The hillside was extremely rocky. Why the main force of Devils chose Vespir Hill to cross, Brakson would never know. His best guess was that they were attempting to mask their approach to the city through the treacherous pass.
"Still no sign of them," Parthix grumbled.
"Patience, comrade," Brakson urged. His gaze was glued to the distant slopes from which the fallen would have to climb. The titan stood upon the rocks of the hill, his trusty sword held firmly within his right hand. Crown Splitter was certainly a marvel blade for its time.
The familiar thudding of a hulking eliksni forced the pair of guardians to turn. "Are we prepared, guardians?" Krovix asked as he approached.
"As ready as we'll ever be," Parthix replied with a shrug. The other guardians, fallen, and humans were hunkered down between the rocks and boulders. They were dug in as best they could.
"Your civilians need not stay here if they wish," Brakson reminded the Kell of Dawn.
"We already told them," another fallen spoke up. Variksis approached with his shock rifle in hand. "Those people have lived with us since the beginning. Though several with families left, the rest like Revels are staying for the long run."
"Very well," Brakson relinquished.
"With all these groups together, I'd say that brings our marvelous total to a staggering five hundred," Parthix exclaimed sarcastically.
"Don't try and do the math," Krovix hissed. "It'll only make our predicament more hopeless."
It was then that Variksis glanced off into the distance. "Well, speak of the devil," he lightly snickered as a way to cover up his fear. He lifted a finger to where the grass met the sky, and there they saw it.
A single captain marched over the distant hill, its cape flowing gently in the breeze. The captain held no weapon, instead baring the banner of House Devils within its hands. It stomped onward, only halting once it had reached the end of the rocky platform it stood upon. Once there, it let out a terrifying roar as it slammed the base of its banner into the stone. Its piercing eyes communicated hatred as it stared up at the guardians. The world around them began to shake, and suddenly a thousand howls called out. The roaring of machines drew closer, and the true nature of the battle soon unraveled itself. Behind the captain came the Kell of Devils, Solkis, and with him a hundred thousand fallen. The captains led the horde, followed by thousands of vandals and thousands more dregs. Devil walkers were also in the mix, being spread throughout the army.
Brakson stared at the chanting horde, his gaze narrowing as he calmed his nerves. Slowly, he raised his sword. "Parthix, send them a message for me."
"Will do," Parthix laughed as he brought a shiny orange sniper from his back to his hands. He raised it the enemy, and carefully adjusted for the numerous factors that would affect his bullet's trajectory. Due to him being a natural sniper, the adjustment took a mere second before he fired. The round rocketed across the grassy field between the forces, and caused the flag-bearer's head to erupt in smoke and blood.
The kell roared a vicious order to his army before vanishing within their ranks, and a battalion of soldiers broke away from the horde, leaping from their place on the rocky platform to charge toward the enemy. Devil walkers lowered their metal bodies to the ground and fired, igniting destruction across the region.
Brakson and his comrades leaped into the rocks below their perch. "Remember what we discussed, men!" he shouted to those hunkered down. "Hunters, get to work."
Parthix dropped to the ground beside his fellow hunters and appropriately aligned his sniper. Bam! A flurry of sniper rounds were sent flying into the air, cracking the skulls of a dozen oncoming fallen. More bullets exited their chambers, and soon fifty eliksni were lying dead in the space between the armies. Parthix was almost enjoying himself when he caught sight of a devil walker targeting them. He rolled to the side as an explosive shell splattered half his comrades against the rocks in a fiery display of chaos. "Half my crew's down!" Parthix called out as he ran to his secondary position alongside Brakson.
"Krovix, get the advanced team in position," Brakson barked. He weaved between the rocks as cannon shells flew overhead.
"At least they only sent a battalion forward," Parthix commented as he followed behind his commander.
"Still, that's about a thousand eliksni warriors we'll have to hold off," Brakson replied.
"I can handle about a hundred," Parthix snickered as the pair came to a halt near a cluster of titans.
Krovix advanced to where the rocky formations ended and took a brief moment to gaze out at the oncoming enemy; a devil walker was stomping forward with the fallen garrison. The Kell of Dawn stood proudly before the enemy, allowing all of them to gaze upon his darkened figure. Then, he raised a sword. A slew of bullets followed, and flew past the kell towards the enemy. Bolts of energy along with kinetic rounds tore through the dregs that had surged to the front of their formation. Guardians and fallen alike stood beside their kell, firing at to the devils below. House Devils returned fire as they charged, knocking a titan to the ground and dropping several vandals. As they drew near, it became clear that they held the immediate advantage. Eight hundred strong, they easily outnumbered Krovix's frontline force. When they drew even closer, Krovix gave the order. "Retreat!" he shouted as he turned to head deeper within the rock formation.
The enemy followed, hungry to kill. Devil captains unsheathed their shock blades as they entered the maze of stone, intent on hunting down their foes. Gunfire consumed the region as the fallen garrison divided into various sections of the rocky paths. Guardians and allied fallen laid in wait for them, opening fire as they came. Still, the fight was relatively even. Guardians were felled, and several had their ghosts destroyed during the process of revival. Through the fight, several captains charged onward after Krovix. They chased him until he became cornered, his back against a boulder. The captains hissed insults as they lifted their swords to him.
