You nod, holding out your hand. Khalid grabs you by the hand, and stares into your eyes.


"This'll be simple enough. Just don't resist. Understood?"


"Got it," you say.


"With the Dark Gods, the Corpse-Emperor himself and anyone else out their with the power to oversee this bargain, I pledge these two souls together by the binding contract, that we will remain allies into all ways possible. Should we break this contract, let our souls be forfeit."


You hear the chattering of thousands of daemonic voices as they watch your deal. You feel your mind be flooded into by Khalid's, as consciousness, in the way normal humans feel it, fade.


You find yourself floating in a void, surrounded by an ever-shifting mass of golden energy, that seem to make up Khalid. You look around, as you see his thoughts floating around you. You reach out your hand, touching the thought screams as you hear Khalid's voice boom.


"Is the big freak literate? Is it even sentient? I would think not. If I had to look at that face in the mirror every morning I'd kill myself."


You frown, touching another.


"Is the dumbass seriously using Kyros' former lieutenants, those who enslaved his people, as his lieutenants? He saw them betray Kyros! And now the dumbass is reading your thoughts, no doubt learning that while I'll remain loyal to him, he's a fucking wanker."


You touch another one.


"You, Karth Uwais, are ugly. See? I'm not even slightly lying."


Well, you've got what you need from his thoughts. Still, in the golden fog of energy, you can see what you assume are memories drifting around. You see his staff floating through the void before disappearing, before you see a wolf bound through the fog. You can hear distant screams emanate through the fog from some horrifying memory. You see Kyros march across the fog and step back nervously despite knowing he's only a memory.

You follow Kyros

You follow Kyros, as the darkness forms into the very room aboard the Quill that you're in. Kyros faces Khalid, who stands alongside his two Rubric Marines. Hayes, Elizabeth, Durge and Elios stand next to Kyros, as well as his deceased lieutenants, Chapter Master Taj Suenage, Rebecca Staine and Magos Cern.


"I'm sorry, what part of kill yourself confuses you, Kyros? I don't make deals with slaves!"


"I'm no slave," Kyros spits, gritting his teeth together.


"You're a slave to the Dark Gods!" Khalid says. "I seek to master the Warp and all who dwell within it. You seek to suck off the strongest being in it."


"This decision is highly illogical. Do your men agree?" Magos Cern says.


"Oh, let's see!" Khalid says, turning to look at one of the Rubric Marines. "Narmer! Do you agree? What's that, you don't care? Because you're barely sentient because your soul has been trapped in your armor and you're nothing more than dust? And the fact that the fucking robot cunt can survive without a soul doesn't mean you can? Yeah, good to fucking know! What's that, Narmer? Yeah, the Khornate does look like she swallows!"


"You have no other allies. You need me," Kyros says. "I'm offering you a chance at vengenace. Don't you want your revenge against the Space Wolves who burnt Prospero? I promise you, theirs will be one of the first worlds destroyed.


"Fine, slave. If you make a march towards Terra, I'll join in the slaughter. But know this. When... who am I kidding? If you end up sitting on the golden throne, you'll still be a slave."


The room dissolves once more.