"Interesting! This beast seems to be engineered for maxiumum lethality, so I imagine there are many more here. Crazy old Roquat will have his work cut out for him when he activates once again! Yet another thing him to lose his temper over! Do you happen to know who seeded these life forms on this planet? A creature like this would indicate a very hostile world, but it seems to be out of place. It is as if someone put it here," Trazyn observed jovially as he stood admiring the long quills on the dead Screamer's shoulders. On one side of the corpse, and half in the water, large holes of open flesh lay open and exposed to insects in the sun, as if a giant crab had been gnawing at the body overnight. The smell was sharp and foul as my companions and I stood nearby, waiting for Trazyn to get bored. "What do you think, Plane Walker? Do you know anything useful?"
"I have no idea," I said, standing around waiting for the Necron celebrity to finish whatever he was doing. We had walked a total of ten meters to where the Screamer lay dead before Trazyn had become distracted again like a magpie discovering yet another a shiny object. I hoped that he wouldn't attempt to steal this corpse, but I was darkly curious to see how much crazy stuff he could fit inside the endless hole inside his ribcage. I answered his question with, "You took Lian away, and he would be the one that would know about the monsters here. I think this was a hunting lodge for space marines, so maybe they imported their quarry."
Null was leaning against his Mechanicus staff, and his eyes were still dim and grey. If he were any other electronic device, we'd probably be seeing a low power warnings and errors flashing on him, judging by his behavior. The cowed tech-priest added, "We categorized the place as a simple feral world a thousand years ago when we sent a probe down. This creature must have been a newer artificial addition, maybe delivered by the traitor marines or another party."
"Why thank you for your insight, metal human. I do so like it when I am not called 'foul xenos' while hearing that I should be purged! What is curious about you is that a portion of your metal is necrodermis, and it seems I cannot remove all of it without your structural integrity being compromised. How you managed to alter yourself like that actually quite extraordinary for your primitive race. Since I am a reasonable fellow, I will allow you to retain what you need to stay 'alive.' Aren't I generous?"
No one said anything in response as Trazyn knelt down to tear a fang from the Screamer's burned mouth. He placed it inside his chest. "No 'thank you Trazyn, you are a gentleman' in return? Well, I know I have a good sense of self worth, so I don't need verbal reinforcement. You should never rely on others to prop up your self-esteem, as that sort of behavior can be unhealthy." The metal alien turned back to us, still smiling. The other Necron warriors still stood motionless behind us, with the one that had been pushed over remaining face down in the water. They had not moved. As intimidating as this situation was, listening to Trazyn chatter about whatever was on his mind was much easier than dealing with the Nome King and his entire planet waking up.
I looked up into the morning sky above the canyon, and took a breath to center myself. Strangely, I felt an odd sense of disconcertment, as if I was in an elevator that had dropped a few floors. Time almost seemed to slow for a moment. I watched as Trazyn turned away from the corpse, and began walking down the riverbank again, as cheerful as ever. Nauseated, I wobbled, and caught myself before I fell into a stinking puddle on the shore.
"Are you okay?" Alberich asked from behind me, steadying me with a blue arm around my shoulders.
"No," I replied. "Ever since that thing with Lian, I have been dizzy. At least we have the battery, but I'll be happy when we're off this planet." I stood for a moment collecting myself, as the world spun around me. I shut my eyes.
"Here," I heard Alberich say to me as I held my eyes closed. He placed something that was both cold and hot in my right hand. "This should help."
"What is-?"
Greetings, Traveler! I'm a cousin of Glinda's, and I'm here to help! A new telepathic voice said, beaming with optimism.
Surprised and still disoriented, I opened my eyes. Trazyn was walking ahead of us. He shouted over his shoulder, "Are you coming or not? Your ship is this way, correct?" In my hand, I saw that I was holding Valkyrie. Alberich stood beside me, as Null and 77-X slowly walked ahead.
