Caleb Vigilant (Chronicles of the Nephilim) (16 page)

“
Caleb, you cannot do this. It is madness!” said Othniel. He had always felt in the shadow of his older brother’s reputation, and had therefore constantly sought to prove himself worthy of the family name, sometimes by taking dangerous risks. But this time he was the reasonable one.

The
commanders of thousands and hundreds surrounded Caleb in his war tent. He had just received the challenge by Ahiman to a fight of champions at the base of the city walls.

Another commander added, “This Ahiman is the most
feared Anakim in the land. He is eighteen feet of pure sinew and muscle.”

“That is an exaggeration,” said Caleb. “He is only fifteen feet tall.”

“Oh, you are right, brother,” interrupted Othniel with sarcastic anger. “That should be an easy kill, then, only fifteen feet tall. Do you know Ahiman is rumored to have killed an entire platoon of fifty men with his bare hands? He has been reported to have ripped a bear’s body in half.”

“He
will not touch me,” said Caleb. “His size makes him slow. And I am trained in the way of the Karabu.”

Othniel said, “Angelic warfare. All fine and good,
except this titan is an Anakim, a hybrid of angel and human. He comes from the Nephilim. They are not mere humans, like you. They have the advantage of both earthly and heavenly realms.”

“But I have Yahweh on my side.”

Yet another commander complained, “Caleb, if we lose Joshua
and
you, we will surely never see the possession of this Promised Land.”

Caleb answered him,
“You could lose me in any of our battles. I am not indispensable.”

“We would rather you face
twenty average soldiers on the field than this giant monstrosity.”

Caleb sighed,
“Men of Israel, be strong and courageous. We do not win our battles by our own strength, but by the strength and might of our god, Yahweh. You should not be trusting in me anyway.”

“We are not
discrediting Yahweh,” said Othniel. “We are trying to be discerning and wise, to use the minds Yahweh gave us for strategy.”

Caleb said, “This is not a time for safety and caution. You forget
whom you are talking to, brother. That is my Commander and friend in there. That is my wife and child and the hope of Israel in there. I am fighting Ahiman in the morning.”

Another commander offered, “What if it is a trap? What if they lure you in and capture you?”

“That would be no better than killing me. You would still have to trust Yahweh.”

“You think you are being
faithful, Caleb,” said Othniel. “But you are being foolish and stubborn. Is that your faith, or is it pride that guides you?”

“Enough” shouted Caleb. “Counsel is adjourned. Good night, my commanders. I will fight in the morning, and Othniel will lead the armies in my place.”

Caleb went back to his tent, where Achsah and Rahab’s siblings were staying until they could be brought safely home.

He entered the tent and hugged and kissed each of Rahab’s siblings. They looked at him strangely. He was an affectionate brother-in-law, but he had never been this demonstrative. It worried them.

Then he said, “Achsah, let us go for a walk.
” He held up a bow and some arrows in his hand. “I brought a gift for you.”

The two of them
went for a walk in the cedar forest where they were encamped. They always had several guards following them just out of earshot.

The brush was light under the towering timber. The moonlight broke its way through the thin foliage above to
shed some light on their path. They followed a well-worn trail.

Caleb
smiled. “Your mother and I used to go for walks in the evening. It was the only way we could get some peace and quiet sometimes.”

Achsah smiled.
“Was I a problem baby?”

“You were never a problem for us. You were always a joy.
This was just our way of maintaining our communication. Time alone. To refresh our souls with adult conversation.”

He paused. She could see him tearing up.

“But now you have become a fine adult woman. And you will one day marry a man and have a family of your own. I just want to get a little of your time now before you have so much less of it.”

“What is wrong, father?”

“Nothing is wrong. Can I take a walk in the woods with my daughter?”

She said,
“It has been a long time since we did target practice together.”

“See? That is my fault, and I am trying to rectify a bad habit.
Besides, you need to get used to your new weapon. Practice sighting.”

She sidled up to him and put her arm around him, hugging him.

“You have been busy with the war. I do not hold it against you.”

He held her as they walked.

He asked, “Do you like Rahab?”

“Yes. She is the most sensitive yet strong woman I have ever seen.”

“What about as a mother?”

“You are speaking as if she is here with us. She is a hostage in the Anakim camp and we do now know if she…” She choked up. She
could not finish the sentence.

