Chapter 2
The Templar's Well
-Kalek-
The soft trickle of water dripping through the dark caverns was the only reprieve the group received as they traversed the winding tunnels within the Vault. They made no sound aside from the clinking of gear and light splash of trodding through puddles. The air was thick, tainted by the Darkness and the rock around them hummed faintly with Vex energy. A light fog hung low in the cavernous pathway and beams of surface light poked through the occasional crack in the ceiling. Signs of life faded away as they drew deeper, fewer puddles graced the floor, fewer plants clung to the walls and sprouted from the ground.
Kalek grew tense, his eyes flitted around the cave interior as they walked and his grip on his scout rifle tightened. His increasing discomfort had caught the attention of Arana who had kept by his side as they walked. He flinched at the sensation of her hand on his shoulder, but relaxed immediately after.
"You holding up alright?" Her voice showed similar concern to his incident with the Spire pedestal.
he looked over at her, "Yeah, I'm fine."
"Somehow, I doubt that." her voice was soft, as she removed her hand and when Kalek remained silent, she spoke again. "Is the pedestal episode still bothering you?"
He didn't answer right away, instead he looked down the line of Guardians for a moment, gazing at Aihri and Garen talking at the head of the pack.
"That's definitely part of it," he mused, "a big part is just me thinking. About what we might be getting ourselves into. Whatever's hid itself in the heart of Venus and sealed itself away with protection like that definitely doesn't want to be found, and probably has unimaginable power brewing along with it. Worse than anything our scraps of information could depict." He looked at each of his team mates as they rounded the upcoming bend, "This place has already consumed three Guardians and I'm certain it wouldn't stop now. Who's to say we won't end up as just another number on the casualty list?"
Arana nodded and let out a breath. "I thought about that too, but at the same time I can't help but feel excited to uncover all the secrets of this place. Plus there are six of us and we have more information than they did. I'd say our chances are much better."
But by how much? Our knowledge has only the slightest edge over theirs, and numbers can only take us so far...
His internal comment filled her pause just enough for him to catch the curiosity worming into her next statement, "Speaking of secrets, what exactly happened with you and the Spire back there?"
Another pause from Kalek as Arana looked to him. He could almost feel her burning curiosity as he collected his thoughts. "I never knew what the Vex minds were like until then. It was strange, tapping into them. At first it seemed to be just static, but it changed. It was more of a will, than thought. The static comes when you resist. It draws you in so quickly and it's so easy to let go, so tempting. I can't say much about possibilities and 'what-if's, but I am grateful you were there to bring me back. I shudder to think of what their corruption would've done to me."
Arana said nothing in response, simply taking in the information and continuing down the winding path. Kalek spoke up again, "There was something else as well." Arana looked back over at him. "There was a voice that spoke through the Vex. It sounded human, male, and what it said makes me think it's been here for a very long time. It told me that it 'was not lost'." He paused in thought for a moment, "Pahanin spoke of something like this in his journal. Something about how in the Vault, time itself frays and distorts. It's a realm where the unimaginable becomes possible. At first I thought the voice may have been the Vex or some sort of consciousness of their creation to speak with us, but there was a hint of pleading in its voice. I think it may have been one of the Guardians in Kabr's fireteam."
"That would make sense." she mumbled, "We're the first Guardians to enter the Vault since then, and if they've been trapped within time here, it'd be natural to try and reach out to one or all of us."
Kalek nodded, his brow creasing with worry, "Now the question is how did that happen to them, and how can we avoid it happening to us?"
"Yeah, and whether we can still save them." She added.
"Hm?" His eyes darted over to her, to see her staring right back.
"If that is in fact Kabr's voice you heard then he must still be alive right? And then there's the rest of his fireteam still trapped down here, we can't just leave them."
A spark of hope flickered in his wary mind as she spoke. Maybe they could bring them home; release them from the dark corners of time. "Yeah." He hummed after his silence as the two caught up with the remaining group. The compact caverns began to open up, and the unknown metal of the Vex began to protrude through the rock. The group reached a large opening where the cave ceiling had fractured and a ravine stretched out to their right. The metal and rock dropped off dozens of meters before a thick fog began to shroud the bottom. Sparse mosses and grass clung to the walls of the ravine and water trickled down the precipice where lazy rays of evening sunlight vaguely lit the drop off.
