The Hive Knight roared in fury, swinging its sword in a wide arc to drive off its attackers. The Fallen vandals who were fighting it leapt back, dodging the sword swing. But these vandals were different. Their armor was dusty brown, and body wrapping covered their limbs and torsos, as well as wrapping round their heads. Covering their mouths and heads completely, the only exposed part was the eye pieces for their helmet. These varied between the vandals, with some having a long green slit across the helmet, while other had two large eyepiece lights, one about twice the size of the other. They were Dust Hunters, elite scouts and warriors from the House of Dust. Wielding harpoon guns, the fired at the Knights shoulders and arms, spearing through them and hooking them to chains. Other hunters grabbed the chains and pulled, yanking the Knight to the side in an attempt to subdue it. Nearby, other Hive were being fought the same way, most already brought down.

Wailing in pain and fury, the Knight dropped to a knee, the Fallen tugging on its chains being too much for its damaged limbs. The hunters snarled and all tugged at once, yanking the Knight to the ground, causing it to growl in fury as it was forced to its hands and knees. All of this and more was seen by Archon Priest Horvack as he sat upon his Fel-Beast mount. The large creature stood on four long yet sturdy legs, with an armored hide and a thick skull. Four blue eyes gazed out from beneath its jawline, giving it a bizarre appearance. A black leather saddle was strapped to its back, as well as black reins, which Horvack held in his one lower arm. Behind the saddle were several saddlebags for storage, as well as a sling for holding his staff. To Horvack's right, his adjutant Gathra sat upon her own stead, a ravager, a two legged beast that acts as the Fallen version of a horse. She sat with arms crossed, watching with grim astonishment as the last of the Hive was wrestled to the ground. Since leaving the Devils a few days ago, she had made some changes to her armor. It was still mostly that of a Devils vandal, but now, along with the green sash, she also wore the brown arm and head wrappings that the other Dust members wore, along with the removal of her helmet. However, she left her face uncovered completely, exposing her four blue eyes and frowning fanged mouth as well as letting her Mohawk stick out from above the wrappings.

Once the struggling stopped, the Knight finally tied up enough that it stopped fighting, Horvack slipped from his saddle, hitting the ground with a heavy thud. As he withdrew his staff, Gathra dismounted as well, grabbing a storage bag that was attached to her saddle as she followed close behind him. Horvack moved forward, eyeing the Knight as it glared at him, its arms stretched wide by the chains embedded within its flesh. Horvack stopping in front of it, staring down at the Hive with the green lights of his helmet. He turned slightly and extended his hand out behind him. Acting fast, Gathra reached into her pack and withdrew a large knife, the tip of the blade hooked and jagged, placing it into Horvack's hand. He took the knife, and examined it for a moment, before placing it next to the Knights face, right on the edge of its eye plate.

The hunters began chanting, a single, strange word that wasn't in the standard Eliskni tongue. Horvack himself began muttering in a matching tongue, his voice echoing as it slowly rose is volume. Finally, Horvack gave one final chant, then shoved the knife blade into the Knights face, right into the gap of the eye plate. At the same time, his second hand gripped the Knight's face, his claws hooking under the plate. With a twist and a pull, the eye plate was torn from the Knight's face, causing it to howl in pain and fury as the plate torn free, black ooze seeping from the large hole in the Knight's face. Horvack gripped the eye plate tightly, staring at it as the thick black blood oozed over his hand, the tentacles on the back writhing now that they were in the open air. He then turned, and thrust the eye piece into the air, resulting in all the surrounding hunters roaring in triumph at their prize. Horvack smirked under his helmet, pleased by the response of his followers. He then turned, and placed the eye piece within the bag that Gathra held out for him.

"The hunting is going well my lord. At this rate, we will have enough eyes to begin in no time."

Horvack glanced at her, amused by her words and face, which didn't match up. Her words spoke with pride, but her face showed fear and repulsion. Clearly, she was speaking this way to appease to his good side, despite the fact that it sickened her. She will adapt soon enough.

"Yes my young Adjutant. We are getting very close. But so is our foe. We must accelerate out work."

He turned, and shouted a command to his followers, spinning a hand above his head. They all barked in response, then began wrapping up the Hive with their chains. Quite suddenly, a skiff, colored brown and green, materialized overhead, as if it had been there the whole time. The back slowly opened up, and dozens of barbed chains began descending from its dark interior, dangling down on to the ground for the hunters to use. They fastened their chains around the lowered chains, tying the Hive up to the Skiff. With a crank, the Skiff began slowly pulling the chained Hive off the ground and up into the air, straight into the Skiff's underbelly. Once the Hive started to be lifted, the Dust Hunters turned and jumped atop their mounts, whooping and hollering as they did. Gathra turned and did the same, however, she did so in silence. She was mostly just trying to prevent herself from vomiting. When Horvack had asked her to go on a hunt with him, she never expected to see such acts of brutality, even on the Hive. Sure they were horrid monsters who technically weren't even alive to begin with so… She sighed. Why was she getting worked up about killing Hive? They were Hive for Primes sake.

Horvack slowly turned and walked to his mount, sliding his staff into the saddle before hauling himself up. He turned, facing the Skiff as it turned to the south and vanished without a sound or trace. Horvack then face his hunters.

"Hunters! Spread out. Search these lands for more incursions. I returned to prepare for you the way."

The Dust Hunters howled in triumph, an echoing war cry that shattered the still air. Then, they took off, their ravager mounts bringing them up to speeds matching a sparrow as they ran off in multiple directions. Without a sound, Horvack, Gathra, and two Hunter Guards turned to the south, and began the journey back.