The palace itself was intact, only a few palls of smoke indicating the battle raging through it as the Emperor's Children fought their way through its guards.

Vardus Praal would be dead soon, though Horus cared nothing for the fate of Isstvan Ill's rogue governor. His rebellion had simply given Horus the chance to rid himself of those he knew would never follow him on his great march to Terra.

Horus looked up as Erebus approached.

'First chaplain,' said Horus sternly. 'Matters are delicate. Do not disturb me needlessly'

'There is news from Prospero,’ said Erebus, unperturbed. The shadow whisperers clung to him, darting around his feet and the crozius he wore at his waist.

'Magnus?' asked Horus, suddenly interested.

'He lives yet,’ said Erebus, 'but not for the lack of effort on the part of the Wolves of Fenris,’

'Magnus lives,’ snarled Horus. Then he may yet be a danger,’

'No,’ assured Erebus. 'The spires of Prospero have fallen and the warp echoes with the powerful sorcery Magnus used to save his warriors and escape,’

'Always sorcery,’ said Horus. 'Where did he escape to?'

'I do not know yet,’ said Erebus, 'but wherever he goes, the Emperor's dogs will hunt him down,’

'And he will either join us or die alone in the wilderness,’ said Horus, thoughtfully. 'To think that so much depends on the personalities of so few. Magnus was nearly my deadliest enemy, perhaps as dangerous as the Emperor himself. Now he has no choice but to follow us until the very end. If Ful-grim brings Ferrus Magnus into the fold then we have as good as won,’

Horus waved dismissively at the viewscreens depicting the battle in the Choral City. 'The Isstvanians believe the gods have come to destroy them and in a way they are right. Life and death are mine to dispense. What is that if not the power of a god?'

'CAPTAIN LOKEN. SERGEANT Vipus. It is good to see you both,’ said Sergeant Lachost, hunkered down in the shattered shell of a shrine to one of Isstvan Ill's ancestors. We've been trying to raise all the squads. They're all over the place. The speartip's shattered,’

Then we'll re-forge it here,’ replied Loken.

Sporadic fire rattled through the valley, so he took cover beside Lachost. The sergeant's command squad was arrayed around the shrine ruin, bolters trained and occasionally snapping off shots at the

shapes that darted through the shadows. Vipus and the survivors of Locasta huddled in the ruins with

them.

The enemy wore the armour of ancient Isstvan, tarnished bands of silver and black, and carried strange relic-weapons, rapid-firing crossbows that hurled bolts of molten silver.

Tales of heroism were emerging from the scores of individual battles among the tomb-spires as Sons of Horus units fought off the soldiers of the

Sirenhold.

'We've got good cover, and a position we can hold,’ said Vipus. We can gather the squads here and launch a thrust into the enemy.'

Loken nodded as Torgaddon ducked into cover beside them, the Sons of Horus he had brought with him joining Lachost's men at the walls.

He grinned at Loken and said, 'What kept you,

Garvi?'

"We had to come down from the top of the wall,' said Loken. 'Where are your warriors?'

'They're everywhere,’ said Torgaddon. 'They're making their way to this spire, but a lot of the squads are cut off. The Sirenhold was garrisoned by some... elites, I suppose. They had a hell of an armoury here, ancient things, looks like advanced

tech,’

Loken nodded as Torgaddon continued.

'Well, this spire is clear at least. I've got Vaddon and Lachost setting up a command post on the lower level and we can just hold this position for

now. There are three more Legions in the Choral City and the rest of the Sons of Horus in orbit. There's no need-'

The enemy has the field,’ replied Loken sharply. 'They can surround us. There are catacombs beneath our feet they could use to get around us. No, if we stay put they will find a way to get to us. This is their territory. We strike as soon as we can. This is a speartip and it is up to us to drive it home,’

'Where?' asked Torgaddon.

'The tomb-spires,’ said Loken. *We hit them one by one. Storm them, kill whatever we find and move on. We keep going and force them onto the back foot,’

'Most of our speartip is on its way, captain,’ said Lachost.

'Good,’ replied Loken, looking up at the spires around the shrine.

The shrine was in a valley formed by the spire they had come down and the next spire along, a brutal cylinder of stone with glowering faces carved into its surface. Dozens of arches around its base offered entrance and cover, their darkness occasionally lit by a brief flash of gunfire.

A tangle of shrines littered the ground between the towers, statues of the Choral City's notable dead jutting from piles of ornate architecture or the ruins of temples.

Loken pointed to the tomb-spire across the valley. As soon as we have enough warriors for a full thrust, that's what we hit. Lachost, start securing the shrines

around us to give us a good jumping-off point, and get some men up on the first levels of this spire to provide covering fire. Heavy weapons if you've got them.'

Gunfire echoed from the east and Loken saw the forms of Astartes moving towards them: Sons of Horns in the livery of Eskhalen Squad. More warriors were converging on their position, each fighting their own running battles among the shrines as they sought to regroup.

This is more than a burial ground,' said Loken. 'Whatever happened to Isstvan III, it started here. This force is religious and this is their church.'

'No wonder they're crazy,’ replied Torgaddon scornfully 'Madmen love their gods.'

THE CONTROLS OF the Thunderhawk were loose, the ship trying to flip away from Tarvitz and go tumbling through space. He had only the most rudimentary training on these newer additions to the Astartes armoury, and most of that had been in atmosphere, skimming low over battlefields to drop troops or add fire support.

Tarvitz could see Isstvan III through the armoured glass of the viewing bay, a crescent of sunlight creeping across its surface. Somewhere near the edge of the shining crescent was the city where his battle-brothers, and those of three other Legions, were fighting unaware that they had already been betrayed.

Thunderhawk, identify yourself,’ said a voice through the gunship's vox. He must have entered the engagement envelope of the Andronius and the

defence turrets had acquired him as a target. If he was lucky, he would have a few moments before the turrets locked on, moments when he could put as much distance between his stolen Thunderhawk and the Andronius.

Thunderhawk, identify yourself,’ repeated the voice and he knew that he had to stall in order to give himself time to get clear of the defence turrets.

'Captain Saul Tarvitz, travelling to the Endurance on liaison duty,’

Wait for authorisation,’

He knew he wouldn't get authorisation, but each second took him further from the Andronius and closer to the planet's surface.

He pushed the Thunderhawk as hard as he dared, listening to the hiss of static coming from the vox, hoping against hope that somehow they would believe him and allow him to go on his way.

'Stand down, Thunderhawk,’ said the voice. 'Return to the Andronius immediately,’

'Negative, Andronius,' replied Tarvitz. Transmission is breaking up,’

It was a cheap ploy, but one that might give him a few seconds more.

'I repeat, stand-'

'Go to hell,’ replied Tarvitz.

Tarvitz checked the navigational pict for signs of pursuit, pleased to see that there were none yet, and wenched the Thunderhawk down towards Isstvan III.

'THE PRIDE OF the Emperor is in transit,’ announced Saeverin, senior deck officer of the Andronius. 'Though the vessel's Navigator claims to be encountering difficulties. Lord Fulgrim will not be with us any time soon.'