The Warden stopped in front of him again. “There are no coincidences this large. The Breach-things feed on what does not fit. They are drawn to what is wrong, what does not belong–”

  Aethernus Vhal looked at the rest of the council as the Warden spoke. Around the table, heart rates rose, on average 17.3%. Respiration changed. Subtle muscle tension aligned with readiness rather than flight. They were preparing to fight him if necessary considering they couldn’t exactly tell what the Warden’s intentions were with this line of questioning.

  Even Mira had created a distance between them.

  “–to things like you.” The Warden’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly as he stepped closer. Now at a distance that favoured neither man, but required less motion to close. His right hand hovered near a weapon at his hip. The hilt bore the same precise carving as the building’s sigils though a different variety of the same rune language, crystal inlays pulsing with restrained power.

  His voice dropped, pitched for Aethernus Vhal alone. “You may be what you say you are. Or you may be something the Breach sent ahead. A scout and harbinger of death. A test of our defenses…” His fingers brushed the hilt. “If you are the second, understand this. I have killed things that twisted reality. You would be a footnote.”

  This was a pure statement of capacity and intent.

  Aethernus Vhal recognised the format.

  It would have been effective against nearly any other being except for him. He had delivered lines like it on worlds that no longer existed.

  Aethernus Vhal stepped forward and towered over the Warden as he looked down at him. The beaten up helm prevented the Warden from seeing his eyes and learning certain truths that could not be hidden. Eyes that had stared down False Deities as they begged for mercy. Mercy he showed none of them. Though his presence radiated no affront or anger at what was being said. Authority did not require volume. Experience did not require display.

  It did not matter what the small and insignificant thought or said when he had vanquished foes they could only dream of.

  “I’ve killed many a haughty being such as yourself,” Aethernus Vhal said. “I’ve seen the death of stars, caused them to vanquish entire races greater than yours–”

  The words carried the weight of daemon wars, of false gods shattered and brought low before him, sectors sterilised to deny corruption, entire death worlds filled with billions of monsters that had nothing on their minds except the murder of all things that moved. The undead, hiveminds, races made of ancient forgotten technology, and more things then they could imagine.

  He was Aethernus Vhal. A warrior unlike any to have taken stride within their universe.

  “–you and your entire planet would be a footnote in the many campaigns I’ve waged in my Endless War. Be grateful that I’ve sworn oaths to protect Man from the horrors of the cosmos, the Warp, and its demented Chaos.”

  Silence dropped across the chamber.

  The runes on the table flickered once, then held, systems momentarily diverting cycles to log the exchange. Council heart rates spiked and their muscles tensed. This was what fear smelled like on the battlefield when legions recognize that they stood no chance against him.

  The Warden did not look away. He held Aethernus Vhal's gaze for 7.2 seconds, long enough, in any species, to pass beyond challenge into acknowledgement.

  The atmosphere threatened to suffocate the members of the council.

  None dared to breath, much less make any sound.

  Raised voices sounded at the entrance, cutting across the chamber’s restrained focus. Aethernus Vhal's degraded audio systems filtered the noise without having to strain or change his posturing over the Warden. A guard’s clipped authority, overrun by a younger voice with no regard for hierarchy.

  The knight shouted, yet they did not call forth that font of energy or power within them. “You can’t go in. Council session is under emergency mandate–”

  “He needs water.” The interruption carried no hesitation, only flat certainty. The voice belonged to a young person, female, approximately fifteen to nineteen Terran-standard years based on timbre and cadence.

  Aethernus rotated thirty-seven degrees, maintaining awareness on the Warden while bringing the doorway into peripheral view. This was another interesting moment he could use to gather data. It was strange seeing the Knights refuse to use their power to prevent the infiltration of this chamber. He caught motion as the knight extended an arm to block entry, only for a small figure to slip under it with practiced ease, a clay pitcher and cup balanced in her hands.

