The fifth spire had been lost. He had received the report early in the morning after he had eaten his meal for the day, he couldn't quite find it in himself to eat like he used to anymore. He had already lost over forty pounds in the last two months and he knew that he would likely lose more soon enough.
He felt weak, his mind consumed by a haze that he couldn't find it within himself to dispel. He just wanted to rest.
Despite his hazy state however he wouldn't let himself be distracted from what needed to be done. The hive was lost, he knew that now even if it hadn't occurred to him before. It had been lost the moment the Xeno bastards had set foot on this world, he should have had it burned the moment he was informed of their presence.
He knew his true enemy, the admiral had been growing obstinate, traitorous, heretical. He wouldn't be surprised to learn any day now that the bastard had gone against his orders and ordered the fleet to begin orbital bombardment. Unfortunately the ships in orbit were beyond his ability to effect with so many of his troops planetside.
Which is why he ordered the retreat. He ordered all troops in Nafith pulled out and redistributed across the other hives, they would hold the line there while the Xenos and cultists battled for Nafith. The other hives would have their shields activated and the Xenos would be left to die in orbital annihilation.
It was a perfect plan, and one he ordered his subordinates to carry out immediately.
Where were they? Where had they all gone? Where was he?
He looked around. The haze was stronger than ever, he downed his drink, feeling it clear for a blessed second.
Red surrounded him, blood covered the walls, and the bodies of his men lay on the floor. Their chests and faces blown to bits from the distinctive explosives of a bolter round.
He could feel his heart pounding in his chest. "Wh-a-at? What's going on?!" He said, panic filling his voice even as the haze began to descend once more. "NO!" He screamed. The Haze was banished from his mind, giving him a clear view of his surroundings for the first time in who knows how long.
It was worse than he feared. He was in his war room and the bodies of over a hundred of his direct subordinates surrounded him along with dozens of his guards. Some of them died by bolter fire, others by las-bolt, some by hellgun. All of them held surprise or outrage on their face.
He could feel his knees buckle as they almost gave out on him. "What happened here? What have I done?" He asked the open air. He couldn't breathe, his body was weak and the smell of rotting flesh filled his nose.
"Truly I pity you Lord-General, I never expected my brother's poison to be so potent. I thought I would have had to at the very least work some basic illusions to push you over the edge." The voice spoke, pausing for a second to consider its next words before continuing.
"Alas it seems human paranoia and madness is far easier to coax out than I expected. Truly it's a wonder that the creator was one of you originally." The voice spoke even as it came into view. He had to stop himself from lunging as the Xeno came into view. Tall and lean with a cloak of brilliant emerald green the thing was beautiful in a truly alien way.
Its eyes glowed with ethereal kaleidoscopic light, its cheekbones were perfectly sculpted, its lips were plump and kissable, and its face was perfectly symmetrical with features that would make man or woman swoon with want.
It disgusted him. "Xeno scum, you did this to me." He spoke, conviction palpable in his voice. He knew that he would have never killed his own men like this. They were loyal servants of the Imperium that had been with him for over a hundred years of campaigning; he would have never betrayed them in any other circumstance. This Xeno had confirmed it, he had been poisoned.
The Xeno brought up a single finger and waved it in his face mockingly, challenging his righteous anger. "I fed you my brother's poison. Yes, it was a months-long process that almost killed me, but I did it. But I didn't do this, all this death and bloodshed was your doing. All the poison affected your memory and judgment, it didn't force you to kill your subordinates. Or cut ties with the good admiral." The thing said, a mocking grin on its face.
He hated it more with every passing second. "You lie, I would never have killed my own men, they were loyal, competent soldiers. And I never cut ties with the admiral, he cut ties with me." He said knowing that he had never cut ties with the admiral. The bastard had stopped answering his calls a month ago for reasons unknown to him.
"It seems my brothers poison is even more effective than I thought, or perhaps I simply gave you too much." The thing said, bringing a singular hand up to its chin to rub. "Something to keep in mind during my next mission, humans don't have the same endurance as a Fey in relation to poisons." The thing said with a laugh.
