“That was not part of the plan!” shouted Xander at a pouncing Uridimmu hellhound aiming to bite off his face. Jorunn shoved Xander aside and plunged her sword into the dog.
“What are we doing now, then?” yelled Jorunn, panting. “We're surrounded, and this damn heat keeps getting worse!”
“Well, we improvise!” Xander coalesced whatever mana he had and shot two small bursts at the hounds targeting them.
Their collapsed bodies smoked, but they were still alive. Xander couldn't afford to kill them when swarms of Scorpion People mixed with Reiszer surrounding them from all sides. Ragnar and his captured soldiers struggled to keep pace, but they were on the brink of being overwhelmed. If Ragnar wasn't soon freed from Date's control, they would stand no chance before the big wave hit.
“Cylia,” Xander called, “I need you here. Now!”
“Kinda busy!” Cylia cried back and staunched the bleeding of Umbin as best she could. “What do you want?”
“The same song again!”
“Huh!?”
Xander whipped back the sweat; his face was beat red from the heat. “Do the same thing you did with that dog again, but target Ragnar!”
“What!?” exclaimed Jorunn. “How will that help-”
“Less talking, more doing!” Xander blasted another hound and dropped to his knees. His core couldn't keep up much longer. “Do it Cylia… before I can't talk anymore.”
“Tempting. Give me a second.” Cylia touched her pendant, and a dark blue glow flowed. Garm dropped out of it and wagged his tail. He yapped later at the heat and panted. “I know, I hate it too.” Cylia adjusted her ever-failing hair. “Do me a favour, Garm. Aim for the black man's big hand again, would you?”
Garm barked and dashed off. Cylia was not entirely sure what Garm was, or how his abilities worked. She just one day saw him slip into her medallion through a rift he created and now could come out whenever he or Cylia wanted.
The puppy darted ahead with his small legs and slipped through his mad counterparts. Garm accidentally bumped into one of them, prompting a threatening snarl from his relative. Unfaced, Garm barked back for not watching before scampering away.
The Mad Hound looked confused at Garm before spotting a Reiszer and attacking them.
“They got to us!”
“What is going on!?”
“Hey, untie us, or we all die!”
“Help us!”
The soldiers complained as Date's troops still held them restrained during the initial onslaught of the enemies. Scorpion People attacked them with frenzied abandon, matching the hounds in their lack of rationality. Ragnar somehow held his ground against Samuru, cutting down dozens in one stroke.
“Date! Let me protect my people!” Ragnar shouted. As long as he had the bracelet, he was incapable of helping his comrades. But Date preoccupied himself with staring after the two demons that rampaged and took Kiur with them. “Damn it, Date, listen to me!”
*Arf*
Ragnar glanced down and spotted the puppy from before sitting between his feet. Garm looked up at Ragnar with his innocent dark eyes, but the bracelet forced Ragnar’s sword.
“Run, pupper, before I kill you.” Ragnar swung, but the puppy had disappeared already, appearing next to the blade.
*Arf*
Garm barked at Ragnar and wagged his tail. Ragnar swung sideways, but Garm disappeared and bit at Ragnar's wrist. Green and red sparks ignited from the bracelet. Before Ragnar knew it, Garm broke off and returned into the shadows with Ragnar's shackles in his maw.
“I told you I'd take care of it!” Xander cried out in his exhausted state and fistbumped the air in triumph. “Now give them hell!”
The Reiszer clashed with one another while the onslaught of the Scorpion People and hounds against them continued with the Escapees' resistance increasing against them. The chaos thoroughly occupied everyone. Then there was Shamash, the Sun God, shouting at the fiery object in the sky called the sun.
“What in Irkalla’s name is going on!?” Fumes rose from his bronze skin. His tousled, golden-brown hair burned. “Why did you die, Dumuzid!? You are not due for the next three days! I was supposed to pick you up and deliver you to the underworld when this all settled. So why!?”
