Ezekiel

Marvel RE: Imagine 2, Electric Boogaloo - A Marvel Comics Roleplay

Been dealing with some stuff IRL which has slowed my writing to a crawl, but I am still trying to decide who I want to write. Given the smaller group, probably a character(s) related to existing stuff as opposed to splitting off on my own arc.

(NOW CLOSED:) Marvel RE: Imagine - A Marvel Comics Roleplay

Not that I've joined yet but I'd obviously like the rp to continue!

(NOW CLOSED:) Marvel RE: Imagine - A Marvel Comics Roleplay

Hey! Interested in writing for this, not sure of as who yet though but thought I'd say hi.

From Ashes We Rise: The Galaxy At Large

“Do you see the land around us? The depth of the frost, and darkness of the sky?” Some time had passed, she was not sure how much, but the beating warmth which radiated from Crowfather brought thought and feeling steadily back to her, the child he carried in his arms. She did not speak in turn, untill he offered further. “Can you tell what is wrong here?”

“It is all the same?” She offered, the words coming to her in much the same way that she seemed to understand some of what she encountered innately. Her voice was rasping from the cold, but it was still clear.

“No, child. The flaw is that it is always changing, every moment, into something new.” The look of confusion that writ her features brought a kind smile to the wizened man’s features, before he explained, “You remember, when you arrived, your pod remained in place, until it was claimed by the Frost. It was too static for this realm, it was the same for more than a moment, so the everchanging frost claimed it.” She began to understand the logic of what Crowfather spoke to her, if not the spirit, and she nodded against his hot, beating, chest. She did not interrupt him as he continued. “There can be no progress here, for each moment, the individual shards of frost, the cloud of darkness upon us, must be cast into turmoil. Change is the only aim, and with that, the Realm remains as this.”

She frowned as he spoke. The words tracked, but the meaning did not. While the land before them held the character of change, it had embraced it so fully that it could not attain its own aim. The concept was frustrating, and flawed. The principle was appeased, but not the reality.

“There are places, in this great expanse, which do not obey such rules. Some are holdouts, some are those which have bowed to rule of this land and earned a reprieve.”

“Bowed to who?” She felt again, with the words of Crowfather beating through her senses, that something was wrong. We should all bow to one. Which one was that? She did not know, but she knew it was not one who would condemn the world to ever changing stagnation.

“To the great evil that rules these lands.” Crowfather spoke with a tone which seemd to bring discomfort to his kindly features, a flash of realtity which showed to her how there was weakness beneath this aged form. “To the Great Changer.”

“He rules this land?”

“He does, long ago there were many, but now it is him, who has confined the realm to this existence.”

“You want us to stop him together.” It was not a question, but it had doubts. She had seen the ease with which Crowfather had dispatched the twisted forms of the hunters when they assailed her. She did not know why some one such as him could require her aid for anything.

“Yes child, we will defeath the Great Changer, and you will find your home.”

From Ashes We Rise: The Galaxy At Large

The wrath of the gods fell upon Fenris.

As a star blazed down from the sky, a roaring scream across the heavens, countless eyes turned to regard it and felt only fear. A blazing baleful eye to those who beheld it, it was a sure a sign of any to most that the Time of Fire was upon them, the onset of the great floods of meltwater. It had come too soon, the twins seasons of Fenris measured in years not months, none would be prepared.

The comet fell lower and lower in the sky, a great boom of force signaling the objects collission with the lower atmosphere, not that the tribesmen upon the savage world would know it to be so. To them, it was a thunderous warcry, loosed from the lips of a vengeful god. Many took up the cry, screaming savage chants back at the blazing light, seeking to show their cosmic foe there would be no easy victory.

The sight carried on, however, regardless of their roars of battle. A blazing corona burst into life around it, the air itself igniting on contact with the streaking object, punching through from the outer atmosphere to the rich air of the habitable planet.The wrath of the planet did not rise up to contest the comet’s inferno, the great ice wreathed volcanos remaining dormant as they would for much time hence. Instead blazing form surged onwards, pulled towards the might of the greatest peak. It impacted The Fang with a force that rolled down from pinnacle to base, a cascade of rockfalls and avalanches that would eradicate countless settlements dwelling within the mountain’s shadow. The force was such that the sharp peak of the Fang shattered, the comet plunging within its volcanic depths.

The frozen mountain gave way to the miasma of heat and sorcerous energies within it, the shining surface of the extraterrestrial object pushing deeper within the rock, until that rock gave way to something not of the material plane. With a shattering boom, the wrath of the heavens plunged into the realms of the Great Dark.

—----

All she knew was cold.

As she pulled herself free of the wreckage, a blazing but dying inferno around her, the wind howled in a biting torrent. She knew little, her mind racing to form the barest of thoughts. She felt as if she should hold memories, but instead all she could recall were these fleeting moments. She knew as well that the licking flames around her should have raged with heat, but they did not. The corona of orange barely punctured into the great depths of night. Only the cold white of the ground and the colder dark of the sky marked the landscape before her, even as she continued to drag herself along the ground, the landscape worked to remove the only interruption in its surface. The flames were dying, and the shattered remains of what she had arrived in steadily being covered, a creeping sheen taking hold of whatever it had been.

Dragging herself along, she noted the very same about herself. The white of the ground began leeching up from her contact with it, a chill even greater than the cascade of the wind shuddering through her where ever the moisture seeemed to attach to her, then harden.

Frost

The word came to her mind even as she began to brush herself down, ridding herself of a layer before in the next moment it began to form again.

Stand, she had to stand. Another thought came to her without warning or precedence. How did she know to think this? To do this? This eluded her, but still she did it, wavering limbs that had never done so, but somehow could, pushing her first to her knees and then to stand. The frost still clung to her, the chill still leeched into her bones, but it had at least slowed the process. In the same manner as she knew these words and actions without knowing ‘how’ she too was aware that something was amiss. In her mind and heart she knew that such things as cold and chill should not matter to one such as her,

For all the hidden knowledge she seemed to hold, she knew nothing of this place. The horizon, where frost met sky, was an unending and even line in the far distance. The only landmark was behind her, the disappearing shape of the pod behind her.

Pod

Another word, but that one had less inherent meaning to her. Perhaps a name?

For the first time the half-formed knowledge within her came into conflict. Information that had been granted to her to ensure survival and prosperity. No, it was more than that.

To ensure victory.

Yes, that was it. A word that meant little to her yet, another name? All the same, that knowledge spoke to her. In the absence of any notable features in an unknown landscape, venturing away from her one guide was incorrect. She should remain.

Something more primal, however, raged in her head, pushing her on.

They are coming.

The frustrating half truthes that her mind gave her were even more nebulous on this matter. She did not know who they were, just that it was not something she should seek out. Quite the opposite, in the first moments of her life she knew true dread.

