This is fan fiction and is unofficial and in no way associated with Games Workshop Limited

Chapter 5 book 2 A desperate cry for help
Corbel stood looking at the halo with a stern look. Upon the green projection was an equally rigid looking Issa. The two had been speaking for some time. At first, Corbel had simply ignored her hails. Eventually, he had to deal with her when she put her ship in front of his.

“Inquisitor Shadowbane. I will not repeat myself; you will move on the authority of a founding chapter.”

The collie snarled, having lost her patience with Corbel quite some time ago. “You do NOT have the authority to tell the inquisition what to do, Corbel!” The collie not extending the courtesy to the Librarian that he was showing her in terms of titles. “There is no one above the Inquisition, and you will stand down. No one is to enter the cordon! Not the Navy, not the Space Wolves.”

Corbel, while he was stern, had not lost his temper like the collie. It let him know that something was going on that Issa wished guarded, and it only encouraged him to act on it. “Then it is good that we are not entering the cordon but the planet itself.” That made the collie narrow her eyes even more.

“And why do you need to go the planet’s surface, that would be suicide even for the wolves. It does not matter; the cordon encompasses the whole world and is forbidden.”

At that, Corbel brought up the original orders. “According to Lord Inquisitor's orders, it simply encompasses the space around the world engine and three hundred kilometers around the device. Are you saying that these orders have been modified by lord inquisitor Brickwall?” His question was level and to the point, forcing Issa to pause. The collie was talking to some one-off screen before someone handed her a datapad, which he watched her scan over it. The collie’s brows furrowing more and more before she threw the data slate off-screen and, even with the feed muted, Corbel could just imagine the yelling and screaming going on.

“Hell has no fury like a woman’s scorn.” Corbel muttered, making his Sgt. Look up. “Sir?” The Librarian waving a paw in a “Forget it.” Sort of motion. “Old Terra proverb.” He explained before Issa came back on. She had collected herself and had leveled her tone. “I have to SUGGEST against this course of action Corbel. It will pull you away from the needed fight that we are about to engage in. Losing a battle barge is not a small loss in the upcoming fight.”

“Now you are making some sense Inquisitor Shadowbane. While this does make sense, we never claimed to be here to fight the world engine.” While Issa was able to keep her face more neutral this time around, Corbel could see her fists tighten. A small smile crept up into his grey muzzle. “Is there something you are not telling us, Inquisitor? It would seem very,” The Librarian pausing for a dramatic show. “suspicious if you knew of a danger that we might come across and not give us the needed information to handle such a threat.”

“No,” Issa said flatly, “A daemon world is not something to take lightly. I simply suggest you do not enter that planet, in case something befell you and your crew.”

“It is good of you to worry about us Inquisitor, but any more interference will be viewed as hostility and will be meet accordingly.” With that, Corbel cut the feed standing and giving a heavy sigh. The Sgt. Looked up from his readings. “Brother?”

“Prepare for a fight Sgt. The Inquisition is not one to enjoy stray dogs running where they are not welcome.”

The Sgt. Gave a nod and put his fist to his breastplate before walking off. Corbel sighed again, he remembered when the wolves were not so, formal? The days of bantering and the great feasts seemed to be a thing of the past. It had not boded well after Russ, and the All-Father left them. They were still the wolves, but all things must change he supposed. There were still parts that kept to the old ways, even with the destruction of Fenerus at the hands of the thousand sons and the long wars after. Corbel let a groan out and stretched, trying to release some tension in his shoulders.

The Sgt. Came back, “The Inquisitor’s ship is moving.”

“Good, keep our weapons at the ready. Were going to make orbit on the dark side of the planet. I do not want to be in the range of that monstrosity.” A nod from Corbel had the Sgt. Turn to look at the display port on the bridge. The world engine floated there like a hulking predator, asleep and unaware or just uncaring of all the smaller predators around it.


