-Planet: Craftworld Biel-tan -Year: 914.M34 -Location: Segmentum Tempestus, northern fringe of Veiled region -POV: Farseer Kaedra
The preparations for Anath's rituals were coming to an end, soon he will perform it in front of the council for all eyes to see, soon the meaningless dreams that have been haunting him will come to an end, whether the vision is for the better or worse is remains to be seen.
Kaedra would be lying if she said she didn't feel joy, even if the visions carried bad news, all she cared about right now was that her father would be rid of it once in for all, and even if the visions were of ill news, she was sure that the council would find a solution for it.
Anath'lan was one the most skilled and experienced seers of Biel-tan, he may not reach Eldrad in terms of fame or experience, but he was one of the most skilled seers of the Aeldari race nonetheless. Naturally, the council had shown great interest in seeing his vision come to fruition. Many within the council, mainly the Exarchs and the Autarchs, dismissed the vision as being not important, they assumed that it was merely a side effect of Anath's age, proof that Anath was no longer capable of meeting the demands of his rank as a Farseer, this made Kaedra's blood to boil, even though she prayed that Anath's vision turns out to be nothing important, she still felt slighted when they insulted her teacher like this.
The only thing holding her from lasing out on the council was her fellow Seers, they were the only ones that underestimated Anath's ability based on his age, them and the Autarch Shalani, the most sensible woman out of the entire warrior cast of Biel-tan, she didn't know her in person but Kaedra was sure that she was a sensible woman. From what she had heard so far, Shalani was a skilled commander, leading the Aeldari into glory time and time again. But that wasn't the only thing she heard about her, they say that the only thing that can surpass her mastery over the art of combat, was her beauty, even among the Eldar she was the most desirable.
The Farseer rested her eyes within the shrine of the crone, her eyes were closed to reality but her mind wasn't, her psyche could sense every wraithbone construct nearby in its state of meditation. Her mind was still tired due to their last engagement, their lastest mission on saving a maiden world most precious to the Aeldari, from the hands of a chaos lord that wished to rule the world within the warp, many Eldar lives were lost during the engagements, but with their sacrifice, they secured a world that one day might act as a capital world of the Aeldari empire.
After her daily meditation was over, Kaedra spent the rest of her free time tending to her equipment, usually, it was the ones within the path of service to do the menial tasks, but not for her singing spear with which she forged a close bond with, her weapon was alive but not sentient, more like a familiar animal than a weapon. Once her equipment was in optimal shape, she change her clothes and left her last ones for those in the path of service.
The Farseer began to make her way towards the council room, Anath's ritual was to begin in another few hours and most of the council members were already on their way there. As she walked, she noticed the emptiness of the area, it was of no surprise since this section of the craftworld was dedicated wholly to the seers, no one was to disturb the seers in during their meditation.
Walking from one section of the craftworld to another was always a tedious task, that is why they were called Craft 'Worlds', most people used hovercrafts to walk from one point to another, but fortunately, the council room wasn't so far for it to justify using a hovercraft. It was a depressing thought to think about, once her kind used the warp to travel wherever they desired in an instant, that was during the days before the fall, and now, the warp was a hellscape littered with monsters from their worst nightmares, or more accurately, the worst nightmares of the mon-keigh, the filth of the galaxy that they will one day exterminate.
"You may be our kin but you have no right to meddle in our affairs!" Kaedra heard someone shout as she approached the council room, once she went around the corner, she saw an Exarch arguing with a black-robed figure, behind the black-clad Seer were two similarly dressed bodyguards "Your fame has no power here, Eldrad of Ulthwe" Kaedra's eyes widened as she heard the name.
'Eldrad of Ulthwe? as in Eldrad Ulthran?' she questioned in her mind, he was the most known seer of the entire Eldar race whose power is said to rival the pre-fall Eldar themselves, what was he doing here?
"The hands of fate brought me here for another reason, I do not wish to meddle in your affairs I assure you" the famous Seer of Ulthwe tried to calm the Exarch but to no avail.
"That's enough" a feminine voice interrupted the two, as the eyes followed the source of the voice, they met with the sight of a beautiful woman with crimson red hair, a blessing from Khaine himself. The woman in question was Illa Shalani, superior of the Exarch that was arguing against Eldrad. Shalani observed her kindred from Ulthwe, like a hawk looking for prey, the hunter will not find her prey today "We are honored to have you here, kindreds" the Autarch welcomed the three.
"But Autarch!" the Exarch tried to protest, only to be silenced by the Autarch's gaze.
"Enough, leave Yanar" the Exarch took a step back at the Autarch's glare, now he had no choice but to leave with a grunt.
"The honor is ours, Autarch Shalani" Eldrad returned the greeting in kind.
"I assume you're here to witness Anath'lan's work? may I ask what is so interesting about a vision seen by a single seer of a distant world?"
The black-clad Seer paused for a few seconds before answering "Your respected Seer was not the only one with such visions, Autarch of Biel-tan. I have seen it too" the answer took both Illa and Kaedra by surprise, instantly, hundreds of questions began to race in Kaedra's mind, if this was true then Anath's vision will be far more troubling then she anticipated.
As if eavesdropping wasn't enough, Kaedra decided to join the conversation "You have seen the faceless mask?" the younger Witch asked, Eldrad's gaze rested on the farseer while the Autarch raised an eyebrow.
"You are Kaedra, student of Anath'lan?" Kaedra blinked a few times, how did he know who she was? This is why her craftworld disliked their kins from Ulthwe, they were underhanded even by Eldar standards, such tricks should only be kept for the lesser races or their foul kins of the dark city.
The black-clad seer turned to fully face the student of Anath, his eyes were looking at her but his mind was somewhere else "I have seen the silver mask, the mask is always the observer of my visions but not an actor.
'The same way Anath has described, could it be worse than what I have imagined?' Kaedra asked the question in her mind "You shall observe the ritual as well, to see the conclusion to your visions" the Farseer said, giving a nod to the Autarch.
The Ulthwe delegation gave a slight bow in return "You have our thanks, children of Biel-tan"
"You are welcome Eldrad Ulthran, your questions will find their answers within the council room, please take a seat, all of you, Anath'lan will soon arrive" the Autarch guided the group inside the room, and soon enough, the main reason for today's attendees entered the room.
Farseer Anath walked into the room in a calm manner expected of a man of his age, even the way he walked was a show of experience, his footsteps left no noise, and the way he was ready to defensive stance at a moment's notice, his was the experience surpassing the war mask's influence, turning it into an instinct, he was a combatant many inspired to be like. The old Farseer looked around the room, his eyes rested on the black-robed Eldar momentarily, he shrugged it off and began to walk into the center. On one of Anath's hands was the powerful Aeldari relic rescued by Anath himself from the Imperial world, on the other a powerful rune stone, surprisingly not the type to aid the Farseer to see through the ripples of time but one for purifying warp energy.
"He came at last" Kaedra heard a whisper, he was conversing with another "Wasting the council's time on meaningless dreams and nightmares, when will this old man join the infinity circuit?" Kaedra's expression hardened as a feeling of fury began to fester inside her, he glared at the one who was talking as she was ready to cut his tongue for the transgression, though she composed herself the way that was expected of her.
The Exarch's opinion wasn't popular within the council as even those who dismissed Anath's vision as unimportant, glared at him, the Autarch Shalani give him a look that promised disciplinary action, she was ashamed he said so in front of their guests from Ulthwe who seemed unbothered by the Exarch's opinion, Anath on the other hand, was busy placing the runes in their place.
The council observed the old Seer as he planet the ShadowShard in the middle of the scattered rune stones, he then addressed the audience "Warlock Elranedor and farseer Linae, your help would be much appreciated" the two looked at each other as Anath called them out, then they left their seats and began making their way towards the old Seer, after being briefed on their tasks, they took their positions so the ritual may begin.
Kaedra watched intently as Anath tapped into the well of dreams, the water beneath the glass floors of the room that allowed psykers to project their minds into it, thus allowing others to see what they were seeing. The old Seer's assistants began stabilizing the Eldrich energies as the ShadowShard was activated. The council watched in awe as the ancient Aledari relic unleashed immaterial energies far exceeding that of any staff or psychic weapon they had, even the delegation from the craftworld Ulthwe began to murmur to each other about the staff, it was truly a powerful artifact but unfortunately, like most relics of the past, the way to produce something similar was lost a long time ago.
An Image began to form within the Well as it was synchronized with the old Seer's mind, the waters blessed by the goddess of dreams began to reflect the visions seen through Anath's eyes. First it was the past, then the future, the audience watched with great fascination as the Silver Mask appeared, at least now, Anath's truth about the silver mask was revealed. People were already trying to decipher the meaning behind the anomalous mask, the Indifferent Silver Mask was as Anath and Eldrad have said, an observer rather than an actor. The face that was carved onto the mask was of utter Boredom, as if it wasn't observing the threads of fates to see how things will play out, rather it already knew the play, for what reason he was watching the show again was a mystery, perhaps he was waiting for an opportunity? a certain point in the play?
