Nothing...it seems as though the shelling has ceased.
It sounds like everyone is fine, despite the ringing that incessantly curses my ears. Tiber is in the far northern corner fidgeting with his autogun, Liahm is in the corner next to me sobbing and scattering little pebbles as she quivers…
Where is Jhain?
Feel for him. He was near Tiber last. Rocks, pebbles, the shells have left quite a mess. The air is tingling here, must be a livewire from the ceiling lights that fell in the shock. Almost there. Wait, what is this? Further south it is wet and sticky. What is this? Oh no…
I do not want to know. I do not want to bring my hand to face and smell that unmistakable, metallic stench. No. Crawl back to your corner, Faline, and wait for Tiber.
Tiber is skittish. He must be waiting for whoever must be coming. Now that the ringing has died down we can hear the rest of the hab-block in the aftermath of the bombardment. Moans, cries, screams, but no one moves. It's the fear. We do not know who we are fearing, we just are. There is only one man in the entire hab-block that is not afraid. I can hear him, and smell him. The distinct smell of Mallean incense is always about him, mixed with musky robe. He is chanting. He is chanting what I think are the Seven Prayers of Protection. He must be with a family, there is a child there; I heard it crying during the bombardment, but it is quiet now, it's breath is shallow, and so too is it's carer's. Maybe I will be calmed by it too. Just take a deep breath, Faline, and let the preacher's words wash over you.
"Shhh…quiet Li."
"(Sob) He's…h-h-he's…(sob)..he's..(gasp)…I-I-I-I ca(sob)can't."
"Just close yer eyes Li, its ok, I've gotcha. I won't leave ya, don't ya worry."
Liahm's breaths are more calmed now. I can heard Tiber's loose rags rustle against her own.
Liahm takes another quick breath, then begins to whimper, a struggle to push Tiber away. The acrid stench hits my nostrils hard. After being filled with just dust all this time, the smell of urine brings your back to reality in a way. The smell of fear.
Tiber rustles next to Liahm to pull her away from the corner.
"C'mon Fal, we've gotta get to a better hidin' spot."
"But what are we hiding from…"
"Stop spookin' me with that portent talk Fal and take me 'and."
A large, rough-hewn hand touches my own and clasps. It hauls me to my feet with a mix of violent force and gentle compassion. That is the way it always is with Tiber.
Tiber is slowly hauling both Liahm and I through the rubble. I follow his exact footfalls by sound so as to not loose footing myself. Liahm remains in her shocked, sobbing state. I place a hand on her shoulder, but her shivering and sobbing continues
"C'mon, lets get outta here."
We must be out in the street now. The dust is thinner here and I cough less now. I can feel Tiber is tenser now in the open. There is still the background of suffering as before, but greatly amplified now, calling from many more hab-blocks dsown the main street. On the wind there is also a rumble and a silent screeching, like birds fleeing from a storm.
"By the Emperor's 'oly word!"
I could guess Tiber's source of shock before he told me, and I could feel Liahm reel from the shock too when she raised her head. The sizzling and gradual falling sounds of hewn stone came from down the central road, where the Relic Shrine of Saint Sebastian Thor used to be.
"The bloody BASTARDS!"
"Ti…p-p-lease"
"There no excuse fer that! They're bloody 'Eretics, tha's what they are! I'm gonna bloody KILL 'EM!"
I remove my hand from Tiber's tightening grasp.
"Tiber!"
"What is it, woman!? Can't ya tell what they've gone an' done!?"
"Tiber, please, this is not the time for righteous rage. We must find cover, and soon. I can…feel something. Something is coming. If we do not find shelter soon we may perish."
"Oh…F-f-f-al…y-y-you say that so calmly!"
Stay still, until he slows his breath. Yes, that's it.
"Now lead on, Tiber"
"W-w-what is that, Ti?"
"I got no bloody idea."
"Do not touch that, Tiber."
I can feel the pulses arching about the vicinity of the thing. They are not sickening like the preachers always said, but disturbingly…pleasurable. I can even sense it move, twisting around the sense.
"What's up wiv it, Fal? It's just scrawlin's on the ground. Prolly just some foreigner's writin'."
"Do you honestly think that anyone of this world could make writing twist and writhe like it does?"
"Wha? How tha hell do you know its writhin'?! But yeah, I guess yer right, this thing's got some kinda magic or somethin' in it."
"I think we should leave now, Tiber."
"C-c-can't we j-j-just stay a little longer?"
I should concentrate on Liahm more. There is an odd tone in her voice. It is far bolder now than before, and I doubt she would recover so quickly from seeing…the body.
"You kiddin' Li? Who knows what's gonna be marchin' down those streets. We gotta hide. Ma autogun can't hold off a bloody army, ya know."
Tiber is far more restless now. Maybe he too has detected the change in Liahm. He is right as well, the screeching and rumbling is getting louder, almost to reach the precipice of normal hearing. There is something else. Amongst the dusty smell there is a stink, like a decaying corpse but, somehow, tolerable.
"I-I-I don't wanna leave!"
Liahm has jerked away from Tiber's arm. She is moving toward the sigils.
"Liahm! Do not go near that mark! It is not right!"
It is too late. Now things have become intolerable. The smell makes me uncomfortable, as does the screeching and low roaring. I can now truly detect the change in Liahm. Tiber is off his guard and his footing from having Liahm push him aside. She is scratching at the dirt where the mark is. The pulses of pleasure coming from the mark are more intense now. Adrenaline is pumping through my veins like a bass beat. Now, I detect even more of a change in Liahm's voice.
"No, I will not come with you Ti. This makes me feel…like I've never felt before. I havn't felt this in so long…and now with Jhain…I will never feel like this again! I will stay. I will stay with it."
