Raphael Visits the Warp

Raphael opened his eyes, at least that's how it felt like, the truth is that such a concept was alien to this realm since he had no eyes to open. Raphael knew he had come here in body, and for a fleeting moment wondered if his body was truly here or if it had been destroyed and would be reassembled upon him leaving here. Of course that was if he would ever leave this place. Raphael firmly set such thought aside, he had done things like this long enough to know that such ponderings were meaningless at best, dangerous at worst.

Perhaps in the time of the eldar gods, before the coming of chaos perhaps then such thoughts and concepts had a meaning here he considered. Before the doom of Eldanesh.

He forced the thoughts from his mind, non of that mattered here. The beings who ruled this place had no use for such thoughts and thoughts was everything here. Thoughts formed his surroundings and shone like a beacon upon the skies. They would find him if he considered such things.

Raphael put one foot before the other, if he could even be considered to have feet, and started walking. He knew exactly where he was, what he didn't know was how he had ended up here. He focused part of his mind on being totally blank not revealing his presence to the inhabitants of the realm, the other he focused on considering what had happened. There had been a battle, a warp rift had formed, the Unforgiven had been closing in on him. He had closed the rift sealing himself inside. He considered for a moment if he had done it to avoid capture or because of some lingering loyalty to those who had once been his brothers. That proved to be a mistake, even considering such emotions here so different from those who ruled the realm, was like a scream of dissonance. And he immideatly saw heard the effects, he couldn't see anything but barren ground and mist around him, and even that was just his mind trying to enforce familiar concepts upon what it registered, but he could hear growls snarls and howls coming from deep in the mist.

They inhabitants of this realm was now aware that someone who didn't belong was walking their home. They would find him regardless of what he did.

Raphael stopped, coming here was a mistake he knew. He wondered for a second why he had made such a decision, but then realized it didn't matter and such emotions would weaken him. He drew his daemonsword from his scabbard. The dark runes on it glowed. Alone amongst all objects in this realm it seemed solid and real. The runes that sealed the demon inside it protected it from the chaos that ruled this land. Raphael began muttering incantations under his breath and drew lines in the sand around him, he felt the warp solidifying in the circle he drew and his own representation as well. Doing so would make him easier to find but it would also weaken those who were coming for him.

Then in an instant a blood coloured demon hound came charging towards him. The flesh hounds of khorne he realised. They had been created out of the blood gods hatred for psykers and of course they would find a psyker here faster than any other being.

The demonhound threw itself at him jaws wide, passing the runes on the ground and solidifying just before Raphael's daemonsword scattered it essence. But before the hissing vapour of it had even dissipated another came at him and right behind that yet another. Howls were now heard from every direction. As Raphael killed the daemons, he could see the fog being pushed away from him. Revealing more barren ground. And revealing more hounds. Unfortunatly also revealing him to the hounds proper.

They were everywhere now charging him like a tidal wave. But Raphael was the truthseeker, once of the most powerful space marine librarians of the great crusade, he had fought under Lion el Johnsson he had fought under Horus. He had fought in the siege of the emperors palace. He had fought both sides on Caliban. He had bested champions and demons of every god in the cosmos.

Yet he was no longer in the cosmos. And for every demonhound he slew he could feel the massive presence he knew was their master stirring a little realising what was going on. Long before he fully did so daemons of immense power would already be aware of it and would destroy Raphael in an instant.

There was also another problem. His own demon sword was gorging itself upon the daemons he slew growing more powerful every second. For now it helped him stay in controll of the battle. But he could already feel it beginning to attempt to take him over, laughing at him. The daemonprince in the blade would possess him and consume these hounds long before any greater servants of khorne manifested themselves here. Then the hounds would become the hunted ones. Not that it would matter to Raphael.

Or perhaps it would. A fully fledged demon prince was for to much for these demonic beasts, now beign posssessed wasnt an option but... Raphael lowered his barriers towards the sword, the demon inside wasn't stupid it knew something was odd when he did that on his own accord, so it hesitated, that was a mistake, if it had surged into him when he lowered its defences it might have possessed him now Raphael switched from defence to offence, he grasped the demonpricne with his psychic power drawing it into himself. Drawing power from the runes on it to remain in controll. The cicles and signs he had written in the snad flickered and died. But it didnt matter any more. Raphael felt the full power of a demonprince fill him. He towered above the demonbeasts, no longer a mortal psyker to be hunted in their eyes, but one of their own kind a daemon so far above them in the heirarchy of these things that a mere thought from it could wipe them from existance. Ofcourse this was just what it appeared to be. Rapahels full power was being spend holdig that form and not giving in to the demon. For every ounce of its power he used he felt that the lines between them blurred. The demon was not amused, but not angry either. It knew this might end with it getting the chance to consume Raphael anyway.

