The Path of Heaven by Chris Wraight

Author:Chris Wraight
Language: eng, eng
Format: epub, mobi, pdf
Published: 2016-03-15T14:31:13+00:00

Fourteen

Ilya took her place in the chamber of kurultai, and ran her eyes over the throng, trying to ascertain how many warriors had made it and how many were missing. The khans of many brotherhoods sat in ranks, all facing a low stone-flagged platform. Flames burned in ceremonial pillars, and the banners of the old Chogorian realms and empires stood behind the platform, all traced in gold and red, hung from wooden poles and lashed in place with leather thongs.

The Stormseers sat around the edge of the platform, two dozen of them, all that remained of the entire Legion’s complement. Yesugei was with them in the place of honour, as was Arvida. Ilya sat beside them both, given her position by the ever-respectful ordu. The commanders of the Legion sat on the other side of the semicircle: Ganzorig and Qin Fai, the two noyan-khans of the Hordes, Shiban Tachseer, Hai-Shan, Namahi of the keshig, Jubal Ahn-ezen. Other famed warriors, tempered during the long-running battles of the war, sat close by – Ainbaatar of the Brotherhood of the Night’s Star, Khulan of the Brotherhood of the Golden Path.

Facing them all, seated on the old plains-chair, was the Khagan, the Khan of Khans, wearing the long kaftan and leather jerkin of the Altak. His unarmoured hands rested on his knees, his severe face gazing down from the high vantage, half hidden in the flickering firelight. His oil-black air was unbound and hung across his shoulders. For some in the chamber, this was the first time they had laid eyes on their liege-lord for years.

Ilya did not look at Shiban, sitting across the semicircle of the hall from her, nor at Arvida close by. The atmosphere in the chamber was tense, fuelled by rumours and counter-rumours.

The last of the khans took their places. A gong sounded, the lumens faded and the flames reared up in their burnished bowls to compensate.

‘My sons,’ said Jaghatai in Khorchin, sweeping his gaze across the assembled throng. ‘You have fought through fire and pain to reach this place. The road has been long. Many who ought to stand with us now are gone.’

Ilya felt her pulse pick up. After five years with the White Scars, she could follow their language with some ease, and thought it was never more beautiful than when spoken by the primarch. His voice, in that place, still had its old wind-burned resonance – low, measured, stained with quiet power. The khans, the zadyin arga, the lords of the Legion, they all listened intently. Even now, there were no guarantees, and none knew yet how he would rule.

‘If time remained, I would give honour to them all,’ Jaghatai said. ‘But every hour we remain here is perilous. We must move again, but now the only question remains – to where? You all know the pattern of this war. The enemy bends the warp to his will with storms we cannot pierce. Our routes to Terra are watched, or blocked, all by forces that outnumber us many times over.

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.