"Thanks for bringing me with!" Zephyr said. The Lion had temporarily assigned him to Squad Aphkar, which was one of the two squads he was taking down to Philoa. The other was Farith Redloss's squad.
"Of course I was bringing you!" The Lion said. Corswain was staying fleetside to monitor repairs. "It helps that you and Zabriel seem to get along."
"We're both marksmen, my lord," Zabriel said from behind the two friends. He wasn't much past being a neophyte himself, and enjoyed the company of the younger Space Marine. He also hoped that him being Terran and Zephyr being Calibanite would show the two groups that they could be friendly.
"A good point," Zephyr said. A large majority of Dark Angels preferred close combat, and while he was good with a sword, he preferred shooting and was better at it. He was looking forward to testing himself against full-fledged Space Marines, but a bit nervous about Redloss being there. Redloss was the leader of the Dreadwing, one of the six wings of the hexagrammaton.
"Everything is ready, my lord," Redloss said as the Lion and squad Aphkar entered the hangar bay.
"The doors work?" Aphkar asked, eyeing the closed doors.
"So the tech priests tell me," Redloss grunted. "We'll have to see, and make do if not."
"I would certainly prefer if we didn't have to shoot holes into our own ship," the Lion said.
"Agreed," Redloss chuckled. "We better close up, clear the hangar deck, and see what happens."
****************************
The atmosphere of the Pride of the Emperor was like an agitated bee hive. Fulgrim had fallen indo melancholy, and the Legion had nearly panicked. Eidolon and Vespasian selected who would go down to the surface with Fulgrim. Vespasian had selected Saul Tarvitz, asking him to keep a close eye on the Primarch. Eidolon picked Lucius, and had the same conversation.
"Good thing we decided to compare notes before loading," Tarvitz joked. "Who's riding with him? He might object to us both being there."
"I'll go with him," Lucius said. "We can trade off while planetside, one day each?"
"Good idea," Tarvitz agreed. "You can have him for all of today, and I'll take tomorrow."
"Agreed," Lucius said.
****************************
Forrix watched Perturabo and Dantioch leave the strategium of the Iron Blood. Erasmus Golg was meeting them in the launch bay. It wasn't to his taste to stay behind, but Perturabo had made the point that he needed someone who could direct the other Iron Warriors. Everyone knew the Iron Hands had large factions that didn't always agree with each other, but the Iron Warriors had a similar issue. They just kept it quieter.
"Alright everyone, we need to get these ships fixed," he said, turning to the task at hand.
****************************
"Torghun will stay behind," Jaghatai declared. "Shiban will go with me along with Qin Xa and Yesugei."
"By your will, Kagan," the four declared. Shiban would lead his squad, and Yesugei would join Qin Xa's for the time being. Stormseers could of course command their own squads, but the only one who didn't defer to Qin Xa was Jaghatai.
****************************Lord Gunn waved as Leman, Bjorn, and Ogvai Ogvai of Tra departed the Hrafknel. Rogal had announced that he would be taking Archamus and Alexis Pollux, a very nervous Fafnir Rann was left in charge of the Phalanx. Konrad and Sanguinius were having a pair of similar, yet very different, conversations.
"I should be going with you, Lord Curze," Sevatarion said aboard the Nightfall.
"I need someone up here I can trust," Konrad said. "Besides, Shang will be with me."
"But so will Skraivok," Sevatarion growled.
"True, but do you really want him up here?" Konrad asked.
"No!" Sevatar winced.
"Then it's decided," Konrad said. "I know you're the one to do this, Sev."
"Very well," Sevatarion acceded.
"Why can't you come with me?" Sanguinius asked Raldoron in his private audience chamber.
"Because I'm needed more up here," Raldoron said gently. "You know I'm good at organizing people. Amit's going isn't he?"
"He is," Sanguinius said. "And that just means he and Azkellon are going to argue every chance they get. They're oil and water. He's not a good buffer from Mother Hen."
