Eliphas' enhanced eyes adjusted to the room's darkness immediately. He felt a mix of satisfaction that he had wrested himself free from the daemons that had tormented him, and disgust at this pathetic gang of cultists. Having had more strength than the daemon they wished to summon, he took his place. Allowing himself one moment of regret for the loss of his wargear, including the terrifying Helm of Lorgar and his famed Accursed Crozius, he stood intimidatingly, seeing these Warp-dabblers for the tools of revenge they were.
Revenge... revenge was a good place to start. Revenge against Davian Thule and his thrice-damned Blood Ravens.
Wait. Calm. Anger lends strength, but Eliphas was not foolish enough to think he could stand against a force of Space Marines alone. He needed an army as he had once had on Kronus. Seas of cultists to drown the foe, feral packs of Raptors to shred the enemy to pieces, and disciplined squads of his Word Bearers to cut down any survivors, while Defilers waded into the piles of corpses, picking off squads at range and shredding any stupid enough to get close. While the rabble lead by Gorgutz was susceptible to such a tactic, Thule's forces had expanded rapidly southward, defeating the Necrons and sweeping into Chaos territory. All the cultists Eliphas could muster availed him nought against the Land Raiders that decimated his headquarters, and when the Daemon Prince appeared, he killed Eliphas outright, casting his cursed soul into the Warp.
Eliphas suspected the Daemon Prince did not anticipate his return. This thought filled him with grim mirth, so that bleak laughter issued unbidden from his cruel mouth. The crowd was fearful. Good. The scared were always easy to manipulate.
"Brothers of Chaos," he began smoothly, "I have come to lead you. Together we shall conquer this world and turn it to the service of the Dark Powers. With me at your head, the loyalist puppets shall fall, and this planet shall be the first of many as we sweep across the stars as a torrent of blood and death! Who stands with me in this endeavour?
"I am Eliphas the Inheritor, Dark Apostle of the Word Bearers, Lord of Chaos, bane of the greenskins and the rotting Imperium, favoured by Khorne, forged by a thousand years of torment and a thousand more of war! I shall lead you! Stand with me, and I promise you blood. I promise you power beyond anything you can imagine. I promise you all that you desire, for such is the lure of Chaos.
"Come then! We shall honour the Ruinous Powers through our words and deeds, and I shall guide you and instruct you in the holy teachings of my primarch, Lorgar, first of all our enlightened brethren. I repeat, who stands with me?"
Inwardly he smiled grimly. If he could exhort a battalion of Word Bearers to mindless slaughter, or encourage and coax a group of cultists into the meatgrinder, he could easily convince a clutch of gullible fools of the worthiness of his cause. After all, he was not chosen to be a Dark Apostle for nothing. Stirring oratories were his forte.
The room was utterly swayed by his speech. They had gone from scared to awestruck to impetuous and eager. A particularly fat man began to thump a goblet on the table beside him, uncaring of the drink that was spilling. The rhythm was taken up quickly around the room, increasing in volume and speed. The haggard old man who had completed the ritual swayed closer to Eliphas and prostrated himself before the Traitor Marine.
"My lord... lead us into glory. We will do all you ask. Grant us the power of the Dark Gods."
Eliphas resisted the temptation to crush his head as he outstretched his hand. He could not abide weaklings, but beggars could not be choosers. Instead he took the elderly cultist's withered hand and raised him up.
"Graciously I accept your allegiance, brothers and sisters united under Chaos Undivided. Now, as is my right as leader, I brand you the Brotherhood of Inheritance."
At these words, a small wind blew through the room, lightly rattling the chains adorning the roof, as though the Chaos Gods had given their blessing to the name.
"Come closer, believers, and tell me of this world, so that I may better plan our attack."
"This is Meridian, my Lord," said a man average in every way as they all shuffled forward in various poses of obeisance. "Hive World capital of subsector Aurelia."
"And for what reason did you all turn to Chaos?" asked Eliphas.
"This world is under the protection of the Blood Raven Space Marines, who also protect Planetary Governor Derosa. She has run afoul of us many times, my Lord, and the Imperium is unwilling to listen to our complaints," replied an elderly woman who wore many trinkets attached to piercings on her face and ears.
"Therefore the Warp and its Gods are merely tools for you to depose this governor?" enquired Eliphas irritatedly.
"No, no, my Lord, we would give our lives for the Great Powers," said a skittish young man, quick to cool the Apostle's wrath. "B-but we wish to convert this world to Chaos and rule it ourselves."
An unworthy cause. "A worthy cause, child. It is fortunate, then, that I have been brought forth to lead you. What meagre force can you muster?" This was the most important part to Eliphas – these fools were too few on their own, and he deemed most of them unable to hold a lasgun, much less wage war against the Imperium.
The old woman spoke up. "We hold approximately five thousand in security forces, enough to perhaps invade a single factory."
Invade? Perhaps. But not for long before the PDF and the Guard struck, not to mention the Blood Ravens who watched over the world.
"Brethren, I would like to know how you came by the knowledge of Chaos."
"That will not be necessary," said a loud, belligerent voice from the now open door.
Eliphas swung around to look at the owner of the voice. It was another Astartes. One clad in black Terminator armour. He held a combi-flamer, aiming steadily at Eliphas' bare chest, and neither of them was under any illusion about what would happen if either a bolter shell or a jet of flaming promethium hit him.
The Terminator started forward, followed by two other Traitor Marines clad in similarly black power armour. Their guns were also trained on him as they flanked the Terminator. However, if they were looking for a fearful reaction, they would not get one from the Inheritor.
"Black Legionnaires?" said Eliphas scornfully. "We do not need your brand of dullardry. You lack the respect that the Dark Gods deserve."
The Terminator waited for him to finish, then gave a warning shot that sped past a nonchalant Eliphas to eviscerate the young man kneeling behind him.
"I am Araghast the Pillager, whelp," replied the Terminator calmly, "I am the Lash of the Black Legion. I am in control of this world, and soon the corpse-worshipping peons will know it. I do not suffer the scorn of my inferiors, nor do I tolerate those who do not follow my orders. Now you will answer my questions, or the next shot pierces your head. Now, who are you?"
"I am Eliphas the Inheritor of the Word Bearers, scourge of Kronus."
"Kronus, you say? I heard the Word Bearers fell and their leader personally crushed by a Daemon Prince."
"And yet here I am." said Eliphas, noting with satisfaction that Araghast's two bodyguards seemed unnerved that anybody could seem so confident in the face of the Black Legion.
"Recently returned, I see. And why are you here?"
"I am here to have my revenge against the Blood Ravens, especially one Davian Thule, who lead the forces who defeated me on Kronus."
Araghast gave a low laugh. "Do not worry, fool, if you submit to me I promise you all the revenge you could want. I also know what happened to Thule, and if you submit I will tell you."
Eliphas had no choice, and Araghast knew it. While fairly confident he could kill one Astartes unarmed with no armour, two Astartes and a Terminator Lord? Besides, he needed to know about Thule as well as indulge in a small taste of vengeance against the Blood Ravens.
He knelt. "I submit, Lord Araghast."