The Wayward Son

Seiras, The Warp

It is said that one's life will flash before their eyes right before they die. This was true in a way as Seiras saw the entirety of his life all over again during his fading moments. In his final moments of life his memories lingered back to Calderis when he was only 14 years old.

He was currently following a large hunting party of about two hundred men through a dune sea along an oasis river path. All of them were garbed as desert warriors with lightweight armour. Each warrior carried a spear and an autogun assault rifle.

The leader gave a few silent gestures as the group stopped and looked down over a dangerous sight. In an abandoned village near the oasis river, they saw a large gathering of greenskin orks salvaging the place and crudely interacting with each other in boredom.

The leader of the warriors turned back and faced everyone, "The scouts said there were orks, but I wasn't expecting this many. The greenskins are encroaching closer to Alaseirian. We have to wipe out this gathering immediately or they'll start another Waaaagh."

"Kiris, are you sure about this? There're nearly a hundred green skins down there by my estimate. A few of them look really big too," one of the men expressed understandable concern.

Kiris nodded at him, "I want two men per ork down there. Try not to get caught in one on one battles…these monsters are way stronger than us and they're extremely difficult to kill. We should also set up an ambush. I want at least a third of our men waiting behind these trees and the primary force to draw them out of the village and closer to the river. We'll pincer them between two sides. I want the ambush group to focus your autoguns on killing as many as you can. I'll lead the forward party and lure them in closer," he continued.

After issuing several more orders and setting up the ambush, Seiras walked up towards the man, "Where do you want me father?"

"You should stay back with the ambush group in cover," he said sternly.

Seiras shook his head disapprovingly, "What?! But I thought I was coming with you!"

"You're just a boy still, Seiras…you've never killed greenskins before. They don't die easily, and I don't want to risk you getting killed before you've had time to learn. You should stay back and learn as much as you can. I expect a lot of casualties in this battle," his father said sternly.

The boy glared angrily, "I'm not afraid, father. How am I supposed to become a great warrior like you if I'm hiding in the back like some woman?!"

His father quickly backhanded him strongly, "You're going to lead one day my son, but first you have to learn how to follow! I will not risk your life unnecessarily over some vain wish for glory. You're not superhuman and neither am I! One mistake can cost your life!"

"The men won't respect me if I'm not on the front lines!" Seiras said seriously as he rubbed his cheek.

After a short pause, Kiris sighed heavily, "This isn't like the bandits we killed or the beasts we hunted Seiras…greenskins are dangerous monsters. I've seen one rip a man in half with its bare hands. Another one cut your uncle's leg off with an axe. What would your mother say if I came back home and you were dead? I brought you here to teach you…I can't do that if you're recklessly putting yourself in harm's way."

"Didn't you start fighting greenskins at my age? Uncle Kamran tells me the stories all the time of how you both killed hundreds. Why are you holding me back?" the boy countered.

Kiris gritted his teeth, "The only reason Kamran and I killed that many orks is because they murdered your grandfather and half the warriors in our village! Do you know how many widows are in our tribe, Seiras?! There's no glory in war or battle. We're fighting for survival. Do you think I enjoy fighting? I don't. I want a better life for you and your sisters…one where you don't have to be afraid of monsters attacking us every night. I make the warrior's sacrifice so others don't have to. You shouldn't live your life trying to be like me son or you'll end up dead like your cousins. Your uncle is a bitter man who suffers greatly. All three of his sons were killed by greenskins because he filled their heads with delusions of glory. There's always going to be someone to fight, Seiras…if you go looking for battle you will find it."

"The monsters aren't just going to go away unless someone kills them! Uncle Kamran tells me it's my responsibility to shoulder that burden when you are both gone. You can't protect me forever, father! I'm willing to make the warrior's sacrifice too! How will I be ready to lead if I don't have any real experience?!" Seiras spoke strongly. His father seemed somewhat receptive to his words and sighed heavily.

"Your uncle has placed his hope for the future of our tribe in your hands…you will lead one day. There will be plenty of more battles for you to fight." Kiris' voice trailed off.

Seiras shook his head, "There's a battle to fight right now…and we're both here. How many more will it take before you give me a chance?"

"I'll let you come with me so long as you remain close and don't do anything foolish. If I tell you to fall back, then you better listen. Is that understood, boy?" Kiris replied seriously.

"Yes father!" Seiras replied eagerly.

"Come, the men are waiting," Kiris sighed again.

The father and son quickly made their way towards the men. Many were surprised when they saw Seiras there.

One man even asked about it, "You're bringing your son to the front, Kiris?"

"He insisted on it," Kiris nodded.

Several of the warriors nodded in silence. One quickly put a hand on his shoulder and chuckled, "You'll make a proper warrior yet, boy."

"He's brave, like his father," another added approvingly. Seiras felt a bit of pride when he saw the look of approval in some of their eyes.

Kiris didn't pay it any mind as he got serious again, "Follow me, we're going to sneak around the village."

This memory progressed for several hours as the Calderis warriors strategically took out the greenskins infesting the abandoned village. When victory seemed all but assured, the warriors surrounded the greenskins and slaughtered them down to the last in the village outskirts. Their victory was short-lived unfortunately as a massive, thundering sound caught their attention.

Over the horizon, they could see dozens of more orks coming in. To their utter horror it was being led by an ork nob. He was heavily armoured with scrap metal unlike the others and looked much larger than any ork Seiras had seen thus far.

"We've got more coming in! Take them out men! Focus your attacks on the big one! Kill their leader and the orks will scatter!" Kiris commanded.

With courage, the surviving men charged against the newly arrived greenskins. A bloody battle ensued for several minutes as dozens died on both sides. The massive ork nob was killing men left and right, and before long, Seiras found himself and his father in front of the monster.

"Ahahaha! Oi Looky Ere! The humie leada! You're gonna pay for killin all my boyz! WAAAGGGHHH!" the nob shouted in crude low gothic as it furiously battled against Seiras' father.

Despite his best efforts, Kiris was only a mortal man, and against a two and a half meter tall ork, he couldn't do much to stop him. Seiras ruthlessly emptied his entire autogun's magazine into the ork nob, but it proved almost ineffective as the beast shrugged it off.

"Seiras, run! I'll hold him off!" Kiris shouted towards his son

"I'm not leaving you, father!" Seiras shouted emotionally as he stood shaking in fear at the ork.

He could only stand there frozen in fear as his father attempted to stab the ork multiple times with his spear. While successful, these wounds couldn't do much to stop the creature.

The nob laughed as he ripped the spear out of Kiris' grip and snapped it in half. A moment later he threw the man to the ground and shook his head, "Not so tough are ya humie?! You can't hurt me with your pointy stick! I'm gonna cut ya in half with me choppa!"

Kiris looked over at Seiras and shouted again, "Get out of here, son! Run to our fallback point! Damn it, move!"

The ork had a massive axe as he walked over to Seiras' dad and was about to swing it down. To Kiris' surprise and the Nob's, Seiras found his courage and charged in. With feeble might but strong determination, he stabbed the ork leader with his own spear.

"Youz a brave young humie aren't chya?! You're gonna regret that!" the nob shouted angrily as he swung the axe as hard as possible nearly cutting Seiras in half as he ducked.

"I'm getting bored of dis! Time to die so I can get back to me proppa WAAAGH!" the nob shouted as he swung the axe down on Kiris again.

"NOOOOO!" Seiras shouted as loudly and emotionally as he tried to intercept the kill.

A moment later, the unbelievable happened as the ork nob got sent flying backwards off his feet and to the ground.

He seemed to quickly recover but noticed Seiras was now glowing. Crackles of lightning surged over his body as he stood there in shock.

"ARRGHHH!" Seiras screamed loudly as he felt an unbearable and agonizing burn filling his mind and his very soul.

The ork nob immediately came in for the kill again, but he only made it halfway before a streak of lightning shot out of Seiras' hands and into the nob's body. The greenskin brute was electrocuted brutally by the attack and eventually caught on fire before falling over in a smoldering dead heap of flesh.

"Dey got da boss! Let's get outta here!" one of the nearby orks shouted to the others. This seemed to end the battle outright as the orks now began to disperse with relentless haste leaving the survivors relieved. Everyone present immediately made their way over towards Seiras and were staring at him with widened, disbelieving eyes.

