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  Book 1 – THE SOLAR WAR

  Book 2 - THE LOST AND THE DAMNED

  Book 3 - THE FIRST WALL

  Book 4 - SATURNINE

  SONS OF THE SELENAR (Novella)

  FURY OF MAGNUS (Novella)

  Book 1 – HORUS RISING

  Book 2 – FALSE GODS

  Book 3 – GALAXY IN FLAMES

  Book 4 – THE FLIGHT OF THE EISENSTEIN

  Book 5 – FULGRIM

  Book 6 – DESCENT OF ANGELS

  Book 7 – LEGION

  Book 8 – BATTLE FOR THE ABYSS

  Book 9 – MECHANICUM

  Book 10 – TALES OF HERESY

  Book 11 – FALLEN ANGELS

  Book 12 – A THOUSAND SONS

  Book 13 – NEMESIS

  Book 14 – THE FIRST HERETIC

  Book 15 – PROSPERO BURNS

  Book 16 – AGE OF DARKNESS

  Book 17 – THE OUTCAST DEAD

  Book 18 – DELIVERANCE LOST

  Book 19 – KNOW NO FEAR

  Book 20 – THE PRIMARCHS

  Book 21 – FEAR TO TREAD

  Book 22 – SHADOWS OF TREACHERY

  Book 23 – ANGEL EXTERMINATUS

  Book 24 – BETRAYER

  Book 25 – MARK OF CALTH

  Book 26 – VULKAN LIVES

  Book 27 – THE UNREMEMBERED EMPIRE

  Book 28 – SCARS

  Book 29 – VENGEFUL SPIRIT

  Book 30 – THE DAMNATION OF PYTHOS

  Book 31 – LEGACIES OF BETRAYAL

  Book 32 – DEATHFIRE

  Book 33 – WAR WITHOUT END

  Book 34 – PHAROS

  Book 35 – EYE OF TERRA

  Book 36 – THE PATH OF HEAVEN

  Book 37 – THE SILENT WAR

  Book 38 – ANGELS OF CALIBAN

  Book 39 – PRAETORIAN OF DORN

  Book 40 – CORAX

  Book 41 – THE MASTER OF MANKIND

  Book 42 – GARRO

  Book 43 – SHATTERED LEGIONS

  Book 44 – THE CRIMSON KING

  Book 45 – TALLARN

  Book 46 – RUINSTORM

  Book 47 – OLD EARTH

  Book 48 – THE BURDEN OF LOYALTY

  Book 49 – WOLFSBANE

  Book 50 – BORN OF FLAME

  Book 51 – SLAVES TO DARKNESS

  Book 52 – HERALDS OF THE SIEGE

  Book 53 – TITANDEATH

  Book 54 – THE BURIED DAGGER

  More tales from the Horus Heresy...

  PROMETHEAN SUN

  AURELIAN

  BROTHERHOOD OF THE STORM

  THE CRIMSON FIST

  CORAX: SOULFORGE

  PRINCE OF CROWS

  DEATH AND DEFIANCE

  TALLARN: EXECUTIONER

  SCORCHED EARTH

  THE PURGE

  THE HONOURED

  THE UNBURDENED

  BLADES OF THE TRAITOR

  TALLARN: IRONCLAD

  RAVENLORD

  THE SEVENTH SERPENT

  WOLF KING

  CYBERNETICA

  SONS OF THE FORGE

  Many of these titles are also available as abridged and unabridged audiobooks. Order the full range of Horus Heresy novels and audiobooks from blacklibrary.com

