Dark Apostle
#2 of Black Aquila
Dark Apostle
Rael laid there for a moment taking stock of his surroundings. The tent was illuminated by two braziers burning incense in the corners of the tent creating a mystic atmosphere.
"They really buy this?" Rael asked softly.
"They want to believe in something, pet" the dragoness answered.
The pet comment raised Rael's eyebrows but he let it slip "It's odd but I still don't know your name"
"Somehow I doubt you'd be able to pronounce it" she mocked.
"You're a riot you know that don't you" Rael returned.
"I try" she smirked.
"I'm serious I'm not calling you some ridiculous title even in front of those marauders"
The dragoness gave a look of thorough experation and sighed "That will cause some difficulty"
Rael stood up and streched "None of them will dare move against me bar that wolf"
"I guess you're right" she said with a sigh "It might work but before you go doing something stupid I think you should see something first"
The dragoness levered up a previously unnoticed section of the earth to reveal a view of what beneath appeared to be a reviewing platform. Rael shot the dragoness a confused look but she was already halfway through the trapdoor, Rael heaved out a long suffering sigh pulled on his pants then jumped lightly through the trapdoor.
From the platform Rael gazed out onto what appeared to be a ruined city, he shot her another look then caught sight of something very interesting. Black temples had arisen and the cities graves were being exhumed.
"Revants?" Rael asked shortly.
"Thousands as well there are a few hundred Dark Hands" she replied.
Revants as everyone knew were the weak reanimated dead servants often found near necromancer camps, considered a fate worse than death most cities had wards over their graveyards but this underground necropolis appeared thousands of years old. Revants were animated by a human soul called back from death the power of the soul dictated the power in life. Revants though possessed no free will but were bound by the necromancer's power.
Dark Hands were recalled souls mainly of old necromancers who wished to avoid death unlike the Revants they retained their ability to control their actions and bodies but still could be brought to heel by a powerful necromancer.
To Rael's disappointment there was no evidence of any attempt to summon a greater Daemon or Undead Possessor "I see no evidence of any greater powers" he spoke softly as if to speak normally would take away the sheer possibilities before him.
"Why bother?" the dragoness asked "They will only try to overthrow you, in reality we don't even need the undead forces now. With you and the Bloodwarper we could reunite the marauder clans"
Rael stared out into the necropolis watching the figures of men, revants and dark hands go moving about whatever their business happened to be "How many now of this place?"
"Only those who have been chosen to work" the dragoness replied "They are chosen for their loyalty and abstaining natures"
"Must be hard to find in a marauder" Rael snorted.
"Not as hard as you'd think there are some extremely intelligent people amongst the marauders once you look past the armour"
A lithe figure suddenly bounded off a wall and somersaulted into the observation platform "Everything is ah going to hmm plan" the figure said slowly.
"Rael, this is Paulus he is in charged down here" the dragoness explained.
Paulus smiled briefly but the smile never reached his eyes then he jumped over the edge and back into the city.
"That was not natural" Rael said after a moment.
"Too right but he is good and don't mistake the ahs and ums in his speech to be a sign of weakness or inferiority I lose too many people that way" the dragoness murmured offhandedly.
"I'll take your word for it. Let me guess Paulus can't psychically move so he uses the arts to move" Rael noted.
"Correct and you might want to get used to it. Paulus does a good job with siege engines and their engineers"
"Can we more or less keep this operation going but keep it here. I don't need these forces to unite the marauder clans, in actuality they'd probably unite to wipe us out if they heard of it. On that note so would most countries" Rael asked.
The dragoness grinned "That's why you are a champion, you think about these things. You're probably right about the clans and nations"
"I think you should leave Paulus in charge so that we can go out and convince the other chieftains to follow us" Rael's tone left no doubt as to how he was going to convince the chieftains.
"From your tone I doubt it will be bloodless" the dragoness noted.
Rael just smiled "By the way what was that Bloodwarper thing you mentioned earlier?"
"That wolf that let you in" the dragoness explained "Is daemonkin"
"That explains a bit" Rael murmured.
Daemonkin as most knew were mortals who had by some unfortunately twist of events come across a daemon summoning ground and has entered the summoning area when a daemon was called up. Most went insane but a few strong willed people could bind the daemon within them and use it to give them preternatural strength and other abilities some considered truly daemonic.
"Moving along, there are four tribes within four days walk of this camp but we can get more if we send runners to other tribes"
"Do that" Rael murmured "Though don't let the tribes get closer than twenty miles to each other or we'll have outright war"
"I was going to do that but thanks for the confirmation" the dragoness quipped
Rael just laughed a harsh grating sound that chilled the dragoness.