His body's glowing died down a moment later and the terrible pain eventually faded as well. Seiras stood there shaking with residual psychic power; he was completely confused as the surrounding men gawked in silence.

Seiras heard his father's voice a moment later speaking with absolute shock, "You're a shaman my son…"

"What?! But I thought only girls could be shamans!?" Seiras said disbelievingly as she looked over at the dead ork nob as fresh proof of what just happened.

"He's a chosen one…touched by the heavens," Seiras heard a nearby man exclaim.

All of the surrounding warriors immediately knelt to him which was very odd considering Seiras was only a 14-year-old boy.

"Hail the Son of Heaven!" someone spoke in an almost religious reverence.

Seiras looked at his father confused, "Why is everyone bowing to me, father?"

"You're a male shaman…" Kiris said softly as if he himself couldn't believe it.

"I am?! What does that mean?" Seiras asked uncertainly.

The man looked over the others seriously, "We need to return home immediately! The shamans need to know of this! Salvage what you can from the village and let's move out!"

After a long and very awkward trip, Seiras and the surviving warriors all returned to their home village-city. Seiras walked alongside his father up front and wasn't sure what to think as they came through the gates of their rocky oasis fortress village.

The villagers that caught sight of their return were all happy to see that they returned and followed behind them as they arrived at the temple. Nearly two thousand people were crowded around the center of the village-city as they watched curiously at what was happening.

Seiras' uncle Kamran, the Shah of Alaseirian walked up to the returning warriors with anxious eyes. The man was crippled and was missing a leg, but he walked with a prosthetic and a staff of some kind. Everyone stopped speaking as the man raised his hand to address the warriors.

He looked at Kiris proudly, "Kiris, my brother, I take it your battle was successful?"

"Yes, but at heavy cost. We lost dozens of men to those monsters," Kiris said solemnly.

"They are with the God-Emperor now. We will perform a funeral ceremony for them tonight in honour of their sacrifice. The shamans spoke of a great victory today. My wife told me that the God-Emperor would send us fortune. I am pleased to see that she was correct." Kamran announced.

Kiris bowed his head respectfully to his older brother before speaking, "The God-Emperor blessed us with more than a just a victory, Kamran. My son Seiras is a shaman…he killed the ork leader with magic."

The surrounding crowd erupted into amazement as everyone began to speak to one another about the event. Kamran's bitter eyes were filled with awe as he looked at his nephew, "He is?!"

"He killed an ork nob with the light of heaven, Shah!" another man announced with reverence.

Seiras felt somewhat uncomfortable from everyone's gaze as his uncle walked over towards him. The man placed a hand proudly on Seiras' shoulder, "You are touched by the God-Emperor of Mankind, my nephew. This is remarkable…we haven't had a male shaman in nearly three hundred years."

"Uncle Kamran…I-" Seiras didn't know what to say.

"Ever since the death of my own sons, my faith had waivered in the God-Emperor's great plan…but now that faith has been restored! The heavens have sent to us a messiah!" his uncle announced strongly with pride.

Seiras had no idea how to take in everyone's reactions as they began to bow to him. Moments later, the village shamans exited the temple and approached Seiras. There were five of them in total. Among them included his mother, his aunt, his older sister, his youngest sister, and another unrelated shaman who was very old.

"The spirits have spoken true…a messiah has come," the eldest unrelated shaman spoke as she walked over towards them.

Seiras' aunt and mother both looked over the boy with amazement. His aunt placed her hand on his head as she closed her eyes, "I sense a great power within him."

"Aunt Mitra, mother…what am I supposed to do?" Seiras asked desperately concerned.

His mother embraced him in a tight hug as she spoke fondly, "Calm yourself son. Spiritual magic comes from your emotions and your will. We will train you in the ways of Shamanism."

The memory continued onward for a while as Seiras accepted his new role as the messiah of his tribe. It was a night and day difference compared to the way things were before. Instead of looking at him with respect and admiration, the people practically worshipped him and went out of their way to do things to earn his favor.

Despite the fame it brought him, Seiras felt truly alone from his newfound reverence. All of the children his own age wouldn't even speak to him anymore with anything other than deific praise. A normal person might have enjoyed this type of thing, and Seiras certainly did for a while, but it quickly began to burden and isolate him.

Everyone now expected even more from him than before…and what was saying something. In addition to his father and uncle's intensive leadership and warrior training, Seiras was also forced to learn the ways of shamanism from his mother and the other shamans.

Two of his four sisters were also shamans, and in the few months since becoming a shaman, Seiras had grown to understand the hardships they faced with having magic. The older women were particularly adamant in giving him extra training due to his stronger psychic powers. While none of the women ever admitted it to him, Seiras had a feeling he was more powerful than they were due to the astronomical rate at which he had developed his powers. He had done in half a year what took most of them over a decade to learn. His aunt Mitra had described his 'spiritual presence' as a beacon of light, but his mother had grown increasingly patronizing and restrictive in teaching him the more powerful he became.

At first, Seiras thought it was perhaps a means to humble him, but that was far from the truth. In reality it was because his mother was worried about powerful spirits attaching themselves to him. She never fully explained the true horror behind this concept, and he was forced to learn it from the oldest shaman in the village. She was a woman named Kaluka.

Kaluka had been the one to teach Seiras about daemons and the dangers of misusing magic. The old woman was the wisest of the shamans and was the one most experienced in divination and prophecies. Seiras would often defer to her over anyone else due to the cryptic and harsh truths she would teach him.

The wise crone was the only person Seiras actually trusted to share his visions with as she was not as patronizing or overbearing as his mother was. She was also the only shaman that would admit to Seiras that he was way more powerful than she was.

Many dreams had plagued him in the passing months, particularly one of a raven. He had been having the dream every night for the past week and had finally thought to mention it to Kaluka.

Walking into the village's temple in search of her, he was greeted by his youngest sister Leila, "Big brother, watch this!"

Seiras watched curiously as his ten-year-old sister held up her hands and caused an illuminated glow to come off of them. She was beaming with excitement.

"Nice, when did you learn how to do that?" he asked curiously.

"Shirin taught me! Isn't it amazing? Now I don't need a torch at night!" the girl said proudly.

Seiras smiled at his youngest sister, "Maybe you could teach it to me then. I don't know that spell yet."

"Really?! I'd love to!" she chirped with excitement. Of Seiras' four sisters, his youngest sister Leila was the one that liked him the most.

She had grown to enjoy the recent bond they both shared from being magical, but even despite that, the two of them had always been close. Leila was also his favorite of the four sisters. She was always optimistic, reassuring, and humble. She was the complete opposite of his older sister Shirin.

Samira was the second youngest of the girls. She and Seiras were very different personality wise, but they got along well enough. Samira was often very quiet, but she had an interest in technology and engineering more than anyone else in the village. She had a great love for sculpting as well.

Setara was the third youngest, and the complete middle child of the family. She had no special psychic powers like Seiras, Shirin, or Leila, and wasn't particularly intelligent and gifted like Samira. Setara was however blessed with one boon, and that was her beauty. Ironically enough, she and Seiras bore the most resemblance to each other. Setara wasn't close to any of her sisters and only liked her brother and a few of their cousins. In Seiras' opinion, she was a bit of a diva and loved drama.

She was only a year younger than Seiras and had often tried to join in on whatever her brother was doing. Unfortunately for her, their father didn't like the idea of a pretty young girl being out in the desert at the mercy of desperate men or monsters. Because of this, she had a classic attention-seeking complex and would often do reckless things for recognition. She craved her father and brother's acknowledgement above all else, but typically only got it from the latter. Ever since he had become psychic, Setara had barely spoken to him. Seiras couldn't help but sense a bit of resentment from her.

Shirin was the only one of Seiras' four sisters that was older than him, and she always held that over his head whenever she could. Before he had developed psychic powers of his own, his sister was very arrogant and condescending to him and had often treated him like a fool. Unlike his youngest sister, Leila, he did not have a good relationship with Shirin. She was the stoic prodigy of the family and was extremely arrogant. Seiras never understood why they didn't get along, but things only got worse after he became psychic.

It was a sad reality that Seiras' newfound gifts and fame had completely eclipsed his sisters. He could sense a bit of envy from some of them…particularly Shirin and Setara. Nevertheless, he was thankful that Leila and Samira still treated him normally.

