The first thing that flooded her senses as the crew entered the darkness was the sensation of drowning.

The sun had begun to set behind the hills and the mountains that lay in the distance, blackening the deep chasm at the side of the millenary road as they began the walk towards the tunnel they were now going through under the attentive and heartless vigilance of their oppressors.

Making them enter in pairs and with their hands in the back of their heads, a sluggish agonizing march made each step heavier than the previous one, seeming that it was bringing them closer to a living death sentence. The dread for the imminence of the Unknown approached them, every time the inescapable shadow of the constant threat of being finishing off with the sinister and forceful strike of a bullet. In that gloomy march, they go into the maw of blackness.

Once inside, she could barely make out the line of Zachary's scalp, and distinguishing the dark color of his hair from the rest of the environment required her to sharpening her sight amidst the gloom, while in the dim flickering light of the lamps across the concave ceiling of that corridor it didn't even give her a chance to differentiate where she was stepping on, or whether she was going to fall into a ditch, having to rely exclusively on her senses in the enclosed darkness to cautiously walk on the wet muddy roadway. To the tense walk hearing their soles sloshing as they march, adding the clicking sound of the weaponry of those who warily guarded them at their sides, now was heard the angered commands of those men, devoid of any humanity.

Beside her, Sarah stood in fearful silence.

Before the orders were received with utter indifference from this hellish hole, these people arranged with shouting that were to have them all back to their feet. In that moment, she'd said something to her.

'Walk and look ahead. Everything will be all right...' She recalled. 'Just walk...'

In the woman's eyes there was something, a feeling, that she would never have thought would ever see in her.

Fear.

She barely turned to see the woman's pearly profile and curly red hair, blemished by the dull light of the place, dancing with the rotten air that now invaded her nostrils and making her stomach turn, hitting her senses with a deep instinctive rejection, charging the air in a rarefied aura, pushed by the currents from the outside beyond that gloomy tunnel.

She felt her heartbeat spiking just by breathing in that horrid stench combined with the suffocating enclosed darkness, and in the first few steps she had walked the first sensation was to regurgitate from disgust, feeling like it was about to faint. Overwhelmed by all those sensations that were beginning to seize her and pushing her over the edge, subjecting her completely to the gloomy helplessness of the total absence of light, she sought instinctively the help of which she knew remained there beside her, walking in the most absolute silence. When she turned her head barely, seeking sanctuary from those unbearable sensations that plagued her and threated to crash her limits, was at the exact moment they walked under the dimmed light, seeing the woman urge her with a single muted word to keep moving.

'Walk...'

She despaired inwardly as the understanding of that request, while the anxiety began to crawl up, giving way to a sense of hopelessness the gloom of the place began to stir the longer they stayed in there, as if this whole place was infectious, spreading its poison with the darkest emotions and feelings she had ever felt.

She then turned her eyes to the front, frightened, fixing her sight again on Zac's interwind fingers, trying not to let Sarah's façade end up demolishing her mental defenses. She'd saw, or perhaps she thought, that amidst the darkness the woman had tear-clouded eyes.

Her quickest reaction, trying to re-focus all her strength before insanity take over was to start counting her steps.

She'd counted 40 since entering, in a pace that mimicked the minutes inside this nightmare with each step taken as the impatience of knowing how much more she had to resist grew by the second. Each one of it counted consciously, certifying in her head the correlativity as if was a guidance that only a compass facing North could give. Because after every step given, the scenes she'd witnessed since they had reached this place tormented her with the same violence they represented, confirming that the sum of all her fears augured that the last thing she would ever have seen before this would be her companion's neck and Sarah's worried eyes imploring her indifference to whatever lay within.

The terrible unknowns began to haunt her and pile up, following the dread of Death and anguish that instinctively triggered her, wanting to break her will; tempting, sinister, and slowly crumbling the defenses she had erected to shield herself from whatever was in there.

However, it was the briefest of moments. All it was needed was an instant. The need to identify the threat she felt lurking around transformed into the vital need to pry in there, what was that place. What was in it...

It was instinctive. She counted the 48th step when her eyes, terrified and distrustful, wandered recklessly to one of the corners in this indolent, voracious darkness.

And the darkness, returned its gaze...

There were eyes, hundreds of them. Looking at them with a tired gleam as they passed by.

An old man with a scrawny dirty face watched them with the bitterness of misfortune speaking volumes through his weary gaze. The marks of time scoring deep his face with a clear sense of abandonment of all hope and apathy. Indifferent to the presence of these cruel men herding the crew through that passage, praying he'd be the one to be taken from there to their destination.

The same hollowness of this shade had taken possession of his soul and had plunged him into the gloom of Death.

It was an instant in which she felt the world vanish from her sight, engulfed in that obscurity. Silent tears of denial and grief flowed with that feeling. Every time she blinked, those same dead eyes multiplied in every corner behind the dark veil, wherever she looked.

Children, women, old people, men…

All, watching them.

All lying in there, waiting for their End. Begging for the release of the Beyond.

Her counting no longer existed. The mental fortress she'd built crumbled witnessing that cruel setting. Each step felt foreign, from her own disbelief of such display of cruelty as she detected every one of those eyes, lying their attention on them. The more she counted them, the more they appeared, until she could barely count them at all...

Those images she'd once have witnessed as a detached memory of the desolation plaguing the Earth with Death, now materialized before her taking a twisted vile form, watching it disconsolately by the side of the road, gazing it with disbelieving eyes as the cruelty of a dying world.

"Please, look ahead..."

She heard Sarah's mournful whisper at her side, and inertia caused her to comply as if that pious yearning were a lifeline amidst the black tempest. Still, her eyes couldn't help but search those in the Darkness, which begged for her attention with that unique gleam of tears in the formless and null presence of the inexorable fate.

While the nauseating stench of the place made difficult to breath, now it had been added the agony of seeing the capacity for destruction that humans can inflict upon themselves.

Breathing hurt.

Her throat knotted with the anguish of the incomprehensible, while tears flowed down her cheeks in an painful silence and uncontrollable anxiety; the more steps she took, the more she seemed to become infected by that sinister twisted power that exercised the influence to reveal the most horrendous expressions of Barbarism, intensifying to such a level of explicit acrimony what she witnessed, seeing next to some pitiful figures the lifeless husk of those who decided to not endure the pain anymore, lying lifeless on the floor; their empty eyes devoured by the black presence of this infernal hole leaving their flesh to rot. All bound by the same rusty dark chain, heaped against the crumbling dark walls, blending in and becoming one with the filth in which they lay prostrated. Dead or live alike.

The most dreadful of Silences overwhelmed her heart.

Tears flowed and flowed clouding her sight uncontrollably, as if they wanted to spare her the desolation and suffering of witnessing such an act of complete dehumanization.

But even so, the Darkness then returned to deal her the final blow. She saw it, making her heart froze to the point of almost staggering and falling to the floor, squeezing it with sadness and pain, helplessness and deep agony.

There were EXO's too. Mixed in the crowd of souls snatched from their freedom, barely distinguishable by the now dim light in their eyes, fearful as they heard footsteps in the dark, hiding and huddling behind their arms, terrified as they identified their tyrants. Bruised and battered with such heartless malice that it left her breathless.

As she stifled a whine of pain burning in her chest as if she was being flayed alive, fear swelled her at the sight of that image.

He was still in here, she thought...

And she did nothing to prevent it...

She shivered, barely able to walk. Not knowing what strength kept her on her feet to continue.

The place she'd once have called Home was now so far away. And what was left of it, was lay behind, turned into a jumble of waste and plundered objects, forgotten within this darkness...

In this place of wretched souls awaiting Death.

She let the sound of walking guide her out, unable to see anymore. Wanting to not look around anymore.

The tears slowly became her eyes cloudy mirrors, catching the distant light of what seemed to be like daylight, now an ill-fated shimmering in the face of what she witnessed, receiving in an urgent embrace those who had not submitted to the tenebrous dementia inside of that tunnel, urging them to keep walking without looking back.

However, she couldn't.

Her chest ached, distressed and anxious, from the most horrific thing she'd ever had to see, drawn from the deepest horrors of her night terrors.

No longer she could tell how far she'd walked. For her it seemed like years behind that thick hideous darkness. The images Ghost would've made her see before now seemed like a cautionary tale unlike of what she'd saw. About what the World actually is, of which she'd never imagined such viciousness.

The glow of the impending twilight was projected in the cloudy sky between a lavender hue and a gray one, concealing the march of all those men and women climbing a darkened winding old-fashioned path seemed to end in an unfathomable abyss.