"That's why these two are coming along," Raldoron said as the door opened and an Apothecary and a Librarian entered. "Meros and Mkani Kano."
"Your adjudant?" Sanguinius asked, perking up a bit. "That's perfectly acceptable."
"Temporary adjudant," Kano clarified quickly. He thought of himself as a member of the Librarius first. "But I do want to understand who this "Mother Hen" is."
"Azkellon," Raldoron and Sanguinius said in unison. Meros chuckled at it.
Ferrus was still in what Sontar called "shut down", leaving him to select the ground party. He felt it was important that he go himself, and chose Iron Father Wayland to go with. Shadrak Meduson would handle repairs with the fleet.
Angron assigned Delvarus to stay with the fleet and work with Shipmistress Sarin while Kharn and Delerax went with him. Roboute brought Thiel and Gage, leaving Captain Corvo to coordinate. Mortarion was bringing Morarg and Garro, leaving Typhon to manage repairs. Magnus brought Ahzek, Ohrmuzd, Amon, and Phosis T'Kar, Baleq Uthizzar stayed behind to mind the fleet. Horus brought the entire Mournival, leaving Maloghurst in space. Lorgar left Erebus in charge of the fleet, and Kor Phaeron, Argel Tal and Barthusa Narek went to the surface with him. Joysepha was traveling with Lorgar, but it was agreed that both Custodians counted as individuals instead of taking up one of either Lorgar's or Corvus's slots. Vulkan had Numeon and Abidemi come to the surface, and Forgefather T'kell stay with the fleet. Corvus brought both Nev brothers, along with Nykona Sharrowkin, Solaro An took responsibility of the fleet. Alpharius brought only fifteen full Marines, to make up for bringing the five initiates that he was bringing. Pech was staying with the fleet, and Herzog was coming to the surface along with Armillus Dynat.
Planet fall was made under truce, and was uneventful for the most part. Each Legion was given landing areas that were spread out. This allowed for Konrad to have a chance in the hunt, and everyone agreed that some separation between Fulgrim and Ferrus was a good idea. The Alpha Legion were the only ones with bad landing luck.
"The other ship is reporting navigational issues," Herzog said.
"We're too far to turn back," Alpharius said with a frown. "Keep in contact with them, even just visual if we have to. The landing area we've been given is decent in size. They want to make sure their angle is good for re-entry, and aim for water if they can't change the angle for landing."
"Yes, lord," Herzog said, relaying it to the pilot.
Alpharius's shuttle went just a bit faster than Omegon's, which made him nervous. It seemed that Dynat was trying to split the difference between a safe entry angle, and a safe landing one. The trees were large in their landing area, and there were a few low mountains, making things more difficult.
"That's a bad angle for this terrain," Herzog said suddenly, indicating he was watching through the ship's systems just like Alpharius was.
"We have to trust Dynat," Alpharius said. "We'll be landing first, and can come in to help get the doors open."
It was a well known flaw in Thunderhawks, Storm Eagles, and especially drop pods, that any kind of rough landing jammed the doors. The Space Wolves had a tradition of finding how hard they could land one without the doors breaking, and were really good at it. The Mechanicum were known to sometimes hand over prototypes to them for stress-testing.
They landed, and exited in time to see with their own eyes as the other Thunderhawk clipped a tree on the ridgeline. It spun out of control before dropping below the trees on the level Alpharius was on. He rushed forward immediately, shouting Omegon's name forgetting that they hadn't revealed themselves yet.
"Why is he so fast?" Herzog grumbled.
"Less mass?" one of the others suggested uncertainly. "The real question is: Who's Omegon?"
"Oh Throne, oh Throne, oh Throne," Martreus said, repeating himself over and over again.
"That was terrifying," Qayle whimpered.
Dwancis was just screaming. Chathyn looked like he was about to cry, and the adult Legionnaires were assessing sub-vocally, then trying to open one of the hatches. Overall, it was noisy, and Omegon got a little fed up.
