Epilogue
"Kiontail!" Malek called
"Yes, sir?" asked his butler
"Which one should I wear?" asked Malek "The Midnight Black one, the one sporting our Kabal colours or the armour I wore on the day I overthrew my father?"
"It is not my decision, my lord, but if you want to impress Lady Cali, I'd wear The Midnight Black" answered the butler, as he started walking out of the room
"Kiontail, wait" said Malek "Are you married?"
"No sir"
"Were you at any point?"
"Yes, a beautiful girl from the Severed Kabal"
"What?" Malek asked in disbelief "What happened?"
"She left with those who were banished"
"Did she want to?"
"No sir, she hated the idea of leaving me but there wasn't time for her to change Kabals, she was taken from me"
"I'm sorry, Kiontail"
"It's alright sir, I miss her to the point of heart wrenching but I know the last words we said to each other were both the same"
"What did you both say?"
"I'll come for you and when I find you, we can be happy once more"
"Well, what do you think?" asked Malek as he stepped out from behind the screen
"Absolutely stunning sire, I presume you and Miss Carnum have your entrance planned?"
"Yes it is and thanks for the compliment"
"It's nothing sir" said Kiontail as he left the room
"Malek teleported to his Weapon chambers and picked out his best Soul Trap, his best Splinter Pistol, best Blast Pistol and his finest, shiniest blade; Avaunulin. Getting his servants to put his cape on for him, he heard a knock at his door; it was Serelia. She looked amazing.
"We are ready?" Serelia inquired
"All is prepared" answered Malek
"Good, every Archon from a different Kabal that's been invited has their own entrance"
"Ours shall be spectacular, one that Vect shall not easily forget"
"Shall we go then?"
"I'll race there?"
"You're on, Malek!"
Malek and Serelia ran for their Razorwings and leapt into them, both wanting to get there first.
At Lord Vect's palace, there was an army of guards, checking all those who were entering for the dinner for their identification. Vect looked out at the gathering crowd of Archons and Ladies and the like, all coming to dine with him. Vect had given those he chose a specific invitation to show upon entrance. The invitation could only be touched by the intended recipient, thus lowering the chance of an attempted assassination. He watched the personal transporters and jetfighters landing, their owners getting out, wearing exquisite dresses and armour.
"Lord Vect, it is time to present yourself" said one of his handmaidens
"Right, give me my Obsidian Orbs" ordered Vect
"Here my Lord" said the servant, taking his advanced soul-tech and kneeling before him, presenting it to him
"Give me the Sceptre of The Dark City" Vect ordered
"Yes, my liege" replied the handmaiden, presenting the ornate sceptre of office to him
Upon taking these he advanced towards the dining hall, his servants attaching his cape as he walked and doing some last minute cleaning of him and his armour. Vect walked into the dining hall and looked around. He had invited the Supreme and High Archons of each Kabal, as well as Ladies and others.
"Silence!" barked Vect, the crowd, silencing themselves "Before we do the introductions of the Kabals, we must make a tribute to Commorragh"
At these words, all in the hall took out their swords and cut themselves on the wrist, the blood dripping out onto the floor. Once they had finished, Vect gestured for them to sit down and for wine to be served.
"Let the introductions begin!" shouted Vect
First went the Slashed Eye Kabal, their swords whistling through the air as they moved their blades about very fast. Second went the Dying Sun and Fallen Moon Kabals, the twin brothers doing a spectacular performance. Then the Bleaksoul Brethren, showing their shark-like teeth and doing demonstrations on how tough their teeth were. The Poisoned Tongue Kabal went next, Lady Aurelia Malys, dressed in a dark blue and a dark green dress as well as armour. They showed the effects of their poisonous words and their trickery on slaves and others. Next the Wraithkind Kabal, looking like ghosts as they slowly moved about, their domain clearly had an effect on their bodily constitution. The Lords of the Iron Thorn went next, showing off their Supreme Lord and his Thorn Crown and doing some fancy things. The Kabal of The Obsidian Rose went next, showing themselves with roses in their hair, then ripping them out and covered them with blood. The Black Heart Kabal had their turn, doing a rather fancy drama, of the Rise of Vect. Many other Kabals showed introduced themselves and finally last but certainly not least:
"The Kabal of Dark Souls!" announced Vect
The whole room stayed quiet, as nothing happened
"Malek!" Vect shouted "Show yourself!"
