Night Lords: The Omnibus by Aaron Dembski-Bowden

Author:Aaron Dembski-Bowden [Dembski-Bowden, Aaron]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, pdf
Tags: Omnibus, Science Fiction
ISBN: 9781849706124
Publisher: BL Publishing
Published: 2014-04-02T07:00:00+00:00

XV

DISQUIET

Lucoryphus of the Bleeding Eyes ran an oiled cloth between the teeth of his chainsword. Boredom didn’t strike him often, for which he was grateful. On the rare occasions it took hold, he struggled to endure the sluggish state of mind that accompanied these prolonged periods of inactivity.

The Covenant functioned as any other Legion vessel in a neutral dock, which is to say it sucked up crew and supplies, stealing what it couldn’t trade for, while vomiting out profit. And all to the dead melody clank-song of repairers’ hammers ringing on the hull.

Vorasha, one of his best, stalked into the cargo hold the Bleeding Eyes had claimed for themselves. The Raptor moved on all fours, that same rapid crawl adopted by most of his kind, metal talons leaving indentations – or outright punctures – in the deck floor.

‘Many weeks in dock, yes-yes.’

Lucoryphus exhaled through his vocabulator in reply. Vorasha’s speech always grated against his nerves: the other Raptor barely formed words in full any more, conveying his meanings through a degenerate tongue of clicks and hisses. Statements were often punctuated by an almost infantile assurance. Yes-yes, he’d breathe, time and again. Yes-yes. If Vorasha wasn’t so skilled, Lucoryphus would’ve cut him down long ago.

‘Need to soar,’ Vorasha stressed. ‘Yes-yes.’ The engine housings on his back coughed with denied flight, venting a slither of smoke. A charcoal reek of strangled thrust filled the air.

Lucoryphus prefaced his words with a bladed caw, signifying the ire behind his emotionless mask. ‘Nothing to hunt. Be at ease, pack-brother.’

‘Much to hunt,’ Vorasha snickered. ‘Could hunt Corsairs. Crack armour open. Drink the thin blood that runs from split veins.’

‘Later.’ Lucoryphus shook his head, a rare human gesture. ‘The prophet agreed to serve the Blood Reaver. An alliance... for now. The betrayal comes later.’ He went back to cleaning the teeth tracks of his gutting blade, though even this soured his mood. His bloodless sword needed no cleaning, and therein lay the problem.

The Raptor leader looked around the cargo hold, his neck cabling flexing with machinery purrs. Discarded weapons featured as much as furniture, while a cluster of robed Legion serfs spoke quietly amongst themselves in the far corner.

‘Where are the Bleeding Eyes?’

‘Some on station. Some on ship. Yes-yes. All waiting for Vilamus.’

Lucoryphus rattled out something like a laugh. Ah, yes. Vilamus.

Talos and Malek stood on opposite sides of the table, unintentionally mirroring their positions on the debate.

‘We have to sail with the Corsairs,’ the prophet restated. ‘I am not arguing against honouring our debt to Huron. But the Covenant is the equal to any two cruisers in their fleet. Once Huron’s fleet is scattered at Vilamus, the Covenant will be able to hold off an assault for as long as we need. That is when we move against them. We withdraw quickly from Vilamus, while Huron’s forces are still deployed. Then we take back the Echo of Damnation.’

‘This is idiocy.’ Malek turned his craggy features to the Exalted on its throne. ‘My lord, you cannot be considering the prophet’s plan.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.