Chapter 10: Fury
Dark dreams lie upon the heart
Logan's eyes burned from lack of sleep. He reminded himself that there was nothing wrong with him, as a space marine he could function for several hours without sleep without any adverse affects. Not that the Dark Eldar had not provided him a chance. They wanted him at his finest for what the guard who hauled him off to his cell termed "the grand finale." In the gloomy cell, lit by a single hovering lantern stone, Logan traced the near completely healed scar tissue on his torso where Jailis had managed to land blows. For the first time in his life, the traitor marine felt true guilt. Jailis was a legend in his own right. The world of Crysothemis was his legacy; a glimpse of the universe as Jailis would have had it. What the hell did any of that mean now? A single word floated across Logan's consciousness: Sera. For the longest time he searched for something to connect it with. His breath began to tremble; he remembered how she had fixed her gaze on the chaos lord. "Gods," Logan nearly began to pray but soon realized he had forgotten how.
The cell door creaked open. Logan scrambled pathetically against the wall of his prison; normally the coming of his jailors was preceded by ominous footfalls. Surprise, it seemed was much worse. The alien jailor raised an arcane device to his lips and spoke something in his own tongue. There was a short hum as the device processed the information. A second or two later a synthesized voice spoke, "Human, the time has come."
Doggedly, Logan rose to his feet and stepped into the passageway.
Sera sat uncomfortably on the stone floor of Murad's opera box to the left of the alien warlord. He absently stroked her hair as he watched the seats of his great amphitheatre fill. Sera cringed every time he laid his heavily bangled hand upon her. Sera tried to find Logan, but her powers were diminished since her arrival on Murad's hellish ship. Whether it was a belated effect of the inhibitors or just lack of rest Sera could not tell. After a few minutes Murad spoke, "My kin, welcome one and all to the finale of my tournament." The alien laughed. "Of all the thousand horrors of the galaxy there is none more terrifying then the dread hive fleets that the humans call 'tyranids.'" Sera had a terrible feeling that she knew what would happen next, "Of these savage beasts, there is none more deadly then the living engine of destruction known as the Carnifex."
Impossible, thought Sera, he can't possibly mean for Logan to fight one of those monsters.
"Behold! The chitinous shock trooper of the great devourer."
Logan stood in the centre of the arena, listening as the dark eldar lord spat his grandiose blather in his alien tongue. He could pick out a few words: "mon-keigh," human; "Carnifex;" "Tyranid" that was all he needed to know. The eldar had armed him better this time around, one of the incubi's coveted punisher glaives. Even so it would not be enough. Wall on the far side of the arena began to open into massive, stone double doors. Behind them stood rows of sturdy, steel columns: Bars in a cage. In the gloom Logan could barely make out the shifting mass of the alien. Logan knelt, he tried to pray, but wasn't entirely sure how. Jailis had procured a copy of Lorgar's scriptures for each of his soldiers on Cryothemis. Logan's copy was probably still collecting dust in a desk drawer in his flat, assuming the building hadn't been destroyed in the fighting. The iron columns gave a horrible grating creak. The deafening roar of some ancient machinery grinding to life filled the arena as the columns receded into the floor. Logan swallowed and clutched the alien weapon a little tighter. "Gods…" he whispered, "guide my blade true, grant me the strength to strike down the enemies of the true path. I shall know…" he stopped himself before he completed the slogan "I will know no fear"; glad he had not given voice to that mantra of the false emperor. Staring death in the face as he was, it would probably have been best not to blaspheme against the chaos gods. He twirled the punisher in a series of arcs, watching the powered glaive leave trails of blue light in the heavy air.
