Dimensions of the Elder Gods

by Balkanboy

A Ghoulish Venture

Chapter 1: A Ghoulish Venture

Peter sat in the alleyway, rocking himself, a manic smile on his face. Rain poured down at an almost unearthly rate, the moon sitting high up in its place. The moon, oh the moon, harbinger of death and despair, courier of bad tidings... They’re coming for you... He shook himself. Snap out of it man! This is no time to break down! He looked about, trying to get gist for what had happened. In front of him was a human body. He hoped. He crawled over to it and pulled off the robes covering it. Thank god it’s a man. His chest and stomach were a mess, elder sigils painted on his forehead. Hang on, hadn’t he done that to him? He became dimly aware of a shotgun in his right hand, a small waft of smoke floating up from the barrel. On the floor behind him was a knife, blood still fresh on its edge.

Ah yes, the gods, they needed a sacrifice, that was it, the books said so. And we must do what the gods say- Cthulhu fhtagn! NO! Don’t lose it again! Goddamn those books, he hated finding them. Every time he read another he became ever closer to losing his mind... No, not losing your mind, realising the truth... His mind drifted over the past events... A call from a man... The factory... Those cultists... and, Jake! Where was Jake! He could barely remember his face, but it was slowly coming back to him. He thought through all the happenings of the past few days, trying to get an idea of where he might be. Suddenly a wave of horror swept across his face as he looked at the dead man. I’m so sorry Jake...

The wind carried a scream across the landscape, no, a howl. Oh shit, the ghouls, he had forgotten about the ghouls. He searched Jake’s pockets for his keys, all emotion gone from his face, instead replaced by fear and a craving to survive. There was another howl, this time closer than before. Aha! He turned to run, keys in his hand only to be met with the face of a ghoul, the rain sliding down its rubbery skin giving it a glistening effect in the moonlight.

It was humanoid, yet so alien. It looked like a man at first glance, but the stench given off, of rotting flesh and endless caverns, made it obvious that it was not so. Luckily for him it was only a child. It screamed a warning to its brothers and sisters, but was cut off as he pulled both barrels on the poor beast. He broke into a run towards his car. The alleyway opened up into the street, on both sides parts of the factory looming over. He turned left towards the car which had been positioned at the end of the street, near the gate just in case they had to make a quick getaway. He was going to make it, and in good time. He fiddled with the keys and dropped them. Kneeling down to pick them up he realised something. There was fuel leaking from the car. Crap, it wasn’t moving without petrol.

He turned to see what had followed him, and there, emerging from the alleyway was a pack of ghouls, nine in total. Bugger it, he was going to have to go inside the factory again. He shivered at the thought of going back in there, though he wasn’t sure why since he could barely remember what had happened.

He ran to the nearest door on his left, hoping to find an office to hole up in till day break. Wrenching the door open, he went inside then slammed it shut and carried on running down the dark, musty corridor. More often than not, he passed a number of human bodies, memories of a shoot-out resurfacing as he went on. He took a left randomly and descended some steps into the basement. The basement! What the hell is wrong with you? That’s never a good idea! A loud screech from somewhere behind forced him to carry onwards.

The layout downstairs was pretty much the same, except it was even darker. Pulling out a lighter he had forgotten he had, he flicked it on, barely illuminating his surroundings. Right, left, right, he wasn’t keeping track, he just needed to get away from those things. Something caught his eye. From the caretakers room he thought he saw a flicker of light through the glass. He tried the knob, but it was locked. Looked like he was going to have to settle for good old fashioned force. Kicking the door clean off its fairly new hinges (adrenaline, what can I say?) he went inside.

No this must be a mistake, there was nothing here! Walking around the small room, he stepped onto one floor board and noticed that it was hollow beneath. Further inspection revealed it to be a trap door. Pulling it open, the light from inside temporarily blinded him. It was greenish in nature and seemed to get everywhere, illuminating every crevice and crease in his figure. There might be a bloody shoggoth down there. Wait a minute, what the hell was a shoggoth? More memories resurfacing caused him to gag.

