Blood Strike

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The Epistolary watched in utter silence as the entire first company of the Knights of Blood teleported down to the planet surface. Their polished chrome armor sparkled in the sun's bright rays. Sam held up the war horn and trumpeted. There came a new darkness as searing beams of energy cut down through the morning sky striking against the fortress. It's shields held at first then there came the second wave of the orbital strike. One of the high towers burst apart crashing to the earth. The terminators all ranked up converging into a giant muster then surged forward towards the enemy.

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The Warlord Kane rose from his brass stone stepping upon the litter of broken skulls scattered about the floor. His armor was polished, the bright blood red greaves shone under the torchlight. "Open the stables and prepare my mount! It is time to show these silly fools who are the true Knights of Blood!" The Warlord bent down grasping a skull. "All their heads will be fastened to these inner walls. We will show them the folly of their ways!"

 

The Sorcerer Woden stepped out from the shadows and spoke. "The renegade chapter caught us by surprise using the electromagnetic interference from the first party's arrival to mask their entry into geosynchronous orbit around our world. Our numbers are still much greater than that of the enemy. Let them come to us and they will break like waves against high shoals. That is my advice."

 

"Never!" shouted Kane. "We will meet them on the battlefield and break them with our bare hands!" The Warlord grimaced as fastened his plate armor to his broad chest.

 

"So be it." replied Woden. "May the battle be fast."

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The albino looked at Brother Mercury then lifted his left arm holding out the gauntlet. Sam then took his other hand and removed the chrome plated gauntlet. A huge ring was on each finger and they were studded with bright gems. The Captain removed one ring that had been crafted as a serpent with a pair of tiny diamonds for it's eyes. Sam extended the ring to the Epistolary.

 

"Sam is offering you one of his rings of power. His esteem for you is high my friend. All the rings date back back prior to the heresy and were crafted during the dark age of technology. They are digital weapons bearing great power." said Ardwin in his rocky voice.

 

Brother Mercury removed his left gauntlet then took the ring and placed it on his ring finger. Immediately the silvery serpent twisted about constricting tightly. The head of the snake opened it's tiny mouth revealing a pair of sharp fangs. It bit into the thick skin pricking the surface. The Blood Saint felt faint for a moment then the mechanical snake released it's grip.

 

"It's sampling your helix to adjust itself to it's new owner. You can channel your etheric powers through the ring and it will act as an amplifier. Do not be alarmed." said Ardwin in his rough voice. It almost sounded as if he had laughed.

 

Brother Mercury pulled the gauntlet back on and gripped his left hand into a fist. He could feel the minute scales of the serpent slithering about on his ring finger and it felt eerie. "Thank you for this gift." replied the Blood Saint. "It is an honor."

 

"We are all brothers now." said Ardwin. The coils of the tiny serpent intertwine our fates together."

[Taranis]

Still a very good story, still going strong. My guess is that soon somebody will get more than their feelings hurt!

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Yep it's going to get very bloody from here on out. Lots of pain. Lots of pain indeed. :)

 

G :P

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The eldar warrior pulled on the Void Walker's shoulder as they marched in stealth towards the rear side of the castle. "I have to leave you now my friend. I was constructed to fight alone and that is my nature. If you need me just call my name and I will be right back at your side. You freed me from an eternity of dismal snuff. You are right as can be." The Solitaire then leapt away leaving the Chaplain behind in a sudden blur. Explosions lit up the night sky as the orbital strikes continued to rain down upon the hardened fortress. Huge chunks of debris filled the air blotting out the blackness. The Solitaire ran on through the void and came upon the outer rampants. Drachenfel pulled loose his sharp blades bounding up into the night. Silently the warrior landed using his hooks to grasp the rungs of a broken ladder. One hook over another he quickly lifted himself towards the top. "This is almost too easy." he thought to himself then suddenly froze. "Don't make that mistake again you old fool!" he warned himself. The Solitaire waited a moment for the shaking to subside then began to climb again.

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"Mars Volta!" came the voice of a Knights of Blood. "Mars Volta!"