"I am Alpharius," he declared, trying to get the initiates at least under control. "Situational report."
"No injuries in Squad Dynat," Dynat replied. "All hatches tried are jammed. However, there is one with a small opening."
"Initiates?" Omegon asked.
"I'm not injured," Chathyn said quietly, he looked like he was getting the upper hand of his emotions.
"Shaken up, but not hurt," Dwancis said. He had stopped screaming the moment Omegon declared himself Primarch.
"I'm alright," Qayle said. "I may even be willing to fly in one of these again."
"I'll be alright," Martreus squeaked. All four of the initiates seemed embarrassed by their reactions.
"There's no reason to be embarrassed," Dynat said. "Fear is natural for baseline humans. Remember this feeling as you ascend to become Space Marines. It lets us use it as a tool, and lets you control yourself."
"What about the hatch with the opening?" Omegon asked.
"It's too small for a Space Marine," Dynat reported. "But perhaps one of you can fit through?"
"I'll go first," Omegon said. "I can scout it out, and if it's safe perhaps we all go out and see if we can get one of the hatches from the outside." He indicated the other initiates as he said it.
"That's a good plan, Frederick," Dynat approved.
The hole was a bit of a squeeze for Omegon, but he got through just fine. He paused once outside to listen. It was quiet, except for what sounded like a stampede from the direction of the other Thunderhawk. He realized that it was the other squad and Alpharius coming fast. A moment later he heard Alpharius.
"OMEGOOOON!!!!!!" Alpharius's voice rang in the trees, a bird screeched and took flight.
"OVER HERE!!!!" Omegon called, hoping that the others inside his Thunderhawk hadn't heard the name he was answering to. A moment later he realized that the ones with Alpharius were certainly hearing him. Not how I wanted to do this, Alpha, Omegon thought.
"Who are you calling to, Frederick?" Dynat asked.
"The other squad, Harrowmaster," Omegon said. "It sounds like they're close."
"Good," Dynat said. "They should be able to get this hatch open the rest of the way."
"Agreed," Omegon said distractedly. Alpharius had just arrived ahead of the squad. "Lord Alpharius!"
"DON'T SCARE ME LIKE THAT!" Alpharius shouted. "Now I know how Corvus felt during the Dragon's Horde incident."
"It wasn't even that bad of a crash," Omegon muttered. "Are we really doing this this way?"
"Doing what?" Alpharius asked, then froze. "Uh... I guess we don't have a choice any more."
"Frederick?" "Lord Alpharius?" Dynat and Herzog asked at the same time.
"We should get everyone out of the other Thunderhawk first," Omegon said firmly. "Then there's an announcement that needs to be made."
"Yes, lord," Herzog said. The initiates had been provided armor that looked almost exactly like the Serpent's Scales. Omegon referred to them as the Serpent's Sheddings, and this allowed them to swap out.
It only took a few moments for Herzog's squad to get the hatch open that Omegon had climbed out of. Once out, the twins found themselves the center of attention. Alpharius shuffled awkwardly, and Omegon looked at his feet.
"Frederick?" Dynat prompted.
"That's not my name," Omegon said. "I'm-- Omegon."
"The name Lord Alpharius was calling," Herzog said. "But I don't understand why."
"We're twins," Alpharius said.
"It was a surprise," Omegon added. "Even to our father."
"It was at his suggestion that we kept this a secret," Alpharius continued. He found it easier trading off with Omegon.
"But which of you is the Primarch?" Dynat asked.
"We are the Primarch," Alpharius insisted. "Both of us together."
"Like one soul spread over two bodies," Omegon said. "We've always traded off."
"Where did Frederick come from?" Herzog asked.
"The Lion's imaginary friend," the twins said in unison.
"Wait, Lord El'Jonson of all of you has an imaginary friend?" Dwancis asked, the other initiates were gaping.
