Deep within Prospero's Pyramid of Photep, the captains of the Thousand Sons' nine Fellowships stood together upon the paper covered in labyrinthine spiral patterns in Magnus's private chamber.
Magnus looked around at the nine members of the Primarch's Council. "You have long wanted to know what I saw in the amphitheater at Nikaea."
"I saw a prophecy concerning Horus."
As he spoke, he opened the heavy tome in his hands and pointed to the last page filled with writing.
"An ancient Egyptian prophecy once spoke of a time in the distant future that would be filled with war, when the sky god Heru was meant to protect his people from the threat of Chaos."
"But instead, he would turn and attack another golden god named Sutekh, fighting for the right to rule all things."
"The form he took afterward was called Kemwer, meaning the great black demon."
Magnus spoke methodically, as though from a lectern, his shifting eye sliding into black.
"Heru was one of many names for an ancient god, and it can also be translated as Horus."
"The clues had always been there, but I overlooked them before."
"And so, after leaving Nikaea, I roamed the Great Ocean, following the paths of past and future, searching through a billion Threads of Fate woven from buried ages for the one vital cord upon which the fate of the entire galaxy hung."
Chief Librarian Hathor Maat, who stood closest to Magnus, had long since learned from the Black Emperor that Horus was about to fall.
He was the first to react, and pressed him with a question.
"What else did the prophecy mention?"
Magnus's mutable single eye changed to gray. "It said that several of Horus's brothers would stand at his side."
"If Horus triumphed, he would become Heru-ur, meaning