 

Smoke and haze filled the air. The sound of bolter fire was nearby. Kraxxas the aspiring champion lead his squad of veterans through the burning rubble. They had polished their armor and painted on a new coat of deep blood red. The head of the Juggernaught that was their warband's symbol seems to gnash it's fangs. Kraxxas jammed another sickle full of ammo into his combi bolter and pulled his power axe loose. The champion thumbed the activation rune and felt the daemon bound inside the weapon screaming with both hunger and rage. Kraxxas summoned his daemonic visage and peered into the conflagration. The hazy outline of another squad broke through the burning ash that filled the air.

 

"Mars Volta!" cried the champion leading them.

 

Kraxxas could see their blood red armor as they marched forward. They held their bolters at their hips. "Mars Volta!" finally shouted Kraxxas in return holding up an open gauntlet in the sign of Khorne. The other champion also made the sign. There was only a few meters separating them now. Kraxxas looked very closely realizing suddenly that the other squad looked like a mirror image of his own. "Open fire!" commanded Kraxxas but the mirror unit fired first. At such close range the bolter rockets pierced the red armor exploding on impact and blowing huge chunks of visceral out their backsides. Kraxxas leapt aside using his daemonically enhanced reflexes to avoid the brunt of the salvo while his squad burst apart like over ripened fruit. Again the champion looked at the other unit... Slowly the enemy transformed morphing into a squad of terminators wearing chrome plated armor. "We are all but completely impervious to psychic attacks!" shouted the champion in anger.

 

Mercury soared in lopping off his head with a swift blow from his force axe. "It was an optical illusion you fool."

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- bumpity bump bump -

 

:P

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Sam the albino stepped to the front of the squad. He held up his empty gauntlets above his head raising his palms to the dark skies. His eyes flashed with fire as the Captain concentrated. His hands moved like a pair of slithering vipers as Sam cast his spell. The ground began to shake and then the tremors ran out along six axis extending from his crouching stance. The vibrations quickly grew stronger and stronger. The earth split open in front of the terminators pulling down a deeply entrenched castle wall. There was an intense ringing sound that filled the air blocking out the steady drum of the apocolyptic battle surrounding them. Sam clapped his gauntlets together with a metallic boom and another giant chasm split the ground bringing down another section of castle wall. Ardwin raised his halberd giving the signal to launch the assault. The terminators nimbly leapt over the huge crevasse making their way into the breach. As one they fired their stormbolters in a fell hail of slaying metal death. Again Sam forged his way forward pulling his pair of dueling swords loose. Several squads of Chaos Space Marines converged from within to meet them head on at the breached point. The albino charged straight into their ranks driving his swords through ancient power armor. The traitors piled in around the Captain separating him from his company. Sam head butted a large ogre of a Chaos Space Marine knocking the villain senseless. His left sword spun in lopping off the brute's head. The sharp blades sped about severing limbs and eviscerating internal organs in the blink of an eye. Sam moved so fast his image became a blur of death.

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Drachenfel ran along the rampart blending into the gritty darkness like a supernatural nocturnal chameleon. There was a wide knot of traitor Marines milling around a bunker. The Phoenix Lord emitted a warcry as he leapt up spiraling like a spinning top into the pitch black. The Chaos Marines looked up in surprise to see a slender dark Fiend descending down upon them. Drachenfel drove the points of his blades through eye holes then reared back sifting the grey matter within the helmets. The pariah then spun off quickly separating himself from the squad. He held up the nozzle of his pitched caster spraying the traitors with a thick tar of anti matter. Immediately the armor dissolved into nothingness then he charged again shredding the enemy with his razor sharp blades.

 

"Fall back!" came the voice of one Chaos Marine then the champion leading the squad reached out with his arcane power fist crushing the skull of the one who had last spoke. "Fight!" yelled the champion. The Knights of Blood rallied to the command surrounding their enemy. Drachenfel leapt up somersaulting away from the mass. Several traitors were split in twain and their torsoes toppled over as the twirling blades disengaged. His blades lashed out again severing the hands holding bolt pistols aimed at him. The champion made a sudden move in time towards the eldar ready to strike a killing blow with his power fist. A terminator then materialized running his his Crozius Arcananum in a wide cutting arc beheading the traitor. The last of the squad then broke running away.

