The Warp's Curse (Blackstone Fortress) Read online

  Contents

  Cover

  The Warp’s Curse – Michael J Hollows

  About the Author

  An Extract from ‘Blackstone Fortress’

  A Black Library Publication

  The Warp’s Curse

  By Michael J. Hollows

  The Imperium burned. Flame licked at the periphery of her vision, threatening to cloud it, to overwhelm it. Everywhere she looked was fire. She tried to scream, but no sound escaped her mouth. She closed her eyes, but the flames were always there, a bright ethereal warning. The fire brought death, and there was nothing she could do.

  Her surroundings were like smoke, intangible. Somehow she was outside the fortress, outside herself. In the void of space the battle raged around her. She saw untold death, the terrible destructive power of the fortress.

  The Imperium burned.

  Ships launched munitions at the fortress, but it wasn’t enough. It would never be enough. Torpedoes and energy beams, the heat glare of shipborne lances, dissipated against its cold, unforgiving, matt-black surface. Scorched sections folded back into its shell to be replaced by pristine layers of unblemished obsidian. Imperial vessels fell in waves, their existence blinking out in explosions of plasma and debris. Others threw themselves against it in a desperate last-ditch defence.

  Nothing could stand in its path. Untold numbers cried out in terror as stone cracked under immense forces. Every one of them called for the Emperor’s help, but for them it was too late.

  ‘Witch?’

  The voice snapped Aradia Madellan out of her vision. She continued her stride onto the Blackstone Fortress, the tap of her stave on the floor echoing back. Her eyes refocused, no longer looking inward. As soon as her boots had touched the deck of the fortress her warp-sight had flashed into life, showing her a vision. The vision had disappeared as suddenly as it had come. She uttered a mantra, words she had taught herself years ago, when she had been trapped and alone. Part of her training as a psyker, it was designed to calm her mind, to give her focus and steel her against the warp. The psych-reactive collar around her head flared with ethereal blue light, bathing the obsidian deck around her. It was an alchemical glow, tinged with a black light on the edge of her perception. It dimmed as she calmed, reciting the words over and over.

  I am in control.

  The vision still lingered on the edge of her memory, tempting her to fall back into its embrace. She focused her mind on reality, away from the unreality of the warp. The closer she came to the Blackstone Fortress, the stronger the visions were. Now that she was standing on the fortress itself, it had been even more vivid than before. She had felt as if she were there, witnessing the destruction of the Imperium, one planet at a time.

  She reached now for the Emperor’s light, but out here His presence was distant and cold, a muted hum at the back of her mind. Even with the explorers at her side, the primaris psyker had not felt so alone in a long time.

  ‘Witch?’ Taddeus spoke again, his voice clearer, more distinct this time. ‘Is something wrong?’ he asked. His cassock was lined with shadows in the black-lit gloom, and the relic at his broad chest glowed with a faint blue light like Aradia’s stave. She knew that his concern was not for her, but for himself. Since joining forces, he had shown no regard for her abilities. Like many in the Imperium he saw Aradia as something other, an outsider, a threat. His eyes bored into hers, judging every second of her existence. His ruddy face was even more flushed now than it had been before.

  ‘I’m fine,’ she lied, ignoring the term he had used. He would not be the last to call her that. She could only have been out for a second, but it had been long enough for him to notice. There was no way she could tell him what she had witnessed. As she had learnt in the schola, a half-truth was always better than an outright lie. ‘The Blackstone Fortress has… changed,’ she said, waving a gloved hand at the aperture. ‘Something is different.’

  ‘We should go,’ Taddeus said, stepping off the alighting ramp of their vessel, Pious Vorne close at his heel as always. She wore red robes under fire-blackened armour, and like Aradia her head was completely bare, shaven of all hair.

  ‘The God-Emperor’s holy mission can wait no longer. I have seen our path.’ Taddeus hesitated, then lifted the heavy leather tome that hung at his waist. ‘The code is here. It is all the God-Emperor’s will.’