They were forced to pace up, shouting up to the hill until being at the top. The road turned sharply and lost its way half a mile down into a valley road. As they walked down one by one, each couple was forced to keep walking as they passed a guard watching their movements, pointing at them so that they wouldn't stop and assuring that if anyone stop walking, they would likely to be killed on sight.

She had the feeling that someone called her name, yet she could no longer hear anything else. Her mind was plagued by all those images in the Darkness. All those faces.

She walked by inertia on the dusky ground aimlessly, knowing that there was someone in front of her and that she had to follow them. She was… shocked, not even been capable of utter a sound of grief, though the tears were still flowing. Not even with the strength in her hands or arms, which she'd left swaying at her both sides and responded like inert extensions, alienated from all external stimuli.

She didn't cry, but the anxiety had dug deep into the depths of her heart.

"...lisse...!"

It was a rumor of voices again, urging for her attention, but she no longer knew what her eyes were looking at. All she could do now, was to walk and look forward.

Her legs hurt from walking until the whole crew were left at the downhill end of that road, abandoned to their fate. At her back, she had the sensation of hearing the rabid echo of an argument. She passed by all of them, blurred images passed by her side, and she didn't distinguish any of the faces hurrying to intercede and pacify the shouting, while the hum of the dusk wind in the hills that surrounded them in the already gloomy road filled her ears like a white noise, hiding the angry exchange that was fueled by impotence for having lost everything at the night that was coming, cold and inhospitable.

All that was left now, was noise.

Insensitive and indolent noise, and the cold wind drying away all the tears she'd cried with a slap, chilling her heart.

In that lethargy, she then heard the anguished calling crying out her name, making her halt to search among the noise for its owner. The voice reminded her of a sensation so far away now, that she thought the memory of it had never existed.

Suddenly, the sound of hasty footsteps came to her. And the abrupt and desperate sensation of an embrace.

"TULISSE?! Tulisse!"

She recognized that voice and her face when she looked up, and could feel the sensations coming back to her body.

"Tulisse, are you alright?! Are you hurt?!" Carina was frantic, clinging to her shoulders. Her face reddened by the anguish of the whole situation. Her mane disheveled and tangled, while desperately looking for the girl's well-being. "Talk to me, please! Talk to me!" She was hysterical, examining every single part of her and begging the girl to speak.

She only looked at her and modulated a mute yes, while hurried footsteps were heard from behind.

As the woman clung to her with desperation, feeling her tremble as she held her close, the girl began to recognize her surroundings.

Those blurred figures began to take shape. And a couple of steps away at a barely brisk pace, Darwin was approaching with sorrowful eyes, giving only brief gestures of sympathy as he prepared to mediate the angry fight going on a few steps behind.

As the noise was turned into sounds, she listened to the voices around, recognizing some of them. Carina's hands touched her face with uneasiness as tears began to haze her eyes, the anguished face of Sarah was beside her, who was also trying to get her to react in a protective embrace. Still in her was that sorrow for she'd had to witness without being able to spare her any pain.

After a short while, she became aware of everything around her, making the reminiscence of close events to come back to her mind, being Carina's presence a confirmation to one of them as an indication of the slight possibility.

The latter watched her react as she continued to engulf her in a thousand of apologies while seemed unwilling to give in to the desolate feeling of lost, seeing that her face transformed into one with the imperious need to look out for something.

Someone.

She didn't utter a word, and only turned her attention to her left, discovering another familiar figure walking towards them.

With a somber air around him, Andal exchanged glances with her. There was grief and sorrow in those eyes, now turned elsewhere. Everything else he could say seemed useless to what she needed to know, and with barely a gesture to his back and a pale smile he pointed the way, and she saw him.

He was there.

Alive.

A solitary forlorn figure at the eve of the night.

No sound, images, or voice; nothing else mattered anymore.

Her full attention was on him now, there, sitting by the side of the road. Arms stretched on his knees with dejection all over his appearance. The weight of the world was on his shoulders.

She felt strength suddenly born again in her body, and her feet hit the ground as she reached for him with hasty pace.

There was no need to call his name. As soon as he felt her presence and looked up, her face lit up with joy. Her eyes filled with tears for seeing him again, while her heart swelled with relief, thrilled to see him not only alive but there, with her.

She left herself fall into him, receiving her in the firmest embrace with which he'd ever held her, while she fought to hold back the tears, hidden in the fold of his cloak.

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" She whispered to him, trembling with helplessness.

"You're safe..." He sighed with solace, as his held her tightly. "You're safe and with me…"


The road was an ominous path under the cover of a veil that already hung over everyone in a seemingly starless night.

Before the last trace of daylight had finished reflecting in the twilight sky, the entire company was crossing The Wilderness on foot, through the valley that descended from the main abandoned road where they had been left to their fate.

It was a rough sparsely field with scarce vegetation, in where they'd been able to see in the distance, there where the hills were beginning to become steeper and more angular into the dull skies, small patches of dark middling green, climbing up the hillside in striking contrast. After brief deliberation, they suspected that there were most likely ruins of a city or town hidden among those trees, perhaps the only possibility on miles of wilderness around where they could spend the night until dawn.

None of them would even give an excuse to get there by any means. Staying now in the open, with all the risks it involved, now presented a more imminent danger which they must avoid at all costs. No one would argue otherwise.

Lit by the solitary light of Ghost and Alina, the passage through the open field was swiftly guided by Andal and Darwin, and two others of the company while the rest remained in silence, attentive to any sound other than their own footsteps on the stony, difficult and abandoned path.

A sense of deep helplessness and anger nourished in the tense and silent air around them, soothed only by the exhaustion and weariness of a march without backup, with absolutely nothing but their own will and the energy they had left on their feet.

In the sound of the night, the murmur of the wind accompanied the company's passing through the few tall and wilted vegetation, while it seemed that a few meters away the gurgle of water ran timidly through a channel carved in the earth by human hands.

Tulisse listened to her own breathing ringing in her ears, panting and exhausted, feeling her legs getting heavier with each step taken, looking through the vegetation and using her feet to evade a stone or a pothole, seeking the firmness of the ground so that she could warn the rest of the team. Each exhalation into the air could come into view whenever the ghosts pointed at her or anyone in the group, lighting the way while guarding the march as the night's cold were irrelevant for them, for now.

Occasionally the muffled murmurs of the rest of her companions could be heard ahead, finding the difficulties through the path and cursing wherever they met with an unnoticed bump or a puddle of water. Several of these times she looked back, wary of the circumstances surrounding the sudden bustle and attentive to the sounds around her. Of all those times, nothing seemed to flinch in the shadows.

They finally reached the first line of trees among the hills, and while the only possibility to see through the wooded darkness was the light of the little beings, they reached in a few minutes a barely blurred trail of a once frequent footpath that led to a small open space, a several steps ahead.

Before arriving there and as they the cautionary mutters between them advice to stay in position, darkness enveloped them all surprisingly, being the only thing audible, besides the agonizing hum of the nocturnal fauna, the shy mechanical chirrup of both Ghosts hurrying to join their companions.

The girl startled, feeling at the mercy of the darkness again, sharpening her eyes in the blackness but being able to identify Ghost's silhouette approaching swiftly. Then, a soft, careful brush on her back shivered her.

"You alright…?"

She met Cayde's bright eyes and the sudden whispery flicker of his voice beside her, watching her closely as he lay against the gnarled trunk of a wide leafy tree.

Catching her breath and sketching a shy smile, she nodded. "Yeah. I'm just… cold..." Added softly. He just watched her, barely tilting his head in a comforting way, reaching for her hand to grasp it gently.

"Hang on, yeah? We're almost there..." He said softly. The implied agreement of those words was made certain with his hand holding hers gently, as murmurs spread among the group.

Curious of a hurried murmur of one of them, she turned to the head of the group trying to identify who it was in the blackness and why they all seemed to be now so expectant.

In that gloom, distinct only for his eyes, Cayde made out a lithe silhouette hasting up to the trail, followed by a dancing dot circling it, hovering presciently at its side before they both plunged into the night shadows, followed by the rustle of the upper branches of trees in the distance, stirred by the presence of someone in the night.

"There are buildings up ahead. It looks abandoned," He mentioned softly, focused on the nearby horizon. Tulisse turned to him. "Andal went to check it out. It's the only one that can go unnoticed... if there's anything else there that we need to worry about..."

In a brief silence, she seemed more intrigued. "How...?" Tulisse muttered under her breath.

"His Light. It manifests itself by deflating the Specter Visible to the human eye..." Ghost whispered splitting glances between her and her owner. The young woman frowned, more confused.

"English, bud..." Cayde crooned, focused on what his eyes were seeing in the distance.