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The albino ran both swords through a pair of traitors simultaneously snapping their vertebrae in twain. Sam then spun in place slowly slicing through their groins. The enemy toppled over exposing the cut spines jutting from their exposed innards. The Captain released his grip on the hilts of his dueling blades and grimaced. His mouth opened and a sudden void of silence erupted absorbing all sound. The residual din of the battle came to a halt and all was quiet. The albino concentrated forcing more and more of his inner power out into the transient space. The traitors felt their armor begin to vibrate slowly then the silent pulse of psychic energy erupted into a cosmic blaze. Brother Mercury watched in awe as the enemy started to dissolve one by one. Those surrounding the albino vanished in a blink as they were consumed by the dark energies pouring out from the Knight of Blood. A ring surrounded him and blasted out consuming the rest of the traitors then Sam bent down punching his right gauntlet into the earth. There was the sound of an immense cracking as the very foundation of the fortress split in half. The ground rose up throwing the terminators right and left like a huge tidal wave smashing into a beach. Brother Mercury grabbed hold of a pole to keep himself upright and saw the far walls of the castle collapsing upon themselves burying those close by in a mountain of debris. Sam then stood up taking his swords and holding them high. The fortress had been irreparably damaged. More Knights of Blood laying in wait then began to spill through the great rents like a swarm of huge fire ants descending down from their hive. The enemy had been compromised.

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There was the sound of an immense earthquake. The rampart began to tremor and some of the dead traitors slipped over the side. Drachenfel turned to see the Chaplain marching off into the surrounding darkness then Ovid disappeared blending into the nothingness. There was the sound of a huge crash as the wall to his left toppled over. Drachenfel leapt off the rampart spinning his arms in opposite directions to slow his long fall. He hit the ground below with a hard thud and rolled off dissipating the kinetic energy. The enemy was in a sudden state of discord from the ravening quake. The eldar slipped into a dark pool of shadows and willed his armor to take on the shades of his surrounding background. There came a cacophony of noise as a large group of mounted riders surrounded by a mass of unclean beasts cantered into the open ground. A large traitor Marine wearing a suit of blood red armor with black paldrons held a banner of Chaos showing the eight pointed star with a red skull mounted at the hub. He also carried a large warhammer which he held at his side. The Warlord was joined by seven other mounted Marines and they all rode upon the backs of huge snarling juggernaughts. The beasts pawed at the open ground with their brass hooves and snorted out bright sparks. A large mass of Bloodletters surrounded the riders forming a dense shield wall. Slowly they moved away heading into the heart of the immenent destruction.

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Brother Mercury ran alongside with Sam and his command squad. They fired short bursts from their stormbolters while moving from cover to cover. The orbital strikes had finally ceased and a slow drizzle of barren ash flitted down from the night sky impeding their acute senses. The Librarian felt his gut wrench for a moment and his skin crawled on end then the sudden disturbance ended abruptly. "Ardwin!" said Mercury over their comm link. "I just felt a shift within the warp."

 

"The enemy is summoning their daemonic support." came the gravel reply from the sergeant.

 

"It was something else... An odd feeling." replied the Librarian. "We need to access this new situation."

 

"Aye then brother." came the tumbling response. Ardwin held up his sword and thrust it twice into the darkness. "Everyone move towards the fallen tower now!"

 

Sam turned his helmet back. The huge terminator gave off a sense of consternation then shifted his direction towards the pile of burning rubble. His retinue joined immediately in step with their Captain in perfect unison. The wind grew frigid chill and the gale blew stronger.

 

"I feel it now as well." said Ardwin to Brother Mercury. "Your prescience may have just saved our lives... Something more evil than what we face now is on it's way."

