An Island in the Warp

by Soup Fish

Radical Inquisitors summon something... interesting.

2. Chapter 2

Ch 2

Vaurious knelt in the dark, one armored knee planted on the ground while the other was upright supporting his arm which held the book he was pouring over. Running one finger down the wrinkled yellow page he murmured to himself under his breath as his eyes ran back and fourth over the old handwritten text.

"Akiee, Adim, Akiees, Nudunee, Akiee, Sephun, Abicuss... Akiees, Akiees Abimies..."

"I do not know what it is you attempting to do to me giant." The thing inside the circle said with an unmistakably human air of disdain. "But I weary or your continual efforts to subject me to whatever ritual it is you are so intent upon."

"Afises, Abitus, Akiee, Zeferee, Namandu, Ibolt, Abimies..."

"Nor do I find your prolonged silence in regard to my inquires amusing. I assure you that while you may consider your arts to be powerful, they cannot so much as touch me."

Vaurious ignored the things declaration and kept on chanting, long discipline keeping the frustration that was building in his mind out of his voice as he did so, the Holy words of the ancient text spilling out into the room like letters of stone falling onto a cold floor.

Whatever the Daemon was its sorcerous powers were tremendous, allowing it to put on such a perfect deception even when trapped in a binding circle and assaulted with Holy words. This was his strongest exorcism meant to peal away deception and disrupt the Daemons power. Developed by Inquisitors during the first harrowing, it had been used to unveil a Daemon that had been masquerading as an Inquisitor during the first days of the Order. It was said that not even a Greater Daemon of Tzeentch would be able to shrug of the sacred ritual without struggle, provided that the invoker was strong enough and had sufficient faith.

So far the thing in the circle had done nothing until its comments a few seconds ago. Was his faith weak? The thought rattled him.

Or...

"Feiess, Lavieem, Akiee, Nuljum, Abimiees..."

Or perhaps the thing in the circle was truly that powerful. The possibility of having summoned something like a greater Daemon into the stronghold of the Inqusition flashed through his mind. What a disaster...

"My patience is not eternal man. Tell me why you have summoned me or send me back to the Throne. I will not abide here forever, despite what measures you have taken to contain me."

Vaurious froze, in the corner he heard Xirith choke. Had the Daemon just referenced residing at a Throne? This was bad. The Thrones of Chaos were the center points of the Chaos gods, only the most favored and powerful daemons were permitted to abide at the throne of their deity.

Vaurious closed the tome of Exorcisms with a thud that echoed across the chamber. Drawing himself up to his full height he focused all of his mental power on the thing in the circle.

"In the name of the Holy Emperor cast aside your disguise Daemon!" He shouted pointing one finger at the thing and throwing his mind against it with all his might. "This place of purity will not abide your deception! You cannot shield your true nature from us no matter what form you take or what glamor you employ! Submit to our power and we will make your bondage short, continue to defy us with this game and you will spend an eternity in our dungeons bound to that circle!"

There was a short silence as the thing in the circle gave him a hard look. It had been observing him all day, silent most of the time except for occasional outbursts like the one a few seconds ago. By and large it seemed mostly annoyed with the proceeding. Now that changed. Its face set in a proud defiant look it gave him a glare backed with such mental pressure that would have made lesser men step back.

"You would threaten me with imprisonment Conjurer?" It spat at him, every inch the offended noble. "Fie on you and your craft! My virtue will shield me from your dark arts! In thirty years no mortal Magus has touched me. If you seek to test my claim then know this: I will not lift a finger in aid for any man who would compel me by force. Until a bearer of my command seals steps forward my sword will remain sheathed. I will not even entertain the proposals of one such as you!"

Vaurious regarded the thing for a second before turning and striding out of the room, signaling to Xirith as he did so. Together they swept of of the chamber, the guards closing the door behind them.

"I do not understand it." Vaurious murmured once they were well down the hall out of earshot. "It seems impervious to exorcism or domination. The Holy chants do not phase it, and my powers break upon it's will like water."

