Deathwing

The fumes from the herbs filled his lungs. He seemed to rise above his body and look down upon it. The other Terminators backed away from the spirit circle. A chill stole over him, and life leeched away until he was close to the edge of death. Great sobs wracked his body. but he mastered himself and continued with the ritual.

He stood in a cold shadowy place. He sensed chill white presences at the edge of his perception, clammy as mist and cold as the gravemound. Above him he could hear the beating of mighty pinions from where Deathwing. the Emperor's steed and bearer of the souls of the slain, hovered.

The Shaman talked with the presences, made pacts that bound them to his service and rewarded them with a portion of his strength. He sensed the hungry spirits surge around him. ready to shield him from sight, to cloud the eyes of any who might look upon him, causing them to see only a friendly being.

He walked from the circle, past the watching Marines. As he crested the brow of the hill. he saw the distant city. Even at night, its fires burned, lighting the sky and turning the metropolis into a giant shadow cast upon the land.

Above them. through the gloom. loomed the Mountains of Storm. Cloud Ru

The Hunting Bear village was the last they had visited: the most remote, built in caves beneath Cloud-Girt Peak. Lame

Bear limped up the narrow pathway in the cliff-face.

Cloud Ru

Cloud Ru

"No sentries." he said. "As a buck. I raided these mountains. The Hunting Bear always had the keenest watchers. If anyone was alive, we would have been challenged by now."

"No! " Lame Bear shouted and ran across the lodgetown's threshold and into the caverns. "Squad Paulo. overwatch!" Cloud Ru

"The rest of you, follow me. Helmets on. Keep your eyes peeled. Weasel-Fierce, establish a fix on Lame Bear. Don't lose him."

Night-lights cut in as they entered the cave mouth. Dozens of tu

As they followed Lame Bear's locator signal through the warren of tu

They found Lame Bear standing in the largest cave of all. Bones littered the floor. Scuttlers fled from their lights. Lame Bear sobbed and pointed to the walls. Paintings dating from the earliest times covered the caveside, but it was the last and highest-situated representation that drew Cloud Ru

"Genestealers. " he spat. Behind him. Lame Bear moaned. Weasel Fierce gave his short, barking laugh. The sound chilled Cloud Ru

Two Heads Talking stalked past the city's open gates. The stench assailed his nostrils. His concentration faltered, and he could feel the spirits struggling to escape. He exerted his iron will, and the spell of protection fell into place.