At these words, the entire room turned black, an unnatural black. The guards remained where they were, despite being shouted at by many of those at the table. The table and the guests and Vect were still as visible as if it were a sunny day. Very slowly hooded figures walked out of the blackness, all of them had scythes. In front of Vect, floated a large being, covered in a black ragged cloak, a large hood covering its head. The being slowly reached its hand up to its head and pulled of the hood. At this point in time, the entire room was shaking with fear; the beings could smell the fear dripping off of them. Underneath the hood of the floating creature was a skull, it's hand the hands of a skeleton.
"Asdrubael, your time has come" the monstrosity said huskily
"You cannot take me!" shouted Vect, very afraid
The being moved back off to the end of the table and there was an explosion of blackness. When the darkness cleared, everyone could see that is Archons etc. of the Kabal of Dark Souls, but there was a monster standing in front of them; The Dark Avatar of Khaine. Those at the table, breathed as sigh of relief, death hadn't come for them. Malek reverted back to his normal form, those at the table clapped fast and loudly, it had been an amazing introduction to a rather young Kabal. Malek and those from his Kabal dispersed. Malek walked down to Lord Vect's seat and sat beside him, as was the tradition. For the act of saving his life, he brought Serelia Atherakhia and Kaelis to him as well, Kaelis and Malek sitting next to each other and Atherakhia and Serelia opposite them.
"Let the feast begin!" ordered Vect and at these words servants brought out golden platters with exotic food on them. Malek and his three friends started dining on the hearts of captured leaders and Vect was sipping the blood of an Eldar Autarch.
"My Lord, are the other special guests going to arrive soon?" Malek inquired
"They are just outside now" replied Vect
Very soon after that, some very famous Dark Eldar figures walked in; Lelith Hesperax, Yctria the Flayer Queen, Steel Fang, Helica Venomkiss, Drazhar Master of Blades, Lady Aurelia Malys was there too of course, Urien Rakarth, surprisingly Duke Traevelliath Sliscus came too. Urien sat next to Kaelis, who tried to distance herself from the disgusting looking creature but couldn't get very far. Malek offered to swap seats with her so she wouldn't be that close to him. She responded with a kiss on Malek's cheek, making go a little red, sending Serelia and Atherakhia into a fit of giggles and Vect started chuckling profusely. Malek shot them all an icy glare that quickly shut them up, although Serelia and Atherakhia kept failing to stifle their giggles, because Kaelis had gone a bit red as well.
"Ah, Malek my friend" rasped Urien in a hideous voice "How do you fare?"
"Very well, Urien" Malek answered simply, he couldn't make a negative comment to him, Urien had personally brought Malek back to life, starting with a very cut up Malek, who had leapt right into a huge squad of Howling Banshees. Malek decided to change the seating arrangement. Drazhar sat next to Serelia and Lord Vect to act as his bodyguard, Lelith next to Atherakhia, Urien next to Lelith, Duke Sliscus next to Malek, Helica was next to Kaelis, Lady Malys next to Urien and Steel Fang next to Duke Sliscus.
"Malek! I'm surprised to see you as a Supreme Archon!" said the Duke "Did your father meet and unfortunate accident?"
"He met Avaunulin" replied Malek pulling out his sword slightly
"Ah, so you wiped out the Kabal of The Rending Talon?"
"Yes, I'm now the Supreme Archon of the Kabal of Dark Souls and hopefully, I'll have a Supreme Lady with me as well" said Malek, keeping his voce down for the second part of the sentence
"Ah, spill it, who's the lucky girl?" asked Traevelliath "Is she a Miss Carnum perhaps?"
"No, I thought me and her laughed and shut down those rumours" said Malek, frowning
"Some think you were lying"
"Oh well, the lucky girl is sitting next to me"
Sliscus looked around Malek, to see Kaelis and Helica exchanging gossip and the like.