The winds of Enlil surged, carrying scorching squalls across the desert. Nimbus clouds gathered and darkened the sky, giving a brief respite from the rising heat, but Shamash saw something was wrong.
Amidst the cloud, he saw a sizeable bosom peeking through with a gigantic eye spying the area. No mortal could see it, but Shamash immediately recognised the familiar shape and behaviour. Only one god was brazen enough to interfere in the mortal world like that.
His twin sister.
“ISHTAR!” Shamash bellowed. “What are you doing!?”
His sister didn’t hear him. Shamash complained loudly but couldn’t reveal his presence and interference yet. Unlike her, Shamash was not as bold as her. He watched as his sister’s form materialised and became clearer in the sky.
Ishtar’s body formed that of a large, slender woman wearing nothing but a scant top covering her chest and a simple piece of underwear around her hips. Her short dark hair framed her face, and her dark red eyes glowered over the scene.
“You did this, didn’t you, Ishtar? It’s your fault all over again.”
Shamash didn’t account for the demons and monsters going insane. Usually, he could control them just fine; nudging them in the right direction so their moods wouldn’t go berserk. Even the usually wild Scorpion People obeyed his subtle nudges, following his lead without question.
But his sister was different. She was impulsive and reckless. Whenever she peered into the minds of mortals, she would leave them brain-dead or insane. Ishtar had a penchant to indulge in reckless liaisons, leaving every man she dealt with in ruins. There was that one time when she dared to invade the underworld, attempting to usurp their older sister, only to wind up getting herself killed and nearly bringing about untold destruction with her thoughtless actions.
Okay, perhaps their older sister bore some of the blame for the close call that nearly ended the world of Ishtar’s brief death as a fertility goddess, but the Queen of the Underworld cared little for the affairs of the living—
A realisation dawned on Shamash. “No, that can’t be it.” Shamash’s head whipped to Ugallu flying in the sky, carrying Kiur in its talons. “She noticed our sister’s influence.”
Shamash couldn’t contain his anger any longer. “Ishtar! Did you kill your husband prematurely to trigger the solstice!? Do you even realise the consequences of your actions!?”
“Temper your voice, Shamash. Maintain your composure,” warned Enlil, manifesting as a cloud with his face on it before the Sun God. “Ishtar’s interference is an unexpected variable, but losing your temper will set you up on her reckless path.”
Shamash calmed down with his breathing exercises—breathing through his nose, through his stomach and then out his mouth. He whipped away the spittle from the corner of his mouth and adjusted his hairstyle. “Okay, fine, fine. I’m cool. I’m fine.” His shoulder still smoked. Enlil blew it out. “What do we do now, Enlil? Ishtar is jeopardising countless lives here. Time is out of our hands now! I am the Sun God, but Dumuzid’s early demise hastens everything. I cannot stop it!”
A troubled expression formed on Enlil’s cloudy countenance. His twisted crown dipped to the side. “We proceed as planned,” he said. “My priestess will activate the Achernar’s inscribed spell.”
Shamash drew a ragged breath. “Enlil, I don’t want to- no, I have to be brazen!” Shamash’s hair flamed up again into white plums. “Your priestess is still an apprentice—and not a particularly strong one on that!”
“I will support her to the best of my-”
“Your efforts suck!” Shamash clapped his hands over his mouth. Enlil shot him a dark glare. “The lives of these innocent people hang in the balance. ‘Their’ life is at stake, too. Our aid alone will not be enough.”
Enlil fell silent. His smokey sigh put out the rest of Shamash’s flames. “Then pray the underworld gods have their own contingency underway. Until then, we play ours. Dim the sun, Shamash. Do not let your sister run rampant.”
The Sky God dissolved, carried away by the winds towards the Achernar. The Sun God exhaled a hot breath and stretched his back. The crimson rim of his eyes intensified. He raised his hands, radiating golden light that pushed back Ishtar’s image.
