I sat behind bars in a dungeon, a damp, young eagle of the Emperor, fed in the darkness of chaos. I was cold, I wanted to eat, drink, I had to go to the toilet in the corner. On top of all this, it was also worth adding humiliation, because Detrius had rolled over me with a steamroller, and Mals, who sometimes came in and interrogated me, did not let me forget what had happened. True, the interrogation itself was more like a mockery, because they already knew everything.
"I never liked you from the start, Lex," Mals said, sitting on a chair and looking at me chained to the wall. "No, seriously, you're shell-shocked. First you came to the library and started telling me about the dark god of Chaos. Then you gave me your connection yourself. But tell me, did you really think you could go to the aristocrat unnoticed? That we were so stupid that we didn't notice you were missing? Our cult has humans and xenos all over Draekernor! Every orphan, every beggar, every janitor – they're all whispering to us what's happening in the streets and alleys! And you thought that all you had to do to be stealthy was put a hoodie on your face? You idiot…"
Mals genuinely enjoyed every second with me. At first I snapped, but soon I was deprived of sleep as well. As a result, now, although I couldn't sleep because of Mals, I tried to save my remaining strength. Although it might be worth trying to provoke Mals so that he would kill me in a fit of rage, but… I doubt such a move would work with him.
- I don't know how you deserved Tzeentch's attention. You seem like a mercenary, look at that gray hair, so many scars... you've seen a lot, it turns out. But in practice, it's like you have the mind of a twenty-year-old student who hasn't smelled life yet. No, seriously, did you really believe that Detrius and the others would just accept you without checking? You fell out of nowhere, have connections with the Imperials, and apparently because of one mark we immediately showed you all the maps, and plans, and everything else, right? Didn't you even think for a second that we showed you only what we ourselves wanted? And you know, I knew you were a rat even without checking.
"What will happen to me?" I interrupted Mals's latest tirade, continuing to sit with my eyes closed.
Mals bared his teeth and said nothing, for he knew that uncertainty tore at the soul far more than fear of a certain future. I, for my part, understood that since I had been left alive and not killed... something far more terrible than death awaited me. Detrius had already performed one sacrifice, openly rejected the aristocrats' proposals, and thus had effectively declared war on them. There would be no more negotiations.
And the revolution could not be won by the rebels alone. There were too few weapons, and the governor was supported by Mologost. So either Detriy went nuts and killed everyone with his decision, or he was counting on something. I was leaning towards the second option, and Detriy could count on Tzeentch's help. Detriy had already received the gifts, he had become stronger, which meant chaos had recognized him. What prevented him from summoning demons? After strengthening his magical abilities - basically nothing.
I was supposed to become a vessel. After all, as Detrius already said, I have heightened psychic activity. I couldn't become a psyker due to lack of training, but my mind was much more open to the powers of the warp. So I'll be an excellent vessel. I most likely won't be able to subdue the demon, especially after these tortures that exhausted my consciousness.
So the demons will be summoned somewhere closer to the center, where they will be let off the leash and the forces of order will be allowed to shit. Yes, a bunch of innocents will probably die in the process, and perhaps the uncontrolled demons will also kill the cultists, but for Detrius the end clearly justified the means.
"You're in for an unprecedented thrill, Lex," Mals said with a crazy smile, after which his face suddenly changed and he reflexively grabbed the stub revolver he'd stolen from me with his prosthetic hand.
Then he stood up and left without explanation. Something had clearly happened, even I could tell. Most likely, extremely bad news had been transmitted over the radio. This gave me a little hope, although it didn't make things any easier. I was too exhausted after these three days in captivity.
"The power is near, you just have to take it," a voice suddenly sounded right inside my consciousness. "And you will be able to escape, you will be able to overthrow Detrius, defeat Mologost…"
Chaos spoke to me and offered me power, but even though I felt really bad, I wasn't completely stupid. Everything in life and in the afterlife had to be paid for. In this damned world, the price tag could easily be multiplied by ten. Besides, I didn't really want to admit my own defeat, or to grovel before someone. I'd rather die, be reborn, try again, and if I wanted to achieve power, I'd do it myself, without the help of false gods.
- There will always be bigger fish. How are you going to compete with Detrius and the others who accepted the gifts?
Meanwhile, shots began to be heard in the corridors. Someone had definitely attacked the cultists. Perhaps it would be much easier to get out. Yes, I can definitely cope without anyone's help. Even if the Imperials burst in here and shoot me - I don't care. I don't need anyone's handouts.
"Pride has always been the most powerful fuel for ambition," said a voice in my mind and then disappeared.
And then there was an explosion and I was almost crushed by the door that flew out. Soldiers, or rather guards, immediately poured in. Their equipment stood out both in quality and simply in appearance. They pointed lasguns at me and were about to shoot me, when suddenly one of them lowered the barrel and then said:
- Lex? Son of a bitch, how did you get here?
