Together they journeyed to another nearby hall. Where the regular Human stewards of the ship presented a feast for the honored guest of the ship. It was somewhat plain fair, nothing that Kad would have terrible trouble finding in some corner of his homeworld. Even if the materials of their creation remained mysteries from beyond the sky. Kad devoured them all the same to sate his thoroughly empty stomach.

Not joined by either his brother or his escort. Kad did take moments between breaths for air to ask some basic questions of the other men before they departed again for parts unknown deeper within the ship.

One of the first new things the Huntsman learned was the name of the ship. The Fist of Iron. A robust moniker that befitted the character of its master and denizens. The journey to the inner sanctum of his brother deep within its cold halls did not take more than an hour though it ran close. Aquillon and his squad were at their heels the entire time.

All of the warriors they met were directed out of the way by the sheer force of the glare from Ferrus Manus, his soldiers wisely interring that more pressing matters were at hand. Still idyll conversation of less impressive topics were had whilst the two and their small escort stood in the transit carriages that ran on rails like veins throughout the vessel.

"How did you learn Vytan?" Kad asked, thinking of the instructions Aurum had given the other Primarch. Something to try and alter the course of this relationship.

Ferrus spoke, "We gleamed it from the wreckage of this global communication network. It was not hard, neither was learning to speak it."

"This, other language I keep hearing. I can almost understand it…"

"Gothic," Came his answer, "Specifically Low Gothic. The common tongue across the galaxy. One that each of us received knowledge of in our creation."

"Strange I could never speak it before."

"Have you ever tried speaking it?" Ferrus questioned with one raised eyebrow.

A little bit of Aura stopped Kad from drawing blood as he bit his tongue. "So where are we going again?"

"The Iron Forge." Ferrus said in the aforementioned Low Gothic. "My personal chambers and private forge in the sanctum of the Anvilarium… Have you spent much time metal-working?"

His usual dark and brutish tone softened slightly which came as a mild surprise to Kad. Who quickly saw the first steps of diplomacy being returned unto him. His brother seeking common ground.

Thinking of his shattered sword, Kad acquiesced. "Not an awfully long time. But I have dabbled, out of necessity."

"Hmm." Ferrus groaned in plain disappointment.

Fortunately for both parties the last stretch of the tram ride came to a halt soon after the silence of the last exchange began to drag. The safety bars were raised and the two brothers stepped out onto a stone pad. Kad hearing the distinct sound of his shoes touching down on this strange material had to go to one knee and confirm just what he had heard. Running a bare palm across the dark gray rock polished smooth by thousands of feet. Ferrus sensing another incoming question spoke as he bent down to pull Kad upward again.

"The ambiance of my homeworld Medusa was something most carefully re-constructed. And if the biggest thing that has shook you as of yet is stonework on a spaceship, I'm liable to call you simple brother."

Flashes of ice cold peaks and battles amongst the crags flashed behind Kad's eyes. "Well… You did a good job."

The towering Primarch muttered in gothic. "You haven't seen anything yet…"

To call what laid behind the massive black iron gates a hall would do it a supreme disservice. Larger and more cavernous than even the medical bay. The Anvilarium was a magnificent place. Hammers rang on anvils making weapons the likes of which had never been seen on Remnant, whilst the choking smell of industry that heated the air was created and not quite quickly enough swept away through the vents. Warriors even larger and in enough heavy armor to seemingly rival an Atlesian paladin stood ringed around the outside of this place.

Steam hissed up from below the decks where the molten cores of the smithies belched their heat. Pistons the size of buildings churned endlessly upon the distant walls making the sheet metal floors hum. There was no seating in this place. Every visitor stood to conduct their business and socialize. Voices could plainly be heard by Kad's supreme hearing, though keeping to another tongue he surmised to be that of Medusa.

And when Ferrus crossed the threshold of the gate, as one all present turned to their Primarch. Hammered their right fists many of them cybernetic, up over their hearts and went to one knee in his honor. Aside from the armored ones whose suits did not permit such a range of motion.

The battle scarred prince of these men spoke quickly before moving straight through their middle to the next set of gates on the far side. Which was flanked by ten more of the titanic guards.

