The Wayward Son

After a few short minutes of getting equipped by the various wracks in Melisara's lab, Seiras was now adorned once more in his power armour with a fully reloaded storm bolter. It deeply concerned him how knowledgeable the Dark Eldar were on the task as one wrack even began to clip extra ammunition magazines magnetically to his armour.

As they finished doing this, Melisara giggled like a gleeful psychopath, "Good, good! Oh and don't forget to put the Kabal banner on his armour too. Over the power pack is where they usually put their own banners."

From behind, Seiras felt one of them attach a flag banner to the top of his power pack sticking upwards. Seeing him trying to look at it, Melisara held up a makeshift mirror to show him his reflection, "That's a banner of the Kabal of the Twilight Shadow. Faelan wanted you to wear it."

The banner was made out of flayed skin from what he could see. He paid it little mind as he examined his own face for a moment. He found it unusual that his facial scars were now gone. 'Melisara mentioned that she removed them…I wonder why?'

"I understand your intention…otherwise people might get the wrong idea about what I'm doing," he noted.

"True enough," Melisara agreed with a nod.

She was quick to notice his confused face as the Astartes stared at her briefly. He shook his head with uncertainty, "Melisara, why did you heal my facial scars?"

"Oh those? I'm a perfectionist…I always like to finish the job and make things better than they were before. Some might even call me obsessively compulsive. Although, I technically didn't repair those scars manually. It was a side-effect of your…restoration." She smiled proudly.

'Why do I get the feeling there's more to it than that? That was an extremely roundabout way of saying that she did it for the sake of compulsion.' he thought concerned.

"Alright, with all your armour and your bolter equipped, here are your new and improved force weapons. Just so you know, I had to get them from Aelendriel's chambers. She had them in her trophy collection…as well as other interesting items. I decided to take them as payment for reviving her. She's lucky that's all she owes me for it," Melisara replied with a sinister grin.

'I was wondering about when she got my wargear. I do remember Aelendriel talking about looting it. Wait…does that mean Melisara found the webway remote too?! I should ask her, but I can't say anything with these two incubi still here,' Seiras thought to himself for a moment.

The Blood Raven shrugged, "I appreciate it, Melisara."

"It was no problem, Seiras. I do hope your little mission goes well. If you have time after you get back, I'll give you the full tour of my lab. I have something particularly fascinating to show you," Melisara responded enthusiastically.

Though they were in his peripheral vision, Seiras could see the two incubi turn their heads towards each other as if trying to confirm that Melisara and Seiras were being more than a little friendly. It was known to them that she liked Seiras, but there was no doubt they were confused by the unnecessary civility. Melisara was extremely infamous and terrifying to everyone in this part of Commorragh and Seiras was an alien hating superhuman. Nothing about their polite and respectful interaction seemed normal to the incubi.

The haemonculus proceeded to hand Seiras his sword and halberd a moment later. He immediately strapped the sword to his armour as he gripped the nemesis halberd with one hand.

"That's a Grey Knight weapon, right? Where did you get a Nemesis Force Halberd?" Melisara asked him as she examined the polearm.

"You know about Nemesis force weapons and the Grey Knights?" he asked surprised.

Melisara rose a brow at him before cackling darkly, "Is that really surprising? I probably know more about your Imperium than you do, Seiras. Those weapons are very valuable, and I know they don't give them to anyone except the Grey Knights. I suppose you stole that one, didn't you?"

"I took it from a dead Grey Knight. Those weapons are useful for fighting daemons and I wasn't about to let one go to waste. It's previous owner was killed by Fulgrim during our raid onto his flagship," he answered a moment later.

Melisara nodded approvingly, "Well that's most fortunate for you then. I also repaired your armour as well. Before you ask how, I got the knowledge from some mechanicus slaves a few millennia back. They weren't very willing to part with the information, so I extracted it from their brains."

"I see," he responded blankly.

"I'm curious about something, Seiras. Do you see your Emperor as a god?" Melisara asked the librarian as she ignored the impatient staring of the two incubi further away.

Her question seemed unusual, but Seiras decided to answer it anyways, "I used to when I was an ignorant child. Things changed after I became a space marine and learned that we aren't actually angels. These days I see him as the one true paragon of humanity. His light is everything we should honour and strive to emulate."

"It is good that you were able to cast aside the pretty lies of delusion and to accept cold hard logic for what it is. Such harsh truths are rarely embraced by anyone anymore. Your bloated Imperium lives in denial worshipping the Emperor as a god. The deranged fanatics of Chaos wholeheartedly embrace their own false deities. Even the Asuryani craftworlders delude themselves into believing the gods will save them from Slaanesh. Funny isn't it? Did Asuryan or Morai-Heg save me from my soul decay? Did Khaine, Ynnead, Vaul, or Isha? No…it was all me. It was all through science and ingenuity. Everyone should take responsibility for their own fates and set the examples for their kin," Melisara ranted approvingly.

A temporary silence filled the room as Seiras glanced over at Tullarias and Mairan. Even despite his inability to see their faces, he could almost sense that they were glaring at Melisara.

To end the awkward silence, he immediately asked a question, "Did you ever believe in any of the Eldar Gods, Melisara? I mean…before the Fall?"

"A curious but random question…why do you ask?" she countered.

"I just wanted to know if you had any actual information on what they are. They're not chaos gods, but they seem to be warp entities, nonetheless. Have they always existed? How does your kind even have these so-called gods?" Seiras questioned the haemonculus.

Melisara shifted her gaze to the two stoically encroaching incubi before answering, "I'm old, but I'm not THAT old, Seiras. The gods were around for millions of years…well until Slaanesh ate most of them. Still, I do possess some vague knowledge on the matter. Back when the warp was mostly free of Chaos, the Eldar Empire could create anything within it. I have no idea how this was done, but apparently our kind could live eternally in the warp and be reborn into the materium whenever they wanted. We had full mastery over it and could bend it to our will. We literally created our own pantheon. The Eldar Gods are not real gods…they're creations of ours that were used to fight the Necrons and protect us in the warp. The Chaos Gods are the same way…though they've been twisted over the eons. Most of them were born from the War in Heaven, and your species' eventual rise to power fueled their negative aspects. This gave them form and substance as what you call daemons. Your species is most responsible for turning Nurgle and Khorne into what they are today. Our kind was responsible for creating Slaanesh…a manifestation of our beautiful sin and debauchery. While these entities exist in imagination and in the warp…they're not technically real, and they're not gods. Religion is rather stupid and annoying in my opinion. It breeds ignorant zealots and it always causes technological and cultural stagnation. Only a primitive minded fool would take solace in surrendering his or her will to something that isn't based in logic. Our will is what created the so-called gods to begin with. That would make us greater than them would it not?"

At this point, Seiras could almost feel the hatred radiating off the two incubi from Melisara's explanation.

"Your insults against Khaine will be remembered, haemonculus," Tullarias finally spoke with seething calm malice.

She seemed to delight in their disapproval as she continued speaking, "That's another thing I like about you space marines…you don't believe your Emperor is a god. Well most of you anyways. Sadly, the rest of your race doesn't see things the same way. The fact that they worship him is rather unfortunate in my opinion. I personally hate the Ecclesiarchy in your Imperium. They usually get the most gruesome fates in my lab. They're such blind zealots. Even the Master of Mankind knew that gods aren't real, and they never will be. He would find their worship of him disgusting and pathetic. The Mechanicus is almost as bad, but at least some of them are innovative and free-thinking."

"That's an interesting perspective…" Seiras trailed off as he didn't know what to say in response.

Melisara beamed, "I'm glad you think so…it's the same belief your Emperor held. Interestingly enough, Fabius Bile also shares in this belief even though he's a chaos space marine. It's rare for me to find like-minded individuals in today's galaxy. While most denizens of Commorragh don't acknowledge the 'gods', they're pathetically stagnant and single-minded as well. I pity them all. While you may be human, you possess the spark of ingenuity…the free will to think for yourself. That is what I like about you the most, Seiras."

"We don't time for this, Melisara!" Tullarias spoke again with contempt in his voice.

"You will wait until I'm finished, or I'll personally harvest your entire shrine!" Melisara shot back with a terrifyingly voice. It was dark, deep, and almost echoic.

Seiras was amazed that the two incubi didn't flinch from her terrifying rebuttal as he himself almost did. He looked between them all a bit concerned, 'I've never seen her get angry before. That's not a pleasant sight. I wonder if she's trying to provoke these incubi? What's the point in talking to me about this in front of them? Melisara must be planning something.'

With his full armour on, Seiras proceeded to put his helmet on personally. He didn't bother attaching his psychic hood's psy cables, but Melisara quickly did it for him anyways. He tilted his head in confusion as she finished the adjustment.