The flesh hounds whined and backed away from the being losing solidity as they went, then turned and ran. Long before they had reached the mists in the distance they faded away.

Daemon-Raphael began to walk again, in this more powerful form he could see much futher into the mist than before seeing cities and mountains in the far distance and while he was walking at a slow dignified pace he moved much faster though the landscape.

He didnt know how long he had been walking, time or space had no real meaning in this place, and attempting to force these concepts on the realm would either reveal him or weaken him so much that the demon he had merged with would end up on top.

He could constantly feel memories slipping away, into the realm itself or being stolen by the daemon he was struggling with. If he could not leave this place soon he would be entirely lost to it. The problem was he had no idea how to get out. Daemons got out by being summoned, or by finding places where the barrier was weak between real space and the warp. Finding such places in real space was easy, but here space had no real meaning, and Raphael had no idea whatsoever of how daemons found these rifts from their side.

And as the daemon in him stole away his memories it created vivid pictures in the warp of things from Raphaels past hoping to distract him.

At one time Raphael felt the entire warp shift, although he was sure no one else had felt it, and found himself standing inside a ruined building. A few feet from him stood a younger version of himself fighting against a black armoured opponent, back to back with him fought another armoured giant. And in the distance two figures, one even larger, was fighting with each other. All of sudden one of them fell on his back. The other loomed over him with sword held high, the one on the ground blasted the standing one with a bolt of multi coloured light and the largest one fell. The smaller one got up on his feet and looked at the larger one then fell on his knees beside him. The figure that had fought back to back with Raphael deispatched his opponent and cast an eye towards the duel.

“No!” he he creamed when he saw what had happened “Emperor on Terra, No!” Raphael saw himself cut the throat of his foe and then turnign towards what his firend had reacted upon. He saw the look of surprise in his face than realization and resignation. In that same moment the entire building was rocked by a discharge of energy and the vey goung began trembling.

“We have to get out of here old friend, the planet is going to break apart” the younger Raphael said.

“We have to save the lion, he is more important than either of us!” his friend shouted.

“He's to far away, we have to go now!” Raphael responded.

“Then go! I will not falter from my duty” Raphael's friend screamed in rage and took one step toward the fallen and the kneeling man.

Raphael watched himself take a step to block the other marines path.

“I am afraid I cannot let you do that Tyrell” He said.

“What are you talking about?” The other one said surprised.

“We need to go”

“Never!”

“very well, this must come to pass”

“What are you talking about?” Tyrell to force his way past Raphael, who blocked him. Tyrell snarled with anger

“get our of my way!”

“I once told you that I had seen that the lion had to live, that why I placed you in his vicinity”

“So then lets save him!”

“it was so this could come to pass, if you've ever believed in my vision old friend...”

“What are you talking about...” Tyrell began, then a look of horror was upon his face. “You're a traitor” he said aghast.

“I...”

“Why Raphael? why did we cast down the statues of the dark gods on our homeworld? Why did thousands die fighting our dark overlords? Just so you could sell the emperor's fist born son to those very gods here and now?!” the larger marine growled and swung his glittering powersword against Raphael who parried it with a force sword.

“It must come to pass” snarled Raphael while parrying a few more blows.

“I'll kill you before I let it come to pass”

“Perhaps, you always were the better swordsman, but in the end my life matters little in the grand design of things, and you are not skilled enough to kill me before the warp storm tears this place appart.

Daemon-Raphael watched them circle each other in total silence, the closest of brothers on separate sides of a conflict at last.

After a few minutes the younger Raphael took a step back away from the larger marine, they had circled so that he was facing away from the lion's duel.

“Its to late to save the lion old friend, and I am leaving, please come with me” Tyrell looked above his shoulder. And saw that a massive chasm had opened between him and the primarch.

“I will never join you traitor” he spat, and turned back to his foe, but Raphael was already fading away into the darkness of Caliban.

