Nowhere Beyond the Veil

Chapter 1

Author's notes: This story is a crossover of "Courage the Cowardly Dog" and the Game Cube game entitled "Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem." The story might be easier to follow if you are familiar with the game but if you are not, rest assured, that I will write this story in a way that is understandable to all. Also, in the game, the word "magic" is spelled M-A-G-I-C-K. For the fun of it, I will spell magic in this way so don't nag me about it.

In an old mansion in Rhode Island, a young women named Alexandra Roivas was busy searching through her grandfather's ancestral mansion. Alex's grandfather, Edward Roivas, was murdered two weeks ago in a horrible death. Frustrated by the polices' incompetence of finding any clues, Alex tried to take the matter into her own hands by searching for clues in her grandfather's mansion. In her search, she had uncovered stories about people all over the world and in different time periods who took part in a fight to save humanity from a terrible evil. She had spent several hours at her grandfather's home and she had already learned much about this ancient struggle and yet her search still goes on.

Alex managed to find another hidden chapter page inside a drawer. She took the page to her grandfather's study desk to read it. She read the date on the page and was rather surprised that the date was recent, less than a year ago in fact. And what was also interesting was that the chapter page said that the story takes place in Nowhere, Kansas. A rather odd place to be seeing anything out of the ordinary. Like all of the chapter pages she has found, this one had a note written at the beginning by her grandfather. The note read:

I had uncovered much in my studies to locate the truth but so far, this one is the most unique. The ancients have used their powers to influence the fate of humans but it seems that animals have also been targets to their power. I uncovered a story about a small dog who was one of the chosen few who fought against the Eternal Darkness. Like everyone else, this dog had no real training in combat and was nothing extraordinary. But this dog played a pivotal role in this story and his cowardliness proved to be his best weapon.

Interested by what she read, Alex continued reading the story, anxious to learn what came next....

#

The story starts on a rather cool day in Nowhere. Normally it is warm in Nowhere but some how the winter weather has finally managed to work its powers into this particular day. Because of how warm Nowhere usually was, Eustace, Muriel, and Courage was not used to it being this cold. Eustace had wrapped himself in a large ratty looking blanket shivering. Like Eustace, Courage was also wrapped in an old blanket. Courage looked just as miserable as Eustace in that small thin blanket. His teeth were chattering loudly as if he was afraid but this time, it was from the cold. Muriel was the only one who looked comfortable as she walked into the living room with three cups of hot chocolate in her hands. Courage moved out of the rocking chair to allow Muriel in it and then he got himself comfortable into Muriel's lap. Courage sipped his cup of hot chocolate being extra careful not to burn himself again.

"Why don't we watch some TV to keep us warm." suggested Muriel. As Muriel was groping through a nearby drawer for the remote, Courage heard a cold and evil voice whisper his name.

"Courage." This nearly caused Courage to choke on his hot chocolate. That usual sense of fear and suspicion came to Courage once again as his teeth chattered out of fear instead of cold.

"Aw ha, here is the remote." said Muriel pulling it out and turning on the TV. Courage didn't notice because he still wondered what the voice was. He wasn't sure what it was he heard.

"Was I imagining things?" thought Courage. He was taken out of his thoughts when Muriel gave Courage the remote.

"Muriel, what are you doing?" demanded Eustace. "You're giving the remote to that stupid dog."

"Now Eustace, Courage rarely gets to pick what channel we get to watch." said Muriel. Courage decided to take advantage of this and turned on Cartoon Network. Eustace, of course, was not happy about this. Despite hearing that scary voice, Courage managed to relax himself as he watched cartoons. He didn't hear that voice again that night but he also failed to notice the sinister looking figure who was looking into the house through the window.

The next morning, Courage was eating his favorite breakfast dish, tuna omelet, when he heard the voice again but this time, it sounded like a female voice.

"Courage." The hairs on the back of Courage's neck stood on end as fear flooded through him. He sat there for about five minutes before he hastily finished his breakfast. He walked out of the kitchen and he then heard another voice that was similar to the voice that was from last night but it was more mysterious than monstrous.

