Act V - The Dark Below

Chapter 18 - Whispers in the Abyss

[Earth, Last City, Tower]

Today was far less bright and cheerful, instead, the sky was blackened in dark clouds as snowfall coated the Tower. After the events of Omnigul, we had to rest up for atleast the day, that included the other Fireteams as the House of Kings gave them more than a few lasting injuries, and yet they vanished soon after the skirmish between the Fallen and Hive, strangely after we defeated Omnigul and her brood.

"I hope this time you won't destroy your armor fighting some abomination of the Hive?" I giggled bashfully at Ghost's blunt question, given how my gauntlets were nearly shattered from my Light Enhance, but given how powerful Omnigul was on her own I don't think I had many other options. "That aside, wonder what Eris wants us to do next?"

I shrugged. "No idea, we've taken down Crota's generals, have the Hive on Earth under control, even the sudden summoning of the Swords of Crota over Earth wasn't hard to control, we only have to find the location of his soul… if that makes sense?" I listed off thoughtfully, although the idea of the 'Ascendant Realm' and 'Oversoul' still never made sense to me. "…The Hive are weeeird."

"That's true," I and Ghost blinked, tilting our heads up toward where the Bounty Board would be, seeing a familiar Warlock sitting on the railing, looking down at us with curious eyes. She gave a wave. "Nice meeting you again… Ceres, right?"

"That's it, nice seeing you too, Pip." I waved back

"Why are you up there?" Ghost asked inquisitively

She shrugged. "Jack's taking her… ugh, sweet ass time… choosing today's bounties," She growled, then put her chin in her palm. "The House of Kings gave Jay quite the beating…" It wasn't by much, but I saw her expression shift a little, looking almost ashamed. "He's okay, but… I should have accounted for one of their Barons behind the attack, I should have… tried harder."

"I don't think he'd blame you," Her eyes drifted back to me, and I smiled, finding how similar she was to me when one of my friends were injured because of me. "I understand that feeling like you've failed despite odds being out of your control, it's hard letting that go, but… if someone like him is willing to risk is life for you then you must mean a lot to him, that I can assure you without a doubt."

"She's right~" My body jumped at the hand on my shoulder, seeing Zane smiling back at me from seemingly nowhere, then he chuckled. "Hehe, sorry, Titan Lady."

I pouted. "Everytime. Everytime and you still manage to sneak up on me, how?" He stepped down the steps, holding his hands up

"No can do, boss, a Hunter never tells… unless he's paid." Zane answered truthfully, while I scoffed, crossing my arms

"Of course, you'd say that…"

"Pfft hahaha… heh," Up above, Pip wiped a tear from her eye, finally smiling lightly. "You know what? I think I needed that, thanks, both for the laugh and the assurance, Ceres," She leaned back, probably to view Jack with a thought. "Jay can be unsure of himself, and overly eager to throw himself in harm's way, but I wouldn't be here if not for him, so I'll be sure to return the favor."

Zane put his hands behind his head, grinning up at Pip. "If one thing is certain its that Ceres always knows what to say when a situation is dire, she's awesome." I… wasn't expecting that, I scratched my cheek sheepishly at the compliment, while Pip nodded in agreement

"Well I guess I'll—"

"All done~!" The voice of the boisterous Jack sounded as Pip lifted her hands to the sky with wide eyes

"Thank the Traveller, it's over!" She hopped back over the railing, giving us a wave. "Seeya around guys – I swear if you chose another collection bounty I will laser you with my laser face!"

That was strange… I turned to Zane, both of us shrugging after a moment of hesitation. He then jabbed a thumb down the stairs, noting the ominous glow of emerald. "We should probably go talk to Eris, Chrome Dome's waiting for us too."

"Mmmhmm." With a skip I walked in beside Zane as we hopped down the stairs, seeing Morbin poking at Eris' glowing vase intensely hand rubbing against his chin, her hand promptly slapped his away. "Well, this certainly doesn't look out of the ordinary."

"Do not touch that." Eris scolded dangerously, noting our approach. "You have arrived, good, come closer, what I have to say must remain confidential for the moment."

We did as she asked, moving in close enough to be well out of the ears of any passing Guardians, the glow of her rock intense as she bowed a little. "Your triumph over that wretched witch, Omnigul has done much to subvert Crota's return, but he is nothing if not ambiguous. His physical soul must be banished from this realm."