The visions moved forward like a ship sailing through an ocean of clouds, they moved through the years and observed the mask as it grew larger and larger day by day until it reached the present, they could no longer follow the tides of fate, it was blocked by a veil of shadows and black clouds, the Silver Mask was still visible behind the veil if only vaguely. It was at this moment where Farseer's powers failed, no matter what he did, the black clouds remained, protecting the mask from all would-be observers. Then the ShadowShard came into play.
The ShadowShard tried to suck the black veil and add it to its own shadow, but to the council's surprise, the black veil struck back, it was alive! the black cloud was not a natural occurrence, someone has set it in place, for what purpose? it remains to be seen. The two shadows fought, both tried to consume one another but in the end, despite the power of the black veil, the Ancient Aeldari artifact came out victorious and the black cloud was no longer. Kaedra should be happy to see Anath's pain come to an end, to see his vision come to fruition but what she and the council saw, took away all the joy she had.
The image moved forward and an image of a craftworld came into the scene, it was an image of a craftworld filled with ghosts, almost empty of life, and the fangs of the She who thirsts ready to reap the souls of the dead, the Silver Mask watching with cold indifference as the souls were ripped apart one by one. They saw maiden worlds in flame, their exodite cousins screaming as they embraced eternal damnation, the mask was still there, watching without showing even a slight bit of empathy towards the suffering happening right beneath him. And soon, the image changed again but this time, it was of their craftworld.
The audience watched with wary eyes, even those who once dismissed Anath's vision were watching with such focus, that one might think they wanted to prevent whatever fate had in store for their craftworld by sheer force of their focus, as if willpower alone was enough to change the future. They watched as the Silver mask approached the Craftworld only for the dark Cloud to obscure the vision again. The ShadowShard began to activate again as it detected the black veil, but before it could do anything, a massive claw appeared from the vision, it was pitch black, not like a void but a black hole consuming the light.
Anath's body began to shiver uncontrollably as the Claw came approach to grab the old Seer's soul, it broke the ShadowShard's protective aura and grabbed Anath's soul within its palms and began to crush it, Anath began to scream in pain as the wound marks he has received on the vision appeared on his physical body.
"Anath!" Kaedra yelled out his name as she jumped down her seat toward the old Seer, the two assistants helping Anath perform the ritual were thrown back, blood pouring out of their eyes, mouths, and ears as their skin turned black, they lay there on the ground, having a painful seizure as their skin turned black like the void between the stars.
"Stop the ritual!" Shalani ordered as she too leaped into the fray.
"Anath!" Kaedra called out the name of her teacher as she tried to pull out his body from the ethereal state, but before she could touch him, a shockwave threw her back, before anyone could do anything, the waters beneath began to turn into a black jelly-like state.
"In Lileath's name" one of Eldrad's assistants said as she saw the black cloud from the visions leak into the council room "Nerverborn!" she cried out as creatures began to manifest within the room, creatures that were never seen before.
Kaedra turned to face the daemons as she heard the words, her eye fixated on the one closest to her teacher. The thing was a humanoid monster with black skin, its face was devoid of any features except for an unusually large mouth with a set of sharp teeth protruding from them, the daemon had sharp claws on each hand and a fleshy tail, it was adorned with golden jewels across its body but it wasn't clothed otherwise, it was something she has never seen before, sure there was unique warp monster here and there, but these beings all belonged to a greater being, like the lesser daemons of the four.
Hundreds of intruding daemons were quickly cut down to the last, there were many good places to manifest, a chamber filled with the best Aeldari race has to offer wasn't one of them. Unfortunately for those present, the threat wasn't over, as hundreds of daemons fell, and hundreds more took their place, even the best of Aeldari couldn't fight forever.
"The Staff, Autarch!" Kaedra heard Eldrad shout, her head turned towards the staff in the middle of the room, the dark clouds were emanating from the staff.
Quickly realizing the situation, Ila slashed five daemons in a single slash, returning the neverborn parasites to the hell they belonged. The Autarch dashed towards the staff, cutting down daemons left and right as he closed in to her target. Trying to help in any way she can, Kaedra sent a psychic boost to the Autarch after obliterating the daemons approaching her with a storm of lighting. The psychic energy enhanced the Autarch's already unparallel skills.
Ila's head turned towards the one who boosted her flesh, her eyes met with the determined gaze of the Farseer Kaedra. The Farseer gave her a nod that told her everything she needed to know with a single gesture 'Save my teacher!'.
The Eldar warrior slashed through hordes of daemons manifesting around the staff, one after the other she banished them all, with help from the Farseer, she turned into a whirlpool of death, but even that wasn't enough, the daemons came in numbers uncountable. Don't get her wrong, the warriors within the chamber were skilled beyond doubt but the daemons could grind them down if this continued, they did kill almost a thousand daemons with only one or two dead (besides the two who died while assisting Anath with his ritual), but no one could stand against infinity.
Seeing no other option, Ila sprinted towards the ShadowShard in a mad dash to end it all, but before she could touch it, a hand threw her away to the edge of the room. The fighting stopped for a moment as both the daemons and the Eldar watched the dark clouds form into a massive creature, even the daemons seem to shiver from fear under the influence of the beast.
Not wanting to see the beast come to life, Eldrad threw a barrage of psychic attacks at the creature, the force of his power could shatter entire warhosts all by himself, but it did nothing to hinder the creature's process of manifestation. The creature fully manifested despite the efforts of the brave Aeldari.
"Mortal creatures of soul and strife, seek to see the fates? by what right?" the creature's voice was a soothing hum, his tone musical, yet it felt wrong, it felt utterly wrong, something was wrong with this creature.
Kaedra momentarily turned her head away from her engagement to see the creature with her own eyes, and what he saw was like nothing she has seen before. The creature, the abomination was like his lesser versions but taller much much taller, whereas the lesser ones stood a head taller than humans and almost reached the Aeldari, this one's head almost reached the ceiling of the council room, the ceiling was thirty meters high!
"You have no place here, neverborn!" Kaedra heard Ila as she charged toward the greater daemon "Return to the depth where you belong!"
The daemon turned his head down, one of his six arms, two of which were connected to his back, was herded towards the Autarch with blinding speed impossible from a creature of that size. Shalani dodged the attack by jumping upwards, only to meet another one of the creature's limbs which twisted in an impossible manner to reach the Autarch, had it not for the timely intervention of Eldrad Ulthran, the Autarch would've been cut to pieces. Ila flew backward as the claw of the creature hit the psychic barrier placed around her, Eldrad of Ulthwe was beyond what she has anticipated for stopping the force of such a blow.
"Leave? how can you ask your guest to leave after inviting them yourselves?" the creature began to laugh in a mocking tone.
"Why are you here?" Eldrad asked as he unleashed another wave of psychic attacks, banishing hundreds of daemons in an instant, it seems the rest of the council has finished off all of the lesser daemons with minimal losses, the newer daemons were quickly banished before they could fully manifest.
They had won against the lesser daemons with ease, Kaedra knew that they could take on another ten thousand, hundred thousand even, she was sure yet, something within her mind told her that the greater one would be far harder to banish, even the lesser ones were exceeding the daemons of the four dark in every sense, they were faster, stronger, and more resilient, she didn't want to think how stronger this one is going to be.
The creature laughed at Eldrad's question "You amuse me, the creature of soul. I can feel the false confidence seeping from your soul, what a delightful taste, the pride" the daemon grinned, like his lesser servants, his face was devoid of features except for a large mouth with sharp teeth.
While the creature was facing the greatest Seer of the Aledari race, one of the Farseers jumped towards the neverborn, her blade surging with psychic energies. Before the Farseer could even hit the daemon, one of his hands twisted in an impossible way and grabbed the poor Witch, the Farseer cried with pain as she was crushed by the clawed hand. One second she was charging toward the enemy of the craftworld with khaine's fury, the next second she was nothing but a paste.
"Adorable" the neverborn grinned as a long, snake-like tongue came out of his mouth and licked the blood on his claw "You're next, O great Seer" Kaedra gritted her teeth, the creature was mocking them at their own homes, this was unacceptable.
The room began to fill with more immaterial energy that was being shaped into an offensive attack, Kaedra was alerted at first but then realized that it didn't belong to the daemon, the energy was emanating from the black-clad Seer "You have done far more damage than you should have, beast!" the voice didn't belong to one warrior of Biel-tan, it was their kin's voice from Ulthwe who lead the combined psychic counter-attack against the neverborn, the might of all present Psykers being poured into an attack to pierce the black shroud protecting the nerverborn.
A part of Kaedra's mind felt pride that despite their differences in purpose, the Aeldari race will always come to each other's aid, the other part felt shame for allowing an outsider to help them as much as Eldrad did, it was unreasonable and she knew it.
