Chapter 9 - "A place cold enough to snuff out your Light"
It had been a week since Elika took Ulric into Gambit for the first time. Her intent was to continue his training in a real arena against real Guardians and enemies. The unanticipated outcome was the two of them bonding a lot on a personal level. She never expected to be fighting alongside Uldren Sov, much less become his friend, yet here they were. Ulric and Elika were growing closer and closer every single day. A year ago she would have gagged at the idea of this but Elika was different now. Her heart was bigger and in it she definitely had space for a former enemy turned best friend.
They've gone back into Gambit five more times since then and were currently on a win streak. Their team was made up of Elika, Ulric, Suki-3, and Minerva. Suki-3 is an Exo Warlock who works closely with Ikora as a member of The Hidden. They are level-headed, pragmatic, and extremely intelligent. Minerva is an Awoken Titan and sister to Lucinia Ren, another friend and fireteam member of Elika's. She is a soldier of the Light, through and through. One could describe her as stalwart, loyal, and dedicated. Both of them are members of Elika's raid team but they also commonly venture into Gambit and the Crucible together.
After an intense Gambit match, the four Guardians found themselves at their favorite bar in The Tower: Traveler's Respite. Elika sat at the edge of the booth, her left leg hanging out as if she was ready for a quick getaway. Old Hunter habit, one might say. Her trusty Polaris Lance was resting beside her as it usually did. She held up a pint of beer towards her friends who sat around the crescent shaped booth.
"I propose a toast to our newest friend and one hell of a Gambit player. To Ulric!" Four glasses clinked together before they were promptly downed by the Guardians.
"You're a natural Reaper, Ulric." Suki-3 turned towards him with a glowing smile. All four of them had their assigned roles in the game. Elika was an Invader, tasked with invading the other team's arena and killing them to stall their progress. Pure Guardian on Guardian violence. Ulric was a Reaper, his job is to kill all the enemies in his team's arena as fast as possible. Minerva was a Collector, as soon as Ulric killed the enemies she ran in to collect the motes off their dead bodies and bank them. Suki-3 was a Sentry, they monitored their team's bank and made sure that the Taken sent by the enemy team were swiftly dealt with. Together, the four of them had become quite unstoppable.
"Thank you, friends. Though I must admit, I feel a bit inadequate. I mean, you all have these amazing armor sets that assist you in your tasks yet I don't." Ulric looked down at his empty glass and tapped his fingers lightly on the side of it.
"Well then let's get you some. The four of us can go into the Reckoning together. Do you have the time, Elika? I know you've been busy with Vanguard duties." Minerva asked, directing her naturally steely gaze to Elika.
"Yeah, I have the day off tomorrow actually. Why don't we do it then?"
"Yes!" Minerva laughed and held up her hand, getting the bartender's attention before asking for another round. Elika winced almost imperceptibly but of course Suki-3, with her hawk-like eyes, saw it.
"What is it Elika?" The Exo quietly inquired, a metallic echo in their voice.
"Huh? N-nothing. That sounds like a great idea. You down, Ulric?" Elika had become very good at burying all the things that caused her stress and deflecting the conversation elsewhere.
"Yes, I'd love that!" Another round of drinks was brought over to them by Dawn-5, the owner of Traveler's Respite, and the Guardian's got back to celebrating. As the night went on, the three more experienced Guardians shared war stories with Ulric. Some about the Red War, some about the Taken King, others about infamous Crucible matches or challenging enemies they've defeated. He loved hearing their tales of heroism; they inspired him. He hoped one day to have some epic stories of his own. As it got late Minerva and Suki-3 took their leave which left Ulric and Elika alone at the bar.
It was silent for a while as Elika stared blankly into the empty pint glass in front of her. Ulric allowed her some time before finally speaking up.
"Is everything okay? You seem a bit out of sorts." Ulric asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just nervous I suppose."
"About what?"
"Tomorrow. The Reckoning. I just… Between you and me I hate it in there." Elika looked more uncomfortable than Ulric had ever seen her.
"We don't have to go, you know. It's not a big deal, I'm doing just fine without the armor."
"It's silly, really. I'm fine. I want to go with you. I just feel strangely powerless in there. It's like I'm being watched by someone. Like I'm being judged."
"Have you told Drifter? He runs the event, right?" Ulric questioned.
