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.
At first, he felt a little nauseated, as if he had ingested something wholly unnatural within him. He gagged and heaved as he slowly got up into a sitting position, but the worst of it passed by quickly enough. In a few short moments, the initially strong sensations had settled into a mild discomfort and gentle cough.
The dream-experience had left its images vivid and freshly imprinted upon the eye of his mind. He breathed slowly, as his full orientation returned.
Slowly, he braced himself on his hands and pushed himself back up to his feet. Taking a look all around him, he discovered that there was nothing to be seen close by, yet he did not feel alone.
A sense of wariness brought to the fore, Janus started back for the stream near to the village. On the way back, he recalled the sequence of the dream over and over again within his mind.
Ever since he had arrived in the tribal village, and began to listen more carefully to the tales of his newer hosts, he had heard a lot of talk about dreams and the genuine significance of them. To the people of the village, dreams were not considered to be merely a whimsical or fanciful conjuration of the mind. Nor were they simply a practical process demanded by the subconscious mind, to sift and sort through the things of life’s experience. To the villagers, they were something else entirely, experiences to be taken very seriously, if not unquestioningly at some times.
If the dream that he had just experienced was indeed something more, like something that the tribal people spoke so openly of, then there was something important for him to understand within the essence of that vision.
The tribal people would suggest that there was much to discover and learn from the vivid and meticulous dream, whether on the surface or buried deeply.
Whatever the reality was, Janus knew that he would be pondering the incredible dream for quite some time to come.