At Monga’s command, the tribe of yeren descended upon the humans. The priests fought back in skilled formation but all their efforts went to waste. For every yeren slain, three priests would join it.

  They fought with abandon, and strangely in perfect concert with their kin, ripping and tearing apart the priest guards until none remained. Their gray hands were as tough as the priest’s steel, and their arms could stretch and grow as they willed.

  Montu cut down two of the murderous apes, but one shattered his skull with its dense fist. The warrior guard’s body dispersed into mist as he appeared from thin air to jam a dagger in the yeren’s skull. But as it dropped to the ground, a dozen more prowled around him, searching for weakness.

  The strength of the priests were a bit more than Banda expected, about on par with the yeren, though they would never be able to fight the tribe as equals when Monga led them. His estimation of Montu took another small jump again, though try as he might he couldn’t see the human as a threat.

  Eres gave him a look in the lull of the fighting, and Banda reluctantly obliged. “Don’t kill him either.”

  Monga considered the three, then waved his hand dismissively. The yeren stepped back from the warrior, to the relief of no one more than Montu.

  “Explain.” Monga commanded.

  “She uses tricks that comes from the air and traps me. I can’t let her die.” Monga’s gaze shifted knowingly towards the human woman he hadn’t taken much note of before, though Banda continued. “I have to go somewhere. She says I can’t come back.”

  Monga’s stern face turned back to Banda with a different kind of silence this time, that lasted a few moments.

  “Then go.” Monga turned around and walked away. “This forest isn’t large enough for you anymore.”

  Banda expression did not change either. He lingered for a few moments as well, then turned around to leave.

  “That’s it?” Eres asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Do you know who that is?” She questioned.

  “Monga.” Banda said plainly, as he already told her before. She was foolish and slow to learn sometimes, he thought. Eres gave a smile in response as she followed after him.

  ---

  No sooner had the trio returned from the forest, did Oreb scurry over to them. Upon seeing that they returned alone, he took unconcealed relief that he had deigned not to accompany them.

  “I trust we may return now?” His tone was more pleading than inquiring, as he knew well he could not command the willful priestess.

  “I am tired. Make camp here for tonight.” Eres commanded freely, with dismissive tone.

  “Then…” Oreb thought quickly. “At least allow me to choose a spot a bit further away from the forest.”

  “Do as you see fit.” At her words, the portly man scurried off again to yell at the others.

  Banda watched as the remaining half of the priesthood horde bustle around. They set up tents of strange hide too soft and thin to come from any beast he knew of, started fires from unusually cut trees, and filled oddly-shaped stone with what smelled like food. But quickly his focused drifted to the priests themselves.

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  Originally he had paid them no mind, but their fight against the yeren showed them to be slightly more of a threat in these numbers. If there were more hordes of humans like this one where they were headed, then they may even be able to threaten him.

  The humans tended to what he could only assume was their nest, or lair, for longer than he expected. Eventually, things seemed to settle, and he caught sight of Eres beckoning him over to a tented area. With nothing better to do and her life being his own, Banda headed over to join her.

  She sat of a multitude of soft round objects, made of what smelled like feathers and human clothes. Over the ground beneath them was a large colorful hide, though it too smelled unfamiliar and felt strange beneath his feet.

  On the other side across from her under similar conditions sat Oreb, who drunk sour smelling water from a golden cup. But Banda didn’t see the green cloaked human that had always been by her side so far.

  “Has all this civilized you yet, Wild?” Eres asked as she handed him a gold bowl of broth, meat and herbs.

  She used words Banda didn’t understand again, so he ignored the question. “Where are we going?”

  “Uruk-ki.” Oreb spoke up to answer, his demeanor odd compared to before. “And not soon enough. Even a savage such as yourself will understand the majesty of such a holy city.”

  Banda refrained from killing the human for his disrespect just yet, on the chance it may be more trouble than it was worth. With Eres occupied with her sour water as well, he found himself looking to the dimming distance.

  The sun had only half crossed the horizon, so the sky was still barren. His gaze trailed to the long mountain in the far distance, which even in his sharp eyes was little more than a wisping image.

  Eres took notice of Banda and glanced back to see what he was staring at. “Interested?”

  “It’s a strange mountain. It’s tall but it should be wide.” Banda commented.

  Eres chuckled. “That’s because it’s not a mountain, but a tower. After Enlil created the mortal plane of Akkad, his brother Enki built that tower connecting it back to Eden. The home of the gods. Thus mankind was able once more to enter the heavenly garden, but only for those able to climb it.”

  “It’s not that tall.” Banda judged.

  Eres laughed a bit harder this time. “It only looks that way. The Tower is so tall it reaches the very sky, and can be seen throughout all of Akkad.”

  “...why are we going to Uruk-ki?” Banda changed the conversation to something more important.

  “Because it is our goddess Ishtar’s holy city on this… mortal plane of Akkad” Oreb interrupted once again, before refilling his cup from a large clay jar. Montu quietly returned to Eres’ side, which she takes note of, with a certain look in her eyes.

  Banda glanced at the stew in his hand and raised the bowl to his mouth, but stopped just short with a jolt of his instincts. He lowered the bowl as he glared at it and then at Eres, who gave back only a smug look of intrigue and put a finger to her soft lips, gesturing for him to keep quiet.

  Oreb took another sip of wine from his cup as he discreetly eyed Eres down as she gave her focus to the savage.

  Her face was more elegant and captivating than any sculpture, and her voluptuous figure draped in revealing silk more tempting than any courtesan he’s ever known. The very embodiment of lust that made ones blood run hot. All enhanced by the insolent tease that she was, just begging to be tamed.

  The portly priest cleared his throat. “Once we return-”

  “The tower is a wondrous corridor to a wondrous place.” Eres spoke with zeal in her voice and fervor in her face, as though no one else were speaking. “Immortality, power, freedom. All things Akkad lacks. But Eden. Eden is a garden where everything grows.”

  Oreb started to cough slightly from an irritated throat which he couldn’t seem to get rid of, as Eres rose to her feet.

  “A world of paths denied to us mortals. A world where anything is possible. Where even these wretched chains of fate can be broken into reins.” Her tone became more ominous and overbearing as the tinge of madness crept in.

  “What are you-” The worsening cough prevented Oreb from finishing his words as it became more and more violent.

  His golden cup fell from his hands as he stumbled aimless to collapse with it. The color of his face reddened and his veins bulged black. Only now did he realize that his coughs were not alone, but joined with those of the entire priesthood.

  “You!” He spluttered at Eres, but she didn’t spare him a single thought.

  Eres turned to face Banda with undivided passion as the rest died in agony behind Her gaze direct upon him and him alone, as if nothing else in the world existed.

  “You wish to know where we are going? To Eden. To the throne of Zagros. To wherever is necessary for as long as it takes until I am Queen of Heaven.”

  Banda once again felt her overwhelming presence. It was not fear born from the sight of an enemy, nor even hatred, but he felt small before her. And larger than anyone else.

  It was something unfamiliar, something he did not fully understand. Something that enraptured him and filled him with vigilance. Something he had only ever felt from her.