Thomas climbed eleven steps and mounted the altar.
After inspecting the ritual implements, he dripped a single drop of consecrated oil onto each candle, then lit them with spiritual flame.
With a ritual knife, Thomas carved out a closed spiritual domain, knelt upon a slab of black onyx, and began chanting the Dunnic incantations:
"Black Emperor of the Shadows of Order,"
"Mysterious Sovereign of the Kingdom of Disorder,"
"Monarch of Light and Shadow, who governs and holds the rules."
The Pryer used his "Eyes of Mystery Prying," perceiving the environment. Within the spiritual barrier, invisible waves of power stirred.
As the head archivist, he immediately recognized this energy did not come from the Warp.
It was of another source, the same alien resonance as the whispers he had heard within the Crystal Mirage.
Shock flashed through the Pryer's gaze, nearly breaking his concentration. He forced his mind to steady and continued:
"I beseech Thy gaze."
"I beseech Thy favor."
"I beseech Thee, to tell me the origins of the Heart-Slayer, worshiped by the natives of the Crystal Mirage."
"O Balance, foundation of the Kingdom of Disorder, grant strength to my invocation."
"O Iron Laws of Monarchs, basis of the Kingdom of Disorder, grant strength to my invocation."
The Pryer had encountered dozens of faiths across the expedition, but only in the Crystal Mirage did he meet a god that was undeniably real.
And from that brief contact, he felt with instinctive dread that the Heart-Slayer had already noticed him.
To anticipate his enemy, Thomas needed knowledge.
In his office, Nareth suddenly heard faint whispers in his ear. They lasted a dozen seconds, then faded.
'Thomas is performing a ritual.'
Nareth closed his documents, shifted his focus, and entered the Kingdom of Disorder.
There, on the side of Shadow, a pulsing orb of violet light flickered before him.
It expanded and contracted like a heartbeat, ceaselessly.
Unfolding his psychic perception, Nareth extended toward it,
Instantly, distorted images and overlapping, phantom voices surged into his mind:
"Black Emperor of the Shadow of Order,"
"Tell me of the Heart-Slayer, god of the Crystal Mirage natives."
Nareth's eyes narrowed.
'I know this answer… this is the perfect chance to prepare the divination for Catachan.'
He resolved to grant Thomas not only the truth of the Heart-Slayer, but also the knowledge of Slaanesh and its greater daemon, the Keeper of Secrets.
For the Imperium, save a handful like the Emperor, knowledge of the Warp was almost nonexistent.
Imperial Truth denied the Warp's gods, and even Horus mocked Leman Russ for believing in a "heaven."
But Thomas, the librarian, and Mystery Pryer was bound to face Chaos often. He needed the truth.
Nareth pressed selective knowledge into the violet sphere.
On the lower decks, Thomas's mind suddenly filled with roiling black mist.
From within that gloom, a blurred figure loomed.
The instant his "Eyes of Mystery Prying" perceived it, instinct slammed it shut.
Terror wracked his body; he dared not look upon the Black Emperor again.
Instead, he received the torrent of information. Even his Astartes-forged mind reeled under the deluge.
It shattered everything he had been taught since youth, overturning Imperial Truth itself.
Within his soul, stars burst one after another.
"The Four Chaos Gods… the Immaterium truly has gods…"
"Slaanesh, the Aeldar call their nemesis She Who Thirsts."
"The Keeper of Secrets… a greater daemon who knows the most intimate desires of mortals, twisting them into irresistible whispers and promises…"
Then, among the flood, Thomas found the answer he sought:
"The Heart-Slayer is a Keeper of Secrets."
"She Who Thirsts has set her gaze upon the Craftworld Il-Kaithe."
"The Heart-Slayer was summoned as one of many daemons to break its defenses.
Only the psychic key of its Warlocks can open its webway gates, which are guarded by mighty wards."
As the revelation completed, the last of his soul-stars collapsed into ash. Thomas was reborn; he had truly become the Pryer.
With reverence, he spoke in Dunnic:
"I thank my Lord for His gift."
But at once, his inner sea roared. More violently than ever before, a storm of Warp-pressure surged, then vanished.
Instead, he was submerged in intoxicating, hallucinatory perfume, whispers coiling around his thoughts.
His eyes, once black, clouded with violet mist. Countless illusions filled his mind.
Treasures, pleasures, delights beyond mortal comprehension, he refused them all.
But whispers of forbidden knowledge… these pierced him directly.
"I can tell you of the true Emperor, how He forged the Primarchs and you, the Astartes."
"I can tell you the secret of the Voynich Manuscript…"
"…"
The Pryer's thoughts reeled, hungry for knowledge. But memory of the Black Emperor's warnings struck him like thunder.
This was Slaanesh. This was corruption.
He clenched his mind into an iron bastion, resisting the infection.
Within the Kingdom of Disorder, Nareth sensed the violet corruption seeping into Thomas's black mist.
His heart jolted. 'Slaanesh's taint, already?'
Without hesitation, he snapped back to the material world, extending his consciousness to Thomas's mind-door.
Thomas was drowning, struggling desperately, unable to resist.
"Link with me," Nareth commanded.
Like a man grasping at salvation, Thomas opened his soul.
The link formed, and Nareth immediately flooded him with the First Layer of Thelema, his mental bulwark.
Together, they repelled most of the daemonic hallucinations. But still Thomas's defenses buckled.
Nareth sprinted through the decks, his thoughts racing.
'Even as a psychic, a Pryer, gifted with heightened perception, Thomas is more vulnerable to Warp incursion. And becoming a true Mystery Pryer magnified that risk… right when I told him of Slaanesh.'
He understood now. The Apotheosis into Mystery Pryer had flung Thomas wide open to Chaos's whispers.
Nareth forced his pace faster. 'If not for the link, I'd have had to drag him into the Kingdom of Disorder itself.'
He broke through elevator doors, startled enforcers scattering before him.
But then, through the link, he felt Thomas awaken the "True Will." A wall of resolve rose within the Librarian.
"Stand down," Nareth told the enforcers coolly. "There is no danger."
Thomas gasped as the illusions faded. The whispers died away.
And then, new knowledge surged into him: the Second Layer of Thelema.
The Primarch severed the link, leaving Thomas to step back from the First Layer.
Wiping the sweat from his brow, the Pryer steadied himself. He bowed with a ritual knife in hand.
"Father, you have labored for me."
"It is nothing," Nareth replied, and projected a thought into his mind:
"Master the Second Layer quickly, and pass the First to the other Librarians."
For the Pryers' path, Scholar, then Warlock, carried far greater risk of madness than most.
Again, Nareth impressed upon him:
"If you cannot resist… then pray to the Black Emperor."
Thomas had a stable link now. He would be heard.
Nareth, however, frowned inwardly. 'But could I summon him into the Kingdom without revealing its nature? That must remain secret… perhaps future strata will grant such power.'
With that thought, he returned to his office and once more into the Kingdom of Disorder, where the Prophecy Dice awaited to chart the path to Catachan.
.....
If you enjoy the story, my p@treon is 30 chapters ahead.
[email protected]/DaoistJinzu