On a normal person that move would have dislocated his knee and dropped him to the ground. The fight would have been over. Fortunately for me, I wasn't expecting any sort of normal reaction. I succeeded in pushing the beast to his knees and then proceeded to punch the back of his head as hard as I could.
I landed blow after blow into the back of his head. My hands were starting to hurt from the damage his skull was doing to them. I tried to increase the force of my blows, but in a quick move the monster spun and slapped me in the chest. The hit was just as strong as all of his previous attacks and I found myself struggling to take a breath again.
The hit had slid me back and along the carriage. I hadn't done much damage to the monster Nazi's head, but I must have at least dazed him because he was taking about as long as I was to stand back up.
That's when she showed up.
"You're going to have to use magic." She said, and I knew she was right.
Her name was Olivia and she wasn't real. She was a fractured piece of my mind and the result of my using the magic of the void too much.
The void is the name I give for all of the evil and monstrous things that are just under the surface of the world everyone knows. The void is another dimension, or an invisible world living right alongside our own. From that world, those with the talent for it can harness the energies through words, items, or gestures of power. Wizards of old did it, and so can I.
The downside to touching the void is that it was never meant for the human mind. Every time that someone touches the void they lose a piece of their sanity. Those without the affinity for the void usually go completely insane with the briefest of contacts with it. Those with the ability to manipulate it usually last longer, but it depends on how often they use it.
My insanity had started with the complete and total invention of Olivia. I needed help getting through Nazi-controlled France, and my mind conjured a French woman with all of the proper paperwork.
It took me a while to figure out that she was the scar-tissue from my magic use, but when I did I decided to stop using it and give my mind a chance to heal. I didn't know if it could heal, but I had to try.
Unfortunately, I tend to run into ridiculously complicated situations that require the use of magic and I couldn't deny how right my imaginary friend was. I wasn't going to stop the monster with my fists alone. I was going to need help.
Even though I knew what I needed to do, it was a hard thing for me to convince myself to do it. Olivia had gotten quieter and easier to ignore in the last several months and it gave me hope that I had been on the road to recovery.
The rotting hulk had started walking toward me by the time I was finally up on my knees. I focused my will into grabbing the power that was within my grasp and pushing it into my hands.
I had just started summoning my will when the undead Nazi had made it to me. He grabbed me with one of his hands wrapping around my throat and lifted me up into the air.
I kept pushing my energy into my hands until the edges of my vision began to blur. The thing could have snapped my neck at anytime, but that Nazi personality was as much a crutch as it was an aid. He wanted to see the life leave my body.
The moment before I would have passed out, I swung both of my hands up and slapped the side of his throat. The energy I had collected was raw power and I poured it out of both of my hands and into his neck.
His dead eyes widened with surprise as he realized that he had miscalculated. I felt his hand begin to tense in hopes of killing me first but the undead monster wasn't fast enough. My magic tore through his flesh and in the same instant that his head fell off of his shoulders, his hand released me and I fell to the ground.
For the third time in almost as many minutes, I gasped to fill my lungs with air.
Olivia was suddenly in front of me as I choked on the dry Utah air.
"Get up, we don't have time for this."
I frowned at her and then forced myself to my feet. I had no weapons and was bruised, but I didn't think either was an issue that would hold me back.
I got to the door to the junction between the cars and slid it open noisily. As soon as I had my head through it I saw a gun and dove back.
No bullets came, but a loud clunk did and I felt the car jolt underneath my feet. Whoever was in the next car had just separated the cars.
I swore and swung back out of the carriage door. I didn't wait to see if anyone was firing at me, instead choosing to bet on my speed and luck. I swung around and up the ladder on this side of the carriage as bullets bounced around me. Within moments I was back on the roof.
The wind tore at me, but not like it had before. I only had a moment to act so I took a few steps back from the edge of the roof, then turned and sprinted toward the edge.
The gap between the cars was further than I had assumed it was and I almost missed my target. I grabbed the bottom of the ladder on the other car by sheer luck. The gunman was just barely in reach and I grabbed him by the ankle and bounced him off of the tracks and into the way of the slowing car.
Speed was on my side and I bounced my legs off of the tracks and swung myself onto the ladder. I continued to the roof and moved as quickly as I could toward the edge of the train. Deciding that touching the void was the only way I was going to have any chance at success, I gathered my energies and then swung down over the edge of the roof and into another window.
Unlike the first time, I was prepared for the jump. The window shattered and I hit the floor of the car with one tight roll and came up ready.
I sent a wave of pure energy at the first form I saw. To my satisfaction it was Olof, and the gun he was holding was knocked from his hand.
I didn't slow to see if Olof had gone down with the hit, instead choosing to tackle the only other occupant of the room.
The other occupant wasn't special at all. He was just another Nazi and not an undead one at that. I hit him in the abdomen with my shoulder and drove him back into the other side of the car.
I heard a window break in that moment and knew he'd hit the window hard. I stood up and reared back to punch him when I heard magical words being barked from behind me.
