From his hidden position, Templar Champion Escarosht the Ardent observed as the ravenous ghouls charged wave after wave against the Nurglites’ crude, but effective fortifications.
They were excellent shock troops, the Aviarch noted. Unrelenting and vicious. They served their purpose well.
While he and his inner circle observed the battle with cold and calculating indifference, he noticed his envoy seemed… rather uneasy. Maybe she saw something he couldn’t.
Scratch after scratch, bite after bite, the ghouls of the “Yektiktlani”, as they apparently called themselves, ground the Nurglite scum down.
The swarm of degenerated flesh eaters threatened to bring down the last defensive line of Blightkings – but Nurgle’s faithful withstood their attack in the end.
Escarosht could see Lord Gluk Glutsore cheer as the Ghouls’ assault began to waver. Fool. He could not see how much he had lost.
Nevertheless, the Yektiktlani seemed to be spent, and the headless charge slowly changed into a headless retreat.
It was finally time for the Templars to intervene.
The Yektiktlani, a force so potent and easily steered, had been truly a blessing from Our Saviour in their endeavor. On their own, who knew how many Tzaangor they would have lost, or whether they had been victorious at all.
Escarosht had seen Nurglite sorcery being cast. If they were lucky, these were indeed the remnants of the vast Nurglite coven The Countless Phthisis has not been spotted, though.
The Templar commander gave the signal.
Breaking into their gurgling cheers and false merriment, a Divine Cacophony of screaming discs came down upon the ragged Nurglite survivors, cutting and biting deep into their flanks with vicious blades and blessed spears, and Glutsore’s oily body, riddled with arrows from Skyfire bows, began to inflame in Holy Fire, the beast screaming and waiting as it burned.
Again, Escarosht used the power of the cyclestone to ensnare their enemies for an easy kill.
Unbothered by the Nurglites’ fortifications, the Templar Enlightened hunted down the spent enemy sorcerers, bringing them down with great vengeance.
Once the first ragged defense was broken, it was a massacre.
The sariant warriors only made an appearance once the battle was won, coming out of the forest to scour the ruins, slaughtering all those Maggotkin who yet lived, and destroying any preparations for the grand Nurglite ritual.
__________________________
The ruins had been won, the Nurglite efforts shattered.
The Templars had taken a new position deep within the ruins at the heart of the Slidecrown Isle. The crown was close; he could feel it.
Escarosht watched as the priest spoke to his men, but turned away as another painful coughing fit took over his body.
He did not have much time left. Not much Hope left, not for him.
The Crystalised Aqua Ghyranis hanging from his neck had eased his pain, and proven an asset when fighting the Nurglites, but it could not truly reverse his condition.
As he wandered around the camp, he inspected all the destruction caused.
He finally found the envoy away from camp, next to a fragment of an ancient wall.
She was crouching over the bloated corpse of a Blightking. She was devouring its flesh.
And Escarosht began laughing until it hurt.
