The three Kin crawled through the cramped ducts, brushing past dangling wires and tubing with only their lamps and torches to illuminate their surroundings. Dóri tapped a small device on his wrist, bringing up old schematics to the section of the hold they were in. Aside from general weathering and slight spatial distortions, which the Kin chalked up to tectonic shifts, everything seemed to be more or less in the same place.
"We've only got a few more sections of ventilation to pass through before we reach the maintenance ventricle." Dóri said. "Then it's just a matter of extractin' the component without damaging its internal structure."
Just as he had finished speaking, the Kin heard a distant crash behind them, muffled by the layers of rock and metal.
"What was that?" Ykkhí said, turning to look into the long, dark corridor behind them.
"Sounds like our hired help just met the new 'occupants'." Dóri said.
"I just hope they are alright…" Vêlyma said.
The Kin continued onward through the maze of pipes and vents, eventually reaching their destination. The maintenance ventricle was lit by a faint, red glow pouring in from various cooling vents, a lingering remnant of the planet's geothermal power that still remained somewhat functional. The relatively spacious chamber was roughly dome-shaped, its walls lined with holes and cavities from which long, winding pipes and tubes spread outwards like creeping vines or fungal mycelium. They all fed into the central processing unit at the far side of the room, within which the device they sought after was contained. The tubing and red ambient lighting gave the entire room an uncanny aura, like they were trapped within the stomach of some giant, half-living organism… yet the Kin continued on despite their apprehension. Dóri and Ykkhí immediately set to work unloading their tools, preparing to cut open the processing unit's thick metal casing to surgically remove the purifying component from within. With Vêlyma standing watch behind them with her Lascannon, Dóri and Ykkhí powered up their plasma torches and diamond-tipped drills, making small and precise incisions into the thick sheet metal. Sparks flew in all directions, illuminating the room and filling the air with the loud sounds of whirring drill bits and burning ionized gas. The noise was so overpowering that none of them could hear the slow and unrelenting sound of scraping metal creeping through the tunnels behind them.
The sound of heavy footsteps echoed through the halls of the ancient hold. Maimed and crushed machine-husks lay piled along the walls, rivers of corroded oil pooling on the floor. Admu's boots were coated in the viscous, rust-colored fluid, and small flecks were splattered over her face and arms as a result of the carnage. A lone machine-husk leaped out from a pile of its crushed kin, and Admu simply crushed its metal casing in her hand. Oil splattered across her face, which remained locked in an expression of cold enmity. She dragged the dead machine along the ground as she entered the cavernous chamber that surrounded a bubbling pit of toxic waste. Lit by the pale, ambient glow of pure corruption, she saw the monstrous daemon emerge from the tangles of thick cable and rotted metal above, dropping down onto the floor with a powerful thud.
It was like a giant, bloated corpse nestled within a metal exoskeleton, its small patches of exposed flesh marred with decay and its steel frame coated with oxidation and industrial grime. Its overall shape was lopsided and irregular, vaguely resembling a number of construction vehicles grafted onto a monstrous toad and planted atop a mechanical spider. Its myriad of asymmetrical legs skittered and slid as it shifted its weight, the two monstrous mechanical arms and several smaller ones swaying atop its bloated torso. It wielded oversized, serrated power claws arrayed in a pincer on one of its larger arms, and something resembling a cross between a grasping implement and an industrial mining drill on the other. It was armed with enough miscellaneous weaponry to arm an entire platoon of guardsmen, held in its smaller arms or simply affixed to its frame. Its fleshy components were woven and fused throughout Its body, making it difficult to determine where the flesh ended, and the machine began. Nestled atop its hideous torso, the daemon's bloated head was crowned with gnarled horns and half-mechanical jaws, complete with a thick metal mask bolted to its face. Mekegare stepped towards Admu on its tangle of legs sporting a malicious grin, followed by its army of mechanical thralls emerging from the darkness and circling around her.
"At last, you've arrived… such a potent aura for such a meager morsel…" The daemon said.
"I've no interest in idle conversation with a disgusting creature like you." Admu said.
"Really? I'm disappointed… I usually like to talk before my meals." Mekegare said, licking his lips with his bloated, fetid tongue.