Garen and Aihri stopped in the small chamber and set down their gear. Dale and Romulus followed suit. Kalek gazed up at the cracked ceiling, then down at the drop a few meters to his right. He wasn't a fan of being unable to see what was below him so he headed over to the left wall and set his scout rifle down, leaning on the rock.
No words needed to be spoken signifying their short break, everyone showed equal signs of fatigue save for Romulus. The Titan remained standing, staring down the drop, auto rifle still in hand. Kalek watched the him inspect the chasm for a while until Arana made her way over to where he leaned against the wall. She joined him with her back against the wall, sliding slowly down to sit on the dusty floor. Fatigue weighed down her movements and her Ghost popped out to speak with her. Mostly praise. Astrid was a pretty chipper companion and always seemed to help keep Arana's energy up, though she rarely needed any pep talks. The combination of the two ended up to be a constant fountain of gushing positivity at times. Kalek understood Astrid's praise, she had put on quite the light show at the cliffside and the energy it took was apparent on her body language. He gazed down at her and a hints of warmth and jealousy picked its way into his mind.
There's no room for that.
He frowned and shook his head to clear his thoughts.
Focus.
He looked over at the three veteran Guardians a few meters ahead. They were standing and conversing nearby the entrance to another tunnel system. They seemed to be deeply engaged and he couldn't help but wonder what they were talking about. He lacked the will to try and find out for himself and almost as if triggered by his curiosity, Adonis materialized by his shoulder.
[ I wonder what they're talking about up there. ] Adonis pondered
"Why don't you go up there and ask?"
[ I have the strangest urge not to ]
"Uh oh, is someone shy?"
[ I don't exactly see you jumping to find out either ]
"You and I both know what would happen if I walked up to Garen and tried to dip in his conversation. Plus I'm tired. What's your excuse?"
[ ...The stars are not in position… ]
Kalek let out a chuckle, "Classic."
Something started to tug at Kalek's attention. He couldn't see it, but he felt it quite clearly. It seemed to be tugging at him, begging his attention. His brow creased and he nudged Arana with his leg. "Hey, you feel that?"
Arana had already started rising when he brought up the question. "Yeah I do." Astrid's shell twitched and her optic narrowed searching for a source. "It's coming from near the exit over there." She raised a finger towards the area where the veterans were speaking and he noticed that Aihri had already broken off from the group and was inspecting the wall adjacent to the tunnel opening.
"What is it now, Aihri?" He heard Garen growl
"There's something here." She said lowly
"What could that possibly be? A wall of rock and metal? How fascinating!" He mocked
"Hush!" she quipped
Arana and Kalek quickly made their way over as Aihri began sliding her hands over the smooth metal. Arana continued past the others and joined Aihri in inspecting the wall. Kalek was equally confused and intrigued as he watched the two Warlocks feel a wall. Without context, he would've been laughing but he knew they were onto something.
"It's getting stronger," Arana said, "A faint trace of Light. Farther right, a little down."
Aihri stepped over to the other side of Arana, now standing to her right and looking around for anything out of place in the metallic wall. Dale leaned over slightly to speak to Kalek in a teasing tone, "This is why we can't bring Warlocks anywhere. They get curious, and start touching things. Like random walls."
Kalek snickered with a shake of his head. It struck him that this was the first he'd spoken since their mission began, and he was grateful in the fact that the fellow Hunter had begun to shake his nerves. He thought of some of their previous talks fondly but Aihri suddenly exclaimed and opened her hand. Her Ghost appeared in her palm and immediately began scanning the wall where she had just stood. Moments later, the wall section clicked and released a three foot tall box of the same metal as the surrounding wall. She carefully pushed up on the top corners; opening it and an intense light filled the interior of the chest. Aihri looked over her shoulder at Garen and Dale and smirked behind her helmet.
"So what was that about Warlocks, boys?" She teased.
