People of Babel (Ark Chronicles 3) (24 page)

38.

Back at Festival the next morning, as the sun rose, Odin unwound his sabertooth cloak, stretched and picked up a pole and line and headed to the lake. After a breakfast of fresh fish, he drifted back to the chariot, watching people stir. He sat on the chariot edge, took out a rag and began to polish his spearhead, looking up from time to time, a line creasing his forehead.

“
Are you worried about what to do, about which side to take?”

An old woman with a shawl regarded him
. He rose, dwarfing her, and bowed in respect for Ruth, the wife of Shem.

“
I beg your pardon?” he said.

“
You sit apart. Do you fear to become tainted by us?”

“
Uh, no, but…”

“
But you don’t want to be found mingling when Nimrod comes. Is that it?”

He peered at her, surprised
. “You are wise.”

She chuckled
. “It is elementary deduction, as my husband would say.” She grew serious. “Do you think Nimrod will slay Noah?”

He scrunched his thick eyebrows and soon shrugged.

“I believe it’s unlikely,” she said. “That being so, Noah will talk them out of their blood rage. So there will be no fight. So your worry is pointless.”

“
Suppose Noah is slain by accident?”

She drew the shawl tighter
. It made her seem smaller. “In that case, some of my sons will surely die, as will sons of Japheth and Ham.” She regarded him more closely. “You are a Japhethite but have lived with them. Where will you stand?”

“
I am a Hunter,” he said.

“
One of Nimrod’s Hunters?”

With his pudgy
fingers, Odin dug in a pouch slung around his belly, drawing out a leather cord, with a nine-inch tooth dangling on the end.

“
Is that a fabled dragon tooth?” Ruth asked.

“
That’s right. Taken from the beast slain by Nimrod. I earned this, bleeding many times and facing danger against wolves, lions and bull elephants. It was given me in trust, and I took an oath.” Odin might have pursed his lips; it was impossible to tell under his bushy mustache. “Into Japheth’s line I was born. Through an act of will, I have become a Hunter of Babel.”

“
Then let us hope Noah hasn’t been slain,” Ruth said.

“
Agreed.”

“
May I ask you a personal question?” she asked.

Odin
dipped his head.

“
Why did you warn us? Nimrod will surely not be pleased by it.”

Before he could
answer, a loud clattering and a horn sounded. The horn blew low, flat, and long, and the sound came from behind the pines standing nearest the clearing.

Men shouted
. People ran out of their tents, some with spears and others with bows. Dogs barked and children squealed.

The horn blew again, and from around a bend of pines
, a four-donkey team ran pell-mell, dragging a bouncing cart. A woman flicked the reins. Her blonde-braided hair writhed like snakes, and her teeth flashed in a wild grin. She wore a short dress to her knees, with her arms bare. Beside her hulked a black-bearded brute, bigger than anyone Odin had ever seen. The giant wore a great sloth cap and a strange suit that winked golden whenever the sunlight touched it. The giant blew the horn a final time.

“
Hilda,” whispered Odin, his eyes on the slender driver.

“
And her father, Beor,” Ruth said. “Do you know them?”

Hilda brought the team to a skidding halt
. Camp folk hurried to Beor, who jumped out of the chariot and clumped with a peg leg to a wooden platform.

“
I met her at Mount Ararat,” Odin said, “several years ago.” He wrapped the leather cord around his fist, letting the dragon tooth hang across the back of his hand. Then he escorted Ruth to the growing excitement.

“
They march to us,” Beor said, grim-faced, standing on the wooden platform, speaking to a growing crowd. His strange, reddish-golden suit seemed to be fashioned of copper, armor that hung past his waist, like something out of Antediluvian legends. He seemed powerful, incredibly warlike and wise in the ways of battle. The image was strengthened by the unstrung bow in his left hand, a huge weapon, fully six feet long. Odin had seen Beor use the giant bow before at Mount Ararat. When he shot it, Beor stuck out his left foot, his only foot. He rested the end of the six-foot bow against his foot, using it as an anchor, and he drew the bowstring, firing arrows fully three feet long. Such deadly arrows could penetrate shields, could splinter any three of them put together. Only a powerful warrior could wield such a terrible weapon.