Resigned, Ghost shook her blades, emulating a sigh. "He can become invisible..." Was her answer in a practical indifferent tone, receiving the girl's astonished look as she turned to the one who was with her.

He had all his attention in the distance now. As if waiting for a sign, his mood unusually quiet could be sensed in how his hand held Tulisse's to have her close, if any came up unexpected.

However, the wait was brief. With a short chirp, Ghost's blades were heard spinning heartily as she watched them all stationed among the grove and said the news in a hushing tone. "Cost is clear!".

"OK people: nice and quiet. Don't stop," Darwin ventured in a deep voice, looking at them all and in the lead.

In the hurried rustle, Tulisse could discern the silhouettes of all her companions staring to walk one after the other, scanning the night on all sides again for any possibility of unforeseen events, hastening the pace towards the next shelter. Among them, she recognized both the figure and Sarah's voice, urging everyone to move forward while caring for those afflicted with injury. In a hushed call, she urged her to keep on the walk along side with the rest.

Not knowing whether she could see her or not, the girl nodded, and just a few steps on track, she suddenly noticed a feeling of relinquishment growing in her chest, followed by a certain concern as she noticed, albeit faintly, a disguised grunt of a discomfort. Turning her attention to that, she saw Cayde slowly getting back from his rest by the tree, hiding his worn out pose as he attempted to stand upright. He noticed her concern just by looking at her.

"Aight. Let's go..." His module blinked faintly in a slightly lethargic tone. And before he could even make more than two steps under the attentive gaze of the girl, he staggered on the verge of falling.

Tulisse, stifling a pained cry and with what strength she had left, caught him off while around her some companions witnessed the scene, shocked.

"Cayde—!" She called him out, holding him as best she could and trying not to let her voice disturb the silence of the night.

"I'm fine, Lis. Don't worry..." He muttered, but his voice said the contrary as he looked back at her. Other hurried footsteps joined them in the urgency.

"Cayde, you OK pal?!"

Tulisse recognized Joyce's voice in the darkness as she hurried with three others, arriving in time to help the girl. Around her, she also identified the hulking figure of Brent, fidgeting as he tried to calm her down; Yara and someone else she didn't recognize, but knew were one of the blonde woman's squad.

"He's still in a daze…!" Ghost stated, hovering restlessly around as her analysis seemed to detect what was invisible to them. Uneasy, Joyce and Brent looked at the tiny being as Sarah's hurried footsteps joined them, disturbed at losing sight of the rest of the group, but also at the scene.

"Discharges must've overloaded all his neuro-synthetic terminals," Brent suggested tensely as he rushed to Joyce's aid, wary of this sudden closeness. "You need to take care of him, don't you?" He resumed looking at the small being as they managed to keep him on his feet.

"Immediately," Ghost replied nervously. Brent nodded in equal concern and with brief gestures to Joyce, they put all the strength in their feet to aid him to walk.

Careful of not being too noisy, they resumed with hasty pace towards the dark shape of the abandon shelter while the girl at Brent's side held his hand, worried and calling him quietly when she noticed that he seemed to be starting to faint. A same gesture but for assurance was returned, never letting go of her hand.

Hastening towards the rest of the group and warning both Andal and Darwin of the situation with a whistling signal, the group quickly found the trail within the small cluster of rustic huts and storehouses among the poplars trees that acted as natural camouflage. The light of some freshly lit campfires gave away that the entire group was now under the cover of the night in the largest warehouse they had found, which appeared to have been, not long ago, a barn.

"Hey, buddy! Hang in there, will ya...? We almost there...!" Andal tried to wake him up, receiving a subtle babble as a response, only visible by the voice module flickering inside the hood.

"What happened?" Darwin asked tensely.

"He passed out," Brent replied as he made one more effort to keep carrying him.

At the hurried sound of footsteps and the black-haired man's whistle toward the barn, Yamir and Carina also met him at the ajar door, while from behind, curious eyes watched the agitated motion in the gloom of the night as they approached the makeshift shelter. At the threshold of that place, the same restless questions and answers were repeated as they improvised a place to lay him down. While part of the whole company seemed disturbed by the scene, the other half on the other hand gathered in a corner watching the situation with reserved indifference, and eerie silence.

With alacrity and while instructions were being handed out, they managed to bring him in a small room at the back.

"These boards will do. Use those bales of straw to support it," Carina indicated with tension in her voice to those who had their hands free. "You'll have to lift him a bit."

"OK, Cayde. Lil' help please! You're heavy!" Joyce grumbled, sitting down on the pile they'd set and working with Brent.

"Yeah, maybe I'm… a bit… stuffed," He joked drowsily. Joyce smiled, giving him a mocking sneer and teasingly replying with a slur. Finally with some effort, both managed to lay him down. Right after and with meticulous examination Ghost hovered above him, readying herself to work.

"You're getting rusty, buddy..." Andal humor him in a somewhat more relaxed tone as he studied his companion's general condition.

"So you can show off, my dude," Cayde replied with effort, but with the same mocking tone as seconds before. Andal smiled. He was just fine…

"Ghost...?" Carina's voice cut through the jovial atmosphere still in a tense, approaching her partner lying on the bed and addressing Cayde's small companion.

"Multiple axonal lesions causing spasms in the central nervous system, deterioration in the spinal fiber due to overload by 60%. Motor performance below 50%, and falling," Reported the little thing routinely before turning back to her. "I can fix it, but I'll need some time," Carina nodded nervously, but let out an exhalation of relief.

"Those guys beat you the hell up..." Joyce mumbled as she caught her breath, sitting on one of the straw bales. "Sons of a bitches..." There was bitterness in her words as she wiped the sweat from her forehead, her whole face was still swollen.

"You got too much too. Don't push yourself. You have a concussion, and you should rest..." Sarah pointed, both hands on her hips and a reproachful tone.

"I'm OK. I just need to rest and getting to shoot somethin' and I'll be fine..."

"Listen to the doctor, please. You look exhausted... C'mon, let's find a place by the fire..." Yara intervened by gently stroking her companion's back. Joyce returned with a light, warm smile. Off to the side, Brent just stared off into another corner of the crowned place.

In the middle of all the conversations and out of nowhere, and startling some, Cayde shushed all the voices with a sudden whine. "PLEASE! Quiet! My frigging head's throbbing!" He grunted, rubbing his hands all over his face at the bewildered looks of the people around him.

"Geez, dude! Chill..." Brent exhaled deeply, catching his breath before retreating.

"We'll leave you to rest, friend," Darwin said with a smile and a careful tone to his voice, shaking his head at the irreverence and gesturing to those who were there to go out.

"We'll try to keep it low for you, sweety," Andal joked, smiling teasingly. His companion only responded with an unkind wave of his hand and a finger gesture, causing his friend to smile even wider.

Everyone in the room made their way out of the cramped space slowly without further ado.

Before leaving, Carina turned to Tulisse. The girl had never left her place next to him since they entered. She didn't finish to call her that it took only seconds for her to answer.

"I'm staying…"

Her eyes were two shining black pearls in the darkness, looking attentively and with a nervous gleam. Seeing this sudden decision, Cayde felt her gentle grip on his right arm; the outline of her face was reflected by the warm light coming from the larger body of the barn letting the beat of her breathing visible as she asserted her decision to remain there. Behind the weary woman, Sarah only managed to give a veiled, but sensible exhalation of resignation.

Carina, pondering at the scene with the girl standing by the makeshift couch, noticed how her left hand clung resolutely to Cayde's arm. Before she could intervene, another voice joined in.

"He's kinda fussy. Likes to complain 'bout everything," The three women and even Cayde turned toward the wooden door of the small space at the sound of a man's familiar voice. "See he keeps it quiet while Ghost does her work, gotcha kiddo?" Andal's voice was soft, as the contrasting dim light softened his tanned features and the strong deep gaze that characterized him, making him look fatherly with the smile on his face.

Surprised by this first time he had addressed her since that confusing episode, Tulisse returned the gesture with a shy grateful nod.

The man then turned to both Carina and Sarah, the latter being the most reluctant to leave the girl there. "Meanwhile, we need to discuss something. They'll be fine..." The deliberate glances of understanding between him and Carina were implicit, and he only found wariness in Sarah's, who turned a last glance.

"If anything, let us know..." She mentioned with a reluctant smile, receiving a silent nod from the girl before retreating past Andal at the door, Carina being the last to observe the two of them in the solitude of that place.

They shut the door, letting some of the brightness that was now in that place reach that secluded space, while the nervous sound of Ghost's restless movement, only audible in this calm, could be heard behind them.