“You want to play, sis? Let’s play then. I’ll not let you take anything from our big sister.” Shamash restrained the Sun’s heat, glowing like a second sun across the desert’s cliffs. “It’s up to you, Lotte. I hope Gilgamesh and the others put some progress through you. Fight the solstice, Daughter of the Dead. Find the Dying God.”
—❂—
Tabira ran and ducked through the pandemonium of battles raging around her. Hounds leapt over their heads, and Scorpion People scuttled past her, screeching louder than nails on a chalkboard. Reiszer clashed against them, and the Escapees of Shabra’s leadership built defensive ramparts to stand their ground.
“This is worse than the attacks on Nippur,” thought Tabira, and hid with Ninda behind a cluster of rocks.
In the night, the Reiszer came in droves under the cover of the night and attacked the temple. Enlil, their Gala priestess, took charge and fended off the first attackers. But their sheer numbers were too overwhelming. Sealing off the temple, Enlil ordered Tabira to evacuate the children and elderly from nearby regions.
Now Tabira found herself alone, with only Ninda by her side and burdened by the weight of another child growing inside her. When she knew what was coming for her when becoming a priestess, then… she didn’t know what she would have done. And it didn’t change the fact that her god had given her a task.
*REEEeeEEEe*
Tabira covered her ear from the screeching of a Scorpion Person. A looming body of a woman brandishing two swords skittered her way. “Ninda, stay back.” Tabira put herself first and conjured a tremor of waves to crash it into a rock.
Fighting magic was not Tabira’s speciality, especially in her condition, but it was all she had. The Scorpion Woman brushed the rubble aside and scuttled faster towards them. A gust of wind summoned by Ninda pushed the monster aside and into rubble. The Scorpion Woman stood up and saw a nearby group of hounds chasing a pair of Reiszer. She chased after them.
Tabira let out a sigh of relief and hugged Ninda protectively, who was still in a chthonic state like the others. “I have to be strong for.” She couldn’t bear the fact a little girl like Ninda was thrown into so many traumatic events in such a short time. Not even witnessing her own death.
“Everything will be alright, Ninda.” Tabira hugged the chthonic child tighter until a tear rolled down Ninda’s face. “I’ll bring you back to your parents, I swear.”
“What are you doing, Tabira?” thundered Enlil, his presence materialising amidst the swirling winds, his upper body visible with arms crossed over his chest and his beard billowing in the tempest. “I instructed you to make haste to the Achernar. Why do you linger?”
“What does it look like I’m doing?” Tabira retorted to her god. “It’s not enough that I couldn’t help Ninda and the others. I don’t need you berating me!”
Enlil’s clouds swirled into darker formations within his ethereal body. “Then rise and make haste, priestess,” he warned. “The solstice approaches sooner than expected.”
“What? How? Then it’s already too late!” Tabira exclaimed. Her heart sank at the thought. She hugged Ninda tightly. “Everything’s over.”
“Not quite.” Enlil’s form relaxed, releasing plums of white smoke. “The Achernar holds everyone’s last hope. Find the inscription, and you may save everyone. Time is of the essence.”
Tabira tried to follow the god's gaze. She wasn’t sure what he was looking at until she saw it. A flying demon with someone in its talons. “Is that… is that Kiur!?”
"The Daybreak Demons disrupt our calculations," Enlil replied urgently. "Hurry, or there won’t be a future left for you or others." With that, Enlil vanished. The force of his winds pushed Tabira up her sore legs. "We cannot delay the solstice indefinitely. Hurry before it's too late."
“Why’s it so goddamn hot!” complained Cylia. She ducked when another hound leapt over her head to eviscerate a soldier who snuck up on her. Another pack arrived for her now. “Stay away.”
Pressed with her back against Umbin, Cylia frantically searched for a weapon or rock. Xander, Jorunn, or anyone else was either too far away or preoccupied, leaving Cylia defenceless against the enemies.
