The Outskirts 

 {pictures} 

 I was there…. I saw them in the forest… it was like any other day… lost and hungry… out hunting for hours… when the noises began… and that was when we made our first mistake… since boys, we knew all the animal sounds... hunted everything at least once. but the noises we heard that day were different… hurting and dying, we believed it to be a free meal… 

but our light in the cave proved otherwise! white and hungry formed in a beast we did not recognize! We ran back to town! the forest never felt so unfamiliar since then… the turns and tree roots… like a maze we never notice! The ground shook as eyes could see us within the dirt and from the trees! The trees… 

with our old trusty rifles, we fired…oh! how we fired! at every eye we could… but the numbers... the noise they made… only got worse… surrounded in a forest… Then, we heard them… heavy footsteps covered in what I could only describe as a plague! The crows in the forest fell one by one! As their skin pustules and melted! The noises they made… 

I still can't say for certain what killed them... what infested them… but those "men" that came to meet us out there... were different… crowned in green smog and bugs and with weapons designed for a war! with horrible disfigurements! these walking fortresses… 

I'll never forget them… not because of how they looked… but… because of what they did! you asked me what happened to my brother… well... this is where he died… gunned down by a laughing gurgling monster! 

I only lived because of the white monsters that surrounded my brother and I… changed their target! Now… don't take this the wrong way… but I'm glad to still be alive with one less mouth to feed… I loved my brother… but the shipments have stopped, the governor hasn't been seen outside their mansion for months now! 

and… well… you've seen it… the people are acting strange… for without the governor's guard to maintain control… there have been rumors of a new cult that worships something other than our emperor! First, it was the odd mutations, and now all this… I dare not go back into those forests…, and I dare not even go out into the streets of Absodon at night! I don't know what is happening, but as for me and my house, we are getting on the next ship out of here! 

I recommend you do the same… 

→excerpt by a citizen… name stricken from the record; date removed under order of the acting inquisition! ← 

Within the harshness of the wind, scores of debris and rocks, fell from the sky, as the ground was upheaved along the train track! Trees bent, and metals rained, while blood hid itself among them! Skulls and skin… scales of red… and a silence brought from a white light! The girls and the crew watched as Layla faced her armor forward and blasted the small cucks of rocks with her burst canon! 

The train turret doing what it could, but it didn't stop the shaking or change the mood! Until the very end… when all was completely quiet, where nothing made a noise but the sound of the engines, and while listening to their gentle humming, Layla took a breather, as she heard Mary's voice come through her vox. 

[Layla! It is safe to come out now... I'm stopping the train….] 

{no Mary… keep it going just a little bit more… the sound is calming… please…} replied Layla as she needed a few more minutes to fully absorb what just took place. 

Understanding, that Layla probably needed to take a few more moments, Mary didn't push the issue any further and simply did as she was told, but Molly on the other hand, yelled through the vox: 

[LAYLA! WHERE DID YOU GET THAT MACHINE FROM? I WANT ONE! WELL ONE WITH MORE MELE AND LESS PEW PEW!] 

Breaking her inner thoughts, and annoying her, Layla rubbed her eyes in stress and said: 

{you want one Molly… then ask the 43-sea… I'm sure she could tell you where we could find another one…} 

[really!] replied Molly with joy as she went to pester 43-sea 

As she conversed with 43-sea, Layla continued to stare out her monitor as she asked Miss A: 

{do you think it's really dead this time?} 

[hmm… possible but unlikely… in truth, it will all depend on whether its scales were strong enough to survive that explosion or if its god's favor is just that strong for it… but if it were my servant and it came back to me in failure again… and based on our your description of this Khorne god… then I am to assume it will be sent to an arena to prove itself or abandon, either way, it best to assume we won't be seeing him for a while now… ] 

{sigh, where are the grey knights when you need them!} replied Layla filled with contempt. 

[huh? Grey knights… what are those?] replied Miss A 

{just some space marine chapter… it doesn't matter right now… what does matter is where to go from here…} 

[wasn't the plan to head into Absodon?] replied Miss A with an eye raised 

{yes, but how should we enter the city… I mean just look at what happened to a base out here on the fringes of the world! A military base I mind you…so, I assure you those in command most know of its destruction, and yet I hear nothing over the open vox... Not a word… isn't that odd Miss A?} 

[hmm… you do have a point my dear, but remember war is a messy affair… and we lack information... Maybe ask if that new friend of ours 43-sea has anything to say on this matter, but before that. Shouldn't you take care of "that" first? If not, it will become a problem at some point… and I do believe it has outlived its usefulness…] 

{by 'that'... Do you mean the bug? if yes, I do agree with you on that Miss A…} replied Layla as she stared at "that" on her monitor 

{aw, but before that, could you please not bully the machine spirit Miss A. Remember, his mind is linked to mine. 

[oh! Yes, yes... I will play nice…] replied Miss A with an evil smile as she taunted the poor spirit. 

