"Eda! Eda, wake up!" a shrill voice screamed into Eda's ear.
Eda slowly opened her tired eyes to see King looming over her. She could feel his clawed paws gripping at her shoulders, shaking her violently out of slumber. The shaking, however, was far less effective at waking her up than the loud and abrupt thumping sound she heard echo from below.
"Ugh… King?" Eda asked, wiping the sleep from her eyes, "What was that? What's going on?"
"There's something in the basement!" King screeched, "I don't know what but it's loud and big and I'd really prefer if you dealt with it."
"Why am I not surprised…" Eda sighed, "Alright, go wake up Lilith. Tell her to meet me in the living room, I'll see what's going on."
King wordlessly obeyed, scampering out of Lilith's nest to awaken her sister. Eda summoned her staff and made haste towards the living room. She passed the room Luz normally slept in, noticing an empty, undisturbed sleeping bad.
"Luz…" she whispered to herself, fearing the worst.
Eda rushed to the living room and swung open the basement door, staff in hand. She stared at the abyss to the basement, with each thump from below bringing her a sense of dread. She had no power but couldn't risk anything harming her human. Her worries only increased when a pair of blood-red eyes began to manifest from the darkness. The figure continued to silently approach, save the loud pounding of each step it took on the stairs. As it got closer Eda could make out more of its features: green armor with a gold trim, black pauldrons marked with the skull of a dragon, and a coal-black face that was dry and cracked. But most shocking was when she saw Luz, awake and spry, cradled within the thing's arms.
"You put her down!" Eda demanded, raising her staff towards the creature. It made its way through the threshold, ducking through due to its massive frame.
"Wait, Eda! He's not…"
Luz's words were lost on Eda, who stood in horror at the sight before her. A monolith of a person – easily over ten feet tall – stood in her living room. It stared silently at Eda, still carrying Luz, as though it waited for her to respond. Lacking her powers, Eda did the only thing she could think to do – thwack that bastard on the head with her staff.
Owlbert struck the giant on the head from the tip of Eda's staff, harmlessly bouncing off his hard skull.
"I… uh…" Eda slowly backed away from the beast, unsure of how to proceed. From the hallway she could hear the pitter-patter of Lilith and King's footsteps, who soon arrived to offer exactly zero help.
"Edalyn!" Lilith gasped, nearly out of breath, "The demon told me something was… OH SWEET TITAN!"
Like Eda, Lilith was left frozen in shock at the sight of the alien thing before them. King never bothered to utter a word, instead instinctively hiding behind Eda. The giant took Luz and placed her upon his shoulder, her head nearly touching the ceiling upon his massive frame. Perplexingly, she happily grinned and kicked her feet, completely unphased by his presence. The giant then rose his arm and pointed at Eda.
"You." he boomed in a deep voice that was all too appropriate for his size, "Move please."
"Uh…" Eda stammered, bewildered by the request.
"Eda, it's fine." Luz explained in an unexpectedly calm tone, "Trust me."
Lilith looked back at King, who was shaking with terror. This whole situation left he completely befuddled, but after everything they had been through, she knew to trust Luz. Eda raised her hands in submission and moved away from King. Normally, King would have probably followed behind her, but his shock left him in a completely frozen state.
The giant fixed his vermillion gaze on King, who stared back in abject fear. His body started to shake uncontrollably, while the giants stare remained quite blasé. After a moment of uncomfortable silence, the giant spoke.
"I would like to pet this creature."
The giant's right hand pinched King by the skin on the back of his neck, effortlessly raising him into his left hand. Once there, the giant began gleefully scratching King's back with his massive hands, sending the demon into a state of relaxed bliss.
"Dohohohoho!" the giant gleefully guffawed, "And aren't you just the cutest little hell-spawn in the cosmos! You were right, Luz! This little boy is nothing like those daemons from the Immaterium."
"Told ya, you big old softie." Luz playfully replied.
"And it's a good thing you were right!" the giant continued, "If he was anything like those Bloodletters back home, then I'd have to ROAST 'EM WIFF ME BURNY BITS!" he shouted in a gruff new tone, a suddenly violet glare filling his eyes.
"I… um… eh…" King mumbled as the giant's touch sent him into a calm slumber, oblivious to the giant's sudden outburst.
"Uh, Luz?" Eda interjected, "Who is this?"
"Ohoho, my apologies, gold-toothed one!" the giant replied, gently placing the snoozing King on the couch, "My name is Vulkan: Primarch of the Salamanders and loyal servant of the Imperium… AND A ZOGGIN' GOOD ONE AT DAT!" Vulkan suddenly shouted, that same rage-fueled intensity covering his face.
Eda and Lilith stood horrified at the sudden outburst.
"Um, yeah…" Luz explained, "He, uh, does that sometimes."
"That… only adds to my list of several questions." Lilith replied.
"Okay," Eda abruptly said, "Am I crazy for asking what in the heck is going on here? This guy is twice as tall as the rest of us…" Eda suddenly paused, glancing briefly at King and Luz, "This guy is twice as tall as my sister and me, his eyes shockingly match my dress, and what is up with his skin? It's so black!"
"Eda!" Luz angrily cried before cupping her hands over Vulkan's ears, "You can't just ask people why they're black!"