A moment later she pressed the trigger switch to his agony collar on her wrist. The collar's shock flooded his nervous system, and he could feel it focusing heavily over the psy cables now causing him to growl in pain.

Melisara didn't hold the switch for long before releasing it. She chuckled at his reaction, "Just so you know…the collar hurts more if you're in power armour. Your psychic hood will echo and circulate the pain through your central nervous system. It will build up in your brain in an endless loop of pressure. If one holds the switch down for too long your brain will start to hemorrhage and eventually it'll explode through the foramen magnum flushing out of your skull."

"I get it already! I won't do anything stupid or betray the Kabal," Seiras sighed at the explanation.

"Oh, I have all the faith in the galaxy that you'll be perfectly behaved. I doubt anyone will actually use it on you if you prove yourself useful and loyal," the haemonculus noted.

Nodding at her, the librarian then turned to the two incubi and addressed them, "Lead the way. Let's go wipe out this spire."

"When you're done with fighting, bring him back here and I'll put his gear back into storage," Melisara told the incubi as they turned to leave immediately without acknowledging her or Seiras.

'Why did she provoke them like that? What did she have to gain by insulting their religion? Melisara is a real mystery.' Seiras thought with concern.

The Astartes followed behind the two black-clad incubi as they silently and gracefully departed. The walk was similar to the first time he was escorted by this particular duo. Neither incubus spoke and they moved with purpose as they led Seiras to the Kabal's foundry.

He looked around curiously as he recognized some of the hallways, chambers, and open-roof plazas along the way. He had seen these places before from the overseer's memories. Seeing the foundry within range, he also began to spot numerous scourges flying around in the sky or perched atop spires.

They all seemed greatly interested and a bit confused at the space marine and incubi walking together towards the foundry. A number of them circled overhead like vultures as they broke into conversations and outbursts about the arrivals.

As they reached the entrance to the foundry, they noticed a number of kabalites coming and going as well as raiders and other vehicles landing in the plaza nearby. Everyone's heads turned as they stared in bewilderment at the unusual trio. A moment later, a group of scourges landed in front of them.

"Where are you going with this monkeigh?! Why's he armoured and armed?!" the front scourge demanded. He was undoubtedly the leader.

"Archon Faelan sent him with us for a purge. I suggest you remove yourself from our sight now, solarite! If you don't, I'll gladly decorate the spires with your corpses!" Tullarias spoke hatefully to the winged drukhari.

The various scourges all flinched noticeably from Tullarias' deep and terrifying voice. He sounded like he was still angry from earlier. The solarite who was undoubtedly the squad leader of this pack shook his head, "You expect me to believe the archon is letting a space marine walk around like that?! Where did you even get one?!"

"He's the same one from the arena battle that killed Mokaela, Aelendriel, and Nelfaera. Melisara just resurrected him recently," Tullarias said darkly.

The scourges looked shocked by the information as several raised splinter rifles and dark lances at them. The solarite shook his head, "Put those down, you idiots! Are you trying to get us killed?! You may proceed into the foundry, but if that monkeigh does anything stupid we're killing him!"

"You can certainly try. Get in my way again and I'll sacrifice all of you to Khaine," Tullarias responded darkly as he raised his klaive up to the solarite causing the winged warrior to freeze fearfully.

The incubi said nothing else as they both walked past the scourges with Seiras following behind. The winged dark eldar scourges all had varying expressions on his appearance and presence there.

"Why's the archon sending a space marine with his incubi? Better yet…where?" one asked.

Another scoffed at the situation, "Did they actually resurrect him? I could have sworn I watched Lady Renfaeda kill that monkeigh in the arena."

"Maybe they should give him a skyboard to fly around on," a third one chuckled.

Seiras ignored the remaining conversations as he progressed into the foundry hanger port with the two incubi. They wasted no time going for a custom ravager that was parked at the far end of the foundry.

As they approached it, Seiras couldn't help but wonder how effective a ravager would be with only 3 people on it. Getting onto the hover platform, Seiras looked around uncertainly as he saw Tullarias immediately approach the pilot's seat. The larger incubus sat down and turned the vehicle on as it levitated off the ground. Glancing at Mairan now, Seiras half expected the other incubus to tell him what to do.

As if on cue, the other incubus spoke for the first time in gothic, "Remain at the right dark lance cannon and be prepared to use it. I know you know how to. I'll operate the front one."

"Is there anything else I should know about the mission? What do you need me to do during this purge?" Seiras asked the two incubi.

Mairan looked over at Tullarias and stared for a moment. The larger incubus took the hint as he addressed Seiras in gothic, "We're purging the Khestri family. All of them and their vassals are to be executed. Mairan and I are not here to supervise you, so don't be foolish and remain within appropriate range of us. Kill every kabalite and noble you see…don't murder the slaves though. That would be a waste. Also, make sure to preserve the heads of the actual Khestri family themselves. They wear distinguishable feathered and spiked headdresses, so even a monkeigh like you will be able to tell. We shouldn't see them until we reach the top. Their heads are to be placed in areas of high traffic at the palace spire in order to display a message to rest of the Kabal. Don't test your luck in trying to escape either. We're not as nice as Archon Faelan and we're not easy to kill."

"I understand," Seiras nodded.

Without another word, Tullarias piloted the vehicle out of the foundry dock and accelerated at high speed. Flying on the ravager for the better part of an hour, Seiras took in the scenery of Commorragh with more detail now. He was finally starting to gain a better understanding of its bizarre architecture and twisted planes. He made note of a few areas where he saw massive ships coming and going and spent the better part of this time wondering how the Dark Eldar knew where to go.

To his fascination, he noticed the distant star on the horizon was moving. He focused his eyes on it and couldn't help but wonder again how it was possible. He doubted the incubi would tell him anything about it, but decided to ask them anyways, "How do you have a star in the webway?"

"There's several in Commorragh. They're used to illuminate the darkness in the main hub areas of the city, but their light barely goes below the spires. The most powerful noble families used to own them until Supreme Overlord Vect seized power here. They are moved by ancient stellar engines. Some even have planets and moons that they pull with them in here. The stellar engines that move them are able to nullify the gravity on these solar bodies as well. Only a select few within Commorragh know how they work. They existed before the Fall and were used widely by the Old Empire," Tullarias explained.

Seiras could barely believe that the incubus answered his question, 'I thought Faelan said they didn't talk much? He answered my question thoroughly without any snide nonsense too…that's strange.'

"I honestly didn't expect you to answer," Seiras said disbelievingly.

Tullarias scoffed at him, "I see no reason to withhold that information from you. Not to mention, you've earned some measure of my respect. Killing two succubi and a syren without armour or your own weapons is certainly no trivial feat. Inferior species or not, you're a real warrior. While I detest talking to most, I am not so petty as to ignore another warrior,"

"You're saying you approve of my successful kills in the arena?" he gawked at the Incubus disbelievingly.

"Yes," Tullarias replied.

The librarian shook his head, "Why though? You don't care that I killed those wyches?"

Before Tullarias could answer, Mairan did first, "That's actually why we approve. You won three unfair fights back to back. I would have loved to murder Nelfaera or Aelendriel myself…though watching them get defeated by a monkeigh was satisfying and extremely humiliating for them. If I were you, I would have completely vaporized the bodies so the haemonculus couldn't reanimate them. It's a shame they'll be alive again, but at least they'll suffer humiliation for it."

Seiras glanced at Mairan confused, "You hate the wyches?"

"Obviously…" the incubus said condescendingly in response.

"We all dislike them for one reason or another, but Mairan hates them the most," Tullarias interjected.

The librarian stared at the smaller incubus for a moment before responding, "Why? Do you have some personal vendetta against them?"

"Mind your own business and don't ask me personal questions. I am not interested in speaking with a monkeigh about this or anything in general," Mairan said dismissively.

"Forget I asked then. I was just curious," Seiras replied as he looked back onto the horizon.

A brief silence passed before Tullarias spoke again, "I'll tell you why I hate them. Wyches are cowards. They know nothing of honour and they celebrate false glory. They practically made you fight naked without any arms or armour while they had full battle gear. There's no glory to be had in beating down a handicapped opponent. They aren't real warriors…they're just annoying trueborn celebrities that overestimate their own importance in battle. I get no satisfaction in watching them slaughter slaves. I only enjoy the arenas when they slaughter each other."

"You incubi believe in honour? That seems strange considering you're Drukhari. I thought your entire society was built on deception." Seiras said surprised.

"It isn't honour in the way your imperium would understand it. We simply believe that a warrior should be properly tested against his enemy at their best. What glory or achievement is there in beating down weak slaves? The weak should be tortured, punished, and burned…but we should not celebrate our own superiority for performing such meticulous chores. It is no different than an adult boasting about beating a petulant child in a fight. It is a hollow and worthless accomplishment. A warrior is not truly a warrior unless he can defeat another warrior in battle," Tullarias explained in detail.

