Void Stalker Read Free

thoughts. At best, this was a trap. At worst, it was sorcery. More than likely, it was both.
    That wasn’t good.
    : you remember nothing do you
    : you have come to seek a pure war
    : a noble war
    : but you should never have returned to the eastern fringe
    : others have been waiting for your return with revenge in their hearts
    The prophet remained as he was, still stroking the blade’s wingspread hilt. The Eastern Fringe. He couldn’t think of anything that would ever drive him back there.
    ‘I think you lie, husk.’
    : why would i lie
    : you run from the eye
    : you run from the eldar
    : you run from doom at the hands of alien witches
    : where better to flee than the other edge of the galaxy
    Perhaps there was truth in that, but the prophet felt no urge to confess it. He remained silent.
    : how long have you waged this war talos
    He shook his head, feeling the sudden need to swallow. ‘A long time. The Heresy was the bloodiest decade. Then, the Raiding Years, when we called Tsagualsa home. Two centuries of bitter glory, before the Imperium came for us.’
    : and how long since we left the carrion world
    ‘For the Imperium?’ He narrowed his eyes at the question. ‘Almost ten thousand ye–’
    : no
    : how long for the traitor legions
    : how long for you talos
    He swallowed again, beginning to sense where this was leading. The warp stole all meaning from the material realm, even banishing all pretence of physics and temporal stability. The Great Heresy was days in the past for some of the Traitors within the Eye, and fifty thousand years gone for others. All of them, each and every soul to betray the Emperor in that golden age, could claim a different scale of time for the years since.
    ‘A century since we left Tsagualsa.’ Less than many, but more than some.
    : a century for you
    : a century for first claw
    : that makes you over three hundred years old prophet
    Talos nodded, meeting the skull’s hollow eyes. ‘Close enough.’
    : still so young for a traitor
    : still naive
    : but long enough that you should have learned certain lessons by now
    : and yet you have not
    The prophet stared up at the wreckage of crucified bone, and the letters superimposed over it. They flickered across his retinal display almost impatiently, as if awaiting an answer.
    ‘If you find me lacking, revenant, then by all means enlighten me.’
    : why are you fighting this war
    The prophet snorted. ‘For vengeance.’
    : revenge for what
    ‘To avenge the wrongs done to us.’
    : what wrongs do you speak of
    The Legionary rose to his feet, feeling the skin crawling at the back of his neck. ‘You know what wrongs. You know why the Eighth Legion fights.’
    : the eighth legion doesn’t know why it fights
    : you conceive excuses to justify a lifetime of wasted hate
    : the legion fights only because it is amusing and pleasurable to dominate weaker souls
    ‘Unadulterated fantasy.’ Talos laughed, though he’d never felt less like laughing. He considered shooting the chained skeleton down from its ungainly crucifixion, though it was doubtful whether the act of spite would achieve anything. ‘We rebelled because we had to rebel. The Imperium’s pacifism was destined to fail. Order can only be maintained through keeping its souls fearful of retribution. Control, through fear. Peace through fear. We were the weapon mankind needed. We still are.’
    : the legion never fought for those ideals
    : your delusion was never even popular among our ranks
    : but it faded when the truth came
    : you cling to your illusions now because hate is all you have left
    ‘Hate is all I need.’ He drew the bolter now, aiming both barrels up at the corpse’s shattered ribcage. ‘My hatred runs pure. We deserve vengeance against the empire that abandoned us. We were right to punish those worlds for their sins, and threaten others with destruction if they ever broke our laws. Control. Through. Fear. The systems we pacified…’
    : the systems we pacified were