"So what happens to her now?" Kalina asked, her eyes going from Min to Gen and back again. "I-I mean, are you ok? Is she ok Gen? If a Song can shatter planets, then-"

"I don't know," Gen said again, firmly but gently. "But she's not hurting any more-…right? Are you still hurting?"

Minerva shook her head. "I'm exhausted and a bit sore but that weird pain has gone away."

"I think you'll be ok then. As soon as we get back, we'll check with bigger brains than mine. For now, we need to finish getting out of this place and back to the surface."

"Did you get Tychon's Ghost?" Lev asked, and as Min looked hopefully at them Kalina's expression only seemed to wither further. Solemnly, as if she were removing the most fragile egg from its nest, she reached into her pouch and withdrew a Ghost.

The thing looked tormented. Half its spikes were missing, its shell cracked badly and scorched in a couple of places. More, there was no light in its oculus. It looked as worn out and dead as a spent battery. Staring at it, Min felt her stomach sink.

"She was alive when I grabbed her," she said sadly. "Just barely. I don't know what they did to her, but she was hanging on only by will."

"Did she say anything?" Lev asked, drifting a bit closer to the tattered thing in Kalina's hands.

"Only her Guardian's name," Gen said. "Then she just faded out."

"They did something to her," Binky said, and damned if the chipper little Ghost didn't sound angry. "Something more than just physical damage. I don't know how, but they stole most of her Light. Siphoned it away from her, then tossed her to die in a corner."

Minerva felt weary grief and failure settle over her like a blanket. With the Ghost dead, there was no reviving Tychon. The moon had swallowed up yet another Guardian.

I couldn't take the one on the wall home, but we can take Tychon home, she thought, and grit down on her determination.

Reaching out, she gently laid a hand on the dead Ghost and closed her eyes a moment, before she straightened. "We need to get out of here, get her and Tychon home and let the Vanguard know what happened."

"The way out is not far," Poet told them. "But we need to hurry. I've got even more life signs heading this way. The Hive were not too happy about us breaking up their party downstairs."

Kalina carefully tucked the dead Ghost away again as her helmet coalesced once more around her head. Lifting a hand, she tugged her hood back up over it and nodded.

The three started on their way again. Min still felt the burn in her legs, the weights tied to her joints, but just seeing her two friends alive had done worlds to revitalize her. Kalina voiced no complaint or even joke as Minerva took point again. Gone was the careless bravado and friendly banter they had shared coming down into this place. Min just hoped it wasn't gone forever.

The moon had already taken far too much.

By the time they finally reached the surface again they had been underground for over a full day. It felt like years.

Gen had gingerly picked up Tychon's body and carried it with him out into the brilliant sunlight. They crossed the macabre field of dead Hive they had so gleefully constructed on their entry, and Gen didn't lay Tychon down again until they were back up on the ridge.

"I'll take him," he said, as he set the dead Hunter gently on the ground. Kalina shook her head.

"No," she said. "He was my brother Hunter; I'll take him."

"How are we for coms?" Min asked Lev as their three ships, summoned by the Ghosts, lowered down around them in lazy cyclones of moon dust.

"There is still interference," he said. "If anything, it's worse than it was when we came down. I don't think we're going to be able to get a clear signal until we get into orbit."

"Don't worry, you'll know when we've got coms back," Gen told her. "The Vanguard will be jumping on it like frogs on a hot sidewalk as soon as a ping gets through."

"Let's not keep them waiting," Min said, her eyes fixed on the pale gray dust at her feet. Crouching thoughtfully, she picked up a small stone. She turned it over in her fingers, then closed her hand around it and straightened. "Time to go home."

She looked up and back around toward the battlefield behind them. Just as the momentary nothingness of the transmat took hold of her, she could have sworn she saw someone on the far ridge looking back at her, but when she coalesced in the cockpit and looked again, there was no one there.


Gen wasn't kidding. Almost the moment they were in high lunar orbit Zavala's voice was suddenly filling her ears.

