Battling Hive with Jayesh on his team was strange and jarring for Madrid. He'd wallowed in self-loathing ever since Jayesh had left the Dreaming City without his Dawnblade. Jayesh had tried to leave on a friendly note, but Kari … Jayesh's wife Kari, whom Madrid had known for a century, would never forgive Madrid. She hadn't said much, but he knew her well enough to see the white-hot rage boiling beneath the surface.
He'd buried all these facts and forgotten about them. But seeing Jayesh again brought it all back. Worse, the nightmare whispered every detail to his mind, making sure no failure was left out.
Opposed to these dark thoughts was the fierce joy of fighting as a team again. Madrid had run so many missions with Jayesh that they slipped back into their old alternate support roles without having to say it. Jayesh healed, Madrid sniped, and Silvan and Jin attacked the enemy head on. They communicated with hand gestures or a single word, or even a nod. It didn't matter that Hive thralls constantly circled them, trying to flank. It didn't matter that wizards trailed behind them, conjuring shriekers into existence. It didn't matter that the shriekers, single eyes in a bony shell, rained death on their heads with their stare. Jayesh's healing circles were steady and strong, illuminating the dark halls and staircases of the Hellmouth. They provided enough light for Madrid to snipe shriekers and stop wizards in their tracks.
The Hellmouth was an entire city drilled deep into the Moon's crust. Instead of building upward into skyscrapers, the Hive had burrowed downward, level upon level. It was impossibly vast, with great caverns hollowed out for worship or battle or breeding, libraries, laboratories, weapons foundries, and more.
Eris Morn had given them coordinates to the Catacombs, an area steeped in darkness under the shadow of the buried pyramid. She had warned Jin that the area was so dark that they were in danger of having their Light quenched. And as they descended broken staircases and stepped across unguessably deep gaps, Madrid felt it weighing on him. It wasn't only the constant presence of the nightmare that began pressing on his mind. It was his Hunter instincts: the sense of being watched, of being stalked by a predator.
"Rose, keep scans at full," he thought.
His Ghost amplified her reach, broadening the coverage of the map in his helmet HUD. "I'm having trouble tracking enemies, love. I'm detecting flickers of movement behind us, but I can't identify it."
"Nightmares?"
"No. Something else."
The constant attacks stopped and the Guardians walked on through the gloom. Their Ghosts floated at their shoulders, illuminating the way with their headlights. Jayesh walked a little ahead of Madrid, hand cannon at the ready. Ahead of him walked Silvan, with Jin in the lead in his heavy armor. Silvan kept looking back, her helmet's face shield reflecting the light.
"Scared?" Madrid said quietly.
"Yes," Silvan replied, equally quietly. "There's something back there."
"They're waiting to see what we're after," Jayesh said softly. "They know their Darkness is-"
They rounded a bend and entered the huge cavern where the pyramid lay entombed. Light from a crack in the surface filtered down, gleaming across its obsidian-smooth side. Nearby, ahead of them, the cavern wall flared out in a great stone shelf. The cliff wall had been carved into a temple with pillars, arches, and burning braziers at the doorways. Before it stood an altar of stone, stained black with blood and other unknown liquids. Floating above it was the Cryptoglyph.
Madrid avoided looking at the pyramid and focused on the Cryptoglyph, instead. It was a cylinder about a foot long, with a sculpted metal point at one end. Around the cylinder's body were five rotating rings, each etched with different Hive runes. It floated in the air, point downward, above the altar, ready to be used in arcane Hive rituals. Beneath it was a basin filled with a greenish, waxy substance, the rim engraved with the same runes.
Jin and Silvan started forward. Madrid did, too, glad to see the end of their quest. But he bumped into Jayesh. The warlock stood rooted to the spot, staring up at the pyramid. Lumina dangled at his side, nearly slipping from his fingers.
"Don't look at it," Madrid said. He circled and placed himself between Jayesh and the pyramid. "Look at me. It will make you black out, all right? Focus on something else."
"What-what is it?" Jayesh gasped. He raised his gun and gripped it in both shaking hands, as if preparing to fight the monolith. "It's-Hive?"
"Older than them," Madrid said, pushing Jayesh along. "Get moving. The Hive will sense weakness."