"So it's a philosophical difference? Is that why Mairan hates them too?" Seiras asked Tullarias directly.

The larger incubus sighed, "It's not my place to speak for Mairan. If she doesn't want to tell you, then I won't either."

"She? Mairan's female?" Seiras asked disbelievingly.

Turning her helmeted head in his direction, Mairan let out a hissing sigh, "Yes…"

"A female Incubus? I wasn't aware there were female Incubi. Why aren't you a wych or a kabalite? I thought incubi were exclusively male." Seiras wondered.

"There is no restriction between the sexes for our kind. If one has the ability and the proper pedigree, they can be whatever they want. As Archon Faelan told you earlier, even Male Succubi have arisen before. Nevertheless, beastmasters are typically male, high ranking wyches are almost always female, and Lhamaeyans are the only true unisex group…though they're very rare highborn courtesans," Tullarias commented factually.

"The reason I'm not a wych is because they are diva gladiators and celebrities. I'm not considered beautiful by my own kind, and I am not trueborn. This prevented my ability to join a wych cult. In my past I attempted to join and was rejected. I also don't like politics, and I didn't have any interest in being a no name kabalite. That severely limited my options in joining a Kabal too. I could have become a hellion or a reaver but I chose not to pursue those paths. The Incubi Shrine was the best remaining option for one such as me. They take in all who are brave enough, and every aspirant no matter who they are must earn their place or die trying. Pedigree means nothing to Khaine…only personal might! Obviously, I succeeded in becoming an incubus and I proved myself worthy. I was born again as a warrior of Khaine and I proudly wear the brand and the armour. That is why I am an incubus, monkeigh!" Mairan explained with venomous hatred.

'So much for them not talking much…' Seiras noted mentally.

Looking closely at Mairan's armour, he noticed it wasn't sexualized at all. One could easily mistake her for being male due to its slender, but neutral shape. However, now that he knew Mairan was female, he could distinctly identify her voice was higher pitched than most male Eldar.

Seiras looked confused, "So you're unattractive for an eldar then?"

"If one takes the opinions of wyches and trueborn ladies as evidence then yes. Though I don't really care enough to give it a second thought," the incubus replied.

"What do they say exactly?" Seiras questioned.

The incubus responded with annoyance, "Nothing that concerns you. Why do you keep asking us questions anyways?! We're not here to entertain you!"

Looking away and back into the distance, Seiras decided to drop the matter. He didn't want to distress the incubus anymore than he already had.

"The space marine seems unusually curious about us. That's strange considering what I know about them. I don't sense any agitation or stress from him either. His demeanor suggests that he's actually interested in what we're saying. What do you make of that, Mairan?" Tullarias asked the other incubus

She glanced back at him and sighed, "I don't know or care…the sooner we get this purge over with, the sooner we can be rid of his company!"

"We're stuck with him for a while, so we might as well learn about him while he's with us. This monkeigh is different from any that I've seen. Archon Faelan was correct in that he is uniquely knowledgeable on our kind. It's also not normal that a cur like Melisara likes him…aren't you even slightly curious as to why? It seems suspicious to me." Tullarias responded.

"So what? You want us to keep talking to him then? You're the reason he won't shut up now." she said with disgust.

"We might as well pass the time. Not to mention, he deserves some respect for killing the succubi the way he did. Or are you suggesting we ignore the warrior code?" Tullarias pointed out.

Mairan huffed at his comment before glancing at Seiras again. She addressed him in gothic, "Do you seriously want to know?"

Pretending not to hear her for a moment, Seiras glanced over after a brief delay, "Are you saying you're going to tell me?"

"The wyches who have seen my face before have ridiculed my appearance. Renfaeda even calls me 'Scarface' if that gives you any idea about their hollow opinions. The insults don't bother me, but their brazen disrespect does," Mairan said venomously.

"You should show him, Mairan," Tullarias suggested.

Sighing heavily, the smaller incubus reached for her helmet. Seiras could barely believe the situation as she actually removed it. The Incubus' hair flowed freely as the fearsome helmet came off. Mairan's hair was a two-tone mixture of silver and black. Most of it was pulled into a long hightail, but the rest flowed messily around her shoulders. She had hateful turquoise within black eyes and her skin was ghostly pale. Noticing the shape of her helmet, it now made perfect sense to him why Eldar helmets were shaped that way. It was so they could fit their hightail hair into it.

As he examined her face, he saw that literally half of it was covered in brutal looking battle scars. Seiras took a closer look at them as he stared for a moment. The entire left side of Mairan's face was scarred with massive claw wounds. They went from middle of her face all the way over the left side of her head. She also had a glowing tattoo similar to aspect warrior runes on her forehead. Only it was of Khaine's rune and not any particular path. Despite her scars, the right side of her face was relatively untouched except for a light scar on her cheek. The right side had a respectable aesthetic appeal that one could only expect from an Eldar, but it lacked the feminine allure that most of the wyches had. She was fortunate enough that the scars on the entire left side of her head didn't slash out an eye at all. Her face was somewhat gaunt and androgynous, but her eyes were very femininely shaped. She actually might have been attractive if she ever cared to fix herself.

'She's not ugly for an Eldar, but she doesn't look very feminine minus the eyes. I guess as an incubus she probably doesn't care about her appearance or wear makeup,' Seiras thought to himself as he stared briefly.

Seiras didn't react in any particular way as he acknowledged her appearance, "Nice scars. Where did you get them?"

"When I was a slave in lower Commorragh, I had to kill a mandrake with my bare hands. This is the result of my survival. The scars never went away despite my attempts to remove them. I could never afford the services of a haemonculus either. By the time I could, such things no longer mattered as I was an incubus and had no need to be pretty. The scars mark my past and show my strength. Superficial beauty means nothing to real warriors, but I rarely ever remove my helmet in the presence of wyches or arrogant nobility. Some cowards can't handle the sight of a true warrior," Mairan explained after noticing Seiras' examination.

'Why did she remove her helmet for me then? She seems to hate me,' Seiras thought curiously.

"You're better off as an incubus, I'd say. We Astartes don't care about scars either," he replied approvingly.

"Looking at the Hekatarii now, I don't see much interest in being one of those half-naked whores dancing around the battlefield with no armour like fools. Not one of them in their cult or this kabal are my equal in combat. They are nothing in the eyes of Khaine and I wish death upon them all. I'm only humoring this conversation with you because you murdered three of those worthless harlots for me. The code demands that I acknowledge you for that. Don't mistake my intentions for friendliness in showing you my face. I don't like you, and I would kill you without a second thought if I had to," Mairan said hatefully.

A brief silence passed as neither one really knew what to say afterward.

"You think you could beat Renfaeda in a fight?" Seiras asked her curiously.

Mairan nodded, "With preparation I could. I know her weaknesses. She also lacks honour and disrespects Khaine. Renfaeda doesn't deserve an honourable death. I would slaughter her in cold blood if the opportunity was given to me. I long for the day she tries to usurp Faelan. I'll carve her face off and wear it right after I hack her limbs apart and flay her skin. If I had a dick, I'd probably rape her to death while wearing her face as well."

'Just when I was starting to think these incubi weren't as insane or evil as the rest of the dark eldar here, she says that…' Seiras thought to himself as he tried not to visualize Mairan's description.

"So, you hate Renfaeda as well?" Seiras asked curiously.

"Would you like someone who insulted your appearance and mocked your beliefs every chance she got? Someone who also happened to be politically untouchable, famous, and insufferably arrogant?" Mairan countered.

Realizing how foolish his question sounded, Seiras decided to change the subject, "What's your opinion about Archon Faelan?"

"I am sworn to protect Faelan and I will until his death. I am thankful that he is not a coward like most archons, however. The story of his rise to power is known to our shrine. Did you know that he killed the former archon and his entire incubi host by himself? That's how he was able to afford 15 incubi from our shrine. He's a great warrior and we all respect him." Mairan stated factually.

'15? I thought were there were only 12 of them…' Seiras thought confused.

Tullarias spoke up again after her explanation, "Besting Renfaeda Aeshul in combat might be problematic, Mairan. She's almost as skilled as Lelith Hesperax according to the majority of arena critics. They had her ranked at number 2 or 3 last I saw. I wouldn't call her a great warrior, but she's undoubtedly just as lethal as Archon Faelan. They are twins after all."

"Who is Lelith Hesperax?" Seiras wondered.

"The most famous succubus in Commorragh. She was the leader of the Cult of Strife before leaving. I believe she left Commorragh to join the Ynnari," Tullarias said carelessly.