Admu's face twisted with rage, and her fists clenched tightly. Then, she smirked slightly.
"I think that you will find me a rather unpleasant dinner guest. AGAITH!" She said.
The room was engulfed in a blinding flash of light, forcing the daemon to shield his eyes. When his vision returned, his beady eyes widened at what he saw. Gone was the human that had been standing before him, abnormally tall yet still mortal in appearance. In her place, stood a towering figure that rivaled the daemon in height. Her head was crowned with faintly glowing antlers that crackled with energy, and a long, flowing tail covered in orange-gold fur draped behind her.
Leman would surely disapprove of this, revealing my true form to this… thing. Admu thought, a brief moment of reflection momentarily quenching the raging inferno of hatred in her mind. I suppose it doesn't matter. I won't let this creature live long enough to tell the tale.
Mekegare stepped backwards, struck by a painful sensation that seemed to radiate from the being in front of him. His anthropoidal legs wobbled slightly as a wave of… discomfort? Nausea? Illness? Washed over him. It was an entirely foreign sensation, one that momentarily alarmed the warp-creature. Then, his expression shifted slightly. He ignored the painful sensation, focusing on a new stimulus that he had just become aware of. It was a scent, but not a material one. A spiritual aroma, one that was all too familiar to him. Slowly, a wicked smile spread across the pockmarked face beneath his metal mask. He breathed deeply through his half-rotted nostrils, growling like a hyena.
"When I first sensed your presence in my hold… I thought you nothing but a passing meal, something to sate my hunger for a few years at most… but now, now that I can sense your true essence… I cannot explain it. Your purity disgusts me… but underneath it… I can smell it. Our shared heritage." Admu's scowling face could barely contain the simmering hatred inside of her. "I know not how or why the great Plaguefather would create something so… paradoxical… but I cannot deny what stands before me… a fellow child of Nurgle."
Admu bore an expression of repugnant horror, simply hearing the name of her father uttered by this monstrosity was revolting to her.
"You are no child of Nurgle." Admu said. "You're an abomination."
Mekegare laughed.
"You are one to talk! You are anathema to disease and corruption, yet the scent of Nurgle lies deep within you." Mekegare said. "I suppose I could consider allowing you to join me, as a sibling… though I think I would prefer to simply take your power for myself. Father Nurgle will understand… life, death, it's all the same in his blessing."
"I have a better idea." Admu said, clenching her fist. "I will destroy you. Your putrid soul will be erased from existence, forever. I'll free this hold from your corrupt influence and return it to those it belongs to." She tossed the eviscerated machine-husk she was holding towards the daemon, tumbling and skidding to a halt at its feet. "Unless you're too much of a coward to face me yourself, and simply wish to send more of your mechanical drones to fight me."
Mekegare looked confused for a moment. Then, a sickening smile slowly stretched across his face.
"Drones…?" the daemon said. "Is that what you thought they were?"
Admu's face flickered with uncertainty.
"Oh, there's no need for me to explain. I should let them speak for themselves!" Mekegare said.
The daemon waved his arm, followed by an eruption of garbled static. The mechanical husks all rang out with an indistinguishable, ear-piercing static that oscillated and adjusted until it became recognizable. Admu was enveloped in a cacophony of blood-curdling screams, filtered through the grainy static of barely maintained electronic speakers. Thousands of voices crying out in agony and terror, begging and pleading for the release of death or simply shrieking in incomprehensible madness. The anger and rage washed from Admu's face as the blood drained from her skin. Her eyes were open wide and her pupils dilated, her lips quivering as words escaped her. She stepped backwards in confusion, her arms and legs trembling as she struggled to process the sheer deluge of agonized screams flooding through her ears. Despite the cries' electronic origins, she could feel their souls crying out in unimaginable pain. Never in her life had she felt horror like this.
Mekegare laughed, deep and guttural, like a beheaded frog.
"I had grown tired of hearing their screams after the first few decades… but after so many years of silence… it's like hearing a fondly remembered tune… music to my ears." The daemon said, bearing a wide grin and raising his arms in the air.