"Well met my brothers." Ferrus called out, "Take heart and be honored to be in the presence of Primarch Amaranth."

Unsure of just how to respond, Kad stepped after Ferrus. The men he passed came to their feet and bowed as he passed them by. Whispering a chorus of honorifics as he moved. Seeing surprise run across some of their faces.

"Lord. Primarch. Great one. Most revered."

"He's so young…"

Kad nodded in respect where he could. But felt the praise crushing on his shoulders like a ton of rocks, making the tunic cling that much tighter to his throat.

The doorway they were approaching opened before the silver handed giant automatically. And he moved without hesitation into the glossy black hall that swallowed light around him. Kad followed for a few steps until he ceased to hear the thud of armored boots at his back. He turned and saw the golden Custodes take position among his brother's men.

The voice of Ferrus came from the depths like the growl of dragon from its lair. "They will not enter. I decreed long ago. This place is for myself, our brothers and no one else."

Wonder lifted the iron chord off of Kad's throat soon enough. Obsidian walls framed the personal domain of the lord of this battleship. It was dark, though not so shrouded that a Primarch's eyes could not pierce the shadows and behold all the marvels that lay within.

Kad knew some people who would have killed to be where he was standing right now. Perusing the tall glass cases which lined the room filled with the trophies Ferrus had taken, and the things he had crafted using the living metal of his hands. Not everything was a weapon, nor a piece of armor. Devices stranger than both were present among the dozen idle forge hearths. But all of them were singular in their magnificence to have caught the eye of his brother or came into existence by his silver hands. Kept in the same place of reverence around the gigantic anvil of adamantium and gold, with a dull pit of half lit coals on one side that stood as the center piece of the Iron Forge.

Upon which lay two items.

One, a firearm. Bulky, black and long with a beaded textured pistol grip bearing twin triggers sitting next to an empty magazine well. Behind the second killing thing that was joined seamlessly turning two into one. A smaller more compacted thing of tubes with a round port for ammunition and a heat shield protruding out below the muzzle break of the upper barrel. The entire unit of a size that it could be wielded in two hands or one if the bearer possessed the strength.

Second was a spear. Sized for a being larger than even the Huntsman's stature. It bore a gleaming unequal length edged chopping blade that tapered to a hard angled point. As well as a similar dagger for a butt spike on the tail end of the twisting black shaft. A small spar of metal for a guard was set below another bulky mechanism which he had seen the likeness of on several melee weapons on the ship already. But no gun as he had seen on the Custodes weapons. Even Kad in as much of a journeyman blacksmith as he was could see the exquisite skill that had been employed in the craftsmanship of the two mighty weapons.

And yet behind it was something even more impressive.

Kad's eyes passed many times over this golden suit of armor. It bore many hallmarks of a knight's plate from out of the past. But many changes of modern make and the technology of his Father's people with neatly tucked away bundles of cables and twin gigantic shoulder pauldrons. The helm to complete the suit hung on the waist, with an almost serpent like visage from the two red eye lenses and a long billowing horse tail plum running down the middle of the helm like a Mohawk. The same thrum from all the other suits he had passed came gently from the thing and the pack across the back. Subtle enough that even his hearing struggled to detect it.

It glowed with an unseen light in the darkness of the Iron Forge. Framing Ferrus Manus who stood on the far side of his anvil, his hands flat upon its face. Leaning towards the young Kad who continued to gaze about the other treasures racked on the glass shelves. Seeing a dozen new priceless and perfect curiosities every time he panned back over them.

Until his eyes landed on a pair of things not so tenderly well preserved.

The rifle- spear Milo' laid atop the bronze shield Akuou, a giant's hand's span away from Crescent Rose. Both laying on the rear of the stone wall behind the massive anvil. The high impact sniper scythe still tortured and maimed from having slain more Grimm in its final outing than the weapon probably had in the entire rest of its service life by his strong hands that had so rudely wielded the weapon that was treated like the child by the Huntress who had created it.

"That is a most peculiar piece of engineering." Ferrus said noticing Kad's diverted attention again. "I think that you might have understated some of your skill brother."

Picking up the red chipped blade Kad admitted, "I did not make this."

