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Book: The Sons Of God - Page 11

"Jorham there is dried meat, fruit, and cereal in the bag. It is enough with what you brought to last until you can find the work of a wanderer. Make friends and live among those people until you find the information we are looking for. I'm putting you on the earth a days walk from the city so they won't hear the rotor bird. When you have the information we need, gather wood for three small fires and place them in an open area south of the city. We will fly over the city every night one hour after sunset. The night we find the three small fires burning in a line we will pick you up. Do you understand all I have told you?"
"Yes, Lord."
"I'm going to turn on lights to come to earth. Get far away quickly in case someone sees the lights. Go out now, Jorham. I hope it goes well for you."
As soon as he touched earth the light went off, and Jorham ran away quickly through the dark, then stopped to stand very still and listen. The only sound was his breathing. After a time, he could see well enough to spread his sleeping mat under some bushes, but sleep was out of the question. He pulled his shepherd's cloak close to his body for warmth, and continued to listen intently for the sounds of humans searching for him. He felt very much alone in this foreign land, so Jorham was glad when the eastern horizon turned lighter announcing the coming day. When it was light enough, he started walking in the direction of a fire he had seen just before touching earth.
The next day Onam was not happy. All he could do was wait for Jorham to come back, and he didn't like waiting. He decided to go flying, so he went in search of Maya, and when he found her he said, "Maya, Lijalem just flew with me in a small bird he built to replace Habtamu's. Let's go flying."
"Where?"
"I don't know. Let's just go up and see where the winds take us. No. I have an idea. Let's fly up to Kynon. I'd like to see this land of gold."
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Onam felt the old thrill again when he turned to look down the long bird path, except with this new bird, the thrill was even more exciting. He moved the controls for more power, and the sound went from a high pitch whine to the roar of a sustained eruption quickly and in a very short time the new bird was just a tiny winged silhouette against a towering white thunder cloud. When he stopped climbing he said in excitement, "How's that for rising?"
"The earth dropped away so quickly!"
"It makes you wonder what Lijalem will achieve every time he designs something new."
"How long will it take us to get there?"
"Not long in this bird."
Maya sat back, relaxed, and watched the tops of clouds as they passed. She was getting well along with her first pregnancy, and the tight control seat was a little uncomfortable. "Have you noticed the long narrow strip of water below us?"
"Lijalem calls that the Red Sea."
"It seems all the time I lived with my father we were never far from water. We must have followed the Red Sea south to Abyssinia." Again she fell silent watching the sun sparkle on the water far below as it passed under them to the left. They were over the land again, but they could see a green area and more water far ahead.
Onam cut back on the power to begin a long slow descent. "This is where Lijalem said to look around." As they came closer to the earth they began to see cultivated fields and dirt lanes that led to groups of houses. As they crossed a low range of hills, another larger valley came into view.
"Can we fly lower? I want to see more."
Onam brought the bird down to five hundred cubits above the ground. A patchwork of green and gold fields stretched as far as they could see. As they passed the edge of each field, a ribbon of sunlight would flash back at them from an irrigation stream. Here and there people looked up as the bird passed overhead. On a low rise, a walled city passed below and then the fields stretched to the horizon.
"I wonder where that road leads. Look how wide it is." Onam dipped a wing and brought the bird around to follow it. Where it widened, they could see ox carts and loaded wagons moving one direction with nothing but empties going the other way. More small villages appeared, and each one they passed added more traffic.
"We're probably going to find a large city at the end."
"Onam, I've never seen so many people traveling like that."
"The road crosses a range of low hills. The city must be on the other side."
Still the road widened, and the carts grew more numerous. "Beautiful! Maya, look ahead." A walled city stretched from one range of hills to the next. It had streets paved with stones, trees, fountains and large temples with tall stone pillars. "Lijalem has got to come see this. It looks like the city in his plans."
"I remember those temples. I used to stand in wonder and fear at their entrance because of their size."
"You remember being here in this city?"
"This or one with similar temples. It's the temples I remember. The altars, the goblets, the idols, everything was made of pure gold."
"Are you sure? That was so long ago."
"I'm sure."

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"Is there anything else you want to see?"
"No. This place holds too many bad memories. Let's go home."
