Bleeding Ruby II: The Epic of Iakekutnum Read online

The Bleeding Ruby II: The Epic of Iakekutnum

  by

  Mark R. McAnaney

  *Copyright 2013. Phantom of the Sound. All Rights Reserved.

  All rights reserved. Any reproduction or other unauthorized use of the material or artwork herein is prohibited without the express written permission of the author.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

 

  Letter from Dr. James Frank to Miss Lucia Walters; dated July 10th, 1906

  Dearest Lucia,

  The sleepless and dreadful nights creep by right after each day burns out with the same lifeless embers as the miserable one before. It seems as though this endless dull rhythm of the pathetic whimpers that form the sound of our lives will never again see the resolution of a note with an invigorating flavour of any sort. Are we really meant to just continue with our incredible lack of any success at all in the search for your brother?

  Five years have passed since we have seen or heard of any trace of Edwin. Worse still is that twelve years flew on by since he found that Bleeding Ruby of his. I almost despise him for discovering the damned thing! Why did Jacob Riley have to come into his life, bringing the most horrible object to grace the Universe with him? Why did a man of such esteem choose to obsess over such an abhorring thing? I cannot help but laugh at myself because, I dare ask these questions and yet here I am still being guilty of the same behaviour. Regretfully, I even dragged you into it, and now the two of us are left clinging to our souls hoping they won't be ripped out of our tired dying fingers.

  We have grown close, you and I, through this trying time. You have become like my own sister, as we only have each other to discuss our work. No one would ever believe us if we tried to bring this to the world's attention. Edwin and I uncovered so much evidence to back up everything we have to say about this cursed artefact, and yet, I'll bet my life on it that very precious few would ever even entertain our claims. Some academics may even cover it up if they did believe us! There are too many sheep in the world, just following everyone else, never caring about anything that isn't already in the history and science books. Sometimes I wonder why I bother. The world does not want to be educated anyway, just be told what to think by people who don't know how to.

  I've thought a lot about this for years, and to tell the world about this at the peril of my own career and being seen as a neurotic fraud is well worth the effort of at least trying to tell the world that we're all doomed! The problem is that we still have much to discover. If I lose my career and credibility now, I may lose my resources. We still have much work to do. Edwin and I already pieced together the horrible history of the gem so far, and now I am about to work on the translation on those other few tablets of cuneiform we found in Iakekutnum's grave! Twelve years I have spent preparing to do this work, with the reconstruction of some of the tablets, to the uncovering of all of the characters on others, to the gathering of lingual materials I need to complete the translating itself. Hopefully, we get some sort of insight as to the origin of the gem. Maybe I am still being naive about this, but maybe our Sumerian friend will have told us how to rid the world of this thing.

  I hope to see you soon,

  James

  Letter addressed from Miss Lucia Walters to Dr. James Frank; dated July 13th, 1906

  Dear Jim,

  You are not wrong when you say we have wasted way too much of our lives on this artefact. Twelve years is a long time, and we will never get that back. But I know you as a scientist cannot pass up the opportunity of a discovery so huge, yet it is so menacing that the more you delve into it, the more horrifying it becomes. Of course, the last time any revelation, bad or good, ever came from this gem was back when my brother was still alive.

  Sadly, I have given up all hope of finding my dear brother. He is gone, completely from this Earth and hasn't even left a single trace! All I have is the last letter he sent me, then he was gone forever. I haven't had the stomach to even look at it since the day I received it, but I did keep it as the only real clue we have of his whereabouts. I still can never forget the insane ravings his disturbed mind scribbled all over it about being the “chosen third blood”. That was the day I realised my brother was no longer there, only the flesh I recognised as my relation. I still can not get over the crushing sadness that poured over me on the day we went to his home after I received that letter. He was gone forever. All we found were his notes and letters he kept together adorned with the title “The Bleeding Ruby”in his small quaint wooden box, and that damned gem!

  I still have nightmares about the time we went to visit Jacob Riley at the asylum. We must have been truly desperate to think that mad man would know anything. I remember Edwin telling me about Jacob, and we have gone to see him before, as my brother and he have grown close in their studies of the gem. He was never that crazy before! Just when I thought Jacob was relatively stable and was someone who can squint through the cloud of lunacy around him to have a sane conversation with us when we needed him to, he was almost as far gone as my brother is today. I will never forget when you told him Edwin was missing, that was the scariest part of all of it. He just stood up and ran around the room yelling, “and so he creates his own fate!” I remember at this point, we had to leave and the guards came in and subdued him.

