Inana came to the underworld naked. Her sister, Erishkagal, was in mourning of her husband.
“Sister,” said Inana, I have come to help you.”
“You have sent my husband to his death by Gilgamesh! What can you do now to help me?”
“Give to me the great heroes, that I may bring them to Earth and bless them with divine power.”
“For what?”
“To destroy Gilgamesh. Your great Bull of Heaven, whose hoofbeats shook the Earth, needs avenging. Who better to avenge him than those who have fought against this champion? For see, my dear sister, they have insulted me by shaking the haunches of the Great Bull of Heaven against me.”
Erishkagal, taken with grief, stepped down from her throne. Then Inana ascended the throne of her sister.
1.
He awoke on the empty battlefield, clad in his battle armor.
“Inana,” he whispered.
“No,” said another man’s voice, rising through the mist. “Welcome brother.”
His eyes focused a little bit at a time. He could see other man standing up, dressed also in battle armor. They were all large men, fighting men. All of them were darkened by the sun, with curling black hair and dark eyes.
“What did she call you?”
“The Bull of Heaven.”
“I am the Lion.”
The rest of the men began to approach him. Bull counted five men. One man raised his hands to the sky. “Let us give thanks to the Queen of Heaven.”
Another man snorted. He was built smaller than the rest of them, more lithe, but still formidable. The one who wanted to give thanks seemed annoyed. “Who are you?” Bull asked the smaller of the men.
“She called me Scorpio.”
“And you?”
“The Archer,” said the one who wanted to give thanks.
“And you?” he asked a man, who was looking around him, trying to get his bearings.
“The Crab,” he said.
“I am Aries,” said the last man, sheathing his sword.
Said Bull, “We are sent here by Inana to kill Gilgamesh.”
“That should be easy enough,” said Scorpio.
“But where are we?” asked Crab.
All the men looked in all directions. “I have no–“
“There,” said the Archer, looking west.
“I see nothing,” said Lion.
“There is something there,” said Crab, as he started walking through the shifting sands of the battlefield in that direction.
((Written on the plane. Very first draft.))