Killing Ground

Long is the way, and hard, that out of hell leads up to light.

The Thunderhawk banked as it followed the flight-path the ground controllers had indicated. Uriel looked out of the vision port on the side of the roaring gunship, watching as the dazzling white mountains sped by, their soaring, jagged tops wreathed in clouds.

It had been weeks since the battle in the House of Providence and his body and spirit still ached from the time spent on Salinas. Though Uriel's wounds had healed, he could not shake off the melancholy that had settled on him since he had pulled the trigger of the psycannon.

He knew it had been the only option open to him, and if the Lord of the Unfleshed was going to end his days on Salinas, then it was only right that it be at the hands of the man who had led him there.

With the passing of Sylvanus Thayer, the pressure of the dead upon the minds of the living vanished and a strange sense of calm descended upon Barbadus (though that name was sure to change). With the announcement of Leto Barbaden's death, that mood of calm had been replaced with one of celebration.

As things turned out, the day after the battle was to be a day of announcements.

Under the supervision of the Grey Knights, an interim governorship was to be formed with Daron Nisato as the new Imperial Commander. While this announcement was greeted with rather less enthusiasm than Leto Barbaden's passing, word that Pascal Blaise supported the former enforcer in his leadership generated a quiet acceptance from the populace.

The days of trouble were far from over for Salinas, but Uriel knew that the planet's course had been turned from disaster, and that its people had a chance to cast off the old hatreds that had almost destroyed them.

It was more than most people got.

Upon the restoration of Imperial control, Leodegarius had walked them to a waiting gunship as it growled on the esplanade before the palace and bid them farewell.

'Remember the Tower,' the Grey Knight said. 'It reminds us that if we use our knowledge and strength for evil purposes, then destruction will be wrought upon us.'

They had said their goodbyes to Lukas Urbican and Daron Nisato and marched aboard the gunship, never to see Salinas again.

Uriel leaned back against the Thunderhawk's fuselage, feeling the power of the engines in the thrumming beat in the metal. He had not dared believe that he would ever make this journey and he kept his eyes shut, as though the reality of it might be snatched away at any moment.

He shared the troop compartment of the gunship with nineteen suits of armour, those belonging to the Sons of Guilliman. Uriel wore a chiton of pale blue and carried his sword across his lap. He had not worn his borrowed armour since the battle in the House of Providence, for he had known that it was not his to wear beyond that immediate need.

Like ghosts, the suits of armour had been strapped into the bench seats in the Thunderhawk as carefully as if they had each contained a living, breathing Space Marine. A message had already been sent to the Sons of Guilliman and the suits of armour would return to their Chapter to protect their battle-brothers once more.

The door to the gunship's cockpit opened and Pasanius emerged. Unlike Uriel, Pasanius was fully clad in armour and his face was alight with pleasure.

'You'll want to come up front,' said Pasanius.

Uriel smiled as he rose from his seat and made his way along the troop compartment. He ducked beneath the door to the cockpit, the interior filled with bright sunlight and shadows that moved as the pilots began the gunship's descent into a steep-sided valley of glittering, quartz-rich rocks.

'Look,' said Pasanius, pointing through the armoured glass of the cockpit.

There it was, shimmering atop the mountain like a castle of gold and silver on a cloud.

Uriel found he could barely control his breathing and tears ran unchecked down his face at the sight of the marble towers, mosaic domes and high walls of luminescent stone.

'The Fortress of Hera,' said Pasanius, also in tears.

'Home,' said Uriel.