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City of the Plague God is a book written by Sarwat Chadda and published under the Rick Riordan Presents imprint focusing on Mesopotamian mythology. It was released January 5, 2021.

In this story, Sikander Aziz, a Muslim boy born and raised in New York City, teams up with the legendary hero Gilgamesh to defeat the ancient god of plagues before the entire population of Manhattan is wiped out.[1]

Synopsis[]

Best-selling author Rick Riordan presents CITY OF THE PLAGUE GOD, an adventure based on ancient Mesopotamian mythology written by Sarwat Chadda, author of the Ash Mistry series. Characters from the Epic of Gilgamesh populate this high-stakes contemporary adventure in which all of Manhattan is threatened by the ancient god of plagues. Thirteen-year-old Sik wants a simple life going to school and helping at his parents’ deli in the evenings. But all that is blown to smithereens when Nergal comes looking for him, thinking that Sik holds the secret to eternal life. Turns out Sik is immortal but doesn’t know it, and that’s about to get him and the entire city into deep, deep trouble. Sik’s not in this alone. He’s got Belet, the adopted daughter of Ishtar, the goddess of love and war, on his side, and a former hero named Gilgamesh, who has taken up gardening in Central Park. Now all they have to do is retrieve the Flower of Immortality to save Manhattan from being wiped out by disease. To succeed, they’ll have to conquer sly demons, treacherous gods, and their own darkest nightmares.[2]

Plot[]

Demons in the Back Alley and Meeting the Plague God[]

Sikander Aziz

Sikander Aziz

As Sikander Aziz was closing down his family's deli with Daoud, a friend of his deceased older brother, helping only after he gets information on a casting agent at an after party for Hamilton. Sikander wiped down the tables and looked at his brother's memorial wall. Daoud told Sikander that his window of opportunity to become an actor was closing and he lied about him having a zit to get some alone time. Sikander talked to the memorial wall as he heard sounds from outside. He grabbed a wok and went out to find two figures in the dumpster and as they mention him, he swung the wok and locks them in the dumpster as he banged on the lid and yelled for Daoud to call the police. The two revealed that they are Asakku, demons from Kurnugi of Mesopotamian folklore, named Sidana and Idiptu who have come for him. Sikander continued to call for help until Idiptu uses his tongue to unlock the dumpster and they escape just as a dark cloud appears at the end of the alley and starts to form a figure. They told Sikander that their boss has arrived.[3]

Sik throws the wok and Dauod suggests they call the police, but Sik tells him to be the hero and he runs up to the apartment and locks the security door. Sik tries to barricade the door with the refrigerator and phone the police, but Sidana causes worms in crawl out of the landline and Sik makes his way to the apartment entrance. As Dauod calls the police and his parents try to break down the door, the demons get in as their boss searches for something. As insects swarm the deli and the boss grabs Sik and demands an unknown item from him, a masked girl dressed in black appears brandishing a sword. The leader tells the demons to take her out, but she easily knocks out Idipu and Sidana aids his comrade. As they hear sirens in the distance, the boss unleashes an explosion of insects that destroys the deli as they flee right as Sik's parents and Dauod emerge to check on Sik and inspect the destruction. They find that not only were the doors and windows smashed up, but the food and most of the tables have rotted. After the police take statements and Sik's father tries to get coverage from the insurance company, Mr. Georiou, the owner of the pizzeria across the street, comes by with four halal pizzas and asks if everyone is alright. After Sik tells his mother that he is alright, she forces him to go to school.

