Early 36th Millennium, Reign of Blood
Surface of unnamed and unexplored planet within the Abalatian Reach near the Chimaera's Breath
A woman exited the jungle and entered into the clearing. Her head was shaved clean, exposing her pale skin to the sunlight overhead. Her long-sleeved red blouse was half-way unbuttoned, partly exposing her ample bosom, and when combined with her black pants and high heeled boots, she appeared more dressed for a socialite party than to be walking on a battlefield. A trio of servitors, humans who had been essentially lobotomized and then cybernetically enhanced, lumbered out of the woods behind her. Two carried lascannons while the third carried a lasrifle. As she stepped forward, birds took flight in front of her, leaving behind a number of bloody carcasses dressed in the uniforms of the Maxell PDF, but she ignored them. Her eyes focused on the intricately carved gate in front of her instead. The ancient gate into the Webway through which the Aeldari children had escaped.
"A beautiful work of art, isn't it?" asked a soft and musical voice.
She whirled to her right to see a single creature standing just inside the clearing. The servitors immediately opened fire, but the creature was already moving, a blur. The blasts of laser fire caught nothing but the trees and brush behind where it had stood. "Cease fire," she snapped. She looked into the Warp, feeling for the creature's psychic signature in the Immaterium. Nothing, she cried in frustration in her head. Where did it go?
"It's a pleasure to see you again, my lady," the voice said from behind her.
She spun around and stumbled back, nearly falling but was caught by a hand. A firm but pale hand with long slender fingers. A hand attached to a long slender arm sleeved in an elegant red meshweave. But she noticed none of that. The woman's eyes were fixed upon the lavender almond shaped eyes staring back into hers. Lavender eyes surrounded by a sharp angular face with long-pointed ears and topped by long white hair. Aeldari features.
"Don't touch me," she snapped and yanked her hand away, almost falling back, and snatching hold of the Warp as she did so. The separation gave her a better look at the creature. It was taller than her, and slender with long limbs and angular features. The creature was dressed in a tight meshweave that clung to its form. She was unsure of its sex and struggled to not drop her eyes down to its groin to see what the tightness revealed.
The being laughed. An eerie sound that made bumps pop up on her skin. "You cling so tightly to your Imperial Creed. The Xenos is unclean," it laughed. "But I know you cast aside the tenets of your Creed long ago. Cast them aside for your greed and ambition. They mean nothing to you."
"Do not speak to me of tenets or oaths or loyalties," she snapped back.
"No?" it asked with a soft laugh. "But I will speak to you of our agreement," the creature added, its warm voice turning cold. "The agreement that you will use your administrative powers, as well as your hidden strings, to ensure the worlds inhabited by the Exodites are not troubled," it added, then locked its lavender gaze onto hers. "Not troubled before you begin to enact your Rite."
How much does it know? The woman stared at the creature, anger rising in her. Why can't I see it in the Warp? She took a breath and calmed herself. Can Aeldari hide themselves that way? She focused and stared back at the creature as hard as she could. "Some things cannot be controlled," she said. "A Keeper of Secrets had possessed a psyker among the Maxell PDF. That couldn't be helped."
The creature's face roiled with shock.
Excellent, she thought. I knew mentioning of a daemon created by She Who Thirsts would shock an Aeldari, she smugly told herself. "Now, I need you to fulfill your part of the agreement. Did you bring me something from Ardrishaig that the Tech-Priests will consider of value?"
The creature's shock instantly vanished. Its eyes dropped down and the woman's followed. In one hand was a small dataslate while in the other was a small articulated leg of some sort.
She frowned then glanced back up to the creature's face.
"Of value, yes, but not from Rubha Àird Driseig," the creature answered, correcting her bastardization of the name. "The leg is a piece of a toy, a toy walker made millennia ago by the Slann to emulate the walkers their warriors rode into battle." The smile returned to its face. "And the dataslate is an ancient piece which was used in the silly war your kind refers to as the Great Crusade. It records the events of a battle between a legion of Space Marines and the Slann, a battle that occurred where the toy was found." The creature winked at the woman. "A battle whose coordinates can no longer be found on the dataslate but whose location I am aware of. The 'Priests' you deal with are easily corrupted by their quest for knowledge. The promise of the battle's location should be enough to convince them to betray their oaths at your beck and call. Betray them like you have betrayed yours."
The woman fumed but said nothing. Why won't it just tell me the battle's coordinates? She knew the answer to her question. It isn't that stupid. She reached out and took the pieces, momentarily glancing at them in her hands after doing so. The woman glanced back up to only see the three servitors silently awaiting her command. The creature was gone, having been only an arm length from her a moment before.
The fool, she snapped inside her head. When I enact the Rite, I will receive the reward. I will be named Chaos Lord. Filled with visions of grandeur, another thought crept into her head. Or even a Daemon Prince of Chaos Undivided.