"Yes, the arena is connected to his ship. But no, I haven't told him. He… That whole situation is way too complicated to get into this late at night, that's for sure. Look, let's go get some rest. I'm sure I'll be fine in the morning." Elika smiled at Ulric before standing up and slinging her Scout Rifle over her shoulder. The two of them made their way back to the apartment and parted ways to get some sleep in their respective beds.
That night, Elika had a peculiar dream. In the dream she could hear voices. There were many of them and they were all talking over each other as if they were arguing. She couldn't make out anything they were saying except the words "Light" and "Dark". She tossed and turned throughout the night as the bombardment on her psyche continued. When she woke up she felt like she never slept yet couldn't remember the dream at all. She couldn't seem to shake the weird feeling that overcame her as she woke; it was as if every cell in her body was telling her not to go into the Reckoning today. She ignored the feeling, of course, and got ready. Elika suited up in her usual set of worn out armor along with the cloak Drifter had made for her.
"Ready, Ul?" She shouted towards his room from the kitchen before downing a bottle of water. His door opened and he walked out looking as rested as four hours of sleep will get you. He gave her a thumbs up and she threw a bottle of water at him before the two made their way to The Derelict.
Upon arriving they saw Minerva was already there. This wasn't surprising as she was always early to every engagement. She and Drifter were standing near each other in silence, which both of them preferred over conversation. She was leaning against a pillar slowly loading her Auto Rifle while Drifter passed a jade coin in between his fingers absentmindedly.
"Hey, you." Elika walked over to Drifter and hugged him.
"Didn't think you'd be comin'." He said to Elika with a surprised smile.
"Why not?" Elika looked almost offended at the statement.
"You hate this place, the Reckoning "arena" or whatever you wanna call it."
"Can't let Ulric do it alone, now can I?" She laughed it off but they both knew he was right. He had no idea why she hated it, she would deflect every time he asked. However, he didn't push her further this time and left it at that. It wasn't the time for an argument. A few moments later Suki-3 showed up.
"Sorry I'm late. I was a bit tied up this morning, running errands for Ikora and adding translated information into my personal grimoire." They spoke quickly, seemingly unfazed by their consistently busy schedule.
"Do you ever sleep?" Minerva asked with a chuckle.
"No, not really." Suki-3 replied. It was a rhetorical question as everyone knew they worked around the clock, rarely ever sleeping. Exo's don't need as much sleep as Humans or Awoken but still, everyone else here had bags under their eyes while Suki-3 looked fresh and ready to go.
"Well then, are we ready?" Ulric inquired as he adjusted his gun, a worn out Hand Cannon that he won mere days ago in Gambit, on his thigh. The other three nodded as Drifter activated the portal which would bring them inside The Haul, a massive icy object pulled behind his ship. As they were lining up to head through the portal, Drifter pulled Elika aside.
"You be careful in there, you hear?"
"Always am." Elika replied confidently.
"I just… I have a weird feeling about this. Can't seem to shake it." He looked a bit flustered, as if he couldn't quite grasp why he felt that way which annoyed him.
"I do too." Elika whispered before pulling him into a brief kiss. "It'll be okay though, just another walk in the park I'm sure." She lingered for a moment, looking longingly into his eyes. She wished he would just wrap his arms around her and take her to bed. She was so tired and really needed a nap, plus she got the best sleep when she was with him. She broke her gaze after a moment and made her way through the portal.
In seconds she went from the cool darkness of the Derelict's main deck to a bright, white-colored arena known as The Reckoning. The other three Guardians had made their way over to a bank that was positioned near a giant hole in the floor. Minerva and Suki-3 were showing Ulric how to insert the synthetic mote that would forge his new armor once he completed the challenge of the arena. Meanwhile Elika stood silently off to the side, watching the giant upside down triangle hanging in the air in front of her through her helmet's visor. She was taking slow, deep breaths, shaking a little with every exhale. That uneasy feeling in her stomach growing and growing all the while.
Suddenly a flash of light blinded her momentarily and in an instant she found herself standing in complete darkness. She instinctively lifted her hand, palm facing upward, allowing Spaghetti to appear above it.
"Where are we?" She asked her Ghost.
"I… don't know. It's so… cold here. Elika… something is…wrong." He seemed to barely be able to speak. She watched him, horrified to see that the light of his eye was blinking and becoming dimmer and dimmer with each subsequent blink. "No… Light… here…"
"Spaghetti!" Elika yelled as his Light faded completely and he fell into her hand, cold and lifeless.