Sharue sighed and heaved, taking several breaths. Standing on a cliff, she overlooked the red sands of the ocean of the lost. That was what the Daemon had called it. It was where all sorrow dwelled, giving a home to the husks and the souls that the sands had taken. The sheer presence of her brought the sands bubbling to the top. Faces were boiling up only to sort of pop and fade back into the sands.

It seemed to bother the Husks. The creatures were lying in wait, hoping to catch up any prey stupid enough to wander out into its treacherous sands. “And I have to cross this?” Sharue muttered, sitting and resting, taking a deep drink of water from the odd organ. She had also been able to kill one of the Husks. Surprisingly the meat was at least bearable to eat.

She had used the cursed sword to do so. After she had killed it, it seemed less rusted and rotted. The metal seemed to be healthier? If that was even possible. Looking it over, she sat there having gotten used to talking to herself for the most bit. How many days had it been? The sun and moon did not move as it should. Truth be told, she knew very little of how it should move. After all, she had never even seen the stars until she started this foolish adventure.

+You do, and you must.+

Sharue grimaced the intrusion. She was slowly getting used to the pain of her Master’s intrusions. She had come to accept that thought. He was her Master. At least for now, she had to follow it because, without it, she would have been dead a long time ago. It irritated her, having to accept that she had very little power over the being, but at the same time, she had to move on. She had to survive.

Finishing up her meal Sharue stepped off again, making her way along the stone ridge. It was safer this way, but this was the last ridge for some time. After this one, she would be on her own in the sands. This would be her first long track across the red sands without the protection of the rocks. Keeping the shredded clothing about her, she made her way down and then through the area where she had seen the first husk. At least she knew where this one was. It was easier to just avoid them than fight each one of them. The sands were shifting as she made her way slowly through them, heading to who knew where.

“How long have I been on this wretched planet?” Sharue asked, trying to keep her mind from wandering to things. The Husks were a genuine threat, but the soul sand was the more significant danger. It thrived off emotion, and on the long tracks like this with nothing to entertain her mind, it would wander. This would then bring up memories the sands could use against her.

+Time is such a flexible concept, Mortal. I would have to put it roughly between five to six months in your time.+

That made Sharue stop and blink. Had it been that long? Looking at her paws and the rags she wore she supposed there might be some truth to it. Looking up to the sky, she looked at the massive world engine. Had they been fighting that long?

+Time is different for those outside my influence. + It answered preempting the question.

That was when she felt tired. The wave of exhaustion washed over her. Feeling her shoulders droop, she just stood there looking to the sky. She thought back on all the things she had been through and then slowly looked to the sands.

+Even if they were to rescue you, do you honestly think they would let you live? + That put Sharue back on track to walking as she refused to answer. Though the sound of something came to her ears, making her pause and look about at the rolling dunes. Throughout her course of time here, she had come across many things, from monsters to mutants to something that could hold no description.

The sound got louder as some rusted looking machine stepped over a dune. Its rotting steel body was lumbering through the sands, black smoke billowing out from its infernal stacks. This one was a smaller machine. Some of them were massive though this one looked like it could hold only a few occupants. There was no place to hide, and it was apparent that it had spotted her. Its lumbering strides were making its way towards her.

“Great, just what I need.”

+You could simply kill them. It would be but a simple thing for you. +

“I am not going to resort to my powers every time a situation comes up.”

+ You are quite stubborn. +

Just to piss you off, she thought as it was one of the few things she could control. She did however, maneuver herself into a position that put a few Shand Husks between her and them. A plan started to form in her head, and a small grin began to spread over her muzzle. The days that had gone by had seen her mentality shift to adapt to her new situation, which worried her, but she couldn’t help it.

The monstrosity came to a stop in a hissing grind. The machine was lowering down before three figures started to extract themselves from the black iron walker.

