Space War: Blood of Sanguinius

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me, The Cro

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. He stumbled over a hill of bones and peered into the smoke, twitching and

night with incendiaries and bolter fire, while the valley below sank under the weight of its numberless dead. Prester Kohath reached around in the piles of bodies, trembling as he prised a pistol from the fingers of a dead trooper. Such a soft voice should not have been audible over the pounding

through the dark

ched and aimed

and Prester Kohat

uth would be too cruel a trick. He had to survive. Despite his trembling hands, he managed to unleash a blast o

lowered his pistol, blinking in the afte

e was closer now, coming from behind him. "The man w

d backed away, jabbing h

re was a distant distracted tone to the voice, as though the spe

time, creating another tableau of blue-l

ed voice, "Without even asking my name?"

hadow within shadows. It blocked the burning heavens as it fell towards him. Clumsy with panic, he backed away, tripping acros

nt carved from the same crimson flesh – an iv

it up the things grotesque face – a mask of cracked alabaster with eyes that made Prester Kohath c

ainst a shattered column, struck his he

attleplate, intricately wrought and designed to resemble skinless flesh. The wings must have been a delusion brought on by his fear, but the stranger was a giant, seven or eight feet tal

f the dragoons from the capital. The poor soul's helmet had been torn open by shrapnel and the head wa

lood rushed from between its fingers and pattered onto the symbols it had drawn. As it landed, the blood traced the shapes of the characters as if it were sentient, feeling its way through them. When the symbols had all been drawn, they flickered, as though particles of metallic dust were suspended in the liquid. The spirit whispered some unintelligible words and then pressed

odding at the broken corpse of the sold

l the horrors he had seen over the last few months, all the bloodshed caused by a

ess sac

picked up one of the wriggling grubs. "Even these lowly creatures understand that. And you and I understand far higher truths. Unto death we serve,

wn there?" He waved at the massacre taking place beyond the ruins

flames. More pitiful still were the priests, Prester Kohath's own brethren, the Children of the vow.

er Kohath to an even greater rage. "How do you know my

ho

om turned to face him and he caught a

peated the spirit, st

ttered Pres

r Kohath forwards. He landed gasping

k ha

dying brethren instead, reaching

m to look at the grub. It was now sated and red,

oked closer. Slowly, the grub parted its

the ghost "Or t

spirits voice. This w

yes finally broke his nerve. His screams rang out, even over the di

from him for six weeks. For all she knew something bad could have happe