Seiras cocked his head in confusion, "Who are the Ynnari? I've heard that name a couple of times now."

"They're a multi-faction Eldar group that worships Ynnead, the god of the dead. Their high priestess is a former corsair and craftworlder exile from Biel-Tan named Yvraine. Vect has declared her an enemy of Commorragh, and all eldar that join the Ynnari are typically considered enemies. You can get the details later from Archon Faelan. I'm certain he will tell you more about them as the Kabal we're at war with is in an open alliance with the Ynnari. We'll likely be killing many of them in the not too distant future," he replied.

'Hopefully they stay at war with each other. Craftworlders and Dark Eldar joining forces doesn't sound like a very good thing for the Imperium,' Seiras thought concerned.

"A moment ago you two mentioned that Faelan had 15 incubi…I've only seen 12 of you. Perhaps I miscounted?" Seiras said slowly.

Tullarias nodded, "Some craftworld exarch slaves killed a few of us. The Striking Scorpion exarch killed two, and the banshee exarch Sorellia killed our last klaivex. You'll recall she was the one dancing for the archon when we arrived."

"I imagine that angered you greatly, yes?" Seiras asked carefully as he didn't want to alert them about his inside knowledge on what happened. For some reason, he was also curious about their opinion on Sorellia.

Mairan put her helmet back on a moment later and scoffed, "She claimed that she was a real warrior of Khaine and insulted our order. I wiped that smug pride right off of her pretty face as I bested her in melee combat. I am the klaivex now and she's no better than a common whore."

'Klaivex must be some higher-ranking incubus,' Seiras thought curiously.

"Where are these other exarchs? I haven't seen any craftworlders," Seiras pretended not to know as he asked curiously.

Tullarias shrugged, "One of the slave chambers. Melisara asked for them to be kept close. It might even be the one you were in. It doesn't really matter at this point. They're all broken and hopeless now…as well as boring. Besides, they're useless cowards without their armour."

"So Mairan's the leader of the incubi here?" Seiras asked.

"She's one of four klaivexes from our shrine and the newest one. I happen to be the other one currently in Faelan's service. Technically, I am her senior, but I don't outrank her. Our shrine is led by an incubus hierarch who trains new recruits. He is our actual leader if you disregard our contracts to the archon," Tullarias answered.

'So they're both like the incubus equivalents of a sergeant then and a hierarch is like a captain or a chapter master?' Seiras thought.

"I thought a hierarch was a Kabal rank though," the librarian said doubtfully.

"An incubus hierarch is similar to a craftworld exarch…though far deadlier and more prestigious. They lead shrines and battles and they train new recruits. A Kabal hierarch is a first among Dracons that acts as an Archon's second in command. The two ranks are rarely confused however as a Kabal hierarch's title comes after the name. You'll also rarely ever encounter an incubus hierarch in service to an archon," Tullarias elaborated calmly.

Looking over at Mairan again, Seiras changed the subject, "How common are female incubi? Are they as rare as male succubi?"

"Why are you still asking me stupid questions monkeigh?!" Mairan practically spat at him.

The librarian remained calm as he shook his head, "You don't have to answer then."

"Why do you care to know such things? What relevance does any of this have to you?!" Mairan asked him.

He shook his head as he focused his gaze on her again, "None at all, but I figure if I have to be in Commorragh indefinitely, then I might as well understand the culture, the politics, and the inhabitants."

An almost pained sigh escaped Mairan's mouth as she decided to answer, "They're more common than you might think. At least 1 in 10 Incubi in Commorragh are female. You typically won't be able to tell however since we wear real armour."

Seiras simply nodded at Mairan as he looked away. 'This is actually interesting information. Next time I'm at a Watch Station I should update our knowledge on Dark Eldar culture and ranks. It might be a good idea to catalogue this new Ynnari faction as well. Assuming I can even escape first…'

"Since we've answered your questions, space marine, I have one for you. How exactly do monkeigh create space marines?" Tullarias broke the awkward silence drawing Seiras from his thoughts.

"We're normal humans when we're young, but we go through genetic conditioning and years of training before undergoing surgeries and finally growing into a full Astartes," he answered honestly.

Tullarias seemed confused, "Why not do this to all of your kind then? Regular monkeigh are pathetic."

Seiras shook his head, "Not all people are compatible with the process. It has a high attrition rate. It also doesn't work on females."

"Why are you so curious about eldar? How do you know so much about our kind and better yet, why do you care to know so much?" Mairan demanded.

"As a Deathwatch space marine, my primary mission is killing dangerous aliens that normal Imperial forces can't handle. The more I know about them, the easier they are to kill," Seiras answered.

Mairan scoffed at him, "No…that's not what I'm talking about. There's more to it than that. You actually know about our culture as well as rank structures and religion. What exactly do you know about Khaine? You seem to be aware that only Incubi worship Khaine in Commorragh. That's not common knowledge for monkeigh, nor is it tactically relevant to know."

"I specialized in studying Eldar…that's why the Ordo Xenos recruited me into Deathwatch. I have a lot of experience killing craftworlders and dealing with their technology," Seiras answered with vague honesty.

"Tell us then, what do you know about Khaine?" Tullarias asked.

"Khaine is the God of War for the eldar race. From what I understand, the aspect warriors venerate him. I was under the impression most of the dark eldar were atheists except for incubi. If I may ask, why do you oppose craftworld eldar if you believe in the same gods?" the librarian countered.

Mairan looked away as a low sigh escaped her, "Those pretenders call upon Khaine out of desperation…not respect. They would suckle at Isha's tits and live under Asuryan's reign if they could. To be a true warrior of Khaine is to sacrifice the weak and to challenge the strong. It is to punish the deceivers like Vaul and Isha, and to smite the wickedness of Slaanesh. To know Khaine is to know murder, hatred, and vengeance. It is the euphoria and wrath one feels when destroying their enemies. Those pathetic aspect warriors know nothing of what it is to worship Khaine."

Tullarias nodded in agreement as he joined the conversation, "We also don't take them seriously because the cowards wear spirit stones in battle and most of them repress their real personalities to adopt the aspect of their particular shrine. Only exarchs and phoenix lords have truly become warriors of Khaine…and even still, it's not the wearer's real personality. They fuse with the former exarch's residual psychic consciousness within the armour, and when they die, the next exarch does the same with theirs. How can we respect that?"

"They call that being lost on the path, don't they? Why is that exactly?" Seiras asked.

"Craftworlders are different from us. They compartmentalize their minds and repress it into different personalities and identities depending on their different aspects. To become lost of the path of the warrior is to wholly accept that identity and no other. It consumes their very being and all former parts of their identity are lost forever," Tullarias explained.

"So what about that banshee exarch then? Why is she acting like that? And if she's a warrior of Khaine, why treat her that way?" Seiras trailed off.

"It's the rite of domination. She lost a fair fight and that means she has no right to dignity or respect anymore. Faelan also shattered her psyche by destroying her purpose, her pride, and her very identity. Without her armour, it was easy to separate her from the exarch identity. She's suffering some type of split personality between her warrior self and her real self. Despite what they think, exarchs can relapse from the Path of the Warrior. Sometimes she gets extremely violent and kills someone and other times she acts like the broken whore she's become. It's all rather pathetic." Mairan scoffed.

'So Faelan broke her aspect identity then? That would definitely explain her lack of restraint or pride. It makes me wonder what she'll be like if her exarch personality reverts back to its original state. Kalyra told me that exarchs fuse with the personality of the former exarch that wore their armour and that they're forever changed even when they're not in it. Still, Sorellia could possibly regain her senses if she got her armour back. Then again...do I want her in a position where she could take vengeance against me for what we did?' Seiras pondered briefly.

"So the archon caused her to relapse from the path of the warrior? How's that possible?" Seiras shook his head disbelievingly.

"Who knows, but that just goes to show how flawed the Craftworlders and their backwards lifestyles are. That kind of thing would never happen to us. I don't understand why you monkeigh call us dark eldar. We're the real eldar race. The Asuryani craftworlders are nothing like the primordial Aeldari…we're the last remnant of the ancient paragons. They're outcasts…the lowest tiers of old empire that fled before the fall. Our way is true and theirs is false. We prove it every time we break one of them." Mairan ranted.

'Was Faelan messing with me when he said they don't talk much? I mean I know I'm asking questions, but they're still answering me. Maybe they just don't speak much around him or the others? This is actually an interesting conversation though. I might actually be able to help Sorellia,' the librarian thought curiously.

"What makes craftworlders so different than the original eldar other than their minds being compartmentalized? They possess psychic powers like your ancestors did. Doesn't that make them more in tune with the ancients than your kind?" Seiras pointed out.