“Then I bid you goodbye he said”

“I'll hunt you to the ends of the universe Raphael! Let a thousand times a thousand years pass and I'll never stop hunting you! I'll come back from death itself if I have to!”

daemon-Raphael saw the last vestiges of his younger self fade away and then the room on Caliban started to fade. He heard the man who had once been his best friend scream his name after him.

He found himself standing back in the warp upon the same plain as earlier, he had probably been there all the time. He felt a moments remorse for what he had just seen. But then he shed it, remorse was weakness and with the daemon in his mind he could not afford such things. He pressed on.

Another time Raphael felt something stirring in the warp close to him, and all of sudden something came out of the mist, though walking slowly the being moved at great speed. The being shone with inner power and while nothing in the realm had a real physical form this being least of all Raphael immediately knew what it was. He knew the presence and his mind made it look like it knew it would look in the physical world. In real space it was dangerous but here it was definitely the top predator. Its beak gleaming and its form being less stable than anything else. Both a anthropomorphic bird and cloud of pure energy at the same time.

A lord of change, a greater demon of the god of change himself.

Raphael drew more of the demon in the sword into himself. If the lord of change attacked him he wouldn't stand a chance against it, but his illusion wouldn't last for more than seconds against such a master of magic. The demon looked at him for a second when passing by, but then obviously decided that either he wasn't worth the effort to consume or that he was so weak that he wasn't worth the time it would take to consume him. The greater demon hurried by and Raphael felt more of his memories being stolen by the demon in the sword. The lines between their two identities blurring.

He pressed on.

Onwards and backwards.

He saw many memories as they slipped by, some was his own others were those of the daemon. Other still were of those that the daemon had consumed. Raphael could really not see the diffrence any more. He saw himself betraying the dark angels, he saw himself leading the local population at the dark angels side against the followers of the dark gods. He saw himself on dark throne commanding the death of millions, he saw himself fighting followers of khorne in a ruined city. He saw himself turning over entire planets to chaos worshipping despots. He saw himself fighting Tyrell a thousand times over thousands of years on thousands of different worlds. He wondered if if was the memories of the demon who had been in the sword for many of these encounters or his own.

He pressed on.

The cities and mountains had all disappeared in the distance, not slowly but all of sudden, he was ina blank void. Even the ground was loosing detail, daemon Raphael was wondering if he was pushing closer to the edge of the realm of chaos or to its centre. Then all of sudden before him was a tree. A tree so massive it covered the entire horizon. Raphael had completely forgotten who he was by now, the only thought he could hold on to was not to let the daemon merge fully with him and find his way out of this place. He began walking towards the tree. It had 8 mighty branches and four great roots. Each digging deep into the depths of the realm below. Each branch spreading across the sky larger and wider than anything Raphael could relate it to. Then all of sudden he stood before the tree. He touched the bark and knew, all of sudden, this tree was a remnant of what the warp had been before chaos. The gravestone of the gods that had resided in the realm before the birth of the four.

Raphael began walking around the tree. Then in one place the four roots somehow bended and overlapped and created a window. In the window was steel bars. And inside was a being even larger and more powerful than the lord of change that Rahael had seen before. Its scaled body and claws constatly tearign at the roots of the tree and its fans and poison gnawing it them. At the same time the dragon was a man however. An old old man, in tattered cloths trying to break the mighty roots with his teeth and nails. Both the dragon and the man suddenly stopped and fixed its eyes on Raphael. Raphael drew more of the daemon inside him to try to hide.

“You dont belong in this realm” the dragon hissed.

“I dont?” daemon-Raphael responded.

“No you are mortal...” the dragon hissed “I was once mortal” he continued, now in the voice of the old man. “Before... this place”

Raphael considered heading on for a second, the daemon was urging him to, but somewhere deep inside he still didnt trust the daemon. He took a step towards the prison. And knelt before the entrance.

“who put you here old man” he asked.

“Why, the gods of course” the dragon answered hissing and Rpahael realised it was laughing. “in my pride I sought to use the gift they had given me agaisnt them. And they chained me here by the tree, they always chain those they have defeated here. The tree itself is a prisoner of this realm.”

“The tree is sentient?”

“This realm you see is just your mind trying to cope with the madness of this place, its not a tree and i'm not a dragon, neither am I an old man.”