  Also available

  MACRAGGE’S HONOUR

  Dan Abnett and Neil Roberts

  Audio Dramas

  THE DARK KING & THE LIGHTNING TOWER

  RAVEN’S FLIGHT

  GARRO: OATH OF MOMENT

  GARRO: LEGION OF ONE

  BUTCHER’S NAILS

  GREY ANGEL

  GARRO: BURDEN OF DUTY

  GARRO: SWORD OF TRUTH

  THE SIGILLITE

  HONOUR TO THE DEAD

  CENSURE

  WOLF HUNT

  HUNTER’S MOON

  THIEF OF REVELATIONS

  TEMPLAR

  ECHOES OF RUIN

  MASTER OF THE FIRST

  THE LONG NIGHT

  THE EAGLE’S TALON

  IRON CORPSES

  RAPTOR

  GREY TALON

  THE EITHER

  THE HEART OF THE PHAROS / CHILDREN OF SICARUS

  RED-MARKED

  ECHOES OF IMPERIUM

  ECHOES OF REVELATION

  THE THIRTEENTH WOLF

  VIRTUES OF THE SONS/SINS OF THE FATHER

  THE BINARY SUCCESSION

  DARK COMPLIANCE

  BLACKSHIELDS: THE FALSE WAR

  BLACKSHIELDS: THE RED FIEF

  HUBRIS OF MONARCHIA

  NIGHTFANE

  BLACKSHIELDS: THE BROKEN CHAIN

  Download the full range of Horus Heresy audio dramas from blacklibrary.com

  Contents

  Cover

  Backlist

  Title Page

  The Horus Heresy: Siege of Terra

  Dramatis Personae

  Part One

  The Warp

  One

  Two

  Three

  Four

  Five

  Six

  Part Two

  The Warp

  Seven

  Eight

  Nine

  Ten

  Eleven

  Twelve

  Thirteen

  Fourteen

  Fifteen

  Part Three

  The Warp

  Sixteen

  Seventeen

  Eighteen

  Nineteen

  Twenty

  Twenty-one

  Twenty-two

  Twenty-three

  The Warp

  Afterword

  About the Author

  An Extract from ‘Blood of the Emperor’

  A Black Library Publication

  eBook license

  It is a time of legend.

  The galaxy is in flames. The Emperor’s glorious vision for humanity is in ruins. His favoured son, Horus, has turned from his father’s light and embraced Chaos.

  His armies, the mighty and redoubtable Space Marines, are locked in a brutal civil war. Once, these ultimate warriors fought side by side as brothers, protecting the galaxy and bringing mankind back into the Emperor’s light. Now they are divided.

  Some remain loyal to the Emperor, whilst others have sided with the Warmaster. Pre-eminent amongst them, the leaders of their thousands-strong Legions, are the primarchs. Magnificent, superhuman beings, they are the crowning achievement of the Emperor’s genetic science. Thrust into battle against one another, victory is uncertain for either side.

  Worlds are burning. At Isstvan V, Horus dealt a vicious blow and three loyal Legions were all but destroyed. War was begun, a conflict that will engulf all mankind in fire. Treachery and betrayal have usurped honour and nobility. Assassins lurk in every shadow. Armies are gathering. All must choose a side or die.

  Horus musters his armada, Terra itself the object of his wrath. Seated upon the Golden Throne, the Emperor waits for his wayward son to return. But his true enemy is Chaos, a primordial force that seeks to enslave mankind to its capricious whims.

  The screams of the innocent, the pleas of the righteous resound to the cruel laughter of Dark Gods. Suffering and damnation await all should the Emperor fail and the war be lost.

  The end is here. The skies darken, colossal armies gather.

  For the fate of the Throneworld, for the
fate of mankind itself...

  The Siege of Terra has begun.

  DRAMATIS PERSONAE

  The Emperor, Master of Mankind, Last and First Lord of the Imperium

  Horus, Warmaster, Primarch of the XVI Legion, Ascendant Vessel of Chaos

  The Primarchs

  Perturabo, ‘The Lord of Iron’, Primarch of the IV Legion

  Jaghatai Khan, ‘The Warhawk of Chogoris’, Primarch of the V Legion

  Rogal Dorn, Lord Solar, Praetorian of Terra, Primarch of the VII Legion

  Sanguinius, ‘The Great Angel’, Primarch of the IX Legion

  The I Legion ‘Dark Angels’

  Corswain, Seneschal

  Adophel, Void Commander, Chapter Master

  Vassago, Librarian

  Tragan, Captain of the Ninth Order

  The IV Legion ‘Iron Warriors’

  Kydomor Forrix, ‘The Breaker’, First Captain, Triarch

  The V Legion ‘White Scars’

  Shiban Khan, ‘Tachseer’

  The VII Legion ‘Imperial Fists’

  Archamus, Master of the Huscarls

  The IX Legion ‘Blood Angels’

  Baeron, Line adjutant – Marmax South, Hold Point 78

  Oceano, Commander of Curdir Bastion, Dreadnought

  The XVI Legion ‘Sons of Horus’

  Argonis, ‘The Unscarred’, Equerry to the Warmaster

  Legio Ignatum ‘Fire Wasps’

