本章概述：

????????????亞歷莎像個女孩那樣打架。

????????????In which Alessa fights like a girl.?

?

正文：

你們不會得到她。

我咆哮著，盡全力抵住了靈族戰(zhàn)士的戰(zhàn)刀。我全身緊繃，肌肉被束縛起來以抵擋異形那超凡的力量，她的武器在我的阻擋下離刺穿我僅有毫厘之差。

整個世界都在黑與金中燃燒，我能感受到驚詫從靈族的輝光上放射出來。

“你別想得到她！”我狂吼道，在一股強烈的意志的驅(qū)使下沖向她的身后，偏轉(zhuǎn)了她的刀鋒并任由其胡亂地劃過我的盔甲的弧形裝甲板。

那件武器削去了一層陶鋼并幾乎切開了它，可圣殿鎧仍然堅挺。那個戰(zhàn)士帶著難以置信的尖叫踉蹌著后退，與此同時我繃直了伊莎萊的剃刀連枷并向前突刺。

她很快，這毋庸置疑。這個靈族戰(zhàn)士以非人的方式移動。自然也是非帝國式的。

但她還是快不過伊莎萊。

我在她的攻擊間迂回躲閃，我的雙眼聚焦在她的輝光上，尤其是她的雙腿。

戰(zhàn)刀向我砍來，但由于我施展了伊莎萊打進我體內(nèi)的Lacerai招式，沒有一擊得以命中我。

靈族戰(zhàn)士明顯的驚愕令人倍感滿足。她們剛剛才與一個言談舉止都像帝國人一般的靈族戰(zhàn)斗，結(jié)果又被迫與一個像靈族一樣戰(zhàn)斗的帝國人交手。

我跳過了幾個Lacerai招式，避開了側(cè)重速度的部分并專注于使用那些讓我接觸地面的。我無法在自己的盔甲內(nèi)施展任何空中機動或特技動作，但我更大的自重和機魂賦予我的巨力將地面技從僅僅“致命”轉(zhuǎn)變成暴烈的錘擊，并如女妖切開我的盔甲那樣破解了她的防御。

不過我們不能留在這里。我毫不懷疑更多的增援正在趕來，而只要他們帶上任何比步兵武器更重型的家伙，VTOL就會陷入險境。

因此，雖然我戰(zhàn)斗的方式有那么一點像靈族，但我仍然是一名帝皇之女。我仍是修女會的一員。

我即是信仰的殉道者。

一次，兩次，三次，我不斷出招，卻在出第三招有所猶豫，期望這這個女妖的傲慢讓她在看見我的左側(cè)門戶洞開時注意不到接下來會發(fā)生什么。

她照單收下，將她的戰(zhàn)刀猛刺向我的心臟，其角度之刁鉆以至我閃身回避就會橫死當場。而如果我呆在原地，我也照樣會死。

于是我用自己的戰(zhàn)刀與之相交。

我咽不下異形的利刃穿過我的肩甲并深埋進肩膀里時的那聲尖叫，因此我將之從疼痛轉(zhuǎn)變?yōu)閼嵟?。那利刃燒灼肉體時帶著一陣烤焦骨肉的詭異聲響，而那陣劇痛幾乎令我目眩?？晌业哪I上腺素猛增起來，隨著我用更大的重量和動量將戰(zhàn)刀從靈族的手中扯下，她不禁發(fā)出了一聲近乎滑稽的驚叫，在她能站穩(wěn)腳跟前，我便做出了自己的最后一個動作，

我對剃刀連枷的近身格斗式一無所知，而且由于即興創(chuàng)作的結(jié)果很可能是把自己的胳膊切下來，因而我選擇了次優(yōu)解：

我收緊胳膊，然后一拳搗在她的臉上。

我著甲的拳頭撞上了靈族的頭盔，將她的護目鏡打得炸裂開來并粉碎了頭盔的送話口，并且，在我肘關(guān)節(jié)上嘶叫的陀螺的驅(qū)使下，在她向后飛去時打碎了她的下顎。

在我能繼續(xù)攻擊之前，一連串壓制火力開始噬咬我周圍的地面。

更多的靈族步兵正在逼近。

我想要結(jié)果她，但那與自殺無異。因此我咒罵著轉(zhuǎn)身把自己拉上了坡道，砰地一聲關(guān)上按鈕，然后栽倒在地，在一串痛苦的咒罵中從我受傷的手臂上扯下了那把戰(zhàn)刀。

阿斯塔特沉重的抓握把我舉了起來并放在了其中一個座位上，又在我身上系上了安全帶并把我包裹進了防撞網(wǎng)里。我茫然地環(huán)顧四周，在心里點著數(shù)，直到確認姐妹們沒有受到比磨損更重的損傷才放下心來。天使大人受了傷，但還活著，我毫不懷疑他的戰(zhàn)團會派出一名所謂的藥劑師來照看他們。

而在我身邊，在她所屬的地方，是伊莎萊。

我的伊莎萊。

“那可真夠瘋狂的，”伊莎萊在安全帶和防撞網(wǎng)所允許的范圍內(nèi)盡可能湊近我以看到我的手臂，卻只能皺眉于她所看到的景象。

“你會失去它的，知道嗎。”