The Kell of Dawn simply smirked. "Now!" he ordered. Humans leaped from the boulder overhead, crashing down on the captains. Revels lowered his spear as he came down, jamming its blade through a captain's eye. Krovix leaped forward, severing another captain's head in a single move.
Slowly, the combined force of humans and fallen pushed the enemy back, breaking their lines. When the devils appeared to be losing all sense of order, Brakson and his men charged forth from their hidden path. He thrusted his sword forward, impaling a vandal. In a flurry of swift motions, he tore through an entire squad of dregs before breaking for the clearing in the enemy's ranks. Following close behind was Parthix and a group of a dozen titans. Rifles rang out as the guardians covered their leaders advance. From outside the rocky formations in which the battle took place, the devil walker opened fire. Stone was sent flying into the colliding armies, crushing a guardian as well as several of Krovix's humans. The walker continued to fire, and forty more warriors fell to its cannon before Brakson finally reached it.
"Bring it down!" the titan shouted as he raised his sword. Behind him, three titans revealed a weapon that had once been considered illegal. With blue markings and bolts of lightning coursing over its surface, the Thunderlord was a feared weapon. The titans fired, and watched as bolts of energy tore through the devil walker's outer plating.
"Hit it with everything you got," Parthix remarked as he slid under a stream of laser bolts fired from the walker's nose repeater.
The walker cut down five of the titans as they approached, but still the others fired. The Thunderlord did its job, and soon the legs were completely exposed. Brakson leaped forward, swinging Crown Splitter horizontally as he came. Crack! He continued onward, slicing through the legs on the walker's right side. With a confirming explosion, the vehicle was effectively put out of commission. Brakson then turned back to his comrades. Only Parthix and three of his titans were still standing. He then looked to the rock formation, and saw Krovix step triumphantly from the shadows. He held in his hand the head of a captain, and lifted it high above his own for all to see.
In the distance, Brakson could make out the hulking figure of Solkis, and the kell was most certainly displeased. With the wave of a hand, the walkers within the enemy formation began to reposition. "Back to your positions, everyone!" Brakson called out as he rejoined the army.
"Only gotta do that a thousand more times," Parthix remarked as he followed.
"We need to reassess our situation. I fear the enemy has some surprises in store for us," Brakson stated. With that, the defenders of the Last City disappeared once more amongst the rocks.
Tolcum plucked the knife from the thrall's skull as he dropped the corpse to the ground. He lifted his revolver and fired, quickly executing a pair of acolytes. "Polaris, seal that bloody door!" he shouted as he ran cover. Three knights were closing in on him, two with boomers and one a cleaver.
"I'm trying!" Polaris called out. "I'm so used to opening doors that shutting one has suddenly become a rather tricky process."
Arriving on Luna was easy enough, as well as sneaking through the many levels of the Hellmouth. However, when Tolcum entered the shrine, he knew he'd have to clear out the enemies within. He pounded three rounds into a knight skull, sending its lifeless body crashing to the ground; the creature shattered on impact. He leaped over an explosive bolt of energy and unsheathed a pair of knives. He quickly reversed them in his hands, holding them backwards as he tore through the throat of the second knight. He narrowly slid past the third's deadly cleaver as it attempted to split him in half. Tolcum then swiftly planted his feet onto the ground, and sprang forth towards the knight. With a decisive swing from his arms, the creature was severed at the waist.
"Door's shut," Polaris cheerfully stated as he soared back to his guardian.
Tolcum sheathed his knives and he looked around the chamber. It was rather satisfying to not see a living thing around. "So, this the holy Shrine of Oryx?" he questioned rhetorically.
Polaris looked nervously to the massive orb at the room's center. "I believe that is what you must enter," he stated hesitantly. "Where you go, I cannot follow."
Tolcum stared inquisitively at the orb. "Of course." The thoughts of failure suddenly reentered his mind. His ghost may never see him return, but still he had to try. Slowly, the guardian turned back to his ghost. "Polaris, if I don't make it backā¦"
"Have you forgotten who you are?" Polaris asked. "Have you forgotten all that you have accomplished? No guardian has ever been able to connect with the Darkness, mainly due to fear. Despite said fear, you took a leap of faith and tamed that power. Now, you wield it as a weapon, and I believe you can do much more," he stated, his voice shaking with emotion. "You're the Tolcum who annihilated an entire firebase of cabal. You're the Tolcum who eliminated Rudaka, The Hive Prophet. You're the Tolcum who brought hope to the Knights of Earth. I have faith that you will conquer this challenge as you have all others," Polaris stated as he perked up.
"If only faith could help me," Tolcum muttered.
"Sometimes faith is all we have, but we've survived with less," Polaris replied. "Now go, and do the impossible. Claim a god."
With a gentle nod, Tolcum stepped away from his ghost and turned to the orb, gazing upon it for a moment more. To the naked eye, it appeared to be solid; but hunter knew better by now. Alright Darkness, I hope you're ready; because I'm coming to take you. Tolcum sprinted forward, and leaped high into the air. He touched the orb with his chest, and immediately fell into the swirling vortex.
