Medea Betancore glared at her master uncertainly, then noticed Drusher approaching.

‘Magos,’ she nodded. She looked back at Eisenhorn.

‘I’ll see you later,’ she said.

They left the gatehouse and walked down-range into the forest. The sun had raised a mist from the forest floor, and it fumed like smoke through the glades. Macks and her deputies led the way in a loose line, followed by Nayl and Voriet, with Eisenhorn, Jaff and Drusher bringing up the rear. The progress was leisurely, mainly held back by the speed of the inquisitor’s progress.

‘You didn’t have to accompany us, magos,’ said Jaff.

‘Well, I feel I’ve come this far,’ replied Drusher lightly. ‘I’d like to see the rest.’

‘Do you know what the rest is?’ she asked.

‘No, mam, which is why I want to see it.’

‘A man should sometimes be careful about what he wants,’ said Jaff.

Jaff moved on ahead, leaving Drusher to keep pace with Eisenhorn.

‘She’s right,’ Eisenhorn said. ‘You may regret this, magos.’

‘Because it’s going to be dangerous, sir?’

‘Yes,’ said Eisenhorn. ‘There is a chance you won’t survive the experience. Or worse–’

‘There’s a worse?’

‘Always. That you may survive it and wish you hadn’t. That the memories will haunt you for the rest of your days.’

A redbeak trilled in a nearby tree.

‘Tell me about the case,’ said Drusher.

‘The case?’

‘Goran Gobleka. The Cognitae. I may as well know as much as possible, so I can be of as much use as possible. I’m hardly a security risk if I’m going to be dead or insane by the end of the day.’

‘The Cognitae are a secret order,’ said Eisenhorn. ‘You might think of them as a cult, or coven. Their organisation is very old. It may even predate the founding of the Imperium. Certainly, in the last few centuries, it has enjoyed a resurgence in these subsectors. The Cognitae are a pernicious threat to the very foundations of our society. They are ruthless, and they employ dangerous levels of intellectual rigour.’

‘What do they want?’ asked Drusher.

‘What does anybody want?’ replied Eisenhorn. ‘Power. Mastery. Control. They believe that the domination of our culture, and indeed the liberation of our species, lies in the use of forbidden knowledge. Lore that is heretical in nature and too dangerous for man to know. The secrets of the Archenemy, and the wisdom of the warp.’

‘Do you mean… magic?’

‘That is a misleading term, but, like “ghost”, it will serve as far as you’re concerned. The Archenemy of man has the means to unlock and control the very fabric of reality. The Cognitae wish to acquire that ability for themselves.’

‘And you’re hunting them?’