“少一條胳膊總比痛失吾愛要好，”我回答道。

伊莎萊只得在我們坐回座位時以搖頭回應。上級修女達尼卡在機艙的另一頭一反常態(tài)地保持著沉默，她的目光透過頭盔直直地盯著伊莎萊。

仿佛感受到了我的目光，她轉(zhuǎn)向了我，然后緩緩地把手伸向她的護頸和領(lǐng)子上，打開了盔甲的密封，摘下了她的頭盔。

出乎我的意料，達尼卡姐妹看上去并不比我年長。也許能比我大出幾歲，但她缺少卡利昂姐妹所擁有的那種歲月和經(jīng)驗的痕跡。她的面龐被曬成棕褐色，右眼下方的臉頰上是一朵簡潔的鳶尾花紋身。她的頭顱的左半邊被剃得很光滑，但另一邊是略微卷曲的發(fā)髻，我猜想那很可能有著紫藤修會修女常有的白色。

“上級修女，”我設(shè)法帶著綁帶和肩傷盡可能地低下頭。

“你怎么還能活動？”達尼卡問道。

與之前不同，她的語氣中沒有一絲刻薄，最多的是好奇。

“我……”我低頭看了一眼自己的盔甲，皺起了眉頭。“我想我已經(jīng)不在那個斷電效果的影響范圍內(nèi)了吧，不是嗎？”

達尼卡姐妹搖了搖頭?！叭绻顷嚤ù蛑辛薞TOL的引擎的話就不會如此，你沒有……你應該像我們一樣失去活動能力的?！?/p>

我思考著她的話。她說的對，如果爆炸半徑大到足以關(guān)閉VTOL的主引擎和其它所有冗余部分的話，那么伊莎萊也不能把我扔出異形武器的影響區(qū)域。即便如此，圣殿鎧仍然能正常運轉(zhuǎn)，其系統(tǒng)甚至沒有中斷過哪怕一點。

“也許圣殿里的盔甲能防御這類東西吧，”我在左右轉(zhuǎn)動我的右臂時想到，隨后我放棄了這么做，回頭看向達尼卡姐妹?！拔铱峙抡f不準為什么我沒有受影響，除了帝皇庇佑以外?！?/p>

來自筋疲力盡的姐妹們口中機械式的“帝皇庇佑”的合唱回蕩在機艙內(nèi)。然而，隨著話音落下，我看到那些頂著宕機的盔甲系統(tǒng)設(shè)法摘下頭盔的人，在盯著伊莎萊時臉上驚訝的神情。

她的話語與其他人的禱告一同奏響。

“你說得好像真心相信它似的，異形，”達尼卡尖刻地說。

“我只會說我所知道的真實情況，”伊莎萊回應道?！霸谖颐鼞乙痪€，歡愉王子叩響我靈魂的門扉之際，神皇伸出手來保護了我，并擊退了巨蛇?！?/p>

“騙子，”其中一個姐妹啐道。“神皇不會保佑卑劣的異種。”

“然而祂的確這么做了，”我唐突地回應道，“而我要感激你沒有為人類之主的權(quán)能設(shè)限?！?/p>

那個姐妹臉漲的通紅，盡管我不確定那是出于尷尬還是憤怒。兩者兼有，最有可能是這樣。

“圣典認為一切異形都腐敗到無可救藥，”達尼卡回敬道。

“然而神皇豈非全能？”我高喊道，包括達尼卡在內(nèi)的姐妹們都睜大了雙眼?！叭祟悓︺y河的主宰豈非出于地球之主的偉力??？”我隨著怒火的升騰揮舞起雙手?！拔岬仁茳S金王座之命，要令祂的光輝遍及全銀河！吾等之頌歌豈非祂的圣言？吾等之臂膀豈非祂的延伸？吾等所踐行豈非祂的意志？而若有遭黑暗荼毒之心智向往祂的光明，漠視此等祈愿豈非吾等之失職？！”

“亞歷莎……”伊莎萊的聲音中帶著敬畏，我轉(zhuǎn)向她，困惑于她的語氣。

我其他的姐妹們面帶同等的震驚看過來。達尼卡睜大雙眼凝視著我，就連天使大人也緊緊地盯著我看。

“怎么了？”我回頭看向伊莎萊，然后看向我的姐妹們?！鞍l(fā)生什么事了？”

伊莎萊從防撞網(wǎng)里伸出手來，將她的手掌與我的左手相扣，我本能地包裹住她的手，扣住她的手指并以那種微弱卻熟悉的方式擠了擠以告訴她我在這里，也告訴自己她就在身邊。

然后我為之一怔。

我握住了她的手。

用我的左手。

我緩緩地看向我的胳膊。即便用我的靈視我也能看到能量從我身上流淌出來，卻又折返回我的身邊并探進我肩上的傷口里。我這才想到，方才咆哮時我一直在用雙手比劃，完全無視了我剛才收到的重傷。

