Birth

[Dark Apostle Thirst]

Ok, so here I am again. I am writing a story, and here, here is it's beginning.

 

EDIT: For sake of convenience, I have also linked the next two stories in the trilogy - Denial and Awakening. Thank you, for reading.

-------

The Inquisitor entered the well lit room. The circle of psykers, busy with their task, did not look up as the door slid open and the Inquisitor moved to the interrogation throne.

My name is Gurnoth Lan, the Inquisitor thought to himself as he sat down. I am His servant, and I will do His will, through whatever means necessary.

Gurnoth Lan acknowledged the fact he should not have to tell himself this. He was an inquisitor, and had been one for over two centuries. He had been labeled a Radical for his actions in the latest century, but he had gotten used to it a long time ago.

He had gotten used to the daemonic summonings. The sheer unpredictability of what came along with them, the various tools that were used, the safeguards needed to be put into place, the requirements for the sacrifices - it had become routine, nothing was missed, the last of the painful lessons had been learned over fifty years ago.

So why am I still uneasy? Gurnoth wondered. There was nothing different about this summoning than any other.

Five Grey Knight Puritans entered the room behind him, and the psykers finished preparing the circle. Their leader turned to the Inquisitor.

"On your order, my lord."

The Grey Knights dropped into a combat stance, and Gurnoth Lan nodded.

The circle of summoners, joined by their leader once more, began to sing, and reached out with their powers. The Inquisitor's skin began to crawl, but he had grown used to that, too, and simply ignored it.

It was thirty seconds before anything began to appear in the circle. It was another minute before it became distinct enough to make out what it was - the outline of power armor.

Power armor that hadn't been grown and overstretched. Power armor that fitted over a body that wasn't monstrously huge, at least, not for an Astarte. As the being came more and more into focus, almost like a lense, the Inquisitor could see that the figure was still corrupted by Chaos, the subtle mutation and the way the armor wasn't quite red attested to that.

After another minute, the singing stopped, the Puritans leveled their weapons, and the Inquisitor raised an eyebrow as the figure removed his helmet.

For a moment, no-one said anything. Gurnoth Lan was disappointed, and slightly irritated. He now knew why he had felt uneasy; something must have been done wrong in the preparations. This wasn't the daemon prince he was looking for. Then the summoned marine spoke.

"I assume you are attempting to summon Dark Apostle Thirst?"

Gurnoth's emotions changed from disappointment to wariness in an instant. The daemon prince knew the Inquisition was looking for him. This was dangerous, and Gurnoth made a hand signal to the Grey Knights. The Justicar of the squad nodded his assent - they would need more than a squad of Purifiers to handle a daemon prince that was that prescient.

The figure spoke again. "Your attempts are successful. I am Dark Apostle Thirst."

He gestured to the Grey Knights. "Judging by their presence, you were expecting someone more impressive?" the 'Dark Apostle' laughed. "Trust me. I remember when I was named that, when I was still mortal."

Again, Gurnoth's emotion's changed in an instant, this time to excitement mixed with trepidation. Vital information could be gained from the figure, if he was actually the Dark Apostle. And so the Inquisitor spoke.

"Prove to me you are the Dark Apostle. Prove to me you are Thirst."

Thirst leaned back - apparently against the edge of the circle, as if it rose up as a wall - and began to speak.

"I was found by the Inquisition on the Hive World of Jurnrath..."


EDIT: spelling errors

[Dosjetka]

Nice start, any more coming soon? :)

 

Ludovic

[Lestat]

Great start - got a nice hook at the end which makes the reader want to know mpre.

[Dark Apostle Thirst]

Ooh, replies! :D I had thought no-one had liked it :) I'll continue with the story then -

 

-----------

 

Thal glanced at each of the narrow streets quickly. They were empty of threats, and so he dashed to the left route, feeling his way through the under-hive. The arbites were still pursuing him, but he'd get away soon. Thal had lived all twelve of his years in the underhive, while the arbites had all come from the upperhive.

 

A few turns later and he knew he was free. None of the arbites ever pursued into this area of the underhive, the reasoning of which escaped Thal. It's proximity to the uppercity alone would have drawn their attention, and every other part of the undercity this close was swarming with the arbs. Thal shrugged as he walked. He just knew it was safe.