"More over." The old man rasped at him, his eyes regarding him carefully, the milky one wavering in its socket as it did so. "It continues to speak as if it were not a Daemon, as though it knew nothing of what we are or where it is."

"Daemons have feinted ignorance in the past, this is nothing new to us."

"But what Daemon would deny knowledge.." Here Xirith stopped and let out a rattling wheeze. "Of ...hnnn... the Divine Emperor himself?"

Vaurious narrowed his eyes at the tiny withered creature before him. "What are you trying to say... Inquisitor?"

The dark bent thing looked up at him, its expression measuring. The bent one was deciding whether or not to tell him something. This much he could tell even though he could not read the old ones mind, the wrinkled things mental defenses to advanced after three and three fourths hundred years for him to penetrate. The fact incensed him beyond measure.

Xirith continued to regard him for a time saying nothing.

"A Daemon bent upon befuddling the failing minds of old men evidently!" Vaurious spewed out turning on his heel once more.

Throwing the doors to the binding chamber open so hard that he knocked one of the servitor guards off its feet he stormed back into the chamber.

"Answer me Daemon." He growled. "Answer me this if nothing else. Who was it that summoned you? Which of our number called you hence?"

The small fair looking thing in the circle gave him a baleful look and for a while was silent. Then after a little it seemed to yield."It was the old man who stood behind you that first called me to this dungeon." It said evenly and then added: "I would speak to him if anyone, for he felt fairer than you. Ay, even his foul presence would be welcome relief from your odious stench."

Vaurious snorted once and stormed out. So that was how it was. Regardless of whether or not the Daemon spoke the truth it apparently regarded Xirith as a more desirable contact than him. To be considered fair by a Daemon... he almost laughed. Not because it was funny but because of what that said of Xirith.

Whatever happened in this case he felt that to him at least his position on the old man was swiftly becoming solidified.

*Scene *

"I have spoken with the entity several... hnuunnn... times now." Xirith choked out as he stood before the rest of the Inquisitors and their aides in the chamber of conference. All together they made a small but fearsome group, Varuious and Stervine clad in power armor while the rest of them (Their Acolytes and a few other advisers) gathered round in a semi circle facing the tiny shriveled man who was now speaking.

"While its existence here is stable for now – huun – it has expressed a desire for a subject, a phyker who it desires to form a bond with in order to be fully realized."

The room shifted at the pronouncement looking doubtful.

"It referred to this subject as a Master, and when I pressed further it stated that they would have a degree of control over it."

"What it wants is a host." Vaurious said simply, cutting over Xiriths speech. "Something that it can possess or devour to ease its operation in the physical realm. Really, this is so elementary that I'm shocked your bringing it up. As though we could take anything it said at face value" He added contemptuously.

"Of course we can't trust it." Xirith said quickly. "But this is a Deamon unlike anything we have seen before, maybe even in the history of the Inquisition. It would be an – huuunn- offense... an offense...an offense to the Emperor not to experiment with it, to delve deeper into the nature of the Daemon and uncover its workings, is our – huuunn- missionnnn..."

"He has a point." Stervine said lightly. "I have done a considerable amount research since the Daemon has appeared. As far as I can tell this situation is rather unique, to have such a thing within our grasp is a most fortunate twist of fate. The fact that it is trying to trick us into feeding it a host is inconsequential. We would do so even if did not wish us to, we cannot afford to lose such a creature."

"My Lord." Vaurious said turning towards the Lord Inquisitor with a feeling of urgency. "If my estimations of it are correct then we have asummoned a Daemon of terrible power. There is nothing unique about it, it is merely stronger than other Daemons thus far and more determined to maintain its facade."

Stervine gave Vaurious a bemused look. "Such is evident naturally, what of it? Such a catch is of infinite use to us."