"NO!" the daemon shouted, his voice was loud and vile which caused all those who heard it to close their ears in pain. The black daemon charged forward as the psykers, including Kaedra, poured their power into a single point. Fortunately for the Eldar, the Exarchs and Autarchs were still present.
"For the souls of the dead and the living!" Autarch Shalani gave a warcry as she lead the charge, their task was to keep the daemon at bay.
The Eldar forces clashed against the greater daemon, blades clashed, guns fired, psychic powers unleashed, yet the daemon seems impervious to all but the strongest of attacks.
The Never born struck the mortal forces with six of his claws, the four in the front for physical attacks, the two attached to his back for casting psychic abilities.
Ila dodged another strike, learning from her last mistake, she jumped backward instead of up where she had no other chance to dodge, blocking the daemon's attacks was out of the question, no one was going to try that after the first attempt by the Banshee, she was crushed under the sheer force of his attack. Another hail of psychic attacks in the shape of a purple ball of energy was unleashed on the Autarch, every single one acted as an explosive capable of destroying heavy armor.
The area around Ila exploded as the psychic warp balls hit the ground around her, but that was not all. The two hands behind the daemon's back continued to unleash hell upon the Aeldari forces without rest, one after another, the proud Eldar warriors fell, either by the incredible speed of the Neverborn or by the psychic attacks unleashed by the two hands behind its back, the worst part was that they couldn't even attack the thing, the physical attacks did nothing to the beast. so the aspect warriors resorted to distracting it by dodging its abilities. Fortunately, the rift wasn't big enough to allow the daemon access to the full spectrum of his psychic abilities, but despite being a small rift, due to its close proximity to the daemon, it granted him total invincibility to physical and low-powered psychic attacks.
"Filthy pests!" the Neverborn insulted as he tried to hit down the Eldar warriors around him, they dance around him with inhuman speed which made it a difficult task "I will devour your souls and feast on your flesh once I'm done. MINIONS!" the giant screamed and the rift began to expand, hundreds more of lesser daemons began to manifest with the room.
Ila cursed under her breath 'When are the Witchs going to make their attacks, we can't hold them any longer' as the Autarch readied her blade to strike down the enemies of her craftworld, she heard a cracking sound from below, all of the warriors heard it. Ila looked down, the waters of the well of dreams were completely black, the water blessed with the tears of Lileath the dreamer, but that was not all.
"Isha's tears" Shalani muttered as she saw thousands upon thousands of hands protruding from the waters below, they were made of the same black mist they saw in Anath's vision. The hands began to crack the glass window below, trying to crack open the floor.
"BEHOLD CREATURES OF THE SOUL, THE HANDS OF AUHOTRITY" the Neverbron began to laugh hysterically before continuing his song "Rejoice, minions! a great feast awaits" with this revelation, the lesser daemons joined their master in laughter.
One of the Exarchs looked at Ila's eyes, the Autarch realized what he meant by the gesture, he was asking for orders, anything to turn the tides, Ila didn't know what to do. The reinforcements will arrive in another five to ten minutes, the daemons would push through them towards the Psykers by then, and if those within the chamber are to die then the remaining warriors will be left without leadership, all of the Farseers and Autarchs were here, along with most of the Warlocks and the Exarchs with only a few not attending to the council room, will they even be able to mount a proper resistance before the rift expands?
Shalani clenched her teeth and tightened the grip on her sword, the short-term threats were even worse than the long-term ones, with each second, the rift expanded and added to the creature's power while hundreds of daemons manifested. The rate at which they entered real space was far greater than the rate at which they could kill them, one warrior could banish ten daemons during the process of manifestation, but they were more than that, the number of daemons was reaching thousands. Not to mention the threat of the floor breaking and drowning them all within a sea of black liquid and thousands of cloudy hands.
After evaluating the situation, something clicked in her mind, they were warriors at their core, who cared if they died, so long as they protect something precious to the Eldar race, their deaths were worth it. Ila looked back at the Exarch, her eyes now filled with Khaine's fire "Onto death, brothers and sisters!" the voice came out of her mouth with Authority worthy of her rank, Exarch nodded in return.
"Admirable as expected, but you are not fated to die today, Autarch Shalani of Biel-tan" Ila heard an Arcane voice, it was Eldrad Ulthran.
The Autarch's head turned back to see the black-robed Seer writhing with immaterial power "Your wave of destruction has come to an end, Nerverborn!" Eldrad said as he unleashed the spell the Witchs was working on.
"NO!" the daemon tried to counter the spell with his own psychic might, at first, it seemed like the forces were matched, at least for a few seconds until the daemon's black cloud of protection dissipated and he was pushed back into the sea.
The survivors of the incident watched in relief as the daemon was driven out of their precious craftworld, their joy was short-lived as lesser daemons began to manifest again.
Eldrad jumped forwards toward the source of the rift, the ShadowShard at the center of the room, the staff that the daemon protected by never leaving it undefended. With inhuman speed, he tanked the thing out of the ground, as soon as he did that, the rift began to close in and the hands made of the dark cloud disappeared, leaving a damaged room in their wake, the daemons couldn't manifest anymore.
The black-clad Seer sighed in relief, the daemons won't trouble them any more, but there was still one thing bothering his mind, the reason why he went towards the staff before anyone else could.
~I know you can hear me~ Eldrad said, his voice was a hidden psychic message only the one he wished could hear.
Eldrad could feel the daemon smile, it was enough to scare the bravest of hearts but it did nothing to the Seer's old heart ~Why such a harsh tone? you should enjoy your little victory, the creature of the soul~ the greater daemon spoke, his tone turned into a seductive whisper, one that caused great discomfort in Eldrad.
~Who are you? what is your purpose? who us your-~
~Master?~ the Neverborn completed Eldrad's sentence ~What I am is not important neither is the name of my master, what is important however is the purpose of my visit~ Eldrad could hear snickering in his mind, thousands of them, he quickly blocked them off before they could cause a problem.
~Your purpose?~
~A message, O great Seer. A message from my Master~ the daemon answered ~Destroy the ShadowShard that allowed us to enter the world of flesh, destroy it and we will never see one another again. That staff is the only thing allowing us to enter your reality, you don't want us to cause more destruction than we should, don't you?~
Eldrad's eyes narrowed, what was the daemon talking about? ~That...~
~Doesn't make any sense?~ the daemon laughed again, his laughter knew no end, his voice alone could cause madness but in Eldrad's case, a heavy headache ~We are creatures of chaos, logic and reason are for mortals~
Something was wrong, the Daemon was lying, Eldrad could feel it in his core, but why would he? what was his true purpose? perhaps the Neverborn was protecting something, but what was it?
'The Daemon manifested after Anath broke the seal in his visions, after we saw the... so that is why...' Eldrad's grip on the staff tightened, he could still sense the Daemon, he, they were laughing ~The Silver mask~ the word escape Eldrad's mind, the waves of laughter stopped as soon as it did, the Farseer could feel anger brewing up inside the daemon.
~You are treading on the path, you are not prepared to face the threats~ the Daemon revealed.
This time, it was the Eldar's turn to smile ~Tell me why I should?~ the old Seer sneered, he could feel the fury building up in the Daemon.
~This vision will be your end, stop the pursuit and your race will have a future amongst the stars, seek it and it shall be fulfilled and I, Inanis the exiled shall see to it personally~ the Daemon answered.
~What do you-~
"Farseer Eldrad" the old Seer was interrupted before he could finish his question, his assistant stopped in her tracks as she saw Eldrad's hand gesturing her to stop. Eldrad tried to speak with the Daemon again but he was gone and the ShadowShard become what it used to be.
Eldrad sighed, it was too late to do anything now, better to give the artifact back to the council of Biel-tan. A part of his mind told him to keep the Artifact and take it back to the Ulthwe, that a pre-fall Aeldari artifact would be of more use there than in hands of his warmongering kin, he has played a big role in saving their craftworld, so why not taking as compensation for his deeds?
The old Seer shook his head and drove the idea out of his mind, he could already see how taking the ShadowShard will sour the relationships between their craftworlds, he rather guide Biel-tan for using the artifact than take it himself, despite how much power it offered to the user. Eldrad could still feel the power emanating from the artifact, it was quite addicting to hold, perhaps it would be better to entrust it in the hands of a warrior rather than a Psyker, at least for now.
The black-robed Seer looked around until he found the one he was looking for, the crimson-haired daughter of Khaine, Ila Shalani who was currently helping the survivors. Slowly he approached the Autarch with the Artifact in his right hand and his own staff in his left hand, both of which were powerful Artifacts.
The Autarch noticed his approach "Autarch" he greeted her again, making sure to be as polite as he could be, his idiotic warmongering kin was more prone to anger. Eldrad brought his right hand forward and offered the ShadowShard.