Belet RR

Belet Amari

When he arrives halfway through social studies, he finds the teacher, Mr. Grant, arguing with the new student, Belet Amari, about Thomas Jefferson stealing his inventions from Cicero. He sits by his friend Jake, who wishes he would spend more time with his friends again. After Sik laughs at something Belet says, Mr. Grant sends them both to the principal's office. As they walk, Belet's mother calls. Just as the call ends, three bullies, Zack, Hobbs, and Clyde walk over to them and begin harassing them and demands Belet's phone. Sik tries to stop something from happening when Belet kicks Zack in the head and Hobbs and Clyde let them pass. She says it was ballet that her mother taught her as they exit the school, and he realizes she was the girl from last night. Just then Belet's mother arrives and Sik is stunned by her beauty as she introduces herself as Ishtar. Sik is stunned to learn that Belet's mother is named after a goddess, but the shock wears off just as a cabdriver and a truck driver are about to duke it out. Ishtar is exited for the prospect of a fight, but Belet, annoyed by the upcoming fight, begs her mother to put a stop to it. She reluctantly does as the cabdriver and trucker soon hug and become close. When Sik mentions last night's attack on his family's deli, Ishtar confirms that Nergal, her brother-in-law, was responsible and offers to explain more to Sik if he comes with them. He is hesitant at first, but agrees when Belet says it is his only chance. They get in the back of Ishtar's Jaguar and they take him to their house.

Learning of the God's Existence and The Start of the Plague[]

Ishtar

Ishtar

They arrive at Ishtar's House and Sik is amazed by the surrounding area and decor. As they enter, they are swarmed by cats and he recognizes a white-eyed tabby, Sargon, from last night. As Ishtar tries to find the kitchen to cook, she has Belet show Sik around the house. They get separated and Sik finds a room full of armor and weapons from the Stone Age to the present. He sees a sword that is not in a case and picks it up. He hears a voice telling him to put the sword back and he thinks it is Belet. Soon after, the cats in the house circle Sik and hiss, and he thinks they are getting bigger. Soon Belet arrives and the cats stand down. She explains that the sword is Kasusu, the first sword, she begins to explain how she was with Alexander the Great when he died. Sik starts to think they are crazy and tries to leave. But Ishtar shows him her memories of different wars, despite Belet's warnings. Sik sees Ishtar aiding Hector in his fight against Achilles. Then she shows him a memory of World War II when the Nazis were bombing a village in France. She is hunkered down in a school with her most recent adopted child Florence. She tells Florence to stay put as she takes Kasusu and tries to defend the village. She runs into Nergal, who says she is wasting her time before she takes out three bombers. Sik collapses exhausted on the ground as Belet checks him over. They ask him to help them and see if he knows what Nergal was after. He refuses and heads out after refuses to let Ishtar pay for the damages and takes the subway home.

When he arrives, he sees that his parents are unconscious and being loaded into ambulances. When Sik tells the paramedics he is their son, they ask how he is and asks him to put on personal protective gear and to come with them. His parents are placed in medically induced comas and hooked up to ventilators and placed in quarantine as Sikander is put through a variety of tests that show nothing is wrong with him, but he is placed under twenty-four hours observation. As he paces around the room thinking of the struggles his parents have gone through, Ishtar and Belet barge into his room as Ishtar convinces a nurse to try dating someone else. They tell him they need him for whatever Nergal is planning. They reassure him that Nergal won't kill his parents until he gets what he wants and Sik agrees to go with them.

As Sikander wakes up the following morning, he finds Daoud making pancakes in the kitchen. He fills Sik in on his parents condition, due to one of the nurses being in his improv group and reveals that the only reason he was working at the deli was because of a promise he made to Mo to keep an eye on him. Just then Ishtar and Belet walk in and the goddess telling Daoud he has an appointment with someone from Paris and he leaves before saying more. Ishtar explains that the key to saving his parents is to stop Nergal, and there are many ways a god can die, such as losing worshipers and being defeated by another god. She sets out to look for Nergal and leaves Sik and Belet alone. Belet tries to hide her disappointment at being left behind as Sik thinks of where Nergal might be hiding.