The quality time with Leila was short lived as Shirin walked up a moment later with a sour look on her face, "You overslept, little brother…the sun is already up."

"Sorry, Shirin, I was tired from the training dad and I did yesterday, and I was having some unusual dream…" Seiras trailed off.

"That's no excuse. You'll never be good at magic at this rate," she said with a condescending smirk.

"Mother and Aunt Mitra both said Seiras is really good at magic though," Leila defended her older brother.

"I've been training since I was eight! I'm leagues above you! I wake up early every day before the sun rises, and I study far more than he does!" she said strongly.

Seiras shrugged, "So? I also train with dad all the time and lead the men. It's hard to prioritize shaman studies and warrior duties. You don't really get out much, so you wouldn't understand."

Shirin huffed at him with childish arrogance, "Oh well excuse me for doubting the 'great messiah!' Ever since you got magic, mother's been ignoring me and focusing on training you instead! It's bad enough you already stole dad from me…now you've got mom and aunt Mitra treating you like you're so special! Everyone else is just invisible when you're around."

"It sounds like you're just jealous, Shirin. I didn't ask for this to happen…but dad and I would both be dead if it didn't. I don't know why you feel so threatened…" Seiras countered with an annoyed glare.

"As if I could be jealous of you! I'm stronger than you are!" she boasted.

Seiras cracked a fist at her, "You want to bet on that?"

"As a matter of fact, I do!" Shirin hissed as she psychically tossed her brother back against a wall.

She attempted to hold him down with psychic force, but Seiras immediately countered with his own power. He didn't take long to break out of her hold as he fired his own blast of psychic force at her.

Their situations were quickly reversed as Seiras telekinetically sent his 16-year-old sister flying against the wall. She cried out in pain from the attack, but angrily got back up and tried to battle him.

"Guys, don't fight!" Leila tried to protest as she got in the crossfire. She was sent to the ground a moment later as the two more powerful psychics easily threw her aside.

"You're not better than me just because you're a boy!" Shirin hissed angrily at him as the two began to toss things or psychically overpower the other.

Seiras spoke seriously, "You've always thought you were better than me, and now that I have magic too, you're afraid that I actually am better than you!"

"You're not!" Shirin hissed as she threw a bolt of fire at him.

The boy narrowly dodged it and looked shocked by the display as it set fire to several surrounding pieces of furniture. Seiras shook his head urgently, "Are you trying to kill me?!"

"If you're so great, then you shouldn't be afraid of a little fire now hmm?" Shirin said sadistically as she threw several more bolts of flame.

Unsure of how to dodge them all in succession, Seiras just held up his psychic force to push them back. Not only did this completely deflect the fireballs, but one even backfired towards Shirin. She countered by mimicking his previous actions and grounding the spell.

"Seiras, Shirin! Please stop!" Leila cried out as her two oldest siblings continued.

Another brief force exchange occurred before Seiras easily overwhelmed his sister's defenses and sent her flying to the ground. This also sent Leila flying back as well as the glass windows in the temple all shattered.

Seiras' eyes then began to glow as he could no longer contain his warp power. Lightning streaked dangerously across his fingers as the building around them began to shake. Unable to stop his power, Seiras watched with horror as nearly electrocuted his sisters in a tempest of psychic energy.

He had thankfully missed them when he realized he was losing control, but in the process, he had destroyed over half the temple. Quickly regaining control, he telekinetically negated the collapsing rooftop from falling on his sisters.

Moments later many villagers ran over to the scene of the commotion. Among them were his mother, his aunt, and his uncle. His mother spoke up with fear, "What happened?! Was the temple attacked?!"

Seiras paid them no mind as he saw Leila was crying. His mother quickly ran over to comfort the young girl and reminded her to maintain emotional stability.

Shirin was still lying on the ground and looked slightly injured from the blunt trauma of Seiras' last attack. The girl was also crying but was more silent about it than Leila. Seiras walked over to his older sister and immediately tried to reach down to help her.

She venomously slapped his hand away and gave him a look of bitter anger, "Don't touch me!"

"I'm sorry, Shirin…I didn't mean to do tha-" he never got to finish his sentence as his sister interrupted him.

"I don't care! I hate you!" she shouted.

He gave her a blank and somewhat sad look as he didn't know what to say. Shirin sat up a moment later and began to rant, "You were right after all! You are stronger than me! Good for you! We're all so beneath the perfect son! If you're so great, then why don't you just go away! You're obviously too good to be around us mere mortals!"

"Shirin, Seiras, what happened?" their mother asked concerned.

Shirin completely ignored their mother as she continued ranting, "All I ever hear every day is how special and amazing you are! If you're so great, then why don't you just go to heaven and be with the God-Emperor already?!"

Seiras looked at her solemnly, "That's what you want huh? For me to just go away?"

"Did you two get into a fight?" Seiras' uncle asked a moment later as he came over to the scene.

"Seiras, what happened?" his mother asked him.

The boy said nothing as he simply began to run away as fast as he could. Nobody was fast enough to catch him as Seiras avoided all contact and went to the village wall to look out over the dune sea on the horizon.

He sat there for hours reflecting on his sister's harsh words. He had no idea what to do or think as he sat alone in emotional silence. Eventually, he closed his eyes and started to pray hard, 'God-Emperor in heaven who watches over us. I'm not sure if you know who I am or if you can even hear me, but if you can I beg you for your guidance. I need to know what I'm supposed to do? What does the raven mean? Why do I keep dreaming about it? Why am I so powerful? Do I have some grander purpose?'

He almost felt his spirit lift out of his body as he saw into the spiritual plane of existence. He gazed up into the stars and he could hear whispers. The voices were strong and echoic, but as he focused on where they were coming from, he could see a raven. Seiras psychically called out to it a moment later, 'Raven! Why do I keep dreaming about you?!'

His question was answered a moment later when he saw the silhouette of the raven grow larger and face him. It responded a moment later in a deep and powerful voice, 'You sound like a boy…where are you?'

'Alaseirian on Calderis. Who are you raven?' Seiras asked.

'How old are you boy?' the raven asked him.

'I'm almost 15,' he responded slowly.

The raven never spoke again as Seiras felt himself returning back to reality. His eyes readjusted to reality just in time to catch the sight of his father walking over. Kiris sat down next to him and sighed, "Leila told me what happened…"

"Yeah…" Seiras said unsure of how to respond.

"You could have killed them, Seiras…I hope you realize that," Kiris continued.

"I know, father…I feel terrible," the boy said hanging his head in shame.

The man shook his head, "Why did it even happen to begin with?"

"Shirin picked a fight with me. She's upset that I'm more powerful than she is," Seiras shrugged.

Kiris shook his head, "Just because you have the power to hurt someone, doesn't mean you should, Seiras. To hell with your pride, son…she's your sister! What did you prove today? That you could beat up a girl? Everyone's afraid now…rumors are floating around that you put her in her place. Is that how you want to be perceived, son?"

"No…" he replied softly.

"With great power comes great responsibility…a good leader always knows when and how to use it properly. I've told you a thousand times and I'll tell you again…glory and pride only bring death and misery in the end. You don't have to prove anything Seiras. You already saved my life, and you're progressing just fine as a warrior. In time you will be a fine leader and hopefully live a happy life. That's all I want for you son…you don't have to be some messiah or angel. Just do what's right, and protect the people you care about," Kiris lectured.

Seiras nodded in acceptance as his father placed a hand over his shoulder. Kiris looked up at the sky sadly, "One day, we all die son…and the only things we leave behind are the legacies and memories we impart upon others. I hope when I'm gone one day that you'll remember everything I taught you."

"I will father…" Seiras replied as he looked up at the sky again as well.

A brief silence passed before Seiras asked a question, "Do you think it's true that we go to heaven when we die?"

"When I was your age, I asked Kaluka that very question. She told me that the truly faithful find themselves in heaven with the God-Emperor forever. The vile and faithless heathens are swallowed into the warped void of hell where they are forever at the mercy of spirits," Kiris explained.

"Sounds awful…" Seiras said grimly.

"Never waiver in your faith to the God-Emperor and you shouldn't have to worry about such things my son," Kiris said reassuringly.

