Volume 1 - CH 1.5
Part 1
7.
The most terrible and most perfect number in the world.
The number that measures the changes of the world.
Seven.
The number of the great gods who decree fate.
One week.
The number of days that the seven gods had given mankind.
One day given by An of the heavens, the father of all creation.
One day given by Enlil of the air, who presides over the world.
One day given by Enki the Creator, the master of the rich earth and water.
One day given by Nanna of the moon, who governs the night sky.
One day given by Utu of the sun, who governs light and justice.
One day given by Inanna the Morning Star, who governs love, war, and fertility.
One day given by Ninhursag the Arbiter, the merciful mother of all.
As such, seven days and seven nights
was the time during which all things in the world could happen.
Everything that ever happened in the world could all return to nothingness in that time.
It was more than enough time for all things to come to be and for all things to collapse.
Enough time for all emotions to be connected together and untied.
<The First Night and Day>
In the beginning, was a tree.
The tree had sprung up from the center of the earth that was governed by Enki, the great god of creation. It was a sacred place which neither bird nor beast nor insect dared approach.
The tree began to reach up toward the center of the sky, where the sun was, as soon as it sprouted, and it eventually grew blindingly beautiful leaves that glittered like sunlight as its body took on the beautiful colors of fertile soil.
Utu, the sun god, was pleased when he saw how the beautiful tree, the likes of which he had never seen before, reached up to him with its countless hands, and he took the tree by the hand and pulled it up. Enki was startled, and he held firmly to the tree’s roots and sent streams of water to the roots from below so as to tempt the tree to into planting its roots more firmly into the earth.
The tree coveted both the blinding sky that was filled with the sun’s light and the rich land where the life water was. And so, it reached up high into the heavens with branches that grew taller than any other grass, and it laid its roots down more deeply into the earth than any other plant.
Utu summoned his son, Kittu1, the Divine Archer, who was the bravest and strongest warrior in heaven. Kittu was also called the Glory of Light because he was so radiantly beautiful that he illuminated the heavens, his eyes were as sharp as an eagle’s, and he was as strong as a lion. His arrows never failed to hit their mark.
Utu gave him three large pairs of eagle wings, placed a crown of gold upon his head, equipped him with a golden sword and golden arrows, and granted him eternal life as he commanded his son to bring the tree up to the ‘peak of the heavens.’
Enki summoned his son, the Black Dragon, who was the biggest and strongest warrior of all the land and waters. Enki placed a whitesilver crown upon his head, equipped him with a trident that could split through the vast waters and a cold fog that could conceal all, and granted him immortal wisdom as he commanded his son to drag the tree down to the ‘deepest waters.’
Kittu spread wide his six wings as he descended, and he sat on a tree branch that was reaching up to the heavens as it swayed and tempted the tree by scattering golden light over it. The Black Dragon shroud the tree in a gigantic cloud and drew water up from deep within the earth and coiled it around the tree’s roots, which were still firmly planted in soil.
Kittu and the Black Dragon battled fiercely with the tree in between them. The battle dragged on because the two warriors were equals in strength, and they fought so viciously that the earth around them was reduced to a wasteland without a single blade of grass to be seen. The faithful Celestial warriors, who were offshoots of Kittu, and the aquatic warriors, who were obedient to the Black Dragon, circled the tree so that the foolish races made from mud could not approach it.
Then, one day, Kittu and the Black Dragon suddenly stopped fighting.
This was because they had seen a beautiful naked woman sleeping by the tree.
***
Gulp.
Renier stopped speaking when she suddenly heard someone gulp. The rascal, who had stayed quiet as Kittu and the Black Dragon butted heads and battled fiercely, had suddenly raised his head stiffly and gulped after hearing about a naked woman sleeping unguarded.
His damned gulp had sounded like thunder. Gulp —and again, gulp. Renier heard him clear his throat briefly as she continued to stay silent.
“Yaaawn. ……I’m sleepy.”
Renier suddenly felt mischievous, so she yawned and peered at Kuhn out of the corner of her eye. Bleakly, she heard him ask,
“……Are you tired?”
“Yeah, I’m tired.”
“Are you very tired?”
“Yup.”
“Are you truly, truly tired?”
“I just told you that I was!”
Kuhn didn’t press her to continue the story and instead turned around and lied down without another word when Renier barked back.
“You must be fatigued after hunting all day. Go to sleep now.”
What the hell?
Renier felt like she could no longer tell what was what as she stared at the back of the large rascal who had turned around and started snoring as soon as he had lied down.
***
<The Second Night and Day>
Then, one day, Kittu and the Black Dragon suddenly stopped fighting.
This was because they had seen a beautiful naked woman sleeping by the tree.
The woman’s hair was a beautiful rich and dark brown in color, just like the tree, her limbs were as elegant as the tree’s gently sloping branches, and her skin was as pale as a tree’s pulp and was flawlessly smooth.
Kittu realized instinctively that the woman was the incarnation of the tree and approached her carefully. She was so much smaller and more delicate than Kittu and the Black Dragon that he could not see her face properly without kneeling. Then, he plucked the softest down feather of his wings and gently covered the woman’s body with it.
Blink. Blink.
The woman’s eyes met Kittu’s and the Black Dragon’s. Kittu saw the azure skies in the woman’s eyes, while the Black Dragon saw clear blue seas. Kittu felt the blinding sun from the woman’s porcelain skin, and the Black Dragon found the color of the rich earth in the woman’s fluttering hair.
The woman looked between Kittu and the Black Dragon, who were giants compared to her, and she parted her crimson lips as she asked them,
“Who are you?”
The two were mesmerized as they answered.
“I am Kittu of Six Wings, son of Utu and the warrior of heaven.”
“I am the Black Dragon of Wisdom, son of Enki and the warrior of water.”
“Then, my name —what is my name?”
And together, Kittu and the Black Dragon simultaneously replied, ‘Armanu.’