[Malatox]

Oh, a set up to another great twist! :D

Absolutely loving the fiction, please keep it up. I make sure to check the topic every day incase you've dropped another tasty morsel off :)

 

Malatox

[BLACK BLΠFLY]

Thanks for the kudos !! :)

 

G :D

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Drachenfel stooped over still in the shadows watching the enemy move around right beside him. A few traitors had walked right past him, coming so close they could have simply reached out to touch him. The eldar warrior was growing more attuned with his ancient suit of armor with each passing moment. Drachenfel's emotional responses to the battle were slowly subsiding as his spirit intertwined more deeply fully integrating with his armor. Only his burning passion to kill seemed to remain active from his vast range of emotions but the eldar knew he must wait until precisely the right moment to launch his next attack. A Phoenix Lord could never be truly destroyed but as he had experienced they could be surely incapacitated versus a larger and more potent force. The eldar continued to suppress his hungry lust for the death of the enemy intently watching them and taking note of their most immediate activities. His senses drank in their sounds and smell as he listened. Drachenfel could taste their coppery blood on the tip of his tongue as he ran it over his pointed teeth. The traitors were solely focused upon the Imperial enemy and their cold hate dripped like long icy tendrils from their material form.

 

"The enemy has breached the northern and western most points of the fortress converging towards the middle now." reported an old spindly Sorceror. "I have just recently sensed a great breach in the warp and the source is not our daemonic allies. My etheric connection with the void was broken though even more recently... In fact it has gone stone cold. My intuition tells me there is a new enemy present, one possibly even more dangerous than those who have besieged our fortress. I urge you to use caution. It could be a trap. Be very weary my Lord."

 

"This is not the time to re assess our battle plans!" shouted Kane from the top of his daemonic mount. "We will move forward and take the enemy now crushing them in our vice. Fortune favors the bold and Khorne lends us his full strength! We are impervious! Let the blood begin to flow!" The Warlord pulled back on the chains of his juggernaught's tether and dug the spikes of his boots into the sides of the beast. The juggernaught reared up spitting great bolts of burning sparks. On cue the huge mass of Bloodletters broke into a charge surging forward.

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Woden the Sorcerer returned to his grimory. The room was dark, lit only by stumps of black candles burning within old cracked skulls with their tops lopped off. The wizard sighed to himself as he approached his work table. A pile of ancient scrolls were unfurled and laid atop the onyx top. Their sigils and runes glimmered under the pale candle light. Woden heard a slightly muffled stirring and turned to see one of his servitors approaching the table. The servitor had long tendrils of snaking cable running out from it's shoulders and it's eyes were dimmed out. Slowly the servitor began to morph. Smoke seemed to pour from it's cybernetic form as it's torn suit of armor transformed into a tight black body glove rippling with taut muscles underneath the shimmering layer. The lowered head followed suit shifting into a black skull mask with a pair of bright red night goggles. A wave of long blonde hair tied back into a ponytail erupted from the top of the mask and the assassin flicked her tight mane aside as she pulled a sharp katana from it's sheath. In her other gloved hand she held a long elongated pistol which she pointed at the wizard. A slender rod of glowing crystal hung from a silver chain fastened around her neck.

 

"So you come to silence this old sorcerer." said Woden dryly. "You couldn't have picked a better time." Slowly he breathed in. "Surely you have had harder kills than one so old and wizened as myself. I see your null rod too... You don't leave anything to chance do you?"

 

The Callidus stepped back keeping the short barrel of the neural shredder aimed dead center on Woden. The lenses of her goggles sparkled for a moment then she pulled the trigger. A bright beam of energy played out from the muzzle enveloping the wizard. The sorcerer held out his staff pointing the end down and a huge burst of blue flames erupted. The blast from the neural shredder and the magical flames collided canceling each other. The wizard strode forward with a burst of deceptive speed bringing his staff about with a well timed blow. It twisted about like a huge viper striking at the assassin. The Callidus leapt up into the air somersaulting in place to land upon the onyx table. Her blade shimmered.