Dale reached up to rub the back of his neck in guilt, "If I recall correctly, Kalek was the one who brought it up."
Kalek scoffed and raised his hands submissively, "Of course. It's always the Russian."
"You know I'm right." Dale chided
Kalek simply sighed beneath his helmet as the the group's attention turned back to the two Warlocks. They simply stared at the box full of light for a moment neither Warlocks moving as well, until Aihri moved to reach into the chest. Arana made an attempt to warn her, but stopped before forming a full word. Aihri's hand disappeared into the light for a moment and when she brought it back out, a spherical capsule of boiling red energy sat within her grasp.
She stood and faced the others, "Ascendant energy capsules." Her voice lowered, "The other Guardians have been here."
When she spoke, a tingle ran up Kalek's spine and he was reminded of the ghostly figure in his vision and the voice that spoke through the network. He looked down at Arana and found her looking up at him. It'd clicked in her mind as well. Kalek looked over at Aihri who was already stowing the capsule in a pouch on her robes.
"How can you be so certain?" he asked
Aihri looked up him, "Ascendant energies are some of the basic components of higher capacity gear for us Guardians. It's what gives our armor and weapons their edge over the Darkness." she patted her pocket, "It's contained in these capsules for future use, and the only way to get energy in the first place is to contain it from the Traveler itself. Something only the Speaker can do, which is then distributed to the Vanguard and those eligible."
She looked over to the wall where the remainder of the team took turns picking through the light-filled chest. "There's no way someone would store their spare materials here, and if the legends are true then this energy has been absorbed from the gear of those who have fallen within the Vault."
"Guardians die. This is some place that it's happened. Got anything actually useful?." Garen's harsh quip from the back of the group took Kalek aback. His chin dropped and his stance hardened as he turned to see the Titan stowing his own share of Ascendant Energy.
"So you already know of them?" Kalek asked, his tone low.
"We've all done our homework, lad. The legend of Kabr's fireteam is not a huge mystery." Garen's dismissive response did little to suppress the growing tension in the air.
"You don't think so?" Kalek's voice held genuine frustration as he glared at the armor-clad man before him. He never liked it when others belittled his thought process, and Garen's condescending delivery only made it worse. And there he stood, readily taking a fallen Guardian's essence without considering their sacrifice. Kalek practically bristled with his response.
"Kabr was one of the City's strongest Titans! You think the Vex would just let them die? Just have it be that simple? They are trying to reach out to us! We can't just count our resources and-"
"-That's not important!" Garen roared, "What is important is that we uphold the mission! There's no room for sympathy in this war, and when you finally wake up from that delusion is when you will learn to be more than you are."
Kalek's fingers curled into a fist at his side as he glowered in silence. Seeing the opportunity, Garen continued firmly, "Now, you and Dale go scout ahead. We still have a lot of ground to cover."
Kalek still stood rigid, his gaze burning into Garen's.
"Now!" the Titan commanded, and Kalek whirled to storm down the narrow exit, arcs of electricity sparking from his armor.
His boots echoed down the stone passage, the low rhythmic thud of synthetic boots against smooth rock reverberated continuously seeming to embody the building anger within him. The interaction wasn't lengthy, there wasn't even terribly much that was said, but it left him ready to carve out a new tunnel system for them to explore. Garen had always been able to get beneath his skin, and his absolute command in every situation never ceased to make matters worse. The remainder was unknown. He didn't know how Garen got to him so easily and that alone was frustrating enough.
The pathway began to straighten and the exit drew nearer and another stronger bolt ignited in his wake with a loud pop.
"Easy there bud, your company isn't shock-proof."
Dale's voice took Kalek by surprise and he almost instantly worked down his composure, slowing his pace and suppressing his temper. He stopped and turned to allow the other Hunter to catch up. His form was dark in the dim cavern light, but the vibrant orange of his cloak and the glint of a rifle body in his hands gave Kalek a little affirmation.
"Sorry," he grumbled, "you saw that back there though right? I'm not the only one who found that… you know…"
"Yeah. I do have to say, Garen was a little harsh. Aihri will probably have a word with him."
