David Ascendant (Chronicles of the Nephilim Book 7) (27 page)

David helped Ittai cast two bronze swords in his roundhouse smithery workshop. The first step was to create a mold from stone, carved with precision using stone and metal chisels. Two halves placed together with a hole at the top to pour in the molten liquid metal. These had already been created by Ittai.

The next step was to melt down the mixture of ninety percent copper and ten percent tin in a furnace forge. David pumped the bellows to keep the fire hot enough with a steady flow of air.

“Careful,” said Ittai. “We do not want it too hot or we will spoil the strength of the final sword.”

David lessened the bellows and continued their conversation, “By getting close to the king of Gath, I believe I can learn more about the plans and thinking of the Philistines, and therefore achieve the understanding of how to conquer them in the long run.”

Ittai said, “I can help you with the mind of a Philistine. And my followers as well.”

David remarked, “But you are not King Achish, the one I need to get close to.”

“Indeed I am not,” retorted Ittai. “And I will not kill you. But King Achish will.”

With arms wrapped in leather to protect them from the heat, they pulled the white hot crucible from the coals with large tongs and carried it to the mold. The molten bronze for pouring filled it
.

David tried to continue the discussion, but Ittai cut him off. “Shh!” interrupted Ittai. “The pour is crucial. We cannot spill it or allow impurities to get through. Keep your eyes out for pieces of charcoal or hardened metal.”

David watched it closely.

The expertise of a blacksmith includes his ability to recognize the right color of the molten bronze to judge when it is ready to pour. Together, they poured the liquid metal into the hole at the top of the mold.

“Now, we let it cool,” said Ittai. “And I attempt to cool you from your hotheaded folly.”

David smiled. “As I was saying, here is what you may have missed. Achish wishes to conquer Israel, correct?”

“Yes.”

“He would give anything to know the secrets of Saul’s strategy, right?”

“Right.”

“Well,” said David, “He also knows that Saul hates me and wants to kill me. That makes me Saul’s enemy. If Achish sees that we are both Saul’s enemy, he may be willing to consider me his ally against Saul.”

When the metal had cooled sufficiently, the mold was taken apart and the swords pulled out. They were then cooled by plunging them into a trough of water, which also made the metal harder and ready for action.

The hiss of the contact of the hot metal with the cool water was accompanied by a cloud of steam in David’s face.

Ittai said, “Even so, you do not have the privilege of the time you would need to explain all this strategy to him before he kills you on sight.”

“That is most likely true,” said David. He thought it over.

Ittai added, “And Achish is not the only one who seeks you. There is a far more sinister force of evil in this city that will kill you long before you could even get into the presence of the king.”

“Who?”

“They are called the Sons of Rapha. They are a military cult of Rephaim giants devoted to assassinating you. Goliath was the first, but there are five others.”

“One of my swordsman, Sibbecai the Hushathite, killed one of them.”

“So they already got close,” said Ittai. “What did he look like?”

“He wielded two scimitars,” answered David.

“That was Saph,” said Ittai. “Four is less than five, but still certain death for you,” said Ittai. He then told David about the history of the Sons of Rapha and who was in the cult and what he knew. He told him about Lahmi, the brother of Goliath and his lust for revenge. But he carefully left out his own identity and his attempt to join the guild all those years before.

Next, the edges and surface of the newly cast swords were filed down and sharpened with flint sharpening stones.

They each worked on one of the swords as they continued.

Ittai finally found the courage to ask, “David, do you believe there is the possibility of redemption for Rephaim?”

David thought for a moment. “Well, they are the result of the gods mating with human wives in the primeval ages and onward. So that would mean that they are demigods, right?”

“I suppose so,” lied Ittai. He thought “demigod” sounded like such a grand and glorious identity of power. He felt more like he was ignoble and cursed.

David said, “Well then, that makes them half human. And whatever is human, Yahweh can redeem, I suppose.”

“But the half that is divine,” countered Ittai. “What of that?”

David thought some more. “I don’t know, Ittai. But I do believe that Yahweh calls men from all nations to have faith and follow his law. So if a man—or a half man, half god—can obey Yahweh, then what of that?”

Ittai turned away to wash his blade off so that David could not see that his eyes were wet with hope he could not reveal.

Lastly, they wrapped leather around the hilts to create a good grip. Leather sheaths to carry the swords on belts were already made, waiting for the new weapons. The swords were finally ready to kill.

Ittai held up the two blades, now polished and ready. He handed them proudly to David. “You have done well, my lord. Thank you for taking interest in your lowly servant.”