"Let's kill him and be done with it," the second one muttered.
- Are you stupid? This boyfriend of Vindoriya's is a potential lever of pressure on her. Mologost will need him alive.
- Yeah, how many of these lovers did she have? She doesn't give a damn about him, she wouldn't even give up a bent throne for him. Especially after his prank.
- Let Mologost decide.
The second guard sighed, but also lowered the barrel. The battle was still going on in the corridors, and under the roar of explosions they freed me and dragged me into the corridor.
- No, how can you be so stupid? You could sleep with a beautiful and influential woman, not need anything, but you decided to show off, and you even got captured by cultists. Moron, - the guard muttered, pushing me in the back.
I didn't expect the jolt and fell to the floor. And just in time, because suddenly the balance of power in this battle changed. The cultists ran to the attack with mad cries, blowing up both themselves and their enemies. They were trying with all their might to buy time while Mals removed the evidence and covered his tracks. They rolled in waves and the advance of the forces of order stalled, even began to drown in blood.
I was caught in the crossfire and the only thing that saved me was that I fell. The corridors were narrow and their intricacy resembled a labyrinth. I started crawling, trying not to rise above the corpses lying around. At some point I managed to stand up, after which I began to try to get out in a half-squat.
But the fighting was literally everywhere. Wherever I wanted to turn, either bullets, grenades, or lasgun beams were already flying from there. However, having quickly gotten my bearings, I took a robe from one of the corpses and disguised myself as a cultist, also picking up a firearm. Then I waited until one of the groups reached my crossroads and headed in the direction from which they came.
- Hey, where are you going? The enemy is that way! - one of them stopped me.
- I have important information for Mals.
- What other information? Are you scared?
"Do I look like a coward?" I growled and took a step forward.
The cultist tensed up, but didn't argue any further and waved his hand at me, deciding that if I was lying, Mals would kill me himself. Their group went on to recapture the labyrinth of corridors, and I ran in the direction from which they had come. The chaos was growing and the last of their forces were already throwing themselves into madness. Combat servitors tore the cultists apart with a rain of lead, while the precise actions of the Imperial forces closed all the emerging gaps in the ranks of the Drakenor order forces. Like a monolith, they moved forward, leaving the cultists no chance of victory.
"Lord-l-l-l-l, have mercy," I muttered, moving God knows where and noticing more and more corpses, this time obviously civilians.
They were shot right in the cells, which, although they resembled dorm rooms, unlike my dungeon, were all held by force. Although, maybe some of these victims sincerely wanted to become a vessel for the warp creature. Still, there were plenty of fanatics among the cultists, as well as madmen. But it still scared me, as did the terrible drawings on the bodies. Whatever Detrius was cooking up there, the planet was clearly lucky that his plans were ruined today.
"Or not destroyed," I said out loud and sped up. "Perhaps there are several such places and it's unlikely that intelligence found them all."
And then I reached the main hall, where in the confusion the last cultists were loading dark artifacts, weapons, supplies and everything necessary into boxes, after which they lowered them into the sewers for transportation to a new location.
- Mals! They are cutting off all escape routes on all levels! We need to leave now! - a shout rang out.
- FIRST WE NEED TO MINE EVERYTHING!!! WE DIDN'T EVEN TAKE HALF OF IT, WE CAN'T LEAVE IT ALL HERE!!! - Mals roared in rage.
"What are you standing there for?" another cultist shouted right in my face and thrust the box at me. "Bring it!"
I hesitated for a moment, looked at my gun and at Mals, who was rushing around the crates in the confusion, throwing explosives. I could kill him and take revenge for all those three days, but such pettiness did not interest me. Revenge is a dish best served cold. Better to survive now and deal with him later. And my main goal was not him, or even Detrius. After all, there was little personal in our actions, everyone simply acted for their own benefit. This is natural, especially for the followers of Tzeentch, who honored ambition.
So, throwing the gun over my shoulder, I went down into the sewers with the box, threw it onto the platform, and then ran down one of the corridors.
"Hey, where are you going?" voices rang out after me, but I didn't care.
I disappeared into the darkness and at the first turn I broke into a run, trying to get away from the sounds of gunfire. On the way I met three cultists. They were standing with their backs to me. The first died quickly from a bullet in the back of the head, the second only managed to look at his fallen comrade and caught a bullet in the temple, I shot the third in the face and then broke into a run and rushed away.
I didn't meet any more cultists or imperials. The former were behind, the latter never managed to fully close the circle in the sewers, the maps of which no one had had for a long time. After all, it was multi-level, had many dug passages and connected with other sewers, which were built either later and from above, or earlier and from below.
I decided to get to the surface after six hours of wandering, when I was already very far from the center. And although Detriy outplayed me like a cheapskate, I was grateful to him for this lesson. I will have to say "thank you" to him at the most unexpected moment, when he will be completely carried away by the fight with the governor.
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