痛感不見了，那劇痛消失得無影無蹤，對傷口的匆匆一瞥展現(xiàn)出了被女妖的戰(zhàn)刀割開的盔甲裂口下干凈、無暇的肉體。

我變得完整了。

“信仰的奇跡，”天使大人雷鳴般的低音打破了我的震驚?！斑@很罕見，但我曾經(jīng)見過這種情況……有那么一次?！?/p>

“那是什么時候，安塔雷斯大人，”達尼卡問道，她的聲音因不確定而繃緊。

天使大人沉默地注視了我一會兒，隨后轉(zhuǎn)頭看向達尼卡。在這個過程中，他重啟的盔甲系統(tǒng)發(fā)出了輕微的喀喀聲，他的動作逐漸變得平穩(wěn)，除了在密封圈和關(guān)節(jié)受損的位置上。

“我在不屈遠征期間，與圣塞勒斯汀并肩作戰(zhàn)時，看到過這種光芒。”

?

?

余下的航程基本都在沉默中度過。

阿斯塔特大人關(guān)于活圣人的說法并不讓我滿意。我與尊敬的塞勒斯汀女士毫不相似，當然也不圣潔。我曾在絕望和信仰破滅的時候呼喚神皇，他回應了，但那并不出自于圣人之手。

我遠非唯一一個祈求神啟并得到回應的人。

盡管如此，好處也還是有的，上級修女達尼卡終于不再找伊莎萊的茬，勉強接受了持久而毫不掩飾的怒視。余下的姐妹們在航程中繼續(xù)帶著令人不適的敬畏偷看我，無疑是認為她們可能遇到了另一位活圣人。

不幸的是，我要讓她們失望了。

活圣人是修女會的理想的化身。她們是神皇的慈悲與怒火的活生生的下賜。她們絕不會是一個幾乎未經(jīng)戰(zhàn)火洗禮，還成功地愛上了第一個跟她講了除了“?WAAAGH”之外的話的異形的預備修女。

我倒也沒后悔就是了。

我輕輕捏了捏伊莎萊的手，她則對我回報以微笑。即便是在神皇收下我的視力時授予我的昏暗的靈能視野下，我也仍看得到親愛的伊莎萊對我微笑時那微妙的可愛曲線，我將之置于我的頭號幸事之列。

“你惡心到我了。”

達尼卡姐妹又開始了。

“你的不適與我無關(guān)，”我回復道。

“可你公然用惡心到如此地步的愛慕看著那個東西的樣子與我有關(guān)，”達尼卡陰森森地說道，止住了一直回蕩在船艙里的耳語聲。

飛行器的高度和速度的微妙變化壓制了任何形式的回應，我能感覺到胃臟下沉時帶來的眩暈感，這表明了一個快速的垂直下降。我們現(xiàn)在一定已經(jīng)到達了花園隱修院，我相當期待看到自己得到清潔，圣殿鎧能被重新祝圣。

但愿能有一隊衛(wèi)軍士兵，或者甚至是我的姐妹們的小隊，能被送回伊莎萊和我一直居住的尖塔里以取回我自己的裝備的殘余。將它拋在身后令我倍感痛苦，但我無能為力。我們只勉強保住了性命。

VTOL隨著起落架的展開搖晃起來，航空器停在了修道院的機庫中，在船體穩(wěn)定下來的那一刻，安塔雷斯大人就按下了坡道的釋放裝置。

我松開了安全帶上的扣子，把自己拉出了防撞網(wǎng)，隨后轉(zhuǎn)身去幫伊莎萊。她可以處理防撞網(wǎng)，但由于手臂負傷，她不太能處理中心穩(wěn)定裝置的釋放。

“非常感謝，亞歷莎，”伊莎萊站起來輕聲說道。

她一站穩(wěn)腳跟，我就從腰間取下了自從撤離與靈族的戰(zhàn)斗起就一直帶在身上的剃刀連枷，并把它遞給了伊莎萊。

“謝謝你，”我微笑著回答。

“你打得很漂亮，”伊莎萊說著接了過來，把它收回腰間?！熬褪怯悬c……不太正統(tǒng)?！?/p>

“有一半的招式需要我以動力甲不太允許的方式移動，”我承認道?！拔椰F(xiàn)在明白了為什么你穿這么少的盔甲了……就連有限地施展這些招式都快把盔甲的關(guān)節(jié)扯斷了?！?/p>

她從我身邊經(jīng)過時牽起我的手，我們一起走下了坡道。我并不需要幫助來做到這一點，但這并不重要。讓她的手牽著我的手才是重點。更重要的是，這是對我的每一個姐妹的宣示—我們不害怕評判，也不以此為恥。

“不準再走了，”達尼卡姐妹的聲音不時被爆彈槍供彈時的齒條聲和上油的保險打開的輕響打斷。

她并不是孤身一人。

在我們身后，有六名姐妹跟著她們的上級修女解鎖了爆彈槍，并對準了在坡道底部的伊莎萊和我。

我不需要轉(zhuǎn)頭。我的感知到達了我所關(guān)注的地方，這花了點力氣，但我能像看到自己的前方一樣準確地看到自己的后方。這種觸感令人頭暈目眩，感覺上也極其不自然，但我不能否認它很有用。

