Stephen Zimmer - Crown of Vengeance

The canines’ tails were still wagging, and he heard purr-like rumblings emitting from the feline that was now just a couple of feet away. The feline stepped in to brush against his side, far too tall to brush against his leg. As it did so, and as his ears heard the echoes of the first jubilant barks coming from the other two creatures, they suddenly vanished from sight.

Janus turned his quickly head from left to right, but he was completely alone. There were no shadow creatures, or sign of the rescuing entities.

Before he could even begin to make any sense of it, a voice abruptly came through the air to him. “Walk straight ahead, around the great tree that is before you.”

The voice seemed to come from right next to him, but as Janus turned around in a complete circle, he saw no sign of the speaker.

“Who are you?” Janus called out to the unseen entity.

“More than a friend,” the reply came gently, again sounding as if the speaker were standing right at Janus’ side. “Now trust me, and walk forward around that tree.”

Something inside of Janus had come to understand by then that this all was truly just a dream, and that he had not undergone another experience like the mist. Still fully lucid, he decided to see what might happen if he cooperated with the voice.

He took a slow step forward, and then another.

“It may only take you a week at this pace to reach the tree,” the voice came again, resonating with a sparkle of amusement.

“Hey, I’m cooperating,” Janus retorted curtly, though he did pick up his stride.

He walked towards the great tree that the voice had indicated, and wended his way around the trunk to the right. Janus blinked his eyes then, as he found himself within a totally new environment. He was now looking upon a cave set into a hillside, under a velvety night sky adorned with diamond-bright stars.

A few banks of low clouds were scudding over the terrain, though they blocked little of the sparkling firmament.

Beyond the cave was a hilly, undulating land. In the distance he could see the numerous forms of what he believed to be flocks of sheep moving on some of the slopes. Outlines of what looked to be a few people were at the summits of a couple of the hills, leaning on staves as they looked out over the grazing flocks.

Some tiny, gleaming, reddish lights that undoubtedly came from fires marked the presence of a small village situated just beyond the hills with the flocks. It was too far for Janus to make out any details, other than the existence of many low structures clustered together.

A human cry, unmistakably that of a woman, came to him from the depths of the cave. His attention was immediately riveted upon the dark entrance from whence the sound had emerged.

“Go, and witness,” the strange voice instructed him, almost causing Janus to jump in its firm suddenness.

Recovering quickly enough, Janus heeded the words of the unseen speaker. He approached the entrance of the cave and entered it.

A low fire was blazing deeper within the cave, sheltered from the winds outside and the light rain that had just begun to fall. The pattering of the first raindrops faded as Janus walked a few steps further. Shadows flickered along the jagged sides of the cave, and in the midst of thick piles of straw were two human figures.

A woman was lying on her back, knees bent and legs spread far apart, while a man knelt down before her. The man was many years older than the woman, with a thick beard and locks of dark, wavy hair. The woman was young and beautiful, though her brow was beaded in sweat and furrowed in the grips of her considerable strain.

The couple took no notice of Janus as he cautiously took a few more steps into the cave. He then halted and stood stark still, realizing what was occurring before his eyes. The woman was giving birth, right on the verge of bringing a new life into the world.

Just as Janus became curious as to the identity of the couple, he was drawn to the shadows in the area to the left of the woman.

His heart skipped a beat, as he saw something there darker than any blackness or shadow. A great Presence lurked there, though Janus could see no discernable figure within the deep pool of impenetrable shadows.

Janus could feel the sheer intensity pouring forth from that blackness, as it silently observed the woman, the man, and the impending birth. Janus sensed that the Presence absolutely loathed the woman. The Presence was like some enormous serpent, coiled and waiting, whose gaping maw was awaiting the birth to devour both mother and child.

Though the Presence was unmistakably baleful and raging, with a malefic radiance beyond anything that Janus had ever felt before in his life, Janus had no fears for the people in the cave. He knew that the Presence was not there in any kind of manifestation whereby It could do any immediate harm to the woman, the man, or to the newborn.

It was as if Janus was simply gaining a perception of the Presence, as It gazed Itself upon the proceedings from some faraway, unknown region, scrying from a dark place that Janus knew had nothing in common with the two worlds that he knew. He also knew that the looming Presence was far more powerful than he could possibly imagine.

Janus wondered why something as obviously immense as the Presence would have any concern with a couple of simple people and their baby in a cold, lonely cave.

With a sustained cry from the woman, and several gentle words from the kneeling man, a third voice sounded within the small cave.

The cry of a newborn baby accompanied the exuberant and joyous laughter of the man, followed closely by that of the woman, in those next few moments. While the woman sounded exhausted, Janus could hear the tremendous delight and relief in her voice.

The man and the woman spoke excitedly, in the unrecognizable language, as the man carefully attended to the immediate needs of the baby. The man gently wrapped the baby in cloth, handing the newborn over cautiously to the outstretched arms of the mother.

With the warm look of genuine love spread on the man’s face, Janus had no doubt that the man had to be the father. Nobody but a father could have given such a tender look to a newborn child. The woman looked so entirely gentle and serene as she accepted the baby from him. The look upon her face embodied the essence of a mother, with boundless joy accompanied by an infinite love as she beheld the face of her new child for the first time.

Like a sharp crack of thunder, Janus’ attention was jarred violently as he felt the sudden explosion of pure malignance from the Presence within the shadows. Janus realized with astonishment that it was the mere sight of the baby that had invoked the stark and incredible reaction.

The Presence vanished from the cave instantly, though the echoes of its last expressions shook Janus to the core. An awful understanding was impressed upon Janus’ mind. The Presence was murderous, wanting nothing less than the annihilation of the newborn. Janus knew that Its limitless anger at seeing the baby in the world was so great that It could not maintain Its observance, volcanic emotion shattering Its cohesion.

Janus had already comprehended the reality that the Presence was exceptionally powerful, whatever It was, and he found himself fearing greatly for the safety of the mother, the apparent father, and the infant.

However he came to the understanding, he knew that the Presence was the ultimate essence of a predatory hunter, determined to pursue the children of this woman to the ends of the world. Janus felt wholly dismayed, wondering how the woman, the man, and the child could ever hope to evade the black diablerie that was setting its mordant gaze upon them.

As his fear for the small family grew, the veil of the dream faded as he was called back into waking. He found himself lying upon the hard, forest floor, curled up in the fetal position that he had taken when he had first lain down.