Morbin motioned bluntly. "You make it sound so easy, don't you?" I nudged his side

"What can we do, Eris?" While I was all for destroying his soul, we still had a lingering question. Where is it? I doubt that even the Hive would be as careless to leave it unhidden.

"For this task, we must search the Hellmouth, one of my Hidden was the one to discover Crota's rising army, and now he has attracted more than his fair share of danger. The Hive seek to silence him and I have lost all contact with him, if we lose this broker we may never hope to uncover Crota's soul," She looked directly at Zane, almost anxiously. "You must find him and save him from his own recklessness."

"Why did you specifically look at me for that?" Zane blurted out, blinking for a second before tapping a hand to his chest. "I'm ready if you guys are?"

"Always ~I WILL LEAVE-~… yes, I am ready." Morbin promptly slapped a hand over his mouth, while I remained unshaken by the daunting task

"Of course, Eris, we'll do whatever it takes to put an end to this." It was strange, but that feeling I had countless times, it wasn't there? Did Omnigul really instill that much uneasiness on me? Or was the presence… waiting?

She motioned slowly for us to leave, the wave of fear coursing over me, it was the final act. "Go, I can feel it… his soul is on the verge of its 'Wakening' we must find his domain and end this accursed resurrection."

The clock was against us yet again, but it's not the first time fate stood against us. With a knowing look between us we wasted little time with our ghosts and pressed on with our mission.

[Moon | Ocean of Storms | Temple of Crota]

Once more upon the surface of the Moon, the last location of Eris' informant had us heading off the beaten path that would normally direct us through a narrow passage toward the entrance to the Temple, sliding down the slope I summoned my new sparrow since the others had their own fancy rides I wanted to do the same. Having gone for one called Aeon-Glow, the edges of the white body were cast in a bright white glow, creating the illusion the metal prongs were actually light itself, while the frame was far lighter and easier to maneuver now.

~I haven't made contact with my Informant since Crota's generals began their quest, last I had seen, his communicator pinned him to a derelict section of Crota's Temple, something the Hive's earthquakes sealed off for some time. Travel across one of the torn battlefields to find the entrance~ Eris provided us with a more direct route across the barren rock of Earth's Moon

Our sparrows soared over the dusty remains of a barren flatland, filled with buried jumpships and scores from large objects. Armor dotted the land with some revealing skeletal frames and old scraps of Ghost shells left by the Fallen scavengers, the metal frames of buildings of both the Great Disaster and the Golden Age left us flying through the ribcage of time frozen on the Moon's surface, the ominous glow from the mountains afar adding to the desolate battlefield.

"This place was filled with Guardians and Hive, hours went by and the bodies continued to pile up, even without Crota's interference," Morbin relayed to myself and Zane, his sparrow to my left, hand motioning to the debris around us. "The ever-so 'brilliant' City thought it was smart to attack without knowledge on the Hive, Shaxx saved some lives but in the end, we only succeeded in humoring their Hive Prince ~ SERVES THEM RIGHT!"

I sighed, as morbid as that was it made sense, if the City took the time to understand the Hive's power then maybe his graveyard we swept over wouldn't be so one-sided. Just then, my marker lit up and shifted into my line of sight. I held my arm up as so the others stopped by the bank with me. Down a long slope and toward the wall of rock was indeed a temple entrance.

[Ocean of Storms | Moon | Ir Yût's Crypt]

~This is it, Hive readings are deeper but expect some resistence~ Ghost relayed. Hopping off my sparrow I grabbed a CLG, with a flick the silver ball flew toward six black spires guiding those toward the large, black entrance aligned with statues of Hive Darkblades. That sight alone was enough to put me off this mission entirely

My CLG bounced and softly tapped one of the pillars, lining up my rifle an Acolyte ran from hiding as the eruption tore into another, locked to my sights I fired once and had its head crumble into chitin. Several more Acolytes swung out from behind the black spires, unleashing a hail of Void bursts toward the bank we knelt by, kicking up dust as our small skirmish ended without any incidence.