The beastman waved. "We shall catch up. My companion had a dizzy spell, and I wish to see if she is alright," Alberich said to Trazyn, who turned back around and began to walk onward again.
The strange new voice spoke to me, and I looked up at Valkyrie's shining immaculate blade. Iridescent colors like that on the surface of a soap bubble danced across the surface of the metal. It said, You have overtaxed yourself, favored one, and not at a favorable time. The threads of fate ahead of you are in a terrible tangled knot! Be warned, for there are many dangers ahead. Not only are you watched by many, but time itself is being reworked under the direction of a third party. Trouble ahead!
You're Valkyrie? What dangers? I asked the daemon blade as I took a step, using the weapon as a hiking pole. I felt somewhat stronger as I began to walk.
I am called that, among other names. As you know, you've attracted the eye of the Great Lord of Change, and I am here to assist you. There are many eyes converging onto this planet, aligning themselves in curiosity of the strange gold bird they see from far above. You are being watched, Traveler.
I instinctively looked upward as I walked along the canyon shore. We're being followed? Who is watching us?
You are studied from a distance by a number of interested parties. A golden ship under a clear sky would be quite easy to see by anyone above soaring through the stars. And, there are other concerns I must alert you to...
My vision was psychically directed at Trazyn as we began walking through a twisting area of the canyon. Far ahead, the Necron had stopped, and was now leaning on Roquat's staff as he glanced almost nervously about. Alberich looked at me from over his shoulder a few steps away, his eyes narrowing in knowing concern. The beastman knew I was talking with Valkyrie. Null and 77-X walked slowly ahead together, unaware that I was chatting with a daemon.
What's going on? I asked, not quite understanding as I picked my way along the shore. The glaive was extremely light, almost as if I held a hollow cane in my hand instead of a staff topped with a lethally sharp metal blade.
We of the Great Lord of Change are sensitive to the flow of time and fate. Time is bending and reordering itself, and not by our hands. Even the soulless one has a sense for such things, as he has been subjected to temporal manipulations before. In addition, dangerous creatures still stalk this area, so you must be on guard. It is in our best interest that you live, so I will gift you a portion of my strength so that you do not die in the next nine minutes.
Nine minutes?! I responded in alarm as I saw Alberich walk back to me. He gently pulled Valkyrie back before I could hear a response, and asked "Do you feel better now?"
I took stock of how I felt, and nodded. I actually did feel better, like I had had a few cups of espresso and a good breakfast. My headache was gone, and my nose had stopped bleeding. What had just happened? I looked ahead, and saw that Trazyn had turned around, giving the impression that he was growing impatient with our slower pace.
"Yeah, I feel better. Thank you," as I saw Alberich swipe his glaive in a few dramatic arcs ahead of me. "But, uh, I think there are still predators or scavengers around, and they might be dangerous. Its weird, but I'm also getting a feeling that time is being manipulated. I can't describe it. It makes me feel strange," I said, not voicing that a daemon-possessed weapon had told me these things within earshot of Null.
Ahead, I heard Trazyn raise his hollow voice and interject himself into our conversation. "Did I hear you say that you felt a manipulation of time?" the Necron lord stopped walking, and waited for the rest of us to get to him. He had dropped his smile, and stood as still as a statue as we approached. "What is your intuition, Plane Walker?"
"I'm not sure, but I definitely feel that there are more dangerous things out here," I said, focusing on the more immediate threat that I could wrap my head around. I didn't understand any of the supposed "time manipulation" Valkyrie suggested. I thought that messing with fate was Tzeentch's realm, and hearing the daemon inside Alberich's glaive disavowing Tzeentch's involvement in this situation was definitely upsetting. "Behind us, I saw that something had been chewing on the Screamer, and I get a feeling that it is still around and not friendly. We should keep going."
Trazyn stepped forward to me, and stopped, preventing me from walking forward. He towered over us. His glowing green eyes were very serious. "This is important. Tell me what you are sensing about the flow of time."
