Lynk frowned. “It’s obvious that she’s trying to harass the Ducians. Frogs do not bite but they can be really annoying. The frogs are going to exhaust them and make them give up eventually. Nobody can endure such endless torment with their courage and determination being sapped away bit by bit. Once they lose their morale, Seth would have succeeded.”
Metatro spat on the ground and said: “What a nasty trick! I can’t even fight back since there are no opponents in sight. It’s impossible to drive them away. How do we get over this?”
Lynk: “If Heqet does not show herself, we don’t need to show ourselves either. This is a test for the Ducians, and they have to overcome it by themselves. Once they make it out of the delta and reach the drier areas, Heqet would not be able to summon that many frogs. Unfortunately, going by their current speed, they will need several days more to accomplish that.”
Metatro: “This is a test of faith and determination. If their determination is strong enough, they will be able to endure the frogs and continue advancing. I find David to be really promising, he’s still able to eat well and sleep well under such conditions. The stronger the willpower one possesses, the less he would be affected.”
Lynk smiled. “The frogs are testing the people for you. Are you intending to teach that child in the next few days?”
Metatro also smiled. “I have never eaten frogs when I was young. Later on, when I lived with your tribe, only then did I learn that frogs are edible. Not only that, they taste really good too. I’m getting a craving for them right now.”
……
Fear and unease gradually spread among the Ducians, and after days of continuous suffering, some of them fell into a daze. Some of them started saying that this was divine punishment given by the Ejyptian gods, but where was their god Allaha? Try as they might, the twelve Judges were unable to drive the frogs away despite their best efforts. The frogs were everywhere and anywhere, and the situation was similar to the time when Amon and Metatro encountered the scorpions in the desert.
Many people were unable to continue moving, and they said to Moses: “We are not complaining, most of us are strong and healthy, but the inability to take a proper rest is unbearable. Is this divine punishment from the Ejyptian gods? Why are they tormenting us like this? Lead us out of the forests and wetlands back to the roads!”
Moses persuaded them: “We can’t go back to the roads yet, or we will be discovered by our pursuers, and this is exactly what the evil Ejyptian gods want. You call out for Allaha, but have you ever thought about what you should be doing? Don’t stop moving and try your best to make it out of the Nile delta as soon as possible. The longer we stay here, the longer we will suffer. Everyone come to me, I will cast a blessing on all of you and wash away your fatigue and unease.”
Moses continued to lead his people to push forward. Even though they were tired, they continued advancing along the path guided by God. On this day, while they were camping, David was sleeping amidst the croaking of the frogs when he heard a voice in his mind. “David, child of Duc, the emissary of God is calling you. Step out of your tent quietly and move towards the area where the frogs are the loudest. Nobody will discover you.”
David was a brave child indeed. While everyone else starts to panic at the sound of frogs croaking, he dared to go where the frogs were the loudest in the middle of the night. The Judges on watch were also tired and did not notice David who was quietly leaving the camp. After walking some distance through the forest, the croaking of the frogs suddenly disappeared, as if the frogs had gone far away. Then he saw a campfire burning near a small stream, and there was a man sitting beside the fire.
The man wore a cloak and his face was covered. In one of his hands, he held a thin golden spear, where there were several frogs skewered on it. The man was roasting the frogs on the fire with one hand and sprinkling salt on the frogs with the other hand, and a tempting aroma wafted through the air. David was surprised and he stepped forward to ask the man: “Who are you? Why are you roasting frogs here, can these things be eaten?”
Metatro asked: “First, tell me who you are and why you have come here.”
David replied: “I am a brave warrior from Duc, and my name is David Solomon. Under the guidance of our God, I will fulfill our vow of returning home. I am here because the emissary of our God has summoned me to this place.”
Metatro stood up and said with a smile: “I am the emissary of God. These frogs have tormented your people for so long, do you dare to eat them?”
David kneeled and bowed. “If you eat it, I will eat it.”
Metatro removed a frog from the spear and started eating it with relish. Then he handed his spear to David and said: “Child, are you hungry? The frogs taste really good!”