"if you meet him never, ever, tell him you know about Frederick," Omegon said quickly.
"What happens if we do?" Martreus asked.
"He'll probably try to kill you," Alpharius said. "And has a good chance of succeeding."
"Why keep yourselves a secret?" Dynat asked. "What was the other doing?"
"We have ways of keeping ourselves busy," Alpharius said. "This isn't the first time one of us has hidden among the Legion."
"Usually me more than you," Omegon said. "Which is part of why we wanted to come forward."
"Do the other Lord Primarchs know?" Qayle asked.
"No," Omegon said. "It's only been revealed to the Sigillite and the First Custodian."
"Oh," Qayle said, looking a bit downcast. He perked up a moment later. "So we're the first ones to otherwise find out?"
"Yes," Alpharius said. "Unless Corvus is here."
"I doubt he could stay in the shadow walk for this," Omegon said.
"But we do need to move," Chathyn said suddenly. "We're still in a war game."
"Good point," Alpharius said. "Let's get going. Lion isn't the only one who's good at hunting."
"I think we got turned around, my lord," Argel Tal said apologetically to Lorgar.
"It's alright," Lorgar said. "The landing zones were scattered. Besides, it might be nice to actually meet up with allies first."
"A good point," Barthusa Narek grunted. He was a huntsman and sniper, which colored his way of thinking about a battlefield. The area they were in was wooded, leaving a lot of potential hiding places.
"Someone approaches," Joysepha said, turning her head sharply.
"Lady Joysepha?" Angron's voice carried through the trees with a questioning lift.
"Correct," Joysepha said.
"That means my favorite arena brother is there," came Kharn's voice.
"I'm here," Argel Tal said with a chuckle. The World Eaters had arena pits on their ships, and an arena brother was someone you were partnered with for pair fighting. Argel Tal and Kharn were famously terrible at it, but seemed to enjoy the experience.
"Any signs of the Night Lords?" Delerax asked, he was the leader of the other squad of World Eaters.
"Not yet," Lorgar said. "Though it should be hard to find them. Konrad's hiding from the Lion, so he doesn't want to be found."
"What about the Blood Angels and the Ultramarines?" Narek asked. Keeping the same spheres meant they knew who was supposed to be close. The battle was supposed to contract towards a central point, but that hadn't been fixed yet.
"There's contrails going that way," Kharn said suddenly, pointing up. "We should go in that direction."
"Agreed," Argel Tal said. "My lords?"
"Kharn's right," Angron said, he had a tendency to agree with Kharn. The story was that Angron had fought all of the leadership of the Legion when he was introduced to them. Kharn was the first that didn't need to be removed by the Apothecaries. They refused to provide details of what was said between them, but Kharn was the closest World Eater to their Primarch.
Delerax and Narek took their squads on point, Joysepha stayed in the middle with the Primarchs, leaving Kharn and Argel Tal in the back as rearguard. The trees were still dense, but quickly started thinning out as they followed the contrail.
"I thought everyone had wooded landing areas," Angron muttered.
"We did try to go for clearings in the woods though," Lorgar pointed out. "Something about cover, and you know Rogal needs building materials or he throws a fit."
"Ha!" Angron laughed loudly, earning him a scowl from Joysepha.
"We don't know where the others are," she said. "That could give our position away."
"You're right," Angron said, quickly sobering. With the trees thinning, it gave more opportunities for the undergrowth, and there were a lot of bushes lining the trail that Narek and Delerax were forging. There was a sudden rustling from one side, followed by the appearance of a Night Lord. Two voices, one high and one low, called out from deeper in the undergrowth.
"SKRAIVOK!!!!!!!!!!"
