Zardu Layak is not mad. Zardu Layak has been chosen by the gods.

After receiving visions of his father, Lorgar, in his dreams, the Word Bearer now understands the truth – in the war to come, he is destined to set the stage, open the way and change the galaxy forever.

But he is not yet ready. First, he must travel to the forgotten world of Helwain to seek out the Anakatis blades, weapons of terrible power that will give him the strength required to walk the path to glory. Yet Helwain is also home to ghosts, and as the echoes of Layak’s past weakness surround him, he must reckon with the question that turned his Legion from the Emperor: what if the truth is a lie?