Day of the Thousand Pyres- Part 2

Magnus's lone eye tracked the spaceship as it began to fall towards the planet's surface, flames blossoming along its length as it entered the atmosphere.

Ahriman may have made the first move, but this was a simple race between the two of them to find the Webway portal. Nothing would stand in either of their paths, be it Necron, Eldar, or whatever Space Marine chapter had taken this world first.

Those black-armoured Legionarries had been most intresting to Tzeentch, their orgins a mystery even to the Lord of Change himself, along with their current location in the Warp or material universe.

He just hoped that Kalidor Drago wasn't down there. That Grey Knight would prove a serious thorn to both his own plans and those of Ahriman.

Power crackled in the air around him as Magnus cut a portal through the Warp to the planets surface.

The mightiest sorcerer would come out of this alive, and Magnus did not feel like losing.

The Daemon Primarch strode through the portal, intent on claiming his prize.

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Ahriman watched as the Space Marine battlecruiser plummeted down towards the surface. Magnus would be making planetfall any minute now, and he must be there to meet him.

A flare of blue engulfed Ahriman's staff as he used it to rip open a portal to the surface.

He didn't care what was down there.

Nothing would stop him.

Nothing.

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Ahriman found himself standing before a great stone wall, rising high above him with a grassy plain at his back.

The wall would be no obstacle to one as powerful as him. His hand glowed a light shade of blue as he created three Doombolts and threw them at the wall.

When the dust cleared, a gaping hole big enough to drive a Rhino through was left. Ahriman walked through the gap and out into the chaos-ridden streets of a city.

He stopped for a while to analyse the situation.

Black insects that resembled the horses of Terra were attacking ... Other horses?

Multi-coloured horses?

If Ahriman had a tiny bit of curiosity at that point, he might have stopped and wondered where in the Warp he was.

But the Black Library awaited, and he could always investigate these things within its depths of knowledge.

Disregarding the natives, Ahriman strode on into the city, a Doombolt held ready in his hand.

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A small black crack formed in a wall, unnoticed by the mass of Royal Guard who were desperately trying to turn back the tide of Changlings that were mobbing the gatehouse.

There was a loud crash as the Damned awoke from their sleep and stepped out from their alcoves. They turned as one mass to face the on-coming swarm and opened silently opened fire.

Psychically-charged bolt shells tore through the Changeling horde and rank upon rank fell to the righteous fury that the bolters of the Damned had become.

Magnus watched it all through the tiny crack of a portal he had made, silently wondering whether he would go ahead of Ahriman and risk being stabbed in the back by that traitor or wait for the sorcerer to pass and chance not getting to the Webway gate.

Sensing that Ahriman had teleported onto the planet's surface, Magnus went for the bolder option, and stepped out of the Warp into the middle of the carnage.

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As he stepped out of the portal, Magnus slammed his cleaver into the ground, unleashing a torrent of blinding warpfire into the ranks of the Damned, melting their armour and their souls in a fiery flash as they disintegrated before him.

Surveying the black shells of the Damned and the piles of ash where the ponies had stood, Magnus pulled his cleaver from the ground and looked upwards towards a castle-like structure.

The gate to the Black Library would be his and his alone.

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Centurius snarled inwardly as two bright beacons lit up the previously dull Immaterium. Something that warranted his intervention had come after all, it seemed.

Casting his gaze back to the Materium, he found himself standing before a group of three of the ponies, no doubt brimming with questions he did not wish to answer.

Ever.

Centurius felt for the telepathic web that bound them together and as he did so, he felt threads begin to slip away. Whatever Warp creatures had wound their way here were powerful, to say the least.

Forgetting about the web for now, Centurius ran out of the room, leaping with surprising grace over the three ponies and forming a small crater on the other side where he landed.

There were daemons out there, and these ponies were woefully unequipped both physically and mentally to deal with even a Lesser Daemon.

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Ahriman smashed another Doombolt into yet another Legionary's head, cracking the armour and realeasing the trapped soul within.

Pulling his gauntleted hand out of the shattered helmet, Ahriman surveyed the situation.

The Damned were defending the city for a reason only Tzeentch could know, and he could sense Magnus advancing towards the castle where the Webway gate must be located.

A lone Legionare strode out of the fire and smoke, hand extend clutching a skull and a chainsword.

Ahriman raised his staff as Warp energy pooled around it as the skull began to glow faintly.

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Magnus roared his anger into the sky as another blue bolt plinked off his armour. These bolts were nothing more than a minor annoyance to the Daemon Primarch, but their caster could be.

Magnus gathered Warp energy into his free hand and threw it in a constantly shifting ball behind him over his shoulder, causing whoever had been firing the bolts to scream in pain.

Content that the annoyance had been dealt with, Magnus strode on once more towards the castle.

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Luna screamed as the ball of raw magic slammed into her wing, twisting it backwards to a horrorible angle where it was facing the wrong way.

Gliding to the ground on her one good wing, she watched the massive biped/daemon walk off towards the castle.

This could not be allowed.

Gritting her teeth, Luna rose once more to her hooves, and determined to exact her revenge on the foalish thing that had destroyed her wing.