Chapter 14: The Vortex Cannon

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Commander Nebulous ploughed his thick round shoulder armour into the jaws of an Ork Nob, flung him over his shoulder and drove his chainsword through his foe with a cry of battlefield zeal. As the Orks grew fewer and the Chaos Space Marines grew many, the fight up the narrow stone stairs was relentless and chaotic as countless Khorne Berserkers threw their full madness and skill at the attacking commanders. But even their blood lust could not slow the advance of the unyielding heroes. Even when a squad of Chaos Terminators, spawned from the deaths of Terminator armoured Marines during the battle of Constantis, materialized before the enraged Commander, they fell under his holy blade and their vile corpses were set alight by Canoness Agna's purifying flames. Of course, after a short while, the Sorcerer's black enchantment roused their scolded bodies again to pursue them, but Nebulous did not look back.

All that mattered to him was reaching the top of the hill and slaying that Daemon Prince. To shatter the Sorcerer's powers over the armies of destruction would be an added bonus, but only the head of Firaveus Carron himself would assuage his longing to avenge the deaths of his brothers and the defiling of their holy bodies. Running headlong into more and more squads of increasing strength, Nebulous raised his hand to the left and pointed to a small passageway. Brother Stellous nodded and darted inside, using his psychic powers to send a blast of pure energy up the hill to guard his advance.

As Caerys looked down the hill, she could see the flaming Avatar swinging his great blade into the horde of Tyranids around him as they pounced and drove their countless pincers and scythes into his molten form, but this only slowed and irritated the Eldar War God. A great explosion caught Caerys' attention, as she saw the dreaded Defiler walkers crawling sideways along the hill like hell-spawned crabs, their pincers flailing around in front of them and snapping. They spewed Warp flames and reached out to grasp her, but the Farseer was faster, darting under their legs and spinning her Singing Spear as she went, side to side, over her head and around in a mighty swing to decapitate their legs and lop the daemonic head from the top, along with the idol it carried.

The next noises to catch her attention came from the Greater Daemons of Chaos. All four monsters now clawed their way up the side of the steep hill, and she barely dodged the hoof of Skarbrand as he clambered clumsily up past her. She was choked by the foul odours that spewed from the festering sores of the Great Unclean One as he too slithered his way up, she was too small for them to notice her, but she knew she must make her presence known to these daemons or risk the Sorcerer's ceremony gaining its hellish sacrifices.

"Go on!" she called to the others, all spinning around to her "I'll hold the Daemons back! Get to the citadel and stop them, do it now!" Before they could argue, the Farseer called forth all her powers to summon a great storm of energy, lightning bolts and distorting flashes of light struck the hill and the monstrous creatures as they howled with rage and pain. Simultaneously their daemonic eyes fell on the Farseer, she could feel the influence of Slaanesh taking over her, and she unwillingly dropped her spear to the ground as the multi-armed beast came in closer, its rending claws ready to strike.

"Caerys!" came an unknown voice, she could not hear properly, only gaze into the diamond eyes of the Keeper of Secrets. But when the Daemon broke its gaze and continued its long climb, her eyes began to focus on the one who had warded off the Daemon "Don't leave us yet, Caerys dearest"

"What? Who-?" she could barely stand, and could do nothing with the iron grip of Archon Tahril's Agonizer clamped around her slender throat and forced her against the wall. The Archon snickered and tightened his grip, the vile energies of the Dark Eldar coursing through Caerys' body and sending each and every nerve into a fit of pain.

"Come, my sweet, let me hear your beautiful screams" Tahril teased, amplifying the voltage of his claw with a sickly grin. But Caerys held her own, blocking out her senses to focus her powers, and before long she felt a welcome feeling in her grasp.

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