This is a work of fiction and not associated with Games Workshop

Chapter 9 book 2 I’m Sorry…

“Emma?!” Sharue shouted out, looking around in her mindscape. It was frightening; no longer were the horizons of rolling hills and the sands of a dead world. Now they were that of a churning vortex of sights and sounds. Voices, and images, all assaulting her as she pulled her tattered rags about her tightly.

She had let her guard down to try to reach out to Emma, but Sharue had no idea how she would find her friend in this or if Emma was even here.

Anger welled up at the thought of the Daemon lying to her, trying to trick and manipulate her. The angrier she got, the harder it was to concentrate on her mindscape.

"EMMA?!" Sharue's call was stolen from her throat as the raging winds swept it away with its gust. This was insanity, and yet Sharue was desperately trying to find her. There was no logic to it, just pure feelings of loss, loneliness, and guilt. It had been festering in the back of her mind for some time. Poisonous words, such as, 'you're the reason this happened' or 'none of this would have happened if you had let them kill you.'

She knew that they were just words, but they had wound their way through her mind, and at this point, Sharue was willing to take illogical steps to end the voices.

"Please, I am sorry; I want us to go home." She said, wiping at her eyes. It had been more of a whisper to herself than a call to her friend.

“You left me.”

The voice made Sharue jerk her head up, looking about. "E…Emma?!" Her feet slipping in the sand as the ground shifted and moved.

“Emma?!” Sharue called out louder.

“You left me.” The voice called out again. “You lead me to this hell!”

The words hurt, but Sharue was too desperate to run and hide from them. "I'm sorry!" She called out, "I never meant for this, any of this!"

“Eric is probably dead too,” the voice said in more of a sigh than anger. “Van was poison, a drug to keep your guilt at bay.”

"Emma, where are you?!" Sharue called out, one paw keeping the rags tight, the other holding her head.

“Right here.”

Sharue jumped as a figure appeared next to her, or she should say, several figures.

"Damn it, I knew it!" Sharue snapped out, but something kept her there, looking at the figures. They were all Emma, some with differences, some looking very much like the Emma she knew. Some looked scared some looked angry. "Who are you?!"

They all looked at her and said with a unified voice. "Emma."

“You’re not Emma!” Sharue spat out, this time letting her anger rise but then they said something that made her flounder.

"I am what you made me to be, Sharue." A single figure walked out to her. "This is me and who I am now. All thanks to you."

This figure was the closest to the Emma she knew; each step made her back up some.

“I didn’t know any of this would happen.” Sharue started. Her voice was meeker than it usually was. Emma had been her friend since she was a little cub. Someone she trusted to have her back. Emma had never betrayed her in the gang; even when she had been at fault, Emma never gave in. In some ways, Sharue had become very protective of the fellow vulpine.

Emma was not as reckless or aggressive as her. She had a softer tone, submitted to those about her…

"And I submitted to you because you knew I was easy to manipulate and control," Emma said, jerking her out of her thoughts.

"What? No! Emma, I never did that!" Sharue stammered out.

"Then why didn't you stand up for me when you got in trouble? Why didn't you save me when it mattered? It's always been about you…look at me; I'm special." Emma taunted.

“I don’t want to be special!” Sharue screamed out. The chaos about her getting worse as the voices got louder, making her grab her head with both paws. Teeth gritting, she tried to make sense of everything. “I never asked for this!” She tried.

“Then why didn’t you let Banal take you? Why didn’t you turn yourself in?” Emma demanded as the others seemed to move with her.

"I was scared, ok! I WAS FRAKING SCARED OUT OF MY MIND!" Sharue screamed.

"So, you were too much of a coward then? So weak-willed that you let all those others die because you were too afraid to do the right thing? All you had to do is admit you were a pysker, and then we all would still be alive!"

“STOP!” Sharue shouted.

“There you go again! Not wanting to deal with it, wanting others to take responsibility for your actions!”

“No! I don’t want that!”

"Then you need to stop this daemon!" Emma yelled back, making Sharue scream. "I don't know how to! I am going to help, but I don't know how!"

Emma smiled a rather toothy grin. "You know, you have always known." She hissed out. "You're just too scared and selfish to do it!"

Sharue hunched down as if each word was a physical blow to her. “No, I…" She started before Emma screamed out, "Yes, you do! YOU'RE JUST TOO FRACKING SCARED TO DO IT!"

Emma was again right in front of her. Her hair and fur blew in the wind as she glared at her. Those eyes didn't seem to belong to Emma, but they felt like Emma.