不出我所料，在我身后的人形中，唯一對自己有十足把握的只有達尼卡。其他姐妹們的輝光因藍綠色的不確定而開裂。她們一定在我身上看到了些我敢肯定不存在的東西，但不管事實如何，她們相信天使大人的話，相信我可以行使一名活圣人的力量。

直到神皇從王座上站起來前，我可以一直否認這種地位，不過這么花費我的時間不大會有意義。

去他的。

“你們覺得這能傷到我嗎？”我問道。

與達尼卡不同，我選擇從卡利昂姐妹的書里吸取教訓。我們并沒有相處得多好，但我一直都尊重卡利昂姐妹，既是作為領(lǐng)袖，也是在個人意義上。她從來不提高聲調(diào)，她的嗓音平穩(wěn)而冷靜，有著一名熟練的演說家的特征，但從來也不會帶上吼叫或呵斥。

她一開口，人們就會側(cè)耳傾聽。

我保持著平穩(wěn)的語氣，讓這些話語從胸膛深處漫溢而出，空蕩蕩的機庫靜靜地回響著我的嗓音的力量。實際上，這是個不錯的聲學效應。

她們的光暈更加破碎了，我則屹立不動。我不能展現(xiàn)出軟弱或猶疑。我不能給達尼卡或她的小隊哪怕一刻對我的決心之堅定的懷疑。

如果我這么做了，我們就都得死。

“你們的靈魂燃燒著神皇之光，”我繼續(xù)說道，看到了猶豫在達尼卡的下屬間流淌?！八苊?，姐妹們，我也希望你們能像我一樣……擁有神皇賜予我的視野。如金色火焰般的靈魂存在于你們每一個人的體內(nèi)，就如同它存在于我的體內(nèi)，于她的體內(nèi)一樣?！?/p>

我對著伊莎萊微微頷首。

“你膽敢給那東西賦予靈魂？！”達尼卡的聲音嘶啞，帶著幾乎控制不住的憤怒。

“我們的一切都來自神皇的賜予，不是嗎？”我問道，仍然拒絕面對她們。

“那是——！”

“我曾經(jīng)目睹過至圣，達尼卡?！爆F(xiàn)在我轉(zhuǎn)過身來，盡可能準確地用盲眼盯住她以免出錯?！安灰獞岩桑业氖髂说厍蛑鞯馁浂Y，祂已經(jīng)以你無法理解的方式祝福了我?！?/p>

至少，那是真的。

神皇賜予了我伊莎萊的生命，以及她矢志不渝的愛。

她們永遠也不會明白的。

“夠了！”

我從達尼卡那里轉(zhuǎn)過來，把我的感知錨定在身體的朝向上，隨即看到了一群帶有金色光暈的人影穿過機庫向我們走來。在她們中間是一個閃耀的女性的人影，燃燒著虔誠與純潔。她的靈魂似乎懷揣著修會的鳶尾花，而我立刻便意識到自己面前站著的是誰。

“鞠躬！”我小聲提醒伊莎萊，并單膝下跪，低下頭去。我很欣慰地看到伊莎萊在不到一息之間就跟了上來。

“那我們的行刑隊怎么辦？”伊莎萊從嘴角發(fā)問。

“她們不會在大修女面前開火的，”我輕聲回答道。

“預備修女亞歷桑德拉·阿圖斯，”領(lǐng)頭的姐妹以實踐與權(quán)威的力量開口。她的聲音使人習慣性地服從，這也有著充分的理由。

“貴安，受祝的姐妹，”我友好地回復道?！澳鸟{臨和關(guān)注令我倍感榮幸，烏泰娜大修女（Canoness Utena），若您愿意，我很榮幸為您效勞。”

烏泰娜是一位技藝高超的戰(zhàn)士。她的劍法堪稱傳奇，而她的熱忱也毫不遜色。她是個高挑、瘦削、面色蒼白的女性，從齊肩的直發(fā)到鋒利的顴骨都棱角分明。據(jù)傳她的雙眼有著最為迷人的藍色，如同春天時阿爾伯雷亞修道院頭頂?shù)奶炜?，但我無從確認。不過我知道，無論它們是什么顏色都一定有著無與倫比的激情。

