The Lion King's Return

The voice was not loud, yet it seemed to strike a great bell directly within the core of everyone's consciousness.

The lake's absolute stillness was broken, ripples spreading across its surface. The Stasis Field filling the cavern became like ice struck by a stone, its visible disturbances spreading in wave-like patterns.

Upon the rock, the sleeping giant's finger moved ever so slightly.

Chen Xi staggered back a step, his face pale. His contact with the Lion King's will had nearly drained him. The guide who had remained silent all this time stepped forward at the right moment and gently supported him. She finally raised a hand, drawing back the hood that had concealed her face and shedding her heavy cloak.

What appeared before them was not a towering warrior, but a slight figure like a young girl.

She wore a suit of dark green Power Armor nearly identical to that of the sleeping figure upon the rock in the lake's center, only drastically reduced in scale to fit her slender frame.

The armor's design was ancient and magnificent, likewise bearing the emblems and decorations of the Dark Angels.

Her face bore a startling resemblance to the sleeping Lion King, though her features were softer, retaining a youthful innocence and an inhuman refinement. It was as though they had been crafted by the same creator, yet sculpted into different forms.

Her obsidian-like eyes quietly watched the awakening Primarch.

Auregana and the others standing at the entrance could sense it even from far away—the awakening will, blazing and majestic like a rising star.

The Dark Watchers all bowed, their posture as reverent and silent as it had been for ten thousand years.

For the first time, the armored chest rose and fell in a deep, powerful breath. An ancient and majestic psychic