On a remote, lifeless world, a meeting took place between a pirate gang and xenos. Any Astra Militarum soldier would be shocked by the appearance of these beings.

In some places, the individuals appeared gaunt, tortured, and mutated. They resembled puppets lined up around their master. Autoguns and laser weapons had long gone without maintenance, and the people's eyes were completely devoid of emotion.

Dressed in power armor, the psyker patiently awaited the arrival of his future allies.

He looked exhausted. His hair, grayed by the warp, was cut short, and his eyes were hidden behind protective goggles. The power armor was of Adeptus Mechanicus origin, but the back was integrated with a dark eldar power unit.

He wore xeno weapons of dreadful value on the open market on a standard Imperial belt. A plasma rifle that could penetrate any target's protection.

Yet despite all his techno-heresies, he did not worship Chaos. His pride, and perhaps memories of the original world, prevented him from embracing the gods of the warp.

The psyker had been standing at the meeting point for two hours already, and his legs hadn't shifted. He was absorbed in the whispers of another demon.

His meditation was interrupted by the arrival of the xenos. A group of Eldar literally appeared out of thin air. A fully equipped group led by a farseer.

The Imperium of Man, it sounds like a state of people. Yet not all of us are people under the fascist theocratic dictatorship.

As a psyker, Ezok has every right to hate humans. That's why he needs an alliance with other enemies of mankind.

Making gestures showing the Lilleath rune. Ezok spoke the pre-learned phrase. His words fairly well imitated the speech of the Eldar.

"Iem uantas creag-leram aul"

The phrase provoked a range of emotions, the farseer did not expect such knowledge of their language from a mon-keigh.

"Iem uiel-pivam aul yass kanos los Eldar bhas"

Ezok slightly smiled and raised his hands. His psyker powers dissipated, and the pseudo-life left the bodies of the pirates.

The group of his zombie slaves finally died. The people fell like sacks of meat. Such actions did not provoke aggression from the farseer, and the xenos expected the next words from the mon-keigh. This was the first time in all the thousands of years of his life that he was able to hear such a perfect imitation of the Eldar language from a mon-keigh.

"Iem asha los Eldar-tier, shta iem gairam ukas tokreith"

Ezok pointed his finger at his head and made the gestures of Eldanesh.

"Kiv daeri los iem mien sitos vochas"

Showing his emotions through a weak release of power, he confidently spoke out.

"Iem eaBorif fae los d'mon-keigh, kal yass uial mien"

His gestures became slightly more aggressive.

"Iem eanive tokreith d'mon-keigh, ob moraith uial tenor"

At the very end, he knelt down and expressed the Eldar etiquette of humility.

"Sin aul tokreith, iem furaBorif aul yass istaBorif-creag ob Imperium"

His words were jumbled in places, he was making tremendous efforts to emulate the strange Eldar language, but still conveyed his thoughts.

The farseer became even more interested in this mon-keigh. His mind touched the consciousness of the psyker.

'Our dark brothers have played a joke on you, the language you have learned is wrong.'

Realizing the telepathic connection, Ezok got up from his knees and conveyed his thoughts to the farseer.

'Is the problem in the gestures?'

The farseer smiled, and corrections of all the mistakes made appeared in Ezok's mind. Ezok's eyes widened in surprise as he stared at the Eldar. The whispers of demons disappeared for a brief moment.

'Thank you.'

The farseer pointed north.

'Let's take a walk, I would like to hear your tragedy.'

Ezok followed the farseer, and the other Eldar did not interfere with them.

One man and one Eldar walked side by side.

'Having received a message from a Harlequin, I thought it was just a joke. What made a human go to Commorragh?'

'I was brought there by a close friend.'

The farseer literally oozed emotions of surprise.

'You befriended a dark one?'

Ezok shook his head, then showed his hand. Scars were visible on the wrist, and strange green energy literally oozed through the veins.

'They can hardly be called Eldar.'

The farseer overcame his contempt, he unexpectedly grabbed the mon-keigh's hand, and then released it. The Eldar finally understood how the psyker ended up on this planet.