Onam turned south and began a long, slow climb to five thousand cubits to get above the clouds. Maya was silent, but he could hear her voice in his head saying, "Everything is made of pure gold," over and over. He had to find a way to bring an army back here. He had to find a way to take all that gold.
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At sunset on the seventh day of the fifth week Onam climbed the wing of the new firebird. He was going again to look for Jorham's three signal fires. This night on the edge of the city he found them, three small fires close together in a straight line. He began to climb to get enough crest to communicate with Lijalem. At four thousand cubits he began to call, "Lijalem, this is Onam." At six thousand cubits he called again, "Lijalem, this is Onam."
"Go ahead, Onam."
"Lijalem, we have a signal. We need the rotor bird."
"I'll be leaving as soon as I can. Yetbarek has already checked the bird for flight."
"Good. I'm going to stay at this crest on the other side of the city and wait for you in case anything should go wrong." Onam flew lazy circles and watched as the light of a full moon glowed above the hills to the east. When it finally rose, its bright light dominated the night sky and nearby stars became insignificant, then disappeared. He was turned from his day-dream by a voice in his head shield.
"Onam, I"m in the area. Where are you?"
"I'm at four thousand cubits. Turn on your landing lights."
"They"re on."
"I see you. Turn off the lights. Jorham is about a day's walk to your right. Do you see his fires?"
"I see three fires. I'm going down."
Onam held his breath hoping everything would go smoothly. His first battle here was still fresh in his mind, and he was beginning to wish he had flown the rotor bird tonight.
"I've got him. Let's go home."
Onam breathed an audible sigh, "I'm going to stay in the air until you reach home."
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The sun was high next morning when Maya tugged gently at Onam's hand. "Wake up. Lijalem wants to see you in the meeting room."
"What's he doing up so early?"
"It's not early. You were out late last night bringing Jorham home."
"That old man is still up before me."
Maya kissed him, then started to leave, but stopped at the door, turned and softly said, "I know. I let you sleep. You looked tired when you got home."
Onam dressed and walked down the hall to the meeting room where he found Lijalem, Yetbarek, Maya, Tigist, and Jorham.
Lijalem was impatient, "I know you haven't eaten yet, but I thought you'd want to hear Jorham's story first."
"I"m not even awake yet. Maya, ask one of the women to bring me something to eat. Jorham, what did you learn?"
"I was cold and lonely most of the time until I found work tending the flocks. I planned to find work in the city later, but I didn't need to. The owner came out every seventh day to inspect his flocks. He always brought wine out to the men then stayed to help them drink it. Wine loosened his tongue until we knew everything that happened in the city. There is very little family life. Children run loose in the streets causing trouble. If they break or steal something, you can't find their parents because they have parties every night and sleep with whoever they please. Their food comes from hard-working farmers and herders outside the city, but they receive very little for their work. They're angry, but don't know what to do. The whole city would fall apart but for a man named Tedla. He has a small army of guards that keep the farmers in line and taxes coming in."
The name caught Maya's attention, "Tedla? There was a man named Tedla in my village."
"The same man, Maya. He hid when your village moved here. He does not believe in my God. He watched everyone leave, then left on his own and found the city. He told everyone what he had seen and how to resist when you came. He is their leader now, but the city is ready to fall. It is corrupt."
Onam sat in silence for a moment, then said thoughtfully, "We can help it fall."
Lijalem waited until a tray of food had been placed on the low table in front of Onam then asked in disbelief, "How, Onam. How can we help such a powerful city fall? "
"Take their food away. Burn the fields, damage the roads, and steal their flocks. People that are hungry will listen to anyone who promises food. But the most important thing we have to do is leave them without a leader. We have to get rid of Tedla."
Lijalem's disbelief showed in his sarcastic question. "Have you planned how to do that too?"

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Onam noticed the sarcastic tone, but ignored it. "Offer his people a reward of gold to point him out. Greed will get rid of him."
In Onam's mind the problem was solved, so he turned to Jorham. "Your work has been excellent. We need you here with us. Your wives and children will be brought here to live."
"Thank you Lord. I will serve you in every way."
At this point Lijalem stood. "No, Jorham. You don't understand. We have decided to bring you here as our equal. You are no longer a servant to your god. You are a god!"