"You know what to do…" She repeated, "You have to sacrifice yourself, give yourself to the hell you're scared of, and only then will you trap this daemon forever."

“Emma..” Sharue started.

"Oh? Don't want to fracking do that, Sharue? Thought you were sorry for this!" Emma said, gesturing all about her. "Or do you want to feel better without paying for what you have done?"

“No! I want to make this right!” Sharue sobbed out. "I want to make this right!" She repeated, taking her first step towards Emma.

"Then do it, you fracking coward! Do something good in your worthless life and sacrifice yourself to stop this!”

Sharue was trembling; closing her eyes, she stood there in the darkness. "I…I'm sorry; I will make this right."


Demagog was slipping back into Ishambull’s prison. She felt a little cocky as the orb she had given Sharue should be working its magic on her. "Feelings, my dear, feelings is how you get to mortals." Her tone took on a snide tone. Ishambull lifted his head from the rock, standing and leaving the confines of what would have been his physical heart. His prison was located around his heart as the rest of his body laid across the mountain, waiting to be reborn.

"That is something I would agree with, Demagog, though the methods to manipulate them differ." His tone gave the other daemon pause as she approached much more cautiously. Her serpentine body coiled and pushed her further till she was just short of the other's reach.

"You seem rather calm." She hissed out, cocking her head before moving about the prison. "I am going to ensure she sacrifices herself, and when that soul is released, it will form the last pillar needed to seal you away forever, Ishambull. Then I can be free of this torcher!”

The other Daemon didn't seem phased as he walked down the steps of his prison, each step a hardened vein or artery before stopping at the edge of his confines.

"You poisoned my tree, Demagog, turned my body into a prison, and knew that I had to keep feeding it souls, both keeping me from fading away but at the same time making my own shackles." For the first time since his imprisonment, Ishambull let his paws come out of his robes as they were. They were slender, lined with ebon fur, and Demagog could only watch as they reached up to grab the hood that had covered Ishambull’s face. Lowering it, the snake hissed out, backing up.

"That is impossible!" She screamed out, seeing the face.

“You think that you know me? That you even think Ishambull is my real name?” It was time for Ishambull to laugh. His voice was more female than male, and with a step, took a step beyond the prison boundary.

Demagog's eyes bulged from her skull when this happened. "H…how?!" Though the Daemon was able to take a step from the prison, it was apparent that it was a struggle, and soon afterward was forced to take a step back into it.

Ishambull, or the figure she had thought was it, just smiled. Frantically Demagog was trying to figure out what was going on till her eyes shot to one of the obsidian pillars. Each having the soul of a powerful psyker forever trapped in them, forming the cornerstone of the Daemon's prison. She needed it to turn Sharue into the final keystone in the prison.

If one looked carefully, one could see the twisted pained forms of the psykers within. Then she saw it, the crack, the crack that ran through one of them!

“NO!” She roared out. “NO!”

"You were a fool, Demagog; I am the sentience behind those shunned from society and life! I am the will of the oppressed and the voice of the condemned," With a leering grin, Ishambull finished, "And you put me in a prison. This world was never yours; it has and always will be mine!"

At this point, Demagog started to realize the gravity of the situation. While she was panicked, the thrill that Ishambull had gotten a leg up in their little game was…exciting. A nervous twitching grin started forming on her face as the feelings began to flow through her again. Then she started to break into a burst of manic laughter.

"Yes! Oh yes…. We are not done yet, Ishambull or whoever you wish to be called. No, you and I will dance this little dance a bit more!” She screamed out before shuddering and then turning to leave. “You haven’t escaped yet.”

"No, but just enough Demagog. Enough to put things in motion."

A concerned look crossed Demagog's face before she faded into the blackness, leaving Ishambull to smile and look at the cracked pillar.


Sharue was startled to see her Master standing before her. After opening her eyes, she saw nothing but the blackness of its hooded cloth and the blackness from within. "NO! I KNEW IT!" She screamed out in frustration.

+Calm yourself before the sword takes over again, mortal+ Her Master's voice making her grip her head harder.

“It was all a trick! DAMN YOU!” And she swung out at the figure only to feel it connect and do nothing.

+You are a fool and a child raging into the wind of ignorance+ It scolded. +It is not me doing this to you.+

That was when Sharue noticed the winds were not assaulting her like before. The howls of voices calmer and quieter. Emma was still there, just outside whatever the Master had done to pad her from the chaos she was exposing herself to.