"Courage." Courage froze in his tracks upon hearing his name. Determined to find out where it was coming from. He walked through the living room and up the stairs and again hearing the three voices whispering Courage's name.

Upon reaching the top of the stairs, the environment around Courage began to ripple as if someone had thrown a hand full of rocks in water. Courage was rather confused about the sudden change and when it ended, Courage was no longer in his home. He was in a stone temple of some kind and Courage was on some kind of bridge over a seemingly bottomless pit. Above Courage's head was an alien looking night sky. Lined along side of the bridge were several crude marble statues that Courage had never seen before. As Courage looked around, he noticed that at the end of the bridge, was a large leathery hand. Up on seeing the hand, Courage felt an irresistible urge to go towards the hand. As Courage got closer to the hand, he began to hear the sound of screams. The screams got louder as Courage got closer and once Courage was close to the hand the screams were loud and horrible. Courage looked down on the floor and gasped when he realized that the floor was covered in many horrible faces screaming in terror. Courage's heart pounded in his chest as he looked at the horrible sight of all those faces. Courage instinctively wanted to run but some kind of invisible force drew Courage closer to the hand. The hand opened up its fingers revealing a horrible looking book in its palm. The book was made out of some strange looking leather that Courage could swear looked like human skin. The book was decorated in miniature bones and shrunken skulls and on the cover was a purple symbol with which Courage had never seen before. With shaking paws, Courage picked up the book and suddenly, he felt a jolt of information flooding his mind as if it was all uploaded into his brain. He saw images of people who had used the book. He saw horrible creatures and other nightmares that Courage had never seen before. It all passed within a few short seconds and when Courage opened his eyes again, he realized he was standing at the top of the stair case.

"Was I dreaming?" thought Courage to himself. But he soon got his answer when he noticed that the book was in his hands. Courage automatically knew what this book was when he touched it. It was the Tome of Eternal Darkness. A spell book created by the god named Mantarok and written by many. Perplexed, Courage searched his mind to find other things he knew about after touching this book. He knew of dark forces and an ancient struggle. Curious, Courage decided to turn to his best source of information, his computer. But little did Courage know that strange creatures were beginning to form outside.

Courage turned on his computer.

"Why must you wake me up so early in the morning like this?" asked the computer annoyed. Courage typed into the computer the name of book he had which was sitting right there next to him.

"Searching...." said the computer. "Oh my."

"What is it?" asked Courage.

"The Tome of Eternal Darkness is a tool used to fight four evil deities called the ancients." said the computer. "Long before mankind had come around, the Earth was inhabited by these powerful and evil god like creatures." Courage gasped in terror. "Because of time and circumstance, these powerful beings have been driven out of existence except for four ancients who have survived: Chattur'gha, Ulyaoth, Xel'lotath, and Mantarok. Each of these deities had their power contained in small artifacts which contain the essences of the ancients. However, if even one of these deities escaped, it would mean the extinction of all humanity." Courage howled in terror.

"Isn't there some weakness to these deities?" typed Courage.

"Now that you mention it, there is." said the computer. "Each of the first three deities had a certain power they relied on and each of the deities were capable of exploiting it from the other. Chattur'gha relies on the power of strength and brute force. Xel'lotath relies on the power of the mind and sanity. And UIyaoth relies on the power of magick and the planes. Each of their primary powers allows each other to have some kind of strength over the other. Chattur'gha's strength can easily destroy Xel'lotath's control of the mind. Ulyaoth's power over magic is no match against Xel'lotath's control over the mind. And Chattur'gha's strength is useless against Ulyaoth's power over magic. This creates a type of rock, paper, sizers type of phenomion. Chattur'gha beats Xel'lotath. Ulyaoth beats Chattur'gha. Xel'lotath beats Ulyaoth."

"How does the Tome of Eternal Darkness play into this?" typed Courage.

"The Tome is a magickal book that has been past down to a few chosen souls." said the computer. "These people are destined to help fight against these evil deities."

"Well that's good." said Courage.

"Not so good for you, though." said the computer.

