CHAPTER FIVE: OH NINEVEH!

THREE DAYS AGO IN THE CRYPTS OF BANE

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I feel the grittiness of the white sand beneath my brown feet as I stand shirtless on the Rings of Sand with all my attention focused on my enemy Karen.

The Rings of Sand is where we practice our close combat skills against each other and today my opponent was unavoidably Karen!

Oh heavens! Save me today

.."focus is the key " Al-Ain interrupts my earnest prayer with his cranky voice as he stands on a slightly elevated platform in the dimly lit temple hall and watches the choreography before him.

Yes, it is choreography for him because he enjoys it despite the fact that we break bones, tear muscles and injure blood vessels in this so called training!

I can not see very well in this dimly lit room neither can I perceive even the slightest motions in the dark like all Neems can.

They have a heightened sense of motion especially in the dark and are trained with this so they can be flawless in daytime and this is one of the advantages they have over ordinary men like me.

They say I am Neem but the color of my eyes say otherwise and I do not sense in the dark like they do. I neither move like a spirit in combat nor am I as fast nor as strong as my brothers, but somehow I have managed to survive this Den of Hades for years,

..Why?"

"...you look at him and all you see is an animal, a prey waiting to be devoured by you. He is weaker, he is nothing compared to a god like you!" Al-Ain continues.

I try hard to see Karen amidst the darkness as we circle each other slowly on the Rings of Sand with my other brothers standing by the edge of the ring forming a circle around us with their sweaty chests heaving and their voices making a familiar song rhyme with a tempo:

"Hee! Hee! Hee!..." They sing with a tempo that intensifies the atmosphere and takes my breath away!

It is the Neem way. Everything about us is so intense that it blows the mind of the ordinary man away, one would just look on in amazement at the level of orderliness, rhythm and discipline with which we do what we do.

Karen's eyes begin to glow in the dark and I know she is about to pounce on me so I make my stance as she pounces on..

"...a Neem's glory is to fight till death under impossible circumstances..." our instructor continues.

Impossible circumstances indeed! I echo in my heart because Karen is beating the hell out of me.

It is so bad for me because even before I can block one of her moves, she has made three more moves as my brothers cheer her on with their rhythmic 'Hees'.

She lands several blows on my six pack belly and the muscles there begin to weaken and as I try an attack on her feet to make her loose balance, her feet disappears and the next thing I see is Karen spinning in the air and landing with her foot hard on the cheek bones of my skull and I find my self turning involuntarily before landing hard with my face on the white sand and my lips kissing the sand so hard that some grains enter my mouth, I spit them out forcefully.

My jaw hurts, my teeth aches, my lips hurt and I feel some warm liquid run down my cheek from the opening of my ear, but Neems do not give up in a fight so I try to get up but again I feel her feet hit hard against the spine of my back and I fall back down harder on my chest this time, Karen has not finished with me…

Karen I am Razal your friend remember? Are you not going to take it easy with me today?  I plead in my heart.

She does not seem to be slowing down until the door of the hall opens up forcefully, introducing our handsome Prince Meizza and who walks in with two priestesses in white raiment following behind him with two bright flame torches in their hands illuminating the hall. We all halt in surprise as he seems to be pushed on by some urgency.

The Prince of Neems never returns to the crypts of Bane after he completes his training, he stays in Golem and commands the Neem army who are the personal guards of the Assyrian King!

But Meizza is fond of breaking Neem laws. I hear that he bedded one of the priestesses of Asure the god of fire during his time in the Crypts hence, the priestess was burned alive while he fought his way out of the cruel Neem judgement, a trial by combat and against impossible odds!

He fought against fifty trained Neem soldiers from the golden army at once and he was still a sixteen year old trainee! He emerged victorious! That was the day he earned the respect and fear of all the Golemites and Neems.

The story also bears that he ate the kidneys of all his slain brothers raw, to show the pain of his beloved priestess who was burned alive by Neem law! So no one questions Meizza for breaking Neem laws anymore.

He approaches the priest in his confident stride.

"What is the Prince of Neem doing in the temple of Asure?"our white bearded Priest asks as we all look on in intrigue, but before we can understand what is going on Meizza lands a hard blow on the jaw of Al-ain and he falls hard on the floor!

The priestesses rush towards Al-Ain to tender some aid but Meizza looks at them with a fury in his eyes and they halt instantly and retrace their steps slowly until they are at a safe distance away from him.

We all stand at attention to the presence of our Prince. I stand with my body complaining severely from pain in several areas of my body all thanks to Karen.

My body quarrels with me conspicuously as it manages to stand like a stone statue just like my brothers.

"...how dare you authorize the entry of merchandise from Babylon without my consent?" he asks angrily and Al-Ain bows to his feet.

"I am sorry my lord!"It is a peace offering from Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. The finest wines in Babylon made by the Persians themselves and presented to us because they seek audience to reach a peace treaty and end this bloody war"

"... what don't you understand? There is no end to this war! Not until all of Assyria lies in ruins and bows at the feet of the Babylon Dragon!"

"... but my lord you should understand that I as the priest of the gods of Golem am an advocate for peace for all of Golem, for all our women and children who cannot fight..."

"...old fool " Meizza interrupts "...of all your teachings to me in this temple you fail to understand the politics and intricacies of King and Kingdom!"

"Listen on and understand my sayings" He turns to us who look on  standing at attention.

"There can be no peace without war! A king always wants it all, everything, all land, all wealth, all gods! And what he cannot get, he will destroy! And this is what Babylon wants, all of Assyria's lands, our women, our children, and the even plains of Hanan where we harvest! Everything!" he yells in pain.