Black Sun

Adolf Brandenburg looked rather average to some people, with dark brown hair and blue eyes with a straight face, but enough to be considered an Aryan. He had lived an interesting life so far. He fought in the Great War, was Professor in German History at the Humboldt University in Berlin, married a wonderful woman and had several just as wonderful children, and was both a member of the National Socialist Party and the Schutzstaffel. But right now, he wasn’t sure what to think. While he was in the middle of lunch with his wife, he received a telegram saying that he was to take the first train out of Berlin to Büren.

This is where his strange adventure begins.

Adolf sat in the back of the Staff Car that picked him up from the train station with his document bag in his lap, and suitcase full of clothes to the left on the seat next to him. He looked out the window at the wilderness of Büren. Adolf was rather familiar with this part of Germany. He was asked to teach medieval history at the Wewelsburg Castle; where up and coming SS officers were trained. Why he was told to go there, he was still trying to figure out. Last time he was called out like this is when the Sudetenland was brought into the Reich.

“Pardon me, Driver.” He said. “How much longer till we get to the Castle?”

“Not much longer, sir.” The driver answered plainly.

As the driver looked forward again, he noticed the two ribbons on Adolf’s chest, which bore an assortment of meals and badges pinned to his left breast pocket. The driver, who wasn’t old enough to remember the Great War, decided to ask him.

“How did you get your medals?”

Adolf looked away from the window and at the driver.

“Well I wasn’t sitting in the back of a motorcar when I got them.” He said, with a hint of bitterness in his voice. Still bitter from being called out on such short notice. “And if I was, I’m pretty sure the driver would pay attention to the road as apposed to asking questions.”

After fifteen minutes, the car finally arrived at Wewelsburg Castle. Adolf looked up triangular shaped castle. He had fond memories of teacher here. He would have often got into conversations with the cadets and even the SS Commandant at the time, Manfred von Knobelsdorff, about his days as a Professor in Berlin, from when he first took the job to witnessing the mass infighting between Marxist students and Nationalist students after he got back from the war.

Before he could continue on these memories, the car stopped in the middle of the courtyard. The driver opened the door. As Adolf stepped out of the car with his suit, and the driver offered his hand.

“I’ll take care of your bag, sir.”

Adolf complied and gave the driver his suitcase before taking hold of his document bag. He looked and saw that several people were approaching; one of these people was someone who Adolf never expected to see.

“Minister Goebbels.”

Indeed it was. The Minister of Propaganda, and the Fuhrer’s possible successor, Joseph Goebbels was standing before him to greet him, along with several guards.

Adolf immediately put his document bag into his left hand outstretched his right arm in salute. Goebbels returned the gesture.

“At ease, Standartenführer Brandenburg.” Goebbels said, as he lowered his arm.

Adolf was given the rank of Standartenführer and given command of the 2nd Bismarck SS Panzer Division, a division formed just in time for when the Sudetenland was brought into the Reich. At one point Adolf had learned that his rank was the equivalent of a Colonel, like in the American Army.

Adolf approached Goebbels and shook his hand. Goebbels was shorter than Adolf, but not short enough that Adolf had to look down on him.

“It is good to see you, Minister Goebbels.” Adolf said before letting go his hand. “How have you been?”

“I have been fine.” Goebbels answered. “I assume you have been well?”

“I have.” Adolf said. “But with all due respect, would you kindly answer me why I am here? I was in the middle of lunch with my wife.”

“All in the good time, Standartenführer.” Goebbels said. “Now follow me, Himmler is waiting.”

This caught Adolf’s full interest.

“Himmler is here as well?” He asked with surprise. “Is Goering or Hess scurrying around here too?”

“No, only Himmler is here. Although I did have the Gestapo, headed by Goering, to send that telegram to you.” Goebbels explained. “But let us not waste more time, follow me.”

Adolf followed the Propaganda Minister through halls of the Castle. Despite being here himself, let alone teaching here, he was still amazed by the interior. Much reconstruction was made on the castle since he was last here.

“Since I was called here, I assume an artifact was found?” Adolf asked.

Goebbels looked over at Adolf.

“You can say that.” He said. “You’ll see when we get there.”

The entourage found itself at one of the studies. Next to the door was a SS Guard armed with the standard Mauser. Recognizing Goebbels, he stood at attention. Goebbels nodded, signaling the guard to ease. He then turned to the other two guards and dismissed them.

The two then entered the room and saw a man with ahis back turned to them standing at a table, who of which Goebbels caught his attention.

“Reichsführer Himmler?”

The man turned, confirming the man was indeed, Heinrich Himmler himself.

On reflex, Adolf saluted Himmler, who returned the gesture.

“Thank you for coming out here on such short notice.” Himmler said before shaking Adolf’s hand. “And I see that you have your uniform. With it being so short notice I presumed that you’d be wearing a regular suit.”

Adolf looked down at his pure black uniform. Along with his Luger tucked into its holster, his Iron Crosses, First and Second Class, Golden Party Badge, and Wound Badge. He wore the famed peaked cap which bore the eagle and Totenkopf, or “death’s head” as some people called it, along with the ever more famed red armband which bore the Swastika, or “hooked cross”.

“Well when I was called here I thought it appropriate.” Adolf explained. “And speaking of which, could you care to explain why I was called here? I assume it’s about a newly found artifact.”

“Well, let’s just say the answer is both yes and no.”

Himmler directed Adolf to the table where several objects lay. The objects were a golden goblet, a small bag, and a book.

“Have a look, Standartenführer.”

Adolf set his both his document bag and cap on the table. He opened the bag and retrieved a magnifying glass. The first thing he examined was the goblet. The goblet looked as if belonged to Frederick the Great or one of his predecessors, being made of gold and having several gems around the top half. But what made the goblet unique were the engravings. The engravings were that of what looked like three stylized horses. One was normal looking; one of them had wings, which made it a Pegasus, and the third had a single horn, making it a unicorn.

