Green: The Beginning and the End by Ted Dekker

offspring of Teeleh, came by blood. Indeed, the Shataiki were asexual beings, neither male nor female. They reproduced through blood.
    Teeleh was served by twelve queens, it was said, like the queens of beehives. But they and their minions were genderless and passed their seed through blood when they bit the larvae produced by the queens. Ba’al sometimes referred to a queen as a she and sometimes as a he, but to Qurong’s way of thinking, all of it was nonsense.
    Shataiki were simply beasts.
    Regardless, the taste had agreed with most Scabs, including Qurong. It settled the pain and itching in their flaking skin for several hours and now eased the gnawing in his belly. Unfortunately, there were more than three million Horde now living in seven forests, and there was only so much blood, making it a valuable commodity controlled by the temples.
    He drained the cup. “For Teeleh, my lord and my master,” he recited, and shoved the goblet back at Ba’al. “Do not test me again, priest.”
    The dark priest handed him the scroll.
    “What is this?”
    “A message that came to me an hour ago. Read it.”
    Qurong unrolled the stained paper and stared at the top. This was a communiqué from . . . the circular emblem at the top bore into his mind. His eyes dropped to the bottom and he saw the name: Thomas of Hunter .
    “Yes,” Ba’al sneered. “He shows his face after all these years.”
    “Who?” Patricia demanded.
    “Thomas of Hunter,” the priest said.
    The spoken name seemed to rob the room of its energy. Patricia kept silent. Qurong’s heart slowly doubled its pace. The last communication with anyone among the albino leadership had come three months after Chelise’s departure, when Qurong declared open war on the albinos. Ba’al’s Throaters and his elite guard had rounded up over a thousand since, but not one among the original leaders. They’d gone into deep hiding.
    He stepped closer to the torches on the wall behind him and read the writing on the paper:
    To Qurong, Supreme Commander of the Horde
    And Ba’al, Dark Priest of Teeleh, Shataiki from Hell
    Greetings from the Circle, followers of Elyon dead to the disease and risen with hope for the return of Elyon, who will destroy all that is evil and remake all that is good.
    Ten years have passed and still you relentlessly persecute my people, falsely believing that we have meant ill toward the diseased Scabs whom you rule. We have not waged war on your people, though we have the capacity to do so. We have not burned your crops, nor robbed your caravans, nor harmed you in any way. Still you pursue us deep into the desert and slay us where you find us.
    It is in our best interests to end this. I therefore cast before you a challenge:
    Take a contingent of your most revered and unholy priests and meet me at the high place with Qurong and his armed guard. I will present myself with three of my most trusted followers. No more. There, at Ba’al Bek, we will know the truth.
    If Elyon refuses to show his power over Teeleh, then I, Thomas Hunter, who lead the Circle, will surrender myself and the location of every tribe known to me, and you may be rid of the albinos once and for all. They will either renounce their drowning and become Horde or die by your hand.
    If Teeleh refuses to show his power over Elyon, then you, Qurong, and you alone will drown and become albino.
    If you betray me and conspire to kill me before the terms of this agreement are met in full, then you will have martyrs in Thomas of Hunter and three of his trusted followers. I await you at Ba’al Bek.
    Thomas of Hunter
    “What does the traitor want?” his wife demanded.
    “He’s issued a challenge. A duel of sorts between his god and Ba’al. At Ba’al Bek, the high place.”
    “For what purpose?”
    Qurong turned to Ba’al. “What am I supposed to make of this madness?”
    “What madness?” Patricia snapped. She pulled the scroll from his fingers and read.
    Qurong ignored her. “Can