Azrael wondered how he had not noticed the door before, between two of the hangings. It was not so much a door, though, but a line of shadow delineating its outline and nothing more. He pushed and felt a little resistance. Putting more weight behind his effort he felt the stones behind the plaster give way. The section of wall receded, leaving a gap just a little taller than him, and just wide enough for him to pass through. It stopped, meeting another wall, to leave an alcove a couple of metres deep.
He stepped into the opening and examined the newly revealed sides and floor, but there was nothing but more smooth, naked plaster.
‘This way.’
The unfamiliar voice behind him caused Azrael to spin on the spot, sword at the ready. He had thought he could not be further confounded by the trials of the Watchers, but to come face to face with a copy of himself was a revelation.
The doppelganger was perfect in every way, as far as he could tell. Every small scar and lesion from centuries of war marked his tanned skin. The eyes, the wrinkles at the corners of eyes and mouth, perfect down to the smallest detail.
‘I am a projection,’ the doppelganger told him. ‘A representation. What I look like is inconsequential.’
‘Of course,’ Azrael said, feeling foolish. He sheathed the Sword of Secrets and noticed that his counterpart was unarmed.
‘The trials turn my doubts against me, test my loyalty. What are you for?’
‘That is curious – I was about to ask you a similar question. What is it to be Supreme Grand Master?’
Azrael stepped back into the chamber. It was as before, the hangings on the plain walls, still with swords raised. He circled his doppelganger. The other Azrael did not try to keep him in sight, but stared vaguely ahead, like a hololithic avatar.
‘Why do you not answer my question?’
‘Because it is really my question, I think, and I am wondering what I really mean by it. The Watchers have constructed this trial not to test me, but for me to test myself. What is it I actually want to know?’
‘Then answer the question. What is it to be the Supreme Grand Master of the Dark Angels?’
‘It is to be the Lord of the Tower of Angels, the Master of the Unforgiven. Commander of a thousand Space Marines, spiritual lord to thousands more.’
‘Your commands will guide them, shape the course of countless souls. One day the future of the Chapter, of the Imperium, may rest on your decisions. What will you do with that power?’
‘Defend the realms of the Emperor, protect mankind and prosecute the alien and impure.’
‘Trite nonsense, Azrael. You want to be Supreme Grand Master, not a Novitiate Prefectus. Answer properly. What is your greatest power?’
‘To destroy worlds. This fortress-monastery alone can sterilise entire star systems.’
‘Short-sighted, beneath one that would assume command of such a potent force. What do you hope to achieve?’
Azrael thought about this for far longer, as unsatisfied with his answers as the doppelganger. It was impossible to obfuscate, to deceive, when arguing with himself.
‘I was called, chosen by the others of the Inner Circle. I do not seek this honour – I must bear this burden.’
‘Better.’
‘The Hunt. The Hunt is the greatest mission of the Dark Angels. While it goes unresolved, while the Fallen remain at large, there is an open wound in our Chapter that spills our lifeblood, distracts us from our true calling.’ He took a long breath. ‘My greatest power is to unite the Unforgiven, to bring us together in common cause. All that we achieve is as nothing if we cannot expunge the stain upon our honour. And with me is also the power to destroy it all, to unravel the very fabric of the Imperium itself with revelation and truth. Secrets and lies, these are the unfortunate weapons I have in my armoury, as much as boltguns and chainswords.’
‘So what will you do as Supreme Grand Master?’
‘End the Hunt. Restore our honour.’
‘End the Hunt? Is it possible?’
‘I must believe so. To think otherwise is to submit to the ultimate ruination of the Chapter. Ten thousand years we have endured. Not under my watch shall we finally succumb to the treacheries of the past.’
While he had been speaking, his attention had wandered, his focus moving away from the doppelganger. It returned now as the figure started to change, becoming a shadow that divided and divided again like a duplicating cell, creating a dozen vague likenesses of itself around him, each somehow merging with the angels depicted on the banners.
As though waking from a dream, Azrael blinked, clearing his vision, his body and mind dull with fatigue.
Twelve members of the Inner Circle waited around him, hoods covering their faces, hands lost within voluminous sleeves. By their tabards he knew them: the Grand Masters of the companies, the heads of the Librarius and Reclusiam.
A gleam of red and gold drew his attention to Ezekiel’s half-hidden face. The Chief Librarian nodded once and lowered to one knee, gaze cast to the ground. Like a ripple expanding outwards from him, the others followed, showing obeisance to their new commander.
‘Praise Azrael,’ they intoned, ‘Supreme Grand Master, Lord of the Dark Angels.’
Ezekiel straightened but did not stand.
‘My lord, you have passed the trials of the catacombs. You are the Supreme Grand Master, Commander of the Unforgiven. Your word is our law. Your oath is our honour. We are your servants, as you are the servant of the Chapter. What would you bid us do?’
Azrael stroked his chin in thought, aware that every word he said carried an unimaginable weight. To speak in haste could bring disaster.
‘I shall think on the matter. Tomorrow you shall have your orders.’
Was that a hint of a smile on the face of Ezekiel, or a trick of the dim light? It came and went in a moment, and there was nothing but the Chief Librarian’s usual stern demeanour when he stood up. The Inner Circle nodded their respects and passed wordlessly from the chamber.
When they had departed, Azrael noticed a small, solitary figure in one corner, almost invisible in the shadows. Red eyes gleamed, brighter for an instant. He felt a sensation of contentment for just a second, and then the figure was gone.