"What… I-I don't…" Admu stuttered, struggling to comprehend the horror surrounding her. She looked down at the shredded torso of the machine she had thrown at the daemon's feet, then at her trembling hands and arms coated in its oily-black ichor. "But… they're just… machines…" Admu said.
Like Vêlyma. Admu thought.
Her face was filled with terror upon the realization. She understood now what the Ironkin had meant when she described seeing her brethren before… this. Slowly, the shock and horror in her face melted away and revealed the pure hatred simmering underneath.
"I'll… I'll kill you…" Admu said, her teeth clenched and tears welling up in her eyes.
"Ah… how fun. I enjoy it when my meals fight back." Mekegare said.
With a flick of his wrist, the machine-horde leapt into action and stampeded towards Admu. She attempted to dodge their frenzied lunges and slashes, having to tear them off of her as they grabbed hold of her arms and legs. She just wanted to get them off of her and was hesitant to simply destroy them like she had earlier. She managed to fend off the zombified machines, even if just for a moment, and saw an opening. She charged through a thin section of the horde's ranks, hurling herself towards the daemonic cyborg that had drawn her ire. Her fist impacted an armored section of the daemon's torso, causing the rest of his body to crumple in surprise. He slid backwards on his mechanical legs, grinding against the metal floor and sending sparks flying. He steadied himself with his largest arm, looking up at Admu with a wild and crazed expression.
"Incredible…" Mekegare said between labored, panting breaths. "Even through my thick metal hide, I can still feel you draining my power with your… purity." He said the word with a spiteful venom, as if it pained him simply to utter it. "Unfortunately for you, Ihave power to spare!"
Tendrils of sickly-green energy began to seep from the worn surfaces of the hold around them, snaking through the air and diffusing into the daemon's rotting flesh and tarnished metal. Whatever superficial damage Admu had inflicted upon the infernal being's physical body was quickly mended by supernatural forces. The rusty metal plate armor covering its body shifted and maneuvered on unseen mechanical joints, aligning into a formidable defense that still allowed his arsenal of weaponry to peek through.
"You know… Once, I was just a meager Glitchling… a lesser daemon of mischief and malfunction, nothing more… then, I happened upon this wondrous place. Their mighty walls and formidable defenses were impregnable to any invading force… but their minds and souls had grown complacent over the millennia… relaxed security protocols… outdated firewalls… weak passcodes… they were like fertile soil for my ilk. I wormed my way deep into their systems… infecting their machines with Nurgle's blessings… and by the time they realized I was there… it was too late! I claimed their technology for my own… drank deep from their geothermal plants… breathed in their corrupted data… and gorged myself on their digitized souls. Now look at what I've become! A daemon to rival even the greatest of Unclean Ones! And when I'm done feasting upon this planet-sized carcass… I'll unleash my digital pox upon the entire galaxy!" Mekegare said, cackling with a sickening, gurgling laugh.
Admu's rage was beyond words, and she simply charged at the daemon with her fists bared. With a surprising speed, the daemon readied a heavy ballistic cannon and fired in her direction. The flaming explosive rocketed past her as she just barely managed to dodge it. She turned back to face Mekegare, only to realize that in the second she was distracted he had closed the gap between them. A gargantuan hunk of metal in the shape of a closed fist collided with her arm, as she had just enough time to block it from directly hitting her skull. The force of the impact knocked her off of her feet. As she struggled to stand up, the daemon unleashed a volley of missiles from its amalgamated machine-body that flowered out in all directions before bearing back down on her. Admu dashed across the room, narrowly avoiding the dozens of sickly-green explosions that struck the ground around her. Mekegare opened fire with multiple autocannons, and Admu desperately weaved between the trails of hot lead to avoid being struck. She wasn't completely successful, feeling a searing pain in her leg, shoulder, and chest as she was struck by the stream of projectiles. Luckily, it seemed they were not strong enough to penetrate her supernaturally durable skin, though it certainly caused her a significant amount of pain. She grit her teeth and continued weaving, snaking her way right into the daemon's blind spot… or at least what she thought was a blind spot. She jabbed at the daemon's exposed side, only to find her fist stopped by a smaller mechanical limb. She punched with her other hand, which was similarly blocked by yet another limb. She growled in frustration, only for the daemon's entire body to swivel around like a turret. Before she could react, the daemon's primary limb had smacked her to the ground, and she had to scurry out of the way as it slammed its fist down and created a sizable indent. She ducked and weaved through the onslaught of jabbing and slicing from the daemon's many mechanical arms, attempting to make strikes of her own but usually impacting nothing but rusted metal. A small, cylindrical lens emerged from the daemon's shoulder, emitting a high-pitched screech and radiating with sickly green energy. A solid beam of pale light carved through the air in an arc, and Admu dropped to the floor just in time to avoid its path. A series of thunderous explosions erupted behind her from where the beam had struck the ground. She glanced back with a shocked expression but was quickly pulled back into the fray and stumbled backwards to avoid a swing from the daemon's immense claw. The daemon swung its immense limbs madly, pounding the earth over and over and pressuring Admu backwards - cackling wildly the whole time. It was like a fattened, overfed predator playing with its food, secure in its overwhelming superiority over whatever wandered into its den.