She suddenly realized that she herself felt cold. It should be impossible due to her armor's climate control but she was shivering. Her Guardian instincts kicked in and she immediately decided she could stand her and die or move forward and try to find a way out. But before long Elika began to struggle with each step. It was as if her legs were turning to ice. She looked ahead, desperate to see something, anything, until she finally saw someone. A tear ran down her cheek under the helmet as she called out to the figure for help. A faint glow illuminated the figure and as soon as they turned around, bearing their face to Elika, she stopped dead in her tracks. It was The Emissary of the Nine.
"I'm sorry to have brought you here but I had no other choice." The Emissary spoke softly.
"Where… am… I?" Elika growled through the cold shivers that were running up and down her body. "What did… What did you do to my… Ghost?"
"He will be alright as long as you leave here soon, but first I need to speak with you privately. We are somewhere The Nine cannot hear us. Unfortunately for you, Light does not exist here."
"Then… hurry." Elika grimaced, suddenly wracked with pain. She pulled her helmet off after the visor iced over. She could breathe, luckily enough, but now ice was forming on her face.
The woman in front of Elika has gone by many names in her lifetime: Nasya Sarwar, Nasan Ar, Orin, and finally The Emissary of the Nine. She was Human once and found herself aboard the Yang Liwei. This colony ship was meant to carry nearly 50,000 people to a habitable planet outside of the solar system, away from the Traveler. A series of events led to the Yang Liwei being caught between two paracausal entities: The Traveler and The Darkness. The effects of their moment of strife caused the birth of the Awoken species.
After her rebirth in the Distibulary as an Awoken, Nasya Sarwar became Nasan Ar. Ar pledged herself to the Awoken Queen, Mara Sov, who gave her permission to leave the Reef where their people had settled on one condition: she was not allowed to return. She accepted this condition and was to be an emissary for Mara on Earth. However, shortly after arriving on Earth, Nasar Ar was killed. She was resurrected by a Ghost who she named Gol before renaming herself Orin.
Orin was a powerful Titan, well known for wielding a hammer of war. She fought against rogue Warlords for a time before becoming affiliated with various groups. Eventually she found a way to be smuggled back to the Reef. Once there, she met with Mara Sov who allowed her to stay and placed her in debt to the crown. That debt was later called in which led to Orin coming in contact with Xur, Agent of the Nine. From there, things get a little choppy. Much about the Nine is unknown, their enigmatic presence is merely a whisper among the galaxy as they hide in the shadows. However, it's obvious that The Emissary of the Nine has been given special abilities that transcend understanding. It's unclear whether she can be considered friend or foe.
"We don't have much time so I will make this brief." The Emissary spoke quickly now. "I am speaking to you not as the Emissary but as Orin the Lost. The Nine have been watching you, Hunter Vanguard. Your contact with The Darkness has intrigued them. They know a great many things but despite all their knowledge they cannot come to a consensus on what to do in regards to the coming war. You may think you can stop this but I promise you, Elika, this war will happen. You have placed yourself precariously between the Light and the Dark. Stay there, you may learn more than you could if you were securely on either side. Elika: you cannot trust what you see or believe what you hear. That includes anything you may hear from this voice. Keep digging and you will find the answers you seek. You're on the right path, Elika. Keep walking it."
Elika tried to reply, as she had so many questions, but instead she coughed violently into her hand. As she looked down at it she saw that her hand was now covered in blood. She clutched Spaghetti's shell as she tried to steady herself, desperate to stay on her feet.
"What… What is… happening?" Elika could barely speak and felt almost completely frozen. Her entire body was now in excruciating pain. She felt as though she was slowly being cut into pieces under her armor.
"You're Light cannot survive here and neither can you. You need to go back." Orin looked concerned, an expression Elika has never seen on The Emissary's face.
A flash of white light blinded Elika again but this time it lasted longer. Within the brightness she was shown many things. These visions seeped into her mind past her closed eyes. The first thing she saw was Orin and Drifter talking. They used to be friends, she knew that much. She couldn't make out what it was they were saying, though. They were yelling at each other, clearly angry, but it was silent.
Next was Drifter screwing bolts onto a bank for Gambit. He stopped working and clutched his head, falling to the ground in pain. Elika called to him but he couldn't hear her. This was in the past, she wasn't actually there. She felt so helpless watching him like that. Eventually he sat up and screamed "STOP!" and the vision faded.
After that she saw pure darkness and in the darkness was a fleet of gigantic, triangular ships. She had seen one of them before, on the Moon. This was the Darkness' fleet, she was sure of it. Where were they? Elika couldn't make it out before she was swept away to another vision.
