Basil and the Astropath ran through the passages, she having dropped his hand to hold up her robes to run more easily and he following. Door after door passed through the sides of Basil's sight as he chased her down the corridor. Chased her toward closed black double doors that awaited them at the end. Basil snatched hold of the Warp and then grasped the doors with it, telekinetically opening them as they approached.
He and the Astropath slowed to a stop as they crossed into the Choir Communion Chamber and saw what lay within.
The chamber was hexagonal in shape with black walls and a black and white checked floor. A black arched ceiling towered up to the sky. And down from the center of that arch, a narrow, twisted spire of black descended to a hexagonal dais. There, four black cables separated from the spire, each ending in a black hood placed over the head of a man. Men wearing the gilded carapace armor of the Templars but with helmets removed to accommodate the hoods.
"Emperor!" the hooded figures screamed. "We beseech you! Come to our aid! Give us guidance!"
Damn! Basil screamed in his head as he realized what was happening. They're all psykers…and don't know it. And they think this will let them talk to the Emperor. His assessment of the situation turned to shock as he realized they were communing, combining their power. A communion amplified by the spire. The Astropath reached out and placed her hand upon Basil's armoured shoulder. He didn't notice, remaining focused upon what he saw where the barrier between Reality and the Warp thinned.
A great purple and black haze had begun to form in the air overhead, then a narrow slit of bright pure purple appeared in the middle of it. No time to wait, Basil realized. No time to ponder how he could have been any of the four psykers under different circumstances. Basil snatched the Warp and used it to touch their hearts simultaneously.
Touch their hearts and crush them.
The knees of the four men buckled and they collapsed, but the hoods remained donned over their heads. With the cables too short to allow the men to reach the floor, the dying men hung like marionettes with their knees buckled.
"Damn!" Basil screamed as the psychic rush of their deaths fed up through the hoods and to the purple haze. The tiny slit began to open and two black clawed hands reached through. Reached through and began to spread the rift wider.
Basil felt fear race through the Astropath. Fear that was quickly replaced by resolve. He turned his attention from the Astropath and reached into a large pouch on his belt, pulling forth a book. On its cover were inscribed the words Ritus de Exilium. He frowned. I've never tried this on my own, Basil said to himself as he calmly thumbed through the pages to the rite he was searching for. His eyes glanced to the opening rift. I hope I have time. Without further thought, Basil began to whisper the words of power. Slowly, one by one.
I will buy you time, said the Astropath's voice in his head. He felt her touch the Warp, channel it in a way he hadn't felt before.
The daemon's black claws struggled to widen the rift. Whatever she's doing is working, Basil concluded as he noted the entity's struggles, but continued reading aloud from the tome. Continued to concentrate. His voice grew louder and stronger as he recited the words. A great red eye glared at him through the opening. An eye above rows of teeth within an open maw. Darkness and purple filled the emptiness behind the daemon. Countless curses filled the air, flowing from the Rift, assaulting his ears despite his helm's auditory dampeners. Assaulting his ears because the curses were carried on the Warp, from beyond the rift in Reality, and the sounds carried on the vibrating air waves were meaningless compared to the power within the Warp.
The Astropath screamed, but her hold on the Warp remained strong, and she continued to channel it to her will. Channel it to close the Warp as the daemon struggled to open it. Basil felt the tears form in her eyes and drip down her face She was losing the battle. The rift widened and the daemon reached an arm through.
He wanted to help the Astropath close the rift but knew what must be done.
Basil finished the last words of the rite with a scream that channeled power through what he had wrought. The daemon was thrown back through the purple and darkness within the Rift. A golden glow replaced the darkness and momentarily flashed out, filling the Chamber and scouring it of the Warp's taint, knocking both Basil and the Astropath to the floor. The two slowly climbed to their feet and glanced at each other, then up into the air.
A purple rift with a golden edge remained floating above them, A golden glow filling the void beyond. Take my power, Basil said to the Astropath and reached it to her. You know how to close the rift, not I.
Without turning her gaze from the rift, the Astropath psychically took the reins of Basil's power. Her jaw dropped with awe at the scope of what filled her. She quickly focused her thoughts and wrought his power to her will, then focused on the rift. Basil eyed her intently as she did so. The opening began to close, slowly at first, then swiftly. It snapped shut with the sound of thunder, then all was quiet.
The Astropath's knees buckled but Basil caught her arm. Her eyeless gaze locked with his golden eyes and a small smile momentarily formed on her face then turned to embarrassment. She pulled her arm from Basil's hand and dropped to her knees before him.
"I see it all now," she said. "The vision He granted me makes sense now."
