The Dragon of the Ishtar Gate

Bessas blew a blast on his whistle. "Stand to arms!" he bellowed, unwrapping his bow case, which had been swaddled to protect it from the damp.

Twenty-odd Anderae advanced from the distant village, followed by a few of their women, Each bore a cowhide shield and either a club or a wooden spear with a head of antelope's horn. Like most of the folk along the Astasobas, all were completely naked, save that the older women wore about their hips a single ornamental string of beads. The tribal marking of the men consisted of several parallel horizontal scars across the forehead.

As the Anderae neared, Myron saw that they were tremendously tall, like some of the captives who had been paraded by General Puerma's army. Every person in the group towered over Myron, and most of the men were at least Bessas' height. Though well-muscled, they were rather slender for their height. Each had the two lower center front teeth missing, and the bodies of most were covered with the ash of burnt cow dung. Otherwise, Myron could not but admit that they were splendid-looking people.

These tall blacks marched straight up to the camp, ignoring the weapons raised against them. The tallest man stepped forward, casually trailing his shield and spear. He spoke in a harsh, staccato tongue, and Merqetek said:

"He says, give him a gift."

"Fiends! Who is he?" said Bessas.

"His name is Gwek."

"Is he the chief?"

The Andera laughed scornfully. "He says the Anderae have no chiefs. A real man, he says, takes care of himself and obeys no one. When will you give him his present?"

"By the warts on Ahriman's nose, why should I give him aught? What will he give me?"

"He says the Anderae do not barter. They take what they want."

"Well, if he thinks he can take anything of mine—ha, Shimri, watch out!"

The Judaean dove at a pile of luggage, in which another Andera had begun to rummage while the party's attention was elsewhere. The black leaped back, clutching a handful of strings of trade beads, and fled laughing.

"Come back, Shimri!" shouted Bessas. The Judaean, sword in hand, had started across the plain in pursuit of the thief. Bessas continued:

"Skhâ! Labid! Amr! Drag all the baggage together in one pile, sit on it, and kill the next of these knaves who touches it!"

Gwek repeated his demand for gifts, more and more loudly. The other Anderae joined in, bellowing, holding out eager hands, and edging closer. The women added their screams to the tumult.

Bessas roared: "If they want to fight, we'll give them a bellyful! Tell them to stand back, or we shall begin!"

Instead of complying, the Anderae closed in around the travelers, covetously clutching at their possessions and shouting and laughing more uproariously than before. Bessas put his whistle to his lips and nocked an arrow.

Then Kothar, holding a lighted lamp, paraded forward and blew a blast of flame from his mouth. The Anderae scrambled back with wild yells. The noise died down. Bessas pushed his men into a fighting formation.

The Anderae trailed back towards their village, shouting back over their shoulders. Merqetek translated:

"They say you will be sorry that you were so stingy with them!"

Bessas said: "The Nubian chief is right. By nightfall I want our camp surrounded by seven-foot stakes. There are enough saplings along the river to furnish them. Jump to it!"

An hour later, weary from driving stakes into the rain-softened soil, Shimri said: "Wh-why do we not attack these savages tonight and teach them a lesson?"

Myron replied: "For the same reason that a wise mouse bites not a lion's nose. Thousands of these barbarians dwell within a few leagues of here, scattered about the plain. Do you see that village in the distance? And that one? Merqetek informs us that they have no government and live in universal discord, with each village raiding and fighting the next. But let an outsider attack one, and all assemble like a swarm of hornets to repel the invader."

That night, as Merqetek had taught them, they kindled several fires within the stockade and piled grass on them to make smoke. These smudge fires kept the swarming myriads of mosquitoes from driving men and beasts mad, although the dense blue smoke was scarcely less of a torment. All night the sound of the company's coughing mingled with the susurration of insects and the roars, howls, snarls, snorts, and trumpetings of the beasts that roamed the Astasobian plain.

Next morning the camp was surrounded by a five-foot fence, strengthened by withes interwoven among the palings. Then Bessas set his men to whittling sharp points on the tops of the stakes. The palisade was no defense against a serious assault, but it afforded cover for archers and enabled those within to control the flow of visitors.

And visitors soon arrived. Delegations came from many villages, until there wore hundreds of ebon giants swarming around the Stockade and shouting demands for gifts. Their clamor filled the air; their pungent odor wafted through the encampment. Their threatening presence kept the expedition on edge, day and night.

When one was admitted, he would insult and berate the travelers as niggards, pounce upon some piece of portable property, and run for the gate. One of them escaped with an Arab's kaffiyya before those within learned to trip and pin their visitors at the first sign of larceny. After a few Anderae had been whipped out of the camp, attempts at theft fell off.