He was enjoying this.
Admu clenched her fists in rage and flung herself at the daemon, matching the creature's blows with her own. She landed hit after hit on the daemon's metal hide, but it seemed that no matter how much damage she dealt it simply absorbed more energy from its surroundings to compensate. She was beginning to feel the strain of fatigue growing in her muscles, and a dull aching all over body as she sustained glancing blows from the strikes, she couldn't quite dodge. Still, she mustered up the will to continue fighting. She kept thinking back to the sight of the Kin in their crowded ships, exiled from their home and robbed of their future. She refused to leave them like that. She refused to leave their home, their future, even their very kinfolk in the hands of this monster. So, she kept fighting.
Mekegare lunged forward and swung its immense claw at Admu, grazing her face and arm before embedding into the ground. A thin red line spread along her skin, and small beads of blood started dripping down her chin. She took advantage of his near miss, planting her foot down on his arm and pinning it down. She raised her fist and prepared to bring it straight down on the daemon's skull. Just before she was able to swing, she felt a weight dragging her arm back. The machine husks had resumed their attack, piling onto her and clawing at her skin. She fought them off like a swarm of ants, swatting and tossing them away when suddenly she felt cold metal wrapping around her arm. She looked up with a horrified expression to see Mekegare, his fist clamped around her wrist and a wicked grin stretched across his face. With the sound of explosive hydraulics, his second fist smashed into her stomach with the force of an artillery shell. Her eyes shot open as wide as they could, pain surging through her entire body like a lightning strike. Her lungs felt like they were filled with fire, and her jaw hung open as she screamed breathlessly. The daemon reared back again, but Admu was in too much shock to respond. The next blow struck her square in the face. She saw nothing but white, which quickly faded into black. Glittering, swirling stars began to fill her vision, and it felt like she was suspended in water. The daemon swung her arm and tossed her into the wall with great force. He readied his autocannons, but Admu opened her eyes and just barely recovered in time to dodge the hail of bullets that perforated the thick metal wall. She stumbled forward, closing the gap between them while still regaining her senses. The daemon swung at her, but she caught the immense fist mere inches from her face. Mustering all of her strength, she dragged the bloated, biomechanical monstrosity by its arm and slammed him against a support pillar. The impact sent cracks shooting up the huge stone pylon, causing dust and small pieces of debris to fall from the ceiling. The daemon's crab-like mechanical legs buckled and skittered against the ground in an attempt to recover. Admu locked arms with the daemonic cyborg, matching it in strength with its two largest limbs. She pressed it against the pillar, staring into its recessed, hunger-filled eyes with her own malice-drowned gaze. In rage, she slammed her head down on the daemon's and their horns locked together. Sparks flew out in all directions as her ethereal antlers grated against the Nurglite daemon's jagged horns. Mekegare slowly rose to his feet, pushing Admu back slightly as they remained locked in a vicious struggle. Then, out of the corner of her eye, Admu spotted the glint of sharpened steel. The daemon drew a jagged blade grafted to one of its smaller appendages, plunging it into her side. A red-hot sensation shot through her, like her blood was full of a million tiny shards of glass. She clenched her teeth as her face twisted with pain. She disengaged from the daemon and stumbled backwards, clutching the source of the pain with her left hand. She opened her eyes and glanced down, her dripping palm painted bright red. She looked up at the daemonic creature with contempt, suppressing her agony with the hatred boiling inside of her. Mekegare chuckled grotesquely.
