The Crystal Void (Illustrated Version) (Mon Dieu Cthulhu! Book 1) by John Houlihan

Author:John Houlihan [Houlihan, John]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Jolly Big Publishing
Published: 2018-11-10T08:00:00+00:00

The Bridging of the Void

Scarcely pausing to gather weapons and snatch a lantern to light the way, we were soon proceeding down the hidden passage where Da Foz had made his cowardly retreat.

The narrow stone stair wound down through the vitals of the castle, twisting into its very core and in this 'idden space, its occupiers had not bothered to hide their affiliation with the dark. Strange, otherworldly motifs and reliefs spattered the walls, showing men worshipping things from beneath the sea, bowing down before them. Dozens of more horrible, unmentionable scenes were also illustrated, including some which featured diabolic orgies and unnatural congress with these beasts. I shuddered and tried to keep my eyes averted from such depraved depictions, instead keeping a tight grip on my pistols and my feet at the double behind the major’s.

But what would we find at the end of this passage? Despite my own uncanny experiences earlier and these horrible works of ‘art’, I could still barely credit Da Foz’s assertion about this submarine race who needed Odette’s jewels to - what was it? Project themselves across the abyss? It seemed insane, inconceivable, far easier to dismiss him as an utter madman. Yet if one thing leant it credibility, then it was the major’s absolutely ironclad certainty about this incroyable tale. He was no naïf - and that is perhaps what unsettled me most of all.

As we descended into the bowels of the castle, the light from my lantern scarcely seemed to illuminate the walls at all, as if it were being absorbed by the darkness, but that foetid, fishy smell began to assert itself once again. Lower now and as the stone steps finally began to run out and give way to more natural formations, I could hear the sound of the waves lapping and breaking against the rock - and close by too. Then the steps came to an end and the rough floor and walls of a natural cavern disappeared off into the dark.

“That lantern will warn them of our coming, best extinguish it, d’Bois.”

“But 'ow will we find our way?”

“Don’t worry, I was born part feline, just grasp the end of my scabbard, follow close by and watch your step. These rocks are likely to be slippery.”

Deploying what I believe you British call haussement d'épaules Gallique, or what we call simply 'a shrug' to display my insouciance, I did as I was bid. Slowly, we crept through the dark, my left hand grasping the major’s sword casing, the right groping ahead of me so I would not falter. We moved on like deux souris aveugles, pardon... two blind mice, but the major seemed to indeed have the vision of une chat and although that rotten smell and the misgivings of my own querulous 'eart caused me no little dismay, onward we continued to press.

Fortunately, it was not long before a faint light began to trickle through from the way ahead and I was able to leave off trusting to my guide’s surefootedness and begin to make my own way.

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