Draigo pushed on to the Spire of Madness only to find himself sealed from his brother and toe to toe with two Daemon Princes! How did this play out?
Via our good friends at Lexicanum
The formidable defences of the Nexus made a direct assault impossible, so Draigo had dispatched the 5th Brotherhood to cripple the polar city’s power supply. Across the ruins battle-brothers had fought their way into Daemon-infested reactors and conduit junctions, obliterating them one by one and shutting down the massive lance turrets that stood sentinel around the Nexus.
With the guns silenced the Grey Knights could focus on breaching the daemonic wards holding the fortress gate closed. In close formation, five squads of Grey Knight Terminators, flanked by a pair of Nemesis Dreadknights and led by Kaldor Draigo, climbed the vast ramp toward the Nexus gate. Psychic fire haloing their helms, the battle-brothers combined their might into a single silent pulse, directing it at their commander. As the focal point of the spell, Draigo channeled the psychic energies into a lance of blazing fire that incinerated everything it touched.
Those Daemons before the gate that did not fall to the cannons and blades of the Dreadknights were washed away by the fire, vanishing in wet pops as their physical forms burst apart. Like the rotting chest cavity of a corpse the gates of the Nexus burst apart, disgorging a river of Nurglings and indescribable filth. Knee deep in the toxic tide the Dreadknights waded into the spire, their weapons burning hot as they cleared the way.
The Grey Knights fought through the intestine-like tunnels and chambers of the spire, Lurgon hurling countless minions in their path for every step they took. Finally, Draigo stood before the gates to the throne room. It was here the Supreme Grand Master bade his brothers stay, despite their fierce protests. Draigo knew the only way to lure Ix’thar’ganix to battle was to present him with a foe too tempting to ignore.
Alone, Kaldor Draigo entered the presence of Lurgon, his dispassionate stare meeting the bloodshot eyes of the Sengir host, her flesh distended horribly by the terrible thing living inside her. Draigo noted also the bones of the Whisperer, lying scattered about the chamber.
Before either Daemon or Grey Knight could raise their blades the bones stirred where they lay, flickering Warp-magicks playing across them while the screeching laugher of Ix’thar’ganix echoed through the room. Vomiting forth grey maggots, the Sengir-host lurched toward the remains, Lurgon raging behind its eyes. Draigo stood his ground, waiting for the moment when the Tzeentchian Daemon would manifest, content to let the Nurgle Prince attempt to exact its vengeance. Carried upon an ethereal wind the bones were drawn together, taking on the Whisperer’s towering avian form.
Lurgon tried to strike out at the bone-thing but, imprisoned within the Sengir-host, he was constrained by the weakness of the flesh he wore. Channeling his magic through the bones, Ix’thar’ganix lashed out at Lurgon, ancient daemonic talons tearing into the putrid flesh of the dead Inquisitor. Like a gutted fish the host fell to the ground, an unnatural tide of innards spilling across the floor.
With Lurgon dealt with for now, the animated bones turned to Draigo, the shadow-shape of Ix’thar’ganix now forming around them. With a gesture, the Daemon cast a hex on the chamber door, sealing Draigo off from his brothers before finally fully manifesting and screeching out a challenge to the Supreme Grand Master. Draigo’s response was to trigger his teleport homer, Stern and thirty Grey Knight Terminators materialising from the Warp in an actinic flash. Now the Daemon’s screech turned to one of frustration and fury; it had not foreseen this.
The mortal that led the warriors was a black shroud across its vision, his fate already claimed by another and somehow invisible to his own daemonic foresight. Ix’thar’ganix had little time to contemplate how he had been tricked as the Grey Knights charged. Abandoning the bones, the Lord of Change fled back into the Warp, but not before slicing through the psychic bonds holding Lurgon to the ruined Sengir-host.
In a burst of flesh Lurgon crawled out of the Sengir-host, taking his full, terrible form. Draigo had no choice but to turn his attentions to the Nurgle Daemon, leading the attack with a punishing blow from the Titansword. Lurgon fought bitterly, shattering ceramite and bone with blows from his massive claws and drowning his foes in great gouts of decaying matter.
However, he was no match for the power of Kaldor Draigo and Brother-Captain Stern combined. Uttering the words of banishing, Stern threw the Daemon back into the Warp and closed off its means of return. With the departure of Lurgon and Ix’thar’ganix the plague was broken. All across the planet and beyond ragged mortals woke up from the nightmare of insanity with no recollection of the preceding events.
The bones of the Whisperer were carefully gathered up by the Grey Knights and carried back to Titan, Draigo vowing that the next time he crossed paths with the Lord of Change there would be no chance for escape.
Find out more about Draigo and the Spire of Madness
About the Author: Zeb Barrett