The Night Lord, Skraivok clearly, was barreling towards Angron and Lorgar, but never made it. He went from figuratively flying from the bushes to literally flying over them as Joysepha threw him like he was nothing. Another Night Lord, this one in Terminator armor, came through just a bit too fast to stop. He soon joined his battle brother in the bushes on the other side of the trail, in fact landing on top of him with a loud crashing sound that masked the grunt from the unfortunate Night Lord.
Konrad came out a moment later, hands held open in front of him clearly trying to be non-threatening. Lorgar marched towards him, looking very angry and was surprised when Angron grabbed his arm and stopped him.
"What?" Lorgar snapped. "You can't tell me you aren't angry."
"I am," Angron said, not sounding angry at all. "But not with Konrad. We both know that 'Skraivok' is not the Night Lords' battle call, so it was likely the first one to come through the bushes. That's who our anger should be directed at."
"I... that makes sense," Lorgar said.
"Speaking of," Konrad said. "Skraivok, stop laying around in the bushes and get over here. You owe my brothers and the Lady Joysepha an apology for your rash actions."
Both Night Lords came out of the bushes, the Terminator seemed to be encouraging the other along. They stopped in front of the the three Primarchs, and bowed low.
"Thanks, Shang," Konrad said, nodding to the Terminator. "Skraivok, kneel and make your apologies."
"To a woman?" Skraivok said, sounding aghast.
"To a Custodian," Konrad said firmly. "And any other comments like that will get you sent back to the fleet with special instructions for Sevatarion to deal with you, and someone else will be sent in your place."
"Very well, my lord," Skraivok grumbled, then knelt. "I offer my apologies for attacking you."
"Why did you attack me?" Joysepha asked, one eyebrow raising in a look that conveyed both interest and dislike.
"I thought that you were a member of the Sanguinary Guard," Skraivok said quietly.
"You just saw the color of my armor and determined that?" Joysepha continued. "Instead of using the autosenses of your armor to confirm if there were friendly units or enemies in the area?"
"Yes," Skraivok admitted, dipping his head lower.
"Hmm, Lord Curze, it seems that this one has his heart in the right place, but needs to work on his head keeping up with it," Joysepha said.
"Agreed, Lady Joysepha," Konrad said. "Angron, who do you have up front?"
"Delerax," Angron answered.
"Narek for me," Lorgar said unprompted.
"Ah, Shang will join them up front," Konrad said. "Skraivok can go in the back."
"Kharn's back there," Angron said. "That might be fun."
"Oooh, that will be interesting," Konrad said. "Fall in!"
"I'm picking up friendly units ahead," Agapito Nev said.
"Who?" Corvus asked, hoping it was the Salamanders and Vulkan.
"Iron Hands," Sharrowkin reported from overhead before Agapito could.
"Ferrus?" Corvus called, like the other Primarchs who had tried to reach the Fist of Iron after the discharge, he had only spoken with Sontar. He was hoping to hear from Ferrus himself though and get all the details of what happened. This hope wasn't realized.
"Greetings, Raven Guard!" Sontar's voice came through the trees just before the gray warriors appeared.
"Please tell me you didn't leave Ferrus in space, Sontar," Corvus said.
"He's here," Sontar said, stepping aside and revealing Ferrus.
"Oh," Corvus said, recognizing the glassy look in Ferrus' gray eyes. "What exactly happened?"
Sontar looked at Ferrus, clearly asking permission. A nod of the head was all he got.
"You know that Lord Fulgrim and Lord Manus have a private channel?" Sontar asked.
"Yeah, a lot of pairs have their own channel," Corvus said. "Vulkan and I have one, so do Sanguinius and Horus. I wouldn't be surprised if Perturabo and Rogal have one for trading insults. Wait, Fulgrim was using theirs?"
"Yes," Sontar said. "He kept their private channel clear from the jamming signal. They were talking during the battle, and it became a fight... it really was an accident though."
"Oh, Fulgrim's going to get it," Corvus growled. "That shell nearly hit one of my ships. I don't blame you, Ferrus. I know you wouldn't have done that if Fulgrim hadn't made you lose your head."