She pushed on. Even her fast racing mind, another thing she innately knew should be easy to her, could not calculate how far she had moved. Still, she did not stop. Her flesh cracked and bled, then froze again. She knew this would be the death of most, even when she didn’t know what ‘most’ could mean or be. She knew that it would kill even her eventually.

However fast she moved, it was not fast enough. Soon the unbroken line of the horizons around her began to break with flicking shapes, the silouhettes of unknown beings flashing across her vision. Her mind raced for a means to prepare, to find anything, that might defend herself.

Victory, Victory, Victory.

The thought pulsed in her head, even more than the sense of dread at the approaching figures, but it was an ineffective pulse. She had nothing. Suddenly a new emotion was born within her. The heat that the fire had not provided her could not rival the sudden surge of fury. If she could not have this victory, she would not grant it to whatever followed her either. Her broken and cracked lips drew back, a motion she immediately knew to be one of hostility. A snarl.

In response to her growl, howls beat back in the air around her. Not the howls of the wind, but a warbling, mocking cry, as they finally showed themselves.

They were monsters, twisted things. She did not know what they had been twisted from, but the smoothness of their skin suddenly giving way to a coarse fur coat around their limbs and heads marked them as hybrid things. They howled and laughed at her, drawing closer, hunger in their eyes.

She roared and howled back at them as they drew close, sounds which seemed to bring them further amusement, but for now the presence of ‘fight’ seemed to halt them. She knew that the moment she went quiet, they would strike. The cold was not helping, however, as more and more clung to her, her movement ceased to confront the encircling creatures, it leeched her strength, and already her voice wrasped with exhaustion. She was struck with the sudden sense of her impending doom, of potential not met, and the rage of that gave her strength for a few further moments, before she slumped to her knees, her defiance little more than a whisper.

Her prediction had been correct, as she did so, they drew closer, the mocking howls growing louder and louder, a hideous noise that scraped at her mind.

Then a new noise joined the cascade, a distant, continous…

Buzzing?

“Away, Away!” Another voice cut through the night, and suddenly before her was another figure. She knew, innately, as she had with everything else, that this was the form of a man. He was withered with age, but stood straight and defiant. Heavy robes clung to his form, decorated with strange other fibres.

Feathers

It seemed ludicrous, the hybrid forms were much larger, more powerful, than this single man, yet he gave them pause. Their mocking howls became growls of anger and confusion. Much as she knew she was not of this place, she felt the same for this man, and the hybrids knew it to.

“Away!” He snapped again. One of the hybrids attempted to bound for him, but the man raised one hand. There was a flash of baleful light, and suddenly the Hybird convulsed in mid air. The torrent of wind suddenly seem to bite so much more harshly at the figure, peeling flesh from bone. With a howl of pain, the hybird slumped to the frost, and never rose. That was enough for the others, with yelps of surprise and snarls of rage they bounded back into the darkness.

The man approached her, stooping to lift her from the frost. For the first time she felt warmth, a sensation that washed over her from him, especially from his hands that were uncovered from his robes, a beating heat that she clung to.

“..W…Who?” She rasped, burrying her face against the carpet of robes and feathers.

“Sweet child, you may call me Crowfather. Come, let us get you to safety.”

A Song Of Ice And Fire : The Swords And Stars

Collab with @Vanq

A Pleasant Jaunt

The Kingswood

A few days of travel with the Baratheon host had done little to quell the Stars. For most of them it was shown in quiet glares, or the way they accepted rations only to seclude themselves in small whispering groups. Ellyn spent much of the day riding with Rogar, though she found his manners irksome. He owed his position, his power, everything, to the same people who had caused her to lose everything. And he had no idea, surely would dispute it if pointed out. She remained quiet unless direct questions were asked of her. And most of the time, even that seemed to be done to raise a round of laughs. But as each morning broke, she still found herself riding up to join him. Punishment for her sins, she told herself to submit to it again each day.

They had stopped for the day again, the forest pressing against them. Night fell quickly and yet she laid on her cot, having refused any offers of more suitable tents, wide awake. She stared blankly, wishing for sleep that would not return to her. Her heart beat too loudly, too quickly, her hands clenched and released as she tried to ground herself again in reality. It had seemed too real just moments ago. The knights that had led them not to allies in the Reach but to enemies in Dorne. How had she not recognized the Marches, or the Boneway? Men draped in the purple and cream of House Dayne who ambushed them only to have Rogar pull her from her horse, with that smug smile and laughter as he tossed her to her family’s knights. Dawn, ripped from her hands, smashed into a million pieces that glittered and glowed one last time before dying in the sand, scattered to the winds.

Her senses returned but unable to close her eyes without seeing it play out again, she dressed and left her tent to try and find peace in the coolness of a spring night. Ellyn knew that Baratheon men would be on guard, but at least they kept their distance from her tent. To her right, she knew she could find Septon Mal, but this night she couldn’t bear to wake and burden him again. She walked past him, few others out in the night beyond the few armsmen she passed. Her steps held no purpose, no known path, just one in front of the other until she found herself at the outskirts of their camp. There was something dreadful about this forest. The way it loomed and imposed itself all around them, the same sense of being unwelcome, unwanted, that had followed her her entire life. A chill ran down her back and she hugged her arms around her body though the warmth did little to quiet it.

One of his men drew near, perhaps it was the natural path of his patrol or perhaps he sought to disturb her quiet reflection. Regardless, Ellyn broke the silence first. “A quiet night.” She didn’t turn to look at the man. “Where is Ser Rogar, does he sleep unperturbed or is he somewhere out here, keeping watch with you?” She wasn’t sure why she had asked, perhaps nothing more than to get the image from her dream out of her head. When the answer came that he could be found on the opposite side of camp, her feet seemed to again move her on their own accord.

The cool night air was as refreshing as any drink that could be provided on the march like this, and whenever either was available, Rogar had little struggle staying awake. While he often remained awake to spend time more socially with his men, for now Ellyn’s later suggestion was correct, the young noble standing watch alongside a small gathering of sentries, keeping an eye on the forest line behind them. Unbeknownst to the men of the faith they shepherd, Rogar and some of his more keen eyed men-at-arms had found some of those who had fled rather than be taken into Baratheon custody. Far from a successful escape, they had instead been discovered shot through with arrows, slain by someone far less forgiving than either Lord Baratheon or his son, it would seem. The small Baratheon host now erred on the side of caution, that this may be someone hostile to both groups, such as a new bandit lord who had little love for either the faith or nobility. Either way, it gave them an outward threat to keep sharp again, and helped maintain discipline.

“Sorry, mi’lord, that’s all threes,” A voice that had all the enjoyment of not being sorry at all carried across to Ellyn as she approached, followed shortly by an overacted sigh of exasperation from Rogar.

