As they approached the ground level, the air became thicker and carried with it a scent of earth and sand. It had started to rain outside; Anzu could smell it. And, indeed, as the tips of two spears prompted them outside, tiny drops of rain touched their heads and began to plink on the guards' armor.
It wasn't common in Sumeria, but not entirely undesirable. The water was somewhat warm to the touch, but still it washed away some of the dust from Anzu's face and also refreshed his head.
As the guards led them up the central staircase of the ziggurat, their pace slowed down. Nobody wanted to slip on the clay-brick stairs whose worn edges had become somewhat rounded by now.
"So, how do you plan to get your staff back?" Itani whispered to Anzu.
The guard leading her up didn't wait and immediately stabbed Itani's back with his spear, making sure that less than half an inch penetrated her skin, just to torment her and avoid any real damage.
"Yeah, yeah, alright," Itani muttered.
Anzu didn't reply this time, but her question was a valid one. Everyone knew that you could disarm a Sage by taking their staff. The precisely right type of wood in large enough quantity is needed to channel mana. It couldn't be done without it.
However, Anzu had been through more in this world than most imagined. There was another trick he was saving up his sleeve for later; for when he had regenerated enough mana. It was the [Clay Spewer], a ring fashioned from red Sumerian oak with a cuneiform inscription running through its shank. A unique, one-time drop he acquired by defeating a Mesopotamian grey dragon, a beast that spewed liquid clay combined with poisonous bile.
He wore it on his right index finger. This item alone could be used as a substitute for a staff, though it offered limited casting capabilities, but it should be enough to counter the fools in this upcoming trial. Very few knew about this ring, which is why the Mardukists failed to impound it.
But there was something else. Anzu had completely forgotten about the [Illude] spell he cast back in the cave where he appeared. It masked every piece of gear on him, rendering the ring a simple copper band. It would be prudent to check his [Active effects]. If the [Illude] spell ended during the trial, it would be bad. Very bad.
The details of his legendary get-up were public knowledge: the robe of blue and green with yellow moon and stars on his chest, and his green leather boots. It was distinctly possible that some still knew what the unnamed Hero of Larsa looked like, even though he had worked hard to keep his actual identity secret.
Taking great care to position himself as far away from the slippery edge of the next step, Anzu took a short moment to close his eyes, travel to the very back part of his head, and check his active status sheet:
Active effects: [Minor bleed], [Debilitating Blood], [Illude] (2h, 5min left)
Alright, that should work, hopefully. Since the priests were in such a hurry to get the trial started, it really shouldn't last more than two hours. If they saw him in his legendary get-up and recognized him, too much of a commotion would follow. He didn't need that right now. What he needed was the opposite of that. At least until he could figure out what was happening in this world.
As they approached the top of the temple, the intensity of the rain increased, leading to larger drops and more of them. The torches lit around and on the structure finally surrendered their flame to smoke. This was a good sign because escaping would be easier.
As the door on top opened, the prisoners were led into an oval room that had seats organized in a circle on a few different levels. It wasn't unlike a small Greek theater, with priests sitting around in a circle, while the center was reserved for some kind of activity. Probably for the main speaker of the trial, as it was adorned with a polished stone stand around which there lay four clay-brick pillars with cuneiform inscriptions.
Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.
The guards led Anzu and Itani right into the center of the room and prodded them to enter a small stone ring that was facing the stand in the middle.
"Ah, so this is the defendants' dock, I see," Anzu whispered to Itani, but was immediately interrupted by one of the priests taking the stand in the middle.
"Silence, prisoners!"
The priest produced a thin clay tablet and positioned it in front of himself.
"Greeting members of the Temple. I am hereby commencing the Tribunal of Marduk. We have two prisoners in custody: a human sage and a dark elf ranger."
The priest coughed and drank from a small goblet that lay next to the tablet.
"We witnessed the murder of one of our own. The priest of Marduk, Nabu, is no more due to the vile, murderous actions of these two individuals. However, after consulting with the guards accompanying Nabu, we learned that the sage is a ritual practitioner, in the domain of Blood Magic, we believe."
Gasps and shouts erupted in the room as all the eyes focused on Anzu.
"Now, order, please. I share your concerns, my brethren. This is the first case of this kind in Lagash, which is why the Grand Ensi has been summoned and is waiting to take my place, just as procedure dictates."
The priest extended his hand toward a door on the other side of the room.
"Your eminence, would you care to replace me, please?"
The door opened, and a cloaked man emerged, wearing a pouch on one side. The robe he was wearing was bright red with small light-blue symbols running around his collar and sleeves. This was no ordinary priest healer. A robe like that was usually worn by Sages researching the elements, such as fire or water. But there was something else about the man that Anzu couldn't quite put a finger on. An elementalist Sage, for sure. But there had to be more to him.
The Grand Ensi took the center stand and scanned the room with his eyes. Interestingly, there was no direct malice in his look, unlike with the priests, but just sheer excitement. Anzu knew that look well, especially from his teaching days at the academy. It expressed the passion of a researcher, not a butcher.
"Ah, my brethren. How happy I am to be here among you today. The murder of a fellow priest is indeed a capital offense...."
Anzu couldn't contain himself any longer. Would they ever get a chance to even defend themselves?
"Ehm, may I suggest that there is another side to this story?" Anzu spoke up, much to everyone's surprise.
The Ensi didn't shout but merely replied to Anzu sternly:
"The prisoner will remain silent. As I was about to say: the murder of a priest is a capital offense, but the practice of ritualism far exceeds it in gravity."
Shouts echoed throughout the chamber again as the seated priests agreed.
"As stated in the most recent Decree of Marduk, the prisoners shall be transported to the location of our Supreme Lord for processing."
The Ensi coughed and drank some water from the same goblet as the priest before.
"On these occasions, we need to remind ourselves of our true purpose: to seek the roots of that vile phenomenon some call reincarnation, and end its grasp on our fates once and for all."
Anzu felt a surge of energy in his stomach as the seated priests shouted again, cheering on the Grand Ensi. Were they studying reincarnation? He had never come across anything that would suggest a connection with reincarnation in all his time spent in the Age of Menhirs. Or, perhaps this was another point of departure between the game he played and this real world. Another mystery he had to solve to understand what was happening here.
"For this reason, we shall proceed with the Discernment Ritual immediately. That should allow us to immediately determine whether these prisoners are reincarnates or not. I have my doubts about the elf, but the Sage displays all the usual symptoms of a reincarnate who fails to blend in."
So, they suspected Anzu of being a reincarnate? He wanted to tell himself that it was a ridiculous notion, but, at the same time, the thoughts of his odd transportation from one real world to another just wouldn't go away.
As he went from his vacation in France in his original world to Lagash, Sumeria, in this other one, did he perhaps actually undergo some kind of process of reincarnation? It felt a little too fantastic. But so did magic, and here he was wielding it. It's quite possible he died in his original world because the last thing he remembered was a wooden beam crashing into him.
The Grand Ensi lifted up the pouch he was wearing on his right hip and made a show of retrieving an item from it. It was a parchment scroll with very ornate edges, and it had a slight purple tinge to it. The tinge was translucent and could barely be seen. This was certainly magic. Anzu could see the tinge, but any other non-Sages likely didn't.
There was something else to the scroll that was very difficult to describe. It was a warm, fuzzy feeling that, at the same time, induced pain, as if pierced by an arrow charged with electricity. And the sensation became more prominent as the Ensi started unrolling the scroll.
The most frightening part was that he'd felt this sensation before, at least in some form or fashion. It wasn't that different from the strange current of power that surrounded him and penetrated his body in all directions just before he got transported to this new world.