30. Prisoners on Yuggoth

"What is the meaning of this madness?! I request a hearing with your Master, Mon'Keigh! Let me free, and your punishment shall be light!" Eölim demanded, her pale skin reddened by her anger as she was forced to follow the one that called itself Majun.

But that was only a facade; internally, she was beginning to feel her anxiety rapidly turn to fear and soon terror. Though not truly at the potential of death, that much was nearly impossible, and the circumstances didn't bode for such a thing.

It was irrational. She never succumbed to physical death, and that was likely why she felt this way. It was a known fact that Aeldari had a presumption about such an event. At least, that was what she reasoned from her knowledge.

'How can I not use my gift?!' She tried her hardest to grasp the power of her soul and even the Sea of Souls, yet it failed each time as if a wall of highly viscous liquid stopped her, and she was trying to grasp water. And when she succeeded, everything was absorbed by the pale grey stone, making the wall, ground, and ceiling.

She couldn't communicate with anyone, not even Hrythyoc. She was completely cut off and unable to use the lowest level of telepathy. Something that didn't fail to anger her to no end.

Something else that didn't fail to do this was her weapons. Similarly, they couldn't function either, as they depended on her psychic reactiveness and demanded her to power them. The only thing she had was her armor. There was a problem: it was an armor. More precisely, one focused on ornamentation.

One of magnificent craftsmanship and provider of excellent defense, but that scantily did go beyond that. There was mobility and a few other features like a portable palace, but that would not help in an unknown vessel floating in a space out of Aeldari's reach.

If it weren't the case, she knew she would have already been freed. And that by itself entailed far more than she liked to admit.

She only took what was necessary, and how could she have predicted anything else? Her sudden kidnapping was undoubtedly not counted, more so considering she shouldn't be able to be teleported against her will.

Still…

"Respond to your better, undignified abomination!" She pressed on, walking in front of the tall, winged alien whose gaze barely shifted to her, his golden mask in the shape of a grinning horned beast doing little for her to read his emotions. A mask that the Ork had recognized, but his babble made little to no sense, and their values of even higher inferiority.

"Yeah! Answer da questions af da cheatin' panzee tall baty git!" Kurgal warped in a blue rope floating in the air, concurred with the Aeldari. His current state of his own doing, but he didn't complain more than that; he liked having the high ground, and he could nap.

Archdeacon Majun stopped moving, his robe billowing to an unknown wind as he observed his audience of two. He clutched the pentacle softly, bathing himself in its calming divinity before he breathed out.

Both Ork and Aeldari were exceedingly lucky that it was him and not any other Khrave escorting them or truly anyone else with a lick of common sense. He was in his position not only out of his faith and personal power but out of his restraints and strength of will.

A strength of will that could fight against the corrupting whispers of the most insidious of Dark Gods but was slowly breaking apart in the face of her, a mere spoiled little girl.

At this very moment, his every instinct screamed to tear both apart, but he didn't do so. Their constant insolence and stupidity drove one to the brink of rage and beyond.

But he was above, and so he answered calmly and reasonably.

"The answers will arrive in due time. Be patient, little morsels." He said with a dark chuckle, the last part sending shivers down both prisoners' spines at the implications.

"But what I can reveal at the moment shall be enough explanation to satisfy your curiosity. We have come upon the edict of our Lord to collect a peculiar item, an extraordinary item you do not understand." He snapped two clawed fingers, and the wave of telekinesis tore off the tusk of Kurgal with the shining object on it.

The response was immediate and violent, even by Ork's abysmal to non-existent standard on that subject they mastered so well.

"No! Gimme back me shiny ring and da pretty voice! Giv' it back! Giv' it back! Its min-" Kurgal made his disaccord with his actions in much the same way a child merged with someone addicted to illicit substances would, but Majun silenced him with a flip of the wrist.

Around the Ork head, a sphere of glyph manifested, cutting all sound out of the hysterical greenskin.

This led to a peculiar sight: Kargul looked desperately at what was taken from him. Eölim was shocked, not a new sensation in the last hour, but this scene… It wasn't normal Ork behavior, and even in the abnormal one, this was an outlier by a large margin.

There was a kind of maniacal madness in those dull, beady eyes of his that felt akin to Daemonic possession, but it was different; it was more yet less. It appeared more like extreme withdrawal, but it was too fast for it to happen, considering his weight and size.