'The Mark of the Mandrake. So that's how you got into this world. How did you do it?'

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Ezok answered casually, but his emotions betrayed the psyker for the first time, and the farseer clearly sensed them.

"Iem agBorif thia los uth'or furta sib aul istau"

For the first time, he expressed strong emotions, starting with a slight cough, and then bursting into sincere laughter.

'Amazing tragedy. I'm not surprised that the mandrake is interested in you. Tell me, mon-keigh, do you really want to betray your race?'

Ezok gritted his teeth slightly, but quickly calmed down. The psyker switched to Low Gothic, he did not want to share his anger with the Eldar through telepathy.

"I am not betraying my race, I am liberating it."

The alien did not show irritation, he continued the conversation in Gothic.

"Do you not consider mon-keigh without abilities your race?"

Ezok nodded.

"The Imperium cannot exist without the oppression of psykers. We have no rights and are hunted like animals. Every day, the Golden Tyrant devours the souls of my brethren. Voidships use capsules of psykers to power their warp drives. The Astronomicon Choir takes those the Golden Tyrant was too lazy to devour. Others, under the influence of brainwashing, hunt their less fortunate brethren."

The psyker was briefly distracted by the whispers in his head, but immediately continued to express incomparable hatred.

"For the Imperium, we psykers are just wild groxes. The mere implementation of automation based on electronics, not biological components, would stop the killing of billions of psykers. Yet the ships continue to fly, sucking the life out of psykers."

"The Astronomicon is only needed to collect the tithe, so that the nobility of Terra can continue to oppress ordinary people. I flew on pirate ships without navigators, we as warp guides coped well enough with short warp jumps, and long warp jumps are possible with a tuned system of warp beacons. But warp beacons would give planets autonomy, and oppressors need tithes and military expansion. Psykers are cheap fuel, and our lives are quite suitable for the demonic ritual to maintain the Astronomicon."

The farseer nodded, the mon-keigh was absolutely right. The mon-keigh traveled after the birth of She Who Thirsts. The Astronomicon simply facilitated long warp jumps along uncharted routes. The artificial intelligence that the mon-keigh had abandoned did this job much better.

"We are not treated as humans. When you can't even sleep 4 hours a day. When you are cornered like an animal. Living in fear all your life, I don't want to call the people of the Imperium my race."

Pausing, Ezok calmed his emotions. "For the children of Azyr, the Imperium is a monster fighting another monster. You need agents, saboteurs, or those who can distract the enemy at a critical moment of catastrophe. I just need training, as the voices in my head greatly weaken me."

The farseer considered the mon-keigh's offer. The psyker was dangerous, full of hatred and most importantly...

He was useful to their world ship. Traitors among humans are not uncommon, but almost all turn to the embrace of the damned. The mon-keigh's hatred of aliens does not allow the Eldar to recruit agents from among the inhabitants of the Imperium.

A psyker with such power could be an incredibly useful tool. The Eldar decided to look into the future, and then make a decision.

Ezok felt the fluctuations in the warp, but did not interfere with the Eldar. He assumed what the farseer was going to do. The Eldar finished his divination in ten minutes.

The farseer finished his divination in ten minutes.

He understood that the psyker did not pose death to the Eldar, but would bring immense suffering to the mon-keigh. The farseer frowned, he still remembered the death of his brethren at the hands of the Imperium. Knowing his slight selfishness, he decided to provide the psyker with more assistance than he originally intended.

"Iem furaTokreith aul shta marg Kaos, an iem eafuraCreagleram ob kel-ial kiv aul istaTokreith istau iem"

Ezok finally heard the long-awaited answer. He bowed and replied.

"Iem uiel-yirral asha borif-leram istau iem istaTokreith"

The farseer pointed east.

"Then let's go to the camp, you will await your teacher in one of the houses."

They walked slowly through the savannas of the lifeless world. The psyker did not ask the Eldar which worldship they were from. He did not ask how the dark Eldar managed to organize the meeting, he just wanted to get rid of the voices in his head.