"My Lord the Daemon was unfazed by the chant of Lycinium." Vaurious said, his voice growing in volume. "It has maintained its perfect deception for days now, obviously it is to strong to contain comfortably, we should banish it. Now while it cannot move! To offer it a host when we have yet to even strip away its disguise is to court disaster. Heresy is born of such situations as these my Lord."

For the first time since he had arrived Stervine's eyes narrowed back at him. "There are no Heretics here Vaurious." He said darkly. "You stir up unwelcome issues over so simple a matter. I called you here so that you might set the strength that the Emperor has blessed you with to use and wrestle the beast into submission for our purposes. Not to cause dissension."

"Forgive my... over reaction my lord." Varuious said checking his tone. "I believe that the thing is dangerous, to dangerous to keep, or to risk our sanctuary here over."

"Oh certainly it is dangerous but that is nothing to us." Stervine said, joviality returning to his voice. "We are the shadow of the Emperor, while the Deamon may be fierce there are none in the Galaxy who know it better than us. Our knowledge will keep it docile, and if all goes well, subservient."

"You plan on making it a sanctioned Daemonhost?" Vaurious asked.

"Perhaps, the option has crossed my mind." Stervine said tapping his armored fingers on his power sword. "After we let Xirith study it of course. You object?"

Vaurious nodded.

"This is most unlike you Vaurious." Stervine remarked with a twinge of amusement in his voice. "Where is the man who stood beside me on Holy Terra and argued on the behalf of sanctioned Daemonhosts for three weeks straight in front of the Inquisition tribunal?"

"If it could be at least striped of its disguise then my confidence would be affirmed. Until then I say that we make no move towards it."

"Your opinion is noted." Stervine grunted once again serious. "Until then worry not, we will wear this creature down until it lies gasping at our feet. It's own host body will become its prison. We have long known how to turn the enemys own methods against it. We will do so here. Aolis!" He called.

One of the robed figure's near the back of the Assembly stood at attention and steped forward. "My lord?" Came its emotionless voice.

"Prepare a host for the creature. Make it a Zeta class psyker, we will want it to be powerful if it's is to allow for the full containment of the Daemon later. Have it blinded, lobotomized and castrated as per usual, give it the works."

"My lord." Aolis said with a bow. His robe fluttering out behind him slightly the man walked out the door clanking behind him.

"As for now." Stervine said. "I would like to address what it was exactly that you were working on when you called this thing up Xirith."

The old man twitched wiping away a bit of saliva that had made its way down his chin. "I was... researching... hnnnnn..."

"Go on." Vaurious barked, suddenly irritated at Xirith's slowness.

"I was... hiii researching the Powers Ruinous, I was looking at the minor ones, the lesser Powers and the Daemons who swim in between."

"Stop speaking like its a poem, Xirith." Vaurious spat.

Xirith coughed and then straightened himself. "I was researching Daemons who do not follow any of the four primary powers. I was seeking to.. hnuunnn... procure an independent. Such things are rare. It would have opened up another avenue of understanding for us. Also... hiiinnnn... such a creature would have no loyalty towards the four. I hoped that with the right pressure it would reveal the true names of others more willingly than a Daemon loyal to any of the four... hunnnn... would."

"I see." Stervin said looking thoughtful. "Another one of your private projects no doubt. Such a thing would have added to your own lore considerably no doubt..."

Xirith blinked. "All lore I gather I gather for the good of the Imperium."

"More like horde you mean." Vaurious said glaring down at Xirith, and making his displeasure known with a slight psychic pressure. As much as he dared to put on another Inquisitor. Xirith looked back at him nervously, probably more unsettled by his expression than the mental threat.

"I see." Stervine said ignoring the tension that was building in front of him. "In that case then, if this is truly an unaffiliated Daemon then it may explain several of the oddity's present in this specimen."

He turned and smiled slightly at the old man. "I must say, whatever the case you have delivered to us a very intriguing outlet. Perhaps your years of research have finally payed off at last."

"Hiiinnn... Thank you my lord." The old one said.