Jorham suddenly shook with fear, and dropped with his face to the floor in the old sign of fear and submission. "But I know nothing of your ways!"
Lijalem reached down, took Jorham's arm, and gently raised him up until they stood facing each other. "We will counsel you what you need to know."
Onam agreed with Lijalem and congratulated Jorham, but his mind was on the future. "Lijalem how many fire arrows do you have?"
"Since you used those on the city, I have only ten. Two more are almost ready. But I have another fire weapon in greater supply. It erupts when it comes to earth and spreads fire on everything it touches."
"How many do you have?"
"I made thirty. They're small, but I could make them larger."
"I don't think that's necessary. That city can't put out the fires we start. We could burn them out of existence if we wanted to. Jorham, I want you to go back with me to talk to the herdsmen. We will go at sunrise in the rotor bird and tell them to start driving their herds this way because fire is going to come from the sky. I don't want to lose the herds and flocks if we don't have to, so we will tell them to pass the word to the other herdsmen in the hills, thenYetbarek can drop some fire to demonstrate. That will bring the city's meat supply here. Then we will go back to the city with the voice enlarger to tell them about the coming fire, and instruct them to start marching this way. The next morning we"ll start setting fires on the north side of the city driving them south. They will have just enough time to gather their gold, silver, and what food is left, and start marching."
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Next morning at first light, Jorham pointed ahead. "My Lord, the herders camp is still where it was when I was here."
"Don't forget, Jorham, they won't recognize anything but your voice. You're dressed as a god. If they question you, tell them you took the form of a human to learn their ways."
"I understand, Lord."
"And, Jorham, since you"ve been advanced you can call me Onam. Now, let us see if we can get them moving."
"Yetbarek, this is Onam. Do you see where we are?"
"One day's walk south of the city."
"We're going to come to earth. Stay close. We might need you." Onam touched earth just out of rock throwing distance. The herders gathered in the camp to watch the strange bird lower itself from the heavens and disappear in a cloud of dust, reddened by the sunrise. Then before it cleared, two creatures emerged from the red dust and walked toward them. They were shaped like men but no skin was to be seen. Their feet were black and shiny, their bodies blood red. They did seem to have fingers like men, but their heads were large and shiny with one enormous dark eye.
The herders were afraid to move, almost afraid to breathe. The sheep dogs that stood on guard before the herders, slowly retreated until they stood between the herders, and growled deep in their throats until one sniffed the air and bounded forward. He stopped to stand upright and rest his front paws on the strange being's chest. Some of the herders drew an audible breath in fear for the dog, but the stranger stroked the dogs head and scratched his ear. The herders and the other strange being watched in awe as the dog dropped his front feet to the ground and began to run in small circles. Each time he came close, the being grabbed for him as the animal stayed just out of reach. Both dog and being were enjoying this game when Onam put his hand on Jorham's shoulder and brought him back to the world of the present.
Onam could see he had lost control of the situation, so he spoke quickly to the herders. "Fall on your knees! Touch your face to the ground, and do not rise until we are gone. I am The God of Thunder. I have come to tell you the future of this land and help you avoid what will happen here. In two days I"ll pour down fire from the sky and destroy your sinful city. You will quietly pass the word to the other herders in these hills that they are to leave and graze their flocks moving always to the southwest. Several days journey from here is a city where you may live and keep your flocks in peace." As Onam spoke, he watched the herders, wondering what they were thinking. Not one had bowed to the ground. So he repeated his order to bow. "Fall on your knees, now, or you will feel my wrath."
The herders stood straight and tall. "We obey no man because he commands it. We obey only our leader, Tedla."
"We are not men. We are your new gods. Kneel!"

Page 11 God Sons Book

"Does a god play with a dog? We knew a herder that played with that dog as that man did." Then the herder pointed and said, "That man's name is Jorham. Who are you? We are not afraid of you."
