The Priestess of the Night

Apologies for delay... A new round of my favorite thematic, Ancient History. Another shemale on male story, a little darker and rougher than the previous one (A Greek Woman In The Trojan Palace), a lot of betrayal and dishonesties in this one. Again, this conception is not intended to be strictly stick to Official History and Tradition, big thanks to my friend Thanos for the help (specially the final location, was a pain in the ass). There's an insignificant possibility this one has a sequel, depending some factors; time most important, since Cycling season has started and between races and training, no much time... Here we go.

*****

Humans have concerned about religion, since the origin of civilizations. From Sumer to Egypt, Babylon, Greece, and many others, every nation had its own god or gods (depending the culture, and other factors), but, what kind of sacrifices were made for the good of society? Back in 1.557 B.C, the Near East was in relative calm, the hittites domination was in its peak and egyptians were becoming stronger to challenge them. The canaanites were divided between them, north and center was part of the Hittite Empire and just a small region in the south was part of the Egyptian Empire, then egyptians claimed almost the whole country to protect their commercial routes coming out of Egypt, the border was established 27 miles south of Kedesh canaanite. A strong and long dry season was affecting the region in that time, sow and harvest were minimal, all towns and old cities were suffering.

Ashtaroth wasn't the exception. This small village, close to Yarmouk River, had an immemorial cult to Ashtoreth, goddess of the Moon and harvest, and part of the people also served the Sun in a humble population of 15,000 souls. One of those souls was outside the town, a young man called Dogannu. He was a tall and thin man, 23 years old, dark short curly hair, tanned skin (by sun exposure), had also a mole in his left cheek and small beard. Dogannu was in the family farm, trying to harvest something, but there wasn't a lot of vegetables to gather to fill his bag. He sighed and packing his tools inside the bag he returned to the town.

He was cursing in his mind, blaming Baal for not giving the rain for their land and Ashtoreth, for not helping out with the harvest. But, although Dogannu believed that, his mother and especially his stepfather never accepted an insult to their deities. Sun was pretty high in the sky and burning, the young man looked up and saw the star, "Damn you, you are burning my skin, stop it" he said angry. The sun ignored Dogannu and even raised its brightness, "Fuck you, stupid god. You are worthless," Dogannu complained again while getting closer to Ashtaroth.

Dogannu's hometown was poor before the beginning of dry season, and nowadays was worse. Considering the town had no walls, it was normal to see groups of desert bandits attacking the few commercial buildings and stores to steal food or any object, particularly metals. So Ashtaroth mostly had mud or adobe houses and buildings, streets were dusty, crowded and tough. Only the temples of Ashtoreth and Sun were made of stone, and well-decorated, to worship the gods correctly.

To be fair with Dogannu, he didn't hate the gods, but the situation in his homeland wasn't exactly the best, also his father died in the war against the hittites, so his mother Mirlya got married again, and he never felt the presence of the gods during his tragedies. He walked through the main street and went into a small one full of sellers, who were approaching lack of harvest to earn good money and souls for products, mostly food. After getting out of the crowded part of the street, he reached a less crowded zone of it, with humble two-floor houses, he saw an auburn haired woman in one of them and got closer.

"Finally you're back, where have you been?" Mirlya said. Besides her auburn straight hair, Dogannu's mother was tall, slender body, small tits and round little butt. But the most attractive attribute was her eyes, left was blue and right was green. She saw her son's bag full of tools and no food in it, after a few seconds he answered her question, "I was in the farm, obviously. Nothing there..." he sighed.

"Oh no, I hoped Ashtoreth's help. I offered a lot of sacrifices the last two months," she said bit sad.

"Mother, she won't help us. The gods won't help us, three years waiting for rain and harvest and nothing," Dogannu reproached.

"Don't say that again, I don't want to hear that. She will help us for sure, you better apologize or something worse will come over this family and town," Mirlya said annoyed.

"Whatever... I'll go back inside, going to clean up," he said and left his mother in the door.

He entered and left his bag in a corner, then Dogannu went backside and cleaned the food pots and removed the dust off his beloved knife. Thereafter the man disemboweled one of the lambs and put it into one of the pots and place the pot on fire. He called out his mother and she stayed there to cook the food, Mirlya did the thing while her son was outside of the house, watching people barking around when food was the topic.

