The Crumbling City

[Gilgamesh]

As the nurse was changing Anos’ bloody bandages, he grumbled at her. His well-kept beard had begun to grow scruffy, and his tended to hair had grown much longer than he had liked. “I’ve been here for over a week.” He mumbled, “ How much longer till I get out of here?” The nurse turned her head and gave him a sympathetic smile.

“I’m sorry honey,” She spoke with a southern accent, clearly she wasn’t a native of Nippur. Her eyes drifted back to her work as she continued to speak, her dexterous fingers delicately unwinding the bloody bandage. “You’re lucky you ain’t dead.” The last of the crimson stained material peeled off of his chest, with the nurse tossing it onto her cart and fetching a bandage roll. Anos pressed his hands against the side of the rickety bed and tried to lift his body up. Pain shot up across his chest, his fresh scabs cracked at the seams, letting trails of blood leak out. The nurse turned around and let out a pained sigh, “Oh no.” She mumbled as she gently lowered his upper body back into a resting position. “I know you want to be all big and mighty and help but right now you need to rest.” She patronized him.

Anos sent the nurse a dirty glare even though he knew that she was right. With his voice full of a mixture of shame and defeat, he mumbled. “What can I do?” His hands nervously combed his hair, his soul dying from the sheer boredom and inactivity. The nurse rolled her eyes at the busy body, the servant was quiet and docile before his little escapade. Through some sort of internal revelation on his trip, he became impatient and anxious. What can you even do? The nurse thought to herself as she wound the bandage against his chest. Her polite manners prevented her from stating the obvious, instead she spoke with a cheerful tone, “Let’s see what I can do for you.”

She walked out from the bedroom, slamming the door as she exited. The sudden sound startled Anos. Looking about the room with sheer boredom, he began to play with his new bandages, peeling and unpeeling the new bandage. The air stung at his wounds, making him wince in pain. Patting the folded bandage over his wound, he decided it was better to leave it for now. The door burst open as the nurse barged back into the room, with a sandy stick in her hands.

Anos frowned, “You just brought in the filthy sand inside! I’m going to have to clean it up!” He pouted at the nurse.

She sarcastically nodded, “And you just had to peel your bandages didn’t you?” Blood rushed to Anos’ cheeks as she tape back the bandage on his chest. She smiled as she chastised him, “What are you some mangy dog? Do you need a cone around your head?” Anos turned his eyes away from her, a bit ashamed of his improper manners. As she was done teasing the overbearing servant, she turned back to her cart. Anos tried to peer over to see what she was retrieving before she tossed the sandy stick into his bed.

“What is this for?!” He exclaimed in a mixture of surprise and disgust. The gritty sand was getting into his sheets and was figuratively crawling underneath his skin. Every grain of sand grated on his nerves like nails on a chalkboard.

The nurse gave him a genuinely kind smile before speaking, “Its to help you walk around. You shouldn’t go around punching bandits again but I figured you’d like to get out of this bed.” She placed a comforting hand onto his shoulder, her motherly warmth soothing him.

Anos felt like a child in a candy store, “When can I get up?” He asked with enthusiasm. His eye filled with excitement, he was going to be able to finally relieve his boredom. The nurse rolled her eyes and gave him a smile before extending her hand.

“Right now if you want, darling.” Anos had a stupid, toothy grin on his face, grabbing onto her one hand while holding onto the branch with his other. He was able to swing his legs over the bed, pressing down upon the branch with the bulk of his weight. “You’re doing great,” the nurse cooed. He let his legs dangle a bit, his feet gingerly touching the floor. He pushed off the bed and was able to get back onto his feet, his legs wobbly from the lack of use. The nurse put her arms beneath his, helping him support his weight as he found his balance. As Anos found his footing, the nurse eased up eventually letting him stand on his own weight. Leaning on the branch as a crutch, he gave the nurse a small nod with a smile.

“Thank you miss,” He said, attempting a half bow, briefly losing his balance before fulling going back to his upright position. She gave him a pitiful smile before asking, “Are you okay honey? You need anything else?”