As the lead herder talked, they all moved forward menacingly. The shepherd's staffs they had leaned on, they now held as weapons, and they began to pick up stones. Onam closed his hand on his weapon and brought it up ready to use. Jorham reacted only a moment later. One of the herders dogs growled again deep in his throat and charged, but the growl changed to a surprised yip when a flash of brown flew between Onam and Jorham to attack the herders dog. The dogs fighting at their feet distracted the herders just enough for Onam and Jorham to burn holes through their leader and the three men closest to him. The others stopped where they stood. Jorham's dog was not doing well. Every dog in the camp was trying to tear off a piece of his fur. Jorham and Onam started pointing their weapons carefully, eliminating one dog after another.
When the rest had run off, and only two dogs were left, one of the herders ran forward begging, "Please, let me keep my dog." Another herder ran forward and they pulled their dogs away. Jorhams dog tried to get up, but didn't have the strength.
Again Onam spoke quickly. "You men, stand where you are. Don't move. Jorham get your dog and take it to the rotor bird. Call Yetbarek and tell him to prepare to use one of his eruption arrows." Onam motioned to one of the herders with his hand weapon. "You! Yes you! Go back to your warming fire and add green grass and leaves to make smoke rise. Jorham have you made contact?"
"Yes."
"Ask Yetbarek if he can see the rising smoke."
After a pause Jorham said, "He can."
"Tell him to drop his fire on that smoke from the south."
Jorham listened for a moment, then replied, "He says fire will strike in a very short time."
Onam heard a loud whine turn to the roar of sustained thunder. At the same moment the earth erupted the man that had been making the warming fire smoke disappeared in a wall of flames only to emerge moments later running blindly and screaming with every breath. He was naked except for the remnants of his clothing which was still in flames. The few herders remaining dropped to their knees and touched their faces to the ground. Onam and Jorham turned to walk back to the rotor bird looking back now and then at the men on the ground. Onam still could not believe his plans had gone so wrong. "Tell me about the dog, Jorham."
"When I lived here he was my sheep-dog. We slept together, worked together, and played together. He was my only friend. I would have brought him home with me the first time, but the noise of the rotor bird scared him. I would like to take him with us this time."
"Get in. Let us rise."
Jorham climbed into the seat and covered the dog on the floor with his raiment. When Onam started the rotor bird the dog struggled, but Jorham spoke to him, and he lay still as they rose through the dust. The herders were still on their knees.
"I wonder if they'll do as you told them."
"There's only one way to find out. Wait till tomorrow and see where they are."
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The next day it was easy to see from above that things were changing. The camp where the fire arrow had erupted was deserted, and they could see mounds of earth where the herders had buried their dead and moved on. The question was, "Which way." Onam rose to gain crest and spoke to Jorham. "I'm going to circle the city low enough to see. You know what to watch for."
They circled the city to find only two flocks, but they were on the move.
"Where are they, Onam?"
"We probably flew over them on the way here. We just didn't start looking soon enough. Let's go back toward home and see if we can find them."
They passed over the two herds they had located, then over a low range of hills when Jorham pointed in excitment. "There are two of the flocks, and there is another, and there are more ahead. They did take our suggestion, but they need more direction. They'll miss home going that way."
"Let's leave them alone until we get the city moving. Two or three days in that direction won't matter much. I want them well out of the way before we start burning things."
"When are we going to start the city moving?"
Onam rose for the trip back home. "Early in the morning the day after tomorrow. That will give the shepherds time." This city had been hard to convince. He hoped the people would move with little resistance. He didn't want to leave too many bodies behind. Live people were needed to breed and work to fulfill his desires, lots of live people.

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"Maya, do you know where Lijalem is? Yetbarek said he wanted to see me."
"No, Onam, I haven't seen him since this morning, but he said for you to meet him at the sky scan radiator."
Onam met the workers carrying earth tools and axes. They had cleared and repaired the trail and were on their way down. "Where's Lijalem?"
"He stayed at the top."
Onam climbed until he was short of breath then turned to feel the breeze on his face and enjoy the view. Through the trees, he could see Lijalem's new city beginning to spread across the valley to the river where the temple would be. Across the river, a patchwork of gold and green marked the fields of cereal grain and fruit. In the distance, the hills rolled away as far as the eye could see. While he was resting, he heard a slightly musical clacking sound that seemed to be getting louder. He turned his face in the direction of the sound just in time to see a pair of ravens floating across the face of the hill on the rising air. They were very close, and when they saw him they went silent, flapped their wings to gain a higher crest, and passed overhead out of sight. As he rested, he wondered what it would be like to fly as effortlessly as the raven. He stood a moment more, then turned to continue his climb.