+You throw yourself out into the ocean thinking that it will help? Expose yourself to predators that wish nothing more to devour you and, worse yet, let your own feelings be used against you.+

This time the Master did not hold back, and each word was like a hot iron being pressed to her brain. Screams of pain made Sharue drop to her knees, blood drooling from her nose before she screamed out. “STOP!”

Her Master did, and she fell over to her side, gasping for breath. "I just wanted to help Emma," Sharue started to sob. “To do something!”

+Look out then+

The words made Sharue look up at Emma, she was still there, but the reality of what she saw was exposed. She looked corrupted and wrong, and all the other Emma's were monsters and figures that were defiantly not Emma.

“That’s not Emma.” Sharue stammered, trying to push herself up.

+It is, or it is a version of her+

Sharue stood looking at Emma, whose figure had twisted and corrupted into something that was not the Emma she knew. Tendrils of darkness flowed from her, stopping at where her Master's influence started.

“Where is Emma?” Sharue said in a defeated, tired tone.

+I freed her; she and another individual have been allowed to be reborn, to serve under my will. She will live out a better life than she had+

Sharue slumped to the ground again, sitting on the back of her legs. "So, she is not here?"

+No, she is not+

Mixed feelings welled in Sharue. She didn't know what to think, but she wanted to believe that Emma had been sent someplace better. At the same time, she was worried that it was a lie.

+Let me show you the realities of what you almost gave into+

Her Master suddenly let the landscape change into the warp. Its maddening effects exposed to Sharue as she looked and then started to scream. "STOP! STOP!" Turning to the Master, she begged, "Stop!"

+That is what you will be thrown to if you give up mortal.+ Her Master said, letting it flow about her.

“Why are you doing this!” Sharue demanded.

+Because,+ The Daemon lifted its hands and pulled down the hood, letting Sharue see its face. Green eyes met hers, and Sharue took several steps back. +It is fate.+

Confusion forced her to pause, to look upon her Master's face and wonder if it was a trick or truth? It unnerved her; she had been lied to so much that it was hard for her to believe what she saw. Was she going insane? She couldn't trust her mind, let alone her senses, and the horror flickering about her made it worse.

What she had been shown was hard to comprehend; how does one explain impossible colors? How do you describe horrors and beauty that do not exist? Tears of blood drooled from her eyes before she felt her anger well to new heights.

The sword found its way to her, the cool metal flowing to her, slowly turning hot with rage; that rage quieted and calmed the storm around her to the point that she could see. However, that sight was through red-tinted eyes.

Taking a step towards her Master, she felt something about her foot. Figuring it was the chains from before, she was surprised to find it indeed a chain but not the ones she had made. This one led to shadows that danced and flickered around her. Each one went to a shade that boiled and shimmered where Emma's forms had been. Bearing her teeth, Sharue brought the sword down on the first chain smashing it and tearing it off her. Screams started to erupt from the forms of Emma about her as she lashed out till they formed into a towering shadow.

“My mistress demands that you submit!” it roared.

+As you can see, there is none that would try to take advantage of you mortal.+ her Master said before the shadow turned to swipe at her Master. The figure disappeared, leaving Sharue to gaze on Demagog’s bodyguard.

"Madness takes you, Sharue.” It growled out. “Your will is not your own. Give in!” It bellowed before Sharue smashed down on another chain and grabbed another one to yank at it. She screamed like a wild animal, but unlike a wild animal, this scream echoed out not just through space but time. Something felt much like when the soul sands had her in the red wastes. The sword tempered her power but what raged through her also fueled her hatred. The anger and rage flowed in and split reality.


Demagog was already making her way back to her palace when a shadow seemed to blanket the city. A double eclipse flickered and then merged the two lights in the sky into one and cast a baleful darkness over the city of brass. For the first time, Demagog felt fear. Something had gone terribly wrong. While she had expected something along the lines of failure and having to stay here, this feeling was oppressive and smothered all else.

It was one thing to transverse the warp and see chaos, but this felt wrong. Something was slicing through reality and the warp alike. The eclipse lowered itself closer and closer to the city before pausing to hover over it. It was a void, blackness surrounded by a halo of light before reality suddenly broke.

Sharue, who was still holding on to the sphere, let out a startling scream, and her mindscape and reality merged as one. The city twisted and warped into madness till finally Sharue came out of whatever trance she had been trapped in. The fox screamed before throwing the orb across the room. Confused, Demagog used her ability to catch the sphere and bring it to her. It felt cold and heavy, making the daemon furrow her brows.