“那巧了，我正有此意，”大修女回答道，我不禁注意到她的發(fā)言中略帶諷刺的語氣。

“大修女……”達尼卡剛開口，就被烏泰娜銳利而尖刻的目光打斷了。

“退下，上級修女，”烏泰娜大修女以輕柔卻不容置疑的語氣命令道?！罢湛春媚愕慕忝煤蛻?zhàn)甲，這兩位從現(xiàn)在起是花園隱修院的客人了?！?/p>

我對此也感到驚訝。我原以為自己一到隱修院就需要為我和伊莎萊的情況作辯解。我也從沒想到大修女除了下令處決了事外還會親自介入，當然那會是最壞的情況。

而由大修女宣布不只是我，還有伊莎萊都是隱修院的客人，則……非同尋常。這讓我更加懷疑而非感到放心，而從伊莎萊的光暈來看她估計也有同感。

而達尼卡則完全被激怒了。

“這……這個異種是……什-什么？”達尼卡聽起來像是大腦里的某個重要的部位發(fā)生了嚴重故障，而其它不常用的部位正在拼命試圖填補空缺似的。

“帝皇塔羅斷言她們對我們的勝利至關(guān)重要，”烏泰娜嚴厲地說?！澳阈枰赖木瓦@些了。現(xiàn)在，你被解散了，上級修女?！?/p>

有那么一瞬間，我確信自己將見證達尼卡在機庫里突發(fā)某種嚴重的冠狀動脈疾病，但在閃過一陣紅色和紫色的陰影后，她放下了爆彈槍，敬了個禮，然后命令她的小隊做同樣的事，隨后以良好——只不過很僵硬——的紀律性原地解散。

伊莎萊目送她們離開，臉上的表情在大多數(shù)人看來都風輕云淡，但我與她共度的時光教會了我如何看到她的沾沾自喜，哪怕沒有來自她的輝光的提示。而隨著她對上我的盲眼，想要不一起笑出來則相當費勁。

不過，我們把這份幽默藏在明面之下，將注意力轉(zhuǎn)回仍在仔細打量我們的大修女。

“感謝您的干預，大修女，”我在一段沉默后開口道。“我愿意為您提供一份完整的報告，以闡明我們是如何陷入這種……非常狀況的?！?/p>

“那會很有幫助，”烏泰娜唐突地說。“特別是由于我們的星語者和先知們一直以超過90%的準確率從帝皇塔羅中尋得同樣的模式，這說明與一名靈族共事出自于地球之主的直接意愿。”

“帝皇庇佑，”伊莎萊念誦道，大修女對著伊莎萊恭敬地語氣揚起了一側(cè)完美的眉毛?！叭祟愔髻n予我新的生命和新的目標，如若這個目標是為您效勞，那我就將見證它的落實?！?/p>

“有意思，”烏泰娜大修女后退一步并轉(zhuǎn)過身去，示意我們跟上。

“過來吧……我有很多事要與你們倆商量?！?/p>

?

原文：

You will not have her.

I growled the words out as I strained against the Eldar warrior’s glaive. My whole body was tensed, my muscles were bunched and corded against the unearthly strength of the alien whose weapon I had kept from skewering me by the barest of margins.

The whole world was burning black and gold, and I could feel the surprise radiating off of the Eldar’s aura.

“YOU WILL NOT HAVE HER!” I bellowed, and with a surge of purpose I bull rushed her back, turning the thrust of her glaive so its point skittered haphazardly across the curved plate of my armor.

The weapon scraped a layer of ceramite away, almost scoring through it, but the chapel armour held true. The warrior staggered back with a cry of disbelief as I snapped Isarae’s razorflail straight and then surged forward.

She was fast, there was no doubt about that. This Eldar warrior moved like nothing human. Certainly like nothing?Imperial.

But she wasn’t as fast as Isarae.

I ducked and wove between her strikes, my eyes focused on her aura and especially on her legs.

The glaive chipped and cut at me, but no single blow landed true as I struck out through the Lacerai forms that Isarae had beaten into me.

The Eldar warrior’s shock was as palpable as it was satisfying. They had just fought an Eldar who spoke and acted like an Imperial, only to be forced into combat with an Imperial who fought like an Eldar.

I skipped through the Lacerai forms, avoiding speed and sticking to the ones that kept me grounded. I couldn’t perform any of the aerial maneuvers or the acrobatic leaps in my armour, but my greater weight and the immense strength lent to me by the machine spirit turned the earthbound forms from merely ‘deadly’ into onslaughts of hammering force that cut and notched the Banshee’s guard the same as her strikes were doing to my armour.

We couldn’t remain here though. I had no doubt more reinforcements were on their way, and if they brought anything heavier than infantry then the VTOL would be at risk.

So although I may fight a bit like an Eldar, I am still a daughter of the Emperor. I am still one of the Adeptus Sororitas.

I am a martyr of the faith.

Once, twice, thrice, I struck out, and in the third form I faltered, hoping that in her arrogance the Banshee would not see what was coming as I gave her an opening on my left side.

She took it, thrusting her glaive at my heart, and the angle was such that if I tried to dodge, I would die. If I stayed where I was, I would also die.

So I met the glaive with a charge of my own.

There was no biting back the scream, so I turned it from pain into one of rage as the alien blade split through my pauldron and buried itself in my shoulder. It cauterized flesh with a grotesque hiss of scorched muscle and bone, and the agony was almost blinding. I rode the adrenaline, though, and the Eldar let out an almost comical bark of alarm as my greater weight and momentum tore the glaive from her grip, and before she could rally and find her footing I made my final move.

I didn’t know any of the close combat forms of the razorflail, and since trying to improvise would probably result in me cutting my own arm off, I opted for the next best thing:

I cocked back my arm, and punched her in the face.

