The Fall of the Phoenix
The Whisper still echoed with the pain of Excrucia's resurrection when Yrule's call reached Lann.
"I've failed, Lann!" the Thanarch's voice was heavy with pain and frustration. "Daisan's skin is not in my hands. We only have one chance..."
"Hurrikhaine. I see, Thanarch" Lann replied. "Rumours are that the Hex are doublecrossing Lady Anielyn. They are smuggling it through Venomport, hidden inside one of their slaves."
"Take all the brothers and sisters you can. That slave must be ours!"
"Will you be joining us?"
"I'm wounded and far away. It all rests on you, Lann of the Unyielding Fire. Go and may Ynnead's blessing be with you".
Lann's party emerged from the webway portal on the edge of Venomport. Torc Cegodari and Jair fanned around the portico of the landing pad, Bhanlhar floating behind them.
The Bleaksouls prowled the darkeness on the far side of Venomport, their numbers bolstered by heavily armed Kabalites.
Inghfar the Wanderer emerged from his concealed position and trained his long rifle on the Bleaksouls.
Torc and Jair took cover inside the portico, their weapons ready. Uless advanced to block the approach to Inghfar's firing nest.
Lann and his disciples made it for the landing pad, where the Bleaksouls' kabalites were priming their weapons.
Bahreneq and Izurad stepped into a webway portal and found themselves far away, lost at the Sorrowshards still thrumming with the soul energies of the recent conflict.
Lakbyrn slinked to the left flank of the Void Phoenixes, while Yariaq and Jaenis boldly advanced to the ruins where Inghfar and Uless were waiting.
Morghdrax emerged from the portal on the landing pad and Jair welcomed him with a salvo of heavy shurikens. The Hekatrix revelled in the pain, but in his ecstasis he let Lann charge him.
Lakbyrn sprang out of cover, but Torc was ready for him. Her shurikens halted his charge and the vile Parched dived behind a broken pillar.
Inghfar and the kabalites traded fire, but the sheer volume of shots aimed at the ranger proved too much.
Glaive and Hekatarii blade clashed on the landing pad and Lann finally claimed his revenge on Morghdrax.
Uless let out a piercing scream and charged Yariaq and Jaenis. Though stunned by Uless' wail, the Wytches hold their ground and managed to fell her.
Mocking screams filled the air as the Shards of the Broken Heart advanced on the flank of the embattled gangs. Dark light beams, shurikens and poisoned splinters crisscrossed the cold streets.
Ravneth was suddenly confronted by one of the Hex's Medusae, but he relished the pain brought by the creature's psychic blast.
The Shards moved through the webway portals. Derashi materialised on the landing pad and leapt into the combat between Lann and the kabalites.
Kaerathir, instead, found herself far from the action at the feet of a statue of Khaine.
Barahir and Dis'ar stepped into the ruins to protect the fallen forms of Uless and Inghfar from the attentions of Yariaq and Jaenis.
With her outstanding grace, Torc moved back to rejoin Jair, all the while firing and finally halting Lakbyrn's advance.
The Shards' dark lancer found his mark on Jair, leaving Bhanlhar to hover uselessly next to her.
As Ravneth approached, Lann dealt swiftly with Derashi. The kabalites basked in her pain and withstood the Exarch thrusts.
Yariaq smashed through Barahir's defense and leapt for the portico where Torc was firing from.
Ozunhar, the Hex's slave, emerged from the portal on the landing pad. His senses heightened by the Hurrikhaine brewing inside him, he sprinted away, but one of the Bleaksouls' kabalites jumped after him.
The portal on the landing pad flashed again and Kerathir lashed at Lann. The Exarch's shimmershield deflected the agoniser, but then Ravneth slid his blade on Lann's back.
The kebalite halted Ozunhar's flight and braced himself to protect the Hurrikhaine.
Torc was close, but as she trained her avenger catapult on the kabalite, a second Medusa emerged from the darkness in front of her. Engulfed in a psychic blast, the veteran Avenger was soon surrounded by the Shards' Sslyth and Yariaq.
Kerathir jumped back through the portal, taking away the bounty of soul energy she had collected on the landing pad.
