{oOo}

Konrad Curze knew fear. Long ago, before the Imperium, he had been the horror that kept monsters at bay. The fear he had evoked back than was the primal sort. An unknown punishing criminals, leaving their mutilated bodies on display was more terrifying then a human doing the same. After all, you could not protect yourself from a spirit of vengeance lurking in the dark.

Later, fear was what he instilled on many a planet. He controlled himself much better for the sake of Serenity. She would have been disappointed with him, had he simply slaughtered a city and broadcasted the recording all over the planet. Yet fear was a potent weapon, one that, paradoxically, allowed avoiding unnecessary bloodshed. For generations to come, mother taught children to fear the night, but they were alive to do so.

Now, he was learning about fear from another side. He was afraid.

The acid. Why would Fulgrim need so much acid? It was a long time since he last cursed his mind for working so well. He did not need the images. Why hadn't he thought of it sooner? He'd seen it happen before.

But Fulgrim was his mentor. He was confident to the point of arrogance. It was so very hard to think of him as a victim. It hurt.

This probably accounted for the door. It was most likely a bad idea to break through it instead of walking in, but—the acid. Why so much acid?

"What are you doing?" he asked, his voice on the edge of panic.

{oOo}

AN: And as they kindly pointed out to me, Skortch aka Maverick Hunter Phoenix has had a hand in this series of snippets to, thank you~ XD