 

"Well done my girl." said Woden. "You're going to find there is still some fight left in this old body and your precious null rod is worthless versus Tzneetch's black magick." Again the sorcerer leveled his staff and unleashed another blast of burning blue flame. He looked up to the top of his table to find that the assassin had vanished. Woden spun about searching for his assilant. There came a creaking sound and he looked up again to find the Callidus hanging from a bronze piece of chandelier. She dropped down like a spider silently running her blade into his exposed side. Woden blocked the blow with the gnarled end of his staff and dropped. "Intruder!" shouted the wizard at the top of his lungs then coughed. Specks of thin blood flecked his hands as he pulled away. He felt no pain though and assumed he had somehow managed to score a wound. The Callidus came flying in hard and fast, head butting the sorcerer. Woden stumbled back extending his staff to ward off the assassin. He spied a trace of crimson dripping from her black sash tied around her slim waist. The Callidus leapt up driving the ball of her left foot into the wizard's chest. Woden attempted to roll with the kick but he heard some of his ribs cracking and suddenly it felt like he was trying to breathe in fire as he sucked at the stale air within his chamber. Again the assassin leapt up kicking out with her right foot this time knocking the long staff aside. Woden crumpled to the floor and waited for the killing blow to come but there was nothing in return.

 

"Intruder subdued!" shouted the Callidus taking on the tone of the sorcerer. Woden looked up to see her aiming the neural shredder at his head. The muzzled belched then there was nothing again.

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Brother Mercury spoke to Ardwin. "I can sense a death nearby."

 

Ardwin's rocky voice filter through his helmet. "We are surrounded by death and the dying. What makes this any different than those that lay at our boots?"

 

"It was the termination of their sorcerer. Surely he should have been protected well." replied the Librarian.

 

"Where did he die? Surely it must have been close by for you to keenly sense his death."

 

"I believe it occurred within the enemy's inner sanctum. We should head that way immediately." said Mercury. The spectral residue of the Chaos sorcerer still lingered within his mind shrouding his senses with a dark funk.

 

"Something isn't right here." croaked Ardwin. "I can feel it in my bones." The sergeant lifted his sword again to gather the attention of his terminators. "Form up on my point!" he shouted over the noise. "We will be heading directly towards the enemy stronghold."

 

As one the large squad broke from cover surging out into the broken streets. The Knights of Blood leveled their stormbolters straight ahead and began to fire in short synchronized bursts. Brother Mercury took the lead holding his stormshield high. Small clusters of renegades fired back from different positions in an immediate answer. The terminators turned their aim at the closest group. Their stormbolters barked in unison as a hail of miniature rockets tore apart the enemy. They all stepped together as one casting their focus on the next cluster of traitors. Again their stormbolters fired decimating the Chaos Space Marines. The next knot of traitors broke from their position falling back to take better cover offered by the blasted ruins of a burning building.

 

Ardwin shouted in his hoarse voice above the din of the stormbolters "Charge! In the name of our Captain Sam cleanse this rotted earth!" The terminators immediately broke into a run charging into the building. They pulled loose their swords striking off limbs and decapitating the enemy in a rapid sequence of practiced ease. The burning ground laid littered with the newly dead as they emerged through the far side of the ruin. The enemy stronghold was just ahead jutting up above the smoking street like the tip of a huge iceberg. There came the clattering sound of metal shod hooves beating down upon the shattered asphalt. A horde of daemonkin rushed through the end of the street forming a barrier around the stronghold. Within the teeming masses of Bloodletters there lay a team of juggernauts with champions of Chaos mounted. "Who wants to live forever!" the sergeant shouted.

