‘The Pilgrim is the end,’ the man continued. ‘It comes, and when we look up into the dark, we are looking at the doom of our world.’

‘What is the ruin it brings?’ Sanguinius thought he already knew the answer to that.

There was yet another moment of silence, as if the mortals feared that their answers would be a conjuration. The old woman stepped forwards, seeking comfort in Sanguinius’ shadow. She bowed her head and whispered, ‘Nightmares. Nightmares that walk, and we cannot awake from the sight of them.’

‘And change,’ the younger man said. ‘The ruin is change. The worlds are transformed.’

‘Into what?’ said the Angel.

‘Into nightmares.’

‘We thank the Emperor for you coming,’ said the one-armed man. ‘You will stop the dark fates, lord. You will stop the Pilgrim.’

The hope in their eyes pulled at Sanguinius. It gave him no strength. They were feeding on his presence.

He met with his brothers in the command chamber at the top of the keep’s squat turret. It was a pyramidal structure on the roof. Narrow armourglass windows looked out over the camp in every direction. The walls, floor and furnishings were iron. It was a space of cold functionality. Khalybus brought the primarchs to the room, and then withdrew. When they were alone, the Lion described what had been found outside the Pandorax System.

‘The way to Terra is through Davin,’ he said.

Guilliman frowned. ‘I understand that you believe this to be the case,’ he said. ‘Your message to us must have come at a great cost to your astropaths.’

‘It did,’ said the Lion.

‘And I understand that you felt the cost we paid to answer it was necessary as well.’

‘I do.’

‘What I do not understand,’ said Guilliman, ‘is why you are convinced. Why Davin? How will going there, assuming we can, bring us closer to Terra?’

Sanguinius answered for the Lion. ‘Because Horus fell at Davin.’

‘I know he was injured there, but…’

‘No,’ Sanguinius cut him off. ‘That is where he fell. Where he turned from our father.’ As soon as the Lion had spoken the name of the world, Sanguinius had known his brother was right. The light coming in the windows turned brittle. The sense of onrushing fate reached into Sanguinius’ hearts with its freezing touch. He felt again as he had on the bridge of the Red Tear with the shadow of the phantom reaching for him. The limits of his perception thrummed with the beat of fate’s advance.