Ferrus raised an eyebrow, and the Huntsman explained, "A friend built it. For herself but lent it to me during the battle after I lost my sword. The sword I made."

"Well, perhaps there are some artisans of note below us after all." His brother mused. "While it remains a mystery to me just how much you know,"

"To me as well." Kad thought to himself before Ferrus finished and said, "I stand ready to answer your questions. I sense this will be a strange and difficult conversation to facilitate but I shall relish the challenge."

Gently lowering Ruby's pride and joy to the anvil next to the other weapons looking for any sign his brother would object until the Remnant crafted steel met the alien material. Upon receiving none Kad assumed a position similar to his counterpart across the plateau.

"Well…" Kad began, "I'm not sure that you like me."

A subtle twitch below one eye all the reaction Ferrus gave like a single drop of water melting from a glacier. "Do not tell me you are one to weep over the thought of someone not giving you expected esteem?"

The Huntsman would have laughed if the words had not scraped raw several old wounds on his heart. "You have been rather brusque."

"Believe me, when I do not like something, or someone. I do not let them linger like a bur on a half sharpened edge."

With that statement Ferrus bent and produced a half a meter of metal from the stock around his anvil. Pinched one thin side and drew it back through the tightly pressed thumb and index finger of his left hand before continuing, "You are quite frustrating Kad. Of all the reunions I have been a part of, not one has proceeded quite like this. And certainly none of the others have addressed me by name on their very first sojourn off world… I do not know you. And yet, you seem to know me."

"I'm…" The Huntsman found himself holding his tongue. "Not sure I am allowed to tell you any of that."

"Has Father told you this?" The looming blacksmith replied.

Kad sighed, "I do apologize for any… Un-due stress I might be giving unto you. Has He told you when I could speak with Him again?"

"No." Ferrus said, dropping the word like a cord of steel onto the ground.

Giving sound to his own vexation Kad nearly groaned, but decided to utilize this opportunity. "Well, despite any evidence to the contrary I do have some questions."

Awaiting them as stated, Ferrus continued to pick at the thing slowly coming to shape between his palms. To head off the heat he could feel now bubbling up from his brother like a coming river of magma, Kad said. "But as I said. It might be better for you to simply explain the… Situation."

Ferrus nodded and grunted, "Very well. As I have not the patience or learning to start from the beginning of time. I shall begin with us."

With that he slammed the half-finished piece down on the anvil beneath his left palm with no small amount of force. Making Kad flinch for the briefest moments in surprise.

"We are Primarchs," Ferrus said returning to his previous pose, "The pinnacle of the species long dreamed of by mankind made manifest. We bear many similarities to the masses of humanity, but are something greater beyond even ways that a man is beyond an ape. Perfect beings made to prosecute the Emperor's will across the galaxy. With the Legions He made in our image at our backs."

Kad's brow furrowed, "Legions?"

"Those of my men you have seen throughout the ship. The giants, The Legiones Astartes, our Space Marines. Yours will be made ready to welcome your command should the Emperor deem you worthy."

Putting that on the back burner for now Kad asked again, "And how many of us are there?"

"How many do you believe there are?"

"Brother." That word felt foreign in his mouth, but Kad persisted, "Please."

Ferrus grunted and obliged. "At the moment, you are the eleventh to be rediscovered appropriately enough."

That number fit to the beings his shared memories had shown to Kad. But there was little else he knew beyond the briefest of encounters that were still not his own.

"Well, who are the others?" Kad asked. "Tell me about them."

Ferrus spent a moment eyeing the piece of metal. "First to be found was Horus Lupercal. Favored son and first among equals as the order stands. Second brought to the fold was the Wolf King Leman Russ."

Growing tired the blacksmith increased his pace of recounting. "Followed by Skiron, Myself, dear brother Fulgrim the Phoenician. Vulkan, Rogal Dorn, Roboute Guilliman, Magnus the Red. And not but a few years ago the one they call Sanguinius." His tone shifted for a moment running a keen eye up and down Kad, "And now you. Great and mighty Primarch Kad Amaranth. Nine more remain elsewhere, Twenty Primarchs, and twenty legions."

The Huntsman could not hide his disappointment as Ferrus concluded and resumed his piercing stare. Kad burned with questions and desire to learn of his kin.