“I am quite sure you’ve weighted these, you know.” It was the kind of accusation made in jest though, and with a laugh and shake of his head, the Baratheon heir handed a few coins over to one of his men, who stooped low towards the ground evidently rolling a set of dice in a space cleared among the long grass. The sound of someone approaching from within the camp didn’t stir the man with the dice, nor the other two official sentires who’s eyes didn’t waiver from their task, but Rogar did turn, a smile of amusement crossing his features.

“Ah, my lady of many colours, how do you fare this evening? Put in a good word with the Seven for us yet?”

Her brow creased as she glanced from the man rolling dice and back up to Rogar. Exactly where she was told he would be, doing his duty and still finding a way for the first words out of his mouth to rankle. Seven. Still, much to her own surprise, a soft noise close to a chuckle escaped her. “You’d be better asking Septon Mal for that favor, he believes redemption is possible for all.” Her hands ran along the edges of her bodice, sturdy fabric, if worn and faded. “It’s lady of prisms,” Ellyn’s voice was quiet in embarrassment over the vanity of needing to correct him, “that my people call me.” Her eyes snapped to one of the nearby men who had either coughed or stifled a laugh. Her cheeks reddened, though she prayed that in the darkness it wasn’t noticeable.

“I’ll leave you to your games.” Ellyn pulled her hands away from fidgeting and clasped them in front of her. “Unless you’d like to join me in walking the rest of the perimeter?” Foolish woman. She chided herself instantly at the suggestion and willed herself to walk away before he could answer. But even she could grow tired of only hearing passages from the Seven Pointed Star in answer to her loneliness and fears.

"Ah well, my lady, you have quite taken the suggestion out of my own mouth, I was about to leave these miscreants to themselves and see about the rest of the camp." Rogar smiled, sharp but mostly kind eyes catching the blush on the woman's cheeks even if the other men present were a little too focused on their duty or their games to do the same. The young noble lent down to smack the shoulder of the arms man knelt beside him, "That means you have to start doing your job, Hanald." Which after only a brief grumble, was an order otherwise followed swiftly.

"Come along then, Lady of Prisms, let us make sure there are no demons or grumpkins nestling in the shadows." With a smile Rogar drew closer, before denoting with a sweep of his hand the direction they should take, before setting off himself, pausing only to allow her to fall in step with him, taking a path only just within the flickering sentry lights of the camp.

"I don't think I have much hope with your Septon, he doesn't seem to like me." Rogar spoke in a hushed tone as they walked so as to not startle any of the sentries they passed near, but it hardly seemed to check the easy confidence with which he spoke. "So you may have to start believing in my redemption for me to have a chance."

There was something pleasing in the way he so easily managed his men, how quickly they responded. Her family name had done little to endear people to her; she led in spite of it. She assumed that his men followed him because of his name. Perhaps she had been hasty in her assumption. “I wouldn’t say that, he just finds you unnecessarily sure of yourself.” Mal had not exactly shared that with her, but he had not disagreed with her assessment when she had complained to the septon. Ellyn turned her head enough to watch for his reaction.

“And I think you underestimate us - me.” Her eyes were somber again, her voice hushed. “You wouldn’t be the first. Maybe you can start to redeem yourself by changing that.” Her lips flicked upwards, barely. “Is it that I’m a woman, or that I’m Dornish that bothers you more?”

“My grandfather had great respect for the Dornish, even when he hated you. My mother was the last Storm Queen, she might even have lasted a while, had her own men had more mettle. Believe me, my Lady, if I underestimate anything about your merry band it is not on account of yourself.” Rogar’s tone did not change even as his words were serious, ever leaving it open if he was being truthful, as they continued to walk the perimeter. He had not been lying to his Marshall when he spoke positively of her appearance, but much as he would rather be watching her than the rather more tiresome expanses of dark treeline, he did his duty all the same. Rogar hadn’t been able to shake the idea the party was being stalked, and while he doubted the Faithful knew either, he couldn’t entirely discount they were aligned with whoever it might be.

“What is there to be unsure of, my lady? My grandfather was a bastard born, he died the lord of a Kingdom. My father’s lords expected him to be weak, and in his first month as Lord of the Stormlands, he crushed a Dornish and rebel host more than three times larger than that which he commanded. Neither men let their doubts hold them back from changing the world. I don’t plan on being the exception.” It was a legacy that many would feel great pressure for, perhaps even chafe against, or crumble beneath. Rogar seemed to wear it with ease, and despite keeping his eyes on the treeline, he still smiled with an expression no doubt meant for her. “What more proof of the Seven’s Blessings do I need?”

She shook her head, a hard, crisp movement that nevertheless sent some strands of raven locks tumbling. One day she’d take shears to it, but for now she combed her fingers through her hair, pulling and pushing them back into place. “Your grandmother should have, could have, ruled in her own right as her ancestors had done for countless generations.” Ellyn stopped herself from fully verbalizing what was still whispered in some places. “My home did not bend the knee and yet I still carry my father’s shame in a way few others can understand.” What a burden it had been for him, fleeting moments of happiness upended by reminders everywhere the dragonfire that had destroyed their home and place in the world. “You are lucky so far, Ser Rogar. With age and battles of your own, maybe you will see if it is the Seven’s Blessings...or just that luck.” She spoke with a dry wryness, an attempt at lifting the weight from her words through the bitterness she felt.

It was better to not dwell on things that only raised her ire or that would threaten the uneasy peace between them. “This forest is like none I’ve ever seen.” Ellyn stared ahead, into the darkness of the forest, barely able to see beyond the initial treeline. It was spooky, unsettling, though she had refused to admit that to any but Septon Mal. “Some of my scouts had found bodies further into the forest, when we first made our way through here. Villagers refused to discuss it when we asked. Grumpkins, or bandits I wonder?”

“She could not, something many devout in the Faith would argue, but not for those reasons. None can lead without loyalty, for then you are master of nothing but yourself.” Rogar mused, an element of severity to his tone as there was movement among the trees, his hand drifting to the hand axe strapped to his waist with no sudden movement. Then the foliage rustled again, and he was convinced it was nothing but the activity of nocturnal creatures of the wilds. “These are mystical woods they say, where the royal stags of old first blessed the Stormlands with the majesty of the White Hart.” His tone did not rise as he discussed these matters of the past, clearly a man, for all his jovial nature, took his studies and history seriously. Even then, before he spoke again, a smirk turned his lips, and his vision flickered to her in full, “Although now I suppose the only Crowned Stag in these woods is me, and I do so hope you’re not planning to mount me on a wall.”

The north’s feelings about women leading was an unending annoyance. Ellyn had little love remaining for her homeland, but at least her sex wasn’t the reason she could never return. The sting of rejection still hurt, all this time later, and now she would return to them and surely they would justify themselves with her failure. Her companion’s jest landed while she wallowed in self-pity and doubt. The damnable smirk across his lips that she stared at with sad eyes a second too long before turning away from him, from the mystical forest, from whatever stories that had filled her head. This had done nothing to quiet her mind for sleep.