Armanu, Armanu —Armanu repeated her name to herself a few times before she looked up and reached out with both hands. Kittu and the Black Dragon were enthralled as they reached back and took her hands. The woman’s hands were so impossibly soft and warm that neither Kittu nor the Black Dragon could bear to let go of her for a very long time.
“Please don’t fight so close to me. It’s so noisy that I can’t sleep,”
the woman requested with a voice as sweet as honey.
“But, upon my father’s name, I cannot allow the land to take the tree.”
“But, upon my father’s name, I cannot allow the sky to take the tree.”
“If neither the land nor the sky may take the tree, then why not keep the tree somewhere in the middle?”
the woman suggested with lips as lovely as budding roses that were soon to blossom.
And so, Kittu of Six Wings and the Black Dragon of Wisdom brought their long-standing battle to a pause. Then, they reached a compromise and decided to make it so that the tree belonged neither to the land nor to the sky.
They took the tree and the lump of earth that supported its roots and made it float in the air, where it was neither in the land nor the sky. Only the tree, Armanu, who took after the tree, Kittu, and the Black Dragon lived there.
The Celestial warriors, who were offshoots of Kittu, flapped their wings like large birds and supported the lump of earth in the air, and the Black Dragon drew up the clearest waters from deep within the earth and sprinkled it over the tree.
The water, which was being scattered from up high, shroud the tree like mist, and a resplendent rainbow was formed when the sunlight poured over on top of it. Kittu sealed away the area with his golden sword and flaming arrows, and the Black Dragon filled the area with his cold fog so the dirty mud creatures and beasts could not find it.
Armanu’s soil was beautiful and fertile. The tree grew thick with verdant leaves and bore an abundance of sweet fruits thanks to the refreshing water, the warm sun, and the brilliant light. Sweet scents and waters overflowed wherever Armanu touched.
Armanu offered the sweetest fruits to Kittu and the Black Dragon every day. They ate the fruits as they savored her fragrance and sweetness, and they made it so that nothing from the heavens or the earth could disturb their sacred dwelling.
“Thank you, Lord Kittu of Six Wings. Thank you, Lord Black Dragon of Wisdom.”
Armanu was very pleased with her territory, which belonged to neither the land nor the sky, so she wrapped her arms around her two guardians’ necks and kissed them each to express her gratitude.
And something peculiar began to grow in Kittu’s and the Black Dragon’s hearts.
***
Kuhn was acting strange. He completely forgot to prepare for dinner and he was antsy all day long —it looked like ending the story on a cliffhanger(?) had impacted him more than Renier had realized. No wonder. He was more excited than he needed to be last night.
And, sure enough, he’d even forgotten to finish eating the roasted rabbit meat —one of his favorites— he was holding as soon as Renier resumed the story. His mouth was left agape as his ears perked up, and he looked so funny as he sat there that Renier thought she might die of laughter.
Renier suddenly grew mischievous again and nudged Kuhn in the side with her foot, and he jumped so high that his head nearly hit the cave ceiling.
“Ack, w-what are you doing?!”
“Do you know what that ‘something peculiar’ is?”
“……I do.”
“What is it, then?”
His pulled at his blameless fingers so hard that he might rip them out from their joints before he resolutely, like a warrior about to step out onto the battlefield, answered,
“It is love.”
Whoaaa! Renier applauded him without reserve and even whistled for good measure.
“Wow! You actually know what love is? ……Oh, wait! That’s not possible. You said that men and women live separately in your household until they come of age.”
“I still know all there is to know. I’ll be of age soon, and then I’ll be able to get wed immediately thereafter,”
he spat out almost angrily.
Oho, so you know all there is to know?
Renier narrowed her eyes and scrutinized Kuhn up and down. She knew that the rascal couldn’t lie, so he probably genuinely believed that he knew all there was to know. But Renier had no way of knowing if anyone else would agree with him about that. Why was it that she was starting to grow worried for his future bride even though she didn’t even know who she was?
“Kuhn. I, well, I really wasn’t going to ask you something like this……. But I’d like you to answer me honestly.”
“Very well.”
“I’m the first woman you’ve ever held hands with, aren’t I?”
“Of course not! What do you take me for? I have held my mother’s and nanny’s hands plenty too.”
Yep.
“You said that you knew all there was to know, so why don’t you tell me what you know about love?”
He shook his head no so furiously that it almost looked like he was having a seizure, but he folded so readily when Renier threatened him by saying that she wouldn’t continue the story unless he responded. He listened carefully to make sure that no one else was nearby for quite some time before he lowered his voice and answered,
“S-so, love is…”
“Well? I’m listening?”
“Love is being incredibly curious about someone, thinking about them all day long, thinking about them makes you feel good, and wanting to be good to them…….”
Renier saw the rascal’s cheeks grow scarlet because of the fire. I’m a fool for thinking he’s cute.
“Yeah, and?”
“Wanting to hide them behind your back so no one else can see them, and wanting to murder anyone who hits them…….”
Kuhn twisted his fingers together as he did his best to answer. Renier could see beads of sweat forming on his forehead. She scowled. She suddenly felt like she was a rabbit being hounded into a hunter’s net. Kuhn continued,
“Wanting to hold their hand, wanting to hold them close, and wanting to kiss them.”
“…….”
“Love is wanting to lie together, and wanting to sow my seed in your womb and have children with you.”
Renier stared back at Kuhn in mute amazement. His straightforward conclusion left her speechless. The Northlanders’ manner of speech must surely just be strange, especially considering how that bashful bastard was saying stuff like this.
Only, Kuhn had apparently scraped together the very last of his courage to say all this, as he completely failed to realize that he had said that he wanted to sow ‘my’ seed in ‘your’ womb. Renier only just managed to keep her wits together and feign ignorance.
“Aha. So that’s your idea of love?”
“Yes.”
“Then what about wanting to hold, kiss, and lie with someone without having anything growing inside your heart? Is that love too?”
Kuhn paused. It looked like he was doing his best to consider the double meanings of Renier’s question. A long wrinkle furrowed into his brow.
“……It likely isn’t, but it could become love if that person has a change of heart.”
