The skin of Menes Kalliston, Captain of the Thousand Sons' Fourth Fellowship, was covered in hundreds of bruises and abrasions.
Even an Astartes' superhuman physique had been battered and bruised by Khârn's countless tortures.
Menes's breathing was soft and faint. His chest, propped up by his rib plates, ached dully.
His primary heart had long stopped beating, but his secondary heart still pumped, slowly recovering his injuries.
"You-you are not…" His dry lips were like wrinkled parchment.
"There is no wet, sour stench of old hunting dogs on you."
The Thousand Son's consciousness spread weakly around him. "You are not like beasts with rapid breathing."
"I am Hasik of the White Scars. He is Torgun."
Hasik examined the Thousand Son in the chair. He had dark brown short hair.
A noble, slender nose bridge sat precisely at the center of his gaunt cheekbones. On his right temple was a tattooed mark outlining the shape of an owl.
That was the rune mark of the Athanaeans Cult.
Hasik gazed at the man matching the description in the Black Emperor's oracle and knew the person before him was the target to be rescued.
He swung his combat knife. The four iron bands snapped one by one, falling to the ground.
"You are Menes Kalliston, Captain of the Thousand Sons' Fourth Fellowship."
"It is I," Menes answered.
"We have come on Lord Nareth's orders to rescue you."
"Lord—Nareth?" Menes repeated in confusion.
Because of the friendly relations between the two Legions, he knew the White Scars outside the Imperium quite well.
He knew Hasik was the foremost of the Noyan-Khans, and his horde possessed the most White Scars.
His status, alongside Chief Stormseer Targutai Yesugei and Qin Xa, leader of the Keshig Guard, was one of the three highest positions under Jaghatai Khan.
How could he come to rescue him on Lord Nareth's orders?
As Menes pondered, with a click, the lumen lamps on the wall activated.
The sudden light made his mind even more chaotic. His swollen eyes trembled painfully.
Over ten seconds later, Menes gently opened his eyes. The dried blood clots on his eyelids stung like needles as they trembled.
He saw a robust warrior in Cataphractii Terminator armor, far more robust than any White Scar Menes had ever seen.
He did not even much resemble the tall, slender White Scars. Only the scars branded on his face and the guandao in his hand identified his origin.
"Can you walk?" Menes looked toward the voice and saw another robust White Scar, but a size smaller than Hasik.
At his waist hung another weapon favored by the White Scars, a curved blade weapon.
"Of course. I am not crippled yet." Menes stood up unsteadily from the chair.
"You just said you came to rescue me on Lord Nareth's orders?"
"Correct." Hasik nodded.
"What of your Fellowship?"
"I only brought one squad back to the homeworld," Menes explained.
"The others are not in the Freza System. They are standing by in the neighboring Scano System, Kappa-Rising System, and Haliklit System."
"East side, triangle?" Hasik asked.
"I remember your flagship is called the Geometry."
"Correct." A light rose on Menes's face.
"Every Thousand Son is a top scholar in some field. Some are directly related to combat. Menkara is a master of psychic item crafting."
"Others excel at planetary planning and construction. Ignis is outstanding in that field."
"My greatest strength is geometry. Many of Tizca's magnificent buildings were drawn by my own hand, stroke by stroke."
His wounds began to clot. His tendons restored bit by bit. His bones began repairing the cracks in his tissues.
"It was the gathering of scholars and masters from all fields that shaped Tizca into the City of Light."
"Your city has been destroyed by the Space Wolves, reduced to ruins," Torgun reminded him.
"Even if Tizca still stood, it would not compare to the City of Kings."
Menes did not argue. His expression dimmed.
"Correct."
"Tizca is now nothing but a doomsday ruin."
"You can still serve a purpose," Hasik said.
"Your Fellowship is a powerful force. Your battle-brothers need your leadership."
"My father… he betrayed the Imperium." Menes said bitterly.
"Lord Nareth will provide you with an opportunity. We are here to rescue you precisely on his orders," Hasik said.
Menes's eyes lit up. Lord Nareth had once been a firm political ally of his father, staunchly advancing the Librarian program.
He was broad-minded and had accepted warriors of a purged Legion.
If anyone could offer them hope, it must be Lord Nareth.
"The five thousand warriors of my Fellowship followed me back. They are in the three systems east of the homeworld."
"We will obey Lord Nareth's commands and atone for the crimes of my father and the Legion."
Hasik smiled and nodded. "You have made a wise choice."
"You will find that Lord Nareth's mastery of the mysteries of geometry surpasses you, Magnus, and everyone else." He thought of the "Euclidean Rune" created by the Black Emperor.
Menes was startled. "Hathor said the same thing."
Countless shining triangles, squares, and five-pointed stars flashed rapidly through his eyes, brilliant as a sea of stars, illuminating his frail body.
"Let's go."
"I want to see Lord Nareth immediately."
"We still have a task," Hasik said.
"We must first see Magnus."
"Father." Menes's pupils dilated sharply. Based on his investigation and the messages revealed by his torturers, he knew the gene-father had left the material universe.
"He is still on Prospero?" he asked, his emotions complex.
He had come seeking the truth, only to reach a terrible conclusion: Their Father had committed a crime.
Their Father had disbanded them.
Menes did not know whether he wanted to ask Magnus all the truth face to face, or resist his terrible truth.
"A part of his soul lingers in his homeland."
"Lord Nareth ordered me to bring him back."
Menes was silent for over ten seconds. "This may be the best outcome."
He stepped outward. "I will go with you."
"I still have questions I must ask clearly."
"Conspirer" Torgun gazed at Menes. Thoughts flowed through his mind, one notion after another flickering.
Together with Hasik and Menes, he had just stepped out of the pyramid's wreckage when they saw a dazzling pillar of light shooting skyward.
Menes gazed at the brilliant, white-hot, blistering pillar of light rushing into the sky.
A silver-shining chain reaction ignited the entire sky. A rolling, thunderous roar came. A web-like network of radiant veins tore apart the heavy ash clouds.
The sky-covering dark curtain dispersed, revealing iridescent colors.
"Arvida."
"Your Lieutenant?" Hasik asked.
"Yes. He used psychic power to tear open the aetheric barrier."
Hasik and Torgun exchanged a glance, reading the same thought in each other's eyes: Father has returned to orbit.
The timing was perfect.
"Is the direction of the shining light your Reflecting Caves?"
Menes was startled. "How do you know?"
The existence of the Reflecting Caves was unknown even to Arvida and the other Thousand Sons. Only those seated on the First Council could know.
"Lord Nareth told me."
"Lord Nareth?" Menes grew even more confused. He remembered his father had not told Nareth or the other brothers about the Reflecting Caves.
"Let's go. Go see your father," Hasik said.
....
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