Enheduanna: The First Author - Wattys Winner 2021

Bonus Chapter: Panic Drives People

Author's Note

In celebration of Amazon Prime Video's newest series Panic, I am thrilled to be teaming up with Amazon Prime Video and Wattpad to write this exclusive chapter that puts my characters from this story into the world of Panic!

I hope this chapter intrigues and inspires you to learn more about Panic. Visit the #PanicWritingContest on Wattpad for the chance to put your creative writing chops to the test and learn more about the show!

To find out more about the contest, prizes, and how to enter, check out the #PanicWritingContest here: wattpad.com/AmazonPrimeVideo

Don't forget to watch the series premiere on May 28th, only on Amazon Prime Video, here: http://primevideo.com/

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The heat was noticeable before my eyes were even opened. Sunlight so intense that I could only see a white hue if I didn't shield my vision.

Even before I saw anything I knew something was amiss. This place didn't look like the Giparu, didn't smell like the city of Ur. Even the heath was different. In the desert the sun was scorching, beating down on any living creature but here there was a moistness to the air as if it held an almost tortuous false promise of salvation.

Upon first glance I noticed that this land was indeed a dessert just like Akkad. But strange wooden buildings with illuminated stars, in constellations unlike any I had ever witnessed, lined the horizon as the sun was setting beyond it all. Before I knew it, my feet were dragging me towards the light as if I were a moth drawn towards the flame.

The closer I came, the more I realised that these stars were fixed in place, like fireflies trapped in spherical contraptions.

A small gasp drew my attention back to the ever-growing darkness surrounding me. "We really did it. She's really here." someone whispered.

Before I could even ask a second choice chimed in.

"Welcome to Carp, Enheduanna." The voice called out from beyond the stars.

I squinted my eyes to make out two silhouettes in the darkness of dusk. "That condescending tone of yours is very unpleasant. You speak to a high priestess of Inanna, princess of Akkad, daughter of Sargon-"

"Yeah, yeah. We know your many titles." The man waved off.

"Then your disrespectful manner alludes me even more so."

There is a moment of silence. "We brought you here to kickoff this year's Panic."

"Panic? I shall do no such thing."

The sheer confusion must have been written on my face because the man couldn't help but laugh. "The game of Panic has been a senior tradition in Carp for years. For us, it is the only way out of this godforsaken place."

His bitter words bring back memories of my life before priesthood. The trapped feeling of having no control over those monotonous days still haunted me.

"But this year," the man continued stopping only to swallow a lump in his throat. "The sheriff is trying to cancel Panic once and for all. We will lose our only chance at freedom if you don't help us."

However threatening the man tried to sound there was a hint of youthfulness to his voice. That high-pitched tone of a boy who had barely set his first steps into adulthood. It made me aware that he was as scared as I was.

And that knowledge have me power. "Step into the light," I said, making sure that my voice was steady and commanding.

From behind the fixed stars stepped a young man into the light. His skin paler than any person I had ever seen, and with hair the colour of sand. The girl beside him had the same pale skin, only her hair was almost as dark as mine. Whoever these people were, they were just that, people. No, children. Barely beyond my own years.