Death. Every human suffers the same fate. Be born then we die. From dust return to dust. Through sickness or old age or by death by a mortal, no one escapes it, even the most powerful of beings.
With fear of death, humans has seek answers, solutions that plagued the human existence. To withhold death, to escape it, to ran away from it. With this search, greed surfaces, selfish desires arises and the humans who sought after answers has become no longer human themselves.
I.
"Sire! A stranger has fallen from the sky in front of the palace gates and seeks audience from you!" a servant said rushing towards the King, a black haired, bulk figure of a man, with a wild beard that covers half his face. "He alone took down a barrack of soldiers by using some witchcraft!"
"How did he managed such a feat?!" the King's voice boomed across the throne room.
"He produced a paper and started drawing then this huge plant-like creature blew something and the soldiers dropped like flies!"
"Are they unharmed?"
"Yes, they are unharmed," the Stranger walked inside the throne room. His youthful eyes stricken by anger. "By the way, they will wake up after three hours at the most and once they do, please feed them a lot of foods," the Stranger said to the soldier beside him.
"Who are you?!" Gilgamesh shouted.
"Hush!" the Stranger hushed Gilgamesh. "Don't be rude! I'm talking. And there are these witches by the front gates, would you please get them inside before anything happens? Thank you," the Stranger said smiling at the soldier who is confused. "Get to it now or else a scandal will break loose," the soldier as he was told. He doesn't know who the stranger was but he knows he needs to obey.
"Who are you?! Seize this intruder!" the King shouted and 10 soldiers came out and pointed spears at the Stranger.
"Weapons. Really primitive of you, Gilgamesh. I believed somebody taught you to use your mind because its more powerful than any weapon across the world," the Stranger said, unfazed by the weapons.
"Wh--who told you that?! Only my teacher told me that!" Gilgamesh stood up in rage. "Speak your name!"
"I am the Stranger and there is only one you know who has the same title, little Gil," the Stranger said as he strode towards the king.
"No... you... he disappeared! He deserted me! If you are who you say you are then!" he said raising his right hand. "Seize that impostor and lock him in the dungeon!"
"Seize me?! Wow, my brain is kinda wongkers. I forgot what I did before sleeping. When did that happened?" the Stranger asked scratching his head.
"See?! You tell lies! He abandoned me during my father's death and I will never forgive him!" Gilgamesh roared in anger as the Stranger was held by soldiers.
"Gilgamesh. You are playing a very dangerous game! Do not play around with forces you don't comprehend!" the Stranger shouted as he was being dragged by the soldiers.
"You don't know who you dealing with also, stranger," Gilgamesh said as he sat back again on his throne.
II.
Aishir was now gathering the children at the center of the cave, where the huge blood red stalactite was.
"Has anybody saw a boy named Yasir?" she asked the bewildered and tired from what happened.
"Aishir? Is that you?" a boy at the back who was wearing a red scarf around his neck stood up.
"Yasir! Thank goodness you are here!" she rushed to her brother and hugged him tightly. Up close, her brother's face was sunken, dark circles has formed around his eyes and his cheeks were sunken. All the children were. "What happened to all of you?"
"They put us under that," he pointed at the stalactite. "Then perform a chant of some sort and then while they chanted, our eyes started to water like we were crying alot. It was horrible!" then the children started to cry but nothing was coming out.
"We need to get you all out of here, so that the Stranger help you all," Aishir said.
"The Stranger? Who is that?" Yasir asked.
"I really don't know but he helped me to save you!"
"Really? Where is he now?"
"I don't know, really but I feel he will come back. I'm sure," she smiled at her brother.
"No, he won't," a woman's voice came from behind them. "He won't come back for the King will make him pay for what he did. Like he will do to you."
Aishir stood up to see who was talking but she saw that the children were standing back, fear in their eyes.
"Who are y---" she was struck by something hard that made her lose consciousness with a sharp pain by the back of her head.
"Ai---shir..." she heard her brother cried as the other children droned his cry.
III.
"They took my quill again! I should really have a spare or put in inside my pockets. I love my pockets but I don't have enough and I don't want to let go of my coat! Gah! Next body, need more pockets!" the Stranger cried aloud inside his cell.
"Shut yer trap or we shut it fer ya!" one of the guards said.
"Oh. Sorry, it really is a bother when I don't gave my quill," the Stranger said. "Oi! Can you tell me what happened to Gilgamesh?"
"KING! King Gilgamesh!"
"Oh sorry. I really just call me, Lil Gil," he said. "Now, tell me."
"What would you offer then?"