Searching for Nergal, Training for Battle, and The Plague Worsens[]

Sikander takes Belet to Little Egypt in Queens to find Nergal. As they walk, Belet informs Sik about a mild outbreak in school and students blaming him for it. They arrive at the Masjid and are greeted by the imam, Mr. Khan, and his son Farouk as they are cleaning up graffiti in the front and the imam wishes his parents well. He goes out back to help serve food as Ada, a homeless girl with knowledge of obscure current events, arrives and Sik makes her the usual. After getting her food, Sik asks Ada about anything unusual recently. She tells him about a cargo create filled with dead refugees a month back at Gravesend. They reach the dock and hop the fence. They find the shipping container and look inside. They find cuneiform etched into the wall that Belet translates as “Gilgamesh lied”. They find couplets writing by Sidana that confirms Nergal arrived in the shipping container. Just then they are found by three dockworkers who have been transformed into minions of the Plague God. Belet takes them out while Sikander jumps in between her and one of the minions and gets hit with the chain he was wielding. After Belet takes out all three of them, she checks on Sik and is astonished that he is still alive. She helps him up and they leave. Ishtar looks him over and declares he is okay.

The following morning Belet wakes Sik up at 7:00 AM for combat training but is bewildered by his lack of combat training. She leaves to get equipment and Sik talks with Kasusu. The sword tells him that as of now, he is hopeless. He tells Sik stories about his time with Gilgamesh and reveals that he once rejected Ishtar. Sik is told to fight Sargon, but he is reluctant to attack a cat. Just then Sargon attacks and defeats Sik just as Belet returns with wooden swords. Later he finds Daoud posing in front of a mirror in a new suit. Sik tells him he wants to see his parents but is afraid of being locked up if he returns. Daoud agrees to help him get in and out unnoticed. As they take the subway, he tries to contact his friends, but they ignore him. Due to half the lines being destroyed, they walk through Washington Square Park and find workers cutting down diseased trees and the flowers covered in sludge. When they get inside, Sik pulls up his hood as Daoud puts on a quick disguise and distracts the nurse so Sik can see his parents. However, as he swears to save them Idiptu arrives with a threatening message from Nergal, give him what he wants, or his parents die. After hearing the threat, and still not knowing what Nergal is after, Sik slams the demon against the wall and tells him he will stop Nergal.

When he returns, he finds Belet demanding Ishtar tell her her plan while the goddess remains tight lipped. The goddess then asks Sik if his brother stole anything and Sik becomes defensive and yells at Ishtar. As the goddess gets angry, the room starts to shake and Belet calms her down. Later, Sik and Belet move his mattress into her bedroom to keep an eye on him and he is surprised by how small and sparse it is with only a bed, chest, and nightstand. Belet explains she doesn't need much as they move around a lot. She shows Sik a picture of her birth parents and Sik realizes she is from the same district of Baghdad as his grandfather. He tells her the story of how his grandfather got the Americans occupying the section of the city the reservoir was in to get it flow by asking them in his underwear. Later that night, he walks around the halls and runs into Ishtar. She asks him how he feels and Belet and he says she is intense as intense. The goddess laments on the struggles of being a single parent and he asks how many war orphans she adopted. She takes him to a room filled with paintings and photographs of all her adoptive children through the ages and tells him she adopts children out of love. She gives Sik a ring with the king's seal on it and tells him he can find the owner in Central Park and to take care of Belet. Just then, Sargon and the other cats arrives in the room and tell her Nergal has arrived. Sik realizes that she was using Daoud as bait to lure Nergal to her and she asks him to get Kasusu.

Nergal versus Ishtar and Cheating Death[]

