People say there is a light at the end of a tunnel. Yet for me there was none.
All around was nothing but complete darkness. The feeling was suffocating. Something that can cause anyone to have a panic attack.
At least until the scene changes. A change so fast, shock could be the only real reaction.
The darkness didn't disappear but now light blotched the canvas. Millions on millions of tiny stars. As if they all at the same time set their eyes on him.
____
Guss drifted, at least that's what it felt like.
There was no ground beneath him, no weight that's common with a physical form, as well the pain was missing. The tearing, blood, and cold faded the moment darkness took over.
Guss looked down, what he saw was... nothing.
Or at least what could be described as nothing. He knew there was something there but it just wasn't visible.
It was something that was hard to understand. But even with the difficulty he still gave moving a shot.
And to his surprise moving his "body" was as easy as thinking.
The stars stretched endlessly in every direction. Countless points of light scattered across a void that felt deeper than anything he'd ever known. Even with the closest star being millions of light years away it didn't feel empty.
"What the hell..."
His voice came forward. He didn't know how it was possible but it still happened.
There was no echo from what he could hear, it was kind of there and then gone.
Still even with this discovery he still drifted, turning slowly while watching whatever he could.
While drifting for who knows how long Guss tried to piece together what happened that led up to this point.
It first started as just a recon mission. They got a report of potential weapon caches that the Crimson Veil had hidden in certain locations.
Then as they were scouting out the small village they entered a building that had an underground passage.
After following that passage they came to a room with a robed figure standing in some type of pentagram made of what looked like blood on the floor. As well as candles lined up at certain points of the pentagram. The figure himself looked to be holding a pendant that looked like some type of "goat skull?" It was hard to see.
Guss and his crew didn't have enough time to figure everything out before figures appeared out of the shadows and surrounded them with the stairs leading up also having figures coming down.
The last thing he remembered was the figure inside the pendant saying "Just in time I needed a good sacrifice."
Then the next thing he remembers is waking up on the floor, pain coursing through his side as his arm was torn off. Followed by an explosion and familiar faces.
Then complete darkness.
"So I've died huh..."
The words came out clear with no fear only resignation.
As Guss thought of more memories from his past, he let himself drift longer and longer until something changes.
And that change came not too long later.
____
There was no sound or light. Neither was it movement, yet something changed.
A presence, it gave off something vast, even more than the space he was in now.
It felt like something incomprehensible cast its eyes on him. And that feeling came from everywhere at once.
Guss froze without realizing it.
"I don't know where you are exactly, but should I call you God?" Guss said out into the open.
A voice answered, it wasn't loud and didn't come from any specific direction. It just simply existed.
"You are not wrong."
Guss just listened. Didn't try to turn or run. It was impossible anyway.
"So this is it, huh?" Guss let out a sigh as if accepting his fate.
"It is if you want it to be my son."
For what it's worth, that statement felt like a calming tonic.
Any stress if it was possible to have any, vanished completely allowing Guss to relax.
____
"You have had an eventful life haven't you."
It wasn't more a question but more like a fact.
"If you call dying to some mutated creature, then yes it had been."
Guss replied with a slight chuckle.
____
As Guss finished saying that images appeared in his mind of different moments in his life that has saved countless lives.
Such as a convoy under fire leading to an explosion that had trapped civilians under a burning vehicle.
Guss running over and dragging two people out, going back for a third while gunfire still passed overhead.
Or saving whoever he could from a collapsed building. Dust in the air, a hand reaching out of rubble for any salvation.
While others left the dangerous area, he stayed long enough to scan through the rubble a few times leading to more being pulled out.
Or when a teammate was pinned down, bleeding profusely.
Guss took it upon himself to cover him, leading him to take a few rounds to his arm and collar bone.
____
More and more images showed itself, allowing Guss to really see everything good he has done in his time alive.
Guss looked into the distance, his voice sounding a little defeated.
"I couldn't save them all."
The answer came without hesitation.
"No you couldn't."
What followed was a pause before he continued.
"But many live because you chose to act when others chose to flee."
Guss couldn't respond to that.