My armoured fist crashed into the Eldar’s helm, crazing her eye-lenses with cracks, shattering the mouthpiece of the helm, and, still driven by the grinding, screaming gyros of my shoulder joint, broke her jaw as she was sent flying backward.

Before I could follow up my attack, a barrage of suppressive weapons fire started chewing up the ground around me.?

More of the infantry Eldar were approaching.

I wanted to finish her but it would have been suicide, so instead I turned with a vicious curse and hauled myself up the ramp, slammed the button to close it, and slumped to the ground as I tore the glaive from my ruined arm on an agonised stream of invectives.

The heavy grip of the Astartes bore me up and settled me into one of the seats before pulling the straps around me, and layering me in crash webbing. I looked around dazedly, mentally counting until I'd satisfied myself that my sisters had made it out none the worse for the wear. The Lord Angel was wounded but alive, and I had no doubt his chapter would have sent one of their vaunted apothecaries to tend to them.

And at my side, right where she belonged, was Isarae.

My Isarae.

“That was mad,” Isarae hissed as she leaned towards me as far as the belts and webbing would allow so she could get a look at my arm, only to grimace at what she saw. “You’re going to lose this, you know.”

“Better my arm than my love,” I replied.

Isarae could only shake her head in answer as we settled back into our seats. Sister Superior Danika was uncharacteristically silent on the other side of the cabin, her helmeted gaze fixed squarely on Isarae.

As if sensing my regard, she turned to me, then slowly raised her hands to her gorget and collar, released the seals of her armour, and pulled her helmet away.

To my surprise, Sister Danika did not look any older than I. Perhaps a few years past me, but she lacked the lines of wear and experience that Sister Kalion had possessed. Her face was gently tanned, and a simple black tattoo of the fleur de lis grace her cheek beneath her right eye. The left half of her head was shorn smooth, but the other half was a slightly curly mane of what I imagined was likely the usual white of a Wisteria Sister.?

“Sister Superior.” I bobbed my head as low as I could manage with the straps and the injury to my shoulder.

“How are you still moving?” Danika asked.

Unlike before, there was no vitriol in her tone. Her voice was more curious than anything else.?

“I…” I glanced down at my armour and frowned. “I suppose I was out of the range of the effect, wasn’t I?”

Sister Danika shook her head. “Not if the blast struck the VTOL’s front engines, you weren’t… you ought to have been as disabled as the rest of us.”

I considered her words. She was right, if the explosion radius was wide enough to shut down the main engines and all of the VTOL’s redundancies then there was no way Isarae had thrown me clear of the xeno weapon’s area of effect. Despite that, the chapel armour had functioned perfectly, there hadn’t even been a stutter of disruption in its systems.

“Perhaps the armour of the chapel is guarded against such things,” I reasoned as I turned my right arm this way and that, examining it before giving up and looking back at Sister Danika. “I’m afraid I cannot say why I wasn’t affected, save only that the Emperor Protects.”

A rote chorus of ‘the Emperor Protects’ echoed through the cabin from the lips of my exhausted sisters. As the words faded, though, I saw surprise on the faces of those who had managed to remove their helmets in spite of their dead armour systems as they stared at Isarae.

Her words had echoed right along with all of the others.

“You say that as if you truly believe it, xeno,” Danika said sharply.

“I say only what I know to be true,” Isarae responded. “At the moment of my death, with the Prince of Excess at the door to my soul, the God-Emperor stretched his hand across me to shield me, and beat back the Serpent.”

“Liar,” one of the sisters down the row spat. “The God-Emperor would not protect a vile xeno.”

“And yet, He did,” I replied curtly, “and I would thank you not to assign limitations to the Master of Mankind.”

The Sister flushed red, though from embarrassment or fury I was unsure. A measure of both, most likely.

“Scripture deems all xenos corrupt beyond redemption,” Danika countered.

“And yet is The God-Emperor not all powerful?” I barked, and the Sisters, Danika included, stared. “Is it not by the power of Him On Earth that humans are granted dominion over the galaxy!?” I swept my arms out as my temper rose. “We are tasked by the Golden Throne to extend His light to all corners of the galaxy! Are our hymns not His voice, spread to the ears of the masses?! Are our hands not His hands?! Are we not demanded of to do His work?! And if there is even a single heart darkened by shadows that desires His light within it, then are we not derelict in our duty if we ignore it?!”

“Alessa…” Isarae’s voice was tinged with awe, and I turned to her, confused at her tone.

The rest of my sisters were looking on with equal shock painted across their features. Danika was staring with wide eyes, and even the Lord Angel was regarding me with a powerful intensity.

“What?” I turned back to Isarae, then to my sisters. “What is it?”

Isarae reached out from the crash webbing and laid her palm in my left hand, and on instinct I curled my hand around hers, lacing our fingers together and squeezing in that faint, familiar way to reassure her that I was there, and to reassure myself that she was close.

Then it hit me.

I squeezed her hand.

With my left hand.

I turned slowly to look at my arm. Even through my psychic sight I could see power hemorrhaging off of me only to curl back around me and diving into the wound at my shoulder. It occurred to me only then that during my rant I’d been gesticulating with both arms, completely ignoring the grievous wound I’d been dealt mere moments ago.

