本章概述：

????????????伊莎萊降服了她的方舟世界表親。

????????????In which Isarae faces down her Craftworld cousins.

正文：

你們不會(huì)得到她。

那是我腦海中閃過(guò)的第一個(gè)念頭，我轉(zhuǎn)過(guò)身去，朝向狂嚎女妖那熟悉的，徹底蓋過(guò)了星鏢射擊的呼嘯聲的靈能戰(zhàn)吼。

人類戰(zhàn)士們?nèi)蕴幱谑軤顟B(tài)中，一對(duì)投放得恰到好處的跳線手雷短接了他們的動(dòng)力甲系統(tǒng)，使得強(qiáng)大如阿斯塔特大人也不過(guò)成了一堆陶鋼和肌肉構(gòu)成的龐然大物。盡管如此，他還是以身體為盾，擋住了守護(hù)者小隊(duì)們自周圍的建筑物中傾瀉而出的致命火力。

我本以為我們還有更多時(shí)間。

至少是足夠撤回到亞歷莎的堡壘修道院的時(shí)間。

不過(guò)，凡事都不會(huì)如此簡(jiǎn)單的，不是嗎？

“保持原位，Cre’yth!”我將連枷猛地甩到腰間，從身側(cè)的槍套中抽出藜蘆和悔恨。

“伊莎萊！”

亞歷莎的聲音讓我停下腳步，她正轉(zhuǎn)入跪姿，壓低身子以縮小暴露面。她的盲眼落在我的身上，表情透著不容置疑的堅(jiān)決。

“凈化他們，然后回到我的懷抱中?！眮啔v莎的命令擊穿了我的全身，即便情況危急，我也還是露出了微笑。

“如你所言，吾愛(ài)。”我轉(zhuǎn)身面對(duì)方舟靈族的威脅，雙腳踏上地面，然后猛沖向前。

我數(shù)了數(shù)，有二十名守護(hù)者緊密地組成了幾個(gè)紀(jì)律嚴(yán)明的四人小組。我的方舟世界表親們用壓制火力將整個(gè)廣場(chǎng)收入囊中，但在我起身轉(zhuǎn)移的一瞬間他們卻畏縮了。

只有一瞬間，短暫到幾不可察，或許對(duì)于任何非靈族人來(lái)說(shuō)都不可見(jiàn)，但我敢肯定，看到一個(gè)同族，一個(gè)身著可憎的人類帝國(guó)的配色和服飾的黑暗靈族巫靈一定震驚了他們。

在他們集中的火力下，如心跳般短暫的沉寂便是我所需的全部。

我在星鏢射流間翻轉(zhuǎn)騰挪，在火力交匯前便于幾息之間根據(jù)武器的角度和位置判讀了他們的射擊軌跡。我從地面上一躍而起，在空中翻轉(zhuǎn)著標(biāo)記了視線中的每一個(gè)目標(biāo)。

守護(hù)者們自壓制射擊轉(zhuǎn)向瞄準(zhǔn)，但他們還不夠快。隨著我于半空中用毒晶開火擊穿了他們脆弱的頭盔護(hù)目鏡，一個(gè)四人小隊(duì)幾乎同時(shí)倒地，而他們?cè)诖竽X被神經(jīng)毒彈糊成一灘泥前幾乎無(wú)暇喊出自己的痛苦。

據(jù)我估計(jì)，我在狂嚎女妖到場(chǎng)前沒(méi)多少時(shí)間，而相對(duì)而言她們才是真正的考驗(yàn)。

我牢記這一點(diǎn)，隨著星鏢火力吞噬了身邊的地表和墻面，我在地面上飛奔著將精準(zhǔn)的毒晶射擊打向守護(hù)者們的薄弱部位，擊穿護(hù)目鏡和脆弱的關(guān)節(jié)，并在死亡的奔流間歡樂(lè)地起舞。

啊，我把這點(diǎn)忘了：戰(zhàn)斗的狂歡！在嘶吼聲的和鳴中奏響的血腥、狂亂的暴力盛會(huì)！我從容地指揮他們奏出嘶啞的慘叫，而他們卻徒勞地想用循規(guī)蹈矩的射擊來(lái)壓制我。

“榮耀歸于神皇！”我在連射間的翻轉(zhuǎn)騰挪中狂熱地高呼道。“死亡降于靈族！”