Over the next three days, things had gotten somewhat back to normal. Nevertheless, nobody would talk to him about the ordeal, except for Leila and Samira unsurprisingly. The former had expressed concern for his well being, while the latter was actually glad that he knocked Shirin down a peg. The memory continued onward as it finally reached that day...the day they came. Seiras was currently sitting in a meeting with his uncle's council of warriors when he heard a loud noise coming from outside. He and many others rushed outside and watched with disbelief as a metal bird flew over the village-city.

Everyone was gasping and shouting with concern as the Thunderhawk landed in the middle of the village. Many of the warriors fearfully raised their autoguns and spears as a large hatch came down moments later.

Kamran held up his hand for everyone to hold their fire. Every single person that saw what came out of the hatch was awestruck.

Three men, if one could even call them that, came out of the metal bird. They were fully armoured from toe to head and stood head and shoulders above the men. One was wearing black, one was wearing blue, and one was wearing red and white with trims of gold on his pauldrons.

Seiras looked over them with amazement when he saw a raven emblem on all of their chests and pauldrons. Within each of their raven crests was a ruby red piece shaped like a drop of blood.

The entire village of several thousand people were now crowding around these superhumans with confusion and anxiousness.

The one in the front wearing red took his helmet off a moment later and looked over the warriors. After he took his helmet off, the warriors relaxed when they saw that the man was a human. The man had short black and white hair with light brown eyes. He spoke calmly but powerfully to the surrounding village, "My name is Davian Thule…captain of the Blood Ravens. This is Reclusiarch Mikelus and Epistolary Anteas. We are space marines."

Seiras had never once heard the term 'Space marine', but he did understand what it was a moment later when Kamran shouted to the surrounding people, "These are angels from the heavens! Kneel everyone!"

Without hesitation, all of the villagers knelt low to the angels, including Seiras' own family. He himself didn't as he simply stared at them awestruck, 'Are those really angels?'

"What brings you here, great and mighty angels?" Kamran asked Davian.

The captain looked around for a brief moment, "We're looking for a young boy…about 15 years of age and psychic. He contacted us."

"Y-you are?!" Kamran gasped.

It was at that moment, Mikelus spotted Seiras as the boy wasn't kneeling. He nudged Davian and spoke powerfully, "That might be him right there."

"That's him…I can sense his power," Anteas added as he walked over towards Seiras. Many villagers parted as the towering, armoured demi-gods walked past them towards the young teenager.

Davian and Mikelus followed behind Anteas as the librarian approached Seiras. The mighty warrior examined him briefly before speaking to the others, "He's young, extremely fit, and appears to be a stronger than average psyker. He'll do just fine."

Seiras looked up at them with amazement and confusion, "What do you want with me?"

"You contacted Azariah Kyras telepathically three days ago. He sent us to personally retrieve you," Anteas replied.

"I-I did? Who is Azariah Kyras?" Seiras gasped.

"He is the Chapter Master and Chief Librarian of the Blood Ravens. He was impressed by your ability to contact him psychically in orbit. When he learned you were a child, he believed you would make an excellent recruit," Anteas explained.

Before any more words were spoken between them, Seiras' father walked over and interrupted, "Mighty angels, your presence here is greatly welcome, but I must ask, what do you want with my son?"

Anteas and Mikelus ignored the man as they continued to examine Seiras, but Davian was nice enough to answer him, "You're the boy's father?"

"Yes, holy one," Kiris replied respectfully.

"We're conscripting the boy into the Blood Ravens. He looks like a worthy recruit. He is to be an Adeptus Astartes…an angel of death," Davian explained.

The villagers began to gossip like crazy at the notion. Kiris spoke up with shock a moment later, "You're taking him away?"

"That's what conscription means does it not? Are you here to voice your objection?!" Mikelus spoke harshly.

Kiris nervously backed down from Mikelus' powerful voice and presence. The chaplain was wearing a skull helmet and was undeniably terrifying to normal people.

Moments later, Kamran diffused the situation as he walked over, "Mighty angels, Seiras is our tribe's heir and future leader. Might I humbly ask what your need of him is?"

"We already told you…we're recruiting him into the Blood Ravens. Your son will become an Astartes too if he survives," Anteas said coldly.

"He is to become an angel like you?" Kamran clarified.

Anteas nodded, "Precisely."

"He is my only son, great angels…" Kiris said slowly.

"You disapprove? How pitiable and selfish. Allowing him to live pointlessly in this blissful squalor here would be a waste of his genetic gifts. Your son has been chosen to pursue the greatest of mankind's callings…to serve the Emperor as an Astartes! Would you deny the Emperor an angel of death!?" Mikelus asked Kiris.

"N-no, my lord…I wouldn't," the man responded with a bit of fear in his voice. The intimidating Reclusiarch towered over him with merciless stoicism.

"Good, because it's not your place to question the Emperor or his Astartes. The boy is now ours…and he will become one of us if he survives. We're done here, brothers…let us depart," Mikelus announced as he gestured Seiras away from his people and towards the thunderhawk.

Seiras looked around urgently at his father and uncle, "W-wait, what?! Father what's happening?"

Kiris looked away as he did not respond to his son's words. Several of the villagers found it confusing as the Astartes were technically abducting him.

"You're coming with us, boy," Anteas told him calmly as he practically dragged him towards the Thunderhawk.

"W-wait! Why me?!" Seiras protested. None of the space marines said a word as they ignored Seiras' panicked state. The Astartes didn't seem very interested in interacting with the villagers much as they practically took Seiras without a second thought to letting him say goodbye to his family.

They all stopped however when they could hear a girl crying and running towards him. Seiras turned around just in time as Leila embraced him tightly, "Seiras, what's happening? Why are you leaving!?"

"We don't have time for this sentimental nonsense," Mikelus said stalwartly as he sighed.

"Please, angel! Don't take my brother away!" Leila pleaded.

"We should let his family say goodbye at least," Davian told the chaplain causing him to shake his head and walk into the thunderhawk. Anteas and Davian both stood there in silence and watched as many members of the boy's family came up to offer emotional farewells. Seiras' mother in particular was crying heavily as she simply held him in a tight hug for over a minute.

"Go and be with the angels my son…you were always meant for greater things than this place. The God-Emperor will look after you," she said between sobs before letting go.

"Your mother speaks truly, my nephew…you will soar into the heavens and become an angel. I hope you'll look after us from the stars…we'll pray to you," Kamran spoke proudly.

Setara stared at the space marines sadly, "Can we go with him?"

Serias was surprised by his sister's question. Anteas shook his head, "Girls can't become space marines...and you would emotionally weaken him with your presence."

The girl looked at her older brother with tear-stained eyes as she hugged him tightly, "I'll miss you brother...I love you, Seiras."

Samira came up next and looked up at Seiras with a devastated expression, "You never did see my sculpture, Seiras…"

"I'm sorry, Samira...be good for mother and father. Work hard and perfect your craft. You're the smartest person I know," he replied to her.

She embraced him as she tried in vain not to cry. Despite the emotional weight behind their farewells, Seiras kept his composure as he began to accept that this was actually happening.

He then looked over towards Shirin who hadn't come over to him. She had a disturbed and disbelieving look on her face. Seiras addressed her as calmly as he could, "You get your wish after all, Shirin...I'm leaving."

"W-wait! Seiras, I didn't mean it! I'm sorry!" she shouted as she ran over and tightly held him. Seiras hugged her back somewhat surprised at her reaction.

Never in his life had his older sister shown this kind of an emotional fondness towards him. Shirin spoke softly, "I don't want you to go."

"I don't have a choice, Shirin…" Seiras said slowly as he tried not to cry himself.

His older sister sobbed quietly, "Promise me you'll watch over us from heaven."

"I will try, I guess," Seiras said uncertainly as he maintained his emotional composure as best he could. He could feel the tears welling up in his eyes.

Finally, his father came up to him. Kiris was crying much to his disbelief. Seiras had never once see his father cry and was shocked by the sight of it. Kiris hugged his son briefly before placing a hand on his shoulder and staring into his eyes, "Never forget what I taught you…never forget the warrior's sacrifice."

"I won't father," Seiras said strongly.

Looking over towards Davian, Kiris spoke to him, "Will we ever see him again?"

"Maybe one day…" Davian lied. Kiris seemed to know that it was a lie as he held his head down in sad acceptance.

"Please angel…take care of my son," Kiris said softly to Davian.

