77 Resurrection (VI)

Resurrection (VI)

The Lion strode through the doorway. By some instinct, he already knew what lay beyond it. Mortarion followed silently behind him and gently closed the door. The oncoming blizzard did not stir a single strand of his white hair.

The Lion turned back. Seeing this, his brow immediately furrowed.

"What is it?"

"Nothing." The Lion answered curtly, then redirected the conversation with a question. "Where are we going?"

"To watch an exorcism, brother. It is that simple."

"An exorcism? On Fenris?" At that answer, the Lion's already tense brow drew tighter still.

The reason was simple: he knew this place was Fenris.

The instant that gust of cold wind slipped through the crack in the door, his intuition had fished the answer from an ocean and laid it before him. Yet it did nothing to lessen his confusion or unease. Instead, it only deepened their hold on his reason.

The Lion was no stranger to exorcisms. From the earliest days of the Scholastica Psykana, the relevant disciplines had been designated for refinement and transmission from generation to generation. Even now, an officially certified and legally sanctioned psyker generally needed passing evaluations from instructors in three separate fields before formally receiving their status.

Yet beyond those three, the disciplines containing complex knowledge such as "exorcism" and "purification" were the only mandatory courses.

In other words, a psyker's talents determined their future path—serving within some military force and freely applying their understanding of pure psychic arts; being dispatched to a world to work with the local Adeptus Arbites, investigating supernatural phenomena and following clues through prophecy or dreamwalking to solve problems with minimal losses; joining some secretive strike force, bestowing powerful blessings upon allies on the most dangerous battlefields while gnawing away at enemy flesh and even souls through horrifying