LXXXIX
The Trial of Black Adam

Glossary:

The Nun is the primordial, watery abyss in Egyptian mythology. The Nun is the source of all that appears in a differentiated world, encompassing all aspects of divine and earthly existence. It is the same waters that flow around the shores of characters' consciousnesses in my story.

Ammit is a female deity/demon in Egyptian mythology. A cross between a lion, hippopotamus and crocodile, she sits by the side of Anubis and devours the hearts of the unworthy if they are heavier than the feather of Ma'at, the goddess of Truth.

The Duat is a vast area under the Earth, surrounded by the Nun. Another 'land of the dead' it was the place where people's souls went after death for judgment in Egyptian mythology, although it was only a precursor to the true afterlife for enlightened souls who survived the weighing of the heart ritual.

A broken spirit trod the shadow lands of the Duat… alone in its suffering.

Each step another milestone of endurance, so heavy was the burden he bore in his chest. His sins laughed at him, flickering in the dark, heavy air of the underworld. They pushed him to madness and clung to his legs. Agonizing steps took him closer to the edge of the abyss – to where he could now hear the dark waves of the Nun crashing against bleak, jagged shores far below… Oblivion.

He wanted to crawl now… but men who crawled in Duat became worms for lean crows. He had tasted briefly of the Nun's cold, black waters three thousand years ago… watching as Isis dissolved into the sea foam of existence as he reached to save her… the same sea foam which now filled his black heart where love once dwelled.

Standing atop the cliff he stared into the abyss below, watching the waves crash against jagged teeth. Had they spoken to Isis this way? How simple it would be to take one final step... To allow his broken body to be washed away into cold oblivion, to share the fate of the woman he loved…

For against the feather of Anubis, would any man's heart weigh heavier than Adam's?

He who had dared to rule the world… he who had been chosen by the great Shazam only to embrace the seven deadly sins, the same enemies he had sworn to deny… to cast aside the Wizard for the gods of his youth… and even to declare himself the superior to those gods, drunk with their power… and now that once-proud spirit walked the lands of the dead as a man.

He was not a god.

His strength would fail. He would have to shuffle heavily into the Halls of the Dead… the terrible Ammit would weep crocodile tears of joy at sight of such a feast! Although the she-demon may also choose to spit out his black heart into the lake of fire for its bad taste. He knew the fate of men such as himself in the just lands of his cruel gods and relished neither.

"Your heart weighs heavy, Adam…"

Adam turned with great effort to see the old wizard Shazam standing upon the Duat.

"Have you died as well, old man?"

"No, my black-hearted disciple… although my time does grow near… But there was a time when I would fair no better than you upon the scale of Anubis."

"Then those old eyes have failed you, Wizard. You have not witnessed Adam's many sins of late." It was the first time Adam had laughed in the afterlife.

"It is the sacred duty of a wizard to record every deed of the Champions into the Great Book… I saw. Your heart was long-ago conquered by the seven deadly vices… as was mine even longer before that. A dip in the Nan and a stroll upon the shores of Duat do not cast the unholy seven from heavy hearts such as ours."

"Yet you stand with such little effort. Or were your mortal transgressions so grievous that your gods chained you to the Rock of Eternity as penance? Or perhaps their retribution was that you should be an eternal Wizard and choose one such as I as your eternal Champion… How they must laugh."

"No, Adam... you were to be my salvation. I was once the most powerful sorcerer of this reality. Through the corruption of magic, I sought to surpass the gods themselves! I took demons as lovers, allowing them to share my bed and slept soundly as they whispered tales of wickedness into my silken pillows.

It was I who sought this path to redemption, not the gods.

By choosing you as my champion, I sought to atone for my many sins… You were a good man once, Adam - when first we met so long ago. But as Champion, you drew your power directly from the gods, not from the Rock of Eternity. You would not allow me to guide you…

The Rock is the balance of power, built by these hands in equal measure from the stones of Heaven and Hell themselves. All that is divine, the source of magic upon Earth that resides in its rocky halls."

"And do you now fear the final death as your trembling Champion, wizard? You would have been better to choose a bright-eyed boy than this sniveling coward before you."

"I accept my demise. Truly, I care less than I should. Perhaps the long years have dulled my woe. They have dulled every other thing I once held dear… But I do have one regret, Adam."

"Only one, old man? Then speak to me of this sole regret that I may perhaps absolve you of all worry before we journey together into eternal oblivion. Though I have sorely failed in the sacred oath I swore to you so long ago… perhaps I may unburden you of this one last regret."