Her bodyguard was there hissing. “I tried.” Was all it said.

“What do you mean “I tried….” Demagog said through clenched teeth and over the sounds of Sharue. “The albiono….he did not get the mortal….did he….” She said, her rage forcing her to crush the orb.

"No, once I found out, I tried to guide her to the path you desired, mistress."

She would have to deal with Logran later, and there would be an explanation, but for now. Her eyes looked at Sharue, whose form waivered and flickered in reality. A glowing red sword was in her paw, the sword of the oppressed had returned, but it was different. It seemed almost corrupted as it hissed and steamed.

"What is going on…." Demagog said to herself, unsure and even backing up some when the fox turned to her.

“You lied to me.” She seethed out. The floor seemed to ripple and contort as the fox’s sheer power flowed from her.

“Sharue, you need to stop! Your Master wishes this!" Demagog said, seeing the warning signs as when she mentioned the Master, she felt the ground rumble. The giant skeleton embedded in the cliff started to shift and move.

Swallowing, Demagog nodded to her bodyguard who charged in, trying to subdue the fox only to find the blade passing through and cutting it down. Then the fox screamed out, and jagged spikes of stone shot from the ground at Demagog. The Daemon had just enough time to avoid it before she started to become serious. Sharue was tapping into her true power. The abilities that she had shown were just mere tricks that any psyker could wield given enough time and power…. What she was doing now was ripping reality apart and reforming it to match her mindscape. The fox could warp and rend reality to her will!

Understanding came to Demagog; finally she knew why her prisoner needed this fox and why she was the key. If she could rewrite reality, she could bring him, or it, back into reality without breaking any bonds or cages. She only hoped that, like before, her rage and inexperience would prove to be her downfall.


Corbel looked up, feeling the scream wash through him. "It is time." The others looked up; they had been walking in the cave for what seemed like weeks, if not months. The cronos always showed a specific time as if time did not even move.

"Lord?" The Sgt. Said, not knowing if that was a good omen or a bad one.

"Our doorway is open to us now, Brother. Be ready." With that, Corbel pulled out the object the Daemon had given him. Frowning, the old wolf looked at the tiny thing in his palm and held it up. The world rippled and twisted as if it were pulling them through time, the walls eroding and building up only to erode away.

The other brothers were prepping themselves. One of the wolves happened to be too close to a ripple, and his body seemed to erode and turn to dust where it touched him. A grunt of pain before he dropped to the ground and fell back, his ceramite armor rusting and flaking away, leaving a skeleton and then nothing.

Eventually, the cave's ceiling eroded, and a light shone in. A great plane showed, followed by a city being built up around them. Things seemed to slow, and with a clap of reality, they found themselves in the middle of the city. In front of them was a grand palace of iron and stone.

Corbel turned to look at the blackened eclipse; if it was a sun, it was too close to be a natural sun. However, its dim light was felt non the less. A sudden bolter shot forced him to turn back to his marines. The first engagement started as the group spread out in a disciplined fashion. They took cover and fired upon slaves and Daemon alike when the need arose.

"Conserve your ammunition Sgt," Corbel said through the distortions and wind. His own voice sounded off as the Sgt. Responded with an acknowledgment light.

Corbel knew where he had to go. He could feel the pain and anger radiating from the palace. It was not hard to guess where Sharue might be. The outer wall had blown out in a part of the structure. The pieces floated and shifted as if held by an invisible hand.

"I must go in, Brother Sgt. See if you can contact our ship." Another signal light as Corbel started his way into the palace.

Inside it seemed quieter and calmer, though the tense feeling never left him. Each step he took on the obsidian floor seemed to ripple and shift as if aggravated by his presence.

When the attack came, it came from his blind side and struck his kien shield. The shielding flared to life as one of Demagog’s bodyguards quickly retreated back to the shadows. It had been quite the blow, and Corbel had felt it steal energy away.

"You are a problem." He said, turning to face the now darkened corridor. "A psyker parasite.”

"Yes, I shall feed upon you, mortal." Was all that the bodyguard said before striking again at Corbel. The wolf shifted and worked his way back to avoid the black tendrils flaring to life and jumping from the shadows at him.

"We shall see daemon." Flicking the activation stud, Corbel let his force staff flare to life. Energies crackled and spread over the staff as he brought it down, then around to block another tendril.

"You cannot have her!" It roared, dissolving back into the shadows. All the while, another scream washed over reality. Walls and floors shifted as Sharue let her power flow out untethered by anything except her rage.

