David Ascendant (Chronicles of the Nephilim Book 7) (37 page)

The Philistine forces filled the Valley of the Rephaim on the way to their destination. They favored the flat terrain of valleys because of their heavy reliance upon their iron chariots and heavy armaments. They were separated into three main divisions, with chariots first, then the cavalry, and finally, infantry. The infantry had divisions of pike men, javelins and a few archers in the rear. At the back of all the forces, the five Lords, led by Achish, rode in their war chariots, guarded by Rephaim who ran along beside them. Behind them, a contingent of priests carted their idols with them, stone and wooden images of Dagon, Asherah, and Ba’alzebul. These images would even be sheltered in their own tents for rest during travel.

Israelite farming villages along the valley floor were razed and their occupants taken captive and raped. The Philistines trampled and destroyed everything without concern, from homes and businesses to herds and agriculture. The Israelites had developed ingenious techniques of farming the steep slopes that turned otherwise unusable hills into rich farming terraces. All of it was pillaged and plundered. A once fertile valley was left a wasteland in their wake.

Achish looked up at the steep walls of the Sorek Gorge that they now passed through. It would be a perfect place to ambush them from above, so they had scouts at the top of the cliffs, reconnoitering to warn them.

He smiled to himself at the thought of their war campaign. It was perfect. They had the numbers. They had the time. While they besieged the city of Jerusalem, they would simultaneously create a barrier between the northern and southern trade routes, keeping the Israelites divided and cut off from supplies. The longer King David stayed behind his walls, the worse the state of his entire nation.

High above the marching armies of thousands, six scouts jogged ahead, making sure the way was clear for the Philistine Lords.

But they were not Philistine scouts. They were archangels who had surreptitiously killed the Philistine scouts and donned their clothes and armaments.

One of the scouts, Uriel in disguise, approached Mikael as he waved the clear sign to the Philistine commanders below.

“Mikael, I have bad news. The reason why we cannot find Dagon, Ba’alzebul and the others is because there was an assembly of the gods at Hermon. And they have constituted an army of the Seventy and all their minions.”

“All seventy?” asked Mikael, deeply concerned.

“All seventy,” repeated Uriel.

“We have not seen such a display of force since the War of Gods and Men.”

“Do you think they could be trying it again?” said Uriel.

“What is their direction?” said Mikael.

“South through the Jordan Valley.”

Mikael thought through the various motives of such a plan. “The only reason for such an extreme act would be for an extreme prize. Like when they tried to capture the Tree of Life in Eden.”

Uriel suggested, “Are they on their way here to support the Philistines?”

Mikael thought for a moment. Terror swept his face. “Jabesh-gilead is in the Jordan Valley.”

Uriel said, “They are going to try to steal the ark of the covenant!”

Mikael signaled across the chasm to the other three disguised archangels, then barked to Uriel, “Alert the others up ahead. We are going to need an army of the heavenly host.”

              • • • • •

David had consulted the ephod through Abiathar to discern Yahweh’s will on how to respond to the Philistine approach. He consulted with his commanders and they quickly prepared for their defense.

David said to his Three and Thirty, gathered around him, “The Philistines are no doubt prepared for a long siege. What is our intelligence on their numbers?”

“My scouts say about thirty thousand,” said Abishai. “And their entire two Rephaim regiments of giants, six hundred.”

David asked Joab, “How many standing forces do we have available at this short notice?”

“About ten thousand,” said Joab.

David’s throat went dry.

Joab added, “If I had two weeks, I could match their thirty thousand from all the tribes.”

“We do not have two weeks,” said David. “We have two days.”

Joab said, “We can send for reinforcements and wait behind the walls for them to arrive.”

Benaiah said, “They will be expecting that. They’ll have the entire region guarded to catch spies.”

David said, “They are also expecting and preparing for a siege. So, we will give them a battle in the valley instead. A pre-emptive strike.”

“Yes, my lord,” said Joab. “Brilliant stratagem.”

David said, “Save your praise for Yahweh, Joab. I got it from him.”

David turned to Benaiah, “Set up an assassination squad for the Sons of Rapha. It is time the hunted becomes the hunter.” Benaiah smiled.

David found his favorite Philistine. “Ittai, I need a Gittite. Someone who still has connections at Gath and can pass through their detection into the palace.”

Ittai said, “Yes, my lord. May I ask what for?”

David said, “I have more than a war to settle this day. I have old scores.”

Achish could see the City of David about a mile in the distance as the sun rose behind them in the east. They had stopped to receive intelligence from their scouts and to prepare for their first strike. Israelite chariots and infantry could be seen camped outside the walls, spread out wide, ready to meet the invaders.

“So they have chosen to meet us in the valley after all,” said Dothan of Ekron. “Fools.”

Achish said to the commanders of hundreds and thousands, “Prepare your forces for our first wave attack.”

