Chapter 14: Rising Devils
"It's down here right, Rubix?" Marcus and Nysa approached a staircase leading down towards a giant door. Through their trek, Rubix and Luna sensed something on their sensors and lead their respected Hunters towards it. The dead Hive left in their wake was enough to tell the pair that something important was going on down here.
"Definitely. A massive amount of Darkness is built behind these doors. Whatever's behind there, can't be good."
"Are you sure you can fight?" Luna turned to Nysa. "Don't push yourself if you can't."
"I'm fine." She tried to raise her injured arm but winced with the movement.
"Maybe Luna's right. I'm sure I can handle it." Marcus said. He turned to Rubix, expecting a smart remark, but his companion seemed to agree, not saying anything objectifying that.
"Jasmine wouldn't forgive me if you got yourself killed. Besides, I have one working arm, and my trusty knife. I'll be fine." Nysa reassured.
"Positive?"
Nysa came closer and patted him on the shoulder. "You're concerned and it is cute, but I'm a Guardian just like you; People say I act like a princess, but I know how to fight, don't forget that."
"You're too prideful for your own good, you realize that?"
"Oh please, we're Hunters. It's in our DNA." Nysa tossed her knife in the air and caught the tip of the blade with her finger, showing off. "See?"
It got Marcus to laugh, as he drew his Auto Rifle. "Okay, whatever you say."
With that the pair approached the door, with Rubix and Luna approaching.
"You two ready? The Chamber of Night is one of the darkest areas in this place."
"What do we have to lose?" Marcus answered.
Rubix nodded. "Get ready then." He turned back and he and Luna worked on the door. Once the pair vanished the door slowly creaked open, Marcus and Nysa readying their weapons.
On the other side of the door was a floating crystal excreting Darkness and a trio of Wizards seemingly praying to the crystal. In their grasps were light green orbs of energy, which seemed to be draining energy from the crystal before them.
"That! That's the source of it." Rubix exclaimed.
"Kind of figured that one." Marcus said, aiming at one of the Wizards. "I'll take right, you flank left."
Nysa disappeared over Marcus' head dashing right with her knife in tow. He lowered his weapon, watching her slice through the Wizard he was aiming at, the howling scream of it echoing as it crumbled.
"Or, you can go right. Guess that works too." Marcus took aim to the left and began to pour bullets into the Wizards who angrily retaliated.
Firing their energy blasts at the Hunter, Marcus hopped around the room, sliding behind cover. He popped back out, resting the long barrel of his sniper and quickly gaining a headshot on the Wizard leading the attack. He didn't expect the poisonous air to hit him, and due to it, he found himself disoriented briefly. When the black smoke cleared, he looked back up, only to see the final Hive hovering above him.
But in the nick of time, a shotgun blast in the back from Nysa crumbled the beast into bits.
"You…don't follow directions well, do you?"
"I've been in this longer than you have." Nysa said. "No offense, but clearly I'm better at the whole 'killing' thing."
Marcus could hear the pride dancing in her voice as she spoke. And he also heard it vanish when she grasped her arm tightly.
"Serves you right." He shot back at her, standing up.
"Tch—shut up. It was either a broken arm or you being dead. Better the infirmary wraps my arm in a cast rather than your body."
"Okay, fair point. In any case, Rubix, have any idea what this thing can be?"
Rubix materialized and he and Luna encircled the crystal and scanned it from various angles before coming up with a conclusion. They turned to their companions, displaying their version of a shocked expression.
"What's wrong?" Nysa asked.
"This crystal… it's much more than that." Luna said.
"It's a literal shard of the Traveler." Rubix added on, leaving the Hunters surprised.
"But…how?" Marcus asked. "I thought the Hive on Earth were prisoners of the Fallen, how could they get a shard of the Traveler and bring it here to the Moon?"
"The Hive are ancient warriors belonging to the Darkness. If they have a shard of it now, they've must've kept it here long before the Traveler made it to our solar system; we're talking at least a thousand years." Nysa considered.
"And whatever they were doing with it…" Luna hovered over the corpses of the Wizards and scanned them. "These were Siphon Witches, preforming a ritual on the shard to steal the Light from it. Hive are known to feed on Light."
"So it's a food source for them?" Marcus looked at the shard.
"Something tells me that it wasn't for them, per se." Rubix said. "I sense another huge mass of Darkness nearby. I believe that we just cut off its food source by killing the Wizards in here."
"Which mean Hive are going to start searching for us if we don't move it, right?"
"To either kill us, or turn us into a replacement for food. Either way, I'm not in the mood to find out what they decide." Nysa said.
"Agreed. Our main priority is to search for the others." Luna suggested. She turned back and scanned the shard some more, causing it to vanish out of the room.
