The ride into the underhive took some time. Lauf watched outside the platform as the quality of the surrounding hive city degraded with every minute he travelled down. Every so often he noticed underhivers watching from hiding places before vanishing back into the passages. Lauf glanced up as he kept going down. He could see the mass of Hive City reaching up above him, blocking out any natural light from this planet's star. This was the reality of these denizens. Darkness and desperation as he reached the bottom of this elevator. Looking down, Lauf could see thanks to his enhanced eyes and nose a gathering crowd of desperate underhivers, waiting for things to come down from above. Expecting a fight, Lauf did not have to deal with the crowd as a riot broke out over spots nearest to the platform's landing. Stepping out of the elevator, he moved away from the fighting underhivers and began to hunt for scents of his target. The underhivers he passed pulled back from this strange giant walking through the collapsed passages and ancient alleys. Their faces were sunken, their eyes lacked the glint of life. To Lauf they did not appear human. They did move through the darkened streets with ease though. Even Lauf's enhanced eyes could not see that well in the blackened streets. But he did not need to rely on his eyes. His nose, as astute as the Fenrisian wolves that stalk the frozen lands of his homeworld gave him a clear image of his surroundings.

Holding his axe and sword at the ready, he searched through the underhive's many nooks and cracks. The smells of this place were all mixed together, creating a messy image of scents. In the distance Lauf could hear a fight break out. It could be gangs fighting over territory, a source of water. Or even a piece of non-moldy bread. It did not matter, he had learned that in the Underhive, life was perhaps cheaper than anywhere else in the Imperium. When he rounded a corner, he found his way blocked by a group of men. Their attire was normal for the underhive, but the auto-guns slung across their chests told him what they truly were. The leader of this gang came forward, "Don't know what you are stranger. But you're trespassing on pipe-scum territory. And pipe king doesn't like that. Not without getting tribute from you for his… 'generosity' for letting you leave." He commented as Lauf flexed his fingers, "You obviously woke up with a rock against your head whelp if you think I'm going to pay tribute to this 'king' of yours. I only recognize one king and one Emperor." He retorted while the gang members got off from their spots, "See I was hopin' you'd say that. Then we get to bring your corpse to Pipe-king and keep what we want from…." The last thing the leader saw was a flash of blue-grey energy as his head came apart at the middle of the nose, polluted blood spray out of the arteries and splattering the walls. The other gangsters did not have time to regret their decision as Lauf charged forward. He was not going to tolerate these gangsters thinking they could block a Space Marine's way and not suffer consequences. Cutting through them, his path of carnage was stopped only when a pair of large mutants appeared. They were about the same size as Ogryns, but were not abhumans. They were something different. But he had faced far worse already. One of the mutants swung a large club made from a piece of pipe. Lauf dodged to the side of the swing and ran up the pipe to stand on top of the first mutant beast. Slashing its arms as he ran up, Lauf dug his axe into one side of its neck and swung his entire body around the head as a pivot point. Using the force of his swing, he delivered a strong kick with both legs dead centre of the second mutant's face. The sound of bone breaking echoed through the alleyway while the first mutant's head fell clean from its shoulders after the axe had cleaved through all its tissue with Lauf's swing.

Landing on the ground, Lauf glared at the remaining humans who were struggling to stop their bleeding wounds, every one of them a fatal blow. It did not take long for the rest of the gangsters to die. Almost as soon as the last one died, other denizens began to crawl out of their hiding places and look hungrily at the dead bodies and their weapons. Lauf did not wish to stay around to see the results of this gathering. Turning away, he made his way further into the underhive trying to find some evidence of the sorcerer. More sounds of battle came to his ears from further off, but he knew the sorcerer would not be around there. He never seemed to stay around battlefields even if he had helped start the fight between loyal citizens and easily fooled traitors. As Lauf searched, he noticed how many of the passageways simply dropped down into the black abyss below. This drop varied from a few inches between pipes to large gorges large enough to drive a land-raider through. What made him suspicious was that none of the underhivers seemed to stay anywhere near these gorges. There was no evidence of settlements or any other form of human habitation. Lauf needed to locate a 'friendly' settlement within this tangled maze of pipes, broken alleyways and collapsed chasms. So far he was not having much success. The people living here seemed to retreat like rats into their holes whenever he approached. And his size made it virtually impossible to follow into most of the passages.

