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Little night creatures were filling the gentle breeze with their happy songs of summer, and the moons were washing their soft glow over the clearing just past the forest. After his senses returned, Treston allowed his eyes to search his surroundings. They soon fell upon Ishtar.
Treston blinked in near disbelief. He was sure they were back in the Middle Realm, standing in the same clearing the two had started their adventure from that morning, but Ishtar was still covered from head to toe in muddy slime. Looking down, he noticed that his attire was not changed either. Then he felt the hard object resting in his fingers.
Raising his hand for a better look, Treston stared in amazement at the golden pendant taken from the cemetery. He started to comment about it as he looked over to the girl, but chose to remain silent. There was Ishtar, fingers in her hair, tenderly caressing the jade comb, her other hand clutching the silver brooch.
Their eyes met. Without speaking a word, a mountain of emotional thoughts passed between them in that one instant. With a single mind, each reached for the other, becoming locked in an iron embrace…and then the tears - tears of joy so deep and powerful, words have not yet been written that can do them justice. Let this suffice: Future days would bring sorrow, anger, and grief. It would test the strength and love these two had for each other, but the bond that was sealed this day could never be broken.
Later, a poet set down to music and rhymes these words that recalled this bond. When translated into the common tongue, it says:
Come search with me the valleys and hills.
Journey into lands long forgotten with me.
I so long to see what the world once was.
Come share their visions with me.
And the lad and the lass, hand in hand, off and ran.
Into darkness and doubt both did go,
To search for secrets hidden in rubble and stone…
To find treasures of more value than gold.
And the winds of Fate carried the two far along,
Into lairs of demons and tombs of the dead.
They fought dragons and monsters and their own inner fears.
And with burnished blades held high, they did win.
And their hearts were just bonded, ‘til the two beat as one.
Together they shouted out one battle cry.
“Oh, the earth it shall tremble and the mountains will shake.
But our love for each other won’t die.”
Past the tumult and fury of war’s ending hour,
Past death and the fields turned red,
Past the time of deep sadness and the long peace ahead,
With but one heart, the two lovers stayed.
At long last, arm in arm, the two sojourners found their way back to Lowenah’s ship. RosMismar greeted them. “The Lady sends her salutations. There are hot baths waiting. I have seen to it that a delightful meal has been prepared. When you are ready, we shall dine in the main cabin.” He led the couple up the gangway and to the common room where a private tub awaited each of them.
Ishtar giggled when seeing her bath and jumped right in, kicking and splashing with delight. Treston hesitated. He was not comfortable being seen naked, especially by a woman he had such powerful feelings for. After removing his other clothes, he sheepishly turned around, and with his back toward the girl, pulled off his pants, then, being careful not to fall, stepped back and down into the steaming suds, sinking in until his head was just above the water.
Now feeling safe, he turned his head to see the girl. Somewhat to his surprise, and a little to his dismay, Ishtar had paid no attention to Treston. She was fully absorbed in the refreshing bath and was currently playing with the jade comb. Later, Lowenah privately told Treston that when Ishtar was returned to life, Lowenah had not waked the girl’s sexual desire for male companions, he being told that the child was a vessel saved for a special purpose, and the day of her coming of age celebration reserved for a future time.
The two eventually arrived at the main cabin, Ishtar handsomely dressed in her natural beauty and Treston, comfortable in an ankle-length pullover silk robe. Around his neck hung the golden pendant, glistening in its newly cleaned beauty. Ishtar also wore her brooch like a necklace, being able to do so after RosMismar had carefully mounted a hasp to it and obtained a fine chrysolite chain to carry it. He had given her the gift after helping the girl towel off, commenting, “It is obvious the child has little need of such a device unless it becomes a piece of jewelry.”
Ishtar’s reddish-orange locks were festooned with a broken jade comb, her face beaming with delight at having such a treasure. What a day it had been for the both of them, one filled with twisting emotions and surprises! Now they stood before a table filled with the delicacies reminiscent of the times in Ephesus long ago. Another radiant Cherub, one of the three attending upon them during the meal, explained, “We felt the need to assist you in forgetting the tourist food that you were regrettably forced to eat today. May your hours spent in mystical lands be fondly remembered.”
When they were nearly finished with the meal, Lowenah quietly entered to say her greetings. Treston and Ishtar both jumped up, Treston to bow his reply and offer his thanks for Lowenah’s many gifts, Ishtar to rush over and give an embrace. “Oh, thank you!” The girl cried, her tears starting again. “You are so wonderful and kind!”
Lowenah’s face turned a noticeable red. She was not prepared for Ishtar’s outburst and, being taken by surprise, was at a loss for words. Treston chimed in, “How do I repay such kindness?” He lifted the pendant with tears in his eyes. “To see this again and understand how it was preserved is a gift beyond measure. But to have it delivered back to this land is beyond my wildest imaginings.”
Lowenah smiled. “When you are the Maker of worlds, few things are impossible for you…very few.” She then asked them to sit and finish their meal.