"Oh, it is no trouble, small child!" Vulkan said, returning to his previously gleeful voice, "The intense ultraviolet radiation of my home world, Nocturne, caused a malfunction in my chapter's Melachromic organ, resulting in this obsidian complexion."
"Melachro… that just raises more questions!" Lilith cried, thrusting her arms in the air in frustration, "I need a pen and notepad."
As Lilith stormed out of the room, Eda resumed with her line of questioning.
"Okay, but why is your face so jagged and cracked? It looks like it's made out of rocks!"
"Eda you are being incredibly insensitive right now." Luz replied in a judgmental tone.
"How is this my fault!" Eda shouted, stamping her foot in frustration, "Where is this guy from? Why is he so big? Why is he so friendly? Why does your face look like it was set on fire? THESE! ARE! FAIR! QUESTIONS!"
"I appreciate your compliment, one they call Eda! I like to think I am quite friendly!" Vulkan jovially replied, "As for my skin, it probably looks that way because I have been on fire multiple times! But fret not, several rituals of Nocturne require bathing in the cleansing flames of our planet's magma pits."
Vulkan's comment sent a sudden look of worry across Luz's face.
"Where do you live and how can I avoid it at all costs?" she nervously asked.
"Wait…" Eda interjected, "On fire? Multiple times? I feel like that usually causes… well, death."
"Ohohoho! Well put, friend Eda! But why would I be dead? Being alive is fun when I have all of these new friends here! Besides, I tried being dead…" Vulkan suddenly paused as his eyes flared with rage, "UNPLEASANT IT WUZ!"
"MORE QUESTIONS!" Eda and Luz heard Lilith shriek from down the hallway.
"While I'd normally disagree with my sister sheerly out of spite, she has a point." Eda pointed out, "You've… died before?"
"Oh, oh! He told me that!" Luz excitedly replied, "Vulkan, can I take this one?"
"Oh, of course tiny friend!"
"Well," Luz began, "Eda, remember when you opened that door last night? The one with those green guys and the armored guys?"
"I…" Eda paused, coming to a horrifying realization, "I forgot to lock it up, didn't I?"
"Yup!" Luz cheerfully answered, "Well, those green guys were orks, and Vulkan here was fighting their leader – some guy called 'The Beast.'"
"Wait, Luz… what's an 'ork?'" Eda asked.
"Seriously?" Luz asked back, "Come on, you live in a fantasy nightmare! Orks, ya know? Green, big teeth, and really violent in literally every medium for some reason?"
Eda could do nothing but stare at Luz and haplessly shrug in befuddlement.
"Ugh…" Luz sighed, trying to move past her disappointment, "Well, Vulkan was fighting this Beast guy, and in a last-ditch effort threw himself and the beast into a magical engine that killed them both and… and…" Luz stuttered, suddenly realizing the implication of Vulkan's story, "Wait… Vulkan, how are you alive?"
"Well, Luz…" Vulkan suddenly paused, as the red of his eyes flared and his face contorted into an uncomfortable grimace, "WHEN YOU CHANNELIZE ENUFF O' DAT WAAAGH ENERGY DA GREENSKIN BOYZ IS ALWAYS RAVIN' ABOUT…" Vulkan stopped again as his composure returned, "You can never be too sure what will happen. See, I was FOIGHTIN DAT BEAST WARBOSS, AND I RAMMED 'IM GOOD INTO A REACTAH, FULL O' DAT ENERGY… then I channeled these energies through my mind and body… AND ZOGGIN' SMASHED DAT BEAST GIT WITH ALL DA MIGHT I COULD MUSTER, AND THEN EVERYTHING EXPLODED!"
"And… you survived that?" Eda incredulously asked.
"Ohoho, of course not!" Vulkan replied in a disturbingly joyful tone, "Mine and the Beast's bodies exploded in a squall of gore, spread all across time and space! At some point, however – after what felt like an eternity of darkness – it seemed his essence fused with mine, and I came to once more. I was lying in a baren waste in front of beautifully sculpted door with a big yellow eye. I came through it and found my good friend Luz here!"
"So then… what now?" Eda asked.
"As a son of the Emperor, it is my sworn duty to serve humanity at all costs." Vulkan explained, "Luz explained your situation here, and this false emperor Belos that antagonizes you. I swear to you my assistance, fellow hu…"
Vulkan suddenly paused, noticing the pronounced pointy ears on Eda's head.
"Ok, sorry, but you can repeat those last few parts…" Lilith said, rushing back into the room and furiously jotting on a small notepad, "I heard something about being dead and…"
Lilith stopped and looked up from her notes. The living room was uncomfortably silent. Eda stood frozen with fear as Vulkan's eyes stared into her soul. His face was angry – brow furrowed and eyes narrow – but it did not have the same wild look of one of his orkish outbursts. This was a look of direct and intense malice.
"Uh, Vulkan? Buddy?" Luz nervously asked, slowly descending from his shoulder, "Everything okay?"
Vulkan huffed and then snapped his gaze towards Lilith, who could immediately feel the sense of imminent dread that was plaguing Eda. Vulkan saw it there as well – those same elongated, pointy ears.
"Aeldari…" Vulkan growled.