As though formed from swirling particles of smoke, their forms were ethereal and insubstantial, but Onyx could see them as clearly as though he had been here to watch them arrive. They had passed this way but minutes ago, their phantasmal echoes walking from the battlements and heading in the direction of the monstrous archways carved into the mountainside.

Onyx watched as the ghostly figures were swallowed up by the whispering darkness of the archways and sheathed his claws. He would need to take another route into the fortress to hunt the intruders, for if Khalan-Ghol had lured them into the bedlam portals, there was a good chance they were already dead.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

The journey through the darkened archway was one that Uriel knew he would never forget. The sensation of being spied upon by every square centimetre of wall was intolerable and he was sure he could hear a susurration of whispered voices, just on the threshold of hearing. Their words, if such they were, were unintelligible, but on some primal level, Uriel knew that they whispered of vile, terrible things.

…dishonour, disgrace and failure…

This at least he felt he could bear, having already seen the most terrible things imaginable in the presence of the Nightbringer, but still…

The twilit darkness seemed to go on forever and Uriel soon lost track of how long they had been travelling along the damnable tunnel.

…it doesn't ever stop, it goes on and on…

'Imperator! Does this ever end?' growled Vaanes as they delved further and further into the never-ending darkness.

'I know,' said Uriel. 'I get the feeling that we do not travel normal paths here. We can trust nothing, not even the evidence of our own senses.'

'Then how will we find what we're looking for?'

…you won't…

'We will have to trust that the Emperor will show us the way,' said Uriel, irritated by Vaanes's constant questions.

Vaanes shook his head in exasperation. 'I knew I should have never come on this mission. It was doomed from the start.'

…yes, doomed, only death awaits…

'Then why did you come?' snapped Uriel, rounding on the former Raven Guard, his temper fraying.

…he hates you and will betray you…

'Damned if I can remember,' snarled Vaanes, his face centimetres from Uriel's. 'Perhaps I thought you had more of an idea about how you planned to get in here and find what we came for!'

…he doesn't, he will see you dead soon…

'Damn you, Vaanes. Why must you always undermine me?' said Uriel, hearing soft, malicious laughter and the whispers of the walls growing louder in his ears. 'Every step of this journey you have done nothing but tell us that we are on a fool's errand. That may be so, but we are Space Marines trapped on a daemon world and it is our sacred task to fight the enemies of mankind wherever they may be.'

…not any more. Give in, you are worthless…

'Don't you understand? We are not Space Marines,' shouted Vaanes, the reflected blue light of the tunnel glittering in his eyes. 'Not any more. We are all outcasts, shunned and banished from our Chapters. We owe neither them nor the Emperor anything any more. And I, for one, am getting sick of hearing your sanctimonious voice telling me what I ought to be doing.'

…yes, kill him, what is he to you anyway…?

Uriel shook his head as Vaanes slapped a gauntleted hand on his shoulder guards and said, 'Where is your Chapter badge, Ventris? I don't see it, does anyone else?'

'What happened to you, Vaanes?' asked Uriel, angrily shrugging off the hands on his shoulders and gripping the hilt of his sword. 'How did you become so damaged?'

…because he has no honour, he deserves to die…!

'Because I let myself get put in situations like this once too often,' hissed Vaanes. 'And I swore I would not blindly follow another to my death. Damn me, but I let myself get fooled again.'

Uriel drew his sword, his anger boiling over when he heard the soft susurration of the whispering walls once more and the words and feelings behind them wormed their way into his brain.

…more, say more, give vent to all your secret doubts and fears and frustrations…

The voices insinuated themselves within his head and lodged upon his tongue, just aching to be said for the sake of malice and spite. Uriel clamped his hands to his ears as a measure of understanding forced its way past the fog of bitterness that filled his mind.

The voices clouded his head, louder now that their subterfuge was unmasked. Uriel stumbled and reached out to steady himself, his hand brushing against the wall, its undulating substance wet and fluid. He dropped to his knees and shouted, 'Get out of my head!'

…no, worthless you, meaningless you, insignificant you, unremembered you…

'Uriel? Are you all right? What's going on?' shouted Pasanius, running over to where his captain knelt. Vaanes backed away from Uriel, shaking his head and clutching his temples in pain.

'What the hell is going on?' he yelled as the roar of voices, thousands of them, swelled in volume and filled the tunnel.

…kill, it's such a friendly word… it's the only way…

'Don't listen to them!' shouted Uriel. 'Shut them out!'

The other Space Marines now felt the full power of the lunatic voices, dropping their weapons as the urge to turn them upon themselves grew unbearable. A shot rang out and one of their warrior band, a Doom Eagle, toppled forwards, his skull little more than a charred blood basin, spilling brain and skull fragments as he fell.

Uriel threw away his gun as he felt the muscles of his arm twitch in response to the voices, fighting their urg-ings

…it is hopeless, no point in fighting, nothing can stand against the majesty of Chaos…

He squeezed his eyes shut, repeating the Litanies of Hate as preached by Chaplain Clausel from his umber-sap pulpit: catechisms of loathing and the Rites of Detestation he had been taught when in the service of the Ordo Xenos.

…it is pointless to resist the inevitable. Join us! Give in and kill yourself…

Uriel fought the urge to curl up and give in, remembering past glories where victory had meant something concrete, where the defeat of terrible foes had achieved something meaningful. He pictured the great victory on Tarsis Ultra, the defeat of Kasimir de Valtos and the capture of the alpha psyker on Epsilon Regalis. With each victory remembered, the power of the voices diminished, the despair they fostered kept at bay by his powerful sense of worth and purpose.

He staggered to his feet, seeing Pasanius disengage the promethium unit from his flamer and flip a fragmentation grenade from his dispenser into his hand.

'No!' shouted Uriel and kicked the grenade from his sergeant's hand.

Pasanius rose up to his full height, his face twisted in a snarl of anger and tears coursing down his face.

'Why?' he yelled. 'Why won't you let me die? I deserve to die.'

…he does! Let him die, you hate him anyway…!

'No!' gasped Uriel, fighting the deadly power of the voices. 'You have to fight it!'

'I can't!' wailed Pasanius, holding his silver arm up before him. 'Don't you see? I have to die.'

Uriel gripped his friend's shoulders as another shot echoed in the tunnel and another warrior succumbed to the suicidal lure of the voices.

'Remember how you got that arm?' shouted Uriel. 'You helped save the world of Pavonis. You stood before a star god and defied it. You are a hero, Pasanius! All of you, you are heroes! You are the greatest warriors this galaxy has ever seen! You are stronger, more courageous and more resourceful than any mortal man!'

…no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no…