"Perhaps… The greatest evil the world has ever faced now stands terribly upon the sands above. This was the task you were resurrected for, Adam. I provided the lightning of your rebirth so that you could face this great evil. Were you to prevail, ten thousand years of sins would be washed away as specks of dust against the mighty ocean…"

"Resurrect me once more, wizard and I will paint the stars of Heaven themselves with its demonic life-blood!"

"Alas, you would not… This is a demon of corruption. Powerful beyond measure, even for an old man like me. Anyone who has accepted the teachings of the seven deadly enemies would soon become a willing disciple to this King of Evil, another base minion of destruction."

"Then why did you resurrect me? You knew of the evils in this heart!" Adam pounded upon his chest with his right hand.

"But did you, Adam?... Did you know? When first you stepped upon these pathways of the dead, it was but to follow true love into the afterlife. Did you know of the evil in your heart then?"

"…No. My sole thought was of Isis."

"Then did true love bring you once again to this place? Has it cursed you once more to walk these desolate paths to seek it out?"

"What know this frothing heart of true love any longer?... Lust, Envy, Pride… These were but three of the faithful footmen who carried me to the Iron Gates of Duat. I fought for the love… nay, do not say love, Adam, that word is forbidden to you… for the body of a woman who was not mine… nor did she wish to be.

I grievously wounded her husband who fought only to protect her and her honor from the spurious advances of a dark Champion... No old man, true love cast itself from my heart off these very cliffs into the cold seas of the Nun long ago, for it was here that Isis chose her fate. That which is poor foam in my heart could not bring me here."

"You are a man of no deceptions. You know yourself well."

"There are no deceptions here, old friend. Too well I know the darkness I carry within - just as I know how it will foul the mighty jaws of Ammit herself. The scales of Anubis may not even bear such a weight as this black heart holds…"

The wizard surveyed the landscape of Duat. Once a land of gates and wonders, it was now closer to a wasteland of the soul.

"It's quiet here, isn't it? No others have walked these paths for many lifetimes."

"It is… These trails were once filled with the souls of my brethren, now they seem overgrown and abandoned. My faith is too old for this modern world, but I fear my gods still wait for my arrival."

"They do… But I have offered them a compromise."

"A compromise, wizard?" Adam was intrigued.

"Aye, Champion. A deal such as wizards make… I am the oldest man you shall ever meet Adam, but even I am not immortal. Not even the gods themselves are truly immortal. Even a human such as myself has witnessed the transformation from the Third World of the divine to this strange new Fourth World. Only the ghosts of your gods remain.

And as fallen Champions die, so too do wizards. But there was never a greater need for a Wizard and a Champion of the fourth world. That is my regret Adam, that we die too soon… That we may not aid mankind in its darkest hour."

"But you will not resurrect me as champion."

"No Adam, you are not the Champion the world so desperately needs… But you may be the Wizard it now requires."

"I am no Wizard." He had been many things, but never a wizard.

"A simple thing. We will trade places. The student will become the master. All knowledge is contained within the Rock which you will become a part of. All past deeds are transcribed into the Great Book."

"As poor a Champion I was, a student I am worse."

"Then learn! And choose better than I, Adam… And you were wiser than you know, but it was wisdom that you tempered with malevolence. Upon the Rock, the evils of consciousness are held captive and will not weigh upon your heart or decisions. But choose quickly. Even the gods themselves fear the evil that now strides the Earth."

"A deal…Will your heart will be placed upon the great scale instead of mine?!"

"Your heart will find its way there in time… but yes. This was the compromise. But I accept my fate. Will you accept yours? Even now my life's will seeps from this body held together by so little… Death pulls with all its might at the strings of mortality. I have no time – or desire - to choose another Champion."

"I can never repay you." It was the first time a tear had wetted Adam's eye in three thousand years. How strange that it had been on this very spot. The parchment of Fate was washed with tears such as these.

"Select a Champion who can defeat the Great Evil so that the scale of Anubis weighs in our favor. That is repayment beyond the debt. As heavy as you believe your sins to be, they are but a gentle breeze compared to the rotting heart of the red demon above. Balance, Adam… seek balance."

"I will, old man."

"Then say my name… one last time, true Adam… the new Wizard of the Rock. The gods themselves shall guide you."

"SHAZAM!"

And with a flash of lightning, Adam was brought again to the hallowed halls of the Rock of Eternity. The first time he appeared as its Champion, but now he was its servant. It spoke to him of its need and peril.

He had much to do and learn.