 

He started pulling items out of the bag he had stolen from one of the more richer looking nobles. Some credits, a delicacy - mother would like that - and a las-pistol.

 

Thal stopped as he pulled that out. Las-pistols were valuable, and he could make even more credits if he brought it to the right boss. He might even get hired to be a thief. Maybe even be trained. It all depended on the boss.

 

He hastily shoved the pistol and the other goods in his own pack, and continued walking, this time stripping the noble's bag of it's few jewels. Fixated on his task, Thal failed to notice the soft steps behind him, until he was picked up by the back of his neck.

 

Thal instantly became a clawing, punching, kicking nightmare, which was ignored by the Arbite, his armour and helmet protecting him too well. The big man even chuckled.

 

"Maot thought I'd be too scared to come here. Huh. I'll show him when I bring you back, you little thief. I don't think the cults care too much about a little boy, now do they?"

 

Thal continued his assault, ignoring the words. The man just laughed again and threw him against a wall. He managed to curl into a ball before impact, and once he hit the ground he was up again - just in time to see the arbite's body go limp as a crack echoed in the air. Immediately Thal jumped through the nearest window. He didn't want to be targeted next. Crouching down beneath the edge of the window, he waited for the killer to loot the body. Sure enough, footsteps quickly approached where the Arbite had fallen - and then took a few steps past where the corpse had fallen.

 

Suddenly, a wave of revulsion raced through Thal. He started convulsing, and the noise attracted the killer.

 

Again, Thal found himself being picked up by his neck. This touch was far worse, however - Thal felt as though the fingers clutching him were made from red-hot steel. His mind stopped working logically as his every thought turned towards getting away from the hand, from this being of wrongness, and then everything faded black.

 

------

 

"Throne, look at him react. Haven't seen one like this since the last sub-sector."

 

Rone gave the null a frown. He always had disapproved of their pleasure at torturing the psykers. He suspected that's why he had been assigned to oversee the Black Ship's collections for the past forty-five years.

 

The null shrugged, and handed the twitching boy over to the Inquisitor's servitor, which promptly scanned and read the vital signs of the child. Rone noted that the young psyker was already unconscious, a mercy.

 

"We found the pulse we were looking for. Let's return to the ship."

 

 

EDIT: spelling errors

[Dominicus]

More???

Please???

[Dark Apostle Thirst]

More???

Please???

Ask, and you shall receive :tu:

 

--------

 

Thal awoke, slowly, painfully. He didn't even open his eyes at first, just feeling what he could. Which was something hard underneath him, and cool air. Thal took a minute to wonder which gang had taken him and what part of the underhive had the air coolers. It seemed odd to him that they would use something that valuable in a recruit confinement. The only gangs that could afford something like that were the Aifam and the Omerons, and Thal took a few minutes figuring out how he would approach either of the ganglords.

 

When he considered himself ready, he opened his eyes, sat up, and immediately hit his head. Blinking his eyes and attempting not to swear - the bosses would no doubt single him out for 'appreciation' if he did that - Thal scooted back and sat up again. After a moment, he finished blinking, and found a strangely dressed man shaking his head in amusement, among a few other people who were equally odd looking. Looking around, Thal noticed something rather odd - the man had circular pictures of stars all around the room.

 

Then he realised they were not pictures.

 

Noticing Thal's thunderstruck expression, the man stopped smiling, and walked over to Thal.

 

"Please," the man said, "do not be alarmed. I am not going to hurt you."

 

Thal slowly turned towards Rone. Gradually, the expression of shock became one of fear and distrust.

 

Rone attempted to smile again. "I have no interest in hurting you. I simply want to take care of you. Just make sure you don't get in any trouble."

 

"He's speaking the truth, you know," another one of the strange people said, "the fact you're not dead or in one of the less friendly parts of this ship is proof of that."

 

Thal quickly glanced towards the new man as Rone turned to hush the speaker. Rone seemed to be the leader, as far as Thal could tell, as the others all seemed to be patiently waiting. Only leaders were treated that way. Perhaps the new speaker was someone of equal rank.

 

The man who just spoke chuckled. "No, he just let's me speak because I'm the one who made the prophecy about you, and I'm one of your kind. You know what our kind is?"

 

Thal just stared at him, and tried to say 'no' - but what came out was more akin to a croak.

 

Immediately Rone looked concerned. "He must be thirsty. You-" and he pointed towards a female in some kind of armour "-get him a... get him a canteen."