“Oh! What do we have here!” A long-limbed mutant that at one point may have been a wolf made his way off and onto the sands. Sharue let her eyes wander to the waiting Sand Husks mounds, but only for a few seconds knowing that could alert them to the danger they were about to walk onto. The next one was a lumbering brute who grunted. “Why she only a slave! Look, she has a collar and irons! Whut she doin so far away from the city?” He landed with a lot less grace as the wolf as his somewhat piggish looking form shuffled and jiggled about with each step. Whatever he used to be was dwarfed by the massive cleaver he was dragging through the sands. The motion caused the sands to shift as Sharue hoped the Husks would be patient enough to get them all at once.

“She is not from the city; she has no mutations on her.” A hooded figure said from the machine. He stayed on the machine, refusing to get down, which made her frown just a bit. That one would be trouble. Unlike his other two, that one seemed cautious, which put her on guard.

“That is true! Not a mutation on her. I bet she tastes good.” The spider-like wolf said. His scales that ran along his sides showing off as he started to circle about pulling out a long man catcher.

“You always just think with your stomach!” The fat one laughed out, walking forward on his stumps of legs dragging his cleaver still. “Your one to talk!” The two bickering back and forth made the fox smile widen, knowing that they were not paying attention to what laid below their feet. Her smile made the quiet one tense.

“You fools back off something isn’t right!” He called out as the pair turned. “She smiling because she wants some deep love’in before we…..”

That was when the first Sand Husk made its attack. An explosion of sand erupted up as it was the fat one that got attacked first. You would think the creatures would be small due to the size of the dunes they left, but the monster was big enough to wrap its jaws about the fat one's lower body and bite down with enough force that there was a small moment of pause as every part of him seemed to bulge out and then he popped like a boil. This severed his upper half from his lower, allowing the figure fell over in two halves.

“You rotten bitch!” The spider one roared rushing in only to have two of his legs grabbed by a Husk and jerked down into the sand. The sound of breaking bones and screams filled Sharue’s ears, and it actually brought a smile on her face.

It felt good watching others suffer, not because she wished it, but just the relief of seeing someone else other than herself suffer. For just a moment, she felt that she had power over something and wasn’t helpless. That is without using her powers and giving into the Daemon. Though this is also what the Daemon was trying to get her addicted too and one thing she had to be careful not to drink too deep from this emotion.

Was it wrong for her to feel like this? Probably but her mind needed a break from the fight, and she slowly knelt down to look at the fat one whos upper half had landed near her. She ran her fingers along his gapping face, his jaws slowly opening and closing as his mutated face was quickly losing whatever life he had left in him.

It did fascinate her, death, life, and all the things that made up this whole drama. It gave her a thrill to watch him die. She was careful not to move just yet. The Husks were moving about as one started to clamp down on the fat one's upper body. Its long centipede-like body was flowing past her. Daring just a touch, she let her fingers rub along its hard carapace before it settled in curling around its meal and started to eat the still alive mutant.

Looking up at the quiet one, she saw festering anger, and that too brought a broader smile to her.

+You should kill him.+

The voice making her eye twitch. “There is no need, Master.” She muttered, finally taking a step, feeling that the Husks were busy enough with their own prey to move safely. “Thank you, gentlemen, I needed someone to keep the Husks busy.” She muttered as the spider-like one glowered, half pulled into the sand and just his body jostling with each bite. His angry sputter spattering out blood along her face. Which only made her slowly lick it off her muzzle.

Pausing, she felt the anxiety of enjoying these things well up in her.

+You could have just killed them all, including the Husks with your powers mortal.+

“I know,” Sharue said as she carefully made her way through the Husks. She was careful to keep her footsteps light and not to bump into any of the hungry critters.

+Then why do you not just do so? It would be much easier. +

“As I said before, I chose not to Master.”

+You did enjoy watching them die. You cannot deny that.+

“I did, yes.”

