Embers in the wind

Wind howled in Xandris' ears from the incredible speed of the sleek Venom she was on. She glanced at the winch strapped to her belt that was hooked to the rail of the speeding craft, the only thing that ensured a faint sense of security. Only to have a better aim with her blaster, she thought, but still clutched to the railing tightly with her left hand. She hated heights.

Xandris looked back. Two, three, four more Venoms, all bearing the devastating warriors of the Ashborn cult, clad in their signature charcoal black, serving as the searing edges of the Wailing Doom. She squinted her eyes and turned her head towards the tip of the blade-shaped formation of countless Raider and Ravager craft. Lady Baliarstil's craft was the fastest of them all. Many things were whispered about her, but one could not be denied – she always relished leading the charge and being the first to pick her target.

The hive city came closer and closer through the clouds, and Xandris grabbed her modified blaster with both hands, reluctantly trusting her weight on the thin metal wire. She aimed down the sights and awaited the signal. Xandris hated this part, the waiting. The pleasure of turning her running targets to ashes, melting the slow and ponderous vehicles of humans and watching fire and cinders dancing away from the impact point – there was nothing greater to be experienced, nothing purer than to wash everything away in flames.

And there it was, the sign to attack as Lady Baliarstil pointed her burning sword forward. The Sword of Khaine had been unleashed, and it was to wreak a storm of fire with its every howling swing. As the Venom took a dive towards the battlements of the hive city, Xandris squeezed the trigger, then again and again, unleashing a blazing ray after ray of heat into a lumbering battle tank. It exploded into a spectacular gout of flame, and the roaring fires could barely match the manic laughter of Xandris, orange reflections of the inferno dancing in her black, merciless eyes.

The calm before the storm, and if the calm is so intense like this I would really want to see the storm! Great read!