"You sure don't wanna rest everywhere but here?" His voice was heard echoing in the privacy of the place. She turned around to meet those eyes lit in a vibrant electric blue.

"You're hurt. I'm staying," Tulisse repeated, asserting her decision with the depth of her voice and the intensity of her gaze. She looked for a spot where she could sit beside him, without letting go of his arm for any reason. In that brief silence and without mentioning a word, Cayde turned his attention to her hand, and with some effort, feeling the awkwardness in his movements, he sought to intertwine his with hers, sealing that moment between them.

"If I may..." Suddenly interrupted Ghost. They both returned their attention to her. "I need to attend him now. I'll need you to keep your distance, just in case..." She added coyly as seemed to shake her blades with the restlessness of someone who knows has little time to perform a task.

Tulisse gave her a hesitant look, turning her attention back to who was lying next to her.

"Nothin' to worry 'bout. Just... a precaution..." Cayde said, his voice barely flickering now. It sounded weary, as if he was slowly falling into a slumber.

Noticing that sluggishness in him, the girl took note of Ghost's request and moved a few steps back, finding her place in one of the abandoned bales that lay piled up in a corner.

Without taking another second more, she watched as the tiny being shook its blades with keenness, unfurled them, and emanated from herself a subtle but bright flash, enough to light the place where they were.

A vibrant trail of a light-blue as soft as the sky, bright and warm as the sunlight, even different from that magnanimous hue of not so long ago manifested itself before her eyes. It was something unique, admiring it with dazed eyes as the bright enveloped them both. She could see how that same radiance now bathed, and even seemed to resonate with Cayde's body, who as soon as that light touched him, seemed to recover some of the vitality lost after he almost faint on his way to this place. The light oscillated several times as his figure now laid peacefully.

She stood again, watching this for the first time, letting herself be amazed by the profound candidness this radiance offered her. It was like being in that dawn again, beholding once more the brimming of the Garden Yamir had told her about, which harked back to the ancestral memories of Humanity in times of peace, coming back to life each time the Sun's warmth touched the surface of the Earth.

Drawn to the Light in their intimate solitude, she allowed herself to enter the faint ripples that the surrounding bubble like a thin veil expelled, dissolving into the air and watching Ghost, now turned into a solid core of vibrant light such as she remembered from her story, resonated toward her companion in a harmonious pulsar, straight toward his plexus. It was a solid, unblinding light, seeming to tint and blend in a splendid dance between cobalt blue and rich golden hue.

Without even noticing it, she was by his side again, mesmerized.

It was the first time she'd seen him like this, calm and barefaced, not a trace of uneasiness in his peculiar features; like seeing in the hardness of his façade the subtlety of someone who's finally at peace.

Drawn by that kind of sensation, she slid her fingers brushing the leather of his glove, holding again his hand laying relaxed at his side.

Snapping out of the sluggish, he opened his eyes sightly and saw her. Lit by Ghost's glow, lost in him, returning the affectionate gesture by holding her hand in his.

Tulisse smiled, letting her cheeks flush with a splendid smile. A shy, jovial snicker escape her lips.

"Do I look funny...?" He murmured, causing the flicker of his module now glow with a strange, enigmatic intensity. She shook her head.

"You look... fine…" She replied shyly, looking back at their intertwined hands. "You look peaceful..." Cayde assured with a hushed yeah made a whispering flicker. She then looked back into his eyes with a curious look. "Is this...?"

"Light..." He answered in a whisper. "Ghost's fixing me..."

Tulisse looked around, studying his whole body bathed in the glow, turning her attention to their hands again. There was a barely perceptible hum like static that stirred in her skin, brimming with energy, and she could feel it right in the palm of her hand, like a tingle. "It's warm..." Said softly.

There was a silence as he gazed at her, intrigued and completely absorbed in the moment, marveling at what her eyes beheld and perceived with her hand. He felt his strength coming back and the stabbing pain in every corner of his body disappearing as her companion healed him with overflowing light. His chest was filled with that contentment at the mere presence of the girl by his side, being that moment of complete vulnerability the first time he had ever thought anyone would see with such an emotion of wonder for someone like him.

"Is this how it feels for you...? This warm...?" She asked, looking at him with intrigue yet wonder. Cayde, now more awake tried to search for the right words.

"Kinda. It looks and feels different. Depends on the wielder," He replied softly, as he gave small caresses to the back of her hand with his thumb. "Every time a ghost resurrects someone, our connection manifests differently..." He explained, now holding his outstretched palm against her slim one. It looked small in comparison. "There are 3 of them: Void, Solar and Arc. Each one feels different."

Tulisse smiled to herself, mesmerized as he played with her hand. From time to time intertwining their fingers to gently hold hers as if he didn't want to let her go.

"How's that...?" Asked the girl, blushing at their interaction. He paused for a moment to observe every detail of her face in the iridescent light that surrounded them.

"Uhmm... Ghost explains it better than my brain can figure it out... but... Let's put it this way; Void's an aspect of the Light that's… somewhat huh... difficult to get. It's like seeing the darkness of the night in broad daylight. It feels... cold, I guess? And you feel it like a tightness in your chest every time someone who uses it's near to you..." The girl tilted her head as if she thought he was playing her a joke.

"I know right! It's... kinda tricky for a fitting answer. The only thing I can made up with is—" And then he paused looking up, noticing with astonishment something that also caught her attention.

Once the girl looked up was awestricken, and even with Ghost's light covering them, they could see the vastness of the night sky in all its glory, out there above them, visible through the cracked timbers and holes in the roof of the barn.

"It looks... like that... as if night can appear every time you fire up an arrow. Yeah… that's Void..." He murmured, turning his gaze back to her, who was still gazing keenly at the starry path in the darkened firmament. "Like a fair night sky, and everything in between…"

"Like the space between the stars..." Tulisse mumbled, still gazing absently.

At the same time and surprising them both, Ghost stirred. Before she could react, the light around them extinguished, as if the little one's body sucked all that blinding light into itself, shaking its blades like someone waking up from a dream.

Tulisse, still bewildered, shared glances between Ghost and Cayde, being the latter and with some effort, the one who pulled himself up, sitting slowly on the pile, moving his head in a round motion and his shoulders.

"It's done!" Ghost reported looking at the girl with realization, waving her blades enthusiastically. She scrutinized Cayde's body completely, incredulous and scarcely noticing what seemed to be very subtle like golden sparkles fading into the air.

"How... are you feeling?" She ventured to ask, seeking his gaze. He moved his hands, opening and closing them, seeming to perceive something that was totally unfamiliar to her.

He turned back the attention to her, the synthetic outline of his head completely uncovered and glistening, reflecting the soft light of the moon that was now peeking out from the surrounding cloudiness since the sun had gone down, shading him in hues of blue. The light in his eyes irradiated a devoted emotion of belonging. "Way better now..." He whispered to her with a brief warm flicker, breaking the enigmatic contrast of the night light sneaking through the ceiling.

He saw her smile, mirroring the glow like the ones in the timeless blue of the night. Her gray eyes, turned bright and shining in her gentle face, echoing what could be seen there in the undying immensity of the sky.

"The space between the stars..." Now Cayde mumbled, looking at her now with more intimacy. "Like… all the things in the Universe."

Captivated and only by a forearm length to each other, she could see again as in those few and intimate times they'd shared, every feature of his face of which it was impossible to see anything but the humanity in him with incredible honesty.

Since the time she woke up and saw him for the first time, not counting the awful events of this day, it was the first time she'd been able to appreciate every aspect of him with such closeness, such intimacy and commitment, that was only fitting between two people who trust each other.

Her head felt groggy and her chest tight, flustered by the sensations that caused her stomach squeeze in an agonizing but inexplicably sweet waiting. This closeness was a tense but pleasant note, keeping her in an expectant vigil, and longing.

Although pleasant yet befuddling, like waking up from a reverie, a self-conscious feeling broke the spell right after they gape at each other for like it seemed countless minutes. Her hands that now rested on her thighs felt numb as she tried to resume their talk.

"And... the rest...?" She mumbled sightly turning away, her voice become a tremulous whisper. "You… mentioned only one..." Added, biting her lower lip and stifling a sigh that revealed the tremble of her heart.

"Oh… yeah, sure. The huh…rest…" His voice quivered, needing to light the tone of the conversation while trying to divert his attention, still clouded by the sensations of such closeness with her.

"There's… the aspect of Arc, which I imagine you'd remember having seen something similar before..." He mentioned recovering his casual mood, now more noticeable without his hood concealing them. In the moonlight, he noticed how the gestures of astonishment filled the girl's face.

"You mean that storm...? But... then the Light... is..." She mused.

