Read Online Götterdämmerung by Barry Reese - Free Book Online

ebony. Indeed, parts of the fabric seemed to writhe and turn like a living thing, flickering at the edges.
    “Where am I?” Lazarus asked. His words echoed loudly in the silent realm.
    “You are in The Void,” the man replied and his words were oddly accented. Was he from the Middle East? Lazarus wasn’t sure. “And I am known by many names, some of which would be quite familiar to you. Suffice to say that I am oft-times a messenger and other times a delegate of greater influence. My masters… many of them are sleeping and others are quite far away.” The figure laughed softly. “It is good that you have come to me, Lazarus Gray, for my physical shell has been recently broken and I am banished from the world of man for a time.”
    “Are you behind the suicides?”
    “Not I. That honor belongs to Darhoth, she who is sometimes called The Mother of Pus. She has recently become aware of her surroundings once more and her awakening has set off psychic tidal waves that have touched your home city.”
    Lazarus filed away that name in his mental inventory, knowing that he’d have to do some research. “I want it to stop,” he said.
    “I imagine you do.” The dark figure moved slightly closer. “Things will calm down now that Mother is awake. She is on the move, you see, and will take precautions to ensure that no one will be able to track her. This will result in fewer sensitives reacting to her presence.”
    “What does she want?”
    “The same thing any Old One wants… chaos, disorder, death and suffering. The standbys.”
    “You need to tell her that I’ll destroy her before I let her succeed at any of those things.”
    A burst of laughter answered that declaration. “I like you, Mr. Gray. You remind me of The Peregrine in that both of you are so utterly confident in your abilities that you don’t even stop to look at things from afar. My associates are ancient beings. They were here long before any of your kind had slithered from the primordial ooze that birthed you. They will be here long after humanity is a forgotten relic of another time. Even if you defeat us today, what does that matter? We look at things in a far different way than you do.”
    “If we defeat you today, we force you to wait… and then someone else can do the same. I don’t see a problem with that.”
    “Of course you don’t.” The stranger waved a hand. “Whatever. I will make sure she knows your name and the nature of your threat. I plan to give her fair warning about all your associates, everyone who will come to take part in this league of heroes that you’re going to assemble.”
    Again, Lazarus found the information he was being given quite interesting. Was this man referring to Assistance Unlimited, The Peregrine and Catalyst? Or were there more to come?
    “You said you had many names but you still haven’t given me a single one,” he pointed out, hoping to draw out more useful facts.
    “You may as well call me Nyarlathotep, Mr. Gray. That’s the name that your friend The Peregrine knows me by. Given our recent history, he might find it interesting—and, no doubt, a bit disturbing—to know that you’ve spoken to me today.”
    A stirring in the lake of pus made Lazarus pause. He saw the thick liquid part and several tentacles rose up from below. The thick limbs swayed in the air, shifting to and fro like the head of a snake, before sinking back out of sight.
    Lazarus suddenly felt dizzy. He swayed on his feet and his vision grew dim. Nyarlathotep’s voice reached his ears, sounding tinny and far away. “Take care, Mr. Gray. I’ll pass your words on to Darhoth, as I promised.”
    Suddenly, Lazarus was back in the real world, once more occupying his physical form. He sat up quickly, immediately recognizing that he was back at Robeson Avenue, stretched out on a couch. Surrounding him, with concerned etched on their faces, was not only Catalyst and the members of Assistance Unlimited, but the masked vigilante known