A Grey Knight in Tartarus, part 5 (Suffer not the Daemon)

>Your sword, a burning blade of bright blue, leaps up to meet Tirek's axe, and the weapons crash together with a resounding CLANG.
>You feel the vibrations run up your arm from the sheer force of the blow.
>Your bones shake in your body, and you feel the runes carved into your skeleton glowing white hot as they ward you against Tirek's daemonic presence.
>Your Aegis armor bends and creaks as you absorb the daemon's blow.
>The pain is incredible.
>But you hold.
>Tirek's eyes, burning yellow orbs beneath his helmet, widen in shock, and he lets out a quick hiss.
>He speaks in a tongue so foul it burns your ears, and you feel the runes carved in your armor lighting up to protect you.
>The two of you hold that position, Tirek frozen in his strike, you struggling to keep his blade away.
>And then he pivots, and slams the haft of his halberd into your chest.


>The strike sends you flying, tossing your heavily armored body like a rag doll.
>You tumble along the sand, driving a huge divot into the dirt as you slide on your back.
>Tirek wastes no time in coming after you.
>Into your rune circle.
>His eyes dance over the bodies of his caravan's slaughtered centaur escort, and he intones something in the Dark Speech.
>You struggle to rise to your feet.
"Your words....your words are as garbled and worthless as your mind....daemon."
>He looks at you for a moment, fire racing up and down his armored frame, before laughing.
>And speaking to you in High Gothic.
>"YOU WILL DIE ALONE, DEFILER. I WILL DECORATE MY TOWER WITH YOUR BONES."
>He begins to gallop, halberd held forward to impale you.
"Though I walk in the valley of the shadow of Death, I fear no evil, for the Emperor is with me!"
>You get to your feet, staggering, and race to meet the daemon prince's charge.
"He is my shield and protector! And He is your end!"


>The Dark Centaur roars in his gutteral Dark Tongue, his halberd flashing and spinning around him like a fan of light and steel and death.
>You charge, roaring out your hatred at the monster in front of you.
>The moment before you collide, you feel it, your psychic senses granting you a nanosecond's glimpse in the future.
>You transfer your charge into a slide, ducking under his sweeping halberd.
>The blade clears your helmet's noseguard by less than an inch, and you smile as you watch Tirek begin to pivot for another strike.
>You come out of your slide, doing a quick tumble, before coming up, blade held high, to slice him along his horse-like flank.
>Your blade burns as it cuts him, and you take savage satisfaction as burning daemon-blood spurts from the wound.
>This was what you were born to do.
>No more doubts.
>Tirek's back leg lashes out, kicking you the chest and hurling you across your drawn arena once more.


>You slam hard into the dirt, and you wince as you struggle to rise once more.
>His strike has cracked your rib-plate, and you can feel the jagged shards of bone as they pierce your secondary heart.
>The Griffinfather laughs mockingly, spinning his halberd once more as he canters towards you.
>"YOU WERE A FOOL TO TRY ME, BEAST. NO BEING WOUNDS TIREK AND LIVES."
"I'm still breathing, filth."
>You stand, your blade held high in your free hand as you glance at the outer rune circle.
>The outermost edge is lit. First blood.
>"NOT FOR LONG."
>He lifts a hand, and thick tendrils of burning warp energy lash out at you, lifting you in the air by your body and legs.
>You feel the corruption in them, and you know that any other creature would have been mutated into jelly by their touch.
>The wards in your bones and in your body burn, setting you afire with righteousness.
>Tirek pulls you in closer with the warp tendrils, his halberd raised.
>He laughs, and utters something unintelligible.
>You raise your storm bolter, aiming at his grotesque head.


