As Terra held grand celebrations for the return of Corvus Corax, marking the return of all Primarchs to their Legions, the fleet of Arkhas Fal, the forr Legion Master of the 19th Legion, departed orbit.
Arkhas stood on the observation deck, gazing deeply at his howorld.
"Set course. Destination: Naktis." A lingering gloom still clouded his dark eyes, the sha of being the first Astartes Legion Master to be exiled, but it was now mixed with anticipation for the future.
"All armor, vehicles, and ships are to be repainted according to my new sche."
At the sa mont, in the fourth layer of the Kingdom of Disorder, Nareth watched the piece of black glass spin in his hand.
It looked like molten obsidian that had solidified into crystalline rock.
Parts of this molten crystal had solidified into flowing forms, as if subjected to unimaginable heat.
"Golden Man, thank you for still entrusting the Void Glass to Arkhas." He gently stroked the bottom of the glass, offering thanks.
It was cold to the touch, as cold as polar ice, seeping into the soul.
Only darkness lay within the glass. To look into it was to look into the endless darkness of the universe.
The void within the Void Glass expanded on a plane beyond the physical, containing every star and planet, every human and xenos. It was the convergence point of all beings in reality and the Warp.
His eyes deepened. He recalled that ten millennia later, the Carcharadons' Chaplain Tangata Manu would lose it in a xenos attack.
Manu would search for nearly fifteen centuries, only determining, after the Great Rift opened, that the Void Glass had ended up in Commorragh.
He captured Urak, a commander of the Cabal, and locked him in a windowless, featureless, silent room.
Urak, broken by the sensory deprivation, led them to a webway gate and into Commorragh.
The Carcharadon team, upon finding an Archon, was forced into the arena.
Manu's older brother, the Carcharadons' Chief Librarian, the Pale Nomad Te Kahurangi, used the Drukhari's fear of psychic powers to win repeatedly.
But then the arena's mistress, Lelith Hesperax, entered the arena and single-handedly decimated the entire Carcharadon team.
Her speed made bolters seem slow. She pierced the Carcharadons' power armor with an ordinary dagger, killing several in monts.
Psychic flas were too slow to threaten her.
Just as the Carcharadons were about to be wiped out, a boy, Jonah, touched the Void Glass, intoned the activation word, and activated the ancient relic.
Everyone saw the void. All their lies and self-deceptions reflected back their soul's mirror image.
Hesperax saw herself chasing an unattainable wind, finding no worthy challenge, only depravity, brokenness, and a self clinging to past glory.
Te Kahurangi saw the sea monster that had killed his mother and family, tornted by his hatred.
Manu saw himself as a jagged killing machine, realizing he was no longer truly human.
....
The Void Glass's reflection showed everyone their Warp mirror, causing massive chaos.
The panicked Drukhari fled, even causing a stampede.
The powerful arena mistress dropped her weapon, crawling in agony, returning the Void Glass to the Carcharadons, begging them never to return.
Manu, believing the relic too terrible for anyone to possess, showed he had beco a monster he despised. He thought the Void Father, entrusting it to the Great Remberancer, perhaps never intended it to be used at the end, only forgotten.
He sank the Void Glass into the ocean world of Sagalaya.
He reported to his Chapter Master, Tyberos the Red Wake, that he hadn't found the relic, and was executed.
Reining in his thoughts, Nareth said with feeling. "The Void Glass is a terrible mirror. It reflects a person's truest self."
"Truer even than the mind."
The mind's reflection includes a person's mories, thoughts, and even the hidden parts below the conscious, but it is still based on their own cognition.
The soul's mirror, unknown to oneself, cannot be reflected by the mind.
He thought of the only known person to have activated the Void Glass and looked into their own soul's mirror, the Emperor.
"So, Golden Man, what did you see when you removed your mask and faced your naked, true soul?"
"Dark King? End and Death? Destroyer of countless species..."
"Did you resist your fate because you saw your own terrible soul?"
"..."
Thoughts raced through his mind. Images of what the Emperor might have seen flashed by.
After eleven seconds, he reined in his thoughts and again looked into the endless void.
The "ntor of Disorder" could see the white threads of law coiling around it, shining with the purest light, condensing into a gleaming gate.
"A gateway to the Sea of Souls?"
He recalled the activation word for the Void Glass, the word Jonah had spoken: "Gate!"
He also thought that only certain people could open it. When the Carcharadons retrieved it, they tried to activate it.
They spoke the word, but it didn't respond.
They concluded that only those chosen by the Void Father, Rang, could activate it.
He stroked the cold relic. "It may not be the Emperor's chosen."
"He didn't make it."
"The boy, Jonah, may have had a special soul, eting conditions set by its maker."
"But that's not a problem for ."
With this thought, it vanished.
In the third layer's black mist, the strangely shaped black glass appeared.
Whether he could open it or not, he wouldn't try now.
On one hand, it would affect those nearby. He needed to be alone.
On the other hand, he needed to "link" with it, to deal with the possible drastic change after looking into his own soul's mirror.
After "linking" it, even if an uncontrollable drastic change occurred, he could close it.
Just as he was about to return to reality, he heard prayers.
He looked at the expanding and contracting orb. It was Nerat Keelin, the "Ash Claws'" Shadow Captain of the Raven Guard.
The "ntor of Disorder" extended his spiritual energy, touching the orb. He saw Nerat kneeling at an altar.
His hands were clasped, fingers pointing downwards, resting against his chest. He prayed uneasily.
"My Lord, though our gene-father did not exile us, he does not trust us either."
With a thought, he ford the information to convey and transmitted it to the orb.
"Stay with the 'Raven Guard.' Train in the shadows. It will help you master the power I have granted you."
After instructing the seasoned "Confessor," he extended his spiritual energy, touching Alastor Rushal's orb.
He similarly instructed the newly promoted Confessor to stay with the Raven Guard, to learn to master the power of shadows.
"If nothing changes, Horus will still force Corax to obey commands, to assert the Warmaster's authority. The remaining Terran-born may still be exiled before the Heresy."
He murmured, then returned to reality.
....
If you enjoy the story, my p@treon is 30 chapters ahead.
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