FictionWD 445 · pp. 68–73
Exhausted Rymorian soldiers cling to duty and prayer while an overwhelming Tyranid attack tears their trench line apart. Salvation arrives in the form of armoured giants whom the survivors eagerly welcome, but their serpent heraldry and sudden violence turn the apparent miracle into a bitter deception.
Warhammer 40,000Astra Militarum
FictionWD 524 · pp. 102–111
An overconfident Ork kommando stalks Elias Bain into a carefully prepared ambush, only to discover that the supposedly vulnerable human has made terror into a weapon. Bain deliberately spares the mutilated survivor to spread his reputation, prompting a friend to question whether he really wants to become the monster the enemy imagines. The squad’s next summons brings him before Yarrick, whose offer of promotion confronts Bain with a responsibility he would rather refuse.
Warhammer 40,000Astra Militarum
FictionWD 523 · p. 74
Drakana’s dwindling party confronts a captive Treelord on an icy floor of the Tower of Blades. A coordinated distraction and poisoned shot bring down the forest spirit, but the surviving gladiators remain fiercely distrustful even when one offers another a hand. Their progress to the next floor exposes the contradiction at the heart of the trial: cooperation keeps them alive, while their culture treats dependence as weakness.
Age of SigmarDaughters of Khaine