Farseer Baranduin awoke to great unease, his soul feeling encompassed within a smothering shroud, burying any glimpses of the future he tried to manifest.

‘You’ll find your witchery ineffective,‘ came a monotonous drone from nearby, drawing Baranduin’s attention.

‘Yngiract…’ The Aeldari scowled, reaching for his staff, only to find it gone.

‘Your stick is embedded in the wall over there,‘ the Cryptek gestured, barely moving an inch from its slumped position in the corner.

‘What is your game abomination? Where am I?’ barked Baranduin, nimbly rising to his feet, poised to strike.

‘If you mean this room, it was once my laboratory, though that moniker is no longer accurate. As for where? That’s more complicated.‘ Each syllable of the machine’s voice irritated Baranduin’s brain, for it spoke in perfect ancient Aeldari.

‘Explain yourself. Why have you imprisoned me? What twisted experiment does a scientist like yourself have planned?!’

‘I was led to believe you were an intellectual race. You are not bound; your weapon is within reach. Yet you perceive yourself the victim?’

Ignoring the machine’s tone, partly to ignore the fact that it spoke logically, Baranduin focused upon investigation; no room was without an exit, and he’d find it.

Resting a hand upon the cold Blackstone walls, Baranduin attempted to overpower the rock’s nullifying qualities, which was not an impossible task for a being of his power but still a struggle. The stone was cold in his mind yet bore traces of something more, the source evading his immediate recollection. Electing to ignore it, he focused instead upon an infinitesimally small crack, letting his mind drip through it, gently tasting the outside world until, with a sharp gasp, he retreated into the here and now.

Despite his forged death mask of a face, Baranduin knew the Cryptek was smirking; the damned thing knew where they were all along and was willing to let the Farseer risk his very soul to figure it out!

‘The Immaterium?! Even you damnable creatures wouldn’t dare venture into this hellscape!’

‘Correct, and now you know the truth, we can finally begin strategising.’ The Cryptek finally moved, rising from its corner to its full height, towering a foot over Baranduin. The green glow that radiated from beneath its ribcage looked sickly and dull, like the dying light of a collapsing star. ‘Ah, this. Whilst you slumbered soundly, I’ve been holding back the encroaching horde. Spending significant resources and power to do so.’

As if to emphasise the robot’s struggle, a crack formed upon one of the walls, the taint of the Immaterium scraping Baranduin’s mind before it was banished yet again, the Necron’s glow flickering as the cracked stone regenerated.

‘I still do not trust you, Yngiract, but I trust that even a being such as yours bears a sense of self-preservation.’ Baranduin sighed, securing his spear and looking at his would-be ally.

‘Naturally.’ The machine nodded. ‘We each have something the other lacks. Logic dictated mutual cooperation to assure survival.’

‘Theoretically, I could manifest a portal to the material realm, but not whilst this Noctilith saps me of my power,’ Baranduin mused, rubbing his chin in thought. 

‘The query then, is there a degree I can decrease the potency of the Noctilith, allowing your “gift” to be implemented yet also bearing the strength to repel the enemy’s assault?’

Without data to extrapolate, both knew only a suicidal experiment would do, each praying not to be found lacking against their ancestral foe.

Baranduin took his place in the room’s centre and began etching runes and arcane symbols with a small chalk. It was crude, but it was all he had to work with. Row upon row of overlapping runes soon filled the floor around the Farseer, some designed to aid his task, while others would guard his mind if the Necron failed.

‘I’m ready. Slowly lower the dampening effect until I give the signal, understand?’

The machine said nothing, resting a skeletal claw on the nearest wall. The pulse of his core fluctuated as Baranduin felt the Immaterium’s presence slowly emerge, rising steadily until he felt it—the faint traces of reality. 

With a hand raised, the Necron ceased weakening the barrier, and not too soon, something slammed hard against the wall, shuddering both and nearly sending Baranduin tumbling.

‘Haste is recommended, Aeldari; they have detected the fluctuation. The assault begins!’

Baranduin ignored the machine’s insistent tone, focusing instead on mentally grasping the thread home, binding the two realms in ways that would make his mentors wince.

‘The barrier is too weak; if you do not act soon, we shall be consumed!’

‘The portal is almost ready; when it activates, you need to shut down the barrier; otherwise, it’ll collapse. Be ready!’ Baranduin warned. The runes beneath him began to glow a faint blue, spreading until they encompassed Aeldari and Necron. The latter took its cue, watching the horde of vicious beasts get closer and closer until all went dark—no daemonic screams, no impossible maws, just darkness.

Baranduin awoke to the sound of birds chirping and grass against his cheek. He was no longer bound by black nor at the mercy of hordes hellbent on consuming his life force, just the quiet peace of a warm sunrise in an empty field and the robot inspecting a bird’s nest nearby.

‘You took much shorter to awaken this time around, Aeldari.’

The Necron noted, continuing its study of a mother bird feeding its young.

Before Baranduin could move to react, the machine held up a hand. ‘Despite our freedom, I did not see fit to leap upon the end of our alliance.’

‘But why? You know I would’ve done so if the situations were reversed.’

‘Perhaps, but I predict never shall we need to test that theory; next we meet, it shall be as enemies once more.’

The Necron waved a hand and manifested a crackling portal before it, a spark arcing and incinerating the bird nest and its occupants as the machine ventured inside, leaving Baranduin alone.