Chapter Eighty-One

Swamps. Point Lookout.

Farseer Galadeer carefully studied the strands of fate that made up destinies of the humans of his world, she focused on those she watched and saw their lives play out in a number of different ways. In most futures the hunters caught their prey and dispatched her in a rather gruesome way. Only in a few timelines did she escape and those possible future were quickly disappearing. She didn't need to cast the runes to know that human female was unlikely to survive much longer.

The Warp here was corrupted in a way different than what she was used to and unlike the rest of this world the barrier between this dimension and others was weaker here. That along with the radiation and the inbreeding had caused many of the native humans to become mutant creatures with a taste for human flesh.

Two of these swampfolk were currently hunting a mon'keig female who had simply wandered into the lands claimed by the swampfolk. There were tribal fetishes hung up from the trees to mark places the swampfolk called home, but in the dark the human woman had not seen them. Her kind saw so little of what was going on around them.

Not that she was ignorant to the fact that they were hunting her as the swampfolk had no subtly in them. The two deformed males, one as bloated as some worshippers of the plague god the other was so small that he might be mistaken for a child if not for excessive amount of facial hair, had been chasing her for some time, making sport of it.

"No wonder the humans of this world killed themselves" remarked a ranger "They take pleasure in their cruelty towards one another".

The Farseer had begun to see humans differently since she'd learned that the salvation of her race would be possible due to a human and she worried than once the Eldar were free of their own doomed galaxy that one day they might revert to such base behaviours as they had during the height of their empire.

"Our people did far worse to each other before The Fall" the Fareseer reminded the ranger "And our dark kin in Webway still commit such sins even upon each other".

For all their superiority it hadn't be the Eldar who found a means to flee their doomed galaxy and it wasn't the Eldar who'd been able to spread out into different universes.

"Save the human woman" the Farseer ordered.

The ranger hadn't expected to hear those words. Mercy was a weakness in their own universe, however this was not their universe.

"She's jut a foul smelling ape" the Eldar with the long range weapon protested.

The Farseer wasn't used to explaining her actions but the younger alien was a Ranger, an Eldar who had decided to leave their Craftworld and the Paths that the Craftworld Eldar normally walked upon, choosing instead to follow the Path of the Outcast, seeking excitement and adventure in the open galaxy. Many never return to their Craftworld, dying alone and forgotten or falling from grace into the hands of Slaanesh. Sometimes, however, Rangers return to their Craftworld, having sated their desire for adventure and are welcomed back as this young one had been.

"These swampfolk are corrupted, they worship something unnatural, something dark, and therefore they must be cleansed" Galadeer stated "We will start with these hunters".

The Ranger fired his weapon twice and killed the two hunters in the time it would take a human's heart to beat.

"All of the corrupted must be cleansed" ordered the Farseer, who knew that her more loyal followers would hear her "Spare those who are not tainted".

The warriors began to move, they were unseen by human eyes and if not for the Farseer's psychic gifts she would have a hard time keeping track of her warriors.

"I will seek out the source of this corruption and deal with it" said Galadeer to the ranger "For that I will need your aid".

Whatever this creature was that had influence over the people and this land would be too powerful for her to battle directly so she would seeks out the means by which it interacted with this plane of existence. Most likely there was an altar that could be destroyed or maybe some dark artefact she could cleanse.

As for the Outcast they didn't wish to aid humans, but the Farseer wished to observe the Rogue Trader and his people, and to win their favour by aiding their endeavours with the hope that later the Imperials would aid the Eldar. The Ranger didn't think that this would go smoothly, but until then he'd keep travelling his path and see where fate took him.