Rae van Daleon – The Roots of the Storm
by Lea von Löwenstein
Chapter 35: The Ritual Fulfilled
The air grew impossibly thick, suffocating, as the cultist’s laughter echoed through the chamber. The twisted mockery of joy resonated with the warped symbols on the walls, each pulse of light matching his voice. Rae stood frozen, her team at her back, as the horrifying reality began to dawn on them.
“You’re too late,” the cultist rasped, his voice growing deeper, distorted. He stumbled forward, his blood-soaked robes clinging to his mutilated form. His mask cracked, revealing a face contorted in an unnatural grin. The severed head of Talia, still gripped in his hands, seemed to radiate malevolent energy.
Kael raised her power sword, her voice thunderous. “Silence, heretic! You will burn with the rest of this filth!”
The cultist turned his glowing eyes to the Inquisitor, his grin widening. “The sacrifice is made, Inquisitor. The gods have accepted her blood. The gate is open.”
The vortex above the altar roared to life, its swirling darkness intensifying. The symbols on the floor burned bright, and the very stone beneath their feet began to crack and splinter.
Rae’s instincts screamed at her to move, but her feet felt rooted in place as the cultist’s laughter turned into an agonized wail.
The Transformation
The cultist fell to his knees, his body convulsing violently. Blood poured from his eyes, nose, and mouth, pooling around him in thick, unnatural streams. His flesh began to tear, glowing cracks forming along his body as though something was trying to force its way out.
“What is happening?” Soren whispered, his voice trembling.
“The ritual,” Tyren said, his cogitator buzzing wildly. “It’s not just summoning something—it’s using him as a vessel.”
Kael stepped forward, her voice steady and commanding. “Stormtroopers, ready flamers! Whatever emerges from him, we purge it here and now!”
But before they could act, the cultist’s body arched backward, his screams reaching an ear-splitting crescendo. His skin ripped apart in a sickening explosion of blood and gore, the fragments of his body scattering across the chamber.
From the wreckage, something emerged.
The Blood Demon
The creature stood tall, its grotesque form towering above the altar. Its body was a horrifying amalgamation of muscle, bone, and crimson fire, pulsating with raw Warp energy. Blades jutted from its arms, glistening with fresh blood, and its eyes burned like twin suns, radiating malice and hatred.
Its voice, deep and guttural, reverberated through the chamber. “I am called forth by the blood spilled in the name of the gods. You are nothing before me. Nothing.”
Kael raised her power sword, her voice unwavering. “You will find the Emperor’s light burns brighter than your pitiful darkness.”
The demon turned its glowing eyes to her, a twisted grin spreading across its grotesque face. “Then let us see if your light can withstand the fury of Khorne.”
The Battle Begins
The demon roared, the sound shaking the walls and sending waves of force through the chamber. The stormtroopers opened fire, their flamers unleashing jets of holy fire that engulfed the creature. But it moved with terrifying speed, its massive claws swiping through the flames as if they were nothing.
Kael charged, her power sword blazing with energy as she struck at the demon. The blade connected, slicing deep into its flesh, but the wound only seemed to enrage it. The demon lashed out, forcing Kael to leap back, her movements precise and controlled.
“Spread out!” Rae shouted to her team. “Distract it—keep it off Kael!”
Celestine darted to the left, her blade flashing as she struck at the demon’s flank. Marcus moved to the right, his massive strength driving a makeshift spear into the creature’s leg. Tyren and Soren stayed back, using their cogitator and ranged weapons to disrupt the symbols on the walls, hoping to weaken the demon’s connection to the Warp.
Chaos Unleashed
The demon roared again, its movements becoming more erratic as it lashed out at its attackers. One of the stormtroopers was caught in its claws, lifted into the air and torn apart in a spray of blood and gore. The others held their ground, their bolters and flamers focusing on the creature’s glowing core.
Rae moved with precision, her blade striking at the demon’s exposed joints. She darted in and out of the shadows, her movements a dance of deadly intent. But even as they fought, she could feel the futility of their efforts. The demon was too strong, its power growing with every second.
“Kael!” Rae shouted, her voice cutting through the chaos. “We can’t beat this thing head-on. We need to collapse the chamber—bury it!”
Kael hesitated for a moment, her gaze flicking to the unstable walls. “If we do that, there’s no guarantee we’ll make it out.”
Rae’s jaw tightened. “There’s no guarantee we’ll survive if we don’t.”
The Final Stand
Kael nodded, her resolve hardening. “Stormtroopers, plant melta charges on the support columns! We bring this place down!”
As the stormtroopers moved to carry out the order, the demon roared in fury, sensing their intent. It surged forward, its claws swiping at the nearest column. Rae and Celestine intercepted it, their blades flashing as they fought to hold it back.
“Keep it busy!” Marcus shouted, his massive frame shielding Tyren and Soren as they worked to rig the remaining charges.
Kael joined the fray, her power sword blazing as she struck at the demon’s core. The creature howled in rage, its movements becoming more frantic as the chamber trembled around them.