  As if that horrible story is not enough to keep the nightmares coming, it is the one about Jacob's suicide that bothers me the most. I still cannot believe they found him in his room that way! I can still picture his hanging body, and the message he had to tell us, of which some sense can still not be made. The images of the blood on the wall still haunt me every night. The writing in his own blood spelling the words I will never forget forever torment me in my sick dreams. “He sealed it for us all,” says the message. I still can give no clues about what that might mean, and I don't care anymore. I want the visions to dissipate!

  I can not live on thinking about this non-stop. Just know that I will be on my carriage on my way to you tomorrow, as planned, and we will enjoy some much needed time away from this mess. In two days, we will be in each others calming company, to think about other less malevolent things!

  See you soon!,

  Lucia

  Memo from the desk of Dr. James Frank; dated July 15th, 1906:

  I have successfully translated the first two tablets found in the tomb of Sumerian Priest Iakekutnum. The findings are astonishing, but appear to be merely mythology thus far. The tablets seem to be the epic of the life of a scribe turned mythical warrior. Here are a few notes on the translations:

  [Ruby] – A word encased in brackets denotes that the word on the tablet was broken, but successfully restored. The translation is certain.

  Ruby – A word in italics denotes insecure translation, though the characters are fine.

  [Ruby] – Square bracketed italics shows that the word was broken and somewhat restored , but the translation is not secure. Some of these may have bee supplied by myself to fill in the context.

  … - Short dotted lines show a gap in a line of text.

  ….................................... - Long dotted lines show a whole missing line.

  *** - Asterisks show a lost broken section of text.

  Tablet 1: The Epic of Iakekutnum; translated by Dr. James Frank:

  With his days of education at the edubba behind him, the new master scribe Iakekutnum was to begin his life's work as a scribe to
the palace of Uruk.

  Ensi Lugulnurik was a [kind and just king], known as “The Ruler of the Wilderness.”

  Lugulnurik was born and raised in the wild, and knew not how to read and write.

  It was Iakekutnum's [job to teach] the Ensi, who was eager to learn the ways of the educated.

  Lugulnurik was born and raised in the wild, and knew not the lessons of the edubba.

  Iakekutnum was chosen by Lugulnurik to teach him the art of the scribe.

  Lugulnurik was born and raised in the wild, and knew not the ways of the scribe.

  Iakekutnum was chosen by Lugulnurik because he was the best scribe in his [class] at the edubba.

  Twenty-four full moons passed, and Lugulnurik could read and write well!

  The Ensi was so pleased at Iakekutnum's teaching abilities that he spoke with the gods about his gifts.

  .............................

  It would not be long before the Annunaki gods invited him to their secret meeting at the temple at Nineveh.

  Iakekutnum would become the messenger of the gods!

 

  Tablet 2: The Epic of Iakekutnum; translated by Dr. James Frank:

  Iakekutnum was the lone human invited to the [meeting place] of the Annunaki at Nineveh.

  Men were only invited with divine purpose in mind.

  It was here that the great Elder Entoq spoke with the scribe.

  Entoq spoke of the [dangerous Shadow Man of the Cedar] Forest, and gave Iakekutnum an order.

  The great god Entoq gave the order to Iakekutnum to kill the monster.

  Men were only invited with divine purpose in mind.

  Entoq gave the order to Iakekutnum to bring back the head of the Shadow Man of the Cedar Forest.

  Entoq [needed] … head.... investigation.

  ….........................................................

  The Shadow Man of the Cedar Forest … be ….. Agazel [race]..... enemy..... universe.

  *** (A large broken section follows.)

  Entoq gave the order to Iakekutnum …..

  Iakekutnum set out on the next full moon to hunt the monster from another world.

 

  Letter addressed to Miss Lucia Walters from Dr. James Frank; dated July 22nd,1906:

  Dear Lucia,

  I have not been able to stop thinking of your visit. It seems like it went by so fast, I've looked forward to it for a whole week before it, and now it is here and gone. Time flies when you're in love so it seems! I do hope you can forgive my proposal, I've been thinking about that too and am worried I made a huge mistake in the way I managed that.

  Perhaps I should not have proposed using the Bleeding Ruby as an engagement ring. I just thought that maybe if something great happened to it, that it wouldn't be pure evil any more, and then maybe its curse will go away. Another factor is that it is kind of our legacy now. Essentially, it is an ancient artefact and we have spent a large portion of our lives studying it, on the bright optimistic side of things. I also did it out of respect for your brother, who was also my close friend. I pray this not be a mistake.