“No, not yet. Perhaps when you’ve matured more, you’d be worthy to mount.” She left him behind to finish his watch on his own. The sun would rise soon enough, another day too long spent in the saddle, and only foolish words to ring in her head.

Tales of Azeroth: Flames of Chaos

The Meeting of the Alliance
Jaina and Tandred Proudmoore

Those few present that represented Kul Tiras seemed, in their own ways, each receptive to the idea of restoring the Alliance. The smile on Tandred's face was more muted than that of his sister's but both were charming in their own right.

"Kul Tiras will stand with the Alliance, as we have in the past, as we will for all time." Tandred spoke, representing his father's voice in such affairs, the footmen in Kul Tiran livery behind him coming to attention at the proclamation, the plated fists of their armour held before the sigil of the Admiralty on their chests. Despite their historic dedication to the Alliance, the concessions of fleet rights were accepted with appreciative nods all the same. "Although my father has instructed me to remind those present that the true foe of the Alliance remains at large across the Sea, and will expect aid on those shores once the taint of the Scourge has been defeated." Such words from Tandred, even given as they were with a lack of true enthusiasm from Tandred, brought a slight frown to Jaina's features, although she didn't allow it to linger, instead focusing as she was on the spellwork shown by the Dalaran delegation, already musing with her previous peers as to how best to see it enacted.

The attentions of all, however, were drawn in by the arrival of the Gilnean King, or at least, the being they presumed to be him.

Jaina had known King Greymane well enough, while she had spent relatively little time in Gilneas next to Lordaeron, Gilneas had been the closest nation of the Alliance to Kul Tiras, in both cultural and geographical terms. She had enjoyed the company of their Prince, if only in the terms of a childhood friendship, during such visits. She consider that was likely another effort between two of the ruling families of Alliance nations to secure such bonds in marriage, but by the time both of them were older the political strains between their nations had widened. While she might have been thankful at the time, she supposed as the years had gone by, perhaps a marriage not founded in love would have been better for her, and the world, than what had occured.

All of this history flew through her mind as she regarded the worgen king. While she couldn't quite entirely suppress the reaction many would feel, she had spent much time with beings of other, even wilder, races on Kalimdor, and so quickly recovered with a smile and brief curtsey to the man.

"King Greymane, I am sure we are all glad you could attend, that we might put the past aside and go forwards together to defeat the evil which threatens us all."

A Song Of Ice And Fire : The Swords And Stars

Collab with @Runic, @Vanq and @Ezekiel

Pentos

---

The city’s night song was a seductive symphony of vice and violence. Men challenged each other for honor or greed, coin exchanged for thrill and drink, women to entice or be taken. It was the courtesan’s favorite time of day, as the sun finally dipped below the horizon and her day could truly begin. Her miscreants sought her out, a few words exchanged before slipping back into the shadows. She did not fear the night or those who claimed it as their own.

She was expected elsewhere, but there was one small task requiring her attention first. She turned down a small alley and ducked in through a rotting wooden door to a room that reeked of spoil. The woman barely noticed it, her eyes immediately moving to the form in a dimly lit corner. A man, slumped over, his breaths came in rasping wheezes. A dagger’s hilt was visible, the blade plunged between his ribs. He was in pain, panicked, but the poison she had dosed him with kept him immobilized. She had been curious if he would drown in his own blood or if terror would render him dead first. It seemed to be the former.

“You are an interesting man.” She paused as if to give him time to respond. Her voice was deep, but coldly smooth. “More resilient than I had estimated. Impressive, truly.” She smiled though the man would not see it, nor would it provide comfort if he could. “But I have no need for you anymore. Your house has fallen, extinguished. And your collection, well, I will safeguard it, do not fret.” The courtesan took careful steps forward, ensuring nothing touched the trail of blood leaking from her victim. She bent, breathed in deeply at the foul smell of fear and sweat and impending death. Her face nearly brushed against him. “Night will fall for all, for now it claims just you.” Long fingers wrapped around the hilt. In a smooth movement she twisted the blade and withdrew it from between his ribs. Blood spilled out and the man’s wheezes turned to gurgles.

Blood had splattered against her, with annoyance she checked if it had stained her clothing. She’d hate to miss her appointment, and was satisfied to find only a few drops on her wrist. She held her arm up in the dim light, admired the deepness to it, the way it seemed to drink the light. She pressed her tongue against her skin, lingered where the man’s life had stained her. She was cleansed, the dagger dripped next to her, small thuds as the thick liquid dripped to the stone floor. For a moment, Tyanna of Pentos thought to keep the blade, but it was far better to remove it from use by anyone else. She wiped it clean with the man’s fine silk tunic. When her evening was finished, she would dispose of it in the bay, a watery grave for she had yet to find a way to destroy Valyrian steel.

An hour later as the city truly came to life, she was given entry to the exiled Targaryen’s manse. She was known, now, to the servants, though they cared little for her presence. Prince Maegor had yet to return, but that suited Tyanna. Men were simple things and posed no challenge to her designs. Women, though, required a different approach, and she needed his lovely, besotted wife.

“Lady Alys, I’m so sorry for the late hour.” Her head tilted in greeting, long raven locks twisted with white lace and black pearls hung freely around her bare shoulders. She was a stark figure even in the warm light. The courtesan bordered on being pallid, only exaggerated by her preference for dressing in cold, inky, indigo.

Lady Alys, the wife of Prince Maegor, the whore of Harroway. Her dress was light silk that wrapped about her curvaceous form. Her hair styled in the tumble of curls found in Essos was being brushed by a maid as the Pentoshi woman entered, and Alys raised a hand. Sending the servant off. They had learned to obey well and not risk their mistress’s sharp tongue. “Not at all, Lady Tyanna.” She doubted the woman was a lady at all, but she had few friends in the city and longed for Westeros, even if her own would mock her for marrying a man with one wife already. So what if he did? His father had taken two wives, and she was not sister to Maegor.

“Bring a goblet for her and vittles.” She directed with a curt snap of her fingers. Imperious as any Princess, which was her right. The maid scurried off to do so, while two others remained in the room, tucked out of sigh and ready to answer her call. It was just as she would have it. Everyone in their place.

Except her husband. Maegor, Prince Maegor, should have been home with her and working on an heir and spare, and home would be across the sea in Dragonstone. His rightful seat as the Lord of Dragonstone. Let King Aenys and his children control the realm, had her husband the mind they could have controlled the dragons. Instead, her Prince was off burning off some barbarian horses for Balerion’s supper. Not a unwarranted thing perhaps and it could gain him good will. Gods knew it was better to have a man let his temper wear off in battle than bring it his home, but still Alys would not lie to herself. She wanted children, she wanted Westeros and by all the Gods she wanted to strangle the next person who called her the ‘whore of Harroway’. “I trust the city fares well? With all it’s ruffians and glamorous sights?” She reclined in her seat, a small basket next to her with fine embroidery. It really was nothing but something to pass the time. A musician played behind a screen a soft song that she had halted not too long ago. Perhaps she ought to have him begin again?

