Contents

Cover

Aria Arcana – Extract

A Black Library Publication

eBook license

ARIA ARCANA

Peter Fehervari

Bright they were, but shadow bound, tormented by a bloodline too potent for mortal flesh to contain without consequences both calamitous and eternal.

- Resplendent Shadows
The Requiem Infernal

The elder predator erupted into the sky like a nightmare spewed into wakefulness. Soaring upon the swirling eddies of a tornado, the beast surveyed its new territory with myriad eyes, feeling neither surprise nor curiosity. The flat, leathery disc of its body undulated as it spun about, its tail trailing behind it like a cord back into the sea of souls. There were many of its kind here, all ripped into the materium by the tempest raging across realities. Instinctively they formed a loose pack, seeking safety in numbers, for far worse things prowled their native realm.

Satisfied there were no immediate threats, the elder surrendered to its primary impulse – hunger and the need to sate it. Its jaws yawned wide to taste the warp-charged air, seeking the tang of prey. Pink bands rippled along its hide as it caught the scent of soul-meat, distant yet unmistakable. Screeching eagerly, the beast swept along the wind-borne trail, leading its duller kin towards the source.

Time passed differently in this place, without the erratic leaps and lags that wracked the sea of souls. This was flatter – duller – like everything else about these skies except for the prey-scent, which was maddeningly sweet. It promised a feast more ripe and plentiful than anything the pack had ever known.

With a voltaic whine a shining disc whirled out of nowhere, cutting across the elder’s path. No two of the sky beasts were quite alike, for their nature was fundamentally inconstant, but none strained against their base forms as profoundly as this crystalline outsider. The elder hissed, recognising a potential challenger, but the newcomer was gone in moments, leaving a contrail of indigo light in its wake.

Hunger eclipsed the elder’s rage as the smell of soul-meat grew stronger, wafting up through the clouds. Its rival forgotten, the beast dived and its pack followed. A perfect circle of mountains rose to meet them – seven slender spires with another, much larger one at their centre. Arching stone paths connected the outer ring to the central giant, whose peak burned with a white radiance that hurt the elder’s eyes. The urge to attack the offending light was strong, but the elder held back. It had survived too long to throw itself against such a dangerous foe. While many of its pack darted towards the light, the elder swerved away, heading for the tangle of burning dens covering the mountain’s flanks. The trenches between them swarmed with panicked two-legged creatures – spindly yet succulent morsels that inflamed its senses.

Prey!

With a piercing cry, the beast dived and scythed a red swathe through the herd with the rim of its saucer-like body. Blood and viscera drenched its hide, but it was the souls scattered among the fleshy detritus that it truly craved. Whirling back and forth through the trench, it sucked in the shades as they flitted about, too confused by sudden death to fear the deeper oblivion coming for them.

Briefly sated, the elder soared back into the sky, a writhing victim clamped between its jaws to be cracked open at leisure. Its bliss shattered as a hulking bird surged out of the mist ahead – a massive, angular monster with a single glassy eye and rigid downswept wings. Dropping its victim, the elder veered aside as the bird hurtled past, spewing flames from its rear.

Prey stealer!

Enraged by the presence of a second rival, the disc sped after the interloper, too drunk on souls for caution. This bountiful territory would belong to no other.

The gunship tore through the clouds, its engines roaring as they fought the cross-currents assailing it. Ten giants sat on benches lining its transport cabin, five on each side, with their guns clasped to their chests. A battle aria gushed from the petal-shaped overhead speakers, its restless melody echoing the shimmering, ever-shifting colours of the passengers’ armour, which ranged through the entire chromatic spectrum. The arcane energy infusing their plating was capricious, yet always graceful in the patterns it conjured, as befitted its bearers, who were unmistakably – fiercely – individuals.

Each warrior-artisan had customised his battleplate with a flair and freedom that defied the strictures found among most Adeptus Astartes Chapters. Their helms sported ornate faceplates and crests, some plumed, others decorated with sculptures of noble beasts, knights or altogether more audacious subjects. A tower of emerald waves crowned one, while another bore a hand whose fingers were tipped with flames. Three wore flamboyant tabards, while their leader had draped a cloak of crimson scales about his shoulders, pulling its serpentine head over his helm. The only constant among them was the symbol on their left pauldrons – a winged figure with its arms raised to some unseen wonder.