"Which one are you?" He asked, hoping to gleam something more about his host.

"I am the Tenth." Came the answer, "Master of the tenth Legion, the Iron Hands. You wish to know more of me? You shall find all you need by the ruin left in my wake."

Concerned with that boast, but sensing the returning impatience with the innate ability so naturally found between families. Kad set upon a different thing that grew more and more sour the longer it remained unasked and unanswered.

"What did you mean by prosecute?" The Huntsman inquired.

The silver handed figure made his exasperation known. "Ugh… Why did you imagine our father created us? The deeds you would be called to once you had been found?"

"... And those are?"

"That we bring death to the enemies. The stars under our banner. And the species into compliance with His vision."

Seeing the look upon his brother's face the elder Ferrus continued. "The galaxy is neither a tranquil nor prosperous place. Millennia ago Humanity discovered this when they first left the home world, Terra. Finding that the great majority of stars in the sky were under sway of powerful and predatory Xeno races. That for millions of years claimed dominion over everything their eyes fell upon. Resolved to see our destiny made manifest. Through ingenuity and unshakeable will, Humanity carved their first interstellar empire from this malformed marble. Stretching end to end across space, creating things the likes of which will never be seen again."

Scooping the metal back up from the anvil, Ferrus rolled one corner into his palm curving a thick snubbed point into shape. "It was a golden era, and not to last forever. The end of that ten thousand year age did not manifest from one single great cataclysm. Although any one of the myriad of threats both internal and external could have very well spelt the doom of Humanity. And judging from the look on your face this is all new information to you."

The Huntsman blinked drawing himself back to the moment at hand, rather than the infinite called to mind by his brother's words.

"Well…" Kad admitted, "Remnant has a fairy tale or two that point to somethings that would sound familiar to you I'd wager."

"Remnant." Ferrus chewed the word to pieces, "A rather queer name for a planet."

"Well it's the only one that we have… I think…"

"Hmm. Thusly, when the Age of Technology ended. The Age of Strife began. And to know of that is to know of the Warp."

Kad's desire for a moment of reprieve to just take in the scale his world was evolving towards shattered. That word Warp ran down Kad's back like a bead of ice water.

But the lecture did not pause no matter that his reaction was plainly writ upon his face to his obstinate brother. "The Warp is an alternate dimension that is utilized by mankind for interstellar travel. I do not pretend to have a mastery over the how this is possible. Our drives produce a crack in reality and then the ships of our fleets dive through the currents of that realm. Guided by a breed of mutants specially curated to lay hand to the tiller of our vessels in that place and get them to desired points by the beacon of the Astronomicon."

For a moment Ferrus took pause to focus on the weapon in his hands that he had continued to work almost subconsciously all the while. Removing another strip of the material turning it more towards the final shape while he stretched out a tang and picked out jimping notches along the back.

"But that is a course of study for another time." The larger Primarch said, "Like any ocean sailed there can be storms. Warpstorms, when that place boils and becomes unsettled it can bleed through into our reality in a manner most cataclysmic. The Emperor believes it the result of the hubris unmatched from one of the ancient races. Whose empire collapsed the very moment the one of Humanity did. As nigh the entire cosmos was plagued with these storms, cutting off every line of transport and communication between all of the wayward colonies of Terra. Whom were left to fend for themselves against Aliens, Mutants, their own rampaging technology and the simple avarice of man. To name but a few of the foes waiting to be crushed into cosmic dust in the black, out there."

Kad finally interjected, "Is a Warpstorm what cast us away?"

Ferrus collected his thoughts. "Through the Warp we were hurled tis true. But I believe there were other factors at play during that accident."

"Accident? What other factors?"

One silver hand curled tight around the thing Kad knew was turning into a knife. And the piece groaned in distress in place of the Gorgon. "If we needed to know Father would have told us. Now, if you please."

The Huntsman, reluctant to cull the seeds of his investigation asked another question, "You… Did not witness this, accident?"

Opposing metallic eyes narrowed, "…Did you?"

Sensing he made an over step Kad tried to deflect Ferrus's attention that was descending towards him like a battle axe. But as fast as he was in body, the speed of his tongue could not achieve that effect when faced with the power of a kindred mind.