Sliding down the bank Zane sped on toward the doorway, flicking out a CLG and with a slap from his handcannon's barrel the orb sailed ahead of the pillars, smacking a Thrall in the face the moment it came out from around the doorway, the pulse grenade continued to shatter any and all Thrall that surged from the Crypt, and by the time myself and Morbin joined him the Thrall were reduced to particles in the air.

~Well, atleast we gave them a warm hello~ Rika suggested sarcastically

~This Crypt... be wary, Guardians, and if you hear it's 'song' you must flee~ Eris now had me on alert, she sounded fearful of the Crypt itself. And the name, Ir Yut, was this a powerful Hive too? ~We must find my informant before the Hive do, quickly now~

"You heard the three-eyed lady, time to punch through," Morbin spoke, his head looking over the array of chains and lanterns hanging up above, all while the footsteps led down into a black void, the light had all but vacated the flight. I nervously stepped toward the edge, Ghost appearing to light our way beside Rika and Deus, all three sharing a look

"I've never seen a place like this... might be worth sticking close this time," Even Zane had doubts of the darkness below. With a unanimous nod, the six of us slowly made our way into the ever-expanding abyss, our footsteps echoed softly while the light of our ghosts remained our only source of comfort. Zane leaned closer to my shoulder. "I'm not going to say anything..."

My throat was dry, having kept my eyes solely on the steps ahead of me. He didn't need to say it, all of us felt it wash over us. "I..."

．．．Ｃｏｍｅ ．．．Ｃｌｏｓｅｒ．．．

My heart stopped beating alongside my footsteps. The words and whisper snaked up my neck as I held onto my rifle so tight it may break, I threw my head in every direction, finding a strange, eerie sensation pull my eyes toward the darkness, as though some... thing was staring back at me with sinistrous eyes of their own. I slowly took a few steps forward, reaching a halfway point on the staircase while Zane and Morbin stuck close to me, both locking their gazes to the back of my head.

"Ceres... you okay?" I felt Zane nudge my bicep, throwing off my leer with the abyss ahead, while the next layer of whispers chilled me to my soul, so though fingers toyed and plucked at it with curiosity and hunger, the sensation nearly had my stomach in knots as I put a hand to my chest, wincing at the pull of invisible strings. "Ceres. Ceres, look at me." Zane started to worry, moving to stand in the way of the darkness while Morbin raised his shotgun toward the smog below

．．．Ｉ ．．．Ｃａｎ＇ｔ．．． Ｄｉｅ．．．

"Stop... stop talking... I... I'm not afraid... of you..." I murmured, clutching my temples as I tried to shake off the presence, it was foreboding and far stronger than I realized. Its own soul was starting to burn my skin from being near it, I couldn't see it, but my body felt it was on fire. "Hah... Hah... I... can't breathe..."

Zane looked to me, then back at the abyss. Pulling me in close beside him, his body started to heat up considerably, my own Light having resonated against his chest as a flash of gold broke the shroud over us, revealing something to be watching us from the darkness a few feet ahead of Morbin. The sudden appearance had the Exo recoil from how close the Wizard was, its robes and structure resembled that of Omnigul, and I feared she had somehow survived, but the name had my eyes shaking with fright

Ir Yut, The Deathsinger

"Zane!" Rika gasped, and with a flick of the hammer he lined the shot to the dark aura of Ir Yut

"Get your boss out of my boss' head, please." He fired a single, powerful shot directly at the Deathsinger, the round missed her head but disintegrated her right shoulder, forcing a wail to cut across the darkness as her body burst into flames, vanishing with a long, dry wail straight out of Hell. That flash of light illuminated the path ahead too, we were nearing the bottom of the long stairway. "Huh, so that's a Deathsinger?"

~To think one of Crota's own is here... perhaps... no. If the Deathsinger seeks my informant than he has clearly gathered information Crota himself does not wish for others to see, go! Find him before that Deathsinger can complete her task~ Eris ushered us onward with haste in her voice, while I felt the chilling presence fade the moment Zane used his Golden Gun

"T-Thank you, Zane," I sighed softly, stepping out of his arm to grab my rifle again, he gave a small salute while Ghost flew around my head, stopping just before my shoulder. "That Deathsinger... I... heard a voice... it was a whisper and it wants us to 'come closer'." Of course, I had no intention of wanting to go anywhere near it but I doubt my opinion matter right now

"You don't think?" Morbin inquired, as our heads looked to Zane, seeing him skipping down the stairs ahead without a care in the world

"Crota's getting salty~" He stopped, pointing Hard Luck down to fire off into the darkness, his bullet slamming into something that screamed. "We should probably go before Eris yells at us again, she can be mean..."

