If such a thing were possible, Decima looked amused. ‘You have been analysing this for some time, have you not? Tell me what you purpose in it.’
Morturg flexed an augmetic hand, one that bound the last scraps of flesh to adamantium with the forbidden cantrips of sorcery. He was all things now: man, machine, witch. An unholy broth fermented in the cauldron of heresy.
‘I thought that bringing pain to my old brothers would be enough,’ Morturg said. ‘I thought that killing them would give some purpose to this shadow-life we made for ourselves. So did he. Look where that got him.’ He let his hand fall, the micro-pistons of his fingers sliding closed. ‘I weary of it. I need more.’
‘Then you know what must be done.’
Morturg nodded. ‘I do.’
Survival. Endurance. Finding a way to outlast the racing fires.
‘I will set the course, then.’
‘It will not be easy.’
‘Nothing ever is.’
‘And what will you tell your crew?’
‘The truth,’ Morturg replied. ‘I have been fighting for the Throne for long enough. It is time I met its master.’
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chris Wraight is the author of the Horus Heresy novels Scars and The Path of Heaven, the novella Brotherhood of the Storm and the audio drama The Sigillite. For Warhammer 40,000 he has written the Space Wolves novels Blood of Asaheim and Stormcaller, and the short story collection Wolves of Fenris, as well as the Space Marine Battles novels Wrath of Iron and Battle of the Fang. Additionally, he has many Warhammer novels to his name, including the Time of Legends novel Master of Dragons, which forms part of the War of Vengeance series. Chris lives and works near Bristol, in south-west England.
What drove the staunchly anti-mysticism primarch Mortarion into dabbling with warpcraft and daemons? Find out in this short story by Chris Wraight.
A BLACK LIBRARY PUBLICATION
Published in 2016 by Black Library, Games Workshop Ltd,
Willow Road, Nottingham, NG7 2WS, UK.
Produced by Games Workshop in Nottingham.
Blackshield © Copyright Games Workshop Limited 2016. Blackshield, GW, Games Workshop, Black Library, The Horus Heresy, The Horus Heresy Eye logo, Space Marine, 40K, Warhammer, Warhammer 40,000, the ‘Aquila’ Double-headed Eagle logo, and all associated logos, illustrations, images, names, creatures, races, vehicles, locations, weapons, characters, and the distinctive likenesses thereof, are either ® or TM, and/or © Games Workshop Limited, variably registered around the world.
All Rights Reserved.
A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN: 978-1-78572-345-2
This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental.
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Table of Contents
Cover
Blackshield – Chris Wraight
About the Author
A Black Library Publication
eBook license
Table of Contents
Cover
Blackshield – Chris Wraight
About the Author
A Black Library Publication
eBook license
Table of Contents
Cover
Blackshield – Chris Wraight
About the Author
A Black Library Publication
eBook license
Blackshield - Chris Wraight Page 3