>You prepare to send a barrage of bolts into the monster's head, when it speaks again.
>"I CAN SMELL YOUR DOUBT, GREY ONE."
>You hesitate.
>"YOU DEFEND HER. ERIS....THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY....YOU FEAR YOUR HERESIES."
>You hear a snuffling sound as the creature sniffs behind it's helm.
>"AHHHH. DESPAIR. SO DELICIOUS."
>You cannot ignore him. It is as if his words have taken root in your mind.
>He was right, wasn't he?
>Why are you doing this? Why are you fighting to protect Eris?
>She is Xenos! And a warp-creature besides!
>Are you not a Grey Knight? Are you not pledged to the Emperor's service!?
>Yes. Yes, you are. And the Emperor's service left no room for doubt.
>No room to question.
>Eris is as great a friend and ally to you as any human inquisitor. Heresy? Radicalism?
>Perhaps.
>But the Grey Knights had done darker things than ally with xenos in the Emperor's name.
>There is no room for doubt. You know what you must do.
>Tirek's eyes crinkle behind his helm as he smiles, as if reading your thoughts.


>You clench your fist, and bolts roar forth from your storm bolter.
>At this close a range, the blessed bolts of your bolter cannot miss.
>In a matter of moments, a hundred mass-reactive rounds slam into Tirek's smiling head, penetrating his helmet and his flesh before exploding.
>His head shreds apart like meat in a grinder.
>The tendrils release you, and you drop to the sands, still firing.
>His blood spatters the sands with you, and you spot the second ring of your trap ignite.
>Second blood.
>Tirek's headless body staggers as your bolts pepper it, the daemon prince unused to such weaponry.
>In moments, the darkness that swathes his form runs like ink, congealing on his shoulders into a new head.
>He shakes it, even as he raises a shield against your bolt-fire.
>You cease firing, and he bellows in fury.
>"TREACHERY AND TRICKERY. I EXPECT NOTHING MORE FROM THE WEAK. YOU WILL MAKE A PATHETIC SACRIFICE TO KHORNE'S MIGHT, BUT I WILL MAKE IT NONETHELESS!"
>He charges again, and you lift your sword in both hands, ready for the worst.


>He meets you in the center of the sand arena, and the two of you dance the dance of death.
>His blade flickers and waltzes through the air, coming at you in slashes and stabs as he pivotes and swings at you in a rain of steel.
>You parry when you can, dodge when you can't.
>Even now, you strike his blade away with your own, and he pivots, the haft of his halberd coming around to smash your skull.
>You duck and launch a furious counter-attack, your blade flowing like quicksilver.
>He does not dodge your strikes, his halberd moving like lightning to parry your sword blows and force your arm aside.
>You had been regarded among your brothers as a swordsman. One of the finest in the Ordo. You had trained against all manner of foes, Khornate berserkers to Inquisitors to Eldar Autarchs.
>And none could match your bladework.
>But here.
>Here, against this foe?
>You were outmatched.
>His blade lashes out, and you dodge just a little too slowly.
>The edge of the halberd catches in your leg, and you shout in agony as the daemon-blade cuts through your armor and into the meat of your leg.
>You stumble, and Tirek laughs, still advancing, still relentless.
>The dance was coming to its conclusion.


>Eris watches you losing your fight against Tirek from behind a rock.
>She's scared, scared of the monster that killed her family, and scared of losing you to the same creature.
>Her fear keeps her chained to the rock as she desperately thinks of a way to save you.
>She was strong, as all warp creatures are, but she was not Tirek.
>He would slice her to pieces in an instant.
>She looks around, desperate, before her eyes fall on a pebble lying next to Tirek's leg.
>She focuses her subtlest magic on it, desperate to aid you.
>So desperate that she does notice the large canine creature sneaking up behind her, a rock in it's paws.


>You stumble as the massive blade lashes out at you again, cutting a slice into your armor's chestplate, and unleashing a crimson tide as it rips at the muscle below.
>Tirek laughs, that same horrifying bellow, like a horse screaming, an eagle cawing, and a man shouting all in one.
>The sound is beginning to grate at you as you feel your wards begin to flicker and fail.
>You were made to resist and kill the daemon, but you knew this one was too old, and too powerful for you to kill.
>You would never live long enough to spring your tra-
>You lean backwards as the halberd lashes out again, the burning daemon-blade barely missing your skull.
>Tirek roars and takes a step, going to finish his assault, when several things happen at once.
>A pebble, near his foot, suddenly grows into a massive, diamond-shaped stone with the words TOM carved into it.
>The rock knocks the daemon centaur off balance, and he stumbles once.
>You hear a short yelp and a thud.
>It sounded like Eris.
>Rage fills your heart, and you bring your blade up in both hands, leaping at the stumbling Tirek.
>You bring your blade down, towards his manlike shoulder, and he brings his halberd up....
>And it slices your blade in half.