Though wounded, Torc managed to fall back. Ever disciplined, the veteran laid a supressing fire as she retreated, halting Ravneth and the kabalite on the edges of the landing pad.
No longer able to sense the slave they had been sent to protect, the Medusae wandered aimlessly, their one eyes flashing and scarring the ruins around them.
Hidden on the comms tower, the Shards kept firing with glee. Blindly pouring fire onto the port, they hit Yaenis, giving Dis'ar a chance to withdrew.
Spiritripper's Market was busy as usual, lowly Drukhari and Parched going about their dark businesses as if the feud over Hurrikhaine had never happened. Yrule turned away from the oval window. Lann and Excrucia stood behind him. All three wore the scars of the recent conflict.
"What news?" He asked to neither in particular.
"Lady Anielyn is hitting back at Verkhosian. The Drachon is on the back foot, too busy to come after us. It is the right time lo leave this accursed place." Lann's reply was plain and matter-of-fact.
"And how do you plan to do that?" Excrucia's voice was cold, her hanger barely contained. "The Bleaksouls are rising up to High Commorragh. The Shards are muscling into their former turf. They're cutting us out of any webway access! And they're paying for this with the souls they've stolen from me!"
"There was nothing in your hands, Excrucia." Yrule cut her short. "All the power you had came from Ynnead. And to Ynnead it must return."
"Thanarch, you mean..." Lann didn't dare to finish the sentence.
"Yes, Lann of the Unyielding Fire. We'll stay here, we'll lay like the ashes of the Phoenix. When the time is right, we'll rise again and we'll bring those scheming wretches into Ynnead's embrace."
'And vengeance will be mine', thought Excrucia, careful to keep her mind locked away from the Whisper.
Yrule's Gambit
Yrule scanned the ruins, looking for signs of his quarry. For a fleeting moment, his eyes lingered on Khaine's statue.
He found it entertaining that the creature he was hunting had chosen such a place to hide. Not that it made any difference to him, but he was sure that a heathen such as Daisan Verkhosian would have taken an issue with that. After all, Daisan's pet ur-ghul was carrying a tiny spec of the Drachon's skin, safely esconced inside it by the dark craft of the Haemonculi.
All of this, Yrule had been told by Daisan's gyrinx. If he could get hold of the only thing granting eternal life to Daisan, the Void Phoenixes' place in Commorragh would have been secured, and with quite good 'patronage' to boost.
A sudden movement in the shadows dragged Yrule away from his musings. He drew his sword and prepared for the final leg of the hunt.
The ur-ghuls lurked at the edges of the temple, blind faces turning around, nostrils rythmically flaring.
Yrule flew on the platform overlooking Khaine's statue, not even attempting to hide himself. He knew Daisan's pet must have learned a trick or two in its service to the Drukhari and would not come out of hiding until forced to.
As he had expected, one of his quarry's pack mates rushed snarling to the feet of the platform.
Yrule landed gracefully on the sacrificial platform in front of Khaine's statue. Two more troglodytes came at him, one racking his armour with its filthy claws.
The Thanarch pushed the creature aside and swooped forward. He skirted too close around the crumbled statuary outside the temple, slashing his thigh on the ragged stone.
But the wound turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Lured by the scent of blood, the beast he was looking for charged at Yrule.
The creature ignored Yrule's cuts, its bloodlust making it insensible to pain. Yet, it could not land a single telling blow. Its pack, meanwhile, approached.
They fell on Yrule at once, as frenzied as their leader. The Thanarch dodged and parried, until he found an opening. His wings damaged and armour torn, he launged for the pack leader.
Yrule's blade cut deep through the ur-ghul's side. The beast screamed wildly as its black blood gushed out. It bowled over Yrule and rushed for the darkness at the far side of the temple, its pack following close behind.
Yrule made to pursue them, but his wounded leg collapsed under his weight.
His wings useless, he cursed through gritted teeth as the ur-ghuls vanished in a crack leading to the darkness underneath Low Commorragh.
A Deadly Feint
"Here's what I heard from my contacts, Thanarach.' Over the Whisper, Thresyn Neverbreath's voice sounded heavy with urgency. "Lady Anielyn's torturers couldn't get any useful information from the Parched. She's now convinced we know more than she wants about Hurrikhaine. The Bleaksouls are on the move to bring her any of us."