"What do you mean?" asked Courage.

"The book is given to those people who are destined to fight the Eternal Darkness." said the computer. "And if you have it, that means that you must be a chosen one." Courage gasped in horror. Courage wanted to protest some more until he heard the sound of Muriel's and Eustace's screams down stairs. Naturally, Courage ran down stairs to their rescue.

Nothing could have prepared Courage for what he saw when he got down there. Grabbing Eustace and Muriel where these strange red crab like creatures who were the size of humans. The crabs had large sharp claws and about eight legs that were just as lethal. There were two of them and they each had Muriel and Eustace and were dragging the two out the door.

"Courage, help me." screamed Muriel as the monster dragged her out the door. Courage tried to run over to her rescue but before he could get close, one of monsters casted a spell. Five strange symbols appeared around the crab in a circle on the floor. The symbols glowed a red color and they each lit up as a horrible sounding voice said the incantation.

"Tier...Pargon...Aretak...Chatturg'gha...Pargon."

Once the incantation was complete, a strange red light appeared from the symbols and from the ground formed a large red zombie. This wasn't the first time Courage had encountered a zombie but he had never seen one this horrible before. The very sight of this creature scared the skin off of Courage's back and he emitted a scream that shook the house. Courage was so paralyzed with fear that the zombie was capable of getting a good strike at Courage. The zombie swung its clawed hand and slashed at Courage's head causing a large gash where Courage had been hit. This strike snapped Courage out of his trance and he ran for his life up the stairs screaming all the way.

Courage could still hear the zombie following him up the stairs groaning as it moved. Courage ran into the attic panting heavily as he closed the door behind him. Courage's super sensitive hearing could pick up the sound of Muriel's screams outside and Courage ran over to the window to find out what is happening. From the window, Courage could see the crab like creatures dragging Muriel to a circle of energy of some kind like a portal resting on top of the ground. Courage watched wide eyed as the crab holding Eustace walked onto the portal and the portal teleported the two away. The crab holding Muriel did the same thing and they too vanished. Courage howled in fear as he watched Muriel disappear.

"Hey dog," said Courage's computer, "I would turn around if I were you." Courage turned around in time to see the zombie (which had entered the room just now) swing at Courage with its clawed hands and slashed Courage's shoulder. Courage cursed himself for forgetting to lock the door and ran for his life out of the attic. The large wound on Courage's shoulder was dripping blood as he ran but Courage didn't care. He went into Eustace and Muriel's room and found Eustace's mallet under the bed. Upon finding it, the zombie came into the room still pursuing Courage. Courage got onto the bed and with all the strength he could manage, he struck the zombie on the head with the mallet completely obliterating the zombie's head. But to Courage's horror, the zombie was still moving, even without a head. But the zombie didn't appear to be able to see Courage. Using this to his advantage, Courage swung his mallet and knocked the zombie's arm off. He took another swing, aiming for the chest. There was a sickening sound as the mallet struck the zombie. The zombie took another swing and this time it struck Courage's abdomen hard causing a huge cut to form on Courage. Courage screamed in pain and with a mighty swing, he hit the zombie once again in the chest and that was enough to cause the zombie to fall to the ground. While it lay on the ground, it still wiggled and twisted as if it was trying to get up. Courage wasted no time as he began hitting the zombie repeatedly until the zombie finally stopped moving. When the zombie was finally destroyed, its remains vanished into thin air.

Now that Courage's attention was no longer on the zombie, he now was capable of feeling the full pain on his abdomen. The cut was perhaps the worst injury he had ever had. It was a deep cut that caused a lot of Courage's blood to spill out. Courage realized that he had to do something quick or else he will bleed to death. Courage then remembered the Tome of Eternal Darkness had a spell that could heal injuries. Courage ran over to the book as fast as he could, fighting to remain conscious. The Tome of Eternal Darkness was right on the table where he had left it. Courage opened the book trying to find the page that had the recovery spell on it. Courage had learned how to activate the spells within the book when he had touched it. Once he found the spell he was looking for, he mentally activated the spell. Suddenly, Courage was surrounded by seven red symbols that resembled the ones that had conjured the zombie and in the same voice Courage had heard before, the incantation was spoken.