這是一場(chǎng)凈化。

我放倒的每一個(gè)同族都是沖洗我污濁的靈魂的一道清流。我們卑劣的帝國(guó)曾分娩了無(wú)盡的腐化。如若我們這般狂妄自大的種族未曾降生于孕育我們的原初泥潭，這個(gè)銀河本該好上許多?。ㄗg注：你有點(diǎn)太極端了.jpg）

這群方舟世界蠢貨仍茍延殘喘，用他們一文不值的存活污染銀河已經(jīng)夠糟了。他們肆無(wú)忌憚地妨礙神皇——為我的靈魂與巨蛇搏斗的祂——的忠仆則根本不可接受。

死亡乃此等罪行唯一的出路。

我如死亡本身一般擊穿了守護(hù)者們。他們笨拙的射擊在我眼中并不比獸人的更精確，而隨著最后一個(gè)守護(hù)者小隊(duì)倒下，我收槍入套并緊握剃刀連枷的刀柄，在我猛地抽刀的同時(shí)，三個(gè)狂嚎女妖伴著出鞘的利刃和自開口頭盔中傳出的靈能尖嘯從陰影中一躍而出。

“黑暗靈族！”

這單詞自女戰(zhàn)士領(lǐng)隊(duì)頭盔上的靈能語(yǔ)音增幅器被惡毒地吐出，尖嘯聲如錘擊般命中我的胸膛。

隨著她們齊聲高喊帶來(lái)的靈能沖擊波席卷而來(lái)，本能的恐懼冰封了我的四肢并震蕩著我的大腦。我無(wú)法呼吸，動(dòng)彈不得。當(dāng)三名靈族殺手高舉戰(zhàn)刃沖向我時(shí)，我無(wú)力的四肢和液化的內(nèi)臟違背了我的意志，在她們的動(dòng)力武器上反射的寒光中，我看到了自己的死期。

“伊莎萊！”

亞歷莎的哭喊擊碎了我的恐懼。我伴著一聲怒吼猛沖向前，在最后一刻前自利刃間脫身。狂嚎女妖們?cè)噲D轉(zhuǎn)身讓我留在她們的視野內(nèi)，可她們還是不夠快。

我斬下了最左邊的狂嚎女妖的雙腿。我的連枷撕開了她的外甲，然后是血肉，隨后是骨骼，她怒吼著摔在了自己的血泊里，雙腿則像漂流木般落在了她的身邊。

我向后舞動(dòng)著，在剩下兩者精湛的攻擊之間穿梭。她們快得離譜。我只放倒了第一個(gè)，畢竟我用自己的恢復(fù)震驚了她們?，F(xiàn)在她們十分謹(jǐn)慎，每當(dāng)一個(gè)發(fā)起攻擊，另一個(gè)就守著她的姐妹的側(cè)面。我的連枷無(wú)從下手，至少我在攻擊其中一個(gè)時(shí)必然會(huì)被一柄利刃直取肚腸。

我冒險(xiǎn)在格擋動(dòng)作間向后一瞥。

即便身受重傷，那位阿斯塔特戰(zhàn)士仍在將亞歷莎的姐妹們轉(zhuǎn)移到登陸艇的保護(hù)中，盡最大的力量拖動(dòng)自己的盔甲的死重。我能聽到引擎在飛行員試圖喚醒它時(shí)的轟鳴，可它的子系統(tǒng)可能仍因跳線手雷而無(wú)法運(yùn)轉(zhuǎn)。

至于亞歷莎……

我睜大了雙眼，看著她舉起爆彈槍并瞄準(zhǔn)。她怎么還能站著？她肯定沒(méi)想著開火吧？或許她并沒(méi)有全盲，可精確射擊幾乎肯定不是她能做到的，至少目前還是。如果亞歷莎扣動(dòng)扳機(jī)的話，她既可能打中狂嚎女妖也可能打中我。

另一個(gè)想法接踵而至。

不可能，絕不可能，亞歷莎絕不會(huì)冒打中我的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)，也就是說(shuō)她并不打算向我們開火，那會(huì)是哪里——？

我在亞歷莎扣下扳機(jī)前的不到一秒內(nèi)做好了準(zhǔn)備。她對(duì)著我們的方向打出了兩記快速而節(jié)制的爆彈點(diǎn)射，而它們準(zhǔn)確無(wú)誤地命中了目標(biāo)。