"Very well..." replied Yrule "Inghfar, what about the Shards and our employer?"
"Lord Verkhosian didn't make any overt move" came the Ranger's reply "But voices have reached the Shards he will pay them with our souls. Apparently, he's not satisfied. The Shards couldn't track us, but are shadowing the Bleaksouls."
"All is in place, then" Yrule pondered with satisfaction. "Thresyn, I'm sending you support, Excrucia in the lead. Keep both our friends busy. Give the impression you are after captives, just like them. Do not take any unnecessary risk. I repeat, do not take any risk. I only need time to take a peak at Daisan's secrets."
The Void Phoenixes stepped out of the webway portal onto the chill air of the Sorrowshards. Jair and Halt’har primed Bhanlhar and readied their shuriken catapults.
Excrucia and Uless advanced to the left of the Sorrowshards while Fachean joined Thresyn to their right.
The Bleaksouls were in front of the Kabalite and Corsair, taking shelter from their fire in a structure hosting a Couldron of Souls.
Some distance away, the Shards placed their heavy weaponry on a crumbling balcony. A towering Sslyth nodded to Kaerathir and each took a fighter with them towards the nearest webway portal.
Morghdrax and Lakbyrn peeled off from the rest of the Bleaksouls and jumped through another portal. They stepped out of two different ones at either side of the portico leading to the Sorrowshards.
Excrucia seized on Morghdrax's confusion and charged the Hekatrix. The two started sparring, as they had done for so many years in the arenas.
The portal behind them flared again and in rapid succession the Sslyth and Des'rashi joined the fight.
Lakbyrn and Uless saw the danger for their leaders and rushed to their sides.
Mazrayth and Ynado've started pouring fire into the mass fight. A Dark Lance beam slammed onto Uless, but the Rune of Ynnead wrought into the former Wytch armour absorbed the shot.
The Sslyth lashed at Excrucia, seriously injuring her and leaving her exposed to Lakbyrn opportunistic thrust. Uless felt Excrucia's spirit leaving her body, together with all the other souls she harboured.
Uless wounded Morghdrax, ducked under his resposte, grabbed Excrucia's body and run for the Sorrowshards. Behind her the whistling of the Shards' fire mixed with the wailing of departing aeldari souls.
Buffled by Uless' suddden retreat, Morghdrax was unprepared for the Sslyth's assault. Lakbyrn stepped in just in time to stop Des'rashi finishing the Hekatrix off.
Under the cover of friendly fire, Uless made it to the Sorrowshards. Screaming for Fachean and Thresyn to retreat, she raised a silent prayer to Ynnead, reached for Excrucia's vanishing essence and tethered it to herself. The Sorrowshards started to thrum and glow as they absorbed the other souls that had been in Excrucia.
No longer threatened by Thresyn's flamer, the Bleaksouls moved to meet Kaerathir, which was advancing towards them.
The fight between Lakbyrn and the Sslyth at the portico was at a standstill.
Although injured, Kaerathir withstood the assault and took Bahreneq down.
The Shards hammered the Void Phonixes with fire. Her Rune of Ynnead now spent, Uless succumbed to her injuries, letting slip of Excrucia's soul. Jair just managed to hold onto it before she, too, was hit by dark light.
Gasping for air, Jair dragged herself to the closest crystal. Her scanner had picked a unique frequency and the Guardian knew there was only one chance. Only one hope.
She placed her hand over the glowing, thrumming surface and poured all the souls she carried into it. The vibrations reached a fevered peak, as the damaged crystals struggled to contain all the energy pouring onto them.
Suddenly, the crystals flared, blinding light spearing the false sky before inverting its trajectory and streaming into Excrucia's body.
The body jolted. Excrucia's eyelids slammed open and a banshee's howl filled the air.
***
In a distant, even darker corner of Commorragh, Yrule saw the light spear and heard Excrucia's howl. He prayed to Ynnead her suffering would be short. Then, he spread his Swooping Hawk Wings and glided over the ruined streets. Hunched, snarling shapes stirred and followed his shadow.
