Katherine entered the bedroom in a crouch, the long blade held before her in both hands. The room's décor was expensive, with priceless paintings hanging on the walls and sculptures set upon marble pedestals. A bust of the Emperor, carved ten thousand years ago when he still walked the galaxy as a (somewhat) mortal man, had been removed from the alcove shrine and placed on then nightstand facing the bed. It amused Gaius to no end to feel as though the Emperor was being forced to watch whatever disgusting, deviant acts Gaius chose to commit there.
The self-proclaimed Messiah of Slaanesh was standing just a few meters away where he could not be seen from outside the room. His handsome face was livid in anger, his right hand clutched to his chest. Underneath his hand, there was a blackened hole spewing a thin wisp of smoke from between his fingers. Katherine shook her head in disbelief. Impossible! That should have killed him outright! How could he…?
"How could I survive a direct hit from an Inferno pistol?" Gaius mocked her thoughts, his grimace of pain becoming a snarling grin. "I'm not exactly human anymore, Kathy dear. More than human…not quite a daemon. The best of both worlds…the ultimate evolution of mankind…daemon and man…one." He dropped his hand from his chest, allowing the black smoke that stank of burned flesh to flow freely from the ghastly wound. With a snap of his wrist, the Lash of Torment appeared, a daemon bound into the shape of a whip.
"You're just a traitor with delusions of grandeur," Katherine said heatedly, inching forward and raising the blade over her head. "I defeated you once…emasculated you…and I'll do it again."
The grin faded from his face to be replaced with a cold hatred, "I was just a mortal man then…the situation has changed. I will turn you, Katherine…as I did Harodiah…and Rebecca…" The daemonic weapon writhed and coiled with a mind of its own, eager to be released and taste her flesh and her pain. "…as I will Simone." The whip suddenly shot forward like a striking cobra, a blur of motion Katherine's eyes could scarcely follow.
She pivoted desperately away and launched herself forward with righteous fury. Emperor you are my light in the darkness! You are my bulwark against evil! Protect me my Lord so that I may smite your enemies! The sword of Saint Magdalena carved a silver arc through the air, trailing brilliant flame. She could feel the Emperor reaching out from light-years away…from the Golden Throne to lend her the tiniest portion of her might. She nearly gasped in surprise as it seemed a darkness emanated from Gaius, blotting out the light. As she was favored by the Emperor…so was he favored by the Lord of Pain and Pleasure…the Daemon Slaanesh.
Brilliant light strove against the enveloping darkness, Katherine's sword swinging down for Gaius' head. He reached up with his free and to knock it aside so it fell harmlessly past her shoulder. The Messiah of Slaanesh stepped forward, slamming his muscled bulk against her, darkness closing over her so that she felt she was drowning in it. Her world exploded in pain as he smashed his forehead into her face. The thin synthetic flesh that held the wounds Rebecca's claws had caused split open, splashing her blood across his face, shoulders, and chest.
She staggered backwards, one hand reflexively to her flayed cheek. Gaius flicked the whip out again, aiming for her slender throat…a streak of black lightning piercing the halo of light that surrounded her. However, to his surprise the light flared and the darkness recoiled from it. The whip struck the aura of the Martyr's Aegis, the Armor of her patron saint, Magdalena, and ricocheted away. Katherine caught her footing again and looked up, a murderous light in her eyes. The blood on her hand made the sword hilt slick as she gripped it, swinging up from the hip. The tip of the blade, sheathed in glowing, silver fire, carved into the halo of darkness about him…slicing apart the deep violet plates of his daemonic armor. She cut a deep slash diagonally upward through the washboard abdomen and chest of the Messiah of Slaanesh. As he stumbled back, arms clutched across his ravaged torso, Katherine reversed her grip on the hilt, holding it as one might a spear. She plunged it forward to impale his black heart…
Chapter 45: Into the Daemon's Lair
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