The space marine seemed receptive to Kiris' words and nodded, "I'll look after him…you have my word. He will be our brother."

Without another word, the Astartes took Seiras towards the gunship. As the hatch began to close, Seiras looked out over his sisters and his parents crying. He still couldn't get over the sight of his dad in that state.

"I'll make you proud father!" Seiras cried out as the thunderhawk began to fly away.

Instead of the memory continuing onward towards his introduction to the chapter, Seiras felt his vision blacken as darkness and sickening malice surrounded him on all sides. He could hear the voices of the countless tens of thousands of victims he had personally killed over his lifetime crying out.

Emotional despair began to envelop him as he began to feel an overwhelming hopelessness and suffering.

"Father! FATHER!" Seiras called out into the screaming void of evil.

His calls were answered a moment later by a very dark and sinister voice, "A lost son looking for his father…perhaps I can help."

"Where am I!?" Seiras demanded.

"Come to me…" the voice commanded. Seiras did not budge as the voice took the shape of a massive bird in front of him.

"Who are you?" Seiras asked.

"The clever boy is wise to ask a stranger's name before trusting him. I am the Architect…I can help you," the voice said reassuringly.

Seiras did not trust the creature and responded immediately, "I don't need your help! Where's my father?!"

"You already know where he is. Kiris died 256 years ago, Seiras…but if you're talking about your gene father, I could possibly tell you."

It was at this moment, Seiras snapped out of his dying memories and his young human mindset. He immediately regained his Astartes form and clarity as he could see himself floating in an empty void in front of the large bird. An epiphany hit him a second later as he spoke aloud, "I died…is this the warp?!"

"Yes! You figured it out slower than I expected, but it doesn't matter. You have a powerful soul, so you're actually still intact even though you're dead. Isn't that fascinating?" the voice followed.

"You called yourself the Architect…what exactly do you create?" Seiras asked cautiously.

"Hope mainly. Speaking of which…listen to the hopes and prayers they give to you…" the bird replied.

A moment later Seiras saw a vision of his childhood home. The centuries had changed it dramatically and it was a much larger city now. In its center, a mighty temple stood and there was a statue of a space marine there. People were praying to it, and Seiras could hear all of their thoughts.

Many of the prayers addressed him directly. Some asked for divine protection, some wanted strength, and one even prayed for his return.

"Is that a statue of me?" Seiras asked uncertainly.

"Oh yes indeed. The great angel Seiras. Your sister Samira made that statue in honour of you. People pray to it every day." The Architect chuckled.

As he listened to the various prayers, a louder one caught Seiras' interest as it was a young woman. She was undoubtedly psychic as her voice was much louder than the others.

"Lord Angel Seiras…my great ancestor. I'm not sure if you're actually real, but I need your help! I don't know who else to turn to! The voices in my head keep whispering to me, and I'm afraid of these dark spirits! Nobody can help me and I don't know what to do! Protect me from their evil! In the God-Emperor's name…amen!" the woman prayed.

"She's a descendant of my family?" Seiras wondered aloud.

The Architect replied with approval, "Yes…you should answer her prayer. Give her hope."

Focusing intensely on the woman across the warp, Seiras projected his mind towards her. He spoke to the woman psychically, "Are you a shaman?"

He could hear her desperate confusion as her voice echoed loudly all around him, "Is it really you?!"

"The faithful shall know the Emperor's protection in heaven…do not waiver in your vigilance or your resolve. The voices and the daemons are fueled by your own doubts. Never trust them and always remember that The Emperor Protects," Seiras replied to her.

Their psychic link was cut off a moment later by the Architect laughing, "What a pretty lie…you know that doesn't really happen now that you've experienced death for yourself."

"Ignorance is bliss for the weak…she deserves solace in her meager life." the librarian said dismissively.

"Strange that you would think so considering your love for the truth…though I suppose the endless thirst for knowledge is built into your genetics. As usual, the rules don't really apply to you, do they?" the architect replied.

"You're a daemon…aren't you?" Seiras asked knowingly.

"What are daemons really though? Do you even know? Would anyone? I could be a terrible and manipulative eldritch terror here to claim your soul, or I could be a helpful spirit in the warp showing you the way forward. Your perception cannot truly define or understand the objective truth behind what a daemon is." the Architect responded.

Seiras shook his head, "It's not a matter of perception. I know all I need to know about your kind. Daemons are inherently selfish, untrustworthy, and evil."

"Yes, just like living saints or the Legion of the Damned? They are daemons too are they not? Oh wait…they're servants of the Anethema. How could they be loyal to the Emperor and be daemons at the same time? Perhaps not all daemons are 'evil'. Perhaps I'm actually here to help you, Seiras." the Architect countered.

The librarian was uncertain of how to respond to the counter. He had never once considered the fact that those beings were potentially daemons themselves. Seeing his doubt, the Architect followed up, "The universe is a place of twisted duality, but not everything is black and white. You cannot truly embrace knowledge with such a static and closed mind."

"That's exactly what a daemon would say. An open mind is like a fortress with it's gates unbarred and unguarded...I have no reason to trust you." Seiras replied stoically.

"One cannot understand the objective reality and truths of the universe with a closed mind. It places you in a static subjective reality that limits your potential and awareness. So I ask you, Seiras. Do you want the harsh truth or the pretty lie?" the Architect asked him.

"What truth are you referring to?!" Seiras demanded.

"Let's play a quick game shall we? I have two stones here in my talons...a red one and a blue one. Take the blue one and I'll leave you to your subjective bliss. You can live in ignorance believing whatever you want to believe. Take the red one and I'll set you free," the bird offered as he held up two floating stones for Seiras to choose from.

Seiras was truly uncertain of what to do in this situation. Part of him wanted to take the blue stone and another wanted to take the red one. He slowly reached for the red one despite his reservations. He stopped right before touching it and shook his head, "I have no interest in serving the ruinous powers, daemon!"

The Architect seemed interested, "So you're taking the blue one then?"

"I'm not playing this game with you! I'm not taking either one! You can't manipulate me that easily, daemon! I am only close-minded when it comes to dealing with warp filth and daemons! I will not become like Kyras, Avitus, or any of the others! You won't twist my faith that easily!" Seiras shouted angrily.

"Ah yes yes…Emperor good…daemons bad…blah blah blah. Do you even know what the Anethema thinks of Space Marines? He hates them…he sees you as disposable mutant tools. You're not even the first superhuman mutants he's disposed of before. Ever heard of the Thunder Warriors? The Emperor had them wiped out by his Custodes after he reconquered Terra. Imagine what he would have done to the space marines had he succeeded in his Great Crusade?!" The Architect countered.

"That's not true! You're lying! Why would he have made us in his own image then?!" Seiras replied.

"Now that is a good question! I want you to think about what Fulgrim told you, Seiras…and I also want you to consider why the Emperor doesn't like his primarchs. Everything Fulgrim told you was the truth." the daemon bird responded.

His eyes shot open with horror, "You saw that?!"

"I see pretty much everything…speaking of which, here she comes in three, two, one…" the voice began to count down before another horrible and powerful presence filled the surroundings.

"Close your eyes, Seiras…don't look at her," the Architect instructed him. Before closing his eyes, Seiras saw the bird shield him from a sinsister pink aura flooding the warp's horizon.

Moments later, a very familiar and strangely seductive voice sounded, "This one is mine…what are you doing here?"

"Then how did I get here first?" the Architect replied to the other daemon.

"Come to me, Seiras…don't trust this deceiver. His deals always come with a heavy price. I can offer you so much more than whatever false hope he has promised you," the second voice commanded him.

He almost felt compelled to obey it but resisted for a moment as he kept his eyes closed.

"You have nothing that he wants, and as usual, you're too slow. You should have known I'd be looking over this one," the Architect announced.

"Could we perhaps come to an arrangement?" the feminine daemon responded.

"I'll humor you, though Seiras is about to wake up. Live in your pretty lie for a while longer, Seiras...we'll meet again," the Architect laughed.

Before any more words were spoken, Seiras felt himself being ripped through the warp as he began to see the extradimensional realm fade from his view. Seconds later he jerked upright and found himself alive and in a strange crystal-like tube of some kind.

Seiras, Commorragh

He flailed around urgently in it as he looked around, 'What was that?! Was I actually dead? It looks like I'm back in Commorragh! What were those daemons?!'