+Then why do you deny the use of your ability?+

The last one on the machine had gone back into his machine and was in the process of starting it back up. The vibrations, though, seemed to agitate the Husks as one came up out of the sand and bit down on the iron leg. A true testament to their strength Sharue watched the metal bend and groan as if about to buckle.

Another Husk latched onto the machine, drawing more away from Sharue’s path as she felt now that her way was entirely clear and could walk a bit faster and with more confidence.

It worried her, though, not the fate of the mutants but the ping of pleasure she felt at seeing the individuals die. It was a rush, and the Daemon was not wrong. It worried her at a fundamental level. If she was enjoying this, then what did that say about her? Was she changing in a way that she would regret? Would it give the Daemon more power over her?

“Because Master, it frustrates you, and I will take my small victories where I can.” She said, turning to look back at the area. The third had abandoned the machine and was making his way away from everything though the Husks were fallowing.

One reason she knew that she had come to like pain and suffering was a defensive mechanism. A soul can only live so long in pain and misery before they either have to adapt or give in. It took time, but slowly she found herself allowing small jolts of pleasure at having to deal with situations like this, gradually trying to phase out the fear and instead turning it into enjoyment.


Much like a soldier would laugh at the gruesome death of an enemy soldier to help overcome the horror of what he just committed. Crippling fear destroyed you, but turning that fear into enjoyment allowed you to survive in a world of nothing but fear.


It didn’t mean she didn’t fear, far from it as she feared for herself plenty. She feared what she was slowly becoming; she feared that the jaded feeling that was building inside of her. She had been captured and beaten, and everything of worth taken from her, even her name. Her Master knew how to also give her pride at overcoming obstacles and making the pain and misery a challenging one, that if she masters, will make her a stronger soul.


That fundamental aspect kept her going, her pride in overcoming things. It was a selfish way of doing it, but it was a necessity. If that was somehow stripped from her, Sharue knew she could not survive here. All the things that she had gone through, all the things she did, if it was reduced to nothing, then what was the point?


Another chuckle forced her eyes to clench shut. She waited for the pulse of pain to fade away. She did not hate her Master, he was a part of a system, and it was the system she hated. Much like you would view a movie and hate the characters but not hate the actors. Though that didn’t mean she wouldn’t turn on her Master and kill it at the first chance she got.

“If I am not strong enough to control you and keep you, then I do not deserve you.”


She said in her own Master’s words.


There were no morals here. Anyone that tried to keep ahold of them would tear themselves apart. Sharue had realized that quickly here. She had to let go of what was taught and perform this complicated dance between pure chaos and destroying herself.


One way lead her into damnation. Something that her Master would very much want her to sink into. The demon wanted her body to possess it and take it for its own, and it was far easier to possess someone who had no control over his or her emotions.


The other way leads to her always feeling like she was a horrible person to constantly look at herself and become disgusted or attack herself mentally. That would get her killed. It would cloud her mind, and she would go insane.


She had to accept realities and put them into perspective. It meant shutting herself off to things that would get her killed and embracing something that she found disgusting. Becoming detached, allowing someone to follow you, but being able to leave on a whim with no feelings for that individual. To not let the anger or fear or the normal feelings you were raised to feel, get ahold of you. Just the ability to think clearly and find the quickest route to either kill your attacker or get out of the situation.


+You’re rationalizing yourself again mortal.+


“I like to do that.”


She did have to stop and think about things from time to time to break her head above the surface of all this pain and misery to prove that she was still a person. Not some monster that did things on a whim without stopping to think and look back on what they have done and try to understand it.


That’s when she felt something grab her foot. Looking down, she could see a hand made of sand grabbing at her and trying to pull her foot under the sand. Using her rusty sword, she swiped at it, severing it from its owner. It then merely turned back into sand, but she could see the moaning and screaming faces starting to push from the sand.


+You think on this too long, mortal, and the soulsand will get you.+


He was right. You could never stay in one spot for too long. Those who die in this world were not even given the comfort of oblivion. Their souls were trapped in torment in the hot sands, seeking out anyone careless enough to let them drag them under the sands to join them.


