from the loins of Joseph were in the leading role in the lands of humans in the east of the Land We Know, Ephraim in the north and Manessah in the south.

Now when the first colonists from Gorpai and Earth came to live in the Land We Know, before any cities had been built there, it was the first time that large numbers of humans and nephilim had lived together in one place. and some of the nephilim were deemed beautiful by some the humans, and likewise some of the humans were deemed beautiful by some of the nephilim, and the two kinds were often married and given in marriage.

And it came to pass that the offspring of some of these unions were like the nephilim, in that they had two organs of generation, but they were unlike them in that instead of the two male organs of the yeng, or the two female organs of the yen, they had one male organ and one female organ.

So a fifth gender had come into being, and Binah called them jen, and claimed them as his own people. And the jen gathered together in the northwest of the Land We Know, and shared the land of Menkal with the Gold Beards.
But they were a coastal people, and Sukai, Suhair, and Akamar were their cities. The jen had a king in Akamar, who ruled all of Menkal, even the isle of Elendal, but the Gold Beards and Black Beards and jen were all fellow subjects of the king, and there was peace and a deep friendship between the two kinds.

Now Koth, by agreement, could not bar passage to the Land We Know to any nephilim summoned by Sophia, for she was appointed to be the goddess of yen, even as Koth was god of the yeng. So it came to pass that Sophia required in the Land We Know the presence of the Amazons who dwelt in secret still in the East Lands, and who kept alive Sophia's doctrine even after the cruel execution of Ariel many centuries before.

And Koth, for his part, was glad to be rid of them, even if they had to defile his temples in passing through, for he knew not that a secret society of his enemies yet lived and thrived on Gorpai.

Then was come into the Land We Know the followers of Sophia, and they settled the lands around the lower reaches of the river Sabik. Their chief cities were Sadl and Atria and Kochad, and near Kochad they built a temple to Sophia, but Atria was the capital. Then was the Land We Know completely colonized by men and women, yeng and yen, and jen.

Binah realized that a world with five different genders living together would be confusing when the chief languages of both humans and nephilim were intended to deal with only two languages. So Binah reformed the language of the Land We Know to deal with the anticipated problem.

A human male adult was a man, or men if taken as a group, and a young human male was a boy. Of them one would say, "He is strong" and "His muscles are large".

A human female adult was a woman, or women if taken as a group. Of them one would say, "She is beautiful" and "Her hair is long".

A jen was both male and female, and jen referred to the adult form, singularly or as a group, while jist referred to a young jen. Of them one would say, "Che is intelligent" and "Hez counsel is sound" and "We will follow hem."

A nephilim male adult was a yang, or yeng if taken as a group, and a young nephilim male was a dirk. Of them one would say, "Hy is tall" and "Hyz spear is heavy."

A nephilim female adult was a yin, or yen when taken as a group, and a young nephilim female was a doll. Of them one would say, "Sha is very shy" and "Har manners are well-bred".

Now Koth had long promised eternal life to warriors who died spreading his rule on Gorpai, but this was a lie and an empty promise, because Koth had no such power to grant an afterlife to nephilim. And on Earth many longed for a second life, where those who had been faithful to Yahweh would receive a reward and the wicked would earn everlasting contempt. For it seemed to offend the justice of Yahweh that the wicked would often gather to themselves the riches of the world and enjoy a long life, while the righteous poor would earn only a short, difficult life. But Yahweh made no such promises in the scriptures, and he had no power to grant such a promise in any event, for even he was subject to aging and death.
Yet the Land We Know was ordered by the elohim from its very beginning, and it was entirely subject to their power. And also Binah knew from the Library of Ull that the greater community of elohim had long anticipated the discovery of life based on electricity and light (unlike the greater powers locked inside the atom which formed the basis of elohim life) and they had prepared a place called the Elysian Fields far larger than a world and far larger than the Land We Know, which would be their final home, if only the humans and nephilim could win through Koth's barrier of silence.

And Binah knew also that the tunnels which allow travel between distant points in space also allow travel between distant points in time, but this power rested only with the great ones among the elohim, and not with Koth or Binah.

But Binah could foresee a time when every human and nephilim and jen who ever lived might someday attain to the Elysian Fields for a second chance at life. Binah, according to his agreement with Koth, could speak not a single word of this to Sophia, Yahweh, or Krista, but Binah was not prevented by the agreement from revealing it to jen.

It was to jen scribes that Binah dictated this book, and nothing prevents those scribes from subsequently distributing the work to servants who have the ear of the other elohim held under the Ban of Koth.

And Binah was curious how humans and nephilim and jen would react if they were given a second life. So Binah proposed that the inhabitants of the Land We Know experience an afterlife, for it was the bottom step of a twin stair, and the elohim made long labors to prepare the higher step as the place they would go after their first life.

But Koth was deep in the counsels of the elohim for the government of the Land We Know, and eternal life for the inhabitants he refused, unless it was bound up with the life of his dragons.

And Binah agreed to this, that as long as at least one dragon lived in the Land We Know, humans and nephilim and jen would experience a second life, and move on to the higher step. But of the wonders of the higher land no report has ever been made to the living of the lower land.

And each of the genders in the Land We Know was apportioned an elohim to govern them. Koth was the god of yeng, and his law held sway chiefly in the Saiph League in the desert southwest of the Land We Know, and he ruled directly from his temple near Eniph.

But part of the time Koth was also on Gorpai, and he went by many names, for in every age since the world war on Gorpai he directly possessed the Gerash patriarch.

Sophia was the goddess of yen, and she too went clad in flesh, but only used a single name, Ariel, who was the first nephilim to be united with the gods. But unlike Koth, little contamination entered into the bond between Ariel and Sophia, because their serial lives continued by taking possession of infant dolls before they had developed separate personalities.

Yahweh held himself aloof from flesh and vowed to never experience incarnation.
At the time of the creation of the Land We Know, Binah and Krista also had not taken possession of one of the humans, nephilim, or jen, but they did not hold incarnation to be an evil of itself.

And this Binah decreed to set apart the Land We Know from Earth and Gorpai: The inhabitants would possess special powers, according to the gender they were born with, and also according to the gender they were attracted to, yet these powers would be apportioned at birth and not be the result of choice, lest one kind of power come to dominate the others.

Therefore in the Land We Know, gender is not a matter of choice, just as it is not a matter of choice on Earth and Gorpai. But neither is the gender that one finds most attractive a matter of choice in the Land We Know, which some believe is the case on Earth and Gorpai.

And there are twenty-five possible preferences.

Eight of those preferences can not result in offspring from their union, so persons with those orientations are called recreationals. The other seventeen orientations are open to the possibility of reproduction, so they are called breeders.
When King Ravenmaster was put to the sword, and the temple of Yahweh was razed to the ground in the Revolution*, and it was thought that reason reigned supreme in Nath, Yahweh turned away from the men of the Land We Know and departed, and with his passing, the powers that men enjoyed also passed away, but from the beginning it was not so.

A gay is a man who prefers other gay men. These recreationals are found mainly in the city of Alnitar in the land of Hamar, and many gays throughout the Land We Know migrate there. Before the Revolution their power was stonecutting. Many of the statues and the stonework that dot the Land We Know was produced by gay bottoms. A gay top had the greater power, and could bore tunnels into solid rock. Many of the mines at Fatho and Wazol were delved by them, and all of the roads and tunnels connecting the major cities of the Land We Know were the work of gays acting in concert with straight men, who laid the stone after it was cut to shape.

A straight man prefers a straight woman. These breeders are found throughout the Nath Empire, for after the Revolution non-straights are regularly shown to the border when they are identified and come of age. Half of the offspring of straight men are boys and the other half are girls. Straight men were formerly gifted by Yahweh with the power to move stone. The lesser works of the Land We Know, such as city buildings and the five temples, were built by weak straight men, but the greater works, such as the wall that encloses the entire southern and eastern border of Menkal, as well as the Enkaa Dam, were produced by strong straight men.

A bauble is a man who prefers knot jen. These breeders are found in the city of Rasal in the land of Hamar, as well as Suhair in the land of Menkal near to the temple of Binah. One- fourth of the offspring of baubles are girls, one-fourth are boys, one-fourth are jists, and one-fourth are dirks. Before the Revolution baubles had the power to control the winds, and a sea captain with a bauble on board his ship would never find himself becalmed. But their control of winds does not extend high enough to reach the clouds, so baubles cannot affect the weather.

A trinket is a man who prefers merry yeng. These recreationals are found mainly in the city of Menkant in the land of Hamar, but many also migrate to Difda on Elendal Island to be with merries there. Before the Revolution, trinkets had the power of weather control, so they were very much like baubles. A weak trinket could bring rain to a parched farm, but a strong trinket could change the very climate of the Land We Know. Yet they were circumspect in the use of their power, and they dared not anger the elohim in this respect, for many have earned swift death in this manner.