His flailing quickly caught someone's attention causing the pod he was in to open. Seiras slumped out of it and began to look around with furious urgency. He was almost panicked as he saw a number of wracks slowly approaching him.

Their slow and cautious steps indicated that they didn't want to take chances distressing him. His panicked urgency eased up a moment later when he saw Melisara levitate in front of him. The haemonculus was smiling extremely creepily as she fearlessly grabbed a hold of his face, "Excellent! It did work. That was taking longer than I thought it would. I'm so glad I didn't lose you."

"Melisara?!" Seiras said her name without thinking.

The haemonclus perked up with amusement, "You know my name? When did you learn it?"

"Ummm…the wyches mentioned it," Seiras replied immediately as he caught his mistake.

"Yes, well I'm Melisara as you know. And your name is Seiras according to the Archon and some of the wyches. How do you feel right now?" she spoke with a very disturbing friendliness.

"Was I dead?" Seiras asked her curiously as he pushed the alien's hand away from his face.

The haemonculus nodded, "Yes, you were dead for about a day or so. I was concerned that I wouldn't be able to resurrect you since you were so powerful, but I sacrificed a bunch of Eldar souls to bring yours out of the warp. I also fully repaired your body and even your black carapace. It had a few holes in it, haha."

"Why would you do that? What good am I to you alive? Are you going to just torture me to death now?" Seiras asked.

Melisara shook her head, "Oh no, my dear I only do that to people I hate. I rather like you…plus the Archon wanted me to bring you back anyways."

"What for?" Seiras asked.

"Hard to say…Faelan's a clever and unconventional boy," Melisara shrugged.

"Boy? Aren't archons typically millennia old?" Seiras asked.

Melisara nodded, "Well, yes they usually are. Though I guess everyone's a child to me."

"How old are you?" Seiras asked.

"You're a curious one, aren't you? I'm about 14,000 of your terran years in age…give or take a few centuries. It's hard to keep track of that timespan while living in the webway," Melisara answered.

Seiras gawked at her disbelievingly, "That's beyond ancient…you were alive during the Age of Strife then?!"

"Yes, and before the fall. I'm even older than Slaanesh and Vect. Isn't that a funny thought?" Melisara said with amusement.

The nearby wracks seemed a bit confused at Melisara and Seiras' interaction. The former was typically an evil sadist and the latter a bloodthirsty killing machine. Watching them converse calmly was a very unusual sight.

"Melisara, I have his restraints right here," one of the wracks spoke up.

The haemonculus waved him away, "That won't be necessary. Seiras can behave himself I hope."

"How were you able to resurrect me?" Seiras asked her curiously.

"I can regenerate anyone's body from just a bit of genetic material, and your soul was not fully separated from your body yet either. Had it taken any longer, I likely would have failed," Melisara noted.

'She has a point...those daemons were both trying to claim my soul in the warp,' Seiras thought concerned.

Seiras stared at her uncertainly, "How does that work for your kind? Don't you all go to Slaanesh the moment you die?"

"Typically yes, and especially for a Craftworlder without a spirit stone. We Drukhari however are non-psychic as a species, and it takes more time. A soul will remain with its body for about a few days actually…it's even longer if we're in the webway as it shields us from Slaanesh. To pull a soul out of the warp, it usually requires an exchange. I sacrificed several dozen kabalites and a few of our captive craftworlders to fish your soul back into your body. Psykers are very difficult to resurrect," Melisara explained.

"The last time we spoke, you mentioned something about going to Terra…I am curious as to how you've seen it exactly?" Seiras asked.

"I was cordially invited by the Adeptus Mechanicus along with a few of my colleagues. We struck a dark bargain with them. We would help them repair the Golden Throne in exchange for a number of things. One of which included the prohibition of any large-scale operation to attack Commorragh. I personally wanted a Custodes, but alas, they couldn't give me one. I asked about their similarity to Space Marines, and they told me that they were completely different and superior to Astartes. What I wouldn't give to get one and find out what they look like inside," Melisara said reminiscently.

"You've seen the golden throne?! That's impossible!" Seiras gawked.

"Yes…quite an amazing piece of technology. The Ancient Aeldari and the First Ones used many such psychic amplifiers millions of years ago," she explained.

"The First Ones? Who are they?" Seiras asked.

"The creators of the Eldar race. Some call them the Old Ones as well. It's a long story…they're the primordial rulers of the galaxy. They actually created the webway as well as the Eldar race and the Orks. Some believe they created your race as well," Melisara answered nonchalantly as if it was simple history.

"Never mind that. I can't believe anyone would let you near Terra, let alone the Emperor himself," Seiras said shaking his head.

"Would you like to watch it? I can download my memories of the event for us to watch," Melisara suggested as she already went about shooting some strange device into her skull. She then plugged it into a nearby console and closed her eyes.

Afterward, she unplugged the device and pressed a few buttons as a display screen showed some type of video, "Ah here we are…I'll skip all the boring stuff, but this is the Golden Throne right here."

Seiras could not believe his eyes as he watched several haemonculi work on a golden platform. Surrounding them were golden clad warriors and many Adeptus Mechanicus workers. Seiras had never seen an Adeptus Custodes before and stared with amazement as the superhuman bodyguards of the Emperor vigilantly watched the Haemonculi work.

"This can't be real…" he said slowly as the memory showed Melisara trying to talk to the Custodes. The golden warriors stoically ignored her, and one even raised his spear when she tried to get closer to the Emperor.

"State your intention, alien," one of the Custodes spoke calmly.

"Now now, there's no need for this. I just need to readjust the psycables in his head," Melisara said with an upbeat tone as the golden bodyguard stopped her from going up the throne's stairs.

"The Magos will do it for you with your instruction. I will not allow you to touch the Emperor," the Custodes followed up.

Though the memory was through Melisara's eyes, Seiras could almost tell that she was frowning sadly. The haemonculus sighed, "Well if you want to increase the soul harvesting ability of this machine, then you'll need a special piece I've prepared. It will cut down your psyker sacrifice requirement a bit and increase the overall gain for the Emperor to power the Astronomican. Also, we can potentially seal off part of the adjacent webways to alleviate the psychic strain of the Emperor if you'd like".

"Alright we'll skip some of this, but here's a good closeup of the Emperor," Melisara told Seiras as she fast forwarded the memory a bit and panned up to the top of the golden throne. At its apex, a skeleton sat covered in cables.

Seiras felt his hearts skip several beats as the sight of the Emperor caused true awe within him. Though it was concerning to see that the Emperor's body was essentially a decaying skeleton with many attachments plugged into him.

"This undeath is such a crude and torturous fate for the Emperor…he suffers in constant and horrible agony every waking second he's plugged into that machine. He lingers between life and death to keep the Astronomican lit and the warp tear at bay. No being in this galaxy suffers more than he does. Not even I could invent a better torture device than that Golden Throne. I could feel his pain when I got close to him," Melisara said distantly as she turned off the video.

"The Emperor suffers so humanity doesn't have to…" Seiras said distantly to himself.

"Ah yes, well he is a rather extraordinary being. I'm one of his biggest admirers! I was so saddened when I learned that I couldn't actually speak with him there. I offered to build a psychic receiving device so it could translate his psychic echoes into words through a machine…but the mechanicus refused. What a shame. What I wouldn't give to speak with him if only for a few minutes," Melisara sighed.

"You're an admirer of the Emperor? Don't insult me with those lies. I find that hard to believe…" Seiras said dismissively.

"Really now? And how is that hard to believe? The Emperor was the greatest gene-modder ever! A scientist and scholar with no equal…everything he ever created was a work of art. You space marines are incredible feats of genetic engineering. Truly, I envy the Emperor's skill with genecrafting. He's probably the only person in the entire galaxy that I could legitimately call my superior," Melisara ranted.

"I've never heard a xenos speak fondly of the Emperor of Mankind…" he replied disbelievingly.

"Well believe it, Seiras…I'm also fond of you as well. Your display of power and knowledge in the arena was truly impressive. Even as an inferior species, the Emperor's genetic crafting forged you into a warrior without equal. You also share my love of slaughtering people in ironically delicious ways. I do hope we can be good friends," Melisara said cheerfully.

