"Trying to distract your opponent with lies?" Sanguinius's voice held a suppressed fury, each word forced through clenched teeth.
He twisted aside to evade Skarbrand's sweeping axe, then turned his spear to block the second blow with its shaft.
The thunderous clash of metal exploded across the sky, and the shock wave sent his wings billowing violently.
"How pathetic, follower of the Blood God." His voice carried an icy contempt.
Skarbrand slid back some distance and steadied himself in the air, his scarlet eyes fixed on Sanguinius with a mocking gleam.
He licked the blood remaining on his fangs with his rough tongue and gave a low, hoarse sneer. "It's the truth, Blood Angel. Why else would you and your Legion have been abandoned here to die?"
With that, he charged again, swinging both axes, every stroke carrying enough force to split mountains and shatter stone.
"Your beloved Warmaster made sacrifices of you long ago. Every minute you fight here feeds the chaos he desires!"
Sanguinius answered Skarbrand with an attack.
His spear shot toward Skarbrand's throat like a bolt of golden lightning, howling through the air.
It was a furious attack, sharper and swifter than any of his previous blows.
Yet that very fury introduced the slightest flaw into Sanguinius's movements.
For a warrior like Skarbrand, that slight flaw was enough.
He abruptly twisted aside, letting the spear scrape past his ribs. At the same instant, his other axe swept upward at a treacherous angle, aimed straight at Sanguinius's spear arm.
Sanguinius had to pull back at the last moment and lean away to keep his arm from being severed at the elbow.
But the tremendous force still struck the spear shaft, making it shudder violently in Sanguinius's grip.
The Skarbrand of old had indeed been unable to defeat