'We don't have time for this, traitor,' snapped Uriel. 'Tell us what you know!'
'Swear, Ultramarine. Give me your oath.'
'Very well,' nodded Uriel. 'I swear I will see you dead, now speak!'
'The Heart of Blood,' began Obax Zakayo. 'It is a daemon of the Lord of Skulls and the half-breed's former master imprisoned it beneath Khalan-Ghol and fattened its essence with the blood of sorcerers.'
'What has this to do with Honsou?' demanded Uriel.
'Know you nothing of your enemies?' mocked Obax Zakayo. 'The Lord of Skulls is the bane of psykers and the Heart of Blood was driven mad by such polluted blood. The warsmith's sorcerers channelled their most potent null-magicks through the imprisoned creature, using its immaterial energies to cast a great psychic barrier around the fortress that no sorcerer has been able to breach in nearly ten thousand years!'
Obax Zakayo coughed and said, 'I have your oath that you will end my suffering?'
'Yes,' said Uriel. 'Keep talking.'
The Iron Warrior nodded and said, 'Lord Toramino has some of the most powerful sorcerers in the Eye of Terror to command and, though they have great power, they cannot breach the ancient barrier of the Heart of Blood. Destroy it and they will raze this place to the ground!'
Uriel looked into Obax Zakayo's eyes for any sign of a lie, but the Iron Warrior was beyond such deception, too immersed in his own misery and need for death. He felt the guiding hand of providence in the traitor's presence now, for here was a chance to fulfil his death oath and deny the Omphalos Daemonium its prize.
'Very well,' pressed Uriel. 'How do we destroy it?'
'The awls,' said Obax Zakayo. 'The silver awls that pierce its daemonic flesh and hold it fast above the lake of blood…'
'What of them?'
'They are hateful artefacts, stolen from your most sacred reclusiam or taken from those whose inquisitions delved too deep into the mysteries of Chaos. They are more than just physical anchors: they bind it to this place. Remove or destroy them and its dissolution will be complete.'
Uriel took a step back from Obax Zakayo and looked up into the darkness of the chamber above the hissing lake of blood where the huge daemon hung suspended in its writhing madness. He saw three gleaming silver pinpricks of light impaled through its scaled flesh, each attached to a chain that was anchored in the bedrock of the chamber's walls.
His eyes followed the line of the chains from the daemon and squinted as he sought where the nearest was embedded. Uriel turned back to Obax Zakayo and raised his bolter, saying, 'I will kill you now.'
'No!' said Leonid grimly. 'Let me do it. I owe this bastard a death.'
Uriel saw the thirst for vengeance in Leonid's eyes and nodded. 'So be it. Once he is dead, set the timers on the grenades and get clear. The Savage Morticians are coming, so stay close to the Unfleshed. They will try to protect you if you are near them, but you have to hold the enemy at bay for as long as you can.'
'I understand,' said Leonid. 'Now go.'
Uriel nodded and ran towards Pasanius.
Leonid watched as Uriel hurriedly outlined his plan to Pasanius and the two Ultramarines set off up the iron ramps that led towards the daemonculaba.
'Now, slave,' hissed Obax Zakayo. 'Ventris told you to kill me.'
Leonid raised his lasgun and shot Obax Zakayo in the gut. He smelled burned flesh and nodded to himself, satisfied that the Iron Warrior was in pain, but still alive.
Obax Zakayo raised his head and roared, 'Shoot me again, I'm not dead yet!'
Leonid stepped close and spat into Obax Zakayo's face.
'No,' he said calmly.
'An oath was given!' screamed the Iron Warrior. 'Ventris swore he would see me dead!'
'Uriel gave his word, but I didn't,' snarled Leonid. 'I want you to live in agony then die in pain when this place is brought down!'
Obax Zakayo wept and cursed him, but Leonid ignored his pleadings as he removed the grenade attached to the crushing machine that was nearest the Iron Warrior and slipped it into his uniform jacket's breast pocket.
'Don't want you dying by accident, now do we?' he said.
Without another word, Leonid turned and walked away.
Uriel pounded up the ramp and ran past the heaving bodies of the daemonculaba, wishing he could stop to end each one's suffering. He knew that they had a better chance to end their torment if they could enable Honsou's enemies to do the job for them. He and Pasanius ran around the circumference of the chamber to reach one of the three awl-chains that pierced the Heart of Blood's body and kept it bound to Khalan-Ghol.
If they could pull even one of the awls from the terrible daemon, then it would be something…
'Great Emperor of Mankind, grant me the strength of your will to do this for you,' he prayed as he ran, his eyes tracing the line of the chain that ran from the daemon's body.
He saw it was higher than this level of daemonic womb-creatures, and as they reached the point on the gantry directly below the chain, he heard the explosive destruction of the crushing machine and the bestial roars of the Unfleshed echoing through the chamber. This was quickly followed by the bark of lasfire and the screech of the Savage Morticians.
'We'll need to climb,' said Pasanius.
Uriel nodded and turned to watch the battle below, seeing bodies flying through the air and leaping arcs of blue lightning as the denizens of this awful place fought against the Unfleshed.
'Emperor watch over you,' whispered Uriel as he gripped the iron bars of one of the daemonculaba cages and began to climb. The thick chain was some ten metres above them, and even in the dim light he could see it was firmly embedded in the chamber's wall with a rockcrete plug.
'I'll need a hand,' said Pasanius as Uriel reached the top of the cage, sounding thoroughly ashamed to be asking for help.
Uriel turned back, mortified that it hadn't occurred to him that Pasanius might have difficulty in reaching the chain with only one arm until this moment. He reached down and helped his sergeant climb to join him.
Rusted struts and long-abandoned scaffolding pierced the rock below the plug, presumably left behind by those who had put it there in the first place.
He heard a piteous, mewling cry of anguish from below him and looked down through the mesh of the cage roof into the weeping face of the daemonculaba.
Uriel knelt as close as he could to the tormented creature. 'I will see your suffering ended,' he promised. Her eyes closed slowly and Uriel thought he detected an almost imperceptible nod of her bloated head.
'There is not enough suffering in the galaxy to make the Iron Warriors pay for what they have done here,' said Pasanius, his voice choked with emotion.
'No,' agreed Uriel, 'there is not, but we will make them suffer anyway.'
'Aye,' agreed Pasanius as they climbed onto the roof of the cage and made their way further up the sides of the shadowed chamber, their goal nearing with every heave upwards.
The sounds of battle continued to rage from below as they clambered over the protruding scaffolding spars wedged into cracks in the rock and pulled themselves level with the chain.
As thick as Pasanius's forearm, it stretched off towards the centre of the chamber and the Heart of Blood.
'Ready?' asked Uriel.
'Ready,' nodded Pasanius, spitting on his palm.
Taking a firm grip on the flaking, rusted chain, the two Space Marines pulled with all their strength to wrench the awl-chain from the Heart of Blood's body.
Leonid sprayed a burst of full auto lasfire towards the skulking, vacuum-suited mutants taking cover behind a row of blood-filled barrels. His bolts punctured the containers, spilling crimson arcs from their sides. He knew he hadn't killed any of them, but it kept their heads down. He'd seen the mutant creature, Sabatier with the armed slaves of the Savage Morticians and dearly desired to put a bolt through that monster's head.