Seiras literally shivered from the creepy way she was looking at him. He shook his head a moment later, "Why admire me at all? I lost…"

"Don't take it too harshly. The twins are the greatest warriors you'll find around this part of Commorragh," Melisara replied.

"The twins?" Seiras tilted his head in confusion.

"Faelan and Renfaeda…the archon and the succubus who killed you. I've been around a long time and I doubt anyone could kill them in a fair fight other than Lelith Hesperax or Drazhar maybe. Do you know how Faelan even became the Archon? His father was the hierarch to the previous Archon and was killed and left dead for failing a raid. Faelan took it personally and he killed the Archon and his entire group of Incubi bodyguards by himself. Trust me when I say that is no small feat. Renfaeda is also one of the most famous succubi in Commorragh. Faelan and his sister are the undisputed rulers of this part of Commorragh. Though I think they're at war with another Kabal at the moment." Melisara explained.

Seiras was silent for a moment as he tried to take in her words. After a brief pause, he spoke again, "I am curious about something, Melisara…"

"What's that my dear?" she asked with a smile.

"If you're so old, then why don't you look like some of the other haemonculi? You're…not as monstrous or hideous as I'd expect an ancient haemonculus to be. Is that just a gender disparity or something?" Seiras wondered.

"Are you saying I look good for a haemonculus?" she asked.

Seiras shrugged, "I suppose you could interpret it that way. You just look young despite your age."

"Well, you may not know this, but we Drukhari typically regenerate our youth and appearances by harvesting the souls of other beings through acts of extreme torture and pain. The older one gets, the more extreme and grand torture they have to do in order to maintain their youthful appearance and negate Slaanesh. Over thousands of years, this has severe diminishing returns and requires extreme levels of torture and soul harvesting. Therefore, most haemonculi don't look very pretty after 5 or 6 millennia. I personally however bypassed this issue with a certain organ created by the Emperor of Mankind. That is just another reason why I admire him so much," Melisara explained.

"An organ? What kind of organ?" Seiras asked.

The haemonculus giggled like a mad-scientist as she grabbed one his arms, "It'd be easier for me to just show you. Come with me."

Seiras immediately tried to get her to let go of him, but one of her spiny appendages quickly wrapped around his waist as well. The haemonculus was very strong much to his surprise as wrestling out of her grip wasn't exactly easy. Melisara giddily led him further down the lab towards a set of massive vault doors at the end.

Along the way, Seiras examined her "work" on display all around the lab. It was truly disgusting and horrifying to look at, but in a way, it was also impressive.

Melisara noticed his silent examinations and immediately commented on it, "If we have time later, I'll show you all of my side-projects. However, in here is my most prized possession!"

After opening the massive vault doors, Melisara guided Seiras towards a massive gestation tube where a man appeared to be floating inside. Seiras stared at it with shock, "What is that?"

"Have a closer look," Melisara said with anxious excitement in her voice.

Seiras walked up next to the pod and stared at the man inside. He was huge…easily bigger than Seiras himself. The librarian stared in confusion, "Is he a space marine? I don't see a black carapace…"

"No…better," Melisara laughed maniacally.

The man inside was about 280 cm tall by Seiras' estimate which was ridiculously enormous for a human. He had the anatomical proportions of a space marine but was clearly not an Astartes. He had short black hair and his eyes were currently closed.

"W-what is this?!" Seiras said with complete disbelief.

"Take a guess…" she beamed.

Seiras didn't want to believe it was true as he slowly asked, "Is he a primarch?"

"Yes! This is Ferrus Manus! Well…he's not the real Ferrus Manus. He's a perfect clone that was given to me by my friend Fabius Bile. Have you heard of Fabius? He's one of the Emperor's Children apothecaries. I believe he was the Chief Apothecary," Melisara explained.

"That's impossible! He cloned Ferrus Manus?!" Seiras said shaking his head in horror.

"Yes, isn't that amazing? He told me about it in exquisite detail. Apparently, his primarch Fulgrim wanted him to recreate Ferrus Manus in order to try and convince him to join Chaos. Fabius told me that he made several of these clones, but all of them ended up being killed. He also had a Fulgrim and a Horus one, but I think Abaddon the Despoiler killed the latter. He gave this last Ferrus Manus clone to me for safekeeping so Abaddon or Fulgrim wouldn't destroy it. All he wanted in exchange was all the gene-seed that I had acquired up until then and some terminator armour," Melisara elaborated in detail.

"You want a Custodes…but you already have a primarch?" Seiras said horrified.

Melisara nodded, "Yes, I'm a bit of a collector. But anyways, the primarchs have a very different biology than space marines. They have a number of extra organs in comparison to Astartes. One of these organs is called the Immortis Gland. It has several incredible functions…most notably its ability to regenerate injuries and to replicate and restore chromosomes in each individual cell in the body. The Immortis gland is what makes the primarchs immortal and hard to kill."

"So you…have one of these organs then?" Seiras asked with audible concern in his voice.

The haemonculus proudly chuckled, "I certainly do. I cloned one for myself. Watch this."

Seiras watched curiously as Melisara sliced her arm with one of her blades. Moments later the injury instantly began to heal much to his shock.

"The Immortis Gland has two lobes. The right half is called the Dextrophic lobe. It wasn't as effective on me, but it essentially made me grow bigger and increased my reaction time and senses considerably. I'm full grown and female so it didn't do much else sadly. However, the left half Sintarius lobe allows for instantaneous regeneration, and biological immortality. As you likely know, the breakdown of telomeres within the chromosomes of individual cells is what leads to the aging process and the body's eventual collapse. Your progenoid glands can also regenerate telomeres, albeit on a much lesser scale. That is why you don't age in any noticeable way or get diseased. The Sintarius lobe is much more advanced than the progenoids however. It corrects my aging issue much better than soul harvesting does. I'm effectively immortal and pretty hard to kill with it. Since I'm not human or male though, I didn't get the full benefits of the entire Immortis Gland unfortunately. Nevertheless, it completely bypasses the need for me to torture and harvest souls. I still do it for fun and research, but I technically don't have to anymore. The regenerative abilities of the Sintarius lobe have also reversed my aging process a bit as well. That's why I look so great," Melisara smiled.

Seiras backed away from the haemonculus disbelievingly, "What is this heresy?!"

"Yes, I know it's hard to believe from a scientific perspective. It was very difficult to make my body accept the organ. I had to rewrite my DNA a bit. It only took me a few centuries to make it work thankfully. I sort of had to hybridize my DNA with monkeigh DNA, but it was successful. You and I share some genetic similarity now. I suppose you could say I'm a chimaera or a hybrid," the haemonculus explained.

"Why are you showing this to me?! I must be in hell. This is the warp still isn't it?!" Seiras demanded angrily as he began to get agitated. He was genuinely disturbed beyond belief.

Melisara look at him curiously, "I assure you that you're in Commorragh alive and well. Is something wrong?"

"You damned xenos have a primarch that you're experimenting on and you have the nerve to ask me that?!" Seiras retorted.

"Well it's kind of a secret. I would be a fool to tell everyone that I have one of the Monkeigh god-princes in my personal lab. Nobody in Commorragh knows I have him. A few of my wracks do, but they wouldn't dare spread my secrets. What an interesting eternity they would live if they did…" the haemonculus said almost evilly with a nightmarish grin.

Seiras felt true fear from this monstrous alien as he took another step back, "I don't know what to say."

"'Thank you for bringing me back to life and showing me your lab, Melisara!' That would be a good place to start," Melisara's voice trailed off darkly.

He didn't know what to say to her. Every part of his training and his willpower wanted him to denounce this horrible creature outright, but he couldn't do it. Seiras simply looked at Ferrus Manus and spoke slowly, "I suppose from a scientific perspective your work is amazing…but I could never morally approve of all this insanity."

"That's a shame…because it will benefit you even more than me. I have a feeling you'll change your mind later when you find out how useful it is and how amazing of a scientist I am," she noted.

"How useful what is?! What are you talking about?!" Seiras demanded.

"Oh nothing, nothing! I'm just thinking aloud as usual! I eagerly look forward to the results," Melisara chuckled like a mad scientist

Seiras looked at the Ferrus Manus clone in the large tube and spoke seriously, "What do you plan on doing with Ferrus Manus? Is he just a trophy or are you going to perform some vile experiment on him?"

