Sonya turned and regarded Lars with thinly disguised fury. “You have doubted my father from the first moment, Lieutenant. And yet here we stand, in front of the gates. How can you still be so contrary?”
“Because what you call gates look to me like nothing more than a set of rocks blocking a cave’s entrance.”
Dieter squeezed his daughter’s hand and then pulled away. She fell silent and Dieter nodded at Lars. “You are right, of course. It will do no one any good to make undue assumptions.” He moved forward and studied what they’d found: a huge cavern entrance, cut off by a series of boulders. He looked up and could see no place where they could have fallen from. They had been picked up and moved here, of that he was sure. The work involved would have been immense given the location and the weight of the rocks.
Speaking in a professorial voice, Dieter said, “Last night we saw a goat and this morning a stag. I believe these to be Heiðrún and Eikþyrnir, as described in the old tales.”
Lars grunted, ignoring the looks he was continuing to receive from Sonya. The girl was attractive but she was wasted on such academic matters, in his opinion. She could have best served the Fatherland by producing strong male children.
Dieter continued on. “Within the great hall are half of all those who died in battle. Great kings and heroes of the Norse people wait within, practicing battle by day and feasting by night. They are training for the coming of Ragnarok, when they will return and engage in the final battle that will end with the renewal of the world.”
“Pardon me, Professor, but if I recall correctly, the golden tree Glasir is supposed to stand before the great hall. The most beautiful tree in all the world, and yet I see no sign of it.” Lars had stripped off his goggles and gloves. Though none of them had really thought of its significance, it was much warmer here in front of the cave and all of them were beginning to feel stifled by their heavy clothing.
Dieter frowned. “You’re right. I can only say that my research said the Hall was here and we’ve found what, to me, appears to be an entrance. If we can somehow clear it and explore inside, we can prove or disprove my notion.”
Now it was Lars who approached the rocks. He brought his great strength to bear on one of the rocks and with tremendous effort, he was able to push it several feet. “That’s not going to be easy, especially if I’m the only one working to clear the way.”
“Listen!” Sonya hissed.
Both men fell silent. For a moment, Lars thought she was just being annoying but then he heard it, too. A scuttling sound, as if someone were pushing against the boulders, but from the other side.
“Impossible,” he whispered. When several of the rocks began to shift, rolling slightly in his direction, Lars fell back. “Get over to the edge of the cliff,” he ordered, drawing his pistol.
Dieter and Sonya did as they were told, each of them lost in a confused mix of excitement and fear.
Lars saw the heavy rocks slide away, one of them suddenly rolling with such force that it went tumbling right off the side of the cliff. In less than three minutes, the passage was cleared, leaving behind a massive portal into darkness.
“Stay there,” he hissed. He crept forward, peering into the gloom. He saw no one but the smell was unusual. It reminded him of a visit to his uncle’s farm during his childhood. His uncle had allowed him to watch as a cow gave birth. The odors that had emanated from the bovine’s bloody crotch had been a heady mixture — revolting and yet strangely intoxicating.
“Who are you?” a voice asked, drifting out from the cave’s mouth. It was oddly sexless and Lars wasn’t sure if the others had even heard it. It seemed to be a voice speaking directly into his brain.
“Lars Hansel. I am a lieutenant in the German army. Step out so that I may see you!”
“Why are you here?” it countered.
“The professor believes this is Valhalla. Proving its existence could help bolster our claims of Aryan superiority and the Füehrer believes that we may be nearing Ragnarok. If so, the foot soldiers of Odin could fight on our behalf!”
There was a rasping sound, much like laughter. “Odin is not here. The gods of your people are not here. But there is power… such great power. And it sleeps in a deathless dream-state. If you help awaken it, your army will know power such as you have never conceived.”
Lars, who had always prided himself on his bravery, realized that his hands were shaking. He felt as if he were stepping into a deep, terrible abyss… and he knew beyond doubt that it was staring back at him. “Who are you and why won’t you step out into view? If you don’t identify yourself, I will fire my weapon.”
“Who are you talking to?” Sonya asked. “Can you see anyone in there?”
So that confirmed it. Sonya and her father heard nothing. Was Lars imagining it? Was there some sort of strange gas coming from the cave? He had heard of such things, fumes that could drive a man mad.
But then the voice came again and it sounded definitive. It was real. “I serve the Great Old Ones, those who ruled the stars long before man had crawled from the primordial slime. I serve the true power of the universe… Chaos! The ultimate god dances madly at the center of all things and beings such as you, and even such as I, are nothing more than specks of dust at his feet.”
“Your name!” Lars shouted. “Tell me your name!”
“I am Vulthar, the Dark and Formless. I am the Gatekeeper of the Sleeping Hunger. I serve Darhoth, the Mother of Pus, and she seeks to bring pain and decay to all living things. Birthed of an obscene union between a human female and Shub-Niggurath! She is the daughter of The Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young!”
Lars lowered his weapon, his mind growing fuzzy. With every bizarre name, he felt like something was being unlocked in his mind. It was like there were puzzle pieces that he’d never known existed and hearing them given an identity was somehow detrimental to his psyche.
“Do you wish to awaken her?” Vulthar repeated. Lars now saw it. Not a normal being at all, not like a human. Vulthar was an amorphous ball of cyan-colored energy, swirling in the dark. Tendrils occasionally extended out from it, as if tasting the air the way a snake would with its tongue.
Lars felt like he was bathed in sweat. He turned to face Sonya and her father, both of whom were watching him with great concern. “Come forward,” he said. “I think we have found something even greater than Valhalla.”
“Greater?” Dieter asked dubiously. He began walking towards the cave, pulling a somewhat reluctant Sonya with him. “What do you mean?”
Tendrils suddenly shot forth, seizing hold not only of Lars but of Dieter, as well. They were yanked into the cave, their screams of terror echoing loudly. Sonya had pulled free at the last moment but she landed hard on the ground, dazed from the impact of her head against a fallen rock.
She felt the ground shifting beneath her and she heard the voice of Vulthar. “Darhoth will have need of all of you. You will serve her as I have done….”
Less than a half hour later, the three explorers emerged from the darkness of the cave. Lars was no longer in possession of his body and if anyone had seen his unprotected eyes, this fact would have been immediately noticeable. Bottomless pools of liquid black lay in those sockets now and he hid this by putting his goggles back into place.
Sonya staggered a bit. Her body was now the living receptacle for The Mother of Pus. The ancient entity was not used to being contained within such a frail, fleshy form but it would adapt.
Dieter was the only one to have escaped such a fate. He was stunned, however, broken down by the horrors that he had seen. When The Mother of Pus had inserted herself, inch by awful inch, into his daughter’s body, all Dieter could do was cry in gratitude that it hadn’t been him instead.
The thing that wore Sonya’s face turned to face him and said, “The stars are properly aligned.” Her voice was hoarse from the screaming that Sonya had done before her soul had been devoured. “More of my kindred can be revived but we have things that must be done. I will need access to this… OFP?”
Dieter paused and then nodded. The Occult Forces Project had funded this expedition in hopes that he would return with mystic relics that could help in the creation of new super soldiers. “We must return to Berlin. I can get you inside the facility.”
“Good.” Sonya looked up into the gray skies. “I hope you can see me, Azathoth, and that you will be pleased with the chaos that is about to ensue.”