"That will be all for now." Stervin said. "You are all dismissed, except for you Vaurious, I would have you stay to chat with an old companion."

Their was a murmur of assent and the crowd moved slowly out of the room, following Xirith who slowly hobbled his way out leaning on his stout cane.

The two armored figures remained standing when the soundproof doors to the chamber of conference thudded closed. Power armor was self supporting and made siting down a moot point.

For a while they said nothing, studying each other carefully.

"There is something on your mind." Stervine declared abruptly after almost a minute of silence. "Speak it out."

"I do not trust Xirith."

"Nor do I." Stervine intoned.

"I thought you assured me that their was no Heresy here."

"Oh, Vaurious. You know as well as I do that there is Heresy everywhere."

*Scene *

Deep under the feet of the men who plotted her fate the one who called herself Saber was standing. Dressed out in her full silver and blue armor with gold trim she was standing full upright with her legs spread apart as though ready for combat, her blade, invisible to the eyes of most beings, she was holding out in front of her its tip resting on the ground.

To the eyes of men Saber was a small, five foot tall girl with sharp fair features and green eyes.

To the eyes of the inquisition (though she did not know it) She was a Daemon, an evil being of chaos and emotion that was using trickery to keep such a shape.

As it was though neither of those eyes saw correctly, though both saw some. In truth Saber was a type pf creature quite unique to themselves, and at this point in history quite extinct. (Though they were not dead, no her kind never really died.) Truthfully and technically speaking she might have been classified as a Daemon, but in purpose she could not have been farther from. Saber was a heroic Spirit, a soul elevated to power by the dreams of others. She was a memory of times long gone by. A memory given shape by wonder. For in the warp no emotion is left out, and the crushing weight of despair and darkness that ruled there still could not drive out all of the old things. And her kind were old things, older than almost anything in human history and now forgotten. But not dead. And not weak.

She had been standing like that for 17 days now. While she wore the face of a stern warrior on the outside on the inside her mood was running somewhere between boredom and mild annoyance. Three days ago she had been summoned, called out of the Throne by some force that she could not place. She had answered. Why she did not remember but it hardly mattered now. She was here now. Recalled to the material world. A rare enough event that even now she refused to simply throw herself upon her own sword to escape.

Not that she had solid reason to suspect that her summoners were going to present her with any wholesome Master or purpose. In truth she was being treated more like a prisoner that anything... she was definitely being treated completely like a prisoner in fact, a detail that had not taken long to puzzle out.

17 days ago she had been called, answering it she had pulled herself together and come forth emerging satisfactory inside the same circle that she was now standing in. The room she had been called into was a blank dull chamber very much like a prison cell save for its size and the various mysterious regents that she could make out prepared upon the tables in the corner. It was a strange collection. She could make out what looked like a collection of salts and other things. In the four corners of the room incense censors hung, giving of a pungent and rather strong smell. The smoke itself had been saturated with something like mana. It seemed to be aligned to ward off corruption.

Her summoner was an old man. A very, very old man who was wrinkled and dried out with age and moreover smelled foully of corrupt magic. He had worn long dark, semi ornate robes marked at the collar with a strange 'I' like symbol that she did not recognize She had been put on guard immediately. Whoever he was, she had quickly decided, he was almost definitely of the brand of crooked evildoers who seemed to eternally plague the human race.

She had rattled off her terms of servitude however. A summoner was a summoner, even if she was going to end up decapitating him later when he confirmed her suspicions of him.

The mans reaction to her however had taken her off guard. Rather than confirm or deny his acceptance of her oath, or even make his intentions clear he had stared at her in what was clearly shock for a long time. If that did not strike her as odd then she had definitely been taken aback when tears had begun slowly running down the mans face.

It did not last long. A few moments later he had suddenly gasped, fallen to the floor and started twitching in an alarming fashion that had had her quite convinced that he was passing away in front of her.