Nergal

Nergal

Sik informs Belet of Nergal's arrival and she grabs Kasusu and charges outside with the cats. They find Nergal and his demons at the end of the street and he demands Sik. As Sik tries to talk them out of a fight, the cats transform into winged big cats and Belet reveals they are Lamassu, guardian spirits. Soon Ishtar arrives and has Belet hand Kasusu over to her. After exchanging pre-battle insults, the two gods fight. As they fight, the shockwaves from each blow rattles the street as the neighbors come outside to see what is going on. Sik and Belet try to get them to leave, but they ignore them and record the battle, only leaving when they are nearly crushed by debris. Against Sik's warning, Daoud runs back inside the collapsing brownstone to get his portfolio and the keys to Ishtar's Jaguar. He hesitates wondering if Sik and Belet will come with him or not before leaving them behind. Just then Saghulhaza, one of Nergal's demons appears in front of them and Sargon launches himself at the demon. However another demon goes for the two and Ishtar throws Kasusu at Belet, who catches it and decapitates the demon, shortly after Nergal impales Ishtar. Sik and Belet run over to her as she says her final goodbyes and turns into stardust. Sik tells Belet to run and when she is out of sight, he surrenders.

He is brought to a junkyard in Queens as Nergal demands Sik gives him what his brother stole, which he both denies and has no knowledge of. Nergal finally explains his plans, to infect the population so that a new society can take its place. The demons suggest different ways of torture as Sik looks for a way out, he finds one and pretends to give in and lies that Idiptu has what he was looking for all along and stirring up arguments, he uses the opportunity to escape as they are fighting. He gets through a fence, but his foot gets stuck on the train tracks just as a train comes and is hit. Sik hears some track workers observing him and passes out, later he hears Belet talking to an unknown man. He later wakes up in a body bag at a morgue and startles Brian Walker, the city coroner. He takes his cellphone and a pair of scrubs and calls Belet. She is in disbelief that he is alive and reveals that they are having Salat al-Janazah prayers (funeral prayers) for him. She agrees to meet him at a restaurant twenty minutes away. After that they meet up at Nineveh, a hotel belonging to a friend of Ishtar's, and head to the penthouse. As Sik eats, Belet explains that the train accident was three days ago. Soon Daoud comes out of the bathroom and hugs Sik, who is relieved that he is alright but becomes infuriated when he reveals he called Belet when he was asked to identify him. Sik berates him and Daoud gets a call for an audition for a Mexican drug lord and leaves. Belet explains that the place is turning its victims into servants of Nergal, and the city is close to locking down. She thinks about Ishtar and Sik tries comforting her by saying he went through the same thing with Mo, but she rejects it by saying a mortal's death is nothing compared to a god's death. Kasusu tells Belet to toughen up as they need a plan and Sik comes up with one.

Meeting Gilgamesh, Finding the Flower and Journey through Kurnugi[]

Gilgamesh-RR

Gilgemesh

Sikander and Belet head to Central Park to find it full of New Yorkers seeking shelter from the sickness. Soon they see a plague dog being tailed by Sidana and Idiptu and hid in some bushes, unfortunately they are seen and run, with Sik dragging Belet, while the demons are shocked that Sik is alive. They find a glass ziggurat and hide in it, thankfully the demons and plague dogs can’t see or enter the ziggurat and they leave. As Sik and Belet explore the ziggurat, they find the caretaker and show him the ring that he says is his. They ask him for help, and he rejects their offer and reveals himself as Gilgamesh. Sik is awestruck that he is in the same room as Gilgamesh and the King of Uruk invites him and Belet for vegan sweets. As they eat, he explains how he actually did eat part of the Flower of Immortality before feeding it to a snake, rather than a snake eating it in his sleep. He also reveals he faked his death and became a pacifist, even turning Abubu into a shovel. The two beg him to help them stop Nergal, but he refuses and tells them to look for the cure, the Flower of Immortality. He tells them the snake he fed the flower to create more flowers and that one such specimen came into the possession of Sik's brother and that Sik somehow got into his system. At the mention, both Sik and Belet realize he is immortal and he tells them he planted the seeds in the community garden. Sik and Belet head out to protect get it and bring it back to the ziggurat while Gilgamesh stays behind. Before they do, Gilgamesh warns Sik that he will have to pay a price for cheating death. He also says that Nergal has broken laws to escape Kurnugiand that if he fails to get the flower, then he vanishes for good. As they walk, Belet tries to get a taxi as Sik thinks of the closeness Mo and their parents had wonders if, due to being the only one in his family not born in Iraq, he is an outsider. As it starts to rain, Belet gets a cab and they watch the news as they go along, unfortunately Sik is mentioned as a renegade patient and they turn down the volume hoping to cabdriver didn't hear, which he did. The cabdriver tells him to get out and screams that Sik is in his cab. As a crowd forms, he gets out and threatens to cough on the spectators and they run to the garden. However when they arrive they discover that the garden has been bulldozed to make room for parking for condos.