He didn't have the time to deal with this monster. Turning, Corbel charged to a window and, with a glimpse of the area, jumped. His armored body moved much more gracefully than it should in such thick ceramite. The armor, more a second skin than hardened armor, reacted at the speed of thought as his gauntleted fist grabbed onto one of the floating parts of the wall.

Out of the shadows, the Daemon that had assaulted him in the palace showed itself. It was a writhing mass of shadows and figures. Its unearthly scream filled the air as it reached out for him. That was when a hail of bolter rounds struck the side of the wall. Corbel's Marines having taken note of the situation and opened fire. It did little to the Daemon itself, but it provided enough distraction for the old wolf to jump and make his way up to the next part of the wall. From there, he dove back into the palace. His heavy boots sent cracks into the black tiled floor as he charged in, looking for any way of getting up to Sharue.

It was dangerous, but Corbel reached out with his senses. Seeking a path that would take him up. Chaos weaved all about him; things that no ordinary mortal should see were seen. However, it was not the first time Corbel had been exposed to such sights. Ignoring everything that he could, he focused on just finding a path. He could sense the other Daemon closing in and could not afford for it to delay him.

That was when Corbel looked at a wall and without hesitation, charged it. Lowering his large pauldron, Corbel smashed into the wall with a force that only a Space Marine could exert. The wall buckled and tumbled in, allowing Corbel to make a right and finally get to a staircase that led up.


Sharue was unsure what was going on, but she knew that she was upset and enraged and that the sword she held amplified that feeling. It felt different than before. Before, it seemed like it had tethered or blinded her. Now it was as if it amplified her. It was no longer a chain but a true weapon.

It hissed and popped in her paw as if it was angry and rebelled at what she was forcing it to do. She did not realize that she was indeed forcing it to do something that it was not meant to do. Something that it hated, and yet it was compelled to do so.

That creature in her mindscape finally attacked, and Sharue was surprised at how easily the sword bit into it. It dissolved into nothing, leaving her swinging at the air. In her rage, she turned and started to strike the floor as if it held the creature she sought to kill.

“Sharue! Calm yourself!" Demagog roared out. The enormous serpent came forward only to back away as she swung the sword at the daemon. Her rage still controlled her, blinding her to many things, but unlike before, it could not limit her abilities. Even Demagog's consumers struggled as the realities they had to deal with washed over them, forcing them to adjust to their prey constantly.

"You lied to me!" She roared out, charging only to be swatted away by the giant snake’s tail. Not before leaving a nasty cut along the armored scales of the Daemon, making her recoil and hiss out as smoke hissed out of the cut.

The lack of understanding of what she was doing saved the Daemon. Sharue tumbled about and into the wall before it warped and exploded outward, almost like a parts diagram. Each piece twisting and turning represents just one part of the puzzle.

Sharue found herself floating in the air. Her body slumped from the strike, and it took a moment to recover from the blow. Slowly looking up, she didn't even register that she was floating over the streets of the iron city. The bolter fire and screams of combat were not phasing her as she started to walk back into the building, then run, each part of the blown-out wall becoming a stepping stone till she was back in the building.

That was when beings forced their way into reality, tearing at the floor the Consumers made their appearance. The creatures were made of shadow and void, only to disappear when struck and come back out of the floor. Their arms and clawed hands scratching and reaching for Sharue. She was able to slash them away, but with each swing, she felt a bit more energy leave her.

“Sharue! You must calm yourself!" Demagog hissed out in a combination of frustration and anger. The wound left by the sword refused to heal. The words did not calm the fox though. A new sensation was starting to creep in, mix and mingle into her anger. That was pleasure, not the sort that made your feel good but the one that comes when you feel like you had power and could make a difference. It felt good to fight back, to scream her frustration and furthermore, take action.

It had all been pent up, boiling under the surface, and now with the release of her mindscape, a glimpse of her true potential started to show.

"I refuse to be a pawn to your kind!" She roared out. Reality around her warped even more, forcing the shadows back. She had regained enough sense to know who was in the room and what she was doing now. Several versions of Sharue were speaking at once. The shredded reality melded voices of joy, pain, anger and other tones. After images blurred in and out of reality, though the image of the cloaked Daemon was behind her too.

"YOU HAVE TO STOP! YOU WILL LET IT OUT!" Demagog roared, charging into Sharue, her body rippling from the reality split, and soon afterimages of her were added to the sight. The serpent was not some weakling and was no stranger to combat or the arts of the psyker. Demagog was desperate, but there was a manic smile on her face.