"Remarkable… that blade was coated in more toxins and pestilence than I could count, yet it seems that it only took you mere moments to recover from it." The daemon said, licking his lips. "It's going to take a long while to digest you… and I'm going to enjoy every moment of it."
A rain of sparks and the deafening sound of grinding metal filled the room as Dóri and Ykkhí hacked and drilled away at the impressively durable casing that held the purification device they sought. Due to the importance of the component to the Hold's life support, it was heavily protected from external tampering or damage. Normally reaching it for maintenance would be as simple as entering a few commands into a nearby terminal, however in this situation all three of the Kin knew that wasn't an option. They weren't in control of the Hold or its network, and the last thing they wanted to do was alert the thing that was in control of where they were and what they were doing. All the while, they continued feeling and hearing loud reverberations coming from outside where they had entered the maintenance shaft.
"What in the deep core is goin' on out there!?" Ykkhí said, shouting over the sound of the drill.
"Our bodyguards' are doin' their jobs! Now focus, we need to get this outer layer of Admantium peeled off so we can start unweaving the transuranic crystalline matrix!" Dóri said.
A monstrous, metallic howl filled the air, drowning out the noise of the drills and plasma cutters, followed by a series of heavy impacts and crashes which shook the walls around them. Then, the sound of a distinctly human war cry pierced the air followed by more shakes and crashes.
"By the ancestors…" Vêlyma said. "Is that Enoch?"
"That means we've still got time." Dóri said, continuing to saw through the metal covering with his plasma tools.
Vêlyma turned and looked at the dark tunnels stretching out from the maintenance ventricle, switching between sensor ranges while keeping her Lascannon at the ready. As she switched from infrared to sonar, she noticed a flash off movement in the far side of the corridor. She switched back to infrared, then through the rest of her sensors to try and determine what it was. All of her sensor arrays detected nothing. Still, a gnawing suspicion grew in her synaptic processors. She stepped into the dark recess, pushing aside cables and broken paneling hanging down from the ceiling. She switched through her sensor ranges again, sweeping every nook and cranny for anything out of the ordinary. She noticed a faint outline in infrared, like an outcropping that seemed just barely distinct from the wall. It could have been a pile of debris or a broken pylon, but she got closer to investigate. The interference from the sounds of Dóri and Ykkhí working in addition to the noises of the harrowing battle taking place outside made her sonar ineffective, and the cold, lifeless metal gave off little infrared to detect. Unable to identify what the thing was, she decided to turn on her head-mounted lamp. In the instant the light shone on the horrible creature hunched in the recess, it pounced on her with its jagged talons.
Ykkhí and Dóri were immediately alerted to the commotion behind them and were shocked to find their sister grappling with some misshapen machine-thing in the darkness. In the frenzy, her lamp occasionally flashed upon the machine and gave glimpses of its form, but the low light and the frantic struggle made it impossible to identify.
"Vêlyma!" Dóri shouted, abandoning his work to aid his iron-wrought sibling with Ykkhí following behind him.
Vêlyma fired off shots from her Lascannon, boring yellow-hot holes in the walls and ceilings. The creature grabbed the barrel of her weapon and clamped down on its capacitor, releasing a halo of electricity and a plume of smoke. It dug into her chest armor with its claws and flung her towards the other Kin with ease, sending her screeching across the metal floor. It strode out of the darkness on its beast-like hind limbs, dripping with red-brown oil, distended wires and tubing hanging out of its shattered and rusted carapace. Three malefic lights arranged in a triangular pattern glowed from within its exposed cranial casing, and three clawed limbs jutted out from its mismatched body. Portions of its hydraulic limbs and synaptic nerves were replaced with implanted bones and mycotic flesh, its vocal units choking and sputtering with ear-piercing sonic artifacts and static interference. The machine-husk swayed and twitched in unnerving motions, as if equal parts unwilling puppet and rabid beast. Suddenly, it lunged towards the downed Vêlyma with a savage ferocity, intent on continuing its attack. Dóri stepped between them, catching its claws on the thick metal shell of the plasma cutter.
