The Song of the Warp

Fluttershy leapt up before Kharn, rage coloring her normally meek features. She fixed his red “eyes” with a monstrous, intimidating stare. It had always forced animals into obedience, and may have even worked on an ordinary human. Kharn, was not an ordinary human. He had been genetically engineered to be superior in every way to a human being, especially in the will. He stared back through his eye lenses.

“You!” Fluttershy exclaimed firmly, “How dare you! Your companion hurts my friend, and all you can do is laugh! You ought to be ashamed of yourself! Violence is not welcome here!”

Kharn snorted in response, but Fluttershy had already turned from him to berate Argel Tal.

“You have no right to hurt my friends, you meanie! I have a mind to tell your mother, so you best watch your step buster! Now apologize!”

Argel Tal’s glacial eyes remained fixed on Fluttershy’s, though not in fear. Instead, Fluttershy felt a slow, creeping malice radiating from that empty, icy gaze. The fact that it was through a helmet did not cushion the sensation of wrongness. That his helmet had a slathering maw did not help. Fluttershy became increasingly uncomfortable. Her wings locked from the creeping terror, and she hid behind her mane.

“Then tell my mother, xenos. She lies two hundred years dead within the grave. Speak with her, tell her that her son has seen the hell behind reality and has two souls. Tell her that he is the broken leader of a broken chapter of a broken legion. Speak to her soul that hurtles screaming in terror and eternal agony through the immaterium. Then I will apologize.”

Fluttershy took several steps back, whimpering as she did so. The harsh undertone now completely drowned out Argel Tal’s normal voice. It sounded like a knife grating upon bones, and resonated with nightmarish power that no human deserved to posses. The glacial, slitted eyes seemed to hold her gaze, forcing her to stare into them. She tried tearing her eyes from them, and could not. So this was what the stare felt like. Fluttershy knew that she would not bring herself to use it again. Argel Tal reverted to his normal form, and the spell was broken. Fluttershy scampered away, fear overriding conscious thought.

Once again, the ponies ceased to speak. They had never seen one resist the stare, never mind turn it against its wielder. Some began to edge away from him and Kharn, worried that he would turn upon them. Kharn had begun twitching, the butchers nails biting into his brain. He had an almost unmanageable desire to kill. Argel Tal knew better than to ask him if he was alright. Kharn was never alright. He would always be in pain, and he would always find solace in blood. He was a perfect tool for the blood god.

He once again regarded Twilight Sparkle. She had a purple coat that reminded him of the Emperor’s Children. Her mane was a dark blue tone, with a pink and crimson stripe running through it. Argel Tal was briefly reminded of Slaaneshi cultists. They would dye themselves in strange colors. However, his heads up display stated that her coloration was achieved naturally. Her horn, he noticed, had been lighted.

“I can taste the warp coming off of her, she is a psyker,” Raum hissed.

“She looks like one of the unicornii of old Terran mythology. These xenos seems to share much in common with humanity.”

“All the easier to enlighten them.”

Argel Tal took a step towards Twilight, causing her to step back. It was obvious from her eyes, which were much to wide for her head, that she did not wish for there to be hostility. Whether or not this was caused by self preservation, or some kind of moral code was not obvious. It was obvious, though, that she was afraid. Argel Tal had demonstrated his connection to the warp, and Raum had revealed himself through the change. This was maddening to the strongest of mortals, and he imagined that it was no different to the miniscule purple xenos.

Argel Tal reached up to his helmet, pressing the depressurization rune. There was a hiss of air, causing all the xenos to flinch. He slowly began to remove his helmet, noting the pain that now came with the action. Recently, he had been finding it harder to remove his helmet as his body was twisted and mutated by the demon that resided inside. The xenos tensed. Argel Tal had to resist the urge to laugh. They made it seem oh so dramatic. Perhaps they were afraid of what they would see after the ravening beast that was the daemon.

They all visibly relaxed as they saw his face. Their faces did look like human faces after all. Argel Tal could be considered handsome by human standards. He had dark hair and skin. This was owed to his home world of Colchis, which was a desert world. His features were patrician, mirroring Lorgar’s features as Lorgar’s features mirrored the Emperor. His face was surprisingly unscarred. Perhaps the daemon had restored it. Perhaps it simply was that the pantheon smiled upon him.

The glow around Twilight Sparkle’s horn had faded, and she now studied his features with intent. She came across to him as a scholar. Curiosity and a thirst for knowledge governed her. He had seen similar expressions from both Erebus and Lorgar. The latter was much more honest than the former, however. Erebus spoke in riddles. Lorgar did not.

“You are a psyker,” It was not a question. Argel Tal’s voice had returned to normal, a balance between the natural and the daemonic.

Twilight had been scribbling on a piece of paper with telekinesis. She looked up at the statement.

“What do you mean? You mean my magic?”

Argel Tal snorted, “Magic. What a fanciful concept, born in the minds of fools ignorant to the hell behind reality.”

“Magic is not fanciful! It is a proven scientific fact!”

“It is not, xenos. Magic is a concept created to explain what is impossible to explain. No explanation will ever be accurate. One must see for himself to know the truth. Even then, it is impossible to understand, too terrible is the primordial truth.”

“…wait, what? What are you talking about…?” Twilight noticed that a strange, silvery liquid that was not unlike mercury had covered Argel Tal’s eyes. His voice was once again unbalanced.

“I am speaking of the immaterium, mortal. You may call it many things, as we have. Among its names are sheol, hell, tartarus, hades, the underworld. That is the truth behind all things.”

Twilight’s answer was cut off by the sound of screaming in the distance. A Rainbow color blur shot over head, brining Rainbow Dash into view. She fixed the two Space Marines with an incredulous gaze before turning to Twilight and whispering into her ear.

Twilight cleared her throat, her mouth suddenly dry, “There is a hydra coming through the town, and we must evacuate.”

The ponies began screaming and milling about. Argel Tal chuckled as he replaced his helm.

“Come, Kharn, the blood god cares not from whence the blood flows, only that it flows.”

Kharn could only grunt in response, his head in agony as the nails screamed for blood and skulls.