While I still felt unsure of wanting to traverse this abyss any further, Crota and that Deathsinger's presence was gone, so as long as he stays out of my head I can still go on. "Okay, let's move it, Horizon!" I took off down the steps with both of them following my lead, the sounds of Hive gathering near the end having alerted us. "Morbin!"

"Die." His fist pulled him forward, crashing against an Acolyte, the stock of Judgement slammed against another while his back pressed to a ruined wall, pointing his shotgun forward, the slug shredding three Acolytes that blocked mine and Zane's path

Dashing forward I unleashed a hail of burst rounds, carving through the Thrall that gathered from behind rubble and walls that remained of the Crypt's main chamber. Zane dove over my head, foot dug into an Acolyte, his sword dividing another while he used the leverage to flip over the sword of a Knight, Hard Luck lodging a slug into its helmet, landed behind the Knight, kneel to avoid another swipe of the blade, coping the Knight Zane severed its torso and legs with ease.

I pulled him away from another Knight, pointing my rifle against its chest as three bursts tore into the armor and finally through the chitin. As it fell to the floor several more Thrall swarmed from all sides. I and Zane fixed our backs together, seeing Morbin punch his way toward us, himself reloading Judgement. Taking a quick look at each other we nodded.

"Morbin!" "Chrome Dome!" Our cried got his attention at our awaiting hands, now locked together. Sensing our idea, he holstered Judgement, floating over a gathering of Thrall as the glowing eyes lined the chamber, growing closer with the crossfire of purple plasma

His feet pressed down on our palms, and with a burst of Light Enhance the surge of Arc and Solar tore up the ground from throwing Morbin high, pushing back the Thrall. Morbin spun slowly, body casting a purple hue over the chamber and entrancing the Hive as their rounds bounced off his amethyst body. Gathering that Light together between his fingers, the small orb of Void conjured together in time for Morbin to descend upon the center of the chamber next to us.

With the orb outstretched his body slammed into the ground, tearing stone and tile from the ground with a large nova of Light to ripple through the chamber, consuming and atomizing the army of Hive in a hue of lilac, leaving behind a few engrams as the chamber let out the final echoes of the Void Blast, a snowfall of purple decorating the darkened Crypt magically.

"Woah!" We awed at the spectacle as Morbin dusted off his hands, looking back at us with what I could imagine was a dull expression

"Deathsinger... remember? Praise my talents later," He was right and wrong. Gathering the engrams we ran in the direction of the marker, passing through the maze of walls and rubble from when this was once connected to the Temple of Crota

[Ocean of Storms | Moon | Offering of Ascendance]

The hallways ahead lit up with a strange, orange light built within the blackened, chitin infested pillars, with each passing of the structures the lanterns came to life, while the chamber ahead seemed to be lit with a ceiling of white crystals from what I can tell. We continued down the path ahead and finally came face-to-face with the marker's final destination.

~She is here. Destroy her!~ Eris growled, and from the entrance, the room looked to be rounded with many curved, bladed pillars holding up the crystal ceiling bound in chains. In the center was an empty space while at the far back I could make out a Guardian who laid with his back against the wall, the shadow of the Deathsinger looming over him

Not wanting to go under that Deathsinger's effect again I swung out Zenobia and fired a single shot that alerted her in time for the rocket to smack her against the far wall with a burst of lightning. She cried, floating around to stare back at us, her prey forgotten while channeling her magic.

"Everyone split up!" We did, myself sliding out into the middle of the arena as her arms lit up with flames, conjuring a black veil of mist behind us, followed by a trail of Arc that I rolled away from, switching back to Stranger's Rifle. Her cry felt nauseating while her hands conjured more streams of Arc blasts to batter my armor, forcing me behind one of the pillars as gunfire struck her body, keeping her attention off of me atleast

"Whatever we do, don't let it sing!" I heard Zane call over his rounds drumming the chamber, irritating the Deathsinger, arms cast blue to send a line of volts to force Zane out of hiding, followed by a column of green fire to push him back. "They literally sing you to death!"