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The two groups looked across the open ground at each other. The sounds of explosions seemed to dim out for a moment. The Warlord sat upon his armored mount holding his warhammer by his side. "Let loose the daemons!" shouted Kane. With a collective grunt followed by tortured howls the massive living wall of Bloodletters broke into a sudden charge flooding across the wide street. The daemons leapt over the burning debris heading straight towards their enemy. Warp fire burned within their hooded eyes and their long sharp fangs gnashed against each other as they quickly closed the gap. The mob was so large that as the daemons fanned out it became apparent to the terminators that they would be hit on three sides. Ardwin gave the command to drop back into the relative safety of the ruins but no order came as yet to fire their stormbolters. Brother Mercury then lowered his stormshield as he closed his eyes and began to concentrate. Flickers of burning flame erupted from his corporeal form. A wall of intense fire shot up from the ground. The Librarian nodded his head and his brow wrinkled. The burning flames then exploded outwards instantly immolating the first wave of daemons just as they crashed into the outer rim of the ruinous bunker. "Fire!" shouted Ardwin. The terminators leveled their weapons shooting at point blank range through the conflagration surrounding them. They watched intently as the Bloodletters forming up the second rank hit the wall of fire and were cut in twain by the massed gun shots. The third wave of daemons lapped around to either side spilling quickly into the bunker. "Forward now!" commanded the sergeant and the terminators rushed out back onto the street. Sam then kelt down smashing the end of his sword hilt into the broken ground. There was a clap of ethereal thunder as the building imploded upon itself crushing the third wave in one fell swoop. Only open ground now stood between the two groups both proclaiming themselves to be the Knights of Blood.

 

"Well done." said Kane under his breath. The enemy had destroyed the entire horde in what had seemed like less than the blink of an eye. "Charge!" commanded Kane as he held up his warhammer.

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The Callidus assassin had hidden the body of the dead sorcerer and was tending to her wound. The bleeding had been staunched and she felt her inner strength beginning to return as she popped a small red pill into her mouth. The assassin had barred the door shut and sat on the high bronze stool behind the onyx table. Carefully she pushed the scrolls aside and laid her katana on top of the cold black stone. There came the sound of heavy breathing... The mist of light water vapor appeared before her eyes. Quickly the assassin reached back down for her weapon but a hard fist caught her in the side of her skull knocking her off the stool. She looked up to see the form of a terminator materializing beside her. The Void Walker aimed the barrel of his combi melta at her head staring intently at her through his smoky lenses. "Even so much as one slight move and I'll blow you in half." quietly said the Chaplain. "I know why you are here now. All the last pieces of this grand puzzle are finally falling into place. It's nothing more than a game of chess now - every move must be perfectly timed to achieve a checkmate... I'm sure that's how you saw it... At least up until just now." The Chaplain continued to stand in place watching the assassin. "You dropped your guard in order to kill the sorcerer and now you must pay the price. You never even saw it coming." The Void Walker took a slow step back while grabbing the hilt of the katana. "You won't be needing this any longer."

 

"It's much too late for you and your kind." snarled back the Callidus as she laid upon the cold hard floor. "I've achieved my goal. My death means nothing in the overall grand scheme."

 

"So then you assume I'm going to kill you but it doesn't have to end like that." said the Void Walker in a low whisper through his vox. "Are you truly devoted to the Emperor and all that is right? I'm willing to take a bet that you are indeed. Now be quiet and listen very carefully to what I'm about to tell you. There isn't much time left and I'll only be able to say it once."

[BLACK BLΠFLY]

The Void Walker had tied the hands of the assassin tightly together behind her back and propped her up in a corner of the grimory. Slowly he worked his way around the room examining the various artifacts left behind by the dead Woden. Everything was carefully placed and there was a meticulous order to the layout. No one had yet come to visit the chamber.

 

"You are a fool." spat the Callidus. "Your brain is addled and filled with many untruths. Your chapter is no better than the Knights of Blood. Only your duplicitous nature has kept the Imperium shrouded from seeing the truth."

 

"If what I told you comes to pass then you can't deny what I said. You are highly intelligent and very well trained. Once you see the truth for what it is you'll come doubt those you currently serve. You can then make up your own mind. I've seen this happen too many times to count." The Void Walker reached into a dark cupboard and pulled something out placing it inside the pouch attached to his belt. "I've left a small blade on the floor beside you. Cut yourself loose once I'm gone. I've left both your weapons on the table." The Chaplain stepped into the pool of dark shadows beside the door. Slowly his physical form began to drift apart, separating into small pieces of smoky ether. The assassin strained her eyes hard but could no longer see the Blood Saint. Footsteps outside the closed doorway beat upon the floor outside. Quickly the Callidus shifted over gripping the handle of the knife. She could hear the sound of muffled talking just beyond the door then there came a knock.