Fashimel had nowhere left to retreat. (I like more this name)
The crowd shoved her forward again, and she bumped into Great Asurmen's psychic shield.
Even the softness at her chest was squeezed out of shape.
Fashimel let out a small sound and hurriedly edged back a step.
She only came up to Great Asurmen's chest. Looking up at that towering presence, she burned with shame at her own clumsy intrusion.
And yet she could feel it even more clearly now, the pull radiating from him.
This beautiful warrior was warm all over, her breathing unsteady, her chest rising and falling as she stood there at a loss.
She feared punishment from that existence. For a Child of Alaitoc, that would be humiliation.
But the punishment she expected never came. There wasn't even a strange look.
Great Asurmen lowered his gaze. Even his smile was elegant, and his gentle voice settled her heart.
"Guardian, you needn't be so rigid. I understand the pain in your souls, and your longing for shelter."
Eden smiled as he spoke, showing no reproach for the Alaitoc warrior's inadvertent offense.
With his psychic senses, he could feel the Children of Alaitoc's souls: fissured, fragile, starving for comfort and care.
He raised a hand and lightly set it against her pale, soft cheek, speckled with spots of blood.
"My lord…"
Fashimel flinched on instinct.
But for some reason, she didn't want to pull away. She let that presence touch her.
It was something she had never experienced before.
And then, very quickly, she felt an indescribable fullness.
A warm current, rich with fragrance and a powerful presence, poured into her soul.
Fashimel realized that Great Asurmen was healing her soul. The skein of fate had favored her.
As her soul mended and relaxed into that comfort, her long legs drew together involuntarily, and a wave of weakness rolled through her.
She had been healed in public.
"By the skein of fate…"
"This is a miracle!"
The Children of Alaitoc stared at the faintly trembling Fashimel, eyes wide, shock washing through them.
Even the seers could not accomplish something like this, yet the Great Asurmen before them had restored a withered soul webbed with cracks.
If that wasn't a miracle, what was?
In an instant, their awe and reverence deepened, and with it came a desperate yearning to receive the same blessing.
Could this exalted being truly be the Aeldari's savior?
In the span of moments, Great Asurmen had overturned the Children of Alaitoc's impressions of a Commorragh ruler.
He was not a mad, cruel, greedy schemer or pirate.
He was an elegant, benevolent ancient noble.
"Guardian, this is a gift you have earned."
After publicly gifting this Alaitoc Guardian with a surge of life energy, Eden produced a brilliant spirit-stone pendant and placed it in her hands.
He could tell the Guardian was kind and loyal. Odds were she had given her own spirit stone to kin who needed it more.
That sort of character deserved better.
"Uh… A-Asurmen, my lord… Thank you for your gift…"
Cradling the radiant spirit stone, Fashimel was so overwhelmed by the impact of her soul's healing that her words came out tangled.
Eden said nothing more. He only nodded, offering her an elegant smile.
He was in a good mood.
He'd wanted a perfect example to stage a "miracle," and this warrior had practically delivered herself to him.
Perfect.
Everyone knew the Aeldari were an intensely spiritual people, most of their culture rooted in their pantheon.
So long as he could seize a place in their inner world, the seers' opposition wouldn't matter.
Especially when they were desperately weakened, and he held the advantage of force.
When the time came, whether he played soft or hard, the seers would have no room to refuse.
After doing all this, Eden withdrew his hand and continued forward.
He could already see the outline of the residential districts.
Soon, more Aeldari would gather, and he would descend like the prophets of their myths.
Surrounded by countless Aeldari, he would walk step by step toward Alaitoc's core.
Behind him, Fashimel still hadn't fully come back to herself from that soul-filling sensation. The moment Asurmen's life energy was withdrawn, an unbearable emptiness yawned open inside her.
Her legs went weak, and she nearly collapsed.
Fortunately, her companions caught her in time, sparing her an even more undignified sprawl.
The Children of Alaitoc looked at Fashimel with envy in their eyes.
They could see it plainly: her soul had broken free of the Dark Prince's greedy corrosion and torment, becoming whole and pure.
The blessing of the skein of fate was so beautiful, and all of it had been bestowed by Lord Asurmen.