A tyke is a man who prefers muffle yen. These breeders are found mainly in the city of Wazol in the land of Hamar, but many are also found in the city of Kochad in the far east of Alodra. Half of the offspring of a tyke are jists and the other half are dirks. Before the Nath Revolution, the power of tykes was clearing land and felling trees. Most of the farms in the Land We Know owe their existence to the tykes of old. The fertile plains of eastern Alodra and southern Nath once lay beneath a great single forest that was divided in twain by many tykes to become Shaula Wood and Nyduly Wood. Yet the power of tykes, along with the power of all men, belongs to history alone, and only their mute works stand in silent testimony to the greatness men once possessed before they held Yahweh in contempt.

A lesbian is a woman who prefers other lesbian women. These recreationals are found mainly in the city of Nyduly in the land of Hamar, and in the surrounding Wood. Lesbians are granted by Krista the power of pyrokinesis. A lesbian femme can boil water or cook food, but a lesbian butch can create large flames and explosions, so they make a formidable resource for a general in battle.

A straight woman prefers straight men. These breeders are found chiefly in the Nath Empire, and bear offspring of boys and girls with equal probability. Straight women are granted by Krista the power of persuasion; the strong ones are capable of possession after the manner developed by Binah for Sophia.

A bent is a woman who prefers snap jen. These breeders are found in the city of Eltan in the land of Hamar, as well as the city of Sukai on a small island between Elendal and the mainland. Three-fourths of the off-spring of bents are girls, and one- fourth are jists. A bent has the power of freezing, from small quantities of food to entire lakes or sections of a river. Once a year, the bents of Eltan freeze the river Nanki and produce a dam, and for a time before it melts again, the upper vales of the Nanki are flooded, which irrigates the fields all around.

A shag is a woman who prefers predator yeng. These breeders are found in the city of Melak in the land of Alodra, and also the city of Shedal in the land of Menkal. Half of a shag's offspring are boys and half are jists. The power granted to shags by Krista is to grow green things, and much of the beauty of the Land We Know is from the care and maintenance of many weak shags and their gardens, but a strong shag can turn an entire field into a cornucopia, if the soil is willing and the water is there. For the deserts of the Saiph League are so parched not even the strongest shags can make them green.

A tribade is a woman who prefers snatch yen. These recreationals are often found in the city of Piblo in the land of Alodra, on the north bank of the river Sabik, and also the city of Rynet, up the river on the tributary river Armak. Tribades are killers. The weak ones are indomitable in one-on-one combat, but the strong ones have the power to drop whole swaths of the enemy. If the cause of a person's death cannot be determined, it is probably the work of a tribade. Yet despite their fearsome power, most tribades are very gentle, and will only resort to force at great need.

A flex is a jen who prefers another flex jen. These breeders are found chiefly in the city of Akamar in the land of Menkal. Half of the off-spring of a flex are jists, one-fourth are girls and one-fourth are dolls. The power granted to them by Binah is to communicate over great distances. A weak flex can communicate instantly with another flex. The strong ones can communicate with anyone, mind to mind, even with post-Revolution men who are unacquainted with enchantment.

A knot is a jen who prefers bauble men. These breeders are found in the city of baubles, Rasal in the land of Hamar, but many are also found in Suhair in the land of Menkal, where they tend to the temple of Binah and guard the Wall of Menkal, which they can pass over at will. For the power granted by Binah to knots is to jump very high, or even, for the strong ones, to indulge in true flight. But not even strong knots can carry heavy loads through the air. One-fourth of the offspring of a knot are girls, one-fourth are boys, one-fourth are jists, and one-fourth are dirks.

A snap is a jen who prefers bent women. These breeders are found in city of bents, Eltan in the land of Hamar, but an enclave of snaps is also found in the city of Sukai in the land of Menkal, near Akamar, the capital. Half of the offspring of snaps are girls and half are jists. The power given to the snap by Binah is to indulge in shapeshifting. Snaps range in power from the ability to appear as any person to the ability to appear as any object of similar size. A strong snap can appear as a bush, for example, but never a tree.

A twink is a jen who prefers bear yeng. These breeders are found in the city of Eniph in the Saiph League, where they attend the nearby temple of Koth, and they also live in nearby Zuben Well. The offspring of a twink are one-fourth boys, one-fourth jists, one-fourth dirks, and one-fourth dolls. Binah has granted to twinks the power of transmutation.

The weak ones can transform materials with a touch, the strong ones can make changes remotely, but in both cases, the transmutation lasts only so long as the twink lives. Many have purchased gold thinking it was laboriously mined from the Glob Nab at Fatho or Wazol, only to find their treasury filled with base metal years later after the death of a nameless twink.

A plunge is a jen who prefers snare yen. These breeders are found in the oasis city of Markal and the mountain town of Toturo, both in the Saiph League. Half of their offspring are jists and half are dolls. A plunge is a thinker. Even a weak plunge is a genius, with the ability of perfect, local precognition for a few moments, which makes them nearly impossible to kill. A strong plunge can slow time outside of hezself for an entire area, yet the source of this power over time rests with Binah alone, who founded the physical laws of the Land We Know.


A trite yang prefers trite yen. These breeders are found in the land of Alodra, which unlike post-Revolution Nath does not expel those who are different, but the king of Alodra at least must be trite. The off-spring of trite yen are half dirks and half dolls. Koth has granted them the power of life extension, but not to heal. The touch of and there was no fodder to raise animals there. A strong trite yang will confer immortality, and trite yeng themselves are immortal, but they and the beneficiaries of their touch are not then immune to accident or murder, and even the healing touch of a trite yin cannot heal the removal of one's head by a sharp blade.

A rough is a yang who prefers other yang roughs. These recreationals are found solely in the island city of Mintara in the Saiph League. Koth has granted roughs the power of diving, ranging from a number of minutes to an indefinite time underwater. Roughs make their living bringing forth the treasures under the surface of Thalury, and they can repair the ships of allies with damage below the waterline, and sink the ships of enemies with explosives they plant under their keels. But the worst enemy of the rough is Leviathan, who devours them.

A bear is a yang who prefers twink jen. These breeders are found in the city of twinks, Eniph, in the Saiph League, but they also live in the near-by desert town of Zuben Well. Their offspring averages one-fourth boys, one-fourth jists, one-fourth dirks, and one- fourth dolls. Koth has granted bears the power of telekinesis, ranging in power from the ability to move small objects to shifting rivers from their courses. Yet a bear cannot move hyzself, except by walking.

A merry is a yang who prefers trinket men. These recreationals are found in the city of trinkets, Menkant in the land of Hamar, but a large enclave of merries are also found in the city of Difda on Elendal Island in the land of Menkal. Koth has granted merries the the ability to train and control animals. The weak ones can speak to animals, the strong ones can control them, even dragons. For Koth refused to allow the power to control his dragons to pass to those who owed allegiance to the other elohim.

A predator is a yang who prefers shag women. These breeders are found in the city of shags, Melak, in the land of Alodra, but many are also found in Shedal nigh to the Eliath Wood in the land of Menkal. The offspring of predators averages half boys and half jists. Predators have been granted by Koth the power to generate blasts of sound, ranging from stun to kill. So they are used as "living artillery" in the wars of the Land We Know. But they can also serve as heralds and issue commands across a battlefield, for their voices are far greater than aught else that lives.

A trite yin prefers trite yeng. These breeders are found chiefly in the land of Alodra, where the ruling queen in Atria must be trite. The offspring of trite yeng are half dirks and half dolls. Sophia has given to them the ability to heal, from simple self-healing to the ability to cure all, but they cannot heal old age or extend life indefinitely. If a trite yin journeys to Earth or Gorpai* sha loses her power to heal, yet if a human or nephilim is healed by har in the Land We Know, this healing is true, and when they return to the other worlds, they remain healed.

A bliss is a yin who prefers other bliss yen. These recreationals are found in the city of Caph in the Saiph League, but many also are found in Sadl, in the land of Alodra, on the lower reaches of the river Sabik. Sophia has granted the bliss power to copy the powers of others, but only according to their strength or weakness as a bliss. A strong bliss can temporarily cancel another person's power when they make a copy. But a bliss of any degree can only copy one person's power at a time, and this power is dumped when they copy the power of another person.

A snare is a yin who prefers plunge jen. These breeders are found in the city of plunges, Markal, in the Saiph League, as well as in the nearby town of Toturo at the mountain pass leading down into Alodra. Their offspring averages half jists and half dolls. A snare is an intangible, even the weak ones have from Sophia the power to achieve perfect camouflage. A strong snare can literally walk through any barrier, even a great one like the Wall of Menkal, unless the barrier is protected by the spell of a muffle.