Jayesh automatically moved along, tearing his gaze from the pyramid. "But what-what is it? It's so dark! It's dampening my Light!"
"That's what we're here to find out," Madrid said. "It makes the nightmares, and this Cryptoglyph can make gear immune to them. Didn't Jin explain this?"
"He left out the giant pyramid of darkness part," Jayesh said.
"Hey, I thought he knew," Jin said over his shoulder. "Ikora's up here losing her mind over it, so I thought she'd briefed the warlocks."
"I think she may be trying to come up with a solution before she tells everyone," Silvan said. "Not that there's a solution to the anti-Traveler, but you can't blame her for trying."
They reached the altar and the floating Cryptoglyph. Its dials rotated by themselves as they approached, almost as if it sensed their presence. Silvan started to climb up on the altar, but Jin caught her by the collar. "Oh no you don't, sweetheart. This thing is probably boobytrapped to hell. Let the guy in plate armor go first."
Silvan stepped back, gripping her gun. "If the Hive want you dead, you'll be dead."
"I'm a Guardian," Jin said, looking up at the artifact, then at the altar's surface. "Death is an inconvenience, not the end." He leaped lightly up on the altar and touched the Cryptoglyph's handle.
Instantly the trap was sprung. The jaws of a trap closed around the altar and Jin-four arms of flickering soulfire that snared him by his Light. Jin yelped and punched one of the arms, then cursed and nursed his hand. "Told you it was boobytrapped to hell!"
Hive screeched from the direction of the temple, and thralls began pouring out. Accompanying them were three witches, floating in the air like wraiths. One of them was a huge female clad in red chitin armor.
"It's Hashladun!" Silvan cried, cowering backward behind the base of the altar.
"No, actually," said her Ghost over the com, "this one reads as Besurith, Hashladun's sister. She's just as bad."
Madrid glanced at the trap holding their Titan, then studied the approaching wizards. The lesser two would be tricky to put down, because their shields were already active, flickering with fire in bubbles around them. But the red one-Besurith-had a different kind of energy field circling her: a smooth, silvery field he'd never seen before. Maybe it was powered by a source inside the temple. The trap holding Jin would eventually burn out-he'd seen those kind. They could only hold a Guardian for a few minutes, but the fight would be over by then.
His team was comprised of himself and two warlocks. Jayesh was staring at the pyramid again, hands limp at his sides, unaware of what was happening around him. Silvan was reloading her auto rifle and muttering under her breath. If Jayesh would pull himself together and support them, they'd have a chance.
Madrid grabbed Jayesh's shoulder and wheeled him around, putting his back to the pyramid. "Focus! Keep us healed!"
Jayesh shuddered and lifted Lumina. He looked around at the wizards, the approaching thralls, and Jin in the cage. "What just happened?"
"The crap just hit the fan, that's what happened!" Silvan exclaimed. She sprang out of hiding and hosed down the thralls with her rifle at waist level.
Madrid drew his knives and went to work as the thralls swarmed them. In a second they were surrounded by ravenous, flashing teeth and claws. Eyeless faces screeched and snarled. Madrid stabbed and slashed, black blood spattering his gloves and arms. He darted here and there, protecting the warlocks. He was interested to see that Jayesh was able to shoot the thralls with bullets with Lumina, but when he turned his gun on his friends, it fired balls of brilliant Light. One struck Madrid in the chest. A burst of warmth spread over him as if he'd been hit with hot water. It sank into him and mended the bites and bruises the thralls had inflicted. For a second, it even dispelled the lingering pressure of the nightmare, which hung overhead, watching.
"Cursed thralls!" Silvan yelled.
Madrid whipped out his scout rifle. The three witches clustered together, working some magic in unison. A group of thralls huddled beneath them. One by one, their heads began to glow with a sickly green light. Hugging themselves, as if holding in immense pressure, the thralls began walking toward the Guardians.
Madrid popped the first one in the head. It exploded like a bomb, shaking the ground and rattling his teeth from the concussion. The other cursed thralls scuttled sideways behind pillars and other blocks of stone. Jayesh was able to shoot one from his vantagepoint. It exploded behind its cover and set off a companion. The blast was deafening. Silvan danced sideways to flank the others, firing in short, accurate bursts.