"It is everywhere!" Ghost intervened, waving his blades enthusiastically. "The Light is Life itself!"

Tulisse was beaming, looking at them both more eager than before.

"Risen can manipulate every aspect thanks to us, the Ghost, and our connection to the Light. Just as the Void is an aspect of the Universe, so are the others! They are different manifestations. All three being the Sole Aspects of the Light," Ghost explained, nodding and gesturing with a notion of pride in her voice.

"And the third?" Tulisse asked passionately. "What about that one?" She turned expectantly to Cayde, who, in silence and with a relaxed posture, watched her thoroughly before answering.

Intrigued by that attitude, the girl watched as he carefully sat with his feet crossed on the pile and removed his gloves, placing them to one side on the improvised cot. Parting glances with Ghost, who urged her to watch closely what her companion was doing, soon she became enthralled by what her eyes were seeing for the first time.

In the dim light of the moon, barely glistened every meticulously sculpted and detailed muscle of his fingers, every synthetic fiber that made up the outline of his hands where there in front of her eyes and within reach of her own. It was a dark polished gray, but smooth, with reliefs in its muscles wrinkled in every millimeter of its proportion in fine lines, outlining each joint of the phalanges and his knuckles with a thin silver line that marked the rigor of his synthetic bone structure.

With a subtle gesture, he urged her to rest both hands on his, large in comparison. Shyly, she did, being this the first time barriers between them no longer existed. It was soft to the touch, like skin, and just as warm as any other living being.

His now bare fingers brushed the skin of her hands, now blanched by the cold moonlight and the chill of the night air. Breathlessly, her attention turned to him, and she saw the calmest expression she would've ever thought saw on him.

It was only the briefest of moments, still absorbed in what sensations she perceived on her skin, making wordless emotions well up in her. She let herself be surprised by what her eyes saw.

Against the aloof blue hue of the night and benign pallor of the celestial body, she appreciated how from every fiber of his hands that held hers with intimate affection, little sparkles like fine threads of an affable fire chasing away the cold, drew graceful and vibrant lines in them, warming her hands with a warmness so welcoming and gentle that it even gave her the sensation that her chest was bursting with a placid sensation, moving her to tears.

She stifled a smile of disbelief, as she could tell Cayde was mesmerized in her expression of awe, caressing the back of her hand lovingly.

"Yeah, that's me..." He crooned in the same tone that the kindness of his hands emitted, admiring every reaction of wonder from the girl in front of him, enthralled in that unique trait she made with her lips when beaming.

"It feels like—! Like—!"

"Like the Sun...?" He leaned closer to her, resting his forearms on his knees, unwilling to let her go.

Eyes wide open, Tulisse nodded ecstatically, clinging tighter to him. She couldn't come out of her astonishment and wonder, feeling now that warmth waning, but persisted between their intertwined hands, reminding her of that moment of such devotion in the dawn that she felt at home again.

So far away it all seemed now, and so little had passed, that even in just seconds, her mind seemed to deceive her that those moments were stolen memories of a past that did not exist. Like tales of peaceful times, like the memories of this scourged Earth.

Like hers, snatched away by who knows what cruel fate.

To that, she simply burst into tears, unable to bear the lost, for the second time, of her past. The one she would never have wanted to forget.

Restless, Cayde called out to her. Without a second thought, his hands found and caressed her moist cheeks, trying to calm the grief that gushed out as he held her firmly in his arms and swayed her in a tender rhythm.

Swathed in the sweetest of promises as he caressed her lovingly, she wrapped both arms around his neck and sank into that embrace, seeking a place in the shelter of his arms, sensing without caring of her flushed cheeks in tears, the candid humanity of the man who now whispered to her, swearing over and over again, that they were together and always be, and that he'll always protect her.


"We won't discuss anything tonight. We wanna rest..." Harl said with a harsh voice; he looked exhausted, his cheekbones were highlighted by the exacerbating contrast of the dancing lights and shadows that the fire in the rounded concrete stove of the old barn produced.

Andal, standing at the opposite side looked around, spotting each and every one of them in the shelter, spotting the same exhaustion on their faces as himself was also beginning to feel in his own body.

And yet, something else was evident as well.

A clear boundary, between those who needed to express concern, and those who wished to be just left alone.

"Perhaps we should let it for tomorrow morning. And don't get me started about the night shifts..." Suggested a woman with a thick voice and physical build. Eyes darkened by fatigue in her round face; despite the brown color of her skin, it was even more evident because of the corner where she'd chosen to lie down. The tone of her voice wavered between disdain and discomfort.

"Ain't taking any night shifts. I need my sleep..." One of them, a huge guy with a deep-rooted voice said sharply, angular face and small eyes, white gray hair with a straight cut. He got up to settle in the back of the barn, announcing his intentions as he disappeared into the shadows.

"Well… someone has to keep an eye, y'know…" Suggested another man with a wry gesture.

"Yeah? How 'bout you my dude...?" Zachary suddenly blurted out as he nervously unknotted a strand of straw by the fire. The other one seemed to look at him in such a way that it mirrored the fire his eyes were refracting.

"Dunno mate, you look pretty wired for duty. Might wanna be our first volunteer..." Armand replied tensely as he stood upright after sitting on a bale of straw next to the apathetic group. The anxious boy gave him a scornful look. "Say, you aren't that sleepy in that state, are you not?" He hissed, barely managing a scathing grimace.

"Piece of shit—!"

The boy didn't finish standing up as several of his companions, those around and those close to him contained the situation, while in the whole company a restless murmur of annoyed voices crept in.

"Hey! We don't need this shit just now!" Andal growled from where he stood, eyes alight and scowl evident in the shadow of his face as he looked at both parties. "See?! This is why we need to discuss what we're gonna do, and how!"

"Alright mate, you want to discuss it? There's a shit to discuss! This was as simple as leaving the trash can behind!"

"Enough..." Andal threatened darkly.

"If we had given what that fucking bitch wanted, we wouldn't be at how we are now! That hag stole everything from us!" Armand raised his voice higher to the point where it sounded like he was going to tear his throat out, circling the campfire towards Andal. His face was transformed by rage as he advanced contemptuously. There were voices in the background urging him to calm down, but hesitantly they stood aside, albeit in alarm. "We're defenseless in the middle of nowhere! All for what?! To cover your fucking asses!" Finally accused, now inches away from the one who aroused such vileness.

"That's enough!" Carina was heard in the background, disturbed and getting up from her place with heaviness.

"So, tell me, mate! Still wanna to discuss shit, or are you fucking going to assume that you two are leading us all to death?!"

In Andal's eyes, visible only to the one threatening him, and Carina, who seemed for the first time small between them, there was a strange, even grim and eerie gleam. The place where both men stood was disturbed by a strange air that even stirred the flames of the campfire that burned in the center of the place, as if it would be extinguished for the lack of air.

"That I thought so. You're all just the same, giving shit about what happens to us the lightless... Just like in Antigua..." Hissed the guy showing his teeth, his blueish-green eyes with a voice filled in anger. "We were an excuse all this damn time. For you as for that trash can in the back. And just like that bitch Sae—"

He didn't even finish saying nothing more than that, that with the rumble of voices turned into an exclamation of alarm and with a startling tug from his shoulder, Armand was forced to turn around, stupefied and even more enraged as he stumbled and fell to the side, savoring the hot metallic taste of his own blood and a sharp pain in his right cheek from a blunt hook.

Joyce, enraged and with her face inflamed with complete rage, appeared from behind, surprising both Andal and Carina, incredulous at the sudden intervention.

"YOU FUCKING BITCH!" The man burst out in rage, being instantly restrained by several men when he tried to strike back.

"SHUT YOUR HOLE, YOU PIECE OF SHIT!" She shouted; her face still deformed from the swelling in her septum as Zachary held her by her armpits from behind.

The two struggled amidst the shouting and the restlessness of several colleagues to end the brawl.

"Calm the hell down, both of you! Now!" Carina hollered, her voice wavering, placing herself between the two who were persisting in their fighting.

"I'll calm down when this piece of shit shuts that cesspool of a mouth before he ever mentions her name like that again!" The blonde roared angrily, shaking violently to get out of Zac's arms and pounce on that guy.

"Wanting to do some good?! How 'bout Antigua you fucking bitch! How 'bout doing your fucking job and kill the Archon when you should?!" Claimed Armand as he was being drag out for 3 people. "An old hag just kicked your ass, you slag! So much for the Fennec's Ace, huh!"

