The weak hunter remained on the ground, a combination of Light and blood dripping from wounds in his body. In his right hand he weakly held a broken knife. His left hand was on his chest. "What a day…" the hunter groaned.

"Parthix!" Tolcum's voice filled the air as he made his way to the fallen warrior. "Parthix, are you still kicking?!"

"Sure," Parthix replied, tilting his head to the approaching hunter. "But not for long." He then gestured to his wounds as his lifeforce appeared to be running away from his body.

"You're going to be alright. We'll get you the medical help you need," Tolcum stated.

"No, you won't," Parthix reluctantly admitted. "My ghost got destroyed earlier in the fray. There's no saving me from what's to come."

"Shut up, Parthix!" Iris growled as she stepped to the pair. "You're going to be fine."

"Look at me!" Parthix shouted with the last of his strength. "There's no saving me from this. Crota did his job, and broke me like he did so many others." Light exploded from the hunter's chest, and suddenly he was no longer a guardian. He laid before his comrades, finally seen for what he was: a man. He was no god with limitless power, or endless lifespan. Guardians never contained either of those traits, and it was at that moment Tolcum's mindset changed.

"I can't lose anyone else…" Tolcum said, his voice trailing off. The hunter attempted to stifle tears.

Parthix let out a light chuckle. "Always so emotional, you big baby. We'll see each other again someday. Don't weep pal, because this is just the beginning." Parthix's breathing slowed, and he set his head back on the ground. His head then fell to the side, and his body ceased to move. The hunter was gone.

"I'm sorry, Tolcum," Iris said, attempting to stifle tears of her own.

The nightstalker looked to Parthix's right hand, then took the broken knife from his friend's grasp. Tolcum then rose from his position and gave the corpse space as he attempted to quell his volatile emotions. The hunter then turned to his last remaining friend. "At least I have you."

Iris burst forward, her arms instinctively wrapping around the hunter's neck as she pulled herself closer to him. Tolcum looked beyond her to the world around them. The Hive had retreated into their dens, and the Fallen would soon return for the spoils of war. The hunter looked out at the thousands of bodies that littered the Moon's surface and knew that he never wanted to experience such horrendous conflict again.

Then, in a move that surprised even himself, Tolcum looked to Iris. "Let's leave this place."

"The Moon?" Iris questioned.

"No, more than that. Let's leave this war, leave the city, leave everything behind. Let's live where no one can find us, no one can disturb us. I've lost too much already, and I can't lose you," Tolcum blurted out, allowing his emotions to drive his words.

"Tolcum, I…" Iris tried to protest, but found no reason to. The pair's grip tightened around one another.

/

"So, you actually did it?" Cayde questioned, lifting himself off his bed to hear Brakson's tale.

"It wouldn't have been possible without Tolcum," Brakson admitted.

"Tolcum! I thought that deranged hunter was dead; killed at the Battle of Twilight Gap!" Cayde exclaimed in surprise.

"So did I," Brakson replied, nodding his head in agreement.

"You lost a lot of good men out there!" Zavala's voice bellowed as the titan barged into Cayde's room. "Regardless of whether they were under your command or not, they're all dead thanks to your operation."

It was moments like this when Parthix would speak up for Brakson and make some jab at the Vanguard. Oh how Brakson missed his friend now. "You're right, sir. I lost a great many of my friends, and nothing can bring them back."

"And just where is the body of Crota?" Zavala asked.

"We don't have it. Eriana's fireteam will return with his remains when they've finished dealing with him," Brakson explained.

"So you mean to tell me that you didn't even kill him?!" Zavala questioned, his eyes alight with rage.

"No," Brakson reluctantly answered.

"Zavala, you can yell at the poor guy later, but right now he's a little tired from bashing in the skulls of hundreds of Hive," Cayde embellished, urging his fellow Vanguard member to leave.

"We'll finish this discussion later," Zavala assured the pair before taking his leave.

"Zavala's right," Brakson stated after the titan left. "I led so many good guardians to their deaths. And for what? A few thousand Hive may be dead, but Crota is still an uncertainty."

"I'm sure Eriana and her fireteam can handle it," Cayde stated.

But Eriana's fireteam couldn't handle it, and only Eris Morn would remain to inform the Tower of her team's failure. The burden of ending Crota would fall to that of another guardian who would eventually journey into the bowels of the Hellmouth and execute the God-Prince. Brakson's legacy would forever be plagued by this disaster, and though many regarded him as the Brave Titan of Twilight Gap, others would remember him for his folly on Luna.

As for Tolcum and Iris: The Last City never saw them again, though many romanticized the pair as being guardians of the wilderness who forever guard the city from the wilds.

/

A Hundred Years Later

Tolcum sat in the observatory staring out at the illustrious Earth with a mountaintop view. In his hand he held Parthix's broken knife.

"Tolcum, a Fallen skiff was spotted half a mile out," Iris called from another part of the facility.

"Be there in a minute," the hunter replied, his eyes entranced by the scenery. For years, the hunter had longed to find some understanding in Parthix's final words, and it was on this day that he believed he comprehended them. Word was spreading throughout the worlds of a new guardian. This hero was bringing great change with him, and his gifts were finally allowing humanity to branch out. Settlements had been created as far out as the EDZ, and armies of guardians were taking to the stars with conquest in mind. For the first time in centuries, humanity had the strength to drive away its enemies. Ghaul had been defeated, and the greatest foes to the Last City were no more.

"You were right, Parthix," Tolcum stated quietly to himself. "That really was just the beginning."