It took Marcus a moment to realize what she did. "Did you just transport the shard out of the temple?"
"That wasn't me." Luna said, she looked back and towards Rubix.
"Could it be the Traveler? Or the Speaker?" Rubix said curiously.
"If either were the case, then why not teleport us out of this place? I'm sure they could sense our light."
"Of all people, the Speaker is the most mysterious one of all. Every time one of us tries to question who or what he is, it typically gets shot down. Eventually we stopped probing and just let things happen."
"Weird. In a way it makes me feel like some sort of puppet."
"A cute, undead, light-infused, puppet." Nysa said.
Marcus hesitated to speak, hearing that specific word, and brought his senses back by clearing his throat. "Anyway, we should probably move before we become victims of the walking dead." He reloaded his Auto Rifle and took point, walking rather quickly, with Nysa and the Ghosts following closely behind.
After they left, footsteps sounded out from the shadows of the room, belonging to a cloaked figure who watched the Hunters dismiss themselves from the room. She began reaching out to where the shard once stood, but pulled her arm back timidly, fearing the remnants of light. Her trio of eyes shining in the darkness around her, she slowly closed them and sunk back into the shadows, as if she was never there.
As Arius, Dawn and the rest of the group approached, they saw another group of Fallen walking through the doorway. Arius didn't hesitate to scream out Frigoris' name, blowing their element of surprise.
The Baron, who stood in the back of the group stopped and turned back to her. Although he looked like a typical captain, the Darkness he carried around him was enough to tell scare Dawn to hiding behind Arius.
"I didn't expect you to follow me down here Arius. Have you finally changed your mind?"
"I came down here to stop you. What makes you think you can take his power? Do you not know what he did to our ancestors? His powers are not to be trifled with."
"I fully understand what Oryx is capable of. And how much more powerful we Eliksni will become if we somehow acquire it. I'm sure that is what your father would have wanted."
"Why you… How would you know what he would have wanted?! You King scum manipulated him into fighting while you cowards retreated to safety!"
Frigoris laughed. "So the truth finally comes to light. You're only interested in killing any members of the House of Kings are you?" he scoffed. "How ironic you side yourself with a Guardian who resembles your father's murderer."
"It's true that the Guardians brought an end to my father, however it was your Kell who used him like a pawn and put him into that position!"
Frigoris crossed his arms. "And your exile, as you were held accountable for his demise. Next in line, so eager to prove herself to her father and Riksis, an attempt to prove to them that you could lead the charge, to reclaim the honor the House of Devils lost due to their crushing defeat from the Battle of Six Fronts."
"Tell me where I can find him. Your Kell." Arius demanded, drawing her Shock Blade.
Frigoris laughed harder, only infuriating Arius further. As she began to move forward, she stopped abruptly, the sound of piercing flesh rang out in the room. In her shock, she looked down and saw a third Shock blade protruding out of her from behind.
"I am the Baron of the House of Kings for a reason!" Frigoris approached her. "What in the world made you think you could challenge me when all of you were all my puppets from the start?"
The words made Dawn realize that the Vandal who stabbed Arius was part of their group. Which only meant that all of these Exiles except for Arius have and always been loyal to Frigoris.
"I…hope…you rot in hell…" Arius struggled to say.
Frigoris laughed, grabbing the blade itself and pulling it closer, causing more pain to shoot through the Captain. "Someone like myself would never make this cesspool of a kingdom my grave. This place is only fitting for ignorant little devils like yourself." And with a swift motion, he casted her body on the ground, leaving her to die.
Dawn was left to look in horror as Arius laid dying from her fatal wound, and she turned to Frigoris who stared back at her.
"Care to get on my bad side as well, Guardian?"
Her words danced in his head. He has heard those words before… but where? And why do those words seem so familiar to him? Could she be a part of one of his memories? And if so, what did she do that would make him fear what she's capable of?
As he sat, with the magnetic grenade freezing his robotic joints some and leaving him reeling in pain, he heard footsteps approach from his right. Not being able to move much, he imagined the Hive Acolytes approaching him, and painfully taking him apart all for the light within him.
However instead of raspy growling and snarling, he heard voices. A boy and a girl, speaking English. Otto forced himself to turn and that's when he saw Marcus and Nysa approaching him.
"You guys…" Otto tried to say.
"Otto! Dude, what happened, you look like crap."
"I could…say the same… about you two." He replied, taking note of Nysa's arm.
"Where's Dawn?" Nysa asked him.
Otto turned towards the opposite direction. "We ran into some Fallen Exiles… outside while looking for a way in. One of their own… is trying to lead a group to the Shrine of Oryx… located somewhere inside the temple, and the group… we were helping is trying to stop them. Dawn and I… had a small disagreement… and she shoved a magnetic grenade into my chest… leaving me here.