"For what?"
"The information. Information like that is not cheap, ya know," the guard said peeking inside the cell, his putrid breath can stun a camel.
"You know your breath can stun a camel, you know that, right?" the Stranger said, the other guard burst out laughing.
"I kept on telling him that! But no! he wouldn't listen!" the other guard said.
"Shut up, both of ya!" the bad breath guard said. "You! Shut up or I will get ya to the lowest portion of this here prison!"
"Hey, do you have a child?" the Stranger asked the bad breath guard.
"None of yer business."
"How about you? You have a child?" he asked the other guard.
"Yes. Her name is Aisha," the guard said.
"Hey! Don't talk to the prisoner! Yer get us in trouble!"
"Hey, I was just asking. How old is she?"
"She's turning six," the guard said.
"Do you visit her?"
"Once in awhile. Always on work. Can't leave," he said, sadness creeping into his voice.
"I have a young boy and a daughter," Bad Breath said.
"Now, he talks! What's their names?" the Stranger said peering through the bars of the prison.
"Ymir and Samirah," Bad Breath said that made the Stranger gasped.
"I thought Ymir didn't have a father and I don't think I've met your daughter," the Stranger gasped.
"Wait, why?! You've met him?! Is that what my daughter keeps on telling people?!"
"No, not exactly wait you said your daughter? Where's your wife?"
"My wife died, only left was me, my daughter and Ymir," Bad Breath said.
"But I met your wife, so that wasn't your wife?"
"I don't know what yer yappin' " then Stranger told them what he knew about Ymir.
"But that's not right. I knew my wife died and I told my daughter to keep Ymir safe," Bad Breath said. This made the Stranger ponder on the new information he gathered.
"Have you both heard about the children in the city?"
"No, why?" Aisha's father asked.
The Stranger told them about the missing children and the witches that took them to be the source of the tears for the Elixir.
"I am the only one who can save your children. I don't know if they are safe at the moment but I trust Aishir to have helped the children. If I don't stop Gilgamesh, he will capture again all children to make himself immortal," the Stranger said. "Please, let me go."
"We can't. We'll get into trouble if we let you go," Aisha's father said.
"And how can we be sure yer telling the truth? King Gilgamesh is a noble king! He won't do that!" Bad Breath said.
"Listen to me, how long has been Gilgamesh on that throne?"
"About as long as I remembered, when I was a child, he was already up there," Bad Breath said.
"Yeah, me too."
"Has he aged ever since?" the two guards shook their heads. "Human lives are not meant to live that long. I need to stop this or else, more children will suffer! If you really love your children, help me and I will do everything in my power to help you!"
"Just who are you?" Aisha's father asked.
"Just a passer by that is here to help." The two guards looked at the Stranger and nodded at each other. Bad breath took out the key and unlocked the cell door.
"Please, save our children," Aisha's father said.
"You can count on it. By the way, have you seen my bag?" the Stranger asked.
IV.
Aishir woke up groggy from being hit on the back of her head. When she got her bearings she saw she was tied up beside a stalagmite.
"Wh--what's happening?!" then she saw her. Ymir's mother. "Wh--what are doing?! Let me go!" Aishir wriggled.
"You and that man shall be punished by the King for interfering in his plans!" Ymir's mother shouted over the pedestal.
"Why are you doing this?!"
"Because I want everyone to leave my son alone! I am his mother and I will never want him to be taken from me!"
"Why?! Nobody will take him from you! You are his mother why would anyone take him?!"
"No! You, shut up! I won't listen to you!"
"Why? You can tell me what's wrong. I will listen to you," Aishir tried to calm herself down. "Why? Did you take those children?"
"You have no idea what a mother would do to protect her son! Unlike my own mother!" the mother shouted in anger.
"So, that's why Ymir has no friends? You sheltered him too much? That's wrong!"
"No! It is not! I will protect him unlike my mother!"
"What are you saying? What happened to your mother? You can tell me," Aishir tried to soothe the mother. "Now, tell me."
"No.. I won't. Ymir will hate me if I tell him! He will hate me if he finds out I took all his friends!"
"Mother? Tell me what?" Ymir's voice came from behind Aishir.
"Ymir! Don't come here!"
"Wh--why? Why did you do that?" Ymir asked. "You said they didn't like me and that's why they never came back!" Ymir was now crying.
"Ymir..." his mother said.
"You are worse than mother! I thought you said you'll protect me and you'll make me happy but you're worse!" Ymir shouted in anger. "You are worse, Samirah!"
"Don't you dare say that! I protected you, Ymir! Unlike our mother!" Samirah shouted.