哪怕狂嚎女妖們逼迫我后退，質(zhì)量反應(yīng)彈藥仍打穿了我們之間的地面，恰好在女妖戰(zhàn)士們移動(dòng)著的石制地板上撕扯出了一個(gè)個(gè)窟窿。

亞歷莎，你這超級(jí)無(wú)敵大美女。

亞歷莎已經(jīng)與我對(duì)練過(guò)了一個(gè)又一個(gè)晝夜，有時(shí)一練就是好幾個(gè)小時(shí)，她很快就意識(shí)到，盡管對(duì)她身體的威脅在于我的攻擊，但預(yù)測(cè)這些攻擊的關(guān)鍵就在于我的步伐。

打亂腳步，就是打斷攻擊。

女妖們跌撞起來(lái)。

只有那么一點(diǎn)，這也只稍稍減慢了她們的速度，但在瞬息之間她們的動(dòng)作失去了同步，而她們防御上的空隙如傷口開放在空氣中。

當(dāng)女妖們被迫調(diào)整自己的動(dòng)作以避免踩上石板上炸開的窟窿時(shí)，我的連枷如一朵帶刺的康乃馨般撕咬了下去。

一個(gè)女妖隨著我的連枷將她從腹股溝直劈到下顎而慘叫起來(lái)，在她的姐妹尖叫著試圖沖過(guò)我的防線時(shí)倒在了一灘血肉中。我猛地抖動(dòng)手腕破壞了她的劍刃的沖擊力，隨著扭動(dòng)和翻轉(zhuǎn)將攻擊范圍擴(kuò)大，并用一記命中脖頸的回旋踢打得她匍匐在地。

我猛烈地著陸并擊碎了身下的石制廣場(chǎng)，向著彎腰蹲伏并將劍刃舉成防御姿態(tài)的那個(gè)女妖走去。

“你怎么敢，”我用靈族語(yǔ)嘶聲道?！?span id="s0sssss00s" class="color-blue-02">你這下流種怎么敢威脅我的亞歷莎?！?/p>

“你到底是什么？”女妖低吼道，她頭盔上的揚(yáng)聲器隨著她緩慢地后退扭曲了她的語(yǔ)調(diào)。“哪有黑暗種會(huì)戴著人類尸皇的印記？”

“別跟我提你的異端邪說(shuō)，莫拉-骸之女，”我啐道?！?span id="s0sssss00s" class="color-blue-02">神皇知曉我的名字，而你和你可悲的姐妹們只會(huì)滾進(jìn)巨蛇的口中。”

“不可能，”女妖說(shuō)?！?span id="s0sssss00s" class="color-blue-02">先知說(shuō)得對(duì)……這根本不可能……”

我揚(yáng)起了一側(cè)的眉毛。這么說(shuō)這里有一個(gè)她們的先知。這并不讓我感到驚訝，但另我猝不及防的是，她們明顯看到了關(guān)于我的什么。

又或者……也許是關(guān)于亞歷桑德拉的。

我把剃刀連枷折回刀刃狀，將之舉起來(lái)對(duì)著那個(gè)女妖。

“你們的先知都說(shuō)了些什么？”

她沒(méi)有回答。隨著我逐漸失去耐心，這個(gè)方舟靈族戰(zhàn)士只是透過(guò)她的戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)面具的目鏡盯著我。行吧，沒(méi)關(guān)系。這個(gè)可憐蟲告訴不了我什么可信的東西。光是跟她對(duì)話就是在浪費(fèi)我的時(shí)間。

“代我向饑渴女士問(wèn)好，畢竟我可見(jiàn)不到她了，”我嘲笑道。

“伊莎萊快趴下！”

我的身體在能意識(shí)到前就遵守了亞歷莎的命令。我在倒地時(shí)猛地抽打，對(duì)著滾到一邊的女妖拱起了連枷的刀刃。與此同時(shí)，幾件事發(fā)生了。

首先，那個(gè)女妖的劍刃連著她的胳膊被我突然倒地時(shí)伸展出去的攻擊干凈利落地切了下來(lái)。第二，一連串的爆彈火力逼迫女妖帶著血流如注的斷臂撤退。第三，另一聲凄厲的尖叫驟然響起，預(yù)示著另一個(gè)女妖戰(zhàn)士的到來(lái)。