“
Did you see Noah?” Shem asked, his sons making room for him around the platform.

Beor hesitated.

“Speak up,” said Assur, a tall man beside Shem.

“
I saw him,” Beor said. “Noah marched at their head. They’re about an hour away.”

“
Did Noah march as a prisoner?” Assur asked.

“
It didn’t seem so,” Beor said. “Noah seemed to lead them, although he leaned on Ham. Perhaps Noah has been wounded. It’s more than possible, I say, for Nimrod is sly, a master of deceit. Thus, this could be a trick, a trap. We must be prepared and meet them with a united front.”

Some looked frightened at the idea
. A few scowled. Others nodded as they slapped daggers belted at their side or hefted spears or bows.

Shem sighed
. “Yes. I’m afraid you’re right, Beor. Until we speak with Noah, it’s sensible to take precautions. I’d rather that Japheth and the rest of his sons were already here. Everyone must gather his or her weapons. We will meet them in a show of strength.”

Beor hopped off the platform
. His armor jangled with a metallic jingle not quite like bells, but extraordinary just the same. He clumped with a group of men to some tables and benches, where they began to plan.

Odin
dropped off Ruth and sauntered to where Hilda drove to a water trough. Some lads also followed, and they began unhitching the sweaty donkeys, letting them drink. Others brought a new team in replacement.

Hilda accepted a wooden ladle, sipping daintily despite her amazon garb
. She squinted as Odin moved near, perhaps noticing him watching her.

“
You, uh, really know how to drive them,” Odin said, no longer seeming quite so self-assured.

“
Who are you?” she said. “You look familiar.”

“
I’m Odin, grandson of Ashkenaz. I, uh, met you at Ararat several years ago.”

She scrutinized his face before smiling
. “Yes. You went north, I thought.”

He nodded, grinning.

“You let your bread grow, I see,” she said.

He beamed
. He was proud of his beard.

“
So what do you know about chariot driving?” she asked.

He pointed to the one parked under a tree.

Her smile vanished. “You came with Ham?”

He nodded.

Her gaze roved up and down his torso. “What’s that?” she snapped, pointing at the dragon tooth dangling across the back of his pudgy hand.

“
A tooth.”

“
I can see that,” Hilda said. “Where’d you get it?”

“
Uh, Nimrod gave it to me.”

She stiffened and grasped her dagger hilt
. “You’d better leave before I shout for Gog and he comes and breaks your back.”

The transformation startled
Odin.

Hilda whirled around and stomped to where her father sat.

Odin watched her, liking what he saw, but still perplexed. He noticed that a thick-necked youth, a heavy lad with a rich cloak and shiny wristbands, watched him from among Beor’s men. Was that Gog? He looked tough.

“
I don’t think she likes you,” a boy said, one watering the donkeys.

Odin
tugged at his beard, beginning to suspect the same thing.

Hilda reached the tables, pointing back at him
. Beor scowled, turning, drawing an axe.

The lad watering the donkeys whistled, tugging his charges away from the trough and away from
Odin.

Odin
butted Gungnir onto the ground, trying to keep calm even as sweat prickled his armpits. Beor’s men followed the big man.

“
There’s a Hunter among us,” Beor shouted, as he pointed his axe at Odin. “A spy!”

Odin
wondered on the wisdom of holding his ground. Then he saw Ruth leading Shem and Assur. The two groups converged at him.

“
We must bind this ruffian,” Beor said. “He’s one of Nimrod’s scoundrels.”

“
No,” Ruth said. “He drove Ham here to warn us.”

Beor eyed him coldly, while Gog pushed through to the forefront
.

