Scorch peered over the edge of the Hellmouth, where greenish gas and sheer depth hid the bottom from sight thousands of feet below. She whistled.

"Gah, don't do that. It gets all squeaky in the transition over the comms," Eager complained. She obliged, making note to do it to him later instead, at a time when everybody wasn't on edge. She turned over to where the rest of the team was preparing.

"So, you guys have already been here before, right?" she asked, her question directed at the Heroes.

Aria turned towards her. "Yeah. The first time we came, we actually climbed down the side of that pit. Almost had a nasty accident, too." At this remark, Ash looked sharply over at the Warlock. Scorch decided not to pursue the topic; obviously, it was a bit touchy.

Aria sat next to Dawn and Eager, biding time until the all-clear was given from Matt. Scorch was doing the same, just separate from the others; he was currently preoccupied with checking gear along with Ash. Things seemed off between them for sure; usually inseparable, they'd said hardly three words to each other since they'd gotten here. She wondered what the deal was.

"You ready for this?" Matt muttered. He was inspecting the slide of his weapon, making sure that the Hawkmoon was in good working order.

Ash was silent for just a moment before returning a stiff nod. "Yeah, I'll be fine." She gave a very slight chuckle, and he could detect the faint trace of a smile in her voice. "It's funny; the first time we came into this pit, you saved me from falling. But now, we're jumping headfirst into it." She glanced over at him, her huge visor depolarizing and allowing him to see her face; he'd been right, there was the ghost of a smirk there. "Looks like I was gonna fall in there either way; we only put it off for a few years."

He returned her smile, though he hadn't depolarized his visor; he remained unseen. After a moment, she depolarized, and went back to looking over her rifle. After one final check, she looked back up to him and nodded; she was good to go. He acknowledged it, and turned to the rest of the group.

"Alright, form up." The other four quickly hurried to where Ash and Matt stood near the edge. He glanced over at Scorch. "Get the shard."

She nodded, and looked to her left hand which she'd left hanging in the air, palm-up. Spectre appeared and materialized a greenish-gray shard; the chunk of crystal that they'd taken from Crota's soul crystal.

Eris looked at them as they gathered around the map she'd drawn up. "This is the Hellmouth," she stated, pointing to a large circle drawn in the center of the map. "Normally it's nothing more than a pit; but for Ascendant Hive, it can act as a gateway." She looked up at all of them. "A portal to Crota's throne world."

"What's a throne world?" asked Eager. She glared at him, annoyed.

"Do you ever stop asking questions?"

He shrugged.

She muttered angrily, then looked back to the map. "You will not be able to access its secrets unless you are Ascendant; and that's where the whisper of Crota's soul is needed." She raised the shard of soul-crystal. "This will trick the Hellmouth into thinking you are Ascendant, and will allow you entry."

She handed the crystal to Matt. He nodded gratefully, took a deep breath, and threw it as far toward the center of the pit as he could. It began to arc down, eventually falling into the gaseous vapor below. Nothing happened for a moment; until a pulse of green light emanated from down below and spread back toward the mouth. Where once was nothing, a bridge began to form; cracked and weathered, it glowed with an unnatural hue; much like something that had been raised from the dead.

After roughly a minute of the odd spectacle, everything ceased to form. The bridge appeared to be complete, and it led to a ring-like platform in the center, hanging over the Hellmouth precariously. No one seemed to want to take the first step, so Matt inhaled deeply, let it out, and began walking forward with determination in his step. Not even a second later, everyone else followed suit; they understood that this was a team, and they were gonna do this together.

They marched across the bridge until they reached the ring; the hole in its floor was roughly a mater across, big enough for one person at a time. Streaks of lights or sparks seemed to fall away vertically from it, hinting at the power it held. Again, Matt decided to take the first risk.

"Wait for a few moments after, and then you can jump. We don't need to hit each other on the way down." With one last turn to the rest of the group, his gaze hesitating for just a moment longer on Ash, he jumped in. They tracked his progress down for a few seconds, until he was enveloped in light and dematerialized from view.

No one said a word.

Scorch shrugged. "Well, here goes nothing." And she promptly jumped in too, with the same results from Matt's drop reoccurring.

After she was gone, they seemed to be a bit more eager to jump. Aria followed Scorch, then came Dawn, Eager, and finally Ash was left.

She stood alone on the ring, contemplating her next move. She was terrified for sure; but this was something she had to do. Tensing herself up after what had seemed like an eternity but what likely less than five seconds, she jumped after her friends.

She saw the same pinpricks of light surrounding her as it had done the others. Little sparks surrounding her, until the walls of the Hellmouth around her were replaced with pitch blackness. She still felt the sensation of free fall; obviously this went a lot deeper than expected.