Ferrus found his answer in those stuttering's. He ran a metal bound hand over his rough black hair, "Arsinoth's wretched entrails brother… I think I might be jealous if I wasn't utterly gobsmacked. No one else has claimed to have knowledge of any time before we landed."

"Jealous?" Kad snarled back, actually making his brother reel for a moment. The slow burning fires scattered around in the lukewarm forges flared in response to his temper. "You don't know what it was like! I… I…"

He could not finish that tirade. Still bound with the chains of secrets he had not spoken to a living soul in a long time. And feared he would have to keep now in this new world.

With a heavy sigh and double knowledge that his own abilities worked away from Remnant and just how that little unwilling show had taxed him. Kad raised and then lowered his right hand. Cooling the forge fires back down. Much to the astonishment of the other Primarch.

"Well…" Ferrus mused, "If it is to be like that. You have my apologies brother… I did not think the place of our creation to be so cruel."

The following silence from the Huntsman gave the tenth son all the answer he needed. And Ferrus could not hide the shock that crossed his battle hardened features.

"No." He said as if denying it would make it any less true. Mouth remaining agape in a narrow slit once the word had departed his lips.

"You spoke of the Warp…" Kad said in barely a whisper while the shadows lengthened all around them. "I… I woke up in that place He made us. Of course I panicked, but Father came and calmed me down. That I remember, falling asleep to nothing but pleasant dreams through what I think he linked us with… Until…"

"You remember." Ferrus said, leaning close with an almost morbid curiosity.

Kad corrected him, "Not all of it. But enough… The sirens… The panic and then…" He drew a deep breath turning his eyes towards the black iron ceilings. "Hell, it felt endless. Staring at… What I saw and then returning to the nightmares which were the only things my sleep offered. Until I was dumped out onto the mountains of Atlas."

"…Have you told Father?"

"You think he doesn't know?"

"Perhaps. I do not know the extent of the conversations you've had with him."

That statement brought Kad's mind back to something else that had been bothering him. "How long have you been waiting up here with your fleet and your army?"

He had an idea but wanted to hear it straight from the other Primarch. Who absentmindedly spun his creation around like a spit between his two index fingers. "I believe it was the day all this fighting began and the Emperor descended to assess the situation."

Without a pause Kad's mind ran back to the very beginning of that sunny morning filled with screams and blood that were only a prelude to just how bad things would really get. His hearts started to hammer against the bones of his chest and Kad asked, "Why didn't you intervene?"

"I was commanded not to." Ferrus said bluntly.

A ferocious scowl curled deep lines across Kad's face. "You are joking."

"Absolutely not brother. And I take umbrage you seem to have already forgotten twas my torpedo that annihilated this rabid pack of beasts you failed to best."

"After how many weeks of doing nothing? Or were you just letting us take on all the danger?"

"Are you insinuating me a coward?"

"I am asking, why didn't you help us?"

"That is something you should ask of the Emperor… I did try Kad, I had an assault plan organized but Father bade me hold."

"Did you think of disobeying him?"

"Not even for a moment." Ferrus almost snarled back. "He told me you had the situation well in hand." After a brief pause the giant among giants shrugged, "Well at least until you did not."

Kad's mask of strife did not disappear. "Do you have something you want to say to me?"

"Many things actually I shall not lie." Ferrus replied, "But again, I do not have time to waste… I will admit that it was noble of you. Taking on that horde, but supremely foolish."

"I had no other option…" Came the Huntsman's whispered answer. Trudging back through his mind to the long days of darkness. "Nobody was going to act until someone took the first step. I hoped that, seeing all their children do what the elders and the politicians refused to do we could finally break the millennia of nothing… But one of them betrayed us."

Tilting his head like an inquisitive dog the tenth son asked, "What are you talking about?"

"The bombs. I had a dozen and two weapons I planned to use on the Grimm before we left. And none when we attacked… It was the Marshall."

Unfamiliar with who Kad spoke of Ferrus stood straight, leaning his half-finished piece back next to his neck of pure corded muscle. "And how do you know it was this Marshall?"