SCREEEEEE!

He descended the ladder into the subterranean tunnel, closing the trap door behind him. Just as it shut, there was a loud thud on the trap door followed by more screeching and some meeps. The wood started to crack. Continuing down the tunnel, he noted that the walls, ceiling and floor had been reinforced with steel. No doubt to keep the ghouls from digging their way in. After what seemed like forever, he made it to a large room, in the shape of an octagon. For some reason the word ‘awesome’ came to mind, but he ignored it focusing on the task at hand.

Directly in front of him on the side of the room was an open doorway which had been bricked up. In the centre of the room was an altar with a man tied down, and on the walls all around were green torches. He had seen this all before, though he couldn’t remember where. He approached him, noting the knife laid on his chest. At first he thought he was dead, but he suddenly awoke and started madly thrashing about, trying to break the bonds but to no avail. A faint smash was heard through the tunnel he had come from. They were coming and there didn’t seem to be a way out. He was going to have to make a stand.

Or you could do what is obvious... nope, no not listening, Just take the knife... lalalala I CAN’T HEAR YOU, don’t worry, I’ll take care of it... he could feel himself losing control of his limbs, a feeling of faintness increasing at a rapid pace. Not again.

Suddenly everything went black. He could still hear the echo of the ghouls meeps and his footsteps, but very faintly. After sitting in the dark for a few minutes, his senses came back to him. He was standing above the man, knife in one hand, heart in the other. He dropped them, horrified at what he had done.

Don’t think your taking credit for this, it was me, all me... he hated agreeing with it but it had a point, one that would keep him sane for at least a little longer. The doorway suddenly crackled, and a white ball of energy appeared in it. It was a portal!

SCREEEE!

The ghouls came running through the other side of the room. Normally he wouldn’t have dared going into a weird portal that could potentially send him someplace worse than hell, but the slathering faces of the ghouls hadn’t looked particularly pleasant. Picking up his shotgun, he turned to the portal and legged it, jumping into it. It felt like his innards were being pulled out of place then being re-arranged in the shape of a goat as his entire body dematerialised. The last thing he saw were the vengeful glares of the ghouls, reluctant to come any closer.

Is he asleep? Good. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Franko Marinko Dragoslav Andro Kovaċ. Eccentric I know, but my parents Grandparents were aristocrats, pretty rich back in the day. The family was originally from Sarajevo, but my thrice-great Grandfather fled to Zagreb as the Ottomans advanced into the Balkans. I didn’t really work much since on the money we had, I didn’t need to. I had a lot of spare time which I spent roaming the city, meeting friends, getting drunk, getting into fights, the usual stuff bored adolescents do.

One night, while searching for a place to hurl my guts out, I stumbled upon a cult. I say stumbled, it was more of a kidnapping. They required sacrifices, and I just happened to be an adequate candidate. When they finally pulled the bag off my head (which was covered in puke might I add), I was lying on a stone altar in some dark cavern tied down with a rather fishy looking priest shouting various words (I assumed they were words). They didn’t sound like any language I knew, and they had a very slippery nature about them, though I do remember the name Dagon being mentioned. I lay their rather bored, wondering when it was going to end, when he plunged a dagger into my chest. That bit I remember very well as the alcohol was replaced by an outburst of adrenaline. Sadly, that burst lasted for about half a second, because the next blow struck my heart.

I never did think about the afterlife, but I never would have expected what happened next. My soul, I suppose you would call it, left my body and I possessed the nearest thing... a book. It was funny, because I swear for a fraction of a second I thought I saw a giant octopus thing laughing, with a few unnameable things standing to his side, all laughing as well. Meh, it doesn’t matter now. Anyway, this particular book, I don’t know if you’ve heard of it, was the Necronomicon. Spooky, eh? Basically some guy called Abdul Al-Hazred wrote it, and I tell you there’s some crazy shit in there, spells, summoning circles, the universal sign of banishment (sticking your middle finger out at someone) and more importantly all manner of beasts, monsters and gods. I was moved about, eventually ending up in another crazy guys basement. I swear to you, all those dog eared pages hurt like a bitch. If I ever get a body, I’m never abusing books like that again.