"I told you. I don't know. Sometimes I just pick up on vague sensations, but the only thing I can sense about time is that it is not moving naturally, and that something may be manipulating it. I can't give you any more details."
I saw Trazyn's eyes narrow into glowing green slits as he leaned down, studying me.
"You are not lying, I see. Hmm. Do tell me if you feel it again," the Necron lord said, tapping a long silver finger on his chin with the sound of someone hitting a fork against a metal table. With a shrug, he turned around and began walking again. From behind him, I could see that he had removed a metal cube from his chest, and was casually tossing it in the air like a softball. It was similar in appearance to what I had seen him hold in the bolt-hole. Was Lian imprisoned in there?
Null spoke up, "If there are more aggressive megafauna moving about, we should be wary. I am not at optimal strength, as many of my systems are damaged. In addition, you seem to have put some sort of behavioral inhibitor within me, so I would appreciate it if you removed it so that I may be more helpful." Seeing the tech-priest look this miserable and weak was upsetting. "The astartes you captured is definitely a capable fighter, and releasing him for defense when danger presents itself would be a prudent idea."
Trazyn scoffed at that idea, not really taking the tech-priest seriously. "If you're worried about dangerous beasts, I would not fret. You seemed to have done just fine killing the apex predator around here, and I'm no stranger to combat if I need to get my hands dirty. This isn't really my body so I don't care anyway."
"We had Lian's help, though. Without him, we'd probably be dead," I protested, trailing around another winding curve through the canyon, the river rushing noisily. Null said nothing and walked a few paces behind Trazyn with 77-X, the smell of ozone trailing him. Alberich walked next to me, his eyes serious as he gripped Valkyrie. I wondered what the daemon was telling him.
"The river," Alberich murmured under his breath next as we began walking down a straighter stretch of the canyon shoreline. The Necron lord strode confidently ahead of us, playfully kicking a stone into the river with a splash.
"What?" Trazyn turned around again to us, and his little smile had returned. He was tossing the metal cube he held in his hand up and down. "Yes, I can see that is a river. That much is obvious. Is he a little slow, Plane Walker?"
I then noticed that Alberich wasn't looking at Trazyn, but at a shadow that had suddenly appeared under the river behind the Necron.
The moment blinked.
Trazyn reacted so quickly that it felt as if he had almost skipped in time, vaulting out of the way of some kind of submerged monstrous shape that had reared up like a trap door spider, causing a wave of water, mud, and gravel to wash up toward us in the river, striking our lower legs. I felt Alberich's arm push me backwards to the ground just as a gust of wind washed over me, and I was able to see a long shape twice as thick as the Tzaangor's body with spiny legs strike the side of the canyon right where my head used to be. Holy shit!
Stay down! Alberich mentally shouted to me. I was positioned on my back and side partially leaning up against the rock surface of the canyon wall. I turned my head to see what new monster fate had thrown our way as it withdrew into the river.
It resembled some kind of unholy marriage between a lamprey, a worm, and a long-limbed centipede covered with plates of grey chitinous armor. As quickly as it had struck (and missed), it had then retreated with a splash. It appeared to burrow under the shallow riverbed, submerging itself. Alberich stood over me, holding his glaive protectively. Trazyn stood further down the riverbank, holding Roquat's staff in a similar defensive posture. Null had toppled over along with 77-X, and both were struggling to stand. In the river, I could see a shadow moving under the water, coiling like a snake in preparation for another strike.
Great job assessing this planet for danger, Null, I thought again. "What in-!?" I heard Trazyn shout in alarm. This caused the worm-centipede to go after the Necron instead of us, rearing out of the water once again. Exceedingly agile, Trazyn sidestepped the monster's attack, and it again blindly battered the canyon wall. The Necron lord took this opportunity to strike at the creature with Roquat's staff, causing a section of its armor to burn away in a blast of green fire where the green orb had struck. It screamed and retreated underwater again.