"Can anyone hear me?" she called over the comms.

She struggled to hear a response from Eager; "Barely. We just seem to keep falling, and it doesn't look like…" His voice faded out to white noise as she lost connection.

"Hello? Eager?" Silence once again reigned over the comms, and she resigned to staring around her, hoping to spot even one thing besides the darkness around her.

"-STERS!" the comms suddenly screamed at her. She jolted in shock, but quickly regained her composure.

"Hello?! What's going-"

"USE YOUR THRUSTERS, NOW!"

Without a second to waste, she triggered her armor's thrusters to slow her descent. All to quickly, she saw what they'd been referring to. A small circle of light far beneath her illuminated four individuals standing there, and the shadow of another falling towards them. Eager landed finally, and she saw that she was falling far too fast.

"Hold on Ash, I'm diverting all system power to the thrusters!" came Whip's voice from inside her head. She began to slow even more, but it wasn't more than a second or two before she felt the ground rushing up to meet her. She rolled and skidded a few feet to the side, coming to rest on her back.

"Ouch…" she groaned. Whip had slowed them enough to stop any serious damage, but that didn't mean that it didn't hurt. Her legs ached the most, having just taken the brunt of all her momentum. Her back came in at a close second, but it was definitely her legs she was focused on.

She heard the sound of footsteps approaching her, and saw Aria's helmet enter her line of sight. The Warlock extended a hand to her, one that Ash grasped and used to pull herself up to her feet. "You good?"

"Yeah," the Titan replied, "I'm good. How are the others?"

Aria shrugged. "Dawn probably got off the easiest. Eager and I are fine. Matt and Scorch are over there, they had it the worst."

Ash looked to where she was pointing, and felt a small pang as she saw Matt lying on the ground near one of the lamps, his back resting against a rock while he recuperated. Scorch was barely five feet from him, and seemed to be in the same position, if just slightly better off.

She walked over to them, feeling a bit more reassured when she saw Matt's head stir at the sound of her footsteps.

"Are you two alright? What happened?"

He grunted. "Wasn't expecting to have to fall like that again." She shuddered slightly, remembering the first time he'd fallen from such a height; it had ended with him dead, crushed and speared by the debris from both the Traveler and several Hive ships. That wasn't a picture she wanted to think of right now.

"I realized that if I didn't do something quick, I was gonna end up in several pieces upon impact. Still feel a bit jealous that you guys get thrusters in your armor…" He shook his head. "Anyway, I had Seraph divert all of my shielding to underneath me, create kind of a cushion. It worked, but I'll be damned if I didn't break something."

He pointed at Scorch. "I had Seraph immediately tell her to do the same thing, and even used my own light to help out with the shielding. Didn't help much, but it was something." Scorch's head turned slightly at the mention of her, and though she remained silent, she gave a thumbs up in their direction to show her appreciation.

"Why didn't you just let yourselves be resurrected?" inquired Dawn from somewhere behind Ash. "I remember that we had Scorch do that when we were trekking through the Vault of Glass."

Matt pointed to the ground.

Ash looked down. Rising from the ground were wispy little tendrils of black vapor, trailing from splotches of goo that coated the stones they stood on. She recognized it as the same material that had covered the sword she'd been run through with. She subconsciously brought a hand up to her chest region.

Matt nodded. "That's right. There are no resurrections down here; we're all back to the good ol' days of only having one life." Remembering how close to death she herself had come, she could only imagine how magnified that danger was down here.

"To add onto things, it's even taking its toll on us." Ash looked to see Seraph materialize in front of Matt. There was a definite droop in the Ghost's voice, and her light wasn't ad bright as it normally was. "It's wearing us down; we were born from the Traveler, and this much pure darkness around here is not beneficial."

"Point is, we're operational." He waved Ash away. "We'll get up in a minute or so. Why don't you check out our surroundings, make sure we're in the right place."

She nodded, and began to make a general observation.

"When you take the plunge, you will find yourself in the first trial of Crota's throne world. There is nothing but decay and shadow there, filled with Thrall that have long since abandoned their respective Wizards; they remain untethered, wallowing in the filth and grime, ready to strike at a moment's notice. The lanterns will be your only hope; used by the other Hive to keep them in check, they are the only fear that those senile Thrall still retain."

Eris waved her hand at a crudely drawn path. "I may have been a prisoner there for years, but there is only so much that I could recall when everything is shrouded in darkness. This is the best estimate of the path you need to take to escape from there, and proceed to the next trial."