Ignacio Verlaine felt a surge of pride at the sight of his Arc Brothers. While a measure of independence was encouraged among all members of the Angels Resplendent, only those of the Rhapsody Eternal, the Chapter’s Ninth Company, were permitted such extravagance. Since their brotherhood’s reformation they had roamed the galaxy in search of the sublime and the magnificent, following their Knight Exemplar’s intuitions as a poet followed the muse. The Ninth wasn’t the only Rhapsody on this path, but it was the most intrepid.

Or was…

The harsh thought cracked Verlaine’s pride and, inevitably, doubt slipped through the fracture. It was never far away these days. Enlightenment is a matter of inspiration, not reason, he mused, turning to the wisdom of the Arc Resplendent, as he always did when troubled. The quest surpasses its fulfilment, just as the journey presupposes its purpose.

‘As within, so without,’ Verlaine confirmed in a whisper. He revered his Chapter’s codex, relishing its riddles as only a psychically trained member of the Librarium Radiant could, yet so much still eluded him.

‘That is the essence of our endeavour,’ his guide on the path, Satori, had once advised with a familiar smile. ‘Even I am closer to our journey’s beginning than its end.’

Not so long ago Verlaine had been moved by such words, believing he’d won his enigmatic mentor’s trust, but now he wondered whether Satori had simply told him what he wanted to hear. Sometimes he suspected everything about the Rhapsody’s senior Librarian was contrived – a web of half-truths and outright fantasies woven to ensnare those around him, making them willing pawns in his schemes, from the humblest Chapter villein to Exemplar Czervantes himself. Especially Czervantes, for his word set their company’s course. It was a disloyal thought, yet Verlaine couldn’t deny it. Czervantes had led them to this oceanic shrine world and the unnaturally perfect circle of islands at its heart, but the decision had been Satori’s. The Rhapsody had been here almost two years, garrisoned on one of the outer islands, growing restive while Czervantes brooded and Satori pursued his solitary research.

And then the storm had come.

Is that what you were waiting for, Satori? Verlaine wondered, remembering his mentor’s excitement when the tempest was detected. No… not excitement exactly. He doubted the ancient psyker was capable of that any more, if he’d ever had it in him.

‘What is our objective here, Brother Radiant?’ the warrior opposite Verlaine asked, as though sensing his doubts. ‘Why are we circling the skies of this dying city like carrion-birds?’

The speaker’s armour cleaved to an opalescent palette, marking him as an Apothecary, while Verlaine’s roamed through the Librarium’s shades of blue. This relative constancy marked them as specialists among their brotherhood.

‘I cannot say,’ Verlaine answered, hoping that would end the matter.

‘Cannot or will not?’ Apothecary Fioré’s helm modulated his voice into a smoky contralto croon. His visor was fashioned into a handsome face of mismatched halves, one smiling, the other frowning, that alternated randomly between red and black hues. He claimed the design honoured the wounded, but nobody believed it. Compassion was alien to Veleno Fioré’s nature, despite his vocation as a healer. Verlaine had no friends, nor a desire for them, but in Fioré he’d found an enemy of sorts. They were a strange pairing for any mission, but Satori had insisted they were both required. Indeed, he’d hand-picked every member of this squad.

‘You are Satori’s disciple,’ Fioré pressed. ‘Surely he told you something?’ Verlaine pictured him smirking behind his visor. ‘Surely he has faith in you?’

‘It is not a question of faith, Fioré.’

Isn’t it? he thought, surprised by his bitterness.

‘Then illuminate me, brother.’ The Apothecary leaned forward. ‘What are we seeking here?’

‘You will know when you find it,’ Satori had answered when Verlaine asked him the same question. ‘Only you possess the insight to recognise this revelation, Ignacio.’ That comradely smile had followed, as Verlaine knew it would. ‘And the passion to seize it.’

‘Are we not brothers on the Mirrored Path?’ Fioré cajoled.

‘Enough, Apothecary!’ Arc Sergeant Visconti, the mission’s commander, snapped. ‘We patrol these skies by our Exemplar’s decree. He has his reasons.’

‘The Exemplar?’ Fioré snorted. ‘Do you truly believe–’

The cabin shook as something heavier than the wind struck it. A chime silenced the music, making way for their pilot’s voice.

‘We are not alone up here, brothers,’ he warned, speaking from the cockpit. ‘Beasts infest these skies.’

‘How many foes?’ Visconti asked, sounding delighted. Art and war were equal partners in the Resplendent spirit and it had been too long since the Rhapsody tasted battle.

‘I cannot say for certain, Arc Sergeant,’ the pilot replied. ‘My auspex is flooded with phantom signals. At least ten, I’d wager.’

‘Evade and annihilate.’