A muffle is a yin who prefers tyke men. These breeders are chiefly found in the city of tykes, Wazol, in the land of Hamar, but many are also found in the city of Kochad in the land of Alodra. Their offspring averages one-fourth girls, one-fourth boys, one-fourth jists, and one-fourth dirks. Sophia has granted muffles the power to shield a single person or a wide area from arrows and missiles with a spell of enchantment, and they can completely mute sound. Thus in combat a company traveling with a muffle can many times come upon an enemy unawares, but a muffle's shield is no help against a sword or axe wielded by a strong arm at close range.

A snatch is a yin who prefers tribade women. These recreationals are found mainly in the city of tribades, Piblo, in the land of Alodra, but a colony of them also exists up the river in the city of Rynet, also in Alodra. Sophia has given to snatches the power of light. They can illuminate wide areas at night or even blind a person with a bright burst of their light. Often a snatch is ordered to create a terrifying mirage to deceive enemies in wartime, but every night in times of peace the cities of Piblo and Rynet compete with each other to be called the Queen of Lights, and there are no cities in the Land We Know to compare to them.

The inhabitants of the Land We Know wearied of the predations of the dragons of Koth which multiplied in the Land, and many men and yang and jen of old took thought, and contrived to kill the dragons. But the deed was perilous in the uttermost, and these heroes are remembered in many songs to this day.

As the years wore on, the dragon slayers slowly gained the upper hand, the dragon's numbers dwindled, and Koth dared Binah to do nothing, since by divine agreement the afterlife promised to the people depended on the existence of at least one dragon. And at the last, when only the dragon Demonstick remained alive, Binah fashioned a sword made from a single diamond and called it Dragonthorn, and infused it with a powerful spell binding Demonstick.

And Binah declared that the eldest daughter of the ruler of Menkal (human or jen, it mattered not) would wield Demonstick, and the spell would remain unbroken for as long as she remained a virgin. And she was called the High Priestess of Binah, and dwelt in the Temple of Binah near Suhair in the Kingdom of Menkal. And when she held Dragonthorn in her hand, whatever she bid Demonstick to do, he would do it, even to allowing persons to ride upon him in the air as though he were a winged steed.

And to the High Priestess was given the oracles of Binah.

A plunge was given the power to foresee the next few moments, perhaps, but only the High Priestess of Binah was given the broad view of the future as though it were already history. Many people made pilgrimage to the Temple of Binah to consult the Oracle, and the gifts they brought were for the upkeep of the Temple and bread and meat for the priestesses.

And the High Priestess also delivered the commandments of Sophia and Yahweh and Krista so long as they remained without possession of flesh, for they spoke to Binah, and Binah communicated their words to his High Priestess without error.
But Koth was come in the flesh, and spoke for himself.

So the High Priestess was a role with great honor and privilege, but it was also a serious duty, and control of Demonstick hung by the slender thread of her virginity. To guard against the desecration of this office, a terrible penalty was set. If ever the High Priestess broke trust and lost her virginity, she would be rendered immortal by the king of Alodra and buried alive for all eternity in an incorruptible metal casket.

Dragonthorn Chapter 10: Israel

Moses was gone, but the real grunt-work of carving out a holy land for the chosen people was just beginning. The protege and successor of Moses, a man called Joshua, son of Nun, took command of the armed forces of the House of Israel and led them west over the Jordan into the promised land.

And the first city to fall into the hands of Joshua was the ancient settlement of Jericho, which is the oldest continuously inhabited walled city in the world.

On the plains of Jericho before battle was given, Joshua beheld the nephilim Michael with his sword drawn in his hand, and the angel of Yahweh moved near to him. Joshua also went unto him, and said, "Are you with us, or are you for our adversaries?"

And Michael said, "No" and Joshua fell into silent confusion. Michael went on: "As captain of the host of Yahweh have I come." And he gave Joshua detailed war orders.

Even as they spoke, the walls of Jericho were undermined by the mouth of the wormhole tunnel such that they stood with the most precarious support. Then the angel of Yahweh sent forth a sound that shook the earth, and the city walls fell flat to the ground, permitting Joshua and his army to rapidly occupy the city after a siege of only seven days.

After that conquest the angel of Yahweh was seen in the world never again, for it was in truth the angel of Koth, and to Koth at Gorpai it returned once more, with Michael carried aboard. And only three favors remained that Koth owed Yahweh.
But this had been an important favor. Bouyed by the victory over Jericho, the Immigrants would have the animal spirits to conquer the rest of Canaan.

The five kings of the cities of Jerusalem, Hebron, Yarmuth, Lachish, and Debir, fearing that the Immigrants would defeat them in detail, hastily created an alliance. But the House of Israel had grown strong in the desert and Jericho had given the Immigrants momentum. Joshua quickly defeated this alliance, and the territory of the Immigrants now extended from Kadesh-barnea to Gaza and many cities in central and northern Palesine.

Joshua partitioned all these lands among the remaining tribes that did not receive land in the Transjordan. But the Philistines, Moabites, and Ammonites continued to harrass the Immigrants long after they had been dispossessed of their cities, even into the period much later when the House of Israel was ruled by kings.

After the death of Joshua, the House of Israel had no formal ruler, but for the next two centuries a number of major and minor judges found themselves in positions of leadership over one or more tribes as the Immigrants continued to fight an insurgency among the people they had conquered. The reigns of the ones recorded in Scripture add up to about a hundred years. Between these periods, the Immigrants lived as a loose confederacy of tribes. Some of the Judges even reigned concurrently, but none of them ruled all of Israel until the time of Eli and his son Samuel, just before the coming of the monarchy.

Othniel, of the tribe of Judah, delivered the people from the rule of the Edomite king Cusham-rishathaim after he had subjugated the House of Israel for eight years.

Ehud, from the tribe of Benjamin, on the occasion of delivering the tribute of the Israelites to Eglon, reigning king of Moab, said to the king, "I have a private message for you." And Eglon caused all his servants to depart. Then Ehud said, "I have a message from Yahweh for you," and that message was in the form of a long dagger which was thrust into the king's belly.

After that, Ehud escaped to rally the House of Israel to slay ten thousand Moabites and bring all of Moab under Israelite subjugation for eighty years.
Deborah was the only female judge, and a prophetess. Together with Barak, son of Abinoam, with ten thousand Naphtalites and Zebulinites, Deborah defeated the Canaanite army, but its general, Sisera, was slain by a Palestinian woman named Jael who drove a tent peg through his temple with a mallet.

Gideon, from the tribe of Manasseh (together with only three hundred hand-picked soldiers) delivered Israel from the oppression of the Midianites, who would invade like locusts during harvest time and decimate the crops, leaving almost nothing for the children of Israel to live on.

And Gideon had seventy sons, for he had many wives, but Abimelech, Gideon's bastard son by his lowly handmaiden, had all of his brothers put to death save one, named Jotham, who escaped. And Jotham went to the city of Sechem and publicly laid a curse on Abimelech, who had declared himself the first king of Israel.

After Jotham's curse the House of Israel went into a state of rebellion for three years that ended only when Abimelech laid siege to a certain tower in the center of the city of Thebez where the women and children and old men had fled during the siege. There a woman cast a millstone down upon the head of Abimelech and gave him a mortal skull fracture. And with his dying breath Abimelecth ordered his armorbearer to run him through with a sword, lest men say ever afterward, "A woman killed him," which to a patriarch was a fate far worse than death by slow torture.

Following the traditions of the pagan gods of the land of Canaan, Jepthah the Gileadite vowed to his own Yahweh to make a human sacrifice of whoever was the first one to meet him when he returned home following the defeat of the Ammonites. After Jephthah laid waste to the twenty cities of Ammon, he returned home, and was met in his front yard by his only child, his daughter, who came out of the house playing tambourines and dancing. And Jephthah, true to his vow, sacrificed her to Yahweh, but this sacrifice was in vain, for it was not accepted by Yahweh, and in fact Yahweh did not even know of it until his temple was established in the kingdom of Nath in the Land We Know and a copy of the scriptures of the Immigrants came to him there.

In the latter days of the period of judges, Eli of the tribe of Levi was the chief priest, and the Immigrants also came to him to act in the role of judge between them. Eli was the first judge to be accepted by the whole House of Israel, but his own sons Hophni and Phinehas were greedy, and contrary to the Law they enlarged their own portion of the offerings made to Yahweh, and Eli knew this but refused to rebuke his sons.