“Nonsense,” said David. “You are my
loyal
servant.” He lifted up one of the swords and appreciated it in the light they had. “And you have given me a loyal gift by forging these two swords from the remnant of the sword of Goliath. May they be used to disembowel the rest of the Sons of Rapha as a symbol of Yahweh’s glory and power.”

Ittai thought of Lahmi and what a thing of beauty it would be to see him pierced with his own brother’s sword. But then he turned somber and whispered painfully, “I was the one who forged this metal into the original sword for Goliath.”

David looked at him with sympathy and said, “Well, I guess that proves evil can be redeemed.”

Ittai felt a surge of emotion penetrate his soul.

David added, “So the original weapon of evil will be redeemed. I will use this reforged sword against the Sons of Rapha.” David then placed his hand on Ittai’s shoulder and handed the other sword to him. “I want you to have this one. May they both be used for such a grand and glorious purpose.”

Ittai had no words to say. He took the sword and hugged it close to his chest with gratitude.
Yes, may they one day be used for such a grand and glorious purpose
.

David said, “I just thought of something. Remember that quandary of me not being able to come before King Achish without being immediately executed?”

“Yes.”

“Do your people still believe that madness is the holy touch of the gods? A sacred protection?”

“Yes,” said Ittai. “What exactly are you thinking?”

The Gath marketplace square was full of Gittites. Every day at about this time, hundreds of farmers and craftsmen traded, stole, begged, borrowed, and gossiped in the square. Fisherman, blacksmiths, farmers, tanners, and all kinds of craftsmen engaged in their form of commerce and social gathering.

Today’s society was rudely interrupted by a madman running through the square in nothing but a loin cloth, spittle dribbling down his beard, hair matted in wild animal-like display, skin blackened with dirt.

It was David. Though most would never recognize him, nor understand his importance.

He ran around slapping heads and growling like a wildcat, then howling like a wolf.

He jaunted up to the dais in the middle of the square. It was a large stone platform upon which sacrifices were made unto the gods, but also upon which public executions were exacted upon the criminals of Gath. A chopping stone for heads, and a wooden gallows for necks towered above the crowd like silent monuments of justice—or more precisely, entertainment, as the Philistine culture was a violent one.

David stood upon the chopping block and announced with a screaming frenzy, “I am David ben Jesse! King of Israel! Slayer of Goliath! King Achish cannot kill me! I rule the wilderness of Azazel! Bow down and worship me, all you Gittites!”

The citizens at first hardly listened to him. He got some laughs, and some rotten vegetables hit him on the chest and head, giving him an even more unpleasant odor to help his feigned madness seem more real.

David yelled, “I puke on the idols of Dagon, Ba’alzebul, and Asherah!” He stuck a finger down his throat to stimulate his gag reflex. A stream of vomit burst out of his mouth upon the four horned altar stone. “Lord Achish is a patsy of his Lady! I am the king of Gath! Follow me, all you miserable flea-ridden Gittites! I am David ben Jesse, slayer of Goliath the Gittite! Bow before me!”

Ittai stood and watched David from one of the alleyways. He had helped coach him on how to act mad and what to say in order to get attention from the Gittites. But David had already learned much from his time with the tormented King Saul.

Ittai only hoped David would not be swarmed and lynched by an angry mob.

He looked up high at the top of a building where he saw Jonathan the Mouse poised with bow and arrow, ready to take out anyone who might try to harm David. Ittai had heard of the little man’s sharpshooting reputation. He took an interest in Jonathan because he had reminded Ittai of himself. “Mouse” was about as derogatory a nickname as “runt,” so they shared more in common than most others understood.

A few of the merchants reported the disturbance to some soldiers and soon a couple of guardsmen came to take David away. David squirmed helplessly as he was dragged out of the square.

Ittai and a few other well-placed secret insurgents shouted out at the soldiers as they passed, “That is David ben Jesse! I have seen him! He is the arch enemy of Lord Achish!”

The subterfuge worked. The soldiers took their captive to the palace.

Four soldiers dragged David in chains before the throne of Achish. David stared at them until he was dropped at the foot of the stairs before the throne. The guards did not leave him, but they released him. The chains around his neck, hands, and arms would not allow him any advantage.

David knew that Philistine Lords were technically not kings, but more like warlords in a confederation. But he noticed that they acted no different than kings and queens in their abuse of power, as well as their display of riches. Achish wore a gold-plated robe on his pudgy little body, and a silly looking golden miter on his head. His coregent, Bisha, was middle-aged, and dressed like a queen with a red velveteen satin dress, with plenty of jewels and heavy make up. She was attractive for her age, but had a malicious undertone to her presence. David saw her eyeing him lasciviously.