He did not understand why these people ran whenever he got close to them. What was it about this place that caused all of these people to be so terrified? Are they afraid of me because they had never seen…. Of course they have never seen a Space Marine you foolish pup. But that's not it….. Is it….. those chasms? He thought as he leapt across one of the chasms while still searching for any sign of settlement. Everything he had been told about Hive cities made him believe that the underhive would be filled with such settlements. Instead all he had encountered one gang. And numberless wretched souls that ran from him. Stopping at one point to allow his body to rest, he found a small alcove made from a collapsed wall with only one point of entry. Sitting down so he faced towards the narrow passage he came through, Lauf put his axe and sword across his lap before letting his mind drift into unconsciousness. Again the vision came back. Again Lauf woke up with sweat on his beard. A big difference this time was the appearance of a small pale human crawling across his legs, trying to drag away his frost axe. Reacting, Lauf grabbed the small being by its back and lifted it up to look right at him, "A child? What are you doing here?" He demanded while looking into the child's eyes, "Are you a giant servitor?" The child asked as Lauf sat stunned for a bit, "No. I am Vlka Fenryka." He replied, using the title of his chapter in his homeworld's dialect. He noticed that the child just started at him blankly, "I am a Space Marine." "The Emperor's warrior!?" The child asked excitedly, clapping her hands together in rapid succession.

Lauf looked over the girl. She was barely larger than a seven year old child. Her skin was white. Not the white like the snow of Fenris, but a sickly creamy white that was like bone. Her eyes were yellowish-green, no doubt a result of the toxic environment in which she dwelled. When she smiled, he could see all her teeth were black and several were cracked from this harsh existence, "How did you get inside here little pup?" He kept holding her by the soiled rag that served as the only clothing she had, "Through the tunnels." She said, pointing towards a small hole in the wall to Lauf's left. He stood up and looked into the passage. It was darker in there than anywhere else except for the chasms everyone down here was terrified of, "Where do these lead?" He asked, lifting the girl up so she can look directly at his face, "It leads to the safe place." "Safe place?" She pointed into the tunnel, "Where the Emperor protects his children. I can show you." She was very excited at the prospect of showing Lauf this place whatever it was, "Pup. I cannot fit through there." Lauf did not want to stifle her enthusiasm, but he needed to bring her back to reality before she got too many ideas in her head. The little girl looked down, "I can show you a way over to the place warrior." She offered. Lauf thought about it for a second, "Can you avoid the gangs?" She smiled, "A game?!" She asked. Lauf gave her a small grin, "Yes. It will be a game. If you lead me to this safe place and we do not run into any gangs, you win." Lauf did not fear these underhive scum, but like the Great Wolf he cared about the innocent citizens of the Imperium. He would not let this small child be hurt because of him, even if he just met her, "Ok!" She managed to wiggle herself free of Lauf's hold and started to pull on his armoured hand, trying to get him to follow. Setting his sword onto his hip and holding his axe in his free hand, Lauf stood and let the young girl pull him out of the alcove.