I think it is blind, and it is mainly drawn to the Necron, Alberich said, standing motionless above me as I lay half sitting up against the canyon wall. Make no movement, and do not speak. Let it kill the alien, the beastman said. In my peripheral vision, I could see that Null and 77-X were now both on their feet, and that the combat servitor had placed the battery on the ground as four long clawed mechadendrites emerged from his back. This movement caused the angry worm-centipede to whirl around to lash at 77-X, who struck back at it with an uppercut from one of his huge metal arms, causing it to withdraw into the water again.
"Why you little," I could vaguely hear Trazyn growl as he reached inside his chest. Before he could remove whatever it was he was looking for, the creature responded, obviously not slowed down by its injuries. It roared out of the water once again. This time, Trazyn did not move fast enough, and was slammed against the canyon wall, pinned. From here, I could see fanged jaws emerge around the lamprey mouth of the creature, and the Necron lord was quickly partially swallowed before the creature retreated beneath the water again, taking its "prey" with it.
I watched the whole scene helplessly while still on the ground. It was better for us that this monster worm was trying to eat Trazyn instead of us. As the water began to splash and roil, I noticed something next to where I lay.
It was the metal cube that Trazyn had carried, possibly the one that held Lian. I quickly reached out, and took it, hiding it behind my back against the rock wall. It was very warm, and about the size of a large orange. I watched 77-X stand over the agitated water, his sharp mechadentrites poised over him threateningly.
"Are you well?" I nearly cried out in fright when I heard Null softly ask while kneeling down beside me. The water in the river had become more and more turbulent as the worm was probably realizing that Necrons aren't very tasty.
"Shh! Keep quiet! It hunts by sound!" I hissed. "Here," thinking quickly, I placed the cube in one of Null's innumerable pockets within his red robe. "Hide this. I think this is where Lian is."
Null wordlessly accepted the object with a nod, and whispered to me. "I am no longer compelled by the xenos. I am playing along. Do not-"
The tech-priest was interrupted as an explosion of water, sand, mud, and shredded insect organs burst out of the river, covering us all in filth and knocking 77-X to the ground. Alberich had been standing defensively near me, and had unfortunately taken a direct hit in his open beak by some greenish-ochre viscera, causing him to reflexively drop his glaive and gag, spitting on the pebbled shoreline.
The three of us watched the frothing filthy river waters as pieces of the worm-centipede began to surface, some of which were steaming in the morning air. The insect's blood was apparently some kind of oily black slime, which made it extra repulsive. There was no immediate sign of the devoured Necron lord. Was this actually the end of Trazyn the Infinite? Getting eaten by an exploding worm? That would be anticlimactic for such a famous 40k personality.
My question was answered when I saw a figure begin to stand inside the river, up to his chest and covered with black slime which was washing slowly away in the water. Trazyn's green eyes glowed as he waded through the rushing water like some kind of bad movie monster from the 1960s. "I was not... very... edible..." he said haltingly.
I began to stand up, upset that I was now also covered in insect goo. Beside me, I saw Alberich hacking and choking. He looked like a sea bird that had been a victim of an oil spill, his feathers covered in oily blood and worm bits.
At my feet, I heard what sounded like a birdlike chirp, and nearly fell backwards again in fright. Holy shit, not another thing to fight, I thought. I looked down and was surprised to see a black and green insect that resembled some kind of oversized fattened tick with an angled body about the size of a small watermelon. It was making a cheeping noise, scuttling around like a crab on the shoreline. I backed away from the creature, and watched as Trazyn made his way to shore. Steam was rising from his body.
"Hmm," the Necron lord growled. His attention was on the crab-like critter as it moved about. Alberich was still gagging, and Null (who was somehow the cleanest of us with only a few black blotches on his robe) guided 77-X over to retrieve the energy cell, which I was hoping was still safe.