She called him when food was ready, both ate it in silence, Mirlya thanked Ashtoreth for the lamb and Dogannu sighed, upset. But when she was about to reprimand him, a man showed up from the street, carrying a fur bag in his left hand that was dripping out something like blood, and an axe in his right covered in blood. The man was obviously Mirlya's husband, Hanoth, tall, strong, black eyes and hair, long, he was a ferocious philistine warrior who didn't know the meaning of the word "manners". He was wearing a fur tunic, he put the bag on the table and showed a man's head, Mirlya squawked shocked and Dogannu avoided looking at it.

"This bastard insulted you in my presence, at the slaves' market. I made sure he won't do it again," Hanoth informed.

"Oh Hanoth! Stop doing this, put it away, we are eating," Mirlya complained to her husband.

"Woman, HE INSULTED YOU, I just defended my woman's reputation," Hanoth argued in his defense, without taking away the head of the table.

"Put that thing away, you heard her," Dogannu said to Hanoth and the man placed his axe on the table, angry.

"Don't provoke me, I'm not like your father. When I talk, you remain in silence, understood?" Hanoth said and Dogannu stayed quiet, "Did I made myself clear?" he barked aggressively and Dogannu nodded.

"Its ok, thanks for defending my honor," Mirlya said trying to lower down the tension but Hanoth wasn't exactly done.

"I didn't hear you boy, did I made myself clear?" he repeated.

"Yes sir," Dogannu answered.

"Thank Sun and El I am in good mood now, otherwise..." Hanoth said and put his hand on the head. He put it back to his bag and went outside, to bury the head in the backyard.

Hanoth returned and ate his lunch with them. A tense silence invaded the atmosphere, Dogannu from time to time watched him eating, and his mother in a submissive attitude serving him; that was one of the things he disliked of Hanoth, but he remained in silence. His stepfather finished his lunch and stood up, Mirlya followed him, she always cleaned Hanoth's hands after any food; Dogannu finished some minutes later and grabbing his knife, he went outside the house.

He walked away of his home, following the market street and turning left. He skipped thousands people that were moving around in the market, or just staring at nothing in particular, when a woman's scream filled the air. Everyone paralyzed, and then a group of desert bandits appeared, wiping any unlucky person close. Dogannu held tight his knife, and suddenly he was fighting with one of the attackers, the young man did a quick move and his blade cut the bandit's throat. Exhausted after the short fight, Dogannu sat his young ass in the floor, while watching everyone, the attackers left the town quickly and people attended any injured fellow or checked their goods.

Dogannu stood up and moved, now that the madness was over, he was back to his own indifference. His latest worries about what to do, came back to his thoughts, the only thing attaching him to Ashtaroth was his mother, now married to that brutish Hanoth; he heard that far west, across the Great Sea, there were better lands without dry season and low population. Unfortunately, without harvest, he wasn't selling the extra production he was used to, since the few vegetables were for family consume now, and money was really low to travel.

He was disappointed with the gods. He put all his trust and faith in them and he got nothing in return. Even Sun was burning the fields and stopping Baal so he could not send the rains, "Seems all the gods are against me," he thought. To make it all worse, his mother and his stepfather were saying that he was ungrateful to them, any chance, but they were blind to the truth.

However, Dogannu deep inside was ready to forgive the gods, only if they could change his current luck. But he waited for so long that his heart was cold and numb to them, he stopped his prayers and gifts, and when someone mentioned them, he closed his ears and heart to those words. Dogannu left the town and got closer to an old cedar and sat down, resting his back in the tree; thinking deeply while gazing the distant town.

In the meantime, Mirlya showered and got herself ready with a white tunic for the meeting with other Sun priestess (she was one of them) when Hanoth stepped in her path when she was about to came out of the house.

"Can you tell me, where are you heading to?" Hanoth asked serious.

"My love, I'm going with my other partners, you know, Sun priestesses..." she answered a bit shy.

"Mmm... very curious, I didn't hear anything about it in the market. You know Asteimunh's woman is also a Sun priestess..." he replied distrustfully.

"This is a special meeting, we are going to consult the gods, to find out what's wrong with us..." Mirlya said and she swallowed saliva, nervous.

Hanoth gazed at her, biting his lips. Thereafter he stepped aside, but without taking his eyes off his beloved and pretty wife, he warned her.

