The Tablet of Destinies
Ishkur was a young god.
Born to Nanna and Ningal, he had inherited a lofty divinity no less than that of his siblings, and so was afforded the standing of a high-ranking deity. The authority he commanded was formidable in its own right — the power to bend the weather to his will. With divinity, bloodline, and rank all beyond reproach, he had been entrusted, young as he still was, with leading troops to hold the line against the beasts.
"…I'm not sure this is right."
Or rather — he had been forced into the role.
Anxiety outweighed any thought of glory. Ishkur had scarcely any experience to speak of; he had never commanded soldiers, and actual combat was rarer still. He had never been the confident sort to begin with. His rank was high enough, true, but plenty of gods surpassed him in raw divinity, and he had never quite felt that he was anything remarkable. As for noble blood — it was worthless on a real battlefield.
The one mercy was that he had, at his side, the most reliable companions anyone could ask for.
"Don't freeze up. I'll do the fighting. You and big sister just support us from the rear."
Ashur clapped Ishkur on the shoulder from behind. By blood, Inanna's children were Ishkur's nephews and nieces — but they were close enough in age that they ran together more as friends than as kin. More than a few of them matched Ishkur in divinity and combat strength.
"Let's wrap this up quick. Today's a hair day for me."
Nanaya drifted over on a sky-boat at a leisurely pace, filing her nails and blowing the dust away.
"Honestly, sister… do you really need to be doing your nails now?"
"And why shouldn't I?"
"Forget it. I shouldn't have said anything."
"You've been getting awfully mouthy lately."
The utterly ordinary sibling bickering only made Ishkur shrink further into himself. Enki was no fool — he had assigned Ashur and Nanaya as adjutants precisely because Ishkur's combat experience was so thin. In truth, the two of them were the main force.
"Here they come."
Nanaya pointed. A colossal beast came charging toward them, leading a horde of corpse-monsters — a grotesque patchwork of animal parts: a lion's head, a hawk's wings, a serpent's tail. This was Ushumgallu, called the Great Dragon.
Whether from Ushumgallu's influence or not, the corpse-monsters vaguely resembled beasts themselves, and they moved with startling speed.
"They said it had a handsome lion's face, but the eyes are rotting and there's mold everywhere — I can't even tell what's mixed in anymore. And why are there so many of them? Disgusting."
"The only disgusting thing here is your filthy temper."
"You little —"
"Um — shouldn't we be fighting the enemy now?"
Ishkur cut them off. The situation being what it was, the siblings dropped their quarrel and fell into combat formation at their commander's word.
"I'll control the weather with my authority. Nanaya, if you would handle the bombardment."
"Fine by me — just don't make it rain. Fire doesn't catch as well."
"Understood."
Ishkur unleashed his power. A fierce wind rose, disrupting the enemy's advance, while the divine host raised their shields to protect him.
"All right — commence bombardment!!"
Nanaya thrust out her arm. Golden spears bloomed into existence around her, much like her mother's, and rained down upon the beasts and monsters like a meteor shower. Compared closely, the spears still fell a little short of Inanna's in number and force — but they were powerful enough to shake the earth and carve craters all the same.
"Well then. Time to go make a mess."
Ashur took up a glaive and charged. He rushed forward alone with reckless abandon, yet no one worried. The moment he plunged into the monster ranks and swept his glaive once, golden light erupted and hundreds of creatures were torn apart.
Ashur did not stop. There had never been much of a formation to begin with, and once he had torn straight through the heart of it, the enemy could not even advance properly. With the bombardment continuing without pause, the monsters' numbers dwindled at a rapid clip.
"Wahahahahaha!!"
Ashur threw back his head and laughed, as if the whole thing were the greatest fun in the world. Ushumgallu, unable to watch any longer, loosed a breath of lethal venom toward him — but it never touched the tirelessly charging Ashur. From the outside, the rain of spears kept falling. The wind fanned the flames higher, and the gods' fire spread, consuming monster after monster.