"What!?" Both I and Morbin barked, Morbin flying out from cover with his Hammerhead

"Kill it. Kill it. Kill it. Kill it." He had the Deathsinger's attention, using his enhanced body to endure a column of fire as his own power rattled her chitin, forcing the Wizard to warp to the entrance, summoning columns of fire under us, making me retreat to the informant while Zane rolled, reloading next to Morbin who continued to lay down suppressing fire on the Deathsinger, herself warping again behind a pillar

"Ceres, need a hand!?" Zane dashed over to me, avoiding a wall of lightning as his body slid onto the ground, legs pressed against his chest with his feet raised. I smiled under my visor and dove over two more random columns of emerald flames, tearing through to land on his feet. With a shove, I got a clear view of the Wizard, her body swaying to avoid Morbin's line of sight

First, I put Vlad's lesson into effect, flames danced over my body, lighting up my own inferno before I conjured a hammer, the flames growing intensely around us. Ir Yut started to do that same eerie noise from before, making my eyes go fuzzy, I restrained the urge to listen, thinking only on my fire, feeling it flow and pulsate through my veins. That right... I'm a Sunbreaker... I control fire itself...

"Burn." My breath was hot, and her own cursed flames soared to meet my hammer's swing. I dove into the contrasting blaze, wincing at it tore at my Light, however, I continued to push with my glide. With a triumphant yell, my arm seared the column, breaking apart her spell with a dance of emerald and topaz embers

In a large horizontal lunge, my hammer tore through metal and chitin, the hammer ripping through the Deathsinger's side while throwing it off balance, its next spell all but failed under the roaring flames I continued to produce. As if fearing for her life, Ir Yut hastily conjured a wave of Arc to block my field of view, while the sounds of her teleport spell rattling from beyond the elemental blockade.

With only a second hammer I lobbed it through the lightning, seeing her head crane sharply to avoid the hammer's claw, said tool colliding with the wall behind her. I missed, but shook my head, cutting off the flow of Light to my body as her eyes trained on the two barrels pointed directly at her forehead.

"Boom." "[BEEP]." A powerful slug and bullet tore through her eyes, spilling the contents of the Deathsinger's head onto the floor as her body crumbled into dust with a final, strangled scream toward her executors, claw reaching out unable to grab either while wasting away into nothingness. Both Hunter and Warlock looked to one another, then bumped a fist. "Nailed it."

That was so sweet, they finally get along... somewhat. Making my way over to their sides, I couldn't help but pause midway as a set of hands jumped on my shoulder, forcing me to yelp in between Zane and Morbin, my rifle raised embarrassingly as the two snickered. "Stop doing that!" Zane zipped his lips shut but pointed ahead of me. "What?"

"Hehehe, sorry about that! Dusty told me to, said you were 'lost in a sea of improbability and'... uh, some other stuff, he likes his big words," It was the informant... talking to his arms? "Yes, I get that but I never accounted for the brute to send his top worm after - I seem like a crazy person don't I? Oh yes, I get that alot - Actually I don't, I'm very lonely..."

The three of us soon took a few steps back. Still, the closer I observed, this person was a Guardian, a Hunter too but he wore the Hive like armor. Their chitin strapped to his jumpsuit with a knight's helmet split between both knees and sides of his helmet, clearly modified from an old spacesuit, giving him a permanent glare of red chitin. Bracing his arms were old, white bones, vertebrae for the bracers, with a large skull on his right shoulder while the jaw sat on his left shoulder. I couldn't identify what it belonged to if it even existed on Earth at all.

~You never cease in your crusade to become what the Hive would call their bane, and... it is good to see that my Informant is unharmed~ Eris finally spoke up, far less stern as she noted her Hidden, who crossed his arms while pacing in a circle around us. What is he?

"I don't know... best not to make any sudden movements." Good call, Ghost

"Ah, I know you miss me! Thanks by the way!" He happily replied, then jabbed a finger at the skull mounted on his shoulder. "I was thanking Eris not you, you useless pile of Wish-Granting Dragon Bones!" I'm sorry, what? A... wish-granting dragon? ...I've heard everything now...