“
We must meet Babel’s army in strength,” Beor said. “While we do so we cannot let spies roam free.”

“
Did you hear what I said?” asked Ruth. “He drove Ham here to warn us. He’s on our side.”

Beor eyed
Odin. “You’ll march with us, then?”

Odin
nodded.

“
Without stabbing any of us in the back?” Beor growled.

Odin
scanned the throng. He’d didn’t like Beor’s tone. “If I decide to kill you, I’ll do it face to face.”

Beor was much bigger, with massive shoulders and magnificent armor
. He smiled grimly, nodding, perhaps admiring Odin’s guts. Then the huge man motioned to his men. “It’s time to get ready. Time to show the Babel Horde what fear is.”

39.

The two hosts met on an open hill surrounded by forest. Ham and a feverish Noah, together with Nimrod, worked toward Shem, Assur and Beor in his chariot.

Everyone noticed Beor and his armor
. Ham hadn’t seen the like since Antediluvian times. He knew something of the work it took to make such a suit. As metals went, copper was soft, but an armor suit of it was superior to the leather jerkins many in Babel’s army wore. The style of Beor’s armor was called fish scale. Each triangular piece was cut from a sheet of copper, with tiny holes punched in each base. The first row of scales was stitched onto soft leather or onto a heavy cloth tunic, starting with the bottom row. The next row overlapped the first like tiles on a roof. It made for flexible armor.

Unfortunately, in battle and during regular use
, the scales could easily catch and snag, while small points such as daggers and spearheads could get under the scales. Before donning such a suit, a man put on a tunic of wool or leather padding to absorb weapon blows and to keep the metal from chaffing.

The two parties met, Nimrod smiling and affable, Beor squinting as if looking for traps
. They met, agreed to peace but not the terms for Gilgamesh, Enlil and Zimri.

Nimrod lost his smile
, and Beor looked ready to leap out his chariot and brain the Mighty Hunter with an axe. But Noah groaned, swaying, looking as if he might pitch over. That ended the meeting and officially began Festival.

40.

Two nights later, Noah sat shivering on a mat in Shem’s tent. He was wrapped in blankets and sipped Ruth’s concoction, cradling the steaming mug in his big hands. A pale hue discolored Noah’s cheeks and he wheezed with a wet rattle in his chest. He claimed it was simply a lingering cold, nothing to worry about.

With silver
tongs, Shem poked coals in an open brazier, warming his hands over them as he studied his father. Ham sat on a nearby stool.

“
Nimrod speaks of peace and love, but he only honors Jehovah from the teeth outward,” complained Noah. “The rest of him is craft and planned malice. He’s a serpent, beguiling whomever he speaks to.”

“
Show the others who he really is,” Ham suggested.

Noah began coughing, an ugly sound
. Ruth knelt beside him, pulling the blankets tighter around his shoulders.

“
Nimrod is clever,” Noah whispered. “If someone halts one avenue of his plan, he detours around them. I fear that he sways many by his dream of Babel. And I fear that many have grown tired of listening to me and following Jehovah’s ways.”

Ham fidgeted with his jacket, finally daring to ask,
“What is wrong with Babel? Shinar seems like the land of plenty, and surely Jehovah will be pleased by a monument.”

“
Jehovah loves obedience more than sacrifice,” Noah whispered. He coughed and wheezed afterward. “Is the Tower being built to Jehovah? Surely not with this idolatry of the angel of the sun.” Noah brushed aside Ruth’s hands. “I fear for the citizens of Babel. I urge you, my son, not to return to the city.”

“
I must return,” Ham said. “Rahab is there, and there live my children.”

“
Take who you can out of Babel,” Noah warned. “Maybe not this year, and maybe not in five, but Jehovah will judge the city and all who live in it.” Noah coughed harder than ever, groaning afterward.

“
I’ll stay with him,” Ruth said. “You two go to the recital.”