And there was at this time a young man named Samuel who served Yahweh under Eli, and lived in his house, and Eli considered him almost another son.
One night Samuel began to hear voices, and Eli recognized that he was beginning to receive revelations from Yahweh. Eli instructed Samuel on how to listen, and Samuel did all that he was told.

But the words he heard were grievous for Eli and Samuel feared to speak them. In the morning Samuel came to Eli, but was silent, and Eli ordered him to speak, and he said may Yahweh punish Samuel if he did not speak.

Thus constrained, Samuel had no choice but to repeat the words of the vision and pronounce doom on the house of Eli. He said many of the descendants of Eli would die by the sword, and of those who escaped this, none would attain to old age. The remnant of his family would beg to be appointed to a priestly function that they may have at least a morsel of bread to eat.

A sign was given by Samuel so that Eli would know beforehand that this divine curse was coming true: Both of Eli's sons would die on the very same day.

And it came to pass in the lands nigh to the sea claimed by the tribe of Ephraim that all of the men under arms in Israel camped at Ebenezer, while the Philistines camped at nearby Aphek. In the battle that followed, thirty-four thousand men among the House of Israel were killed, severely wounded, or taken captive. And Eli's two sons Hophni and Phinehas were among the dead. When word of this reached Eli in Shiloh, Eli tipped back in his chair and struck the ground, breaking his neck.

Thus passed Eli, who had judged all of the House of Israel for forty years. And Samuel, already a renowned prophet, attributed the terrible defeat to the devotion of the Israelites to foreign gods, and exhorted them to return to Yahweh and offer worship to him alone.

So at Mizpah the people renewed their covenanted devotion to Yahweh and Samuel began to judge all Israel on that day, and under Samuel the Philistines were routed, and the territory from Ekron to Gath was restored to Israelite control. The Philistines were subdued for all the years of Samuel's life, and there was peace also between Israel and the Amorites.

When Samuel waxed old he appointed his sons Joel and Abijah to judge Israel in his stead, but his sons accepted bribes and perverted justice. So the elders of Israel came to the house of Samuel at Ramah and said, Now that you are old, and your sons do not follow your example, appoint a king over us, as other nations have done, to rule over us.

And Samuel tried to warn them all about the procedures of a king. He said, "The king will take your sons and make them serve in his army. He will set them to do his plowing and harvesting, and to make weapons of war and chariots. He will use your daughters as makers of ointments and cooks. He will take the best part of your fields and vineyards and groves and give them to his officials. He will take a tenth part of your increase to support his eunuchs and slaves, and over time you yourselves will become his slaves."

But the elders would not hearken to Samuel's warning. They insisted that Israel must become like other nations and have a king. Then in 1031 BCE Samuel annointed Saul of the tribe of Benjamin to govern all the people as their first king

And King Saul reigned for twenty years, defeating the enemies of Israel on all sides. He defeated in turn the Moabites, the Ammonites, the Edomites, the Philistines, Beth-rehob, and the king of Zobah. But Samuel had developed a personal grudge against the Amalekites over the years, and he still felt he spoke for Yahweh.

Samuel ordered King Saul to attack Amalek and spare no one, not the king, not the men and women under him, nor their children, nor their infants, nor even their animals and other property.

King Saul routed Amalek in the field put to death all of the Amalekite men, women, and children, but Agag their king he captured alive, and his troops took possession of their animals and other items of worth as war booty. But Samuel was greatly displeased, and said Saul had been rejected by Yahwah as king over his people on account of his disobedience of Samuel, which Samuel claimed was disobedience of Yahweh, even though Yahweh was out of the picture now.


And Saul was very sorry for his mistake of allowing his troops to take booty from Amalek, but Samuel refused to forgive him, and ordered that king Agag be brought before him i n Gilgal. Then Samuel himself killed Agag with a sword, and departed to Bethlehem, where he anointed a youth named David, son of Jesse, to be the new king of Israel.

David served for a time in the house of King Saul, but for ten years David was little more than a refugee fleeing before the wrath of the king when it became widely known that Samuel had withdrawn the divine mandate of kingship from Saul and had bestowed it upon this youth. Saul had lost the moral authority to be king, but he retained the actual power of kingship until his death in battle against the Philistines at Mount Gilboa.

Upon the death of King Saul in about 1011 BCE, David was consecrated king of Israel on the strength of his selection by Samuel, but this was recognized only by the tribe of Judah and the city of Hebron.

Ishbaal, son of Saul, was anointed king over the rest of Israel, and for seven years the land was torn by civil war between the allies of the house of David and the allies of the house of Saul, but the house of David gradually prevailed.
And the house of Saul itself was divided when Saul's general, Abner, after a quarrel with Ishbaal, reconciled with David and swore to aid David in bringing the rest of Israel to accept David as king over them.

After that, Ishbaal the king of Israel was slain while he slept, and the head was brought to David by the murderers, thinking they would be given a large reward for slaying David's mortal enemy. But David had the murderers themselves put to death, because he had no respect for their deed of killing an innocent man in his sleep.

Now David's power in Israel was unchallenged, and all the tribes of Israel came to him in Hebron and offered fealty to David as their king. And David was thirty years of age when he became King of the whole House of Israel.

Then David moved against the Jebusites, and captured the city of Jerusalem after defeating them in 1004. To Jerusalem David moved his wives and concubines and sons and daughters, and built the city up as the capital of Israel.

Then David defeated the Philistines at Baal-perazim, and again in the valley of Rephaim from Gibeon to Gezer. Of the Moabites David demanded tribute after defeating them, and he also defeated Hadadezer, king of Zobah, and the Arameans of Damascus who aided him.


After David's victory in the Valley of Salt, the Edomites became David's subjects as a close commonwealth of Israel rather than merely tributary to it, as befitting their origins as the descendants of Esau, twin brother of Israel.

David defeated the Ammonites outside their capital city of Rabbah, but spared the city, while defeating their mercenaries the Arameans at Medeba.

When David was on his death bed he shivered all the time. They piled blankets on him, but he was still cold. So finally they rounded up a virgin to crawl into his bed to give him heat, which she promptly did. But it was strictly business. The noble and kingly King David was a man with a very strong will, who never once took advantage of the situation.

"And the damsel was very fair, and cherished the king, and ministered to him: but the king knew her not."
 
David's wife Bathsheba was nearby, what was wrong with her body heat? At any rate, it is perks like deathbed virgin heating pads that has inspired men to become kings throughout history.

David revived enough to make his final words a command for David and Bathsheba's son Solomon to whack Joab, because David was exceedingly wroth with Joab for whacking his son Absalom. Solomon had Joab whacked in the Temple of Yahweh.

In 971 BCE David died at the age of seventy, after reigning in Jerusalem for thirty-three years. Then Solomon, son of David, was seated on his father's throne as King of Israel.

King Solomon eliminated his rivals and consolidated his claim to the throne in the years after David died. He reigned over a united kingdom in the period of ancient Israel's greatest prosperity.

Solomon introduced a system of taxation, slave labor, and foreign trade which financed the construction of the temple-palace complex on Mount Zion, adjacent to the old walled city of Jerusalem.

But in his private life he slipped into debauchery, with seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines, including many foreign women who often influenced him to lessen his devotion to Yahweh alone. To please some of these women, he used some money from his construction fund to build pagan temples in Jerusalem.

Upon the death of Solomon in 931 BCE, after a reign of forty years, the Kingdom was split into two separate states, with the ten northern tribes of the Kingdom of Israel moving its capital to Shechem, while the two southern tribes of the kingdom of Judah retained its capital at Jerusalem.

In 922 BCE Jeroboam I became the first king of the rump state called Israel. He built his capital first at Shechem, but them moved his court to Penuel east of the Jordan River.

To prevent the people from going to the temple in Jerusalem to worship, Jeroboam broke with Yawhist religion by introducing the worship of the golden calf at Bethel and the region of Dan, telling the people the golden calf was their Yahweh all along, and the feast days for the golden calf were timed to coincide with the feast days in Jerusalem.


Jeroboam reigned twenty-two years as the king of Israel, and when he died in 901 BCE he was succeeded by Nadab his son.

Nadab reigned over Israel for less than two years. In 900 BCE he was slain by Baasha of the tribe of Issachar during the siege of Gibbethon, and Baasha reigned as king in his stead. King Baasha transferred his capital to Tirzah, near Shechem.

As king, Baasha killed off the whole house of Jeroboam, yet he did not destroy the golden calf idols and return the worship of Israel to Yahweh alone.
Baasha reigned in Israel almost twenty-four years, and when he died, his son Elah ascended to the throne in 877 BCE.

After reigning for nearly two years, Elah drank to excess and was slain by General Zimri, who commanded half of his charioteers. And Zimri destroyed the whole house of Baasha, leaving no male heir alive, and ascended to the throne himself in a kind of military coup in 876 BCE.