David stretched out his hands to take one of the roasted frogs and took a small bite. Realizing how tasty the frogs were, David finished eating all the frogs with relish. Metatro waited for him to finish eating before asking: “Is it tasty?”
David nodded. “Yes, they taste really good!”
Metatro asked again: “Are you still afraid of them?”
David shook his head. “No, I was never afraid of them. Emissary of God, did you summon me here to treat me to a delicious meal of frogs and to tell me that I do not need to be afraid of them?”
Metatro smiled. “Yes, but I have something else for you as well. This will be our little secret, do not tell anyone else about it.”
From this day onwards, Metatro started to awaken the power in David, but he never revealed his face, only saying that he was an emissary of Allaha. David asked him what power this was, and Metatro told him that this was the power of faith, and it required a firm will to practise.
David then asked Metatro what was going with the frogs. Metatro explained: “Those are the tricks employed by the emissaries of the evil Ejyptian gods. They wish to stop the Ducians from returning home, so they resort to such tricks to shaken your faith.”
David pleaded: “Emissary of God, can you drive away the frogs?”
Metatro shook his head. “Frogs live in these wetlands, you will naturally encounter them as you pass through this area. This is something that your people have to overcome by themselves. If the emissaries of the evil gods try to attack your people directly, the emissaries of God will stop them, but you cannot expect to get by without any effort and only think of waiting for God to grant you everything. Including the power that I taught you today, this is also granted by God, but you have to practise it by yourself.”
……
On the next day, when David returned to the camp, his father ran to him and embraced him. “My son, where did you go? Everyone was worried about you! If you had returned any later, Lord Moses would have sent people to look for you.”
David raised the branch that he was holding in his hand, and there were several skinned frogs skewered on it. “I went to get something to eat. If you roast them on a fire and sprinkle some salt, they will taste really good.”
The people around him were horrified. “David, how can you eat these things? They are sent by the devils to torment us, you might get poisoned!”
David laughed. “I already ate some last night, and they tasted good. What are all of you afraid of?”
Moses approached and stroked David’s head. “You are very brave and you have done well. If everyone else is unwilling to eat the frogs, just eat them by yourself.”
After another five days of walking, the Ducians finally left the Nile delta behind. In front of them, dry hills and grasslands appeared, and the croaking of the frogs finally faded away. Lynk and Metatro watched from the trees as Moses and his people entered the lands where there were no longer any frogs. Suddenly, they sensed a great power appearing behind them. Lynk said quietly: “Heqet has appeared. Is she thinking of doing something?”
Metatro pulled out the Key of Fate from thin air, and with a wave of his hand, a scorpion-shell armor appeared on his body. Turning around, he said with a cold expression: “I’m itching for a fight as well, all this waiting has worn out my patience long ago!”
Lynk also turned around and reminded Metatro: “Be careful, Heqet’s stealth magic is better than us. We did not discover her hiding place at all after so many days.”
Metatro smiled coldly. “That’s for sure. In that place, there are frogs everywhere, so he can completely hide his presence. I suspect that she is just a mutated frog demon similar to El Mar, so she is able to move stealthily. If El Mar hides his presence on purpose while in the swamp, it would be extremely difficult for us to find him as well. But if he tries to make a move, the situation would be different.”
As they were talking, countless drops of water started floating into the air. The droplets came from the leaves, the pools and the nearby streams, and they reflected the sunlight like transparent pearls, creating countless beams of colorful light, looking incredibly beautiful! Someone walked out from the trees, and she looked young.
She wore a green robe covered with dark brown stripes and her eyes were round and slightly bulging, but she still looked quite delicate. There were also several brownish green stripes on her cheeks and forehead which looked like they had been painted with some kind of oil, and they reflected a faint lustre, making her look strange and mysterious.
Once the woman appeared, the floating droplets started glowing and gradually elongated, turning into countless transparent arrows which pointed towards Metatro and Lynk. Metatro pointed at the woman with the Key of Fate and asked: “Are you Heqet?”
The woman replied in surprise: “So you know me? If that’s the case, why aren’t you putting down your weapons and bowing down to me?”