“Rather unique.” Adolf said. “I’m not quite sure when this was made, though. Come to think of it, this looks to have been made recently. Very recently, actually.”

“May I?” Goebbels asked holding out his hand.

Adolf complied and handed the Propaganda Minister the goblet. He then moved on to the bag, which was held closed with a nodded string.

He then undid the knot and looked into the bag, the contents raising his interest.

“Hello, what do we have here?”

Adolf poured the contents onto the tabletop.

“My God.” Himmler said with interest. “Are those golden coins?”

Himmler picked one of the coins and was then followed by Goebbels after he had set the goblet down.

Adolf examined one of the coins through the magnifier. He saw that on one side was an image of a horse. What made this horse different than the ones on the goblet was that this horse had both a horn and a pair of wings, standing triumphantly on its hind legs with its front left leg outstretched. It seemed to be wearing some sort of crown on its head and both its tail and mane looked to be longer than the others, incredibly long. On the other side the coin were two more of the horse on the other side of the coin and seemed to be encircled around what appeared to be a sun and a moon symbol.

“Reichsführer, can I see that coin of yours?”

Himmler complied and gave Adolf the coin.

Adolf examined the coin and found that it was the same as the others. He then tapped the coin against the table.

“Pure gold.” He said. “Just like the goblet.”

“Can you figure out its origin?” Himmler asked.

“It doesn’t look like it is of European origin. Or anywhere for that matter.” Adolf explained. “Maybe the book might give us some clues.”

Adolf pulled the book over and opened it as Goebbels and Himmler took a seat at the table opposite of Adolf. Flipped through page after page, and saw that there were many pictures. Several of these pictures involve dragons, more horses, and creatures known as sirens. Most of the pictures had a particular horse, a unicorn to specific, which kept appearing. It was gray, with a white mane and, to Adolf’s surprise, a beard, and wore a blue rope and hat. At one point the book mentions the name of this unicorn.

“Starswirl the Bearded.”

This caught Goebbels’ and Himmler’s attention.

Adolf turned the book toward the two and pointed out the unicorn with the strange name.

“Is this a children’s book?” The latter asked.

“Seems a bit thick to be one.” The former added. “Look, it’s almost six centimeters thick.”

Adolf closed the book and looked at the spine and read the title aloud.

“The Complete Biography of Starswirl the Bearded.”

He then set the book down.

“Where did you find these?”

The sound of boot steps echoed through the hall as Himmler lead Adolf and Goebbels down a hallway.

“Where are we going exactly?” Adolf asked.

“We’re here.” Himmler answered.

The three men passed through a doorway where two soldiers stood guard and into a large room. This room was in the North Tower of the castle. This room is often referred to as the “Obergruppenführersaal”, or “General’s Hall”. What made this room rather unique was the symbol that was in the center of the room. This symbol of Pagan origin and is often called the “Sun Wheel”, or by its inaccurate name, the “Black Sun”.

“They appeared right there.” Himmler said, pointing at the direct center of the sun wheel.

Adolf approached the symbol and examined it.

“When did they appear exactly?” He asked.

“The goblet was the first to appear, yesterday precisely at nine o’ clock.” Himmler explained. “Then later that day at three o’ clock, the bag appeared. Then this morning at nine o’ clock, one of the officers reported that he saw what looked like a large flash bulb went off in here, and then he saw the book on the floor.”

A flash? This caused Adolf’s interest to increase, as if it could increase any further.

“What time is it now?”

Goebbels looked at his watch. But before he could even say what was on the watch, the room was suddenly filled with a large and bright light, causing him and Himmler to stumble as they tried to avert their eyes.

After a minute, the light disappeared.

Goebbels groaned as he rubbed his eyes. He then saw Himmler on his hands and knees.

“Are you alright?”

Himmler managed to get onto his feet.

“I’m alright. Be thankful you don’t wear glasses.” He said. “For me it felt like holding a magnify glass over an ant. Other than that, I’m alright.”

“Adolf, are you alright?”

Goebbels got no answer.

“Adolf? Adolf Brandenburg?”

He and Himmler were alone in the room.

“Standartenführer Brandenburg, where are you!?”

“Look.”

Goebbels looked where Himmler was pointing and saw that a small ink pot was sitting there in the center of sun wheel.

“Goebbels, what time is it?”

Goebbels looked at his watch.

“Right on time, apparently."

The only thing Adolf could see was pure light and all he could hear were his ears ringing. Where was he? What was happening? What was going to happen? After what felt like ten minutes, the light finally went away. For a short time all he saw were colors. He felt really light headed as he blinked several times, trying to get his eyes to adjust.

Finally his eyes adjusted, and he saw that he was in a room. The room was completely different than the previous one he was in as it looked more like a large hallway than a room. He looked around and saw that there were many stain glass windows. Well-made he thought.

“Hello.”

Suddenly Adolf heard someone speak.

Adolf spun around and what he saw cause his eyes to go wide. It was the same creature he saw on the coins, only this time it was actually in front of him, with horn and wings. It had a white hide, a flowing mane a and tail that were multicolored, almost like a rainbow, with pink eyes and it wore what looked like a crown, gold slippers on its hooves, and what looked like a gold, collar-like piece of jewelry around the base of its neck. Speaking of it's hooves, they were as wide as its legs, an unusual part of its anatomy, as apposed to the horses Adolf is familiar with.

“Pardon me for asking this.” It said, with a female voice. “But what are you exactly?”

And now it was talking. Adolf’s mind had about enough of today’s events. This was clearly shown as Adolf went from standing up to falling to floor, with blackness being the next thing he sees.