He had not however. With a shaky motion he reached somewhere into his robes and apparently activated some sort of device that called for aid. A few moments later a team of what appeared to be guards rushed in and carted him out. A few minutes later a man dressed like a priest had come in and started at her as if she was some sort of bizarre circus attraction. He had then spent the rest of the day ignoring all of her query's and pacing around the rim of her circle swinging a incense censor and chanting. Whatever it was it was meant to suppress her power, and she had felt it scrape harmlessly off her Magical resistance. This had continued all day, much to her irritation. When night came the shift was changed, and another man behaving in exactly he same manner had continued where the other left off."

The next day the old man had returned. He did not answer her clearly when she had proclaimed her oath once more but had poked around with several vague and rather offensive questions regarding wheather or not she was an illusion. When she had told him in no uncertain terms that she was quite real and yes this is what she really looked like, he had responded by attempting to cast some sort of spell over her. When that had not worked (She had been unable to even tell what it was meant to do) he had grown more exited and had begun to shower her with questions. "What are you? Are you an Angel? Are their others like you? How many? Is the Star Child fighting the Four? How do you survive inside the warp?" It had been a very frustrating interview, Saber not really feeling compelled to answer any of his questions in the first place and being put off by their nonsensical nature. What answers she did give out the old man had seemed equally confused by. After a while he had left only to return again the next day to repeat the interview almost verbatim, abet somewhat more slowly this time around.

The next day however a new person had shown up. Clad in impossibly immense armor the man looked like a giant, standing over seven feet in height he had surveyed her from a distance with a troubled expression before striding over to her and addressing her as "Daemon." He had ignored her protests with infuriating steadiness and demanded that she drop her deception lest she "Face exorcism and subjection to torment till she comply."

They had not gotten far, and while that man had shown up only once more after that it was clear that something had changed. The older man came to her less often and for shorter periods of time after that making her suspect that he was being watched and was not meant to be speaking to her for long. It was all bunk anyway. Even when they listened to each other they got absolutely nowhere and Saber was quite certain that she was more confused over the purpose of her summoning than when she had known nothing.

Over time even his visits had subsided and she was left alone standing on steel floors in the midst of her circle with no more consideration given to her dignity than that of a statue.

Needless to say Saber was beyond the point of anger by now. She was incensed, and not certain that she would comply with such mentally affected scum even if they did have a perfectly virtuous reason for calling her.

Then he had come. The old man had felt badly of corruption and evil prana that spoke of despair and numbness mixed with foul contamination from some outside source that she could not place. The other man, the armored giant had felt similar if not quite as strongly, like a poisonous plant, reminding her of some of her courtiers, her sister and in the end her own s-... well, the Knight Mordred.

But this man was different, if the other two were offensive then this one was an obscenity upon her preternatural senses. She had felt him as soon as he had walked through the door, a staggering reek of defilement that was almost an actual scent. Unlike the other two this mans feeling was not complex at all. His presence brought to mind two things and two things only. First the strange nauseating corruption that the other two possessed hung about him like a cloud. It oozed out of him like a miasma, coming not only from himself but also from several items that he carried with him.

The other one however was unmistakably his own natural feel. The man was heartless. The feeling he gave off was nothing less than pure and total pitilessness, devoid of any feeling or warmth.

If she could have gotten out of her circle she would have killed him in an instant.

The man was also clad in the same immense dark armor that the other one had been wearing. This armor however looked slightly more worn as though it had seen more use, it was a fact accentuated by how he bore himself and the huge strangely crackling sword that hung at his side.

If she had had trouble understanding the other two she had no trouble making sense of this one. He had walked right up to her and declared that she was a prisoner of him and his organization and then demanded that she reveal her true name right then and there. It was a question that would have made any Servant rankle when so rudely put but to her it was especially offensive. She had told him that her name was Saber and then, picking up on one of his statements had made a guess as to what country she was in. Her guess had not gone over well though, the man had not taken her telling him the fact that the Emperor was the ruler of Italy well and had tried to attack her with some sort of spellwork. It had slid off her Magical Resistance naturally, but that only seemed to infuriate him.