"Ykkhí!" Dóri said. "Help Vêlyma repair the Lascannon! One bolt to the cranial cavity will melt its armor and fry its internals! It's our best shot at putting it down for good!"
"On it!" Ykkhí said, flinging open the toolbox and scrambling for the tools necessary to repair Vêlyma's shattered capacitor.
Dóri pushed back against the undead machine, the mechanical joints and micro-servos in his Exo-suit summoning enough strength to overpower it, if for but a moment. It was a far cry from the mighty Exo-armor of the High Kâhl, but it would have to do for now. He lit the plasma flame at the end of his torch and pointed it towards the shambling machine-husk.
"Have at ye, machine-blight!" Dóri said.
Admu stumbled and fell to one knee, panting heavily. She was covered in bruises and thin scrapes, with a dozen or so gashes oozing blood all over her body. She rose to her feet, ignoring the sharp jabs of pain erupting from her legs and chest. She was hunched over in exhaustion, her arms hanging limp at her sides while her chest heaved with labored breaths. Still, her eyes carried a desperate, flaming rage that indicated her continued willingness to fight. Mekegare's smile had begun to wane, the prolonged struggle causing his amusement to turn to frustration. Admu had inherited her father's supernatural endurance, and even the grievous wounds he had inflicted had only barely caused her to slow down. He wanted to end this before he expended too much of the energy he was storing away, energy that could be better put to use towards his eventual apotheosis into a true Greater Daemon and ensuing dark crusade against the rest of the Votann Leagues. Still, the raw power she demonstrated was proof enough of the reward he would receive upon his victory. This baneful child of Nurgle would serve as the catalyst for his ascension, he was sure of it. He only needed to put her down once and for all.
The two children of Nurgle charged at each other once again, colliding in a wreck of fists and claws. A titanic struggle of daemonic will and empyrean strength, shaking the very superstructure around them. Admu wrapped the daemon's claw beneath her arm and pummeled its metallic face with a series of jabs. Mekegare swung her into a support column and forced her to release him, the superficial wounds she had inflicted soon mending as he drew yet more daemonic energy from the Hold. He powered up his autocannon, unloading his ammunition into the pillar as Admu dodged out of the way. He activated all of his weapons, spreading his fire out in a maddened hail of fire and death. Admu dug into the floor and lifted up a section of the metal paneling, using the heavy slab to absorb most of the onslaught. When the volley had ended, she let the panel fall back into place and charged towards the daemon. Unable to react in time, Admu drove into the beastly cyborg with her shoulder, briefly lifting it off the ground before falling on its buckled legs. In a flash, Admu circled the daemon and grabbed its unarmed back. She dug her fingers into the gaps in its armor and planted her feet firmly, funneling all of her strength into her core muscles. Mekegare's legs straightened and then began flailing as they were lifted off of the ground. The daemon squirmed and thrashed violently as Admu gritted her teeth, the taste and smell of her own blood filling her senses. The daemon's eyes widened as he realized he was losing control. He had to do something. Just below Admu, the crushed half-torso of a machine-husk flickered to life. It crawled towards her with what little arcane power it had left, unsheathing its claws and digging them into a large gash on her lower leg. Admu's eyes shot wide open and she screamed in pain, releasing the daemon with a thunderous crash. She fell to one knee and swatted the half-crushed construct away, then grasping her wounded leg as it gushed fresh blood. Mekegare did not intend to grant her a reprieve.
With his largest claw, he clamped onto the back of her head. She tried to grab the talons and attempt to remove them, but just as she had wrapped her fingers around the metal pincers Mekegare smashed her face straight into the ground. He lifted her back up, then slammed her down again. Again and again, he pummeled her into the metal paneling, viciously smashing her head with equal parts rage and desperation. After several minutes of this gruesome routine, he was left panting and wheezing as his rotten, half-mechanical lungs burned with exhaustion. He peeled Admu's face from the deep and bloody indentation on the ground to examine his handiwork. Admu swam in and out of consciousness, her battered and swollen eyes lidding open and closed. A pained gurgle escaped her torn lips, as rivers of blood poured out of her mouth and broken nose.