第四：一道貪婪的白色能量束擊穿了我右肩上的肉體。如果我沒(méi)有倒地，它就會(huì)掏空我的內(nèi)臟并折斷我的脊椎。

在我重重地倒地的同時(shí)，我的體內(nèi)立刻便充滿了麻醉劑和興奮劑的混合物。即便隔著劇痛和化學(xué)品，我也認(rèn)出來(lái)這一擊來(lái)自方舟靈族的長(zhǎng)步槍。我早該知道的，我早該明白她們應(yīng)該有來(lái)自游俠的支援的。

而更糟的是，另一個(gè)女妖已經(jīng)穿過(guò)拐角，沿著林蔭大道向我飛奔而來(lái)。我的呼吸在我尋找武器時(shí)卡在了喉嚨里，隨后我不斷翻身以躲避追上來(lái)的女妖。

這可不僅僅只是個(gè)支派戰(zhàn)士。

她的手中緊握著一把又長(zhǎng)又沉的戰(zhàn)刀，能量在其尖端噼啪作響。我在這之前只遇到過(guò)幾次像她這樣的人，而這總是個(gè)可怕的挑戰(zhàn)。如果這個(gè)戰(zhàn)士不是戰(zhàn)士神殿里的主教的話，那她也無(wú)疑十分接近那一階層。

只有技藝最精湛，侵略性最強(qiáng)的女妖能帶著一柄處決者進(jìn)入戰(zhàn)斗。

她向著我猛沖過(guò)來(lái)，長(zhǎng)劍的一記致命的刺擊被我用連枷的笨拙的揮舞檔了下來(lái)。我的一條手臂已經(jīng)是一塊死重。沒(méi)了它，我面對(duì)這個(gè)級(jí)別的敵人的勝算已然十分渺茫。

如果我尚且全須全尾的話，那么這場(chǎng)戰(zhàn)斗就會(huì)對(duì)我有利，但也只有那么一點(diǎn)。我并不傻，我很清楚這個(gè)方舟靈族戰(zhàn)士得有多么致命才能如此熟練地操縱這樣一把武器。

如此的熟練。

她像揮舞著閱兵指揮棒一樣轉(zhuǎn)動(dòng)戰(zhàn)刀，在自己周身?yè)]出一道道殺氣騰騰，削鐵如泥的弧形斬?fù)簟?/p>

經(jīng)過(guò)這一切后我必須多加小心。我感覺(jué)自己已經(jīng)準(zhǔn)確地判斷出了狙擊手開火的方位，而我則設(shè)法向廣場(chǎng)中倒退了足夠多的距離以讓那個(gè)游俠無(wú)法輕松地射擊，但他自身的移動(dòng)并沒(méi)有被算進(jìn)去。

我們得盡快離開這個(gè)地方。我們位置不利，四面楚歌，并正承受著看不見(jiàn)的敵人的火力。對(duì)我們不利的因素太多了，而由于我可能已經(jīng)在跟領(lǐng)導(dǎo)了這次部署的女妖交戰(zhàn)，我也沒(méi)把握能讓自己撤出來(lái)。

“受死吧，黑暗靈族！”女妖領(lǐng)隊(duì)尖嘯著，她對(duì)于自己的姐妹的死傷的憤怒溢于言表。

“還沒(méi)到時(shí)候！”我咆哮道，剃刀連枷噼啪作響著撞上了她的戰(zhàn)刀，讓她旋轉(zhuǎn)著后退了一步。

而她重拾起那一步，又在其上加上另外三步，一息之后她便以一組令人窒息的短促刺擊直指我的心臟、脖頸，以及股間的動(dòng)脈，迫使我在她重奪優(yōu)勢(shì)的同時(shí)不斷后退。

“伊莎萊撤退！”亞歷莎呼喚道，我大膽地瞥了一眼，看見(jiàn)她已經(jīng)站在了載具的坡道上，引擎已經(jīng)啟動(dòng)，但很吃力，傷員們已經(jīng)上了船。

但我不能服從她。

如果我中斷決斗，這個(gè)女妖就會(huì)斬下我的首級(jí)，而我沒(méi)有任何能壓過(guò)她的優(yōu)勢(shì)。我?guī)缀鯚o(wú)法自保，而我的傷勢(shì)也讓我遲緩到甚至撐不了多久了。