The Collapse
With a deafening roar, the melta charges detonated. The walls cracked and crumbled, massive chunks of stone falling from the ceiling. The demon let out one final, agonized scream as the collapsing chamber buried it beneath tons of rubble.
Rae and her team sprinted for the exit, their lungs burning as they fought to stay ahead of the falling debris. Kael was the last to leave, her blade glowing with the light of the Emperor as she cut through the collapsing doorway.
They emerged into the corridor just as the chamber behind them caved in completely. The roar of the collapse echoed through the tunnels, followed by a silence so profound it felt like the Warp itself had been snuffed out.
Aftermath: The Weight of Victory
The roar of the collapsing chamber faded, leaving only an oppressive silence in its wake. Dust and debris choked the air, the acrid tang of scorched stone and blood still heavy on the tongue. Rae sat against the cold stone wall of the corridor, her chest rising and falling with shallow, ragged breaths. Her blade, once steady in her hands, now rested limply in her lap, its edge streaked with the blood of chaos.
Her team huddled nearby, each of them bearing the weight of exhaustion and loss. Marcus leaned heavily against the wall, his massive frame heaving as he gulped in air. Celestine’s blade was still in her hand, but her knuckles were white, her gaze distant as though she were replaying the fight in her mind. Tyren clutched his cogitator like a lifeline, the faint hum of the device breaking the eerie silence. Soren sat with his knees drawn to his chest, his face buried in his arms.
Kael stood apart from them, her figure silhouetted against the dim flicker of the stormtroopers’ remaining torches. Her power sword still glowed faintly, the holy light flickering as if sharing in their exhaustion. She surveyed the group with a sharp, assessing gaze before speaking.
The Inquisitor’s Words
Kael’s voice cut through the silence, low and unyielding. “The chamber is sealed. The demon is destroyed. The Emperor’s will is done.”
Rae looked up at her, her eyes hard. “At what cost?”
Kael’s gaze didn’t waver. “The cost was high, as it always is. But chaos is an insidious plague. Had that ritual succeeded, the cost would have been far greater—this Scola, this planet, perhaps even this system.”
Rae pushed herself to her feet, her exhaustion momentarily overshadowed by anger. “Talia didn’t deserve this. She didn’t choose to die for your victory.”
Kael stepped closer, her tone softening slightly, though her resolve remained iron. “No, she didn’t. But her sacrifice gave us the opportunity to stop the greater evil. Chaos takes everything, Rae. It leaves us no clean victories.”
Rae clenched her fists, her nails biting into her palms. “Then why does it feel like we lost anyway?”
The Emperor’s Light
Kael reached out, placing a hand on Rae’s shoulder. Her touch was firm, but not unkind. “Because you care. That is what separates us from them. They revel in destruction; we fight to protect. That fight is never clean, never easy. But it is necessary.”
Rae didn’t respond, her jaw tight as she wrestled with the Inquisitor’s words. Kael’s gaze softened, just slightly. “You and your team have proven yourselves today. You’ve stood where others would falter, faced what others could not. The Emperor has plans for those with such resolve.”
The Team’s Bond
As Kael stepped back, Celestine broke the silence, her voice sharp but trembling. “Resolve won’t bring her back.”
“No,” Marcus rumbled, his voice low and steady. “But it might stop this from happening to someone else.”
Tyren spoke next, his tone thoughtful but strained. “We fought something none of us could have imagined, and we’re still here. That has to mean something.”
Soren lifted his head, his face pale but determined. “It means we keep going. For her.”
Rae looked at her team, her anger softening into a weary pride. They were battered, bruised, and scarred, but they were still standing. Still together.
“We’ve lost so much,” she said, her voice quiet but firm. “But we’re not done yet. If there are others out there—other rituals, other dangers—we’ll stop them. For Talia. For everyone who’s been taken by this darkness.”
The Inquisitor’s Promise
Kael nodded, her expression approving. “You have the fire the Emperor demands of his servants. If you wish, I can see that you and your team are given proper training. The Ordo Hereticus always has need of those with your skill and determination.”
Rae met her gaze, her expression unreadable. “And what happens to the Scola? To the people here?”
Kael’s tone hardened. “The corruption has been cleansed, but the Scola will be watched. If any trace of chaos remains, it will be purged without hesitation.”
Rae nodded slowly. “Then we’ll stay. For now. To make sure it doesn’t come back.”
Kael inclined her head, a rare flicker of respect crossing her face. “The Emperor protects.”
“And we fight for Him,” Rae replied, her voice steady.
The Path Forward
The group began their ascent to the surface, each step heavy with exhaustion but also with purpose. The darkness of the labyrinth was behind them, but its scars remained. Talia’s loss weighed heavily on their hearts, but her memory fueled their resolve.
As they emerged into the light of the upper corridors, Rae looked back one last time, her jaw tightening. The battle against chaos was far from over, but she knew one thing with certainty:
They would never stop fighting.
For the Emperor. For each other. For those who could no longer fight for themselves.
