When the sky began to fall, Kaelah Saeryn, a dead Aeldari Warlock, began to scream.
At this mont, he wished more than anything that ti could flow backward—back to when he was still on the Isovin Craftworld, sitting in the lush jungle gardens with Farseer Ulthran. He missed the scent of fragrant herbal tea and the sight of yellow-beaked serrated birds squabbling in the gaps between the leaves.
If he could return to that ti, he would strictly obey the prophecy of the Great Farseer and never launch an attack on that Chaos warband. Anything would be better than this: huddling in a corner of a Soulstone, watching the small world he had constructed for himself slide into oblivion.
As a Seer who had walked the Path of the Warrior and currently walked the Path of the Farseer, Kaelah Saeryn naturally possessed all the abilities of a prophet—including the power to remain conscious after death.
In the rumors of certain Mon-keigh, there were a few "lucky" individuals who stumbled upon a Seer's Soulstone, unaware that the soul within was fully awake. The bored Seer would then haunt the lucky individual, chattering incessantly in their dreams and consciousness until the Mon-keigh, driven mad, threw the Soulstone into a lead-lined coffin and resold it as "ancient space-faring treasure." From then on, the Seer's soul would cycle through the hands of various Mon-keigh, never finding salvation.
Kaelah, of course, had no intention of doing that. Speaking to a hound of Slaanesh after death was no different from jumping into a furnace of his own volition.
Instead, he had fashioned a phantom of the past within the stone to preserve his spiritual purity. However, when you are the trophy of a Slaaneshi warrior, there is one major problem:
Your fate is not actually in your own hands.
With a world-shaking roar, the sunlight vanished from the Craftworld phantom. The golden arches connecting the sectors cracked and collapsed; the clear, sweet silver waterfalls turned turbid, becoming a raging flood that swept through the landscape. The kin manifested from his mories fled in panic before vanishing one by one.
Finally, even the mirrors of the Wraithbone Do and the Infinity Circuit were shattered, falling within the Soulstone in a storm of tens of millions of shards, like a crystalline rain.
He drifted on a relatively large mory fragnt, staring resentfully at the rampaging force. He felt like an incompetent architect, utterly defenseless against a natural disaster.
By contrast, Enkidu didn't see it that way at all. He felt as if he had pricked a bubble, or perhaps peeled away the skin of a lychee, revealing the plump, succulent, and sweet flesh within, now entirely exposed to him.
Well, it was slightly different from a lychee. In his era, lychees didn't talk back—unless one had accidentally consud hallucinogenic mushrooms beforehand.
You brutish savage! You have personally destroyed a paradise a hundred tis more beautiful than your Garden Worlds!
A psychic transmission was fired off. The Warlock's soul, hiding within the stone, protested with indignation.
Enkidu's curiosity was piqued by the transmission. In his impression, when the Aeldari died, they stayed dead. The Drukhari's souls went straight to the six circles of the Silver Palace; the Exodites returned to the World Spirit; the Harlequins were protected by the Laughing God; and the Craftworlders either hid in their Soulstones or slept within the Infinity Circuit.
He had never seen a "pointy-ear" who could still chatter this much after dying.
Driven by curiosity, he condensed his psychic energy into a long needle again and gave the inside of the Soulstone a stir.
When the second detonation began, Kaelah Saeryn felt that his spiritual life might truly be at an end.
The barriers he had hastily constructed were shredded in an instant. The psychic power crashing into the Soulstone reacted with the energy diffused within, forming massive floods. Endless tremors erupted from the void, sweeping across the entire gem. Even though he withdrew his power and wrapped himself tight, he inevitably beca a small marble spinning in the eye of a storm.
Every ti he was subrged in the "water," he felt as if he had fallen into the maw of a colossal abyss-beast. The "beast's teeth" scraped against his psychic shield, peeling away bits of the essence that maintained his existence. Kaelah struggled to keep himself afloat (heaven knew why a soul would feel heavy), trying to distance himself from the sensation of impending doom. But soon, he realized his once-abundant psychic reserves were nearing exhaustion.
Stop this, Mon-keigh! I yield!
A thin voice ca from the Soulstone. Judging by the pitch and tone, the Aeldari's condition was abysmal.
Enkidu withdrew his psychic power. The surface of the Soulstone no longer displayed multi-colored vortices; only a faint speck of blue remained, huddled tight against a background of pure black, like a frightened heart.
And now, this heart could be poked and stirred at his whim—a unique stress-relief toy.
Enkidu licked his teeth. He wasn't sure if it was an illusion, but when he withdrew his power, he felt a ghostly hint of sweetness that made him miss the cafeteria food.
When you've been killed by a human and fallen into human hands, I expect you to at least learn so manners.
...Very well, human.
It turned out that even the arrogant Aeldari could learn politeness when faced with an absolute power gap. Kaelah chose obedience the mont the request was made. Now, he fully understood why Farseer Ulthran had gone out of his way to tell him to "stay polite."
It seems you haven't actually beco "good," just more compliant.
Human, do not push your luck! the Soulstone protested angrily, before its tone softened rapidly upon realizing its situation. Can you not just leave alone?
Clearly not. This is the first ti I've seen a Soulstone this "lively," so I've decided to study you for a while. If you disobey my orders, I'll put you on an altar and offer you to the Dark Prince.
Despicable, damnable monkey!
Kaelah cursed with unbearable rage, struggling to float away from the surface of the "ocean" which looked much calr now but could still swallow him whole.
Now, to continue existing, he had to work for it.
...Fine... what do you want to do?
Progress?
Enkidu blinked. He had expected the Warlock—who was stubborn even at the brink of death—to keep resisting. He hadn't expected him to fold this quickly. In that case, he could proceed with so of his ideas.
Psychic power. I want to learn the Aeldari techniques for wielding it.
Never! Do you think I don't know your thoughts, human? You wish to hollow out my race's survival skills before destroying us completely!
Hmph. Aeldari really are all the sa. They only respond to the stick.
He re-condensed his power and gave the inside of the Soulstone another stir.
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