Madrid switched to his sniper rifle and targeted one of the lesser witches. One heavy slug broke its shield. As it darted for cover, he led it with his sights and fired at where it would be. His bullet intercepted its head with deadly precision. The witch fell apart into fragments, the delicate body shattered.
Silvan threw a grenade at the other witch. The blast broke its shield, and Madrid put a bullet in its head before it could hide. As he lowered his rifle, he glimpsed the third witch, Besurith, just as she threw a death bolt into his face.
It was difficult to tell if death bolts were an actual ball of energy, or if they were a manifestation of the witch's hatred. Either way, it blasted Madrid's helmet apart and snapped his neck. He hit the ground, expecting to die, blinded with pain.
But Jayesh was a professional healer. Madrid landed in the middle of a healing rift. Instantly he was blasted by multiple Light bullets, in addition to his Ghost's healing. More death bolts pelted his body, burning and scorching, but the healing Light pushed back against the distilled hatred. For a second, Madrid was aware of the enormous friendliness and affection of the Light as it mended his neck and skull. As another Lumina blast struck him, he felt Jayesh's steadfast loyalty, too. No matter what he'd done to the kid, Jayesh would heal him because Jayesh was generous like that.
As soon as his body could function, Madrid rolled over and sprang to his feet. Rose rebuilt his helmet around his head, working hastily, fusing the pieces back together a little haphazardly. He took a second to adjust the fit, watching the remaining witch. Silvan had been firing at it, but now was crouched behind the altar, arms curled around her head. She was gasping for breath and nearly sobbing.
"It's doing something to her!" Jayesh exclaimed. He ran forward and planted himself in front of Silvan, throwing down another healing rift. He shoved Lumina back in its holster and began to sing.
Madrid knew that Jayesh had retrained as a Sunsinger, but he'd never seen him in action. He'd heard the battle song of a Sunsinger before, but hearing it from his friend was a slight shock. Every warlock had a different song. Some sang words, while others sang an aria, conveying only mood. Jayesh sang in a language Madrid had never heard before-a language filled with irrepressible cheer and liquid, flowing notes. Fire began to lick over his clothes and spread into wings at his shoulders.
Besurith screamed and covered her ears. In the distance, the pyramid itself seemed to loom higher and blacker, as if the song of the Light was offensive to its very existence.
Silvan raised her head and slowly climbed to her feet. Jayesh's song was more than an exercise of his power-it was running interference against the witch's psychic attack. Silvan raised her auto rifle.
Madrid touched her shoulder. Under cover of Jayesh's voice, he murmured, "Keep her distracted. I'm going into the temple to find the source of her shield."
Silvan nodded and fired a couple of shots at Besurith. They sparked off the silvery energy shield.
Madrid wrapped himself in Void Light and vanished into the shadows. It was easy to do in a place so dim. He dodged away across the area and circled around behind the witch. She was so close that he could count the bone spikes on her shoulders and back. But he couldn't breach the shield, so indoors he went.
It wasn't hard to find the power source. The temple had a single central room. In the middle of this room was a huge green crystal growing from a bed of Hive filth. The crystal pulsed with the same sickly glow as the Hive thralls. Two Knights stood on either side of it, swords drawn, ready to give their lives in defense of the crystal. Behind it, in an alcove, stood a stone table covered in tools and strange artifacts that flickered with Hive magic.
This might be a good place to find a core for a Darkness weapon. Madrid slipped around the perimeter of the temple and arrived at the alcove without the knights spotting him. The table was covered in strange objects. He exchanged rapid fire thoughts with Rose.
Which have power?
Orange thing. Purple thing. Black thing. Not that one. That one.
Madrid swept up the objects and shoved them into the ammo pouch on his hip. Then he turned to deal with the crystal.
Hive were well known for storing energy inside crystals and using them to power all manner of spells. But as Madrid crept up behind the first Knight and cut its throat, its life energy burst out of it and swirled into the crystal. That was odd. Weren't Hive supposed to send energy up the chain to higher-ranking Hive, with the topmost ones being the gods? Madrid shrugged off the question. Leave the theorycrafting to the warlocks.
