the tricks it can play with the mind. I am not stupid. I knew that this was not Sejanus just as I know that without a context, everything I have seen here is meaningless,’
Horus saw the crestfallen look on Erebus's face and laughed. You must take me for a fool, Erebus, if you thought that such simple parlour tricks would bewitch me to your cause,’
'My brother,’ smiled Magnus. You are a wonder to me,’
'Be quiet,’ snarled Horas. You are no better than Erebus. You will not manipulate me like this, for I am Horus. I am the Warmaster!'
Horus relished their confusion.
One was his brother, the other a warrior he had counted as a valued counsellor and devoted follower. He had sorely misjudged them both.
'I can trust neither of you,’ he said. 'I am Horas and I make my own fate,’
Erebus stepped towards him with his hands outstretched in supplication. You should know that I came to you at the behest of my lord and master, Lorgar. He already has knowledge of the Emperor's quest to ascend to godhood, and has sworn himself to the powers of the warp. When the Emperor rejected Lorgar's worship, he found other gods all too willing to accept his devotion. My primarch's power has grown tenfold and it is but a fraction of the power that could be yours were you to pledge yourself to their cause,’
'He lies!' cried Magnus. 'Lorgar is loyal. He would never turn against the Emperor,’
Horus listened to Erebus's words and knew with utter certainty that he spoke the truth.
Lorgar, his most beloved. brother had already embraced the power of the warp? Warring emotions vied for supremacy within him, disappointment, anger and, if he was honest, a spark of jealousy that Lorgar should have been chosen first.
If wise Lorgar would choose such powers as patrons, was there not some merit in that?
'Horus,’ said Magnus, 'I am running out of time. Please be strong, my brother. Think of what this mongrel dog is asking you to do. He would have you spit on your oaths of loyalty. He is forcing you to betray the Emperor and turn on your brother Astartes! You must trust the Emperor to do what is right,’
The Emperor plays dice with the fate of the galaxy,’ countered Erebus, 'and he throws them where they cannot be seen,’
'Horas, please!' cried Magnus, his voice taking on a ghostly quality as his image began to fade. 'You must not do this or all we have fought for will be cast to ruin forever! You cannot do this terrible thing!'
'Is it so terrible?' asked Erebus. 'It is but a small thing really. Deliver the Emperor to the gods of the warp, and unlimited power can be yours. I told you before that they have no interest in the realms of men, and that promise still holds true. The galaxy will be yours to rule over as the new Master of Mankind.'
'Enough!' roared Horus and the world was silence. 'I have made my choice,’
Keeler helped Kyril Sindermann to his feet, and together they fled through the archive chamber's door. Ing Mae Sing's trembling arms were still outstretched, and Keeler could feel waves of psychic cold radiating from her with the effort of holding the horror within the chamber at bay.
'Close… the… door,’ said Ing Mae Sing through gritted teeth. Veins stood out on her neck and forehead, and her porcelain features were lined with pain. Keeler didn't need to be told twice, and she dropped Sindermann to get the door, as Ing Mae Sing backed away with slow, shuffling steps.
'Now!' shouted the astropath, dropping her arms. Keeler hauled on the door as the roaring, seething laughter of the beast swelled once again. Alarm claxons and its shrieks of insanity filled her ears as the door swung shut.
Something heavy impacted on the other side, and she could feel its raw heat through the metal. Ing Mae Sing helped her, but the astropath was too frail to be of much use and Keeler knew they couldn't hold the door for long.
What did you do?' demanded Ing Mae Sing.
'I don't know,’ gasped Keeler. The iterator was reading from a book and that… thing just appeared from nowhere. What in the name of the Emperor is it?'
'A beast from beyond the gates of the Empyrean,’ said Ing Mae Sing as the door shook with another burning impact. 'I felt the build-up of warp energy and got here as quickly as I could,’
'Shame you weren't quicker, eh?' said Keeler. 'Can you send it back?'
Ing Mae Sing shook her head as a thrashing pseudo-pod of pinkish light flicked through the door and grazed Keeler's arm. Its touch seared through her robes and burned her skin. She screamed, flinching from the door, and gripped her arm in agony. The horror slammed into the door once more, and the impact sent her and the astropath flying.
Blinding light fdled the passageway and Keeler shielded her eyes as she felt hands upon her shoulders, seeing that Kyril Sindermann was on his feet once more. He dragged her to her feet and said, 'I think I may have mistranslated part of the book…'
'You
'Or maybe you translated it just perfectly,’ said Ing Mae Sing, desperately scrambling away from the archive chamber's door. The beast of light oozed outwards in a slithering loop of limbs, each one thrashing in blind hunger. Multitudinous eyes rippled and popped like swollen boils across its rubbery skin as it came towards them once more.
'Oh Emperor protect us,’ whispered Keeler as she turned to run.
The beast shuddered at her words, and Ing Mae Sing tugged on her sleeve, crying, 'Come on. We can't fight it,’
Euphrati Keeler suddenly realised that wasn't true and shrugged off the astropath's grip, reaching beneath her
robes to pull out the Imperial eagle she kept on the end of her necklace. Its silver surfaces shone in the creature's dazzling light, brighter than it had any reason to be, and feeling hot in her palm. She smiled beatifically as she understood with complete clarity that everything since the Whisperheads had been preparing her for this moment.
'Euphrati! Come on!' shouted Sindermann in terror.
A whipping limb formed from the horror's body and another gout of blue fire roared towards her. Keeler stood firm before it and held the symbol of her faith out in front of her.
The Emperor protects!' she screamed as the flames washed over her.
Rain fell in heavy sheets, and Loken could feel a tangible charge to the night air as dark thunderheads pressed down on the tens of thousands of people gathered around the Delphos. Lightning bolts fenced above him, and the sense of anticipation was almost unbearable.
Nine days had passed since the Warmaster had been interred within the Temple of the Serpent Lodge and with each passing day the weather had worsened. Rain fell in an unending downpour that threatened to wash away the makeshift camps of the pilgrims, and booming peals of thunder shook the sky like ringing hammer blows.
The Warmaster had once told Loken that the cosmos was too large and sterile for melodrama, but the skies above Davin seemed determined to prove him wrong.
Torgaddon and Vipus stood with him at the top of the steps and hundreds of the Sons of Horus followed behind the three of them. Company captains, squad leaders, file officers and warriors had come to Davin to witness what would be either their salvation or their undoing. They had marched through the singing
crowds, the dirty beige robes of remembrancers mixed in with army uniforms and civilian dress.
'Looks like the entire bloody Expedition's here,' Torgaddon had said as they