"I was thinking, if we are going to be trying to intimidating the tribes shouldn't we get deadly armour?" Rael asked.
"Deadly armour?" the dragoness asked incredulously.
"Scary looking armour, these marauders have the mental development of children" Rael explained "That is what makes them so deadly"
"Deadly stupid" the wolf known as the Bloodwarper said drily, appearing out of thin air behind Rael.
"Not really . . . more ignorant" Rael said slowly.
"What makes you think that?" the dragoness questioned.
"I once went into the woods with a longbow and started hunting marauders; I found a group and put an arrow into just about every single one of them. Only thing that made me stop was the fact that I ran out of arrows, they seemed surprised even when they had seen their fellows die before them. I don't think most of them are aware they can die" Rael explained
"You may be right, I don't like saying that so don't mistake as approval but you might be right" the Bloodwarper growled.
"Do you actually have a name that you've given yourself?" Rael asked frustrated "It is hard to talk to you without putting a name to you"
"Call me Legion" the Bloodwarper intoned "That is what I am"
"Okay then" Rael murmured rolling his eyes causing the dragoness to giggle.
A mournful horn rang out even audible down in the cavern.
"Brilliant" Rael exulted "The Legions are here"
"What?" Legion swore.
"That is the signal call of the Imperial Pathfinders. They always go before the Legions. They are telling them they've found us" Rael explained "There is no escape from the Pathfinders, which means we need to fight off the Legions"
"They usually send two legions, don't they?" Legion asked
"Yes, one for each general but this may just be a check-up force to prevent us leaving while another ten legions are gathered"
"That is the entire country's garrison!" the dragoness exclaimed "No-one could stop them!"
"They can be stopped. By a well trained force, a lot like ours could be if we use our time well" Rael mused
Legion snorted and began to laugh that was until Rael slammed his fist into his guts "Make no mistake Daemonkin they can be beaten and have been beaten in these numbers by much less significant forces. The logistics is a killer, a smaller force is much more deadly and I am a better commander than any of that pitiful scum out there"
Rael turned to the dragoness "Show me a way to the marauders. They like the Bloodwarper shall become my Legions, my angels of death"
The dragoness motioned and a ladder slid down from above, Rael climbed up and waited for the dragoness to join him "I know you use the spirits of the void for power. Show me the void, let me see their power" he said firmly.
The dragoness' eyes narrowed "You fool yourself thinking you can handle the spirits of the void. They will destroy you in an instant unless you can give them something they want"
"I will give them death, slaughter, disease, war and horror" Rael said emotionlessly "I will create for them a place for them to grow and gather worshippers"
The dragoness stared with new understanding at the wolf before her. Unlike the Bloodwarper this one knew exactly what he was doing when he tampered with the spirits of the void and unlike Legion Rael could and would offer them what they truly desired.
"Very well" the dragoness replied "The Gods of the Void will judge you then"
She began a long but flawless incantation of words that burned the ears of all who listened, all within the marauder camp felt a tremor of sheer terror pass through them as the dragoness completed her sorcery.
A blackness enveloped Rael, it seared at his skin and burnt through every nerve until it found the mark of Void upon him. Rael was transported to a place where the blackness of the void flowed like an ocean, its power so tremendously obvious.
"Why did you force a gate from our sorceress, mortal?" demanded a voice cold as the grave that seemed to be everywhere.
"To offer you sacrifices" Rael replied coldly.
"What could you possibly offer us but your life, pitiful little wolf?" challenged a voice that carried with it the sound of horrified screams to the background of clashing blades.
"I offer you the people of the Crusader Kingdoms" Rael answered, his voice dripping with hatred and rage.
"He speaks the truth" said a voice like the last rasping breath of a plague victim "His soul is so perfect. Examine it my brothers and sisters, he is what we seek"
Rael knelt there in the presence of the darkest gods waiting their answer.
"Open your mind to us" replied a voice backed by the chorus of the thousand screams of agony and despair.
Rael freely open his thoughts to the dark gods, he felt a cold touch run through his mind examining every detail of his life and his soul. He felt other hands extend into his mind "Receive our gift" the voices said.
Rael contorted in silent agony as power flooded through his body, so much power and the knowledge to use it for the darkest of purposes.
Rael lay panting on the floor after what seemed to be an endless lifetime of pain, "Rise Dark Apostle and go forth into the realm of light. Strike down the temples of the Crusader God and build up the temples of the Void. Our Sorceress shall guide you but our voices shall never be far from your mind. Fail us not Apostle"
Rael appeared back in the Marauder camp not far from the dragoness' tent, he raised his hand to his brand and warped it changing it from the Sign of the Void to the Symbol of the Dark Gods of the Void marking himself their Apostle.