Her focus was now drawn to a jade coin, like the ones that Drifter always has in his hands. It was flipping through the air, seemingly suspended in one place. On the back of this coin was an indention of one of the triangular ships.
Suddenly she saw Mara Sov and herself. Mara was on her throne, she seemed to be issuing orders to Elika, who was on her knee in front of the Queen. This had to be sometime in the past. Seeing this caused a cascade of memories to unravel in Elika's mind. It was as if everything the Traveler erased from her when she was reborn was shoved back into her brain. It hurt.
Next she saw The Emissary on the edge of a cliff. Her Ghost fell to the ground, dead. Then there was nothing, just the bright light again. Words echoed in her mind: "The line between Light and Dark is so very thin. Do you know what side you're on?" Those were Uldren Sov's last words as he lay defeated in front of Elika and Petra Venj. What does this mean?
The brightness quickly faded into pure darkness as Elika seemingly lost her vision. There was a sharp ringing noise that compelled her to reach up and cover her ears. It grew louder and louder with every passing second, hurting her as it grew in volume. Over the ringing she could hear a slew of voices, all talking over each other just like in her dream the night before. They were so loud. It nearly deafened Elika and she began screaming as loud as her lungs would allow. She was in so much pain, both in her body and in her mind. She gripped her hands around her ears tighter and continued her primal screaming in some kind of pathetic attempt to get the voices to stop.
Suddenly nine separate voices spoke, one after another, their voices louder than the ringing and Elika's screaming. They spoke nine words: Understanding, Queen, Prophecy, Salvation, Judgement, Chaos, Order, Purpose, and Chosen.
In a split second all the visions and sounds ceased and Elika was back in the Reckoning arena. She was still covering her ears, screaming bloody murder for a moment until she realized where she was. Spaghetti's shell fell out in front of her, plopping on the ground loudly. What felt like an hour to her was literal milliseconds in the eyes of her friends. One second she was standing there quietly and the next she was screaming. At least, that's how the other three Guardians saw it.
Ulric took off his helmet and ran to her, followed by Suki-3 and Minerva. Elika fell to her knees and braced herself with her hands on the ground as she coughed out more blood. The aubergine color stained the perfect white sand covering the floor in the Reckoning arena. She quickly lost the strength to hold herself up causing her arms to give way as she fell to her stomach. She reached out in front of her towards Spaghetti's lifeless shell.
"No! Please!" She shouted, spitting blood as it seeps between her teeth.
Ulric got to her first and noticed more blood on the ground now than she could have possibly coughed up. He rolled her onto her back and as soon as he did so she started convulsing violently. He quickly moved around to sit above her before placing his heads on either side of her head, keeping it steady. He calmly held her there until she was still then leaned in to listen for breathing. What he heard indicated she was barely hanging on.
Minerva was now at Elika's side. She placed her hand on the Hunter's abdomen before pulling it off and looking at it. Her hand was covered in blood. She looked over Elika's body before turning to Uldren.
"Help me get her armor off." Minerva unfastened Elika's chest plate as Ulric pulled out a knife and started cutting through the dark fabric making up the rest of her chest armor. Meanwhile, Suki-3 had sat on the ground next to Spaghetti, looking over his seemingly lifeless shell.
"Artemis, what happened to him?" Suki-3 asked their Ghost.
"I… I do not know." The Ghost replied, seemingly dumbfounded.
"What can you do?" Suki-3 politely encouraged her Ghost to think harder and faster, time was of the essence.
"I can try to share some of my Light with him. It would be easier with more Ghosts though, I believe."
"I need your Ghosts, now!" Suki-3 shouted back to Minerva and Ulric as they desperately ripped off Elika's armor. Pulled Pork immediately appeared and zoomed over to Spaghetti.
"Scipio, do it." Minerva instructed her Ghost.
"Right away, ma'am." Her Ghost shot towards Spaghetti as the three Ghosts attempted to revive their fallen friend.
Ulric finished cutting off the fabric, revealing Elika's upper body. He and Minerva were horrified at what they saw. Seemingly every scar that Elika had on her body had reopened. The scar she kept on her stomach from the Hive Sword that went through her was bleeding profusely, as was the bullet wound on her chest from Kaiden Kellas. Various smaller scars were also opened, all of which were causing Elika to bleed to death on the arena floor. Her Ghost seemed to be already dead, meaning she couldn't be healed or resurrected.
"We're close!" Pulled Pork could be heard over by the other Ghosts who had formed a circle around Spaghetti's shell.
