All dead. Everything was dead. Except something waited in the necrosphere. The auspex had picked it up several times during the transit through the shell. The first reading came just seconds before the primarchs alerted the fleets to the presence of an enemy. The last time was as the Sthenelus had emerged from the shell into the Davin System. None of the contacts had lasted for more than a fraction of a second. Never long enough to triangulate the foe’s position, its size, or its nature. Just enough to confirm its existence. There had been no contacts since the frigate had reached the void inside the necrosphere.

Khalybus was patient. He would wait for the enemy to move again. While the three Legions travelled to Davin and began their landings, he held the Sthenelus back. Alone, the ship prowled, hunting the Pilgrim.

He had ignored the glowering stare at his back for hours. He finally grew tired of it. Without taking his gaze from the oculus, he said, ‘I know what you are going to say, Iron Father. My orders will stand. But speak, and I will listen.’

‘I do not speak for the benefit of outsiders,’ said Cruax. His voice sounded like stones rattling in a hollow iron case.

‘I’ll withdraw,’ Levannas said. He stood at the starboard end of the strategium. The Raven Guard kept himself still, merging with the shadows pooling at the base of the wall. It was easy to forget he was there. Cruax made a point of never forgetting. The years of fighting alongside Levannas had done nothing to temper the Iron Father’s dislike. The XIX Legion had failed to support the Iron Hands at the crucial moment on Isstvan V, and for Cruax, the sin of the primarch was the sin of the entire Legion. The stain could never be expunged, no matter how vital a role the remnants of the Raven Guard had played in the survival of Khalybus’ company ever since.

‘No,’ Khalybus said. ‘Your place is on the bridge.’ He had no great love for the XIX, but he had learned to value Levannas’ strategic mind, and his friendship. The war was too long and too desperate to turn from any winning strategy, and any true ally. Khalybus had adapted the company’s tactics to the new war. He believed that he had not betrayed the tenets of the X Legion. And he had Cruax to keep him honest.

The Iron Father grunted, displeased. Then he said, ‘Our vigil here is for nothing. Meanwhile, three Legions are on the surface of Davin. We are not where the war will be.’

‘I think you’re wrong,’ Khalybus said. ‘There is no fighting yet on Davin. I believe the attack will come from here.’

‘From where?’ said Cruax. ‘We are patrolling less than a sliver of that surface. We have wasted enough time.’

Khalybus glanced Levannas’ way. ‘Do you agree?’