"I just can't believe he just disregarded their deaths like that, he just..." Kalek blew air from between his lips and shook his head, following Dale as he kept moving forward. The Hunter let out a chuckle and Kalek could only tilt his head in confusion.
"What?" he asked,
A slight head shake from Dale, "I just don't know what's up with you two. From the moment you both met, I've had to take a second thought about getting myself a personal blast shield when you're in the same room."
Kalek almost laughed at the truth he held. He had started to notice some of the other team members tended to stay quiet during their arguments, and could imagine the other four guardians huddled behind cover as he and Garen duked it out.
Kalek kept stride with Dale and his mood began to lift as they progressed through the widening passage. His gratitude for Dale's company only improved as the other Hunter pulled a second, longer rifle from his back,
"You left this." Dale said.
"Oh. Thanks." Kalek responded as he took his scout rifle back. He hadn't realized that he didn't have it before he stormed out, he felt a twinge of embarrassment which only worsened when Dale pulled two Ascendant Energy capsules from one of his belt pockets.
"Those are mine too huh?" Kalek muttered as he secured his rifle to his back,
Dale nodded as he passed them off, "You've got a good friend there."
"Hm?" Kalek hummed.
"Arana." Dale said, "She's the one who told me to bring your stuff. Only one who noticed apparently."
He blinked in silence, holding the warm spheres. He felt a slight tingle in his stomach and a warmth came to him, but he didn't have much time to linger on the thought for long. A sudden gust of wind rushed down the passage, ruffling the hood of his cloak. He brought a hand up to secure it as he realized they were nearing the once-distant opening.
Dust carried by the wind hissed along the cave walls and skipped past the hole they approached. The ground seemed to slope downwards and he realized the area just past the opening was strangely empty. He halted, his muscles tense as he suddenly found himself at the edge of an impossibly steep drop. An immense area had been hollowed out and any sort of boundaries were quickly lost. His eyes flitted around the scene wildly, looking for a floor, a ceiling, walls, anywhere safe to go next but his only reprieve was a distant far right wall of stone and two massive smooth stone platforms seemingly floating without any support.
He looked down at the platforms and his legs began to tingle. The drop would take a few seconds, but a miss would send him plummeting into the bottomless dark. He stabilized himself on the tunnel wall and looked over at Dale who was still scanning the treacherous environment.
"Any ideas?" Kalek asked.
"Well, we could either try our luck with the obvious trap down there," Dale craned his neck to peer at the far wall. "Or we could take the crash course on rock climbing."
Kalek looked back to their options and saw that both led down to the beginnings of a stone pathway along a small cliff. The jagged rock wall gave way to smooth, carved Vex-stone just before the path picked up. He glanced back over at the platforms. Although risky, one could definitely use them to get to the far cliffside. It was simply a matter of who could use which path. A Warlock could easily float down to each platform, and the Titans could use their lift to propel them across with ease. Both skills no Hunter could even attempt. Once he was moving, he could change course once, and that was it. You either got it right or you didn't, and that wasn't a chance he was willing to take.
"Both lead where we need to go, but I'm starting to trust those platforms less and less." Kalek called. He didn't trust either one and his nerves were definitely speaking to him as he stepped closer to the edge of the drop, but he didn't have many other options. He held onto the rock with his right hand and kept his gaze up, staring at the wall just above his footing. Foot over foot, he carefully picked his way towards the far right wall.
The edge's foot and handholds grew increasingly scattered as they neared the far wall, eventually forcing the two lower into the howling dark where the stone grew wider and the slope less harsh. Although what they stood on was but a shallower slope, a slip would prove more than problematic. Their Ghosts hovered at their shoulders ready to help, optics shining like flashlights doing their best to counter the piercing black.
[ How much further? ] Adonis called over the rushing wind
Kalek looked up to the dimly lit slope above them, "Not sure, can't be too much longer though. The wall wasn't too far to begin with and once we get there, things will get easier-"
The sound of cracking stone filled his ears and echoed off the wall and Kalek froze. His gaze instantly shot upwards as his eyes searched the area above. A tense breath slipped through his lips as he slid his hand over rock beside him, repressing his building panic in search of a secure handhold. A low rumble and a clap of thunder before the rock around them split, and Kalek fell enveloped in fear into the bitter dark below.