It was all it took for her to exert such force to jerk herself out of the arms of the scrawny Zachary, only giving him a threatening look so that he wouldn't dare to touch her again; those blue eyes that were usually known for their mischievous and sweet glow were now turned into a fierce and angry tide that hardly recognized friend from foe.

Thus, with no one to control her, she kept her cool for only a few seconds before lashing out blindly towards the guy outside the barn, who surrounded by just three of his companions still trying to calm him down, was glancing to inside the shelter, knowing that his saying would make the young woman burst into an uncontrollable rage. As soon as he saw her coming, with hardly any of those around him able to react, he lashed out too.

Between the screams and desperate demands of those who tried to separate them, a fight broke out where the young woman seemed at first to have the disadvantage, though with incredible skill managed to match the medium and compact size of the guy with the agility her slender body gave her, by launching herself to his legs and making him fall. She lunged at him with at least 4 vicious blows to his face that made him bleed even more. Handling to push her to the side, the guy tried to collect himself to lunge at it again, only to end up being restrained with a headlock while trying to break his arm; Armand barely managed to gather the necessary momentum in his core, arms and legs to break free, trying to hit her in the face with his free hand.

None of this did much for him as it didn't have the necessary immediacy to inflict any hit, receiving a kick in the face that made him even more angry.

Instantly she got to her feet, and so did he.

Hardly stunned and scoffing at her, it was only a matter of agility against brute force. Joyce dodged the punch, hitting his crotch and leaving his head exposed to several punches and knees to his stomach, and a final blow to the side of the neck she knocked him out amongst the yelling to stop.

Before they could get any angrier, 4 people have to restrain her.

"HOW 'BOUT THAT, SHITHEAD! DARE YOU TO TALK SHIT ON HER AGAIN!" The blonde hollered from the back of her throat, spitting then where he stood. He on the other corner, spit up blood and insulting her as well, jerked away any help to stand up.

"AT EASE! I won't say it again!" Darwin warned forcefully with his finger in midair, turning to Joyce with the same sternness, forcing her to walk away while the 4 restrainers tried to contain her unbridled violence to the opposite end of the perimeter.

The whole place got fed up with shouting in the middle of the night, as Andal tried to defuse the situation, scouting the surroundings with the desperation of one who fears to be discovered.

However, without anyone noticing in the midst of the tension that was beginning to subside, a small figure walked hastily to where the beaten man was still spitting blood and shouting a whole repertoire of hateful words while his companions tried to dissuade him. Before Andal or Sarah, who noticed the action too late, could do anything, Carina reached Armand and with the momentum of her hasty step, slapped him thunderously in the face.

The silence of the night suddenly took over everyone's voices. And Armand's tense motion as he turned to face Carina made them all uneasy.

"Even in a situation like this... You don't know when to shut the fuck up?!" She hissed. In the lunar paleness, her eyes flashed in a tense fervor of weariness yet anger. Armand salivated the blood in his mouth and spat again to the side, turning his cold but restrained gaze of rage back to the woman. "If you want to come with the same bloody thing repeatedly, fine by me! I'll tell you straight and once only to get it through that thick-head of yours!" She raised her voice, finding strength where she had none and pointing her finger at him. "No one in Antigua died for you to act like a tosser! Not her, not anybody! Not even your brother—!"

"Shut the fuck up!"

"No! You shut yours!"

The guy just closed the distance dangerously, barely separated by the thin air that surrounded them in a tight space as if it was stale, so that the woman could smell the blood on his breath and the stench of a long day.

"Each of us knew what was at stake when we made the call to host her in the city. All of us! Him included..." She grumbled, but her voice faltered at the memory of someone else. "We all lost someone that day. Your brother was one of them..." She paused, letting the tears give in, but not her poise while in front of him. Armand held back his anger. "I lost them both..."

"Don't you dare compare her as if she'd been one of us—!" He growled.

"I'll do it! I don't give a shit about your fucking biases, or anyone else's!" Carina shouted in anger. "No one who fought and died in that siege give a damn about that! And that goes for your brother too! He died defending what he believed in!"

"Because he was confused!" He shouted to her face as his breath was exposed to the night air.

Carina, peeved though with temperance, shook her head neglecting him, looking very closely at the guy's furious, glazed and tormented eyes.

"No, Armand. He was convinced. No matter how much you deny it, you know he was..." The woman said, her voice lowered but quivering. "You're just as stubborn as he was. Don't you dare lie to me, or to his memory."

Armand shook his head, the Adam's apple moved restlessly in his throat. "Yeah, he was a stubborn fuck. That's why he was wrong…" He muttered, restraining himself and lowering his gaze, even seeming to lose his voice. "Don't ever mention him to me again. Never again..." He added, and then turn his back to her.

He walked a few steps before he heard her speak again.

"He loved him like a son…"

He stopped in short, but without turning around. Despite the darkness of the night, his visage tightened with an easily perceptible severity.

"But he also loved her too…" Carina added, now facing where he was now, only receiving the apparent indifference of his back. Her voice trembled with the pain of a memory. "I loved them both as if were my children, and not a day goes by when I don't remember all those who died there, or afterwards..." She swallowed that grief and straightened up, showing the resilience she'd forged herself in. "I lost my family there... so stop being an asshole. At least do it for his memory."

And without saying a word, with downcast eyes and spitting up he left. However, he didn't go back into the barn, preferring to spend the night in one of the abandoned cottages nearby, seeking the solitude of silence.

Slowly, the place tried to regain the calm of those who try to go unnoticed.

Carina, dejected and noticeably exhausted, tried to hide the growing anguish of the situation. She looked up when Sarah stood by her side, worried of all the stress her colleague had been exposed since early hours. Excused by the caution of friendship, she asked her to express her feelings, only receiving the tired and sluggish refuse of someone who just wants to forget an unnecessary situation.

And while everything was returned to normal, in an atmosphere brimming with uneasiness and discomfort, letting everyone to come back inside the shelter of the old barn and concealed at the doorway, was Tulisse. She'd saw everything, frightened by the shouting and fearing something terrible was about to happen. Her eyes fell on the shape of both women, but especially on the now weakened silhouette of Carina, who was advancing back inside at a weary pace.

Standing where she was, she'd barely been able to hear the discreet moment between the one who fled hoping not to be disturbed, and the woman who was now slowly trying to regain her composure. Although, she didn't have the necessity of knowing any detail. It only took her a few words to understand what had escalated the whole incident.

Her chest ached at the recognition of the motive, not the same distress she could see in the woman's face, but a different kind; seething and burning, filled with profound helplessness that remind her of a now distant night before they left the safety of that place she'd called someday a home.

Again, the scalding desire for justice welled up in her gut.

"Hey..." An exhausted, manly voice caught her attention.

She hadn't noticed Andal's silhouette appear in the night, just a few meters away from the doorway, on her left. He looked at her with the same kindness as before.

In his eyes she saw the gleam of the shaken feelings that plagued her.

"Everything will be OK. Go have your rest, girl..." He asked with a soft voice. A subtle and complacent line was drawn on the tanned but drained face.

Something in the man's gaze with whom she had never been a real approach, other than casual courtesy, silenced the inner chatter of irritation. With a quiet nod and some hesitation, she retraced her steps back into the annex room.

In her way back, wary of the restless glances of those trying to regain some calm before getting some sleep, her attention sightly turned to her traveling friends on the opposite side of the barn. Yamir's dark almond-shaped eyes were gleaming in the flame that kept the heat inside, he gave her a brotherly smile she did return back with the same intent, though she were only troubled by the sudden sight of Brent's bulky figure, standing up and hurrying his way outside, swarmed in a rush of overwhelming discomfort that the situation seemed to presented for him to which only his companion understood as the uneasiness of an old wound.

Having not reacted fast enough to keep the boy to leave, Tulisse then turned to her other friend, concerned and puzzled. And then there it was again, that same look she'd caught minutes before everything went south, and whose origin went back to that secret shared by both friends. 'A deal was a deal', nevertheless the situation was already far from the idle and jovial late-night chat between companions.

And yet, the feeling that weighed inside the bag she carried became again the burden of a question still unanswered, which she could possibly find if he ventured right now to an answer.

Those words carved in ink and those words were other's thoughts resounded again in her head as if asking for her aid.

With that haunting her mind, she resumed her steps with a fearful gait. Her thoughts were a jumble of ideas fluttering uneasily, still shaken by the earlier situation.

When she finally returned to the room, as soon as she peeked through the half-open door, she saw him looked up as if a magnetic force compelled him to raise his head to her.

Cayde was seated, bathed in the now fading moonlight, feet dangling in the pile with his hands resting on both knees and head still uncovered, Ghost too was there as if expecting for she to come back, waving her blades at the sight of her presence. He looked up as she came in, again somewhat worried and thoughtful after hustle had caused in both a bad scare.

