Part 13 (1/2)

Her shadowy and delectable patron princess had already granted Lelith numerous favours and had offered her a.s.sistance to ensure the longevity of the wych queenas rule on Hesperax itself. In return, Lelith had promised her enough souls to push her Slaanes.h.i.+ army out of the infernal dimensions and into the material realm. As it turned out, she was still a vital few short.

Atreus and Ashok had emerged first, and they were defending the mouth of the portal, each standing like colossi, unleas.h.i.+ng the fury of the warp against the wyches that ran and sprang around the cavern, trying to close in on the glorious librarians. Behind them, the rest of the Deathwatch team was emerging one by one. Kruidan tumbled out onto the ground, rolling back up onto his feet, still clutching the buckled and bent glaive that he had taken from the guards in the arena. Sulphus stepped confidently out of the s.h.i.+mmering pool in the wall, his arms twitching and probing the liquid substance as though he was testing its composition. Luthar and Pelias vaulted out together, each braced and ready for whatever lay in wait.

aThis is not a battle that we can win,a growled Luthar as the magnitude of the challenge began to sink in. His armour was shattered, cracked and broken, and the ruined plates were slick with blood a alien blood intermixed with rivers of his own. The battle in the arena had almost finished him, and it looked fairly certain that the teeming cavern would finish the job.

aWe do not have to win, brother-chaplain,a replied Pelias, his voice deep with gravel and fury. aBut we do need to take some of these vermin with us when we go.a Just like Luthar, the Black Consulas armour was tattered and broken where it had begun to buckle under the onslaught that it had suffered in the arena. His already scarred face was coated with ichor and blood, and a fresh gash had ripped down across his left eye, leaving the socket ruptured and gory.

aPelias is right,a hissed Kruidan, drawing himself up to his full height. The Mantis Warrioras tattoos were now barely visible beneath the patchwork of cuts and gashes that laced over his exposed abdomen. So much blood covered his chest and arms that it appeared as though his skin was of the deepest red, flecked all over with traces of pale scars and cursive, black ceremonial tattoos. Even with most of his armour missing, Kruidan cut an imposing and powerful figure, like a barbarian warrior poised to do battle with the terrible beasts of myth and legend.

aNo,a said Ashok, his low, calm voice commanding instant respect and attention. aThis is not a battle that we need to win. We just need to survive for a few moments; just for long enough to give Sulphus a chance to rig that thing for destruction.a The face of the Angel Sanguine librarian was still hidden under his shroud, but his voice was powerful and clear, as though it did not require the medium of air to travel into the heads of his Deathwatch brethren. His armour was scarred and scored, showing signs of the frenzied combat in the arena, but it was unbroken. Compared with Pelias and Luthar, the librarianas dark appearance was immaculate, as though he were dressed for the parade ground in the Watchtower Fortress itself.

Sulphus nodded his understanding and looked across the cavern at the immense and intricate device that dominated the centre of the cave. It was roughly conical in shape, with its point touching down into the ground and its base stretched out across the ceiling. It was laced with a complicated array of tubes and wires, but the focus of it was a huge sphere of darkness, like a large black pearl, which was set into the translucent cone near the roof. It pulsed and s.h.i.+mmered with a black light that hurt his eyes.

Lined up in front of the spirit pool was a bank of wyches. There must have been twenty or thirty of them arranged in haphazard rows of five or six. Each was armed with an array of ugly beautiful weapons no longer merely the simple poisoned blades used in the ceremonial arena. Standing before them, quite alone in the no-manas-land between her retinue and the Deathwatch, was Lelith herself. The wounds in her stomach still ran with blood, sending streams of sickly darkness cascading down her perfect legs. She was grinning with menace and composure, as though this was the best day she had experienced in centuries.

aSheas mine,a whispered Ashok, stepping forward of the group and holding his arms out to block the others from following. aYou see to the spirit pool,a he said to Atreus, turning his head to face the Blood Raven.

For the first time since they had encountered him, the Deathwatch kill-team saw Ashok reach up slowly and push back his hood. He revealed a completely shaven head, laced with scars and lined with signs of hards.h.i.+p and suffering. A row of golden service studs glinted above his eyebrow, but it was the glow emanating from his eyes that caught everyoneas attention. As they stared, they could see the fathomless black eyes begin to flicker and sheen, as though a red mist were curdling across his vision. After less than a second, the burning red had engulfed his eyeb.a.l.l.s completely, and they raged with a flaming radiance that made the others recoil.

With an abrupt nod to the team, Ashok turned and charged towards the Wych Queen of Strife. He roared an incoherent battle cry, dedicating his efforts to Sanguinius and to the Emperor, as his hands empted into fireb.a.l.l.s.

In response, the wyches scattered, reorganising their lines to accommodate the terrifying figure that was charging towards them. Lelith herself grinned and darted forward to meet the rampaging librarian head on.

As the strategic situation s.h.i.+fted, Atreus broke into a run, leading the Deathwatch team in an arc around the side of the cavern, looking for an angle of approach towards the spirit pool. His fingertips were alive with fire, las.h.i.+ng out at the wyches and trying to clear a path. But there were simply too many of the dark eldar foes.