The Marauders were gathering around him noticing the aura of power that emanated from him, "Listen my brothers to the words of the Dark Gods" he said his voice low but somehow every single person in the camp could hear him "They have given me the power to lead you and all the Marauders forth. They have blessed our path with their dark hands and now we shall go forth to bring all of the Marauders with us but first we must deal with those that call themselves the Legions of God. We will break them and none shall be able to stop us"
Rael walked over to the gates and laid his hands against them, the ground in front of the gates shuddered and blackened "None who are not marked by the Void can pass with their lives past our gates" he said "All here shall be marked as a sign of the loyalty to the Gods"
Rael reached into his power and marked his followers, some were marked by the dragoness but Rael erased those marks and replaced them with his own. He was the Dark Gods' Apostle and none would question his power, he enjoyed the dragoness' presence and hoped she wouldn't make removing her necessary.
The dragoness chewed her lip worriedly as she felt Rael exercising his power within and without the camp the Dark Gods had seen fit to grace him with enormous power far greater than hers. She hoped Rael would not kill her because of her powers over the void, she knew that with his powers now she would not stand a chance against him.
She had seen Rael transform himself from an outraged outcast of the Crusade into a friendly Marauder and now into a frightening Dark Apostle within a very short period of time, she realised just how powerful the Dark Gods must be. They had expertly manipulated her into a position where she had delivered to them their ultimate weapon and they had used the Crusaders to create that weapon. They didn't even have to manipulate Rael past this point, his rage would be entirely sufficient cause for him to cast the entire world into the pits of hell, the dragoness felt something she had not in a number of years, Fear.
The dragoness felt Rael gathering his will again as he walked towards the tent, the dragoness cowered in fear at the back of the tent as Rael marched in. He totally ignored her and dropped into the city below. In one instant the dragoness felt every single life disappear in the necropolis, she crawled down to see what Rael had done.
Without even turning to look at her Rael talked "I have no need of the dead to do my will. The living will serve and these dead now serve a greater use than cannon fodder. Their handlers were so caught up in their spells that they would not release themselves to serve, so I enslaved them. Their souls will feed a gate to the void, an established gate and with it we shall conquer"
"Where will you build this gate?" the dragoness asked.
"Above us in the camp, it shall be a sign to the men that the Gods are with them and the Marauders will be drawn here by its presence. It will call the chieftains of clans and they shall come and I will test them and I will rise up those I see worth and enslave those unfit. I shall choose the best warriors of the Marauders and I will make them my Blood Wolves. A Legion of Death" Rael answered.
"You are going to mimic the structure of the Crusader Legions?" the dragoness asked cautiously.
"Never!" shouted Rael "I will choose the Legion Commanders myself and I will augment with the Void. I will make them unstoppable warriors, my Primarchs, and they shall command a Legion each. They will name them unthinkingly but those names shall reveal much of the character of the Primarchs. The Dark Gods have revealed to me the names that shall be burned into this world. I will set this world on fire"
The dragoness back slowly away "You once lusted after my potential and now you see it realised it terrifies you. Don't run away Alayia, my Sorceress, you and I shall do so much together. That is once the Dark Gods bestow their gift upon you"
"What gift?" the dragoness said her eyes wide with fear.
"A gift of power and of knowledge" Rael answered.
Rael listened as Alayia screamed as the Dark Gods filled her mind with power and knowledge as they had done to him enough to make her useful to him. Before she had been but a small servant of the Dark Gods now she was a full fledged Sorceress of the Void, no where near his match of course but powerful enough to give anyone who might challenge them on the field of magic cause for fear.
He offered his hand to Alayia to help her up "We serve the same Gods, you served as their messenger until I came now. Now you shall serve as their voice in this world, they shall speak through you to the faithful as they shall use me for war."
Alayia stared at Rael her expression caught somewhere between absolute terror and worship, the knowledge that the Dark Gods had bestowed upon her showed her just high Rael had risen and just where he would lead his Legions.
Rael felt her adoration and kissed her on the lips "You will love me" he whispered.
"I already do" Alayia replied.
Rael took her in his arms and Alayia melted into his touch, he tossed away her clothes into the abyss that surrounded them in the necropolis and did the same with his clothes.
"We have the world in our hands now Alayia. Will you join me, forever?" Rael asked.
"Till the stars themselves burn out" Alayia answered.
"Oh I think we'll be together a whole lot longer than that. The Dark Gods want to us live for a very time and we shall be together, forever" Rael said holding Alayia close.
Smiling Wolf
I really enjoyed writing this part
I will definitely be continuing this