Ash nodded and reported back. "Certainly looks like what she was talking about. I can't see ten feet in front of us past these lamps." She pointed. "There's a path that extends that way. Looks like it's the only way forward."

"Alright." Matt groaned in pain as he began to stand back up. "Let's do this."

At his word, everyone tensed up again. From what Eris had told them, this place was home to Thrall unlike ones they'd seen before; usually humans raised from the dead and imbued with Darkness from Wizards, these ones had been left to their own devices for far too long. They'd evolved, adapted, become the stuff of nightmares. Indeed, both fireteams could already hear the screeches of them in the distance, echoing off the walls. Like teeth, grinding against metal.

Matt checked his hand cannon, ensuring that it was properly loaded once more. Satisfied, he turned to the rest of the group that had lined up on either side of him; Scorch immediately to his left followed by Dawn and Eager, and Ash and Aria on his right.

"Those lanterns are gonna light up as soon as we enter their proximity," he repeated, them all having gone over the plan beforehand; he just wanted to make sure they had it fresh in their minds. "It'll give us a minute of respite, but only a minute. They weren't intended for long term use. Take advantage of it and reload, then get moving again."

They were silent, but all nodded almost imperceptibly. He gave a deep exhale, then faced forward.

"Go!"

All six began sprinting forward, the sounds of their boots hitting the ground being the only sound for the first few seconds. Then a scream sounded, then another, until finally there was nothing but the yowls of the Thrall all around. Glowing yellow splotches began to appear in the Darkness, only to be revealed as the heads of Thrall that had adapted their vision to be more efficient in the dark.

Gunfire began to increase in volume, as though it were trying to match the screams. Ash fired her rifle into a throng of them off to their right, reducing their numbers to less threatening ones. Eager was almost running backwards, as he unloaded his magazine into some Thrall that were trying to approach them from the rear. One managed to leap onto Dawn, and she continued to run with them all while she was trying to pull it off of her and pummel its skull in.

And as soon as it had started, the wave ended. Light began to shine from the lantern in front of them, the first one they'd reached. Matt let several rounds loose, trying to lower the count of the swarm around them before he reloaded. "Acknowledge when you're ready!"

Slowly, green lights began to wink on in his HUD, representing each member of the team that was ready to go. Dawn pulled the corpse of the Thrall she'd killed off of her once and for all, and then her light appeared as well.

"Alright, go!"

Once again, the pounding of their legs against the moisture slicked stone path filled the air, accompanied by the terrible sounds of the Thrall. Teeth and claws came to tear them open once more, and it took every ounce of situational awareness and effort they had to keep them away. By the time they'd reached the second lantern, they were all exhausted.

"Come on, we've more of these to go! We can't tire out now!" Despite their obvious condition, they knew he was right; besides, if they slowed down, they would die. There was no way out other than forward. Green lights winked on once again. "Go!"

And so the cycle continued up to eight more times. Run, kill, reload, repeat. Eventually, they began to feel as if there was nothing but the chase anymore; the constant hunt of the Thrall tracking them down, waiting for just one mishap to strike. They came close a few times, but they finally reached a hill, scrambling up it just to continue running.

"Look!" shouted Eager. Panting, the rest of them turned to where he indicated; a small circle of light surrounded by rocky outcrops. It was situated near the edge of a cliff; one side hanging over where they'd been progressing since they'd entered, and one side hanging into oblivion, no sign of ground beneath it. Across the way of the second cliff was a massive door, closed and withholding the secrets it kept inside from them.

"Get in the circle!" ordered Matt, and with newfound energy they all followed his lead. The reaction was immediate; the door across the gap began to open, white light pouring out of it. A bridge began to form much in the same way as before, creating a path to the door across the gap.

"Get in defensive formations!" he shouted. "We have to defend this area until we can make it across!"

"How is this working?" yelled Dawn as she ran to a small bit of cover behind a mini boulder.

"It thinks we're Ascendant Hive, remember?" he replied. "It's just following what it's been created to do!"

Aria and Scorch were a bit farther forward than the others, acting as the first line of defense for the others. "Well, it better do it faster!" Aria yelled angrily as she mowed down a group of Thralls. "We aren't gonna be able to hold out here much longer!"

Suddenly, the ground began to shake just a bit, and Ash peeked over the top of the rock she was taking cover behind. "Heads up, we got Knights and Ogres inbound!"

There was always something to make a situation worse, Matt thought to himself. "Alright, Eager pull back a bit, you're exposed! Everyone else, hold your-"

And then everything went to hell.

Knights began coming over the hill into view, chaperoning the Thrall which hurled themselves over at the Guardians, risking death to even have just a slim chance of tearing them apart. They flooded the area, and no more coordination was had; the small plateau had become nothing less than a war zone.