Morbin stepped forward, hand rubbing his chin. "That's... the bones of an Ahamkara? Clearly he's lost himself to its whispers." I'm sorry, but again, what? I've heard that name before...

Ghost appeared to answer my growing confusion. "An Ahamkara are extinct creatures of immeasurable power hunted by wielders of the Light centuries ago, but it said that even if they are reduced to bones the whispers remain, they can go on beyond death itself, like us in a... very morbid way."

The Hunter clicked his fingers. "That's right! Dusty here is one such, though my mind is fine, thanks." He sounded a little annoyed at that, poking Morbin's bicep then suddenly vanishing to appear with his arm around Zane, himself leaning away from the bones, shivering. "You guys are amazing! You've managed to tick off every faction in the system and stopped the Vex several times, they really, really hate you! The Hive hate me because I keep invading their Ascendant Realm and sacred chambers, probably why Crota sent her..." He pointed to the dust. "...Aw well, plenty of Deathsingers about anyway!"

His slither of information caught me by surprise. "Hold on, you've gone to the Ascendant Realm!? How?" I asked pleadingly, the Hunter rubbing his chin as though he had just forgotten. I swear if he did...

He clicked his fingers. "Pfft, duh, 'course I have, what do you think the Hive keep at the bottom of their Hellmouth?" All of us shared a look, then shrugged so he sighed and sat down with his legs crossed, patting the floor for us to do the same. "Right! So, Crota kind-of... enveloped the base of the Hellmouth in his Ascendant Realm, so he left a big ol' gateway inside at the end of an abyss that suppresses Light and is infested with Hive."

"That's how he can still spread is influence outside the Realm!" Zane caught on, as I found it so stupid that we never thought of that, but I've never seen the bottom so who knows how far it goes down into the Moon? I noted the Hunter's whine and paid attention. He regained his composure

"Yes-Yes, I know, I was going to give them the thing!" He hissed at his gauntlets, tugging out a weathered parchment for Zane. Then he pulled it back. "I know you only keep me around because if I die you'll have no one to talk to... well I know there's an Ahamkara still alive but that's not the poi - Can we save this for later, we have actual people to talk to!" We all shuffled back, causing the Hunter to chuckle anxiously. "Please don't leave me yet, it gets boring sometimes."

He tossed Zane the paper and after unfurling it we saw him perk up, grabbing the Book of Sorrows as the page glowed, slotting itself inside with the others under a hue of green light. That will never not be fascinating to see. Flicking the book open, we all watched eagerly as Zane read what he could, humming and occasionally going 'oh'. It was killing me to wait since each 'oh' got more excited.

"It's more on the Ascendant Realm... good stuff too! This is it, we can defeat Crota!" Zane jumped up triumphantly, earning an elbow from the surprising appearance of the Hunter behind him, knocking Zane back onto his knees. The Hunter sat back down then waved a hand nonchalantly

"Right, yeah first you might want to stop them from waking Mister Big, Bad, and Soul-Creepy, they're doing the ritual thing right now..."

...

"Oh, crap," I muttered, the three of us getting up and grabbing our weapons, all while the Hunter sighed, shaking his head. Spinning round to face him I put a hand on my chest. "Please, what information do you have on his soul? We have to stop him now or-"

He rubbed his nape. "Man, Eris was right you are a lawfully good person, aren't ya?" I stopped talking, trying not to fidget too much, he chuckled. "Even Dusty says you've got quite the future ahead of you, whatever that means - Still, you guys saved me and Dusty under Eris' request so it's fair, that little page had a target on my head so it must have been valuable."

Cracking his knuckles he brought out his ghost, it did a small nod and then displayed a map of the known chambers and passages of the labyrinth that made up the Hellmouth. "The Chamber of Night, deeper into its layers you'll find an old boneyard teeming with Hive magic, that's where his soul is, and if you've been hearing whispers, I know I have, then it probably means you've come into direct contact before, so Crota's not gonna like you."

I sighed. "Figures... I touched his sword first so he connected to me." While that made me worry, so long as it was only his voice I could bear it. Tightening my fists I motioned with a bow. "Thank you... uh, sorry, I never asked for your name?"

