Isha rose to her feet, breathing in deeply, enjoying the fresh air and sweet scents of the flowers and the fruits. It felt good to once more breathe air that was neither filtered nor polluted and better still to feel the softness of the grass beneath her feet. To be surrounded by trees, soil and water instead of cold steel walls, seeing nature blooming around her...it had been too long since she had done this. She felt more relaxed than she had in millennia. Even before Slaanesh's birth, the Immaterium had not been peaceful, warp storms battering at her and her family's domains, Nurgle seeking to overwhelm her and eating away at her realms, at her very essence as his power grew and hers waned…
No, this was far more peaceful than those long centuries of bitterly resisting the monsters slavering to devour her. Trying to preserve as much of her strength as she could, and watching her family grow weaker and weaker as their domains crumbled just as her own did.
Still, now was not the time for reflecting on those memories. Pushing away her darker thoughts, she focused her attention on the Emperor and his followers. The Lord of Mankind's sharp gaze was sweeping across her forest and tendrils of his psychic power were reaching out to analyze it all, but despite that, he seemed...not relaxed, but calmer than she had ever seen him. He was still sharp and alert, but the tension that usually permeated his aura seemed to have lessened marginally, and there was a very faint smile on his face. And perhaps most significantly, in the Aethyr, the blazing golden star that was the Emperor, seemed to have softened ever so slightly. It was no less bright, but for the moment, its glow felt more akin to the summer sun over an ocean, rather than the harsh blaze of the desert.
The mortals were radiating a mixture of shock, awe, fear and curiosity, looking around at the forest, torn between rushing forward to examine her creation and running away from her, their instincts kept in check only by the Emperor's presence and aura.
Some of them were whispering furiously to each other, and one of them gestured towards her...or, rather towards the bracelets on her wrist. Their trepidation, and fear of whether they truly suppressed her powers or not. was obvious, given she was capable of this while wearing them.
Isha had herself wondered whether she would be able to create a forest like this with these restraints, and now she had her answer. She had not been able to test how much of her power remained, and truth be told, this wasn't exactly a comprehensive test either, but she was glad to know that at least this much was not beyond her.
It was unfortunate that the mortals seemed so unnerved by her work, but unavoidable. In any case, there wasn't anything she could do about it unless they approached her on their own. Sitting back down, Isha settled in to wait for the Emperor to finish his scans and approach her.
Astarte itched to do something. She wasn't sure whether it was to flee, or sprint forward to start taking samples, but she wanted to do something. The wait was almost unbearable.
But the Emperor had commanded them to wait while he performed the preliminary scans, and so they waited.
Astarte had never seen anything like the impossible forest in front of her. Oh, she had seen and even worked on the private gardens of more than a dozen warlords who maintained such things for the prestige it brought them, but nothing like this. There was no such thing as untamed nature on Terra. Only the private gardens of the elite, and the farms every empire needed to survive.
Even the trees and plants that the Biotechnical Division had carefully cultivated in the parks and at the borders of the Imperial capital under the Emperor's direction were nothing like the forest that now surrounded them. Those were small, fragile and tame, requiring careful genetic engineering, advanced machinery and regular maintenance.
This forest was bright and verdant and alive in a way that Astarte had never known until today, and no farm or garden or park could compare to it. It was a sight from the myths of the Golden Age made reality. It was impossible and beautiful and alluring.
Above all, it was terrifying.
What Isha had done was not possible. Other psykers specialized in biomancy had attempted terraforming for purposes both great and small before, and even succeeded to various extents, but to purify and terraform such a large area so rapidly, with such precision and skill...nobody had ever done it.
Even the Emperor's own dabbling in biomancy to aid his projects for restoring Terra had never had this level of success.
And though Astarte did not doubt that the Emperor was more powerful than Isha, the idea the latter could do anything that the former could not was not a comforting thought.
The Emperor regarded the forest carefully, both through the Materium and the Immaterium.
