Apertures by Edmund A. M. Batara

Author:Edmund A. M. Batara [Batara, Edmund A. M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Independent
Published: 2018-12-09T07:00:00+00:00

10

Pazuzu of Kur

My sleep was restless, only to be awakened by the sound of distant screams and gunshots. I immediately leaped from the bed and crouched, pulling Jen roughly from her own slumber and holding onto her arm tightly to reassure her. She seemed to momentarily awaken but drifted back off.

My night vision was good, probably because I’d only just woken up.

I could see Cooper and Henry peeking through our window covers. I immediately moved forward through the darkened room and took my place between them.

The illumination of the moon was spectacular; it was a clear and starry night, one to stand and admire from a window such as ours, were it not for the horrific context.

The visibility given by the moonlight was good, a far cry from during the daytime when the sun hid from us through the solidly overcast skies, giving the illusion of a partial eclipse.

As we continued to watch, the noise grew closer. It appeared to come from the houses along the street intersecting the road from our cul-de-sac. Suddenly, a cowled figure appeared, drifting on the air just above the rooftops. It was a large shape and carrying a long rod. At our distance, we couldn’t see any other details but all remained quiet and tense, awaiting what would happen. Then numerous shapes were running below the visitor, some of which veered off in the direction of lighted structures. Then the entity stopped, right there, in the middle of the intersection. It flung its staff down into the ground, burying it a quarter of its length.

Though we couldn’t see it, we felt a wave of energy radiating from the object, spreading throughout the area. Then the entity held out its hand and the rod pulled itself up and jumped to the dark shape’s waiting palm. A voice loudly thundered through our minds and echoed in our souls. It was an unfamiliar language—and yet, somehow, we could understand it.

“By the Ground and the Holy Mountains of Zagros, I claim this land in the name of my Mighty Lord, the Bane of Lamashtu, the Great and Powerful Pazuzu, Ruler of the Fifth Realm of Kur! Fear, obey, serve!”

Pazuzu? The name rang a very loud bell in my mind. A chilling numbness came over me. I knew even Lamashtu by herself was bad news. Very bad news. But Pazuzu? Their demon of decay, disease, windblown pestilence, and famine? The king of wind demons in Mesopotamian myth? They were real? Ancient demons of one of the oldest civilizations on Earth…were real?

A flood of names echoed through my mind – their ruler, Ereshkigal, Nergal, Belet-Seri, and all the delightful denizens of the Mesopotamian world of the dead. Only the Aztecs could compete with them in terms of vileness and thirst for blood. But where their Mesoamerican counterparts mainly dealt with adult human sacrifices, these deities didn’t make any distinction between infants and adults.

Nor were they picky about the human parts offered to them.

My legs felt like jelly and I slumped down on the floor, to the curious looks of Cooper and Henry.

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