Ephrien was rushing through the trees. Dirt, ash, blood and debris from the woods covered her ruined robes. Split skin and dried blood marred her visage as she desperately ran. In front of her five children, her charges, ran. She had been told to take the orphans and get as far away from the town as possible by the headmistress. She still remembered the first attack. Abominations in the shape of humans had come rushing from the road towards the border walls of their town. Two of the town guards were ripped to shreds before anyone had fired a shot. When the fighting started, it was nothing but chaos. Town guards desperately tried to fight off the possessed as they ravaged anything alive. Farm animals were slaughtered in their pens. Men, women, and children were killed by the dozens as they were savagely ripped apart and eaten. When the possessed had all finally been killed, over a third of the town lay dead.
Attacks continued every day until almost the entire town had perished. The few survivors had decided to flee to the woods hoping to escape. As if knowing their plan, more possessed attacked the town. All the still able body adults desperately fought to buy time for the children and wounded to escape. Ephrien had been chosen to take the orphans and establish a new orphanage where it was safe. She had been entrusted with the sacred duty of continuing the teachings and prayers of the God Emperor.
She was only a novice hospitaller and had only been under the tutelage of the headmistress for a few months, now she held the burden of ensuring the continuation of worship and faithful obedience to her God.
The limbs of trees bit into her skin as she desperately ran. She could hear the inhuman screeching and growls of the possessed as they hunted her, her charges and the few survivors through the woods.
A scream of pain tore through the woods to her left. As she ran, she caught glimpses of a man and women being killed by the possessed. She ran faster, her heart beating in her chest like it wanted to explode.
She watched in horror as one of the orphan children collapsed in exhaustion. She skidded to a halt and rushed to pick the young girl up from the ground. Her hands reached out for the girl as a growl filled her ears. Her vision blurred and eyes began to water. She felt the rough fabric of the young child's tattered clothes. Her vision began to clear as she lifted the young child into her arms.
Her eyes darted around terrified as the sounds of the possessed grew closer. She turned and began to run only to hear screams around her. Tears began to fill her eyes as she prayed to her God Emperor for strength and protection.
"Oh, God Emperor, I beseech thee, deliver unto us your protection. Grant us the strength to face your foes. In you we place our faith. In you we find refuge. In you we find our avenger. Smite our foes. Unleash your rage. Your humble servants beg for your mercy and forgiveness."
Her words rang from her lungs as she ran, each breath felt like fire tearing from her chest. Her clothes and skin tore and ripped. The branches and limbs of trees showing no mercy to either.
The trees began to clear, but this only let the horror of her situation become more apparent. The fleeing wounded and children were hunted and killed without mercy. Their mangled and ruined bodies littered the field of dead grass.
Her arms burned and started to become numb. Blood and cuts coated her face. Unable to carry the young girl further she lowered the girl to the ground as gently as possible.
"Sister Ephrien, I'm scared. The God Emperor will answer our prayers, right?"
Ephrien looked down as the young girl, she had been orphaned 5 years ago when her parents both died in a monster attack. The attack had killed 14 town guards and 18 civilians, leaving a dozen children as orphans.
"Don't worry, the Emperor watches over us all, he will protect us." She said to the terrified child, but her heart was shaken. 'Why had the Emperor not come to our aid? Had our worship not been enough for you? No, it is not the Emperor's fault, it is mine. Just like me, the people of this planet, do not have the surety of faith in you. I understand this is our punishment for our faltering in belief. But why? Why not protect the children? They are not yet old, they are innocent, they still deserve a chance. Oh God Emperor, I beg you, spare the children.'
She looked up to see a terrible scene. All but two of the orphan children lay dead. Their corpses littered and stained the grass. Grabbing the young girl's hand, she rushed towards the two other orphans she was entrusted to protect. Tears filled her eyes as she ran past the body of one of the orphans. The young boy's chest had been torn open and his legs crushed.
A possessed was circling the two orphans in front of her. Rage filled her as she thought of those that had died to try and save her. The sight of the dead who she was supposed to protect, and guide filled her vision.
'Oh Emperor, let my rage be a beacon for your wrath. Let my defiance give you strength. Let these children not suffer the heretic, mutant, or xeno.' With a final prayer to the Emperor, she launched herself towards the possessed.
Her skin tore and bone broke as she fought with the wrath of all those that had died. Her vision blurred and turned red with blood. Her face was torn and missing a portion of skin. Her tattered robes turned red with both her and the possessed's blood. She screamed in rage as she desperately fought to protect the orphans she had been charged with.
A scream of wrath pierced her consciousness as red bolts tore through the creature she was fighting. Chunks of its body exploded outwards and sent her to the ground. She stared up as the beast died before her eyes.