  Cydon, Princeps Maximus, Imperious Prima, Principal of First Maniple

  Bazzanius, Princeps Senioris, Magnificum Incendius, Principal of Second Maniple

  Clementia, Princeps Senioris, Exemplis, Principal of Fourth Maniple

  Tetracauron, Princeps Senioris, Reginae Furorem, Principal of Sixth Maniple

  Divisia, Moderatus, Reginae Furorem

  Cartho, Moderatus, Reginae Furorem

  Xeta-Beta-1, Enginseer, Reginae Furorem

  Arthusa, Princeps, Helios, Principal of SeventhManiple

  Sentario, Legio Strategic Liaison

  Legio Ordo Sinister

  Aurum, First Prefect of the Chamber Orientalis

  Cadamia, Prefect, Orientalis-Echion

  Legio Solaria ‘Imperial Hunters’

  Esha Ani Mohana Vi, Grand Master, the Great Mother of the Imperial Hunters, Princeps of Luxor Invictoria

  Abhani Lus Mohana, Princeps, Bestia Est

  House Vyronii

  Caradoc, Scion, pilot of Cerastus Knight-Castigator Meliae

  Acastia, Bondsman, pilot of Knight Armiger Elatus

  Dolloran, Bondsman, pilot of Knight Armiger Cyllarus

  Pluton, Bondsman, pilot of Knight Armiger Thaumas

  The Adeptus Mechanicus

  Vethorel, Ambassador, proxy of the Fabricator General

  Kazzim-Aleph-1, Magos emissary to Rogal Dorn

  Gerontius-Chi-Lambda, Magos emissary to Legio Ignatum

  The Neverborn

  Vassukella, The Chorus of the Denied, Song of Endless Rapture, Daemon Prince of the Ruinstorm

  Imperial Army

  Niora Su-Kassen, Solar Command Staff, former Admiral of the Jovian Fleets

  Nasuba, General, Inferallti Hussars, Commander of Shard Bastion

  Sulkova, Major General, Shard Bastion Command Cadre

  Kurral, Colonel-Elite, Shard Bastion Command Cadre

  Cole, Second Lieutenant, Massian Fifth

  Katsuhiro, Trooper

  Steena, Trooper

  Imperial Personae

  Malcador the Sigillite, Regent of the Imperium

  Hellick Mauer, Boetharch of the Command Prefectus

  Ahlborn, Conroi-Captain, Hort Palatine, Command Prefectus

  Solsha, Lieutenant of the Command Prefectus Militia

  Kyril Sindermann, Historian, Head of the Order of Interrogators

  Andromeda-17, Personified-scion of the Selenar

  Euphrati Keeler, The Saint, former Remembrancer

  Vaskale, Warden, Blackstone

  Slaves to Darkness

  Ugent Sye, The Orchardist

  Others

  Actae

  Basilio Fo, An inmate of Blackstone

  John Grammaticus, Logokine

  Oll Persson

  Leetu, Legionary

  Dogent Krank, (Numinus 61st, fmr)

  Bale Rane, (Numinus 61st, fmr)

  Graft, Servitor menial

  Hebet Zybes

  Katt

  ‘To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there’s the rub;

  For in that sleep of death what dreams may come,

  When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,

  Must give us pause: there’s the respect

  That makes calamity of so long life.’

  – attributed to the dramaturge Shakespire, fl. M2

  ∞

  Heat shimmers from earth to sky. There is no sun here, but the light is blinding. The heavens are a dome of brilliant white, clamped over the dry ground. The earth is cracked, skimmed with dust and crusted with salt. The image of the world is flat, an endless plain running to a lost horizon. The air is still, throbbing, an echo of the absent sun’s hammer. It is not a true place, for nothing in the Realm Beyond is true, but this place of thirst and heat has always been and always will be.

  The tree stands at the centre of the desolation. It is a cedar tree, bare of needles, lightning-struck and blackened. From a distance it would look like an ebon crack running through the sky, an inverted bolt of black lightning. The only shadows in this place lie under the tree. They are thin, tangled in the dust. A trickle of water seeps from the ground at the tree’s root, vanishes as soon as it bubbles up. A man sits with His back against the trunk. His limbs are thin, the dark skin drawn taut over bones, cracked around dried lips. The blue shift wound loosely around Him is frayed and sun-bleached. He is as still as the burnt tree at his back; His eyes are closed.