"Still… alive?" Mekegare said, his voice carrying a hint of respect amidst the rasping anger and fatigue. "Truly… you are a child of Nurgle…"
He took a moment to recover his energy, drawing in tendrils of ethereal power to regain his stamina. He breathed deeply and rose on his crab-like legs. He dragged Admu's barely conscious body along the ground, leaving a smeared trail of blood as he went. They reached the edge of the bubbling, glowing pit of gathered corruption that lie in the center of the immense chamber.
"This is a reservoir of all the corruption and decay of this entire hold. It's the source of my power, a pool of putridity and corrosion so potent and concentrated that even I wouldn't survive prolonged, direct exposure to it. Think of this entire hold as my extended body… and this as its stomach." Mekegare said, raising Admu by her neck to the light of the vast lake of sickly-green sludge. "You… will become my sustenance… the feast that serves as a catalyst to my ascension! In Nurgle's name, I will become the scourge of the stars, the devourer of the Votann!"
Mustering all of his strength, Mekegare hurled Admu into the vast pool of toxic waste. As soon as she broke the surface of the liquid and began sinking into it, her senses returned, and she began to violently trash and flail at the viscous liquid. Her dazed mind was full of panic and fear as the fluid seemed to consciously resist her, gripping against her arms and legs and trying to pull her deeper. She began screaming until the liquid engulfed her face, pulling her down until only a single arm remained above the surface, slowly sinking down further until the tips of her fingers sank into the corruptive churn. Mekegare began to laugh, relief washing over him as he basked in his victory. This prey was more formidable than he had expected… much more. Yet, that only meant the reward would be all the greater.
Admu could feel the overwhelmingly toxic power swirling around her, like she was stuck inside the heart of a flaming-hot oven. She was protected from the worst of its effects by her natural aura of purity, but even that was being tested. It was draining her energy much faster than she could recover, as if she were running several kilometers every second. Exhaustion pulled at the edges of her mind, threatening to drag her into unconsciousness. She didn't know what would happen to her if she blacked out here. She didn't want to know. Images, thoughts, and regrets rapidly flashed through her mind. She remembered what Fen had said about what would happen to her if she died. Would she go back home? Or simply end up somewhere even worse? No, neither of those were options she could accept. She needed to stay with Leman. He needed her for his mission, to save his brothers and set her family free. She wondered why she had been so foolish to have left Leman behind and attempted to fight this monstrous daemon alone. Was she afraid of him getting hurt? No, she knew better than that. She was afraid of what he would see… ashamed that she was connected to these vile things that used her father's name. He wasn't there when she tore through the Death Guard. In truth, she barely recalled any of it, like it was a half-remembered nightmare. The way they praised her father while committing such cruel and disgusting acts, tarnishing everything she knew he stood for. The way that this daemon had spoken of her as a sibling, as if they were in any way related, it made her skin crawl. It wasn't true. It couldn't be.
…but deeper still, she knew the truth. This Nurgle and her father were two sides of the same being. They shared an essence, an essence which he passed down to her. He had heard it all from her uncle Tzeentch. Even if she didn't believe it… she had experienced it firsthand. She remembered now, back on Leprus. When the chaos sorcerer Typhus had tried to imprison her… her mind had repressed the memory, but now she remembered. He forced her to absorb the corrupted energy of this Nurgle. It was vile, corrupt, daemonic, like a sickening poisonous sludge she was forced to ingest. She had no choice, and barely knew what was happening… but it empowered her. She suddenly recalled how she tore into the Death Guard like a feral beast, tearing apart flesh and metal with teeth and claw. That… thing was a part of her, no matter how much she wished to deny it. That baleful energy, the kind which empowered her on Leprus… it was now all around her. All she had to do was embrace it. She saw no other way out. It was the only way to save herself, to save the Kin, to return to Leman… but she had to make the choice herself this time. She closed her eyes and accepted it.