"Either way it doesn't matter whether you believe it or not, You called the good admiral a traitor and a heretic, and then you ordered he turn over his fleet to your direct command and then present himself to your judgment. Really it's a wonder that he hasn't ordered the bombardment already." The thing spoke, amusement coloring its every syllable.
He could only glare. His body was weak, dying he realized, and even the act of speaking felt far beyond him at this point. The thing noticed his state finally and knelt down in front of him. "You look weak General, has the cold blade of death's scythe finally come to rest upon your shoulders?" It said, looking deep into his eyes with anticipation.
He forced his lips open and spoke with the last of his quickly failing strength, the Xeno poison finally deadly after so long. He wondered what had caused it to finally decide to kill him. "So you've killed me Xeno. Are you happy, has your goal been accomplished? If so then you should know even with my death the war will not end, my remaining subordinates will fight on and the Admiral will scorch this world before he lets you have it." He said, blood spewing out of his mouth with his every word.
"Kill you General? Now why would I do that? You are far more useful living than dead." The creature spoke, slowly bringing its hands to rest on his head. His once failing heart began to beat faster as green began to swirl around his head and he could feel his strength returning, and his thoughts being tampered with.
"What are you doing to me?!" He yelled in desperation. He tried to fight against its grip but it was far too strong for him to escape from. "Why restoring you General, with a few modifications of course. A living agent is far more useful to the hunt than a dead enemy. You will be the first of such you should be honored." He heard the thing say as his thoughts slowly twisted and turned.
Memories were replaced, emotions corrupted and loyalties shifted. He felt every perversion and careful corruption in real time, he knew it was a crime on the most base levels, a true sin against all that was holy. Yet he couldn't find it in himself to care, the beautiful being in front of him had touched him, it had performed a divine miracle upon him and showed him the light.
How ever could he have fought against this angel? This godling in all but name? "It seems the magic was successful, don't you think so, General?" The angel asked. He could only nod with enthusiasm. "Yes my Lord, your magic is truly beyond compare. I can only thank you for choosing me as one of your agents in the war against tyranny in this dark universe." He said, still prostrated before the angel.
The angel knelt in front of him, taking his face in its perfect hands, staring into his eyes. "Oh General, can you please help me?" The angel asked. "Anything, I'll do anything for you." He said, his heart pounding as the closeness of the angel's lips.
The angel smiled and pulled him close, placing its luscious lips upon his own. He felt himself melt into its arms, feeling two small bumps on its chest press into his own. His body felt so hot, his erection growing far beyond what he thought was possible as the angel dragged him closer. For a second he even thought that they might go further as the angels hands roamed his body.
And then it stopped. The angel pulled away and looked him in the eyes, his panting and needy form laid out before it. "Truly General you are a needy one, but we go no further without you doing something for me. Is that understood?" His angel asked.
"Yes, yes, yes anything! Just name it!" He spoke desperately. His angel stood, towering above him from his kneeling position. "Good, I will contact you in a few days time with your first task, for now retake command of your forces and pull out of Nafith. Make sure to leave behind a regiment for us to fight, however, we don't need your remaining subordinates to get suspicious." She said.
He nodded in understanding. "And what should I tell them when they ask about the rest of my former mens absence? They will not simply overlook the absence of nearly half my high command." He asked, he was loyal but that did not mean he was stupid. He could see the smile on his angel's face grow wider at his question, pleased that he hadn't lost his tactical acumen.
"Worry not, I will handle that. Simply play your role General, that is all I ask of you. Goodbye, I will be seeing you soon." She said before disappearing into a mist of green.
He was left alone then with orders from his angel to carry him. He looked around at the war room full of bodies and blood. "Oh well I guess I should deal with this first." He said to himself. Rolling up his sleeves he grabbed the first body and began to drag them to the incinerator.
He had much to do, he didn't need the bodies of dead men in his way.
-
I sat upon my new throne, freshly built by my artificers as a monument to my power and prestige. Honestly I thought it was unnecessary, but my lords overruled me, claiming that I needed a seat of suitable dignity to fit my status as the lord of the hunt.
I still didn't understand their obstinances over the subject but eventually I relented and let them create the thing for me, and they didn't disappoint. Crafted from five human souls my throne was shaped to look like a great oaken throne with golden and green branches growing in every direction, sort of like that artwork you would see of the iron throne but wooden, not horrendous to look at.
