CHAPTER 2

 SHE WAS EKIMMU, born in ancient Babylon. Her father was Elil, reputed to be one of the great ancient gods of Mesopotamia. Her mother, Inanna, was thought to be from the land of Sumeria. In truth, they were neither.

Elil and Inanna came to Babylon during the reign of King Nebuchadnezzar. The king had married a young woman, Amyitis, to form an alliance with the land of Medes. To make her feel more at home, he wanted part of the city rebuilt with mountains and gardens. A call went out to the people offering a fortune to anyone who could accomplish the task.

Elil and Inanna appeared a few days later. Impressed by their innovative ideas, the king hired them immediately.

During their stay, an unusual plague spread across the land. Young women were discovered unconscious and remained comatose for days, sometimes weeks. Eventually, they recovered, though they often remained pale and weak for months. Several spoke of strange dreams, dreams never quite remembered but never completely forgotten. Although no one suffered permanent damage, these women were shunned out of fear that they had been violated by evil spirits. Many left, never to be seen again.

By now, as chief adviser to the king, Inanna assured the people that the plague would end... and in time, it did. Shortly afterward, Inanna gave birth to an infant girl with dark skin and pale blue eyes.

 

*  *  *

Ekimmu was three when her family was forced to leave Babylon, but she remembered the happy days spent playing in the hanging gardens above the roofs of the city. Her mother would chase her through the shrubs while her father watched in amusement as he sat on a bench beneath the flower-laden vines under recently imported trees.

Elil was tall with broad shoulders, golden hair, pale skin, and bright blue eyes that twinkled when he smiled or laughed. Inanna was the complete opposite— dark skinned with honey golden eyes. Both were an anomaly to their own people, who were dark-haired with eyes the color of coal. Although several inches shorter than Elil, Inanna still towered above the Babylonians. Beautiful beyond imagination, neither of them showed any signs of aging.

In time, it provided a fertile environment for planting the seeds of fear amongst the king’s less favored subjects. When the whispers began, Elil and Inanna knew their time in the great city was over. To protect their daughter, their friends, and their adopted homeland, they would sacrifice their own happiness. One night, the three simply disappeared, leaving everything behind except what could be carried by hand. The next day, many of the people of Babylon wept.

 

*  *  *

For centuries, they traveled like gypsies, stopping for short periods in remote villages, then moving on. It was in the land of Daci around 82 B.C. that they once again settled down. The Dacians were a loosely knit group of tribes occupying Eastern Europe.

Ekimmu fondly remembered her time with the Carpi, an unusual people who chose to isolate themselves from the other Daci. The arrival of Ekimmu and her parents proved fortuitous for the Carpi. The people had been plagued by mysterious deaths. Young men and women had been disappearing in the night only to have their mutilated bodies turn up in the light of day. Ekimmu was horrified when she discovered that one of her own kind, a man named Ramus, was committing the atrocities, and it troubled her that her parents refused to stop him.

 

*  *  *

When Ekimmu confronted her mother about him, Inanna tried to reassure her that Ramus was an aberration.

“Why do you permit this to continue, Mother? He’s destroying lives and families.”

“We have no way of stopping him.” Inanna shrugged.

“So you simply ignore him and the deaths of our adopted people? They trust us. Is this how we reward them or their trust?”

Sighing, Inanna took Ekimmu’s hand and pulled her down onto the bench next to her.

“It’s complicated, daughter,” she said, rubbing her temples tiredly. “Our people aren’t perfect. We have rules to guide us, and most follow them willingly. Others...” Shrugging again, Inanna left the sentence unfinished.

“Others do as they wish, free of consequences. Is that what you’re saying? If this is what we are, I hope I don’t meet any more of our kind. We’re no better than him. Perhaps worse. To do nothing is condoning everything that he is.”

“You’re overreacting, dear. What would you have us do? Kill him? Lower ourselves to his standards? We aspire to greater things.”

“Doing nothing is not an aspiration. I hope one day we will be greater, instead of aspiring to be.” Ekimmu stood and walked away, leaving Inanna deeply troubled.