The sudden lash back from Demagog did put Sharue on the back foot. By pushing down her anger, she lost a critical part of her advantage, which was to act without thought. It made her hesitate as she was assaulted with a wide range of feelings, emotions, sights, and sounds. Sometimes she was able to bring up her kein shield other times not. Each touch from the Daemon would almost send her into a state of shock. The touch rocked her body with a chaotic flood of feelings and emotions, making it hard for her to concentrate.

It looked like Demagog was getting the upper hand, each strike weakening her and sapping the wild, abundant power that radiated out of her. Even the consumers were moving in as the group turned the tide.

“Sharue," The Daemon heaved and panted out. "If you let it out, you're gone forever." It wasn't as if Demagog had escaped the many slashes the frantic fox had sent her way. Deep cuts, cuts that went to the bone and burned as if someone had pushed a hot brand into her.

"Is that what you want? To let it take over and lose yourself?" The Daemon pushed.

Did she? The fox felt her Master's influence; she knew it was wanting to be let free and the thing she saw when the hood was dropped.

"You can still trap it; fix the damage done! Look at what you can do!" The Daemon pushed. "We can find a solution without killing you; I know it!" The words were laced with feelings and thoughts that tried to worm their way into her mind. The forceful intrusion made her lip curl, and her anger started to flare up again.

If the Daemon had not tried to force the matter, she might have had some results, but the fact of the matter was any intrusion was unwelcome.

"Mistress, you must go!" The consumers screamed all at once. Hundreds of voices screamed as they swarmed their mistress, wrapping her in a black void before blinking from existence. The energy that Sharue had been collecting throughout the fight was released. It started out as a glowing ball of heat and pressure before suddenly bursting forth into reality. The impact was enough to blow out most of the upper section of the palace. Massive chunks of stone and mason were sent tumbling into the city. Large portions of the structure crashed into the buildings sending even more stones hurtling to the streets below. Screams erupted from the populace as more and more daemons and slaves tried to make it to the place. A wordless cry from the mistress drew those who followed her there. Though they were not only met by the wolves but by the bleeding rend in reality. Some daemons and slaves that came to protect Demagog found themselves suddenly facing their kin. Their anger focus suddenly redirected, and new figures seemed to bleed from the tree of change.


The explosion had taken Corbel by surprise. The walls and ceiling threatened to crush him as he made his way up the stairs and into an opening. He was momentarily pinned by a massive part of a wall that had collapsed but was able to push it off. Dust made it hard to see what had happened. He knew Sharue could manipulate all forms of energy, he had even known that she could manipulate reality. A frightening aspect that he had chosen to keep hidden from her.

Even now, he guessed she genuinely did not understand what was happening. The feelings that came from her were ones of passion, she was moving with her feelings and not thinking with her mind. Once the wall was entirely off him, he stood and tapped his staff to the ground. It was a small tap but the psychic force behind it drove the dust away revealing Sharue. The vixen looked maddened.

"WHERE AER YOU!? WHERE ARE YOU!?" She bellowed. Swinging the cursed sword about. What was more important was the figure behind her. The Daemon that haunted her, when it turned and looked at Corbel, time seemed to stop. Sharue was stuck in mid-motion, dust froze in the air, and it spoke.

+You have come. + It simply said. Its voice coming from everywhere and loud enough to make even Corbel flinch. Woven into those words was an attack. The Daemon weaved in and around his mind looking for a way in.

"You will not find me wanting, daemon," Corbel said, taking a step into the room. Unlike many of its other foes, Corbel was specifically trained to handle daemons and threats from the warp. He was the emperor's predator, let loose upon the chaos that others could not understand.

Another step sent out a ripple through the room. "Your hold is fleeting on the girl." He added. "She has not given up on the will to exist. She fears oblivion too much and hates the confusion and fear that you and the others have sown into her." He could feel these feelings flowing off the frozen vixen.

Anger radiated from the Daemon behind the fox, always keeping her between him and it. "You know I speak the truth." Corbel let his will push out and strike back. The wolf doing the same as the Daemon, his words laced with threat and attack. Seeking out an opening that he doubted he would find.

That was when a third presence became known. +It is time to submit and become one again with the changer of ways. +

This forced both of the figures to look to the new arrival. A daemon stepped forth from the tear in reality. Its bird-like body flexed as wings of impossible light shone from its arms. Its beaked head lifted up as it flooded the area with an ever-changing vision. It would be hard to put in words the impossible colors and sights made real assaulted both as Corbel’s benefactor finally made its move.