I was stuck in that book for maybe 400 years or so before some occultist found the book while going through the charred remains of the house as it had become. The idiot opened the first page and read the first line out loud. Why would an occultist do that? Surely he must be learned enough to know that reading what is pretty much a spell book out loud is ridiculously stupid. He could have summoned Yog-Suthoth or a Byakhee. Lucky for him he got me in his head, though he doesn’t seem to be very grateful. That happened about three weeks ago. Two investigations and a shoot out later, we end up here, in the present, hurtling through time and space unsure of our destination. Well, only I am, because somebody fainted. Again. Wuss.

------------

Celestia sat on her throne, waiting for the arrival of her favourite student. Twilight had been investigation a new ‘miracle’ organisation on Celestia’s behalf, and she was coming to give her a personal report on her findings. The organisation seemed to have the ability to heal people whatever the problem, as long as it was to do with health, with no exceptions, none at all. They could cure diseases, fix heart problems, grow limbs back, there seemed to be no limit to the capabilities of these unicorns. A guard pushed the door open, with Twilight right behind, a wide grin on her face.
‘Ah, Twilight, how good to see you. I trust your journey was not too rough?’ Twilight trotted up to her.
‘Princess Celestia, it is an honour.’ Twilight was practically family, she didn’t need to address her so formally.
‘So, what have you found out about our friends?’ She fished around her saddle for some papers, pulling out a few sheets.
‘They seem very nice. The leader, Obed Fishermen was very hospitable. He answered all of my questions and even showed me a session.’ While she had relished the thought of seeing how it was done, the spells had required words, and those words were... very interesting...
‘Oh?’
‘Well it seemed like any magic, first their horns started glowing-’
‘Their?’
‘-multiple ponies participate, apparently because of its difficulty- they say some spells and the ail is cured.’
‘Just like that?’ asked Celestia.
‘Yep. The pony who’s broken wings were being fixed seemed very happy.’ Celestia sat back in her throne.
‘Magic of this power usually has side-effects, are you sur-’ A white flash of light appeared, and an object came flying through a window. The two ponies were at first stunned, but then curious. What was it and why was it here? As they approached the object they realised that it was no object, it was a living being.

Oh great, they’re staring, hey wake up! With a shake, Peter opened his eyes, immediately he felt about for his shotgun which was, thankfully, in his right hand. You could never be too careful with teleportation. Come to think of it, where was he? The floor seems to be of very fine tiles, and- He became aware of the two figures standing above him. Please don’t be ghouls, please don’t be ghouls... What the hell? Ponies? With horns and wings? This must be what it’s like to be crazy... Wasn’t all that bad actually. Don’t worry your not insane, I’d know if you were. Besides, think I’d let that happen to you? Oh great, you again. The two ponies seemed to be conversing about him. Anyone else would have been stunned by this, but he’d seen too much crap to rule anything out. And he really meant anything. The bigger pony, kind of like a mix between a Pegasus and a unicorn addressed him, but he didn’t understand.

Hey, I know that language! Peter blinked. You- you do? Yeah of course. Most inter-dimensional/planetary languages are in the Necronomicon. Oh. Right. Wait, don’t talk to it! Still, he had no idea where the hell he was, and he would need all the help he could get. Damn right. If you want I could infuse the knowledge in your mind. You could? Wow, that would be... great! Right, just a second, it might sting a bit. An immense pain swept over his brain, causing him to fall to his knees, clutching at his head.

