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Truth of the Sword - John French

About the Author

A Black Library Publication

eBook license

TRUTH OF THE SWORD

John French

Doors and roofs rattled in the drift camps. Cords of static began to gather in the cables running from the electro-kites to their tethers. The smell of the storm was thick in Sigismund's nose. He could hear the cries of the murder gangs, far off but coming closer, as they ran with the storm. The ground beneath him sloped down from the crag of stones that jutted up from the sprawl. The metal bar lay in the dust between his feet where he sat. He closed his eyes, for a second.

'May I sit with you?'

Sigismund opened his eyes and looked up. A man stood next to him. His face was dark and lean. A ragged cloak of blue hung over battered and mismatched armour. His eyes were very dark. Sigismund began to rise, to open his mouth, but the man motioned him to stillness with a gesture.

'May I sit with you?' asked the man again.

Sigismund nodded.

'Yes,' he said, and he was suddenly aware that his limbs and body were clad in battleplate, his hands not bare but skinned in yellow ceramite.

The man lowered himself to the ground beside Sigismund and gazed out towards where the grey yellow blur of the storm had stolen the horizon

'We are not here,' said Sigismund. 'This was long ago. I am with you on Ullanor, not here. This is a dream.'

'We have always been here,' said the man

Sigismund felt his eyes close for a second, and a shutter-blur of years flicked across his vision.

'You have been fighting a long time,' said the man.

Sigismund opened his eyes. He could barely tell apart the sound of the hunting gangs and the cry of the rising wind. He noticed that the man had picked the iron bar up and was looking at it, eyes intent as he turned it over, as though it were a wonder of the ages and not a length of raw metal pitted with rust. The dark eyes glanced at Sigismund, knowing but not judging, hard yet sorrowful.

'You wish for peace,' said the man.

'Yes.' said Sigismund.

'You will not have it,' said the man. 'But your life has been lived for a purpose. You have purpose.'

'What purpose?'

'To stand.'

'Why?'

'Because someone must.'

The figure in battered armour stood and handed the iron bar to Sigismund. He nodded, and Sigismund saw there was tiredness in the eyes, the weariness of one who has come far and yet has further to go.

'We will win?' asked Sigismund 'The war, we will win in the end, won't we? It will be over?'

The man gave a sad smile and tapped the iron bar in Sigismund's hands.

'Ask the sword,' he said, and then he was turning, wrapping the fold of his cloak over his head.

Drops of rain had begun to fall. Cords of lightning arced down the cables of the electro-kites. Far off, but drawing closer, thunder growled. Sigismund watched as the man walked down the slope, a ragged outline in the billowing dust and ochre smog of the first fall of rain, then he was gone.

Sigismund was still for a long moment, and then stood. Rain struck his face, first one drop, then a scattering, then more. He looked at the black iron in his hand that would become a sword, and slowly, as he had for a lifetime and would for an eternity, he bowed his head and touched the cold metal to his forehead.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

John French is the author of several Horus Heresy stories including the novels The Solar War, Praetorian of Dorn, Tallarn and Slaves to Darkness, the novella The Crimson Fist, and the audio dramas Dark Compliance, Templar and Warmaster. For Warhammer 40,000 he has written Resurrection, Incarnation and Divination for The Horusian Wars and three tie-in audio dramas – the Scribe award-winning Agent of the Throne: Blood and Lies, as well as Agent of the Throne: Truth and Dreams and Agent of the Throne: Ashes and Oaths. John has also written the Ahriman series and many short stories.

A Black Library Publication

First published in Sigismund: The Eternal Crusader in Great Britain in 2022.
This eBook edition published in 2022 by Black Library, Games Workshop Ltd, Willow Road, Nottingham, NG7 2WS, UK.

Produced by Games Workshop in Nottingham.
Cover illustration by Leszek Woźniak.

Truth of the Sword © Copyright Games Workshop Limited 2022. Truth of the Sword, GW, Games Workshop, Black Library, The Horus Heresy, The Horus Heresy Eye logo, Space Marine, 40K, Warhammer, Warhammer 40,000, the ‘Aquila’ Double-headed Eagle logo, and all associated logos, illustrations, images, names, creatures, races, vehicles, locations, weapons, characters, and the distinctive likenesses thereof, are either ® or TM, and/or © Games Workshop Limited, variably registered around the world.
All Rights Reserved.

A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library.

This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental.

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