I spun just in time to see Olof with his palm out toward me. A wave of invisible energy, similar to what I had sent at him, hit me and almost knocked me back out of the car.
I stopped myself from sliding out the door of the car by grabbing at the floor. I came up with the gun that Olof had lost with my initial attack.
I was beyond pleased when I realized that it was my Smith & Wesson.
The Nazi I had slammed into the window swung his own gun in my direction.
He didn't understand though. I had just taken out an entire battalion of Nazis without my weapon of choice. He didn't stand a chance.
My bullet landed between his eyes, and he fell out the window that was broken behind him.
I brought my gun arm around and put Olof in my sights. I was prepared to pull the trigger when Olof hissed another magical phrase. The gun writhed as it turned into a snake and I dropped it to the carriage floor.
"That had better not be permanent." I growled.
Damned snake monsters.
Olof ran at me then, but I was no longer in the mood to fight. The undead Uber-Soldat was more than enough fighting for me.
I ducked Olof's quick swing, but I had assumed that Olof was more human then snake, and suffered for it. Humans have poor recovery when they miss unless they've had it trained out of them. Olof missed and managed to twist and strike me in the back of the head.
The floor met me with a bounce before I was picked up, spun around and hoisted, again, by my throat.
Olof had more of his father in him than I had originally surmised.
Whatever power Olof had tapped into to hold me, it was at least as strong as the undead Nazi's had been. I was immobilized and suffocating.
Olivia appeared silently behind Olof then with a smile. "Are you really going to make me save you?" She was using her Frenc
h accent again. "He has defensive energies up. It's going to take all of my power." Which since Olivia was a figment of my imagination, what she really meant was that it was going to take all of my power.
Olivia walked slowly around Olof until she faced him just to my right side. With a quick move of her arm, she punched the snake-eyed bastard in the stomach.
Surprise and pain flashed across Olof's face as he doubled over and dropped me to the floor.
Olivia had faded from sight, but her voice was clear in my mind. "I wish I could do more, but someone has left me all tied up and without exercise for the last few weeks." There was a heavy sigh. "You're on your own now. Don't get us killed, sil vous plait."
I didn't wait to catch my breath. Standing up quickly, I gave an uppercut to Olof. His head snapped back and Olof was immediately twisting away.
Not allowing him to gain any ground, I followed as Olof twisted and kicked at him. Snake or not, that area between his legs was all man. Olof howled as I grabbed the back of his head by its blond hair and put my fist into his face three times.
Letting Olof go, he fell to the ground and then jumped forward toward a snake writhing on the floor.
Then I realized it had never been a snake. Olof hadn't turned my gun into a snake, he had just managed to convince me that it was a snake.
My eyes darted around the floor as quickly as they could until I found what I was looking for. The Nazi that I had watched fall out of the car window with a bullet sized hole in his head hadn't taken his pistol with him.
Diving across the floor, I went into a slide and scooped up the Nazi pistol.
Olof brought my gun to bear on me at the same time I brought the pistol to bear on him.
We shot at the same time.
Olof's head snapped back and he fell over. The wood next to my head splintered.
My heart was beating so fast that I could feel it in my whole body. That bullet had been really close.
I dropped the Nazi gun and pried my prized pistol from Olof's dead fingers before patting down Olof.
It didn't take me long to find the journal in Olof's inside jacket pocket. I flipped through the pages, eager to find the clues I had been waiting for.
I flipped the pages faster, and with each page my heart sunk further.
The pages weren't covered in words, but in the symbols of a language that I didn't recognize. It was in code.
I sighed heavily and to said to no one in particular, "I'm going to have to find William Dyer."
Chapter 2: Miskatonic University
The returning train ride to Miskatonic University was completely uneventful. I mulled over William Dyer's journal the entire journey, while Leo alternated between sleeping and drinking wine. I flipped through page after page of Dyer's ramblings. Some of it included words and sentences that almost made sense, but even those came across as what I could only assume was coded gibberish.
The runic writings filled the rest of the pages, with each page making less and less sense. I had spent most of my life researching the darker historical texts of the world, and while I recognized most of the runes, they were completely out of context. Without William Dyer, I wasn't going to ever understand that journal.
Before long, I gave in and joined Leo in the more enjoyable of his Frenchman habits. Together we finished quite a few bottles of wine before finally returning to the east coast.
Once we had returned to the University, I swung by my office for only a moment to drop off my weapons and grab a bottle of brandy before heading directly for the library.
I had only just poured myself a glass when Leo was able to join me. He collapsed into one of the more comfortable chairs and ignored the stares he received from the few students that stuck around during the summer months. I walked to where he had collapsed and handed him the glass.
"Monsieur, you have an office. Shouldn't we discuss our matters there?" Leo raised an eyebrow toward one of the students walking by and then swigged the brandy.
He had a point, of course. Our discussions weren't meant for the curious ears of the students at Miskatonic University, but that office hadn't always been mine.
"Brandon Smythe had an office. I prefer being in the library or in the field."