He heard his name being called from above through the roar of collapsing rock and he reached up from the void before vanishing into a wind of spectral matter. His form came back into being just at the edge of one of the wall edges and he reached out, hoping to latch onto anything secure before the planet's intense gravity began pulling him back down. His fingers caught on rock and he began to heave himself up onto the narrow wall side. He clutched the wall to catch his breath, he'd only performed a successful blink maneuver a few sparing times in his life and his amazement at his accuracy this time washed over him with a twinge of short-lived relief.
"Kalek!", He heard Dale call and he searched frantically for his partner amid the chaos. His voice sounded close and it would only be a moment before a flash of orange caught his eye just above him. The vibrant tip of Dale's cloak zipped past as he called, "Go! The pathway is close!"
Kalek gave a hasty nod and whirled to follow, his strides light but with enough power to propel him through the crumbling cliffside. Every step brought him closer to safety and equally each brought a fresh jolt of panic as the ground slipped from beneath him. He kept his eyes ahead, and his heart raced as he and Dale leapt from perch to perch along the wall. He heard the buzz of comms chatter beneath the roar of collapsing rock but he blocked it out, focusing on weaving his way to the imminent edge. The final gap drew closer as a shower of pebbles clinked against his helmet and armor only inciting him to take the leap. He pushed off with all he had and landed into a roll with a pained grunt onto the pathway.
Kalek pulled his cloak from over him and peered at the collapsing cliffside. Dale had landed just behind him and was already rising, dusting himself off and inspecting his armor for damage. He found a small tear at the side of his cloak and let out a sigh before turning to gaze at the shifting chasm behind them.
"WHAT'S GOING ON OVER THERE? SCOUTS COME IN, WHAT'S YOUR STATUS?!"
Kalek flinched at the voice that barked through the comms. He could tell it was Garen, but his mind still buzzed and when he thought to speak, he couldn't seem to formulate words quite yet.
"We're alright, made it over just fine. Couple scrapes, could use a ham sandwich or two."
Kalek looked up at Dale with a nod of gratitude and an amused chuckle. Dale returned the gesture with a thumbs up and Kalek could almost imagine the charismatic smirk he'd have beneath his helmet.
"What do you mean made it over?" It was Aihri's voice this time, holding a calm concern, a stark contrast from Garen's intensity. "What did you find?"
Kalek had risen to stand at Dale's shoulder during their conversation, he looked out over to the settling rockfall before becoming aware that he'd lost track of their conversation.
"Oh." Aihri mused, and Kalek looked up at the distant tunnel opening where the rest of the group stood gawking at the chasm before them. They were but small figures up in the distant cave exit with no other options to reunite save for the stone platforms. Concern turned to dread as he looked at the Guardian's only path to see the platforms were simply floating above the dark chasm.
There's no way those could support much of anything…
His thoughts we're interrupted by the sound of a countdown over his helmet comms and he snapped his eyes back to the others high above, and at the count of one, he saw four figures take to the air.
Kalek called out to them, "WAIT! THERE'S NO SUPPORT BENEATH THEM-"
"WE'RE OUT OF OPTIONS!" It was Garen who called back angrily. "IF THEY START TO FALL WE CAN USE THE FAR WALL!"
"The far wall is unstable, you can't!" Dale chimed in, equally as worried.
"This is our best option." Romulus spoke calm and stern, "It would yield troubling results should we send only one to test the strength of the platforms"
The Titan landed upon the stone. "Should the rock fall, it would leave the remainder of us stranded on the other side."
Kalek said nothing, only gripped with disdain as he watched them jump. When Romulus landed on the first, the platform heaved and emanated a deep groan. His hands balled into fists, his heart jumped and the remainder of the group landed.
"Keep moving!" Aihri called. And the suspended stone began to give.
"Hurry!" Kalek yelled.
One by one they leap to the next platform and he took notice of something as they left. The first platform began to rise again, and when they landed, the second began to dip as well. A tense confusion set over him as he watched the others sprint for the pathway. The platforms held, but only after taking a concerning drop.