"I wanted to put it on…" She whispered to herself with horror. It was a cursed artifact or something with which only a specific wearer had the right to wear it.

"That would have been unfortunate indeed, depending on what our Lord desired of you. But that I cannot say. His grand vision eludes me." Majun said uncaringly, "Nonetheless, it would have made your presence here a certainty; you are here for the unique reason of your rashness. You have entered the transponder circle of your own volition. Your initial presence has forced us to adapt and act fast, but your mischance and actions are not out of our volition."

"We required the Ork only to put into simple words. You were at the wrong place at the wrong time, or was it? I do not know. I'm but a humble follower of the Beast of the Dawn." He added cryptically, and that was enough even for the scarred Aeldari to speak up. Fear couldn't keep at bay her aggravation.

"Then why do you refuse to grant me freedom at once!? Do you desire total destruction from this affront? I'm Eölim, Heir of the All-Arith Family of the purest and most noble bloodlines! Do you even begin to understand your current situation? You have your pretty toy, Mon'Keigh. Why garner more reason for your coming annihilation!" Eölim demanded with a snarl, and Majun's wings twitched at loudness before folding below his robe.

"I do. The Aeldari Empire is mighty and beyond my grasp of understanding, but not for our Lord. The risks and consequences of what is done do not evade us, however. But I will not free you, not at the moment. You have become an opportunity. And opportunities are fate to be taken for our great and eternal path." The Archdeacon said cooly, irritation seeping through his hissing voice.

He had enough of this infernal babbling and snapped his finger, creating a silencing magic bubble around the arrogant toddler.

A toddler whose tantrum was now silenced to only angry, muffled thumping and limbs flailing. At some point, enough was enough, and her treatment compared to the Ork Boss was that of royalty.

-My favorite little bat, you seem fairly disappointed. Pray to tell, would you confide to my ears what is on your mind?- a voice Majun was all too familiar and enthralled with reached his mind, and he greeted it with open arms.

-Yes, Lord Hoopa… How can such an ascended species graced by such wisdom and blessed with an unfathomable understanding of the Universe act in such undesirable ways?- He genuinely asked, as he had seen what was done to the Orks before the capture of Kurgal and Eölim.

It wasn't the extermination of a potential threat or any kind of regular harvest. A certain level of violence and pain came with everything; it was in the nature of the Universe, but here, just from a little glimpse, it was excessive to the extreme that, if not for the realness of the situation, would be comical.

The answers came fast, exceptionally so, in fact, and it was one word that seemingly explained everything.

-Boredom.-

-Bor-boredom? But… It doesn't make sense! They are blessed with the divine guidance of your brothers and sisters! It shouldn't be!- The old Khrave clamored, incomprehension etched on his face behind his mask.

His psychic power escaped his grasp briefly, making his muted prisoners freeze in abject horror at the sudden pressure wave.

For one, it was the strongest he had ever felt, but it paled in sheer terror compared to the voice of the dark-horned monster, and this bat man was certainly, from what was seen, a mere git of this monster. He wasn't the cleverest, but this was evident with the mask.

For the other, it wasn't the strongest psyker she met, but it was at a level that her existence could be erased from flesh to the deepest layer of her soul. Powerful for her age, she may be, she wasn't past the infancy of her first incarnation.

-Indeed, it does not follow logic, Majun,- Hoopa agreed to his confused and infuriated follower, genuine worry in his voice appearing and disappearing just as fast.- That is no behavior I would have accepted. Neither would my brethren, barring Khaine and potentially his Consort, for one only cares for violence, and the other is elusive to me. This is not normal.-

-Though we cannot draw any finite and constructive conclusions from such a small sample. One group of Aeldari is not their entire species, and I hope you understand that you cannot punish the many for the few.- Hoopa finished, the hypocrisy thick in those words only he understood but didn't feel guilt over.

The genocide of the Old Ones only brought the Archdjinni of the Rings immense satisfaction, a fact he acknowledged fully. The little humanity in him left wasn't used on those hateful frogs. It was one of them who took it away to begin with.

-My most sincere apology for my unsightly outburst, and I offer you my deepest gratitude for this great wisdom, my Lord.- Majun said with reverence as the conversation with his God came to an end, his mind now at peace.

And so the rest of the journey to Yuggoth passed in the blink of an eye as the small Khrave fleet skidded at the edge of the Warp and Labyrinth Dimension with the occasional dimensional shift to Realspace until they reached a certain location.

