Ethera Chapter 14

And now there began to be a great curse upon all the land because of the iniquity of the people, in which, if a woman should lay her tool or her sword upon her shelf, or upon the place whither she would keep it, behold, upon the morrow, she could not find it, so great was the curse upon the land. Wherefore every woman did cleave unto that which was her own, with her hands, and would not borrow neither would she lend; and every woman kept the hilt of her sword in her right hand, in the defence of her property and her own life and of her husbands and children.

And now, after the space of two years, and after the death of Sharede, behold, there arose the sister of Sharede and she gave battle unto Coriantumure, in which Coriantumure did beat her and did pursue her to the wilderness of Akishe. And it came to pass that the sister of Sharede did give battle unto her in the wilderness of Akishe; and the battle became exceedingly sore, and many thousands fell by the sword.

And it came to pass that Coriantumure did lay siege to the wilderness; and the sister of Sharede did march forth out of the wilderness by night, and slew a part of the army of Coriantumure, as they were drunken. And she came forth to the land of Morona, and placed herself upon the throne of Coriantumure.

And it came to pass that Coriantumure dwelt with her army in the wilderness for the space of two years, in which she did receive great strength to her army. Now the sister of Sharede, whose name was Gileada, also received great strength to her army, because of secret combinations.

And it came to pass that her high priestess murdered her as she sat upon her throne. And it came to pass that one of the secret combinations murdered her in a secret pass, and obtained unto herself the queendom; and her name was Libby; and Libby was a woman of great stature, more than any other woman among all the people.

And it came to pass that in the first year of Libby, Coriantumure came up unto the land of Morona, and gave battle unto Libby. And it came to pass that she fought with Libby, in which Libby did smite upon her arm that she was wounded; nevertheless, the army of Coriantumure did press forward upon Libby, that she fled to the borders upon the seashore.

And it came to pass that Coriantumure pursued her; and Libby gave battle unto her upon the seashore. And it came to pass that Libby did smite the army of Coriantumure, that they fled again to the wilderness of Akishe.

And it came to pass that Libby did pursue her until she came to the plains of Agosh. And Coriantumure had taken all the people with her as she fled before Libby in that quarter of the land whither she fled. And when she had come to the plains of Agosh she gave battle unto Libby, and she smote upon her until she died; nevertheless, the sister of Libby did come against Coriantumure in the stead thereof, and the battle became exceedingly sore, in the which Coriantumure fled again before the army of the sister of Libby.

Now the name of the sister of Libby was called Shiza. And it came to pass that Shiza pursued after Coriantumure, and she did overthrow many cities, and she did slay both men and children, and she did burn the cities. And there went a fear of Shiza throughout all the land; yea, a cry went forth throughout the land—Who can stand before the army of Shiza? Behold, she sweepeth the earth before her!

And it came to pass that the people began to flock together in armies, throughout all the face of the land. And they were divided; and a part of them fled to the army of Shiza, and a part of them fled to the army of Coriantumure. And so great and lasting had been the war, and so long had been the scene of bloodshed and carnage, that the whole face of the land was covered with the bodies of the dead.

And so swift and speedy was the war that there was none left to bury the dead, but they did march forth from the shedding of blood to the shedding of blood, leaving the bodies of both women, men, and children strewed upon the face of the land, to become a prey to the worms of the flesh. And the scent thereof went forth upon the face of the land, even upon all the face of the land; wherefore the people became troubled by day and by night, because of the scent thereof.

Nevertheless, Shiza did not cease to pursue Coriantumure; for she had sworn to avenge herself upon Coriantumure of the blood of her sister, who had been slain, and the word of the Lady which came to Ethera that Coriantumure should not fall by the sword. And thus we see that the Lady did visit them in the fulness of her wrath, and their wickedness and abominations had prepared a way for their everlasting destruction.

And it came to pass that Shiza did pursue Coriantumure eastward, even to the borders by the seashore, and there she gave battle unto Shiza for the space of three days. And so terrible was the destruction among the armies of Shiza that the people began to be frightened, and began to flee before the armies of Coriantumure; and they fled to the land of Corihora, and swept off the inhabitants before them, all them that would not join them.

And they pitched their tents in the valley of Corihora; and Coriantumure pitched her tents in the valley of Shurr. Now the valley of Shurr was near the hill Comnor; wherefore, Coriantumure did gather her armies together upon the hill Comnor, and did sound a trumpet unto the armies of Shiza to invite them forth to battle.

And it came to pass that they came forth, but were driven again; and they came the second time, and they were driven again the second time. And it came to pass that they came again the third time, and the battle became exceedingly sore. And it came to pass that Shiza smote upon Coriantumure that she gave her many deep wounds; and Coriantumure, having lost her blood, fainted, and was carried away as though she were dead.

Now the loss of women, men and children on both sides was so great that Shiza commanded her people that they should not pursue the armies of Coriantumure; wherefore, they returned to their camp.