{Guardian! Minerva, can you hear me? Is that you? Please respond.}

"It's us, Zavala," she said. "We're in lunar orbit and just about to head back to the Tower."

{By the Light itself, I never would have believed it-}

He broke off and there was a momentary rattle that made Min blink. Then Cayde's voice:

{It's sad that Zavala doesn't have the faith in you that I do,} he said. {Kalina, you still kicking too?}

{I am,} Kalina responded.

{So am I, thank you for asking,} Gen said dryly.

{And Tychon? Tychon, are you there?}

"I'm afraid Tychon is gone," Minerva said. "I'm sorry, Cayde. We weren't able to help him."

Another rattle, and Zavala's voice replaced the Hunter Vanguard's, sounding irritated.

{We'll get a full debrief when you get back here,} he said. {Come to the Hall of Guardians, we'll talk there.}

The trip back to the Tower from the moon was swift, and an hour after stepping back out of that nightmare of a place into the sun, the three Guardians were materializing, helmetless, on the landing gantry in the hangar.

Min was not expecting to see anyone except perhaps Amanda and her frames when they appeared, and literally jolted in shock at the sight of a crowd of fifty or more Guardians, Cayde at their fore.

There were a handful of claps and cheers as they appeared, but they quickly died down as Cayde stepped forward and took Tychon out of Kalina's arms.

"I'll take care of him and meet you guys there," he said to his Hunter. "Go on, don't mind this lot."

As he carried Tychon past, the gathered Guardians put their fists to their chests, lowering their heads solemnly.

At least, most did. As the crowd shifted to let them through and Min, Kalina, and Gen headed toward the Tower proper, Min's eyes caught on a figure near the far end of the crowd.

Nara was standing there, arms folded. Only her eyes moved, seeming affixed to Minerva and glittering darkly in the depths of her skull tattoo.

As they passed into the Tower Min looked over at Kalina. She looked just as weary, just as ragged, as Min felt. Reaching out, Min gave her shoulder a light touch and as Kalina looked at her, she did her best to give her an encouraging smile she just didn't feel.

Gen put an arm around the Hunter's shoulder, giving her a light squeeze, and Min touched his arm as well.

They were back. They were home, and alive, against all odds.


Eris Morn was in the Hall of Guardians along with the Vanguard, standing around the great table they used for conglomerating intel and coordinating Guardian movements. Minerva found she was not surprised to see Eris there. For the first time in the strange woman's company, she felt only a kind of numb pity for her. The repulsion she'd felt earlier may come back but for now it had gone quiet, and that was enough.

The moment they set foot in the Hall both Ikora and Zavala were striding toward them. Eris lingered back near the table, unobtrusive.

"If I wasn't seeing you with my own eyes, I never would have believed it," Zavala said, reaching out and resting his hands on Minerva's shoulders. "I know the last thing you probably want to do is relive what happened up there, but we need that information. We'll try and be quick, you three look like you've been through it."

"What did you see?" Ikora asked, lightly touching Gen's shoulder as he nodded to her.

"Confirmation of what Eris has been claiming," he replied. "But let me start from the beginning."

They told them about arriving and killing the Hive that had poured out of the antechamber, about finding Tychon's body just inside, with no trace of his Ghost. He told them about how they had tracked its signal down into the depths and the huge chamber they'd arrived in.

"There were thousands of them," he said. Eris, her interest growing more than her discretion could contain, was drifting closer to them. "Hundreds of thousands. Thralls, the big ones that I believe are 'knights'? Dozens of Wizards, and one hulking monstrosity I have no name for."

As he described it, Eris spoke up. "An Ogre," she said. "The one you saw could only be the Might of Crota. You said there was a Wizard near this Ogre, in the center of the chamber. Was she, too, different?"

"Yes," Minerva said. "She was larger as well, and had glowing eyes. The other Wizards seemed blind by comparison."