Renier huffed. She didn’t like his crafty answer because it wasn’t like him. And, sure enough, he shook his head no as he spat out,
“No, that’s wrong. That’s no better than a mere beast in heat. But why do you ask?”
“Oh, well, it’s because that’s the only kind of people I’ve known until now.”
“Where on earth were you living, and with whom?”
There was a faint hint of fury in his voice as he mumbled. The contempt he had harbored when they had first met had fortunately washed clean away, and in its place, he was boiling with antipathy for the people who had tormented her.
“In that case, Kuhn, what if only one person starts growing feelings in their heart while the other doesn’t?”
Renier knew several solutions to this problem. Forcing oneself on the other person, like how so many people had tried to do to her, making the other person submit voluntarily with blackmail or authority, or buying the other person for a price, like so many people tended to do. There was many solutions, so long as you gave up on obtaining the other person’s heart.
“I would try my hardest so that the other person’s heart grows too.”
“That isn’t guaranteed to happen even if you try your hardest. The other person’s heart might never grow, not even until the bitter end.”
“If the gods only permitted love to grow in one person’s heart…”
Renier didn’t like the preface to his answer, but she decided to wait quietly for him to finish. Kuhn carefully chose his next words and calmly replied,
“Then I would put my everything on the line and pray to the god I worship. I would beg him to let the same thing grow inside the other person’s heart too.”
Renier didn’t like his answer. Crack, crackle —the fire began crackling loudly as it burned up. Small sparks sputtered out like flaming arrows in the darkness around them and drew long arcs between them.
Renier woke up in the middle of the night. The fire and gone out, and all that remained of it were a few bright red embers. It was pitch black all around her, and only the immediate area surrounding the embers had a faint glow.
There was a dark shadow in front of her. She was wrapped tightly in wool clothing, and her hand was wrapped inside something. Something that was large, thick, and warm. It gently caressed the back of her hand. It was moving so carefully that it almost felt like a feather.
“…….”
A low and sonorous voice was melting into the darkness. The voice was as gentle and steady as the buzzing of a bumblebee’s flight. And it was as sweet as honey as it filtered into her ears.
Renier could tell by the dark silhouette that he was kneeling on top of the cold stone floor. Perhaps he was praying to the god he worshipped.
What was it that he wanted so badly? What was it that he wanted so badly even as gulped so painfully and desperately?
You still have things in your world that you would pray for so desperately.
The whisper of his prayers stopped. He slowly lowered his head. He pressed his face onto the back of Renier’s hand, and his disheveled hair fell over her wrist and arm.
The back of her hand tickled.
And then she heard a quick and gentle smooch.
***
<The Third Night and Day>
Armanu coveted the beautiful Kittu and the wise Black Dragon just as a tree coveted the light of the sun, the nutrients of the earth, and the water of life, and Kittu of Six Wings and the Black Dragon began coveting Armanu as well.
But Armanu looked up at the heavens above and looked down at the earth below and sorrowfully shook her head.
“O Glory of Light, beautiful warrior of six wings, I cannot hold you because you are too big. Your wings are large enough to cover the skies, but I am as small as but one of your feathers. I could not dare hold you.”
“O Wisdom of the deep and dark waters, sage with beautiful scales, I cannot hold you because you are too big. Your tail covers the oceans, but I am as small as but one of your scales. I could not dare hold you.”
“Why would one who can be as large as the skies not also become as small as a feather?”
“Why would one who can cover the ends of the oceans not also become as small as a scale?”
Kittu of Six Wings and the Black Dragon of Wisdom crumpled and folded and crushed their bodies so that they were the same size as Armanu and stood beside her.
Kittu’s and the Black Dragon’s entire beings were seized by greed, the likes of which they had never experienced before in their lives, as they looked Armanu in the eyes and stood with her shoulder-to-shoulder for the first time ever. Her every breath carried the fragrance of flowers, and her body smelled like it had been slathered with honey.
“Allow me to love you. I will bring you pleasure with my body, and I will bring joy to your heart with the glory of light.”
“Allow me to love you. I will bring you merriment with my body, and I will entertain your soul with my beautiful wisdom.”
“Allow me to hold you. Your children shall be the most beautiful warriors in all the heavens and the earth.”
“Allow me to hold you. Your children shall be the wisest sages in all the heavens and the earth.”
“O Armanu, allow me to sow my seed in your womb that you may bear fruit to my children. My body burns for you.”
“O Armanu, allow me to sow my seed in your womb that you may bear fruit to my children. My bones are melting in want of you.”
Hesitantly, Armanu asked,
“If you want me, O Kittu of Six Wings, then what will you give me in return?”
“State your wish. I will give you everything I have and more.”
“If you want me, O Black Dragon of Wisdom, then what will you give me in return?”
“State your wish. I will give you everything I have and more.”
“One week —please give me one week, and then I shall give you my reply.”
***
Kuhn was deeply absorbed in thought. So many wrinkles had formed on his forehead and brow.
“Why is Armanu toying with their hearts and satiating her greed instead of answering them with sincerity?”
“Isn’t it obvious? It’s because the thing that was growing in Kittu’s and the Black Dragon’s heart wasn’t growing in Armanu’s. But you can’t blame her for that since —and these are your words—, it was the gods who didn’t permit it to grow in her. Kittu and the Black Dragon are ‘trying their hardest,’ as you put it, so Armanu will like them back.”
Kuhn’s forehead crumpled something fierce, as though he rather disliked Renier’s answer. But he could not logically refute what she had said.
“Then, why a week? It must be torture to have to wait for so long.”
Renier realized that Kuhn was empathizing with Kittu and the Black Dragon. It was never the loved but the lover who had to suffer so. Who was it that told me again? The gods humble arrogant men by granting them an emotion they can’t withstand.
Renier thought that Kuhn was brave for empathizing with Kittu and the Black Dragon so readily. She didn’t have the confidence to do the same. It was only the very foolish or the very brave who could stake their everything on an emotion that could both arise and extinguish in just one week. Slowly, Renier explained,
“Everything in the world can happen in the span of one week.”