The alien behemoth stepped forward, its hoofed feet pounding into the lose sand of the arena. The carnifex had no need to stalk forward like most predators, anything large enough to crush a land raider like a chicken egg could hunt however it felt fit. This one decided to charge. The beast took a swipe with one of its six-meter long scythe like forelegs. Logan a felt force like a freight train cleave the air above his head. Logan dove between the beast's legs and drove the powered glaive home into the beast's underbelly. The punisher cut deep into the alien's armoured body. Black ichor sprayed from the wound. Roaring in fury the carnifex shifted its massive weight and slashed clumsily at the human form beneath it. Logan scrambled out of the way, but his luck did not hold for long. One massive claw drove into Logan's unprotected shoulder. Logan howled in agony. The alien drove its claw deeper, skewering the struggling marine and dragged him out into the open. Blood filled Logan's mouth. With a howl of exertion Logan tore the talon from his body. Logan' space marine anatomy began to work its magic, healing the massive wound in his shoulder. The towering Carnifex unhinged its jaws, its mouth opening wide enough for a man Logan's size to comfortably sit inside.
For a while the beast stood there, its mouth open and Logan staring transfixed at it. Then the carnifex began to scream. A terrible, screeching roar like grinding metal, a sound that made Logan cringe. In ten millennia of unending war, Logan had seen a tyranid screech like this before. And he knew exactly what it entailed. Logan threw his sinewy bulk to one side, even as the stream of bio-plasma crashed into spot where he had stood a moment ago. Logan felt something crack under his bulk. Looking down he saw what it was. Severed neatly in two, and still fizzing feeble blue-white sparks was the eldar punisher.
Murad was having trouble enjoying the spectacle, which was a shame; a full grown Tyranid Carnifex fit for the arena was a rare find. At least, he thought, it'll be alive for another day. The chain that bound his human captive to the eldar's wrist jerked unpleasantly. On the floor, in a small puddle of her own vomit and saliva Sera's body convulsed and shuddered. Above the roars of the Tyranid in the arena and the cheers and catcalls of the crowed Murad heard his prisoner's light whimpers and wet gurgles. "What the hell has gotten into her?" Murad swore elbowing his haemonculus to get his attention.
Yorath studied the human, and shrugged inconclusively, "Psykers aren't supposed to like the presence of Tyranids, even so it she shouldn't be acting up like this…" He cocked his head and planted a kick squarely in Sera's face. "Shut up you damnable little beast," he bellowed." In response, Sera's body began to convulse more violently and her screams began to grow louder. "That's it, time I silenced you for good."
Murad turned on his haemonculus his eyes widening. Yorath drew a dagger from his belt. Sera turned her sightless eyes on him. Even through the blindfold, Yorath felt her baleful gaze burn into his soul. He slashed with the knife, aiming for the throat. Sera moved like lightning, ducking her head into the path of Yorath's swing. Yorath's blade raked across her face, from one eyebrow across the nose to the opposite cheek. Grunting in annoyance the alien took a moment to realize what he had done.
The silken blindfold fluttered to the ground. The shallow cut across Sera's face neatly stitched itself up, leaving no trace of its existence. Sera eyes began to open. The haemonculus began to step back, his limbs began to quake too violently for him to hold the blade and it clattered to the floor. Sera rose to her feet and strode towards the rapidly retreating haemonculus. Calmly, she reached out and placed her hand on his breast. She felt the alien's heart beat furiously beneath her hand. For a moment, he stood there, twitching pitifully like a doomed rodent in the grasp of a serpent. Sera withdrew her hand and the haemonculus crumpled to the ground, little more then a withered sack of flesh and bone.
Murad fumbled for the gun he kept concealed in his ornate throne. He had nearly pulled it out of the armrest as Sera strode up to him. Daemonic chains burst from the stone throne: two binding his hands, two binding his feet, and one encircling his throat. Barely able to breathe he looked into the amber coloured eyes of the human who now held his life in her hands. "…No…" he choked out. The chains tightened with dizzying speed, ripping through the eldar's garments and the soft flesh and bone beneath. The dismembered carcass sagged lifelessly and Murad's head rolled off onto the stone floor with a fleshy thud.
Paying no heed to the two dead aliens Sera strode to the balcony overlooking the arena. Logan still ducked and dodged around the Carnifex's lethal blows but his strength was fading. Sera drew a deep breath and howled. Her voice carried across the arena and hundreds of eldar turned to stare in her direction. Silence fell. Even the carnifex ceased to pursue its quarry. From the depths of the ship came a chorus of daemonic howls. Then all hell broke lose.