Stephen Zimmer - Crown of Vengeance

His eyes had now become windows upon a raging furnace, glowing hotly with an inner fire of a substance not of Ave. It was an inferno that was borne of His vision of the world to come; a world that would be immersed in oceans of fire before rising anew.

In coming days and months, the Great Prophecies would be crafted to the Unifier’s will, brought to fulfillment, and then He would be crowned as the new Son of Man. The thought made Him smile, though there was no benevolence whatsoever in His cold expression.

The deep sleep transformed into a rare and special kind of dream, of the sort where Janus was unaware that he was even in the midst of a dream to begin with.

Everything had the essence of stark reality, utterly lucid and full of conscious awareness. All that he sensed was incredibly vivid, his eyes taking in the richest of colors, his ears attuned to every nuance of sound, and his other perceptions similarly enhanced.

Fear gripped him tightly at first, as he wondered whether another transition had taken place like the mist that had taken him unwittingly out of his own world. He took a long, slow look around him, cautiously eyeing his new surroundings.

He found himself entirely alone, somewhere deep among the shadows of an old forest. He recognized immediately that it was a forest far unlike the rolling woodlands around the tribal village. Gigantic trees soared far towards the sky above him, majestic sentinels breathtaking in their lofty reach. The great circumferences of their trunks were a spectacle to behold, a vision of strength and enduring vitality.

Even so, there was a heavy, foreboding stillness to the air. It was an unsettling disquiet that permeated the area, and the only noticeable movements were the rapid beatings of Janus’ own heart. His breath tightened within his chest, constricting the coils around his rattled nerves.

Hurried motion off to the right edge of his peripheral vision suddenly grabbed his attention. His eyes widened as he beheld grotesque, shadowy forms that floated through the midst of the air. They moved in and out among the enormous trees, at one moment formless, and at another vaguely humanoid. They were gliding far off the ground, wending their way gradually towards the area where Janus stood.

Looking back to the left, and upward, he saw a couple more of the sable, flowing apparitions converging inward. It seemed as if the shadowy multitude was drifting closer and closer around him, with quite purposeful intent.

At the faint edges of his awareness, Janus began to sense a malevolence effusing from them. His blood chilled as he stared up at the sentient swathes of darkness.

Suddenly, the forms began drifting downwards, drawing closer. An icy chill crept along the tingling surface of his skin. He was riveted in place, as if his very willpower had been chained to a course of unalterable inaction.

To his growing dismay, he saw that the shadow-beings were not alone. With a sinking feeling taking hold in his gut, he realized that the murky entities were actually being hurried and herded along, driven forth by four huge shadows that came into view just a moment later. The larger shadows were gathered lower towards the leaf-strewn ground, but were clearly affecting the movements of the other shifting entities.

The forest area around him then began to darken, as if time was moving so rapidly that he could actually perceive the dimming of dusk into the fullness of night.

The shadowy creatures, both the ones above and those near the ground, pressed in even closer, as the chill saturated deeper into his being. His heartbeat accelerated with the rising fear, driving the panic to a nearly insufferable degree. He could not move a limb, finding himself trapped inside of his own body.

Then, without warning, a new and different creature thrust itself into the midst of the malevolent gathering. Its long, low body shape was supported on four, shadowy legs. It was particularly massive, substantially larger than any dog or wolf. The creature’s presence was like a blade of light cutting through dark mists.

It had not come alone either, as a second creature, very similar in form to the first, then manifested into view, just to Janus’ left.

A third creature bounded in from just ahead, though this one was notably different in form than the other two. It moved with a feline grace, and had the size of a great tiger. Janus could make out the triangular ears atop its broad head. Its forward-set eyes shined with a pure, radiant white light, as it leaped aggressively into the midst of the shadow-entities.

The abrupt emergence of the three creatures created a frantic scurrying, among both the large and smaller shadow-forms that had been pressing towards Janus.

The two long-snouted newcomers moved with blurring speed, setting immediately upon the shadow creatures with a vengeance. Their mouths opened expansively, lined on the top and bottom with enormous, serrated teeth.

Jaws snapping, they set about consuming the smaller shadow creatures, able to take in an entire entity with only one bite.

Likewise, the monstrous, feline entity assaulted the shadow creatures. It brought its broad paws to bear as it raked shadow creatures down from the air, and then engulfed them in its gaping maw.

The shadow creatures made no sound, though their distress was obvious as they tried to evade the attackers in sheer futility.

The three creatures were not confined to the ground. They were able to soar into the air in incredible leaps, always landing lightly once they had dispatched their quarry. Though some of the shadow creatures tried to drift up and away, their efforts were in vain, as they could not escape the reach of their three supernatural assailants.

The three ethereal attackers moved with tremendous speed and aggression as they levied their lethal assault. Janus watched the destruction of the shadow creatures with stunned amazement.

In just moments, only the four larger shadow-beings remained. No longer driving the smaller creatures towards Janus, they now seemed to be gripped with fear themselves, flitting about the trees in apparent confusion and disarray.

Able to concentrate entirely upon them, the three four-legged attackers wasted no time in turning their offensive upon the larger entities. The large shadows were maimed and devoured one by one, until nothing of the shadowy, menacing host was left.

Janus watched in awe as the feline-like entity swiped its claws and batted down the last two large shadow creatures in one leap, before consuming each one in turn within its fearsome jaws.

When the creatures had finished, they each turned towards Janus, regarding him intently through their blazing, white eyes.

Strangely, instead of being afraid of the formidable beasts, Janus had a strong sensation resonating all throughout him that there was nothing to fear from the ethereal trio. A calm peace settled over him, as his thoughts became steadily clearer.

If anything, he felt a compelling urge to move towards the creatures, as if by drawing closer to them he would acquire even stronger protection. He also got the distinct impression that the creatures were excited by his presence before them. Though they were not entities of flesh and blood, their forms had much more stability than that of the shadow creatures. He could see without a doubt that the two elongated, canine-like creatures were wagging their tails vigorously.

The feline creature then started to pad slowly towards Janus, moving with fluid ease. He then became aware that he had regained full control of his body once again, feeling his inner authority pass through every extremity of his limbs.

An affectionate warmth flowed abundantly over him within the next few moments, swelling towards a euphoria as the feline drew closer to him. His eyes narrowed, trying to pierce the strange mystery of the creatures that had rescued him.