"I've got a Knight on me!"

"THEY'RE ALL OVER!"

"Just hold still! I'm trying to pull it off of you-"

"I can't, it's sinking its claws into my- AGGHH!"

"SHIT!"

"Eager, to your right!"

"I see it, don't-"

"EAGER!"

"SOMEONE TAKE CARE OF THIS KNIGHT!"

Chaos was quickly championing over the battlefield. Blasts of purple beams were now trailing overhead as well, a gift from the incoming Ogres.

Suddenly, Matt heard a loud slamming noise. He ducked under the sword that had been swung at him, and jammed the Hawkmoon into the Knight's mouth before pulling the trigger. Wasting no time, he looked over at the source of the noise which was revealed to be the door; it had finished opening and the bridge was complete.

"GUARDIANS, THE DOOR IS OPEN! LET'S MOVE!"

Someone ran past him, and he saw a green light appear in his HUD. One across to safety. Matt remained at their end of the bridge, stopping any Hive from getting through while clearing a path for the remaining Guardians.

Two more ran past, one of them wearing Titan armor. Two more green lights.

A large purple blast appeared twenty feet to his left, and as he looked at it he saw Aria vaulting over a rock from that direction, and running past him. One more.

Suddenly, the fifth light winked red.

Without hesitating, he looked around wildly for the fifth Guardian. "There!" came Seraph's voice, directing him straight ahead and to the left about thirty feet. As he ran, Thralls began to pop from gunfire; his teammates across and in the middle of the bridge were covering him.

Finally, he found them. Scorch was wrestling with a Thrall while it scrabbled and claws at her. The Last Word lay just out of her reach.

Drawing his foot back, he brought all of his momentum into a kick that nearly tore the papery skin of the Thrall in half; it flew a good two meters away, and did not move.

"Come on!" he yelled, tossing her weapon to her. She wasted no time following him, but they'd barely made it ten feet before they realized that the Ogres had made it to the bridge. One turned upon noticing them, and roared and swung a massive fist.

Scorch felt herself get shoved aside, and narrowly avoided the blow. Unfortunately, she saw that Matt was not so lucky. He went sailing through the air over to the cliff on the left side of their plateau. The Ogre was about to make a second attempt before she emptied all of her rounds into its eye. The spongey organ exploded, and the Ogre stumbled off in pain.

She sprinted over to where Matt was rolling on the ground, right about to go off the edge. She dove forward, and slid just enough to catch his wrist as he fell over the side. Now, he was dangling over a large drop into the darkness below.

"Come on!" I've got you!" she grunted with exertion. Despite what she said, she wasn't strong enough to lift him. Matt felt her pulling, but she definitely wasn't gonna be able to do it, and there was nothing for him to grab; he had no way to even pull himself up. He acted quickly.

"Guys, I'm putting Scorch in charge of this mission! Wait for her to get across, and then get out of here!"

"What'd he just say?!"

"What the hell is going on over there?!"

He looked up at Scorch who seemed horrified by what he'd just said. "You need to get out of here, you're only wasting more time for yourself and them."

"No, this is not happening!"

"Look, I'll make my way back if I can, alright? But right now, you need to be there for them!" They both knew he was lying; there was no way that a lone person could live through what they'd just gone through.

"I know you can do it, Scorch. This is your chance; prove that I was wrong about you!"

And with that, he jerked himself out of her grip and fell into the fog below.

She didn't cry out, and she didn't falter. She did exactly what he told her to; it was the least she could do, to take care of both fireteams in his absence. And she wasn't going to let him down.

She weaved through he Thrall, and tossed a smoke grenade off to her left, impeding the progress of a Knight. She hopped over a Thrall that had stopped to face her, and she was on the bridge.

"Get over here!" yelled Eager, waving his arm to beckon her. She complied, and continued running as they covered her exit.

Ash grabbed her as she ran past. "Where's Matt?!" she asked hysterically.

Scorch shook her head. "I know what you're thinking right now, but we can't afford to stay here! We need to move, NOW!"

Ash yanked her arm away from Scorch as if the Hunter had just become burning hot to the touch. The other Guardians around them continued to fight, but they just stared at one another.

Finally, Scorch tore her gaze away and gave the order she wished she didn't have to give; "Everyone, move! We're leaving!"

No one said anything, but they all knew what each other was thinking. Slowly but surely, they backed away until they began to run through the white-lit corridor, filled with grave-like stones that stood as a monument to those who had fallen.

They couldn't help but wonder if perhaps one more would be added to the collection.