Blackbird

Chapter 15: The dead sea scrolls

Layha was amused and smiled as Patrick put on the white gown which stretched upto his feet. It was strangely comfortable, light and silky.

"You look good - now follow me!", said Layha.

Patrick followed her down the shack and into the streets. The place was getting crowded as people gathered to watch the parade of the royal guards. Layha quickly led him through the crowd and found him a good spot to watch the parade. Patrick was stupefied at what he saw.

The seven feet tall- well built guards stood in all corners protecting the palanquin of the royal one. The old man stepped out from the palanquin and placed his foot on a small decorated stool- he could barely stand and his eyes barely opened. He looked so old and fragile and had a stooped back.He had no hair on his head and even his scalp was wrinkled. He supported himself with an wooden stick.

"Here ye!"- said the old man in a trembling voice, " tis the time of the year again- the call for sacred duty of the chosen ones- rejoice for you shall have the supreme honour of serving the God Kings of our land!!", he said.

The crowd cheered upon hearing the announcement. Some people even cried in excitement.

"Who's that?", asked Patrick pointing at the old man.

Layha quickly pulled back his hand and said ," It's an offence to point at royalty- you'll have your hand chopped off… be quiet and listen."

Patrick quietly obeyed.

"Now who hear wants to fulfill their destiny?Come forth and kneel!", continued the old man.

Five average looking men immediately walked up and kneeled down in front of the old man.

"Good! I need one more- come forth!", the old man announced.

For a moment nobody came until suddenly a young boy in his early teens came out and kneeled.

"Begone boy, you are not able bodied yet!!", commanded the old man.

"But master, I want to serve the Gods!!", replied the young boy.

The old man lifted his finger and flicked it in the air - the boy was suddenly thrown away into the crowd by an invisible force. The crowd gasped in awe. The boy fell down on the ground and was knocked unconscious.

Patrick couldn't believe his eyes.

"What sorcery is this?", he thought in his mind.

"My lord! I volunteer", said another man coming out from the crowd.

"Good! Follow me to the great halls, your destiny awaits you.", said the old man and stepped back into his palanquin.

The parade turned back with six men following the royal ones to the great halls. The crowd slowly began to disperse. Patrick noticed that some women and children were sad and crying at the departure of the men. Patrick was puzzled at this whole affair. He couldn't make any heads or tails of it and followed Layha back to the shack.

"What did I just see? Who was that old man?", asked Patrick.

"He's the vizier - the grand vizier. He speaks for the Gods…he's very powerful!", said Layha

The three of them, Patrick,Layha and the kid- Zyan, sat down on the floor of the sack. Layha was preparing some sort of herbal tea. Patrick looked at her carefully. She looked no more than 30 years of age and was incredibly beautiful. Her eyes were blue like the ocean and her hair was dark like the night sky. Her movements were so graceful, like a dancer and her smile eased all his worries. He kept staring at her for a while but realised that she might find it creepy and started to talk while Zyan went outside to fetch some water.

"Okay! I want answers… How did you know that I came from the future and tell me more about this vizier and the kings…" , said Patrick.

"This city of Sumeria is ruled by three God Kings. They reside in the magestic palace up north and they protect us from foreign enemies. We survive here my farming the fertile land and grazing our cattle in the open grasslands. There is everlasting peace here and we live here happily. But there's a price for this peace- every few months, the vizier comes to our city and asks for able bodied men to go work for the construction of a holy temple in the palace for a few weeks. Many men went happily to serve their godly benefactors during the first time but they never returned…" said Layha.

Patrick curiously listened to her story while sipping on his tea.

"Why didn't they return?", he asked.

"Nobody knows…", Layha replied, " when we asked about it to the vizier, he simply replied that their work's not yet over and that they would return soon. The vizier would return again in a few months and ask for more men. Hundreds of men have left with him for hundreds of time but nobody would return, when asked, the vizier would simply answer that it's an offence to question the commands of the Gods."

"That's a pile of shh… lies!", remarked Patrick.

"That's what I thought too- there's something fishy about this whole affair but one day something strange happened.", replied Layha.

"Like what?", asked Patrick.

"A few months back, when the vizier came for the men, he said that he would set up camp in the market and talk to the people and ask them about any difficulties they were facing. But his real intention was to meet me." she said.

"You? Why?", Patrick asked.

"I was called into his camp and told by the vizier that there's an important task that he would like for me to perform. There's this visitor that would arrive on a certain day at a certain place he said and my task was to acquaint him with this place and take care of him for a few days… Who's this visitor I asked. He said that he would arrive from the future … on a very important task.", Layha said.

Patrick raised his eyebrows.

"What?", he remarked, "was he talking about me?"

"Yes indeed, he predicted your arrival and I was there waiting for you- he said that a great and imminent danger would soon befall on our city and this visitor would be our saviour!"

Patrick almost choked on his tea.

"You mean me? A saviour? Are you serious?", asked Patrick.

Suddenly the door opened and a little kid wearing some sort of middle eastern clothing with a tiny hat on his head stepped in with a pot of water in his hands. He saw Patrick and drew a sharp breath as if saw a ghost and dropped the pot on the floor and ran outside screaming.

"Hey kid wait…ah!", said Patrick trying to stop him.

But the little boy ran out as fast as he could. Patrick tried to stand but he felt dizzy, so he sat back on the bed. A minute later a woman entered through the door along with the boy- her face covered under a veil. Patrick could only see her eyes as she was wearing a black gown which covered her entire body from head to toe.

"Selam!", she said to Patrick and asked him if he's feeling better now in her native tongue.

Patrick could only make out the word "Selam" which he knew was a greeting in Turkish- he had often heard the word in the camp, but he couldn't understand the rest.

"Selam...", he replied, "can you tell me how I got here?"

The little boy who stood by the door gighled in amusement. Apparantly Patrick's language sounded funny to him.

The lady politely went up to him and checked his bandages. She then said that he's healing quickly. Patrick didn't understand a word and simply looked at her.

"Um...can you understand me? Can you tell me how I got here?", asked Patrick again , this time slower but the lady simply looked at her and told him to rest for a while.

"Damn! where am I ? ", said Patrick in frustration.

The lady then said something and walked out of the door with the kid. Patrick surmised that she was simply asking him to rest. But how could he rest? After all Hans had almost tried to kill him. And the doorway?The myth of Anki?

"Wait! Did it work? Did the gateway actually brought me here? , thought Patrick as he began to remember that dreadful night.

He immediately got up and opened the door to take a look outside. What he saw left him awestruck.

He was in some kind of a village in the middle east- there were clay huts everywhere and people were busy going about their daily lives. He was in a barn that was constructed a few feet from the ground with bamboo and hay. From this elevated position he could see the entire village. Some men wore white gowns and were mostly busy herding camels and goats, some men were busy making tools and pottery. The elderly women wore beautiful gowns with their faces veiled and they too were busy carrying clay pots of water and attending to little kids. There were palm trees everywhere and even little bushes of exotic flowers in some places.

Patrick saw lines of houses as far as the eye could see. The village stretched on for miles in all directions but one particular image surprised him the most. From where he was standing he saw four huge pillars and a dome far away in the desert. The dust and sand made it quite blurry but he could still make out a gold and white coloured shiny dome a few kilometres from the village. He was amazed and confused. Where on earth was he?