"I'm still the one who hit the button!" Ferrus roared. It was the first thing he'd said since the conversation with Fulgrim.
"It wasn't your intention though," Corvus said, holding his hands up to try and calm Ferrus down. He really hoped Vulkan would show up and help, this was getting really tense.
"Lord Corax is right," Sontar said gently.
"We still have some responsibility over our own actions," Ferrus growled.
"But there are still accidents," Corvus said. "Even Father has said he's made accidents."
"But he takes responsibility for the results of his actions," Ferrus said.
"You want me to be mad at you?" Corvus asked, tilting his head in confusion. "I understand you wanting to take responsibility, but I'm not angry with you."
"I... don't know?" Ferrus said, confused himself.
"There's no reason to beat yourself up over this," Corvus said.
"Someone else is coming," Pryskella said suddenly. Ferrus nearly jumped, clearly startled. She came down from a tree she had climbed, Sharrowkin had been surprised that it had supported her weight. It had encouraged him to try one as well.
"It's the Salamanders," he said, following her down.
"Agreed," Wayland said, his auspex out. He was also carrying Ferrus' auspex at Sontar's request.
"Everything alright over here?" Vulkan asked, coming through the trees.
"It's better, I think," Corvus said.
"Much better," Ferrus said. Sontar was happy that his helmet was on and Ferrus couldn't see the look of relief on his face.
"I'm going to go scout out what Horus is doing," Leman announced.
"I thought I was the fidgety one," Jaghatai chuckled. "We've only just now gotten together."
"And what we need now is information," Leman said.
"He's got a point, Jaghatai," Rogal said. "We know everyone made it down without trouble, aside from that one Alpha Legion ship."
"I know," Jaghatai admitted. "I just thought we'd want to consider plans for ourselves first."
"Not without data," Rogal said. "Just stay in touch, Leman."
"Sir, yes, sir!" Leman said in a mock serious voice, complete with standing at a stiff attention and saluting. The effect was only broken by the fact that he was smiling, and burst into giggles right after. He waved to his brothers, then howled to his legionaries and the Space Wolves were gone.
"Do you think he's going to try and fight Horus himself?" Jaghatai asked.
"I thought it was the Raven Guard that made bets?" Rogal joked in return.
"That doesn't mean they have a monopoly on it," Jaghatai giggled. "Since we're the defenders in this war game, isn't it your choice of the central location?"
"It is," Rogal agreed. "We can look for something while Leman's on recon."
"Do you think he has a spot picked yet?" Golg asked the air.
"Possibly," Dantioch said. "Though I thought it was supposed to be announced."
"It is," Perturabo called over. "That means he hasn't picked it yet. He'll tell us before he starts fortifying it."
"But that gives us little room to plan," Golg objected.
"It does," Perturabo agreed. "But that's part of the exercise, learning how to think fast. 'Thinking outside of the box' is what Malcador called it."
"That's a strange saying," Dantioch said. "But I believe I understand it."
"Perturabo?" Magnus's voice caused the Iron Warriors to fall silent.
"I'm here," Perturabo called over. "Have you found Horus?"
"He hasn't, but I've found both of you," Horus answered. His voice came from the one side of the small valley that the Iron Warriors were setting up in, Magnus's from the other.
"What's the plan, Horus?" Magnus asked as everyone gathered in the middle of the valley. "Here looks as good a place as any to lay our plans."
"It does," Horus said. "But I'm not sure what the plan is. Other than to probably camp here for the night, and wait for Rogal's signal that he's ready."
"Giving him a whole night is likely to result in us having to siege some castle, my lord," Golg said.
"There's a problem with that?" Abaddon asked. "I thought that's what Iron Warriors liked best."
"Golg, Rogal is the defensive side," Perturabo said. "They do need something to defend. Besides, he's not that fast."
"While I agree with you, lord, I do wish to point out that Lord Dorn will have help," Dantioch said.