Whispers. They are evil little voices trickling past me to stream into Liahm. I have heard of this phenomenon before from the few Telepath's I have met. I take Tiber's hand.
"We must leave her, Tiber."
"Wha? Ya nuts or somethin'? I'm not gonna leave her here for whateva's comin'! Sure she's actin' kinda weird, but she'll snap outta it, right?"
"…"
"Hey, c'mon Li, we gotta go."
I can feel the static between them as Tiber reached towards Liahm. I pull him away at the last possible second, just before they touched. The snap of Liahm's teeth, the snarling, the ever-increasing pulse of pleasure leaves me disturbed. My friend has been infected with something. As far as I know, it is not something that can be cured in a few seconds, and I do not have longer than that. Best take advantage of Tiber's shocked state, pull him to cover. Use your ears and mind to find the footholds.
Made it. Just in time too. That screeching. By the Emperor, it's so loud. It fills my head like so many thousand eagles diving to prey on me. The rumbling, it shakes me to the core. I would be shaken apart through its sheer force. I feel like liquid against it. By the Emperor I cannot stand it! I must get away from them. They're coming for me. They're coming! Make it stop make it stop make it stop makeitstop makeitstop makeitstopmakeitstopmakeitstop! MAKE IT STOP!
I am going…to be sick.
"Jus' hold on, Fal. Jus' hold on."
Black.
"urrrrgh."
"Shhh!"
The noise…what is that? The air is hot. It makes my skin tingle. Disjointed shouts. Clattering, like it was someone rapping on a door behind a huge mass of ceramite. There's another voice. It must me Tiber. Reach out for him.
"Shhh, jus' stay low, kay? They might 'ear us."
He is whispering, yet I can still hear him over the ever-increasing volume of background sound. What is that? There is no more screeching, no more rumbling. Just the chatter and cries of warfare, or what I must assume to be the sounds of warfare. That is the only thing it could be. The sound of a gang-war but on a huge scale. Las-fire, the death screams of gangers.
Then there are the other sounds foreign to me. Sit up, see if you can hear them better.
Cries of righteous fury, deep voices, chatter fire of large calibre weapons. I can almost sense their presence. Some kind of latent power pulses from them. These must be the Angels of the Imperium the preacher told us about, for they could be nothing else. There are sounds of the screeching in the background, followed by thunderous collisions with the earth, the clank of machinery, and then more cries of fury. The screech must have been the sound of the Angels descending from…from Heaven. But why? What have we done wrong? Or is it…the gangs? That sigil…
"Get down, Fal!"
A giant hand throws me down. The sound of hurtling fire crackles overhead. There is something wrong. There is no other way to describe the feeling other than the complete wrongness of it. It is like the feeling of the mark on the ground, but more so. Wait…I recognise a voice above the din.
"Tiber…Faline…where are you? Why won't you come to me? I have a delicious gift for you. I just know you're going to love this."
That voice. It is close by, but some thing is wrong with it. Utterly wrong.
"L…L-l-liahm? Is that you, Li? Quick! Come 'ere and take cover!"
"Come out, Ti. I want to see you."
Some thing in that voice just makes your want to go to her. But, something is still so wrong.
"Are you crazy, Li? There a whole lotta fightin' goin' on and you want me ta come out and see ya? Are ya mad?"
"Come out…pleasssse."
That sound. Like a snake. Something is very, very wrong. Hold Tiber down, before he gets himself killed. Whisper to him so you cannot be heard.
"What the 'ell are ya doing Fal? We gotta go an' get Li!"
"Come out."
"I think it best that we remain in cover, Tiber. If she is there and alive then she would no doubt be protected, so it is best to wait until the guns of war cease."
"But she said that she has somethin' for us. Something'…somethin' very nice."
"Very nice indeed."
"Now is not the time to be fulfilling your fantasies, Tiber! There is something wrong with her voice, her air. I know it."
"Yer talkin' crazy, Fal. I'm gonna go get her!" No, he's going after her!
"That's right, come, Ti. I have something very special for you."
"TIBER!"
The wrongness intensifies. I can hear a hiss. Something so very wrong.
Tiber screams. It was utterly unnatural. The wrong thing screams too, but it is far more malicious.
"DIE, SPAWN OF CHAOS!"
The wrong thing screams as the heavy feet run from the street to the rubble. Lightning curves around the charging Angel. The death spasms and screeching of the wrong thing is utterly unbearable. More hissing. A puff of heady scent whisks through the air. Now no more. The battle is still raging. I am relieved. We are safe.
A clank of the firing mechanism, I can hear each individual part of the mystic machine move. All leading to its inevitable outcome. The shot. After that I could still hear the bolt fly through the empty space, whistling and flaming. Wost of all, I could hear it thunder into the head of Tiber. The round must have exploded. I can hear the gore now. I could be sick. How? Why? What had Tiber done? Had the Angel not saved Tiber from the clutches of the wrong thing? I turn my head to the vicinity of the Angel.
"Those weak links that are tempted by the evil powers should be purged, so as to preserve the chain."
In the flames and forge of the battle, the Angel spoke to me. Despite all the unfairness, despite all the inhumanity of it, I could see truth in the Angel's words.
I feel cold metal pressed into my hands. It is Tiber's autogun, still slick with his blood.
"Pain is an illusion of the senses, despair an illusion of the mind." With that, I hear the Angel charge off, back into the fray that washed forward into the heart of the gangers. I heft the autogun. I sense the evil in the minds of the gangers. It is as sure a mark as any seeing eyes can give to me. I know what I must do.
"For the Emperor, and the Imperium!"