To the poor citizens of such a feudal system, and to captives like David, the fine distinctions between monarchs and feudal warlords was irrelevant.

David stood proud and announced with a crazed look in his eye, “I am David ben Jesse, slayer of your champion oaf, Goliath, and the bane of King Saul. I am the ruler of the wilderness of Azazel.” Then David howled like a wolf. He then let off a disgusting fart with humorous timing. It brought a smile to Achish’s face.

David’s play was not entirely insane. His madness did have meaning. The “howling” wilderness was considered the domain of chaos, where Azazel the goat demon and his fellow creatures of chaos resided. Centaurs, Lilith the demoness, and other goblins and chimeras would dance over the bones of dead soldiers and conquered cities. It was all connected to the image of chaos that David sought to impress upon Achish.

At that moment, three giants approached the throne and stood to the side of it.

Ishbi and Lahmi watched David closely. Though he was fifteen years older, much more ruggedly built and looking like a madman, Ishbi recognized something of the boy champion through the shaggy hair and beard. Lahmi could not place him in his memory. He assumed him an imposter. Runihura stood back. He was more superstitious.

Ishbi’s familiar spirits exploded in his skull with a cacophony of hatred and violence.
Kill it! Destroy the Seed! Get away! Get away
!

David shuddered. He knew these had to be the Sons of Rapha that he had heard were after him. And here he was chained up like a piece of bait for them to chew on. He prayed silently to Yahweh and hoped that his plan would work.

Achish told the soldiers, “Take off those chains. This man is touched by the gods. He is sacred.”

The soldiers obeyed. David made babbling noises and squeals of joy. He then ran around in a circle on all fours as if he was a wolf boy. He howled again. He sat down on the floor at the foot of the stairs, looking up at the Lord and Lady.

Ishbi said, “My Lord, you called us to see a madman?”

“Not just any madman,” said Achish. “This is a very particular one. Someone you will be interested in, Lahmi. He is the one who killed your brother, Goliath.”

Lahmi looked angrily at Achish, then at David. He couldn’t believe it.

David could see Lahmi’s reaction. He said, “I slew Goliath with a single stone in the forehead. Pow!”

Lahmi became agitated. This crazy little squirrel dared to speak of the mighty legend Goliath this way?

Then David said, “He called me a dog, so I pissed on his corpse like a dog.” He barked and pulled up his tunic to take a pee on the floor. Considering he had felt the urge to pee earlier from his fright in the presence of these malevolent monsters, it was a convenient bit of drama.

It hit Lahmi like a brick. David’s form and stature now became clear to him. He had watched the little desert rat relieve himself and cut off his brother’s head. This crazed man crouching before them now was that young, vile enemy of the past now matured. Lahmi’s rage boiled over and he started toward David.

“Lahmi, stop!” shouted Achish.

Lahmi did not listen to Achish. He kept pacing toward David, with eyes fixed to murder the vile little creature.

Achish commanded Ishbi, “Stop him, captain.”

Ishbi grabbed Lahmi from behind, mere feet from David. He whispered with anger into Lahmi’s ear, “Lahmi, obey your Lord.”

Lahmi struggled. Ishbi held him tight.

Lahmi roared.

By now, David’s fear had turned to faith. He ramped up his antics by mimicking the roar and running in another circle on all fours
.

Bisha watched this exchange with great interest. She burned with lust for this little Hebrew. She had had sex with great men and she had had sex with animals. But she had never had sex with a great man who thought he was an animal. What if he had an evil spirit like his king Saul was alleged to be tormented by? What was it like to have sex with an evil spirit? She knew that Achish was superstitious enough to keep David alive, so she might actually get her chance yet to indulge in her illicit desires.

Ishbi pulled Lahmi back out of the way, next to the throne. Lahmi growled to Achish, “That piece of dung killed our mightiest champion and defied our gods and your throne. How can you allow him to live and claim to be Lord?”

Achish said, “Our gods have seen fit to touch him with their sacred madness. I will seek Dagon’s will in this matter. If you disobey me again, if you so much as put one hand on him, I will have you arrested and executed.”

Achish looked down upon David, who now scratched himself like he had fleas. “Since our divinely filled captive thinks himself a dog, then we will keep him where he will feel safe—in a cage with the royal hounds.”