In the former, it appeared as an ordinary forest. Out of place on Terra as it was now, certainly, but nothing unusual for what Terra had once been, nor on other, less damaged worlds.
In the latter, the forest looked even more vibrant and beautiful, each tree taller, each fruit riper and even the grass was thicker. And more than that, in the warped spaces and metaphors that bespoke his witch sight it shone with emerald light, Isha's power humming in every tree, in every fruit, in each leaf and each blade of grass. Even the river, for all that Isha had not created it herself as she had everything else, had traces of the power about it that had been used to bring the water to the surface.
It lent the forest a certain aura of mystery and power that reminded the Emperor of the ancient myths of fey spirits and their wild domains, that humans had told each other when he was young. Fitting, he supposed, given this was a forest created by an Eldar warp-construct.
As for Isha herself...she usually appeared in the Immaterium as a tall tree, weathered and old, yet strong, healthy and enduring still, glowing softly, radiating warmth and life. She shone more brightly than anything else in the forest, even as she sat and waited for him to finish.
When she had created the forest, the light emanating from Isha's metaphysical form had intensified considerably, the tree growing larger and pushing against a golden dome that represented the power of the bracelets he had given her, but now it was back to normal.
Looking around one last time, the Emperor finally stopped. There were no traps or dangers that he could see, and now more in-depth tests were required.
"Go, take samples and start running tests. But do not speak to the Eldar yet." He ordered the scientists, who stepped forward with a mixture of trepidation and excitement, eager to begin their work yet nervous all the same. The Emperor ignored their fear for the moment. It would have to be dealt with later so that it did not interfere with their work, and in any case, ensuring his scientists maintained a moderate degree of mistrust and fear of Isha was for the best.
Now, to speak to Isha.
Isha ran her hands through the soil, enjoying the feeling of the warm earth in her fingers, waiting as the Emperor strode towards.
The Lord of Mankind came to a halt a few away, though he did not speak immediately, seemingly mulling over something.
"You have done well." The Emperor said finally. "I will need to conduct many tests on this forest before we can progress further, but it is a good step forward."
Isha nodded. "I am glad you are pleased by the results. I promised to aid you in restoring this world, and I intend to keep my word."
The Emperor returned her nod. "Indeed. Now, while I will not permit you to do any more terraforming until I have analyzed this forest to my satisfaction, I do intend to see this city cleared of radiation. Astarte has already outlined her plan to you, I believe."
"She has. It is a good plan, and I should be able to modify the fungi and the flora to clear the radiation in this city. However, the speed of the process will depend on you. How many fungi and flowers do you wish for, and to what degree am I allowed to enhance them?" Isha could enhance even just one of the organisms to the point that it could clear the entire city on its own, but she could only increase the range so far without enhancing it to a level that she suspected the Emperor would disapprove of.
The Emperor hummed thoughtfully. "Enhance at least fifty fungi and fifty flowers, and make it so that they can clear the city over the course of the next three months. I wish to study the process carefully."
"As you wish." Isha replied, crossing her legs. "And if I may ask, how long are we to remain in this city?"
"At least for the next several weeks." The Emperor said, folding his arms. "I intend to make sure that the process goes smoothly, and that Astarte and her subordinates can take care of this project even if you and I are not present. If all goes well, we will depart at the end of the month, but depending on any unforeseen complications, we may very well remain until the city is completely cleared."
"I understand." Isha said, already looking forward to the prospect of not being trapped in the Emperor's fortress for so long. "I-"
Isha stopped, stiffening abruptly and she saw the Emperor do the same. They had both sensed it. A dark presence, sticky and foul, radiating sickening power and corruption. It was several miles away, but approaching their location rapidly. It had been cloaked before, but now it was too close for them not to sense it, the stench unmistakeable through the Warp.
Chaos.
Author's Note: And here we go. Hope you all enjoy this chapter. This chapter was up on for my patrons early, and so will the next one. I was actually planning to hold off a bit longer on posting this here, but I decided that it had been long enough.