Baring their teeth and eyes gleaming with madness, the dogs lunged at her. Cylia closed her eyes and held her breath, but nothing happened. Umbin moved, sliced up one and tore up the other in half. The demon propped himself up, his damaged body hanging over Cylia, trying to shield her from another wave of the sun’s exploding rays.
Feeling their skin sear under the intense heat, both cried out in pain. Cylia collapsed, and the Scorpion Man howled, tossing her his sickle sword. “𒀭 GISH, F-fi-gh-t. Ta-ke m-m-m-y 𒈦 GISH-BAR, blade, a-a-nd FIGHT!”
Umbin staggered as he stood up. The lack of balance from his missing tail agonised him. His body bled profusely, and Umbin regarded his missing limbs. Three more of his comrades arrived, but none had the lucidity to recognise their former leader.
“𒀭𒌓 UD, SHAMASH! WATCH ME FULFIL MY LIFE!” Umbin shouted towards the sun. “TIAMAT BIRTHED US, BUT I FIGHT FOR YOU, MY LORD! THE SUN IS GREAT! I DIE FOR YOU!”
This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Umbin charged at his former allies. He clamped his claw against the first one’s throat and decapitated her. The other he bashed her in the face with his face, and the last man he body-slammed, wrestling with the two alive.
“RU-SH, g-i-rl, ru-sh pas-t me- benjkakf!” Umbin sputtered blood as more Scorpion People closed in on him. One sliced at his side, and others riddled his back with arrows or punctured him with their stingers. He turned to Cylia, poison filling his eyes. “FIGHT YOU USELESS GIRL!”
Cylia’s legs finally moved. She picked up his sword and hurried past Umbin as fast as she could. A Scorpion Man aimed at Cylia with his stinger, and Umbin bit into it and ripped it off before he got overwhelmed and slammed into the sand.
Ignoring the pain in her lungs, Cylia heaved up her sword and brought it down on one of the hounds attacking Jorunn and Xander.
“What the–” Jorunn reeled back. “Where did you come from-?”
They turned their heads, witnessing Umbin's last stand as he fought off dozens of Scorpion People and hounds single-handedly. Cylia whipped away a tear. “Thank you,” she mouthed out and turned to Xander. “What’s the plan?”
“What plan? DO I LOOK LIKE I HAVE A PLAN-!?” Xander yelped as Jorunn and Cylia pulled him down and skewered the hound pouncing towards his head. “Plan A to Z failed! There are no more letters to choose from.”
“Then use numbers,” Ragnar chimed in as he was pushed back toward them, his boots leaving heavy trails on the ground. He was full of minor cuts, and his breathing was shallow but otherwise ok. His opponent dragged his Katana through the sand towards them; his remaining eye glowed through the haze of battle. “I’ll take care of Date’s bodyguard. I’ll leave my men with you. Coordinate a way to survive this!”
Ragnar plunged his sword to the ground and left it there.
Samuru raised a brow. “What are you doing, Ragnar? Giving up?” asked Samuru, adjusting his jingasa hat with the butt of his weapon. “Pick it up, or I can’t guarantee your life.”
Ragnar’s lips curled up, revealing his sharp, shark-like canines. “On the contrary. EVERYONE!” he shouted for his soldiers to hear him. “I’ll leave you to Xander and my daughter’s care. Listen to them and fight together.” He looked back at them, particularly at Xander. “I have a feeling they have one last plan left.”
When Ragnar reached for his sword again, he felt a glimmer of strength radiating from it and his core. He lashed out at Samuru with a magic chop so big and heavy that the Reiszer could barely dodge or block it before it cut into him and the other enemies. Samuru was still standing, but his already hurt shoulder had a gaping wound now.
Ragnar got back on his tail to fight. A warm feeling escaped his sword, and he slammed it right into Samuru to keep him engaged.
“What was that?” asked Cylia. She flinched when Jorunn suddenly slugged Xander and grabbed him by the collar.
“Why did my father give over command to you too!?”
“Don't ask me!” Xander put up his hands. “I've no idea what he means, but we've got bigger problems!”