One week. She recalled something that someone had told her before. Seven days was long enough for all things to come to be and for all things to collapse. Renier tasted something bitter in her mouth. She continued,
“It’s enough time for the living to die and for the dead to come back to life.”
“…….”
“It’s enough time to get to know a stranger, to start loving someone you hated, and to part ways with someone you loved.”
“It is not. Seventy days, seven hundred days, seven years, and even seventy years is still too short a time for that feeling,”
Kuhn interjected her coarsely.
“What do you know about that feeling, Kuhn? Seventy years is too short, you say? How can you claim that so boldly?”
“In that case, what do you know?”
“I know more about it than you do. At the very least, I know that it can vanish in just a day, never mind a week,”
Renier replied with a bitter smile. The things she had suffered had been agonizing, her memories about them were bitter, and it pained her to crush his insides with the truth.
“……You are wrong.”
Kuhn’s voice trailed away at the end. He couldn’t speak with certainty, however, because this was the first time in his life that he was experiencing this feeling, and he wasn’t fully certain about how it would end.
Almost two weeks had passed since Renier and Kuhn had met.
***
<The Forth Night and Day>
Armanu sat beneath the tree that was located between the sky and the land as she pondered.
Kittu of Six Wings sat above the tree, and the Black Dragon of Wisdom melted into the waters deep within the soil. Kittu waited, and the Black Dragon thought. He thought, and he thought. He thought about what he would gain and what he would lose while these feelings lasted and after it had ended. Kittu waited, and the Black Dragon thought.
The Black Dragon finished thinking a week later, and he divided his body into two, one white snake and one black snake, from within the water. The snakes slithered up the tree without Kittu’s notice and approached Armanu.
“Have you made your choice yet, O Armanu?”
“I have not. I cannot tell which of the two loves me more because I have not wisdom.”
“Do you seek the wisdom to help you know who loves you more?”
“I do.”
“Choosing one means abandoning the other. Do you seek it even still?”
“I do.”
The two snakes slithered up the tree and slid onto her shoulders and began whispering into her ears.
“……Test them.”
“…….”
“Ask each of them for something you want most and for what they hold most dear, and test whether they truly love you or not. That way, you will be able to learn who loves you more.”
And Armanu believed that the snakes’ wisdom was right.
“O Kittu of Six Wings. I wish for your glory of light —your heavenly beauty and your eternal life.”
What Armanu wanted most, and what Kittu held most dear. Kittu fell into serious contemplation.
“I can give you the glory of light —my heavenly beauty. But my eternal life is something sacred that I received from Utu, my father, and it is something I must keep as a Celestial. It is not mine to give.”
“I wish for your glory of light —your heavenly beauty and your eternal life,”
Armanu repeated by the wisdom she had obtained from the snakes. And so, after thinking long and hard about an eternal life in the heavens without Armanu and a finite life on earth with Armanu, Kittu tortuously answered,
“You shall have what you seek. But in exchange, choose me.”
Then, Armanu went to the Black Dragon and said,
“O Wise Black Dragon. I wish for abundant soil and water, and I wish for your wisdom.”
What Armanu did not know, however, was that although life diminished and could not remain whole once shared, wisdom could. The Wise Black Dragon smiled and answered,
“The soil and water are not mine to give, but you may seek wisdom from me if you so desire. I shall give it to you. If this pleases you, then choose me.”
And so, Armanu chose Kittu of Six Wings and went to him.
Kittu gave to her his glory of light —that is, his heavenly beauty— as he had promised, and vowed to give her his eternal life after they had consummated their union. Kittu of Six Wings held her in his arms, kissed her, and spent the night with her as they consummated their union.
But Kittu could not bear to give her his eternal life even after they were united. Utu had sent a lion to his dreams at dawn and had given him a stern warning.
“I do not permit thee to cast aside that which I have given thee, my son. Never shalt thee be able to return to the heavens if thee cast aside thy glory of light —thy heavenly beauty and thy eternal life. And thy shalt suffer all the joys and pains of the lives of the mud creatures and go extinct. The warriors, thy offshoots, shalt also suffer the same fate as thee.”
Kittu awoke from his dream and climbed up to the very top of the tree and cried in anguish until the sun had risen, but Utu did not reply.
Armanu felt betrayed when she was not given the eternal life she had been promised, so she went to the Black Dragon.
“He did not keep his promise to me. And so, I wish to you choose you and receive what you give me instead.”
But the Black Dragon drew out his cold fog and smiled.
“Choosing one means abandoning the other. And you have already made your choice.”
“…….”
“But I will prove to you just once that I had, in fact, loved you. I will share with you the wisdom that you seek, the truth that is known to me.”
Kittu learned that Armanu had gone to the Black Dragon and understood that it was because he had held off on keeping his promise. His heart boiled like lava because he could not take Armanu back while she was buried deep inside the Black Dragon’s cold fog.
He immediately went to the tree, which was Armanu’s true body, and gave it what he had promised her —his eternal life—, and he shouted loudly at the mass of cold fog that he had kept his vow.
The sun sank down beneath the horizon in that instant, and Utu appeared in the sky on his chariot of light. Kittu of Six Wings lost his divinity and tumbled down to the earth. The very same earth that was swarming with the creatures made from mud, and the very same earth that he had scorned and considered dirty. The innumerable Celestial warriors, his offshoots, also lost their wings and plummeted down to the earth.
The small lump of earth that the Celestial warriors had been holding up plummeted down to the earth as well. Armanu’s soil, which had once been surrounded by rainbows, fragrant flowers, and sweet fruits was dyed dark with the blood of Kittu and his warriors after they had fallen, and the tree’s branches were painted red with blood and white with broken feathers. The grand and beautiful tree lost many branches and roots, and it labored to replant itself into the land below.
Armanu went to neither Kittu nor the Black Dragon and hid herself from them.
The only trace that was left of her were the footprints of a large bird that were etched deeply into the mud.
7.