Soon they arrived at a clearing where the Eldar camp was located. Their elegant dome-shaped buildings, as if carved from living stone, harmoniously blended into the harsh landscape. The Eldar, exhausted by long wanderings, found refuge here from the merciless winds of Fate.

Ezok could immediately tell the camp was decades old. The most noticeable were the huge gates in the center, it was unknown where they led, but he could assume they were connected to their world ship.

The farseer led him to one of the houses and quietly left.

Inside the Eldar house there was an atmosphere of mystery and sophistication. The floor was tiled with a mosaic of unfamiliar minerals, shimmering in different shades in the subdued light. The walls were adorned with intricate bas-reliefs and tapestries with abstract patterns.

In the center there was a low table, around which curved chairs with high backs stood. The table held various artifacts of unclear purpose, vaguely reminiscent of musical instruments.

In the corner there was something like a bed, covered with soft fabrics. Next to it hung semi-transparent curtains, fluttering from barely perceptible air currents.

Everything in the house was imbued with a sense of the warp and emotions. It seemed echoes of a long-gone era of greatness and prosperity lingered here.

Ezok peacefully sat down in a chair and closed his eyes. The backrest was uncomfortable, clearly not for human height. The house was filled with the smell of ionized cold air, but the psyker peacefully fell asleep.

whisper

"Ezok... Ezok... Wake up... It's time..."

scream

"Get up, pathetic worm! Your time has come!"

many voices

"Ezok...Ezok... Listen to us... Join the dance... Forget all you knew..."

soft laughter

"Don't resist, Ezok... Give in to us... We know what you desire..."

roar

"Weakling! Coward! Get up and fight! Or we'll break you!"

whisper

"Hush, Ezok, hush... Don't listen to them... Rest... We'll be close... All is well..."

laughter

"Ha-ha, don't believe them, fool! They lie! They lie! You're alone! All alone!"

howl

"Ezok! Ezok! We call you! Come to us! Come!"

whisper

"Fight... Don't give up... We believe in you... You're stronger than them..."

screams, laughter, shrieks

"Ezok! Ezok! Open yourself to us! Become one of us! Ezok! Ezok!"

The psyker was accompanied by friends he had been living with for decades. Each sounded with the voices of familiar people, and some were rare guests in his head.

tender female voice

"We were born in the hive, in poverty and deprivation. We were despised and humiliated by those born into wealth and luxury. But we persevered, Ezok. We did not break."

"I remember how we stole food from the upper hive dwellers. How we trembled from the cold at nights. But we did not complain. We were happy because pain proves human life."

"The nobles may despise and hate us. But we have what they don't. We rats of the hive will survive no matter what."

"So don't let these voices intimidate you. You're stronger than them. You use the warp but have not broken. You can withstand this as well. Remember, I'm always with you!"

Ezok was still trying to sleep, no matter what the voices said. They could not touch his heart. He had already abandoned everything except hatred, and the gods of chaos share the goal of his hatred.

After all, it was these bastards who gave the hypocritical fascist the power to capture all people and create a state called the Imperium. They may promise power or revenge, but when he burns the Imperium, it will be the chaos gods who prevent the destruction of their creation.

Ezok continued to ignore the whispers in his head. He focused on his breathing, slowly inhaling and exhaling, trying to clear his mind.

The voices ebbed and flowed, trying to break through Ezok's mental shields. They whispered, shouted, threatened and pleaded. But Ezok was unmoved.

Eventually the voices dried up, realizing the futility of their attempts. For the first time in a long while, Ezok felt peace and silence in his head. He relaxed and sank into a deep, sound sleep.

Ezok slept for eight uninterrupted hours, which was rare for him. Usually his sleep was interrupted by nightmares and visions. But this time he rested calmly and serenely.

Waking up in the morning, Ezok felt rested and full of energy. His mind was clear and fresh. These eight hours of normal sleep gave him confidence before the expected meeting with his prospective teacher.