The small girl led Lauf down passages even an Inquisitor would not have noticed. They move across rusting pipes which appeared unable to hold any more weight, but stayed sturdy as Lauf crossed. He stayed quiet as the little girl kept walking, always holding his hand, "What is your name child?" Lauf asked when they stopped so a gang of thugs left a side spot where some gruesome sounds had come from, "Astra my lord." Astra smiled, "Star." Astra tugged on his hand when the gang left. They kept moving through the part of the underhive until they came to one of the pitch-black chasms. Astra gave a small shriek of fear when she looked at the chasm and hid behind Lauf, "Why are you so frightened Astra? What is in those chasms?" He looked at Astra shivering by his legs, "The Beast." She whimpered, "Beast? What beast?" He asked, turning around and kneeling down to look right into Astra's eyes, "The Beast of Solomon. The creature that must be satiated for us to survive." She said in a whisper. This was not like when they were getting to this point and avoiding the street battles. This was a whisper of pure terror, "No beast will harm you Astra. Not while I'm here." He tried to reassure her, but all this did was make her shake her head, "No my lord. The Beast always has its due." She looked into his eyes with tears falling down her cheeks. Lauf could tell that whatever this beast is, it terrified Astra.

After a little bit of time Lauf stayed silent for Astra to calm herself, she walked over to the wall of pipes. She reached inside and pulled on some piece of metal. Lauf looked across the chasm to see a part of the wall started dropping. It stopped just in front of him while Astra came back to his side, "Our safe place my lord. Hidden from the rest of this horrid place." She explained, shakily holding his hand as they started walking across the bridge. Astra stayed next to Lauf the whole way, looking only at his face. He glanced down, trying to pierce the darkness with his eyes or smell something with his nose. No sights or smells gave him anything about what could be down there. He stopped looking down there when they got close to the other side. As soon as they were across the bridge came up behind them and locked back in place as a dozen children, as pale and gaunt as Astra came out of side passages. The area was larger than any chamber he had seen in the Underhive with several off-shoot passages made from the pipes and broken architecture of this portion of the Hive. The children all crowded around Lauf, looking at him and his strange armour. Astra pulled Lauf towards one section which looked like an old spire mansion that fell down from the top of the Hive. Inside there was a room lit by many candles and smelling of incense smoke. Astra stopped at the door, "You have to go on alone my lord." Lauf noticed that Asta seemed hesitant when she said that. Lauf gently ruffled her hair before he did as she said. Inside he looked towards a small shrine of the Emperor and the loyal primarchs arrayed beneath the statue. As Lauf approached the shrine, he could see two people praying at the shrine. When he got close the two stood up and turned to face him. One was a woman who was at least in her late fifties, by Terran standards. The other figure's face was hidden by a cloak, but the shape was that of a man, "What are you…." "Sister Mylene. There is no need to be rude. Especially not to one of the Emperor's greatest warriors. Welcome to our sanctuary, Space Marine." The man said as Mylene looked at him, "Go see to the children Mylene." Mylene glanced from the hooded man to Lauf, "I'll be fine. The Emperor protects." Mylene nodded before walking out past Lauf, "She is very protective of me. Understandable given our location. But you know don't you Space Marine. That there are far worse things in this galaxy. Please." The hooded man motioned for Lauf to sit down on a makeshift pew across from him. Here he might get some answers about this place and his target.

The man sat down in front of Lauf, "I imagine you have questions?" "Yes. First, what is this place?" "A sanctuary. It was thus for me, and later, for my flock." The man smiled underneath the hood, "You see. I was a humble missionary, coming down to spread the word of the God-Emperor. But not everyone here was willing to listen to the Emperor's light." He pulled back his hood. Lauf looked into milk white eyes, "The one called Pipe King thought he could stop me seeing the Emperor's light. But I see it now stronger than ever." He said proudly, "Here I serve the Emperor, shining light in the darkness." "And the children." Lauf asked as the man sat back, "They come to me. They have nothing. I give them faith. It shields them against the horrors of this place." Lauf remembered Astra's reaction when the got here, "Not enough it seems. Because even Astra was terrified of that chasm. But that is not why I am here. Missionary, I need information. I am tracking a traitor, a sorcerer. He was seen somewhere down here. Have you heard anything about this?" The man put one hand to his chin, "Hmmm. I must say I have not heard of any such thing my lord." Lauf growled, "Always so close yet so far." He grumbled to himself, "Did you come here only to hunt this traitor my lord?" The man was blind, but Lauf felt that he was looking through him, "Yes I am. I did not come to clear this world of scum." The man nodded, "I understand. I am glad that Astra found you. The Emperor sent me a vision of your arrival." Lauf wanted to ask what he meant that he had a vision when Mylene came in with two goblets filled with drink. She offered the drinks to the two men. Lauf took the goblet at the same time the Missionary took the cup that Mylene set in his hand, "Let us thank the Emperor for your arrival my lord." The missionary held out his goblet to which Lauf clanged his against it, "Thank the Allfather." He said before downing the cup with the old man, "The chasm missionary. What is it…" Lauf stopped, he felt strange. He tried to stand up, only for his legs to give out and for him to fall to the floor. Reaching up towards the missionary, his vision got blurry, "Forgive me my l…" Was all the man said before Lauf went unconscious.