Jorunn let go of Xander, and the three stood back to back as hounds surrounded them from all sides. They snarled and growled, hungry for fresh meat.
“Can you unleash a wide-scale spell or something defensively?” asked Jorunn, readjusting the grip on her sword.
“I'm all out.” Xander opened his palm. A faint glimmer sparked and disappeared. “The Solstice drained me for good.”
“You're good for nothing!” shouted Jorunn, and readied herself to fight the leaping hounds. She couldn't count on Xander or Cylia for help. In her exhausted state, she could only count on herself.
Jorunn swung her sword, and the first hound caught it in its teeth, breaking it into pieces. Her eyes widened in the realisation that her only weapon was gone. Another hound attacked her, but Cylia pulled her down and slashed at the beast.
“Keep your focus!” Cylia cried out, readjusting her grip on her sword. “We can't get eaten here yet.”
“Don't say it like that,” panted Xander with a sly smirk. Then they witnessed the hounds getting diced up. “Took you long enough. Where's the rest?”
Leif and Kochel kicked at Xander before picking him right back up. “Don't get cocky with us!” Kochel snapped.
“We're scattered. What’s the plan?” Leif turned to Jorunn. “And who’s leading?”
Ragnar's soldiers finished up the remaining hounds and looked expectantly at the two. Their captain was occupying the enemy and gave them mixed commands. Jorunn was about to speak before Xander interrupted her.
“I'm out. I vote for her to take the lead and regroup.”
Jorunn looked surprised by the suggestion, but more so when the soldiers put their attention on her. She quickly kicked up a spare sickle sword from a dead Scorpion Man and held it up. “Arrow formation, everyone. That's the quickest way to break through the enemy lines and not be overwhelmed-”
*ARF*
The Reiszer raised their swords at Garm in alarm, who wagged his tail happily.
“The pupper has a better idea,” said Cylia. She patted the dog’s head. “Do your thing, boy.”
After getting caressed, Garm barked again and pawed at the air, opening a two-by-two-in-diameter dark-green portal. He barked at Jorunn and the others and jumped through it.
“There's our quickest way,” said Cylia, following Garm through the portal.
The Reiszer looked at each.
“What are you waiting for?” asked Xander. “Follow the puppy.”
“... Follow the puppy.” Jorunn relented. “Take up formation.”
—✹—
“The guardian of the desert himself. How fortunate; the old gods have blessed me!” Date laughed at the presence of Usumgallu.
He had read about the gods of the ancient lands. Beings of unparalleled power that predated even the god of their own country. Date was not particularly religious, and never attended the church services, but even he found himself drawn to the mystical truths of old.
When he found himself face to face with a genuine deity and now an ancient demon; he could barely hide his enthusiasm. Yet Usumgallu ignored Date’s existence like one would ignore an ant crawling on the ground below.
Usumgallu roared at the sky and took off with its enormous wings.
“NO!” Date shouted, infuriated. “Return here at once!”
Usumgallu landed on the Achernar and roared, readying another searing white flame in its maw. It unleashed it on another cluster of soldiers and demons, but Date could not care less about the losses.
All he cared about was the fact that he was being ignored.
“Look at me, demon!” Date bellowed, but Usumgallu continued unleashing its fire all over the desert as it saw fit. “Don't ignore me!”
Date put his sandaled foot forward and threw his arm back, holding the spear backwards. He charged it with his magic and hurled it at the demon. It deflected Date’s spear with one of its horns, but the charged attack broke off the horn. Usumgallu roared in fury and charged its breath.
“Give it your all!” Date shouted and stomped on the corpse of the Asag. “I'm a god! Don't think a lousy fire will kill me-”
The flash of fire exploded upon Date with the force of tens of thousands of TNT detonating simultaneously. The Reiszer confidently prepared himself to counter it but failed to notice that the dead Asag was still alive and grabbed his ankle.
All that remained of Date and the vicinity was a chaotic inferno of hellfire roaring and spreading. Usumgallu opened his wings and roared into the expanding sun's heat.