The most terrible and most perfect number in the world.
The number that measures the changes of the world.
Seven.
The number of the great gods who decree fate.
One week.
The number of days that the seven gods had given mankind.
One day given by An of the heavens, the father of all creation.
One day given by Enlil of the air, who presides over the world.
One day given by Enki the Creator, the master of the rich earth and water.
One day given by Nanna of the moon, who governs the night sky.
One day given by Utu of the sun, who governs light and justice.
One day given by Inanna the Morning Star, who governs love, war, and fertility.
One day given by Ninhursag the Arbiter, the merciful mother of all.
As such, seven days and seven nights
was the time during which all things in the world could happen.
Everything that ever happened in the world could all return to nothingness in that time.
It was more than enough time for all things to come to be and for all things to collapse.
Enough time for all emotions to be connected together and untied.
<The First Night and Day>
In the beginning, was a tree.
The tree had sprung up from the center of the earth that was governed by Enki, the great god of creation. It was a sacred place which neither bird nor beast nor insect dared approach.
The tree began to reach up toward the center of the sky, where the sun was, as soon as it sprouted, and it eventually grew blindingly beautiful leaves that glittered like sunlight as its body took on the beautiful colors of fertile soil.
Utu, the sun god, was pleased when he saw how the beautiful tree, the likes of which he had never seen before, reached up to him with its countless hands, and he took the tree by the hand and pulled it up. Enki was startled, and he held firmly to the tree’s roots and sent streams of water to the roots from below so as to tempt the tree to into planting its roots more firmly into the earth.
The tree coveted both the blinding sky that was filled with the sun’s light and the rich land where the life water was. And so, it reached up high into the heavens with branches that grew taller than any other grass, and it laid its roots down more deeply into the earth than any other plant.
Utu summoned his son, Kittu1, the Divine Archer, who was the bravest and strongest warrior in heaven. Kittu was also called the Glory of Light because he was so radiantly beautiful that he illuminated the heavens, his eyes were as sharp as an eagle’s, and he was as strong as a lion. His arrows never failed to hit their mark.
Utu gave him three large pairs of eagle wings, placed a crown of gold upon his head, equipped him with a golden sword and golden arrows, and granted him eternal life as he commanded his son to bring the tree up to the ‘peak of the heavens.’
Enki summoned his son, the Black Dragon, who was the biggest and strongest warrior of all the land and waters. Enki placed a whitesilver crown upon his head, equipped him with a trident that could split through the vast waters and a cold fog that could conceal all, and granted him immortal wisdom as he commanded his son to drag the tree down to the ‘deepest waters.’
Kittu spread wide his six wings as he descended, and he sat on a tree branch that was reaching up to the heavens as it swayed and tempted the tree by scattering golden light over it. The Black Dragon shroud the tree in a gigantic cloud and drew water up from deep within the earth and coiled it around the tree’s roots, which were still firmly planted in soil.
Kittu and the Black Dragon battled fiercely with the tree in between them. The battle dragged on because the two warriors were equals in strength, and they fought so viciously that the earth around them was reduced to a wasteland without a single blade of grass to be seen. The faithful Celestial warriors, who were offshoots of Kittu, and the aquatic warriors, who were obedient to the Black Dragon, circled the tree so that the foolish races made from mud could not approach it.
Then, one day, Kittu and the Black Dragon suddenly stopped fighting.
This was because they had seen a beautiful naked woman sleeping by the tree.
***
Gulp.
Renier stopped speaking when she suddenly heard someone gulp. The rascal, who had stayed quiet as Kittu and the Black Dragon butted heads and battled fiercely, had suddenly raised his head stiffly and gulped after hearing about a naked woman sleeping unguarded.
His damned gulp had sounded like thunder. Gulp —and again, gulp. Renier heard him clear his throat briefly as she continued to stay silent.
“Yaaawn. ……I’m sleepy.”
Renier suddenly felt mischievous, so she yawned and peered at Kuhn out of the corner of her eye. Bleakly, she heard him ask,
“……Are you tired?”
“Yeah, I’m tired.”
“Are you very tired?”
“Yup.”
“Are you truly, truly tired?”
“I just told you that I was!”
Kuhn didn’t press her to continue the story and instead turned around and lied down without another word when Renier barked back.
“You must be fatigued after hunting all day. Go to sleep now.”
What the hell?
Renier felt like she could no longer tell what was what as she stared at the back of the large rascal who had turned around and started snoring as soon as he had lied down.
***
<The Second Night and Day>
Then, one day, Kittu and the Black Dragon suddenly stopped fighting.
This was because they had seen a beautiful naked woman sleeping by the tree.
The woman’s hair was a beautiful rich and dark brown in color, just like the tree, her limbs were as elegant as the tree’s gently sloping branches, and her skin was as pale as a tree’s pulp and was flawlessly smooth.
Kittu realized instinctively that the woman was the incarnation of the tree and approached her carefully. She was so much smaller and more delicate than Kittu and the Black Dragon that he could not see her face properly without kneeling. Then, he plucked the softest down feather of his wings and gently covered the woman’s body with it.
Blink. Blink.
The woman’s eyes met Kittu’s and the Black Dragon’s. Kittu saw the azure skies in the woman’s eyes, while the Black Dragon saw clear blue seas. Kittu felt the blinding sun from the woman’s porcelain skin, and the Black Dragon found the color of the rich earth in the woman’s fluttering hair.
The woman looked between Kittu and the Black Dragon, who were giants compared to her, and she parted her crimson lips as she asked them,
“Who are you?”
The two were mesmerized as they answered.
“I am Kittu of Six Wings, son of Utu and the warrior of heaven.”
“I am the Black Dragon of Wisdom, son of Enki and the warrior of water.”
“Then, my name —what is my name?”
And together, Kittu and the Black Dragon simultaneously replied, ‘Armanu.’
Armanu, Armanu —Armanu repeated her name to herself a few times before she looked up and reached out with both hands. Kittu and the Black Dragon were enthralled as they reached back and took her hands. The woman’s hands were so impossibly soft and warm that neither Kittu nor the Black Dragon could bear to let go of her for a very long time.