  “Anna,” the knight shouted. He knew who this individual was and clearly let her pass. “This is not–”

  Aethernus Vhal blinked as he felt that foreign energy fill the air and it generated from the little girl as she stepped into the chamber. Using it to dodge any attempt at catching her. She walked in with a bright face and a giant smile. Eyes snapping to him with a cup of glass filled with the blue life liquid that sustained human existence. Water. Pure and unadulterated by toxin, poison, or any other contaminant.

  He recgonized her figure.

  That was the young lady from the gathering square. The only one that showed a different set of emotions compared to the rest of the town.

  Aethernus Vhal recalled her look of curiosity and how quickly the old lady grabbed her arm to pull her away.

  This was a common antic of hers.

  Aethernus Vhal's assessment swept over her automatically.

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  That broke the building tension of the room. The Warden frowned at her brazen approach. The council’s composure fractured more noticeably. Several members took a few steps before forcing themselves back into their seats. Vital signs shifted as he surveyed their reactions. Elevated heart rates, accelerated breathing, pupillary dilation, and an increase in perspiration.

  It was not fear of the child that drove them, but rather fear of what her breach of protocol represented.

  The Warden’s hand twitched toward his weapon again, fingers tightening before relaxing as the the old lady, Mira was her name, stepped slightly forward, arm lifted in a quiet injunction. The Warden’s frowned deepened, but he removed his hand from his weapon and resolved himself to watching.

  It was an indication of a hierarchy that was more nuanced than titles implied.

  Aethernus Vhal took another note in his growing list.

  Anna, the young lady, stopped directly before Aethernus and looked up.

  Aethernus Vhal reached up to his helm, both hands releasing the pressure that kept it upon his head. It clicked and hissed as he removed it.

  Everyone gasped as he exposed his face for the first time.

  The Warden stepped back as Aethernus Vhal released energy from his person without knowing any better.

  The world-system ran a thousand processes trying to understand what type of power radiated from his being, yet it failed time and again.

  Any of the council still standing all fell back into their seats, Mira dropping to the floor.

  The Warden struggled to keep his head up if not for the surge of energy that encased his figure.

  Except even that was not enough.

  “Little one,” Aethernus Vhal said, his voice was deeper and ancient sounding without the helm clearing it up. He recognized the effect of his radiance upon the masses, yet not to this effect. It was a common thing amongst him and what he had seen from his brothers. Even the corrupted ones carried with themselves with that intensity. “What brings you to me?”

  Her eyes were dark brown shot with amber, lacking the analytic edge present in most of the adults. She did not appear to be cataloguing him or attempting to classifying him like the rest of them had been. She simply regarded him. “You’ve been walking for hours,” she said, tone matter-of-fact. “In armor made from dead things. Over land that would break a normal man. You don’t have any packs either.” She lifted the cup filled with water up to him. “Drink.”

  Aethernus scanned the contents once more, just in case. He had already done a partial scan, but it was always wise to be careful.

  H?O with mineral content consistent with naturally filtered spring sources. No chemical agents and no detectable pathogens. Probability of simple intent, offering hydration without concealed harm, 94.7%.

  “I do not need–”

  “Everyone needs water. Even you,” Anna said, cutting across his explanation with unforced certainty. She pushed the cup closer. “Drink. Then save us from the Breach.”

  Her delivery contained no reverence, no awe, or fear. No deference to his size, hesitation over his alien origin, the power by which he carried himself, or flattery for his martial capacity. Just matter of fact and a sequence of events that she knew would likely happen.

  There was no movement elsewhere in the room as they waited for his response.

  The Warden and Mira held their positions, faces set in expressions Aethernus classified as rather than alarm.

  After 2.9 seconds, he reached for the cup.

  Refusal would prolong the disruption and generate unnecessary friction. Acceptance cost nothing and preserved momentum toward actionable planning. His physiology would neutralize any biological contaminants, if present. Plus, he could take a drink of the life blood of humanity. The single resource above all that sustained their existence and cradled their earliest civilization when they weren’t wise enough to survive alone.

  He drank and enjoyed himself thoroughly.

  Aethernus Vhal rarely had these small moments of appreciation in his crusade against evil and enjoining the good wherever he found it.