Anos waved his hand and shook his head, “No thank you madam. I’ll be much better now that I can do something around here.” Giving him a nod, the nurse walked out of the room in a hurry, most likely others were injured as well. Taking a few cautious steps, Anos was getting the hang of walking with this ‘pseudo cane’. Turning his head, he was able to see himself in the mirror. He cringed at his own appearance. His already shabby appearance worsened with the large cut on his chest, and the cane combined with his greying hair made him looks years above his age.

Pretending he didn’t see himself, he kept on walking past the mirror and out the door. The palace was a mess, he hadn’t had the time to upkeep it since his injuries. He thought about taking this time to clean the palace, but even the thought of bending over hurt. Feeling a bit defeated, he continued to wander around the palace, looking for something that would let him be of use, without hurting himself.

Aimlessly wandering across the halls, Anos saw the dead halls bustling with guards once more active with a newfound energy. Anos stayed close to the walls, letting the troops hustle around the palace. Turning the corner, he found himself in a hall that was eerily empty and that he himself rarely traveled too. Coming to the end of the hall, he slowly opened the door revealing an enormous library. As he tentatively took a few steps in, he coughed violently. The air in the room was stale and cobwebs decorated the luxurious furniture. Slowly strolling up to one of the shelves, he took out one of the books, releasing the dust-caked book from its slumber. Opening the book he saw that it was a classic masterpiece by an ancient mesopotamian author. Taking the book , he walked over to a velvet couch and brushed off the dust that had settled there.

------

Closing the third book he had just read, Anos looked out to see that the sun had begun to set. He was however, greatly enjoying himself reading from his King’s great collection. Maybe he could provide himself useful by educating himself? Anos reached for his cane, and stood up to return the book back into its shelf. Deciding to read one last book before he went back to his chambers, something caught the corner of his eye. Taking it out from the shelf, the texture of the book brought shivers up his spine. The book had a tannish color to it and the covor had a disturbing eye that made eye contact with Anos. Instinctively he wanted to put the book away, but as he was returning it to its spot the book called to him. No matter how much he tried to put back the book, he was so curious.

Within minutes Anos found himself sitting on the couch, enthusiastically reading the ancient text. Opening the cover, he found the title of the book written in a green ink, “The Book of Fifty Names”. Opening the first page of the book, it was in an ancient language unknown to him. The seemingly forbidden page, however, didn’t let him just close the book. Anos quickly got up and sought through the library for some sort of translative text. Eventually finding something that looked like the ancient language the book contained, he painstakingly looked through the pages to decipher the page itself.

Hours had passed and Anos has managed to translate the page, the title reading “Summoning.” His heart raced at the discovery of the words. Reading the ancient ritual, Anos decided he had to do it for himself. The ritual was simple. It required a dead animal and candles. How was he supposed to get a dead animal? Within minutes he found himself outside a guards door, knocking at it. Words escaped his mouth that didn’t feel like they belonged to him.

“I require a dead animal, any will do. Bring it to me in the study.” Anos briefly spoke before returning to the study. His mind was hazy and he was losing track of time. He wasn’t sure if he was even completely sane at the moment. A blur of time, and the candles were already set up in a pentagram, lit. Anos swiftly turned his head to the creak of a door to see the guard returning. Timidly he entered.

“I-I brought you something.” The guard voice quivered. Afraid to enter the room, the guard tossed the corpse over to Anos, hitting the floor with a thud. Not even letting Anos give the guard thanks, he had bolted out of the room. Anos retrieved the animal, observing that it was one that had belonged to a fox. He would have ordinally scolded the guard for tossing the corpse, but he was just excited to try this. Putting the fox in the middle of the ritual, he opened the book and spoke the incarnation hurriedly.

“Accipe vas implevi spiritu” He chanted over and over again. The fox body twitching as he repeated the phrase. A smile grew on his face as the fox convulsed faster and faster before stopping all together. Anos stopped chanting, the fox shaked its head as if it woke up from the nap. Taking a look around its environment, it meet its eyes with Anos before smiling. The fox’s teeth had changed considerably, its fangs curly and wicked in nature. It’s voice had a deep and sinister tone.

“My name is Asag, potential master. I require a life to seal the contract.”