However, there was something else in her eyes; something which she seemed to have no need to put into words or needn't clarification. It can even be related to the bitter events of that day. Or more…

A glow of sadness was reflected in them as she gave a few steps where he was sitting, her head low as her steps rustle the forage scattered on the dusty floor. He didn't take his attention away from that face, turned pale by the night for a few seconds because the turmoil was still evident at the surface from thousands of sensations of what had happened being its consequences still fresh in all of them.

She came to his side and sat beside him, seeing as she carefully moved across her chest the strap of the bag as to open it, he had forgotten had gave her to keep it save; In fact, he was surprised to see that cargo had survived the heist, almost relieved to say the least, thinking it had been left in the hands of those damned people. Though on the other hand, something in him stirred uneasily, watching her lift the flap slowly and taking a few moments to unzip it.

"There are so many things I don't know that I wish I did..." She mused in a quiet tone. Not looking up as she opened the fastening with a slow motion. Beside her, Cayde remained silent, and only Ghost's discreet movements in anticipation for an answer revealed the uncertainty he preferred to maintain.

Her hand was bathed in the dim moonlight, shone in a pallor as cold as the stars in contrast to the deep obsidian-like shade of the treasure that bound them together. The glow of the golden lines of the tree drawn onto the cover scarcely refracted a gleam that spanned both their faces.

Taking courage, he looked into her eyes, meeting hers almost at the same time, as if reacting to his motion.

They were so hazy, but at the same time have that tremulous flicker of grief that he never thought could make someone like him ever feel such physical pain to see something so sad, as if someone had put a heavy stone in his chest.

"Please tell me..." Her eyes flickered like a glint under a veil. "I know there's something I need to know, but everyone won't tell me. Why...?"

Cayde froze.

It was seconds but to him seemed like hours. Agonizing moments that wouldn't end. That oppression dug deeper inside him, causing those pleading eyes and the pallor in her face evoke the chimerical presence of a past that always seemed to return.

In tense silence and taking up all the courage he could muster to answer the plea of the woman he'd sworn to protect, he sought to content that pained need by gently hugging her to keep her close to himself, her head now resting on his shoulder. In the girl's eyes he'd seen the deathly glow of grief that scares him terribly. Although now was the kindled beam of something more alive, causing her cheeks to lose their languid pallor for a livider color, her heart pounding in her chest that he could feel as his own. The sole thought of that ghoulish façade could give him nightmares, though the unveiling truth would forever condemn her.

His eyes no longer wavered and looked up again to her.

"Not today..." He whispered to her. The gleam of his own voice was in her eyes, holding her close. "Today was enough…"

He heard her exhale, making the swaying of her breath a barely restrained effort because of the closeness they now shared, he could feel her trembling in her embrace. There was this other feeling too, which not only he estimated could be due not just for the absence of answers but about that spellbound gaze they shared moments ago, before of that fuss outside the room.

It took all the strength he still had to bring her closer to him, letting the sad moment pass.

When she relaxed in his embrace letting the book rest behind them, his response was reciprocal.

He would never let anything bad happen to this woman. Ever...

They remained in silence as the sound of the night and the shy chirps of Ghost's blades barely dared to disturb that melancholic ellipsis that now was shared between them in the pale light. To him, it seemed like hours. Again...

In his mind, however, something pushed for breaking that moment of pretended calm.

Barely moving his head, he met his little companion's gaze alone. There was an understanding there, once they crossed gazes there it was once again, claiming some of the truthfulness of that promise he once made.

He still remembers Carina's gaze in the light of the crowded place, reproaching him.

This, was already the second time...

Calling him out with in a whisper, audible enough for him to look her in the eye again, she said, "I know I tell you that was going to read next time, but..." Her voice trembled with the pounding of her heart. "Would you… read to me... Just this once...?"

Cayde gazed at her for a few moments. His eyes met hers, never looking away from her, feeling that peering into them left him dumbstruck. A bittersweet sense of contentment pulsed from them after the misery of an extremely cruel day. He felt, as he looked into them, the affection of his own eyes while the tone of her lips and cheeks returned to her.

His voice blinked faintly nodding at her request, looking away just enough to turn and find the book, and search for the page they'd left the reading. He let her settle in, letting her cheek rest on his shoulder as he adjusted his position to hold the book.

In the cold silence and with a timid click, Ghost offered her light, letting that brightness unite them in an intimacy that without the need of words, they both knew they should never have left behind after the dawn broke.


The embers of the campfire lit inside the abandoned barn still flickered, illuminating with their nocturnal dance the surfaces of the place and the exhausted bodies that now lay huddled among the straw bales and some old blankets rescued from the neighboring huts. They were not the blankets or coats they had until a few hours before the disastrous outcome of that day, but at least they were protecting them from the cold of the night that crept in through the skylights that were distributed throughout the place.

Only five people agreed to remain, albeit reluctantly, standing guard in the solitude of the night. With nothing to stay awake with, the task became unbearable as the hours passed.

That wasn't that way for Sarah, whose expression didn't let see the exhaustion the rest have had been surrendered.

She was sitting outdoors, sheltering from the cold ground with a piece of wood she'd found in her fleeting search for material with which spend the night and protect herself from the night frost. On her shoulders rested a part of another canopy that barely kept the warmth of her body. She thanked herself for having been thoughtful enough in keep her ruana with herself for the road, despite the heat of the previous day. It was like a sixth sense for her, it never failed her. Contrary to the inductive or rationalization method like a person such as herself; Her intuition was, in short, her most powerful tool, and it was now the main reason of her nightly anxiety.

In his wakefulness, her worries were directed to that barn annex, as he tried, though in vain, to forget what had happened just an hour and a half before.

This couldn't be happening...

She hardly averted her attention from the annex of the convenient refuge they'd found to rest for the day, as her thoughts swirled and again that mind-thread traced through each and every one of her memories, past and present, causing her to frown with even more concern.

'Why this again?' urged in her head.

"Having trouble to sleep?" A thick but friendly voice startled her. She didn't know how immersed she was in that tide of thoughts until she felt her heart pounding in her chest from the surprise.

Darwin appeared like a stealthy shadow after making a short patrol around the inner perimeter of the abandoned settlement. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," He added, hearing an occasional slur from the woman, not with malice but with the typical mood of camaraderie between friends.

"No, it's… okay. I was... thinking. Didn't hear you approach..." Sarah motioned for the man to sit down next to her, using some of the canopy material she'd found to protect herself from the dampness of the night's dew.

With a polite thanks, the man sat on the material while the woman used half of it to cover part of her back to keep the wool of her ruana from getting moist. A tense pause settled between them before anyone dared to talk again.

The cold air of a night that threatened to become starless evidenced after a few long minutes the feeling that was growing in Sarah's thoughts with each passing moment. A sigh, even if it was discreet, was enough for Darwin to release the woman from that agony. "You've been thinking too much lately. I can tell..." He returned his attention to her completely, despite the shadow caused by the tree where they were posted and the scarce moonlight disappearing into the west behind the mountain ranges. Yet, she didn't return the courtesy, keeping her gaze lost somewhere between the barn entrance, the sky and, again more insistently, toward the annex. She seemed to ponder the words she'd use, knowing how sharp her confessor could be.

"Carina is what worries me, and now even more. You know it…" Her tone was impartial and assertive, nothing that could give a hint of the real reason for her worries. Darwin just nodded and joint another brief silence to the woman's blunt reply. "We're all stressed, and I know she's twice as everyone else. The last thing we need is someone so tired from exhaustion that could drop, even less her," Added.

"Yeah, she's stubborn, but a tough nut to crack. But anyway, I don't think that's going to be a problem now—"

"Darwin," Sarah's soft voice became stern for a few seconds. Then he noticed how her vibrant eyes pierced the darkness of the night, scrutinizing him. "We have no medicine. Our things are gone."

She watched his reactions in detail, and from them she caught the same concern, but not only because of the knowledge of their uncertain situation, but because of something else. He knew then, as he noticed the fire in her voice that it wasn't just her colleague the only reason of her concern. He bowed his head for a few minutes trying to disperse the tension that had formed between them, thus encouraging the woman to do the same for her own peace of mind. They both lost their attention to the surrounding darkness, as the sounds of the night creaked a stiffness in the air.

"You're upset," He said suddenly, the thick tone of his voice soothed and considerate.

"Of course I am!" She tried to measure her voice, but only found that it frustrated her even more. "Upset, and worried... I never imagined I'd have to go through this all crap again." Her calm seemed to buckle, but after a few minutes she took a deep breath still neglecting to look at her companion, seeking the cover of night as a way to distract Darwin's acuity. He just watched her figure in silence, apologetically. "I'm going to lose my frikking mind if things go on like this..."