The commanders bowed and left the Lords.

Achish leaned toward the Rephaim, Ishbi and Runihura, standing near him. He whispered up at them, “I am no idiot. I know ever since I broke up the Sons of Rapha, you have remained devoted to your sacred blood oath.” Ishbi and Runihura looked down at him, listening with rapt attention.

Achish continued, “We all want King David’s head on a pike. So let us work in unison rather than at odds. Fair enough?”

The giants gave each other a side glance of acknowledgement, then slight nods of approval.

“Fair enough.”

Achish sighed. Though he and the four other Lords of the pentapolis carried the weight and power of Philistia behind them, he knew in the depth of his being that these giants were an independent clan of solidarity, a river of fury and chaos held back by the slenderest thread of civilization, just waiting to be unleashed with the words of their leaders, the Sons of Rapha. He knew that he did not have much choice but to seek peace with them through compromise.

Achish turned to his high priest and said, “Let us give an offering to the images of Dagon and Ba’alzebul for our victory.”

              • • • • •

The small town of Kiriath-jearim rested in the foothills of the Jordan Valley in a wooded area nine miles north of Jerusalem. Its name meant “city of the woods,” as it was surrounded by a small forest. Today, it was a haunted forest underneath a cloudy dark sky, and filled with a misty fog.

Three eight foot tall dark, cloaked figures walked the empty streets of the waking village. They were far from the marketplace, where merchants were already setting up fish, bread, and vegetables for sale. Ba’alzebul, Dagon, and Asherah sought for a particular house. In one street behind them lay the chopped up bodies of several villagers. Ba’alzebul dragged one survivor in the dirt, delirious, almost dead.

They stopped at a cul de sac of several homes. Ba’alzebul turned and leaned over the dragged villager. “Which one?”

The villager could barely raise his hand to point. His tongue had been cut out so he could not scream. Blood flowed from his mouth as he began to pass out. Ba’alzebul dropped him in the dust as the three of them approached the house of Abinadab.

Dagon said, “It doesn’t make much sense. Why store such a significant relic in such an insignificant town of yokels, and without angelic protection?”

Asherah replied, “He didn’t protect his box when the Philistines stole it either. Yahweh is vainglorious. He likes to elevate his greatness by stressing the humility of his servants. The conceited pig.”

Ba’alzebul growled, “We will humble him. We will take his ark and we will slaughter this entire town of his worthless servants.”

Suddenly, six figures stepped out from the alley to bar the threshold of the house of Abinadab.

“There is your angelic protection,” hissed Asherah.

They drew their weapons.

Before them stood the six archangels: Uriel, Gabriel, Raphael, Saraqael, Raguel, and Remiel.

They drew their swords.

A lone villager stepped outside, saw them all, and shrieked. She ran back into her house, bolting the door. Others would be out soon. There was not much time before the entire town would be awake.

Uriel spoke to the gods, “Looking for something, divine burglars?”

Gabriel said, “We have been dying to bind you cowards since you ran away at Gath.”

Uriel had to have the last joke. “Sorry, no sea dragons out here.”

But then the gods did something the angels did not expect.

They turned tail and ran.

Uriel, Gabriel, and Raphael took off after them. The other three stayed behind.

They chased the three gods toward the perimeter of the city. Uriel saw the forest up ahead and shouted, “We’ll lose them in the woods!”

As they breached the forest’s edge, Gabriel yelled, “Worse than that, dear brother!”

The three archangels ran headlong into an ambush of seventy gods and thousands of spiritual minions, hidden in the foggy mist of the trees.

The benefits of having lived among the Philistines for over a year finally became useful for David. He had been in close to the inner workings of Gath and its Lord Achish. He had learned how both king and soldier thought, and what were their strengths and weaknesses in battle. That knowledge could make the difference against these odds.

That, and Yahweh on his side.

The strength of the Philistine war machine was the chariot, and they had hundreds of them, backed by hundreds of cavalry. The Philistine chariot was ironclad with heavy wheels and drawn by two horses. Like the Hittites, they had three riders: a driver, a shield bearer, and a spearman, with two long spears for each. They were made for short range combat and hand to hand fighting. They were heavy and they were slow.

The Israelite chariot on the other hand was lighter, like the Egyptian war cart, and was built for speed. They had two riders, one with a bow and some javelins. They could dash around, avoid the slower chariots and strike from a distance. But they only had a few dozen, along with a few hundred cavalry.

In order for David to have a fighting chance with chariot warfare, he would have to engage in a pre-emptive strike to keep the Philistine chariots from being able to charge their ranks. If they charged with a lightning strike, they could do much damage.

So the Israelite forces, led by Joab, left the walls of the City of David and attacked the Philistines in the valley at morning sunrise.

