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The bell.
The bell… that gilded solitary chime…
Had there been a voice or was that solely a figment of a limited imagination, conjured up in a brief second of scarce lucidity or was it an unknown push of a piece in a game that should have been lost so many millennia ago?
It did not know.
It should have never known.
Especially not in a dimension where all it was meant to be known for was the destruction, gore, annihilation and carnage that it wrought upon any who were ever unfortunate to come across its path in the eternal competitive bloodbath that permeated every corner within the hellish realm that belonged to Khorne.
Though, this time, it was not in the midst of the murderous clashes of men, daemon and beast opposed against one another — trying to bring wretched glory to the name of the God that ruled this infernal place. The screams and cacophonous din of noise from thunderous skies to rumbling earth did not sway its attention from the current perch it held on a nearby craggy and jagged cliff side.
Wicked hooves set deep into the rock-face, sending scattered scree rolling down the side every single time it shifted. Its gargantuan form took a posture so similar to a gargoyle of eld, wings pulled back and limbs pulled in close as hellfire-laced eyes gazed down towards the bodies, viscera and the muck.
Searching.
Searching for…—
What?
There was nothing there — nothing that mattered to it. Nothing that pushed through the hazy mist of bloodlust. Nothing that quieted the sonorous howls of carnage and brutality echoing all around its body.
And its head.
Its mind.
Its gigantic barbed tail lashed out behind itself in agitation, a low rumbling growl vibrating from its throat and through its entire being as it shook its head from side to side — the action of scanning the horizon line becoming more frantic for a few brief seconds. Anything.
Anything?
Wait…
What was it looking for?
…
…
Frustration built quickly, giving way to fury and rage as its wings suddenly spread out wide and the arms it kept so close around its chest were now thrown from the protective hold to a feral stance. Hunching over more, it grasped at the rocky edifice as desperation broke through for the smallest of seconds when it scanned the horizon again.
Where was…?
It couldn’t have just made up that striking image after countless millennia, yet now even that brief glimpse was slipping through its thoughts—his thoughts—ITS THOUGHTS—like water through a sieve.
That body — that form had been so familiar.
What was so familiar?
It brought its giant clawed hand to the side of its head again, digging in deep as if that had been the catalyst before — it was what was happening before the appearance made manifest right in front of him—it.
There were no bells this time.
Were there ever any bells?
Or was it only another figment of a limited imagination?