The pain was gone, the agony had faded completely, and a cursory check of the damage showed clean, unblemished flesh through the rent in the armour where the Banshee’s glaive had pierced.

I had been made whole.

“A miracle of faith.” The thunderous basso of the Lord Angel cut through my shock. “It is rare, but I have seen such a thing before… once.”

“When was that, Lord Antares,” Danika asked, her voice tight with uncertainty.

The Lord Angel regarded me silently for several moments before turning away to look down at Danika. As he did there was a faint cough from his armour as his systems restarted and his movements smoothed out save for where the seals and joints had suffered damage.

“I saw this light during the Indomitus Crusade when I fought alongside Saint Celestine.”

The rest of the flight was passed largely in silence.

The Lord Astartes’ statement regarding the Living Saint was one that sat poorly with me. I was not anything like the Revered Lady Celestine, I was certainly not saintly. I had called upon the God-Emperor in a moment of grief and desperate faith, and he had answered, but that did not a saint create.?

I was far from the only who had cried out for divine guidance and been answered.

Still, there was a small benefit in that Sister Superior Danika had finally stopped needling Isarae and had settled instead for a consistent, unsubtle glower. The rest of my sisters spent the flight continued stealing uncomfortably awestruck glances at me, no doubt thinking they might be in the presence of the next Living Saint.

Unfortunately, I was going to disappoint them.

A Living Saint was an embodiment of the ideals of the Sororitas. They were living investitures of the God-Emperor’s love and fury. They were not a barely blooded Sister Novitiate who managed to fall in love with the first xeno who said something other than waaagh to her.

Not that I regretted that bit.

I squeezed Isarae’s hand gently, and she turned to smile back at me. Even in the half-light psychic vision I was granted by the God-Emperor when He took my sight, I could still see the subtle, lovely curve of my dear Isarae’s smile, and I counted that amongst my greatest blessings.

“You sicken me.”

And there was Sister Danika again.

“Your state of distress is not my concern,” I replied.

“But the way you look at that?thing?with such blatantly foul adoration is mine,” Danika said in a dark tone that set the hushed whispers that had been rippling around the cabin into silence.

A subtle change in the craft's velocity and altitude curtailed any response, and I felt the telltale vertigo of my stomach dropping that came rapid vertical descent. We must have reached the Priory of Gardens by now, and I was very much looking forward to seeing myself cleaned and the armour of the chapel reconsecrated.

Hopefully a crew of guardsmen, or even a squad of my own sisters, could be sent back to the habspire that Isarae and I had been living in to reclaim the remains of my personal wargear. It pained me that I had to leave it behind, but there was nothing for it. We had barely escaped with our lives.

The VTOL rocked as the landing gear deployed and the aircraft came to rest in the Priory’s hangar, and the moment the ship was stable Lord Antares hammered the release for the ramp.

I worked the catches loose on the straps and pulled myself out the crash webbing before turning to help Isarae with her own. The webbing she could manage but with her battered arm she couldn’t quite manage the release on the central securement.

“My thanks, Alessa,”Isarae said softly as she stood.

The moment she was on her feet I removed the razorflail from around my waist where I had been wearing it since I’d retreated from the Eldar, and held it out to her.

“Thank you for this,” I replied with a smile.

“You fought beautifully,” Isarae said as she took it back and wove it around her waist. “If a bit… unorthodox.”

“Half of the forms require me to move in ways that power armour does not strictly allow,” I admitted. “I understand now why you wear so little armour… even the limited forms I used stressed the joints of the armour almost to breaking.”

She took my hand as she moved past me and we walked down the ramp together. I didn’t need her help for it, but it didn’t matter. Having her hand in mine was the point. Moreover, it was a symbol to each of the sisters watching us that neither of us feared judgment, nor were we ashamed of one another.

“Go no further.” Sister Danika’s voice was punctuated by the rack of a bolter feed and the soft click of an oiled safety dropping.

She was not alone, either.

Behind us a half-dozen sisters followed their Sister Superior’s lead, unlocking their bolters and raising them to sight down at Isarae and I and the bottom of the debarkation ramp.

I did not need to turn my head. My perceptions went where I focused, and it was an effort but I could effectively see behind me as accurately as in front. It was a touch vertiginous and felt deeply unnatural, but I could not deny it was useful.

As expected, the only one of the figures behind me who was certain of themselves was Danika herself. The rest of the sisters had auras crazed by lines of teal uncertainty. They had seen something in me that I was certain was not there, but regardless of the truth, they believed in the suggestions of the Lord Angel, that I may wield the power of a Living Saint.

I could deny such a status til the God-Emperor stood from the Throne but it was doubtful to be a meaningful use of my time.

Frak it.

“Do you think that will harm me?” I asked.

Unlike Danika, I chose to take a lesson from Sister Kalion’s book. We did not get along, but I always respected Sister Kalion as both a leader and personally. She never raised her voice, her tone was firm, cool, and had the projection of a practiced orator, but it was never a yell or a shout.

She spoke, and people listened.