Another moment passed between them before Darwin spoke again, and only when he saw that she seemed to be looking for something under the ruana, only then did he try to resume the conversation.

In the night shadow, the click of a lighter and a fading flame illuminated part of Sarah's face as she lit a somewhat pummeled cigarette. It was only for a second that he noticed the glassy eyes before the small flame flickered out, and only the faint glow of the lit cigarette danced as she took the first puff.

"Thought you'd quit..." He said, barely mirroring a reproachful tone.

She just exhaled, letting her worries go in the smoke of that cigarette.

"Not with something like this. I can never quit if something like this happens..." She confessed, letting out a faint sneer and swaging the fag-end between her fingers. "I go back to it as my doubts every goddamn time something like this happens..." She paused, swallowing the agony of past memories as she took another puff again. "Every time when I know I could've avoided it, somehow…"

"You can't control everything, Sarah," Darwin said, indulgent but displeased.

"No, I can't. But I could've saw it coming," she replied.

"No, you can't. And you can't blame yourself for it either."

Those words made something in her give way, and a muffled but restrained sound, similar to a sniffle trying to escape.

"It's okay to grieve, but it wasn't your fault. This isn't your fault either," he added.

She looked down as she rested both arms on her knees and the cigarette was slowly consumed. She held back a resigned laugh, but inside her there was no anger at her companion's refusal to agree with her to what was inwardly haunting her. "But I could've noticed it," She murmured before turning to him again, her voice tamed and soft now, with utter trust of her companion. "We can't let something like that happen again, mpenzi. It'll reap us apart..."

Darwin peered into her eyes and saw her as if in broad daylight, his heart filled with that old and familiar grief, as if he seeing in them through a door to the past.

"She won't make it, nor will I..." The woman added, then returned to a thoughtful poise as she looked back toward the barn. They both kept a respectful silence, as the shadows of the past invaded their thoughts again.

With utmost gentleness, her companion's strong hand took hers, flooding her with warmth.

"Then we'll share the burden, together," he said, grasping her hand more firmly.

She smiled, and despite the bitter reality where her intuition uncovered the worst, she allowed herself to hope.


'Overcoming a strong repugnance, I tore to open his shirt at the neck, and there, tied to a tarry little cord and which I cut with his own gully, was the key we were looking for. At this triumph we were filled of hope and hurried upstairs to the room of the deceased.'

Immersed in reading, Cayde recounted the story of that one, his treasure, to the one who sit in silence beside him, leaning back completely against his body. Her head rested on his shoulder, comfortable on the hollow that his neck and the folds of the lowered hood gave as if was a pillow. Ghost on the other hand, silent and attentive, limited herself to shed light on the pages of the book, also immersed in the story, and from time to time making brief skeptical comments, playing at being the narrator's pundit.

"Well, that was disturbing..." She said joining her blades to her eye, somewhat repelled by the image.

"Y'know how it's, bud. If you don't, they'll loot you out," Cayde added, twinkling his voice with some sarcasm. Then, he continued.

'It was like any other seaman's chest on the outside. An initial: B, made of hot iron, the corners looked a bit broken and battered, perhaps from long and careless use.'

"Oh, I love this part! Landlady's someone you don't fuck with! Women can be very tenacious about what's right, you see!" Cayde added playfully when he heard a murmur of laughter. A sound he'd heard throughout the time he'd been reading and every hearing it could feel like they were transported to another place, away from the sour context of this journey.

'Give me that key!', was heard suddenly as Ghost joined the theatrics with a bossy agitated voice, making Tulisse smile even more. Cayde tried to go on with the story, to preserve the spontaneity.

'Said my mother; and though the lock was very stiff, she opened it and thrown the lid of the suitcase back in the twinkling of an eye.

A strong smell of tobacco came immediately from the interior; but nothing was to be seen on the top, except for a suit of very good clothes, carefully brushed and folded, which, according to my mother, he must never have worn—'

He paused suddenly, almost at the same time Ghost intervened with her lines, just enough to sightly turn his head to be sure the girl's arms sought his left to nudge nearer, seeking the safety of his warmth in the night. And for a small moment he had the sensation of feel a leap in his chest, like the beating of an ecstatic heart.

'HA! I'll show these rogues, that I'm an honest woman, and I'll have my dues, and not a farthing over!' Recited her companion mischievously.

Cayde was distracted and noticing the little being's cue, even hesitating briefly where she had left off, resumed trying to keep up the improvisation.

'We hadn't found anything of value, except for the silver and the trinkets, which wasn't what we were looking for. Underneath there was an old boat-cloak, which my mother eagerly lifted, discovering the last things the suitcase contained: a bundle of papers, carefully wrapped in waterproof cloth, and... a canvas bag, which it was enough for us to shake for its sound to tell us that it contained gold.'

He told, marking the beat with some suspense.

'Carefully, Mother began to count the amount of the captain's score, passing the coins from the sailor's bag into the one that I was holding.'

"Huh... Cayde..." Ghost suddenly interrupted in a whisper.

"Madam's quite picky... isn't she?"

"Cayde!" Ghost insisted, still whispering but with a bit more urgency.

Puzzled, and barely gesturing at the abrupt change of attitude, a small gesture of Ghost's blades was enough to make him pay attention to what was she trying to say.

Curled up next to him, Tulisse was asleep. Her face peaceful and her arms wrapped around Cayde's right one, clinging to him as if her peace of mind depended on it.

"Poor thing..." Was all Ghost murmured, making the light that lit the reading stage disappear. "She's worn out..."

He recognized that, making blink his vocal module faintly. Careful not to wake her, he closed the book and left it on the pile beside him, and appreciating this moment, he couldn't refrain though hesitantly, the desire to place a tiny lock of hair behind her ear with tenderness.

"At least…we were able to make her sleep... after…"

The little being didn't finish the sentence because of a great sense of uneasiness came over them both, as if they had remembered something. They looked at each other, somewhat distressed and solemn, and even though their features didn't give it away, the bond they shared was of such reciprocal sensitivity that both could feel the sting of sorrow, remembering those last words they received before being freed.

"We huh… better lie down..." He murmured, trying to make room where they were sitting, putting the book back in his bag and placing it next to the pile on the floor. His voice wavered between a sense of concern, though at the same time, of longing as he watched that woman in his arms, and even more in the safety of his protection, enthralling him to his innermost fiber.

After laying the young woman at his side, he nestled himself so that his body was nudged against hers, harboring her in his arms without even taking his eyes off her, as if from her face emanated the same tranquility of a starry sky.

There was silence afterwards, and the moonlight that would've shine on them before, now was hidden among the night clouds, filling the barn annex with shadows that only the light of his lens chased away, as he pondered absently in every detail of the woman's face in his arms.

"Old man's right…" He mumbled, not only to himself but to Ghost, confidant of those words. "I won't let it happen again..."

And with that oath, he listened to his companion fade away in a gentle swish, acknowledging that moment of intimacy with her absence while sheltering in his chest from the coldness of darkness was the woman who had become his most important reason for living.


Author's Note:

Uff! It's been a while since I last updated! And on top of all, I get to pick up editing when I started my college classes again. I'm a lost case, haha!

But, here I am again! And I'm far from being done with this story yet (despite all the things I have to do and new ideas that come up to write other things), and thankfully that it's my way of keeping myself entertained, happy and organized while things in real life goes on.

I have nothing but thanks to my readers, who are still expectant and excited to keep reading what I write; it's always important to me to know that what I do is enjoyable, and it's gratifying to know that I'm part of something, as is the Destiny community. It helps me to know that I can continue creating and writing for you all.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it, speaking of which, it felt strange during editing to find a lot of things referring to the current events of the game. Sometimes it fascinates me and makes me feel that I'm on a good path as a writer to find these similarities, because it means that I'm doing something right, even if the story and the interpretation of the Destiny universe has a personal imprint. To give you an idea, I wrote this chapter a year ago, a little bit before Beyond Light came out, and it felt strange to read analogies to The Darkness, considering all the new lore that Witch Queen brought us, which by the way, I need to say the story is awesome and gave me many more ideas to write (thanks for introducing me to Rhulk, Bungie!)

To finish, I hope everyone's well and this year is treating you wonderfully, and that you can also accomplish your goals. I'm trying to accomplish mine with the tools I have at hand, whether it's resuming my studies or writing. Small steps to get to where I want to be, besides having my peace of mind.

I love you all and see you in the next chapter! See ya!