 

The woman bowed her head and walked out. The speaker - one of Thal's kind, apparently - had an expression of daydreaming on his face.

 

Rone quickly noticed this. "What is it, Elsu?"

 

Elsu turned and looked at the boy very slowly. "He's not quite thirsty."

 

In a bemused tone, Rone began to query "But why-"

 

Elsu's expression lit up. "Yes! He's thirsty, but why! Thirsty, but why!"

 

Rone turned back to the boy with an apologetic look. "Sorry, this happens sometimes. These moments are important, though, they are what led us to you."

 

Thal tried to speak again - Throne, there was nothing about this that made sense - but he still couldn't. The fingers- and what had happened all came back. Holding his throat, Thal tried to back away again. These people had brought that.... that... wrongness.

 

Rone saw the boy's hand on the bruised throat and understood. "I've made sure that you won't go near the nulls. You're on my part of this ship. You'll be protected from them."

 

For a moment, Thal simply stared back at Rone, not willing to trust him. Not after he had been taken like that. Then Rone bowed his head, and walked away. The strange people and Elsu followed him, and eventually, the woman came back. She laid a canteen in front of Thal, and left, leaving him alone.

 

 

EDIT: spelling errors

[Dosjetka]

Quickly scanned through and the thing that comes up the most is the word/name "Thal". Maybe try and use some other "thing" (failing to find the right word) such as "the young psyker", " the infant thief", etc...

 

Ludovic

 

Edit: Read the last two updates, and waiting for more :)

[Dark Apostle Thirst]

Replies, ah...

 

Hmmmm. Less usage of Thal's name. Got it. I'm trying to do that less already, but I'll stick to simply using it when it's necessary to clarify who Thal is.

 

 

---------

 

Inquisitor Rone sighed when he walked into the room, his expression downcast. Elsu had seen that emotion on his dark face many time before, and the sanctioned psyker knew what caused it.

 

"Rone, you didn't know he'd be just a boy. You didn't even know if it would even be man instead of daemon. The pulse could have been extremely dangerous, and you are more valuable than the meanings of any prophecy that the Warp feeds me."

 

The Ordo Malleus inquisitor looked at Elsu for a moment, tired. "Using your psychic gifts on me again? I may have to reverse your sanctification if you keep reading my mind."

 

Bemused, the older man shook his head. "You know I wouldn't do that."

 

Rone raised an eyebrow. "Really? Is that why not even my esteemed colleagues have been able to predict my movements?" The psyker started to reply but he was quickly cut off. "I don't want to discuss my 'failures as a proper inquisitor' at the moment."

 

Elsu bowed his head at his master and friend's wish. "Very well. What exactly did I say in there? I remember you saying the boy was thirsty, and then..." the pale man trailed off, lacking the words to describe what the realm of Chaos did to those it spoke to.

 

Before a reply could be given, Novice Nicora walked through the room, canteen in hand. She raised an eyebrow at the Inquisitor as she passed by, clearly wondering what had happened, before she left again.

 

"I think you had better tell her what happened in there as well," chuckled the psyker.

 

Shrugging, Rone adjusted his informal robes and leaned back against the bulkhead. "I should get some chairs in here if the boy doesn't decide to trust us soon."

 

Elsu did the same as he gave a disapproving look to his rather more serious master. "You did the best you could. Walking out of the room was the best choice you could make. Trust the person who has experience with dealing with people who don't have to obey him."

 

His friend just rolled his eyes. The psyker quickly thanked the Emperor for letting His servant relax.

 

Nicora chose that moment to walk back in, and was quickly updated on what she had missed. Though just a novice, both men had learned to respect her take on events - they were much closer to how the rest of the Imperium saw things and the more callous approach to things was often necessary, though neither of them liked it.

 

"Thirsty but why..." she mused. "I do not understand."

 

"Neither do I, I'm afraid," Elsu hesitantly said, "do you have any thoughts, my lord?"

 

Rone pondered for a moment, and his aides quickly made to do likewise. It was silent in the small room.

 

"Perhaps he does not need sustenance?" queried the psyker. "I doubt it is that simple, but he is holding up remarkably well, and he has not eaten or drank anything for a few days. It might be that he can somehow draw energy from the Warp and use it to heal and 'feed' himself."