Ila inspected the Artifact with wary eyes, after what it has caused, there was a chance that it was corrupted beyond use, this was not the case. Eldrad didn't know what was the purpose behind the ShadowShard's creation, unlike other weapons of the old era, it was impossible to corrupt. Any psyker could feel it upon touch that it was made with the said purpose in mind, to fend off corruption from itself.
"My condolences for what has transpired today, daughter of Khaine" Eldrad bowed slightly after Autarch took the staff from his hands "Ulthwe offers her help" the old Seer offered.
Ila shook her head, rejecting the offer "You were our guests, Seers of the Ulthwe, to accept help more than what you have offered already, will bring shame to the craftworld" the Autarch answered, an answer Eldrad could've predicted without his gifts. Autarch Ila gave a warm smile, causing Eldrad's male assistant to blush which was felt by both Eldrad and his female assistant, Eldrad glared at him until he left the area before he could shame him even further, sure Autarch Ila was famed for her beauty as well as her combat prowess, but his assistants suppose to be professionals "Today, the Craftworld Beil-tan made a debt to you Seer of Ulthwe, and we shall repay it in your darkest hour"
The old Seer smiled "I have no doubt that you will"
As soon as the unwanted battle came to an end, farseer Kaedra rushed towards the now unconscious Anath, her heart beating ever faster with stress and anxiety, only after ensuring that her teacher was alive did she calm down a bit.
The old Farseer was completely exhausted, both in mind and body, blood was coming out of his eyes but healed quickly before it could cause more damage. Kaedra checked every corner of his body from head to toe, nothing major has happened, except for a few broken bones, Anath will survive.
Kaedra sighed in relief 'You will live, father...you will live, Isha's tears your will live' she grabbed his hand firmly and felt the warmth, it was as if a heavy burden was taken off her shoulders, however, Her relief was short-lived. Kaedra's face tense as she heard Anath groan in pain, what she neglected to see in her inspection was how messed up his mind was.
Kaedra grabbed Anath's hand and pulled his hand over her shoulder, she will carry him all the way to Isha's shrine on foot if she had to, he was heavier than she expected. As she was struggling to carry her teacher, she felt the weight on her shoulder lessen, looking to her left, Autarch Shalani was carrying him from the other arm.
Kaedra wanted to say something but the Autarch beat her to it "We must make haste to the shrines, we can talk later" she said as she increased her pace, Kaedra nodded and focused on the journey ahead, she noticed the ShadowShard the Autarch was carrying before she looked away.
They left the now damaged Council room, bodies of dead Eldar warriors were everywhere, their blood coating the glass floor. More than a hundred warriors lost their lives today, most of whom were the leadership, it will take time before their loss could be replenished. The daemons who attacked them belonged to none of the four nor the lesser known deities of the Sea, they were superior to every Neverborn they have encountered so far, especially the greater one, they will be studied.
Loss of manpower was the least of their worries, Anath'lan will be stripped of his rank for the damage his ritual has caused to the craftworld and the irreplaceable Well of Dreams. The Eldar of Biel-tan didn't know the identity or the purpose of the ones who trespassed their craftoworld today, but they swore to take revenge on the humiliation they brought.
-Inquisitorial vessel Ceaseless judgment -Year: 914.M34 -Location: Segmentum Tempestus, north of Reductus Sector -POV: Katarinya Greyfax of the Ordo Hereticus
Inquisitor Greyfax read through a series of reports sent by the Inquisitorial HQ in Segmentum Ultima, a request for investigation on an Inquisitor and his retinue, who were rumored to be mind controlled by a powerful sorcerer. Inquisitors are indoctrinated and trained to take their own lives before allowing the enemy forces to brainwash them, but in some rare cases due to lack of haste in acting or being unaware of the situation, the enemy manages to take control of an Inquisitor, but only the most skilled enemy psykers are capable of achieving such a feat, so if the witch is as powerful as the reports claim, there might yet be some truth behind the rumors.
"Performance of subject is believed to be compromised, an investigation should be conducted as soon as possible" Katarinya read through the rest of the page, her eyes suddenly stopped on the name of the said Inquisitor. "William Husan of Ordo Malleus" she recited the name, she knew who he was.
Greyfax and Husan had known each other from the very beginning, both trained at the same schola but were separated upon being chosen by different Inquisitors, he was always known as the most coward acolyte within the Schola but Katarinya knew the truth, despite what the others claimed, she never saw him as a coward or an incompetent. Husan never picked a side between Puritans or Radicals, not because he was afraid to anger the other side but because he truly believed he could serve the emperor better without them, she wouldn't believe his true intent had it not for her ability to sense lies, when he told her of his goals, she couldn't detect any lies, he was truly pure of intent.
And now, he is being controlled by a heretic and spreading false parchments about psychic training, her pure of intent colleague has been corrupted. Greyfax never considered William to be her friend, Inquisitors don't have friends, but she respected him as a colleague worthy of his rank, to see him fall so low was painful if the rumors are true that is.
The Inquisitor put aside the datapad and began inspecting the Psychic teachings that have been spreading through the Imperium, "Doctrina Psykona" written by Inquisitorial Acolyte 'Jermai'.
"Strange, there is no last name, just Jermai" the Inquisitor hummed, the writer of the texts either intentionally didn't write their last name or didn't have one, there were many worlds within the Imperium that only used names, the author could've been born on such worlds, then again, you will receive a Lastname within the Schola or AstraTelepathica, maybe he doesn't wish to be known?
The Inquisitor opened the book, using cogitators is a hundred times more efficient but not in this case, text of psychic nature is never stored within cogitator archives due to the dangers it can bring, the machine spirit might unknowingly use the text and cause damage to Imperial personnel and property, there are even reports of demonic rifts in reality caused by storing data relating to psychic subjects within cogitators, thus all of the data relating to psychic disciplines, are stored in physical copies.
Greyfax went through the pages, one of the secondary tasks that came with William's investigation was reviewing the parchments, to discover whether they were tainted or not, many Inquisitors were already reviewing it with the help of AstraTelepathica. The Witch hunter's eyes widened as she read through the pages, most of the contents of the book were already known to the Imperium, but there were also things they were not aware of, knowledge about the workings of the warp and its effects on the human soul, new training methods to prevent insanity and much more.
During all the years that Greyfax has been working within the Imperium as a Psychic Inquisitor, she never saw anything to improve the Imperium's psyker situation, new STCs containing weapon blueprints for guards and Astartes, new modified power systems, relics of the Dark age of technology and much more but nothing to improve the Psykers, it has been a downhill journey ever since the Imperium's creation.
"This... this could work" she said, the Doctrina Psykona can truly improve AstraTelepathica, sure it won't make Imperial psyker invincible but it will make them much less prone to madness.
"If it is not tainted" the words escape her mouth without her realizing it. Her paranoia instinct was the one talking, and it was saying the truth, this was too good to be true, this galaxy was far too cruel for such gifts. She knew that this was most likely a trap, a tainted text aimed to weaken the Imperium, judging it to be heretical was the most reasonable course yet, a voice in the back of her mind told her not to do so, was it her Psyker nature telling her to have hope?
The Witch hunter stood there in the silence of the room, in her mind was a war between faith and reason, hope and nihilism, and in the end, she chose hope. Greyfax opened her vox unit and gave the new coordinations to the captain, if she wanted to truly judge the Doctrina Psykona, she had to go directly to the source.
-Planet: Craftworld Biel-tan -Year: 914.M34 -Location: Segmentum Tempestus, northern fringe of Veiled region -POV: Farseer Kaedra
If the recent attack on the craftworld's most inner core and Anath's latest visions made anything clear, it was the schism within the council. The most militaristic minds demanded the total annihilation of the threat as soon as it was revealed, they wanted revenge for what has transpired within the council chambers and the damage done to one of the craftworld's most prized artifacts. The other side expressed their desire for the elimination of the threat as well, but their methods were more cautious, only a small minority agreed with Eldrad's suggestion of observing and perhaps using the anomaly for the betterment of the Aeldari race, that is only if the said anomaly is proved to be non-hostile.
Kaedra and Ila, who were grown closer after the Autarch talked down the council from executing Anath, both chose to side with the first group, Kaedra saw the Silver mask as the cause for her teacher's downfall and Ila had an aggressive mindset, to begin with. Despite his help in the recent events, Eldrad's voice for patience and caution was ignored, after witnessing how his advice had no power within Biel-tan, the Farseer and his assistants left the towards their own craftworld.
'Good riddance' Kaedra thought, the Seer of Ulthwe may have helped a great deal, but he was an outsider, Biel-tan will be in his debt but that doesn't permit him to meddle in the council's decision.
In the end, the decision was passed in favor of the first party, the council will make haste in the elimination of the threat. They will kill the rodent before it can ruin the crops.