"Omnighul," Eris said under her breath, and at the name Min felt a thrill of repulsion run up the back of her spine again. It was not repulsion for Eris. Instead, the face on Min's mind was that Wizard in the pod chamber that had nearly killed her.

Eris looked at Ikora, and repeated the name more loudly. "It was Omnighul, the Will of Crota and his Mate."

"Mini took a lot of them down when she went charging into the chamber," Kalina said. "But most of them were Thralls."

"You went charging in to a Hive army?" Zavala asked, his look at Min sharp.

"It was the only chance we had to retrieve Tychon's Ghost," she said.

Kalina took the dead Ghost out of her pouch and gently passed it to Ikora. As the warlock took it and started to examine it, Eris watching keenly over her shoulder, Kalina said, "She was alive when I grabbed her. I don't know what they did to her, but there was nothing we could do."

"This is what they do," Eris said. "I watched as the Hive drained the Light from Omar. Brya fled to distract them, to save me. I later found her just like this; broken, and drained of her Light as well. The Hive managed to steal my Light too, though it cost them dearly."

She looked at the Vanguard. "When the full might of their invasion hits our shores, they will do the same to all Lightborn who stand in their path, and they will use this Light to summon Crota."

"Then we'll kick them so hard in their asses future baby Hive will have boot-shaped birthmarks," Cayde said, striding in.

Eris gave him a bit of a withering look, but said nothing as Cayde stopped at Zavala's side. "Just tell me when," he said. "I'll get every Guardian in the Tower hitting that place faster than-"

"Then we will lose far more Guardians than just one Hunter," Eris said, and Cayde's gaze snapped to her.

"Just 'one Hunter?'" he asked angrily.

"Cayde, she didn't mean-" Ikora began but he cut her off.

"Whether she meant it or not it doesn't change things," he said, then blew out a breath and said, far more calmly. "Look. Eris, I believe you. I believed you before, when you said that if any other Guardian than Minerva went up there, they would die. I don't think any of us can doubt that now that we have proof of it."

"I am not convinced this is proof," Zavala said. "Yes, Tychon's death is a tragedy, but two other Guardians went up besides Minerva. They're standing here now."

"That being said," Cayde continued as if he hadn't spoken. "We've confirmed it. Given the appearance of Hive here on Earth, and given what our Guardians here say they saw up there, I think we're pretty much on the right side saying that the Hive are planning an invasion. So what are we going to do about it?"

"We cannot just run in unprepared," Zavala said, and looked back at the fireteam. "What else happened up there? Any detail you can tell us would be helpful."

"We got separated for several hours," Kalina told him. "Gen and I were hard pressed, lost in the tunnels and trying to find our way out or back to Minerva. We didn't see anything that really yells 'helpful!' in my mind but Mini encountered something worrying."

All eyes shifted to Minerva, and she described getting past the rockfall and finding that odd chamber with the pods on the walls, and then the attack by the Wizard. They all seemed keenly interested when she described how it was trying to talk to her, and Eris asked Lev if he'd managed to record it.

"I didn't think to," he admitted. "We were trying not to die."

As she told them about the Wizard singing to her, Cayde and Zavala only looked puzzled. Ikora, however, started to go pale and looked to Eris.

"She Sang?" Eris said intently, and Min could almost see the woman fighting herself to keep from reaching out and grabbing hold of her. "You are certain of this? She Sang to you?"

"I'm positive," Min said. "When I told Kalina and Gen about it, Gen thought it might be something called-"

"The Deathsong," Eris said softly, sounding awed. "You found the Wizard Verok!"

"Who is Verok?" Zavala asked.

"Verok was one of a small handful who knew the Deathsong," Eris told him. "She was the only one of them left alive, the only one who still knew it's dark tones. Titan, you were in her breeding chamber. She was condemned there, forbidden by Crota to leave, after she convinced her mate, Alak-Hul, to rise up in rebellion. I do not know what fate waited for him for his betrayal. I know only their efforts did not succeed."