"We need to get them back to the Derelict!" Ulric shouted. Minerva reached down and picked Elika up as gently as she could and began running towards the portal back to the Derelict. Suki-3 grabbed Spaghetti and motioned for the Ghosts to follow as they joined with Ulric before passing through the portal themselves.
As soon as they made it aboard Drifter's ship Minerva set Elika down on the deck and the group focused on Spaghetti. At this point, it was clear that the only way to save the Hunter Vanguard was by reviving her Ghost. As all three of the Ghost's began expanding in an attempt to ignite the Light within Spaghetti, Drifter came running in.
"What the hell is…" He stopped dead in his tracks as he saw Elika's exsanguinated body lying on the floor. He ran over to her and she reached up towards his face weakly, barely conscious at this point. He grabbed her hand, which was cold, and positioned his knee on the ground before lifting Elika up to rest on his thigh. He told her she would be okay and that he was there for her; the usual things people say to someone they can no longer help. He held her hand against his lips and kissed it softly. A single tear ran down his cheek and Elika extended her finger to catch it. After she did this her eyes glazed over, losing focus as her body became heavy. He shook her, shouted her name, did everything he could think of to get her back. It was too late.
Drifter looked up and realized what the grouping of Ghosts was trying to do and he looked back at the doorway he previously came through to see his own Ghost peeking out.
"Get the fuck out here and help!" Drifter shouted at the ramshackle little thing. It blinked its red eye and darted over to the other Ghosts. With the combined Light of the four Ghosts they were able to awaken Elika's Ghost. Spaghetti's eye powered up and he blinked lazily before shooting up into the air in a panic. He flew over to Elika and with one swift motion he expanded his shell and resurrected his Guardian.
As Elika's dead body disappeared the Drifter stood up, watching her newly resurrected body appear in front of him. The other Guardians looked away from her because for some odd reason she was completely naked. Drifter immediately took off his outer robe and wrapped it around her, helping her arms into the sleeves before tying it up in the front. While doing so, he noticed something peculiar about her body: All the scars that had previously opened were gone, as was the tattoo that stretched from her neck downward along her side and ended at her ankle. She looked, for lack of a better phrase, brand new.
Elika stood there in a daze while the other four people waited silently for her to speak, move, do anything. Drifter grew impatient and spoke up, addressing his partner with compassion and empathy.
"Are you alright, qiānjīn?"
"I think so." Her eyes snapped up and looked into his. She remained still as she finally began looking around the room, attempting to assess what the hell happened. She looked to her friends, their Ghosts, then to her own Ghost. A tear ran down her face as she held her hand up towards her little friend.
"You're okay!" She gasped, elated at the sight of her living Ghost. Spaghetti moved to rest on her outstretched hand.
"I had to reset you. I'm sorry." He said, almost as if he was ashamed.
"Reset me?" Elika looked confused.
"The only way I could revive you was to use your original template. You are exactly as you were the very first time I revived you all those years ago in the Cosmodrome."
"Oh." She stretched her hands out in front of her and looked them over before clenching them into fists. An angry expression overcame her face. It wasn't that she was angry at her Ghost or about being "reset", but rather she was furious that she had died at all. This was supposed to be about getting Ulric armor and now she was once again thrown into something against her will which she didn't fully understand. Sometimes she hated being the 'Traveler's Chosen'.
"Elika, what happened to you?" Ulric asked as he, Suki-3, and Minerva began to approach her. She relaxed her hands and allowed her face to return to a neutral expression before turning to them.
"I… don't really remember… I was somewhere else I think. It was cold." She reached up and grabbed her head, pained at the confusion that had suddenly become quite overwhelming. She glanced over and noticed her own blood smeared across the floor. The area had been heavily walked through which led to a scattering of purple footprints across the deck. "Did I really die?"
"Yes." Suki-3 said. "So did Spaghetti. However, thanks to the Traveler's grace, it was not permanent."
"I don't… How? I don't understan-" She trailed off as she struggled to maintain her footing, nearly falling over.
"Whoa, whoa. You need to lie down, baby." Drifter steadied her. "We can talk about this later, you've been through an awful lot."
"Get some rest, my friend." Minerva added before whispering to Ulric and Suki-3, "We should leave. There's nothing more we can do. She needs sleep now."
"I'm staying." Ulric immediately replied. Drifter pulled Elika's arm around his shoulder and began walking her towards his workshop. Suki-3 agreed with Minerva and the two of them left while Ulric stayed with Elika and Drifter on The Derelict.