I poured myself a drink and then turned and tossed the useless journal onto a pile of books that had started to collect next to Leo's chair. This had been our place of research for the last several months and I had told the librarian that each of the volumes we had collected should remain within reach. The titles that Dyer's journal landed next to were not titles that many of the students would ever need anyway. Titles such as Deep beneath the Granite Lies Madness, by Dr. Alan Scott, Precursor to Prehistory, by Dr. Jonathan Stewart, and The Alien Ancestors, by Connor Hawke. While not a man of higher learning, Connor Hawke was considered one of the world's most knowledgeable resources in matters pertaining to outside of Earth's atmosphere. At least, that was the case for those who believed in such matters. Unfortunately, the world was ruled by the ignorant, and poor Mr. Hawke would never be known as much more than a crackpot.
Leo noticed the frustration in my face as I tossed Dyer's journal. "You have had no luck then?"
I shook my head at my friend. "None." I sat across from Leo in a chair similar to the one that he occupied. "Why would someone that was so ready to label himself insane in the eyes of the 'educated' world by warning the world of what he saw, hide the details of what he told us all about in such an indecipherable mess?" I was asking the question rhetorically, but Leo answered anyway.
"He obviously had much more to tell." Leo's lip curled into a half of a smile. "Are you not the master of keeping the world from knowing what it is you truly do? Does this seem so hard for you to understand?"
I frowned back at my friend, but it didn't change the fact that he had a valid point. In my quest to protect humanity from the horrors that laid just out of sight, I had hidden many truths. Not even Leo, whom I trusted more than anyone alive, knew the full extent of what our enemy could do. Instead, I told him only what he needed to know, but Leo's point was possibly closer to the truth than he knew.
I did not hold back data from Leo because of any sort of trust issues, but instead to protect him. The little bit of the void that he had already seen had almost shattered his psyche. I knew that I wouldn’t be able to protect him forever, but I was in no hurry to hasten his descent into madness. By that same token, William Dyer had told the world what they needed to know. It was possible that whatever was in that journal would drive me deeper into madness.
If Olivia's resurgence was any indication, I couldn't really afford to go any crazier.
We were interrupted then by Carol Berg, my secretary.
"Dr. Doran, thank goodness you've returned," she sounded genuinely relieved to see me. Carol was in her early twenties and only a few inches shorter than myself. She wore her brown hair up in a tight bun and was an attractive woman when she smiled.
Unfortunately, I was never going to see her smile while she worked for me. I couldn't get used to the idea of having a secretary, and regularly ignored my responsibilities to my recently acquired position. While I might be the Dean of Miskatonic University, I was also in the middle of a war for the soul of humanity.
I am a man of priorities.
"Carol, please join us for a drink." I said, trying to head off the bureaucratic nonsense thatI knew was coming.
Her relief at finally finding me evaporated into a very heavy frown. "I would love to, sir, but I simply do not have the time." She threw a glance at Leo before continuing. "And neither do you. I have a large collection of agreements for you to sign that are currently waiting patiently for you on your desk. Those forms are for the renovations to Pellman Hall. Underneath those, you'll find several requests for admission that still need to be approved by yourself."
I frowned. Normally, there was a department for handling admissions and the Dean would be able to excuse himself from that task. Unfortunately, I had made it quite cle
ar that Miskatonic University needed a more stringent vetting process. Over the years, cult enthusiasts, devil worshipers, and plainly insane people had been admitted to the University and granted access to some of its darker secrets. Under my oversight, I wasn't going to allow that to happen anymore and had fully taken over the role of filtering through our candidates.
To Carol's point, I wasn't very good at it.
"How many requests is 'several'?" I asked.
"Two hundred seventy-eight as of this morning." She replied without hesitation.
Leo laughed out loud at that and I shot him a glare.
"Carol," I said. "I will head directly to my office in just a moment. Leo and I are nearing a breakthrough in our research. I will address everything on my desk by the end of the day. You have my word."
Carol had had my word on previous occasions as well and didn't say anything as she spun on her heel and stormed out of the library.
Still smiling, Leo asked, "Should we go to your office?"
I shook my head. "Not yet. If we can't translate Dr. Dyer's journal, then they won't be able to stop the Germans from getting weapons that could destroy the world." I grinned. "Admission would be the least of our worries."
Leo leaned back in his chair and took another sip of his brandy. "We do not know that they are weapons, though. Dyer's city in the mountains could be a home to pacifists."
I shook my head and pointed at a folder resting beside my chair. "That's Dyer's edited account of the expedition. His 'warning'. If his interpretations of the carvings are correct, than their reign on this planet came to a halt during a war. Wars have weapons. The Nazis will find something."
"This is bigger than us. Maybe we should take this to the United States Government?"
I laughed at Leo's statement, even though he was probably being serious. "They would just take the weapons for themselves. Everyone that we might normally go to in regards to stopping Nazi threats is useless because everyone that we go to will want to use whatever weapons are down there, and we can't allow that. It is not technology for this world and the allure will be irresistible."
The Adventures of Andrew Doran: Box Set Page 24