“One of these nights, I will convince you to join me for my journey through Pentos and allow me to show you all that she has on offer.” Tyanna gracefully lowered herself to a cushioned seat near the prince’s whore. Or so she had been called, it was at least alliterative. Her gown shifted with the movement, pooling in soft ripples around her legs, the neckline plunged deeply down her chest and cinched round her waist with white gold and silver chains. She was warmer to her companion, but just barely.

Food and drink was delivered and the courtesan enjoyed a long drink of the heady red. At least the Westerosi could identify a good vintage from time to time. “I have heard rumors of your husband’s exploits against the savage horse-lords. This is good for him, and for you. A battle won will increase his virility.” Her hand reached into folds of inky fabric near her waist. A hidden pocket, her fingers found the small vial she had prepared for Alys. Tyanna held it out in the palm of her hand, the liquid was an unsettling green color. “Drink it when he returns, but you must be sure that he beds you that night.” She spoke of fucking in a way that the prudish Westerosi seemed to prefer, euphemism and poetry. Tyanna had been introduced to Alys as courtesan yes, but also as a woman who helped women. She knew how to make women fertile, and how to end a life before it could begin. Or so some said.

Gray-green eyes, devoid of emotion, glinted as she watched Alys. “A child, an heir, what every rightful king needs - no?” For a price, always for a price and who would not pay for it if it meant a crown?

Alys was hesitant as she took the liquid, she had been married to Maegor so briefly, yet if she could quickly get with child? All the better, and better to insure it was a son. There was a flash of greed at the thought that Maegor could be king, she could be Queen and his marriage to his first wife could be put aside by his decree then. She would no longer be considered by the Faith to be a whore. “I shall remember and keep your words close.” Alys mused, her fingers holding up the strange liquid as she watched it before setting it into the small basket of her work. “But what could I offer for repayment? If it does work so well?”

“You are wise, princess.” Tyanna chose her words carefully, enunciating each syllable of the title. “I will not obscure that I seek something in return. But it is an easy cost, I only desire your continued friendship and passage with you to Westeros when you return.” The courtesan picked up her goblet, slowly tipping the glass before taking another sip. “You..intrigue me. You and your husband. You are destined for greatness, I know it.” She leaned forward, her arms crossed, the goblet held delicately to the side. “The Doom did many things, it weakened and sundered magic, is that not what your maesters teach? But I tell you, it is not gone, just hidden to most. Not hidden to your husband who can tame dragons.”

The private conversation between the two women was momentarily shattered by a crescendo of noise. The screeching roar of a dragon burst the air from on high, shaking through the manse. The staff, as used as they could be to such things from the previous presence of the Prince and Balerion, still recoiled in place from the surge of noise, as cries of alarm arose unbidden from the wider city. While Maegor had been in residence for some time, the common people were still not entirely used to the sporadic presence of a dragon in their midst.

The assumption among many, of course, would be that the Prince had returned to Pentos, back from his adventures to the South East of the continent among the haughty people of Volantis, but this was not the case. With a heavy tread that shuddered through the manse as much as the roar before, the large, but ultimately smaller than Balerion, form of Vhaegar landed in the great expanse of the courtyard, the dragon emitting another roar of challenge into the air, before lowering to allow her rider to descend. It was not the first time that Visenya Targaryen had visited her son in the East, and both the city and the staff knew to allow her entry, but that still did not prevent their pause at the arrival of the Dowager Queen of a continent.

It had been some years since Visenya had fully embraced the raiment she was most famous for. The dark plate armour and red flowing cloth of both tabard and cloak flowing in the air as she pulled herself free of her mount’s saddle. As if it were the day she and her siblings had landed upon the shores of Westeros, the silver-gold of her hair, still free of true-white despite her many years, was drawn into a tight but long braid, reaching far down the expanse of her back.

With force the armoured woman swept into the chamber, the cold intensity of her eyes falling on the pair of women, regarding Tyranna for but a moment, before refocusing on Alys.

“Where is Maegor? The matter is urgent.” Her tone was not entirely dismissive for the woman who her son had gone into exile over, who’s ceremony she had overseen, but it was direct. Time, of course, was of the essence.

The arrival of the dragon had brought Alys to sit upright, no longer lounging at her pleasure in the open room. It was a large enough roar to be Balerion, yet her heart stuttered as she felt a pang for who it was. “My husband is in the east culling the Horse Lords.” Her curtsy was deep as she sank back into her seat. “Along with the Dragonlord of Volantis. What is so urgent to call him back?” She gestured and a servant bowed, offering Visenya a goblet of wine. There were many who disdained Visenya, but Alys was not one of them. She was rather impressed by the woman. Having been through so much and still strong. She could understand the wear of time. “My Lady Dowager Queen Visenya Targaryen may I introduced Tyanna of Pentos.” She did not design to off the woman the title of Lady before Visenya. It was not so much a slight but a fact that she knew her mother by marriage would see Tyanna for what she was.

“A woman of skill and interesting conversation.” She smiled gently and cocked her head. “Yet, I must ask again. My Lady, what has brought you so swiftly? Are we called to return to King Aenys?” There was scorn in her eyes as she sneered the name, unable to completely hide her dislike. It was not as if Aegon had not taken two wives and yet Aenys had called out his brother for the same thing his father had done! Then went and married his son to his daughter! Hypocrite!

Tyanna’s eyes narrowed, if only for a moment. This was an unexpected visit, and for her, an undesirable interruption to her plans. She was not so quick to rise and bend herself before the woman. She may have been a queen in Westeros but in Pentos she was just a dragonrider. It left a bad taste in the courtesan’s mouth, like a swallow of wine that had been left to turn to vinegar. Still, she was a resourceful woman and it was not the first time carefully laid plans had needed adjusting. “Queen Dowager Visenya, what a fine pleasure to meet such an illustrious woman.” Her head bowed with respect, her face kept stoically blank even as she tried to put together the pieces of the impromptu visit, the urgency behind it.

“The matter is not for the ears of others.” Visenya’s tone was stern as she regarded the Pentoshi woman once more, but as previously, her focus did not linger, settling instead on Alys, a few of the hardest edges of her features disappearing as she did so. “I will call for Maegor’s return, until he does, none may leave.” She turned to leave, to be about the business of calling her blood to her, before she paused, willing to offer the Westerosi woman at least some measure of catharsis. “His destiny is upon him, and his chosen wife shall be at his side.” Without so much more as a brief nod, she swept from the room in full, the doors opening before her as she moved, without a hint of delay to her stride.

So the matter would have to be discussed later. Alys sighed and inclined her head. “As you wish it.” For it could be no other way. If Maegor’s destiny was upon him… Had something happened to Aenys and his children? A small seed of greed in Alys snarled in glee at that thought. “I shall be delighted to see Maegor’s return. He has been gone far too long.”

