Novel & Cerita Crimson Hunters 40k

Lucian’s face darkened. “They found us.” ⸻ A shadow descended through the broken roof. Then another. Then dozens. Figures dressed in crimson armor landed upon the cathedral floor without making a sound. Unlike the Lost Keepers… Their armor bore no phoenix. Only a single crimson eye. Burning. Watching. ⸻ Cassian whispered one name. “The Crimson Covenant.” ⸻ Aurelius slowly closed his eyes. “I hoped they had vanished.” ⸻ Their leader stepped forward. A tall woman with flowing white hair.

They moved like ink drops in water, their forms shifting between human and geometric shapes. **The Original Hunters.** They didn't carry weapons. They carried "Prisms"—small, floating crystals that sucked the color out of everything they touched. "**[IDENTIFIED: PRIMARY ENERGY SOURCE,]**" the Hunters spoke, their voices echoing directly in our minds like the scratching of a needle on a record. "**[VESPERA. RETURN TO THE VAULT. THE COLLECTION IS INCOMPLETE.]**" "Get behind me!" I roared, stepping in front of the huddled Pack.

Clop. From the crimson depths of the forest, three silhouettes emerged, silhouetted against the dying embers of my magma fire. They were massive, clad in ornate, blood-stained silver armor that seemed to pulse with a heartbeat of its own. They rode nightmarish steeds—beasts of shadow and exposed bone, their eyes glowing with the same corrupted red light as the Progenitors. "The Crimson Knights," Valerius hissed, his voice trembling as he leaned against a charred pine. "The Sires' personal executioners. They don't track by scent, Killian. They track by the resonance of your soul."

I temper her thoughts as I begin to recite my conversation with Lamia, bringing these werecats and whatever Crimson is, up to date and informing them of the new enemy – Orion Artos. “We are not strong enough,” Crimson interjects after I have relayed the details. “They are going to war in less than three months. I will be the first to admit our army has been weakened.” I watch Crimson as he runs a hand down his face and then through his dark curls. His yellow eyes flashed in a reptilian way. I swear they change, not just the color because I have witnessed them turning a deep red. But the pupils sometimes seem to take on a different shape.

Silver Fang Citadel’s gates groaned on their hinges as the dark banner of the Crimson Covenant unfurled against a sky still breaking into dawn. Nyra Duskbane stood atop the ramparts with Ryker at her side and Caelum Varis just behind, the twin daughters in Kaelia’s arms. Their battered host, angels, wolves, demon-hunters, lined the walls, hearts pounding at the sight of fresh legions. “You see them?” Ryker whispered, voice tight. “Thousands of warriors… clad in coilmail that shifts like oil.”

When he spoke, his voice carried the weight of ancient death. “We are the Crimson Hunters.” A collective gasp swept through the room. The name struck terror into every elder present. Aurelia felt it instantly. A primal warning. The Hunter’s gaze locked onto her. “At last,” he murmured. Selene moved to stand beside him. Kael stared at her in horror. “You allied with them?” She smiled. “They serve a necessary purpose.” Lucian’s claws extended. “You’ve doomed us all.”

A recognition that lived below thought. The woman's eyes opened fully. Crimson. Not human. Deep glowing red lit from somewhere inside, burning steady and old and alive. Tyra stepped back. "Who are you." "You already know," the woman said. Her voice was warm and cracked at the edges like something that had been through fire and come out the other side. She moved forward, each step soundless on the black soil. Her crimson eyes moved over Tyra's face with a desperation that was almost physical. Like someone who had been kept from something for so long that seeing it again hurt. "You have always known."

The travel through space and time with her physical body had taken its toll, and it was likely that she would slumber for a few more days. “Your friends are coming. For a moment there, they seemed terrified of you.” Crystal observed. “As they should be. They just watched me silently butcher several hundreds of men without flinching.” Mane stated. “You seem very calm about all this,” Crystal stated. Unlike Aurora, she was quite vocal with Mane. “I am. From the moment I accepted the position of Hunter, I knew that I would be ostracized by the world.” “Everything and everyone will come after me, but I don’t mind it.” “Because I would have gone after them anyway.”

she said, finding my confused gaze again. "Aaron? But their nests are impossible to find. Not unless... light have mercy," I said, feeling like I'd been punched in the chest. "We're gonna go," Lills mumbled, getting to her feet. I nodded, too lost for words to find the one's that would make her stay. Scorchers were dangerous, a militia that stood outside the rules and laws the rest of us lived by. They were those who'd committed their lives to the destruction of every non human creature beyond the borders of the Diarna, the furthest mining town in the south. They married their work and bred for numbers. They were smart, strong and loyal to a fault and would rather see our entire world blaze

The sky begins to quickly fill up with dark clouds as the last standing witches beside her finally succumb to death. “You have hunted us, made us hide in darkness, burnt our people on stakes of fire, and so I curse you and all your kind to the same fate. You shall always have to hide away in the darkness. The sun and fire will be your nemesis...” Blood spurts from Catherine’s mouth as she tries to continue her speech, her body quivering hard under the onslaught of the wind. The red mist around her disappears, and as she falls to her knees the last she sees is a red sun rising up above the dark clouds, and then darkness.