After going through so much, Iskandar Kayan always thought he was fearless because he had nothing.
However, when everything he cherished truly disappeared in the wind of time, he realized that he was not fearless. He was more afraid of losing than anyone else.
Every reason that had inspired him to fight was now proven to be a lie, nothing more than an exile whispering to a ghost.
He no longer feels angry or sad, and has even decided not to declare war on fate.
Of course, he could also see the disappointment in the warmaster's eyes, because he had become an empty shell and had no much effect on him. Khayon knew this very well. For Abaddon, the so-called Brotherhood is nothing but falsehood, everything depends on value.
If he once believed in the friendship between them, he no longer believed it after losing her.
What drives him to continue fighting for the Black Legion seems to be only instinct, like a high-speed vehicle that will still roll forward even if the accelerator is released.
But from the inside, he was tired.
What made him even more tired was not only the reality, but also the dreams that once lingered around him in the past. The howling of wolves that he once thought was far away came back again.
They are encountered when Kayon relaxes and forces himself to sleep.
On that night when lonely souls were cast to their end, when the wolves of Fenris roared into the ruins and burning streets.
For a long time, he had thought that the wolves in his dreams had disappeared, and after meeting Abaddon, he thought he had defeated his inner demons.
But in fact, the wolf in him never left.
Whenever he dreamed back in the middle of the night, the sudden release of adrenaline would wake him up from his light sleep. His hands would tremble due to the lag effect, and his body would be covered with frost condensed from sweat.
In the hallucination, the wolves seemed to still be following me, and he could hear their howls slowly disappearing into the surrounding cabins.
Sometimes, he can even feel these sounds flowing through my veins, leaving traces on my genetic chain.
These space wolves, even if they only exist in memory, still chase him with the desire to hunt.
In addition to this nightmare, another dream that troubled Kayon was what he once thought he had lost forever and despised -
emotion.
Whenever he was chased by a pack of wolves in his dream and was cornered, a black wing would wrap around him and take him to a safe high altitude.
Then he would look at her and reminisce again about their time together.
"Nefertari——"
She was so close to herself. In the past, anyone else who dared to touch her like she did at that moment would be ruthlessly destroyed.
But she belonged to him. No matter how others laughed at her, she was Khayon's Nefertari, his blood guard, so he allowed her to brush her cheek gently with the fingertips still equipped with sharp blades in her gloves.
She is an Eldar, a Dark Eldar to be precise, a race that is almost despised by the entire galaxy.
When Kayon was at his most lonely and desperate, she was the only one keeping him company.
In those days, two lonely and tortured souls drifted in the cold void, getting the most insignificant warmth from each other——
There was only a simple and selfless closeness between him and her.
"You're safe."
She put her pale, enchanting, yet extremely beautiful face close to Kayon's cheek and whispered softly.
"The wolf will never hurt you again."
At this moment, Kayon's blood would change from cold to warm.
"I... Nefertari..."
"Shh, there's one more thing."
Her eyes caught Kayon's.
"I hate you. You could have made me accept death calmly instead of dying in such a painful way."
Nefertari's smile disappeared, she retracted her crystal claw and gently placed her lips on Khayon's lips.
Then, she whispered an ancient Eldar language, and then starting from her face, it gradually became fragmented and dissipated like the wind——
"Nefertari!!!!"
Kayon screamed in horror and stretched out his hand suddenly, trying to wrap his arms around the other person's body.
This move made him sit up from the bed. After looking around, he found that he was still in the lounge of the ship. An alert figure that looked like a cat but not a cat was lying on the floor of the cabin.
When Kayon woke up, she quickly stood up together, her movements showing unnatural smoothness.
In fact, she is not a living creature, but more like a ghost in the appearance of a lynx.
And the closer you get to the beast, the more you feel that it is unlike any known creature.
She never blinks, let alone drools. Her claws and teeth gleam with the black luster of glass, and her fur exudes the smell of ashes burned by fire, reminiscent of a destroyed world.
"Owner."
The pet greets Khayon in its mind, a bundle of thoughts that includes recognition and obedience, not just a word.
"Nagua."
Khayon responded to the greeting telepathically.
"You're having that noisy dream again. You miss the female alien and the proud smell of blood on her body."
As a devil, Nagua always tries to pass on his happiness to Kayon, as if he should also enjoy it.
But Khayon would not feel any joy.
After waking up from the dream, his heart was still empty.
"Kayon."
Suddenly, a monotonous mechanical sound came into the inner room, with no emotion and no way to tell the age.
"you're awake."
"That's right."
He answered to the empty room, stroking Nagua's soft fur - almost indistinguishable from real fur.
The demon lynx lay there as if unaware, showing no signs of joy or boredom.
"Your scheduled time has come, Kayon."
“Has there been a change in the orbit of Nessun 4?”
"It's business as usual."
The mechanical sound confirmed it, but it was also expected.
Khayon put in so much patience for this mission that he even wondered if he was too bored and wasted three years on such a mission.
Since agreeing to Huron to kill the Chapter Master of the Astral Knights Chapter, Khayon sent his most powerful spy to sneak into the Astral Knights' home planet to collect evidence of the opponent's "treachery".
Compared with the straight-forward killings in the past, this time he unexpectedly wanted to kill someone with a borrowed knife.
His spy lived up to his trust and found many clues, outlining the deeds of the Astral Knights annexing the loyal Soul Drinkers, but the key evidence was never found.
During this period, he was not without doubts about his spies, because the telepathy between him and the spies had been interrupted several times. Although the other side explained that it was because there were psykers inspecting the hive, and some key departments had arranged Anti-psionic device.
But Kayon is still very cautious. Although he is very confident in his soul mark, so many years in the Eye of Fear have already made him extremely vigilant.
Even though Sorge had told him early on that the key evidence was still found but could not be obtained and required his own action, he delayed the action again and again.
It just dragged on for three years.
During this period, Abaddon also called him, asking him to give up this insignificant task and leave it to others, but Khayon was very persistent in completing it.
He had an inexplicable interest in the man who severely wounded Huron, which was a rare embellishment in his boring life.
Of course, he has not been completely idle in the past three years. Abaddon has assigned him a series of tasks, the most common of which is the reconnaissance of the Obscure Star Territory and the Cadian Star Sector.
Obviously, the Warmaster will make big moves soon.
Now, Khayon decided to end the task at hand. He wanted to go to the surface of the planet, get the key evidence, and then watch the empire's judges judge their former "hero."
That scene must be incredibly interesting.