"He will, but that just makes it better," Magnus said. "Horus is right though, it's starting to get late so we should set up camp."
"I'm hungry," Ohrmuzd said. Ahzek nodded his agreement.
"Well, that decides it," Sejanus chuckled.
"Go on, Zephyr, try it!" the Lion said, handing over the Lion Sword.
"But, it's your weapon," Zephyr said, looking at it uncertainly.
"You're not going to damage it," the Lion said. "You just hold it up like you're saluting an opponent and say the line."
"Alright," Zephyr said, taking the sword and holding it as instructed. He paused a moment to wonder why this made him nervous. It's not like anything's going to actually happen. "Sword of omens, give me sight beyond sight."
As expected, nothing happened. Or almost nothing. He had been looking off into the bushes, and saw a brief flash of red eyes, staring at him. Startled, he took the sword away from his face, and turned towards the Lion. "What is that?"
"What is what?" the Lion asked.
"I thought I saw something in the bushes," Zephyr replied, grabbing his helmet so he could use his suit's auto-senses. "It looked like a pair of eyes, but it was only there a moment."
"Maybe it did give you sight beyond sight," the Lion giggled. "I'll take a look."
"I can look, my lord," Zabriel said. He had been watching from the side, letting the two friends have their fun.
"No need," the Lion said. "It's just over there." He was certain that Zephyr had caught a glimpse of Frederick, and wanted to go check it out. A thought came to him, "Zephyr can come with me."
"I can?" Zephyr asked. "I was just going to scan it from over here."
"But that only gives you part of the picture," the Lion said. "We should be fine together."
"I'm alright with that," Zabriel said. The two friends went off together into the bushes.
After a moment, the Lion stopped and looked around. "Frederick?"
"Who's Frederick?" Zephyr asked.
"A Watcher in the Dark," the Lion answered. "I think that's who you saw when you looked through the quillons."
"I've never heard of them being seen off Caliban before," Zephyr said, looking around with amazement. "Do you really think I saw one?"
"I do," the Lion said, peeking around Zephyr. "And if you turn around slowly, you'll get a better look."
"Oh!" Zephyr said, startled, but trying not to scare the Watcher. He then bowed deeply. "It is a great honor to see one of the forest protectors."
Frederick inclined its head, first to Zephyr and then to the Lion before disappearing again.
"Where'd it go?" Zephyr asked.
"I don't know," the Lion said. "They do that."
"How do you know which one is Frederick?"
"I'm not sure if it's the same one every time, but I always call them that," the Lion chuckled. "They don't seem to mind."
"That actually makes sense," Zephyr said. While there were certainly stories about the Watchers, actual details were thin on the ground. In fact, Zephyr was aware of Calibanites who didn't believe in them at all, thinking they were nothing more than folktale creatures. "We should head back before Brother Zabriel starts searching for us."
"Good point," the Lion said. "It's getting pretty dark."
"What was it?" Zabriel asked as the two friends returned.
"Not sure, it got away," the Lion said. "Probably just some local wildlife."
"And you don't want to fight it?" Redloss asked as he came over.
"I'm not going to fight the local equivalent of a squirrel," the Lion chuckled. "There's no fun in that."
"It was pretty small, whatever it was," Zephyr said. He wasn't quite sure why the Lion was lying, but went with it. "We're staying here tonight?"
"Yes," Redloss said. "Unless you object, my lord?"
"No," the Lion said. "Here is perfectly fine. I was kind of hoping that we could meet up with Sanguinius and Roboute, or find Konrad's trail first. We can't always get what we want though."
"It's likely we're closer to our allies than to the Night Lords," Redloss noted. "And we know that Lord Curze wants to hide as long as possible from us."
"The Dreadbringer has a point," Sergeant Aphkar said.
"Indeed he does," the Lion said. "I'll take second watch with Zephyr. Wake me if there's any sign of our allies."
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