As a creation of Fey artifice it also had the nice effect of enhancing my magic while I sat upon it, allowing me to more easily tap into my powers of foresight and see days into the future with crystal clarity. A much appreciated feature that I had used to great effect in the war effort.
But my kickass throne wasn't my main focus for the moment, no that went to the Attenater that knelt before me. I didn't know her name, she wasn't one of my original three generations, I hadn't named her or directly created her, one of my lords had, and he stood beside her now, pride painted across his face.
"My Lord, I Vannem, your most faithful servant, bring before you this day my servant Senteh. She has been faithfully serving the war effort behind enemy lines for the last four months, working hard on a special project of mine own artifice." He spoke, pride and pleasure sewn deep into his words.
I couldn't help but be curious at his words, I had only had my throne for a week or so and I was still getting used to its powers so I honestly had no idea what he was talking about. Sure I had let my Attenaters loose upon the Imperials, but as far as I was aware the last of them had been pulled back or killed months ago. The fact that one had still been hard at work behind enemy lines was a definite surprise.
"Well Vannem, don't leave me waiting, tell me, what have you done that is so helpful to our war effort?" I said impatiently. He stayed smiling and gave me a small bow before waving his hand towards Senteh. "She can speak for herself on this account my Lord." He said.
They must have practiced this before they came before me because she didn't even hesitate to begin speaking. "My Lord three months ago in the wake of the grand assault Lord Vannem gave me a special task. He ordered me to infiltrate the highest levels of the Imperial command and subvert their Lord-General Urias Zachariah." She said, and with a simple use of illusionary magic showed me the step by step process of her journey.
"It wasn't an easy process, first I had to actually figure out where he was located, but after killing and interrogating over a hundred human souls I was able to figure out that he was not in fact located in Nafith at all, but instead the neighboring hive of Rethi." At her words yet another illusion was conjured showing her slow journey across the great mountains that separated the two hives.
"When I arrived it was a simple enough matter to locate the Imperial high command, they made no attempt to hide themselves or their location and in only a week's time I was able to infiltrate and subvert parts of the Imperial security. Primarily with a combination of magic and seduction I turned all five of the Lord-Generals heads of security into my men, providing me near unlimited access to his chambers." She said, her illusion morphing to show the whole process.
She wasn't lying when she said it was easy, as far as her projections were showing it was a simple process of finding the men when they were off duty and using fey magic to make them more vulnerable to her form, and then taking them to bed. I approved of her strategy, I crafted her caste to be the perfect assassins, spies, and infiltrators. It's only right that nothing would be beyond them.
"With my access to his chambers guaranteed it was a simple enough process to use a specially crafted poison that one of my artificer brothers had crafted to send the good General into a delirium of madness that caused him to make mistake after mistake. Including cutting contact with and antagonizing the Admiral to take action on his-"
"You did what!" I boomed, my voice drowning hers out and causing her to visibly shake in fear as my form loomed over her own. "You are the reason the Admiral is preparing to bombard my planet! You caused this, you insolent fool!? Do you have any idea what you've done you stupid child!?" My voice rang throughout the chamber, visibly scaring every fey present, never had they seen such anger from me.
"But my Lord, I was just ensuring the Imperial forces were at each others throats!" She said, terror plastered on her face. "You ill-made child unless you've forgotten I want this world in good condition! What good does it do me if half it is a blasted wasteland!?" I could feel my head pounding as my rage threatened to overwhelm me.
Thankfully for the poor spy Vannem stepped forward and put himself between his subordinate and my towering rage filled form. He was scared too, I could tell as much. But he wasn't about to let his subordinate go without his defense. I could respect that, it didn't mean they would escape punishment though.
"My Lord, please forgive us, we didn't realize that it was such a problem, why would the Imperials kill their own with such abandon like you are implying? Do they have no love for their own people?" He said, confusion clear in his voice. "Did I not create you with my memories Vannem?" I asked.
He looked confused but nodded in confirmation. "Then I want you to call upon those same memories and see what the Imperium does to its own citizens. Think hard about how much they truly care about the average person." I told him, and his face only twisted with disgust.