"Go... the gods don't want you to be late, I hope you are telling me the truth... for your own good, my love,"

Mirlya nodded and put her yellow veil on her head, and walked away. Hanoth watched her until she reached the corner and turned to the right, and he went back inside the house. She walked fast and left the main street when she reached the High Priest house, in the middle of the town. Some people saluted her by kneeling down their heads, as a sign of reverence and respect; the woman walked faster and few minutes later, she stepped outside the Temple of Sun. The door was opened and the sweet fragrance of the balsam came from the inside, Mirlya took a deep breath and moved in.

The inside was very clean and well-decorated. A representation of the solar disk made of gold was in the roof, in the left wall a lot of mosaics with precious gems representing the firmament and stars, just like the right wall, torches were giving light from every corner. Mirlya kneeled right under the solar disk and kept walking, she left the main atrium and crossed the veil that was separating the Atrium and the Holy Fire Hall. This room had a vessel with the Sacred Fire, the vessel was in the center, aligned with a hole in the roof, the purpose of the Sacred Fire was to provide energy to Sun and vice versa.

She followed the path to the vessel and walked around the container, leaving it behind, Mirlya took her veil off and put it around her neck. She crossed another veil and came into the Sanctum Room, a circular room with a massive golden sphere at the end, the god Sun. About 20 priestesses were there, sitting in the floor, forming a perfect circle; Mirlya joined her sisters and one of them interrupted the silence.

"Welcome, Mirlya. You are late again," said a brunette woman with a solemn look in her face. Her name was Diamnith, the Main Priestess.

"It won't happen again," Mirlya said and offered her hands to the priestess on her left and right.

"Fine. Now that we all are here, let's proceed... Priestess Kesri," Diamnith said, and another priestess, tall, brunette and carrying a recipient full of balsam, stood up.

She stepped in the middle of the circle, and burning some balsam, she closed her eyes and began the cult, "Oh Powerful Sun, living in the heights, your Sacred Fire and light bless our lives and our country, let us know what's coming for our town, Almighty, your priestesses are here to worship you, fill our insides with your divine light, put your Sacred Fire in our souls, we embrace your majesty and we desire to please your Divine Presence, Oh Powerful Sun, forgive our town, this wicked town, bring your divine wind so Baal can send the rains, forgive our town," Kesri said.

"Forgive our town," the other priestesses and Mirlya repeated.

Kesri went back to her spot and sat down, Diamnith raised her hands and close her eyes, the other priestesses did the same and remained in silence for a while. The Main Priestess breathed deep and in low whisper, she talked to all her sisters.

"Sun is angry, very angry. Our town has turned sideways, ignoring the will of our gods. That's the reason... the reason of our curse..." Diamnith said. But after saying those words, she kept her eyes close, trying to hear the voice whispering in her ear, "There's more... Sun has something else to say... one of us, yes, one of us, committed blasphemy... the prayers of that evil person... won't be answered... begging forgiveness and making sacrifice will satisfy the wrath of Sun..." Diamnith concluded and she opened her eyes again.

All the Sun Priestesses were worried and looking to each other, trying to find out who was the one who committed the blasphemy. The fear and distrust was a common sign in all the women, Diamnith was the only one with a confident look, the Main Priestess cleared her throat and spoke to all of them.

"I assure you, my sisters, that the person guilty of this, will suffer in a terrible painful way if keeps blaspheming the name of the gods, Sun told me,"

Again, all the priestess lowered down their heads and then looked around, trying to catch a sign to discover the guilty, Mirlya was really nervous, she felt guilty, maybe she didn't worship the gods properly. Diamnith stood up and all did the same after her, the Main Priestess looked each one of her sisters, before finishing the meeting with these words.

"I hope Sun the Almighty bless your lives and houses, and for the wicked one, beg for mercy... Sun Almighty,"

"Sun Almighty," said all priestess in chorus and one by one started to leave the room.

Mirlya saw her sisters leaving, but she stayed in the Sanctum Room in silence, Main Priestess Diamnith noticed her a couple minutes later when she was praying to Sun in private, the woman stood up again and came closer.

"Do you need something, Mirlya?" Diamnith asked.

"Eh... I was wondering... Did Sun told you who is the wicked one?" Mirlya said and looked her sister in the eyes. Diamnith held her look and she sighed, Mirlya felt more nervous and then the Main Priestess answered.

