DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN WARHAMMER OR ANYTHING IN THE UNIVERSE!
"Come now brother..we are almost there. Just hold out a big longer. I'll find us a safe haven." Said the voice. It belonged to a large figure clad in ornate green power armor. His helm bore the likeness of a dragon. He wore a tattered drake scale mantle. Where his armor once shone bright and radiated the mastery of his craft it's luster had now dulled. The armor was missing many of its honors and bore scorch marks and many scruffs from battle. This warrior. This son of Nocturne was dragging another of his legion.
The legionary was helm less, hanging off his brothers shoulder his feet dragging through the earth. If it weren't for his many groans and murmurs one would think him dead. He bore a fist sized hole in his back, brought on when the traitors first revealed their true allegiance. He had been gunned down from behind like many of the legion and left for dead in the mass of bodies. His comrade had only found him while looking for survivors among the battlefield.
"Come now Kairon do not give up on me now. We have survived much more before this. Do not let this be what fells you. We will exact our vengeance upon the traitors. In the name of our Primarch. For Vulkan.."uttered the Salamander.
He had known Kairon since they were both youths. The two grew up together and hunted the beasts of Nocturne as brothers. They both were inducted into the legion at the same time. They both endured upon the anvil of adversity that came with the change. They were both reforged within the flames of genetic enhancement becoming Astartes. Becoming the scions of the Hero of Nocturne. They fought side by side for centuries. Slaying foes together in the name of the Emperor and Vulkan. They fought all manners of beast and vile xenos spawn but never would he expect this. Never would he have expected to have to cross blades with fellow Astartes.
He and Kairon both served within the Fourteenth company of the legion and thus were called to this planet to quell the uprising. They had been separated during the beginning of the fighting and further split when the traitor's true assault began. His own squad had been butchered in the following days of fighting with him emerging as the only survivor. He scoured the battlegrounds for days on end afterwards searching for survivors and hiding from death squads. Kairon was the first survivor he found after all those days and he was not going to let his sworn brother die if he could do something about it.
He had heard word of a downed ship being used as a safe haven for loyalist survivors from a dying Raven Guard. They called it Purgatory. The name aside he knew not if it was true or not but the Sons of The Raven Guard seldom have false information even on death's door. With his wounded brother in tow he made the decision to follow this rumor in hopes of getting aid for the dying Salamander.
So far they had not ran into any lingering death squads, which was good. He believed that the traitors already picked this area clean of playthings for their horrendous sport. He had seen what they did to those they captured. It was..unsettling. He was forced to watch in silence as they were tortured at the behest of the traitors. All he could do was simply watch as they died. Many..he was certain he knew he was there. Knew that he could see them. Seeing their anguish...They cried out to him. They pleaded for salvation. Yet he did nothing. He simply only hoped that perhaps him being there in their last moments brought them some form of peace ..
Their slow trudge brought them a vast expanse of land. It was riddled with craters, possibly from the bombings and explosions that rocked the battlefield. As he passed by his superhuman nostrils were hit by a certain scent. One he knew oh so well being one of the pyroclast of the legion. Flesh..burning flesh. The smell was so strong that it even managed to breach its way through the filters of his helmet.
He risked a glance at one as he passed by and he was certain his twin hearts stopped beating for a second. The craters were filled with corpses. Charred armor and limbs filled the holes. The massive collection of scorched plates belonging to the fallen of different legions. The traitors had been tossing bodies into these holes and burning them. He only hoped that those within were dead before the act..but from what he learned over the last course of days..Many were probably still living during those moments. He shook his head and continued forward. This..was an atrocity. One that should have never taken place.
As he moved forward his hearing picked up on the telltale sign of armored footsteps on earth..and something else..chatter.
"Ahaha! His screams brother. Did you hear them? He yelled out for his father even as we took him apart. For a legion that prides themselves on the mantra of the Flesh being weak..he sure broke as easily as any other mortal I've come across!" bellowed the voice.
"Ah yes but..the most fun comes in breaking those of the 19th. I never liked those damnable birds anyway. It brings me great joy in clipping their wings and watching them thrash about on the ground." Responded the voice.
Hearing this and the closeness of their voices he did the only thing he could in the very few moments they had left and three himself and Kairon into the mound of charred corpses. The two blended in perfectly, burying themselves within the bodies. They would bide and their time and wait until the patrol moved past.
He could hear them clearly now. They were passing by. Four of them in total. Their conversation revealed them as sons of the Traitorous Horus. If he had the chance he would be sure to gut them all slowly...but for now he would bide his time. For now he needed to-
Kairon started to move beside him, causing many of the bodies to shuffle along with him. He was stirring, his groans growing louder.
He placed a hand on his chest hoping to calm him.
"Brother..please hold on for a few moments longer..just until this patrol passes" he whispered lowly.
By now the Patrol was practically on top of them. He could hear them. They were talking about the burning pits when one stopped. Apparently he heard something.
"You all hear that?" Said one of the sons of Horus
"It's coming from the burning pit." He continued. He heard footsteps coming closer to their hiding hole and the loading of a boltgun.
His heart stopped. If he didn't get Kairon to stop moving it meant the end of them both. He couldn't allow himself to be caught. He saw what they did to what they caught. He couldn't end up like that. He couldn't do it.
The son of Horus was practically on top of him now, staring down for movement. The fearful salamander Unclipped an ornate dagger from his belt. It was a unique ebon colored blade with a hilt crafted of the finest gold and a hilt of green hue. It was one of a set. The wyvern blades. He and Kairon had first crafted things together when they became legiones. It signified his brotherly bond...And now he would sever it with that very same blade.
He placed his hand over Kairon's mouth, taking the blade and putting it to his throat. It felt a lot heavier in his hands now. He slowly eased it into his throat...watching his brother's lifeblood roll down the blade spilling onto his gauntlet. Kairon's eyes fully opened and he looked at him...no..not at him..into him. His eyes… they looked so betrayed and hurt. They were bearing down into his very soul..His hand weakly gripped his forearm before..weakly falling...The deed was done.
The Sons of Horus had left during the commotion and went elsewhere leaving him in all the bodies..What..had he done..He killed him..his own brother.
He climbed out of the burning out and dropped to his knees. He removed his helmet, letting it fall to the ground. He unholstered his Bolt pistol and placed it to his temple. He placed the weapon to his temple. He couldn't live with what he did..Kairon's eyes would haunt him until his last days.
"I'll be with you soon brother.."
He pulled the trigger..a loud bang sounding throughout the damned battlefield. A new body was just added to the blackened sands.