Metatro narrowed his eyes. “Why? Neteru of frogs, you were the one who have been causing trouble recently isn’t it? What makes you think that we would put down our weapons and bow down to you? To be honest, we don’t know you and we don’t wish to know you. It’s just that when we saw the frogs, we thought of you.”
Heqet also narrowed her eyes, which were also brownish green in color. “The two of you are definitely no ordinary men, otherwise you wouldn’t be so calm at seeing the legendary Heqet and even dare to speak to me like this.”
Metatro shrugged. “I have even seen those truly immortal gods, but they are not my gods, let alone you? Who is the one giving orders to you, and for what reason are you harassing the Ducians?”
Heqet’s body was completely surrounded by the transparent water arrows, but the arrows which were filled with power did not fire off. She looked at Metatro, then at Lynk, and shouted in surprise: “You are the disciples of the Scorpion King, Girtablullu? No wonder you have received the power granted by gods. But this is Ejypt, and I am the emissary of Seth, the King of Neteru. You dare to stop me?”
Lynk did not say a word, he took action instead. Just as the water droplets transformed into arrows, a bow materialized in front of him. The bowstring was pulled, and many more bowstrings appeared on the bow, making it look like a harp. Dozens of arrows flew out from nowhere and positioned themselves on the bowstrings. These arrows were crafted using the stings of the giant scorpions. He was also wearing scorpion-shell armor like Metatro, so it was little wonder that Heqet had mistaken them as the Scorpion King’s followers.
Metatro shook his head. “It is none of your business who’s emissaries we are, just as it is none of our business who’s emissary you are. But the pitiful Ducians did not do anything wrong, neither did they offend you, so why are you tormenting them?”
Heqet apparently mistook Metatro’s words as consent, and he said with a look of disdain: “The Scorpion King himself has yet to join the Anunnaki divine clan, and it is even less possible for followers like you. He is merely a demigod who has been exiled to the desert and does not have the support of a divine clan, and yet he sends his emissaries here to fight me. Don’t you think this is ridiculous? I see that the two of you have some achievements and seem to have some potential, so if you put down your weapons and vow to serve me, I can consider introducing you to the King of Neteru, Seth. Perhaps, you might even get a chance to join the Ennead. Kneel down and thank me!”
The background behind his words were complicated. Back then, when a war of gods broke out within the Anunnaki divine clan, Tiamat and Kingu belonged to the defeated party while Enlil and Marduc belonged to the victorious party. It was said in the legends that Tiamat had created nine monstrous beasts in the war, which included Humbaba, Girtablullu and Ugallu. These nine beasts were defeated, and some of them were slain, some were subdued while some were exiled.
The nine beasts were extremely powerful, and after Enlil and the rest had won the war, they did not want to eliminate all the beasts at further great cost. It was best for them to subdue the beasts whenever possible, and if not, make them vow not to fight the gods anymore. In that way, the war could end. Humbaba was subdued by Enlil, and he became the guardian of Enlil’s divine realm. In that way, Humbaba was considered to have joined the Anunnaki.
Girtablullu was forced to promise never to fight Enlil and the rest anymore, but as he refused to serve them, he was exiled to the deserts, losing his opportunity to join the Anunnaki. In the end, he called himself the Scorpion King and ruled the deserts. As for Ugallu, both Marduc and Enlil had taken a liking to him, so they allowed him to join the Anunnaki. But Ugallu fell in love with Mourrin, and as a result of the well-known curse, he left heartbroken, becoming the wandering Lion King.
Girtablullu was very powerful, but he was only an exiled demigod. He was neither a true immortal god nor could he join a divine clan. In the eyes of those who belonged to a divine clan, his followers had obviously followed the wrong god. Heqet was now giving Metatro and Lynk a chance to make a vow to serve her, and she could then introduce them to Seth, giving them an opportunity to join the Ennead.
If it had been others who had heard these words, it could have been a huge temptation, but not for Heqet to say these words to Metatro and Lynk. The two of them did not even really understand what she meant. Not just them, even “God Amon” himself, whom they followed, probably had no idea why one needed to join a divine clan.