+I REFUSE! + the cloaked figure roared out. This new development enraged it as it surged from behind Sharue, focusing on the new arrival as the pair clashed.

The pair clashed, leaving Corbel alone. The older wolf looked at the frozen fox and then took off in a sprint at her.

This had gone on all in a mindscape. Sharue’s ability would rend holes in it from time to time, but it had also allowed not only her Master to seep out into this reality but others into it as well. The whole course of the interaction had taken less than a second, and Corbel found his eyes snapping back open to see the fox screaming and swinging her sword. His body surged into action, mirroring what he was doing in the mindscape, and charged forward at the fox.


Sharue had been so focused on finding Demagog that she had not even noticed the dust parting. She simply did not process it as something she should pay attention to. She had slashed at anything that came into view till something felt different.

Her Master had suddenly left, the feeling of its touch vanishing from her mind making her stumble and look about the room. The rend in reality allowed her to see impossible colors and sights coming from a tear, but what caught her attention was a figure charging her.

It startled her as confusion started to build. There were two figures, but they were the same figure. One in this reality and one in another.

“C..Corbel?!” Sharue said, her eyes growing wide as the large wolf was suddenly on her. His gauntleted hand grabbed her wrist, holding the sword, and he uttered one word. "Calm."

It was like he broke the connection between the sword and her feelings. The anger that had boiled choked off as he invaded her mind, a mind no longer protected by her Master. The blade turned to dust as it fell from her paw, and reality seemed to crash back in. The floating stones came crashing down all around the palace, and Sharue found herself staring into the older wolf's eyes.

The older wolf held her arm for a moment. Letting her look at him before saying. "Yes, Sharue, I have come to free you from this hell. I am sorry it took me so long." His tone conveyed genuine sorrow as he looked her over. Wind blowing her tattered clothing, the pain and fear forming on her face.

"Please…" She said, tears starting to well up. "I don't want to die." Unlike the others, Corbel had planted in her the feeling of safety with him. A kindred spirit that had helped her feel like she was not alone during the long trip through the void.

Now though, she felt fear, fear that she had gone too far and that he would reject her. This fear was not laced with hate like the others. Because this was one of the few things she had kept close to her. Close and protected behind that hard wall she had built from that anger.

Would he kill her for what she had become?

"That depends on you, Sharue." He said quietly. Still holding her arm as he knelt. "Look about you; see what you have done? What are you capable of? How does it define you?" His eyes were soft, but his grip on her wrist was ironclad. "I am not here to kill you; I am here to give you a choice. You can escape this hell, but only if you allow it."

Tears started to well up more as the fox felt her heart heave and flood her with mixed emotions. She was tugging at her trapped paw but was looking about at the damage she had done. The black sun had vanished, and the sounds of the city had flooded in. The bark of bolters and screams of the dying were the most prominent.

“I’m a monster….” Sharue sobbed, her mind trying to give in. She did not like this feeling and wanted her anger to push it away. To make it, so she did not have to think or feel it! Corbel's grip was not only on her wrist, though. He kept that anger away, surprising it and forcing her to confront what scared her the most.

"We are all monsters, Sharue.”

The words shocked her more than she expected as she paused, looking back into the eyes of the aged wolf. "We all must do things for survival. Survival isn't just a concept bound to an individual. We all act out to survive. Either as an individual or as a group, we do things that grate us and burn at our souls. Anger and hate are but weapons we use to fight. It is understanding that brings us calm, and our actions in that calm, that defines who we are. I know the fight you have gone through. I feel the pain and fear that radiates from you." His tone having taken on a more parental tone. "And I forgive you."

The last words crumbled what resistance she had as she went limp in his grasp. A long, bellowing sob came from her. "I want to go home. I want to be back to what I was. I want to see my friends again."

Only then did Corbel loosen his grasp and let the fox lower to her knees.

"That life is gone, Sharue. You can no longer return to it. Not only have you changed, but there is a deep wound left in you by this place. One that will take time to heal and one that you must overcome."

His words forced more sobbing to come from her as she leaned forward, putting her paws behind her head.


Corbel had let go of her physically but had kept a firm grasp of her mind. His words were true, but he knew there was still room for the vixen to fall. The sobbing figure in front of him was humbling. Most would look at it as weakness, but he saw it as someone that had endured pain and suffering both externally and internally. Her own mind was wracking her with guilt while others preyed on her vulnerability.