But when the army heard that Zimri had killed the king and set himself up in his stead, they proclaimed General Omri as the true king of Israel and marched from Gibbethon to lay seige to Tirzah. When the wall of Tirzah fell, Zimri set fire to the palace and let it burn around him rather than be captured alive. And he had reigned a total of seven days.

But the people of Israel were divided, with half accepting General Omri as king and the other half proclaiming that Tibni, son of Ginath, should be king. But in 876 BCE Omri prevailed, and Tibni was put to death.

And King Omri founded Samaria and transferred the capital to the hilltop there. But Omri refused to reform the religion of Israel, and permitted the worship of the golden calf to continue. He died after a reign of twelve years and was succeeded by his son Ahab in 869 BCE.

King Ahab married Jezebel, daughter of the king of the Sidonians, and converted to her religion of Baal worship. He built a temple to Baal in Samaria, and during his reign of twenty-two years the prophet Elijah arose to preach in opposition to the worship of Baal introduced by King Ahab and his wife Jezebel of Tyre.

Ahab was killed in battle by the Arameans of Damascus and was succeeded by his son Ahaziah, who reigned nearly two years over the kingdom of Israel beginning in 850 BCE.

And Ahaziah, had been brought up by his parents Ahab and Jezebel to serve and worship only Baal. He died with no heir, and his brother Joram succeeded him as king in 849 BCE.

Joram was wounded in battle against the Arameans at Ramah, and retired to Jezreel to recuperate.

Then in 842 BCE, Elisha, who succeeded Elijah as the greatest prophet in Israel, anointed Jehu, lieutenant of Joram and son of Jerhoshaphat, as king over Israel. Elisha commissioned him to destroy the entire house of Ahab.

And Jehu formed a conspiracy against Joram, and drove his chariot to Jezreel where Joram lay ill from his wounds, and there he slew Joram and his ally Ahaziah king of Judah.

And when Jehu drew near to the gate of Jezreel to slay Jezebel, he saw the woman standing on the rampart of the wall, together with a number of court eunuchs.

Jehu told them to throw her off the wall, and when they did, Jehu rode over her body with his horse to ensure she was dead. And dogs ate the remnants of her body, so that no one could ever point to a tomb and say, "There lies Jezebel."
And the heads of seventy sons of Ahab was sent to Jehu in baskets.

Then Jehu slew Ahab's supporters, friends, and the priests of Baal, as well as forty-two kinsmen of King Ahaziah of Judah. And Jehu rooted out the worship of Baal from Israel, but he did not destroy the golden calves at Bethel and Dan.
During Jehu's reign of twenty-eight years, Hazael king of Damascus captured all the lands of Israel east of the Jordan River. And when Jehu died in 815 BCE, Jehoahaz his son succeeded him to the throne to rule over Israel from Samaria for seventeen years.

But Jehoahaz also did nothing about the golden calves at Bethel and Dan. He was defeated by the Arameans, and much of Israel was occupied until the end of the his reign. At one point, the kingdom's power was reduced to fifty horsemen, ten chariots, and ten thousand foot soldiers.

His son Joash succeeded Jehoahaz after his death in 801 BCE, and Joash ruled Israel for sixteen years.

Joash defeated the Arameans in three separate battles, and won back for Israel the cities of the Transjordan that had been lost. And when Joash died in 786 BCE he was succeeded by his son Jeroboam II, who ruled Israel for forty-one years.
Under Jeroboam II's long reign the Northern Kingdom reached the pinnacle of its wealth and power and territorial extent. The population of Israel exceeded 350,000 and the border of the nation extended from the river Orontes to the Mediterranean Sea. For a time, it was the leading power of the region.

Then in 746 BCE Zechariah succeeded Jeroboam II and ruled for only six months before he was assassinated by Shallum. This ended the dynasty of Jehu after four generations of his descendants, fulfilling a prophetic blessing that was given to Jehu after his deeds rooting out the seed of Ahab.

Shallum the Usurper, who was allied with Damascus, ruled Israel for only one month before he was killed by Menahem, a general of the army of Israel in 745 BCE.

Menahem greatly strengthened the kingdom, but he was cruel, putting down revolts without mercy, and he was forced to pay heavy tribute to the Assyrian Empire. Uncharacteristically, he died a natural death, and Pekahiah son of Menahem succeeded his father to the throne in 738 BCE.

Pekahiah reigned less than two years before he was killed in 737 BCE by Captain Pekah, son of Remaliah, his military adjutant, in the citadel of the royal palace at Samaria, aided by fifty men of Gilead.

Isaiah made note of an alliance between King Pekah and King Rezin of Aram that threatened King Ahaz of Judah. But this was the time the Assyrians made their bid for great power. Under Pekah's reign the kingdom of Israel was reduced to solely the lands of Ephraim and parts of Manasseh. Then in 732 BCE King Pekah was slain by Hoshea, son of Elah.

In the fourth year of his reign, Hoshea was summoned to the court of Shalmaneser to explain his failure to pay the 1,000 talents of tribute required of him. He was imprisoned, and the Assyrians attacked Israel from 727-725 BCE. The province of Samaria became, for all intents and purposes, a vassal of Damascus governed by military officers.

In 721 the Assyrian army was withdrawn to secure the succession of Sargon II after the death of Shalmaneser.

In 720 Sargon II occupied all of Israel and deported the people to the east, where they soon lost their identity forever as separate tribes through intermarriage with the Medeans. But a remnant of all the tribes of the Northern Kingdom were taken by Binah to colonize the Land We Know.

Chapter 9: Ariel

When the prophet Zadkiel came before Koth Incarnate, in the person of Israel, he abased himself on all fours in the presence of Israel and Kirodiel Gerash and brought bad tidings of his defeat at the Battle of Aramel.

And Israel was unhappy, but Kirodiel remained sanguine, for he had held back a greater part of the armed forces of family Gerash in reserve, and he knew also that King Turel was a formidable opponent, so the initial setback was not unexpected.

Then Zadkiel revealed the raid on his camp in which Kandiel set Sophia-Ariel free and made good their escape to the city, and Israel became exceedingly wroth, for he had intended Zadkiel to use Ariel only as bait to draw Turel and Kandiel out to the field of battle. In his anger Israel drew his sword and took the head of Zadkiel without a further word. Thus ended the life of the first prophet of Koth by the hand of Koth himself.

And from that day Koth became his own prophet, and no living man knew Israel was really Koth in nephilim flesh save for Kirodiel. Then Kirodiel the patriarch of the White Beards appointed Israel as head of the Eyes of Koth and the supreme field-marshal of the Gerash army.

But Israel was not valiant. He contemplated war in the west for two years, but made no move except to post the Eyes of Koth in an unbroken ring around the city, and he also garrisoned the road leading to Aramel in diverse places.

During those two years Sophia Incarnate, in the person of Ariel, had not been idle. For the angel of Binah descended from the sky and made landfall near Aramel and Ariel climbed inside. Inside the angel there was room enough for one person, and Binah had prepared his angel to support life high above Gorpai where there was no air.

Then the angel of Binah lifted Ariel into the heavens in a great arc, and made landfall again in the far west of the East Lands, which were home to the Gold Beards.

Ariel emerged from the angel of Binah in the full sight of many witnesses, and afterward Ariel was taken to the Patriarch of family Sala and took counsel. She spoke of her victory at Aramel, and of her spies in the city of Koth who reported that Israel meditated war against all of Gorpai. And the spies also said his strategy was that he would pick each family off one at a time using his full strength to overawe them each in turn, and by the time the remaining families took thought to form an alliance together against him it would be far too late.

So Ariel counseled that the Sala patriarch send an expeditionary force to the west to join with the Black Beards, and when they drew nigh to their chief city Ariel would appear again from the sky and take counsel with the patriarch of family Larund.

This the ruler of the Gold Beards agreed to do, because the angel of Binah had established Ariel's authority without question in his mind, so Ariel returned to Aramel for a time, and dwelt in great peace and happiness with her dearest friend Kandiel.

Then a number of months later the angel of Binah appeared again and took Ariel to the chief city of the Black Beards in the far east of the Eastern Lands just as the forces of the Gold Beards were approaching and raising the alarm of family Larund.

Ariel took counsel with the commanding officer of the Sala expeditionary force and the patriarch of the Black Beards, and advised them to cross over the Ice which divided the East Lands from the West Lands, which was almost exactly on the other side of Gorpai from Mount Koth in the Middle Lands. Then they would come to the realm of the Red Beards of family Antero, and to their city Ariel agreed to make one more flight to take counsel again.

But as for the Brown Beards of family Bellon, Ariel would not avail herself of the angel of Binah again, but come there herself overland, and there, so she hoped, the four united families would spring their trap on family Gerash.