"Wait! You're siblings?!" Aishir sat shocked.
"Yes, we are..." Samirah said, crestfallen.
"I hate you!" Ymir ran away from his sister and her captive.
"Samirah, why would you do that?"
"I wanted to protect him. Children picked on him but my mother didn't care," Samirah said.
"But that's part of growing up. I got picked on too when I was a child but I didn't care about that. You need to let Ymir grow up," Aishir said.
"Too late for that now," Samirah said as she walked towards Aishir. "He hates me."
"That's just how children are but he'll forgive you. Like me and my brother," Aishir said as Samirah untied her.
"You think so?"
"Of course," Aishir smiled reassuringly to Samirah.
"Well, look what I found another child," a deep voice came from behind them. "And I thought I took all the children away from the people from Uruk," it was Gilgamesh dragging a struggling Ymir.
"Let go!" Ymir pleaded.
"Samirah. I hid this child from me? Do you know what that means?" Gilgamesh said.
"My King b--but..." Samirah took a step back from the King.
"Oh, we have a visitor here. Who might you be?"
"She's with me," another voice came from someone behind the King. "Hands off, Little Gil."
V.
"Stranger!" Aishir screamed in excitement.
"Oh, hi Aishir. How you doing?" he asked waving at Aishir. "How were the children? Where are they?"
"They were captured again," Aishir said, sadly.
"Judging by the situation here, Samirah caught you off guard, she tied you up, put the children back to their cages. Oh, by the way, she's Ymir's sister," the Stranger said.
"I know. They just told me," Aishir said.
"What?! I wanted to tell you!"
"For an old man, you are cocky," Aishir said.
"Sorry about that," he said. "Now, Gilgamesh. I need to know why did you pursue immortality?"
"Why? You question me why?! Because of fear! Fear of dying! Fear of being forgotten! Fear of death!" Gilgamesh shouted. "You escaping and that cockiness. You are the Stranger after all. My teacher was some cocky bastard, too, but cowardly for leaving me as I faced the grief of my brother, Enkidu!"
Then suddenly everything from back then came flooding to the Stranger. His knees was about to buckle for the nauseating rush of memory but he stood still.
"Gilga--mesh, I am sorry," the Stranger said.
"Lies! You left me! Like anybody else! You disappeared during those dark times when Enkidu died because of the gods!" Gilgamesh roared as he stood face to face with the Stranger.
"I knew Enkidu and how he died. I remember, Anu told you about how Enkidu must die but you live," the Stranger said. "I didn't ran away. I went to Anu to change his mind and the gods to let Enkidu died but they didn't. I tried reasoning to them but it wasn't fated that I win."
"Lies! Nobody saw you after that moment! When nobody can tell me where my teacher was, nobody knew, by then I knew you ran away! I went to find the secrets to immortality and saw the book that washed up at the river that contains secrets to it, I tried practicing it but to no avail but I hired witches from foreign lands to help me. They did," Gilgamesh said.
"You mean, this book?" the Stranger produced a leather bounded book, torn, aged and yellowish in color. "The Book from the ancient civilization, Eastice. I taught you too much, even my own language."
Gilgamesh looked at the book. "Give that back," he said behind gritted teeth.
"Gilgamesh, I won't hurt you. I swear I won't but you are being stupid!"
"What?! You called me stupid?!" Gilgamesh was taken aback. Everyone in the cave held their breaths. "Nobody calls me stupid!" then suddenly, Gilgamesh produced a dagger and started swinging at the Stranger who dodges them elegantly.
"Guessing this new body of mine is nimble and quite the dancer," he said as he dodged the dagger. He then grabbed Gilgamesh's wrist and used his momentum to throw him across the floor. The guards were stunned by this. "Don't even think of interfering," the Stranger warned.
"I -- I thought you don't like fighting?" Gilgamesh said as he was standing up.
"I don't but my body is still in that final phase of waking up," the Stranger said. Gilgamesh charged again, again he tumbled from the graceful movement of his teacher.
"Gilgamesh, did you know why the gods sent Enkidu?" the Stranger asked as he sent his student tumbling over, rolling over without hitting him. "Because they thought if you cared for someone, you'll stop being a tyrant to your people!"
"Lies!" the puffing king charged again and again he laid flat on his back.
"Apparently, you became worse. You didn't become a tyrant but a selfish one. That's the worse," the Stranger patted down his cloak. "And I am here to set you straight."