"Hm, nice taste Malek" said Sliscus looking back at Malek, grinning like a maniac "Ask her soon"
"Thank you for the encouragement" said Malek with a lopsided smile
"Well, I'm going to dig in to my dinner"
As Sliscus called for a servant Malek turned back to his friends and sighed. He started eating and looked around; there were many Dark Eldar who were swapping stories, jokes as the sound of laughter could be obviously heard. Malek turned back to Serelia who was giving Atherakhia a small lesson about Darking. He felt a little annoyed as she was breaking one of the laws of her Kabal but he let it go; Atherakhia was his good friend and she wouldn't be a naturally talented Darker, the ability to become an accomplished and famous Darker meant you had to find out if you had the skill or not. Then you would have to start raining at any age beneath one thousand. Malek had started when he was one hundred and twenty and it took him one thousand years to master all the Darking the forbidden books could give him; he was still growing in power by the day.
'Serelia, you're not doing it right; it's flick your hand to the right not the left" said Malek, surprising Serelia
"M-Malek!" stammered Serelia "I-I-I'm sorry, I'm breaking one of our codes"
""It's alright, she can learn but she'll have to transfer to our Kabal to learn anything other than a simple dark energy blast"
"Really?" asked Atherakhia "You'd take me into your Kabal?"
"Why of course, I'm it's Supreme Archon, aren't I?"
"Will you take Kaelis as a Supreme Archoness or as a Supreme Lady?"
Malek turned red at that comment. Before he could say anything back to her, Vect called out for the main course. When the food was put on the plates and the wine was served, Malek stood up glass in hand.
"I would like to take this anything but exciting moment to get us to raise our glasses to Lord Vect"
Everyone stood up, glasses raised, Urien with eight glasses and Yranque, at sitting with the other Dark Souls Archon etc. had four.
"To Lord Asdrubael Vect and to Commorragh!" announced Malek
"To Asdrubael!" repeated the crowd, raising their glasses and drinking the Dark Eldar wine.
Vect stood up and raised his glass as well.
"I would like to take this opportunity to thank all who played their part in the Kaurava campaign" Vect started "I would, though, especially like to thank Malekith Shaed Sythil, who wrested the Campaign from the hands of that fool Tahril"
"To Malek" shouted the guests, raising their glasses once again
As everyone sat down, Vect announced it was time for the entertainment to begin. There were duels between the Archons etc. There were games, performances by the Harlequin troupe's, showing their audience with stories of Vect's rise, The Fall, The banishment of Sathonyx and a new drama; the story of Malek overthrowing his father and other tales, there were many other entertainments as well.
A few hours later, the guests were standing around, engaging in conversation. He was looking for Kaelis so he could speak to her without interruption. He found Atherakhia and Serelia who were discussing on the topic of their many suitors, Atherakhia telling Serelia the infamous tale of what happened between her and Tahril.
"Excuse me for interrupting the story about you and Tahril that I've heard over am million times, but have you seen Kaelis?"
"Oh, she's on the balcony" answered Atherakhia
As Malek walked past them, he swore he could sense them stifling their giggles and snickers. He found Kaelis leaning on the rail, her brown hair flowing in the slight breeze. He sighed and inhaled a loud breath; this was it. He exhaled and changed the aspect of his hair so he'd look nice. Once doing this, he walked over to Kaelis, stopping next to her.
"Hey" started Malek
"Oh, hey" she replied
"You look beautiful in that dress and armour, you hair as well"
"You think so?"
"I do"
"You look handsome in the Midnight Black Armour and your hair looks amazing"
Malek smiled, he was leading up to his proposition. He looked out at the city and sighed.
"It looks amazing doesn't it? The view" asked Malek
"It does actually, despite the fact that the view s of a city that's streets run with blood"
Malek chuckled, she had a nice sense of humour this girl.
"Kaelis, I've been thinking…"
"Yes?"
"That it's time for me to choose a Supreme Archoness….or Supreme Lady"
"Oh, I hope you choose wisely" replied Kaelis, looking back out at the city
"And I have chosen that woman"
"What is she like?"
"She's beautiful, funny, sweet, amazing, skilled in battle and she's standing next to me"
"Malek?" she asked out of pure disbelief
"Lady Kaelis Cali, will you marry me?" he said, taking her hand, kneeling in front of her
"I-I don't know what to say" she replied, the happiness inside rising
"I hope you do, because soon we'll be discovered by Vect, Atherakhia, Serelia, Malys or someone else"
"Malekith Shaed Sythil, I will marry you" she answered, smiling so happily
Malek got up and their embraced. They took their heads of each other's shoulders and they leant towards each other, their lips meeting.