"Well, this clone is currently comatose. I had to put him under because he was too dangerous to control. Even as a clone, he's still very powerful and intelligent. Sadly, without his soul, this clone is only a weak shell of the actual Ferrus Manus. I kind of wanted to resurrect him…but alas I don't have nearly enough souls to bring a primarch back to life. To pull his soul out of the warp would be a great undertaking. Also if my theory is correct, I believe the primarch's soul is with the Emperor," Melisara mused.

"Why would you want to resurrect a primarch?! That would strengthen the Imperium considerably!" Seiras shook his head.

"You say that like it's a bad thing. I want your Imperium to stay powerful and dominant. Your massive empire is the only thing keeping Chaos and other foul creatures such as Tyrannids at bay. Commorragh is already protected by its treaty with Terra, and it would be much easier to maintain our status quo here if the Imperium remained alive. Plus, I've grown quite fond of your Imperium in the past millennia…especially after watching Ferrus' memories," she replied.

"I'm still not convinced I'm out of the warp. How is this real?" Seiras said slowly.

"I suppose it might be a bit overwhelming for you. Have you ever seen a primarch before?" she asked.

"Two…Omegon and Fulgrim," Seiras answered.

Melisara nodded, "Ah yes, Fulgrim…Fabius hates him greatly. I can't blame him after seeing Ferrus' memories."

"You've seen all of Ferrus Manus' memories?!" Seiras asked.

Melisara nodded, "I certainly have. The clone has all the memories of the real Ferrus Manus up until Istvaan I believe. It was amazing to see how he got his Necrodermis arms. I have made multiple requests for Faelan to go retrieve Necrons for me to recreate them, but the Kabal doesn't like fighting Necrons…no fun in it I suppose. I offered a great sum of rewards including my own services to several other Kabals that would be willing to do it. Only Vect's Black Heart Kabal actually agreed to get me some."

"Ferrus Manus' Iron hands were Necrodermis?!" Seiras gawked.

"Of course they were…living metal harder than ceramite? What does that sound like to you? But anyways, I rather enjoy all of the parts where he interacts with the Emperor. Would you like to see what the Emperor looked like in the flesh?" Melisara asked.

Before even waiting for his answer, Melisara pressed a few buttons on a display screen next to Ferrus Manus' tube. Moments later, a memory played on the screen of a large panel nearby. Seiras watched anxiously as it showed Ferrus Manus standing before the Emperor of Mankind.

"And to you, number 10…I bestow upon you the 10th Space Marine Legion. They call themselves the Storm Walkers. They are yours to command. Go out and conquer back the galaxy for humanity my son," The Emperor's godly voice sounded.

Even through a display screen of the clone's memories, Seiras could feel the power and compulsion to listen to the Emperor. Through Ferrus' eyes, the Emperor didn't look the same way he did in all of the ecclesiarch depictions of him. He didn't look holy or divine…he just looked like a large man with long dark hair in beautiful golden armour.

Seiras felt compelled to bow his head in respect as he took a knee. The Emperor's voice actually sounded familiar to him. 'I've heard his voice before…in the navigation chamber. The Emperor really did save me,' a shocking epiphany hit Seiras.

Melisara turned the screen off a moment later, "We could be here all day watching this…and trust me I've watched all of it multiple times."

"You intend on releasing Ferrus Manus back to the Imperium?" Seiras asked Melisara.

She nodded, "Yes…but I won't risk his destruction until he's fully resurrected. I thought about contacting the Ynnari to do it, but Vect has expressively forbidden interaction with them and banished anyone who openly supports them. I don't really trust harlequins or craftworlders either or I'd ask them."

"Who is Vect?" Seiras asked.

"Asdrubael Vect…he's the Supreme Archon of all of Commorragh. He supposedly died a while back, but that's nothing new. I believe he's a Dark Muse now," Melisara noted.

Seiras shook his head, "How do you expect me to believe any of this? You never answered my question…why tell me these things? I doubt I'm ever getting out of Commorragh."

Melisara narrowed her gaze at him and chuckled, "Well I could 'accidentally' let you escape…I want your help to bring the primarch back to life first however."

"What would the Kabal or the wych cult say about that?" Seiras tilted his head doubtfully.

Melisara shrugged, "I don't care what they'd say. Who is going to question a haemonculus? We're politically untouchable in Commorragh, and I'm also immortal, rich, and friends with Vect. If someone ever confronted me over the 'accident', I'd ensure that they would have a very interesting eternity to live."

"How am I supposed to help you resurrect Ferrus Manus?" Seiras demanded.

"You're a psyker…a powerful one too if you're able to use psychic abilities around a null. You could potentially summon Ferrus Manus' soul out of the warp with a mass sacrifice. That or you could bring the clone to Khaine's Gate and into the warp to do it," Melisara speculated.

"Why don't you just give this clone to his chapter, the Iron Hands? Or to the Adeptus Mechanicus?" Seiras asked.

"Like I said…I need a psyker to bring him back. The Iron Hands or the Mechanicus couldn't really do anything that Fabius Bile hasn't done already. Plus they'd probably start worshipping his sleeping body instead of actually trying to resurrect him," Melisara explained.

"I still don't understand how a primarch clone can even exist…" Seiras wondered.

"By my estimate, the primarch clone is biologically identical to the original, but the science isn't the only thing that makes primarchs powerful. Their souls were also infused with warp energy. Without his original soul, this Ferrus Manus clone has about 35% of the power that the real one possessed," Melisara explained.

"How am I supposed to help you if I'm a slave to the wych cult?" the librarian demanded.

Melisara smiled, "That's only temporary…go along with all their pointless endeavors and humor their egos for a while. I'll 'accidentally' let you escape later like I said."

"What about this psionic limiter collar on me?" Seiras followed up.

"I'll undo it when I'm ready to let you go," she said casually.

"This sounds like some elaborate hoax to torture me. Give me one valid reason as to why I should trust you at all?" Seiras asked.

"I didn't remove your Betcher's Glands…" Melisara smiled.

Seiras felt his hearts jump as his eyes widened. He immediately recollected his composure but was truly shocked by Melisara's words. He quickly realized that she would obviously know about it considering that she had a primarch and was experienced with space marines.

A moment later he looked at her seriously, "Is there anything else I should know then?"

"I enhanced your psionic collar with an agony circuit and a paralysis shock function. It works like this," Melisara said coolly as she pressed a trigger switch in one of her hands.

Seiras immediately howled in agony as an electric surge flooded his entire body. His insides felt like they were on fire. The pain constantly shifted and wasn't consistent or patterned which made it nearly impossible to adjust or brace through it.

Melisara held the button down for a bit longer than necessary as she took in his painful yell with a curious smile. A moment later she released it causing Seiras to pant heavily as he twitched sporadically.

"You have a very high pain threshold, so I plugged it into your black carapace too. If you do anything questionable, I can just do this," she chuckled as she pressed the trigger again causing Seiras to writhe in pain.

After watching him scream in pain for several seconds she released it again and continued, "It works by overloading your nervous system and flooding your neural synapses with random pain sensations. It's sporadic and random in order to ensure your body never adjusts to the pain."

"If you're intent on allying with me, then what's the point of this?!" Seiras demanded.

"It's a failsafe…also it'll set the others at ease if they know they can stop you by pressing a button. Complacency breeds ignorance and laziness. They won't be as vigilant if they can just do this to you," Melisara explained as she pressed the button again.

"ARGHHH! Curse you, alien!" Seiras shouted as he tried to brace himself through the pain again.

Melisara laughed at him as she released it once again, "Sorry, old habits die hard I suppose. I didn't mean to do it that time. Anyways, just go along with the twins and be their little pet for a while. I doubt I need to say this, but don't tell them anything I've shared with you. Your freedom is wholly dependent on your cooperation with me."

Seiras glared hatefully at the haemonculus, but he truly had no other choice but to go along with her plan. He nodded his head in acceptance, "Fine…it's not like I have anything else to lose here."

"Excellent to hear. I have a feeling that you and I will become great friends! Now, I'm going to have my wracks bring you back to one of the slave chambers for now. I have other projects to attend to at the moment. I'm certain Faelan or Renfaeda will be by to retrieve you once I tell them you're alive again. We'll speak again later. I still want to show you my side projects at some point," Melisara said approvingly.