"What do we have here?" Trazyn said, his voice suspicious. He waded out of the river, his upper half still covered in black slime and steaming with heat. "Well, well, well," he rumbled as he bent down to pick up the creature with his left hand. As he observed it, I could now see that the crab was actually made of metal. It beeped and squealed in response to being in Trazyn's hand. I recognized that this was likely a Necron scarab. The metal alien placed Roquat's staff in the crook of his arm, and with his other hand, pressed some kind of switch on the creature's back. Immediately, neon green lines of light projected outward, crafting a hologram that focused into clarity within a few seconds on the pebbled shore. Trazyn seemed to recognize it, and I saw his face shift to shock until contorting into incredible anger.
It was another Necron, and this one had a strange shape. While he was slighter than Trazyn, he held a tall elaborate staff which shimmered as if it were only partially properly translated as a hologram. He was bent, and leaned on his distorted staff with both hands as if he were an old man. A headdress of plated metal decorated his crown, and a short metal "beard" angled his chin sharply. His most obvious deviation from the typical Necron template was the large singular eye in the center of his head, which blinked as the hologram shifted into focus.
"Greetings to you, my fine and felonious rival. I have prepared this message for you and the individuals you travel with. It appears that you have stolen the Nome King's body, and that you have survived at least one of the numerous creatures of this planet. I will not tolerate anyone attempting to supersede the prophecies of the Plane Walkers by simple measure of being a kleptomaniac. Your measure of foresight does not compare with my mastery over the flow of time."
"Orikan..." Trazyn hissed at the projection.
"By now you are probably upset with me, and maybe you have recognized that somewhere on your stolen body, there seems to be something attracting the attention of the mindless beasts out here. I know you enjoy a challenge, so hopefully you will appreciate this. Hidden and unaltered inside your purloined person is something that is attracting all manner of nasty hunters in this canyon. If you attempt to remove or disable it, you risk triggering a self-destruct mechanism, so don't do that. But, I have faith, dear rival, that you will overcome any danger you encounter, even when the danger is drawn to you as if you rang a dinner bell across the entire region. This will hopefully keep the attention away from your new found company, as they are made of flesh and far less durable than you. One drawback, however. If you are battered enough, I believe the Nome King's sentience might begin to reassert himself, so try not to get hurt too much. I have a feeling that someone may have warned dear old Roquat before his nap concerning your visitations. Just a hunch, I suppose."
Trazyn had begun to crush the scarab in his hand, his eyes burning with hatred. The metal drone continued to project the hologram in the air. By this time, a very filthy Alberich had noticed this new development, and stood holding his glaive once again, watching.
"You are now probably wondering where I am, and also how best you can make me suffer for interfering in your selfish plans. You also wonder how I have such magnificent foresight, and how is it that I am brilliant enough to foresee all of this. It is simply that I spend my infinite time in study and learning, rather than the mindless acquisition of trinkets. Trying to sunder the fellowship of the new Plane Walker piloting what is now called the Divine Retribution is a bad move, but I welcome you to come and plea your case to me personally. Right now, I am patiently waiting for you in the company of some of my finest warriors upon the wing of the mythical ship you waited ever so long to see again. W-we eagerly wait your arrival, assuming you survive intact. B-but, I believe in you, so cheer up and have hope, dear rival."
The scarab was almost crushed as Trazyn began to get even angrier, but the hologram was able to spit out a few more words.
"You have lost again, old friend, but I am willing to take your loss in grace, as long as you-"
Trazyn crushed the scarab into a pile of useless crumpled metal. His fists clenched furiously, and his eyes blazed with brilliant green hatred. "Orikan!" the Necron loudly bellowed the name like a hated curse into the canyon, causing an echo to resonate even over the sound of the rushing river.
As Trazyn wailed in outrage, another shadow abruptly appeared in the water behind him, and once again, the Necron lord was slammed against the canyon wall, and dragged into the water again by a different worm-centipede. This time, I distanced myself from the river, and began walking quickly away from where the worm had appeared, trying to avoid the inevitable black tide of gore that was likely to follow.