 

*  *  *

A few days later, Ramus did move on. Ekimmu questioned her mother about his departure, but Inanna merely waved her hand dismissively saying Elil had talked to him. The deaths ceased and the Carpi tribe again lived in relative peace. Ekimmu and her parents lived amongst them for many years sharing their skills and knowledge.

 

*  *  *

It was during those years the villagers declared war against the mountain wolves. For several seasons, the winters were unusually harsh, making it difficult for the wolves to find prey. The Carpi cattle were an easy target.

In retaliation, the Carpi hunted the beasts almost to extinction. Strangely, the wolves didn’t retaliate, although there was ample opportunity to exact revenge. Knowing the situation would escalate to a point of no return, Inanna decided to intervene. She and Elil called a meeting of the village fathers.

“It’s time we ended this,” she said, making eye contact with each of the elders.

“Yes,” Toria, the tribal leader, agreed. “We must destroy these beasts once and for all before they wipe out our entire herd.”

“No!” Inanna countered angrily. “That is unacceptable. You blame every death on the wolves and yet only a few cattle are lost each winter. It’s a small price for the benefits we gain from them during the rest of the year. Our vermin population is down, giving us more than enough grain to compensate for our loss.”

“Bah! You give them too much credit, woman. Their destruction ensures our survival,” Toria argued. “I see no other solution.”

“Then you are blind,” Inanna countered, trying to calm her anger. “There’s always another way.”

“Wolves have been a pestilence here for many seasons. In the beginning, we ignored them, hoping they would go away. They haven’t. Now our lambs and calves are slaughtered.”

“Much like their young and old. They take only enough to survive the hard times and leave us alone. You, however, kill every wolf you see.”

“True, and we’ll continue to do so until there are no more on our land. Let them go into the mountains where they came from,” Toria declared arrogantly, looking at the others for support. Heads nodded in agreement.

“You will not!” Inanna rose slowly to her feet.  Her icy gaze sent a chill down the elder’s spine. There was a fire in her eyes that he had never seen before and hoped to never see again.

“The wolves were here long before us. We are the intruders, not them.”

Toria glanced nervously at the others and rolled his eyes, feigning a courage he didn’t feel. As it sometimes happens, fear made him brave, but arrogance made him stupid.

“Inanna, you’ve lived amongst us a long time. We’re grateful for your help, but you’re still an outsider. Of course, we welcome you at our council, but really, child, it’s only a courtesy that we permit you to attend these meetings.”

Toria smiled gently, trying to soften the words, more for the sake of image than anything else. Several council members frowned uneasily, recognizing that their leader had overstepped his position, but they were unwilling to chastise him openly.

“Outsider? You dare to call me outsider?” Inanna advanced on the elder councilman. The old man cringed, breaking eye contact with the tall angry woman standing before him. “I am more than that. This has been my family’s home for many years. I believed you had accepted us as equals, but I see I’m mistaken.”

Toria glanced at Elil, his eyes begging him to intervene. The amused smirk he received wasn’t reassuring.

“Forgive us, Inanna,” Lysium pleaded, trying to calm the tension before it escalated further. “Toria means no disrespect. You and your family are loved by all. Every day, we thank the gods for bringing you here,” he said, sweeping his arm around the room to include the others. “Of course, you’re one of us.”

“Yes, yes,” Toria piped in. His leadership was dependent on the support of the council. Alienating them could jeopardize that position. “I spoke without thinking. Forgive me.”

Inanna relaxed, choosing to let the verbal slight pass.

“Fear makes us do and say things we don’t mean, Toria.”

“Thank you,” Toria replied, bowing his head humbly. Through lowered lids, he quickly scanned the room to assure himself his repentance was noticed. When a few nodded approvingly, he relaxed. “What would you have us do?”

“A truce.”

“Truce? With animals? Have you lost your senses?”