  The water was cool, mineral-rich, indicative of filtration through subsurface volcanic stone, and very little. Nothing more than a sip to him, though he recognized it was a large cup for someone of Anna’s size. His internal systems catalogued composition automatically. 23.3 ppm calcium, 6.2 ppm magnesium, 1.4 ppm potassium, and more noted for environmental reference.

  Anna nodded once, satisfied that he had acquiesced to her demands. Nothing but confirmation that the sequence she had initiated had been followed.

  She stepped back, but did not leave the chamber.

  Instead, she moved to a corner with unimpeded sightlines across the room. No one ordered her out. The knight at the door shifted aside unconsciously, adjusting to her presence rather than attempting to restore the previous barrier.

  Another deviation from the norm.

  Young women without stature and elevation within society did not normally remain in high-level defense meetings.

  The Warden picked up Mira and leaned closer to her. Voice pitched low. Aethernus Vhal's hearing still caught it. “Who is that?”

  “Anna,” the Coordinator replied. “Village orphan. No family, status, sponsor, or wealth. Minimal integration with Watcher protocols.”

  “She walked into a council during an emergency session. Used more Qi than anyone her age has any right to,” the Warden said. “And confronted an unclassified anomaly to offer him water? Am I getting the events that happened correctly?”

  “Yes.”

  “Very brave,” he said. “Or very foolish.”

  “Possibly both.”

  “Are you sure that’s all she is. A village orphan without nothing special about her.” The Warden rubbed his chin.

  Mira brushed her leather armor down from the fall. “That is all we know of her. The elderly Widow that takes care of her arrived to this town when she was nothing but a babe. Supposedly found her in the arms of a dead mother on the road here.

  The council had begun to murmur among themselves, their composure unravelling into quiet discussion.

  The guard maintained his post, but his stance had shifted from interdiction to accommodation.

  The Warden’s expression altered, not softening, exactly, but gaining an additional layer. The corners of his mouth moved by fractions and muscles around his eyes eased. He had a not of curiosity that matched what Anna had toward Aethernus Vhal.

  “Good,” he said, loud enough for the table to hear. “We will need someone who does not see anything here as a threat–”

  His gaze moved between Anna and Aethernus Vhal.

  “–because anything that comes through that Breach will see everything here as food.”

  Aethernus Vhal put his helm back on and then allowed himself to frown. He did not like others knowing his thoughts about matters so openly, so he usually wore his helm all the time. Even if the event required more nuance and personal touch.

  Like this one…

  He did not like the Warden, he was interested in Mira’s strange stature amongst them, and he was curious about Anna.

  None of them needed to know that though.

  Breach Containment Projected Failure - 2.7 hours

  Warp Signature Intensity Reaching Maximum Mass!

  Destruction Priority - Critical

  Prepare for battle against the Void-Born Demons

  Aethernus Vhal noted the classification.

  Void-born Demons.

  The world-system had used his knowledge base to create applicable similarities between what he knew and what happened here. It could have just used Warp entities, chaos corrupted, or a dozen other monikers he knew so familiarly. Yet, it had chosen to title them something different entirely. Creatures he had never fought before.

  Aethernus Vhal smiled and blood began to awaken.

  That little skirmish against the fauna of the world did little to break a sweat, but this promised otherwise.

  True war and battle.

  A struggle against foes that threatened the existence of this planet… and then he would step through the rift itself. Killing and obliterating its denizens until they spat him back out into this massive colorful paradise. He would carve his name into their lineage. Make them learn what it means to threaten humanity and those that Aethernus Vhal had decided were worthy of protection.

  His focus sharpened.

  The hunt finally had a target.

  The Warden’s head tilted slightly. Likely receiving the same message but formed differently based on his language and experiences. He straightened and addressed the council, voice crisp. “Prepare Battle Protocols,” he said. “Signal the outer settlements. Activate the Sentinel Arrays–”

  He turned back to Aethernus Vhal, studying his armor for a second.

  “–and get our guest something better than dead animals to wear and proper weapons worthy of his hands. We go to war in two hours.”