'A miracle sent by the Emperor! He has heard our prayers!'
In the distance a battered and bloodied man in ruined carapace armor made his way towards her. She stared in awe as she prayed. The man moved like an ethereal being. She worried if she interacted with the man, he would disappear. She could see his bloodied face and constant scanning eye through the partially destroyed helmet he wore. His blood covered hand reached down towards her wordlessly.
Before she fell unconscious due to exhaustion, she heard the mysterious man mutter to himself about finally saving her after 13 tries.
******
Ephrien eyes slowly opened as she tried to raise her head. Her vision was blurry, and pain flooded her body. Her vision was no longer filled with her blood. With a wince of pain and effort she raised her head from the ground. She blinked away tears that dared to pour from her eyes as she struggled to look around.
A few dozen feet to her right a man in battered carapace armor knelt next to the body of the young orphan child she had carried from the woods. She could barely recognize the bloody mess that was the child's body. The young girls tear, and blood covered face burned into her mind as the man somberly closed the child's eyes.
The man slowly rose from the dirt as if his body was holding the weight of countless dead. When he turned and faced her, the man looked hollow and emotionless. When he spoke, his voice sounded like gravel.
"I am sorry I wasn't able to get here sooner. I wasn't able to save them, but I was able to save you. This time."
Ephrien did not answer, how could she, her mind was racing, and fighting an internal war. She had been saved, she was alive. But at what cost, she had promised to protect the children, she had prayed to the Emperor not for her salvation but the salvation of the children.
'Oh, Emperor why? Why have you sent your guardian to save me but not the children? What heresy have they brought? What transgression have they committed? Why do you offer salvation to a failed sister like me but cast down the children of the future?'
Tears spilled from her eyes as she stared at the ruined remains of her charge. The man cautiously made his way towards Ephrien. She stared up at him and asked the question that threatened to break her.
"Why? Why was I saved? Why did you save me instead of the children? I was tasked to protect the children. I should be dead, not them!"
The man stared down at her in silence for a few moments before responding.
"I was unable to stop the child's bleeding, the possessed pierced her artery. She bled out crying and begging me to tell the Emperor she and the other children had been strong and made him proud."
His voice came out low, and monotone. His eyes stared hollow at her as if there was no life left in him.
"She died in my arms as I promised to guide her to the Emperor so she could see her family again. I was not able to save her or any of the others, I am sorry. I do not blame you for being angry or sad. They are natural emotions in grief."
Ephrien sat staring at the enigma of a man as he spoke. Was he a warrior sent by the Emperor or some sort of wandering spirit.
******
David stared down at the wounded and bloody woman as she sat up from the ground. Her mind was clearly in turmoil.
"Redemption, yes that must be it! Oh, merciful Emperor! I was weak! I was faithless! But you offered me redemption! I will not fail you! I will cherish your mercy! Yes. Yes, I must prove myself. Oh, holy Emperor, you have sent forth your warrior to offer me redemption. The others never faltered in their faith, so you granted them a place by your side. I must fight. I must prove my faith!"
The woman's eyes went wide then became crazed as she began to shout about redemption. Her body shook violently as she screamed. Tears fell from her face as she clasped her hands in prayer, thanking the emperor over and over again. Just as suddenly as she had started, she fell silent. With a look of pure determination and resolve, she began to rise to her feet.
"Please forgive me for my disgrace, holy warrior." She said as she bowed before David. "I will prove myself worthy of your salvation"
With a limp she began to move towards the fallen civilians around her. David could only stare at her dumbfounded. He had saved her, but she had seen her survival as some sort of redemption to prove herself.
'What the fuck is happening? She is insane! At least she said thank you right?'
David stared on in a mix of curious fascination and unbridled horror as the woman he had saved began to frantically search through the dead. She would stop an pray over the dead, then search their corpse. When she searched the closest dead possessed, she began to stomp its head in with unrestrained fury. David could hear her curses and hate fill screams as she brutalized the corpse.
She began to laugh manically as she successfully pulled a blood-soaked club from the mutated flesh that it had been fused to. She didn't even seem to notice the dozen cuts she had received or that she was once again bleeding.
She turned to David with crazed filled eyes. "Holy warrior I am ready to start my redemption. I do not ask you for guidance for I know you have already blessed me with a second chance."
Before David could speak she turned and began running towards a shambling possessed in the distance. A mix of laughter and curses of vengeance and hate could be heard as she ran away from David.