“She will return. Have faith.”

“How do you know? Is there something you are not telling me?”

Caleb would not answer her. He kept walking, kept holding her tight.

She started to cry.

“Father,
I am scared.”

“Do not be scared, my Achsah. Yahweh will deliver us.”

He could not do it. He could not tell her what he was about to do. But he had to. It would be the most horrible betrayal not to let her face his last possible moments on earth without the opportunity to face them together, truly together.

“Tomorrow I am going to fight their champion warrior alone on the battlefield.”

“No! No! No!”

S
he stopped and clung to him like she was not going to let him leave the forest.

“
Shhh,” he whispered to her. “Yahweh will deliver me.”

“Then why are you talking like I will never see you again?”

“Because we do not know the will of Yahweh. And our faith must never become presumption. We must always prepare ourselves for the worst but hope for the best.”

“I
cannot lose, you, Abba, I cannot.” Abba was an adult term of endearment for a father.

“I need you to be the mature woman of the household and watch over everyone for me until I return
with your mother.”

“Why are you doing this? Why
can it not be someone else?”

“It must be me, my sweet child. Only I can fight for the freedom of Rahab and Joshua. If I win, they will be freed. So you see, this is much bigger than me, than you, than our entire family. This is for our nation and its existence.”

She could not argue with that. She could only let it sink in to her soul.

He kn
ew he could not stop there. “And if I do not return with your stepmother Rahab, I expect you to carry on the family name. To marry and have children. That would make me happy. Can you promise me that?”

She could only cry harder into his chest.

“Achsah, I need you to promise me. Or I will not have the strength to face my own challenge tomorrow.”

She looked up into his face, and whimpered out, “I promise.”

He kissed her forehead gently.

“My little turtle
dove. I love you.”

She said, “I love you.”

But her countenance suddenly strengthened and she added, “Father, Rahab has brought new love and life to this family. Bring her back.”

“I will.”

There would be no target practice tonight as father and daughter held each other in the forest and would not let go.

The morning sun rose over the hills around Kiriath-arba. Its rays spilled out onto the
clearing before the city gates, lighting what would be the field of battle for a contest of champions.

Anakim giants lined up for a good view high upon the city walls.

The army of Israel lined up outside the field with archers in ready position in case there was any betrayal on the part of the Anakim. But they were also there to cheer on their champion Caleb who stood before them.

Othniel stood by his horse as field commander in Caleb’s absence.

The large city gate opened.

The giants
on the wall howled wildly, accompanied by the percussion of war drums.

It was
a loud affair intended to strike terror into the hearts of their enemies. And it was working. Caleb had been stretching his legs, back, and arms in preparation for combat when he saw the titanic colossus step out into the sunlight.

The Israelites were silent with awe of the nemesis that stood in the morning light like a god of war.

Caleb swallowed and took a deep breath. He felt Othniel’s hand on his shoulder. He turned to him and they grasped wrists with knowing eyes and solemn silence. No words were needed.

Caleb dropped to one knee to pray.

Othniel joined him.

And then the Israelite’s secret weapon was brought to the fore of the lines: The Ark of the Covenant.

The gold plated box called
tebah
, glittered in the sun. It was carried on its poles by priests and accompanied by the high priest Eleazer.

Caleb rose and Eleazer
pronounced a benediction on him.

“
Caleb ben Jephunneh, Yahweh is with you! Yahweh is with Israel! Trust in him with all your heart and lean not on your own strength, but upon the Spirit of Yahweh Elohim! He will fight for you! Be strong and courageous! Do not fear this Seed of the Serpent!”

Caleb turned to address the soldiers
with Othniel proudly by his side. “Let all of Israel stand in awe and wonder, for our god will deliver us!”

The men cheered. They believed him for the moment, as all good soldiers do.

“Shout to the Lord and praise his name before the shadow of thine enemies!”

T
he army of Yahweh responded with a shout that rang throughout the valley in such thunderous unison that it was now the Anakim’s turn to have their confidence shaken. It was a predetermined praise of Yahweh that they had been taught. And it almost sounded like the indomitable voices of the Seraphim before the throne of Yahweh; the sound of many voices as one.