I kept my tone even and let the words spill out from deep in my chest, and the empty hanger echoed quietly with the force of my voice. It was a nice acoustic effect, actually.

Their auras splintered further, and I stood fast. I could not show weakness or uncertainty. I couldn’t give Danika or her squad even a moment of suspicion that I was not absolute in my certainty.

If I did, we were both dead.

“Your souls burn with the light of the God-Emperor,” I continued, and I watched their hesitation bleed through Danika’s rank and file. “It is beautiful, sisters, and I wish you could all see as I do… with sight as the God-Emperor blessed me with. A soul like golden fire is within every one of you, just as it is within me, and as it is within her.”

I made a slight nod to Isarae.

“You dare ascribe a soul to that thing?!” Danika’s voice cracked with barely contained fury.

“It is from the God-Emperor that we are given our all, is it not?” I asked, still refusing to face them.

“That’s-!”

“I have laid eyes upon the divine, Danika.” Now I turned, and I fixed her as accurately as possibly with my blind eyes opened wide so there could be no mistake. “Do not doubt that my blindness is a gift of Him On Earth, and that He has blessed me in ways you cannot understand.”

That much, at least, is true.

The God-Emperor blessed me with Isarae’s life, and her continued love.

They would never understand that.

“ENOUGH!”

I turned away from Danika, anchoring my perceptions back to my physical direction, and saw a host of golden-aura’d figures crossing the hangar towards us. At the center was a luminous figure, female, and burning with devotion and purity. Her soul seemed to carry the?fleur de lis?of the Order within it, and I knew immediately who I must be standing before.

“Bow!” I hissed?sotto voce?to Isarae as I dropped to a knee and bowed my head low. I was gratified to see Isarae follow suit less than a breath behind me.

“What of our firing squad?” Isarae asked from the corner of her mouth.

“They will not open fire in front of the Canonness,” I replied quietly.

“Sister Novitiate Alessandra Artus,” the lead sister spoke with the power of practice and authority. Hers was a voice that was accustomed to obedience, and for good reason.

“Greetings, Blessed Sister,” I replied in kind. “I am honored by thy presence and attention, Canonness Utena, and it is my honor to give myself to thy service if thou wouldst have me.”

Utena was a warrior of superlative skill. Her swordplay was the stuff of legend, and her fervor no less so. She was a tall, spare, and pale woman made of lean, sharp lines from the shoulder-length and blade's-edge-straight cut of her hair to her razor sharp cheekbones. Her eyes were said to be the most fetching shade of blue, like the spring sky above the Convent Arborea, but I couldn’t be certain, but what I did know was that whatever their color, they bore an unrivaled intensity to them.

“I would, as it happens,” the Canonness replied, and I couldn’t help but note the slightly wry tone of her voice.

“Canonness Ut-!” Danika started but she cut off as Utena fixed her with sharp, withering glare.

“Stand down, Sister Superior,” Canonness Utena commanded in a soft, steelshod tone. “See to your sisters and to your wargear, these two are both guests of the Priory of Gardens henceforth.”

That was a surprise even to me. I had expected to have to argue my and Isarae’s case ad nauseam once we reached the Priory. I hadn’t expected the direct intervention of the Canonness herself unless it was to order a summary execution, which was obviously the worst case scenario.

Having no less than a Canonness declare that not only myself but Isarae as?guests?of the Priory was… unusual. It served to make me suspicious more than to reassure me, and from Isarae’s aura I reckoned on her agreement.

Danika was properly put out though.

“The… the xenobreed is… w-what?” Danika sounded as though some vital part of her brain had suffered a violent malfunction and now the other less used parts were trying desperately to take up the slack.

“The Emperor Tarot has declared her vital to our success,” Utena said sternly. “That is all you need to know, now, you are?dismissed, Sister Superior.”

For a moment I was certain I was about to witness Danika suffer a major coronary event right there in the hanger, but after a moment of going several interesting shades of red and purple she lowered her bolter, saluted, and ordered her squad to do the same before falling out in good, if stiff, order.

Isarae watched her go with what to most would seem like a perfectly neutral expression, but my time with her had taught me how to see the smugness in her, even without the clues from her aura, and as she caught my blind gaze it was a struggle not to share a laugh.

We kept our humor private, though, and turned our attention back to the Canonness who was still watching us carefully.?

“Thank you for your intervention, Canonness,” I said after a moment of silence. “I would be happy to provide you a full report of what brought us to this… unusual circumstance.”

“That would be helpful,” Utena said curtly. “Especially since our astropaths and seers continue to turn up the same patterns in Emperor’s Tarot with over ninety per cent accuracy, suggesting it is the direct will of Him On Earth that we work alongside an Eldar.”

“The Emperor Protects,” Isarae intoned, and Canonness Utena raised a single, perfect eyebrow at Isarae’s respectful tone. “The Master of Mankind gave me new life and new purpose, and if He declares that purpose to be in service to you then I shall see it done.”

“Interesting.” Canonness Utena took a step back and turned, gesturing for us to follow. “Come… I have much to discuss with the both of you.”

?