-Inquisitorial vessel Fatorum ruptor -Year: 914.M34 -Location: Segmentum Obscurus, Gothic Sector -POV: Anon
The Witch drifted through the black seas of infinity as the darkness around him tried to consume his very soul. A chain, connected to an eight-pointed star was shackled to his neck, he could not move, he could not see, yet, he knew he was not alone. The eight-pointed star shone illuminating the surrounding area with an unholy light, the Witch could see now, faceless figures all around him stared him down as if they could see his very soul. The humanoid figures were charcoal black, their bodies were like nightmare given forms. After what seemed like an eternity, the figures start to move, they opened a space between them, allowing one person to pass.
Anon's mind filled with dread as he gaze upon the creature's black figure. Just by looking he could tell that this one was different, while the others lacked any features on their faces, this one had a mouth that curved into a shape of a smile that was impossible for a mortal to make.
The figure stepped closer and closer until he was looking at the Witch directly in the eyes, his eyeless face was staring right into his soul, giving form to a primordial dread within the Witch's psyche. The stoic face of the Witch gave in to fear as his skin grew pale. As fear filled his mind, paralyzing his entire frame, the king of nightmares spoke with a soothing sound unbecoming of his appearance ~My Champion~ the voice spoke in his mind, the weight of the words alone was enough to break every bone in his body and bring his mind to the verge of madness ~We shall meet again, but worry not my Champion, I shall depart you with a gift~ the being smiled, his rotten breath suffocating the Witch.
Anon woke up in a large room surrounded by unmanned medical equipment and mostly empty beds, he was sweating profusely as his heart beat like a war drum. The Witch looked around dumbfounded until some semblance of sense returned to his brain, he had died after killing that chaos marine, they must've carried him into the medical bay for treatment.
The Witch's hand slowly went over his face and gently brushed it, luckily he was still wearing his mask, William must've ordered them to keep it on. His eyes then went over his hand, moving and testing the figures on his newly grown arm. Several serums were attached to his veins on both arms, the effects of whatever drugs they have been administrating to him were gone before they could fulfill their intended purpose, his immortal nature made most drugs ineffective against him, afterall, why do you need drugs if your body automatically repairs everything? had he not been a perpetual, he would've been dead by now.
Looking around the room he was in, he saw tens of empty beds in the medical bay, only a few were filled, most of whom were unconscious. Deciding he had enough and was fully healed, Anon pulled out the serums from the burnt flesh of his arms before stepping out of the bed, he fell to the ground as soon as his feet touch the cold floor.
"ARGH!" a sudden rush of pain coursed through his mind, it felt as if hundreds of worms were crawling inside of his skull. The Witch clutched his head, cradling it between his arms as his head touched the ground, as if it could not get any worse, the visions began. Seconds later, the Witch's vision returned, he was standing?
Anon surveyed his surroundings, he tried but failed, he couldn't move a single muscle, he couldn't even move his eyes. Before he could panic, he calmed himself like how he always did in the worst situations, panicking helps no one. Once his mind returned to an acceptable state, he noticed something, he was taller, the distance between his point of vision and the ground was higher.
"Tell me one reason I should not kill you where you stand!" the Witch threatened the warrior in front of him without a will of his own, he couldn't control his body, not like being paralyzed or controlled but as if he was reliving a moment, a moment not of his own experiences.
A ball of warp energy began to manifest within Anon's arm as he threatened the blue plate warrior. The giant warrior wore armor reminiscent of aquatic life of the ancient Terra, a scale-like shape like the dragons of the old myth. His face was devoid of any outstanding features, save for a wound-like mutation on his right eye. With a fully shaven head, he looked exactly like his brother.
'Alpha legion? what are they doing here? where am I?' the entrapped Witch asked, he was still struggling to let lose his bondage to the giant's body but couldn't, for reasons unknown, he was being forced to watch this event by powers beyond his ability to resist.
The Alpha legionary gave a smug smile, seemingly unbothered by the one threatening him "It will be unwise, brother" the Astarte answered as his hand went over the melta gun on his hip, a sense of fury began to surge its way to Anon's mind, the emotion was not his.
"Baseless confidence, you are a fool, I can kill you before even have a chance" the Witch hissed, his threats were true, as a Psyker himself, Anon can kill an Astarte before he can even draw his weapon, if he is prepared that is.
"Indeed you can" he answered, in an arrogant show of confidence, he removed his hand from his weapon and relaxed, further enraging the Sorcerer in front of him. Whoever Anon's perspective belonged to must've been an arrogant man himself to be angered by such a simple act, keeping yourself calm is one of the most important things in combat, an enraged soldier was a predictable soldier.
"You are a lion, brother, your strength I cannot match" The blue armored Agent admitted "You can cut my head before I can even take action, but" he paused "There is a flaw in your strategy"
"And what could that be?" the Sorcerer asked, he had hundreds of soul-bound daemons ready to storm the room and kill the filth in front of him "Enlighten me"
The Legionary silently gestured towards the crystal-flex window in his back, there was a tower around two kilometers to their position, with a direct line of sight to the room, Anon spotted five red dots "That cutting the hydra's head will only cause it to grow two more"
Seeing how he had no way to escape the snipers in time, the sorcerer yielded. With a growl, he snuffed out the warp energy within his hand.
"Now now brother, why the sour mood? you will have what you desire"
"My desire? when? once I'm dead?" the Sorcerer questioned, his empty hand pushed aside his cloak to reveal a crimson crystal, the bottom half of the crystal was pitch black "Half of it is used, without it, you, your brothers, and everyone in this blasted planet will die. The gods don't favor those who have failed them, brother" the blue armored Astarte gave a look perplexed upon witnessing the crystal.
"You're a summoner are you not?" the Legionary asked completely ignorant of the amounts of effort required to keep an army of daemons within the material plane, much less control them.
The traitor Astarte Anon had killed was a summoner, Psykers who cast aside the old disciplines in order to become a warlock, these individuals are powerful but cannot match other psykers in terms of offensive and defensive capabilities, what they do have, however, is an army of daemons ready to do their biddings.
A summoner can control hundreds, if not thousands of daemons, but not enough to engulf the entire planet, not while being able to control them all, this is where the Crystal came into play. 'The Gaazir's Shackle' was a crystal artifact belonging to an unknown daemon king whose name was lost to the ages, a being so powerful that he once threatened the authority of the blood god himself, now the only thing remaining of him was his shards that if found, will give the user the ability to control fury itself.
"I don't need an empty world, Agent, this artifact is the only thing protecting MY world" the Sorcerer explained, once the artifact run out of power, he will lose all the control he had on the blood god's minions, and he knew very well how much his kind was loathed by the blood god's minions "I want this world, Ka"
The Alpha legionary stood there in the silence, thinking about something, but soon came back with his answer "And you shall have it. The artifact's cessation will only force me to speed up my plans, nothing more"
"ENOUGH!" the Sorcerer shouted he then approached the Alpha legionary, stopping only at a blade's range "I have grown tired of your tricks, Son of Hydra, I want my part of the bargain or else I will release control over my minions" the Sorcerer threatened, he was never going to listen to Ka, that's why he busied himself with manifesting daemons beneath their sniper tower.
Summoning without a portal took its strain on the artifact, consuming ten times more energy than it should in a normal case, but it was worth it to destroy Ka's trump card.
"You will have it" the blue-plated Warrior repeated.
"When?"
Ka looked to be in thought, thinking about whether he should reveal their plan to the Sorcerer or not, in the end, he chose to do it because, without the Sorcerer, his plans would not end as optimally as his master desired.
"Once the Ashen Claws are turned to our side, you will have your planet to rule over then"
Once the Alpha legionary answered, Anon was ripped out of the vision without a warning, being thrown back to the medbay of William's ship.
The masked Witch breathed heavily as the pain began to spread throughout the rest of his body, pain that far exceeded that of the burnt flesh on his arms, it almost made him wish he was being cut by Avina's blade instead. As the pain began to die out, he slowly stood up, his legs trembling as he leaned back to the wall for support. To add to his pain, the voices of the crew members began to flow back into his head, thousands of voices, all thinking about different things, being suddenly swarmed with so many thoughts was maddening.
The Witch cursed himself for having such an ability, being proficient in telepathy, made it so that his mind acted like a magnet for the unprotected or weak mind, attracting their thoughts like a moth to a flame. This ability, although useful for his line of work, was incapable of shutting itself, not even when he slept, if he could sleep that is.
In this universe, every psykers have a unique ability. Some are naturally talented in certain disciples, some have unique abilities that others do not possess, like being able to do necromancy like Mortarion's foster father on his home planet, or being able to see the truth amongst the lies like Inquisitor Greyfax. Anon had none of these things.
Anon wasn't particularly good at any discipline(Except Telepathy) nor could he do necromancy or be anathema to chaos, what he is good at however was reading thoughts. Reading thoughts is not a hard skill to learn for a psyker, everyone could at least read someone's mind if they focused hard enough, for Anon however it was as easy as walking, he had an unnatural talent that allowed him to even read the thoughts of a psykers, to such extent that most don't even realize they minds being pried open.
