Fitheak’s Red Shadows

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Out of a whole unit of Blood Angels stationed in a building, four marines were the only ones to survive it’s bombardement and subsequent collapse by a hair’s breadth thanks to the intervention of the Eldar battleseer Fitheak who was in the same room, and ended up buried under the rubble herself. These four were Brother-Sergeant Azrael, Brother Damian, Brother Bethor and the veteran Brother Calidus. All of them had shared the same vision: Of a tall figure with unfurling wings spreading its arms wide and enveloping them all in a bright light. Surely they had been blessed by a vision of their benedicted primarch Sanguinius himself!
When, after freeing themselves from the rubble, they searched at the source of the vision, they found the unconscious battleseer. If this was the agent of their beloved Primarch known for his heroic selflessness, then they would do anything in their power to save her, as unlikely a vessel as she might be. And they did, thus leaving their post, consorting with aliens, and disregarding direct orders. But by taking the Eldar back to her own people, they did indeed save her life.
This was a favour the battleseer was about to return, for when they had recovered from their wounds in the care of the Eldar bonesingers and were about to be returned to their detachment, they were deemed guilty of a number of crimes against their Emperor and their chapter, besides being judged delusional and highly likely to develop the Black Rage, which is usually preceded by vivid visions of the self-sacrifice of Sanguinius. Their future life span looked extremely short, but unable to surrender her saviours to certain death the shrewd Eldar conveniently ‘forgot’ to send them back, despite the uproar this caused on her Craftworld.
Probably due to the intervention of one Inquisitor Lucius, this went unchallenged, as the marines were considered to be well on their way to the Red Thirst and eventually the Black Rage, at which point they would have to be removed from active duty anyway. Henceforth the four marines were happy to guard their adored battleseer, whom they still insisted was touched by Sanguinius, and the Eldar resigned herself to a life with four half-crazed marines.
With time, the five have become very attached to each other, intimately knowing their strengths and weaknesses, their likes and dislikes. The marines, who hardly ever leave Fitheak’s side, have grown used to an environment were even the light is not switched on with ones fingers but with ones mind, and the Eldar has come to develop a deep respect (let’s face it, liking is more like it) for the four humans, ungifted though they may be.
Despite the fact that at least one of them did indeed develop the feared Red Thirst, none of them lost control or slipped into the Black Rage, a fact that aroused much interest in the Blood Angels’ priests when it was discovered years later. It was at that point that Brother Ezekiel, returning with Brother Ambrosius from service in the Deathwatch, joined the unlikely quintet, as he was also falling victim to the Red Thirst, against which the Sanguinary priests as yet are helpless. He took a while to ‘take root’, but is by now just as protective of ‘his’ Eldar as the other four.