An Du-Ku's Arc

Chapter 2 of 3

An stood on the threshold. The dragon and the sage still watched him with hate. But a new sound rose from below the peak. Voices. The bull-man's fall had carried far. Word of his death had reached the council chamber cut into the mound. Now the Anunnaki climbed the slope to see what An had done. They filled the council room in a wide circle. At its center sat Enlil Ninmah, the one who spoke for the whole assembly. They wore gold at the brow and studied An with dark, weighing eyes. Before them lay the tools of the council: a mound crowned with wheat and barley, and beside it a bundle of herbs, flax, and grasses. These were the plants the assembly used to reckon the laws of the world. "You cast a guardian from the peak," Enlil Ninmah said. Their voice was flat. "The oldest boundary is broken. We must know. Did the Sky-Father come to rule us, or to destroy us?" Beside the grain mound stood a goddess with hair the color of ripe wheat. Ashnan. She had nurtured every stalk on that mound. "He killed what he could not pass," she said. "What will he kill next when we do not obey?" A second goddess spoke. Horns curved from her head, and her robe showed the shapes of cattle. Lahar tended the herds that fed this council. "The guardian was our watchman for ages," she said. "Now his brothers wait outside, full of hate. You brought war to our door, Sky-Father." An did not defend himself with words. He stepped to the grain mound. He set his hand on the wheat, and light ran down the stalks. New heads swelled and ripened under his palm. Then he touched the bundle of herbs. Withered stems turned green. Flowers opened. Fresh seed spilled onto the floor. The circle went still. "I did not come to break your work," An said. "I came to give it root. The threshold is where sky meets earth. From here, life springs. I threw down one guardian so that all this could grow." Ashnan knelt and lifted the spilled seed. It was heavier than any grain she had grown. Lahar watched the green herbs and said nothing more. Enlil Ninmah rose. They looked at the ripe mound, then at An. "The assembly will not call you destroyer," they said. "You may hold the threshold. But you have not won the peak. Two beasts remain outside, and they remember their brother. Rule from a seat you cannot yet keep safe, and the council watches every step." An had turned the council from fear to trust. But he saw the truth in their words. The dragon and the sage still coiled at the boundary. The throne was near, and it was not yet his to keep.