  Taddeus was hiding something, she could feel it. There was something there in his mind, just below the surface. The amount of time that Taddeus had spent in the fortress had only strengthened his convictions, and increased his piety. The priest was like many of her teachers back at the schola, overweight and self-important. He clutched a heavy power maul in one bionic arm. Aradia had been threatened by similar weapons in her youth.

  Aradia couldn’t understand why Murad, her superior, had made her seek out the priest when she had been tasked to lead this expedition, but he was supposed to know more about the Blackstone Fortress than anyone else. Aradia hoped that the rogue trader had been right.

  From here, Aradia could look back through the aperture into the void and see the star field beyond. The tiny pinpricks of light that showed the core of the galaxy. Within that small view, thousands of Imperial worlds spun through the darkness of space, each containing billions of souls. Aradia could almost feel them, almost reach out and sense them, but that would be impossible. Her psionic powers could never be that strong. Every one of those worlds was threatened by the existence of this fortress. They would all suffer if she failed.

  ‘Why are we waiting?’ Taddeus asked, looking at Aradia from the corner of his eye. His contempt was barely masked, a slight snarl turned the corner of his lips. ‘Have you lost your wits?’ Aradia didn’t answer.

  Vorne lifted her two-handed flamer and glared at Aradia. There had been a beauty there once, but like most things it had been ravaged by hate. Aradia could feel the hesitation in the young zealot. Vorne wanted nothing more than to do the Emperor’s work, and she would let nothing stand in her path, not even another servant of the Emperor. Especially not a witch. Aradia fancied she could feel some kind of kindred there, deep down in Vorne’s psyche, but above the rebreather that covered her mouth like a muzzle the zealot’s eyes burned with disgust. Aradia would have to watch her back while that one was around.

  She looked about, taking in the area. The aperture was vast, revealing a glimpse of the fortress’ interior and allowing their small vessel a space to land. Many other explorers had come this way, and even now other ships sat waiting. Some of them looked as if they had been there for years, like barges of the dead, waiting for explorers that would never return.

  Aradia sensed a presence. A figure appeared out of the gloom. Underneath a green cloak, polished, bone-white armour shifted and warped like light, until a lithe figure became fully apparent. Aradia could taste a faint metallic tang as her mind reached towards the aeldari. Pain flared in her temples, and she recoiled. There was a barrier there, and knowing that mind would come at a price. She had the sudden feeling that if Amallyn Shadowguide did not want to be seen, then they would never have known she was there.

  ‘You came,’ Aradia said. It wasn’t a question. The Blackstone Fortress drew them all, whether they wanted it to or not. Even so, she had not fully expected the ranger to honour the deal.

  ‘We had an agreement.’ The soft voice emitted from some kind of vox-caster clamped around her mouth.

  Aradia turned back to Taddeus, and saw that the preacher shuddered with barely suppressed rage.

  ‘Xenos filth!’ he shouted, pointing an accusing finger at the aeldari ranger. ‘You sully our holy mission!’ The servo-stubber attached to his shoulder cycled, its automated feed rattling. Aradia felt the slight static discharge of his power maul activating. To her credit, Shadowguide didn’t flinch. The ranger stood, impassively regarding the preacher with cool, intelligent eyes. Had Aradia sight of her mouth she imagined she’d have seen a superior smirk there.

  ‘I have ventured into the Talisman with the false prophet before,’ Amallyn said, her voice a soft purr. ‘Were those endeavours not holy enough for you?’

  Aradia tentatively reached out to Taddeus’ mind, thinking to use her telepathic powers to calm him. Something intangible held her back. The look of hatred in his eyes was enough of a warning, and a deep scowl crossed his features.

  ‘Get out of my head, witch,’ he said. ‘I can feel your abominable itch in my skull!’

  Aradia switched tactics. ‘Stop, Taddeus! Stay your weapons.’ Her voice wasn’t quite the commanding boom she had intended. She was used to following orders, not giving them. ‘If we are to clear the fortress in the Emperor’s name then we will need help. Your faith is not in doubt, but it will not be enough. We need to work together.’