"Narokath...Pargon...Santak...Pargon...Pargon...Chattur'gha...Pargon."

A red light flowed from the runes and they surrounded Courage. Courage felt a warmth he had never felt before and suddenly, his injuries had vanished.

"It seems that you have figured out how to work the book." said Courage's computer. "Nice job." Courage suddenly remembered that Muriel was kidnapped and frantically typed in the situation to the computer.

"Hey, not so hard." said the computer. "I don't know for certain where those monsters had taken Muriel but I know where you can start to look. Several miles from here is a collection of unusual stone pillars that may have something to do with the ancients. You must go there and don't forget to bring the Tome of Eternal Darkness because you will need it." Courage swallowed hard realizing what he was going to do.

"I know I'm not going to like this." complained Courage out loud. The computer then printed out a map that indicated a path from the farm house to the pillars. Courage grabbed the map and the Tome and as he left, the computer said, "Good luck, kid, you'll need it." Courage ran into Muriel and Eustace's bedroom and pulled out a large back pack. Courage placed the Tome into the back pack and ran outside to Eustace's truck.

Courage was driving the truck following the directions on the map. Courage drove the truck only in the event of emergencies because Courage didn't have a license. But even though Courage had some experience in driving, off road was still new to him. Courage had to face that fact when the map led him off road and into the desert. Because the map suggested that the rest of the way would be rocky, Courage decided to stop the truck in front of some rocky paths. Gathering as much courage as he could muster, Courage grabbed his back pack and began walking up the large rocks. As Courage moved, he heard the same voices who called out his name earlier.

"Courage."

"Come to us, Courage."

"Come to us...." Courage tried his best to prevent himself from being frightened off but despite his efforts, Courage still shook in fear. Courage wished he had brought water because walking in this hot sun was starting to get to him. He managed to find the pillars that his computer was talking about. There was five pillars, each made out of sand stone or some kind of natural stone. They each stood seven feet up and had a few symbols written on them which looked like the symbols from the Tome of Eternal Darkness.

"The things I do for love." said Courage as he realized what this could all mean. Courage walked into the center of these pillars and without warning, a strange yellow colored energy blasted from the pillars surrounding Courage and in no time, Courage found himself teleported into a new place.

Courage looked around the room. He appeared to be in an underground temple lusciously decorated in red, blue, purple, and green paint. It was obviously old but it was in very good condition. There wasn't even any dust or cobwebs. But what horrified Courage was the sight of all those dead bodies on the ground. Three people dressed in archeologist clothing lay all over the floor as if they were killed in a battle. They smelt horrible with decay and they must have been here for no longer than a year. Courage walked over to one of the corpses and noticed a sword attached to the corpse's belt. With a shiver of disgust, Courage removed the belt from the man and pulled out the sword. The sword was the perfect size for Courage and it was in very good condition. Courage strapped the belt on himself and then placed the sword in the sheath. Courage than noticed that the corpse also had a hand gun. Courage picked up the weapon and put it in his back pack. Courage then searched the man's pockets and found some ammunition for the gun. He silently apologized for stealing from the dead and he searched the room for anyway out. He located a ladder going down and Courage climbed down the ladder into the level below.

The level below was nothing but a hallway made of stone and Earth. To Courage's relief, there was no sign of any monsters. Courage walked through the hallways of this strange cave until he located a door. Courage cautiously opened the door and entered a room with a large pillar in the center. The pillar looked like it was made out of human bones tied together in the shape of a pillar. The sight of this morbid pillar frightened Courage. As he got closer to the pillar, and without warning, a monster appeared behind Courage. Courage was unsure of how that monster got here but Courage was more concerned with saving his neck.