He dispatched the second Knight, taking a vicious sword slash to the ribs that left him doubled over in pain. As his Ghost healed him, Madrid staggered to the crystal and stuck a grenade to it. Then he hobbled for the entrance, moving faster and easier as the wound mended. The grenade exploded behind him, shattering the crystal. Shards hit the walls around him with a colossal crash of breaking glass.
He reached the entrance just as the cage holding Jin collapsed.
The two warlocks were sheltering behind the altar as Besurith poured her fury and hatred upon them. Her shield was gone, and she hadn't appeared to have noticed. When the cage failed, Jin went from standing on the altar, a helpless prisoner, to a lightning-wreathed ball of Light. He shot straight up in the air, described a narrow arc, and dropped on top of Besurith like a meteor.
Madrid took shelter inside the temple doorway as the Titan and witch hit the ground. The stone cracked. Bone armor shattered. Fragments of chitin and smoke blasted through the temple door. Madrid chuckled in satisfaction, shielding his face.
As silence fell, Jin stuck his head in the doorway. "Madrid! Don't make me come rescue your sorry ass."
"I'm right here," Madrid said, stepping out of the shadows. "I'm the one who should be rescuing you." The two men clasped hands in a mutual expression of triumph. They'd faced a fight together and won. That would bond their fireteam faster than any number of arguments or social gatherings. Then they headed outside to check on the rest of the team, stepping around the splattered remains of the Hive witch on the way.
Quiet had settled over the area. No movement registered on their motion trackers. It was as if the slaying of Besurith had temporarily stunned the Hive. Jayesh and Silvan were reloading as their Ghosts investigated the Cryptoglyph.
"Definitely take this basin along," Phoenix was saying. "The Cryptoglyph needs the stuff in it as fuel."
"What is that junk?" Silvan asked, standing on tiptoes to peer at the waxy substance.
"Some kind of essence," Bramble said. "Hatred, I think."
"How do they … you know, I don't want to know," said Jayesh. "Somebody transmat it. Phoenix's memory is full and he can't."
Silvan set Bramble to breaking the Cryptoglyph and its basin down into data and storing it away. When Madrid and Jin walked up, Silvan hugged them both. "You guys were great! Madrid, your technique has gotten better since we last ran together! And Jin, that was amazing!" Her voice rose to a squeak. "You pancaked Besurith! And she'd been telling me how powerful she was and how I was no match for the sword logic. Guess you showed her!"
"Yep," said the Exo, raising a fist. "I'm better at the sword logic than she was, ha!"
"I don't think she was running on sword logic," said Madrid. "Her shield was powered by a crystal in there. I killed a couple of Knights and it absorbed their energy."
"Pff, the Hive don't run on anything else," Silvan said. "That's what powers their magic, is a jillion little guys constantly dying and passing energy up the chain." She turned to her Ghost as he stored the Cryptoglyph and began work on the basin. "How's it going?"
"Fine," Bramble said. "Don't distract me. This essence is slippery stuff."
Jayesh hadn't joined in their conversation. He had turned and was again looking at the pyramid. He'd been in the middle of holstering Lumina, and his hand kept missing the holster. Madrid walked up, put an arm around his shoulders, and forcibly turned him away from the pyramid. To take Jayesh's mind off the Darkness, Madrid said, "Why is your Ghost's memory full? Did you bring your whole arsenal?"
Jayesh shook his head a little to clear it. "Uh. No, I packed a lot of supplies I thought we might need. Well, yes, and some weapons and ammo."
"I'm so full," Phoenix groaned. "I mean, data doesn't have mass, but you know what I mean."
The basin finally disappeared, and Bramble returned to Silvan. "Got it!" he exclaimed. "Let's get out of here."
At that moment, the lights went out. They had only been a series of glowing crystals around the perimeter of the stone shelf, but they all went dead at once. The only illumination came from the distant crack in the ceiling that shed a muted glow down upon the pyramid.
Silvan said suddenly, "Besurith has other sisters. Voshyr and Kinox, as well as Hashladun. They're crazy with rage right now, and they're calling to something … guys, what is Zulmak?"
In the distance, far below, something roared. Its voice was deep and bestial, echoing off the walls. As the noise died away, more sounds echoed-the rasp of claws on stone, and heavy footfalls drawing closer in the darkness.
"Run," Jin said suddenly. "My Light is gone, team. They cranked up the Darkness on us. Run!"