And so had started the routine for the last five days. Every day the iron giant would arrive and launch a magical assault against her chanting long rhythmic Arias that she could feel grinding against her natural resistance to hostile magic. Whatever they were they must have been quite powerful for her to feel them press upon her as they did, but it was useless. Nothing he did ever came close to actually breaching her protection. After all, the blessing of God and the gift of the Faeries were not easily overcome.

In the end both their tempers had snapped, and she had given him a piece of her mind after which he had attacked her with some sort of focused mental assault that had done nothing.

And now she was alone. For the first time in several days the Armored monster had not returned. In one way it was a relief, in the other way she was beginning to wonder wheather or not they were going to leave her down here alone for a couple of months as he had said. In any case she was now giving serious thought to just leaving, when one found oneself wishing that they could be in the company of a nonsensical old man again that was assuredly a sign that self banishment might be a valid and prudent course of action.

Maybe everyone in the future was evil and insane?

Humorous as the thought was Saber felt herself getting tense. As long as she did not have a master she could not leave the circle. She was uncertain as to why exactly that was or what mechanics governed this rule but it was something she knew instinctively. If she wanted to get anywhere she would have to find a master, the main problem was that of the three candidates so far the most promising she had seen was an evil feeling, insane old man who was on the verge of death.

She missed Shirou.

Already she missed him... Already? That was another thing that made her worried. Somehow it felt, even through the oblivion that came with her residence inside the throne, that an immense measure of time had passed. How long had she been asleep? She had received no information on the state of the current era so she had no way of telling. She hoped that it was not to long, after all if England had become something that she could not recognize then she was not certain she could bear it.

The last thing she could remember was watching Shirou shield his eyes from the rising sun just before she vanished. Could he still be alive? It was a distinct possibility, one that made her heartbeat speed up slightly.

But was it really the last thing she remembered? Saber squinted her eyes. Vauge disjointed recollections of battle, cacophony's of noise, shouts and screams, some her own drifted their way back to the forefront of her mind. Whatever year it was she decided, she had been doing something between her last memory and now, that was for certain. So then... he was probably dead...

Sabers introspection was interrupted the next moment when the doors opened. Into her chamber the largest procession so far entered, several men dressed like priests as well as nearly a score of guards with guns wearing masks. In front of them all however walked all three of the men who had been her jailors thought the past days, their presence combining into one nasty aura that once again rankled her senses. The two armored giants and the old man, with the gray haired giant in the center giving her a calculated look.

Saber said nothing as they came in, only giving each of them a steady glare. Inside however she tensed slightly, something was about to happen, either they were going to try something new or they were going to try and become her Master. At least that's what they thought, there was no way in the name of any one of the saints that she was about to repeat the oath of fealty to any of them.

The group of men approached her, stopping about ten feet away from the circle and gazing into it. Saber stared back.

"Well Daemon? Have you anything to say?" The pitiless armored one said, his voice low and cold.

"Nothing." Saber returned.

"We have brought you the host that you requested." The older looking grey haired giant said. Turing he gestured for the men behind him to bring something up. There was a shuffling and a clanking and what sounded like a weak incoherent voice muttering quietly to itself.

Saber raised an eyebrow. It did not take a scholar to decipher that she was about to be presented with a Master, but when she saw who was being shepherded towards her circle she raised her eyebrows once more.

Two of the guards were leading a cloaked figure towards her by chains wrapped around its neck. It was slouched and stumbling and seemed to be in some sort of pain as it was making small whimpering noises.

Saber blinked. What could they be meaning to...?

With a steady shove the two guards pushed the cloaked figure into the circle and then stepped back quickly.

Saber looked from the cloaked figure now slouching inside her circle to the assembly observing her outside it. They were watching her with a air of brutal expectancy as if they were waiting for her to eat the man they sent to her like she was some sort of Lion. An accurate comparison but a completely metaphorical one.

