shanmonster | The Battle on the Field of Ashur

The fields outside of Ashur served as a staging area. Enemy forces gathered in preparation for the larger battle to be fought at Megiddo. From my vantage point, I counted five angels and 20,000 human warriors. While Lucifer held the current advantage at Megiddo, these troops would sway the balance.

We were vastly outnumbered. I was accompanied by only four hundred men and Casselo, the Maker of Fleas. Although I knew we needed to stop this army, our options were limited. What could four hundred do against 20,000? What could Casselo and I do against those other five?

I watched as supplies trickled in from the city of Ashur. An abundance of food was needed to feed that many men. The caravans of grain, oil, and beer seemed endless. And then I knew that if I stopped the supply line, I would prevent the forces from marching on Megiddo.

I conferred with Casselo, and together we came up with a plan. I summoned mice and rats, and Casselo called forth the fleas. There were many. I watched as the foothills swarmed with life. The fleas had always eaten dust and droppings, but that was about to change. With a word from Casselo, the fleas jumped onto the rodents, burrowed deep into fur, and gorged themselves on blood. Mouse and rat squeaked and scratched, but they held their position before me.

I kept them swarming around me for hours, refusing them food, waiting for night to fall. And when the last red glow seeped from the sky, I launched my offensive. A stream of grey and black fur poured into the valley below with its sleeping men and hobbled camels. Ravenous, the mice and rats descended upon them, devouring grain and fouling beer and oil. Rats chewed their way into tents where the fleas abandoned their furry hosts. Corrupted by their diet of dung and blood, when the fleas bit the men, they spread disease.

Stung by flea bites, the men pulled themselves from sleep. They kicked at the hordes of rats and mice, slashing with sword and crushing life underfoot, but the damage had already been done. Even as their angels summoned cats and birds of prey, even as they slaughtered our small force of fighting men, they acted too late. Their supplies were decimated, and although they did not yet realize it, most of the men would not survive the march. Weakened by hunger, almost 15,000 men died of plague before they got halfway to Megiddo.