Inanna laughed. “No, these are not the ignorant beasts you believe them to be. If you’ll trust me with some of your youngest children and your best cow, I believe I can make peace with the wolves.”

The tribal elders looked at one another with skepticism but reluctantly agreed. It wouldn’t do to inflame their wisest healer and adviser at this point. Once she was proved wrong, they would be magnanimous in their forgiveness.

The next day, Inanna and six young Carpi traveled deep into the forest. Leading a fat, healthy cow, they searched for signs of the packs and their leader.

 

*  *  *

Sonia was the most ancient of wolves. She had lived longer than most and was familiar with the humans. Captured as a pup, she had spent many seasons as a pet with a Carpi family. Although they were loving and kind, the mountains constantly called to her. Eventually, she fled the security of her human home for the wildness of the forests.

Rica, a lone male, discovered her two weeks later and taught her the way of the wolves. Within the year, they had bonded and she gave birth to their first litter. For more than a decade, they raised many pups until Rica was killed by the same farmer who had captured her.

Sonia mourned her loss but never retaliated. All packs, human and wolf, struggled to survive. Death was never easy, but it was inevitable. This she accepted as a part of life.

 

*  *  *

It had taken Inanna two days to locate the spot where the wolves’ energies were strongest. Instructing the children to set up camp, she relaxed beneath an ancient oak bordering a small meadow and waited. A narrow stream meandered lazily through its center. The cow was staked nearby.

Long before they showed themselves, Inanna felt their presence. As the wolves approached, the cow tugged frantically at the rope. Aware of the animal’s nervousness, the lead wolf halted, lowering her tired body to the ground. Her pack immediately followed her example.

Inanna rose to her feet but didn’t approach the wary animals.

“Welcome, Sonia, and thank you for coming. The winter has been long and hard on both of our people. I bring you the gift of food for your pack.”

Other than a slight lowering of her gray muzzle, Sonia remained motionless. She too had learned the art of patience.

“This one-sided war has caused great sorrow for all. The time has come to end it. Let this be the place. Let now be the time,” Inanna offered, raising her arms to encompass the meadow surrounding them.

Unmoved, Sonia continued to stare at the woman standing between her and the frightened animal. The wolf’s eyes were clouded with the opaqueness of age.

Inanna was not fooled into thinking the old she-wolf was handicapped by her infirmity.

“I bring you these children,” she continued softly. “Three are yours to do with as you wish. If forfeiture of their lives brings peace to your pack for our injustices, they die willingly. However, spare them, teach them, show them your ways, and they will serve your people well, as will their children and their children’s children. You will become as one family, each guardian and caretaker of the other. Will you accept this offering, my queen?”

With those words, Inanna knelt on cool grass and lowered her head humbly in a gesture of trust.

The old she-wolf closed her eyes. Her pack couldn’t understand the words, but she did. Patiently, they waited. After several minutes, she opened them and stared at the human pups. Unflinchingly, they returned her gaze.

As Sonia rose, the pain of age was like a fire in her joints. Slowly, she approached each child and sniffed, giving no sign of her intentions. Finally stopping in front of a young female, she nuzzled her hand. The girl fell to her knees and stroked the gray forehead of the old queen. She stared into opaque eyes, smiled, then pressed her cheek against the wolf’s shoulder.

“You remember me, don’t you? Mama told me about you.” Turning to Inanna, she grinned shyly. “She agrees to your terms. Her young don’t hunger this day. They have no need of the cow. You can return it to the villagers but must remind them that she may collect the debt in a time of need.”

“Granted. Thank you, Sonia. From this day forward, Carpi and wolf are one. The child will go with you now. The others will follow in three moons.”

Inanna turned to the young girl and smiled.

“Your children will be blessed from this moment on, Yemaya. Learn your duties well.”

Grinning, her blue eyes twinkling with mischief, the child nodded enthusiastically.

Standing, Inanna walked to the old queen, bowed, and turned. She and the other children left, their cow in tow.

Yemaya, her hand clutching the gray fur on Sonia’s neck, walked into the woods eager to begin her new life.