  Love always,

  James

 

  Dr. James Frank's notes; dated July 23rd, 1906:

  I've succeeded in translating three more of the tablets. This is quite a story! Where we left off, I last mentioned that Iakekutnum was given an order by a god named Entoq to kill the Shadow Man of the Cedar Forest. This portrayal of Entoq intrigues me, as the picture of him upon the carving accompanying these tablets seems to be of him standing on a flying disc above all of the humans pictured. He seems to be wearing a sort of suit and helmet over his large black eyes and pale white skin. For being named as a god, he is given very mortal and realistic characteristics. You can almost be sure the aliens were worshipped as gods in this distant day!

  I will never forget the day Edwin and I excavated the grave. Iakekutnum and Entoq were both buried there. I can never forget the alien corpse of Entoq that we dug up, it startled me so much to dig up that which I thought could not be real! The dead mass did not show one slight hint of decay. Edwin and I were forever changed on that fateful day. I cannot help but question every little thing I thought I knew about life and about the world. The world seems to be full of more mysteries than one lifetime can even remotely begin to explain, and yet I chose to become a scientist. Such is luck, suck is life! Many archaeologists have searched for concluding evidence of the Annunaki, and few have found it. Those that did find it found carvings, stories, and mysterious artefacts beyond our current human technology. We had found a real body! This discovery can shake up the world as we know it, and yet part of me wishes I never found it. There seems to be high responsibilities that come with discovery. Sadly, it is not the proof of the Annunaki that could harm the world, it is the war they fought with the Agazel. This Bleeding Ruby is part of it!

  Back to the topic at hand, these three tablets are of his journey through that forest. There are a lot of breaks, but I can make out a definite coherent story. I pictured it like this:

  Iakekutnum had been given an order from the alien/god Entoq to kill the Shadow Man of the Cedar Forest and bring back its head. Apparently, Entoq suspected something of this creature and wanted to investigate what was really going on in his area. The Annunaki race, of whom Entoq belonged, were at war with a malicious race described as a shadow people called the Agazel. I have found that the Agazel were responsible for the destruction of many worlds that the Annunaki had built. Entoq feared that they had followed them to Earth this time.

  The scribe of the gods wandered out into the wilderness toward the Cedar Forest. All he brought with him was a canteen of water, a small satchel of bread, a knife, a rope, a bronze headed spear, and another satchel of clothing. Into the dark shrouded forest he went.

  As far as I can figure, he spent the first day in the wilderness around the edges of the forest, where it was less thick and seemed to be a popular area for hunting gazelle. It took until nightfall before he stumbled upon the roads less travelled, where only the most hardened of bushmen ventured. He rested on this night in a treetop, as the roads ahead may be too dangerous to get a full night's sleep easily.

  The second day, he went into the thickets and brambles ahead. He encountered a man hacking his way through with a large bronze machete made for this sort of thing. The man's name was Makidu, and he had much advice in the way of survival to give. Makidu advised Iakekutnum to beware the caves in the wilderness ahead, as they are homes to dangerous predators, also, stay away from snakes with copper coloured heads. Iakekutnum could tell that this hiker had spent much time here, and preceeded to ask the seasoned woodsmen about the Cedar Forest. “No!,” Makidu yelled, “that is not for the inexperienced woodsmen! The dreaded Cedar Forest contains many monsters and daemons of all sorts. It is the thickest wilderness in the whole world, and it is the land where the great Gilgamesh slaughtered the daemon Huwawa. None should travel there!” Iakekutnum mentioned that he was on a mission from the gods to kill the Shadow Man in the forest. The woodsmen had an interjection to make. He told the scribe, “I have seen the Shadow Man you seek, but it is not a man. It is from the heavens, but not from where the great Annunaki gods reside. Legend among woodsmen says that it is the enemy of the gods, and the Shadow Man is a scout! It has a flying disc ship just like the gods use, and it is parked in the Cedar Forest, where they know men do not walk. The Shadow Man comes out at night and spies on all of our city-states and has its eyes set on Kish in particular. Ever notice that Kish seems to have built its walls higher and added more guards around the perimeter? They know they are being watched by an enemy, but pity they think it's the Elamites to the west. They wish it were the Elamites! It is the Agazel!” The two camped and ate together over a fire Makidu had made with sticks, and the woodsmen decided to accompany Iakekutnum on his mission from the gods.

  The third day brought with it a terrible thu
nderstorm, and the pair sought refuge in a cave. Makidu checked it out to see if it was safe, and found an intriguing item on the floor. From what I can guess from the scriptures, it must have been a highly technological pair of binoculars, possibly. The tablet describes them as a pair of “god eyes that see around the world.” The woodsmen's legends of the Shadow Man as a scout were correct if this were the case! They also found signs that the cave was a home of sorts. There was a clothesline, the recently dimmed embers of what used to be a fire, and a pot with boiled fish and carrots still within it. They encountered another woodsmen.