Free Enoch Primordial (Chronicles of the Nephilim) by Brian Godawa Page B

yelled out to the entire tribe, “Edna has always loved me!”
    She opened her mouth in shock and slapped him. “I cannot believe you, Methuselah ben Enoch!”
    Methuselah stopped laughing. He looked right into the eyes of his precious Pedlums and laughter turned to love. “Edna bar Azrial, I want all the world to know that I love you more than life, more than the heavens and the earth!”
    Everyone moaned with romantic longing.
    Methuselah was not done. “And if this Elohim does not drown us in the river, freeze us in the mountains or burn us in volcanic ash on our trip to Sahandria, will you marry me?”
    She squealed, jumped into his arms, and gave his big fat grin his first big fat kiss. “Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!” she rattled off, smothering him with kisses . He heartily returned then.
    Enoch stood silent, watching them. He had made known his displeasure with Methuselah’s interest in the girl, so this display was a bit off-putting to him. But he could see the happiness in his son’s whole body. It reminded him of his own happiness when he had realized he was in love with his own precious Edna so many years ago.
    Methuselah set Edna down and she apologized for her inappropriate display of public affection. Everyone laughed and applauded her. She gave an impish glance at Enoch, her future father-in-law.
    Enoch could see that they were two of a kind. Even he could not stay disagreeable. He smiled. But deep in his heart, he longed for his beloved, the only true thing on this earth. And she was now gone forever.
    A deep yearning came over Methuselah that he never experienced before. His soul hungered for union with her soul, his body hungering to become one with hers.
    They had better get to Sahandria quickly.

Chapter 14
    It took Enoch’s family about two weeks to navigate the Tigris to the Diyala river about 80 leagues up into the Zagros. Their trip was uneventful . Enoch prayed that Utu had more important things to do than track down a single apkallu sage and his family, who would probably be dead in the wilderness anyway. He knew Utu well enough to know that the god would not waste his energy micromanaging such minuscule issues. What was one less puny human to worry about?
    The missing Nephilim sent after them were a different matter. They would be missed eventually. Enoch hoped that when they failed to return, Utu would believe them to be rogue outlaws who took their chance to run to the hills when freed from the confines of the city. It would be a reasonable explanation for their disappearance. It had already happened with many Nephilim.
    Enoch’s party left their boats at the river’s end. They had all forgotten the miracle of the changed river course within hours of steering upstream. After a few days, they had begun wondering if their memories had failed them and the river had always flowed north. But as soon as they ran their boats aground, the current suddenly turned back south.
    Enoch fell to the ground weeping in repentance.
    Methuselah noticed Enoch had been doing a lot of weeping lately, usually for his lost Edna. He wept mostly at night, when everyone else slept. He also prayed much more. Too much. It seemed to Methuselah that his father sought escape by plunging even further into his spirituality in order to avoid facing the pain of this earth. Methuselah felt that pain was more reliable and real than the hope and promises of the heavenlies. After so deep a betrayal by the gods, how could he shift his allegiance to this new god Elohim without question? Elohim’s emissaries had saved them, it was true, but for whose sake? Methuselah felt more like a pawn in an invisible spiritual game of wrestling powers. He did not feel as if he had much of a choice in the matter. The worst thing about the situation was all the secrets and mystery. It made trust seem so uncertain.
    Methuselah trusted the experience of his senses. The strength of a belly full of food, the contact of a handheld mace with an