Staring like he could see through the anvil, the ship, the atmosphere, and all the way back down to Beacon. Kad ran his own thumb across the ragged edge of Crescent Rose. "Deductive reasoning. One possibility was the Grimm… And I know those things didn't steal the bombs."

Leaving out a major piece of the why he knew that.

"The bombs didn't just vanish into thin air. I did not leave them behind. None of my Hunters stole them, they knew the stakes… The Marshall opposed my plans to attack the Grimm, he must have gotten another Hunter to steal them before we left… Which I never imagined was a possibility… Hoping we wouldn't do anything without our trump cards, and come back to at least mount a defense in our territory as he intended… To stagnate like always. The only thing the kingdoms have ever done in the face of… Everything. So many ifs, whens, maybes eating away at the time we had to just… Do something."

The tenth son stood tall, staring down his rough nose and taking in a deep breath along with the Huntsman's words. Something in his posture reflecting a subtle change of mind. Kad sighed trying to puzzle through the stare of his older brother. "You think I'm weak for not conquering my entire planet, Grimm and Humans?"

"Some might think that."

"Do you?"

Ferrus repeated himself, "Some might think that. All of us have found an innate force of will and drive to be better led us to… Certain positions of authority and dominion over the people and foes found on our homeworlds. You are a leader born and made. A general and a conqueror just as the rest of us. Able to bend lesser beings to your will or else wipe them from existence. And it seems you were coming into your own. Joining these Hunters and breaking away from the tepid mewling of lesser men content with the status quo."

"I…" Kad tried to speak thinking of just why he had done what Ferrus spoke of.

In the silence that followed there came a clink of metal on metal as Ferrus placed the point of his new blade down on the anvil for a moment and leaned on it close again. "Don't stand there like the words hurt your mouth." He chastised. "Spit it out."

Kad gripped his still raw right hand by the peeling skin on the back, "I joined the Hunters because I wanted to make a difference. That is true… But, I had some direction to that course of action. By my… The woman who found me after I crashed."

A small part of Ferrus showed his reaction to that information was in approval, "Many of us had foster parents who set us on our ways. She must have iron in her blood as well then."

"Cinder." Kad said, before his throat could choke the name down again, "She took me in. Yes… For her own, bloody selfish reasons. I believed her when she said things needed to change on Remnant… And they needed to change with fire and blood… So she let me in on a conspiracy to tear down the old order."

Ferrus awaited the rest of Kad's tale, pressing down bevels on the metal being worked. The Huntsman continued after a moment, "To find power kept hidden away from the masses… Power that she wanted for herself… And was using me to get it."

"Using you?" His brother repeated in question, "And you let her do this?"

Kad almost laughed, water pooling at the edges of his eyes while he ran both hands back over his scalp. "How could I not? She rescued me from the cold and the monsters. She was the first kind face that I saw after eons in hell… She taught me everything… I… I trusted her…I never thought… And I had to kill her."

His brother had no response to that which he spoke aloud. Even if his face once again wrote a story of shock.

Kad continued, "What Cinder truly wanted was to make an opportunity to steal this piece of Dust, Remnant's energy source. Something much more powerful than any shard ever discovered… The key to our future. She got that moment. With several… Groups we had allied with causing chaos. Which riled up the Grimm more than I thought possible, and you saw how that turned out… She sent me into Beacon to prove myself to the Hunters. To be a leader and rally them to her ideals… I made friends. I had a family before I even knew it and I wanted them to be strong. To believe in themselves… But when things kept getting worse and Cinder only thought about herself and this power. I had to do something."

The Huntsman paused for another painful breath, "She got the shard. Killed the Headmaster of Beacon Academy and was going to leave the kingdom in ruins. I never believed that was part of the plan. So I tracked her down, begged her to come back and help me fix things… Then she tricked me into taking up that shard."

He held up the ruin of his right hand for Ferrus to see, "And when that didn't work she tried to kill me… But I killed her first."

Kad may as well have opened up his chest and presented his own heart in his palm to Ferrus. It would have been just as painless. His arm fell slack, catching against the leg of his pants with a sharp crack.

"You had no choice brother." Ferrus said, his gravelly voice hammered not quite as hard into the world.