>Your blade does not cease it's descent, even as the shattered top half of your force sword flies away.
>You summon all your will, all your hatred, your contempt of the daemon, of the heretic, of the impure...
>Of Tirek.
>Of the monster who had found an innocent like Eris, and systematically slain every being she had cared about.
>And you focus that hatred into your shattered half-sword.
>It erupts into a blue-blazing, jagged spur of metal, and you continue to bring it down, where it slices into Tirek's shoulder.
>Third blood.
>The runes surrounding the site of the ransacked caravan blaze into life as the daemon prince recoils, hurling you away with his free hand.
>You tumble once more into the dirt, too exhausted to do more than half rise, your chest heaving.
>Tirek eyes the glowing runes with trepidation, before snorting in disdain.
>"IS THAT IT? IS THAT ALL, GREY ONE? SURELY, YOU CAN OFFER MORE THAN THAT?"
>You half rise, one knee in the dirt, as your armor pumps combat drugs and pain suppressors through your body.
>Tirek raises his halberd, snorting. He brings the blade down.
>"PATHETIC."
"Tirek, Dark Centaur."
>Tirek's blade stops descending.

Music:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pW1Uc-grcMs&feature=related
>Tirek's arm trembles, and his eyes cross in confusion as your rise to your feet.
"Tirek Griffinfather, I abjure thee."
>He grunts in pain, falling to his knees as your rise to your full height.
>The runes you carved into the sand glow with a soft blue light.
>You touch the broken blade of your sword to the daemon prince's chest as he roars in pain and confusion.
>"WHAT!? WHAT IS THIS! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE, GREY ONE!? I AM TIREK! I AM THE LORD OF TAR-"
"Tirek the Corrupter, I bind thee."
>He leans his head back and howls, and his body begins to run like spilled ink, melting in the face of your holy wrath.
>The runes shriek and glow, seeming to spin as you near the rite's ending.
"Tirek Griffinfather. Thrice blooded, thrice named, thrice bound. For your crimes against the Emperor....for your crimes against Eris-"
>You shove your shattered blade into the daemon's chest.
"I BIND THEE FOREVERMORE INTO THIS HOST!"
>There is an explosion in the air, thunder without sound.
>The runes explode, the light of the daemon binding destroying sight and tearing away hearing as Tirek screams in pain unknowable.


>Sight returns, and shortly after it, sound.
>You see the sand, black as night and burned into glass, surrounding you, the after-effects of the binding and the spell's destruction.
>You see the smoke and the fire filling the air.
>You see the sword.
>Tirek Griffinfather.
>Your former force blade lies impaled in the sand, it's blade reforged in the fires of it's re-creation. The blade is pitch black and etched with runes of a daemonic nature.
>Shrieks and wails echo from the blade, and you smile in satisfaction as you watch the crossguard struggle to morph into a Chaos Star.
>Only to fail, and change into the Aquila.
>You reach out your hand and grasp the Daemon Weapon.
>A ritual taught to you by the greatest radical Inquisitor to ever live. A man you had once thought you'd slain.
>You feel Tirek struggle within the bonds of the weapon, trying to influence your will, to command you, anything.
>You feel him as he fails, encountering the holy wards that encircle your mind and body. Old and powerful he might be, but he knew nothing of Grey Knights.
>This was the other purpose of the Chapter.
>To handle the corrupt and heretical, and to make weapons of that which would shatter the sanity of any other man.
>Your smile transforms into a frown. Your brothers would not approve of this action, even if they understood the necessity of it.
>But they weren't here. Eris was.
>You lift your reforged weapon, and limp away from the crater, going to look for Eris.