  Taddeus glared at the ranger, his weapons still active. Then he sighed and let the mace fall. ‘We will work together for now, witch,’ he said, not taking his eyes from Shadowguide. ‘While we do the God-Emperor’s work. But you will not always be part of His plans. Only those that can see His truth will earn His protection.’ He bared a row of off-white teeth. There was a cruelness there that Aradia hadn’t expected. He marched towards the maglev transport, Vorne following in his wake.

  Aradia took one last look back over her shoulder at the abyss of space, before plunging on into the darkness of the fort
ress. She had to trust the priest and the aeldari to aid her in her task. If not, they were all doomed.

  The maglev ground to a halt. It had passed chambers and corridors in a blur, silently taking the explorers further into the depths, before stopping without so much as a change in pitch to indicate they were slowing. They could travel for years, forever at the whim of the maglev platform, never able to take control. How many explorers had simply starved to death on this transport system no one could map or truly understand?

  It had stopped in a gloomy and forbidding place, ambient light faintly illuminating the black crystalline material of the chamber. Aradia couldn’t see to its far wall, but as she stepped from the maglev the echo of her footsteps gave her a sense of its space. The sound reverberated back as if she were in some kind of underground cavern. There was a damp quality to the air, and the sense of a ceiling nearby that she couldn’t see in the dark. Even with her powers, she couldn’t quite comprehend the vastness of the Blackstone Fortress.

  ‘We’re here,’ Taddeus said, stepping from the maglev after her. ‘We’re on the right path.’ The golden eagles on his shoulders bobbed with the motion of his step. They reflected what light there was back into the chamber, giving him a blue aura. Pious Vorne came after, always in his shadow, the flaming brand on her backpack helping to illuminate the scene. Not for the first time, Aradia wondered at the logic of having an open flame so close to a tank of promethium fuel.

  ‘Where is here exactly?’ Aradia wondered out loud, walking ahead of them and not expecting an answer. ‘Have you been this way before?’

  Taddeus did not respond and walked off into the gloom.

  ‘For a preacher, he does not inspire confidence,’ Amallyn whispered as she joined them.

  Every surface of the chamber was black, made from a glossy obsidian crystal that had so far managed to confound any analysis. There were faint strands of grey etched through it in random patterns like marble. It reminded Aradia of the scholastica psykana facility where she had been trained, and she half expected one of her tutors to appear out of the darkened cloisters at any moment, to chastise her with a shock maul. She could still feel the old wounds.

  She snapped herself out of the memory, focusing on the task at hand. From here she could no longer see the stars. There were no external windows, and they were shut off from the Imperium, alone and trapped. If the maglevs did not return them, then they would be here for the rest of time. There were innumerable tales of explorers venturing into the Blackstone Fortress never to return. She would not allow herself to be amongst that number. She had a purpose – not just the mission, but something else; something equally important.

  Aradia needed to understand her visions.

  The explorers set out, Aradia leading. Taddeus had trouble keeping his eye on both her and the aeldari, so walked to the side. Vorne stepped behind him, her feet scraping along the floor as if she were clad in chains. Her beady eyes looked one way then the next, seeing threats everywhere. She followed Taddeus like a child, always seeking approval. Despite the Ecclesiarchy’s rules against it, Aradia wouldn’t be surprised if Vorne was actually his daughter. She made a mental note to find out later.

  Shadowguide kept to the rear of their group, her long rifle useful for picking off any dangers at a distance, but Aradia suspected there was more to it than that.

  ‘I cannot concentrate with the xenos creature at my back,’ Taddeus said, almost stopping and looking over his shoulder.

  ‘I have no quarrel with you,’ the ranger replied.

  ‘I don’t care–’

  ‘Remember we’re all here for the same reason,’ Aradia interjected. ‘To find some way of controlling the fortress.’

