V
Mathis tried to turn away from the daemon, but the daemon's gaze locked into his eyes. Mathis willed himself to look away, but the daemon had his mind in its grasp. So Mathis decided to be brave and attempted to look the daemon directly into its pale yellow eyes. Inside those eyes, he saw the deaths of millions and he vomited.
The daemon gave a barking laugh. "First time seeing a daemon, is it? Am I not glorious? Am I not magnificent? Cower before me, fool."
Mathis raised his head and looked at the monstrosity before him. "You are an abomination of nature. By the Emperor, I hope you die."
The daemon seemed to cringe a little at the mention of the Emperor, but that may have just been an unstable connection from the warp. The daemon moved around, circling Mathis. "I have not manifested myself to argue with a pitiful human like you. I am here to cut a deal with you."
"I will never deal with daemon spawn."
"So you say. Have you ever considered the benefits? You could have armies that not only follow you to the death, but worship you."
"I have no need for worship. I fight for the Emperor and that is its own reward."
"What about women? Not a whole lot of time for them as a warrior, but as a champion of chaos, you can have your pick of the finest seductresses of Slaanesh."
Mathis' ears burned at the mention of the foul god's name. He wanted to vomit again, but her refused to and instead spat at the daemon's cloven foot. "I have no need for women. The Emperor is the only lover I need."
"Faithful, I like that. Almost fanatical. You would serve us well. What is it you want? I can do anything. My masters have given me full reign."
"The only thing I want is you dead."
"Now now, no need to be nasty about it."
"There is plenty need, warpspawn!"
"Do you think that's an insult? Look at me, forged in the warp, living off of emotion. Eternal. I have always existed and I always will. I am more powerful than you can imagine!"
"Then why do you need my help?"
The daemon shot him a death glare and Mathis thrashed in his restraints. "Don't test my patience boy. You aren't the only commander that I can seduce, you know."
"Just humor me."
"My masters, my brethren and I may be omnipotent in the warp, but in the Materium, our powers are . . . limited. We have need for champions within the Materium to manifest our full powers."
Mathis nodded, "Alright. Still, I shall never join you. The Emperor is the only god and his light will blot out all others."
The daemon shook his head, "You really believe all this Emperor crap, don't you? He's a corpse. He is dead. My gods are alive. You can see their works everywhere. You god is rotting as we speak."
Mathis strained against the ropes holding him. They were tied tight and wouldn't give to his struggles. "Stop struggling, worm. I've enchanted those ropes myself. You aren't going anywhere until I let you," the daemon growled.
The beast squatted in front of Mathis and dared him to look him in the eye. "You fight for your emperor now. You will be dead in a few decades, maybe sooner. The people here cheer you as a hero, but in a few years, they will forget you. Everyone will forget you. Even the mighty Astartes are forgotten eventually. But if you join chaos, your fame will be eternal. You will be eternal, forever reincarnating to serve the gods again and again. Every citizen in the warp, the eye of terror and the Imperium will know your name and fear it. Mathis, destroyer of worlds, leader of the ruinous powers."
"That is not fame, it is infamy."
"It is eternal life and a chance to prove yourself the better of all others. Your caption, Blakeo. Didn't her promote the boy in front of you?"
"Don't you dare talk about Granis that way!"
"Haha, the boy Granis. That was his name. You know, I ate his soul when he died. In fact, I ate every soul that perished that day. All ninety-nine of them. Your entire company. I engineered that day. If I hadn't, you would still be a sergeant. Now look at you. A full blown general will a hundred thousand men under his direct command and the ability to command millions more. One more promotion and you will reshape entire systems!
"Now, imagine that same power, but with more too it. Not only would you command guardsmen, you would command Astartes and daemons! You would command me! You would change the shape of the galaxy. You have thousands at your command now. Join me, and you will command billions. Trillions. You will demand respect and you will get it. You will live in infamy, true, but it is better to live in infamy than in obscurity."
Mathis spat once more, "And it is better to die for the Emperor than to serve the foul powers of Chaos." Mathis had noticed the cultists had not removed his powerfist. He just had to wait for the right time to strike and he would be free.
"Once again, I respect your loyalty. I shall let you go now, Mathis. We will talk again soon."
"Like hell we will!" He shouted, activating his powerfist, tearing the ropes apart and charging the daemon. He brought the weapon up over his head when the daemon lifted him up by the neck.
"You're lucky I like you, Mathis," sneered the daemon. It threw Mathis against the wall. When Mathis got back up, he saw the daemon was gone. He picked up his stormbolter from a table near the wall he was thrown and saw the top of the stairwell was open. He quickly climbed up the stairs which lead to a mid-level spire top. He waved down an air taxi that drove him back to the barracks.
He decided to not report the incident. That would just get the inquisition involved. No, it would be better if he let it go and tried to get on with his life.
He arrived at the barracks and walked to his room. He checked his wrist chrono and saw it was three in the morning. He had to get the men up at six. He sighed and entered his room. He shed his filthy clothes and fell into his cot.
He drifted off slowly to sleep, but his dreams were full of images of burning worlds and masses of insane worshipers.