The monster was like a nightmare made flesh. It was blood red in color and had large claws and feet. The monster had three heads that were featureless and horrible. The monster had no visible eyes but Courage could feel the monster stare at him. Courage shook with fear, not sure what he was going to do. He pulled the sword out of its sheath and with a battle cry, Courage ran towards the monster and struck the creature in the arm. But the sword appeared to cause little damage to it. The monster roared and tried to take a swing at Courage but Courage managed to dodge the swing. Courage was about to make another shot at the monster but the monster unleashed what looked like red electricity. The electricity struck Courage and he felt great pain as it did. Courage then realized that the injuries he sustained earlier had returned some how but only half as bad as it was. Courage moaned in pain and ran behind the pillar for cover. He didn't know how to beet this thing.

"Courage." said a voice that sounded human instead of the voices he heard earlier. "Use the book to enchant your sword with Ulyaoth's power. It will enable you to destroy the monster." Not knowing what else to think, Courage pulled out the book and found the Enchant Item spell. He activated the book using Ulyaoth's power instead of Chattur'gha's. Three symbols appeared on the floor but the symbols were blue instead of red and the incantation was pronounced by a more human but just as evil voice than before.

"Antorbok...Magormor...Ulyaoth."

A strange blue energy surrounded the sword that Courage had and suddenly, the sword was surrounded by a strange blue light. It was at that time that the monster found Courage behind the pillar. Reacting quickly, Courage swung the sword and struck the monster's left head. The monster screamed in pain and it was surrounded by the same blue energy that possessed Courage's sword. Courage wasted no time and struck the second and third head. The monster fell to the ground twisting and twitching from its injuries.

"Hurry, run the sword through the monster's back." said the voice. Without hesitation, Courage rammed the sword through the monster. Once Courage pulled out the sword, the monster stopped moving and immediately vanished.

Courage then pulled out the book and cast another Recovery spell on himself.

"Narokath...Santak...Chattur'gha."

Once Courage was healed again, a strange blue light appeared. The light changed shape and there, levitating before Courage, was a ghost. But he didn't look transparent like how you would normally see a ghost. This ghost seemed solid but also hollow as if he's exterior was as flat as paper. The ghost was entirely monochromatic in a blue color. He was dressed in some kind of robes and he had dark hair. Courage did what he naturally does when he sees a ghost and after he was done screaming his head off, he managed to say, "Who are you?"

"I am, or was, Roberto Bianchi." said the ghost. "I was sent here to give you something." Roberto pulled out a strange sword. It didn't look ghostly like Roberto but what made the sword seem out of place was the fact that it was surrounded by a strange blue energy that looked like the same energy that surrounded Courage's sword. Courage nervously grabbed the sword by the handle and held it in front of him.

"What is it?" asked Courage since he knew that this ghost can understand him.

"It is an enchanted gladius." explained Roberto. "It is a weapon designed for the Guardian of Light. Only the Guardian of Light is meant to wheeled this weapon. Try as you might, the sword will not work for you." Experimentally, Courage swung the sword and tried to strike the pillar but the weapon went right through the pillar as if the sword itself was incorporeal. Courage then tried to cut his own arm with the sword but as Courage had expected, the sword went right through his arm.

"But if I cannot wheeled this sword, why are you giving it to me?" asked Courage.

"The sword must be given to its true master, the Guardian of Light." said Roberto. "You must bring the sword to her once you escape with your family."

"But how?" asked Courage.

"You must travel to the Gathering of Light and give the sword to a man named Edward Roivas and he will find the Guardian of Light and give the sword to her." explained Roberto. Courage received a brief vision of a mansion indicating the Gathering of Light that Roberto mentioned. Courage felt rather troubled.

"You want me to take this sword in to some mansion in Rhode Island. I can't do it." said Courage.

"You must." insisted Roberto. "Once, I was just like you, lost and without answers. But you

must understand or else all is lost. The Eternal Darkness is coming and if we are not quick to oppose it, all is lost. The fate of the world rests with you as much as it rested with me. You must be strong and you must be brave." Courage tried to take in what Roberto was telling him but he still felt unsure of himself. "Bring the sword to Edward and save us all." The ghost of Roberto vanished leaving Courage once again alone.