"There's a monkeigh word that best describes how we see them. To us, they are what humans might call nomadic hermits or gypsies," Tullarias interjected.

"I've never heard that word before…what exactly is a gypsy?" Seiras asked.

Tullarias shrugged, "From what I understand, it refers to an uncivilized wayward mystic or something like that. Asdrubael Vect once made the comparison and has taken to calling them that. He's very old and he knows a great deal about monkeigh history and culture. I believe he learned that word from an unkillable slave and found it to be an amusing insult to the craftworlders as its likeness is very accurate in describing them."

"Unkillable slave? What do you mean by that?!" the space marine shot back.

"It was a slave that would come back to life after being tortured or killed. Lelith Hesperax killed the monkeigh in an arena battle and Vect witnessed it. There might be arena footage of it somewhere back at the palace, but it's hardly a concern to us," Tullarias explained.

'How could someone come back to life on their own after being killed? I should investigate that if I get the chance,' Seiras thought concerned.

"Enough talking! The spire is dead ahead. Get on the dark lance, space marine," Mairan announced as she grabbed ahold of the front one.

"Get ready, we're going in." Tullarias announced with a stoic and chilling malice.

Khestri Spire, Ground Level

As the ravager flew lower towards an impressive looking spire, Seiras examined its defenses. It had towers lined with heavy anti-aircraft weapons and looked like a fortress. Many vehicles and ships were flying to and from the port as their ravager flew in approaching a dock.

A communication came over the ravager's speakers as Tullarias piloted closer towards their foundry, "Your ravager's identity codes are not coming up on our systems! Identify yourself and state your business or we'll blow you out of the sky!"

Tullarias immediately responded to the transmission, "Archon Faelan sends his regards."

Before the other eldar could even respond, Tullarias cut off the transmission. He then flew in closer towards the foundry when weapons fire began to open up on their ravager. Seiras was somewhat concerned with the enormous amount of firepower that was grazing past them on this nearly suicidal descent.

A couple of shots managed to hit them, but he was amazed to see a shield of some kind protect the ravager from direct ordinance. It looked suspiciously familiar to the type of shield that protected the archon's pavilion at the arena. This must have been new or rare dark eldar technology as he had never seen it previously in his life.

Mairan and Tullarias both seemed unusually calm and disciplined as they went to work doing their jobs. Tullarias avoided most of the anti-aircraft weapons as they came in closer to land. By this time, many other raiders, ravagers, and reavers were taking off to come after them. A few raven fighters and even a razorwing also flew around to shoot them from behind.

Mairan opened fire with the front dark lance cannon blowing apart incoming targets with remarkable precision and speed. As Tullarias banked right, she immediately moved towards the left cannon and effortlessly took out the pursuing ships with terrifying accuracy. Seiras wasted no time doing the same as he fired the right dark lance into flanking and rear enemies. Dozens of vehicles were easily blown out of the sky sending their riders free-falling to certain death.

The other ravagers and raiders weren't really any kind of challenge to theirs, but the encroaching razorwing and its raven escort all began to open fire. They flew tenaciously behind the ravager as their weapons began to make it through the shield.

Catching Seiras slightly off guard, Tullarias immediately hard reversed as he took cover between two of the ravens. The fighters could barely react to the maneuver as they got caught in the crossfire of anti-aircraft guns.

The more dangerous razorwing tried to ram them out of the sky, and almost succeeded until Tullarias reversed and banked left. Mairan, now at the front again, fired at the rear of the fighter into its engines. With half of its engines blown apart, the fighter could do nothing but spiral out of control and crash into the spire.

Eventually the anti-aircraft weapons were unable to hit their ravager as it reached the foundry's ground level. Swarms of other vehicles took this opportunity to surround and open fire on them. It's unique shields held as Tullarias piloted it in sweeping arcs while Seiras and Mairan shot down other vehicles and platforms.

Seiras focused primarily on blasting the pilots of these particular vehicles, which would cause them all to go crashing or flying away. As scourges began to land all around and focus fire with dark lance rifles, their shields were beginning to flicker.

"Close your eyes, monkeigh…even your helmet won't shield your eyes from this," Mairan announced as she threw a unique looking disk-shaped grenade off of the ravager.

Seiras did as he was told, and while his eyes were closed, he heard a devastating explosion that echoed all around them.

Once the explosion ended, Seiras opened his eyes to a blinding bright light. Mairan had apparently used some type of special flash bang grenade from what he could tell. Taking advantage of the blinded enemies surrounding them, the three of them began to easily wipe out dozens of vehicles and inhabitants in the foundry. By the time they recovered from the blinding light, most of them were dead.

Tullarias made sure to run over anyone he could as he did a few more loops around the port. Seiras and Mairan both used their dark lance cannons to blow apart any parked vehicles or unfortunate victims remaining during all the chaos. Several minutes passed as this slaughter continued, and before long everyone in the foundry was dead, and every vehicle was destroyed or disabled.

None of them said anything as Tullarias parked the ravager at the far end of the Foundry under some cover. He locked its systems down a moment later as the three warriors dismounted the heavy weapon platform. Moving with incredible haste and silence, Mairan and Tullarias began to run across the foundry bridge and towards the spire interior.

Seiras followed after them as fast as he could and was barely able to keep up. Nevertheless, as they all crossed the bridge, they killed a number of scourges and kabalites along the way. No words were spoken as the three of them silently and swiftly massacred their way into the spire's entrance. Seiras primarily used his bolter to blow apart warriors with single shots, but he saved ammo whenever he could as he cleaved enemies in half with the Nemesis Force Halberd. Its new upgrades were extremely evident as the weapon tore through anything its blade touched.

Fortifications were set up in many different areas during their endless advance, but a majority of the enemies tried to hide or flee the moment they saw the Incubi and Seiras. In a way, this reminded Seiras of the way he recently cleared out the rebels on Corun. Mairan and Tullarias were horrifically skilled at killing and while they weren't as fast as wyches, the two of them ripped through the other Drukhari with pathetic ease. From Seiras' point of view, watching incubi fight kabalites was like watching space marines fight PDF forces. Nothing the kabalites did could stop them. Their warsuits were no joke either by the looks of things. He witnessed Tullarias and Mairan take direct fire from blasters, splinter rifles, and shredders on more than one instance. None of these attacks barely seemed to faze them at all as the two of them swiftly carved apart the room's inhabitants. Those they didn't murder with their klaives were shot to death by the scorpion-tailed splinter guns on their tormentor helms.

'Their armour is the most impressive I've seen of any Dark Eldar. These two are like tanks compared to others in here,' Seiras thought briefly as the trio finished clearing out the entire entrance fortification of the spire.

A number of captured slaves that had recently been relocated to this spire were on the ground either shaking in fear or trying to hide. Mairan and Tullarias ignored them as they both continued without a word. Seiras followed behind the two incubi as they all continued an endless slaughter during their long ascent through the spire.

Thousands of dark eldar died in their tireless advance through the Khestri spire. Many of them were now trueborn judging by the looks of their armour and weapons. Seiras quickly figured that the trueborn defending the Khestri family must have been vassal families to their main family. There were tiers upon tiers of nobility it seemed.

He was somewhat surprised that none of these enemies even tried to flee during their ascent. They were likely too proud to abandon their home and figured three enemies couldn't kill them all. How wrong they were…

A great number of them expressed absolute fear and shock from the incubi and complete terror from Seiras himself. The librarian was much deadlier in his power armour and nigh unstoppable in it against the unsuspecting nobles.

Many begged for mercy when it became apparent that their resistance was futile. Unfortunately for them, they were slaughtered without a second thought. After what felt like half a day, the three blood-soaked warriors reached the very top floor of the Khestri spire.

Coming around its ornately grotesque staircase to the penthouse estate, Mairan blocked Seiras from charging forward, "Wait, monkeigh! There's more traps."

"What do they have set up? Are these like the last few?" Seiras asked her as he looked down at the incubus.

Tullarias briefly peered over the staircase and looked around the room, "It's not like the crude traps we've avoided up until now. They have that hallway rigged to explode with dark matter and three sides of high ground cover right past it."

"What do you suppose we do then?" Seiras asked.

"Tullarias, go get some of those slaves we passed earlier. Throw one down there to activate the trap. We'll charge through once it's been discharged," Mairan suggested.

Tullarias wasted no time disappearing to retrieve an unfortunate victim. This was the first time since they got to the spire that Seiras had stood still.

He glanced at Mairan and addressed her during their brief moment of unmoving silence, "Do you think any of the nobles escaped? There's more than one way up and down this spire from what I've seen.