就在我準(zhǔn)備赴死時(shí)，一聲尖銳的哨聲提醒我有什么物體從我左側(cè)一米左右的地方?jīng)_了過(guò)來(lái)。我無(wú)暇思考亞歷莎在想什么，我只是移動(dòng)起來(lái)，完全放下防備，背身栽倒在地面上，并將連枷猛抽向亞歷莎向我扔來(lái)的物件。

我的刀刃如切開軟奶酪一樣切開了破片手榴彈，隨之而來(lái)的爆炸震得我又聾又瞎。不過(guò)，那個(gè)女妖承受的遠(yuǎn)比這更嚴(yán)重。她慘叫著被甩了出去，整個(gè)左半身都鑲滿了冒煙的破片。

我的處境并沒(méi)有好太多，但趴到地面和我的敵人的身體之間給了我掩護(hù)，我已經(jīng)避免了最壞的情況。熾熱的金屬鉆進(jìn)了我的雙腿，我確定其中一片已經(jīng)轟飛了我的一側(cè)膝蓋骨。無(wú)論怎樣，我的雙腿已經(jīng)不再承受我的重量，于是我把自己拖向坡道，不愿簡(jiǎn)單地屈服并拒絕執(zhí)行亞歷莎的命令。

我會(huì)回到她身邊。她命令我回到她的臂彎里，我——！

“離她遠(yuǎn)點(diǎn)！”

亞歷莎向我沖過(guò)來(lái)，槍聲自我的頭頂上傾瀉而下，她舉起爆彈槍朝著那個(gè)步履蹣跚的女妖隨意地開火，女妖踉蹌著在周身?yè)]動(dòng)她的戰(zhàn)刀，即便在這種不知所措的狀態(tài)下也仍然接住并偏轉(zhuǎn)了幾發(fā)可能會(huì)打中她的爆彈。

亞歷莎用一只著甲的手抓住了我的廢手，并把我拖向坡道，同時(shí)仍用單手打出克制的點(diǎn)射，可沒(méi)有一發(fā)打中女妖領(lǐng)隊(duì)。

女妖向亞歷莎和我發(fā)起了沖刺，她完全放棄了防御，甚至還用肩甲接下了幾枚擦彈。我無(wú)法在她身上聚焦目光，我的耳朵還在因爆炸而嗡嗡作響，就算我強(qiáng)化過(guò)的生理機(jī)能也無(wú)法足夠迅速地彌補(bǔ)我收到的傷害。

“帶她走！”亞歷莎命令道，把我舉了起來(lái)，片刻之后阿斯塔特大人的巨臂環(huán)住了我，將我整個(gè)抬進(jìn)了航空器。

“亞歷莎！”在我被從她手中拉開時(shí)，我哭喊道。

在女妖從亞歷莎手中打掉爆彈槍時(shí)，在我與自己的死重和背負(fù)著我的阿斯塔特大人難以置信的力量抗?fàn)帟r(shí)，我感覺(jué)自己的心臟快跳進(jìn)喉嚨里了。

“亞歷莎！”

我邊踢邊掙扎，尖叫著我愛(ài)人的名字。我試著接近她，可阿斯塔特的抓握無(wú)比的堅(jiān)決。

一聲武器的撞擊聲充盈了我的雙耳，我的呼吸又一次凝滯了。

我的連枷。

我甚至沒(méi)注意到自己把它丟掉了。我實(shí)在太擔(dān)心亞歷莎了，可它現(xiàn)在就在她的手中，它的卷曲已經(jīng)纏上了戰(zhàn)刀噼啪作響的刀刃，將之擋在了亞歷莎的心臟前幾英寸的距離上。

而亞歷莎的全身都開始發(fā)光。

原文：

You will not have her.

That was the first thought that passed through my mind as I whirled on my heel to face down the familiar, psychic wail of Asuryani Banshees that had filled the air, completely overwriting the hiss and spit of shuriken fire.

The human warriors were still disabled, a brace of well-placed haywire grenades made short work of their power armoured systems, rendering even the powerful Lord Astartes as little more than a lumbering behemoth of ceramite and muscle. Even in spite of that, he still used his body as a shield against the withering fire of the Guardian squads that were spilling out from the surrounding buildings.

I had hoped we would have more time.

Time enough to extract back to Alessa’s fortress priory, at least.

