Secret War: Warhammer 40,000 by Ben Agar (reading eggs books TXT) 📖

Then his sword's power field came into life, a thin curved blade; I could see him now. He wore carapace armour and a storm coat. His sharp-featured face half-covered in a fringe and was smirking almost psychotically; how the hell he'd almost got the drop on me was beyond me. Then he dashed straight at Adelana, thrusting at her.

Clenching my teeth against the pain, I snarled and smashed aside his thrust, throwing a sidekick that sent him spinning back.

I charged forward, cutting out at his thighs diagonally. He parried and reposted with a high horizontal slash at my skull. I ducked. He was forced to backpedal from the counter cut.

"Ahh!" breathed the attacker, his voice hoarse and whispering, like a desert wind. "Attelus Kaltos! I have heard so much about you!"

I grimaced; seriously, does everyone know me?

"Who are you?" I demanded.

"I am Interrogator Leonard Rodyille," he said with a deep bow. "Inquisitor Etuarq sends his regards."

I waved everyone back. "You're Etuarq's Interrogator?"

"No," said Rodyille. "I am Torathe's Interrogator, but I am truly working for Etuarq."

Suddenly came screams, hideous, blood-freezing screams that seemed to erupt from Rodyille.

"What the hell are you?" I hissed, recoiling back in horror.

"He said you would be here," said Rodyille, ignoring my question. "At this exact time, he sent me to kill you and your little friends. So he knew you'd be here; he must also know that I'd kill you."

I laughed despite myself. "You think that, do you? Feuilt thought the same thing too; then he died at my hand. I think he's sent you here because you've run your course; you're no longer useful to him. You're expendable."

Rodyille grimaced. "Your father taught me how to fight! How to kill! I am his best agent! His most loyal! I have been enhanced beyond normal human ken! I am too valuable to be expendable!"

"Enhanced?" I said, my eyes widening. "Best agent? So you're not the only one? You're the same as that assassin who attacked me on that thoroughfare, aren't you? I wonder how many of you Etuarq has out there in the sector; you're not special. Your master, Etuarq, just manipulated the death of an entire world, then he has sent you to be sacrificed at my blade. How can you be loyal to him? I just don't understand."

Rodyille's jaw clenched but said nothing.

"You seem to know much," I said. "Join us, Leonard Rodyille. Tell us what you know, and we can stop the bastard!"

Rodyille smiled and sniggered.

"Do you know why I've told you this?" he said.

"Because you're so sure you can kill me, it doesn't matter?" I said, and he frowned, indicating I was right; I couldn't help finding it amusing, knowing even he managed to, it wouldn't make any difference at all.

I smiled sadly. "No matter what I say, you won't see sense, will you?" I sighed.

Rodyille dashed at me with an enraged roar faster than thought, slashing out at my neck.

I blocked and reposted with an upward vertical slash, forcing him to sidestep. He spun into a hook kick which would've smashed knocked my legs out from underneath me if I hadn't backstepped.

He cut overhead, and I slid aside then stabbed at his head. He leaned back by a hair's breadth, and I followed with a darting horizontal strike at his stomach.

Rodyille barely managed to parry it and threw a front kick at my chest. I slid aside and countered with a kick with my bladed shoe at his shin. Rodyille threw himself back.

"Oh, for frig's sake!" I heard Torris' exclaim. "Are we just going to stand around and watch you fight? Frig! It's even happening so fast I can't even make out what's happening!"

I smiled and knocked away Rodyille's charging thrust. Throwing a roundhouse kick that crashed into his side, sending him stumbling, it would've shattered his ribs into oblivion if it wasn't for his armour, I was sure. Pain flared up my leg, but I ignored it, finding my feet in a blink, before sliding into a vertical, downward slash aimed at Rodyille's sword arm.

Rodyille managed to recover and pull his arm out the way by the barest of margins. I turned my blade and pivoted into a horizontal slash. Rodyille dropped into a kneel and sliced up at my groin.

I parried and kneed at his face; Rodyille leapt to his feet, ejecting himself out the way, arms out wide.

He went to stab at me, but I sidestepped, darted in then wrapped my free arm around his wrists. Too close to use my sword, I smashed an elbow hard into his jaw with a crack! Sending him reeling and crying out, then backfisted him in the side of the face. His back bashed against the wall, causing him to straighten. Then, with a strangled cry, he managed to tear his arms free and desperately chopped out, forcing me to dance blindingly fast backwards. But the tip still cut a painful gash across my chest.

I clenched my teeth and growled in pain but barely blanched.

"You bastard!" Rodyille slurred, indicating a broken jaw. "You frigging bastard!"

Then again, I heard the screams, and for a split second, Rodyille's face changed. It was a horrifyingly hollow-eyed, hollow mouthed, tortured monstrosity that seemed to writhe and struggle under his skin. Then his face was back to normal, healed, instantaneously.

"What the hell are you?" I gasped.

With a feral snarl, Rodyille turned and started sprinting back the way he came.

Now with clean shots, my comrades opened fire at his back, but he innately weaved side to side through it and disappeared around the next corner.