"Onam, wait." Jorham was breathing loudly on his way up the hill. Behind him was his new pet limping on three legs. Jorham stopped to catch his breath, then said, "Maya told me you were up here."
Onam stopped and asked, "How is the dog?"
"Getting better. I got word Lijalem wanted to see me."
"Maya said we"d find him up here." Onam turned to finish the climb, then said in surprise, "Yetbarek, you"re here too?"
"I came up with Lijalem. We gave you up, so I had started down to find you."
When they reached the top, Lijalem greeted them. "Onam, Jorham, come sit down and rest. I'm glad you came up."
"What is this all about, Lijalem? Why are we meeting up here?"
"I wanted to be able to talk without wondering who was listening. I wanted to discuss something with the three of you together, so you wouldn't hear what I have to say a little at a time. As you all know I'm older than any of you. I don't have too many more summers at the very best. What concerns me is that no one has been interested in learning how I make birds fly or how I make your voice travel from place to place through the air. If something should happen to me now, there would be no one to conceive the birds you fly. If you are to continue to be gods after I'm gone, I need to start counseling what I know to someone interested in learning."
Onam and Yetbarek sat in silence, absorbing what they had heard, but Jorham's eyes were aglow, and he was smiling from ear to ear. "Lijalem could I learn? Could I follow you and learn from you? I would work very hard every day."
Onam was surprised. "I thought you wanted to learn to fly."
"I do, but I want to know what Lijalem knows first."
"We need men to fly birds. If Lijalem is going to spend most of his day counseling, that only leaves Yetbarek and me to fly."
Lijalem held his hand up for quiet. "I think we need to counsel several young men to fly, create, and repair. I think we need to start a school and carefully handpick our new people. That's why I asked you up here today. I want you to think about this school and offer any ideas you may have next time we meet. The sun is getting low. Let's start down.
Onam rose with the rest of them, but he was troubled. "Lijalem where are we going to get that many young men capable of being gods?"
"They won't be gods. We'll give them another title. We can call them sentinels. We'll swear them to secrecy on pain of death if they reveal what they learn. They'll be like junior gods with all the power, but very little authority. We can pick the best and brightest and let them learn something of what we do, then let them decide to fly, create, or repair. This school will continue with the best disciples becoming counselors after I'm gone. I smell meat roasting. We're almost down."
Onam had still another question. "Who's going to pick these bright young men?"
"Send Jorham into the community to find interested young men. Then the four of us will sit as a group and choose the best."
Onam stopped and turned to look at Lijalem. "You"re not forgetting we have to start moving people tomorrow, are you?"
"You can move people in the morning and help choose sentinels in the afternoon."
"Lijalem, I have another question I would ask after we eat."
"What is it, Onam?"
"It will wait a while longer."
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Onam was through eating when Lijalem rose from the table. "Now what was your question?"
"Before I ask, I want to see the earth drawings of the place I came from."
When they entered the earth drawing room Lijalem laid out the sketches of the area covering hundreds of day's walk in all directions. "This is not complete, but it does show all the major earth masses. You can see from this that you can fly west of north without following all the shore lines like you did when you came here."
Onam looked at the drawings. "If I fly in a straight line at three hundred day's walk, I won't have to stop and kill a bird for my lunch."
Lijalem laughed. "What is it you want to do?"
Onam hesitated for a moment, knowing the importance of the plans for the next day. "Lijalem, I want to put off the moving of the city for another day."
"Why?"
"I owe a debt to my father, and vengeance burns in me like a fire. Some days I think of nothing else. I want to go home."
Lijalem sighed. "I guessed as much."

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Before sunrise the next day, he was rolling down the bird path. He had been looking forward to this day for many summers, but he never dreamed when he left his home, he might come back like this. He left home a terrified, angry boy. He was returning as a warrior with weapons he could not have imagined when he left. At a crest of two thousand cubits he left Egypt and crossed the sea with a finger of earth on his right. The next earth mass wasn't named on Lijalem's earth drawings, but it didn't matter now. He was over a familiar coast-line and flying north. He crossed the water and slowed to watch for his old home. There it was, just above the fingers of ocean fog, in the little valley that had been his home through his growing years. The stream, the village, and the park, were just like he remembered. He was down to five hundred cubits now, tipping his wings slightly left, making thunder in a great circle around the village. He could see people now, standing between the dwellings pointing at him. They had no idea what they were looking at, or what was about to happen.