When the barrier of purity disappeared and the liquid touched her torn and bloodied skin, it was like burning acid pouring across her wounds. Her eyes shot open and tried to scream, but it just allowed the liquid to pour into her mouth. She grabbed her throat as the noxious fluid filled her lungs, sending a burning pain all throughout her insides. Every part of her body was in agony, but she was not being harmed. She wasn't even drowning. She struggled to stay conscious through the agonizing pain, filling her with a feverish heat that tunneled its way into her muscles and bones. She clutched her head as it felt like it would split open. Her antlers were growing, pushing out of her skull like tulips rupturing from the earth. The wounds on her skin began to tear open wider, but it drew no blood. Instead, patches of dark fur began to emerge from the seams, pushed out by her rapidly swelling musculature. Her ears were filled with the sound of snapping bone and rushing water as her skeleton violently reformed itself. The skin from her back tore open revealing two muscular limbs covered in black fur mixed with silver-brown feathers. The new appendages were tipped with long, dagger-like claws and draped in thin, diaphanous wings. Her feet tore through her boots as they elongated into beast-like paws with curved talons. Long claws erupted from her fingertips, and her teeth sharpened and lengthened into carnivorous jaws. As her body shifted and morphed around her, she felt a sensation, something primordial and indescribable bubble up from deep within her soul. It filled her gut, spreading through her limbs and snaking up her spinal cord. It burrowed into her mind, and she began to feel a heavy, rhythmic throbbing all throughout her body. She gripped her head tighter as the primeval instinct erupted from within her skull and forced her now-slitted eyes open.
The pain was gone. In its place, she felt only one thing: Hunger.
Mekegare stopped, turning to look back at the pool of corruption. A strange feeling simmered inside of him as he watched the bubbles rising from deep within the vast reservoir. There was no way she could have survived, even with her purifying aura. The bubbles continued to rise, causing the daemon to harbor a growing sense of dread. The pace of the bubbles slowed gradually, until finally they ceased. The churning pool was calm, reduced to its normal rhythmic currents and motions. Mekegare breathed a sigh of relief.
Then, the great reservoir erupted. A column of the putrid liquid shot up into the air, and immense waves crashed into the sides of the pit. The daemon stumbled backwards to avoid the surging tides of corrosive waste. Bolts of verdant energy spewed forth from the violently frothing pit, and the entire Hold seemed to be shaking and buckling around him. The daemon looked around in a stupor, then saw the center of the pool explode. The liquid displaced around the blast, causing it to shoot up the sides of the pit in walls of toxic mire dozens of meters tall. Then he heard a thunderous crash behind him. The daemon swung around to the source of the noise and peered with his beady eyes from behind his metal mask at an unbelievable sight. It was like a primal avatar of savagery, a daemonic being that resembled no servant of Nurgle he had ever laid eyes on. He felt no aura of purity, just a fierce radiation of raw power. Whatever this thing was, it had not only survived direct exposure to the pure essence of Nurgle, it had absorbed it.
"No… impossible…" Mekegare said.
Admu raised her head, her face obscured by inky-black shadow. Dagger-like teeth gilttered in the supernatural darkness, and her eyes shone like baleful green stars on the verge of supernova. She was panting, but not out of exhaustion. It was the feral, barely controlled breathing of a wild beast. She lifted herself up with her wing-like appendages, the translucent membrane draped over them stretching out behind her like an insect's wings. Her razor-sharp talons scraped against the ground as she stood, her muscles rippling and flexing beneath her thick, black fur. Her long, billowing hair and tail swirled behind her, less like plumes of orange-red fur and more of a living inferno of golden-red flame. Her antlers crackled and shifted, their pointed tips and jagged edges shifting and jerking as if they themselves were bolts of lightning erupting from her skull.
"You… how did you…" Mekegare said.
A monstrous howl erupted from Admu's throat, shaking the walls of the hold.
"I'll… kill… you…" Admu said, between her deep and rasping breaths.
Mekegare brought forth his weapons and armor, but his face was not one of amusement or desire. He no longer had the countenance of a predator toying with its prey. He was now a predator defending himself from a rival.