Rain dropped from the sky and with it came a hint of ozone.

The reptiles ran into the servitors, overturning several of them, their colours rapidly changing to match the flesh tones and gun metal grey of the servitors they were atop. Several grasped the servitors standing in front of them. The free-standing servitors opened fire. Blasts of laser fire left their guns, striking reptiles and wounding them, bouncing off the menhirs. Sprays of bullets fired from the automatic stubbers struck the reptiles, piercing their flesh and drawing blood, ricocheting off the menhirs while the Exodites dove for cover.

Many of the Exodites quickly regained their composure and pointed their spears at the servitors. Powerful laser blasts erupted from the spears. One hit a servitor and removed his head. Another laser blast removed the arm of a servitor. Several more hit armour protected spots and were absorbed.

Fire and las blasts erupted from the weapons of the Tech-Priests who were slowly advancing, only to have their blasts shatter against a shimmering field which separated them from the rest of the battle while the fire simply turned aside. The World Singer's face strained with his effort to hold the telekyne shield. One of the Tech-Priests screamed at the bald man. "You said you would open the Webway portal. Do not get yourself killed by the boy before you do!" Several of the other Tech-Priests turned around and began to fire at Basil. Their blasts harmlessly bounced off the telekyne shield he had formed.

"Do not worry about the boy," snapped the bald man, the Keeper. "He is mine to deal with and then I will open the portal for you."

Basil reached deeper into the Warp and took it in.

Anger and desire tried to work their way into Basil's mind. He felt the Keeper's delight at the Exodites fear, felt their emotions nourishing it. And the Keeper drank in those emotions like a glutton. He's so strong, Basil quickly noted, surprised. This host is much stronger psychically than the last one.

You do not have the Witch to help you this time, little boy, rang out the Keeper's voice in Basil's head. Your soul will be sweet to taste.

Basil reached up to the sky, reached with the Warp, and a lightning bolt dropped. Dropped on top of a Tech-Priest, and continued to rain down from the heavens for an instant that seemed to last forever. At first, the Tech-Priest's grounding effects shunted the bolt, but it did not last. The bolt was too great and too long. His flesh turned red, then black and then to dust while his metallic chassis turned red-hot, then white-hot, and then melted into a slag heap.

And then another bolt dropped to the ground through a second Tech-Priest. And another and another and another. And those four bolts all danced from sky to ground for seemingly an eternity while their targets melted away.

Basil felt the barrier between the Warp and Reality shift, but he didn't care.

"Come through Caorthannach!" Basil cried out in anger. "I will destroy you!" He continued to draw on the Warp. Another bolt turned another Tech-Priest to slag and ash.

A voice screamed in his head, words from the Aeldari lexicon. Slow down child. The barrier is weak here and you are ripping it apart. Basil glanced to its source, the Exodite World Singer. Frustration filled the Aeldari's face as he gazed back to Basil.

The daemonhost that was Caorthannach, the Keeper of Secrets, smiled at Basil and snapped his fingers. A great bolt of lightning dropped from the sky, shattering straight through the telekyne dome overtop the Exodites and touching the World Singer's upraised staff and down his left arm before passing through him and exploding out through his left foot. The staff exploded too as did the World Singer's chest before the bolt finishing raining from heaven and the charred husk dropped to the ground. "Oh dear", Caorthannach said aloud with his human host's voice. "How sad. Look at what happened to him."

Immediately, the remaining Tech-Priests changed their fire, only targeting the Exodites who no longer had benefit of a telekyne shield between them and the Mechanicus. One cybernetic targeting shot after another was fired. One Exodite dropped. And then another. And then a new shimmering dome of force appeared and all the remaining shots were deflected.

At that moment, Basil glimpsed a form moving in the background among the menhirs.

The figure was tall and slender like the other Aeldari, and muscular yet still clearly appeared female. And that appearance was familiar to Basil. He remembered the dark grey long-sleeved tunic with dark-grey baggy trousers ending high above her ankles. Her completely featureless grey mask. Tall and pointed ears visible behind the mask and long blonde hair which flowed down to her back. And in her hands was a long slender sword nearly as long as she was tall, a Witchblade.

The Witch had returned to him.

Basil and the Witch shared a small smile. I am not alone, Basil said to the Keeper with his thoughts and drew more deeply from the Warp than he had ever before done.

A look of worry grew on the face of the bald man, the daemonhost.

Down rained the lightning upon the daemonhost for Caorthannach. The bolt continued on and on, and as it did so, a purple arc formed overhead in the sky. Finally, there was nothing left of the daemonhost. And then Basil dropped another bolt down and then another. One after another until every Tech-Priest and servitor was nothing but a heap of slag and charred flesh. Siân Aanwen and the remaining Exodites stood, frozen, and stared silently at Basil. Then the Witch turned her head up and Basil's gaze followed.

High above them in the sky, but beneath the dark clouds, was a chasm.

A chasm backed by darkness and ringed with purple, a rift in Reality. And though the chasm was backed by darkness it was filled in the front by a figure. A purple form six metres in height with an avian head that was topped by a crown of horns. The form of the Keeper of Secrets itself, Caorthannach, and its form was clawing through the Rift, trying to enter Reality.

Regret momentarily filled Basil. I drew too much, too fast, he realized. He quickly focused and recalled his time spent with Moneka, their study of Theosophamy in the months after defeating the daemon in the Astropathic Choir Chambers of Cassius 6. Recalled his study of how to close rifts in Reality. Again, Basil drew on the Warp, gold ringed around the rim and gold shone around the Keeper's form as he wrought the Warp to his desires, and Basil slammed the rift closed. Wow, Basil said to himself. That was a lot easier than last time. I'm getting stronger.

He glanced down to the Witch and the Exodites that surrounded her. "I learned how to close rifts," Basil said to the group with a shrug. Each looked at him worriedly, but he didn't mind. Mission accomplished, Basil said to himself as he began walking toward the Aeldari and the standing stones that composed part of the planet's World Spirit. He heard noises behind him and saw the faces of the Witch and her kin change to worry. Basil turned around and saw Lerriksen standing just outside the jungle in the clearing with the company of Storm Troopers emerging from the jungle behind him. It's going to be a good day, Basil said to himself in relief. "Lerriksen," he said aloud. "We can leave now. We won."

"Kill the Xenos!" Lerriksen screamed aloud.