>You limp away from the crater, struggling to ignore the pain in your leg as the combat drugs wear off.
>It will slow you down, even if the pain is ignorable. And there is no Apothecary to fix the injury.
>Your new daemon-blade chuckles as it peeks at your thoughts, and you chastise it harshly.
>Tirek's agonized wails are music to your ears.
"Eris? Eris, it's over. You can come out now. I've...I've stopped him."
>You look around, your blue eye lenses scanning everywhere...searching for the draconequus.....
>And you spot something leaning against a rock, away from the circle.
>It is not Eris.
>You watch it as it flips a coin up and down, up and down, before catching it in a furry paw.
>It glances at the coin before turning a green-eyed glare on you.
>"Yer little freak buddy ain't here no more, pardna."


>You don't hesitate, lurching forward with your arm, grabbing the creature by the scruff of it's neck and slamming it against the rock so hard that it cracks the stone.
>It grunts in surprise and pain, blood running from the corner of it's mouth.
>A millisecond later, your blade is at it's face, the tip less than a centimeter from the creature's left eye.
>It panics.
>"Whoa, whoa! Calm down! You hurt me, an' you won't ever see your little friend again!"
>Your blade does not waver.
"Talk. Where is she?"
>It smiles.
>"Ey ey, easy! Do we gotta get to business already? That was a nice piece a' work you did with Tirek, out there. You just removed a big pain in the Dog Father's backside. E'll be happy to re-"
>You slam it against the rock again.
"Where. Is. Eris?"
>It wheezes.
>"It don't matter, you'll never find 'er! The Boss has her by now! He sent me to make a deal witcha, if you lived through Tirek! We'll give you tha lil' freak back, safe and sound, as long as you agree 'ta work for us. You help us get outta Tartarus, and then you help us kill Celestia and rule."
>His eyes narrow, and he grins at you.
>"It's a real good deal, like I said, big guy. You say yes, you get yer freaky girlfriend back, we get outta this shithole, and we rule tha world. Ya say know, and...well."
>His smile widens.


>You hear Tirek whispering to you from the blade, and you steadfastly ignore it.
>You were no heretic. You did not consort with daemons. A radical, maybe, but not a heretic.
>You wonder if this is what Eisenhorn thought when he trod the path to damnation.
>"Well, buddy? Whadya say?"
"Do you know where this 'Boss.' is?"
>He keeps smiling.
>"Sure I do, friend, but I ain't tellin' ya that. Whatever you can do ain't nothin' compared to what the Boss can do. We Crime Dogs are real loyal that way, ya see."
>You stare at him a moment, and you lower the blade and drop the dog.
>He brushes off his coat and adjusts his neck fur, still smiling.
>"I knew ya'd see things our wa-"
>He stops talking when you drive three feet of daemon-possessed steel into his chest, through his ribcage, piercing his heart, until the blade slides into the stone behind him.
>He jerks in surprise, but you know he's already dead. His brain just has to catch up.
>You wait while it does.
>Eventually, he stops jerking.
>When he does, you tear your blade free, and you grasp the top of his head.
>Then you peel open his skull like a grapefruit.


>A few minutes later, you're back in the sands of the waste.
>Your mind burns with the last bits of knowledge the "Crime Dog" possessed when you ate part of his brain.
>You know where "The Boss" is.
>Halfway across Tartarus, across a land filled with giants and something that murkily resembles a jungle.
>You barely notice the ache in your leg as you half-jog, half-limp across the Wastes.
>You are too filled with fury to notice.
>Your anger flares and crackles from you in a small storm of weak Warp discharge, and you hold your daemon weapon out openly, a display of force to whatever you cross paths with.
>Not that it would matter what that was.
>You had had enough.
>Enough of Tartarus, enough of monsters and xenos and daemons.
>Eris was the only thing that mattered.
>Anything between her and you would die by your blade.
>You would burn the entire realm of Tartarus to ashes to get to her.
>And when you did, this "Boss" would know your vengeance.
>The Emperor was with you.
>You feared no evil, no xenos, no Dog.
>You would purge this world, and then you would bring Eris home.
>You promised that to yourself, and to her.
>You would rain Hell upon the Dogs, upon Celestia, upon everything that would seek to tear her from you.
>Let none survive.