Read Online The Gateway (Harbinger of Doom Volume 1) by Glenn Thater - Free Book Online

black hall. As they did so, a bizarre
inhuman wailing sprang up all around them, emanating from the very
walls themselves. The men halted, weapons held at the
ready.
    “ What madness is this?” said one
knight.
    “ Where is the sound coming from? I
can’t see them,” shouted another.
    “ Steady boys,” said Ob, “keep
moving forward, the sounds can’t hurt you.”
    As they moved inward, the shrill wailing
increased. Growling, malefic intonations began: roaring and
barking, howling, chattering and gibbering. No throat of man or
beast could produce the bizarre cacophony that filled that evil
place. It surely sprang from the demonic tongues of a thousand
wretched fiends reveling in the very pits of hell
itself.
    The faces of the brave knights blanched as the
skirling sounds oppressed them and the bitter cold within the place
took hold. They were soldiers, schooled in battle and tactics. They
knew how to fight as a unit, or duel in single combat. But this was
altogether different. An unseen enemy, whose caterwauling could
deafen and disorientate - this was beyond their experience, beyond
their training. All they could do was flee or follow their
officers’ orders and move forward against the din. They followed
orders.
    As they approached the first line of obsidian
columns, the grotesque, debased painted bas-reliefs adorning their
surfaces came into view. Every manner of horrific, depraved,
obscene, and unspeakable activity was prominently, even proudly,
depicted on the gruesome faces of those sinister pillars. Such was
the horror of those odious images that the men surely would have
lost their sanity, if not their very souls, had they gazed upon
them for more than mere moments.
    The hellish din continued to intensify and
soon the walls of the vile edifice and the surfaces of the black
pillars began to move and wriggle as if alive. Hideous pseudopods
shaped like malformed hands, claws and demonic arms began to push
against and protrude from within the black stone. The obsidian
surfaces seemingly transformed to nothing more than thin opaque,
elastic veils. The horrid appendages writhed and flailed about,
seeking to ensnare the men as they moved past. This was madness, a
fevered nightmare.
    Claradon cringed as he thought of the hordes
of fiends that struggled to burst through the flowing stone and
enter the world of man from somewhere beyond the pale. The dim
light and eerie shadows that filled the place only served to
enhance the horror of the surreal scene and unnerve even the
bravest of the company. Looking around at his comrades, Claradon
could see stony resolve on the faces of some; stark terror marred
the aspects of others. Steamy breath rose from all, as did the soft
glow of the ensorcelled daggers.
    Gabriel and Ob offered words of encouragement
to keep the troops moving forward. Through the din though, most
surely couldn’t hear them. Lord Theta pressed on at the van,
stalking cautiously forward, brandishing his silver lance like a
spear while evading the writhing things protruding from the
columns.
    One of the knights was not so careful,
however, and strayed too close. A snakelike appendage darted out
and wrapped itself about the knight’s waist, pinioning his arms. It
effortlessly lifted and pulled him toward the column. Ob and
Claradon dashed toward the struggling knight, but before they could
reach him another tentacle appeared from above and grasped the
knight about the neck. The evil limbs pulled in opposite directions
and ripped the man’s head from his shoulders. Blood spurted in all
directions, washing over Ob and Claradon, who gasped in horror at
the monstrous sight. The vile tentacles quickly pulled back and
disappeared to whence they came. Ob and Claradon moved toward the
column with swords raised, to deal out whatever vengeance they
could.
    “ Stop,” shouted Par Tanch from
nearby. “Don’t strike out at the things. You might break the seal
and give them entry, then we’d surely be doomed.”