His head felt heavy, his arms stiff as the world stopped spinning. Lauf did not know how much time had passed, or what had been hidden to him. One thing he did know, no ordinary poison could have knocked him out like that. Whatever the 'missionary' gave him was developed to harm an Astartes. Becoming fully aware, Lauf noticed that his body was covered in chains, holding him in place. Not for long he thought before pushing his arms out and snapping the chains free. Shaking himself off, Lauf looked around to get his bearings. It was dark, darker than any place he had been on Solomon. Looking up he could see the passageways and walks of the underhive. So he was still beneath the city, he knew that much. But where in the Emperor's name did….. A low moan behind him drew his attention away from his destination problem. His body tensed as a faint wiff of some scent he had never met wafted into his nose. Turning around, the scent got stronger in his nose as a pair of dark-golden eyes looked at him from the darkness. Lauf immediately drew his weapons. Whatever the owner of those eyes was, by their look Lauf knew it was not harmless. Suddenly it rushed towards him. As it rushed past him Lauf swung and felt his axe bite into the creature but it did not stop it. He felt its claws rake his side between his upper and lower armour. He was lucky as it did not penetrate the armour, but it vanished into the dark before he could slash it again. Glancing down at his axe, he noticed how the blood hissed away, Strange. He was brought out of his pondering when the growling could be heard again, followed shortly by something striking his back. He swung again only to miss this time. This happened several more times as Lauf got more angry with each pass. Just then he smelt something. Promethium was leaking somewhere nearby and that gave him an idea. Rushing in the direction of the smell, he could hear a dripping sound underneath the beast following him. Stopping when he found the spot, Lauf turned and faced the glowing eyes.

The creature moved towards him, intent on finishing its kill. When it got close enough, Lauf dragged his sword down the metal wall, creating sparks that ignited the promethium which erupted in a burst of flame and light, temporarily blinding the creature and letting Lauf see it. It was as large as a Space Marine, but hunched over. It had black furry patches across its body and powerful forelimbs. Each foot ended in thick elongated claws that made the cut marks across his armour. The creature growled and lunged at Lauf. Now that he saw it, Lauf swung up with both weapons. Blood and the front legs of the beast fell to the floor. The creature howled in anger and pain when it hit the floor and struggled to stand up on the stumps of its front legs. Trying to run away, it howls in conjunction with the sound of bone snapping as Lauf stomped on its hind leg. Turning around, it tried to snarl and intimidate him. Lauf simply grinned, "Your terror of this world ends beast." His axe came down as he finished. He watched the beast's head rolled across the floor into the promethium fire. They were free. Lauf stopped when he heard a low moan. Louder than before. Turning to look down one hallway, he saw over a dozen pair of the same golden eyes looking at him just as the fire began to die down. Lauf readied his weapons to fight, but a voice echoed in his head, Run pup. As the eyes came towards him, he took that advice. Sprinting as fast as his legs could move, Lauf rushed towards the nearest source of cleaner smelling air. Every so often he glanced back to see the eyes right behind him. Coming to one hallway, he saw another of the transport elevators waiting. Stopping only for a second to thank the Allfather he darted towards it, just avoiding another of the creature's hitting him with its claws. When he got to the elevator, he turned back and got an idea. Quickly pulling out his sword, he cut one of the pipes that formed the entrance to that section of passages. The entrance creaked and bent. Just before the creatures got to him the whole entrance collapsed in front of them and the weakening of the supports caused the rest of the tunnel to collapse into a pile of metal. Lauf did not wait to see if any of the creatures survived as he got onto the elevator and rode it up.