A female face pushed up out of the sand. Its face looked more like a skull than anything. The sand forming in ways to show the ripped flesh and empty eye sockets as a bony hand reached out of the sands at her leg.


Sharue could feel her jaws flex hard. The face was reminding her of how she got here. Her mind wandering to places she would have rather not have it go….



“Sharue! SHARUE WE HAVE TO GO!” Confusion surrounded her as well as chaos and pain, lots of pain as she looked down at her side. A long piece of shrapnel was sticking out of her side just under her shoulder blade. She knew that it was bad as her right arm hung uselessly at her side, blood forcing her military uniform to stick to her body as she dumbly looked about. The ringing in her ears was horrid as her mind tried to comprehend what had just happened.

Her mind was still in shock, unable to comprehend the sudden change from reality to memory.


The ship that she had called home laid in ruins. The almost mile-long wreckage was strung out over a vast distance. Deep scars in the red sands showed where parts of it impacted, and smoke rose up into the air, almost like a flag of surrender.

Tears welled up in the vixen’s eyes as she tried to comprehend it all. Her home, her friends, the life she was growing used to was in ruins.


A paw suddenly grabbed her and hauled her to her feet as she stumbled about the sands.


“Emma?”


The red vixen started hauling her across the hot sands. Clarity coming to her as she slowly remembered the torpedo strike that took out the void shielding. They were going down... she lived! She was alive! Somehow, she and others had survived the crash of their cruiser, though to what extent who knew.


“Come on; we're not alone here!”


That got her to snap out of it and look about at the chaos. She was right; the sands were filled with the ongoing battle. Misshapen figures ran across the sands, killing and shooting the wounded and confused. They were horrors, to say the least.


“Where is everyone else?!” She had to yell over the gunfire and screaming.


“Gone! Everyone is gone fucking gone!” Emma was struggling to keep herself together as it was. Her eyes wide with barely controlled panic as she tried to get her friend to cover.


Did they live only to die to these horrors on the ground?


Sudden puffs of sand shot up all around the couple as a few screams of panic came from the vixens. Sharue felt herself fall to the ground as Emma took cover. She could only scream in pain from the fall. Her injuries were forcing a wave of nausea to wash over her. Leaving her numb to the fear but frozen and useless.


Then she felt herself being dragged by Emma slowly to cover. Emma was panting hard, not daring to look out at what was shooting at her and her friend.


Sharue felt herself recovering a little bit as she sat up. Her mind couldn’t even wrap itself around this situation. She was trained to fight and survive, sure, but this was something else. The horrors attacks and the screams; this wasn’t a battle; this was a slaughter. Breathing hard, she looked over at Emma about to say something when she noted that the other vixen was looking up. Her face was in pure shock; fear froze her in place before Sharue looked up as well. The white vixen freezing, too, as a mangled nest of teeth looked down at them. Too many eyes blinked back at them as a thick gob of drool slipped onto Sharue's face.


She didn’t even know what to call it. It had too many arms, too many mouths, and so many horns. It just shouldn’t exist. However, the screams from Emma snapped her out of it when it reached for her friend. Emma tried to get away only to be grabbed up by the multitude of arms and drug up into the air screaming and struggling.


Screaming in panic Sharue could only grab at the flailing red vixens arm trying to pull her back down as the creature played tug of war between itself and Sharue.


“No... NO!” Tears were welling up in her eyes as she looked at her screaming friend. It was all she had left from the crash that she knew of. Her only comfort and safety and this creature had it. And she couldn’t go through this again!

Again? That paused Sharue for just a second before an ear-splitting scream cut through the air, and Sharue felt herself fall back. She still had Emma’s arm as she tried to drag her friend away from the creature. She felt confused, though, hearing her friend screaming even louder with different sounds being mixed in. Sounds of bones breaking and wet sloppy tearing of flesh.