An attendant delivered a chair for Lowenah and she joined the pair, now and then taking a nibble of some little morsel catching her eye. When all were fully satisfied, the attendants removed the remaining food and cleared the table. When they had finished, a crystal candelabrum holding a dozen delicately crafted candles was set in the table’s center. One by one, each candle blazed to life, lending its special, distinct, colored beauty to the flame until the room glittered with a rainbow of crystal hues. The other lighting gradually dimmed, leaving the dancing flickers of fire to cast their glow against the darkness.
Lowenah allowed the silence to grow, using it to create a restful stage for following conversation. When the mood was set, she started. Maintaining the soft ambience of the moment, she asked, “Have the hearts of my children been satisfied this day?”
Treston and Ishtar both expressed their gratitude and pleasure for the gifted experience. Lowenah smiled, pleased with her successes. She now began to inform the two of the importance of what was done. She first addressed the issue of the souvenirs. “Few are the children of your kind that I have brought into my world, and none have been showered with any treasure from the Realms beneath. I do give generously, but, to those to which more is given more is expected. And I have been most giving to the both of you.”
Lowenah rested her elbows on the table and folded her hands together. “The hour soon approaches when the entire universe and all the treasures of the hearts of my sons and daughters will become much like the city of your past. Will you have pity on the hearts of my children as I have had on yours?”
She now focused her attention on Ishtar. “My daughter of night, last of my labor pangs, will you now accept the road that has been set before you? The time has passed for childish antics and foolish complaint. You have grown today, but if you fail to fully mature, I will have wasted my efforts on a fool’s dream. When we return to the palace, your training will begin. I have assigned a harsh taskmaster to teach you in the ways of war. Will you grow above your reckless rebelliousness and l
earn to obey his voice?”
Turning to Treston, Lowenah went on. “A good soldier you have proved to be and I believe you will teach this girl well. But can you learn to command and yet understand the hearts of my children? When we return, I am giving to you my child whom you have requested. She is older than you by many lifetimes of men, and her wisdom is greater than yours. You hold not just her life in your hands. Her heart is gathered there as well, for she will fall in love with the man commanding her. Will you allow her into your soul? Will you let her see into your secret dreams? Will you give her the love that all my daughters need?”
Lowenah then spoke to both of them. “Just as each of you have needs that are special to your kind, my children born of me have needs that are special to their kind. If I have lifted you up and made you rulers over my own flesh, can you learn and come to understand their needs so they will rejoice in my decision-making? Learn to give gifts that are fitting the need. Learn to become like me.”
She pushed her chair back and stood. As Lowenah continued her conversation, she slowly walked around the table, stopping behind each of her listeners and spending some time gently caressing their shoulders. “Today you have observed that a world held in bondage to an evil ruler - my rebellious son - is not necessarily evil in itself. How can I bring its ruin and preserve my good name unless I exhaust all possible means to break the chains that keep those people in slavery? I have set the day for all men to be judged, and I have lifted up a man who will judge as I would. I have placed into your hands his well-being until said day arrives.”
Looking at Ishtar, Lowenah asked, “Will you show patience and allow my child to grow up?” She hurried on, not wishing for the girl to respond…not yet. “My little one, great you are among men. Your sword will split the heavens and your battle cry will shake the mountains. Kings will ride at your side and the armies that will follow you will be like the swarming locusts upon the ground. Shall you remember in that day that you are a child of the clay and made from the dust? Will you remember how precious the souls are to me of the children you consign to the fire?”
“My heart aches within me because I see I have made a terrible thing. No monster created by men can match the wrath of my death angel. Do not break my heart completely. Preserve, please, the soul of the man you hate. Until the Day of Distress - until Shiloh arrives - will you stay your hand and let him live?”
Ishtar was confused. Lowenah squeezed her shoulders and smiled through tears. “One day you will understand. You will remember this hour and understand.”
Lowenah went on about treasures lost and treasures regained, about love and hate and understanding. She told them stories of her children and days long ago. On and on through the night she went, searching their hearts and revealing her own. The candles were long burned away and the sun was wide-awake when she had finished. At the end, she invited them to take one last look at this strange middle world before they started for home.
As they stood near the exit hatch, soaking in the wondrous delights surrounding them, Treston mentioned the money he continued to find in his jacket pocket. Lowenah grinned. “Oh, that… I promised Merna I would bless some of her children with special gifts. Now I have done so.”
She turned and walked inside. Treston and Ishtar stared at each other. “You know...” Treston mused, playing with his beard while doing so, “we humans tend to forget that life continues on in so many different ways. I wonder how many others we met were somehow related to us?”
Ishtar nodded in agreement, then taking Treston’s hand, encouraged him to come in. As the ship slowly lifted off and parted from the grassy glade, two tired travelers sat on a divan watching through a window this strange world while drifting into the sleepiness of each other’s arms.
* * *