"Okay, are we all ready?" asked Serelia "Good, Lord Vect you'll need to invoke your blessing upon them"
"What do I look like, an Adepta Sororitas Confessor?" asked Vect sarcastically
"I'm not going to answer that"
"Hmmm" was all Vect could manage
"Quick turn the lights off!" whispered Atherakhia
Once everyone was hidden, the lights were switched off and everyone simply waited. Serelia watched Malek and Kaelis enter the room, Malek's arm around Kaelis. She watched their initial shock and confusement at the darkness. Serelia scraped her scythe on the ground, signalling the surprise. Everyone jumped up and shouted out a hearty "Congratulations!" save Drazhar, who standing in a corner, with his arms crossed, giving Malek thumbs up.
Malek and Kaelis entered the crowd and started shaking hands and giving hugs to the guests. Malek spotted Sliscus, advancing towards Malek, who threw his arms around Malek, enveloping him in a tight hug. Malek hugged back until he told Traevelliath that he was cutting off his air supply, making him let go. Malek gasped for air and kept thanking people. When the party was over people filed out going back to their Kabal territories. Malek, Kaelis, Atherakhia and Serelia stayed behind for a few reasons; Vect had asked them to so he could personally thank them for saving his life, give Malek, all the area and belongings that belonged to Tahril and to give Malek and Kaelis his blessing.
Once Vect had walked back inside, the four turned to each other in silence.
"Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow at the wedding, Atherakhia and I'll convince Vect to let you join my Kabal so you can learn Darking" said Malek
"Thank you Malek"
"Kaelis, as of now, you are no longer Lady Cali of the Kabal of The Obsidian Rose, you are now The Supreme Lady of The Kabal of Dark Souls"
"Supreme Archoness" she corrected him
Serelia and Atherakhia left to go back to their homes, whilst Malek and Kaelis went back to Malek's palace. Kaelis had arrived at the dinner on a Raider that had other Obsidian Rose Archons on it as well. When they got to Malek's palace, they discussed where things would be put and Malek used his powers to re-arrange some furniture. When it became late, they went to bed; it is traditional that the more powerful of the couple plays as the host for the fiancé. Before Malek fell asleep, he felt calm, like the internal pain inside him had calmed. Ah he thought That must happen when you fall in love.
Well, that took a long time to write. Firstly I would like to thank Dawn of War Soulstorm for inspiring me, Games-Workshop for creating The Dark Eldar and a whole lot of other things that made this story come to life.
I would like to thank my family and friends who stood beside me in times of hardship, bladi bladi bla. Some of the characters in this story are based on real people. For example, Malek has some of the attributes that I have. Some characters are based of my friends and some characters like Tahril share the attitudes of people I know and people I wish I didn't know.
Many of these things are made up, so don't go hater on me about stuff that doesn't happen and stuff that doesn't exist, I'm using it to write a story. Now, I know I couldn't have done it without my friends and family and I couldn't have done it without their support and I'm really thankful that some were there so I could incorporate them into this story.
Disclaimer- I do not own most of the stuff I've written about
The Warhammer 40k franchise belongs to Games-Workshop
Dawn of War Soulstorm belongs to Relic Entertainment
Malek looked into the mirror and frowned.
"Atherakhia, come over here!"
"Yes Malek?"
"Don't you find something strange about this mirror?"
"Malek, we don't have time to wonder about our appearances right now, we have to find the way out of here"
Malek turned back to the mirror and kept frowning at his reflection. His hair was never black with red streaks in it and his armour wasn't sporting the colours of an independent Dark Eldar. He turned back to Atherakhia, following her down the alleyway. They emerged out of the alleyway into an empty street. They looked around, spotting a poster with someone's face on it, Atherakhia advancing towards it.
"Malek, you'd better have a look at this"
"What is it?"
"It-it's you"
Malek walked over to her and looked at the poster, gasping. It couldn't be possible, it just couldn't. But it was, for on the wall was a poster, announcing a reward a five million souls, for the crimes of breaking the laws of Commorragh and assassinating Lord Asdrubael Vect; Malekith Shaed Sythil
Another story about Malekith Sythil, begins anew!