He leveled his wings and climbed to six hundred cubits, then turned back toward the village in a long, fast descent lining up his weapons with his objective. He felt the firebird shudder as the fire arrows ignited, and watched their smoke trail as he pulled back on his control. Wood, wheels and wing coverings erupted in all directions. Many small pieces of his fathers pedal birds left great, arcing, trails of smoke as they rose, then fell back to earth. When Onam turned to look back, he saw men pushing the only bird he had missed away from the fires. The people of the village had run into their dwellings to hide from the terror in the sky. As he turned and watched, a man came from the village with a wooden bucket and threw water on the burning pedal bird's wing. One of the men pushing the pedal bird stopped to shake his fist at the thundering silver thing that was wreaking havoc on his precious birds. Onam slowed, turned to fly low, and recognized the man. It was his father! Even at this crest and speed he recognized the defiant man behind the fist.
Onam had come back home a cold, calculating, warrior, intent on the complete destruction of his father's ability to fly, but his father's defiance opened old wounds and bitter memories came rushing back. In a moment, he quit thinking about what he was doing and concentrated on destruction alone. He climbed and turned to line up on virgin's park and released another fire arrow. In the blink of an eye the building where Leah was kept captive ceased to exist. Another climbing turn let him look back at the landing path and his father still shaking his fist. It was too much. He hadn't come to kill his father, but he was past all reason. One more fire arrow, and the last pedal bird and everyone close to it were separated into many parts that went flying through the air. One more climbing turn to confirm what he knew he would see, then he leveled his wings and flew south feeling an inner peace he had not known for a long time.
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The next day at mid-morning Onam and Yetbarek were in the air over the city. "They're not leaving, Onam. They look like bees on a hive, shoulder to shoulder in the streets."
"I've given them enough warning, Yetbarek. Let's start dropping fire. I'm going in across the northeast edge of the city, close in, so some of those people will get hit. Their screams will get enough attention to start the rest moving. Follow me down and drop after I do so your fire will start where mine stops."
"I'm right behind you Onam."
The people in the city had heard the order to leave from the birds that thundered across their once peaceful sky. Now they shook their fists at the sky and shouted defiantly, almost drowning out the noise from above. When the silver birds disappeared, and the thunder stopped, they were still shouting. Because of their angry shouting, they didn't hear the high pitch whine lower to a rumble that changed quickly to thunder. When they finally heard the thunder, it was so loud they barely heard the muffled pops that spread fire over everything in the low-flying bird's path. For several heart beats, the thunder of the climbing birds covered the screams of men, women, and children, burning alive in the streets.
The grass and wheat fields at the edge of the city became a great wall of leaping flame with grey-white smoke rising to the sky. The houses that were hit took just a few moments to become infernos. Most of the people hit were so badly burned they collapsed in agony before they screamed yet again. As the crowd watched, frozen in horror, a young boy ran from between the burning buildings. His raiments and hair were on fire, and he was screaming for his mother with every breath. A woman broke from the crowd and ran to meet him, then tore his burning raiments off with her bare hands. The child continued to scream, and then because his burning raiments started hers burning, the mother screamed and tore her raiments off. She held her naked son against her bare chest until he stopped screaming, and then stopped breathing.
Once again, the voice came from the silver birds, "I am the God of Thunder. I told you I was coming. I told you to gather your belongings and prepare for a long march, but you defied me. Now you will take what food you can find on the way out of the city and leave by the south road as you were instructed because I am raining down fire to destroy your wicked city."
"They're moving, Onam, but they're leaving people trampled in the street."
"I think that will end when the weak have fallen. They've cleared an area big enough to start more fire without burning any of them. Let's drop more fire to make it hotter down there."
"Do you want me to release after you this time too?"
"Just like before, only further in to keep them moving."
With this release the whole northeast side of the city began to send hot smoke high into the sky.
