Honsou circled the warrior band of Space Marines, taking the measure of each of them in turn. He stopped beside Pasanius and lifted his silver arm to more carefully examine its unblemished surfaces.

'This is fine workmanship,' he said. 'Your own?'

'No,' said Pasanius through gritted teeth. 'The adepts of Pavonis fashioned it for me.'

'Pavonis? I have not heard of that world. Is it a world of the Mechanicum?'

'No.'

Honsou smiled. 'You hate me, don't you?'

Pasanius turned to stare at Honsou. 'I hate you, yes. You and all your traitorous, bastard kin.'

Honsou circled behind Pasanius and wiped black dust and the filthy residue of the Exuviae from his armour, taking a closer look at the colour of the plates below. He returned to Uriel's side and examined his armour too.

'I see no insignia,' he said. 'What Chapter were you from?'

'What does that matter here?' said Uriel.

'I like the way you answered that.'

'How did I answer it?'

'Very carefully,' chuckled Honsou. 'Shall I tell you what I think?'

'Would it matter if I said no?'

'Not really, no. For what it is worth, then, I think you are Ultramarines, though I dread to think what heinous crime an Ultramarine must commit to be banished to the Eye of Terror. Did you turn left instead of right on the parade ground? Forget to say your prayers in the morning?'

Uriel felt his anger grow, but forced himself not to react to Honsou's mockery. 'Yes, we are Ultramarines, but the reasons we are here are unimportant. We are here to fight.'

'Then do you care who you fight for?'

Uriel considered the question before answering. 'Not particularly,' he said.

'Then I could use warriors like you,' said Honsou, extending his hand. 'I can offer you so much more than Toramino or Berossus. Will you join me?'

Uriel stared at the Iron Warrior's hand, a tumble of emotions racing through his head. He and Honsou shared many qualities as warriors, but they could never reconcile their differences in faith… could they?

With no Chapter to call his own, might he not be better served by finding a warrior leader of courage and vision he could fight alongside?

Everything he had been brought up to believe and everything he had been trained in as a Space Marine warred with the bitterness at their expulsion from the Ultramarines, and as he locked eyes with Honsou once again, he saw the only course open to him.

PART THREE

IN THE REALM OF THE UNFLESHED

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Uriel lunged to the side and hammered his elbow into the throat of the Iron Warrior holding his sword and caught the falling scabbard as the traitor clutched for his shattered windpipe. The blade hissed from its sheath as he shouted, 'I am a warrior of the Emperor of Mankind and a Space Marine. I will never join the likes of you!'

Honsou didn't move and Uriel's blade sang for his neck, but the bronze claws of Onyx were there first, intercepting the blow. Onyx's other fist hammered into Uriel's chest, sending him sprawling across the powdered bone floor and driving the breath from him. He dropped his sword and gasped for breath as he momentarily tried to take oxygen in through his severed trachea before his autonomic functions reverted to his third lung.

He reached for his fallen sword, but a booted foot slammed down on the blade.

'How stupid do you think I am, Ventris?' snarled Honsou. 'Do you think I became the master of this fortress by blind luck? No, I earned this by being better than everyone who tried to take it from me!'

Honsou's boot lashed out, smashing into his jaw and cracking the bone. Uriel rolled away from Honsou's kicks, the Iron Warriors closing on the warrior band with their bolters raised as they made to come to Uriel's assistance.

Uriel struggled to rise, but Honsou was giving him no chance, dropping his knee into the small of his back and hammering hard, economical punches into his ribs. Honsou gripped the back of his head and slammed Uriel's face into the floor. Uriel felt his nose break and his cheekbone crack under the assault, twisting his head to try and avoid the worst of the blows. But Honsou was a gutter fighter and trapped his head with his elbow while pounding his face in fury.

'Damn, but you will wish you had accepted my offer!' raged Honsou as he stood and wiped Uriel's spattered blood from his face. 'I will give you to the Savage Morticians and they will rape your flesh and show you agony like you have never known. Your body will be their canvas and once they are done violating you, they will render you down to flesh their wasted frames.'

Uriel rolled onto his back, blood filling his mouth, and he coughed, spattering his armour with red. He pushed himself onto one elbow and said, 'I am Uriel Ventris of the Ultramarines, loyal servant of the beneficent Emperor of Mankind and foe to all the traitorous followers of the Ruinous Powers. Nothing you can do will change that.'

Honsou snarled and crouched over Uriel's breastplate, hammering his fists against Uriel's face once more. Blood sprayed the floor as he yelled. 'Damn you, how dare you refuse me! You are nothing, no one. Your Chapter has disowned you! You are nothing to them. What can you possibly have to gain by honouring them?'

Uriel's hand shot out and caught Honsou's descending fist.

'I would have my honour and my faith!' he spat, lashing out with his other fist and smashing Honsou aside. Uriel rolled to his feet and staggered to join the remainder of the warrior band. The Space Marines and the two Guardsmen formed a circle of defiance before the Iron Warriors. Uriel spat blood and teeth, leaning on Pasanius for support.

'You had me worried there for a moment,' said Pasanius. His tone was light, but even in his battered state, Uriel caught the concern in his friend's tone.

'I am a warrior of the Emperor, my friend,' he gasped. 'I would never turn to the Dark Powers, you know that.'

'I know that,' agreed Pasanius.

'Well you certainly had that bastard fooled,' said Vaanes, moving to stand beside them, his lightning claws sliding from his gauntlet. 'And me too. Damn it, Ventris, I won't die like this!'

'Neither will I, if I can help it,' said Uriel.

The Iron Warriors surrounded them, bolters aimed at their hearts as Honsou rose, wiping blood from his face.

'I'll make sure you're broken in two, Ventris,' he promised. 'I'll let them feed you the filth of the daemonculaba then have you thrown to the Unfleshed. Let's see how your precious ideals hold up then.'

'Nothing you can do will ever break my faith in the Emperor,' said Uriel.

'Faith?' scoffed Honsou. 'What is that but hopeful ignorance? The Iron Warriors once had faith, but where did that get them? Betrayed by the Emperor and cast into the Eye of Terror. If that's what faith in the Emperor gets you, then to hell with it, you're welcome to it!'

Pasanius roared in anger and leapt for Honsou's throat, but again Onyx darted in to protect his master, hammering his bronze claws towards his throat. For such a big man, Pasanius moved surprisingly swiftly and he batted aside Onyx's blow, backhanding his massive fist into the daemon symbiote's face.

Onyx roared and fell back, silver fire spurting from his ruptured flesh. Pasanius gripped Honsou's armour, drawing back his gleaming fist to deliver a killing blow.

But before he could strike, a biting claw closed on his arm and Obax Zakayo wrenched him back. The hydraulic claw snapped shut on Pasanius's forearm, crushing the limb and virtually severing it completely. Obax Zakayo lashed out with his sledgehammer fist and smashed the sergeant from his feet, closing to finish the fallen sergeant with his own dread axe. He raised the weapon high, but the blow never landed, the Iron Warrior incredulous as what he saw before him.