Focusing his will, the Blood Ravens librarian unleashed a ma.s.sive javelin of power through the constantly s.h.i.+fting lines of wyches. A couple of shrieks told him that he had hit his mark, but most of the darting warriors flipped aside, evading the tirade of warp power. However, evasion was enough, since it opened up a brief channel in their lines. It was enough for Sulphus and Kruidan to charge forward, hacking their way through the closing ranks until they stumbled up against the inverted point of the spirit pool itself.

Their charge had cut them off from the others, but the wyches were now caught between two smaller forces of Deathwatch Marines, forcing them to divide their attentions and to re-orientate their strategy once again.

Pelias and Luthar were not about to give the wyches time to reorganise, and they stormed forward into the lines, throwing their weight and their blades into the thick of combat once again. Atreus followed their lead, vaulting into the mix and setting his burning hands against the flickering whips, hydraknives and impalers brandished by the wyches. In only a matter of seconds, the Deathwatch had engaged the wych queen and her retinue in the very heart of her lair.

CHAPTER TWELVE.

Sulphus detached his vice-like grip and dropped off the inverted conical structure, crunching down onto the shoulders of one of the battling wyches below. He shattered the alienas spine and crushed her under his weight as he ground his boots into the broken ruins of her body. He thrashed his arms around him, clattering them against the forest of blades that lunged in.

aWe have to get out of here!a he yelled, his voice booming and resonant in the cavernous s.p.a.ce.

The Marines around him reacted as one, forming into a wedge and driving out from the centre of the chamber towards the portal in the far wall. They parried and hacked with their swords, meeting the skilful attacks of the wyches with brute power and will. Ahead of them, Kruidan could see the unfolding duel between Ashok and Lelith. A group of wyches had formed a ring around the combat to ensure that none of the others interfered with their queenas enjoyment.

The two warriors circled one another without caution. Every few seconds, one of them would throw themselves forward, lunging at the other with crackling lances of power. The other would meet the attack head on, each refusing to appear cowed by the powers of the other. Great eruptions of warp energy sparked and exploded from each and every clash between the magnificent fighters, riddling the cavern with hails of warp shards.

Even as they fought their way around the arena of the duel, the Deathwatch Marines could see the reckless pa.s.sion raging in their librarianas eyes as he threw himself into the contest with no thought of his own survival. His fury was reflected back at him, but it was twisted and perverted into a sick kind of euphoria as Lelithas terrible and beautiful face displayed a daemonic smile. Her teeth were glinting and she was biting down on her tongue, drawing an excited bead of blood across her grinning lips.

aAshok!a yelled Atreus as the team deployed around the portal, attempting to hold the position for long enough for their maverick librarian to break away from the magnificent queen. But the Angel Sanguine showed no signs of having heard the Blood Raven. His eyes continued to burn and he prowled menacingly around the dancing and swirling wych queen.

aAshok!a repeated Atreus as he parried a flas.h.i.+ng blade and then pressed his other palm against the sneering face of a thrusting wych. A burst of power exploded from his hand and incinerated the dark eldaras head, but her place in the line was immediately filled by another wych, eager to prove her worth in combat against the Marines.

aAshok, there is no time for this. We are leaving now, with or without you!a With that, the Blood Raven flicked a signal to the others, indicating that they should throw themselves through the s.h.i.+mmering surface of the portal.

With a crisp nod of acknowledgement, Chaplain Luthar hacked and sliced a few last times with his chipped and blood coated sword, and then he turned and dived into the portal, vanis.h.i.+ng immediately. Sulphus was close behind him, striding confidently into the sheen of liquid as though oblivious to the fury of battle that he was leaving behind.

Meanwhile, a flicker of recognition seemed to flash over Ashokas face. The burning light in his eyes appeared to flash and then fade into a simmer. He stole a glance back to Atreus, who stood in a blaze of blue and white flames, holding back the pressing line of wyches as the blood-red back of Kruidan vanished into the portal behind him.

The sound of a small explosion in the centre of the chamber dragged Ashokas attention back around in time for him to see Lelithas curving blade arching towards his neck. Instinctively, he threw out his arm to meet the slash, but he was already staring past the breathtaking visage of the wych queen, inspecting the puff of flame and smoke that had just blown out of the top of the conical spirit pool. Instantaneously, another explosion sounded and then another, strafing around the soul reservoir in a flurry of chain reactions.

Lelithas blade cut deeply into Ashokas arm, slicing straight through the ceramite armour on his forearm and burying itself in his bone. The librarian did not let out a sound, but he yanked his arm away from the wych, dragging the hilt of the blade out of her hand as its edge was lodged firmly in his flesh. Punching forward with his other hand, he threw a concentrated ball of fire into the wychas stomach from close range, blowing her back off her feet.