It seemed she was trapped tonight, how inopportune. Tyanna leaned back again, effortlessly letting her body sink into the chaise. Better to not let Alys see her annoyance. The woman was clearly on good terms with her mother by law. Visenya was much as she had heard but seeing the woman in person certainly put things in perspective. She twirled the goblet of wine, thinking quickly. “Lady Alys, it seems I must impose on your generosity for longer than expected.” Destiny. The word played over in her head. Destiny, for Maegor and Alys, destiny that called to Tyanna. Destiny, if only the queen knew of what she spoke.

“I am not often left alone for an evening.” A glint entered her dark eyes, a softer look than her clients received. “Whatever shall we do to keep ourselves entertained?’

“Denying the Dowager Queen is rarely something I saw attempted or wise. The woman is iron.” Alys commented with a dry tone, so like her nephew Elmo’s. “My apologies for this imposition. I shall see you compensated for it.” After all, it was reasonable to do. Tyanna had her own business to be about and Alys, thought a noblewoman, could understand that. “If you wish, I can have musicians, entertainment and other such amusemsent summoned.” She shrugged in a nonchalant way that made her voluptuous chest move. The weeks spent in exile with little to do aside from being entertained had left the ‘Whore of Harroway’ with a bit extra about her curves. “I have the benefit of being able to summon what I desire, without having to leave.”

A Song Of Ice And Fire : The Swords And Stars

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The Dothraki had struck in the early afternoon, once the city had failed to capitulate.

The battle had lasted but a few hours, if you could even call it such, but for miles around, the lands outside the city of Volantis had been plunged into a darkness as thorough as the depths of night.

The acrid tang in the air spoke of its cause, the choking swirling patterns in the great deep clouds of onyx flared and spun in a way that could have no celestial origin.

The ground crunched beneath the heavy tread of Maegor’s armoured form. Already ash had settled over the destruction, the earliest to be inflamed falling down to cover the more recently deceased.

There would be little loot for the Free City, little that could be reclaimed from the Dothraki's vast train of plunder, no doubt bound for their sacred tent city, had the last city on their journey of plunder not been Volantis. The city had been weak ever since the Century of Blood, since his father had sided with Pentos against their expansion. Maegor considered that to have been the stronger action at the time, but now the Three Daughters were growing strong at the expense of Volantis, it did well to even the scales.

In all honestly, he had simply been bored.

He came to halt as a distressed animal moan rose from the ground, a few meters from his feet. It would have been a whiney of pain, no doubt, had the damage not been too great. He paced forwards through the ash, coming to halt behind the stricken form of one of the Dothraki's fabled horses. The dragon fire had claimed its hind quarters and much of its flank, but it clung to life, no longer strong enough to even thrash. Maegor regarded it for some time. A waste of a fine breed.

He did not delay in his granting of mercy, but he provided it none the less. Placing one boot down on the beast's head, his tread barely registered the end of its life as he proceeded through the burning maelstrom that had once been the Khalassar. There was no real reason to have landed, it was not his task to scout the land and ensure the Dothraki had been driven off, but one never knew what you might find beneath the forge of battle.

Their warcries broke out of the ash the moment he had cleared the remains of the steed. The warbling screams of Dothraki as they burst from the ash cloud. Three of them, barely more than youths, for the greatest of their warriors had all died in Balerion's first descent. They rode no steeds, no doubt having to abandon them in the process of survival. Here, perhaps, was a chance for them to redeem such cowardice by their peoples' merit.

Beneath his helm, Maegor's hard features split into a momentary grin.

"Come and take it." He snarled in their own tongue. Those who knew him passingly might mistake Maegor for a simple brute, he had always preferred martial and physical pursuits. In reality, he was singular. He could learn and focus on anything that brought him closer to his ambitions and that which he excelled. He felt it only fitting the enemy might understand him when he claimed their lives.

The first, and youngest, fell swiftly. He barreled towards with Prince with all the hot headed energy of youth, arakh posted to strike at the Valyrian. As was so common of the Dothraki, they underestimated the flexibility that plate of Westeros design allowed. Maegor ducked low under the blow, Blackfyre held even lower and pointed up in a thrusting motion, he took the young man in the gut, before rising with his own natural motion, splitting him in two from waist to temple. The resistance offered by the ending of this life slowed him no more than the death of the steed prior, literally stepping through the still disintegrating remains of the first man to get at the others.

While still young, they were no doubt more experienced than the first, and were moving forwards together. They must have seen at least one battle prior, even if it was simply a sack of a village, for they did not start at the sight of the foe appearing to simply burst through their prior comrade.

Usually, Maegor would fight such battles with a shield in hand, but he had left the protective implement upon his saddle. Against two opponents he would then have to rely on speed, force and the superiority of his weapon. Their first strikes met Blackfyre only a moment apart, the valyrian steel rebound on one arakh to throw back into the other. Their swords were back up too fast for Maegor to push hard on either. They were not fools, after the failure of their first strike they backed away, creating greater distance between themselves so that another combined parry wouldn't be possible from a second attempt.

Their first mistake, however, was to hesitate. Maegor's ability to fend off both blows put unnecessary caution in them. In their place, he would have pushed immediately. The pause could only benefit the outnumbered party.

"When you ran, was it your horses' or your mothers' screams that shamed you?" Maegor spoke again, perhaps the limits of complexity he had in Dothraki, but it was a phrase he'd learned deliberately for such a moment. It worked as intended, baiting one of them a moment before the other prepared to strike.

He entirely ignored the one slower to act, switching Blackfyre to his left hand, he took the arakh's furious blows on the weapon and gave them back in turn. The arakh was a weapon of great design for downward strikes from horseback, but it had a singular weakness in extended combat on foot. Turning the blade of his weapon, Maegor looped the bind of their blows through the curved hook of the weapon. Before the Dothraki could even realise what had occurred, Blackfyre had ruptured through his right eye.

The other man was not slow, and struck for Maegor. Even with the cutting edge of Valyrian steel, he would not be able to pull the blade free quite in time. With a desperate lunge, Maegor's right gauntlet caught the blade in motion.

The Prince emitted a howl of battle rage and pain as the force shuddered through his palm, but this gauntlet was that which held the reigns of Balerion, it had been reinforced against the pulling might of the world's greatest dragon, and one swipe of the blade would not cut through. Caught by surprise, the last Dothraki stumbled backwards as Maegor advanced towards him, driving him away and downwards, even as the motion pulled Blackfyre free from its previous kill.

As the final youth staggered and fell to his knee, still attempting to drive back against the force Maegor was applying, the pommel of Blackfyre came down atop his head. While the other two deaths had been clean, this was a brutal affair. Enough of whatever resided within the Dothraki's shattered skull clung on to life to still wrestle with the Prince, and so he hammered again…and again…and again. Only on the fourth strike with the blunt end of the weapon did he finally slump free.