"Took you long enough to act as if you're my teacher!" Gilgamesh charged but the Stranger side stepped, pivoted his left leg, tripping the king, as he was falling, the Stranger tapped the King's nape with his hand and down the king went.
"Wh--what have you done?!" a guard said pointing his spear at the Stranger.
"If you're ready to waste your breath, come at me but that's the last thing you'll do." The soldier retracted his spear. "Good," the Stranger said as he wrote something on a piece of paper and dripped blood and it became real. A pair of shackles. "Put this on your king and send him to his palace on this," he said then threw a piece of paper and a Griffin appeared, an eagle head, lion's torso, and the great wings of a hawk. "Off you go then!"
The two soldiers bowed at the Stranger who muttered under his breath. "I hate it when someone bows."
And they were off with the griffin. The Stranger then turned towards Samirah, Ymir and Aishir.
"Are you all alright?" he asked.
They all nodded. "Samirah, I want to know what you have done. I've figured it out but I need it to come from you," the Stranger said. Samirah nodded.
VI.
After Aishir and Ymir left to set the children free. Samirah and the Stranger talked.
"It was after my mother died that King Gilgamesh saw me. He told me 'Death is a terrible thing. Death claimed my brother and I know how it feels to lose someone. I need your help and I will reward you.' I asked him what reward. 'You will be able to protect your brother.' I wanted to protect my brother that's why I agreed," she stopped.
"I've met your father. He said your mother died right after she gave birth to Ymir. He was weak because your mother was also weak," the Stranger said. "Is that true?" Samirah nodded.
"My brother almost died because my mother didn't protect him while she was carrying him. The King lend me his nurses to aid me to heal my brother, in return--"
"You bring him children to aid his own selfish reasons," the Stranger said, anger sipping into his voice.
"Yes. I learned of his doings accidentally but I was too afraid of defying him. He can take away my brother from me. I don't want that," Samirah started to cry.
"Samirah, I will end this and I want you to promise me something," the Stranger said as he was standing up and patting off the dust. Samirah looked up at the Stranger. "Tell your brother that you are his sister. I think he'll like that."
Samirah cried louder this time then Ymir and Aishir came back the children of the city. The Stranger drew something on a paper, dripped blood on it and a huge cart being pulled by red camels, who were snorting smoke, madly, as they waited impatiently for their passengers.
"Red camels?" Aishir asked, helping the children onto the cart.
"Yes, they are way faster than your normal camels. These are extinct already but they were the fastest creatures under the sun," the Stranger said as he patted the heads of the camels.
Once every child and Samirah got onto the cart, it galloped away as fast as the eye can see, leaving Aishir and the Stranger inside the cave.
"Will they be alright with the water?"
"Oh sure. They will, I think. Forgot the water really but they will be alright."
"What are you planning now?"
"No plan. Haven't thought of one."
"What?! You're going to charge into a palace filled with soldiers and armed to the teeth and you don't have a plan?!"
"I'll think of something but by the mean time. Why are you here?"
"To tag along. I want to see this to the end."
"How about your brother?"
"He's safe with Samirah," then Aishir looked at the Stranger. "Stranger. Will Samirah and Ymir be alright?"
"Of course they will. A sister that sacrificed all to be with her brother and will set things right again, it would be a waste not to be there."
VII.
The Stranger and Aishir climbed down a pegasus, that the Stranger conjured up, in front of the palace. The pegasus has white mane, white wings, it whinnied as the Stranger stroked her fur. "Thank you, Horseshoe," he muttered.
"Wh--who goes there?!" the guards asked, shaking in either fear or amazement of the winged creature.
"Oh! A local! Hey!" the Stranger joked. "Look after her for me, okay? When she goes missing. You'll answer to King Gilgamesh. She's his favorite," he said with a smile and a pat on the guards' backs. Him and Aishir walked towards the gates of the palace without beings stopped.
"You know that that pegasus will disappear, right?" Aishir asked.
"Yes, it will but it was nice to play around," the Stranger said with a smile.
Once they entered the throne room, they were greeted by a disheveled King Gilgamesh.
"You..." the King muttered, pointing at the Stranger.
"Gilgamesh, you need to stop this! You need to stop finding the ways to immortality!" the Stranger pleaded. "Its not worth it!"
"Ha! You have no idea how death works!"
"I do! And I know the fear of dying and seeing others die!" the Stranger walked closer, the guards stood in ready but was too afraid of doing anything.
"You know how dying works but you still let people die?! What kind of monster are you?!" Gilgamesh was now standing up. "You were there when Enkidu died but you still let it! You saw how it happened, you knew why but you ran away and you didn't tell me why!"