“What are you then?”

“A daemon of course, one of the first, a man once captured the gods themselves and freed them in exchange for a portion of their power, I slew that man and took his power for my own, and when I died after a cursed life, I became the very thing I had slain, I then challenged the gods and failed and they chained me here”

Upon hearing that the dragonhad challanged the gods themselves Raphael drew more of the daemon inside him.

“You really dont want to do that mortal” the dragon said, in the voice of the old man.

“Why not?” daemon-Raphael asked.

“I am no danger to you I cannot reach out from behind my bars and even if could i'm not interested in eating mortals. And the more of the the daemons power you take the more you become him. And you dont want that”

“No” Raphael realised, “I dont” The dragon looked at him.

“Do you even remember why you came here?”

“Do you?”

“Once I would have known, but I cannot see beyond the shadow of this tree now. But seeing that you're in this place I think you are capable of making tough decisions.”

A part of Raphael's self stirred. “Stop sweet talking me daemon and get to the point”

“Very well, release me from this prison and i'll free you from that daemon and grant you safe passage back into reality”

“And how do I know that you wont just consume me as soon as you're free from the chains that bind you.” Daemon-Raphael asked.

“That is your daemon talking mortal, he knows i'll consume him but i've told you I have no interest in eating mortals”

“So you say but how do I know that? I dont even know who you are”

“ I was Sigror who slew the daemon dragon Fraenir, who ate his heart stole his power and lived a cursed life and on my death in flames I became a daemon dragon myself”

“None of these names mean anything to me daemon, you might be making them up as we speak again why should I trust you” Raphael asked. The dragon growled.

“What choice do you have mortal? Risk being consumed by me or certainly be consumed by the demon in your sword. But you want to be assured I am not interested in you? I serve the outcast, the banished one.” Raphael could feel the hatred that the daemon within him had felt towards this being change to something akin to fear. As the daemon drew a way little a memory slipped back into Raphael's mind.

“Malice” he said. The daemon within him screamed with rage. And he could see the dragon in the prison growing more solid while the old man grew less so.

“So many years” the dragon said “I am not allowed to speak that name myself, but with it I feel power surging though me again, and the very name spoken here weakens those who serve the other four.” Raphael could feel that the words were true, as he had spoken the name many of his memories had returned.

“Malice!” he said again tasting the name, seeking the question that he wanted to ask. “Is Malice the one who have been guiding me?”

“That I do not know mortal, I have been chained here since time before time, release me and I shall find your answers for you”

“Deal!” Raphael spat, some part of his old self said that perhaps there was a reason he had come here after all. He swung his daemonsword towards the bars blocking the dragons escape, as the blade met the metal the daemon inside it screamed and there was a flash of light. When Raphael opened his eyes that were not eyes again, he was fully himself again. The sword stood trust into the ground a few feet away from him. The bars were as solid as ever. He rose to his feet, for the first time in what could be described as an eternity he realised that he had no feet nor eyes that he was just a being of energy, and that he didn't belong here. He didn't pick up the sword, he didn't trust the daemon right now. It had gleaned far to much of his secrets he was for to vulnerable now. The sword would have to be sealed away, if it was destroyed the daemon would be free to spread his secrets in the warp, and he could not afford that, no more could he afford another person wielding it in his lifetime.

“I'll deal with it for you once i'm out of here” the dragon growled “But you'll have to come up with soemthing a little more creative when it comes to breaking these chains”

“Why should I care? I could just throw the sword into your prison and it wotn ever matter to me again, I'm free of the daemon, I can find my own way out”

“You cannot touch the sword, and you'll never find a way out without your disguise” Raphael nodded, it made sense. But now that he could think more clearly there was certain precautions he could take.

“I will release you daemon, if you tell me your true name”

The dragon roared in his prison. “Do you even know what you ask mortal?”

“I know full well, without me you'll rot in there to the end of days.”

“and without me the hounds of khone will eventually find you sorcerer”

“they'll destroy me and that will be it, while you will suffer in there for eternity”

“Very well mortal, I am Nithhogg, now free me!” Raphael could feel the power in the name as he spoke it, no daemon could lie about its true name at least not to a trained psyker.

Raphael ocne again walked up to the prison this time he touched the bars with his hand, reached into them seeking answers to how they were made instead of just trying to break them. He found the asnwer then withdrew his hand.