Only the old man was different, he was watching her intently as if he was ready for anything. Something told her that whatever it was the others were expecting, somehow the old man was hoping, dearly wishing with all his heart that she was not about to do it.

Giving the observers one last look Saber dismissed her Sword and made her way over to the cloaked figure.

"Are you..." She started before trailing off. She didn't know what to say. The man was just standing there, the shrouded lump that she took to be his head staring off in a random direction. Deciding to forgo courtesy Saber strode forward and placed a hand on the mans shoulder preparing to pull his cloak from his shoulders- and froze. With a sudden rush or prana that seemed to run out of her like a spark of electricity she felt the contract of master and Servant, the proposal that she had not even made yet, become sealed. Saber blinked once more. This time her mouth falling open in shock. How?

With a short sweeping jerk Saber completed her motion sweeping the cloak from the mans shoulders even as her mind balked at the impossibility that had just occurred. Then she froze as the veil concealing the mans face was torn aside.

Saber just stood their staring with her mouth half open at the double surprise of what had just occurred and what now stood in front of her. The mans face was that of a drooling idiot, a blindfold strapped over his eyes and his head hanging slumped over his own shoulder in a horrible parody of conciseness. A thick blob of drool dangled from his mouth as he mumbled quietly and sporadically to himself.

Sabers face contorted in disgust, her eyes dropping lower. The man was wearing only a ragged short sleeve shirt and a pair of shorts. He was pasty and looked malnourished, his pale exposed arms heavily tattooed with evil looking archaic symbols that looked fresh, the skin around them red and angry looking.

"W-WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS!" Saber shouted at the top of her lungs turning on the assembled crowd watching her. Her lips curled back and her eyes wide seething pools of green she must have made for a terrifying picture as the guards and several of the other assorted personal took a step back. The three men at the front however did not move or even flinch.

"What do you mean by presenting me this poor wretch! Have you done this thing?" She yelled out shrilly. "What am I saying?" She hissed surveying their calm faces. Only the old man looked sighty doubtful, but at the moment she quite frankly did give a halfpence. "Of course you did this!" With a simple motion she called her invisible sword back to her hand ready to bring it down on their necks. She made to move forward but felt suddenly that something was missing.

"What are you shrieking about Daemon?" The heartless one said. "We have provided you a host as per your desire. Savor it, fir it will be the only favor you will receive from us."

"Be silent blaggard!" Saber snarled. "I shall make you pay in full for your crimes!"

"Be appeased Daemon." The other giant said in a soothing tone. "You will find the host suitable for your purposes, we have prepared you our finest-" The gray hared giant stopped talking suddenly his eyes growing wide. The other two followed his line of sight and made similar alarm.

Saber turned reluctantly back to the ruined shell that they had evidently plotted to chain her to, and saw the cause for their alarm. Despite her rage Saber felt a tiny note of satisfaction. The ugly tattoos that marred the poor wretches arms were shifting and changing, the black ink draining away before her eyes and changing. Soon one of the tattoos had disappeared completely while the other reshaped itself becoming the familiar graceful angular pattern of a command seal.

"What is this!" She heard the gray haired one breath.

"She is affecting the Seals!" Someone shouted. There was a movement of alarm but they were quickly stilled by the gray hared giant who held his hand out. Sabers eyes flickered over to the heartless one. His hand had moved to his boxy sidearm. She tightened her hand around her own sword and made her way over to the invalid who was her Master. The rest of the room froze as they waited for her to do something.

Carefully studying the drooling man she took hold of his arm. He twitched away from her slightly but made no other move. Slowly she brought her hand up and pulled back the blindfold. She bit back a hiss of anger at the horrible sight beneath it. Studying him still she came to one conclusion. The man was, without a doubt a ruined shell of whoever he had been before, no doubt intended to be nothing more than a source of prana for her while they tried to exploit her power. She felt another shiver of anger run through her slender frame as she stood there suporting her new Master. It seemed that there was much to put to right in this world. But first to foil this evil.