Grasping the opportunity, Ashok turned on his heel and pounded towards the portal and Atreus, ploughing his way through the lines of wyches, taking them by surprise from behind. As he ran, he could hear the staccato of explosions behind him growing to a crescendo. Throwing himself headlong into the portal, Ashok felt the concussion of a ma.s.sive explosion engulf him and propel him even faster. An instant later, and everything was black and silent.

As the t.i.tanicus Rex ploughed on into the asteroid field on the edge of the Circuitrine system, the quagmire of warp taint had grown so thick that the vesselas instruments were beginning to give conflicting readouts. The machine-spirit was uncertain about whether the Rex was in real s.p.a.ce or whether it had dropped into the warp.

The gunnery stations were working continuously, disrupting each wispy signature of the warp before it could fully form in the material realms. Meanwhile, the forward cannons were occupied with clearing a path through the asteroids. As the t.i.tanicus roared onwards, it was surrounded by a relentless barrage of fire, flames and burning warp energy.

aCaptain,a reported one the serfs on the control deck. aWe are detecting a ma.s.sive energy build-up on the other side of one of the larger asteroids.a aShow me,a replied Mordia, his voice calm and without emotion.

The viewscreen flickered rapidly as the image switched and then magnified, bringing the tumbling shape of a moon-sized asteroid into focus. Threads of warp mist had been pulled into orbit around the spinning rock, as though drawn in by its trace gravity, forming ruddy, red rings around its axis. For a moment, Mordia felt that he was gazing upon the formation of a Chaos world as the great Eye started to consume the asteroid field.

As the huge asteroid rolled over, a s.h.i.+mmering energy field swung into view. It was anch.o.r.ed to the rock by a series of metallic fixtures around the horizon, and it appeared to be stretched over a ma.s.sive cavity that had been excavated from the interior of the asteroid. The surface of the energy field rippled like a colossal lake, and Mordia could see the suggestion of images swimming in its depths.

aDistance?a he asked, his voice betraying no signs of the tension that had suddenly lurched into his mind.

aTwo thousand metres and closing captain. We will be upon it in a matter of seconds.a aWhat will be its orientation when we reach it?a aThe energy field will be on the dark side, captain, but only briefly.a aVery good. Hold the present course and alert the gunners that the asteroid should not be fired upon until I give the word. Ensure that they are ready. We may have to act quickly.a As the t.i.tanicus Rex cut its way through the roiling s.p.a.ce between it and the asteroid, Mordia kept his eyes locked on the tumbling rock. The energy field looked like a warp gate of some kind and, judging by its position, it was probably a gateway deeper into the Eye itself. It would be an incredible coincidence if the s.h.i.+fting warp signature in this region had nothing to do with the architects of that gate.

aThe energy surge is growing, captain,a cautioned the serf as the Rex closed on the position of the asteroid. Its image now filled the viewscreen, and Mordia could see each and every crater that had been blown into its surface as it rotated around in front of him.

aHold here. Ready the forward torpedoes.a After a few seconds, the edge of the energy field emerged over the horizon at the top of the screen. It was s.h.i.+mmering with reflected light, and the screen hazed for a moment as the imaging relays struggled to cope with the sudden contrast. By the time the picture on the screen had returned to crispness, the s.h.i.+mmering pool of energy was already dominating the image.

In the ripple obscured depths of the lake of energy, Mordia could just about make out the shape of a s.p.a.ce craft. Its outline was vague and malformed, as though it was little more than a ghost, but it looked distinctly like an Imperial vessel.

aEnhance that quadrant. Hold off with the torpedoes,a barked the Grey Knight, the tension finally showing in his voice. If there was really an Astartes frigate through that gate, he could hardly destroy it without finding out what it was and what it was doing there.

The image amplifiers kicked in and dragged the ghostly s.h.i.+p closer to the Rex. It was still obscured by the rippling effect of the energy field, but it was definitely a Nova-cla.s.s frigate. And it was getting closer.

aStop the magnifiers,a commanded Mordia as the vessel started to dominate the screen.

aThey are stopped, captain. The field is surging. Something is coming out.a aThrone!a barked Mordia. aPull us back! Get us clear of this portal before that thing rips out of there!a It was too late. The warp gate erupted suddenly, vomiting sheets of warp power which crashed out over the t.i.tanicus Rex, throwing it back through the asteroid field like a sailing s.h.i.+p onto rocks.

For the first time, the control deck of the Grey Knights frigate lurched into turmoil. The serfs were thrown from their terminals and scattered over the floor as the s.h.i.+p listed and pitched. Even Mordia had to check his footing as he struggled to maintain his view of the screen.

Outside, the cras.h.i.+ng tide of the warp broke against the hull of the Rex and then a frigate roared out of the portal with its engines pouring fire out in its wake. It was powering along at full speed, as though fleeing from the grasp of death itself. Blasting over the tumbling Rex and bathing it in fire from its exhaust, the frigate instantly opened up with its guns, clearing a path through the warp mist and asteroids as it flashed away towards the centre of the Circuitrine system.

As Mordia caught his balance he cursed. The unidentified frigate had torn past the Rex without him being able to get a clear view of it. It had been too close and too fast, and the muddying distortions of the waves of warp had made its features indistinguishable.