"I'm certain some did, but I don't really care about the minor nobles. The Khestri family would never abandon their spire lest they surrender their political power in Commorragh and within the Kabal. They are all bunkered down on this top floor. If there are survivors back down there, they will ensure that word is spread of Faelan's retribution against these traitors," Mairan stated.

Seiras nodded at her explanation as he stared at the trap filled corridor up ahead, 'They could have easily let me run into that trap and draw fire for them. Strange that they didn't do that. Maybe these incubi actually are honourable.'

"Why didn't you just let me run into the trap?" Seiras decided to ask Mairan.

She turned her head at him and said nothing. An awkward silence followed as Mairan turned away without answering him for a moment.

"Faelan wants you alive. Plus, it would be waste to sacrifice you when we could just as easily throw a slave down there. You've proven useful up until now and I see no reason to discard you," Mairan finally spoke.

Before Seiras could respond, he heard Tullarias coming up the stairs again. He had two human slaves he was guiding upstairs. They looked completely terrified and were begging for mercy as his Klaive lightly nudged them all the way up the stairs.

"Forward now…" Tullarias said darkly to them. They both trembled fearfully as they collapsed on the ground crying pathetically. Both were women and relatively young by the looks of it.

One looked at Seiras as if expecting him to help as she cried, "Angel, please help us!"

"I'm not an angel," Seiras said coldly.

"Emperor, no!" one of the women cried as Tullarias picked her up off the ground and pushed her forward.

He spoke with heartless anger, "Keep moving or I'll skin you alive!"

She slowly walked down the hallway as Tullarias shot his tormentor helm's splinter gun at her feet causing her to shriek and move faster. The other woman still lying on the ground screamed in terror when she saw the other woman's body get ripped apart from the hallway's dark matter traps.

As the dark matter discharged, it practically destroyed half the hallway as well.

"Make sure there are no more traps," Tullarias said heartlessly to other human woman as he lifted her up and pushed her in the same direction.

She screamed in horror as she tried to hold onto him, "No, masters! PLEASE! I swear I'll do anything! Please No! NOOO!"

Mairan quickly peeled the woman off of Tullarias and practically tossed her halfway down the hallway. No traps were triggered, but the woman was wailing in absolute terror as she remained on the ground refusing to move.

"She won't move…just throw her all the way down," Tullarias sighed in annoyance.

"Throw her down the hallway space marine. There might be a second set of traps in the open chamber up ahead," Mairan instructed Seiras.

The librarian nodded as he walked over towards the woman who was begging for her life in incoherent pleas. "Emperor, please! I've always been faithful! I don't deserve this!" the woman cried out to nobody in particular.

Her terror amplified even more as Seiras picked her up off the ground. She clutched onto him as tightly as possible, "NO! NO! NO! I'll do anything! ANYTHING! Angel, don't do this to me!"

Seiras felt a wave of guilt wash over him as he looked at the woman's eyes. She was suffering from pure despair. "Emperor curse you, false angel!" she finally gained some resolve when it became apparent that she was going to die.

Without a second thought, Seiras tossed her all the way down the hallway. She struck the ground violently as her body went sliding into the open area ahead. No traps triggered much to Seiras' surprise.

"It looks clear, let's continue," Tullarias said carelessly.

"That room up ahead has three points of cover with high ground. We should split up in order to draw away their fire. We'll rush the two side stairwells first, you follow afterwards," Mairan commanded Seiras as she and Tullarias took point.

The trio continued down the hallway and into the next room. Both incubi charged up adjacent staircases as the moved to sweep aside fortifications. As Seiras ran in, a large amount of firepower opened up on him.

He tanked his way through it as he unloaded his storm bolter into a swathe of bunched enemies. Their ornate spire's architecture offered little cover against his weapons as Seiras easily slaughtered many of them.

"False angel! False angel! False angel!" the woman Seiras tossed down the hallway earlier was still alive and repeating those words.

Seiras ignored her as he moved up the stairs himself. He briefly looked around for Mairan and Tullarias. Both were slaughtering the remnants of the enemies' last defenses. He caught sight of Tullarias catching a scourge and ripping her wings off as he brutally hacked her apart.

Mairan was busy going after the Khestri family themselves. As the two of them forced the surviving enemies further into a corner overlooking the spire's balcony, Seiras caught sight of a figure slipping past them stealthily.

Deciding to go after it, he quickly pursued the fleeing individual through a number of rooms towards an opposite chamber of the top floor. He finally caught the individual upon blowing a doorway in front of them down and cornering them.

He already knew it was an eldar judging by how fast they were able to move. As he examined the individual, he realized it was a Drukhari female noble. She looked somewhat young, though it was impossible to really tell with dark eldar.

"Wait, please don't kill me space marine. I can help you if you help me. Let me speak," she practically whispered as she looked at Seiras desperately.

Deciding to humor her briefly, he tilted his head, "Who are you?"

"Shiralyn Khestri…my father is the duke of this spire. I know you're here to kill us all, but please listen to me. I have a ship near my personal quarters. Help me escape and I'll make it worth your while," she suggested fearfully as she looked past him hoping the incubi weren't nearby.

"You have nothing I want," Seiras said carelessly.

"I can help you escape Commorragh. Please, just come with me to my family's ship. We can fly out of here together," she whispered softly.

Seiras looked at her doubtfully, "Assuming I could trust someone as desperate as you, where would we go?"

"To join the Ynnari or some corsairs. They're not enemies of your Imperium, and they could help us both. Wherever it is, I sure as hell don't want to be stuck here. If you come with me, I can get you back to your own kind and I don't have to die. C'mon, let's get out of here. I swear I'll set you free if you help me escape. We don't have much time." she practically begged.

Her offer was very tempting. Had he not been aware of the Ferrus Manus clone in Melisara's lab, Seiras likely would have taken her offer without a second thought. She seemed desperate enough for this offer to be true as well.

"No…" Seiras responded to her, "that's not going to happen."

"Are you daft?! I'm offering to get you out of Commorragh if you help me! Do you have any idea how impossible it is for a monkeigh to get out of the webway? C'mon, I know some corsairs we can escape with!" she tried to reinforce her point.

Before Seiras could say another word, he heard Mairan's voice from behind, "Is she trying to bribe you with freedom?"

Glancing back at her, Seiras noticed Mairan standing at the doorway behind him. She laughed almost evilly, "Good job catching the runaway."

"I'll give you whatever you want! Kill her and escape with me! You won't ever get another chance like this!" Shiralyn pleaded.

Seiras shook his head, "I don't think so."

Seeing she had no other choice, Shiralyn immediately tried to bolt past the two of them as she narrowly passed by Seiras. The librarian turned around swiftly and was shocked that she even managed to juke past Mairan.

Her escape was short lived as Tullarias tripped her a moment later further down the corridor. Seiras and Mairan quickly pursued and could hear her screaming protests as Tullarias held her by her long lavender hair.

"I was wondering where his daughter was," Tullarias said with a light chuckle as he stomped on Shiralyn's foot causing her to scream in pain.

"Did you kill the rest of them already?" Mairan asked him.

He nodded, "They're all dead. Let's gather up the heads. Put them on a rack for the space marine carry out of here."

"Are you going to finish her off?" Mairan asked Tullarias as Shiralyn pathetically writhed in his grip.

"Faelan might want her…let's bring her back alive," Tullarias suggested as he dragged the screaming noble back towards the staircase.

She attempted to pull out a dagger and cut her own hair out of his grip but failed when Mairan grabbed her arm. The incubus easily ripped the dagger out of her grip and tossed it as far as possible.

"I don't want this annoying bitch to keep trying to escape. Can we just kill her?!" Mairan protested.

"Chain her to him. She won't be able to do anything then," Tullarias instructed casually.

As they dragged Shiralyn back to the scene of her butchered family's corpses, Mairan immediately picked up a slave collar and chain from a nearby dead slave girl. She wasted no time putting it on the surviving noble's neck before chaining her arms and collar to Seiras' armour.

"Try running away now you stupid bitch," Mairan said hatefully in her own language to the surviving noble.

"Why's a space marine working for the archon?!" she demanded.

Tullarias and Mairan ignored her question as they went about collecting heads from the dead nobles around the top floor. The larger incubus put them all on a spiked trophy rack before attaching it to Seiras' power armour next to the Kabal banner. Mairan held up the head of Shiralyn's father to her while this was happening, "You want to carry your father's head?"

A moment later, tears fell down her face as the lavender haired noble looked away with grief-stricken eyes. Seiras was somewhat surprised to see Shiralyn actually crying at the sight of her dead family. Part of him was bewildered by the sight of a dark eldar mourning the death of anyone. 'She actually cared about her family. Strange considering she was quick to abandon them and save herself.'

"You'll pay for this…maybe not by my hand, but you will answer for this crime!" she shouted.