The Anakim had heard of
this golden box that was paraded before the front lines. They heard it was a talisman that brought devastation upon Jericho. The gossip was that it released powerful lightning bolts that struck the walls and collapsed them into dust. It was a container that their god Yahweh was trapped inside to be let out like a Jinn or “hidden daemon.” Legends claimed that Abraham had brought this god with him from the Arabian desert into Canaan.

It
did not matter that their legends and lore were lies, twisted half-truths, and misunderstandings. It still struck fear into their hearts, such that many of them jumped off the walls back into the city, thinking they would be smashed in the same way as Jericho.

But Ahiman was unmoved.

He had only one adversary with whom he had to concern himself: The puny human now approaching him on the field with javelin and shield.

Ahiman was dressed in his
traditional Anakim berserker outfit that he used in the Pit of Death: A simple loincloth and leather belt, with the addition of shin greaves and leather foot toppings. Because of his vast height, it was easier for small opponents to wound his lower legs and feet, so leather wraps with some metal attached made it near impossible for them to hurt that sole vulnerable location.

He wa
s covered in occultic tattoos. He was shaven bald and his face covered with war paint. Normally, he would have the lightning bolt of Ba’al across his face, but since that coward divinity’s desertion, he simply painted his skin gold so that he would appear to shine like a god himself, like a Shining One.

His
extra-long neck made Caleb think of a serpent. It swayed back and forth with ritual movement. It was the tradition of the Anakim as they faced battle to strike fear in the hearts of their enemies, but all it did was make Caleb think of striking off his head as he would a snake.

Ahiman’s
armaments were frightening. He carried no shield because he did not need it for protection. He was one hundred percent on the offensive without concern for defense. This aggressive confidence was another element of the Anakim that struck fear into their foes.

He carried a large mace in his left hand, and a strange new weapon in his right
called a “flail.” It was a handle with a chain and a spiked ball attached to the end of it. Caleb had never seen it before, but he could instantly see its advantage. Such flexible weapons could strike with an additional pulverizing force not attainable with straight solid weapons. The lack of a sword meant that he was not interested in cutting Caleb; he wanted to pulverize him into a bloody pulp.

Caleb carried Rahab in his belt, but he would wait
for the right moment to use it. He too had lighter weighted armor on, leather breastplate, a fighting kilt and flexible sandals. Israelites tended to have lighter armor in general, but in this case, it was even less helpful as a single hit from this beast would crush him to a pulp or cut him in half no matter what armor he wore. Minimal armor was an advantage for the way of the Karabu.

He grasped his javelin in his hand and his round sh
ield in his other as he stepped up to meet the giant on the field half way between the armies.

The Anakim drums died down as the combatants circled one another.

Ahiman’s neck continued to sway, cobra-like, ready to pounce.
He jeered Caleb, “You have one shot with your toothpick, Habiru. Make it count. Your shield will not protect you from my blows.”

Because Rahab was curled up in its peculiar sheath, Ahiman assumed it was some kind of
hammer or dagger, which seemed more foolish to him. It was exactly the misunderstanding that Caleb had hoped he would have.

They continued to circle at a distance from one another.

Ahiman continued his swaggering and taunting, “I do not know what magic you used to defeat Jericho and the Canaanite coalition, but magic is of no impact on me.”

“It was not magic. It was the might of Yahweh against your perverted Seed of the Serpent.”

Ahiman replied, “Your god will masturbate to my rape of your wife. And when I gut her of
your
child, I will swallow it whole to die slowly in the juices of my gut. And I will shit out your chosen Seed into the dirt as fertilizer!”

Caleb said simply, “You
have blasphemed my beloved and my god for the last time. As Yahweh lives, you will not leave this field today alive!”

They stopped in their pacing. Ahiman’s back was to the walls. He snorted contemptuously and said, “Take your last look at your beloved on the walls
of the gate. I have many more blasphemies for them to watch.”

Behind Ahiman, Caleb could now see the forms of Rahab and Joshua, tied to
poles that rose above the city walls for them to see the spectacle of death that was about to occur.

A shiver went down Caleb’s spine.

But it did not have the effect that Ahiman intended. Instead of disheartening Caleb, it energized him. It filled his body with a burning blast of determination, knowing he had their audience.

Which was a good thing, because Ahiman had done it all as a ruse to distract Caleb. He swung his ball and chain over his head. The
six-foot long chain whistled through the air and the iron-spiked ball slammed into the ground where Caleb had been standing.