David had organized his units according to skills within the various tribes. His heavy armored pike men of Judah and Naphtali were shock troops that created a wall of impenetrable power to back up their chariots. But behind them, the infamous Benjaminites, who, since the days of the Judges, had perfected the art of slinging launched stones at their foes. And the archers of Zebulun and Simeon brought up the rear with composite bows that were accurate at over a hundred yards. The Philistines lacked the bow, which would be their weakness in this pitched battle.

There was one soldier conspicuously absent this day from the ranks of the Israelite archers: The Mouse, Jonathan ben Shimei. Finally, after all these years, David had chosen him for his own squad of warriors and their secret operation. Though the Mouse was now twenty-six years old and well-trained by his mentor, Ittai, he was still a tiny four-foot-nine pipsqueak compared to his warrior brothers. But he had proven himself in his proficiency with the bow, and David needed that proficiency now more than ever.

When the chariots and cavalry clashed on the field, the smaller forces of the Israelites dashed and dodged and slung arrows into the frustrated Philistine tortoises. The few Israelite riders that got too close were crushed by iron and spear, but the others retreated—covered by a massive wave of Israelite slung stones and arrows that covered the Philistine chariots and the soldiers behind them with a blanket of death.

Like the Israelites, the Philistine ranks had also been organized by skills and tactics. The Gazans used a particularly gruesome ploy that terrorized their enemies. Instead of using traditional shields against the volley of stones and missiles launched against them, they used captive Israelite prisoners as human shields instead.

Thousands of arrows and rocks launched by the Israelites pierced and pounded hundreds of their fellow countrymen to death, placed in the way by the Philistines. It was a barbaric act of unusual cruelty that struck fear into the hearts of the Israelite warriors when they realized what had happened. It made them feel as if they just killed their own civilian innocents. Of course, they did not kill them, the Philistines killed them by using them as shields, but the psychological effect was still powerful, no matter how unjust and evil it was.

The Gazans dropped the dead Israelites at their feet and the Ashkelon soldiers launched their own bizarre counteroffensive. The lines opened up and a slew of dozens of
children
without weapons
ran toward the Israelite enemy, screaming in high pitched voices. Because they were teenaged and unarmed, the Israelites hesitated to kill them. They froze in confusion.

All of the boys and girls running at them had their bodies covered in large bulging bags of liquid. It made them look like a battalion of obese juveniles, screaming, waddling, and bouncing toward them.

Some Philistine arrows hit the corpulent adolescents from behind. But they did not puncture flesh. Instead, they broke open the bags of black pitch that oozed out in a trail following the running children.

The screaming children ran into the ranks of the frontline Israelites without trying to fight anyone.

The soldiers gathered around the children, but did not hurt them. They were children, for Yahweh’s sake.

What kind of people would willingly send their own sons and daughters like this into the fray of a battle?

Everything became clear when a volley of fire arrows launched from the Philistine ranks hit the puddles of pitch that had leaked onto the ground. The fire travelled all the way to the bulging children and ignited them on fire.

They burst into flames, and became screaming fireballs that killed nearby Israelites. They became a wall of fire that hindered the Israelite warriors, scattering them.

The only words that could describe these poor creatures were child suicide soldiers.

The Philistine spearmen then engaged the Israelites, pushing them back. But the fires that had broken the ranks of the Israelites, now hindered the advance of the Philistines.

Back in the ranks of the Philistine army, Ishbi and Runihura stood upon a war wagon searching the Israelite forces for a sign of King David. The Rephaim were holding back to make a blitz strike for the anointed messiah as soon as he was targeted.

But he was nowhere to be seen. They saw someone else leading the troops, but did not know who he was.

What is more, they could see that the Israelite army was not deep. They were spread out wide to look like more than they were.

They were only a few thousand.

And now they started to pull back and retreat toward the city.

Where was their king?

As the Philistines marched after the retreating Israelites, the sound of their footsteps echoed off the tops of the trees of the balsam forest to their right. Their heavy artillery and armor precluded their use of the forest in any way.

The forest environment camouflaged seven thousand light infantry Israelites, led by King David. They had been hiding out in the foliage, waiting for their cue and this was it. A cue given by Yahweh himself. David thought to himself that the echo of the marching troops in the treetops sounded like Yahweh’s heavenly host marching above them on David’s behalf.

No war horn was blown, no command shouted. They followed their messiah out of the concealment, like a silent force of wasps with stingers drawn and ready.

They descended upon the rear of the advancing army.

They took the Philistines entirely by surprise, and the five Lords entirely unprotected.

Another warrior hid in the forest, just out of sight of David’s raiding party. He was an eight and a half foot tall, five hundred pound giant Rephaim, leading a small battalion of a dozen Amalekite guerillas. He had been hunting David for years, seething with the bile of vengeance, and he was determined to avoid the combat mistake he made the last time.

It was Lahmi of Gath.