Nothing can ever be so simple, though, can it?

“Stay down,?Cre’yth!” I spun my blade around my waist and drew Hellebore and Rue from their holsters at my sides.

“Isarae!”

Alessa’s voice stopped me in my tracks. She was rising to a knee, keeping low to minimize her profile. Her blind eyes settled on me, and the expression she wore was one of deadset determination.

“Purge them, then return to my arms.” Alessa’s order rang through me and, despite the dire situation, I smiled.

“As you say, my love.” I turned back to the Asuryani threat, settled my heels against the ground, and surged forward.

I counted a score of Guardians in tight, disciplined groups of four. My Craftworld cousins bracketed the entire plaza with suppressing fire, but the moment I rose and began to move they faltered.

It was minute, barely noticeable, and likely invisible to any who are not Aeldari, but I’m certain that the sight of one of my kind, a Druchi Wych, wearing the colours and livery of the hated Imperium of Man must have startled them.

The heartbeat-long lull in their concentrated fire was all the opening I needed.

I ducked and wove between streams of shuriken, reading their shot's trajectory full breaths before the feeds engaged by the angle and set of their weapons. I kicked off from the ground, leaping high and spinning in the air, using the rotation to mark every target in the sight.

The Guardian’s broke off their suppressive fire to aim, but they weren’t nearly fast enough. One squad of four dropped at almost the same moment as I put splinterfire through the vulnerable visors of their helms in midair, and they barely had time to shriek out their agony before their brains turned to slurry from the neurotoxic rounds.

By my count, I had only moments before the Banshees arrived, and they would be the truer test.

Mindful of that, I struck the ground running, sending pinpoint shots of splinter rounds into the soft, vulnerable parts of the Guardians, splitting through eyeglasses and the flexible joints as their shuriken fire chewed up the ground and walls around me, all while I danced joyously between streams of death.

Ah, I had missed this: the carnevale of combat! The bloody and riotous gala of violence played out to a symphony of screams! I conducted their hoarse cries with aplomb as I put round after round through them while they tried in vain to pin me down with disciplined fire.

“Glory to the God-Emperor!” I cried as I spun and spiraled ecstatically between fusillades. “Death to the?Aeldarii!”?

It was cleansing.

Every one of my own kind I put down was another sluice of clean water across my muddied soul. Our wretched empire had birthed unfathomable corruption. The galaxy would have been better for it had my hubristic kind never crawled from whatever primordial muck we were born from!

That these Craftworld fools clung to life and continued to pollute the galaxy with their worthless breath was bad enough. That they had the unbridled gall to interfere with the servants of the God-Emperor, He who battled the Serpent for my soul, was unconscionable.

Death was the only recourse for such an offense.

I cut through the Guardians like death herself. Their clumsy shots were no more accurate than an Ork’s to my eyes, and, as the last of the Guardian squads dropped, I holstered my pistols, gripped the hilt of my Razorflail, and snapped it out just as three Banshees erupted from the shadows with blades drawn and psychic screams projecting from their open-mawed helms.

“DRUCHI!”?

The word was spat with such venom, projected through the psychosonic amplifiers in the lead warrioress’ helm, and the shriek struck me like a hammerblow across the chest.

Instinctive terror froze my limbs and rattled my brain as the psychic shockwaves of their combined screams washed over. I could not breathe, I could not move. My arms were limp and my guts turned watery against my will as the three Aeldari killers came at me, blades raised high, and in the light reflected from their powered weapons I saw my death.

“ISARAE!”

Alessa’s cry shattered my fear. With a bellow of rage, I lunged forward, weaving between blade strikes at the last moment. The Banshees tried to turn, to keep me in their sight, but they were not nearly quick enough.

I took the legs from the leftmost Banshee. My flail tore through her aspect armour, then through flesh, then bone, and she screamed in agony as she struck the ground in a pool of her own blood while both of her legs fell like driftwood beside her.

Dancing backward, I wove between the expert strikes of the remaining two. They were damnably fast. I had only taken the first one because I had surprised them with my recovery. Now they were cautious, and wherever one struck, the other guarded her sister’s flank. There was no opening for my flail, or at least there was none that would not result in my taking a blade thrust to the gut from one if I attacked the other.

I risked a glance behind me between defensive flourishes.

