A small group of children were in the jungle on the boy's right, crouched and hiding behind trees. But they were not human children. They were slender and long-limbed with long pointed ears and their bodies were clothed in fabrics with camouflage patterns. They were Aeldari. Fear filled their eyes and their emotions were so strong as to flood the boy's mind.

But the boy's focus was not fixed on the Aeldari children.

To his left was a squad of troopers. They were in light blue uniforms and had mere flak vests, as opposed to the flak coats worn by the Rus 105th, and no helmets covered their heads. They were armed with projectile weapons and volleys of bullets were flying across the clearing in front of the boy. They screamed in anger and lust. "Kill the children!" and "Let's get that whore!" But the traitors did not gather his attention either.

His gaze was riveted to the two figures in front of him and the gate behind them.

The gate was of shining white stone. Vines were intricately sculpted into its white surface and merged, almost seamlessly, with the vines and underbrush that grew up to it but not onto it. And the gate was open to a great blackness beyond though no structure was attached behind it.

The two figures in front of it were in a dance of death, but not a physical one.

The figure directly in front of the gate was tall and slender, muscular yet still clearly female. She wore a dark grey long-sleeved tunic with dark-grey trousers which were both very baggy and which ended high above her ankles. A completely featureless grey mask covered her face, yet her tall and pointed ears remained visible as well as her long blonde hair which flowed down her back. In her hands was a long slender sword nearly as long as she was tall. She spoke in words that the boy did not know, yet he understood their meaning. "You will not have them Caorthannach!" she shouted. "I will banish you fully back to the Immaterium!" She radiated determination. Determination that recognized its own hopelessness facing the entity before it. Determination the boy could see focused through her blade into a contained pulse of brilliant white fire, warp energy. A brilliance that, for the moment, kept her opponent at bay and which split off to, at least partly, shield her and the children from the fire of the Maxell PDF soldiers.

And opposite her stood one of the Maxell PDF soldiers in his blue uniform, blood pouring from his ears. But the boy saw beyond that, saw into the Warp, and what he saw was an abomination.

The Warp form which shared the body of the Maxell soldier was purple and at least six metres in height with long and slender arms that ended in enormous claws. The monstrosity's head appeared avian in form, surrounded by a halo of horns growing from the crown and with a long bill protruding from its face. Black jewel-like eyes were set behind the bill. Its voice whispered through the Warp in a language the boy did not know, the same language the Aeldari female had spoken, and he understood its words just as he had understood hers. "Beautiful, beautiful Siân Aanwen," the voice said. "I have waited so long to know your flesh." A long slow laugh issued from the creature. "I will have the children too...and gain entrance into the Webway."

And a torrent of emotion flowed with its voice.

Desire to ravage the female Aeldari's body. Desire to consume the children, taste their flesh. Desire to savor their screams one by one as it did so. Joy at the thought of passing through the open portal into the darkness beyond. Joy at the Maxell soldiers dancing to its whims like marionettes on strings. A torrent of emotion that was never ending.

And with that torrent of emotion, the boy made a decision.

He dropped the combat knife from his hands and then fashioned a telekyne shield, protecting himself as well as the Aeldari, both the female in front of him and the children. The boy drew the Commissar's bolt pistol and began to fire it at the Maxell soldiers. The first shot nearly kicked the bolt pistol from his hand but a trickle of Warp power held it in place and steadied his arm. His second shot turned the helmetless head of a soldier into a cloud of blood but his third shot missed. By then, the soldiers had noticed him and taken cover.

The boy glanced back to the scene directly in front of him.

An Aeldari child ran behind the two and into the gate. Then another and another. The boy realized they were reaching safety. He felt a trickle of the entity's gaze and it filled his head. It laughed at him but he focused and pushed the contact away. The female Aeldari had turned her head toward him too and he felt her steady gaze through her featureless mask which hid her eyes.

He knew her power was not enough and he made another decision.