Once the Witch got used to the pain of having thousands of voices speaking in his head, he let go of the wall and began to walk towards the door, he no longer had any business to do here.
"Stop where you are" he heard a harsh feminine voice as he exited the medical bay, it reminded the Witch of a woman he knew on Thule, she was the owner of an orphanage, one of the few faces he could remember in his long life.
Turning his head towards the voice, he met the eyes of a very angry nurse wearing a wimple and a white dress that made her look like a medieval nurse. The woman was carrying a bag on her hips that was filled with medical drugs, her face was devoid of scars and was the very image of plain beauty.
And said plain beauty was glaring him down, as if she wished to melt him into a gue just by the power of her gaze, not to mention her psyche which emanated so much disgust towards the Witch, that it began to override his own emotions and almost made Anon hate himself "The lord has forced me to waste far too many resources on you than you deserve, so much medical equipment and drugs wasted on a mutant, and now you wish to leave?"
Ah yes, sister of Fatima from the Adeptus ministorum and her ever-increasing insults "I no longer require medical care, thus my sudden departer"
Fatima wanted to argue but Anon beat her to it, he was used to being insulted all the time but sister Fatima was on a different level, her insult can actually cause psychological damage "I wish to return to my chambers since I am not welcome here, I also have a report to make for the lord Inquisitor"
"Rude as always, I expected no less from leashless mutated filth" Anon clenched her teeth from anger but quickly calmed himself, he never acted like this, no one on the ship could force him to act like this, no one except for sister Fatima who was blessed with the ability to kill the enemies of the Imperium with the sheer volume of her insults.
"Go ahead and leave me alone, I thought I could rest a while but apparently not, no one else can clean your taint from the medical bay, honestly I wish to throw out the bed you slept on, but alas, the resources are scares" she continued to insult Anon as she took out an emperor damn ecclesiarchal purification seal, by Terra's once blue skies will her insults ever end?
"Also, wear some cloth for Throne's sake, no one wants to see as is let alone naked" Fatima sneered. Anon looked down, she was telling the truth, he was too occupied in his mind to notice he was shirtless. Fatina may not have seen it but the Witch felt embarrassed, it may be a normal thing to see a shirtless man on the other planets but not on Thule, their culture of hating nudity has affected Anon's mind, and his current situation was beyond embarrassing, thank the Emperor he still had his pants on.
"Shameless mutants, this why people hate you, you and your..." the Sister's grumble began to die out as she went further into the medbay, the Witch thanked whoever trained Fatima, her mind was one of the most protected and trained on the entire ship, surpassed only by the Inquisitor himself, had her mind been a weak one, he would've to hear her insults in his head all day long.
Being left alone half naked in the corridor, the Witch quickly cloaked himself from the people's eyes and began making his way toward his room, only after wearing something will he report back to the Inquisitor.
After navigating through the 4km(2.5miles) long ship, he finally reached his destination, his personal chamber.
His room was as boring and sparsely furnished as always, it seems no one has touched it since the last mission. The Witch grabbed his cloth, finally feeling the comforting touch of the harsh fabric against his skin, it was good to be clothed. As he was wearing his suit-like clothing, he saw a green light from the corner of his eyes, investigating the light, he saw a datapad on his desk, his room was touched after all.
Grabbing the tablet, he noticed the typical skull symbol on the top of the thick tablet, it looked quite primitive but like most things within the Imperium, looks were deceiving, this primitive-looking datapad was capable of hundreds of thousands of terabytes worth of data, the main cogitator unit on this ship alone was capable of storing more information than all the computers of M3.
The datapad came to life with a illuminating green light. Detecting the identity of the Inquisitorial acolyte on a genetic level, the datapad allowed access to the message that was only meant for the Acolyte's eyes. Anon frowned as he read the message, it was from William, the Inquisitor wants a personal report as soon as possible.
Anon sighed, he had a lot to think about not to mention his stomach which was growling like a beast, but right now, he had to report to the Inquisitor, better not keep his employer waiting.
"Yet another day of wishing for the past" Anon muttered, if someone were to ask him what his deepest wish was, he would ask them to return him to his old life, but alas, the joys of his past life were but a distant memory, he could hardly remember them. Anon smiled as the glimpses of his old life flashed before his eyes, he smiled, for a single moment the thoughts of the crewmen withered into the back of his mind, his smile was quick to fade as the voices returned.
The Witch sighed as he exited the room.
-Planet: Craftworld Biel-tan -Year: 914.M34 -Location: Segmentum Tempestus, northern fringe of Veiled region -POV: Farseer Kaedra
A little girl was waiting in front of the docking district, she played with her black silky hair as she watched the ships landing on the platforms below, her eyes filled with anticipation as she stood alone within the crowd. A crowd of family members formed around her, each matching the little girl's eagerness in welcoming their family members. The transport ship answered the anticipation of the crowd as its doors opened revealing battered but proud Aeldari warriors, those who risked their lives outside so they may live in the safety of their world, Kaedra's brother was one of them.
Kaedra was very proud of her brother, he was strong, fast, big, tall, and very smart. She only wished that one day, she might also be like her brother and protect the Craftworld from its enemies, be it the great enemy or the filthy mon-keigh, she will defeat them all.
Kaedra watched as the warriors returned to their loved ones, hugs, smiles, and kisses everywhere. Soon they began to leave the area to celebrate their safe return, everyone has returned safely, everyone except her brother.
Hours passed as the lone child watched the transport, her small frame barely reaching the knee cap of the older warriors as they passed by her, soon, the crowd completely dissipated, leaving her all alone in the docking bay. Even though the transport was empty, Kaedra stood there, watching, what else could she do? this was all she knew, her brother told her to wait for him on the docks, he will be here soon, he promised to bring her some souvenirs.
Kaedra's eyes sparkled as she spotted two figures leave the ship, her joy soon faded as she couldn't spot her brother. One of the figures was clad in armor while the other one wore robes, both of them looked at each other as they saw they saw the lone little girl waiting at the docks "Is that her?" Kaedra heard the robed figure ask, the armored warrior nodded. Kaedra saw the robed figure walk towards her, and stop right in front of her, he knelt on his knee, meeting the little girl's eyes face to face.
The Warrior removed his helmet, revealing a young face with black hair, giving Kaedra a weird feeling of familiarity, as if she knew who he was. As she paid more attention to the warrior's face, the more confused the little girl became, his was a gentle face, it didn't match that of a warrior.
Kaedra looked at the figure with confusion "Who are you?" the small girl tilt her head as she asked.
The black-haired man gave a warm smile that was weirdly comforting "I am Anath'lan little one, I'm a warlock" he spoke in a low tone, even his voice wasn't warrior-like.
Kaedra jumped from the chair as she woke up from the dream, a sense of confusion set in, only for her to calm down at the sight of Anath sleeping. The Farseer sighed in relief, Anath was safe. Kaedra gently brushed Anath's hair with her hand, making sure he wouldn't wake up, his mind was weakened ever since the incident, and he needed all the rest he could get.
As she was staring at the man resting on the bed, her mind drifted into deep thought a lifetime's worth of memories began to play before her eyes. Kaedra lived through the eyes of the lone child born of two corsairs, their adventurous lives making her's more lonely, the good days when her brother took her to see the harlequins perform.
The smile on the Farseer's face faded into the void of sadness as memories of the day she lost her brother began to play. The day she lost her last family member, was the day her life lost all color.
The lights in her memories started to flicker, one by one the lights were silenced until everything was dark and in the center of that darkness was a little girl. In a pit of despair, the Kaedra hugged her legs and looked down, and closed her eyes.
~Kaedra~ The little girl heard a voice, and the light returned to her surroundings as she opened her eyes, she was no longer the little girl but the observer. Kaedra watched as her younger self was being trained, those days were hard, hours upon hours of meditation and training, but despite the difficulties, they were the best days of her life, Anath, despite being dedicated to the path of war, was a good guardian, taking care of the little girl as if she was his own. Kaedra smiled, she felt something warm up inside as she saw the image of a younger Anath'lan.
~You have done well~ Anath gave a warm smile unbecoming of a ruthless warrior he should be ~But do you really want to be here? your dedication is admirable, little one. You are but a child, you should do more than this~ Anath gestured towards the shrine beneath which they meditated ~There is more to life than war, this is more true for you, you should enjoy your youth, make friends~ the little Kaedra's small hands turned into fists.
~No~ The little girl shook her head ~I don't want to~ her head looked downwards as if she was ashamed.
Seeing her current state, Anath decided to question her resolve ~And why is that?~ his voice was soft, making sure that she felt comfortable enough to reveal to him the answer.
~B...~ Kaedra muttered.
~B?~ Anath asked.