"And you will answer for your crimes in conspiring against the archon," Mairan countered with calm hatred.

Shiralyn went silent as she felt despair overwhelming her. She could only watch sadly as Mairan and Tullarias finished mounting heads on the new trophy rack Seiras had strapped to his back. The heads that didn't fit on Seiras' armour were all individually hung with chains from Mairan and Tullarias' back-spike armour racks.

"That's all of them. 14 heads minus hers," Tullarias said in gothic as he and Mairan began to descend the stairs. Upon reaching the bottom, they saw the same human woman from before incoherently crying. She spat at Seiras again upon seeing him, "You disgrace the emperor, false angel! FALSE ANGEL!"

To Mairan and Tullarias' complete shock, Seiras shot her with his storm bolter a moment later. They both turned back and looked at him briefly.

"I'm glad you shut her up, because I was about to," Mairan said approvingly.

Shiralyn was completely silent now as she was forced to follow Seiras. Her arms and neck were all chained together and attached to a long chain from Seiras' waist. She followed about a meter or so behind him in curious silence as she examined the way he and the incubi interacted.

"Why didn't you accept her offer, space marine?" Mairan asked Seiras with curiosity in her voice.

"What offer?" Tullarias interjected.

"She offered to free him if he helped her escape. He refused," Mairan explained.

Tullarias tilted his head in surprise at Seiras, "That's strange. I would have taken that offer in your position, monkeigh."

"Your kind are notorious for deception. I had no reason to trust her. Besides, you already threatened me if I tried to escape," Seiras said shaking his head.

"Faelan will appreciate your loyalty. You were wise to ignore this spoiled brat's offer. She couldn't even defend her own family. How could she have helped you?" Mairan noted.

"Let's get out of here," Tullarias said coolly as the four of them took the long descent back down. After a few hours of backtracking, they were finally on the ground level of the top spire.

Exiting outside and crossing the bridge back to the foundry, Seiras took this opportunity to look down over the edges. The spire kept going down a considerable distance, and he couldn't help but wonder how many kilometers tall this spire actually was. The part that they cleared only seemed to be the top third of it by his estimate.

They wasted no time reaching the ravager in the foundry again. Seiras was actually confused as to why nobody tried to destroy it or set up any kind of ambush on their escape. He quickly figured none of the survivors cared enough to be involved anymore.

As they got onto the ravager, they each took their former positions. Shiralyn sat down behind Seiras and in front of Tullarias as the ravager began to fly away.

She had a hopeless and distant expression on her face as she looked onto the horizon. Seiras couldn't even begin to fathom what horrible fate awaited her, and honestly didn't want to think about it.

Commorragh, Palace Spire Foundry

The entire flight back was spent in absolute silence. Not one of them spoke a single word during the return and it was starting to become uncomfortably awkward for Seiras. He dismissed his discomfort as he kept a disciplined focus. He spent the majority of the flight back deep in thought as he reflected over the possibility of having to help this Kabal fight another one.

He also wondered a lot about the Ynnari. He found Shiralyn's words about them very interesting, 'They're not enemies of the Imperium? Why though?'

"This is Ravager 1…requesting permission to land," Tullarias spoke into a transmission.

"Ravager 1 confirmed. You're clear to dock," a voice responded.

As their ravager flew towards the foundry, Seiras took this opportunity to look at the nearby ships docked all around the foundry. There was a number of cruisers near the foundry that were suspended in the air next to the spire. He wondered which one would be easiest to commandeer, but felt a bit of concern when he noticed a larger battleship was docked above the other ships at the foundry.

'It might be a good idea to steal a smaller ship so we can outmaneuver and outfly that behemoth. One of those frigates might work. I'll need to do some more research before committing to one though,' Seiras thought as he examined the archon's flagship and several other nearby vessels.

After landing in the foundry's hanger dock, Seiras and the two Incubi all dismounted the ravager. The librarian silently followed behind Tullarias and Mairan and couldn't help but wonder where they were going to next.

Upon seeing their return, many kabalites, scourges, and other inhabitants in the foundry all turned to stare and gawk at them with shock. The ones that weren't wearing helmets had looks of disbelief plastered on their faces.

They all parted for the three warriors and their captive as they returned to the palace. Along the way, Seiras could hear many of them whispering or talking blatantly about the sight of the Khestri family's heads decorating their armour.

Many seemed particular horrified that Seiras was also involved in this. As they passed into the palace and headed up towards Faelan's throneroom, they passed by many nobles and other individuals who all appeared to be heading upstairs as well. Many actually gasped when they saw the heads on all of their armomur

As they nearly reached Faelan's throneroom, a nearby kabalite addressed them, "Incubi, Archon Faelan is in the war council with the noble court and the Kabal leaders. He asked me to bring you there if you returned before he was finished."

Tullarias nodded as he, Mairan, and Seiras all followed the kabalite into an adjacent chamber further away.

Upon reaching it, Seiras could hear a great number of pompous sounding eldar arguing about something. The guards standing outside of the court chamber didn't even bother stopping the incubi when they saw them but turned their heads blatantly when they saw Seiras pass by with Shiralyn chained to him.

As they entered the noble court, Seiras could see a number of lavishly dressed Drukhari nobles sitting around in an amphitheater like chamber.

Faelan was standing on some type of stage addressing them all as he paced aggressively, "And I expect each of you to supply these kabalites! If your houses intend on remaining in the graces of MY Kabal, then you will pay your dues! Is that understood?!"

"Archon Faelan, a word if you will!" One noble interrupted, "What guarantee do we have that your Kabal is even a match for Velatha's Kabal of the Bladed Sun? It is no secret to anyone that she has the support of Lady Aurelia Malys. Why should we continue paying your Kabal when there's no guarantee of our own superiority? If Lady Malys deploys her Poisoned Tongue Kabal to help them, we'll be-"

"We'll be killing twice as many enemies! I will not tolerate such blatantly fickle support from you sniveling curs! Lord Vect has already promised me the aid of his Black Heart Kabal should Lady Malys deploy her Kabal. I suggest you all grow a spine and act worthy of your positions!" Faelan growled.

It didn't take long for everyone's gaze to turn upon the new arrivals as they approached Faelan in front of the noble court. Many of them looked petrified when they saw the heads decorating the warriors' armour.

"Is that…the Khestri family?! Lady Shiralyn Khestri as well?!" One noble announced with disbelief.

Faelan actually smiled cruelly as he motioned for them to flank him, "I wasn't expecting you back so soon."

"The space marine's aid cut the purge's time in half. He's very good at killing in close quarters," Mairan stated factually.

"Purge?! You had the Khestri family purged?!" Someone protested angrily.

"That would explain why they were absent from this meeting…" another added.

Faelan began to laugh at their disbelief and nodded proudly, "I certainly did. These traitors were selling our secrets to the Bladed Sun Kabal. Did you honestly expect me to turn a blind eye to traitors?! Nothing escapes my vigilance!"

"You sent a space marine to kill them?!" someone gawked in horror.

The archon nodded, "I certainly did. The next time any of you even dream about conspiring against me, I'll send him to rape your whole damned family. You're all dismissed for now! I have a prisoner to interrogate!"

Faelan waved away the nobles causing many of them to disperse from the room. Some moved with a bit more haste than others, but a noticeable few lingered back to eavesdrop on what was going on. The archon's other 10 incubi were stationed all around the room, but they were all staring at Seiras. Part of him wondered why, but he guessed it might have been because Mairan said he was useful.

After all of the nobles were gone, Faelan chuckled approvingly at Tullarias and Mairan, "Great timing by the way. I couldn't have even planned something that perfect. I see you brought Shiralyn back with you. Did you want to keep her?"

"Mairan was going to kill her, but I believed you might want her for interrogation and as a pet," Tullarias answered.

"The space marine cornered her when she tried to escape. When I followed behind, I heard her try to bribe him. She wanted his help to escape in exchange for his freedom. He refused, surprisingly," Mairan added.

"Really now? That's interesting that he would do that," Faelan grinned.

Shiralyn looked at Faelan fearfully, "Forgive me, Archon Faelan…please! I never supported my father's actions. Most of us had no choice but to follow him. I never wanted to betray the Kabal! I warned my family! I warned all of them not to cross you or Lord Vect! It breaks my heart that they had to die for this."

Faelan looked unconvinced, "Oh I'm certain you're an innocent victim in all of this my dear. Still, if you'd like to prove your loyalty to me, then why don't you tell me what Velatha is planning hmm?"

"I don't know, archon! I swear by all the muses and the gods that I have no idea what they're planning!" she said fearfully.

"Where did you intend on going then if you escaped with Seiras?" he asked her coyly.

"To join a corsair fleet or somewhere away from Commorragh," the noble lied.