"John Doe, Dusty is what I call the bones since his name is too long and hard to pronounce - It is, stop lying!" He yelled to his arms objectively, then huffed. "I'll let Eris know and stuff, might want to start packing, his soul is waking and he won't be happy to see any of you, like at all, period."

I drooped a little, way to bring the mood down. Shaking my head I reloaded my rifle and found myself staring down at my hand, it wasn't trembling or injured but all I could see was fire, the feeling of a handle grasped with my fingers, how, even when facing a creature capable of killing us with just a song, I didn't feel afraid, unlike when I was in that stairway of darkness.

"...We got this," My hand was covered by Zane's, seeing his helmet tilt at me. "You're our leader, what's there to worry about?"

Another grasped my shoulder. "As always, lead and we'll follow. While we may never always see eye-to-eye when it's you leading us we can do something formidable." Morbin added earnestly. These guys... our ghosts too...

"A world without any of you isn't a bright one at all..." "Okay, then it's time to put an end to Crota, we beat him here-" Zane nodded. "-Then we'll beat him and his Oversoul-" Morbin spun Judgement once with a 'click' of the lever. "-Together." I raised a thumb then John tapped my shoulder, I turned, but he had appeared in front of us again somehow

"You guys are seriously insane, still, let me offer you some advice, let me tell you about the power in the logic of the sword," John spoke cryptically, tossing a small tome to Zane. "A gift from a legend, hehehe, still, 'a Hive's Shredder or a Boomer is a powerful weapon, but it kills acyclically. You see? It sends out harm and it takes nothing back. The bolt passes away into nothing. A sword, though, a sword is like a bridge, a crossing-point. The sword binds wielder to victim. It binds life to death. And when the binding is done—the sword remembers. When the Boomer's fire has burnt away into axion and neutrino scatter, the sword goes on, hungrier and sharper.'"

"'Understand that this nightmare logic underpins His nightmare world, and you will see why the ascendant blade has so much power there. Whenever in our passage we find ourselves in need of power—remember that the greatest authority here is a blade made keen by eons of use. This is the world the Hive craves: a universe creased by the edge of the sharpest sword.'" By the end of his retelling of some passage, John had all but vanished from the chamber, leaving with a faint chuckle in the air

"What a weird Hunter..." Zane hummed, tilting his head toward mine and Morbin's own helmets pointed in his direction. He shrugged, still looking between us. "What? What'd I say?"

~You're an idiot...~ Rika groaned

As though to refocus our efforts, Eris suddenly came back onto the coms. ~The time has come... the Wakers of Crota amass within the darkest depths of that Chamber of Night. Push through the Hive, leave none to save their master from ruin~ Eris paused, her tone growing with vile hatred that creeped me out a little. ~Crota knows you're coming. Send him back to his Hell~

With the coms going silent, a new marker appeared on my HUD as I turned to look back down the dark chambers ahead of us. With a shaky sigh, I felt two hands slap my back, forcing a yelp from my throat as my wariness snapped out of thought. I slowly turned my head toward the two culprits, themselves armed and ready.

"We can do this, it's us, duh!" Zane probably smiled at that confident remark. Morbin raised his fist high with a crackle of lilac light

"PURGE THESE HERETICS IN HOLY FIRE~ Hmph, as he said!" Morbin/Krieg huffed. So with a strained smile of my own, I cracked my knuckle across their heads with a sharp 'clang' and happily hummed down the hallway, listening in to their mixed reaction

"Her wrath knows no bounds..." Morbin grimaced

"Titan Lady is a Titan..." Ignoring Zane's little jab their slap to my back did help in kicking my feet forward. This wasn't going to be easy, but we've fought against his Hidden Swarm. Defeated his Generals and abominations, Crota would fall no differently

"While I can still live and breathe, I'll hold onto what I have with everything I got. After all, these idiots are worth fighting for."

To Be Continued...

Time for a revamp, and yes, I'm skipping fighting that Deathsinger in the Raid, I always hated her. Without further adieu, it's time to face down the Soul of Crota, but I've got some crazy ideas ahead, let's see Bungie top this, hehehe. I hope you enjoyed, seeya in the next chapter Guardians!

Next Chapter: Touch The Sky

Without any time to lose Fireteam Horizon assaults the Temple of Crota, carving a path through the Hidden Swarm with all they have. At the end of the road, they'll come to face what the Hive call a God.