"My Lord surely that's just an exaggeration, they wouldn't truly kill so many of their own would they? It would be a complete waste of life and resources." He said, not willing to believe the memories I had given him. I could only sigh as the anger left me, sometimes I forgot the oldest of them were barely a year and a half old. Of course they would make such mistakes, even with my memories guiding and maturing them.
I sat on my throne for a second, trying to suppress the lingering rage that I felt. And eventually I had my emotions back under control, enough so that I could look at Senteh and order her to finish her report. Something she did quickly."To make a long story short my lord, over the months I was able to subvert the General. First with poison, and then after he killed half his staff in a black rage in his haze of paranoia with magical compulsions. He is a loyal servant now that will follow our every command. He's already in the process of pulling his soldiers out of Nafith, with the exception of a single regiment." She said, desperately trying to finish her report without angering me.
"Why has a regiment been left behind? Would it not be better if the entirety of their forces had abandoned the hive?" I asked, wondering what her answer to my question would be. She did not disappoint.
"I thought so as well at first my lord, but not only would that be highly suspicious after the past year of warfare for a full retreat to be ordered, but it would also leave the rest of the hive to be taken over by cultist forces with little resistance. Now that final regiment will not only defend its territory from the cultists, but it will also deflect suspicion away from our good General." She spoke, her logic sound. I had to give her credit on that front.
The fact that said regiment could also be harvested for its souls was just another upside to be added onto the pile.
As the silence of the chamber stretched on as my court waited to hear my thoughts I decided that yes, I wouldn't punish these two for their actions. It's likely that orbital bombardment would have been on the table no matter what anyways, now it was just likely to be a bit sooner than hoped.
In fact I had a perfect reward for them, since Vannem had decided to change away from his heavy handed ways into such a sneaky little rat, one that hadn't even bothered to inform me of his actions. It was only right that I rewarded him with a position to match his actions. "Lord Vannem, Attenater Senteh step forward." I said, waving them forward.
Vannem stopped and knelt at the foot of my throne and Senteh stopped a step behind him, taking a knee herself. "As a reward for your efforts to further the war effort I name you my Spymaster and your subordinate the first Grand Assassin, you both will now be working with me directly. Congratulations High Lord Vannem on your promotion." I spoke, magic reverberating in my voice.
Vannem looked ecstatic. "Thank you my Lord! I will never forget your generosity on this day! You have my eternal loyalty as always." His words were rapturous with pleasure and happiness. "Good, because now I come to your punishment."
He looked at me confused. "Punishment my Lord?" He asked, fear beginning to creep into his voice. "Yes punishment, you hid a major operation from me, you interfered in my plans, and you went around my head with one of my creations. Did you think I would let you do this without consequence?" I asked, magic slowly flowing from my voice as green began to drift down around him, lifting him up.
"Since you have the disposition of a spider and a snake, it's only right that you look like one. I granted you this fair form out of my own kindness, and just like how I created it for you, so can I change it at my own whim." I said as my magic captured his anchor and his physical form began to change and he screamed in pain.
He had become more real over the last year and a half after all, his form was no longer so easily changed, not that I cared. I twisted him, his legs shifted and merged, becoming one long sinewy reptilian tail. His arms split, two became four, and four became eight. They lost their beauty taking on a dark black hue as a hideous carapace encased his arms and torso.
Finally his face, once so beautiful and otherworldly, shifted. Twelve new eyes grew, his mouth became a pair of snake-like fangs, and scale and carapace both covered his skin in equal measure. With that final change I dropped him to the ground as he squirmed in agony, Senteh next to him paralyzed with fear.
"Let this be a warning to all of you, never think to go above my head with your own schemes and plots. Lest you suffer High Lord Vannems fate." I said to the chamber. I would not have scheming Fey become a commonality in my presence. I knew the stories and I would not be overthrown by overly ambitious subordinates.
But as I looked at Vannems writhing form I felt a small twinge of regret. I could have chosen a less horrifying punishment, it was too late to go back now though. I had made my choice and now I must stick to it, such was the life of a leader. To backtrack was to look weak, I must always move forward.
Always.