  Slowly, as though to do more would cost too much, the man’s eyes open a crack to the blazing land. His left hand moves to a hollow He has scraped in the ground by the roots of the tree. A little water has gathered there, and He scoops it up in His palm and brings it to His mouth. Thick with silt, it is barely a sip.

  A breath of air stirs the fold of fabric covering His head. He looks up, lowering the hand that cupped the water that is already falling as dust from His fingers.

  A whirling column is forming in the air, skidding across the land, pulling up the dry earth. The light blurs around it, shimmering, turning the distance into mirages that might be an army marching over the horizon, or a distant, broken city, or a lone figure striding from the empty land.

  The man beneath the tree waits and watches.

  The dust devil dances closer. The wind rises. The dry branches of the tree rattle. A figure coalesces at the centre of the dust column: broad, proud face; silver-scaled armour over white robes; sword sheathed at his waist. A golden crown sits on the newcomer’s brow, burning like flame with reflected sunlight. The wind unravels. The dust settles. The warrior in silver and white looks down at the man beneath the tree.

  ‘Father,’ says Horus.

  The man beneath the tree does not look up.

  ‘There is no refuge, father, nowhere left for you to flee.’ Horus crouches, balancing on the balls of his feet so that his head is level with that of the man sitting in the shadow of the tree. Somewhere, out of sight, a crow caws into the shimmering air. A snake hisses and rattles, the sound that of sand blowing through dry bones. Horus reaches down and picks up a handful of earth. He is staring into the distance, his eyes brilliant mirrors to the baking heat. For an instant, his fingers seem claws, long and shining, the ground beneath them a star-strewn night. The earth crumbles between his fingers. ‘This was your secret land, father. The warp, the realm t
hat you denied us. Here is the source of all your power, all the paths to your gilded ambition. You are nothing without this place, just a man who stole what was not his and then kept it from others – a beggar-thief with stolen coins.’

  There is pity in Horus’ eyes.

  ‘Look at you now – withering in a realm of thirst.’ Horus stands. ‘You must have known this was inevitable. You must have known that your deeds would have consequences. You said that this place, with all its power and possibility, was dangerous – that none should touch it, that none should know its true secrets. Magnus came close to realising you had lied, and you sent wolves to run him down. Lorgar, poor Lorgar, ever searching for a cause, saw the shadow of your ambition and thought it the mark of a god. Burned cities and shame was his reward. And me, father, was I close to knowing too much? For all those years after we found each other, how many times did I nearly realise what you were – a liar and a thief, clad in scraps of false glory? Is that why I was banished from your side? Did you fear this moment, father? If you did, you should have known that it was inevitable – that your deceived son would come for his birthright.’

  The wind rises, blowing powdered salt and dust into the air. Silhouettes form in the heat shimmer, at once close and distant. Towering shapes, shapes out of myth and old stories: Cyclops, hunched reaper, flayed angel, serpent Adonis.

  ‘You made us with the fire you took from the realm you forbade us. How could you think we would never realise, would never wonder, would never come home to the place of our birth?’

  Horus’ gaze moves over the four shapes writhing in the mirage.

  ‘They are here now,’ said Horus. ‘Your sons, my brothers, returned home. I am their king, not their father, and this realm is mine. The power you denied us is mine. All of it. There is nothing left for you. The night and the day, the dreaming and the waking, all move to my will.’

  The man beneath the tree lets out a breath, stretches out His left hand and pulls a finger through the dry earth. The ground shakes. Dust explodes into the air to hang as a layer above the ground before slamming down. The leafless tree grows, stretches, its dead branches reaching shadows in a wide circle. Horus does not flinch, but in the heat-glare, things unseen hiss with the voices of snakes and hounds and dying birds.

  The man’s hand stops moving. A line marks the dust, a finger’s width, but also a canyon, a wall, a mountain range. He withdraws His hand and looks up. His lips and skin are cracked, but His voice is strong as He speaks.

  ‘No,’ He says.

  Horus steps forwards, but the ground beneath his feet crumbles and cracks, flowing down into the opening abyss beneath. For a moment the man beneath the tree does not look like a man, but a shadow within an inferno. He looks at Horus, and Horus returns the Emperor’s gaze. The brightness in the sky reverses to charcoal black, the shadows of the tree become flames.