____
Time passed, or not?
It's hard to tell from where they are exactly.
"You may rest, we have a spot for you up in heaven."
The words from God hung there for a while. Allowing Guss time to think about it.
"Yeah I could..."
For a moment, it sounded like he would say yes, yet a second later his expression shifted. Memory flashing back to just before he died. To the massive creature wildly swinging an axe at the group in front of it.
"... Before that I have a question."
A pause before
"Ask what you have in mind."
Guss exhaled slowly before formatting his words correctly.
"The thing we fought."
Guss turned his head looking to where he believes God is.
"What the hell was it?"
Silence, longer than before. Like God was debating if he should talk about it or not.
After a few more moments God replied.
"It's called a Yoke Fiend."
The name settled yet Guss only frowned, confusion spreading through his mind.
"Yoke?"
"Yes a bound 'creature' that takes orders from their contracted masters."
He continued.
"A thing forged in suffering. Flesh reshaped by devotion twisted into cruelty."
The stars around them seemed to darken a little, as if God's mood changed.
"They are used by the armies of Hell. They aren't leaders, nor masters."
Another pause before.
"They are nothing more than tools made flesh."
Guss's 'jaw' tightened.
"There's more of them."
It wasn't a question.
"Yes, a lot more."
"And creatures even worse than that?"
Another pause.
"Yes."
Guss looked down, or where down should have been. Thinking, not for long though.
After all he already knew what he wanted to do.
"Can I go back?"
God didn't respond immediately.
Guss continued before God could answer anyway.
"Not like before. I know that's not how this works."
He flexed his hand, or the idea of one.
"I'm not asking to undo it."
A breath.
"I'm asking if I can do more."
The stars seemed to still.
"Send me back. Somewhere, anywhere it doesn't matter."
His voice hardened.
"Just… let me keep fighting them."
A long pause before the 'air' shifted.
It felt heavier as Guss stood there.
The pressure increased as to measure if what Guss said was serious or not.
Yet even with the pressure continuing to increase Guss didn't even flinch or look away.
____
"You would rather fight than rest? You earned it already from one lifetime."
"Yeah"
"You would throw away the peace waiting for you?"
"Yes."
Guss replied as serious as he could.
A silence followed before God continued.
"Why?"
Guss didn't hesitate.
"Because I saw what they do."
The fiend, the ritual, the bodies, the way it kept moving even after all that gunfire and having half its body missing. Even for how short a time.
Guss's voice lowered.
"And if that thing was just a tool..."
A breath.
"...Then someone's gotta start breaking the ones holding the leash. Don't you think?"
A huge 'smirk' flashed across his face. As if excited for what's to come.
Silence
Then for the first time in a long time.
God laughed.
With Guss 'smirk' growing into a laughter as well.
Until a feeling of something akin to approach washed over him.
____
"Hahaha... Sure boy."
Guss smiled before saying "That's all it took?"
"Yes"
The stars started to shift slow at first before speeding up as if in a ship going through light speed.
"You will be given another chance."
"However, not as you were. Some things will be changed for you to survive."
"Figured."
God took a moment before continuing.
"You will be given a little surprise gift to help you out. Think of it as a thank you for making this old man laugh in a long time."
Guss took a second before asking what it was going to be.
"That my dear boy ruins the surprise doesn't it."
"You will be sent to a place you should know. But it will be slightly altered."
Guss just silently listened before noticing that the stars were beginning to slow down meaning it was time.
God gave Guss one more piece of advice.
"By the way, be careful people there can be a bit extreme. Good luck and I hope I don't see you for a long time."
Guss just looked forward before saying one word.
"Thanks"
And with that everything went dark again. Guss's consciousness blacking out one more time.
____
____
Well that's it for this chapter, hope you enjoyed.
We made it to the start of the story. I want to say a couple things before it starts.
First, it's an AU of two different universes so I'll try my best to combine them as best I can but we will have to see.
Also I still don't have the best grasp of Warhammer 40k lore so let me know if I say something wrong.
Leave a comment and some powerstones if you want. See you tomorrow.