Coming to the place Astra led him, Lauf had both frost weapons out when he noticed the bridge was down. He crossed slowly, watching for any signs of traps when a scent came to him. Immediately abandoning caution he raced across and came to the 'open' area where the missionary and sister seemed to be waiting, "Lord Space Marine. I see the beast did not claim you. Perhaps it rejected you out of…" 'Sister Mylene' was unable to say anything else as Lauf silenced her with a blow from his sword, slashing her across the chest. As she fell, her scream of agony turned to a cry of joy, "Oh now it will be fun!" Her form mutated and changed until he looked at the familiar appearance of a daemonette. Lauf quickly swung at the missionary, only to be blocked by a pink hand. He growled as the Horror finished transforming, "Our master will be so pleased with us!" The Daemonette cackled as it lunged at Lauf's head, only to lose its arm at the shoulder. Screaming and clutching at the wound, the Daemon did not have time to react when Lauf's axe cleaved its mortal form in half from the top of its head down to the middle of its core. The horror witnessed its fellow Daemon's demise and tried to get away, but Lauf had managed to grab its arm, "Go back to the hell you came from daemon. FOR RUSS!" He shouted, stabbing the Horror straight through the head, watching it burn away in warp fire. He wiped some of the daemon blood he got on his face off before cleaning his weapons and turning to go, "Lord Space Marine!" He stopped when he felt a tug on his arm. Looking down, he saw Astra staring up at him, "What will become of us?" She asked, motioning to the group of children that came out of the tunnels. Lauf smiled.

In the Upper Hive city, the Order of the Eternal Candle's mother superior, in charge of the small clinic station in this section of the hive was stunned when a Space Wolf literally came through her locked doors with a gaggle of children following him like pups. Lauf only said these children needed aid and the sister ran off to rouse the rest of her order present. In a scant few minutes, all the sisters were up and looking over the children, aiding them in whatever way they could. The mother turned her attention to Lauf, "My lord. Thank you for bringing these children to us. We will see they are sent to the Schola Progenium for proper education." Lauf nodded, "Good. That is what I wanted to hear." He turned to leave, "Wolf!" He stopped and looked back. Astra had run up and was hugging his leg, "Please don't go." She begged him with tears in her eyes. The mother put her hands gently onto her shoulders, "Come my child. The Space Marine must return to his duties." She said softly before Lauf kneeled in front of Astra, "I have my own tasks to perform in service of the Emperor Astra. And that requires I leave this place. Do you understand?" She nodded while fighting back tears, "Will I…. ever see you again?" She asked as Lauf smiled before putting a hand on her tiny shoulder, "Someday we will see each other again." He stood up and left the clinic, heading for the spaceport on the Spires. The Sorcerer was not here, the trail had gone cold. He had to find him, and soon.


A loud cackle echoed through this place in the warp as two of the figures watched Lauf, "He doesn't know?" "Of course not. He's a foolish savage." They grinned as Lauf's cheek twitched where some of the daemon blood had spilled, "Our servant had done well. It is in his blood. Soon we will see how effective it is. Our revenge may come sooner than we first planned. But of course, we planned for that too. Those pathetic dogs of Russ will rue the day they turned against our lord and master. And it will come from one of their own. Just. As. Planned." The two figures laughed with glee as the image of Lauf disappeared.