“Where is it? WHERE IS IT!?” Tabira echoed across the Achernar’s mountainous surface.
She had thoroughly checked one of its massive sides for the inscriptions and couldn’t find anything on the second either. The Achernar was an impossibly large structure, several kilometres in width and height. Most of its surface inscriptions and written stories have withered away over time, which made the search almost impossible.
“I swear, our ancestors loved talking about bread-”
“Tabira, here's one!” Ninda shouted. Her emotions were slowly returning to her, but the flame inside her chest still burned, albeit dimly.
“Great.” grimaced Tabira and held her belly. The heat and walking made her head feel woozy. “Just five more minutes *huff* then I'll-”
“I doubt we have any more minutes,” warned Enlil. “The solstice is almost here.”
“Pray tell, what am I supposed to do, then?” demanded Tabira. “You didn't send me out here on a fool's errand for nothing, did you!?” She pounded her fist against the Achernar in frustration. “What good is a god if they can't save their subjects!”
Enlil narrowed his cloudy eyes at her. “Careful, child, or-”
“Or what? We're going to die anyway! And when we do, we are sent straight to the Earth Mother. Face it, we were doomed from the start, and the only god willing to take us is the Underworld Queen!”
“Ereshkigal,” mumbled Ninda.
Tabitha whipped her head back in terror. “Don't invoke her name in vain!”
“From Ur to Babylon, Ninhursag’s daughter and Ruler of the Dead reigns supreme,” Ninda sang, her voice carried by the rising winds that shifted the sand around them.
“What's she doing?” asked Tabira.
“Lamenting,” answered Enlil as they saw the layer of sand disappearing and opening up a path, revealing rows of untouched and new characters. “Ereshkigal is connected through Kiur. And Ninda, since her brief demise, connects to Ereshkigal through him.” The old god realised something crucial. “Quickly, follow the child and sing with her!”
“Inanna—Ishtar’s old name—descended to Irkalla,” Ninda continued singing, her beat becoming darker and more complex. “Slain by her sister, Ishtar was stripped naked and nailed on the gates.”
“I don't like what she’s singing, Enlil!”
“Cease complaining and focus,” Enlil bellowed back. “SING!”
“Graaaaa!” Tabitha complained and sang in tune with Ninda, bringing the desert to move. The more they unearthed and sang, the more the Achernar’s ancient characters glowed. Yet they still had to find the right inscriptions and sing them. “How much longer, Enlil? If I find another bread recipe, I swear I'll scream.”
“We left that part behind.” Enlil, the trusty cloud, followed Tabira and helped read the descriptions. “Where is it? Wish I had my reading glasses.”
“Gods need reading glasses?” wondered Tabira, and shook that thought aside. “Ain't you a god? Didn't one of you write those?”
“Your progenitors did, not us. They left behind the Achernar as a last testament of their time—and our last hope.” Enlil murmured the last part. He stopped at a section and floated a little up to read the descriptions. He blew the dust away with a stormy puff. Enlil squinted his eyes. “Tabira, be a dear and tell me what it says.”
“For the love of the gods, I swear.” Tabitha squinted her eyes herself at the characters high above. “In the void of old, salt and fresh water merged. From the primordial soup, Apsu and Tiamat emerged.”
“This is it!” Enlil’s voice thundered and almost popped Tabira’s ears. “Also, it's ‘surge’ and not ‘soup’, but anyway.” Enlil twisted and reformed his cloudy body, standing before Tabira in all his godly glory. “Sing Tabira. Sing like your life depends on it.”
Tabira traced the characters below and brushed the dust off above with magic. But she had trouble deciphering them all. Reading the old Kunei forms was a prerequisite for every priest, but it was not her strong suit. But regardless, Ninda sang first.