As they try to figure out their next move, Belet decides to go after Nergal herself. Sik tries to stop her, but she blames the situation on his neglect for the garden. He blurts out that he promised Ishtar he would keep an eye on her. At that point Belet starts to break down in tears as she rips up the picture of her parents and reveals it to be a magazine cutout of actors in a soap opera while saying she bought the story Ishtar told her so the goddess would feel Belet had more family ties. Before getting into a cab, she says she is the only one of Ishtar's children to outlive her and leaves. Sik chases after her, but loses her after a few blocks. After tripping, he notices a subway station and enters. He is greeted by a man named Harry, who keeps talking about himself in the past tense, and they go onto the platform. He sees various people talking about thinks the want to see and past regrets just as a train with cuneiform graffiti pulls up and Sik is dragged on, realizing to late that it is a train to the afterlife. Sik fails to get off before the doors close and the train takes off. He watches as the ghosts go to their own afterlives and only he and Harry remain. The train stops outside a desert in Sik disembarks, after exiting and saying goodbye to Harry, the train vanishes and he walks. He finds the remains of long eroded buildings just as a figure approaches him with his face covered. As the figure says his name and reveals his face, Sik is happy to see his brother again. The brothers sit in the ruins of a temple and talk. Sik tells him that the last shipment of plant specimens he sent to them contained the Flower of Immortality and that Nergal has brought a plague on the city. When Mo asks about the plant, Sik reluctantly reveals the garden was bulldozed to make room for a parking lot and the older Aziz brother berates the younger. Sik then yells back that he left him to work the deli alone and never asked for him to join him. Mo says he was too young and the areas he went to were dangerous. Just then a pride of Ugallu approach pulling Erishkigal, the goddess who rules Kurnugi, arrives and they are told to bow. Just as the Queen of Kurnugi is about to order them to be killed, Ishtar, her sister stops her.

Ishtar asks about Belet as Sik explains the dire situation the city is in, while Erishkigal still wants to punish Sik for entering her domain when alive. Ishtar pulls her sister aside and they have a brief conversation before returning to the brothers. They explain how the original flower is still in this realm and they must go to a cave in the Rock of Nisir in the Sea of Tiamat, but gods cannot enter the sea and they must take on Humbaba, a creature immune to all attacks to get a specific boat. As they set up camp, Sik tells Ishtar that Belet wants to trade places with her, something the goddess is against. Ishtar tells Sik to be careful when they find the flower as they have no idea what a second exposure could do to him. The Aziz brothers fall asleep and wake up in a forest and find the boat, but are soon approached by Humbaba. The brothers desperately think of a plan as they come face to face with Humbaba, as the giant threatens to eat them, Sik mentions the spicy Baghdad sauce Mo has from offerings he unknowingly gave him. They trick the giant into drinking it and he is overwhelmed by the spice and goes in search of water. Sik and Mo struggle to move the boat to the sea until the sea comes to them. They struggle to hold onto a boat as waves crash down on them. Eventually things calm down and the brothers get in the boat, they sail until they see the Rock of Nisir and the water gets rough again. The brothers jump ship and Sik makes it to shore while Mo gets pulled out of sea. Sik throws the bag and it turns into a net that allows him to pull Mo to shore. When he is safe, Mo inspects the bag and he finds the symbol of Shamash, the patron god of kings who had a net that could trap anything. The brothers brace themselves and dive into calmer waters. Sik loses his breath for a second before realizing he doesn’t need to breathe. The brothers swim down and find a large hole leading to a grotto with a tree in it. When they get closer, the brothers find the flower. Sik picks the flower and puts it in his jacket as Mo hears something outside. They encounter the Basmu Serpent and try desperately to not be eaten by it. The brothers fight it and a shiver of sharks when Sik decides to use the net. He tosses it and it entangles the serpent and it sinks. The brothers make it back to the surface where a Raven appears to guide Sik back to the land of the living. Sik is reluctant to go and offers to trade places with Mo, but Mo refuses and he leaves as Sik follows the bird back home.