"I think you already know who is... Mirlya,"

She panicked after hearing her words, "I knew it, forgive me Sun," Mirlya thought. She remained in silence while Priestess Diamnith looked at her with lots of interest, "Well... seems you are getting pale, sister Mirlya. Are you feeling ok?" Diamnith asked worried.

"Uh... I'm fine, yes, just wanted to know if Sun... you know, told you about the identity of the wicked... nevermind, I should go..." Mirlya said and without saying goodbye, she left Diamnith very confused.

The woman rushed and left the temple, the moon was high in the sky, streets were lonely. But after a few steps, Mirlya felt like someone was watching her from the shadows, she put on the veil and walked faster. When she was getting closer to her street, a shadow emerged from the darkness and crashed with her.

"Please don't hurt me!!" she cried out.

"Mom?" Mirlya heard the stranger's voice.

"Dogannu!! You scared me, thanks to the gods it's you!" she said.

In effect, it was Dogannu. Mirlya saw him carefully and she noticed her son had some blood in his tunic and she got nervous, "Are you hurt?" she asked.

"No, desert bandits tried to raid the town, killed one of them, guess I didn't bother to clean the blood," Dogannu explained, "Why are you still in the streets? It's very late, mother," he added.

"Our service in the temple lasted longer this time, Sun revealed us some of his secrets, I think there is a chance that rain comes again," she answered.

"Mother, how many times do I have to tell you? The gods will not help us!" he protested and Mirlya stopped walking.

"Dogannu! You better reconsider your words, don't dare to test the gods, my son," Mirlya said.

"Nothing worse can happen, sooner or later hunger will increase and we will die, and gods won't move theirs hands to avoid it," Dogannu said.

"Don't pay attention to his words, Ashtoreth..." Mirlya whispered, in the exact moment they arrived to their home.

Dogannu opened the door and his mother came in, he waited and closed it. Hanoth was sitting in a corner with his axe on his legs, Mirlya took off her veil and put it in her holy bin, the philistine breathed deeply and his face was red, Hanoth raised one of his eyebrows and with a very deceptive tone he talked to his wife.

"So, did the gods talk? I bet your meeting was very pleasant..."

"Oh yes my love, Priestess Diamnith heard Sun's will, I think we can have a great chance to bring the rains again to our town," she answered, ignoring the danger.

"Tell me, who is?" Hanoth asked and Mirlya got confused.

"Who is what? What are you talking about?"

"Don't play with me, woman. I know the meeting in the temple finished a while ago, now tell me the name of the bastard," he barked aggressively and stood up.

"Hanoth... I don't know... I was in the temple," Mirlya assured scared, "I was in the temple," Hanoth repeated with irony and grabbed his axe, "I'm not a fool, now you better tell me the truth or I'll kill you with your lover!"

"She is telling you the truth, animal!" Dogannu exclaimed and he went close to his mother.

"Don't mess with me boy, or you'll be next!" Hanoth threated him but Dogannu, took out with a fast move his knife and jumped on him and cut Hanoth's throat with his blade. Mirlya cried out and fell down, "What have you done?" she cried to her son, Dogannu spitted Hanoth's face before answering to his mother, "He deserved it..."

Mirlya stayed in the place she fell, traumatized, and Dogannu, doing a great effort, since Hanoth was heavy; crawled his body out of the house. He crawled him as fast as he could, taking the same route to the old cedar and trying to avoid peepers, when he was outside Ashtaroth, he left Hanoth's body close to the river. Dogannu broke Hanoth's neck and using his blade, he cut Hanoth's head and kicked his body into the river, Dogannu closed his eyes while grabbing Hanoth's head with his left hand.

"El, Supreme god, I offer you the head of my stepfather as a proof of my justice, you know I defended my mother," he said.

Dogannu took some blood from the neck and cover his wrists with it, then he dropped the head away and returned to the town. He found his mother in the floor, crying in silence and trembling, Dogannu kneeled and embraced his mother, lots of tears mixed with her eye make-up were covering her cheeks; he cleaned both of them and grabbed her by the cheeks.

"Don't worry mother, we are going to be fine, I promise..." Dogannu said.

"You murdered him... what if the leaders find out? They will execute you, and I don't want to lose you..." Mirlya said and cried again.