“Ingenious”he said softly.

“I'm glad you appreciate the craftmanship mortal” the dragon said drily. “now release me”

“I cannot” Raphael stated.

“Are you trying to cheat me mortal? You will never get out of here without me help.”

“These bars aren't steel or iron, they are made of pain, remorse and guilt. They've chained you with your own mortal feeling that you shed when you became a daemon, thats why you have two forms in there, the old man is you with these emotions the dragon is you without them”

“And how will you free me?”

“As I said I cannot, only you can, you have to push though these feelings and escape”

“I cannot” the dragon hissed

“No, you cannot but the old man can, you must shed the dragon”

“this is what I get for trusting a sorcerer, you ask me to leave my power behind?”

“No I ask you to shed this false image of yourself you've created.”

“I wont” the dragon spat.

“I wasn't about to give you any choice” Raphael responded “To much is at stake” He lifted his hand and slowly began whispering incantations, summoning mixed with banishment. Full well knowing that the gods of chaos would surely feel that someone was messing with their prison.

This time it wasn't the servants of Khorne who found him but the servants of Tzeentch, perhaps the lord of change that he had passed earlier was not as far away as he thought for he had barely begun the incantation before the sky rays of the god of change arrived. Swooping over him slashing at him. Without his sword and with his psychic abilities directed at another task Raphael had no choice but to continue. Once again he felt the greater presences in this realm stir. Much faster now. Whatever Nithhogg had done they clearly didn't want him freed. Blood if such a thing could even be said to exist in this realm was running down him in torrents yet he carried on the summoning. If he failed he'd be subjected to a fate worse than death anyway. He could feel the dragon trying to resit the summon on the other side of the bars. In the end he couldn't but he could hold out long enough for the daemons of the great architect to destroy Raphael. He would just have to hope that freedom was more worth to Nithhogg than escaping the pain. Raphael saw the man inside fallt o his knees and embracing the summon. He felt the ritual falling into place. Then he felt another pressence.

“You must not free him mortal” A shrill voice said. Raphael turned around just in time to see a bolt of multi colored light hit him right in the chest. He was thrown of his feet, quite how far he didn't know, but distance didn't matter here. He jumped back up and saw that it was the lord of change who had finnally arrived.

“Raphael Truthseeker” it said and Raphael could see it dismantled what was left of his ritual with no more than thought. “I am dissapointed in you, had you just come to me I would've granted to passage away from this place for the simple price of your eternal servitude. Instead I find you trying to free an enemy of all reason.”

Raphael didnt even bother answering instead he threw a bolt of multi coloured light back at the daemon, the effect was spectacular. You had to admire the daemons skill, he simply caught the spell mid air and threw it back. This time Rapahel reacted and threw himself to the ground avoiding the spell. He heard the flapping of wing and knew it was all over. Then he heard the screech of a bird and the roar of a much greater being. He got to his feet and saw the old man, standing over the smoking carcass that had once been a lord of change. Raphael was created not to feel fear but in that moment he realised that he had been cheated. Knowing this beings true name would be difference between lasting couple of seconds and a couple of minutes and neither seemed very gratifying at this point.

“Its been so long” the old man said. Then laughed, the laugh semmed to fill tehe void between land and sky.

“So you are free, I believe you owe me safe passage home and some answers” Rapahel pointed out.

The old man turned against him.

“I owe you nothing little mortal, you didnt free me, I freed myself”

“So you're going to destroy me now?”

“I told you before, destroying mortals doesnt intrest me I am the Malice Striker, I have a war to wage against my lord bothers.” He looked at Raphael. “And while you do not serve my lord, you seems to be a far to valuable tool to simply break. I will send you back Truthseeker, but if you ever cross me, then I will consume you.” he lifted his hand, and for a moment it was the dragons claw Raphael saw, and then a flash of light and Raphael was gone.

Nithhogg transformed himself into a dragon and lifted of, so much had changed since he had last been free, but some things hadn't, this realm was still filled with his enemies and they still needed to die.

Raphael opened his eyes, his real eyes this time. A hooded man was kneeling beside him and he felt an echo of seeing Luther kneeling over the lion many many ages ago. This man wasn't Luther however.

“Welcome back, Truthseeker” Cypher said with a wry smile.