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Far away in a more peaceful place, Lijalem climbed his favorite hill to enjoy the cool, quiet morning and saw the smoke rising far to the northeast. It saddened him that these people had to be moved with force. He was glad the march had started, but he disliked people being killed to build his city.

Book Sons God - Page 11

In the burning city, two men talked as they left. "Tedla, what are we to do now? People are dying. Our city is on fire. We are homeless and at the mercy of this flying god you said had no power."
"I"ll tell you again, he is not a god. He is only a man, and we can beat him. We have to do what he says now, but we will find a way to be free again."
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Onam sat in the common room in expectation. Many summers had passed since he had moved the last people here with fire. The city had grown, the temples were in place, and today was the yearly Sacrifice of the Virgins and the day of feasting. His sons, and Habtamu's son, were wearing matching flight raiments for the first time. He finally called out, "Maya are the boys ready yet?"
"Stele and Seifu are ready, but Alemu and Habtamu aren't here yet. There's plenty of time. You won't be late."
Onam always looked forward to this day. He knew that part of his father stirred in him when he watched all those beautiful young faces line up before the crowd. He liked the roast meat and fresh bread, the contests of strength, and the music, but he looked forward most to the picking of the maidens. He had been present the day before when they were instructed by the head of the council.
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"Tomorrow before the feast, all maidens sixteen years and older who have not known man will bathe using sweet smelling oils, put on clean robes, and braid flowers in their hair. They will display themselves to their God and the people, one at a time, from the high place in the Coliseum of Lijalem. When the feast starts, they will be treated as guests of this city. At mid afternoon, when the ram's horn is sounded, they will again form a line across the stage to be judged. Each maiden will carry a pebble and a pouch of sheep skin. Each in her turn will look at all the others and place her stone in the pouch of the maiden she thinks is the most beautiful. This will continue until there are four maidens left. In this fashion they will sacrifice four like themselves to their god."
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Onam rose when Maya said, "Onam, Alemu, and Habtamu are here. Are you ready to leave?"
"I want to see my sons together in their new flight raiments before we go."
The young men were handsome in their new matching raiments and head shields. His sons were slightly shorter than Habtamu's son, but they were all growing so fast he wouldn't guess which boy would be the tallest a summer from now. All three young men were almost as tall as he was. He wondered to himself what Lijalem would have thought about these handsome young men and said, "Remember boys, never let the people see the skin of a God. Now let us go celebrate."

Maya took Onam by the hand and led him aside, then spoke quietly. "When you pick a wife this year, bring home a maid that looks like she could help carry some of the load. I"m getting older and the work is tiring me."
Before he could answer her, Stele interupted, "Can I fly today, Father?"
"Are your lessons going well?"
"Yetbarek says I am almost ready to fly alone."
As the young men went out, Onam smiled and nodded yes to Maya's question, then joined them. He didn't know why she was concerned. He had brought her many wives to help with the work.
Habtamu's son and Seifu had chosen to fly rotor birds first and then graduate to firebirds so they weren't as interested as Stele in their rotor bird ride. Onam buckled in beside Stele while Seifu and Habtamu buckled long straps on for safety and stood in the rear doorways. They liked to lean out of the openings and feel the wind of the great rotor as they watched the earth pass below. Onam marveled at Stele's expert handling of the great rotor bird. Yetbarek was getting old and hard to get along with, but he was still the best flight counsel around. "How do you want to go in, Father?"
"East, down the river."
"Thunder flight this is Stele, have you finished your passes?"
"Yes. I'm up high to keep the thunder up and the heads down until you land."
"Thanks. We"ll touch earth soon."
Stele flew low over the water because it gave him a feeling of speed. As they flew, the homes on the river's edge gave way to the larger buildings used for storage and trade. Then both sides of the river were covered with grass, trees and fountains. More homes could be seen through and above the trees climbing the near hills. When the rotor bird started a steep climb, Onam looked at Stele, wondering what he was doing. The bird swung up like a pendulum, hung for a short moment before the tail kicked smartly to the left, facing it perfectly centered at the earth plot in front of Lijalem's temple. As he came down toward the plot picking up speed, Stele dropped the tail of the rotor bird to slow the descent and touched down like a feather.