That was when she realized that it was just Emma’s arm she had and nothing more. The monster had bitten it off as she screamed and dropped her friends arm. The screams had died down, but when she looked up, she saw something that would forever haunt her. Her friend, half in the monster’s jaws as it chewed. Blood coming to splatter down on her face and the last thing she saw was her friend's maw opening and closing as if she was trying to say something. Paw weakly waving about as if to grab something to……..



That wasn’t how it had happened… Things were wrong. The soul sand had it off just enough for
Sharue shot back to the here and now realizing what had just happened. The soulsand had pulled her almost past her bust into the sand as she screamed in anger. Anger at being forced to relive that painful moment of her life. One of the few things that still affected her greatly.


The only difference between then and now was she learned to react to it with anger and range instead of fear and panic.


Fear incited rage, and that rage flowed through her. She hated it when something got through her emotional armor and forced her to dig deep into the feelings that she kept buried. The air thickening and condensing around her as suddenly a green glow flowed from her eyes. Pain, pleasure, fear, anger, hate, and misery all building until she let out a shockwave that exploded out with a force that could be felt in the many hive cities on this demon world.


She was quickly gathering herself and calming herself, though she could hear the laughing from the demon.


+You will lose someday Sharue.+


It was rare for her Master to use her name, which meant that he had proven a point. It loved to rub it in, and once her mind cleared from the flashback, she had seen why. A crater miles wide was all that was left of the dunes that were around her.


Breathing hard, she surveyed what had been done. The vixen was still floating above the crater that had just been created. The green shimmer of the kine shield having protected her as it slowly lowered her to the ground. The demons hysterical laughing forcing her to grip her staff and hunch looking to the ground. The image of her friend in the sands long gone, blown away by her rage. All she could do is clench her eyes shut and rest her forehead against her staff. The Daemon had created a small victory for itself by allowing her to slip back into that memory.


She loathed it for it knowing what buttons to push to force her to do things she didn’t want to do. She hated it, and that’s exactly how it wanted it to be.


“I hate you……”


+Good I would have it no other way.+


It took her several moments to relax and collect herself. Then, for the sake of survival, she had to push those feelings back down deep and move on. Keeping herself ignorant to one fact that she knew to be true. Her feet leaving footprints in the sand as she started her trek across the sands once again knowing that the demon will win. It was just a matter of time and how long she could fight it.


“I will kill you one day.” She seethed out.


+I hope you do mortal because that would be a great experience to go through. But we both know to do that; you would have to become the very thing you fight to not become.+


“I know….”


The wind whipped about her as she moved on. She allowed that hate to fester for a little bit longer before shoving that deep within her. Survival, that’s all that mattered right now. Blinking against the bright red sands and hot wind Sharue wondered how long she would last.


To be honest, her greatest fear wasn’t dying in this hell world. That was a scary thought; it was if she was rescued, would those that did accept her after everything she has gone through and did? The pain of not knowing if she could go back was the greatest fear, and that was why she never thought about being rescued or let the hope of rescue ebb into her mind even though it was there. Secretly lying in the depths of her soul, screaming out into the void for help.


That scream was heard not only on the planet but those orbiting and beyond. The cry turned many heads her way and even brought some low. Issa was still gripping her head in her chamber. Blood drooled down from her nose as she looked down at the pool of water in front of her. Van was there looking mildly worried, but ever since the incident on the Endless Night; he had never been the same with her.

She supposed it had been a bit heavy-handed, but it had to be done. Reaching out for a towel, she dabbed her face. Drops of blood spreading out in the water bowl as she cleared her throat. The scream had caught her off guard. A report had just come in one of their astropaths had died from the cry.

“She is getting stronger.” She coughed out, tossing the towel to the side. “It is almost time.” She muttered, clearing her throat and spatting the last bit of blood laced saliva into the bowl.

“Are you going to be able to control her Mistress?” Van asked. The male was keeping off to the side, only offering his help when asked.

