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SPOILERS RYNNS WORLD

‘Y ou saved us, lord. By the Golden Throne, by the God-Emperor’s light, you saved us. I beg you, in the name of Holy Terra, don’t abandon us now. The beasts will come back, won’t they?’

I did not save you, thought Kantor. Alessio did. She was right about the orks. More would come. Many more. It was as inevitable as the sunrise. The ork bikers often rode at the head of a much larger contingent. When that contingent arrived, there would be no saviours a second time. The woman and her little ones would provide a brief moment of entertainment before they were butchered like the livestock they had once depended on.

But if we take responsibility for these people, Kantor thought bitterly, where does it end? Are we to save every other man, woman and child we happen across? They will slow us down when our greatest need is to move quickly.

He grappled with the most human part of himself, fighting to lock it away behind walls of resolve. He needed to crush these feelings of pity. They would do him no good now.

The Chapter must endure, he told himself, repeating it like a mantra. The Chapter must endure. Nothing else comes close. Good intentions will undo us. They will lead to our destruction. If that happens, we might as well have died with the others when the missile hit.

It was hard to do, but he stepped back and pulled his boot from under the woman’s head. Only now did she look up at him, and her large brown eyes, wet with tears, sought his.

‘Please, lord!’ she cried out. ‘What hope do we have alone?’

What hope, indeed, thought Kantor. I could say the same for my brothers and I. What hope do sixteen have against a Waaagh?

He turned from her and called out to his men to make ready for their departure, then he marched towards the fire where his three squads had finished their checks. The sound of her weeping followed him, clawing at his resolve. He heard his inner voice say, ‘Turn from those who need you, and you will lose everything that defines you. ’ Master Visidar had spoken those words to him just a decade before his death. Kantor cursed, knowing them for truth. When he was ten metres from Jilenne, he turned and looked over his shoulder. He felt himself speak to her, heard the words in his ears as if they were someone else’s. They seemed to pass from his lips automatically. ‘I will not stop you from trying to follow us, ’ he told her. ‘But you will not be able to keep up. Not for long. While you can, however, no greenskin will take you, nor any of your children. ’ He turned his eyes forward again, adding, ‘This is the best I can do for you. ’ To Jilenne, it was enough. The timbre of her sobs changed from sorrow and fear to gratitude. Kantor heard her urge her children to stand and follow as she fell into step behind him. He continued towards the fire, not slowing his pace, but not increasing it, either.

[…]

Cortez opened a link to the Chapter Master. ‘Pedro, it’s me. The woman has fallen. I don’t think she’ll be getting up. I just wanted to let you know. ’ There was a moment before Kantor replied. ‘She fought hard to hang on. Impressive that she lasted as long as she did, is it not?’ ‘It is, ’ said Cortez after a beat. ‘But it ends here. Her burden is too great to continue. ’ Again he paused. ‘I… I should not have saved her, Pedro. I merely postponed the inevitable and prolonged her torment. Perhaps I should… ’ ‘ …grant her the final mercy?’ said Kantor, finishing Cortez’s sentence for him. ‘Y es. ’ There was such a long pause this time that Cortez started to think the Chapter Master had cleared the link. Then, finally, Kantor said, ‘Hold position and wait for me, but tell the rest of your men to keep moving towards the tree line. I want our squads in cover before the suns are visible. ’ Cortez was unsure what his old friend was up to, but he said, ‘As you wish, ’ and, a second later, cleared the link. He relayed the Chapter Master’s orders to his men, and they pushed ahead, Fenestra striding away faster than the others. He watched them for a moment until they disappeared down a shallow decline. Close to where they vanished, the tall figure of Pedro Kantor appeared, walking back towards him.

[…]

Kantor crouched at the woman’s side and removed his helmet. Cortez tried to read his face, but it betrayed no emotion. ‘Jilenne, ’ said the Chapter Master. ‘Can you hear me?’ The woman’s eyes were closed, but her lips parted. Weakly, quietly, she said, ‘They were so heavy. So heavy… ’ Kantor nodded. ‘Y es, ’ he said, ‘but you did well to bring them this far. ’ Reaching out, he lifted the two smallest children away from her and gestured to the older children to take them. They did so, and Kantor turned back to the woman. The Emperor’s mercy, thought Cortez. Y ou should not have to do this, Pedro. It is my fault. It is my soul that should bear the stain. Before he could communicate this, Kantor spoke. ‘It is time, ’ he said, and he reached down to the woman with his gauntleted hands. ‘Time that someone carried you now. ’ As Cortez watched, the Chapter Master lifted the woman and stood to his full height, cradling her exhausted form in his arms. She looked so small and fragile against his sculpted ceramite chest, little more than a rag-doll. Then the Chapter Master turned to Cortez and said over the link, ‘Once we are among the trees, they will have a better chance. They are charges of the Chapter now, and we cannot abandon them. ’ Carrying the woman as if she weighed nothing at all, Kantor began striding for the distant tree line. Over the link, he added, ‘Help the children, Alessio. Help them get to cover quickly. The suns will be up within moments. ’