Even grievously wounded, the Astartes warrior was ferrying Alessa’s sisters back into the protective cover of the landing craft, carrying the dead weight of his own armour by main strength. I could hear the guttering engine of the craft as it’s pilot attempted to coax it back to life, but its subsystems were likely still inactive from the haywire grenades.

As for Alessa…

My eyes widened as I saw her raising her bolter and taking aim. How was she standing? Surely she wasn’t considering opening fire? She may not have been fully blind, but accurate fire was almost certainly beyond her, at least for now. If Alessa pulled the trigger she was likely to hit me as she was to hit the Banshees.

On the heel of that thought came another one.

There was no chance, absolutely none, that Alessa would risk hitting me, which meant she wasn’t intending to fire on us, so where-??

I readied myself a fraction of a second before Alessa pulled the trigger. She unleashed two quick, disciplined bursts of bolter fire in our direction and they struck their targets perfectly.

The mass reactive rounds chewed through the ground between us even as the Banshees forced me backward, ripping holes in the stonework floor precisely where the Banshee warriors were moving.

Alessa, you beautiful creature.

For cycle upon cycle, Alessa had sparred against me, sometimes for hours at a time, and she had learned quickly that although the danger to her body lay in my attacks, the ability to predict those attacks lay in my footwork.

Disrupt the footwork, disrupt the attacks.

The Banshees stumbled.

Only slightly, and it slowed them only fractionally, but for a handful of breaths their movements desynchronised, and gaps in their defense opened like wounds in the air.?

My razorflail snapped like a biting carnadon as the Banshees were forced to correct their movements to prevent stepping into the holes blown in the stone.

One Banshee shrieked as my flail split her from groin to jaw, putting her down in a swelter of gore as her sister screamed and attempted to lunge through my guard. I spoiled the thrust of her blade with a flick of my wrist, sending the strike wide as I twisted and spun, catching her neck with a spinning kick that sent her sprawling to the ground.

I lashed the ground around me furiously as I landed, ripping up the stone plaza as I advanced on the Banshee who had coiled into a crouch, her blade raised across her in a defensive guard.

“How dare you,” I hissed in Aeldarii. “How dare you threaten my Alessa with your vile presence.”

“What are you?” The Banshee growled, her helm’s amplivox twisting and distorting her words as she backed slowly away. “What Dark One would wear the mark of mankind’s corpse god?”

“Do not speak your heresies to me, daughter of Morai-Heg,” I spat. “The God-Emperor knows my name, while you and your wretched sisters will go to the maw of the Serpent.”

“Impossible,” The Banshee said. “The seer was right… utterly impossible…”

I raised an eyebrow. So one of their seers was here. That didn’t really surprise me, but what did catch me off guard was that apparently they had seen something regarding me.

Or… perhaps something regarding Alessandra.

I snapped my razorflail back into its blade form and raised it to point at the Banshee.

“What did your seer claim?” I asked.

She didn’t reply. The Asuryani warrior only stared me down through the lenses of her warmask as my patience frayed. Well, no matter. There was nothing this wretch could tell me that I could trust. I was wasting my time even speaking to her.

“Give She Who Thirsts my regards, as I will not be seeing her,” I said with a smirk.

“Isarae get down!”?

My body obeyed Alessa’s command before I could consciously acknowledge it. I lashed out as I dropped, arching my blade at the Banshee as she rolled away just as several things happened at once.

First, the Banshee’s blade, and her arm, was sliced clean from her body as my attack went wide from my sudden drop to the ground. Second, a fusillade of bolter fire opened up over my head, forcing the Banshee to continue her retreat as she bled copiously from the stump of her arm. Thirdly, another keening wail split the air, heralding the arrival of another of the Banshee’s sister warriors.

And fourth: a tight beam of white, ravening energy punched through the meat of my right shoulder. If I hadn’t dropped, it would have gutted me and severed my spine.

My body flooded a combination of numbing narcotics and stimulants in an instant as I hit the ground hard. Even through the haze of agony and chemicals, I recognised the shot from an Asuryani Long-Rifle. I should have known better, I should have known they would have support from their Rangers.

To make matters worse, another Banshee had rounded the corner and was barreling down the boulevard at me. My breath caught in my throat as I scrabbled for my weapon before flipping back, over and over, to get away from the charging Banshee.

This was no mere aspect warrior.