And yet she still wanted to be good. She did not lust for power, and she had not lost herself to the wills of chaos. The fox had one need, to be accepted and wanted. That was the only reason he had been able to reach her. If she had lost herself to the base desires of chaos, his words would have been hollow, and she would have met them with a sneer of contempt. Instead, she felt fear, genuine fear of being rejected and thrown away.

“Touching words.”

The voice forced Corbel to remove himself from Sharue’s mind and turn to see Demagog slither from the darkness into reality.

"I do love the drama and the delicious feeling the pair of you are giving off." She gasped and coughed out. She had not left the fight unscathed. The blast had clipped her before her guardians had whisked her to safety. Unlike the sword though, she could heal from these wounds.

Corbel watched the flesh start to regrow from one of the daemons missing arms, her face started to reform, and as she pulled a large chunk of iron from her side, the blood stemmed and stopped as that wound healed.

"Give her to me…" The Daemon snarled.

Corbel knew that Sharue was vulnerable right now. Without her Master or him to ward her mind others could manipulate her while she recovered.

"I want her to disappear. I want her to seal Ishambul away forever! I WANT TO LEAVE THIS PLACE!" She seemed to get more manic the longer she went on. A wide smile of someone enjoying themselves but the crazed eyes of pain and suffering.

Not waiting for her to make the first move, Corbel sent a bolt of lightning from his gauntlet glove striking the serpent and forcing her to twist about in its blue arks. Gouges of flesh exploded off her from where the lightning struck her only to grow back, causing her to storm forward at the pair suddenly.

“Lord, the ship has sent a teleport beacon, it is inbound eta three minutes.”

A quick visual map popped up showing that the drop pod sending the beacon was going to land several blocks from here.

Keeping the lightning going, Corbel reached down to pick Sharue up. The fox was in a state of shock as she struggled to deal with the emotions boiling about in her. Then he jumped back out of the crater that had torn nearly half the palace apart and down into the rubble below.

An angry scream filled the air as Demagog sprang at them trying to catch them before the pair fell. It had been much farther than expected but Corbel utilized his abilities to slow the descent to a survivable fall. His feet landed on the street with a stone-shattering crash, servos in his armor whining as he slowed the fall even more by hunching down, making it so Sharue would survive the fall as well as he cradled her, almost letting her touch the ground.

“Brother, we are falling back.” He quickly said into his vox. His Sargent had already anticipated his moves ordering what was left of the squad had fallen back to Corbel's position.

"Understood. I take it that she passed the test?" The nervousness he felt in the Sargent was surprising. Corbel did not have time to chastise the other marine, nor did he have time to go into the finer details.

"She has." He said, leaving out the 'for now' in his statement. It was an ongoing war, one of which no one was ever guaranteed to win.

That was when a scream from above forced the surviving wolves to look up. Demagog had thrown herself from the window, her form twisting about in the air as she landed, forcing several marines to doge. Bolters opened up, pelting her body, making her roll her head back. The explosions rippling and contorting her form as she screamed out.

“YES! OH YES! This is what I wished for!" Before using her tail to slam two marines into the wall across the street. One was able to get back up, but the other slumped forward. His visor going dark, and his life sign vanishing from the command roster.

“FALL BACK!”

The force started to withdraw tactfully; nothing was safe from Demagog's rampage. She tore into friend and foe alike as she slithered down the street, pausing only to indulge in some form of sensation. Corbel followed the Sargent, several of the survivors behind them though another life sign winked out, followed by another.

She was tearing through them, only stopping to enjoy the fleeting feeling of pain and suffering before racing toward them. Corbel knew what he would have to do if she prevented their escape. Looking down at the fox in his arms, her blank eyes staring out. Only aware enough of her surroundings to hold onto his armor. He knew that he would have to give her the emperor's peace. Corbel was gritting his teeth and determined not to let that come to pass.

He knew she had a more significant part to play, and he was compelled to follow the line of fate that danced in front of his sight. Most of all though, he felt a growing and seething anger at seeing the pain and suffering. He did not know if it was her ability bleeding out the pain she felt or if, for some reason, he had somehow rekindled the feelings he had before becoming a marine. Either way, it drove his body into action. A war cry spread from his lips, and his brothers around him answered the call with theirs.

She had given him something without realizing it. Corbel, for the first time in a long time, truly felt part of his pack. He felt not like the stranger that had been lost to time but reconnected to his brothers in a way he thought he had lost. It felt good; even with the chaos erupting around him, he allowed a rare smile to spread across his lips. It seemed like the words he spoke on the tower may not have been only for Sharue.


End Chapter 9 Book 2 I'm sorry.

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