Page 84 of His to Hunt

“Not all of them became emissaries of Mother Fate,” I continue. “But they were perfect mates for Mother Nature’s druids, and Mother Fate made sure they all found the one they were meant to be with.”

“Until Gilgamesh got greedy and wanted Ishtar’s power,” Victor mutters. “Then Mother Fate started to forget us.”

“Not intentionally, if she’s trying to keep the universe balanced on her own. She has to create life and makes sure it thrives.”

“She’s doing a poor job on her own,” he complains.

“I’m sure she’s doing the best she can,” I retort sharply, feeling defensive of Nanaya. I take a breath and flip another page. “Okay, here’s the part about Gilgamesh.”

“I’m sure I’ve heard that story before,” he says.

“Probably. Most high schools teach it. Gilgamesh was the king of a Sumerian city-state called Uruk. Everyone feared him, but when the monsters came, he was the only one strong enough to fight them.”

“Monsters? What monsters?” Victor asks. “I’m pretty sure he never fought any actual monsters.”

“Ishtar says they were abominations,” I reply. “Some sort of cosmic mistake that slipped past the goddesses. Ishtar didn’t mean to create them, but once she did, she was unable to undo the mistake.”

“Why? She didn’t have enough power?” Victor asks.

“It was beyond her power. Ishtar could only create life; she could not take it away,” I answer. “Neither could Mother Fate. Oh, now I see…”

“What?” Victor asks, sitting up straighter.

“This story is a little more complicated than we’ve heard,” I report hesitantly as I flip another page. “The abominations nearly wiped out the of kingdom Gilgamesh. They killed his best friend, Enkidu, too. Mother Nature and Mother Fate tried to help Gilgamesh by sending druids and emissaries to fight by his side.”

“Yeah, that’s different from the legends,” he admits.

“Gilgamesh figured out that Ishtar was the one who created the abominations. After they were wiped out, Gilgamesh wanted to ensure there would never be another threat like that to his kingdom. He demanded immortality and the secrets of shifting, so that he would have the power to protect his own kingdom.”

“And I’m sure that was denied,” Victor guesses.

“Not because they didn’t want to,” I continue. “Ishtar and Nanaya shared some of their power with Gilgamesh, hoping to appease him. Ishtar realized it was their mistake that threatened the world they were supposed to protect. She was trying to make it right.”

“They taught him the secrets of shifting and he still killed all the druids?” Victor asks.

“They weren’t able to teach him that. Shifting is something you’re born with; you are either a shifter or you’re not. It can’t be taught,” I answer, my finger moving along the page. “But Gilgamesh didn’t believe them and sought another way to harness that power. Unfortunately, he had just enough power to be dangerous. Instead of learning how to shift, he merged with the last blood wolf.”

“Blood wolf?” Victor’s eyebrows shoot up. “Never heard of a blood wolf.”

“Seems they’ve been extinct for a long time. Merging with the blood wolf turned Gilgamesh into the same thing he hated. He became an abomination,” I read on. “An abomination hellbent on killing both Ishtar and Nanaya. With the blood wolf’s power, Gilgamesh was finally able to shatter the cosmic barrier that protected the goddesses. Right after he killed every druid and shifter who tried to stop him.”

“Damn. All that power, but he must not have been as powerful as he thought,” Victor observes. “Something had to have gone wrong if he got through the barrier but still couldn’t kill both Ishtar and Nanaya. Nothing should have been able to stop him.”

“Time was his real enemy. He thought he could take Ishtar’s power and make himself immortal, but he wasn’t strong enough for that, even after merging with the blood wolf,” I report. “Ishtar realized that. It’s why she fate-blocked her last druid and created these rituals. I’m not sure what happened after that, but Ishtar knew she was no match for Gilgamesh anymore. She planned to sacrifice herself to restore the cosmic barrier and expel him from their realm.”

“Maybe that’s what she did,” Victor says. “Our stories say that Gilgamesh died alone. Mother Fate never sent him a mate. Maybe he became more like a shifter than that book says.”

“That’s definitely possible,” I say, flipping to the next page. “That’s all there is about Gilgamesh. The next part of the book is the first ritual. The Ritual of Sunshine.”

“What do we have to do?” Victor asks.

“It says that when Ishtar was born, part of the world was lit up with eternal sunshine. The people called it Eden,” I say, then pause. “Wait, do you think it means the Garden of Eden?”

“I don’t know,” Victor says. “But I’ve never heard of anywhere that’s lit up by eternal sunshine. Definitely never heard of the Garden of Eden being real.”

“This ritual is supposed to replicate that miracle,” I say, reading through it. “Wherever the ritual is performed, it will bring eternal sunshine. There are ingredients we’ll need to gather, and I’m not even sure what some of them are.”

“Like what?” he asks, leaning over. “Do you need the same thing for every ritual?”