It had been days since the Beloved had sacrificed the last of his followers and the warding circle that had been created from his blood had long since dried up and was beginning to frost over from the bitter cold found inside the abandoned prison complex. Soon the ward’s power would wear off and would need to be replenished with fresh blood but there was no one else living in the complex but him. He knew this as a fact because he had reached out with his mind scanning as far as his broken sanity would allow and he never saw another soul on Mara but his own. Several of the Psycheneuin hovered, or flew in lazy circles, nearby just on the outside of the warding circle. They could feel that the ward was failing and had been nearby ever-waiting. Waiting for the protection to fail so that the Beloved’s soul would be theirs to feed on.

The gibbering of the Widower’s face babbled some more incoherent phrases in the background. The infrequent babble was annoying at first, but the Beloved had developed a level of comfort from it. It made him think that he was not alone- even if his companion was saying nothing but nonsense, though sometimes the things it said appeared to have meaning and the Widower knew much about a variety of topics, including dark secrets. But there was no organization to the babble and it left much to ponder.

The Psycheneuin suddenly changed their behavior and seemed to be interested in something else. The Beloved could feel it- a presence. The soul of a human was approaching. He grabbed his Heron-shaped masked and placed it onto his head and waited for his visitor. It did not take long before footsteps crunched on the ice-crusted steel corridor and a lithe female figure in a black robe wearing a cat-shaped mask stopped outside the circle- The Sinner. The Beloved could smell the fresh blood of a recent sacrifice on the Sinner and the Psycheneuin swam in the air around her unable to take action.

“The False Prophet?” she asked the Beloved.

“Dead, died at the hands of those who intervened on Quaddis.”

“The same ones…interesting…” The Sinner sighed, “No matter…you have failed. The Black Sun has manifested over Dusk. Death and chaos reigned briefly but it was different this time. Only a brief period before the Black Sun’s departure. Something has changed. I have intercepted Imperial reports sighting his ship making its way towards the Kronus Expanse…the seers have confirmed this with their sight. I came only to recover the artifacts in hope to try again. “

The Beloved took out the piece of shattered mirror and threw it down the hall where it failed to break but clinked noisily before coming to rest. “Worthless…this avenue is closed to us. It sounds like someone has already freed him…”

“What now? Pursue his ship? He will not be so easy to negotiate with since he is no longer contained.”

“No,” the Beloved gestured to mumbling Widower’s face on the floor. “It’s babbling has told me of a new prospect…a great and powerful evil that was banished hundreds of years ago but is ready to walk the worlds of man again.”

Interested, the Sinner inclined her head to the Beloved, “How will this come to pass? Who is this evil?”

“I do not know the name of the evil yet, but I know the name of the one responsible for freeing it- Macoff.”