‘FUCK!’ he shouted, making the two ponies jump back and causing a stir outside. The two large doors to the throne room were pushed open, the guard from earlier entering.
‘Princess, we heard a- What is that thing?’ he rushed up to Celestia, just in case the creature was hostile. Still clutching his head, he looked up at the guard pony.
‘Yeah, well you’re no work of art eith-’ he had understood what he had said.

Of course you did. Did you not pay attention to our last conversation? Right. Sorry.
‘I am going to ask you one more time, who are you and why are you in my throne room?’ the large one said, stepping closer to him. He looked around himself. It was a very nice throne room, with banners hanging along the sides of the walls, all of them white, blue and gold. ‘Did you hear me? Can you even understand me?’ He stared blankly at her, thinking. The purple one frowned.
‘I don’t think he can princess.’ She walked right up to him and started speaking very slowly while gesturing. ‘I... Twilight. You are?’ Franko mentally slapped him. Say something idiot!
‘Oh right, uh, I’m called Peter. It’s nice to meet you Ms. Twilight.’ She started to blush at how stupid she must have looked treating him like he knew nothing.
‘So you do speak Equestrian.’ Stated the princess, as he now knew, rather seriously.
‘Yeah well only just. So, where am I exactly?’ He asked reaching into his pocket for his blue journal.

It’s a diary. No it’s a journal. Then why does it say diary on the front? Look, just be quiet, I’m trying to have a conversation!
‘You are in my throne room trespasser, and that’s all you need to know. Now why are you here?’ He was trying to figure that out himself, besides from the obvious fact that he had jumped into a portal.
‘Well, funny story really, you see I jumped into a portal and here I am!’ She didn’t seem convinced.
‘You jumped into a portal, just like that?’ He nodded, and shrugged.
‘So why did you just jump into a portal blindly? It could have taken you anywhere!’ Twilight stated rather dramatically.
‘A pack of ghouls were chasing me and I fancied my chances with the portal rather than them so I ended up here and that’s that.’ Twilight smiled reminiscently.
‘That reminds me of my friend Pinkie Pie. She always said giggle at the ghosties. At first I didn’t believe her, but you know what?’
‘What?’ He asked.
‘It actually worked!’
‘I had a friend who giggled at the ghouls once.’ She brightened up.
‘And did it help him?’
‘He painted the walls with his own brains.’ Twilight was silent. More guards came in now, spears, colourful glows around them, suspended in the air with some form of magic and assembled behind him in a semi circle. Peter, realising how vulnerable he was, scrambled to his feet. Now he could tell just how short they all were. The princess herself was a bit bigger than him, though that was including the hair and horn, while the guards were shorter than him, their heads reaching up to his chest.

Oh great, look what you did. Hey, I didn’t do anything!
‘In summary, you are telling me that you jumped into a portal to make your escape and landed here?’
‘That’s right.’ Her eyes squinted.
‘Was the portal open when you got to it?’ Her voice started to take a more authoritative tone now that started to scare him. He held the shotgun tighter.
‘Um, no, I had to open it.’
‘And do you have any natural ability with magic?’ Don’t answer that!
‘Well from what I’ve seen most people have some ability to do magic, but no, I have never done it.’ This was the line she had been waiting for.
‘Guards, subdue him.’ They immediately closed in on him, one of the unicorns using their magic to wrench the gun out of his hands before he could do anything with it. He wouldn’t have used it anyway. He was too shocked to react and didn’t do much to stop the guards from cuffing him. What little resistance he did put up earned him a smack to the head.
‘The prisoner will not resist,’ the guard stated happily before resuming his neutral expression.

What? Are they enjoying this? Well, judging from the smiles they keep giving each other, I’d say yes, they are.
‘What have I done? You have no right!’ Celestia brought her face right up to his.
‘Quite the contrary. You see, of the many universal rules there are in magic, one of them is that there are only two ways to perform magic. The first is through natural ability, and from what you said you’ve never done that, have you?’ Say you have, say it!
‘I haven’t.’ Idiot.
‘Which leads me to believe that you used the other way.’ She put unusually heavy emphasis on the word ‘other’, as though it was something to be shunned. ‘The other way is something which I pride myself on having managed to stamp out of my kingdom, is that of sacrifice. In other words the only other way is to kill somepony.’