  Despite what she’d said, Aradia couldn’t shake the feeling that they were all following their own path. Why Shadowguide had decided to join them, she had no idea, but she was thankful for the ranger’s presence. The Imperium depended on them finding some way to understand and control the fathoms of the fortress. Aradia depended on it. That was why Murad had her recruit the preacher. Aradia would not let her down. Aradia admired Murad’s singularity of mind; it was one of the many reasons working with her had given Aradia purpose. She had helped Murad to find the Blackstone Fortress, and now she was fulfilling her true calling: finding a way to control it. If she needed the preacher then so be it. Along with his zealot, he was one of the only denizens of Precipice who had explored the Blackstone Fortress extensively and lived to tell the tale. Looking at him, she didn’t know how, but she was about to find out, one way or another.

  ‘This way,’ he said, pointing with one plump finger and consulting his book.

  ‘How can you be sure?’ Aradia asked, looking around the vastness for some sense of location. ‘What do you have in that book?’

  ‘The Emperor’s will. That is all you need to know, witch,’ he replied, pointing again. He waited for Aradia to lead them, falling in behind her. She had to trust that he was sending them the correct way.

  After some time they came to a floor that lifted and lowered like the cogs of some great machine. Parts shot up into the heights of the chamber, while other surfaces simply slid back and forth like switches. There was no sound, nor the oily musk of engine grease. Aradia waited, watching one of the walkways slide towards her and away again. They would have to carefully time their paths across, or be crushed by the machinery.

  ‘I’ll go first,’ she said, knowing that she had no choice. ‘Watch what I do and follow my exact steps.’

  She jumped onto the walkway as it came to her side again. She was tempted to call on her powers, but the others would need to follow by normal means. As she took another step, following the momentum of the walkway, another piece of the machine shot out of the darkness, almost clipping her and whipping her coat up around her waist. She dropped and rolled with the motion as another almost decapitated her. A moment later she was on solid ground again. The stress made it feel like an eternity, but within seconds the others were by her side.

  As they travelled further, parts of machines and other equipment lay discarded about the cavern, no one piece matching another, seeming to come from a myriad different cultures and races. Some had fused with the floor, as if it had melted, trapping them and then solidifying again. There was a wall to their left, running away from the nearby maglev platform. Its surface was smooth and glossy. It reached off into the dark, out of sight. The wall glowed with an ambient light, seeming to pulse with Aradia’s heartbeat. It was almost mesmerising in its rhythm.

  Aradia reached out for it, sensing nothing from the dark but an endless void. Apart from a faint background hum, there was nothing here that registered as life. Veins of different colours intertwined their way through the metallic sheen of the surface. It was as if the fortress had been manufactured by some vast entity, melding together different elements collected from across the galaxy. Aradia ran a gloved hand along it, trying to sense where it had come from. She felt a movement beside her.

  ‘Be careful, mon-keigh!’ Shadowguide hissed through the emitter of her faceplate. The ranger stepped back, raising her long rifle and bracing, both legs splayed to balance her weight.

  Something jumped from the gloom, a flash of reflection. A triform shape landed on Aradia’s outstretched arm, clinging on to her hand. It whirred then emitted a pulse. There was a stab of pain as something cut through her glove. Aradia grunted and shook her arm, trying to dislodge it. Three metal legs clamped her arm in a fierce grip that was utterly unrelenting. Its domed head was intent on her as if it were feeding, supping on her blood to fuel its machine core.

  Other shapes poured out of the darkness, as if they were coming from the walls themselves. Single purple beacons glowed in the blackness like hundreds of alien eyes. The noise was a scratching – like rodents’ claws skittering on metal plating. The hairs on Aradia’s neck rose as if she could sense them crawling over her. Taddeus’ servo-stubber clicked as it tracked targets and she heard the pilot light of Vorne’s flamer burst into life.

  She gripped the object boring into her free hand and pulled. She let loose a roar of pain as it dug deeper and her hand slipped away, wet with blood. With a lunge, she smashed the back of her fist against the obsidian stone. At first nothing happened, then with another motion the glasslike dome of the drone splintered and shattered. Losing whatever life force powered it, it turned inert and dropped to the floor, smashing into even smaller pieces.