‘Aye, Arc Sergeant!’ The pilot cut his link and the music resumed. Moments later the muted chatter of heavy weaponry reverberated through the hull.

‘Epistolary, be our eyes upon the unseen,’ Visconti ordered.

‘Yes, Arc Sergeant,’ Verlaine replied, masking his unease. His mind was formidable, but he was wary of casting it into this warp-infused tempest. Is it out there, Satori? he asked silently. This revelation of yours…

Click here to buy Aria Arcana.

A BLACK LIBRARY PUBLICATION

This eBook edition published in 2022 by Black Library, Games Workshop Ltd, Willow Road, Nottingham, NG7 2WS, UK.

Represented by: Games Workshop Limited – Irish branch, Unit 3, Lower Liffey Street, Dublin 1, D01 K199, Ireland.

Produced by Games Workshop in Nottingham.

Aria Arcana © Copyright Games Workshop Limited 2022. Aria Arcana, GW, Games Workshop, Black Library, The Horus Heresy, The Horus Heresy Eye logo, Space Marine, 40K, Warhammer, Warhammer 40,000, the ‘Aquila’ Double-headed Eagle logo, and all associated logos, illustrations, images, names, creatures, races, vehicles, locations, weapons, characters, and the distinctive likenesses thereof, are either ® or TM, and/or © Games Workshop Limited, variably registered around the world.
All Rights Reserved.

A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN: 978-1-80407-396-4

This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental.

See Black Library on the internet at
blacklibrary.com

Find out more about Games Workshop’s world of Warhammer and the Warhammer 40,000 universe at
games-workshop.com

eBook license

This license is made between:

Games Workshop Limited t/a Black Library, Willow Road, Lenton, Nottingham, NG7 2WS, United Kingdom (“Black Library”); and

the purchaser of a Black Library e-book product (“You/you/Your/your”)

(jointly, “the parties”)

These are the terms and conditions that apply when you purchase a Black Library e-book (“e-book”). The parties agree that in consideration of the fee paid by you, Black Library grants you a license to use the e-book on the following terms:

* 1. Black Library grants to you a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, royalty-free license to use the e-book in the following ways:

o 1.1 to store the e-book on any number of electronic devices and/or storage media (including, by way of example only, personal computers, e-book readers, mobile phones, portable hard drives, USB flash drives, CDs or DVDs) which are personally owned by you;

o 1.2 to access the e-book using an appropriate electronic device and/or through any appropriate storage media.

* 2. For the avoidance of doubt, you are ONLY licensed to use the e-book as described in paragraph 1 above. You may NOT use or store the e-book in any other way. If you do, Black Library shall be entitled to terminate this license.

* 3. Further to the general restriction at paragraph 2, Black Library shall be entitled to terminate this license in the event that you use or store the e-book (or any part of it) in any way not expressly licensed. This includes (but is by no means limited to) the following circumstances:

o 3.1 you provide the e-book to any company, individual or other legal person who does not possess a license to use or store it;

o 3.2 you make the e-book available on bit-torrent sites, or are otherwise complicit in ‘seeding’ or sharing the e-book with any company, individual or other legal person who does not possess a license to use or store it;

o 3.3 you print and distribute hard copies of the e-book to any company, individual or other legal person who does not possess a license to use or store it;

o 3.4 you attempt to reverse engineer, bypass, alter, amend, remove or otherwise make any change to any copy protection technology which may be applied to the e-book.

* 4. By purchasing an e-book, you agree for the purposes of the Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000 that Black Library may commence the service (of provision of the e-book to you) prior to your ordinary cancellation period coming to an end, and that by purchasing an e-book, your cancellation rights shall end immediately upon receipt of the e-book.

* 5. You acknowledge that all copyright, trademark and other intellectual property rights in the e-book are, shall remain, the sole property of Black Library.

* 6. On termination of this license, howsoever effected, you shall immediately and permanently delete all copies of the e-book from your computers and storage media, and shall destroy all hard copies of the e-book which you have derived from the e-book.

* 7. Black Library shall be entitled to amend these terms and conditions from time to time by written notice to you.

* 8. These terms and conditions shall be governed by English law, and shall be subject only to the jurisdiction of the Courts in England and Wales.

* 9. If any part of this license is illegal, or becomes illegal as a result of any change in the law, then that part shall be deleted, and replaced with wording that is as close to the original meaning as possible without being illegal.

* 10. Any failure by Black Library to exercise its rights under this license for whatever reason shall not be in any way deemed to be a waiver of its rights, and in particular, Black Library reserves the right at all times to terminate this license in the event that you breach clause 2 or clause 3.