Book Sons God The Bible Revealed - Page 11

"Expert flying, Stele, but I don't want you doing that when you have others with you. Practice your flying alone."
"Yes, Father."
"I'm so glad Lijalem lived long enough to see this completed."
"What, father?"
"This city, this coliseum, and this temple were Lijalem's life's dream. When he finally got the help he needed, he worked long and hard to realize his dream. I wish he had lived longer."
"How long did he live after he finished his temple.?
"Just four summers, Stele. He died when you were sixteen summers."
Habtamu and Seifu were out of the rotor bird, standing on the high place as soon as the rotor bird touched earth. "Hurry, father. Stele, the guard is waiting."
But Stele was still busy. "Thunder flight, this is Stele. Fly over once more. We"ll be in before you"re through."
"Thunder flight understands one more flight overhead."
When Stele was through, he joined Habtamu, Seifu, and Onam. Then Onam and his three young gods walked between a double row of sentinels dressed in snow white robes. The sentinels stood at attention looking straight ahead. In each sentinel's left hand was an upright spear held at arms length, and as the four came abreast, each guard saluted by touching his right hand to the handle of his sword. The four men entered a tunnel that brought them through the back of the seating area and out onto an elevated platform that looked down on the people and the stage. Graceful stone statues of young women in flowing robes stood on each side of the platform to hold up a roof of carved stone. There were tables of fruit and wine, with gold chairs and lounges to sit on. Everything on the tables was of pure gold, including Maya's original four goblets. Fifteen-summer maidens, chosen for their beauty, stood close by in long flowing robes, ready to pour and serve. As the men sat down, the roar of the bird above faded for a moment, turned to a high pitched whine, then screamed and became a sustained eruption as the firebird stood on its tail and climbed straight up over the coliseum. In moments, the bird was back up where it started, and changed to level flight. The thunder was gone, and the silent throng rose from their kneeling position and came to life.
Onam held both hands extended out toward his people as they cheered. He looked down on thousands of happy, well-fed people. The whole city was here to see who the lucky maidens would be this year. Onam stood a little longer with his hands extended, enjoying the moment, then sat in a golden chair. A hush fell over the people as the curtains were slowly pulled open to reveal three rows of beautiful young females in flowing white robes.
"Look, Father, there are so many they had to build high places for the back two rows."
"Yes, Seifu, I noticed that."
"Father, can you believe our numbers have grown enough to have three long rows of maidens?"
"Yes. It's going to be an interesting competition with so many maidens. They're all so pretty I'd hate to guess which four will be left when it's over."
"Father?"
"Yes, Stele."
"How do you decide which of the four belongs to me?"
"The best of this group will be so beautiful it won't make any difference, but we'll draw lots so there is no argument."
"This is my first year to take a wife, and I probably won't get the one I want."
"Why do you say that, Stele? We"re gods. We can arrange anything we want."
"Then I want the maiden in the second row, seventh from the west end."
Onam turned to face the other two young men. "Seifu, do you two have any preference?"
"No, father."
"Habtamu?"
"They"re all so beautiful."
Onam turned and motioned to a serving maiden to come closer. "Go tell the Captain of the Sentinels I want to speak with him."
When the sentinel appeared, Onam motioned him close to speak quietly in his ear. "Go back stage and tell Yakirta to make sure the maiden in the second row, seventh from the west end gets chosen."
"Yes, Lord."
Yakirta gave the people time to look at the maidens carefully and choose their favorites, then walked to the center of the stage and took the voice enlarger from its stand to repeat the legend. "In the beginning, man had many daughters born to him. God and his sons saw that man's daughters were beautiful, and to this day, they take wives for themselves. Giants walk the earth when God and his sons have relations with the daughters of men.. These are mighty men, the men of renown." Then he explained the rules for the counting of the pebbles once more and left the stage. The first maiden stepped forward and gazed for a long moment at her competitors, then walked part of the way across the stage to drop her pebble in the pouch of a dark haired beauty in the second row. The second maiden made her choice and the process continued until each maiden had given her pebble to someone else. Yakirta appeared on stage to look for empty pouches and sent all but a few to join their families in the audience. Stele's choice was still among the contenders.
"What if the one I want doesn't win?"
"She will."
"How can you know that, Father?"