~Because I want to find my brother, but I am too weak to do it on my own, Exarch Yneath told me not to go outside, she said mon-keigh were dangerous~ Little Kaedra looked up and met the gaze of the warlock, seeing her, Anath laughed, the little Girl's face turned red. The little girl began to hit Anath with her small fists, her face red with embarrassment, she tried her best but her fist couldn't even get a reaction from the Adult ~Don't laugh!~ she cried.
The Warlock laughed as he saw the cute imagery in front of him, once his laughter came to an end, she looked down again ~Then let us not waste more time, little Warrior~ his hand went over her head and gently patted her hair.
Suddenly, the memories stopped and Kaedra found herself in Isha's temple, Anath was still sleeping. Kaedra sighed, a ghost of a smile found itself on her lips as she remembered her memories.
"Is there something amusing?" Kaedra heard Anath's, looking down, she spotted the old Seer awake.
"Oh, you know, remembering how you looked when you were running from the mon-keigh, when you were retrieving that staff" Kaedra laughed.
"I'm not what I used to be, I was ten times faster than you when I was younger. Isha's tears young ones these days, they don't know how to show respect to their elders" Anath huffed which made Kaedra laugh even more.
Her laughter continued for a few minutes despite Anath's annoyance "Alright alright, I apologize" She wiped out her tears "Now get some rest old man, we have a long day ahead. I'll tell you what happened when your mind is in a more... acceptable state"
-Inquisitorial vessel Fatorum ruptor -Year: 914.M34 -Location: Segmentum Obscurus, Gothic Sector -POV: Anon
Standing behind the Inquisitor was a masked Witch, who waited patiently for him to speak. The Inquisitor's room wasn't the luxurious room most of William's colleagues had, it was relatively plain and simple, better than anything the crewmen of the ship had but still relatively plain, the only thing outstanding about the room was the trophies William have collected in his time in service of the Inquisition, Heads of different Xenos beasts, ranging from Eldar to even one Necron head, though Anon doubted he knew what Necrons were, they didn't have any interactions with the soulless race yet, only a few minor instances which were too small to even write down in the records.
Besides the skulls and the bones of the Xenos, there were also several skulls belonging to daemons. Even Anon had a hard time forcing a daemon's body to remain in the material realm after their banishment, how the Inquisition did so without a psyker like him, he didn't know, he just made sure it wasn't emanating any chaotic taint which it wasn't.
After making sure there were no threats of chaotic taint from the remains of the daemons, Anon turned his head towards the Inquisitor who was staring down at the world below from the windows of his chamber, those windows were sturdier than tungsten. A sense of sadness began to brew inside of the Witch as he also saw the image of the planet below, millions of PDFs will die in the coming days, the Inquisition won't allow them to live, they have witnessed the forces of chaos, a secret the Inquisition kept with utmost zeal.
"You killed an Astarte"
"That I have" Anon confirmed the Inquisitor's statement.
"Singlehandedly"
"Yes" Anon's voice was as calm as ever.
"The reports suggested that he was a sorcerer as well" Inquisitor's voice grew cold.
"Yes my lord, he was" hearing his reply, William averted his gaze from the planet to the masked Witch within the room.
"A human Psyker outwitting an Astarte librarian" William summed up the situation "My colleagues would've scoffed at me for suggesting the concept" he gave chuckled.
"There are many instances of mortal humans outmatching and outsmarting their Astarte opponent, mine is no different"
"Astartes? yes, Sorcerers? no. Both Astartes and Sorcerers are dangerous opponents, Jermai, a traitor Librarian is both with the weakness of none" William explained "What you have done today was beyond a mere duel between a swordsman and a space marine. You dueled that unrestricted beast and lived to tell the tale, without... mostly unharmed" William quickly corrected himself while glancing at Anon's hands that were hidden beneath his gloves.
"These wounds of my own making" Anon hissed in a low tone, his hatred from his own inexperience was clear in his voice, in a single moment of panic, he cursed himself with these hands, they have been tormenting him for the last thousand years.
"That doesn't make your argument any better" William sighed "The wound on your hand even put our Magos to the shame, he..." William paused for a second before correcting his mistake "She was quite aggravate while she informed me of your situation, the wounds, they cannot be healed"
"They are cursed, Inquisitor, a monument to my of failures, the price of arrogance" William took a good look at the Witch's face, although he could see anything beneath the Silver, he could tell that the subject was quite sensitive for him.
"I hope that it is not of... Heretical nature" Anon shook his head, answering his question "Still, you have bested a heretic that had hundreds of years to train, that fact remains. Either this was due to luck, which I highly doubt it, or you being a prodigy of some kind but then again, so was the heretic" William's face hardened, Anon dreaded the question that was about to come "Just what are you, Jermai? the results of your genetic test indicate that you're a pure human with no genetic mutations, a perfect human, too perfect. The last known record of such a level of genetic purity was of M19 and yours beats that by a large margin. Not to mention your knowledge of the future, far exceeding the most distant prophecies"
The Witch stood in silence as William's line of question came to an end, the room stayed in this state of awkward silence for another few minutes, but then, then the Witch laughed. William watched with concern as Anon laughed hysterically.
"I am mad!" Anon claimed and how couldn't he, the definition of insanity as one of the ancient Terran scholars proverbed, was repeating the same action while expecting a different result, and Anon was quite mad indeed, to underestimate this reality over and over again and again, this was the fourth time he did so. The first time he used his powers without restraint, thinking he could easily master over the immaterium with his mind. The second time when he sought to exterminate an entire army of savage orks who have been increasing their numbers to hundreds of thousands, though he did reduce their numbers enough for humans on Thule to deal with them, but it ended in his death. The third time, no, he won't speak of the third time, that memory must be buried to be forgotten with the rest of humanity's lost knowledge. And not the fourth, thinking he could easily manipulate the Inquisitors into not digging into his origins.
"I don't remember making a jest" the Inquisitor looked concerned, for him, the Witch was too much of a wild card, something beneficial that must be kept for the betterment of the Imperium, but also frightening, more so than the horrors he has faced so far.
"O Inquisitor, wouldn't you want to know? of course you do" soon, the laughing stopped "Of course you do..." Anon repeated but this time in a lower volume, his gesture indicated that he was in deep thought, what that was was beyond William to know, sometimes, he wished for the mind-reading talent of Jermai, it would make his job a hundred times easier.
"Then again, it is what it is. Must learn" the Witch said, he wasn't talking to the Inquisitor, he was talking to himself, his next words, however, were directed towards the Inquisitor "There is nothing in my past that may be of use for you, there is only madness, don't seek it" with that, Anon walked out of the door but stopped again at its frame "I still stand to my oath, my lord, but remember that I choose to be your pawn of my own free will, you cannot hope to control me otherwise"
William frowned, he looked offended, his previous concern against the Witch almost gone completely, replaced with irritation "Was that a threat?"
"No" Anon answered in a cold tone "A lesson of humility, a lesson I have learned a long time ago, a lesson you reminded me of" the Witch explained while fully facing the Inquisitor "Now, I pass it onto you, do make an effort not to forget it, William, because I have done so many times before" the Witch wanted to leave, only to be stopped by the Inquisitor's remark.
"Yet you have forgotten it again, never should an acolyte disobey his Inquisitor, that is the first lesson"
"The lesson is necessary but also flawed" the Witch replied "There is no need to feel shame, Inquisitor, I teach you as much as I expect you to teach me, that is the nature of our agreement, was it not?"
"That you will ascend to the rank of Inquisitor" Anon nodded at his answer.
The Inquisitor won't stop at his work, Anon knew that. It wasn't that easy to change someone's opinion, especially after a century of following the same principles. William was a prime example of that, but it didn't matter what William thought so long as he gave Anon what he wanted, so long as he gave the Witch the power he desired, he didn't care how hard he tried to repay, what he called "Humiliation". Besides, William was not your average Inquisitor, he can be quite flexible when the need arose, there was a chance that he will heed Jermai's advice and if he didn't, well, Anon had more than one way to deal with his problems.
- Four days later -
The sound of blades touching each other echoed in the air as two figures danced with each other, one used a cruel style fit more for a torturer than a warrior, while the threw away any sense of elegance for practicality. It has been some time since the Witch began training with the Assassin, and it looked like their training sessions will soon come to an end since there was nothing more Avina could teach him.
The Assassin leaped forward while throwing one of her blades at the masked Witch, the blade never meant to hit him, only to distract him from her next move. Anon parried the blade flying towards him and flung it towards the wall on the right side, it was to make sure Avina won't be able to recover her blade. Seeing a single second of distraction, the Assassin flanked the Witch to strike at his exposed back, her movement was far too fast for a human yet, there she was. Unfortunately for Avina however, Anon already knew her next move, he had been training with her for quite some time now, he could easily adapt to her moves.