Of course they're fine, yeah… just toy with me like that, should be fun.
Kalek's muscles relaxed and he let out an irritated huff as he watched the others make their way towards them. He felt a tap on his shoulder and he looked to see Dale jab a thumb at the pathway. He nodded and turned to head down the cliffside path. Ahead, the rock formed a low archway over head and he could make out massive pillars of machine and stone reaching up from the abyss until they vanished in the darkness far above. The pathway edge obscured the bottoms of the pillars, but cones of light shined along the sides of them. The pillars' base must be just be below.
"Heads up!" Dale's voice brought his attention back to the path which began to come to an end in a series of drop offs leading down to a final stop, a flat area of smooth stone. A few pebbles fell from the sides of each ledge.
Kalek took the first of many leaps down as Arana's voice came in through the comms. "A lot of this area seems like it formed fairly recently. Almost as if the paths were simply there by chance as the rock crumbled away."
"I suppose, but the rectangular smooth stone everywhere is definitely the Vex's doing." Dale said,
Another leap down, and a thud of boots moments later, "This place just doesn't seem to make sense." Kalek said shaking his head, "How did the Vex manage to hollow out this much of the planet? And explain the thunder, last I checked weather happens above ground, not below."
A place where the unthinkable is possible…
Kalek took the last leap, landing beside Dale and inspecting the area around them. The clear area seemed to be a single massive slab of smoothed stone protruding over the chasm, leading to where the four columns reached up. The other Hunter began to move towards the ledge, but Kalek turned to wait for the others. Arana's gentle glide drifted her down to his side, while the others made their way down the staggered path.
"So those platforms huh?" He heard Arana say, and a playful hit on his chest with the back of her hand followed, "Had us all worked up back there and they turned out to be just fine!"
He spread his arms apologetically, "Okay so when you see giant floating rectangles over a bottomless pit, your first thought is that they're perfectly safe?"
She shifted her weight and planted both hands on them, "Well not exactly, but I'd try and make sure they're dangerous before making that assumption."
Romulus landed with a heavy thud just shy of them, but said nothing and joined the gathering group. Kalek tilted his head towards the passing Titan "Well, as our friend here said 'it would yield troubling results' to try and test anything out beforehand."
He attempted his most proper voice inflection when he spoke, which came closer to a bad Spock impression than Romulus' voice. A giggle slipped from Arana and shortly after a rumble of thunder rolled through the air. The pair's laughter died as they glanced around, turning back to the nearby wall, which seemed to hum with energy.
Adonis formed just in front of him, looking from the wall to over Kalek's shoulder.
[ I'm sensing a large energy spike building just behind us. Possibly- ]
"Hey Kalek?" Dale called, "Remember that weather you were talking about..."
He turned back to the where the group stood, they all were staring up at a gathering cloud formation just ahead of them before the pillars. The wind picked up and the dark clouds swirled, infested with lighting.
"... I think we found the source."
Kalek and Arana walked forward, captivated by the clouds as crystalline shards of glass swirled along with the clouds. A bright center of light grew within the disk, before beaming down into the ground below in a flash and the clouds dispersed. A conflux brightened at the place of impact, a short tower of metal and data.
It lied below, the playing field was set, and Kalek looked up at the Vex created landscape before them. The pillars reached up through the floor of a massive area of stone and metal. Three distinct lanes stretched out before them, similar to that which lay before the entrance to the Vault. The left stretched around the left of the pillars, heavily sheltered, stone spires and pits led all the way to a back stairway. The middle led down through the pillars to a central open area which connected all three lanes, and even further down, a wide set of stairs led down to a pool of glaringly bright light. The right stretched around the right side of the pillars leading upstairs to a smaller area beside a cave. All three lanes reconnected in the back to the door; round, metal, unmoving. Until the metal sparked, and a massive foe materialized before them. A Vex hydra with glowing spheres adorned within its frame let out a deep, menacing electronic roar. A call of challenge. A threat of death.
The six readied themselves, and dropped down into the domain of the Templar.