Two men sat facing each other in a cramped room.
One was Horus, clad in silver-white armor with a wolf-mastiff pelt draped over his shoulders.
Opposite him sat a silent Valdor.
The two sat facing each other, neither speaking.
Only when the door opened and Bona walked in did the atmosphere ease a little.
"You look terrible," Horus said.
"You're right about that."
Bona sat down in a chair, and Horus immediately felt an oppressive weight deep in his soul.
The oppressive weight of blackstone.
He knew Bona's psyker power had been steadily swelling, but he had never expected it to reach the point where Bona needed to carry blackstone to suppress it.
"Valdor, can you tell us your mission now?" Bona asked.
Valdor nodded slightly, then removed his helmet.
He glanced toward the door, and Bona immediately understood.
"There are no listening devices or anything of the sort here, and the room is shielded from the Warp."
"That had better be true. Nothing we discuss next can be allowed to get out in any form."
With that, Valdor stared at Horus.
Horus shrugged and rose to leave, but Bona raised a hand to stop him.
"Two people aren't enough. We need three."
After a moment of silence, Valdor accepted Bona's decision, and Horus sat back down.
"Ten thousand years ago, in the final moment before the Emperor took his place on the Throne, he entrusted me-or rather, us-with a mission."
"To find his true name."
"Then do everything in our power to stop him, even if that meant killing him."
Bona's and Horus's expressions instantly turned grave.
A true name.
Something of vital importance to beings of the Warp.
Whether one sought to summon a Warp entity or stop it, its true name was the most crucial double-edged sword.