“I don’t know.”

A rare tone of worry crept into Issa’s tone. If she let Sharue stay down there too long and she did become possessed, then it would be a devastating blow. But if she pulled her out too soon, she wouldn’t reach her full potential. She also had a suspicion that the wolves were after her. The wolves battle barge, having started its path to the dark side of the planet.

She needed to act soon, no matter how strong a person was, eventually, one would give in. The pain and suffering radiating from the planet were enough to send even her into nightmares at night.

“Get ahold of Lord Brickwall, and please request a meeting. I think we need to move on this and see if you can pull any footage from the drones of whatever she did.”

“I will check Mistress, though the oddities of the world make it very hard to get any syncs on the nanosphere.” Van was referring to the fact that time did not flow correctly around the planet, and the closer you got, the more severe it was. “Add on top of that we lost at least two of the drones to odd predators or daemons.”

That made Issa stand up fully and look to him. “Get whatever you can.” She hissed out. Right now, she didn’t need excuses. Rubbing her temples, then the bridge of her muzzle. “Wolves, daemons, wolves, daemons….” Sighing, she waved a paw to dismiss Van.

“I will work on stopping the wolves while you contact Lord Brickwall.” How she was going to stop them, though? That was the problem. One simply did not get between a wolf and its prey; even the Inquisition had a hard time reigning in the wild wolves of Fenrus.

There had been something about Corbel that just rubbed her the wrong way. It was unlike her to get so frustrated with things, and it was as if he knew he was goading her as well. The door shut from Van leaving after a quick ‘ma’am’, allowing her to let out a sigh. Looking into the mirror, she scowled. She had to make this work. Everything her Master had worked on was depending on this to work, and she couldn’t bear it if she failed her Master's last wish to her. Letting her claws dig into the counter a bit before she regained her composure, allowing it to turn to anger as she turned and grabbed up her uniform to get dressed. She had work to do.


Corbel was in a similar situation, the cry from Sharue had washed over him, and while he may have faired much better than some of his thralls under his care, it was a worrying sign that she was not doing as well as he had hoped.

“The first foundation stones of hell are laid not in the memories of the past, but in how we perceive those memories in the here and now…” Corbel muttered after feeling the pain and anguish wash over him.

She was a strong-willed individual to have lasted this long, but it may have been too much to ask of a mortal. He had to have faith in her, though, that faith may need a little help, one of which meant it was time to intervene.

He was well aware of the time difference between the two realities and that every minute here meant hours if not days down there. What made him cautious was that the Inquisition had yet to show their hand. When he had the meeting with Issa, he could just feel the malice flowing off her. To be honest, he may have helped aggravate her with a little push from his own abilities.

Was it smart to aggravate her? He hoped that it kept her off her game for a little bit at the very least.

“Does she still hold?”

The question brought Corbel out of his thoughts. A tired look crossing his face. “Yes, she doses. Though I think the strain is getting to her and before you can voice it, Brother Sgt. I am well aware of what you think we should do. That will be done if she falters. This path she is on is very specific and one that we have to tread carefully on.”

The Sgt gave a reluctant shrug before putting down a data slate. “It is not the Imperial way to take such a long gamble is all. I will put my trust in you.” And in a rare hint of a smile, the Sgt gave a gruff chuckle. “It has been far to long since my feet have touched enemy soil. At the very least, I should thank you for the upcoming excitement.”

Corbel offered a toothy grin. “We may be old, but we still have the Ice blood of Fenrus in us. Let the hunt begin.”

The Sgt. Nodded and reached out to clasp his brother’s forearm, “May the Sages tell of the tale of fools and glory.”



Lugran stood from his balcony in the city of Brass. He shivered, having felt the scream echo out across the planet. She was ready, he would take off soon to meet her back in the red sands, but his mistress had called him home for a short bit. The fresh welts and cuts on his body quickly healing from a ravenous night of pleasure. She wanted this one, and he could see why. The pain she radiated off her was divine.