"Did I?" Kad asked back, hoping that perhaps his brother could relieve some of the pain of the many ifs that haunted his quiet hours.

"Yes," Came the thunderous reply. Ferrus burned like a forge hearth, "The wages of betrayal is death. How dare this woman try and bend you to her will? She was lying to you from the start you simpleton. And you just drank it all up."

While his brother's rage burned bright. Kad's own grew cold like a dagger of ice. "Would you have done any different?" He hissed out while his teeth ground together.

"That is irrelevant. You focus too much on the past. Cease that, you are not going that way… What did you mean, children?"

Surprise shattered Kad's angered muse and after a quick reflection and one calculation he said, "The average age of the Hunters who followed me west was seventeen."

Returning a question in this back and forth, Ferrus lowered his head and asked. "How old are you Kad?"

"…I don't know."

"Perfect recall and you do not know how many years you have walked this world?"

"Even if that is how we are supposed to count such things… I'm not sure that is relevant in my case."

"…No I suppose it isn't… And maybe I am starting to see…" Ferrus thought aloud before returning to the task waylaid. "I have something else to tell you. That I do not enjoy the thought of welcoming a Psyker onto my ship."

"I…" Kad froze before admitting, "I don't even know what that means."

"Then you should take care to learn it well. You'll be hearing it quite a lot from individuals less kind than I."

"So… You think I am a psyker? What are you talking about?"

"Psykers." Ferrus growled, "Another thing to come out of the Age of Strife. Warlocks and Witches coming into dangerous powers. Cruel tricks that evolution has played upon the neurology and genetics of Mankind. Granting them many abilities to twist reality to their horrid whims. They are dangerous, and supremely unreliable creatures."

Kad rolled his brothers words and not so subtle accusation back and forth. "Can you… Elaborate on that any further."

"I will not because I don't need to." Ferrus said, reclaiming the forming knife from the face of the anvil. "While it is not my place to question the Emperor's design for you. I say of psykers they are not but another thing to be quashed and curtailed in this grand equation of survival we are currently calculating."

"Those, deeds you spoke of." Kad replied.

His brother nodded, "Correct. Whilst the dreams of mankind crumbled to ash and dust during this reign of darkness. There came a time when the Warpstorms began to subside at the end of those dread years. And our Father revealed himself on Terra. Setting to work on his grand design to return Humanity to the heights and prosperity they had long dreamed of. A Great Crusade to reclaim the stars we once held and finally the rest of the galaxy. The Emperor conquered Terra, gained the allegiance of Mars, a sister planet to Terra equally as mighty and valuable to our cause. Laid the bones of the Legio Astartes, as well as our brotherhood and set out to create this new Imperium of Man."

With that final bit of information passed on Ferrus let out a deep breath, "So… That brings us to now. Finally. You will find more learned and eager historians to elaborate on what you wish to know. But, do you have anything else you must know?"

Ferrus went down and retrieved another piece of metal from the stockpile by his knees. A rod which he split in two like a wooden log with his almost completed piece. Eyeing out another measurement and cutting the two newly formed halves down to the size he desired.

Kad's mind swam with the flood of history and knowledge delivered unto him. And he felt himself become off balance. Gripping tight the gold trimmed edge of the anvil for equilibrium.

So much of what he had been told, the Huntsman had almost seen in his shared visions. But now he had to come to terms with so much more, which he never dreamed was waiting for him. Kad knew he would have to find some of these aforementioned scholars sooner or later.

As for the rest, said and unsaid.

It felt right.

What Ferrus had told him, of the nature of being a Primarch. What the future would hold for him. He had lived it already in his short time on Remnant. And even more in his shorter time being his own man finally out away from…

His mind returned to those days of darkness and he swallowed the dryness of his mouth down. Objectively, Kad knew it was all true.

And that did not sit perfectly well in his soul.

Kad asked of his brother, "You don't know much about Aurum do you?"

"I know that is not His name. Whatever He might have told you." Ferrus said pressing the two half rods to the tang of his knife and held them tight between both hands. Almost pointing the weapon at Kad's chest, "I know all I need to. Coincidently that also being enough of what I wish to that it makes no difference."

"Do you know where He comes from?"

"Terra."

"I mean do you know how something like Him came into being?"

