The Mount of Forty Springs, Zagros Mountains, Iran Saturday 11:30 PM

By the dim light of torches seven hooded figures made their ascent up the nearly invisible path. Thirty minutes had passed since they began hiking off the established trail. A person who had never traveled this path would not have been able to find it.

These men were not making their first journey. Each had traveled this path as part of a group and individually. Even without the torches each man would find the destination without difficulty. Some things could never be forgotten.

In silence they made their final steps. Amidst the juniper and oak trees stood a single cedar tree. They had arrived at their destination. Concealed amidst the undergrowth was a small cave. Sliding a large bolder away from the back of the cave revealed a secret stairwell.

The men could not be completely at ease yet, but the most physically demanding portion of their journey was over. From this point things would be more psychologically challenging and each man would handle those struggles internally and silently.

Beginning early on Friday each of the seven men had arrived at various times throughout the morning at Garan Dam to the Northeast of Marivan, Iran. The man made reservoir was just off a major highway and provided an appropriate place to begin a journey that would remove them from the human comforts that life afforded them.

None of the men wanted to take the trek into the mountains but they had been summoned and none could refuse. For late November the weather was nicer than they could have hoped but there was always time for that to change. No matter what each of them would have to survive the freezing overnight temperatures and wind gusts that would accompany them. Closer to the summit snow was also a possibility. Each of them had to be exposed to the elements for at least 36 hours, but for some the hike would take longer.

Each man began the journey alone and traveled in silence. They did not have any possessions aside from a small water bottle which they would have to use judiciously in order to complete the 23 mile hike to the summit of Chehel Cheshmeh. The sojourn in the wilderness was required for all who wished to enter the cave. Battling monotony, hunger and the elements they would each arrive at a gathering place a 30 minute hike from cave.

Zhao Kai had left Hefei by 7:00am on Thursday morning. After receiving the Inimicitia Aeterna summons he had only returned to his home to put on his best business suit. He was able to fly on a government cargo plane to Beijing, which allowed him to save considerable time. From Beijing he was able to travel to Tehran and arrived at 5:30pm local time.

Knowing what was in store for the rest of the week he found a five star restaurant and ate far more than he normally would. Next he checked into a hotel for the night.

At the desk he ran his calculations. He needed to be at the rendezvous spot by 10:50 PM on Saturday night. That was 52 hours away. 36 of those hours had to be sojourning in the wilderness. That meant he had to be at Garan Dam in 16 hours. 4 of those hours would be spent on another flight and then a drive to the Dam. That meant he would sleep for the next eleven hours. He would reach the dam at exactly 10:50am on Friday morning. He would not spend more than one minute than was necessary in the cold Zagros Mountains.

He was the youngest and the most fit of those making the trip, so he would not struggle with the hike. He did not look forward to Friday night where the temperature currently projected to be 28 degrees with the wind chill at 23. He would probably not sleep at all. That is why the next 11:00 hours would be reserved for sleeping.

The sleep would also prepare him to ignore the staring eyes on the regional flight to Sanandaj. Seeing a Chinese man could ignite the prejudices of the locals who had never been out of the country. Such insulting looks should be repaid through torture but that was not possible here. Instead he would just have to dream about plucking people’s eyes out during the next eleven hours of sleep.

Oluwaseun Ogunleye had been the first to arrive at Garan Dam. He had arrived at 4:30am. Against a bitter cold Ogunleye ran a couple of wind sprints to try to warm up. Against the light of the moon the water looked a cold gray. It sent shivers down his spine just looking at the water.

After running he thought he might have felt warmer but any such thoughts were dashed as a brutal gust of wind came off the mountain and sent his teeth chattering. There was nothing left to do but start walking. He wished he had his phone. He could have watched videos of his goddess as he trudged through the cold mountains. At least he could close his eyes and still see her, which prompted another thought. Why hadn’t he just brought her with him? He knew the answer but it was a distracting thought. The warmth of her body next to his would make him oblivious to the cold. He moved slowly and deliberately and it took until midday before he felt warm.

Santiago Fernandez was never one to expend more energy than necessary. Since his last trip to the cave he had thought about a quicker route. He figured his new path would save him an hour of walking time. Arriving shortly after 6:00am he set forth and began to walk in an uninterrupted cadence. He seldom stopped and even when darkness fell on Friday night he only tried to sleep for a couple of hours. It was too cold. He had to keep moving. As a result he was the first person to arrive at the gathering spot at midday on Saturday. He found a spot directly in the sun and didn’t move. He had no intention of making any movement for the next eleven hours. He would merely be a passive observer until it was time to hike into the cave. He cleared his mind and began his best scarecrow impression. Now that he was here and dressed in his robes he would be immune to the cold.

Roman Malenkov arrived at the gathering point just minutes before 11:00pm. He was breathing heavily and had suffered the most from the physical exertion of the hike. His frame and demeanor were not accustomed to such activity. He had to hurry and find his hidden locker that contained a warm fur lined robe and a torch. He changed into his attire and noticed the other six men stood as sentinels in the order they had arrived. Now that all seven men were ready they could complete the final ascent into the cave and enter the secret stairwell.

The narrow stairwell was only wide enough for one person to descend at a time. One by one the seven hooded figures descended down the stairs. At the base of the stairwell were seven plain sconces. Each hooded man placed his torch in the mounted sconce and continued down a narrow dark hallway.

After traversing 30 feet a door blocked further progression. The first hooded figure removed an old key from his pocket and unlocked the door. As soon as the men entered the first thing they would have seen was the 50 foot wide by 70 foot tall crest.

Each man would be drawn to a different portion of the the crest. The center of the rectangular crest contained a bronze shield with a crack running through the middle of the shield from top to bottom.

Faisal Bin Turki Al Rashid’s eyes always first went to the left side of the shield had a slightly greenish hue on which stood a bronze colored Cedar of Lebanon. The roots of the tree were extending downward towards the bottom of the shield. He saw the shield as the most important part of the crest because it occupied the middle of the crest. He also viewed the Cedar of Lebanon as the important part of the shield. Clearly he was the Cedar of Lebanon.

The right half of the shield contained a slightly reddish background. A bronze serpent with his tail at the bottom extended upwards with glowing red eyes, open mouth, fangs exposed, as if about to strike. Samuel Langford admired this serpent today. He felt like he could see the serpent sliding across a certain bedroom and striking Dutch Winds while he slept.

Perched on the top of the shield was an eagle with his sharp talons exposed. His wings were spread wide. His mouth was open as if sending a shrieking call to action. Alistair Fairfax viewed himself as the eagle. He controlled the power over financial markets. He was perched at the top looking down on everyone else.

Encased in a semicircle stood an ancient ziggurat with an eight pointed star at its summit. The edge of the semicircle contained writings in Egyptian hieroglyphics.

Directly below the shield on a banner were the words INIMICITIA AETERNA. Below the ribbon was a winged skull. Just below the jaw of the skull was a circular coin that contained an 8 pointed star. The bottom left corner of the crest contained an hour glass with most of the sand still in the upper portion. The bottom right corner contained a shattered hourglass with sand spread across the destroyed hour glass.

Directly above the intact hourglass on the left side of the crest was a marble column that held a heavily chained wolf. His evil eyes and snarling fangs were staring across the crest at a tiger that was also heavily chained to a marble column on the right side of the crest. The tiger returned the stare at the wolf with his teeth bared. Both animals had several scars. Above the tiger stood a crescent moon and a star. Above the wolf stood a shining sun.

The men took a knee before bowing to the crest. They had just entered the Temple of Nod.