Fashimel's pale face was flushed. The softness at her chest still rose and fell, as though she were tasting some lingering aftereffect.
From the day she was born, she had never possessed such a complete soul.
She even sensed a faint damp warmth, and with it more strength returning to her body, her stamina recovering.
What she refused to admit was that the image of that presence still filled her mind, and she wanted nothing more than to draw close to him again.
That overwhelming aura, she might never forget in a lifetime.
"My lord, I will make good use of this gift, and protect more of our kin…"
Gazing at that elegant, noble back, Fashimel pressed the brilliant spirit stone to her chest with both hands, holding it tight.
Then, with renewed resolve, she led the Guardians after that presence, heading toward the central district.
In this region, some of the Children of Alaitoc had begun to believe that Great Asurmen could save this world as it slid toward ruin.
The influence of the Aeldari savior was spreading.
Once I reach the residential districts, I'll be surrounded by the masses. Won't Alaitoc's people be lining the streets, offering food and drink to welcome the king's host?
Eden nodded in satisfaction.
For now, he had only swayed a portion of the Guardians. The number wasn't large. More Aeldari were concentrated in the central district.
Once he crossed the defensive line and entered the city, he would truly be in his element.
But before he could reach the central district, an obstacle appeared: a force of Warlocks approached, their posture faintly barring the way.
"Lord Asurmen.
The High Farseer is willing to ally with you, but she has not permitted you or your forces to enter the central district."
The elder seer's eyes were clouded, yet the psychic power churning within him was potent.
It was a veiled warning: the distant kin of Commorragh were not to cross the boundary the High Farseer had drawn.
No Aeldari wanted Drukhari pirates too close to their core. Many didn't even want them on their world.
Even if Lord Asurmen's host looked different from other corsairs.
The elder seer's presence sharpened Eden's vigilance. He never underestimated any psyker.
Those creatures could tear open space itself and conjure vast Warp storms, full-field annihilation.
Especially Aeldari seers.
They had taken psychic mastery to heights humanity could not reach.
On the battlefield earlier, he had already seen how destructive Aeldari seers could be.
In extremis, they could even draw on the Infinity Circuit's spiritual power, inflicting catastrophic trauma on their enemies.
It was the amassed force of countless Aeldari souls, a mutual-destruction tactic.
Some craftworlds, on the eve of annihilation, would use such methods to die alongside their foes.
The Ultramarines had suffered that lesson before: an entire great host wiped out during an assault on a craftworld, and even a civilized world lost in the fallout.
After shattering that civilized world, the craftworld simply fled, and no one could catch it.
That was why Eden had no intention of forcing the issue head-on. It would be a double loss.
Even if he could block their psychic onslaught and protect every unit, he would likely end up crippling the craftworld's Infinity Circuit.
That did him no good.
And if some shard of the Death God, or an Avatar of Khaine, crawled out from an altar within the Infinity Circuit…
That would be a bigger problem.
Those beings were colossal. Dreadnoughts, Imperial Knights, heavy armor and the like would be little more than snacks before them.
Even if he summoned an Avatar of the Hope Sun and won, there wouldn't be much profit in it.
Unlike the old Imperium's "no cost too high" mindset toward heretics and xenos, Eden calculated the exchange. He did not fight wars that bled him dry.
He looked to the elder seer, maintaining his grace.
"Seer, Redemption Elysium has come to offer aid. Alaitoc needs our generous assistance."
His rule was simple: while they were weak, he would plant himself here and refuse to leave, taking as much as he could.
"Alaitoc welcomes any ally and any help, and we are grateful.
But if you truly wish to help this world, then please leave for now.
Soon, we will visit you ourselves to discuss the terms of alliance."
The elder seer's words were orderly and reasonable, but the caution in them was unmistakable. He might as well have said outright: I do not trust you Commorrite kin.
He knew Alaitoc had never been so weakened, and that was precisely why they could not expose their true state. He had to be harder now.
He needed the distant kin of Commorragh to understand that if they entertained unworthy thoughts, Alaitoc still had the strength to resist and go to war.
Give them only a few days, and the High Farseer could temporarily suppress the Dark Prince's Chaos taint and free herself from the Infinity Circuit.
Then her might would once again cover the entire craftworld, calling up the homeworld's spiritual power.