“Together, the ancient gods coupled, birthing gods of a new age onto the unknown cosmos. Chaos brewed, and noises of the gods grew. Apsu, to suffocate the noise, planned their demise. Tiamat, unable to bear her husband's wrath, warned their children. Enki, bravest of the gods, heeded his mother’s words and slew his father.”
The Kunei ignited in red and blue lights, resembling stars in the expanding heat. The Achernar glowed, and Tabitha joined the chorus, her voice blending into the old songs that echoed through the desert, reaching towards the sky for the gods to hear.
“Tiamat's grief over her husband gave rise to chaos again, birthing monsters of unfathomable monstrosity into the turbulent world. Asag, Aqrabuamelu, Ugallu, Usumgallu, and her other children heeded her call to war. And Kingu, her mightiest offspring, led them in rebellion against the gods.”
The Achernar rumbled as light radiated from its withered facade, enveloping the desert in its glow. A new barrier formed, but against the sun’s heat, it broke. Tabira tired, but she kept on singing. Enlil hovered above the two, shielding them like a sunshade.
“Sing, children, sing!” Enlil beckoned them as more cracks fissured on the barrier. “We’re so close.”
“From the highest of gods,” Tabira and Ninda gasped, “Marduk rose and struck down the ancient mother. From her sundered body, Marduk shaped rivers and mountains, unveiling a new world for the gods to reign over. The Myth of Creation shines brightly as a testament to–”
The Achernar's light dimmed abruptly. The sun’s scorching heat engulfed the desert, and its inhabitants cried out in anguish. Tabira and Ninda stopped their singing, their voices silenced by pain.
“Don't stop! You almost finished it!” Enlil hovered over the two and saw they had already lost consciousness. They suffered from mana loss and a serious case of heatstroke. “I need to find that water wizard.”
Enlil shot into the sky and flew to the battleside, but discovered that the battles had ended in no one's favour. Most combatants had collapsed or struggled to remain standing. The god searched for Xander or anyone who could help.
And as the solstice descended upon them, Enlil settled himself in the sky like a lonely cloud. From his vantage point, he observed how the fragile lives of those left behind collapsed one after another. Some fought in their last attempts to aid their companions, while others met their demise at the hands of their adversaries.
Enlil eventually located Xander still engaged in a desperate struggle against waves of enemies with his group as they ran for the Achernar. Hovering further away, Enlil found two dwarves bickering while fending off the relentless hounds. In a rare instance, Enlil also found groups of Escapees and Reiszer joining hands to protect themselves against the Scorpion People hunting them down.
“But this is it now, isn't it?” Enlil sighed heavily and wandered away from the Achernar, his gaze lingering on the once-glowing structure now fading as its magic waned.
Enlil cast a glance in Shamash’s direction and briefly watched him throwing sunshine at the sky and insults at his sister—an eternal feud between siblings. Turning his attention elsewhere, Enlil stumbled upon the Ugallu.
He swiftly flew towards it and discovered the demon sprawled on top of a dune with a spear lodged in one of its wings. Ugallu writhed, flopped and flapped uncontrollably, meowing, growling and hissing uncontrollably.
Enlil contemplated the sight before him. “That one Reiszer, whatshisname, must have shot it down accidentally. What coincidence… what if–” Enlil’s thoughts trailed off as he scanned the vicinity. His wandering gaze fell on a set of footsteps in the sands leading back to the Achernar.
Enlil followed the footsteps back through the still-raging battlefields. He passed the spot where he saw Usumgallu incinerating Date. Enlil passed the dwarves; passed Xander; passed Ragnar fighting Samuru. Enlil passed everyone as he sped up to trace the footsteps among everyone. Returning to the spot where Enlil last saw Tabira and Ninda, he found them resting against the old obelisk. He couldn’t fathom how Kiur had managed to navigate the chaotic battlefield and reach the Achernar amidst the heat and battles, but here he was.
Kiur’s crusted hand traced the ancient characters. His golden hair danced in the hot winds. Streaks of tears traced down his cheeks, reflecting the glow of his garnet eyes. From within his chest, a blue flame flickered to life when Kiur began to sing.