Oh. Oooooh. Why the hell didn’t you listen to me? I don’t know. I suppose I just wanted to be my own man rather than a slave to someone in my head. Oh wah, wah, were you too obedient to Majka and Djed as a teenager? Who? Your parents idiot. Well how was I supposed to know that! And stop calling me an idiot. Peter continued with the issue at hand.
‘But-but if I hadn’t killed him they would have killed me!’ She scoffed.
‘That’s your argument? You think your life was better than his, that you were the one that deserved to live?’
‘I...’ Of the many things that Peter was, a quick thinker was not one, and he had no retort or other defence that he could conjure up fast enough to be effective.
‘I thought so. Now hold still, or this could be painful.’ He was about to ask what, then he felt something in his head. It didn’t feel so much as a light headed sensation as it did someone sticking their arm through his head and twirling his brain about.

‘Agh! Fu- sweet LORD that HURTS!’ He twitched and turned in agony as she clawed through his brain, then suddenly she reared, as though slapped across the face causing a few of the guards to rush to her side.

That’ll teach her. Doesn’t she know clawing through a person’s mind is rude? Peter could not overstate just how ironic that was. The princess looked dishevelled, obviously not expecting that at all and went back up to him.
‘Hmm, you seem to employ defences around your mind... I suggest you lower them or I’ll be forced to go through them, and trust me, it doesn’t feel very good.’ He shrugged again.
‘I don’t think I know how.’ She sighed.
‘Well in that case, I’m sorry for what is about to happen next. If you have any next of kin, I’ll find the information in there and send your body to them for burial.’ Wait. WHAT.
‘Wait, what do you mean-’ Her horn started to glow much brighter, blinding him as it went.
‘She’s going to snap your mind like a twig,’ commented one of the guards. His heartbeat raced as he looked around for a way out, eyes dashing madly around the room.
‘Hey, he looks like a caged animal!’ The guards laughed, though their voices were getting fainter.
‘Well that’s cause he is an animal.’ He felt a hoof impact with his back, keeling him over. More laughing. He was about to respond when the princess finally entered his mind.

It felt like someone filled his brain with needles, ripped his spine out, then beat him across the head with it. The profanities that followed were so vulgar that Twilight and even a few of the guards turned pale, though he couldn’t see them through the red haze. Once again Celestia reeled to the amazement and horror of the guards, though this time whatever Franko had done seemed to have more of an effect on her; she was clutching (as far as hooves go) at her face and her neck.

I thought she realised the first time not to do that. Whatever it was you did, thanks man, I was fucked there. Don’t mention it. She was asking for it anyway. She gathered herself.
‘That is a strong mind you have there,’ she said slowly. You tend to learn a few things when you’re stuck in the book of the dead for four centuries. ‘Guards, take him to the dungeons, I’ll have to deal with him later.’ They picked him up using their magic and pushed him out of the throne room.
‘The prisoner will remain absolutely quiet!’ Called one guard.
‘The prisoner will also only face down!’ Called another. This was going to be a long day...

Comments

[Khorne]

moar

[Sandman]

Argh, me brain!
Break up your text walls into smaller paragraphs, as they are now it's very difficult to read it.

I want more please if you would be so kind.

[Balkanboy]

118517
118462

As you wish

[thepinkparty]

this is awesome :)

[voiddragon]

MOAR

[Gamaliel]

im already in love with this story

[Guesswork]

I'll come back and read the whole thing when I've got a second, but from what I've already seen this is gripping and original and efficiently written. The profanity and gore are not really my cup of tea, though, but that's my only criticism.

[Lexicon]

You spelled it: Cthulhu fhtagan!

It's actually spelled: Cthulhu fhtagn!