Even if the Commorrite kin tried to attack, it would not be so easy.
In the galaxy, every surviving Aeldari branch was formidable. None were simple to extinguish.
The elder seer looked toward the cluster of people behind Asurmen and frowned slightly.
"Children of Alaitoc, step away from that ruler of Commorragh. We must hold fast to our faith, restrain desire, and avoid indulgence."
The elder seer was outside Eden's life field and did not know what methods Lord Asurmen had used to draw their kin so close.
But he knew one thing: this could not continue.
The Children of Alaitoc hesitated. Reluctantly, they put distance between themselves and Lord Asurmen, but they did not fully leave. They were waiting for something.
Fashimel's blue eyes lingered on Asurmen's back.
After a moment's struggle, she crossed the boundary between the two sides and spoke to the elder seer, telling him everything she had experienced.
"Seer, that presence truly came to help us. He bears the blessing of the skein of fate…"
"That requires more proof.
Commorragh's kin are skilled at manipulating souls. That may be a false healing they conjured.
What's more, it could conceal a terrible risk.
Fashimel, you are still young. You do not understand the malice of Chaos.
We must be wary of any tampering with the soul. No one can know whether Commorragh's kin have truly fallen, whether the Dark Prince is guiding them to lay a trap for us."
The elder seer was patient as he explained to the young Guardian, only three hundred years old.
"I have lived too long. I have seen many seers blinded by false salvation, their souls falling into the hell the Dark Prince forged.
After this, you must go to the Path Shrine and let the seers examine your soul for any irregularities.
May the skein of fate watch over you…"
The elder seer's insistence left Fashimel with nothing to say.
Then he turned back to Eden.
"Lord Asurmen, Alaitoc thanks you for your help. Please depart as soon as possible, and you will have our gratitude…"
As he spoke, he displayed the payment behind him, Alaitoc's offered wealth. To Commorragh pirates, it would have been lavish.
A handout to send away a poor, rough cousin.
But when he saw Asurmen's host drawing closer, his words faltered.
That equipment, as splendid as it was artistic, and the spirit-stone fragments set into it…
Made Alaitoc's gift look pitiful by comparison.
This elder seer had rushed here first, lacking the full picture, trapped by old assumptions.
More importantly, his foresight had been muddied by the Dark Prince's taint.
He could only act on what his senses told him.
As for the higher seers, it was worse. They couldn't even leave the Infinity Circuit.
The elder seer looked at Fashimel, momentarily stunned.
That was Asurmen's host?
His body trembled slightly. Commorragh's distant kin were far stronger than he had imagined, and that only made it more vital that they not be allowed into Alaitoc's core.
The elder seer drew a deep breath.
He prepared to order the Warlocks into a final standoff, delaying for as long as possible.
Alaitoc was like a wounded lion, but it could still bare its remaining claws to frighten off enemies.
It needed time to lick its wounds.
"Lord Asurmen, your actions are destroying our alliance!" The elder seer's voice hardened as he watched the assault skimmers roll in.
The Warlocks raised their guard as well.
As Alaitoc's last elite force, they could unleash terrifying destruction.
Eden would not let this old seer shatter the friendly atmosphere he had cultivated for so long, nor would he give Alaitoc's High Farseer time to recover.
He had never forgotten why he'd come: to "deliver warmth."
If the upper seers were stubborn, then he needed to seize the middle and lower ranks of Alaitoc as quickly as possible.
"Seer, you may be mistaken about us.
Commorragh, or rather Redemption Elysium, has no desire for Alaitoc's wealth. The abundance we possess is beyond your imagining.
And we have received the selfless protection of the Goddess of Life Isha."
Eden's voice carried on psychic resonance, spreading outward so every Child of Alaitoc could hear.
Lord Asurmen's words, paired with Redemption Elysium's vehicles, the host's gorgeous armor, and their proud composure, were compelling.
The Children of Alaitoc gathering in greater numbers turned their eyes on Redemption Elysium's warriors.
They realized those Commorrite kin looked at them the way they themselves looked at the scattered, backward Aeldari eking out lives in the wilds.
It was something the Children of Alaitoc had never experienced.
In that moment, the craftworlders were being looked down on by Commorragh?
(End of Chapter)
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