Crown of Vengeance

by Stephen Zimmer

  Other nobles and authorities made their appearances within the Cathedral, but unlike the other nobles, they knew very well to Whom they belonged. The greatest of these was the Archbishop Regnier himself, who was not alone among the bishops and abbots who had been turned to Another’s service. Except for the aging Vicar of the Western Church, Celestine IX, and a handful of recalcitrant fools clinging to the old, fading order, the Unifier now held a grip upon a majority of the influential high clergy.

  The nobles and ecclesiastical powers of Avalos were just the surface of a broader transformation of loyalties occurring swiftly within many lands and kingdoms.

  A large majority of the most formidable and learned that humankind had to offer had readily chosen allegiance to Him, and by extension the One that the Unifier served. A number of them constituted many of the very individuals that ruled sprawling kingdoms and expansive empires.

  The Unifier had not needed to engage in arguments with many of the Kings and Emperors, much less coerce them. For the most part, away from the eyes of the slumbering masses, they had come to submit swiftly, and enthusiastically.

  That the men of power and wealth could so willingly bring their rich and strong lands into His service, and that a smaller rabble of wood-dwelling primitives could so vehemently continue to oppose Him, raised His ire and indignation to a white-hot level. That they had exposed a foolish commander in His own ranks, and likely caused severe damage to the Unifier’s relations with the valuable Trogen clans, was just one more reason why the Unifier hungered ravenously for immediate vengeance.

  It was no time for coercion or even subjugation. It was time for absolute destruction.

  Annihilation was the only recourse that would quench the fires burning within the Unifier. The Five Realms had to be cast into a hurricane of retribution, one so powerful that they would not emerge to see any future, even one in willful submission to the Unifier.

  Whether they surrendered and bowed to Him or not was no longer of any concern whatsoever. Furthermore, the extinction of the five tribes would be an unforgettable lesson to any who remotely harbored any thoughts of resistance.

  The thought brought a brief surge of fiery red into His eyes, as He turned away from the sight of Avalos and slowly strode back down the steps into the bailey. When He reached the messenger, who had not moved at all in the interim, His eyes had returned back to their fathomless blue once again. “See to it that the Darroks are immediately outfitted by our craftsmen with new carriages, ones that cannot be so easily threatened by two tribesman with axes,” the Unifier stated bluntly.

  “Send word to Viscount Adhemar that the Trogens must be given more authority in matters involving their own kind. I do not think that they will neglect to have Harrak-mounted warriors riding in the carriages. That will answer the presence of any defenders that the failed scouts overlooked,” the Unifier commanded in a forceful tone. A slight hint of a grin played about the Unifier’s face. “And tell the Viscount that he is then to report directly to Me, in person, and without delay.”

  The Unifier grew quiet for a moment as He sifted through a few options in His mind. He settled upon a quite intriguing one.

  “We will now see if the eastern Galleans can adhere to My desires better than a viscount from Avanor,” the Unifier said, articulating the words slow and purposefully. “See that the full authority of command is given over to Count Garnier IV. We will see if commands rendered in the articulations of the Langeoc will be more understandable than those given through the Langeal.”

  His last words referred to the two versions of the Gallean tongue, the former spoken in the eastern provinces of Gallea, and the latter spoken in the western ones, including Avanor itself. The great Count of Talasae, Garnier IV, was one of those who spoke the eastern version, and he ruled the Gallean lands adjacent to the Five Realms. Talasae was a bountiful province, containing the powerful walled cities of Carcasse and Talasae. It was also home to some heretical religious movements that had deeply aggrieved the Western Church, as well as being a core of the region that had given rise to a newer tradition of epic poets. As if that was not enough, the area had helped give birth to a code of knightly behavior that had been closely embraced by great numbers of the elite warriors of Gallea. Count Garnier would now have a chance to become a subject of one of those epic poems.

  “Make sure that it is very clear that Count Garnier unleash destruction upon all of the tribal villages, wherever they are found. Give them no mercy. Accept no surrender. No submission. Have Garnier break the chains on the army massed on the border of the tribal lands. Unleash those forces, and commence with the ground invasion. It is no longer there to influence any thoughts that the primitives might have had at submission. The sun has set upon their land and people. A new sun rises. Begin the invasion. Now go!”

  The messenger bowed his head low in deference, and then placed his helm back on his head. His fingers were shaking as he adjusted the leather chinstrap, and it took him another moment to secure it. He rose to his feet, though he kept his gaze fixed to the ground as he turned and hustled back to his Harrak.

  Mounting the winged steed swiftly, the guardsman wasted no time in his departure. He spurred the Harrak to lope forward and leap upward, snapping its wings down as it left the ground and began its climb back up into the skies.

  The Unifier watched the messenger pass on over the outer walls of the terrace, streaking out towards the horizon as he continued to ascend higher. There was no question that the soldier would gladly hasten to his delegated task, even if predominantly motivated by the desire to flee the presence of the Unifier.

  Though the day was bright and the sun unfettered, His face darkened, as if a cloud bank had swept in and cast Avanor’s great Lord into a deep shade.

  The Five Realms.

  Saxany.

  Midragard.

  One would be destroyed soon. One was facing its final test. One would be dealt with in the near future. Very little remained to stand in His way, and perhaps all three of the last significant obstacles would find their fate to be total destruction before His work was fulfilled.

  The new age was coming to the world. An old order would be overthrown, even as a new one ascended, one that would give rise to a new god taking dominion over all creation. The Great War would be finally brought to its end, and Another would come to bathe the world in fire, and recreate it in His image.

  The Unifier was that Power’s herald and greatest prophet, preparing His Father’s coming and unlocking the timeless gates between dimensions. He would be first before all within the new Kingdom, placed even over the greatest of the antediluvian, immensely powerful brethren that had long served that Power. With the fall of the old order would also come the fall of His Father’s great Adversary, as well as the Unifier’s hated Counterpart.

  The scent of the coming victory was exhilarating to every ounce of His being, the culmination of vast ages, meticulous patience, and tremendous sacrifices and suffering. It was all within sight and grasp, a reality both tantalizing and torturous.

  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.

  JANUS

  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 gr
ipped 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.

  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.