Now King Turel, with the aid of Kandiel and her Amazons, had prevailed in the Battle of Aramel as it is recounted in the Book of Kandiel, but the king knew time was not his ally. For he himself waxed old, and he knew his death swiftly approached, and none believed Kirodiel would appoint his like as successor king.

So the king commanded Ariel, Kandiel, the Amazons, and all who would go with them to embark on the quest long in preparation to sail from Aramel across the sea until they reached the far shore in the uttermost west of the Middle Lands. Thence they were to ascend the foothills and mountains that led ever up to the Ice, the ancestral homes of family Gerash, where many provisions were laid up against the day of a third world flood.

But there in the caves and tunnels of the ice fierce battle was assured, for the stores were defended by the vigilance of the Patriarch's forces from any who would raid them, whether from east or west. If they prevailed, then continuing due west for many leagues, the ice would end, and descending once more the travelers would come to the West Lands and the fastnesses of the Brown Beards, the seafaring family Bellon, who are no friends of the Gerash patriarch, and would welcome any refugees from the Middle Lands.

Then Ariel thanked King Turel for his faithfulness and assistance, and took her leave of him. With Ariel went also Kandiel, all her Amazons, and hundreds of others who had fled to Aramel to escape the harsh reforms of Koth.

As King Turel had foreseen, the Ice was defended, and there was hard fighting before the exiles won through, and barely half of the refugees who had set out from Aramel walked down to the shore of the Eastern Sea of the West Lands, and gazed at the Isle of Sealiah.

Then Ariel was brought by boat to the city of Rumbek and presented before King Haniel Bellon, the Patriarch of the Brown Beards, and she pled her case before him. And the king asked why Ariel was fleeing from the Middle Lands.

Ariel replied, "Because I brought the truth to family Gerash, but they hated the truth, because it was like a bright light, and the truth threatened to reveal the dark things they do in secret."

And King Haniel asked, "What is truth?"

Ariel said in reply, "We know truth when our mind is in agreement with the way things are."

King Haniel said, "What do you ask of me, Lady Ariel? Shall I protect the purity of your truth?"

Ariel said "If what I teach is so very fragile that I must seek aid to shield it from contamination, then what I have cannot be the truth. The warriors of Koth fight to convert others to their truth and wage holy war against other truths. They fight because what they call 'truth' is too weak to sell itself to all who seek the truth with sincerity. Since they are certain they already possess the truth, they refuse to investigate in reality and delight in self-deception."

King Haniel asked, "Then what, dear Lady Ariel, is your truth? What is the ultimate truth?"

"Only this," she revealed. "The noblest activity is unending love."

And Ariel accompanied har words with a mighty sign of her authority, for at that moment the angel of Binah flew over the Bellon capital city at great speed, but the people saw only a streak of light, and a terrifying noise like thunder broke many windows in Rumbek.

Then King Haniel welcomed Ariel and all her companions to his land, and a place was found for each of them on the Island of Sealiah, and they became his protected subjects. Ariel, Kandiel, and the Amazons took residence in Castle Brys in the north of Sealiah. Then Kandiel and her Amazons began to teach their new friends and neighbors, individually and in small groups, the doctrine of Sophia, but Ariel herself refused to teach, lest the king think he had taken a troublemaker into his land.

And Ariel did not speak yet of the host of the three families that Binah assured her was drawing near to the Bellon lands, because she knew King Haniel would take it to be an invasion force despite any attempt by Ariel to persuade him otherwise, and he would turn his gaze from the east to the west, and weaken himself just when Koth was about to strike.

As time went on, King Turel of Aramel went the way of all flesh and was buried in a lavish tomb, and the people of the city mourned his passing for thirty days.

Then the army of Koth marched through the city unhindered, and Kirodiel Gerash appointed a new king over the city, who laid a heavy tax on the people in penalty of their rebellion. For it was the Law of Koth that in every five day week the people could keep the fruit of their labor from three days, but the increase of one day was to go to the maintenance of the Army of Koth and the Eyes of Koth, and his temple priests. But upon the people of Aramel was laid a second yoke, for the fruit of the labor of yet another work day was to go the upkeep of the new forces which garrisoned the city. Thus the people could only keep half of what they earned.

And the Eyes of Koth multiplied in Aramel like flies, and there were many checkpoints in the city, and many people were put to torment for the smallest transgression, yet none were permitted to depart to other cities in the Middle Lands. So matters would remain until that whole generation of Aramelites had passed away, according to the decree of Israel, but ever after nephilim who spoke with the accent of Aramel would still bear a stigma among the White Beards.

Then when Aramel was securely occupied, Israel passed through Aramel with the balance of the Gerash army and sailed over the Western Sea to the ice, where he relieved and strenthened the garrisons which defended the Gerash stores there. Then Israel led his army down into the West Lands, and it was the first such invasion by family Gerash since the second world flood.

And when Israel was come to the foot of the Ice, he was confronted by a full division of troops from the House of Bellon deployed when rumors of the Gerash movement came to King Haniel.

And though Gerash had overwhelming numbers on the field, Israel did not signal to attack, but the white flags of parley-truce were unfurled, and Israel himself came forth to speak to the general of the Bellon force.

Then Israel in a loud voice to the opposing army said, "To the dwellers of Rumbek, Koth it is who stands against you if you fight to thwart the faithful of the House of Gerash. All the enemies of Koth shall be consumed in the smoke of his wrath! Repent, or the anger of Koth shall overrun you like a plague, and you shall flee before his righteousness! Koth shall quench his rage in the midst of all who hold Koth in contempt!

"Therefore do not send your sons to thwart the Army of Koth, for on the Plain of Judgment they shall be consumed like dry grass! Abandon your falsely so-called goddess Sophia and turn back to your first love, Koth the All-Merciful, or the fire of his indignation shall devour your young!

"For when all the temples of Sophia have been put to the torch, and new shrines of Koth built over their ashes, Koth himself shall ascend from Anabas and rule directly from his temple in the holy Middle Lands. And the faithful shall be changed, and shall be given lives longer than any recorded by nephilim, up to seven times longer than the oldest yang living today.

"But the unfaithful shall earn for themselves swift death, for Koth knows all hearts, and he shall bring sure retribution without mercy to his enemies. By Koth's command the Eyes of Koth shall be disbanded for there shall be no yang left alive disloyal to Koth. Then Koth shall cause uncounted islands to fill the empty parts of all the seas, and plant on them lush gardens for the faithful to delight in. Each island shall be ruled by one of the undying sons of Koth, who fell in the struggle to defeat Koth's many enemies. Thus Koth has sworn, by his own name."

And the commanding Bellon general replied to Israel, "You have said much, but these are weighty matters for the king alone. Advance no closer to the city, and I shall return to King Haniel and convey to him all your words, and you shall have your answer."

Israel agreed to this, and both armies left the field unblooded. The Bellon force returned west to Rumbek, but Israel led his forces north until they were come to a bay which was the easternmost finger of the sea, and there after he set a strong perimeter to catch any Bellon spies, he set his whole army to work building many ships of war. Swiftly a great navy was built by the united forces of the House of Gerash, and Israel did not wait for King Haniel to answer.

The Great Sea of the West Lands is divided in twain by the long peninsula of Magodon, but nearly every approach to Magodon was guarded by cliffs rising as much as four hundred feet, made of soft sandstone that could not be scaled by any army, and at their feet all around lay impassible swamps that would swallow horses and trap the wheels of chariots.

And none could pass by land around the Sea to the north or the south, for there the roaring waves ran nigh the very ice, and often vast slabs of ice would melt and slide into the sea with great thunder, and no permanent road could be carved, nor tunnel bored, to permit passage to the lands in the west.

Only at the uttermost eastern tip of the peninsula of Magodon could nephilim pass, but this was guarded by the Nine Mile Wall and several small islands bristling with fortified settlements, whose chief city was Rumbek.

So it was that family Bellon was the bulwark against any Gerash incursion, protecting not only their own lands in Magodon and beyond, but the lands of family Antero far in the west.

And it came to pass that a well-orchestrated ballet of Gerash sailing craft, guided by lights on the shore of Sealiah Island, concentrated at nightfall in the three mile-wide gap between the tip of the Isle of Sealiah and the village of Gurtus on the mainland.

The tiny settlement of Surat at Sealiah's tip, including the ferry landing, were taken by Eyes of Koth commandos and then many of the new Gerash ships traversed the narrow strait.

Five battalions of Gerash troops went ashore unopposed, led by Eye of Koth officers. The boats had to be driven well up on the beach to avoid the omnipresent yang-eating flora in the waters of the Eastern Sea, which also afflicted the Western Sea nigh to Aramel in the Middle Lands.