Avina's blade almost touched the Witch's back when she was thrown away with a kick capable of breaking a man's bones, although powerful, Anon was not using biomancy, only enough to match the Assassin's implants. The Assassin quickly regained her stance but it was too late, the Witch's blade was already at her heart, threatening to kill her if she made a move.
"Enough, Assassin" Anon ordered as he sensed the rage festering beneath Avina's skin, for the first time, she had lost a duel against the Psyker and that bothered her to no end, despite training more than him every day, the Witch had surpassed her, not because he was a genius but because he was far older than the young Assassin, and his experience allowed him to learn things faster than a normal human or Xenos. The Eldar age, the Necrons circuit system fails and humans grow frail but the immortal Witch stands.
"Don't think of yourself as proper just because you have won once, mutant" Avina scoffed after her cold killer persona cleared her mind of anger.
"Never thought of my skills as something to boast about" the Witch pulled back the sword and put it back into its sheath, what he said was the truth, or at least what he thought was the truth, he may be better than the norm but to survive this galaxy norm wasn't good enough "It is not enough" the Witch stated exact thing passing his mind.
"For a mutant nothing is enough" Avina mixed her own opinion with Anon's and served the insults back to the Witch, Anon ignored it as he always did, he was used to being insulted, if the Assassin thought she could provoke him by mere words than she was welcome to think that way, no one on this ship could provoke Anon with just words, except sister Fatima, may the Emperor bless Anon with her ability to insult so he may use it against the enemies of the Imperium.
"The reports suggested that you were capable of matching the Astartes, I guess that wasn't a lie, hence the reason you won I suppose"
"You see yourself equal to them?" Anon asked, amused at the notion. Avina gave the Witch a cold glare, he didn't know what she wanted to accomplish by doing so, her appearance couldn't intimidate him in the slightest "They are called the Emperor's chosen for a reason"
"Yet in the end, they are nothing but mutated freaks" the Assassin finally revealed her thoughts about the space marines. Considering how she looked, she was barely a human, or at least that's how some people may perceive her as.
Some people may see her as something inhuman but Anon opposed that idea, just because someone was implanted by cybernetics or genetic implants doesn't mean they are not human, so long as you see yourself as a human and not above your unenhanced kin, you are just as human as them. If you see yourself as a human and fight for them, who had the right to tell you aren't one? sure there were a few people here and there that see themselves as otherwise but there were many who didn't, the Salamanders were just as enhanced as the black legionaries, one was one of the most humane factions in the galaxy while the other one wasn't.
'Or that is just to soothe myself, to give myself a reason to fight' the Witch frowned as the thought crossed his mind. Maybe he was hypocritical, maybe he was inhuman but was it wrong? was it wrong to see himself as human despite the differences he had with his mortal kin? he had fought most of his life, trained, and worked to keep save as many humans as he can, hasn't he done enough to receive the title of human? or was he just an inhuman monster trying to manipulate humanity to his own vision?
"Silent" Avina's voice took the Witch out of her trance.
"What?"
"Silent, lack of background, skilled in combat, lack of emotion, capable of working under extreme pressure" the Witch raised an eyebrow as Avina stated what she perceived as his qualities "Shame you had to be a mutant, I could've sculpted you into a fine assassin otherwise"
"You wish me to join your death cult?"
Avina's face turned to a disgusted anger as if she was offended by the mere thought, her expression was quite confusing for him, considering it was she who suggested the idea "Even if you kill Abaddon we won't accept a disgusting Witch mutant like you in our holy order, know your place subhuman" Avina growled at him, Anon took that as his sign to leave and turned back to leave the room, he had enough interaction for the day and soon, he had to do his daily meditation.
'I don't know what I expected of her' Anon began to make his towards his room, it's not like he was welcome anywhere else on the ship considering the resentment he received on a daily bases, was all of the Inquisitorial ships like this? how about psychic Inquisitors? where they treated like him too?
'No, the fear of their rank will stir anyone away from such actions' the promise of the future gave the old Witch some comfort, that one day people will stop insulting him directly in his face, they might still hate him but at least won't tell it right to his face. Anon sighed, he will leave the future for his future self, right now he had another thing to think about.
Now that his melee training came to an end, and Avina had nothing more to teach him, he had more free time to attend to his own needs. To increase the chances of his success in this galaxy, he needed to occupy every single second with something productive, something that would benefit the Imperium, no, to benefit humanity as a whole, but what could he do? his freedom was very limited until he could ascend to the rank of Inquisitor.
As he continued his journey towards his room, the Witch's eyes spotted something. Anon stopped to take some time to observe a techpriest working on repairing a cogitator unit, he or she haven't noticed him yet, it was right then when an idea formed in his head. Anon made sure to hide in a corner before anyone could spot him spying on the techpriest, then he began to concentrate. The Witch had used his talent to tap into the minds of thousands of people, ranging from open minds to the most mentally capable, he had conquered them all and for the first time in his life, he was going to try a member of mechanicus.
Slowly, his psyche made its way into the mind of the techpriest, making sure he won't notice anything, their kind hoarded knowledge like a dragon hoarding treasure, if he realized he was trying to steal his knowledge things will turn sour real quick, especially if said knowledge was going to be revealed to someone outside of their order.
The mind of the mechanicus was something Anon had never seen before, his soul was... dull, cold, and metallic in shape, it was just as resistant as the Inquisitor's but in a different way. It was almost impossible to describe how the techpriest's mind felt, he was human in the core but not quite so, he might be the strangest thing he have seen before, even stranger than an Ork mind, but it was still conquerable though Anon will have to adjust and adapt to this new landscape.
After a few minutes, the Witch managed to get through the priest's psyche and into his mind, it seems he hadn't even noticed he had done so. Anon grinned as he saw the information, almost everything the techpriest had learned over hundreds of years was available right before his eyes, it seems he had found a way to pass his newly found free time.
The Witch disconnected himself from the priest, he can refine and process the information later in his room where no one could see what he was doing. He could copy the priest's memories entirely in seconds, but doing so will result in dire consequences, consequences even he feared. Copying memories of someone else without refining and processing them first, will also transfer their personality, creating two different personalities within a person's mind that will battle to take control of the body, Anon won't put himself in such danger, he rather take the safe route than danger himself in such manner.
- Three days later -
Anon stood beside the Inquisitor who clad himself in fool power armor. Inquisitor Willam had ordered all of his combatants to prepare for possible action, everyone was a little shocked at first but they complied nonetheless, his closest retinue members were already prepared, they were always combat ready whenever someone else entered William's ship, be it another friendly Inquisitor or a space marine force. In their current case, they were waiting for loyal Astartes.
The purpose of their visit? the answer was simple, the message about the world's pacification was sent a few days ago before the reinforcements from darn angles space marine chapter could arrive, yet despite receiving the message, they persisted in coming to the planet to inspect themselves instead of moving to another battlefield where they were needed. Naturally, this worried the Inquisitor, thus making sure everyone was ready for possible combat.
Inquisitor and his retinue were waiting at the dock of the ship for space marines to arrive, more than 30 stormtroopers and hundreds of trained armsmen were waiting nearby in case the unspeakable happen. William was looking at the transport that was docking his ship, although he looked as stoic as ever, Anon could feel the concern oozing from his psyche, he made sure to hide it with his power in case the space marines brought a psyker. Behind the Inquisitor were two figures, Anon and Ishmael who were ready to protect William from the Astartes, currently their lives were a secondary priority to that of William's. After 10 minutes the transport docked and five armored giants were seen exiting it.
Seeing their approach Anon could feel the crew's concern, despite the horrors they had witnessed during their time within the Inquisition, they were still affected by the transhuman dread the Astartes were famed for, except for the stormtroopers, Anon rarely felt any form of fear from them and even then, they performed their duties as if they felt nothing, their indoctrination was far stronger than the fear they felt.
The space marines stopped a few meters away from the Inquisitor, the air grew thick as both parties stared at each other, if someone was to witness the scene, they would've thought they wished to kill each other by the power of their gaze alone.
"Greetings Inquisitor Husan, my name is Adamus Rogelius captain of the fifth company dark angels chapter" The leading space marine finally spoke.
"I believe the news of our victory has reached your ears, marine. Why do you waste time coming here instead of aiding the crusading fleet against the orks?" William asked, Anon could feel his paranoia growing stronger by the minute.
The expression on the faces of the marines changed, one of those unseen expressions whose meanings were only known to those who gave birth to it. Before they could answer, however, the Witch tried his hand at finding it out himself, his psyche slowly began to make its way to the captain's mind, this time, however, he moved even slower due to the presence of the chapter's Librarian, but even he couldn't hope to compete against the Witch when it came to Telepathy, he may be capable but Anon was beyond his ability when it came to that particular discipline.
His natural-born talent once again shined as Librarian couldn't even detect him.
Anon stopped, freezing at the spot as he sense the word within the marine's mind, a word that was too much trouble to know "Fallen!"