"I saved you the suffering of knowing!" the Stranger replied.
"Ha! You talk of saving me from suffering but look what have I become! You created a monster out of me!"
"Stranger, is that true?" Aishir said as he held the Stranger's hand.
"Yes, it was. I disappeared right after Enkidu died," his face has casted over a shadow.
"See? The savior you is a the real monster! He talks of saving but he has done more suffering!"
"That is why I have come to set this right!" he said fishing a letter from his bag. "This is a letter from Enkidu before he died."
"Lies! You know that Enkidu cannot write!" Gilgamesh roared.
"That is true but I was the one who wrote it for him," the Stranger said walking towards Gilgamesh. Every guard was ready to kill him but Gilgamesh held them. "I forgot about this letter but seeing you made a sense of it."
The Stranger handed the letter to Gilgamesh who took it, unfolded it and read it.
Tears started to fall from the eyes of the great king. "Stranger.."
"Yes, my student?" the Stranger asked.
"Is this true? Are the gods the one responsible for what has befallen? And I am the reason for such?" Gilgamesh asked, his tyrant facade has crumbled and the Stranger saw his student.
"After your father died, you've become a tyrant, a dictator to your people. You wouldn't listen to me that's why I was the who created Enkidu from mud and the gods gave him life," the Stranger explained. "It was for you to be able to care for an individual but then you made a grave mistake that I couldn't stop."
"We killed the Bull of Heaven," Gilgamesh said. "I treated Enkidu as my rival and brother even if he was uncivilized and seeing him die was too much."
"Thus you going back to being a tyrant and taking children from their families and making this pseudo-elixir," the Stranger said while showing him a phial of a bluish liquid.
"What have I become? Enkidu wanted me to live that's why he has offered himself to die in my stead," Gilgamesh said as he broke down crying over his brother while the Stranger and Aishir stood there, looking at the king.
VIII.
After three days, the children were healthy again to play, Ymir was now playing with other children while Samirah told of her secret to Ymir. He didn't got angry but he hugged his sister but Samirah got a scolding from her father.
Aishir and Yasir go along well again. Ymir and Yasir became best of friends while Aishir and Samirah became friends.
Gilgamesh, who stopped drinking the elixir has died, after a month. The Stranger was with him on his death bed. Before he became weak, he apologized to all of the people of Uruk, he gave them some form of apology. He ordered his soldier on building the Wall of Uruk, to defend the city from invaders. The citizens were shock to find the king working together with his soldiers, and with the look of the king working, they helped out and it was a wonderful sight but he died without finishing the Wall.
"Stranger," he said even if he was having trouble talking. With his age of over a hundred, within two days, his face has transformed from being a man in his prime into a withering old man. Bald head, spotted skin, wrinkled face. Youthfulness faded from his eyes. "How can you still live after all these years?"
"I live for the sake of humanity. To stop them when they turn into a dark path and to guide them to the right one," the Stranger answered.
"I read of a passage from the book of a man that has forsaken his kind and destroyed them," Gilgamesh said, having trouble breathing the Stranger looked at his withering friend. "If you don't want to tell me. I shall never find out," he finished with the last breath of his student.
The whole city mourned for the lost of their King. Once the ceremony was over, the Stranger packed up to go. "Where are you going?" Aishir asked.
"There are rumors about a mirage tower south of here. I want to see it then just travel the world," the Stranger replied while fastening his bag onto his pegasus. "How about you?"
"I don't know yet. Yasir and me started living with Samirah and Ymir because it was dangerous outside the wall."
"Oh? That's good," the Stranger was hesitating about something but he gulped the uncertainty and said. "Aishir, do you want to join me?"
"What?"
"Do you want to join me? Untold secrets, mysterious secrets, undiscovered civilization out there. Its a shame to travel it all alone," the Stranger said, his back to Aishir. "What do you say?" suddenly Aishir hugged the Stranger.
"Yes. I want to join you," Aishir said, when the Stranger turned to Aishir, she was smiling.
"I can't promise that this adventure won't be dangerous. You've seen what happened with Gilgamesh," the Stranger.
"As long as you promise my safety, and I can go back to Yasir safely. I'll be fine," Aishir said.
"Well, climb onto my pegasus and we'll be off then. Have you said your goodbyes?"
"Why say good bye? I'll be back," she smiled that made the Stranger regret his decision.
"Well, then. Climb on and we will go and have some adventure! This will be brilliant!" As they both climbed onto the pegasus, the wings of the animal flapped and took off. Behind them a story that will be know as a legend to others, an epic to some and a myth to all.