Returning to Manhattan and Mo's[]

Sik swims after the bird and ends up at the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir in Central Park. As he pulls himself onto dry land, he is approached by a snow leopard, and Belet seconds later. She explains that the snow leopard is from the Central Park Zoo and she teamed up with the big cat to survive. She explains that she tried and failed to take down Nergal herself and the Plague God has taken over the city, as well as that two weeks have passed since they last spoke. They make it to the ziggurat and meet up with Gilgamesh. Sik shows him the flower and sums up his time in Kurnugi. Gilgamesh says he can make an antidote to put into the City's water supply. However the are soon found by Nergal's forces. The three ready to defend themselves as the demons and poxies appear before them and demand they surrender to Nergal. Gilgamesh warns them to leave, but they do not, and the demigod unleashes a thunderstorm with hurricane level winds and fissures open on the ground. Sik tries to convince Belet to flee, but she wishes to fight and he is attacked by Sidana. Before the rat demon can bite his head off, Belet stabs him and cuts off his tail, but is dowsed with his poison and scratched with his claws. Sik watches in horror as her skin in the infected area turns black and she becomes pale. He decides to take a petal from the flower and use it on Belet, but Idiptu stops him, sees the flower, and takes it.

Sik takes Belet and Kasusu and runs away. When they are out of Central Park, Belet berates him and says he should have fought. He agrees with her and tries to keep her alive. He decides to take her to Manhattan General Hospital for treatment and, if things get worse, be with his parents in the end. He finds a shopping cart and puts Belet in the basket before heading out. He passes the deli and finds it boarded up after being burned and vandalized with hateful graffiti. He sees a cat enter and calls inside. He hears Daoud and he lets Sik inside from the back. Sik is started to see the appearance proud Daoud missing teeth and hair. When Sik tells Daoud about getting to the hospital, he tells him it is surrounded by the infected and impossible to get into. They take her to his parent's bedroom and do what they can. Sik and Daoud eat in Mo's room, surprised that he kept it to Mo's liking with a few of Daoud's personal items here and there, and Sik finally looks at Daoud's portfolio and sees pictures of Mo and the Flower of Immortality. Mo reveals he dug it up before the turned the garden into a parking lot and turned the rest into perfume he calls Mo's Promise. Sik takes the small bottle and rushes to Belet, who looks like she is at death's door, and takes an eye dropper to give her some. He drips some in her mouth and, after a delayed reaction, Belet heals immediately and wakes up. They explain to Daoud that the flower grants immortality, but he was unaffected as he was carefully not to make skin contact. They wonder what to do next, give the meager amount left to Daoud or dilute it in the hopes of making more. They decide to make more and Daoud gets his kit. Belet inspects her wound, now a thin jagged scar on her abdomen, and wonders if she to is now immortal.

Race to the Hospital[]

Sik, Belet, and four lamassu go out back and wait in Ithstar's Jaguar for Daoud to make more perfume. Sik pushes a button and the car transforms into a chariot and they are attacked by poxies. Sik takes the reins and they avoid them with the lamassu swatting them away and Sik stopping them from killing them. Just then Daoud comes out with frying pan, having made a pint of perfume, and Sik tells him to get on. Just then Idiptu emerges from Georiou's, bent on killing them for killing Sidana. They fly towards the hospital and avoid the poxies for the most part, until Idiptu sneaks up from the side and slams them into an abandoned office building. Two of the lamassu, Simba and Shere Khan, collapse from exhaustion and revert to their cat forms. As the toad demon is about to eat Daoud and the perfume is about to roll out a shattered window, Belet goes after the perfume while Sik saves Daoud by running Idiptu over after the remaining two lamassu maul him. The others tell Sik to take the perfume and while the others stay behind.