"You alright?" asked Adelana as she stepped to stand beside me.

"Yeah," I managed with a nod, not sounding at all convincing. He said he was enhanced as well. Was Etuarq using his power also to change his spies?

I blinked as suddenly memories flashed through my thoughts, but with new additions. I could now see the writhing, screaming faces in the skin of the daemons I'd fought with Castella.

I remembered the same screaming faces jutting from the sides of the conduit and in the streaming and swirling light that rose from its tip. I could see the faces now flowed through the air around the pews Edracian had lifted with his telekinesis like ghosts.

+This is hardly a surprise,+ said Faleaseen. +I should have known; no true daemons are alike, those things that had attacked you at Brutis Bones' hideout. Were not daemons of the four, it seems. I do not know how it had gone undetected so far, but that is not your problem now, now you must...+

"I know!" I growled through gritted teeth, causing everyone around to flinch in fright and started down the corridor without even a backward glance.

"Shit! Shit! Shit! After him!" I roared. "But we need him alive! Hurry! Hurry!"

Me, Helma, Torris and Adelana moved silently through the darkness with the utmost care; now I knew how skilled our quarry was at stealth. But I wasn't taking any chances. Vark and Verenth having gone back for medical treatment.

My teeth were on edge, adrenaline still pumping through me.

I really wanted to chase after the bastard, but that'd open us up for an ambush. I knew if he'd just run, Rodyille could be anywhere on the ship by now, and we'd never find him.

I hissed a curse under my breath, wishing like all hell I could've sent back the others also, but another possibility was he'd gone back to get reinforcements, and they'd most likely be too much for me alone to handle.

Actually, there'd be most likely too much for all of us to handle, but I digressed.

Another reason was there was just no way I could cover even a fifth of the area by myself.

When we eventually arrived at the start of the stairs, utterly unmolested, I wasn't sure how to feel about it, in all honesty.

I held up a hand for the others to halt and cautiously peered up the stairs, expecting in any second for a withering fire to shower down at me, but there was none.

Clenching my teeth, I signalled the all-clear, and despite the stairs being made of metal, my feet didn't make a sound as I started to ascend and couldn't help feeling a bit of pride when even I could barely hear the footfalls of my comrades following me.

There were four flights until the next floor, and I knew it led into a mess hall. It was a large span, about thirty by forty metres, tables and chairs, everywhere a bloody great place for an ambush.

I glanced around the door, seeing the place was empty or empty as I could see from here. It was in tidy condition, stark and clean to an almost ludicrous degree.

I darted to stand behind the right side of the door as Adelana joined me, pushing her back against the wall, Helma and Torris just behind.

"Torris," I whispered. "Hunker down and watch the door and our backs. Adelana, Helma, with me."

With weapons raised, we swiftly slipped inside. Me in the lead, and with two quick points of my fingers, I ordered my comrades to split up.

Six main thoroughfares were splitting up the maybe seven-metre long tables. The doorway was set in the centre of the room, and we advanced through the right. I checked the left, Adelana down the middle and Helma on the right. My plan was if and when we reached the other side, we'd check the cooking area before falling back to search the left.

I guessed or hoped that Rodyille hadn't gone back for reinforcements; surely they'd be here already?

My heart in my throat, pistol raised and continuously swept across the scenery. Back and forth, back and forth, and we moved hunched and low, so we could easily see beneath the tables.

When we'd found the end of the room, I'd glanced back to check on Torris. I couldn't see him and be glad at this fact.

I ordered Helma and Adelana to wait and watch the room, then vaulted over the serving bench, landing into a silent crouch. I knew there was a cold air chiller behind the cooking area, and in there would most likely be where Rodyille was lurking.

I approached the small, large door and slowly pulled it open with my sword hand, seeing only a little of the large cold room beyond.

Sword readied; I slowly searched through the hanging skinned carcasses, I tried to hold my breath, so my steaming breathing wouldn't be visible. I was afraid, terrified. Hoping to all hell, Rodyille wouldn't be able to overwhelm and kill me. I didn't know how long it'd take for Faleaseen to bring me back. An hour? Two hours? A day? It didn't matter; it wouldn't be quick enough; I was the only one able to stop him, and with me out of the picture, it'd allow him to kill the others.

He must've known this; now was the time to strike when I was alone.

I spent a good ten minutes searching every inch of the place, but there was no sign of him, nothing. I really wanted to look again, just to make sure, but I fought the urge. We were already low on time to meet our objective.

With a slight sigh, I left, closing the door behind me. On second thought, perhaps it was a bit too obvious.

Helma and Adelana glanced at me, confused; they'd obviously thought the same as me.

I shrugged and, with quick gestures, indicated we were searching the now right side of the cafeteria.

They nodded, and we began to head back in the same formation and searching the same way.

It was when we were all the way through that Rodyille decided to strike. On the far right, one of the tables was abruptly flung into the air, smashing hard into poor Helma off her feet and across the room. Adelana barely managed to dart out the way with impressive speed, and I simply sidestepped.

Rodyille seemed to materialise into view, his curved sword coming into life, and he sprinted at Adelana.