Israel's ships then turned southwest down the Tala Strait toward Rumbek. At this point surprise appeared to have been achieved. In this crucial time Israel accumulated his forces as quickly as possible so a credible penetration into Bellon territory could be attempted.

At daybreak the southern- most two battalions of the amphibious invasion force linked together and marched across Sealiah Island. They began taking it house-to-house. This was accomplished with little resistance and only scattered bow-shot.

Likewise, the village of Surat in the north fell quickly to the endless troops pouring over the beachhead. Soon the residents of both towns regretted surrendering so easily, for the Eyes of Koth began obeying Israel's orders to kill male Brown Beards on sight.

Meanwhile three other battalions erupted from the beach and cut southwest across the island to join up with the first two, but Kandiel's Amazons issued forth from Castle Brys to hit them on their left flank, though Kandiel herself remained in the castle to defend Ariel.

Now all of Sealiah was awake and began putting up the first real resistance of the new war. Movement ground to a halt as a pitched battle developed along a front that crept south down the Isle of Sealiah. But the army of Koth slowly gained the upper hand.

In the Tala Strait the defenders of Rumbek answered Israel's incursions with a wall of ships. In this arena alone did the House of Bellon gain a clear victory. By the end of the first day no Magodon ships were left to threaten Rumbek, for all the surviving ships were pulled north to defend the beachhead.

On the second day of the war as the front grew near the subjects protected in Castle Brys began leaving on foot. Kandiel and Zadkiel fell in with them, and the King assigned a squad to guard Zadkiel andKandiel, led by one Major Binyiel.

Ariel objected, saying, "Major, return to the King, because I have Kandiel with me, and the people of family Bellon need you and your yang far more than we do."

But Major Binyiel said, "Even so, the King himself charged me never to depart your side." And in her presence he produced the King's own ring, embossed with the seal of the House of Bellon, which the King used to imprint documents sealed with wax to assure their authenticity.

Now to Ariel the Major gave the King's ring, and Ariel mourned, because she knew this as a token of the King's premonition that he would not survive the coming attack. But Ariel accepted the ring and also Major Binyiel as a companion.

Even as they made their way down from the top of Sujelah Hill, the road to Mandakar along the west shore of Sealiah fell to the armies of Magodon. They watched a massive bridge sunk by Bellon engineers with black powder as a final defensive measure.

On this day Israel saw two setbacks. One, the Bellon navy prevailed in a large sea battle and won through to demolish Israel's pontoon bridge and set fire to his remaining ships, thus cutting off the only Gerash line of supply to Sealiah.

"The whole north of Sealiah is occupied," Major Binyiel said to Ariel. "Even Kelang is under assault. Only here in the extreme south does Sealiah remain free."

Over the shoulders of Mount Memalek and to a seldom-seen natural bridge trudged Kandiel and Ariel, escorted by Major Binyiel and two other yeng. They moved by secret paths in the steep wilderness terrain until they were come to the village of Olivus snuggled in the hills along the southern shore.

Then Ariel said, "Kandiel, I am unwarlike, and a weakling yin, and I am about to swoon from this march. Perhaps I could rest for a while in that cottage hard by."

"What do you say to that, Major?" asked Kandiel.

In answer, Major Binyiel approached the nearest cottage and pounded on the door. "Open in the name of King Haniel!"

The man who answered the door didn"t look happy. He barked, "What do you want?"

"Lodging for these two travelers. They go with the blessing of the King himself."

The owner was irritated, and said, "How much did they pay you to say that, soldier? Do you think in this confusion the 'blessing of the King' are the pass words to help yourself to the bounty of any citizen of the realm?"

So Binyiel produced the King"s ring, and the hospitality of that cottage improved markedly, and they were welcomed for the night, while the soldiers stood guard outside.

As the night of the third day passed, King Haniel stood his ground in the walled city of Mandakar as it came under attack by cruel flaming catapult rounds from the surrounding lands of Sealiah Island captured by Israel. This was the beginning of a merciless siege by fire that would end only when the city lost the battle to put out the flames and succumbed three days later.

At the city of Rumbek, on the Isle of Liban, the Lord of the City who ruled in the stead of the king knew the enemy suffered a shortage of boats, so he ordered the bridge to Fanon island to be deliberately sunk.

The easy victories of the House of Gerash up to the middle of the fourth day were explained by their fanatical willingness to die for Koth. However the resolve of the their Bellon foes stiffened as the slaughter of civilians continued. Faced with no alternative but to die the people made their final stand at Rumbek.

Kandiel and Ariel made it to the southwest tip of Sealiah, the last unconquered piece of the island. There Rumbek took refugees off by boat. Kandiel and Ariel got in line with the rest of the crowd while their personal squad of soldiers joined others to hold off the overland Gerash attackers in a desperate fight for enough time to allow the refugees to escape.

Major Binyam said, Now, Lady Ariel, I must spend the remaining moments of my life in disobedience to the strict commandment of the King, and leave your side to win time for you to escape, but I deem it the greater good. He left her then, and Ariel never saw him again.

Suddenly there was an orange flash, and the boat which was being loaded in front of Kandiel and Ariel caught fire, for a catapult round of flaming tar had struck home, and many people, screaming in agony, desperately dove into the water to quench the flames of the sticky tar that licked their clothes and skin. But they were immediately devoured by the hungry life native to Gorpai that lived beneath the waves, and it was a terrible sight to behold.

And there were six catapults on Sealiah that lobbed rounds over the heads of the city's defenders to reach the refugee boats, but in a single moment the six catapults themselves all caught on fire, and a streak of rushing fire appeared in the sky overhead, followed by two bursts of sound so loud it almost knocked both Kandiel and Ariel to the ground.

The fire streak, Kandiel could see, formed behind a small dark object that raced across the sky almost too quickly to follow. Before she could point it out to Ariel it was already many leagues away and curving back up higher into the skies.

When Kandiel had her heartbeat under control and could find the words, she asked, "Was that your ally Binah?"

Ariel answered, "Indeed it was, Kandiel, though I wonder how he can fly so fast down here where the air is so thick." Kandiel did not seem to understand, so Ariel went on. "Have you ever stood on a very high mountain and noticed it was hard to breathe? Higher still and the air fails altogether, and that is the realm where such speeds are routine."

Then room in another boat was found to be available for Ariel and Kandiel to step aboard, because many of the people weren't certain all of the catapults were destroyed, but Ariel knew Binah was meticulous in what he set out to do.

Now the angel of Binah had already made its appearance at Aramel two years before, killing twelve Eyes of Koth, and Koth in great anger withdrew his own angel from a distant errand to level the odds, and soon it would appear again in the skies over Gorpai, but Koth made no sign of this to Binah.

In the heavily fortified city of Rumbek, after hours of confusion as the crowd of refugees was sorted out, Lord Jomjael discovered that Ariel was bearing the King's authentic ring.

After she surrendered the ring to him, Jomjael welcomed Kandiel and Ariel into his house. Ariel realized the King intended this very thing, for Jomjael would know by this sign that the King wanted him to rule in his stead.

Guessing King Haniel to be certainly dead, Ariel thanked the sovereign in her heart.

Lord Jomjael bade them to stay with him for a few days to see which way the war would turn. "For Rumbek is as secure as any place in the West Lands are these days," said he. "And no army has ever breached the Nine Mile Wall."

For the time being, Israel bypassed the hard target of Rumbek, destroyed the villages of Teal and Olivus, then fanned out through all the hills. By the end of the third day all Sealiah Island belonged to family Gerash.

Mandakar continued to burn, and refugees crowded into boats bound for Rumbek. The Gerash forces brought up a prefabricated bridge and swung it out on a pivot to connect Fanon Island to Sealiah once again. Supported by many small boats the bridge was swung across during a lull in the naval engagement when Rumbek had pulled back many ships to reduce the alarming losses from suicide commando swimming parties. The bridges from Fanon Island to Krone Island, and also to the main city on Liban Island were sunk by Rumbek to limit their losses.

This new intensity was a set piece put on for Israel, who was now physically present on the battle front rather than leading from behind as was his custom.

Kandiel stood long on the ramparts of the city Rumbek, and to her military mind it was apparent that Gerash was steadily gaining the advantage against Bellon by sheer dint of numbers, and the hate by which the Gerash warriors flung themselves into battle. And Kandiel bade Ariel to immediately journey west beyond the Nine Mile Wall while the route was still clear. For she perceived the seige of Rumbek would soon grow strait, and the Bellon navy would be tasked to defend the city itself, letting the invincible Nine Mile Wall, undefeated in war, defend the rest of Magodon. Then Israel would divide his forces and besiege the Wall itself, and none of the Brown Beards nor their allies would be able to pass the gates, neither east nor west.