“Please don’t fight so close to me. It’s so noisy that I can’t sleep,”
the woman requested with a voice as sweet as honey.
“But, upon my father’s name, I cannot allow the land to take the tree.”
“But, upon my father’s name, I cannot allow the sky to take the tree.”
“If neither the land nor the sky may take the tree, then why not keep the tree somewhere in the middle?”
the woman suggested with lips as lovely as budding roses that were soon to blossom.
And so, Kittu of Six Wings and the Black Dragon of Wisdom brought their long-standing battle to a pause. Then, they reached a compromise and decided to make it so that the tree belonged neither to the land nor to the sky.
They took the tree and the lump of earth that supported its roots and made it float in the air, where it was neither in the land nor the sky. Only the tree, Armanu, who took after the tree, Kittu, and the Black Dragon lived there.
The Celestial warriors, who were offshoots of Kittu, flapped their wings like large birds and supported the lump of earth in the air, and the Black Dragon drew up the clearest waters from deep within the earth and sprinkled it over the tree.
The water, which was being scattered from up high, shroud the tree like mist, and a resplendent rainbow was formed when the sunlight poured over on top of it. Kittu sealed away the area with his golden sword and flaming arrows, and the Black Dragon filled the area with his cold fog so the dirty mud creatures and beasts could not find it.
Armanu’s soil was beautiful and fertile. The tree grew thick with verdant leaves and bore an abundance of sweet fruits thanks to the refreshing water, the warm sun, and the brilliant light. Sweet scents and waters overflowed wherever Armanu touched.
Armanu offered the sweetest fruits to Kittu and the Black Dragon every day. They ate the fruits as they savored her fragrance and sweetness, and they made it so that nothing from the heavens or the earth could disturb their sacred dwelling.
“Thank you, Lord Kittu of Six Wings. Thank you, Lord Black Dragon of Wisdom.”
Armanu was very pleased with her territory, which belonged to neither the land nor the sky, so she wrapped her arms around her two guardians’ necks and kissed them each to express her gratitude.
And something peculiar began to grow in Kittu’s and the Black Dragon’s hearts.
***
Kuhn was acting strange. He completely forgot to prepare for dinner and he was antsy all day long —it looked like ending the story on a cliffhanger(?) had impacted him more than Renier had realized. No wonder. He was more excited than he needed to be last night.
And, sure enough, he’d even forgotten to finish eating the roasted rabbit meat —one of his favorites— he was holding as soon as Renier resumed the story. His mouth was left agape as his ears perked up, and he looked so funny as he sat there that Renier thought she might die of laughter.
Renier suddenly grew mischievous again and nudged Kuhn in the side with her foot, and he jumped so high that his head nearly hit the cave ceiling.
“Ack, w-what are you doing?!”
“Do you know what that ‘something peculiar’ is?”
“……I do.”
“What is it, then?”
His pulled at his blameless fingers so hard that he might rip them out from their joints before he resolutely, like a warrior about to step out onto the battlefield, answered,
“It is love.”
Whoaaa! Renier applauded him without reserve and even whistled for good measure.
“Wow! You actually know what love is? ……Oh, wait! That’s not possible. You said that men and women live separately in your household until they come of age.”
“I still know all there is to know. I’ll be of age soon, and then I’ll be able to get wed immediately thereafter,”
he spat out almost angrily.
Oho, so you know all there is to know?
Renier narrowed her eyes and scrutinized Kuhn up and down. She knew that the rascal couldn’t lie, so he probably genuinely believed that he knew all there was to know. But Renier had no way of knowing if anyone else would agree with him about that. Why was it that she was starting to grow worried for his future bride even though she didn’t even know who she was?
“Kuhn. I, well, I really wasn’t going to ask you something like this……. But I’d like you to answer me honestly.”
“Very well.”
“I’m the first woman you’ve ever held hands with, aren’t I?”
“Of course not! What do you take me for? I have held my mother’s and nanny’s hands plenty too.”
Yep.
“You said that you knew all there was to know, so why don’t you tell me what you know about love?”
He shook his head no so furiously that it almost looked like he was having a seizure, but he folded so readily when Renier threatened him by saying that she wouldn’t continue the story unless he responded. He listened carefully to make sure that no one else was nearby for quite some time before he lowered his voice and answered,
“S-so, love is…”
“Well? I’m listening?”
“Love is being incredibly curious about someone, thinking about them all day long, thinking about them makes you feel good, and wanting to be good to them…….”
Renier saw the rascal’s cheeks grow scarlet because of the fire. I’m a fool for thinking he’s cute.
“Yeah, and?”
“Wanting to hide them behind your back so no one else can see them, and wanting to murder anyone who hits them…….”
Kuhn twisted his fingers together as he did his best to answer. Renier could see beads of sweat forming on his forehead. She scowled. She suddenly felt like she was a rabbit being hounded into a hunter’s net. Kuhn continued,
“Wanting to hold their hand, wanting to hold them close, and wanting to kiss them.”
“…….”
“Love is wanting to lie together, and wanting to sow my seed in your womb and have children with you.”
Renier stared back at Kuhn in mute amazement. His straightforward conclusion left her speechless. The Northlanders’ manner of speech must surely just be strange, especially considering how that bashful bastard was saying stuff like this.
Only, Kuhn had apparently scraped together the very last of his courage to say all this, as he completely failed to realize that he had said that he wanted to sow ‘my’ seed in ‘your’ womb. Renier only just managed to keep her wits together and feign ignorance.
“Aha. So that’s your idea of love?”
“Yes.”
“Then what about wanting to hold, kiss, and lie with someone without having anything growing inside your heart? Is that love too?”
Kuhn paused. It looked like he was doing his best to consider the double meanings of Renier’s question. A long wrinkle furrowed into his brow.
“……It likely isn’t, but it could become love if that person has a change of heart.”