Courage placed the glowing sword into his back pack and then located the door into the next room. There he found a room containing two doors. Courage tried to open the door in front of him but had no luck. He then examined the door and noticed that it had three holes in it connected together by triangle points. One hole contained a blue diamond. The other, a red diamond and the third was empty. On the door was a message written in some kind of strange language. Thanks to the knowledge that was given to Courage when he touched the Tome of Eternal Darkness, he knew how to read the message. It read:

THREE DIAMONDS HOLDS THE KEY.

Courage thought about this message and realized that perhaps he must put in the third diamond into the final hole to unlock the door. But where is the diamonds? Courage's only choice was to search the room behind the other door. Taking a deep breath and preparing for the worst, Courage opened the only unlocked door in the room.

Waiting behind the door was a hallway that was filled with what looked like large insects. They were about one foot long and one foot tall and they resembled scorpions without the claws. The little creatures walked through the hallways as if they were searching for some one. Courage quietly pulled out the hand gun he had taken from the corpse. Courage had never handled a hand gun before and was a bit unsure of himself as he aimed the weapon at the closest insect. Courage fired and the bug like creature was killed instantly and the body vanished into thin air once it fell to the ground. This caused one of the bugs to start chirping wildly and it also glowed red. Courage quickly aimed his gun and fired at the thing. It died just as quickly and it too vanished. Pleased at how easy it was to destroy these things, Courage shot and killed the remaining two insects. Courage reloaded his gun and put it back into his back pack. At the end of the hallway was a ladder leading down below.

As Courage climbed the ladder to the floor below, Courage noticed a strange red mist along the floor. Once he was on the ground, Courage heard the sound of foot steps heading in his direction. Courage looked behind him and gasped in horror. There before him was a monster. The creature was nothing like Courage had ever seen before. It had large bat-like wings that covered its body. Its clawed feet created a light clicking sound as it walked. The creature's head was nothing but a skull and it had a long scorpion tail. Courage pulled out the sword he had and the Tome of Eternal Darkness. Courage used the Tome to cast an Enchant Item spell on the weapon. Five blue runes appeared around Courage and an evil voice pronounced the incantation.

"Antorbok...Pargon...Magormor...Ulyaoth...Pargon."

The sword was surrounded by a blue energy and the weapon was ready for combat. The monster opened its wings exposing its body. Courage swung the sword. He was aiming for the creature's head but because of his height, he could only hit its chest. The creature was a bit startled by the blow but seemed to be not as fazed by it as the first monster. The creature then stabbed Courage in the shoulder with its scorpion tail. The sting paralyzed Courage in place and suddenly, five runes appeared around the monster as it cast a spell.

"Tier...Pargon...Aretak...Chattur'gha...Pargon."

From the ground, a zombie, the same as the one before, appeared out of the ground. Courage was finally freed from his paralyze and was capable of screaming with fright at the sight of the zombie being summoned. Courage ran over and began slashing at the zombie with his sword but the monster again stabbed Courage in the shoulder with its stinger. Courage was momentarily paralyzed and then another zombie appeared. Once Courage was free from his paralyze, he ran away from the zombies and the monster. Courage searched frantically through the Tome of Eternal Darkness searching for a spell that could help him. He came across a spell called Damage Field. Courage quickly activated the incantation. The same blue runes and the same evil voice appeared around Courage.

"Bankorok...Pargon...Redgormor...Ulyaoth...Pargon."

The runes did not disappear but remained and what also remained was the blue force field that surrounded Courage. The monster tried to sting at Courage with its wicked tail but the stinger could not penetrate the force field. The zombies also tried to attack Courage but they kept injuring themselves every time they touched the field. Courage then attempted to take a swing at the monster and to Courage's surprise, the sword past through the force field and into the monster's chest. Courage could fight this thing easily without getting hurt and sure enough, the monster was destroyed. The zombies were also destroyed after all those attempts at getting at Courage through the damage field. The field still remained but Courage was capable of walking through the field. As Courage walked towards the next door out of the room, he thought he heard some voices but they seemed to be coming from inside Courage's head. Swallowing his fear, he continued forward knowing that the horror of the darkness is not over yet....