Ariel agreed to this, and asked leave of Lord Jomjael, which he granted, and she left with these words: "King Haniel is surely dead, or captured, and that is a grievous loss, my lord, and if we had time I would mourn with you and the people as is fitting. Yet King Haniel's sacrifice was not wholly in vain, I deem, because the house of Bellon does not stand against Gerash alone, and the king may have won for you the time you needed for the house of Antero, and of Sala, and of Larund to march to your aid."

And Lord Jomjael said, "I thank you for the spirit in which you intended to say those words to me, Lady Ariel, but if Rumbek is destined for a dark and bloody fate, I consider it my duty to share in that fate full-willing, and false words of hope are worse than none at all, I deem."

Ariel said, "My lord Jomjael, it was the furthest thing from my mind to throw you a line of hope and fail to tie off my end. Long have been my labors to bring the other families to the aid of the house of Bellon, and little do you know of them. If Rumbek can hold out for yet a little while, then Israel may find he has stepped into a trap. And then all who crave peace might win through to the day when King Haniel is laid to rest in honor, and you are made king. Farewell!"

Kandiel had judged well the time of their departure, for mere hours after she and Ariel departed Rumbek and took the road to the foot of the Nine Mile Wall, the Bellon navy rallied all their ships around the Isle Liban. This left Israel free to pull all his troops off Sealiah except those directly involved in the Rumbek siege, and those troops were ferried across the channel to the narrow bench of land that lay below the Wall.

The beautiful dwellings and public buildings of Krone Island, isolated now from Liban, were burned to the ground in a blaze kindled by Israel himself. And when the fire had burned down and the flame was abated, in the sight of the defenders of Rumbek across the strait Israel scattered the embers and sprinkled the ground with salt.

"For even so shall Rumbek be wasted utterly," he cried in a loud voice. And the hearts of the Rumbek folk fell.

Now the peninsula of Magodon was ringed on three sides by cliffs of sandstone which rose from the sea four hundred feet, but at the Nine Mile Wall yeng had erected masonry that made that tall cliff purely vertical, slotted in many places with holes for observation and to shoot arrows or pour boiling liquids. And between the face of the wall and the face of the natural cliff it enclosed were many platforms and stairs and catacombs, filled with weapons for the bane of besieging armies, and stores to supply defenders for many days.

And when Kandiel and Ariel were admitted through the Wall they climbed many steps and arrived on the plateau of Magodon at the top, where they beheld the banners and ranks of countless troops from the House of Antero, and the House of Sala, and the House of Larund, and Ariel knew her long labors had born fruit.

And there as well were many Bellon troops who had rallied to the aid of Rumbek from across the land of the Brown Beards. Already many of these were manning positions on the Nine Mile Wall to turn back the Gerash invaders.

But there in the sight of every yang under arms on Gorpai something like a star fell from the sky burning like a torch, and struck the ground near the top of the Nine Mile Wall with great violence, such that it dug a deep pit. And there was a blast under the ground such as had not been seen on Gorpai since the fall of the asteroid that brought the second world flood, and never in living memory.

Then the bottom half of the Nine Mile Wall nigh to Rumbek blew straight out, and the masonry of the Wall above the blast collapsed in ruin, and in place of a sheer wall there was a ramp of sand, but many besieging Gerash troops also died, or were buried alive by the debris.

Then Israel commanded his remaining generals to charge up that ramp with their divisions to the Magodon plateau above, and they immediately began to comply.

Then the angel of Koth dropped from the sky and crashed to the battle plain, and smoke rose from its black carcass like the smoke of a great furnace, and the yellow and orange suns were both darkened by reason of the smoke.

And there came out of the smoke many small flying machines, like metal wasps about the size of a full-grown yang. The heads of the insect-machines were made of glass and gold, and their teeth were small rockets, and they had breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like a great waterfall. And they had flexible tails like scorpions, and there was a gun in those tails which could kill yeng.

And these machines came among the ordered ranks of the three allied families like a cloud of locusts, killing yeng at will, and scattered them in disorder before they could make a counter-charge down the ramp in the Nine Mile Wall.

When Kandiel saw this she held Ariel's hand, and squeezed it, and asked her friend if this was Binah. And Ariel said to her, "No, alas, our enemy Koth is come."

And Ariel knew the angel of Koth had the power to snatch her victory away when she was on the cusp of attaining it, and that was reason enough to summon Binah, but she found that victory or defeat meant nothing to her now.

A new thing had come to dominate her consciousness. When Ariel looked upon Kandiel she saw her anew, as though gazing upon her for the very first time. Ariel found that Kandiel had suddenly become the most important thing in creation to her, and she was desperate to get Kandiel away from the field of battle.

Now Binah had seen the angel of Koth fall from space, and he was already descending even before Sophia-Ariel made contact. Binah landed on the plateau of Magodon close to them, and Koth marked the descent, and began to close up his unfolded angel to prepare for launch again.

There was very little time.

Sophia said directly to Binah:

Take Kandiel away from here, I don't have her memory map yet, I could lose her forever.

And Binah said in reply:

Forget the little yen, you don't have the resources to deal with the angel of Koth, you need me here.

Then Kandiel perceived that Ariel was conversing with Binah, and asked what he was saying.

Ariel said, "He says forget about you." And Ariel recalled Kandiel's own words at the Battle of Aramel, when she saw her naked in a cage and Ariel told Kandiel to forget about her, and Ariel repeated them here for Kandiel now: "Don't you know by now that's the one thing I can never do?"

And Kandiel wept, because for the first time she knew her love for Ariel was truly being reciprocated at last.

Ariel told her, "All those things I preached about love were so much straw, because I didn't know what love meant until now, neither as Ariel nor as Sophia."

A rising noise came from the angel of Koth, and Kandiel guessed the time was very short now. She said, "Speak plainly to me now, Ariel: What do you want me to do?"

And Ariel said, "Binah will take you far away from this place. I want you to go. No, I need you to go. Something happened to me just now. Kandiel, you...are the most important thing in heaven or Gorpai to me."

And Kandiel wanted to protest, but she could see the angel of Koth rising above the battle plain, and she could see that Ariel needed this. So she kissed Ariel and climbed inside the angel of Binah like she had seen Ariel do three other times before.

Then Binah immediately leaped in to the sky with fire and smoke, and Kandiel felt herself to be too heavy to move, and she was terrified, which was an extraordinary thing, for Kandiel was the queen of the Amazons.

And the angel of Koth lumbered into the sky after them.

But after a time the noise stopped, and Kandiel floated free inside the small space provided for her inside the angel of Binah, and her fear dropped away. She gazed out of the glass at Gorpai, which had become a white sphere crossed by a narrow trench of green and blue far below which was the West Lands, and the sky had become black, but she could see the orange and yellow suns, and many stars.

But the angel of Koth smote the angel of Binah with a fearsome fire mingled with blood-red light, and the angel of Binah was destroyed, which was no small feat, for it had been made in the belly of a sun. And Kandiel riding inside the angel of Binah instantly died and was lost forever to Ariel.

In that very same moment Ariel knew Kandiel was dead, and the world seemed to turn gray to Ariel, and she refused to speak a word again in the world of Gorpai, for she was utterly lost in her grief.

Aided by the angel of Koth, the House of Gerash defeated the combined forces of the other four families in detail. After that, all of Gorpai was united in a single empire with Family Gerash ruling from a position of pre-eminence.

Ariel was taken alive on the battle field and brought before Israel, but there was no fear on her face, only a deep sadness for what she had lost. Then Israel speaking as Koth said, Now, Sophia, here's a little something to remember, such that you think twice before ever coming to Gorpai again.

With an iron mace the arms and legs of Ariel were broken in many places, and she was braided through the spokes of a wagon wheel, and the wheel was hauled up and tied to the hub of a windmill atop the Nine Mile Wall. There the jagged ends of Ariel's broken bones ground together over and over, and her screams were heard for three days before she fell silent from thirst and died.

It was the worst thing that ever happened to any nephilim, and for many weeks afterward the windmill continued to turn even as the dead flesh of Ariel rotted away and her broken bones rained to the ground in pieces.

Israel compelled everyone in the House of Bellon and Antero to make pilgrimage to the Nine Mile Wall to see it, and the tale of the horror reached to the very ends of Gorpai.

But since her possession Ariel has been in perfect union with Sophia, and though the nephilim mode of the Sophia-Ariel being came to an agonizing end on that windmill, as pure elohim Sophia-Ariel continued her long and joyous life as a sun. But that joy would forever be tempered by the terrible and eternal loss of Kandiel, and Sophia-Ariel would never forget.