Renier huffed. She didn’t like his crafty answer because it wasn’t like him. And, sure enough, he shook his head no as he spat out,
“No, that’s wrong. That’s no better than a mere beast in heat. But why do you ask?”
“Oh, well, it’s because that’s the only kind of people I’ve known until now.”
“Where on earth were you living, and with whom?”
There was a faint hint of fury in his voice as he mumbled. The contempt he had harbored when they had first met had fortunately washed clean away, and in its place, he was boiling with antipathy for the people who had tormented her.
“In that case, Kuhn, what if only one person starts growing feelings in their heart while the other doesn’t?”
Renier knew several solutions to this problem. Forcing oneself on the other person, like how so many people had tried to do to her, making the other person submit voluntarily with blackmail or authority, or buying the other person for a price, like so many people tended to do. There was many solutions, so long as you gave up on obtaining the other person’s heart.
“I would try my hardest so that the other person’s heart grows too.”
“That isn’t guaranteed to happen even if you try your hardest. The other person’s heart might never grow, not even until the bitter end.”
“If the gods only permitted love to grow in one person’s heart…”
Renier didn’t like the preface to his answer, but she decided to wait quietly for him to finish. Kuhn carefully chose his next words and calmly replied,
“Then I would put my everything on the line and pray to the god I worship. I would beg him to let the same thing grow inside the other person’s heart too.”
Renier didn’t like his answer. Crack, crackle —the fire began crackling loudly as it burned up. Small sparks sputtered out like flaming arrows in the darkness around them and drew long arcs between them.
Renier woke up in the middle of the night. The fire and gone out, and all that remained of it were a few bright red embers. It was pitch black all around her, and only the immediate area surrounding the embers had a faint glow.
There was a dark shadow in front of her. She was wrapped tightly in wool clothing, and her hand was wrapped inside something. Something that was large, thick, and warm. It gently caressed the back of her hand. It was moving so carefully that it almost felt like a feather.
“…….”
A low and sonorous voice was melting into the darkness. The voice was as gentle and steady as the buzzing of a bumblebee’s flight. And it was as sweet as honey as it filtered into her ears.
Renier could tell by the dark silhouette that he was kneeling on top of the cold stone floor. Perhaps he was praying to the god he worshipped.
What was it that he wanted so badly? What was it that he wanted so badly even as gulped so painfully and desperately?
You still have things in your world that you would pray for so desperately.
The whisper of his prayers stopped. He slowly lowered his head. He pressed his face onto the back of Renier’s hand, and his disheveled hair fell over her wrist and arm.
The back of her hand tickled.
And then she heard a quick and gentle smooch.
***
<The Third Night and Day>
Armanu coveted the beautiful Kittu and the wise Black Dragon just as a tree coveted the light of the sun, the nutrients of the earth, and the water of life, and Kittu of Six Wings and the Black Dragon began coveting Armanu as well.
But Armanu looked up at the heavens above and looked down at the earth below and sorrowfully shook her head.
“O Glory of Light, beautiful warrior of six wings, I cannot hold you because you are too big. Your wings are large enough to cover the skies, but I am as small as but one of your feathers. I could not dare hold you.”
“O Wisdom of the deep and dark waters, sage with beautiful scales, I cannot hold you because you are too big. Your tail covers the oceans, but I am as small as but one of your scales. I could not dare hold you.”
“Why would one who can be as large as the skies not also become as small as a feather?”
“Why would one who can cover the ends of the oceans not also become as small as a scale?”
Kittu of Six Wings and the Black Dragon of Wisdom crumpled and folded and crushed their bodies so that they were the same size as Armanu and stood beside her.
Kittu’s and the Black Dragon’s entire beings were seized by greed, the likes of which they had never experienced before in their lives, as they looked Armanu in the eyes and stood with her shoulder-to-shoulder for the first time ever. Her every breath carried the fragrance of flowers, and her body smelled like it had been slathered with honey.
“Allow me to love you. I will bring you pleasure with my body, and I will bring joy to your heart with the glory of light.”
“Allow me to love you. I will bring you merriment with my body, and I will entertain your soul with my beautiful wisdom.”
“Allow me to hold you. Your children shall be the most beautiful warriors in all the heavens and the earth.”
“Allow me to hold you. Your children shall be the wisest sages in all the heavens and the earth.”
“O Armanu, allow me to sow my seed in your womb that you may bear fruit to my children. My body burns for you.”
“O Armanu, allow me to sow my seed in your womb that you may bear fruit to my children. My bones are melting in want of you.”
Hesitantly, Armanu asked,
“If you want me, O Kittu of Six Wings, then what will you give me in return?”
“State your wish. I will give you everything I have and more.”
“If you want me, O Black Dragon of Wisdom, then what will you give me in return?”
“State your wish. I will give you everything I have and more.”
“One week —please give me one week, and then I shall give you my reply.”
***
Kuhn was deeply absorbed in thought. So many wrinkles had formed on his forehead and brow.
“Why is Armanu toying with their hearts and satiating her greed instead of answering them with sincerity?”
“Isn’t it obvious? It’s because the thing that was growing in Kittu’s and the Black Dragon’s heart wasn’t growing in Armanu’s. But you can’t blame her for that since —and these are your words—, it was the gods who didn’t permit it to grow in her. Kittu and the Black Dragon are ‘trying their hardest,’ as you put it, so Armanu will like them back.”
Kuhn’s forehead crumpled something fierce, as though he rather disliked Renier’s answer. But he could not logically refute what she had said.
“Then, why a week? It must be torture to have to wait for so long.”
Renier realized that Kuhn was empathizing with Kittu and the Black Dragon. It was never the loved but the lover who had to suffer so. Who was it that told me again? The gods humble arrogant men by granting them an emotion they can’t withstand.
Renier thought that Kuhn was brave for empathizing with Kittu and the Black Dragon so readily. She didn’t have the confidence to do the same. It was only the very foolish or the very brave who could stake their everything on an emotion that could both arise and extinguish in just one week. Slowly, Renier explained,
“Everything in the world can happen in the span of one week.”