Drifter brought Elika to his bed and laid her down on it. His robe kept her warm enough and she allowed herself to close her eyes before finally falling asleep. Drifter sat at the foot of the small bed and pulled her legs over his lap. Ulric took a seat at Drifter's workbench and Spaghetti floated closely over Elika's head, monitoring her. A few hours went by before Elika shot straight up with a gasp, nearly slamming into her Ghost as she did so.
"Understanding. Queen. Prophecy. Salvation. Judgement. Chaos. Order. Purpose. Chosen." She repeated these nine words three times before getting a hold of herself.
"What does that mean?" Ulric asked, leaning in towards her.
"I don't know but that's what they said. That's what they told me." Elika seemed calm as she spoke. It was all coming back to her now. She remembered Orin. She remembered the visions. She remembered everything.
"What who told you?" Drifter asked with a sharp look in his eye.
"The Nine." Elika replied as Drifter's face drained of all color, his eyes immediately widening in fear.
"They spoke to you?" He whispered.
"Yes. I remember it all now. I don't know where I was but I think you might have an idea, bǎobèi. There was a time in which I received letters from a certain someone who was monitoring you. He said you told him The Haul came from "a place cold enough to snuff out your Light." I think that's where I was. Orin brought me there."
"She did what? The Emissary brought you to that place?" Drifter snapped.
"No, Orin."
"Same person."
"No, you don't understand. I don't believe they are the same person. She told me things about the Light and the Dark. A war. She told me not to trust anyone. I think the Emissary and Orin are two different people. She spoke as if that was the case." The more Elika said, the angrier Drifter looked. He wasn't mad at Elika but rather at what he was just now piecing together in his mind. If Orin took Elika there, then Orin damn near killed her permanently. It infuriated him that Orin could be so careless. Elika continued, "There were visions too. I saw you. They talked to you, showed you things. I saw all of it."
"You saw my visions?" Drifter had already told her about what The Nine did to him but left out quite a bit of detail. It was too difficult to talk about and anyway, it was his burden not hers. But that was then.
"I saw them." Elika whispered, fear consuming her entire face at the thought of the pyramid-shaped ships.
"What's going on?" Ulric finally chimed in after listening quietly this whole time.
"I heard you, too. I also saw your sister." Elika turned to Ulric now as a stern look came over her face.
"You did?" He was taken aback. Not only was he unsure of what had happened and what was going on, but he had no idea how it could possibly relate to him. The Drifter stood up before jamming his gun into his waistband. He started walking away, towards the main deck of the ship.
"Where are you going?" She called out to him.
"I need to have a little talk with The Emissary or "Orin" or whoever." He said gruffly before turning the corner. Elika stood up and ran behind him. She tripped on her own feet a couple of times but eventually found her stride, overtaking Drifter and stopping in front of him.
"No! It won't help, she'll have no idea what you're even talking about."
"Well someone killed you and someone is going to have to pay for it!" He shouted at her, causing her to recoil a bit. She reached down and grabbed both of his clenched fists causing them to relax into open hands which she then held.
"I know you're angry and I know you want answers. I feel the same way, trust me. She told me I was on the right path. I think I just need to unravel a few threads and I can't do that without you. I need you here with me, please." She looked into his steely blue eyes and after a moment he relaxed his shoulders and groaned in frustration.
"Fine. But if I ever see that psycho again I'm gonna shoot her."
"I'll let you have the first shot, but I get the second." Elika smiled before leaning in to rest her head on the man's shoulder. He embraced her, holding her tightly against his body.
"I won't lose you again." He whispered. An unspoken phrase had always hung between them, looming over their heads like a rain cloud that neither of them wanted to look at but that rained on them nonetheless. They may have been reluctant to say those three little words to each other, but they showed it and they felt it. For now, that was all they needed from each other.
Elika told Ulric to go back to The Tower. He was exhausted from the whole ordeal and her blood was still covering his skin and clothes. It was late, anyway. She hugged him tightly, thanking him for being there for her. She also asked him to tell their friends not to worry and that she would be returning home tomorrow morning. He left and Elika returned to Drifter's bed. She fell asleep as soon as Drifter wrapped his arms around her. Tomorrow she would head back to The Tower and tell the Vanguard what had happened. War was coming, Elika was sure of that. Now, they just needed a good, old-fashioned plan to deal with it. Faced with such a difficult situation she couldn't help but wonder "what would Cayde do?"