As he flies, Sik comes face to face with Nergal, who has regained his lost beauty, and the god asks him why he is still trying to save what is lost and why Sik wants to save people who hate him. Sik, after seeing a large and heavy storm cloud, asks Nergal why he is still in the city. The god responds by saying he is just enjoying his handy work and notices the jar of perfume. After Sik refuses to hand it over, Nergal stabs the boy in his shoulder and thigh as Sik races above the cloud and jumps in, opening the jar and watching the perfume mix with the rain as he falls. He passes out after he hits the asphalt and wakes up to Belet gently kicking him. It starts to rain as they come face to face with dozens of poxies who are unaffected by the perfume. They watch as Nergal lands on a van and goes in for the kill, but the plague god starts to evaporate after the effects of the flower and perfume cancel themselves out as the poxies are cured. As his body falls apart, he pleads with Belet to spare him as she prepares to deliver the killing blow, but the plague god dies before she can.

Return to Semi-normalcy[]

One month after Nergal's defeat, which has been referred to as the Big Rain, things return to mostly normal, however after being exposed twice to the desert copy Mo found, Sik now has the same immortality as Gilgamesh. As he and his father are painting the deli and his mother and Daoud are rearranging flowers, getting it ready for the reopening the next day, his father tells him about a dream he and his mother had about him and Mo in a boat in rough waters and their eldest son telling them to hang on for Sik. Soon his father trades places with Daoud just as someone settles across the street with a stand selling rainwater from the Big Rain. They watch him in annoyance as he crosses the street and express his hopes for an endorsement from Sik, who the con artist believes died, right in front of him. He walks away just as Daoud, who has been getting acting and modeling offers after receiving a scar from the fight with Idiptu, gets a call from his agent about playing the lead in an upcoming project. He goes inside just as Belet arrives with a box of flowers from Gilgamesh. She hands it to him, blushing slightly, and shows him a scar she revived recently to show that she is not immortal. She says she is going to Kurnugi to get Ishtar back and she tells Sik to stay when he offers to go with her. She agrees to come inside to pet Sargon, who is now living with the Aziz family, and to try a new sauce Sik made.

Characters[]

Chapters[]

The book consists of forty-one unnamed characters.

Trivia[]

  • The book was originally going to be released in the Fall of 2020.
  • The cuneiform on the bottom of the pages is from the Epic of Gilgamesh and is translated as "A snake smelled the fragrance of the plant/ Silently it came up and bore the plant off".
  • The COVID-19 pandemic is mentioned in the forward and the acknowledgment.

References[]

Sikander Aziz series
Books: City of the Plague God | Fury of the Dragon Goddess
Main Characters: Sikander Aziz | Gilgamesh | Belet Amari | Mohammed Aziz | Daoud | Rabisu
Secondary Characters: Kasusu | Sidana | Idiptu | Nadeem Aziz | Mina Aziz | Sargon
Minor Characters: Tirid | Ada | Humbaba | Zack | Hobbs | Clyde | Mr. Georiou | Bagheera | Shere Khan | Simba | Achilles | Florence | Saghulhaza | Mr. Khan | Farouk Khan | Duncan | Charlie Yen | Jake | Mr. Grant | Brian Walker | Helen of Troy
Mesopotamian Gods: Nergal | Ishtar | Erishkigal | Dumuzi | Lugal | Tiamat
Magical Creatures: Asakku | Lamassu | Ugallu | Poxie | Basmu Serpent | Humbaba
Related Content: Sarwat Chadda | Rick Riordan Presents | The Loneliest Demon
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