Reaching inside herself Saber felt back to the place in her soul where rested her treasures. Her Noble Phantasms. She found that there were many more than she had expected, though for some reason she could not bring herself to be surprised. Clearly there was more going on than she knew, her Spear and even Dagger were present, but for now she had interest in only one.

If the men who had called her up planned to rule her by providing her with a ruined Master than they had another thing coming, for this Servant of the Sword was equipped with many tools, not all of them weapons. If the poor wrenched man could be healed at all then he would be.

With a glimmer of gold Sabers sacred scabbard, the scabbard of Arthur Pendragon formed out of thin air, its gold and blue vitreous enamel surface seeming to draw in all the color from the air around it with its richness, its unearthly beauty drawing the eye of even the heartless one. She could hear a few of the men in the crowd gasp.

She paid it no mind, holding up the faery scabbard she pressed it against her Masters chest and whispered: "Avalon."

The blind man gave a little "Guee?" as it dissolved into him in a golden mist while the rest of the room made noises of alarm.

Gently Saber leaned her blind Master to be off his feat and laid him on the floor. Then she drew herself erect and turned, her eyes flashing in anger. Wards or no wards she did not care anymore, hefting her invisible sword in one hand she walked straight for the edge of the circle causing a few of the guards to draw back a little. Good. After who they owed their loyalty towards let them draw back.

Something inside her told her instinctively that she would not be able to leave the circle no mater what she did as of now. She ignored it. It was a foreign instinct, no doubt the work the cruel sorcerers before her.

The three in command apparently thought that she could not leave, they made no move as she walked forward. At first.

That soon changed when she walked right up against the edge of the circle and then kept going. Saber felt a jolt of pain, followed by a feeling of incredible physical resistance. It was like walking thought a wall of dense mud and roots but she kept going. Sparks began to go of all around her as she struggled forward pushing against the wards with all her considerable might. She found to her momentary dismay that she was not as strong as she had estimated, the link with her Master on the ground behind her not yet fully established. She drove forward anyway adding a surge of her own prana to the mix as the men on the other side began to shout in alarm.

The heartless one, Vaurious drew his boxy side arm with astonishing speed and leveled it at her head shouting as he did so. With great effort Saber brought her sword up in time to deflect an immensely heavy bullet that leapt forth at her from his barrel. The effort jarred her hand slightly as she awkwardly forced the projectile away using her brute strength only for it to explode as she did so, injuring her slightly and sending a wave of shock though her armor. Briefly she registered that it was strange that a bullet from a gun had hurt her but she did not have time to dwell on it.

Taking one more difficult step forward Saber stepped out of the circle completely as the wards that had kept her stable without a Master for so long, and kept her imprisoned, gave way with a metaphorical popping noise.

Looking around and panting slightly her eyes fell immediately upon the Black heart.

Saber brought her sword up, sneering as she did so, fully intent upon pinning the giant to the wall with it.

"With a shout of "Daemon!" Vaurious Mourdifus, Inquisitor of the Emperors Holy Inquisition drew his power sword and fired another bolter round at the small armored thing before him.

For the first time ever an Inquisitor crossed blades with an Eirei.

*Scene *

Phew! Well guys its been a long time. But don't complain, I told you that this was a side project from the get go and a side project it is. That said I am now more inclined to work on it now that writing all this has got my brain working as to how this will all pan out.

I even have an ending down! And its really epic to. You will have to take my word fot that for now though. Anyway you have a fan named Jouaint to thank this chapter for. He gave me a message and asked me if it was going to update soon just like I told everybody not to do in my intro of the first cht. Well, I though what the heck. So yall owe Jouaint a private message telling him thank you, I would never have done this otherwise.

Anyway I have a pretty good idea of what is going to happen next so the next chapter should be out soon. Lets make this clear. This story is still a side project so I am going to keep it to shorter chapters. This is probably about as long as they are going to get.