Warriors of Flame: A Dragon Guard Novel (Part 1)

“So, they think they’ve won? Let them think that,

let them celebrate and parade around this world,

let them grow soft,  and when they do,

the Dragons maw will shut,  for victory was ours

the moment they set foot on this world.”

Lady Mairis, Battle of Horizon

38th Millenium

Prologue

Horizon,

one month into Chaos invasion

The command deck of the Battle-barge Matriarch’s Fire was eerily silent, the only sounds to be heard were the servitors rattling off binary code in synthesized tones, and the near silent breathing of the barge’s command staff. All eyes were on the shadowed figure in the center, whose silhouette bestowed upon the eyes the figure of a woman. The warriors gathered on the bridge felt a cold tingle run up their spine as her eyes swept over them, and for a brief moment, each felt the hint of true fear. Though this woman did not wear any obvious armor, instead wearing a heavily decorated dress, they knew that she was far more powerful than any of them. The only man on the deck that did not cringe away when her eyes fell on him, commanded an air of respect and power, resplendent in red and black power armor, and it was he who broke the silence first.

His voice boomed and echoed around the room, “Your orders, my lady?”. With the silence ended, the deck became a blur of motion, each person quickly checking the ships weapons or running scans of the world below.

“What is the disposition of Imperial forces on the surface? How many are left?” she said, her voice a silken whisper.

“Pockets of civilian resistance are minimal, PDF forces have been wiped out, and remaining Imperial Guard forces are on the verge of collapse.” droned the servitor at the auger station.

“And chaos forces?” she asked. “Chaos forces are near full strength, according to early reports, however, there are weak spots within and around the main body.” With this she turned towards her closest friend and mentor, and as their eyes met, he had a gut wrenching feeling, as though she were looking into his very soul. “Are our ground teams in position?” she asked him.

“Aye, my lady.” he replied. “They await your command.”

“Then lets not waste any more time. Commence counter-invasion pattern Delta. All ships, close the Dragons Maw, fire at will.”

Adeptus Ministorum, Holy Terra

Two months later

The Inquisitor paced slowly from one end of the vast, dark room, turned, and repeated, all in view of the terrified guardsman. “Tell me what happened on Horizon guardsmen, I assure you, you have nothing to fear from me.” he said, his voice hard and cold.

“Yes...yes my lord. we were on the frontline, holding the Chaos forces from the parliament building. We were almost out of ammo, and for every traitor we killed, ten of us fell. We...” The Inquisitor stopped and looked at the weary man, “Continue.” “We nearly lost hope, my lord. But then they stopped my lord, they just stopped. It was so quiet I thought i had died, but that’s when I heard and saw what they saw. A voice shouted from the sky, not any voice I’ve heard before, and when the traitors heard it, they tried to flee, and the ground was shaking. Out of nowheres, Astartes cut into their ranks and slaughtered every one of them, a tide of red and gold and black, my lord.” the Inquisitor took interest at what the man was saying and leaned over the table, looking directly at him. “What did this voice say? What heraldry did these Astartes display? Speak quickly guardsmen!”  

The guardsmen stuttered in terror but finally spoke. “They had a shield, a golden shield with red wings, dragon wings I think.”

“And the voice, what did it say?” the Inquisitor asked.

“From the flames, we rise!”