My Gift

[DogWelder]

Adrek screamed in anger and pain as he was borne down to the ground by the sheer weight of fire. The pain wasn’t from his wounds as he was numb to them now. It was from the nails punishing him for his failure. As his skull throbbed with agony he became aware of the Ultramarine standing above him. The influence of the nails over his brain dulled as his body started to die, allowing him to recognize the loyalist from his memories.

 

“What is this?” Adrek asked the Ultramarine, his gruff voice made even more hoarse from hours he had recently spent roaring in the fighting pits.

 

“A farewell gift, my friend” the blue armored warrior replied, cultured and calm as he extended his gauntlet towards the World Eater. He held up an ornamental white Ultima, its outline adorned with gold and silver.

 

“…this is rather unusual, Felix” he said, taking off his bloodied white helmet so he could look his sparring partner for the past four years in the eye. Unlike many of his brothers he had not earned the nails yet. Though he had hoped his performance in the cages would soon qualify him for them.

 

“Oh?” the Ultramarine raised an eyebrow, his own dented helm in the crook of his arm. “Is it forbidden by the 12th to accept gifts from outsiders?” he asked. 

 

“No…it is unusual for a World Eater to receive a gift at all” he said, a thin smile on his lips. It was a strange expression for him to wear and he quickly reverted back to his usual, grim visage. “From the first day we are inducted into the Legion we fight to earn every scrap we own. Our armor, our weapons, our rank-all is taken, not given to us”

 

“Then let this be your first gift” Felix said, pressing the Ultima into his palm and enclosing the World Eater’s hand by both of his in a brotherly gesture. “Whatever happens, I shall never forget my time in the fighting pits of the Conqueror. Despite what my brothers may say, there is nobility in your Legion. You deserve to be part of the Imperium we have all had a part in creating.”

 

“Madmen and slaves” Felix snarled, his face a twisted mask of rage and frustration. “That is all your Legion ever was. Lord Guilliman should have put you down like the dogs you were long before this started” the Ultramarine leveled his bolter to Akdrek’s helmeted head. 

 

The Heresy, the Shadow Crusade, the invasion; everything he should have known and felt came back to him at once, the nails no longer suppressing it. Anger, trauma incredulity..all of it all flooded through his head as he gazed into the muzzle of the bolter.

 

With one desperate effort he raised his torn hand and pressed it gently against the side of his friend’s weapon, leaving a bloodied handprint. As the bolts tore through his flesh once more, he was able to have his final thoughts in peace, finally free of the Butcher’s Nails as he died.

 

My Gift…Thank You…

Edited July 16, 2017 by Caius Tadius

[Brother Lunkhead]

Best one I've read so far! Keep it up