He skidded to a halt. Behind him and in front of him were the walls of crystal cells, filled with dark water. Lucius stared into their depths, seeing the familiar shapes inside. They responded to his presence, the black waters beginning to boil. Lucius smashed the pommel of the Laeran Blade against the first pane. It shattered in a rush of frothing black water. The dark current receded from the hulking figure that had stood imprisoned within its depths. It ran from ornate war-plate of mauve and precious metals, from jewelled horns sculpted into the mouths of screaming angels. The warrior took a ponderous step, his armour squealing from the motion after so long spent locked in stillness. The second step displayed a quickly recovered grace. His war-plate thrummed like an insect hive. Lucius stood his ground as the legionary swung the sonic amplifier cannon bolted to his forearm up, levelling it at the Eternal’s chest. Raw noise itched from the fluted barrel of the cannon, primed to be released with the force to shatter ceramite and liquefy flesh. It held for a handful of heartbeats, before the warrior lowered it. A low intake of breath caused Lucius to brace for what he knew was coming.
The Kakophoni screamed. Weaponised sound blasted from every horn and speaker-grille on his armour, ripping out from him in a sphere of discordance. Every cell shattered. Black water and shattered crystal flooded the corridor in a gushing tide. Eleven other Noise Marines stepped out from their prisons. Slowly, they looked to their brother, and then their gaze settled over Lucius. Feedback crackled from the vox-grilles that studded every surface of their armour like gilded barnacles. They pulsed, glowing sharply with an arrhythmic violet light. The same light came from their eyes. The twelve Kakophoni formed a circle around Lucius. The black water trembled around their boots. After a moment, one of their number stepped forwards to stand in front of him. ‘For the rest of the Lucid Circle,’ the Noise Marine uttered in a soft vox charged with static, ‘I pass greetings to Lucius the Eternal. ’The fact that the legionary had spoken caught Lucius off guard. ‘You still speak?’The Noise Marine nodded slowly, a single time.
‘I am Kathodos. Of the Circle, I have felt the least of the Youngest God’s holy voice, and so I am permitted to speak. The others speak only in war, and their voices are those that shatter mountains. ’Lucius remembered the warrior’s name. Kathodos had been Captain of the318th Company in the days of the Legion, imbued by the primarch with power and command over hundreds of Space Marines. Despite the additions to and transformations of their war-plate, none of the insignia markings upon the armour of the other Kakophoni indicated any of them being above the rank of sergeant. And Kathodos was the least of them. It brought a smile to Lucius’ face. How time changes all things. ‘We are servants of the True God,’ said Kathodos, as if anticipating Lucius’ thoughts. ‘Our souls are His to hold, and to order as He decides. His favour has gone to those whom He wills it to, and in the amount He wills it. Our pasts mean nothing, only His song. ’Lucius scoffed.
The Noise Marine’s zealotry reminded him of the Composer, raving away in the madness of his tower. ‘How did you come to be here?’ ‘I had…’ Kathodos paused. ‘I still serve under the beneficence of the Carnation Prince, Sardar Eynzilium. What you see of the Circle is what remains of the delegation of his Golden Host. We were envoys, our screaming holy throats the representation of the might of the Sardar.’ ‘And what of Eynzilium?’ Lucius studied the Noise Marine. ‘What has become of him?’Kathodos lowered his head a fraction. ‘I know not of the Carnation Prince’s fate, nor of the wider Golden Host. The Lucid Circle was dispatched by the Sardar. We took the Oblivion’s Call and sailed to treat with the Primogenitor, and we lost contact after we were betrayed and brought to this place.’ ‘How long have you been here?’Kathodos hesitated, drawing one hand into a slow, distracted fist in a squeal of scraping ceramite. ‘I know not that either. As within the After birth, I measure it in the deaths of brothers, and by that metric we have endured here for the time to shed the lives of eight. ’Lucius looked around him at the Lucid Circle. ‘Will you come with me?’ ‘Our fates do not end here,’ Kathodos replied. The other Noise Marines hefted their sonic cannons. ‘We will walk with you, Lucius the Eternal. You are the blessed son of the Joyful Prince. Until the time we return to the Golden Host, our voices are yours. ’Lucius made to turn, to move back down the corridor from where he had come. He hesitated. He felt the pull of the way behind him, of the chamber at the end of the passageway. He turned to Kathodos.‘Go to the surface,’ said Lucius. ‘There are others of the Third – find them. I shall rejoin you shortly.’
