Ankh had foreseen this outcome. Not through any form of prescience or sixth sense, but rather the cold logic of cause and effect. The Undying's demise was inevitable; the necron retreat likewise. Tahek's death he had engineered purposely it meant the skies were open for the genebred warriors to bring their vessels and machineries to the surface. It would give them hope, make them believe that victory was even possible.

That thought amused the Architect. In the depths of the tomb his spyders and scarabs were revivifying in thousands, tens of thousands tens of thousands. The phalanxes in full retreat on the surface were but a fraction of what lay beneath, and there were things much more terrible in those depths. As the battles raged above, Ankh had been busy waking them.

He felt the touch of an ancient sentience in the emerald gloom of the under-caverns. It was a royal chamber where he stood. As Ankh contemplated the vast catacombs and their slumbering hordes, a pair of eyes ignited in the darkness in front of him.

Ankh took a step back and bowed almost to the floor.

'My lord,' he purred as the royarch's gaze fell upon him.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR.

NICK K KYME is a writer and editor. He lives in Nottingham where he began a career at Games Workshop on White Dwarf magazine. Now Black Library's Senior Range Editor, Nick's writing credits include the Warhammer 40,000 Tome of Fire trilogy featuring the Salamanders, his Warhammer Fantasy-based dwarf novels and several short stories. is a writer and editor. He lives in Nottingham where he began a career at Games Workshop on White Dwarf magazine. Now Black Library's Senior Range Editor, Nick's writing credits include the Warhammer 40,000 Tome of Fire trilogy featuring the Salamanders, his Warhammer Fantasy-based dwarf novels and several short stories. Read his blog at Read his blog at www.nickkyme.com

For brothers. For Richard and Anthony, and for Paul, Mike and Kev brothers in spirit, if not by blood..

A BLACK LIBRARY PUBLICATIONPublished in 2011 by Black Library, Games Workshop Ltd., Willow Road, Nottingham, NG7 2WS, UKCover ill.u.s.tration by Jon SullivanInternal ill.u.s.trations by Neil Hodgson and Carl Dafforn Games Workshop Limited, 2011. All rights reserved. Games Workshop Limited, 2011. All rights reserved.Black Library, the Black Library logo, Games Workshop, the Games Workshop logo and all a.s.sociated marks, names, characters, ill.u.s.trations and images from the Warhammer universe are either , TM and/or Games Workshop Ltd 2011, variably registered in the UK and other countries around the world. All rights reserved.A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library.ISBN 978-0-85787-146-6No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise except as expressly permitted under license from the publisher.This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental.See the Black Library on the internet atblacklibrary.comFind out more about Games Workshop's world of Warhammer and the Warhammer 40,000 universe atwww.games-workshop.com

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