The Annunaki War

Lost Cause

Adom moved the catacombs of Jericho as quickly as he could, though he was hindered by his advanced age. Though Cava and some of the other members  of Annu's freedom fighters had traveled in the opposite direction, fleeing the city, through the tunnels and becoming wandering nomads once again,   Adom knew he had to confront Joshua; try and reason with him and, perhaps,  gain a powerful ally. At minimum though, he knew he must create a diversion, otherwise Cava  and the others  would never escape in time. He  gazed up at the hatch at the top of the ladder. As he climbed that ladder, weary from his run, the undisciplined voices of Joshua's 'army' grew louder.

Upon opening the hatch,  Adom saw these former slaves-turned-raiding-party vandalizing, looting,  and causing all kinds of  other mayhem. He scanned the area, his head just over the bushes that concealed the secret entrance.  He tried his best to turn a blind eye to all the senseless killing, raping, and brutal assaults being commited by these barbarians. Try as he might, though, when he saw a little boy get run through with a sword as he was attempting to flee, Adom could no longer hold his tongue. "Animals!" he screamed, immediately alerting the attention of three soldiers. Prepared to die, he closed his eyes and thought "I'm sorry Annu. I have failed you." To his surprise, as he was waiting to be slaughtered, he instead felt three sets of arms pull him from the hatch, restrain him, and knock him unconscious with the hilt of a sword.

Cava  and the others  had reached the end of the tunnels, and the secret exit outside the city beckoned  to them.  The only thing standing between themselves and freedom was one boulder, which three of the youthful member of the coalition wasted no time in sliding  aside. "Come on." One of the men extended his hand and pulled Cava up the  slight step. They could hear shouting coming from the end of the tunnels,  and knew that Joshua's men had made their way inside. It would only be a matter of minutes before they were caught. 

"We must hurry!'" Cava declared, as she pulled the shroud over her face to protect her from the sandstorms she was, by this point, much too familiar with. Once again she would wander the desert. This time, she assumed, she would die there. For the first time since her recruitment,  she had no idea where to go. The plan had always been to take down Enki from the stronghold of Jericho. Now that was no longer possible, and  Cava feared that she had just witnessed the coalition's final defeat. The passion that had filled her for the past sixty years was no gone, replaced by emptiness and despair. From several hundred yards away, she watched, along with the others, as the smoke from the city grew thicker, and rose higher. Over time, the multitude of screams she could here had decreased markedly, until she hardly heard any. How many people had just died at Enki's hand? She turned away and began to weep, unable to watch anymore.

From inside the burlap sack over his head,  Adom saw only blackness, but he heard the chaos around him and winced with every death or scream that he heard. He was being dragged, on his knees, to face Joshua, the leader of this  mob. Having his head uncovered, his old, wizened eyes fell upon  the much younger, much more vital Joshua, who held a sword to his neck, threatening decapitation. "Hello, old man." Joshua grinned as he spoke, clearly pleased with himself."You've been causing quite a lot of trouble for our one true god, Yawhew," he announced. "Tell me why! Why do you wage a pointless campaign? Can you not accept the truth?"

"I have accepted the truth, young one."  Adom replied. 

"And what truth is that?"  Joshua demanded.

"That you are a puppet, being controlled by an insecure, jealous, megalomaniacal being, one with quite a large inferiority complex."

"Oh, Adom. You are  pathetically shortsighted." Joshua scolded. "He is not controlling me. I follow him willingly, as I have seen his true power, and he has promised to grant me eternal life  if I act on his behalf."

"And you don't think that's a measure of control?"

"I think it's a mutually beneficial partnership."

"He can't deliver," Adom reasoned. "It's all a deception -a giant magic show. He will discard you when he has what he wants."

Joshua just grinned. "Well, what he wants is global devotion. You and I both know he's never going to get that,"   he shrugged. "Guess that means he'll keep me around a while longer."  His gaze drew upward, distracted by the approach of David's vimana - the legendary flying machine. Sensing an opportunity, Adom grabbed Joshua's scimitar, still sheathed, and raised his arm to strike him down. Before he could follow through, though, one of the restraining guards drew his own blade and ran Adom through with it. As he withdrew the blade,  Adom collapsed to his knees, blood spewing from his mouth. Joshua turned to face him once more, almost conveying a look of pity as he gazed upon him. "Stupid old man," he scoffed, and pointed at the vimana, now coming to rest in the town square. "Now you won't get to see Noah's children. Pity." He watched as Adom collapsed, bleeding out, then headed to greet David.