In her hands she gripped a long, heavy glaive whose head crackled with power. I had faced ones like her only a handful of times before and it was always a terrible challenge. If this warrior was not an exarch of a Shrine, then she was undoubtedly near that stage.

None but the most skilled and aggressive of the Banshees enter a battle with an Executioner in hand.

She powered towards me riding the thrust of her glaive in a single, killing strike that I fended off with a clumsy snap of my flail. One of my arms was all but dead weight, and without it my chances of victory against a foe of this caliber were dismal at best.

If I had been whole then the fight would have been in my favor, but only just. I was no fool, I knew precisely how deadly this Asuryani warrior must be to handle a weapon like that so deftly.

And deft it was.

She spun the glaive like a parade baton, spinning it around herself in murderous arcs that would cleave through armor and flesh with equal ease.

Through it all I had to be careful. I thought I had judged accurately where the sniper had shot from, and I managed to backpedal far enough into the plaza that the Ranger would no longer have a clean shot, but that did not account for his own movements.

We needed to leave this place, and quickly. We were outpositioned, outflanked, and under fire from an unseen foe, there were too many factors against us, and I wasn’t certain I could extract myself now that I had engaged the Banshee that, likely, led this detachment.

“Die, Druchi!” The Banshee leader screamed, her rage at the deaths and injury of her sisters was palpable.

“Not yet!” I snarled, snapping my razorflail in a rattling crash against her glaive and sending her wheeling back a step.

She reclaimed that step, and another three on top, a heartbeat later as she lunged out with a withering set of staccato thrusts aimed at my heart, neck, and the arteries of my legs, forcing me back as she reclaimed her advantage.?

“Isarae retreat!” Alessa called, and I dared a quick glance to see her standing on the ramp of the vehicle, the engine had started, but it was laboring, and the wounded were aboard.

But I could not obey her.

If I broke off the duel the Banshee would take my head off, and I had no advantage to claim over her. I could barely keep myself alive, and my wound slowed me enough that even that would not last much longer.

A sharp whistle alerted me to a small object hurtling a meter or so past me on my left even as I began to resign myself to death. I didn’t have time to wonder what Alessa was thinking, I simply moved, collapsing my guard completely, dropping straight down and onto my back as I lashed my flail out and to the side to strike what Alessa had sent my way.

My blade split through the fragmentation grenade like soft cheese, and the resulting detonation deafened and blinded me. The Banshee took it far worse, though. She screamed as she was bodily pitched away with her whole left side peppered with smoking shrapnel.

I wasn’t much better off, but between being low to the ground and my foe’s own body giving me cover, I had avoided the worst of it. Hot metal was digging into my legs, and I was certain that one of the pieces had blown straight through one of my kneecaps. Either way, my legs were refusing to take my weight, so I dragged myself towards the ramp, unwilling to simply give in and fail in Alessa’s order.

I would return to her. She ordered me to return to her arms and I-!

“Get away from her!”?

Shots poured out over my head as Alessa hurried out towards me, her bolter up and firing haphazardly at the staggered Banshee who drunkenly spun her glaive around her, still catching and deflecting the few bolter rounds that might have hit her in spite of her dazed state.

Alessa seized my dead arm with one armoured hand and dragged me backward towards the ramp, still firing one-handed in controlled bursts, but the Banshee leader was having none of it.

The Banshee charged, abandoning defense and even taking a few glancing shots across her pauldrons as she bore down on Alessa and I. I couldn’t focus on her, my ears were still ringing from the explosion, and even my enhanced physiology couldn’t make up for the damage I’d taken fast enough.

“Take her!” Alessa ordered as she heaved me up, and a moment later the enormous arms of Lord Antares were around me and bodily heaving me into the aircraft.

“ALESSA!” I cried out as I was pulled from her grasp.?

As the Banshee knocked the bolter from Alessa’s hands, I felt my heart cram itself into my throat as I struggled against the dead weight and impossible strength of the Astartes who was carrying me.I

“ALESSA!”

I screamed my love's name as I kicked and struggled. I tried to get to her, but the Astartes' grip was utterly implacable.

A crash of weapons filled my ears, and my breath caught once more.

My flail.

I hadn’t even noticed I’d dropped it. I’d been too worried about Alessa, but it was now in her hands, and its coils had caught the crackling blade of the glaive, stopping it mere inches from Alessa’s heart.

And Alessa’s whole body had begun to glow.