Annanu lay sprawled on the ground, no longer maintaining the shape of a clay man, simply lying there.
He was not together with Enkidu and Humbaba.
A considerable amount of time had passed since he and Enkidu entered Enlil's forest. Measured in "days," at least several hundred days had gone by.
It had taken them eighty days to find Humbaba after entering Enlil's forest, another eighty days to draw Humbaba's attention, and then another eighty days to understand Humbaba's language.
After that came an exceedingly long stretch of time.
During that time, he and Enkidu had continuously followed behind Humbaba, observing, learning, and understanding.
But they also needed to think on their own. That was the conclusion they had reached after processing it.
They needed to organize everything they had seen and heard within the forest, then prepare themselves to go where they were meant to go.
That place was—Uruk.
There, they had someone they needed to persuade and bring back—the King of Uruk, Gilgamesh.
Annanu remained sprawled there. A small bird landed on his antlers, but he did not pay it any heed.
Enkidu was not far from Annanu. Though they were what Humbaba called "each other's companions," that did not mean they could not separate briefly. That was perfectly normal behavior.
Enkidu was thinking as well. A rabbit seemed to have mistaken his body for a shallow burrow, digging the mud aside before crawling in.
Just as Annanu ignored the bird, Enkidu ignored the rabbit.
Because there was no need to move right now.
"Ah! Annanu, Enkidu! So you were here!"
The girls had come.
Humbaba was not a singular existence. They could take on many different forms, even multiple forms at once, but their essential consciousness—the thoughts and ideas that surfaced outwardly—existed as only one. That was