But he was no longer there
, having jumped out of the way.

Caleb
then ducked and rolled as the mace came swinging around from the other hand.

Up on the wall, Rahab and Joshua watched the battle from their imprisonment on the poles. Their arms were tied tightly to the cross pole of a T-shaped post. They could not move, and the rope caused bloody burns on their flesh from the rubbing pressure. But they felt no pain. Their hearts were too caught up in praying for Yahweh to fill Caleb with strength, speed, and favor.

Down on the field, Caleb’s shield was a bit clumsy and slowed him down dodging from the attacks. It was a little strange for him to be carrying such a useless piece of metal against the enormous titan that attacked him.

But it
was not intended by Caleb to protect him. Rather, it was intended as a strategic distraction.

Ahiman began to deride Caleb
again.

But t
he act of verbally attacking your enemy meant you were off your guard ever so slightly to focus your attention on your words instead of your actions.

That was when Caleb made his move.

The moment Ahiman began to blurt out another insult, Caleb immediately dropped his javelin and pulled off his shield, spinning in a circle to build momentum for a throw into the face of the gargantuan.

The shield flew through the air at the face of Ahiman. It hit his face and bounced off, falling to the ground. Of course it
did not hurt him, it only surprised him for just a moment. It threw his attention. And as he shook his head back into attention, it was already too late.

Caleb had picked up his javelin, aimed
, and thrust the “toothpick” at his opponent’s head.

Ahiman had not been prepared to protect himself
against such trickery.

The javelin lodged into Ahiman’s
ear and pierced his eardrum. He screamed in painful anger and reached up to pull the spear from his bloody ear and snapped it in two. He discarded the pieces and reacted immediately with more pummeling of his flail and mace at Caleb.

But what he did not anticipate was the result of the injury. Caleb had aimed for the ear with
specific intent, and it was not merely to make him partially deaf. It was to throw him off balance. The inner ear is part of the stabilizing mechanism for the body. By puncturing it, Ahiman had lost his strong sense of balance. His twelve-toed feet may have had good grip on the ground, but that grip was not of much use with an unstable sense of balance.

Ahiman backed up to catch himself from falling. But as soon as he realized what had happened, he responded with a counter move. He knew he could not target Caleb directly now, so instead he unleashed a fury of blows, one after the other in rapid succession in the general direction of Caleb with the intent to overwh
elm him with a tempest of blows—like a storm god.

One after another, the mace, followed by the
flail, slammed into the ground where Caleb was. They were crushing blows that shook the ground with their force. And they would have submerged any other warrior in a rumbling deluge of destruction.

But Caleb was not any other warrior. He was a Karabu warrior. And he was unencumbered with weapons, so he danced, and dodged, and flipped and flew around the crushing blows.

It frustrated Ahiman, but he kept his attack until Caleb noticed he was slowing down. He was tiring.

Caleb jumped through Ahiman’s legs and rolled to a stand behind him.

Ahiman’s long neck turned to keep his eye on Caleb. But it caused him to stumble a bit from the dizzying motion. He brought his weapons around to continue the pummeling.

But Caleb had already drawn Rahab and unfurled it in preparation.

As Ahiman’s mace hit the ground near Caleb, Caleb snapped his blade at Ahiman’s face and it took off a chunk of his cheek in a bloody splash. He had been aiming for his eye.

Another mad swing of the flail and Caleb ducked and
whipped. The deadly sting of Rahab connected with Ahiman’s neck and ripped another mass of flesh off him. But it also cut through his carotid artery.

Ahiman screamed in pain.
Blood gushed out of his neck. He dropped his mace and put pressure on his neck with his hand to stop the bleeding.

Now he was only one handed. The spiked ball and chain however were the most dangerous.

Ahiman extended his arm for a swing, and Caleb whipped Rahab around the giant’s forearm.

If he got lucky, he could yank it and if not severe the forearm, at least slice it down to the bone, making it
completely ineffective.

Unfortunately for Caleb, he had underestimated the mass of the Anakite’s flesh. It was much stronger than he had anticipated.

Ahiman dropped his flail and jerked his arm back.

Caleb went flying twenty feet in the air away from Ahiman and tumbled to a heap.

Ahiman removed the flexible angelic blade from his bleeding forearm and tossed it twenty feet in the other direction.