Phew; talk about confusing. To make things easier, we're just going to call them all Mesopotamian. As in a big Mess-o-potamian Pantheon.
Reminiscent of the Greek Pantheon, the Mesopotamian Pantheon started with creator gods. Well, there had been a couple of disembodied deities first but then Tiamat and Apsu showed up. Tiamat was the strong one of the couple; both good and bad, creator and destroyer. She could shift into a dragon and cast amazing spells. The myths say that she gave birth to poisonous dragons and other monsters; Demons. But then the younger gods came along and killed her husband. The bastards.
As any grieving widow would do, Tiamat tried to avenge her husband. She raised an army of monsters and Star Gods. Hmm... Star Gods and monsters; that sounded right up my alley. No wonder I'd made a note of her. Tiamat got herself a new husband too—this guy called Kingu—and she put him in charge of her army. Not only that, she cast her spells over Kingu and gave him her most treasured possession; the Tablet of Destinies.
Duhn-duhn-duh! The Tablet of Destinies, theStar intoned dramatically. Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?
“Is it real?”
Of course, it's real.
“What happened to it?”
Just watch the video, Vervain.
“Fine,” I huffed.
The documentary went on to say that no one knew what, exactly, the Tablet of Destinies was. Some call it the Babylonian Book of Fate, others say that with it, a god's every command became fact. One thing that all of the myths agree on is that whoever holds the Tablet of Destinies is said to rule the Universe.
“I want that tablet,” I whispered covetously.
Unfortunately, that's not something I can give you.
“What do you mean?” I hit Pause on the video so I didn't miss anything. “I thought you weren't restricted anymore? I thought I could have whatever I want?”
I'm not restricted but that tablet is a magical artifact; it has wards protecting it and one of the primary things it's protected from is magical theft. You have to physically claim it if you want it. That's the point. If you're strong enough to wrest it from the hands of its current owner then you're fit to rule. But forget the tablet for now; I can do the same things for you that it can. We don't need it.
“Then why'd you bring it up?”
I just thought it sounded cool.
“I'm waving the bullshit flag, Star. You want me to go after the tablet, don't you?”
Finish your breakfast and the video first then we'll talk about what I think you should do. One thing at a time, Vervain.
I sighed and hit Play. The story of Tiamat continued. She attached the Tablet of Destinies to her new husband's chest and sent him forth into battle. Unfortunately, that didn't work out so well for them. This jerk called Marduk killed Tiamat's new husband—that poor woman; two husbands dead, one after the other—and then stole the tablet. Marduk went on to kill Tiamat as well. That asshole butchered Tiamat, slicing her up into pieces and tossing her around as if she were some horror movie monster who might pull herself back together and rise from the dead. After his Tiamat-scattering party, Marduk set himself up as King of the Gods.
“What a dick,” I muttered around a bite of hashbrowns.
Totally. He doesn't deserve that tablet.
“He still has it?”
Yep.
“But you said that we don't need it.”
Think of it as a piece of jewelry, Star suggested. It's not about need; it's about want. It's shiny and priceless and everyone wants it. Having that tablet will strengthen your position once you rule the world. But if you leave it out there, Marduk could use it as proof of his right to rule. It's something for him to rally the Gods behind.
“Rally his troops to kill another dragon,” I muttered.
It's kind of his thing.
“Okay. New plan; breakfast, shower, kickass clothes, and then we go to rally our army.”
Rally or create?
“I don't have to create an army, I already have two of them.”
But Arach won't let you take his faeries to make war on Earth, she warned me.
“No; he won't. So, that leaves—”
The Intare.
Chapter Seven
“I wonder if I should tell Al?” I mused after I appeared in the dining hall at Pride Palace.
I'd jumped in time again; back to the last moment I'd left the God Realm. It was early in the morning. When Arach and I had last left Pride Palace with the twins, we did so before everyone else had woken up. We didn't want a big scene with the children; it was better to have them say goodbye the night before and then leave in the morning when they were still sleepy. Also, it meant that I could return to Pride Palace before anyone could miss me. That worked out well for me now; it gave me some time to prepare.
Al doesn't understand. I've blocked him.
“You blocked Al?” I asked in surprise.
No one wants to hear his whining. It's not conducive to world domination.
I chuckled. “Fair enough.”
I headed into the kitchen and went to start the coffee. We had an industrial-sized coffee maker to supply my lions with the vast amounts of caffeine they consumed daily. I filled it with water and grounds and set it to brewing. I could have made coffee with a thought, but I needed something to keep my hands busy while my mind went over what I wanted to say to the Pride. When there was enough for a cup, I poured myself a mug and took it out to the veranda to enjoy.
The wooden planks of the veranda stretched across our moat, which was just runoff from the pool. It looked like a drawbridge set permanently down, with a set of stairs at the end that led out to an expanse of African-inspired grassland. Victorian furniture clustered to either side of the Palace's
