Deathwing by William King, David Pringle, Neil Jones Page A

trying
     to ignore the
     musty
     stench
     that
     filled the
     long house.
    "Something
     evil happened
     here, but
     it happened decades
     ago,"
     Two
     Heads
     Talking
     replied
     seeking
     to
     relieve
     Bloody Moon's
     superstitious
     fear. He wanted
     time
     to
     consider,
     to
     probe
     the
     events
     of
     the
     past.
     The
     aura
     of
     old
     terror
     almost smothered
     him. Shadows
     lay over this
     lodge. Something was ominously
     familiar about
     the
     psychic
     aura of the
     area.
    "Lord Shaman... " said
     Bloody Moon.
     The Librarian almost smiled, the
     habits
     of
     the;
     ancient
     former
     lives
     had
     returned in strength
     now that
     they
     once
     more
     walked
     the
     soil
     of
     their
     homeworld.
     "Brother
     Librarian
     is
     my
     title,
     Bloody
     Moon. You are no longer my honour
     guard.
     We
     are
     both
     Marines."
     "Lord
     -
     Brother
     Shaman,"
     Bloody
     Moon
     continued.
     "No warriors of the
     Plains would have
     wrought such
     havoc.
     Do you
     think…?"
    "We
     shall
     have
     to
     investigate, old
     friend.
     We
     must
     visit
     the
     other lodgetowns
     and
     speak
     with
     their
     chieftains.
     If
    someone
     has
     returned
     to the
     customs
     of the
     Reaving Time. we will put
     an end
     to it."
    It was rumoured that
     some of the
     Hill Clans still kept to the
     old daemon-worshipping
     practices
     from
     the
     time
     before
     the
    Emperor's people
     came. If that
     were true, it was up to the
     Marines
     to take action.
    Somehow Two
     Heads
     Talking
     did
     not
     think
     it
     would
     come
     to
     that.
     This
     did
     not
     have
     the
     feel
     of
     demon
     worshippers, although
     there
     was a taint in the
     air that
     was akin to it. An almost recognisable
     horror
     clawed
     at
     his
     mind.
     He
     fought
     it down
     and hoped
     that
     his suspicions
     were not
     true.
     
* * *
     
     

    The
     city
     reared
     above
     the
     plain
     like
     a
     soot-grimed
     leviathan.
     Cloud
     Runner
     spotted
     it
     before
     the others
     and
     ordered Lame
     Bear
     to
     land
     the
     dropship
     in
     a
     valley.
     out
     of
     sight
     of
     its
     walls.
     From
     the
     brow
     of
     the
     hill.
     he studied
     it through magnoculars.
     It was an ugly place that
     reminded him of the
     hiveworlds
     he
     had
     visited.
     It
     covered
     many
     miles
     and
     was enclosed
     by
     monolithic
     walls.
     Great
     smokestacks loomed
     in
     the
     distance,
     belching
     acrid
     chemical
     clouds
     into
     the greyish
     sky.
    Outside
     the
     walls, the
     river ran black with poisons.
     As
     Cloud Runner watched.
     he
     saw
     herd
     elk
     being
     driven
     squealing from
     barges
     toward
     great
     abattoirs
     within
     the
     walls.
     From
     huge
     stone
     barracks,
     people
     swarmed through
     the
     streets towards
     enormous,
     brick
     factories.
     Smog
     drifted
     everywhere,
     occasionally obscuring
     the grimy
     city
     and
     its
     teeming inhabitants.
     "That
     is where Lame Bear's metal axe came from." Said Two Heads
     Talking, lowering himself to
     the
     ground beside
     Cloud Runner. "I wonder who built it?"
    "It's
     a nightmare," murmured Cloud Runner. "We
     return home to find our lodges
     ravaged
     and
     this
     ...
     abomination
     in
     its place."
     "That
     city
     must
     hold
     all
     the
     clans
     of
     all
     the
     peoples
     of
     the
     Plains
     and
     ten
     times
     more besides.
     Could
     our
     folk have
     been enslaved
     and
     taken there, Brother Captain?"
     Cloud Runner remained silent, considering.
     "If they
     have
     been, then
     we will go down with
     flamer
     and
     storm
     bolter
     and
     free
     them."
     "We
     must
     know
     more
     before
     we
     act.
     We
     could
     be outnumbered
     and