A command was given. Individual soldiers coalesced into a solid line. As they inched toward Apollyōn their shields closed together, giving the horse less and less freedom with every step they took. Now the stallion could see no escape. Unable to temper his unease, he pinned his ears back, snorting and pacing back and forth, back and forth. Apollyōn was accustomed to the soldiers. Venerated as both a pet and a nuisance, he had been allowed to follow his whimsy as long as he maintained his manners. But now these men were a threat to his very existence. Running back and forth, from right to left he pushed the length of the corridor keeping to the edge. What did they want? Why were they pursuing him? He had to decide which to do, die or surrender, jump or submit? Raising his head high Apollyōn looked about. Trotting worriedly to the right for twenty feet he stopped and looked at the soldiers as they continued their slow and steady advance. He turned back again and ran up and down the ten-foot-wide safety zone, deciding between death and surrender. A human voice broke the standoff. “Hello Apollyōn, how is my friend? It’s me, Ištar.” A tall, slender woman emerged from the threatening wall of men. She stood relaxed and smiling as the stiff breeze twirled long strands of silky black hair around her face. Pressing her hand to her forehead, she shielded her eyes from the sun as she watched the magnificent horse. Ištar carried herself with a composure that seemed studied but was a well-learned facade she used to mask her shyness. She was born Katie Reynolds, of Navajo/Anglo descent and was raised on the Navajo Reservation in Arizona. During her college and post-graduate years, she lived in California studying veterinary medicine. With her long black hair, dark flashing eyes, and light copper skin she was strikingly exotic and mysterious. It was no wonder Katie had been mistaken for the Goddess Ištar. Only months before, she and her co-worker René were on a research assignment in Lalish, Iraq when they took refuge in Ištar's ancient temple during an attack by invading marauders. The power of a grenade blast blew them into the very distant past. They were still in the Middle East, but the time was now late winter 1328 BC. Katie’s sudden appearance dressed in a royal colored blue UN jacket was taken as a sign. The Goddess Ištar had to come to earth to show her pleasure in her loyal worshippers, and René, her consort, was there to look after their Goddess during her time on earth.