David sighed and turned away from the crazy woman, towards the tree line. 'Ok, well that woman has gone completely insane. Maybe it would have been better to let her die. Now she thinks I'm some sort of holy warrior.' David sighed again and shook his head. 'No, I saved her, this is my responsibility. If I just let her run off and get killed, then what was even the point of me fighting so hard to save her?'
Making up his mind, David turned away from the trees and began a jog towards the crazed woman.
******
"I will slaughter you all! You foul heretics have defamed and defiled this world! I will be the Emperor's wrath! I will be the Emperor's rage! I will butcher you and use your deaths as tribute to the God Emperor's mercy!"
David looked on as he watched the crazy woman using the bloodied club to pummel a possessed to death. A few feet away a second possessed lay in a crumpled heap. All four of its limbs had been shattered and destroyed. Its chest had been caved in by repeated strikes and its skull was shattered in three separate places.
The woman continued to scream and chant as she fanatically swung the club. Her body was now covered in cuts, scrapes, and other injuries. Blood flowed freely down her body, and some of her bones were still broken but she didn't seem to even notice.
When David tried to talk to her after he killed a third possessed that was charging towards them, all she did was bow and beg for forgiveness for making him have to fight. He still didn't even know the woman's name. As he opened his mouth to speak, the woman redoubled her vows, rose and ran off towards another possessed.
'Ok what is wrong with this woman! She won't even let me talk to her anymore. Every time I try to speak, she just bows and begs me to forgive her or to give her more time to prove her devotion to the Emperor. It's like she is terrified that I will kill her. Wait that does actually make sense. If what I know about the Adeptus Sororitas is correct, then her failing her mission/vow would mean she needs to become a Repentia. If she thinks she is now a Repentia then the chances of me being able to convince her I'm not some holy warrior, is probably zero'
David stared on in a mix of frustration and repulsion, as he watched the crazed woman willing to take wounds in order to kill the possessed quicker. It was if she had no regard for her life or health. It frustrated David because of two reasons.
'Is she really this stupid or is she just blinded by zealotry? She would be able to kill more possessed if she worried about her health. Her injuries are going to causes her to bleed and become weakened before she can even meet her goal. If she took the time to plan out what she was doing, she would probably be able to survive for a while longer and kill more.'
The frustration began to boil as he watched the woman willingly take a large gash into her side, so she could shatter the arm of the possessed.
'It's not even a killing blow! What the fuck are you doing! I refuse to let you die because you are a religious sociopath.'
David raised his hell gun and fired a shot into the chest of the possessed before it could slash its claws into the woman's face. The woman didn't even bother to kill the possessed instead she spun around and began to beg David for mercy and forgiveness.
Rage overtook David before his mind had time to process or plan out his next move - his mouth moved like it had a mind of its own.
"Are you fucking retarded? Seriously what is wrong with you? Do you even realize how much effort and time I put in to try an save you? SHIT! You are alive! Stop trying to get yourself killed. What, do you think you will be some kind of martyr? NO! You won't be a martyr! You know why? Because there is no one else alive here beside me and you. If you get yourself killed all that will happen is, I will regret saving you! You want to serve the Emperor and prove your faith? Well running off and getting yourself killed is NOT how you do it! All you are doing is being a crazy selfish zealot, with no idea or clue about the role you have or what the value and purpose of your life is. Damn! Why did it have to be some delusional, suicidal zealot I saved!"
David's rage relented slightly as he stared down at the now terrified and trembling woman as she kneeled before him. He could see tears falling down her face and splattering on the dead grass.
With a sigh he continued. "I did not save you so you could throw your life away."
An idea started to form in his head. If this zealot of a woman believed that he was a holy warrior maybe he could lean into that and use it as a way to keep her from suicidally charging at the possessed.
He opened his mouth to talk, when he noticed the wounded and battered possessed crawling towards the woman. Three shots from his hell gun ruptured joints in its body and coated the dead grass in gore. David saw the woman flinch, turn her head towards the possessed then bow repeatedly to him.
"Do you think the Emperor would have sent me to save you, if all he wanted was for you to die the same day while fighting? The answer is no. The Emperor has a plan for you. You will survive this day, and you will carry out his will. This is the Emperors orders. You will faithfully follow them." David said as his plan formed in his head.
The woman trembled and prayed as she repeatedly raised her hands in praise and faith towards the sky. With a tear-filled face and a raspy voice, she promised over and over again, she would faithfully follow the Emperor's plans.
David gave sigh of relief as he listened to the woman finally relent in her zealous pursuit of martyrdom. He lowered himself down onto a knee and began working to try and stop the bleeding from the wounds she had received.
The woman repeatedly thanked David over and over again as he worked. Her repeated praise started to annoy him, but he was also grateful he finally had another human to interact with after 3 months of nothing but fighting and dying.