 

The Inquisitor considered that for a moment. Nicora, however, simply looked amused, until both men stared.

 

The novice closed her eyes in mock disappointment. "He lived in the underhives, did he not? The other novices that came from the underhives were much more used to hunger and lack of means. It does not surprise me that the boy can handle this, though he will need something soon." Her voice contained a note of disbelief, no doubt wondering how an Inquisitor would miss something so obvious.

 

Elsu closed his eyes in actual disappointment, placing his head in his palm. "We need to stop calling him 'the boy'. Do we know his name?"

 

The girl glared at the psyker. "You have enough control over your abilities to be able to skim thoughts and you didn't think to see what his name is?"

 

The younger man laughed. "We know he's thirsty, oh, but why - let's call him Thirst."

 

As soon as the name left his lips, the entire ship shook, knocking the two men to their knees - only the novice hadn't been leaning on the bulkhead.

 

"What was that?" demanded the Inquisitor into his com-link as he got to his feet.. When he heard the reply, his dark skin paled.

 

Turning to his aides, his face was grim. "We are being attacked by an Astarte fleet. Get to your designated areas, we're jumping as soon as the ship is ready."

 

Both of subordinates bowed, and promptly ran off.

 

As Rone began to run as well, the shaking began again, and fire rained down on the Ordo Malleus ship.

 

 

EDIT: spelling errors

[Dark Apostle Thirst]

Ah, the dreaded double-post has struck ^_^

 

------------

 

Rone quickly voxed the Navigator and the pilot his orders. Two tense affirmations came back to him quickly, as he moved to his sanctum, where his jump-seat waited. A moment later, his aides reported being strapped in for the Warp-jump, and across the Black Ship, the crew were no doubt moving to their own jump-stations as the Navigator's orders rang out across the ship's loudspeakers.

 

Something nagged at the back of the Inquisitor's head still. It took him a few seconds to realise what it was - the boy had no jump seat. He had been unconscious during the previous jumps, unaware of the Chaos that had scratched at the Gellar field, his body and mind still recovering from the null's touch.

 

Immediately turning around, the suddenly concerned man started running back to the boy - what had they called him? Thirst, Thirst needed to get to a secure location before the Navigator guided the ship away from realspace and the Astarte fleet. His progress was slowed by the shaking from enemy fire glancing off the ship's shields.

 

Where had the fleet come from? Who were they? The young Inquisitor quickly voxed these questions to the Master of the Auspexe and the savant in charge of the Librarius. Their responses promised an answer, after the Warp jump had been completed, of course. As the replied the ship shook again, but it was becoming less frequent as the pilot guided the ship closer to the small Warp-space tear.

 

Rone refrained from ordering the answers be found now. It did no good to risk his servants like that, and he would just get the answers delayed anyways.

 

He finally reached the room where Thirst was clutching the rail that he had hit his head on, to keep himself steady from the now occasional shaking of the enemy fire.

 

"Come on! We need to get to a jump-position!" The boy just stared blankly for a moment at Rone's command, then quickly nodded and let go of the bar to follow the Inquisitor. As he did so, the Navigator announced thirty seconds to the Warp-jump.

 

Still concerned about the young psyker, he turned to go through the door, only to find his charge already on the other side, holding a ring that had previously been on Rone's hand. It wasn't one of the digital weapons, so he let the boy keep it, and began running back to his Sanctum. There would be an extra seat there. Inwardly, the Inquisitor cursed his superiours lack of foresight when they requested that the only jump-seats on this deck would be in the areas restricted to those with Alpha-level clearances. Which meant the Sanctum.

 

The rather long corridors, so useful for terrifying a prisoner into submission, were now a hindrance as the pair ran to relative safety. Why didn't they make preparations for these things? Why hadn't he made the preparations himself?

 

Finally the pair reached the Sanctum, just as the Navigator announced five seconds to the jump. Again, Thirst stared blankly. Rone didn't have the time for that, and picked up the boy, tossed him into a jump-seat and strapped him in. The Inquisitor sat in his own seat and reached for the first belt when it began.

 

A massive weight settled on his shoulders, and everything seemed to stretch far, far away. The seat pulled him back, and he could not move as he felt himself being pressed smaller and smaller, and he was falling, his head spinning. He curled up as best he could as the terrible despair reached out for him. He wasn't going to make it. He had run out of time. There was no hope from this feeling of being utterly crushed, and he simply gave up fighting.