The silence was palpable in the cold dark. Until Ferrus broke it with a sigh, "No I do not know that. It is a mystery we all have pondered on many long nights. And have all come to the conclusion that whatever our father is. He is. As I said, that is enough."

Reaching into one of the many pockets on the thick brown apron across his chest, Ferrus produced the final brass piece of his creation, laid it on the anvil and hammered the almost completed blade now furnished with a molded handle grooved for a multitude of different grips down onto the piece to set the end cap into place.

Brandishing the fully realized blade Ferrus ran a final craftsman's eye over the length of the thing. Squeezing the last uncompleted specifications from his mind's eye to the work of his hands. "The Emperor is a man of singular vision. Unmatched power, and elegance you would not even dream was possible. And maybe more importantly than anything His sheer resolve to do what must be done. He is made of iron. Just as I am."

With a dexterous flick of his lustrous wrist Ferrus sent his new knife sailing over to Kad, who saw in its spin strength enough to wound him behind it. But in the blink of an eye even Ferrus almost failed to catch, Kad snagged the incoming missile between the first two fingers of his scarred right hand around the blade. Flipped it to a proper position and seized the grip tight.

The Huntsman could immediately tell it was made for someone else's hand. But spun it across his palm and sent it flipping down through his fingers like a playing card and back up again to balance point first on the tip of his middle finger. Finding no fault in the thing that it was.

The deep baritone of Ferrus filled the Anvilarium once again, "The Emperor is the only one in all of history worthy enough to lead the Human race into enlightenment. That is why I serve. To follow his example and bring the species to that place by any means necessary."

More lines furrowed Kad's brow. He flicked the blade back to his brother who caught it with less grace and caution laying it back down adjacent to the other weapons on the anvil.

The Huntsman spoke in a soft voice, "What kind of enlightenment would that be?"

In perfect order Ferrus canted, "Reason, respect for the secular and rejection of the falsehoods of religion. Belief in the purity and strength of Humanity. The removal of superstition and pursuit of knowledge to bring the species to unification. And as I said, by any means necessary"

Kad's call to destiny was ringing hollow. He had wanted answers, and had certainly received some whilst offering up his own tale and well of knowledge.

"Those seem to be threatening words brother." The Huntsman said, his own hand wandering close to the hilt of his own knife.

"Spare me this," Ferrus groaned, "I would think you'd have known that hard things have to be done for a better future. If your recent history is anything to go by."

"I have learned that there are some roads towards that future I do not wish to tread..."

"Make War." The silver handed Primarch intoned, "And move on. All else is sophistry, and pretty lies little brother."

After finding no further comfort nor insight in the dark ceiling above or his brother's face Kad said, "I want to see Father."

"He will summon you,"

"Now."

Un-intimidated and unamused yet once again curious Ferrus looked up and down the shape of Kad once again as if seeing something completely different.

As Kad took on a different aspect than the old familiar Huntsman.

"Ah…" Ferrus said, "Is that the real you little brother?"

In silence Kad continued to try and stare him down. Ferrus finished reiterating after a half a dozen heartbeats. "When he is ready. Now, do you want…"

He halted mid-sentence casting his gaze over to his left. Pressing that hand to his ear in a motion familiar to Kad. The master of the Iron Hands was receiving a communique. He spoke no response out loud to what information was delivered to him. Simply lowered his hand and glared anew at Kad once the voice on the other end had finished.

"The Emperor wishes to see you now… How did you do that?"

Guessing as to what, "That," was. Yet equal parts thankful and wary at the fortuitous timing of the intervention. Kad simply raised his arms and shrugged his broad shoulders. Taking a few steps backwards towards the mouth of the forge, "I am a psyker brother. Who knows what strange and mysterious powers I command?"

Still, as he turned moving to the stone steps to the Anvilarium. The turmoil on the Huntsman's face a shadow of the tempest within. The groan of Ferrus drowned the soft steps of Kad's shoes. A shower of sparks broke the darkness as the smith threw his newest short blade into an idling furnace without a second thought. To render down the piece back into its base form and start again as something new. All the while muttering to himself quietly in Medusan.

"What kind of place did father pick this one from… Should have left him down there…"