A stellar black hole at the center of the Milky Way, but that was only for the ignorant of what this place was—one of the anchors and gateway to the Dark Cradle. An entry to the hidden dimension, the protective realm of the Khrave, and to enter or exit it, the authorization of Hoopa was an obligate key.

But as the fleet entered the artificial realm, they didn't stop. It was not their final destination, merely for this instance, used as a hub where the beginning of a system of portals to encompass the galaxy was being built. And it was through the first of the Golden Gate that they arrived to end their travel, the lost planet orbiting in the Crystal Labyrinth.

This time, the Changer of Ways was wholly powerless and unable to affect the tiniest of their actions, a fact that was most infuriating and joyful for the Dark God of all contradictions. A veil of darkness protected the People of the Dawn from his direct machinations, for their fate was not to be in his grasp.

"Observe, lay your unworthy eyes before the homeworld of the Great Enslavers, the most ancient and mysterious world but one lost to time and war," Majun said grandly, beating his tattered wings lazily as he hovered down.

Behind him, held in the grasp of his telekinesis, were Eölim and Krugal, both wearing strange manacles and other restraints. Nothing more than preemptive measures if either tried something mentally debatable, notably for the Aeldari.

But in the following moment, the Ork was taken by another group of Khrave, his fate unknown to Eölim as she was beckoned to follow Majun. But she saw the gaze of all; she had been put in isolation, and her contact with those infernal abominations had been limited to the Archdeacon, but the way she was looked at was nothing else than of pure wild hunger and desire for destruction. Yet it was all kept at bay.

The Khraves disappeared as they began to walk. Each step that they took was a different biome, a coral reef, a mountain chain, an ancient forest, a dark bog, a verdant plain, and more as if countless places throughout time were strewn together.

And so the three of them were accompanied by hundreds of Khrave of all professions. Passing mountains, ancient forest, fairylike bog, and more in instants as all biomes existed in one instance, yet through different time streams, they teleported to Dylath-Leen.

Though their, or Majun objective for coming here was far from purifying the insidious corruption of the Warp upon flesh, mind, and soul.

Entering a chamber of many arcane symbols, Aeldari and Khrave gazed at an ornate chair of a black material darker than the space itself. It was the Cathedra of Mi-go, named after its Great Old One creator and its first user before his ultimate demise. Demise that came on its first use, the time necessary to turn it on was too long, and it was a time critical for his survival, giving it also the name of Sarcophagus of Mi-go.

It was a relic of old used to purify, unravel, and operate the infected Old Ones' victim to the extinct psychic predatory species known as the Krell. Mi-go had died due to such an affliction and a lack of time to finish this project.

And to this day, the soul parasites starving descendants, having fled through the abandoned prison of the Old Ones, now roamed the waves of the Warp, ready and waiting to feast on mortals and Neverborn alike.

Today, this piece of technology is to be used for another purpose.

"Sit." Majun ordered, and Eölim hesitated for a second that felt like an eternity, only to be broken by a sharp question, "Or would you prefer that I make you do so, little morsel? The choice is yours to make."

She obeyed, anger and indignation written all over her features as she hesitantly sat on the ancient healing artifact. It shifted akin to a liquid, embracing her body through the armor, entering in contact with her flesh, and locking her in place from head to toe; the chair stopped her from moving.

The anger turned to panic and dread, but it was only the beginning as around her head, a crown of branch-like extension grew, and then a wave of immense fatigue washed over her psyche. Her psychic gift returned as the Palestone restraints were absorbed, but this hint of hope at her untethered strength was soon crushed.

Her new restraint remained unfaltering, and her power was used against nullifying in harmonious symphony her desperate last effort before darkness claimed her and she fell into a profound slumber. The Cathedra of Mi-go could restrain Old Ones, less be mentioned of weaker species.

"I depart to R'lyeh, brother, sisters," Majun informed the three Khrave that had teleported in, his tone warm and comforting in total dissonance to the tone from earlier.

"You may begin the soul unraveling and its recording, but be aware, she is not to be harmed in any way. If such things befell her, our Lord will come to know, and heavy punishment awaits you in retribution." He warned, grandfatherly warmth and cold, unfeeling threat mixing as the three nodded.

Then he walked out. The ring was to be delivered; his Lord had mysterious plans for it, and his presence was paramount.

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My P@treon is up to chap 39 if you are interested.

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