A cruel smile appeared on Lorgar's face.
That smile was like a blade slowly sliding from its sheath. Its edge had yet to touch its prey's skin, but already carried the chill of blood about to be spilled.
He stood in the shadows of the Shadow of the Emperor's Bridge, his gaze passing over Bella's frozen expression to the darkness still churning behind her.
"I think I know how to find Corax."
Bella's pupils contracted slightly.
She saw the fingers of Lorgar's sword hand slowly tighten around the hilt, and she knew what his words meant.
Lorgar did not need to search aimlessly throughout the Shadow of the Emperor for a Primarch who could hide in shadows.
He had already found better bait.
Bella was responsible for Corax's fall. The Primarch she had led into the abyss of Chaos could not remain indifferent to her peril.
Lorgar only needed to let Corax sense that an irresistible hand was choking the life from her, and the Primarch in the darkness would reveal himself like a moth drawn to a flame.
Alarm flashed across Bella's face.
The next second, Lorgar raised his blade and slashed at her.
The longsword traced a golden arc through the air, a pale golden glow of psychic energy flaring along its edge.
Bella's body reacted at the very last instant. She had never entertained the thought that she could block that blow.
She twisted aside without hesitation, retreating in an almost gliding motion. The blade swept past her face, severing several strands of her flowing black hair without touching her flesh.
She rolled backward in an arc and landed awkwardly behind the wreckage of a control console, sweeping one raised hand forward.
The Chaos Spawn crouched in the corners of the Bridge, the creatures that had once