Mimir cleared his throat. The giants arose, their weapons in hand.
Soon, Tarag motioned for Mimir to approach. Reluctantly, Mimir did. Despite the nearby giants, Mimir cautioned himself to follow all the rituals of protocol. He knelt on one knee before Tarag. The First Born’s yellow eyes shone with fury. Mimir bent his head.
“The humans who went to the crypt still live,” Tarag snarled.
Mimir blinked several times as he gathered his thoughts. This was bad.
“They used fire to drive away my manslayers.”
Mimir nodded, but still didn’t look up.
“Speak!”
“High One, we must stop the humans from reaching the ship which escaped.”
“Well spoken, O wise one.”
The First Born Gog, Mimir knew, sometimes saw Lord Uriah and Zillith in his visions. But Gog never saw Lod, nor had Gog ever seen this Joash. Could the manling be as dangerous as Lod? How otherwise to explain this disaster? He’d been a fool not to enslave Joash the first night of their meeting.
“You will take your giants and insure the death of these humans,” Tarag was saying.
“High One, surely your sabertooths can better track these interlopers than I or my kinsmen can.”
“No! You will repair the damage.”
“High One, it was your sabertooths who failed the simple task.”
Tarag hissed with rage.
Mimir kept his head bowed in submission. “O High One, we must destroy these humans before they spread word of our deed. Therefore, let us each send a team to destroy them, or perhaps we should all go and make certain of this killing.”
“I must leave immediately. The Gibborim will grow suspicious if we do not show up in time.”
“We should both send a team then to slay these humans, and slay Lord Uriah.”
“I will send two parties of manslayers. They will drive any local sabertooths onto the battlefield and thus increase their numbers.”
“I’ll send Gaut Windrunner with as many giants as he can gift for speed.”
“You yourself will also go,” Tarag said.
Mimir was beginning to believe that Joash could be a powerful addition to the giants. Yes, there were ways to trick one like him. “Very well, High One. As you will it.”
Tarag strode away.
It was only as he dusted off his knee that Mimir wondered upon Tarag’s easy acceptance of his plan. He nodded. It would be wisest to take the hardiest giants, because the sooner they finished with this, the sooner they could be back to insure Tarag’s good faith.
Adah hobbled beside Joash. When he offered her his arm, she declined.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“You mean besides my blistered feet?”
“Adah!”
She was silent for a time. “We’re no longer alone, Joash.”
His heart sank. What was she trying to say?
“I’m older than you,” she said.
“So?”
She finally faced him. “Joash, you know so little about me. Believe me, I’m not the sort of person you want to…”
“Yes?”
She avoided his eyes. “You kissed me before.”
He felt heat rise in him. It wasn’t that he’d never kissed a girl before. He’d kissed Amery once, but she’d slapped him afterward. He’d also kissed this girl back in Elon, many times. Then her father had found out, and he’d never seen her again. Adah, though, she was different. Yes, she was older, but not that much older.
“You should know a girl first before you kiss her,” Adah said, reproach in her voice.
“I know that when that orn attacked me, you shot it. I know you stopped Elidad from beating me.”
“Those aren’t reasons to kiss someone.”
“They are if you like the person,” Joash said.
“But you don’t know me! You don’t know the horror I’ve gone through. You don’t know how scarred I’ve become.”
“You mean in Poseidonis?”
“Yes!” she said.
Joash nodded. “I’ve heard a little about that. It sounds like Balak. It sounds like you were something close to an egg thief.”
“What?”
Joash told her about Balak and stealing pterodactyl eggs, and he told her how Herrek had rescued him from the brutal half-giant.
“Now I’m more certain than ever you’re one of us,” she said. “Elohim must have guided Herrek to that beach in order to rescue you.”
“What are you talking about?”
“When the bene elohim descended onto Earth, the Shining Ones followed shortly,” Adah said, switching to her singer’s tone. “After a thousand years of war, the bene elohim were defeated and their spirits taken to a terrible place of punishment. Now, in their fathers’ stead, stand the First Born and Nephilim. They, however, are mortal beings. It is not in Elohim’s plan to contest against them with celestial beings. Rather, mortals will contest them.”
Joash wondered at this sudden shift. They’d been talking about her and him. Now, she was talking about First Born and Shining Ones.
“Others must take the place of the Shining Ones,” Adah said, still using her singer’s voice.
Joash shrugged, but decided to play along. “You mean champions, like Herrek?”
“At times.”
“Who can defeat First Born?”
“A wise question indeed.”
“No one is strong enough to defeat Tarag,” Joash said.
“Maybe strength isn’t the prized quality.”
“What is?” he asked.
“The inner flame of a person, his or her convictions, the ability and the desire to do what is right.” Adah paused, taking a deep breath. “Elohim lifts His own champions. He or she can be anyone: a singer, a patriarch, a warrior, or even a groom. But one is never forced into the contest. Elohim’s choice must be accepted. A free will is needed for that. Maybe that is the reason Lord Uriah made you a groom. He wanted you to learn to be free, and to make choices.”
“Lord Uriah?”
“Such a one, called to Elohim’s service against the bene elohim brood, is called a Seraph. Sometimes, a Seraph is a map-reader, or a ship captain, or a singer, or a groom. Always, however, it’s someone who stands in the breach against the evil ones.”
Joash couldn’t speak. He was beginning to understand where she was taking this.
“The magic emeralds didn’t overcome your wits,” Adah said. “Your inner flame must be high indeed. Maybe even as high as Lod’s.”
“Who’s Lod?”
“He’s one who wars with all his heart against the First Born and their children.”
“Is Herrek a Seraph?”
Adah shook her head.
“Herrek fought against the evil ones,” Joash said.
“All good people should fight them. A Seraph, however, is one who dedicates his life to stopping the evil ones. He is in a sense like the Shining Ones who were here to defeat the bene elohim.”
Dread filled Joash. All he wanted was to be a warrior, and to have Adah. To become a…a…Seraph— “Will I be a prophet?”
“Not all Seraphs are prophets, nor are all prophets Seraphs. For instance, I’m not a prophet. And it’s wise to know that the evil Morningstar uses many false prophets with lying tongues.”
Joash wiped his brow. Adah, the woman he’d kissed, was obviously a Seraph. “Is Lord Uriah a Seraph?”
“Yes, and so is Zillith. Now you, Joash, can also become a Seraph, if you accept the charge.”
“What you say is difficult.”