Nanaya's spears struck Ushumgallu as well — but the hide was so tough that they simply bounced off. Among the Eleven Beasts, Ushumgallu possessed the thickest skin and the densest muscle; the durability was practically an authority in its own right. Even so, Ashur did not give up. He leapt high and brought his glaive down near the creature's neck.
"Far as I know, even gods tend to die if you cut their heads off."
Ashur drove the glaive into Ushumgallu's nape as the beast reared into the sky. The force of the blow slammed the massive body back to the ground.
Ushumgallu thrashed, trying to twist free — but Ashur's downward pressure was too great. It could not move its neck. The golden light intensified as the glaive bit deeper, and Ushumgallu's struggles grew more frantic. Corpse-monsters surged in to drag Ashur off, but Nanaya's spears intercepted them with uncanny precision; not one reached him.
"Sever!"
Golden radiance exploded outward. From a distance, Ishkur thought, it looked almost like sunlight.
At last, Ashur succeeded in cutting off Ushumgallu's head.
"One down!"
"There are still plenty of monsters around — stop posing and get back to work!"
Nanaya snapped at Ashur as he struck a triumphant pose over the slain beast. Ushumgallu's headless body crumbled to dust and vanished, but the surrounding monsters remained.
"I know, I know. Quit nagging."
Ashur turned to mopping up the rest. Watching the siblings, Ishkur let out a long sigh.
"Why am I even here…?"
Kalam was Inanna and Sunya's firstborn. He had a quiet reputation as something of an eccentric, but true to his place as eldest son, he was the strongest among his siblings. That was why Enki could entrust him with leading troops to hold back the beasts.
"Mm. There certainly are a great many of them."
Kalam stroked his chin, lost in thought for a moment.
"I believe it would be best if my adjutant handled the unit's deployment. I am rather lacking in that regard."
"Understood."
"I shall thin their numbers first, so do not concern yourself overmuch."
"I wasn't concerned."
Kalam drew his sword and strode forward. In the distance, Lahmu — a creature resembling a hairless ape — came charging with a host of monsters at its heels.
"Ah, so… which form would serve best here… Ah!"
A fine idea struck him. Kalam raised a finger.
"In a situation like this, that one is surely best."
He settled into a stance before the onrushing horde, then — just like the masters in the wuxia tales his father Sunya had told him — he unleashed a technique and called out its name.
A horizontal vortex of cutting force erupts from the blade's tip, tearing through all in its path.
As Kalam swung his sword, a vortex bloomed from the tip and swept through the monsters. The whirlwind flew not vertically but horizontally, shredding everything it touched. By raw power alone it looked like a finishing blow — yet Kalam unleashed it again and again. The tens of thousands of monsters dwindled at a startling rate.
Lahmu, however, was different. It leapt into the air in an instant, dodging the Torrential Slash, then closed the distance in a single bound. As it dropped, it brought a thick arm crashing down on Kalam. He twisted lightly, slipping past the blow by a paper's width.
The fist struck the ground. The earth split open; a quake rolled outward. Kalam clapped his hands in genuine admiration at that monstrous strength.
"You are quite strong."
Lahmu cared nothing for whatever Kalam was saying. It simply swung its arm again, intent on crushing the enemy before it.
But before the blow could land, the swinging arm dropped to the ground — severed. Not only the arm: head, neck, chest, belly — every part of the body fell away in pieces.
"What was it they say at times like this… Ah, yes. You're already dead!"
Kalam had already cut Lahmu more than a dozen times over in the instant he dodged its attack.
"M-my lord Kalam, this is hardly the time! There are still a great many monsters remaining!"
"Ah, my apologies. I shall apply myself properly this time."
So saying, Kalam set about cleaning up the rest of the horde.
"Inanna's children are doing well."
The battle was going better than expected. Seeing favorable results from quarters he had not counted on, Enki's face brightened.
Beside him, however, Enlil watched in silence — and for reasons of his own, even the exploits of his great-grandchildren did nothing to improve his expression.