Prince Maegor let out a satisfied grunt of victory at last, pausing only to wipe both ends of the ancient weapon upon the scorched rags of the final kill's clothing, before kicking him aside.

A moment later, and one of the vast clouds of smoke billowing around him seemed to rise. Balerion himself lingered close to the Prince, resting in the burning embrace of the carnage he had sown. The great beast stirred only to emit a roar, his vast head turned upwards towards the sky. For all the bone chilling horror such a roar could provide, it was not a roar of challenge, but of greeting, followed only shortly by the heavy beat of wings.

Vhandyr Balaerys watched in silence as the western prince let out his frustrations on the youth of the horse lords. Misguided and foolishly prideful, he thought, regarding the Dothraki youth…though he supposed there were moments the quick of such a thought could have pressed in either direction of the melee.

The towering, stoic, Valyrian dragonrider was now mounted, having shifted from Terrax shortly after Maegor had. Terrax busied himself behind Vhandyr and his warhorse, landing near the giant black dragon and giving a roar that was more playful than it was terrifying. Vhandyr understood it on a level deeper than his own bones.

Fly. Fly. Fly!

Terrax wanted flight more than he wanted meat or war. For the first time since the Doom, the dragon felt he had a partner in flight. Vhandyr felt only bittersweet joy for the two beasts, certain of the parting of the two, knowing how much of Maegor still stayed focused on the slights and shortcomings in Westeros. Perhaps he would take the Prince up on his offer and tour the Westeros continent. His sister had already been dispatched, as wayward a traveler as their ancestors had always been.
Wisdom was to wait for Vaera’s dispatches before he decided, however.

“Shall we retire to Casmus Valelyx, Prince?”

Blackfyre was returned to his swordbelt before Maegor turned to regard the other Valyrian. For all their visual similarities the pair had more differences, but in many ways that is what allowed the bond of their friendship to function. Much akin to Balerion and Terrax, the differences turned what would be the competition of rivals into the bond of companions.

"Little and less still to do here. If the fire was less consuming, I imagine we'd have cut more victory braids here than any since the Doom." As Maegor spoke and approached Vhandyr, a whiney of distress roused the nearby dragons, snorts of curiosity more than hunger, as a single rider approached. It was an impressive feat of both husbandry and handling that allowed the rider to bring his steed so close to the Dragons.

"Hail my lords," The rider sweapt down from the saddle, his accent and bearing marking him as one of the few that lived within the city that hailed from Westeros, or at least seemed so. In Maegor's sparring visits to Volantis during his exile he had moved a small portion of his household to Volantis, such that he was not entirely reliant on the whims of Vhandyr's people to remain informed and housed. The rider, clad in the red and black of the Targaryen household, waisted little time in approaching Maegor, handing over a bound scroll, set with a seal in the shape of the Citadel. There were few among their order that regarded Maegor with anything but scorn, but those few he had cultivated well. With a swift motion, Maegor broke the seal, before his eyes fell to read the letter. After but another few seconds, he cast the letter away and into one of the sputtering fires that had once been a Dothraki steed.

"I will return to Pentos, the Blood of the Dragon has need of their exiled son."

From Ashes We Rise : The Imperium Is Born

Unease filled the air of the command post at the western edge of the Rub Al’Khali. The Sigilites had been ever busy as the fortunes of war shifted among the siege lines. Reinforcements here, supplies there, a fresh unit rotated out, the most maddened Thunder Warriors brought in. Victory in war was in many ways the tallying of death and despair, a balance of sorrows where the triumphant was simply the least overwhelmed. Some of the keenest individuals in the galaxy were pouring over those measures, and they all realized the same thing.

Memphos was about to fall.

The nature of the Dynast Cities ensured that this would be the most brutal phase of the fighting, and only skill at arms and strength of will would determine if it was the swiftest conquest or the most sluggish siege. The Emperor’s forces had seen the first layer of defenses scattered like chaff before the wind, and now it was time for those seeking refuge in their fortresses to be terrified by his storm. But only a fool would think they would go gently. The wealth of the Dynast-Kings including a great panoply, mighty arms and stout armor, forbidden relics of a bygone age, charges of the Sigilites that they had failed to safeguard.

Each and every scribe knew of the horrors that could be unleashed, none more so than the head of their order. Malcador stared intently at a hololithic tank, an artifact from the era of his birth now worth a king’s ransom many times over, the flickering runes updated by a haphazard combination of IFF feeds and couriers relaying positional updates. A great front at the Northern Bulwark was a snarl of such icons, a contingent of Thunder Warriors pressing forward under the banner of a lone Custodian.

And then suddenly a rune flickered upon the other side of the great defensive line.

Champions of the Emperor were due rewards, and despite the intensity of the moment there would be no shirking their due. “Aristagorous shall henceforth be granted the glory of being known as Borethensipulas,” Malcador said softly, a dozen scribes recording the earning of a name. An ancient hand remained gripped tight about his staff even as he spoke, the man’s thoughts consumed by the question of what the Dynast-Kings would do next.

He had need not wait long for the answer.

A bolt of baleful flame sprang to life in the west, its fury demanding that even the distant scribes bear witness. For but a moment all pens and cogitators were put down, the Order giving the witchfire its measure of due respect. But only for a moment. With a glance from Malcador, they at once returned to their work, a lone robed figure sprinting away after meeting eyes with the Master and sharing a single, knowing glance.

Moments later and the Sigilite was racing beyond the field tent, seated within an ancient hovercraft that bore him effortlessly above the shifting sands. His personal guard lounged alongside him, veterans of the subjugation of the Himalayzans equipped with the most exotic and destructive of weapons. They passed the border into Gyptus proper like the wind itself, marching columns of Imperial soldiers with camels and mules catching only a glance of the twin banners of the lightning bolt and sigil that marked his personage.

Picking up a baroque device with a strange grill upon its face, Malcador began to speak. At once, a voice was heard upon the lines of the advancing Imperial forces, ancient and distorted, but carrying true nonetheless.

“To all those who fight beneath the banner of the Master of Mankind, know this. Your Emperor has sought to overthrow the reigns of butchers and the tyranny of witches. Your foes fight to defend the former, and they have now sought the might of the latter. I shall not lie to you, my conquerors, you shall be tested in this battle. What terrors they have unleashed, I cannot yet say, but know this. I am coming, and I bear with me the full might of your lord’s will. Humanity shall and must topple the spires of craven sorcerers, and the wrath of the Sigilite is with you.”

—

The words of the Sigilite were almost lost by the surge of chatter cascading over the vox as Aristagorous moved. While he was clad in plate that would swallow a lesser man, he was but a blur to mortal senses. As easily as he crossed ground, he slew. Living and breathing foes of the Emperor, or the twisted abominations that now arose alongside them, it did not matter to him. The precise killing strike required to keep such a foe down no additional challenge to his superhuman nature. Other servants of the Emperor were not so fortunate, and it was for their benefit he now pushed for decisive action.