"Is this true, Mairan?" the archon asked.

Mairan nodded, "I only heard half the conversation, but she mentioned knowing corsairs that could help them escape if he agreed. He didn't."

Faelan glanced over at Seiras now and spoke to him in gothic, "Seiras, I have a question. Did this Khestri girl mention the Ynnari to you?"

"No, she only spoke of escaping Commorragh with a corsair fleet if I helped her," Seiras lied.

Shiralyn eyed him with subtlety and was no doubt shocked that Seiras lied to the archon. She didn't overreact however in order to subvert suspicion.

"Really? Hmm…well I suppose you have no reason to lie about it since you did refuse her offer," Faelan noted.

Shiralyn avoided staring at Seiras as she kept her head down. Part of her couldn't believe the situation as she thought about it for a minute, 'He just lied to cover my lie. Why would he do that if he refused to even escape with me to begin with? Better yet, how did he know to say that? It couldn't have been coincidental that he told them the exact same thing I did. There's no way he could have known to cover me unless he…unless he knew what we were saying! He can understand us! That's the only explanation! No way…a monkeigh learned our language?! Maybe I'm overreacting...but I should definitely try to confirm this.'

"Very well…I'll assume this was all a terrible misunderstanding then. In light of recent events and the death of your family, you have my apologies Lady Shiralyn Khestri. I'll grant you a chance to reaffirm your loyalty to the Kabal. You're the new head of the Khestri family. You're free to move about the palace, but I will be holding you here as a highborn hostage until you have wholly earned my forgiveness. Are those acceptable terms my dear?" Faelan asked.

Shiralyn bowed lowed, "Yes, Archon Faelan! I am your humble servant my lord Aeshul!"

"Good, set her free then," Faelan instructed his incubi. Mairan and Tullarias both seemed a bit disappointed at the turn of events as the unchained her from Seiras.

Seiras could tell that Mairan was pissed about the situation, but she and Tullarias maintained their stoic discipline as they didn't say anything.

After she was freed, Faelan tilted his head at her, "I'm glad you could see reason my lady. A face as beautiful as yours shouldn't be desecrated without good cause. When we reconvene with the court later, I would like you to address them. Come, let us discuss politics."

"Of course, my lord!" she said eagerly as she began to follow Faelan.

"Excellent work, Seiras. We'll speak again later. I have business to deal with for a while. Mairan, Tullarias…please escort him back to Melisara's lab," Faelan ordered as he exited the room with Shiralyn. The other 10 incubi passed by Tullarias and Mairan as they followed Faelan out of the room. They each gave light nods as they departed. Behind them, Seiras spotted Meela again.

He made eye contact with the weird red-headed pariah girl. She was extremely unnerving at this proximity. She had no discernable emotion on her face for a moment as she stopped and stared at him. It was hard to describe how he saw her. Meela looked like a regular woman from some angles and a lifeless mannequin doll with the complexion of flesh from another. Creepy couldn't even begin to describe the spine-tingling unease Seiras felt as the redheaded woman got even closer. She then smiled before making a few gestures with her hands. Seiras immediately recognized it as Astartes sign language.

(They all like you, and so do I.) she told him in sign language.

(How do you know Astartes sign language?) he gestured back.

(Not now, talk later. Be seeing you.) she answered back before swiftly following the other incubi out of the room with Faelan.

Mairan and Tullarias found the exchange interesting and curious, but they didn't say anything about it as they both began to mount Khestri heads all around the room. Tullarias removed the trophy rack from Seiras' back as he mounted it on the court stage. Upon finishing this task, both incubi didn't say a word as they began to walk out of the chamber. Seiras took his cue to follow them and didn't bother looking back.

'Shiralyn Khestri might make a good guide out of Commorragh during our escape. If she's sympathetic to these Ynnari, then she might be accepting of the craftworlders I'm escaping with. Also, Meela knows Astartes sign language? That's unusual. I wonder who 'they' were that she was referring to?' Seiras thought to himself.

As they walked back to Melisara's lab, Mairan finally broke the awkward silence and glanced at Tullarias annoyed, "We should have butchered that little brat when we had the chance. You let her live just because you wanted to rape her."

"I didn't really think she was as attractive as the rumors said she was. Plus she's weak…no sport in taking her. I would have gladly killed her had I known this would happen," Tullarias shook his head.

Neither incubus said another word, as the three continued their walk in silence.

Melisara's Lab

Upon returning to the haemonculus' horrific lab, Mairan and Tullarias both stopped at the entrance.

"We'll be seeing you, space marine," Mairan spoke as she and Tullarias both turned to leave.

Seiras was surprised that they would leave him unattended, but quickly figured that they didn't want to deal with Melisara again. Not to mention, they likely trusted him somewhat more now after his refusal to escape with Shiralyn. Walking into Melisara's lab unattended was somewhat unnerving and strange for him as he looked around uncertainly.

One of the wracks quickly noticed his arrival and addressed him, "Monkeigh, Melisara is speaking with guests at the moment. Follow me."

Following the wrack in silence, Seiras took this opportunity to remove his helmet.

As they came around a corner, Seiras spotted five armoured individuals speaking to Melisara. The one in the middle looked extremely familiar and spoke with a voice that he swore he knew, "We brought these necrons specimens like you asked, Melisara. I must say it was a torturously boring excursion, so I hope it was worth it."

"Thank you very much, Tahril! I knew I could count on you to help me with my research projects. As agreed, here is the serum you requested, and I'll have my wracks deliver the rest of your…payment to your personal ship," Melisara replied courteously.

"Always a pleasure my lady. I do hope to see you return to the Kabal of the Black Heart one day soon," Tahril waved at her.

"Say hello to Vect for me. Tell him he's overdue for a visit," Melisara chuckled as Tahril turned around. It was only then that Seiras realized he was an archon and that the four individuals with him were incubi.

Upon spotting Seiras, Tahril's eyes widened in alarm, "A space marine?!"

His four incubi immediately got into fighting stances but remained calm as Seiras didn't move. Tahril examined Seiras briefly as he looked at his armour and face.

"Ah, welcome back, Seiras. How did your purge go?" Melisara asked him wickedly.

"It went well, but we brought back Duke Khestri's daughter alive," Seiras answered.

Tahril's eyes trailed up to the banner on Seiras' power pack and couldn't help but laugh at it, "Ahaha! Faelan has a pet space marine?!"

"Oh yes indeed. The wyches here captured him. He's a Deathwatch space marine. His name is Seiras." Melisara explained.

"He's a Blood Raven librarian. He looks familiar to me," Tahril noted.

Both the librarian and the haemonculus were caught off guard by Tahril's comment.

"You know him?!" Melisara perked up with a grin.

"Kaurava II…we were raiding Tau when we encountered these Blood Ravens. That one right there killed a lot of wyches if I recall correctly. He was one of their leaders. Though he wore blue armour back then," Tahril answered.

Seiras could barely fathom the possibility that Archon Tahril recognized him.

"Awfully dangerous bringing a psyker into Commorragh. A librarian even more so," Tahril noted.

"I built a psionic limiter collar for him and I plugged an agony circuit into his black carapace. He's harmless to us," Melisara said casually as she pressed the trigger switch causing Seiras' collar to activate.

He was thankful his helmet at psychic hood were unplugged as he growled in pain for a few moments. Tahril laughed at the display, "That's interesting. You should send me the blueprints for those. I want a few in case I ever capture space marines alive."

"I would be more than happy to accommodate you with some, Tahril," Melisara beamed as she handed him some type of datapad.

"I should be on my way, but I'll be seeing you, Melisara," Tahril said politely as he departed.

"Likewise dear Tahril," Melisara responded as the black haired archon left her lab.

Seiras eyed Melisara uncertainly, "What was that all about?"

"I had Tahril get some necrodermis for me. Soon, I'll be ready to perfect Ferrus Manus," Melisara cackled wickedly for a moment.

"Am I going to have to fight in this Kabal war, Melisara?" Seiras asked her anxiously.

She nodded, "Without a doubt. That's been boiling over for a while now and it's about to spill across Commorragh. But don't let that bother you. War is what you're built for my dear! Now since we're both here alone and I have some free time, I'd love to give you a full tour of my lab!"

"Of course, Melisara…" Seiras agreed.

They barely made it several meters around the corner before Seiras heard a voice, "Melisara, can I please speak with you?! I wanted to ask about those body enhancements and…"

The voice belonged to none other than Aelendriel. The blue and purple haired succubus froze up when she saw Seiras in his full armour with the Kabal banner on it.

"Y-you're alive?! Is this some kind of joke?!" She gawked.

'They didn't tell her they resurrected me? Well this ought to be interesting.' Seiras sighed mentally.