"Huh, didn't think you had the capability to piss someone off. Normally it's the other way around." Marcus crossed his arms.
"She's…in danger." Otto, regaining some feeling, tried to help himself up. "If we don't get to them soon… there's no telling what might happen."
Marcus helped Otto out, throwing his arm over his shoulder. "Just lead the way Prime, we'll be sure to get to her before things go too south."
Otto nodded and pointed to the other end of the hallway. With that said, the trio continued down the way.
Dawn stood up, the fear of death taking her over. Guilt was a close second, thinking to herself about why she didn't leave when Otto told her to. Her calling Otto petty, her attempt to prove that she could handle herself, to prove that she didn't need someone to protect her… Her selfishness and ignorance has costed someone their life. And she will forever have to live with that. Her first mission and it wasn't going as well as she had hoped it would.
Which meant that if there was ever a time to fix it, now would be it.
Without a second thought, she made one quick motion to Arius Shock Blade, and spun back, cutting down the pair of Vandals readying to close in on her. In shock, Frigoris didn't realize the grenade flying towards him. Frantically he grabbed a Dreg who took the initial blast, although he couldn't avoid the second, smaller one. Disoriented, he quickly drew his blade in time to block Dawn who blindly charged him like a raging animal.
"Ignorant girl! You have no idea what you are dealing with!"
Her anger robbing her of her voice, she continued to build strength within herself and push him back. She pulled one of her arms back and punched him, generating a purple force field around her.
As Frigoris staggered back, he roared, ordering the troops to fire on her. The group aimed their weaponry and fired, yet with the force field surrounding her, they bounced off. And when she turned, the Fallen hesitated to continue.
"I don't understand…" Frigoris said, catching her attention. "Why is a Guardian like you taking pity in someone like her? She is the heir to the Kell of Devils! She deserves no pity!"
Dawn turned to him and raised the blade. "A monster like you would never understand." She charged ahead but she was shot in the back by the group. It was then she realized the barrier around her wore off. She dropped onto the ground, her eyes weakening due to the pain in her back. As she slowly blacked out, she felt a tear run down her face as she attempted to reach out to Arius, while apologizing to Otto in her head.
Otto and the others arrive in the room and were shocked to see the dead Fallen scattered about. However the one that grabbed his attention was the body of Arius, who was just barely clinging on to life. His body regained strength almost immediately as he bolted to her.
Arius forced her head over as she felt herself lifted up by the Titan. "I must apologize…for lying to you both…it was not my intention…but I was desperate…"
"You were there…" Otto said. "The Battle of Twilight Gap. You were the Captain who spared me, weren't you? The one who admired the strength of my Light…"
Arius' breathing became slowly became more forced. "Such a long time ago…House of Kings twisted our thinking in that battle… even turning my father into a puppet in an attempt to crumble our House further…and I was blamed and exiled for it…"
Marcus and Nysa who were standing nearby heard her words and took them to heart. Marcus knew from a young age that there was no real good side to a war and when one side praised heroes and celebrated, the other side had to deal with the pain and anguish of losing, not just the battle, but them closest to their heart.
And Nysa, the feeling of being unwelcomed by your own kind. And the loneliness that would inevitably sprout from it. Her desire to build relationships, and the challenge she faced, both internally and externally.
"Now…go." She managed to say. "Fri…goris took her away…to the shrine."
"We can't leave you here!" Otto snapped. "I…I need to know about my past. You need to avenge your father. You can't just accept your fate and die here."
"You were strong…" Her words caught Otto off guard. "…One of…the strongest Guardians…I ever faced."
Otto was left speechless. Arius reached for him and was able to grasp his shoulder. "So…warm. Your…Light." She said that with a comforting tone.
And then her arm fell back and slapped the ground with no effort. And laid motionless, her head tilting further into the crook of Otto's arm.
"Arius…? Arius!" Otto shook her in an attempt to wake her. It was to no avail.
She was gone.
Silent as a statue, Otto held on to Arius as he found himself bending forward in grief. Marcus wanted to say something, but Nysa tapped him and shook her head. She motioned to the door and Marcus, despite not wanting to, acknowledged it. Dawn was in danger. If they had to, they would come back for him.
The pair of Hunters ran off, leaving Otto cradling the Fallen captain in his arms.
Rubix and Luna took point, leading the Hunters through the path towards the Shrine, plowing through whatever stood in their way, Fallen or Hive. Arius' death, through Otto's grief affected the pair, and for the sake of him and Dawn, the Hunters were going to do everything in their power to kill Frigoris, and make him suffer for everything that he has done.
The Hellmouth: Where Angels fall, and Devils rise…