One week. She recalled something that someone had told her before. Seven days was long enough for all things to come to be and for all things to collapse. Renier tasted something bitter in her mouth. She continued,
“It’s enough time for the living to die and for the dead to come back to life.”
“…….”
“It’s enough time to get to know a stranger, to start loving someone you hated, and to part ways with someone you loved.”
“It is not. Seventy days, seven hundred days, seven years, and even seventy years is still too short a time for that feeling,”
Kuhn interjected her coarsely.
“What do you know about that feeling, Kuhn? Seventy years is too short, you say? How can you claim that so boldly?”
“In that case, what do you know?”
“I know more about it than you do. At the very least, I know that it can vanish in just a day, never mind a week,”
Renier replied with a bitter smile. The things she had suffered had been agonizing, her memories about them were bitter, and it pained her to crush his insides with the truth.
“……You are wrong.”
Kuhn’s voice trailed away at the end. He couldn’t speak with certainty, however, because this was the first time in his life that he was experiencing this feeling, and he wasn’t fully certain about how it would end.
Almost two weeks had passed since Renier and Kuhn had met.
***
<The Forth Night and Day>
Armanu sat beneath the tree that was located between the sky and the land as she pondered.
Kittu of Six Wings sat above the tree, and the Black Dragon of Wisdom melted into the waters deep within the soil. Kittu waited, and the Black Dragon thought. He thought, and he thought. He thought about what he would gain and what he would lose while these feelings lasted and after it had ended. Kittu waited, and the Black Dragon thought.
The Black Dragon finished thinking a week later, and he divided his body into two, one white snake and one black snake, from within the water. The snakes slithered up the tree without Kittu’s notice and approached Armanu.
“Have you made your choice yet, O Armanu?”
“I have not. I cannot tell which of the two loves me more because I have not wisdom.”
“Do you seek the wisdom to help you know who loves you more?”
“I do.”
“Choosing one means abandoning the other. Do you seek it even still?”
“I do.”
The two snakes slithered up the tree and slid onto her shoulders and began whispering into her ears.
“……Test them.”
“…….”
“Ask each of them for something you want most and for what they hold most dear, and test whether they truly love you or not. That way, you will be able to learn who loves you more.”
And Armanu believed that the snakes’ wisdom was right.
“O Kittu of Six Wings. I wish for your glory of light —your heavenly beauty and your eternal life.”
What Armanu wanted most, and what Kittu held most dear. Kittu fell into serious contemplation.
“I can give you the glory of light —my heavenly beauty. But my eternal life is something sacred that I received from Utu, my father, and it is something I must keep as a Celestial. It is not mine to give.”
“I wish for your glory of light —your heavenly beauty and your eternal life,”
Armanu repeated by the wisdom she had obtained from the snakes. And so, after thinking long and hard about an eternal life in the heavens without Armanu and a finite life on earth with Armanu, Kittu tortuously answered,
“You shall have what you seek. But in exchange, choose me.”
Then, Armanu went to the Black Dragon and said,
“O Wise Black Dragon. I wish for abundant soil and water, and I wish for your wisdom.”
What Armanu did not know, however, was that although life diminished and could not remain whole once shared, wisdom could. The Wise Black Dragon smiled and answered,
“The soil and water are not mine to give, but you may seek wisdom from me if you so desire. I shall give it to you. If this pleases you, then choose me.”
And so, Armanu chose Kittu of Six Wings and went to him.
Kittu gave to her his glory of light —that is, his heavenly beauty— as he had promised, and vowed to give her his eternal life after they had consummated their union. Kittu of Six Wings held her in his arms, kissed her, and spent the night with her as they consummated their union.
But Kittu could not bear to give her his eternal life even after they were united. Utu had sent a lion to his dreams at dawn and had given him a stern warning.
“I do not permit thee to cast aside that which I have given thee, my son. Never shalt thee be able to return to the heavens if thee cast aside thy glory of light —thy heavenly beauty and thy eternal life. And thy shalt suffer all the joys and pains of the lives of the mud creatures and go extinct. The warriors, thy offshoots, shalt also suffer the same fate as thee.”
Kittu awoke from his dream and climbed up to the very top of the tree and cried in anguish until the sun had risen, but Utu did not reply.
Armanu felt betrayed when she was not given the eternal life she had been promised, so she went to the Black Dragon.
“He did not keep his promise to me. And so, I wish to you choose you and receive what you give me instead.”
But the Black Dragon drew out his cold fog and smiled.
“Choosing one means abandoning the other. And you have already made your choice.”
“…….”
“But I will prove to you just once that I had, in fact, loved you. I will share with you the wisdom that you seek, the truth that is known to me.”
Kittu learned that Armanu had gone to the Black Dragon and understood that it was because he had held off on keeping his promise. His heart boiled like lava because he could not take Armanu back while she was buried deep inside the Black Dragon’s cold fog.
He immediately went to the tree, which was Armanu’s true body, and gave it what he had promised her —his eternal life—, and he shouted loudly at the mass of cold fog that he had kept his vow.
The sun sank down beneath the horizon in that instant, and Utu appeared in the sky on his chariot of light. Kittu of Six Wings lost his divinity and tumbled down to the earth. The very same earth that was swarming with the creatures made from mud, and the very same earth that he had scorned and considered dirty. The innumerable Celestial warriors, his offshoots, also lost their wings and plummeted down to the earth.
The small lump of earth that the Celestial warriors had been holding up plummeted down to the earth as well. Armanu’s soil, which had once been surrounded by rainbows, fragrant flowers, and sweet fruits was dyed dark with the blood of Kittu and his warriors after they had fallen, and the tree’s branches were painted red with blood and white with broken feathers. The grand and beautiful tree lost many branches and roots, and it labored to replant itself into the land below.
Armanu went to neither Kittu nor the Black Dragon and hid herself from them.
The only trace that was left of her were the footprints of a large bird that were etched deeply into the mud.
RECENTLY UPDATES
Eastern
Action
Action
Action
Action
Action
Josei
Urban