 

And then it was gone. A thin hand was on his shoulder, and the much relieved man looked up to find the boy reaching to him. Somehow, Rone had ended up on the ground, and he shakily got up, using his jump-seat for support. Thirst still had his hand on the Inquisitor's arm, and the effect was curiously comforting. 'Manning up', as Elsu would call it, Rone regained his composure.

 

A few moments later, the Navigator announced the jump had been completed safely, and that the Gellar field was operating normally.

 

"Reporting, my lord" came in the voice of his Master of Auspexe, quickly followed by Rone's Savant and the rest of his aide's similar voxes. Clearing his throat, he summoned them all to the Sanctum. They had some preparations to make.

 

 

EDIT: spelling errors

[Dark Apostle Thirst]

Well, not only is this a triple post but the quick story featuring Vaskar has, in fact, gained more views than this one (this one had 97 when I clicked on the link and Vaskar's had 98).

 

Fear not, for the story shall continue, as it nears it's close... I'm thinking there shall be three more updates after this one before it's finished.

 

--------------------------------

 

Thal watched as more strange people entered the room. The one who had taken him to his jump-seat said his name was Rone, and that he was in charge of everyone on the ship. Why hadn't he just said he was the captain? the young thief wondered, as he played with his ring. It was somehow nice to have a stolen object in his hands, even if it reminded him he wouldn't be taking it back home to mother and father.

 

The captain also said they had encountered something dangerous - probably pirates - which is why they needed to make a quick jump into warpspace. Although the way he ended up on this Emperor-forsaken ship freaked him out at first, the man seemingly didn't want to harm him. Thal had even tested him by stealing one of Rone's more valuable rings, made from some sort of metal that the thief couldn't identify, and the only reaction was an flash of increased worry. For some reason, the captain had been worried about him going through a warp-jump, which was weird. It hadn't felt bad at all to Thal - it even made him feel a little safer on the ship, which made no sense - but it caused the captain to have some kind of seizure. Maybe Thal had unwittingly built up some kind of resistance to whatever it was a warp-jump did to people. Father never told me what the Warp even was.

 

Finally, it seemed everyone had arrived. There were several people here that were definitely not normal - there was a woman who was muttering to herself in a strange version of High Gothic, a man who was holding a data-pad, two men standing close together with armour not unlike the Arbites, the woman who had brought him a canteen, some sort of scholar and the man who said he was one of Thal's kind. Whatever that kind was. Maybe their kind didn't have to deal with whatever it was that warp-jumps brought.

 

Rone clapped his hands once, and cleared his throat. "Master of Auspexes, report the findings on what attacked us." There was a strange note of caution in the captain's voice.

 

The man with the data-pad stepped forward, and he glanced at Thal. "My lord," he said slowly, "are you sure you want..."

 

Rone nodded his head firmly. "The boy will be privy to all the information concerning this attack." His voice was still strangely cautioning.

 

The man seemed to understand, because he bowed his head. "Very well. We were assaulted by a larger than normal attack fleet, with three medium cruisers and two heavy barges. They bore the Red Legion, of the Word, colours."

 

The captain nodded his head, and turned to the mumbling woman. "Savant? What have you compiled from the information sent to you?"

 

Focusing her attention, Savant paused for a moment before replying. "They are all veterans of many wars, one of them great, and are known as the..." With this, she darted a glance at him, just like the Master of Auspexe had, before continuing. "...the 52nd chapter, in mockery of the revisions made by Lord Guillemann fourteen centuries ago, believing them to be crippling to the most holy Astartes."

 

So, thought Thal, powerful pirates.

 

"Any known weaknesses?" pressed Rone, his tone now urgent. Savant just looked at him as though he was crazy.

 

Shaking his head, the captain turned towards the old man who had talked with him before the warp-jump.

 

"What can you tell me, Elsu?" The captain seemed to calm from his urgency a bit when he talked with the elder, Elsu. They seemed to trust each other, if the informal tone was anything to go by.

 

"Only that they undoubtably have the capabilities to follow us. They are-" and the old man rolled his eyes here "- the Red Legion of the Word, after all."

 

The captain nodded his head, as though this made perfect sense. Throne, for all Thal knew it did make perfect sense. He'd have to find out why they could follow them easily, and how the Warp worked. If he lived long enough, that is.