She seemed desperate to contain herself around Minerva, to not frighten or repulse her again, but hearing this news was making her forget herself. She was starting to crowd forward again, intent on Minerva's face.

"You slew Verok, even as she Sung to you the Song that can shatter worlds? How? How did you do this thing?"

"Hey now," Kalina gave Eris a dark look and took half a step in front of Minerva as the Lightless closed in. Ikora also reached out, laying her hand on Eris's shoulder. Eris gave no look to Kalina, as if she weren't there, but at Ikora's touch she seemed to remember herself, and stepped back again.

"Forgive me," she said, then turned to Ikora. "We must look deeper into this. Sung by many, the Song is an unstoppable force of destruction. Sung by only one its power is greatly subdued but to stand against even that-…yes. Yes, we must look deeper."

"We will," Ikora said.

"Shouldn't we be concerned that the Hive have a Song that can kill Guardians and wreck planets?" Cayde asked, and Ikora shook her head.

"No, Eris is right. Of all the Hive that knew the Song, only Verok remained alive. Now that she is dead, the Song is lost."

"Couldn't she have taught others?"

"It is not something that can just be taught casually, she would need devoted Wizards around her, decades if not centuries to teach them to control the Song's notes and powers," Ikora told him. "She would have neither of these things after proving herself a traitor to her own kind."

"We found something else in that chamber," Minerva said, opening the pouch at her side as she told them about the Guardian that had been plastered to the wall as some sort of grotesque sculpture. As she drew out the mark made of chain-link, Eris's hands slowly reached out, her three eyes fixed to it. Gently Minerva passed it over to her. "I think it may have been one of your fireteam. We couldn't get him down, we could only take this."

"This belonged to Vell Tarlowe," she said mournfully, holding the spills of chain-link in her hands as if they were a dying newborn child. "He hand-forged and added each link himself to this mark, every time he saved someone's life."

Her fingers slipped over the chains until she found one near the end of one of the smaller lengths. "This one. This one was mine…"

She shook her head abruptly, then handed it back to Minerva. "This belongs on a Titan, or to be worn no more. It is yours now. Do with it what you will."

There were a few more questions, and the three answered all they could before the Vanguard finally called a halt to the interrogation, recognizing that all three were starving and nearly dead on their feet. Zavala extracted a promise from Minerva to come speak to him in the morning after she'd rested and as they left the Hall she felt even more drained than before.

The three went and ate together, speaking very little, but when they parted to go to their respective places to rest they almost instinctively came together. Arms around each other's shoulders, heads down and foreheads together, the three of them stood that way for a long while in silence.

As they broke apart to head away, Kalina caught Min's arm briefly. "The Den is always open for you to use," she said. "It'll be more comfortable on that battered old sofa than the cot in that tiny room of yours."

"I appreciate the offer, but I'll be ok," Min told her, closing her hand over Kalina's a moment. "I'll see you in the morning."

Kalina nodded in resignation. "Only after about six more meals and ten hot showers," she said. "Light, but I smell like a damned Hive."

Min watched her head away, then started toward her room. She hadn't felt this run down and weary since the first day she'd arrived. Her mind was still spinning with everything, and she had a feeling trying to get it to calm down enough to sleep was going to be a struggle, no matter how exhausted she was.

She took a smaller staircase down to her floor, not wanting to wait on the old lift. As she stepped out of the stairwell into the alcove, she was suddenly grabbed.

Her head cracked with force against the concrete wall, an arm that felt like steel pressing over her throat and an armored body pinning her. Trying to blink away stars she instinctively grabbed the arm around her throat and tried to pry it back with both hands, only to have her right wrist gripped and shoved back on the wall as well. Fingers ground the bones in her wrist together as her attacker leaned in closer, a feral sneer on her lips and mad fire dancing in her dark eyes.

"Just what are you playing at," Nara snarled in her face. "Just what in the goddamn Green Hells are you playing at, you fucking bitch?"