False Gods

Throne, what's happening here?' asked Vipus as they reached the top of the processional steps. 'Garvi, what's happening? Are the first captain and Little Horus our enemies now?'

Loken shook his head. 'No, Nero, they are our broth­ers, they are simply being used. As I think we all are.'

'By Erebus?' asked Torgaddon.

'Erebus?' said Vipus. 'What has he got to do with this?'

'Garviel thinks that Erebus is behind what's happen­ing to the Warmaster,' said Torgaddon.

Loken shot him an exasperated stare.

'You're joking?'

'Not this time, Nero,’ said Torgaddon.

'Tarik,’ snapped Loken. 'Keep your voice down or everyone will hear,’

'So what if they do, Garvi?' hissed Torgaddon. 'If Ere­bus is behind this, then everyone should know about it: we should expose him,’

'And we will,’ promised Loken, watching as the pin­pricks of vehicle headlights appeared at the mouth of the valley they had only recently flown up.

'So what do we do?' asked Vipus.

That was the question, realised Loken. They needed more information before they could act, and they needed it now. He fought for calm so that he could think more clearly.

Loken wanted answers, but he had to know what questions to ask first, and there was one man who had always been able to cut through his confusion and steer him in the right direction.

Loken set off down the steps, heading back towards the Thunderhawk. Torgaddon, Vipus and the warriors of Locasta followed him. As he reached the bottom of the steps, he turned to them and said, 'I need you two to stay here. Keep an eye on the temple and make sure that nothing bad happens,’ 'Define 'bad',’ said Vipus.

'I'm not sure,’ said Loken. 'Just… bad, you know? And contact me if you get so much as a glimpse of Erebus,’ 'Where are you going?' asked Torgaddon. 'I'm going back to the Vengeful Spirit!

'What for?'

To get some answers,’ said Loken.

'Hastur!' cried Horus, reaching down to lift his fallen friend from the water. Sejanus was limp in his arms, though Horus could tell he lived by the pulse in his throat and the colour in his cheeks. Horus dragged Sejanus from the water, wondering if his presence might be another of the strange realm's illusions or if his old friend might in fact be a threat to him.

Sej anus's chest hiked convulsively as he brought up a lungful of water, and Horus rolled him onto his side, knowing that the genhanced physique of an Astartes warrior made it almost impossible for him to drown.

'Hastur, is it really you?' asked Horus, knowing that in this place, such a question was probably meaningless, but overcome with joy to see his beloved Sejanus again. He remembered the pain he had felt when his most favoured son had been hacked down upon the onyx floor of the false Emperor's palace on Sixty-Three Nineteen, and the Cthonic bellicosity that had demanded blood vengeance.

Sejanus heaved a last flood of water and propped him­self up on his elbow, sucking great lungfuls of the clean air. His hand clutched at his throat as though searching for something, and he looked relieved to find that it wasn't there.

'My son,’ said Horus as Sejanus turned towards him. He was exactly as Horus remembered him, perfect in every detail: the noble face, wide set eyes and firm, straight nose that could be a mirror for the Warmaster himself.

Any thoughts that Sejanus might be a threat to him were swept away as he saw the silver shine of his eyes and knew that this surely was Hastur Sejanus. How such a thing was possible was beyond him, but he did not

question this miracle for fear that it might be snatched away from him. 'Commander,' said Sejanus, rising to embrace Horus. 'Damn me, boy, it's good to see you,' said Horus. 'Part of me died when I lost you.'

'I know, sir,’ replied Sejanus as they released each other from the crushing embrace. 'I felt your sorrow.'

'You're a sight for sore eyes, my boy,' said Horus, taking a step back to admire his most perfect warrior. 'It gladdens my heart to see you, but how can this be? I watched you die.'

Yes,' agreed Sejanus. You did, but, in truth, my death was a blessing.' 'A blessing? How?'

'It opened my eyes to the truth of the universe and freed me from the shackles of living knowledge. Death is no longer an undiscovered country, my lord, it is one from which this traveller has returned.' 'How is such a thing possible?'

They sent me back to you,' said Sejanus. 'My spirit was lost in the void, alone and dying, but I have come back to help you.'

Conflicting emotions surged through Horus at the sight of Sejanus. To hear him speak of spirits and voids struck a note of warning, but to see him alive once more, even if it wasn't real, was something to be cherished.

'You say you're here to help me? Then help me to under­stand this place. Where are we?'

'We don't have much time,' said Sejanus, climbing the slope to the rise that overlooked the plains and forests, and taking a long look around. He'll be here soon.'

That's not the first time I've heard that recendy,' said Homs.

'From where else have you heard it?' demanded Sejanus, turning back to face him with a serious expression. Horus was surprised at the vehemence of the question.

'A wolf said it to me,’ said Horus. 'I know, I know, it sounds ridiculous, but I swear it really did speak to me,’

'I believe you, sir,’ said Sejanus. That's why we need to move on,’

Horus sensed evasion, a trait he had never known in Sejanus before now and said, 'You're avoiding my ques­tion, Hastur, now tell me where we are,’

'We don't have time, my lord,’ urged Sejanus.

'Sejanus,’ said Horus, his voice that of the Warmaster. Tell me what I want to know,’

Very well,’ said Sejanus, 'but quickly, for your body lies on the brink of death within the walls of the Delphos on Davin,’

The Delphos? I've never heard of it, and this doesn't look like Davin,’

The Delphos is a place sacred to the Lodge of the Ser­pent,’ said Sejanus. 'A place of healing. In the ancient tongues of Earth its name means 'the womb of the world', where a man may be healed and renewed. Your body lies in the Axis Mundi chamber, but your spirit is no longer tied to your flesh,’

'So we're not really here?' asked Horus. This world isn't real?'

'No,’

Then this is the warp,’ said Horus, finally accepting what he had begun to suspect.

Yes. None of this is real,’ said Sejanus, waving his hand around the landscape. 'All this is but fragments of your will and memory mat have given shape to the formless energy of the warp,’

Horus suddenly knew where he had seen this land before, remembering the wondrous geophysical relief map of Terra they had found ten kilometres beneath a dead world almost a decade ago. It hadn't been the Terra of their time, but one of an age long past, with green fields, clear seas and clean air.