I looked up at it. It was hard to move, hard to concentrate. There was blood in my mouth, in my eyes.
'Glaw's daemonhost?'
'Gone.'
'He claimed it was more powerful than you/
'You don't know how nasty I can be/ it said.
I thought about that. The last of the diabolic book's pages were mere tufts of black ash, scattered across the plinth.
'Are we finished here?' it asked.
'Yes/1 said.
It frowned.
'I'm going to have to carry you after all, aren't I?' it sighed.
Dossier addendum Notes concerning the key individuals in this account
Inquisitor Gideon Ravenor supervised the annulment of 5213X, also known in some records as Ghtil. Despite long debates amongst the Sector ordos, no attempt to recover an artefact and material from5213X was ever permitted. Under orders from Battlefleet Scarus, under the command of Lord Admiral Olm Madorthene, annihilated the planet in392.M41. Ravenor continued to serve the Inquisition for several centuries, performing many notable acts, including the destruction of the Heretic Thonius Slyte, but his posthumous fame results more from the quality of his writings, especially the peerless work The Spheres of Longing.
Inquisitor Golesh Heldane survived the destruction of the Essene at Jeganda. His bodyguards were forced to sever his leg to free him and carried him to his ship. He spent many years recovering from his horrific injuries, which required still more severe augmetic reconstruction than he had already undergone. He returned to active service, but his career was blighted by his reputation. He was killed, following injury, on Menazoid Epsilon in 765.M41.
Harlon Nayl continued in the service of the Inquisition for many years and, along with Kara Swole and Eleena Koi, joined the staff of Inquisitor Ravenor. Their individual fates are not recorded in the Imperial archive, though it is believed that Nayl died circa 450.M41.
* * *
Crezia Berschilde returned to Gudrun, where she served as Chief Medicae (anatomica) at the Universitariate of New Gevae until her retirement due to failing health in 602.M41. Several of her treatise on augmetic surgery have become standard authority texts.
Medea Betancore returned to Glavia and became the director of her family shipwright business, a post she held for seventy years. She disappeared en route to Sarum in 479.М41, although several later reports suggest she survived that date.
Lord Inquisitor Phlebas Alessandro Rorken recovered from his ill-health and became grand master of the Ordos Helican after the disappearance of Leonid Osma. He held the post for three hundred and fifteen years.