“In the aftermath of the battle,” Kiur’s voice echoed across the desert, resonating with a power far greater than what Tabira and Ninda had mustered. Grains of sand levitated in his vicinity, and the Achernar’s Kunei forms glowed with renewed intensity. Yet, amidst Kiur’s awe-inspiring laments, something about his incantations sent a shiver down Enlil's cloudy spine.
“Marduk fashioned the heavens, the earth, and the seas from Tiamat's remains,” Kiur continued, his voice bending the space around him. “He shaped the cosmos, set planets and stars in celestial stride, and the moon and sun in the course.”
“Stop!” Enlil shouted. “Where did you learn to read this version of the incantation!?”
“Marduk breathed life into creation's source.” Kiur's voice persisted, undeterred by Enlil's protests. “In the image of gods, mankind’s destiny was reshaped repeatedly. Tending the earth's fertile ground, we’re bound to an endless circle. From returning chaos, order reigns briefly again.”
Enlil's shouts pierced the air. The desperation in his actions made him take form to halt the unfolding magic. Yet, even as he manifested briefly, the overwhelming power emanating from the Achernar thrust his god-like form back into the heavens.
“Ereshkigal, what have you done!?” Enlil's voice boomed across the desert, pleading with the Queen of the Underworld. “Make him stop before-” But his words were lost amidst the resolute incantation and the pulsating brilliance of the Achernar.
The stone nestled within Kiur’s tattered garments radiated with an intense brilliance, ascending into the sky above him. Its crimson colours cast a luminous glow around Kiur, triggering a cascade of other artefacts concealed among the ancient relics. Enlil observed how Xander’s lapis lazuli stone ignited in his grasp, followed by Cylia’s necklace and then Ragnar’s sword.
“The Age of Gods has ended multiple times,” Kiur intoned, his voice carrying the weight of forgotten wisdom, “And it began anew by blazing light. Their myths survived each passing of time, echoing in fractions of the creation's hymn.”
The flame in Kiur’s chest grew and set his body aflame in swirling hues of blue and red as Lotte’s soul overlapped with his body. Alongside the remnants of the Achernar, the surrounding ruins and structures floated. Its once-ruined spire was now aglow like a secondary beacon in a brilliant flash of light. As the sun unleashed one final blaze, the Achernar’s iridescent rainbow light stopped its radiance, reflecting and breaking the rays with each attempt it blazed from Kiur’s last verses.
“I honour the gods of old, our first progenitors. The roots of civilisation regrow anew. I ask for the return of Civilisation. Myth of Creation, bring back the image of its first glory. Let us see the beginning of heaven and earth and its separation.”
As Kiur lamented his final plea, the Achernar’s main five characters glowed in a dark purple light. Silence descended upon the desert, enveloping Kiur as he sank to his knees. Ereshkigal’s form manifested from the shadow, enveloping Kiur in a tender embrace. Memories flooded Kiur’s mind—memories of joy, of sorrow, of love, and of loss. Lotte recalled her last cherished moments with Liara. Kiur reminisced about his family—his mother and brother. He remembered his first friends and then the new ones he made.
He had hoped to see Cylia and Xander again.
Amidst his yearning, other painful memories flooded his consciousness. The betrayals, the unimaginable pain inflicted upon him by Hessian and the others. The loss of his brother. The rejection of his parents. The loss of Liara. It all surged within him, fuelling Kiur’s unstable heart and fire. Drawing upon the last remnants of his suffering, Kiur uttered the final incantation:
“When on High. Enuma Elish.”
And the Achernar enveloped the entirety of the desert in a blazing light—leaving nothing behind under the blazing sun.
The Achernar unleashed its power, engulfing the entirety of the desert in a blinding blaze of light, cascading over the dunes and rocks of everyone’s long journey. In its wake, the landscape was consumed by the overwhelming radiance.
Leaving behind no trace or single soul beneath the scorching sun.