Ahriman: Exile Read Online Free PDF Page B

Gzrel had presumed that it had been the prisoner who had burned the daemon. That feat had impressed the lord of the Harrowing; he had decided to keep the prisoner and his brothers. He had asked the Space Marines to kneel to him, but they had remained unbowed. That defiance had led the prisoner to this chamber, and cost him an eye.
    The prisoner curled his lip, pale teeth glinting from bloodstained flesh.
    ‘I remember my brother dying. I remember his chest splitting. I remember the stink of the warp. I remember a shadow.’ Ahriman saw a glint in the prisoner’s eye; his aura was fury-bright, rage and power chained behind fraying will. ‘I remember, sorcerer .’
    Ahriman nodded.
    He knows , thought Ahriman. He saw and knows what I truly am . He had not brought a weapon, but that would not stop him silencing the prisoner. His fingers twitched, and he felt the thought find an echo in the warp. It would be so easy. No , he thought. His mind relaxed, and the warp settled.
    ‘My lord wishes your service. He senses great power in you.’
    ‘Is that why you are here, sorcerer ?’ Again Ahriman heard the hate in the words.
    ‘I serve my lord,’ said Ahriman. ‘You are a psyker, trained for battle and destruction. He has a taste for the oaths of psykers, and you intrigue him much.’
    The prisoner stirred his bared muscles and the chains clinked. Fresh blood ran from where the hooks looped through the skin.
    ‘Your lord is a slave to lies and ignorance.’ Red-flecked spit came out with the words. ‘My oath is my own, and I will not give it to him.’
    ‘There are worse things.’
    ‘Are there? To you, sorcerer, perhaps. You fear the truth, I see that without needing to see your face or hear you say it. I do not fear truth, though it will kill me.’
    Words I would once have said myself , thought Ahriman. ‘Yet you live.’
    The prisoner heaved up a bloody laugh, which shook the chains. ‘Yes, I live. Your lie bought me that. Do you wish thanks for it?’
    Ahriman was silent for a moment, and then he reached up and pulled his helmet from his head. Blue eyes set in a face of smooth olive skin met the prisoner’s single eye and gouged socket.
    ‘My lord believes you are powerful, and you are,’ said Ahriman. Without his helm his voice was soft and resonant.
    ‘I am no traitor, and I will not serve your lord.’
    ‘You are no traitor, yet this is an outcast Imperial ship,’ said Ahriman, ‘and you have the mark of one who has already broken oaths.’ It was true the Titan Child at first glance was not a rotten renegade like the Blood Crescent , but it was no lost loyalist either.
    ‘I broke no oaths.’
    ‘But you are here, an outcast from the Imperium that created you. Is there a difference?’ asked Ahriman. The prisoner spat, the red-flecked phlegm hissing as it ate into the metal floor.
    ‘To you, sorcerer, maybe not.’ The prisoner let his head loll to his chest, his eyelids closed. Ahriman nodded; he would get nothing more. He turned and walked to the cell door, his hand rising to rap on the dark metal. He paused and turned back to look at the prisoner.
    ‘I am sorry for your brother,’ said Ahriman. ‘The other two live, though for how long I cannot say.’
    The prisoner looked up. Ahriman saw the hard angles of his aura blur for a second before it snapped back into its diamond-like lines. The prisoner gave a small nod.
    ‘What is your name, sorcerer?’
    Ahriman looked down at the black helm in his hand. Perhaps there were some that might still remember his name, but he was not Ahriman, and he would not be again.
    ‘I am Horkos,’ he said.
    The prisoner gave a laugh that turned into a racking cough. ‘Another lie. Do not worry. You saved my life. That is a bond I would not have, but one I will honour. I will not break your lie.’ The prisoner paused and took a breath. ‘My name is Astraeos, sorcerer, and I place my silence on your conscience.’
    Ahriman did not reply, and left the prisoner