 

"I'll tell the Navigator to guide us full speed, then. Dismissed."

 

All but the woman who gave him the water and the man Elsu left the room. As they were doing so, Rone touched some device on his wrist, and gave a quick instruction to accelerate. Thal's eyes widened as he realised it must be a personal vox, which only the highest levels of the arbites that terrorised the underhive were said to have. Usually one member of their teams carried around one on his back, and it was probably cheaper to have a vox in every room in this ship than to have a personal one.

 

Who was this man that he had one?

 

As he pondered that, the captain turned to Thal, a look of weariness on his face. "Has your throat healed at all?" The hesitation when he asked was hard to miss.

 

Mutely, he shook his head.

 

A grim smile alighted on the captain's face. "Very well," he slowly said, "do you mind if we call you Thirst?"

 

As he said that, his vox-device on his wrist beeped, but he ignored it until Thal shook his head. Satisfied, he finally pushed a button on the vox-device.

 

An unfamiliar voice rang out. "My inquisitor, the enemy has entered the Warp in pursuit, and I estimate they shall be alongside us in roughly an hour."

 

Rone started saying something, but the thief was no longer paying attention.

 

He had been captured by the Inquisition. And he had no way of escaping. He was utterly at their mercy. Who knew what they would put him through. Would he be subjected to one of their experiments? Would he be taken and made one of their slaves? Was he guilty of some heresy he had unwittingly committed? Were they after the cults that had protected him? How would they get that information from him? What horrors would they put him through?

 

Then Elsu grabbed a hold of his shoulders and shook him. "Thirst," he said, a slight growl of anger entering his voice, "if we had wanted to kill or torture you, do you think we would have done it already?"

 

Thal - or Thirst, he thought bleakly - realised he was panicking. He forced himself to calm down, and after a moment he removed Elsu's hand. He was right, Thirst realised, if they had wanted me dead or to give them answers it would already be done.

 

The inquisitor, not the captain, had stopped talking while Thirst had recovered from his panic attack. He resumed when he saw the boy was fine.

 

"As I was saying, we might have hope yet. We may be able to use our specialist forces to slow their progress while we find a solution to this situation." Though it seemed they were outnumbered, Rone still had bright hope shining in his eyes.

 

The boy knew better. He had seen what happened when a ganger got cornered by enough members of the rival gang, and tried to run.

 

The ganger was either captured, or killed.

 

Thirst had no doubt which would happen to them.

[Dosjetka]

Must. Read. This.

 

Must. Make. Time. To. Read. This. :)

 

Ludovic

[Brother-Sergeant Bohemond]

love. It.

 

Especially the mockery of Gulliman bit, that made me laugh!

[Dark Apostle Thirst]

Must. Read. This.

 

Must. Make. Time. To. Read. This. :D

 

Ludovic

I appreciate the effort :D

 

love. It.

 

Especially the mockery of Gulliman bit, that made me laugh!

Thanks, I try :D You may have also noticed I used it to give you an idea of when this is actually happening :)

[BassWave]

Interesting, can't wait to read more :)

[Dark Apostle Thirst]

Ok, guys, I'll update this soon but just read through it and noticed some minor inconsistencies I missed (Thal/Thirst should have known he couldn't speak, for example). I'll go back and edit the first posts, probably about two lines worth.

 

There is no change to the plot, or the extent of Thal/Thirst's knowledge, he's still just an underhive boy who's attracted the attention of the Inquisition because of something happening in the Warp... Just one of those :)

[Dark Apostle Thirst]

What is this? No updates in a week? Bah!

 

 

-------

 

The hour passed by quickly, for Rone. He slowly watched the Word Bearers come closer and closer to the small Inquisitorial vessel while he desperately thought of a plan.

 

At the end of the hour, when the enemy had almost reached them he still had no plan, besides to sell their lives for the Emperor. They simply couldn't repel a dedicated Astarte boarding action, especially not one that consisted of veterans from the Horus Heresy. The few of his teachers which had been alive during that dark time had all strongly cautioned him on the wrath of the Legions, and not even the anti-warp powers on this ship could hold the complement of three strike cruisers, much less two additional battle-barges.

