On the bridge of the Vengeful Spirit, thick with the scent of ancient machine lubricants, ionized ozone, and a lingering trace of blood, the Thousand Sons sorcerer Khayon silently watched the massive figure standing before the observation window.
Abaddon, the Chaos Warmaster he served.
A deeply complicated emotion flickered across Khayon's weathered face.
He had followed Abaddon for a long time and had witnessed his fury, his obsession, and his almost pathological struggle to escape Horus's shadow.
But only now did Abaddon seem to have truly completed his transformation.
When Typhus's Death Guard fleet vanished into the currents of the Warp, when Lorgar's Word Bearers turned away with fanatical radiance to join Cadia's feast of destruction, Khayon had expected Abaddon to erupt in thunderous rage.
That was the Warmaster he knew, one who dealt out the cruelest reprisals for any form of betrayal and answered any enemy who dared challenge his authority with the most horrifying methods.
That utterly intolerant brutality was precisely the change Abaddon had made in order to step out from Horus's shadow.
After all, everyone knew that before the Wolf Lord was sent into the temple on Davin, he had been renowned for his tolerant, gentle image, balancing kindness with authority.
With both a warm, approachable nature and boundless majesty like rolling thunder, Horus had earned the love and awe of countless people and perfectly shouldered the Warmaster's duties the Emperor had entrusted to him.
Abaddon, however, was completely different from Horus. As the Legion's First Captain, he had always focused not on thinking, but on carrying out orders.
After all, there had been too many wise men in the Legion: Horus, Sejanus, Maloghurst, Garviel Loken...
After the Great Betrayal ended, Abaddon had been forced to step forward and become the commander of the remaining Chaos