Taking a moment, Lugran looked to the mountain that surrounded the city of Brass. The tall peaks forming a protective wall between it and the red sands. Almost like a bastion of safety though it had its own dangers. Most of which from within.

In fact, Lugran was slowly rotating a gagging female human who had been bound and strung up by her neck. Her noose was dangling from the beaten black iron post that hung off one of the many hive pillars. She could not die, nor could she escape her fate as she bucked and kicked. He envied her in a way, to experience such pain and misery, it was all a process of creating the never born after all.

Lugran had gone through it at one point in time, long ago. The city was a massive factory of creating Daemons after all. It used the misery one went through to charge the tree of change. When a soul gave in, the tree took that soul into its body. From there fed it the misery of others. Slowly it would bear fruit, and a new daemon was born.

The tree itself was a massive blackened husky, both beautiful and ugly. Its body was giving birth to brilliant bright streams of light that flowed out through its branches. From those same branches hung sacks in which the light fed into. The light being souls and feelings of those in the Brass city. It had been so long that Lugran had long forgotten his birth from the tree, but he could feel its connection to it.

Another feeling was the oppressive presence of the one that ruled this world. The mountains were not just a formation of rock and stone but of a lumbering beast. One who conquered this world long ago and now slept. Its will waiting for a chance to escape the bonds of this world.

If his mistress was correct, then that escape was on her way to this very city. Some rumored that the tree fed into its form, and if they could get a unique individual, then it would release it, causing chaos beyond imagination. Something like that would be in everyone’s best interest to avoid.

A smile came to his colorless white lips. The fact that the blood god had even tossed in his coin by granting the vixen the sword showed just how important she was. That sword would be a problem, even for his mistress, but the great unclean one had yet to show its hand, or had it? Just in a way that was unknown to him?

“The dance must go on.”

He muttered, casually pushing the hanging woman about. Thousands and thousands of souls were in a similar fate. If they were not hanging, they were working in the mines, or the Daemon forges prepping the army that was to be released on the galaxy if the Master were to wake.

The light was shining off the brass buildings giving a shimmering ring of fire that seemed to bounce about the hive city.

+It is time for you to go and collect her.+

The hissing voice lingered in his mind as the giant serpent of his mistress came into the room. Her Naga like body sliding along the floor, allowing him to hear her approach. Her being a loose term as she held both sexes and did not stick to strict definitions of gender or sexuality.

She was a wonderous being to him though, her touch that of pure ecstasy and her voice like honey that ran along the tip of one's tongue. When her arms came about him to slowly drag her venom laced claws along his chest, he could only gasp and nod. Lurgan's eyes rolling up in his skull.

“Yes, Mistress. You will feed well from this one.”

+I know I will, I wish her alive, and whole. We will rob the ancient of this and feel its rage wash across us. +

She called out into his mind. Lugran wanted that kiss, that sensation that was promised to him, and would do his best to get it.

At this point, though, the toxins made it almost impossible to talk. Frothing drool dribbled from his mouth as his eyes had bloodshot. Thick blue vines marred his albino body, but he still managed to give a nod.

+Good, be a good game piece and bring me my prize.+ and with that, she simply vanished. Leaving Lugran to collapse on the floor gasping and even convulsing in pleasure before slowly relaxing his body and taking deep measured breaths.

A gift, a parting taste, as he was unsure if he would survive this. Even so, if he failed, he would return. The never born cared not for such things as mortality or death. It was a concept given form by mortals who did not understand the ways of chaos.

Standing, he looked out in the direction of where the scream came from and smiled. Much as this could help the ancient that slept deeply here, he could free his mistress who was trapped here as well. Deep in the City of Brass. A punishment for defining the Ancient so long ago.

“I will free you mistress, and I will take my reward.”

End Chapter 5 book 2 A desperate cry for help

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