 

The Inquisitor shook his head as he remembered the Master of the Auspexe hastily rewording his report when he found out the boy would be there. Thirst probably didn't even know what a battle-barge was, let alone who the Word Bearers were. He almost had a heart attack when he found out what Rone actually was, though, so perhaps it had been better to let him believe they were just pirates, or whatever it was he boy thought.

 

Not that it mattered. The psyker would find out soon enough that not all the Astartes were angels.

 

A beep from his personal vox pulled the Inquisitor out of his gloomy thoughts. The Astropathic Choir was attempting to contact him. He hurriedly opened up the channel.

 

A coughing fit immediately emitted from the small device. Rone raised an eyebrow as he waited for it to subside.

 

Finally, a voice appeared on the other side. "My lord," it began carefully, "the Master of Astropaths is in a seizure. I am his aide, and I have a message for you, from the Word Bearers."

 

The young man closed his eyes as his hopes were dashed. Wearily, he responded. "Tell me what the traitors have to say."

 

"They..." the aide hesitated for a moment. "They extend an offer. They will allow the ship to flee for a full Terran day, if the prophesied being is given to them, unharmed."

 

That offer was unusually generous. They must want the boy - though they appeared to be unaware that the being was indeed a boy - unharmed desperately.

 

The prophecy hadn't mentioned anything about the object being harmed or unharmed. Perhaps the boy wasn't what they were looking for, but it was equally likely that Elsu's visions were incomplete. Either way, Rone knew he had little choice.

 

"Tell them we agree to their terms." The words sounded bitter, but inwardly the Inquisitor was already grappling together a plan. A day to flee could buy them the time to alert the Inquisition to the threat and the prophecy. A force could be assembled to take the boy back, and perhaps Thirst could even become the blessed one that Elsu's whispers promised him to be.

 

The Emperor had spoken. His will would be done, one way or another.

 

-----

 

A small group of his most trusted aides accompanied Rone as he waited for the docking bay door to open. Numerous psychic and physical defenses had been put in place, in case the Word Bearers attempted treachery. The life-eater virus was also primed to wipe out everything on the ship, again if the traitors attempted to force their wishes on the Inquisitor. Their prophesied being would be ash, and their mission failure. The Word Bearers would back down before they allowed that to happen.

 

Slowly, the docking bay did open, allowing a thunderhawk to enter. A few moments later, an armoured giant stood before the Inquisitor, wielding a staff twice as long as Rone was tall. Numerous parchments were sealed to his armour by wax, and baubles, gems and a few runes hung from his waist.

 

Rone wondered if this one had been a Librarian when the Nikea edict had been laid down, or if he was a more recent recruit. It matters not, the Inquisitor reminded himself.

 

"I am here to secure the being. Where is it?" The sorcerer demanded, his voice booming. All of the aides had encountered Astartes before, and were not cowed. A small blessing.

 

"You will need to identify it. We are unaware of the being you speak of, only that you seek it." Rone's voice was calm and collected, at least, it appeared to be that way.

 

The Word Bearer growled, annoyed. "I will find it, then. If you try anything, I will flay your souls for millennia." With that, the Astarte stalked past the Inquisitor.

 

It was thirty minutes before the sorcerer returned. Thirty minutes of the pilot reporting all he saw on the viewscreens. Thirty minutes of worry, and slowly fear as the Astarte crept closer and closer to the Sanctum, where Thirst was waiting, and finally resignation, when the pilot told him that the boy had been picked up. His hope had not been rewarded, and when the sorcerer finally came back, the boy was unconscious, his body limp.

 

"One Terran day" the Astarte promised as he exitted to his thunderhawk. Rone bowed his head in acceptance, and relayed their course of action to the Navigator.

 

They would flee. But they would find Thirst, and they would make the Word Bearers pay for taking the boy.

 

One day.

 

 

EDIT: Sorceror is actually spelled sorcerer... ;)

[hushrong]

Got through a good portion so far and I have been enjoying. The story so far seems very unique and I'm finding it refreshing!

[Dark Apostle Thirst]

Got through a good portion so far and I have been enjoying. The story so far seems very unique and I'm finding it refreshing!

Thanks ^_^ When you get to the last update, can you give me feedback on it? There's something that's bothering me about it that I can't put my finger on, so help indentifying this would be extremely appreciated

[BlueWaterDragon]

What is this? No updates in a week? Bah!

Hahaha I've managed to go nearly a year before my recent bulk updates!!