“My lord, this is — we’re under h —- unceasing foe —- won’t stay d — permission to fall back —“

Whatever foul sorcery the enemy had wreathed was playing havoc with communications as much as it was the city, but even still, the motivation was clear. It was given with the clipped professionalism of the more disciplined soldiers beneath the Emperor’s authority, but still, the hint of dread lingered in the words.

“Denied, fight on, the line is drawn, the enemy is desperate, we push on. We ride to you, fight on.” He had no confirmation in return that his order was even received, but still he pounded the stone of the roadway to dust beneath the speed of his tread. Should the mortals fight on, he was determined they would not fall without sight of the Emperor’s wrath in their name. Should they falter, he would be there to deliver it in turn.

The powerfield surrounding his blade spat ionised flesh into the air as it rent through another foe. One of countless that had already fallen, made only of note to the giant who wielded it by the crackle of dimming power as the blade shorted out, overused and with no rest between blows, its power cells had finally given up on him. No matter, it was still a blade.

The Custodian felt the hand of another at play in this matter, the wretched plot of the enemy was sure to bring a heavy toll on the forces of the Emperor, pushing them to take the city faster and more costly than they would have wished, but could it hope to truly rebuff them? Unlikely. This was the masterstroke of someone wishing to sell Memphos dearly, which its Dynasts kings, self serving as they were, would not have orchestrated.

“Honoured Sigilite, I am approaching the Square of Kempfar, join me, and we shall push upon the Citadel.” The priority line to the Emperor’s closest adviser was more secure from the ravages of the warp craft, but not entirely so, a distressing observation. One that was put aside for the moment as Aristagorous finally reached the square, encountering only the burned out ruins of the Imperium’s forces and their hastily erected defences, now swarming with the risen dead. They had fought to a man, and he had failed them.

As the surge of dead things pressed towards the Custodian, he exhaled steadily, feeling the righteous anger suffuse his genecrafted being, before his blade was raised.

“Come then, hellspawn, become the first to earn the honour of being slain twice by Aristagorous.”

—

Malcador cursed as the Custodian spoke to him, not of anger at the message but at the foul corruption despoiling the aetherics. His chosen companions went about their business with the grim disregard that they did most everything, performing final checks upon their arcane armories. The champions of the Sigilite were equipped with the rarest and most horrific weapons ever crafted by human hands, for rarely did he feel the need to march to war himself. Disintegration guns, stasis grenades, graviton pistols, Kjaroskuro weapons, Quill blasters, a motley array of power and monomolecular weaponry, and sundry more were held ready by the men and women who had followed him this far.

“The Square of Kempfar,” Malcador ordered, after a slight delay as he let sentimentality take control of him for a cursed moment. He had opened his vaults for them, and they had volunteered to do their duty. It would not do to spoil their devotion to this cause with undue emotion. “Make haste, our foe grows in strength, and this is a ritual we can ill afford to let finish.”

The dead rose across the ancient sands, and the Sigilite followed. Onwards they pressed, towards fire and war, shadow and death. The cracked outer defenses of the once grand city flew underneath them, the haggard soldiers of the nascent Imperial Army cheering their salvation as they saw the speck of metal that marked his coming.

Baleful light erupted from the front of the ancient transport as it crossed into the lands of the dead, subatomic beamers dissolving the first ranks of the Warp-risen abominations into elementary particles. Within its confines, Malcador and his companions made ready for what was to come in their own manner, be it in thought or prayer or jest, in food or in drink, or in one particular case a last moment of restful slumber.

Kempfar approached, and with it, the first strands of the horrid destiny that Malcador had foreseen for those few he had dared call friends.

—

Lieutenant Alexiou cursed under his breath at the turn of their fortunes. They had been advancing steadily behind those beasts of men, the Emperor’s Thunder Warriors and his patrician Custodians, stepping over the carnage they left in their wake and moving from house to house like clockwork. It had been simple work, clearing that which the feral men had deemed unworthy of their attention. A shop of overturned spices here, a coffee hall there, a residential down the road. All of it, so simple. The occupants had been seen as beneath the Emperor’s most capable servants, and had been left to Imperial Army units, like Alexiou’s. But despite its simplicity, it was dirty work.

The shopkeeper and his staff, or at least that’s who Alexiou assumed they were, had come at his men with exotic tools he had discerned were used in the sorting of the spices. Finely made things, with razor thin blades that had cut up one of his troopers bad enough to warrant sending him to the rear. But other than the initial surprise of them they had been simple to dispatch. No armor, no formal training. They had been road bumps. Just as the other occupants of every building they’d swept through that decided to stand futilely before the Emperor’s army had been to Alexiou and his troopers.

But that time had come to an end far too soon. As quickly as they had cleared ten blocks the tide of the fighting changed around them. The sky had darkened, taking on a sickly glow, and the first signs of trouble had been the confusion over the vox. Then the maimed and stricken in the streets had risen around the Lieutenant and his platoon, and hell made its way to the land of the living. That had been nearly thirty minutes ago.

“Vox orders are unclear, aetherics are playing hell with the signal… I think they have ordered a general withdrawal to reinstate the lines and continue the push, but…” the vox operator hesitated a moment, “there was a Custodes, he was calling the Sigillite, I didn’t catch much more.”

“A Custodes? Figure his location, quickly,” Alexiou told his vox operator calmly as he turned back to the remains of his platoon, “Check your charge packs, and get ready to move,” his troopers gave no answer, and he didn’t need one. They had been ready to move since they’d first secured the holdout they sheltered in, and simply been waiting on Alexiou to make the decision on what came next.

They exited the holdout and fanned out down a wide thoroughfare, bypassing the butchered remains of Imperial troopers and Memphos guard with casual disregard as they approached the relative location the vox had returned for the Custodian Guard.

They swept through a blockhouse without a word and exited through a massive rent in the wall to find themselves spilling down a pile of rubble directly into an otherworldly onslaught. The Custodian, magnificent in his golden armor, was a blur of motion ahead of them. The ghastly creatures, those not long ago lost to this world, crashed into the Emperor’s chosen like the waves against the breakwaters of the acid lakes of Hive Ischian and, just like the acid waves, the abominations stood no chance of overcoming the patrician guardian of the Emperor.

His men spread out into the square without the need for a command, their jet black carapace armor a stark contrast to the dirtied yet still impressive gold of the Custodian. Where the Custodian was a blur of movement and the crackling of his guardian spear, his troopers were a clumsy hammer, their lasrifles spitting iridescent bolts into the surging wave of the dead.

“Firstborn, I am Lieutenant Alexiou of the Lucifer Blacks,” he stated over the common close-range vox shared by all Imperial units from within his enclosed carapace helmet, “my platoon is at your command,” he finished quickly as he took the head off a once dead thing with a flick of his saber.