Eldar Pov few moments after the explosion: 

In the dark, surrounded by dirt and blood, lay the corpse of the champion of Khorne! The flesh hound, brother to vengeance, and while studying what remained of him, the elder farseer saw a new version as he placed his hands on the beast's head. 

A world of coming fire! With warp storms, and monsters of all kinds! Pure pandemonium on all fronts! From land to sea and sea to space! From space to… their craft world! Beautiful and towering, covered in the warp embrace, the craft world of Ulthwè! 

A council divided, and indecisive, they continue to argue as the hungering beast comes for its prize! An imperium shattered and broken, and men of gold stand in their halls! With red wings others stand with armor of a similar kind, but whose coat of arms drip in blood! Men born from an angel guard the Eldar's future… and there…. to oversee it all in a blurry light… a voice… of a crying child in a distant future… 

While the whispering god of death, nods in approval, he looks to what is left of his children and knows… there are just not enough Eldar souls… and thus the Eldar must make a choice… continue the path of whispers to its end… or choose another for their souls… 

And while the seer was deep in his vision, the corpse of the hound began to stir! Broken and grotesques with riddles holes and charred limbs! With soulless eyes, and a bloody mouth, the once beautiful red scales, were now devoured of their shine… but a fire still beat-ed in its heart! 

Were chaos swirled and its demonic energy soaked the wall of its heart, with a pool of bloody baths, that boiled hot in the color of magma, new life opened its eyes! As fury as creation itself, beamed in its eyes, with a fury-burning axe forged from the black cornerstones of his body, with horns large and black with seams of red as a crown, with teeth of a dog and ears like a bat, that hanged an odd pair of earrings that dangled curse symbols of Khorne! 

With a body similar to a man, with red skin and a pair of net wings, coated in scales and scarlet hair! While the skin on its neck still shines in the spiked choker of his master… and with a burly hand he grabs his axe, as it lit up in a gorgeous glow of red and orange flames, that formed a lava texture right above its dangling black skulls. 

Glorious and forged from within his heart, the axe tore through the thin flesh walls of his former skin! Pouring the burning blood into the body, and as it leaked, the Aeldari guards by their farseer, felt something, heard something… disturbed and unsure, one of the guards approached the center mass. 

Though their scanners show no life, that foreboding feeling only grew… as one of the guardsmen felt a subtle thump… while turning to look at his fellow men, a dark and lavish axe tore through his head! While his body was torn in two by one quick motion, the scales around the outer skin departed as hot boiling blood soaked the feet of the other Aeldari warriors! 

But unconcerned, they opened fire into the hole of the beast! But as they fired, they heard neither scream nor silence… 

but they could see a bugling coming from within the hound's flesh! It grew fatter and bigger, as the Aeldari continued to fire, when it finally burst, showering the Eldars in a bloody stream of magma! That ate away at their pristine battle suits… then as their weapon began to malfunction… out came a haunting laugh from a demon! With an axe dripping in fresh Eldar blood, he spread his wings that glowed in fire, with a trailing tail as crimson red as its scales! 

Surrounded by a bubble of warp magic, a flame shield, it looked down at the Aeldari in condescension! Arrogant and hot, the demon smiled as it ignored the Eldars as they pulled out their swords. In line that represents something akin to honor they charged at the demon! But with a smile, the demon sniffed the cold air… 

Saying to itself in a raw deep tone: 

[yes… run… my rabbit… my chase continues… but first…] 

Hearing the demon's words, and seeing his deranged smile, some of the Aeldari changed course and rushed to their farseer to get him to safety! When a psyker occurrence suddenly pushed them away! 

[Run! The future is…] 

But as the words he was going to say near their end, in one eye he saw the black axe head to his neck, and in the other eye, he saw a man in purple… like serpent… with wings and sword stolen from his Aeldari home… while his god of death whispered in his ear… 

[child… don't worry…. what you see, must happen… it is not the end that you see but the beginning…] 

And with those words, the farseer stares not at the figure of a serpent but what rested in his hands… the final Cronesword! Marvelous in design, forged by the very finger bones of their former goddess! But nameless it gleams in his vision… as his head is separated from his body! 

As his body hit the ground in a thud, his guards screamed as they charged at the demon with their fancy swords! But with the smell of fresh blood so intoxicating, and the feeling of being on two feet new and exciting, the demon could not help itself, as it tore the Aeldari apart! 

Their swords were brittle under the weight of his axe! Their chain swords and witch blades to their hottie mirror swords, all lacked beneath it! The skill was there, but when fighting one who was chosen and blessed… by a patron god... you need more than just skill… you need fate to be on your side… for as the Aeldari blood cooled on the dirt floor, the shadows of a raven can be seen… 

Doused in blood, the demon howled in the air as what little cuts he received healed by steam, but as he calmed and looked at himself more, he began to wonder how this all happened… by all right, he should be dead, that's what he believed, but then he heard it… the call of a raven…