 

I like it a lot. I haven't finished everything that's up, but hunnie, this is good work.

 

PS: any mocking of Gulliman is justly deserved in my opinion!

[Dark Apostle Thirst]

What is this? No updates in a week? Bah!

Hahaha I've managed to go nearly a year before my recent bulk updates!!

 

I like it a lot. I haven't finished everything that's up, but hunnie, this is good work.

 

PS: any mocking of Gulliman is justly deserved in my opinion!

;) That's.... wow....

 

Thanks :P Again, though, I wasn't really mocking Guillemann, it was more of a tool to give you guys an idea of when this is happening. A bit more on the 52nd chapter nd how they see the Ultramarines and why they are called the 52nd chapter will be explained in later stories ;)

[Dark Apostle Thirst]

The last update was in September? :)

 

Alright, the end is here...

 

---------

 

Once again, Thirst found himself lying on something hard, with cool air washing over him. His chest and throat felt like they'd been sliced open, and his whole body ached.

 

And yet something didn't feel right. He knew he'd been taken by the giant - was that an Astarte? - shortly before everything went black, again. The thief found he was tired of this happening to him. He needed to do something to make sure it didn't become a routine.

 

Slowly, Thirst sat up, checking to make sure there was nothing hard as soon as he opened his eyes. He had enough space for that - in fact, this room had a lot of space. There was some kind of storage containers lining one wall, a few tables like the one he was laying on, and a smaller table by each of them. The table at the end had a strange device with at least five tools attached to a large circle.

 

There were boys on each of the tables, too. All of them were asleep, excepting a few that appeared to be dead. They also all had large cuts on their chests and throats - the underhiver touched his own and found stitches rubbing against his fingers.

 

There was a door leading out of the strange room, the same dark red that coloured everything else. It was larger than any door that Thirst had been through before, but it seemed the only way out, and so he slowly got off his table, and exited it.

 

The hallways outside were empty, and so the thief began to explore.

 

---

 

"You see, my First Acolyte, the Dark Gods clearly favor this one. He has accepted the geneseed remarkably well, and he is already beginning the first trial. This is the prophesied one."

 

The Dark Apostle Rithra grinned as he spoke. His joy at seeing the will of the Chaos Gods done was boundless, and had undoubtably led to gaining their favour to become the lord of the 52nd Chapter of the Word Bearers when Manthroi had been reported as dead during the Siege of Terra. It was apparent now as the two Word Bearers watched the viewscreen, despite his apprentice's darker mood.

 

"Yes, but he is just beginning his tests. Let us see how well he holds up when I am his teacher - if he makes it that far." Sooidam's tone was sour as he observed the boy making his way steadily towards the chapel, where he would be given the trial of faith.

 

The trial of faith being the first test of the 'prophesied one' was not a good sign - it meant the Dark Gods did want this one to succeed. The First Acolyte was standing next to the living proof of what was given to the blessed of the Pantheon - and he knew just as well what happened to those who were cast aside.

 

If this was indeed the being that the sorcerer claimed he was - the same sorcerer who had been given the Warp-damned prophecy - then Sooidam knew where he would be. The Chaos Gods would cast him aside, and he had fought too hard to let that happen now.

 

There was only one solution, of course, though no doubt Rithra would not enjoy it.

 

The boy must die.

 

 

-----

 

"What?!" I hear you cry. "That took two weeks to write? That wasn't even a full paragraph!"

 

I know, I know. That actually ended up being a lot shorter than I originally intended. The first ideas involved the Dark Apostle dying, Thirst manifesting unprecedented psychic powers, and I realised it was all a bit ridiculous and I started from scratch when I actually began this post.

 

I'm sorry this took so long to end, but I hope it was an enjoyable read. Any comments and criticism are welcome, whether that's just some nice encouragements or something to help me improve for when the next chapter in Thirst's saga is written doesn't matter, I'll take it all :)

 

Thanks to all of you for reading!

 

 

EDIT: Despite being my shortest update, it was also the one with the most spelling mistakes :) Also, autocorrect's first option for Rithra was Urethra :blush:

[Cpt_Reaper]

I lack the words capable of describing my awe. This story is a real inspiration.

[Brother Ambroz]

Love it man. I was expecting the story to go a little differently with the boy but it's still a great read. Lookin forward to seeing part two.