Hello, here is Chapter 7 or 8

And well, here is the Chapter for the Hive's continuation part from Chapter 6. Hope you enjoy it. And give me feedback on if you think I should keep this or change it.

Present Day: Two days after the Battle of Naxela

On the planet where Keith and Shiro had ended up, after the first time that they tried to face Zarkon failed and left them retreating only to get separated, a Hive Acolyte was walking through the tunnels. He had been sent to report to the High Celebrants of Savathun and Xivu Arath respectively by his superiors. It always took long to deliver messages that were being sent from the surface with how deep his kind had made their nest. The reason for why it was probably deeper than any other Hive nest including the legendary Hellmouth, was so that they could remain undetected for the last ten thousand of years. The only beings that knew of their location were the Druids of the Galra Empire though more accurately those who were the most devoted to the High Priestess of the Galra Empire, Haggar. Though the Galra never bothered to wonder who she was the High Priestess of, for if she is a witch, then she would serve the Witchqueen, and by so doing would be a High Priestess of the Hive god of cunning. But the Acolyte would wonder what serving that god would be like, for Savathun had also obtained the title of Queen of Lies, so why would she have followers. Though what would he know, he is just an Acolyte, a devoted servant of the Exiled One. He was not in a position to judge others.

And after what felt like an eternity, he had arrived at the sacred Chamber of the Exiled One, his god. And he was witnessing the last shipment of Quintessence being poured into the pool by his fellow acolytes, where his god sleeps. He remembers the day that the Demon wounded his god, the day they retreated with the unconscious body of the Exiled One. He wondered why the Demon didn't finish his god off when it had the chance, no one in his station knew why. But many speculate that it is because the homeworlds of the Demon's Chosen were under attack, by the followers of the other Hive gods in retaliation for striking against her. Though he has heard the whispers of his superior's state that they couldn't understand why the Vex aided in their escape that day by committing the supposed deed that his brothers and sisters believed was done by the followers of the other Hive gods.

He then walked up to the High Celebrants as they conversed, though he did so in a way that would both show his respect and fear of them. He acquired their attention and gave the report of what happened on the surface.

"Forgive me, Honored Ones, I do not mean to intrude upon you. But I was sent down here to inform you of what happened on the surface.", said the Acolyte who was a bit nervous in their presence.

"Oh, and what would that be? We clearly have obtained the shipment, did the Druids not like our final gift in exchange?", spoke the High Celebrant of Savathun.

"No, they have accepted the Book along with the artifact that bears the symbol of the Exiled One as per your orders, Honored Mistress.", replied the Acolyte.

"But?"

"But we had unexpected company watching us, they had most likely followed the Druids. Though we did capture them, which was where we then discovered this.", said the Acolyte as he held out a dagger that bore a symbol upon it. He then presented it before the two High Celebrants of the gods.

The High Celebrant of Xivu Arath looked at the dagger with suspicion, though he did notice something about it that looked familiar but he couldn't figure out where he had seen it before. But the High Celebrant of Savathun noticed what made it to be familiar.

The Acolyte then continued, "They are being delivered here for inspection as we speak."

"And tell us, Worm. Why should we care about a few captured prisoners?!", spoke the High Celebrant of Xivu Arath as he slammed the bladed end of his sword on the ground which spooked the Acolyte.

"Isn't it obvious, Xavar? They will be the replacements that we need for the ritual. Had things gone to plan, then we would've had not one Paladin, but two, and a Guardian to boot as a bonus.", said High Celebrant of Savathun, who looked at her colleague mockingly.

"We could've eliminated the Demon as well, but you decided that it was best to use them for the ritual, Savuun! Now they are gone, and now know where we are! Where do you think they will go, once they are done with the Galra?!", yelled Xavar, High Celebrant of Xivu Arath, who was fuming at his colleague for that show of incompetence upon that day.

"We were discovered by the Godslayer long before those two arrived, which if I recall, YOU were the one that was suppose to deal with him.", spoke Savuun, High Celebrant of Savathun, who was amused after seeing Xavar look a bit worried, "So, High Celebrant of the Hive god of War, where were you when that all went down?"

Xavar growled and walked away clearly not wanting to answer that question. Which only amused Savuun ever more so. Savuun though then looked at the blade again, she recognized it as to belonging to the Blade of Marmora organization. The symbol on it gave it away, though it mattered not whether the Blades or the Demon and its Coalition discovered their location, for they would be leaving soon enough anyway.

She then heard some grunts and growls coming from a band of Thralls that were guided by an Acolyte, which were then shown to be followed by two Knights, a Wizard, and an Ogre. The Knights were dragging two of the Blades by the leg, while the Ogre had the last two in its claws. They were then brought before her and Xavar, who came back after noticing the commotion, on their knees. Savuun noticed that they were wearing masks, and so told the Thralls to remove them, they did so, though one of the Blades ended up getting a gash on their face when they tried to keep the thrall from removing their mask.

Savuun didn't really care though, for she wanted to see the looks on their faces when they realize what their fate is.

"If you're going to kill us, then get it over with already.", spoke one of the Blades, who sounded like he was older than his colleagues, most likely a senior among them.

Savuun just tilted her head in a confused manner, which surprised the Marmora.

"Now why would we kill you?", asked Savuun rhetorically, "If we wanted you dead, then we wouldn't have gone to the trouble of capturing you, now would we."

The atmosphere in the room changed when the Marmora realized that they needed them alive for something. And if that is the case, then they should've killed themselves before they were caught. For if the Hive needed them for something, then it is better to be dead than to find out what it is.

Savuun then hovered over to the captured Galra, she then began to sniff at them. Which considering what the Hive are known to do, the Galra were afraid that they were going to be eaten alive from the way that High Celebrant was smelling them. She then looked at the one with the gash on his face, and the female that was with them.

She pointed at them as she said, "Those two will do."

"And what should we do with the other two?", spoke the Hive Wizard.

"Remind me, but how much Quintessence and Light is required to stir your fellows from their hibernation?", spoke Savuun.

The Wizard smiled, and gave orders to the Knights.

"Take them to the Sacrificial Pit."

And with that the Senior member of the group and the other female were taken to the Sacrificial Pit, and wouldn't be seen again. The two remaining Galra though were terrified of what fate lied in store for them.

"The final preparations are ready, High Celebrant.", spoke another Hive Witch.

"Good, put these two into position. And call for the other Hive Wizards, Acolytes, and Witches, it is time for the ritual to begin.", spoke Savuun.

The preparations have been fulfilled, all that is required has been obtained. And now, as the gathered crowd of Wizards, Acolytes, and Witches had been assembled. All that required was first a small bit of Blood from a family member, which luckily long before the Death of Oryx, Savathun had asked of him to give her a portion of his blood for she believed that it could be used in their rituals to make them more potent. Oryx believed otherwise, but did so to see what his sister could accomplish through such.

Savuun had been given the vial containing it, and at this moment began to chant in the Hive Language, as she did this she poured the blood into the pool of Quintessence. And with Xavar carving a ritual circle with his sword around the pool and in between the pillars that lie at the pools edges, the blood of Oryx transformed the color of the Quintessence from a golden yellow, to an eerie light green that matched the colors of the Hive's magics. Xavar then joined her in the chanting after undoing the restraints to the Galra, and though they thought they could potentially escape, a Hive ritual circle appeared under them. The shock at the sight of it, led them to not see the magical restraints grab at them until it was too late. All of the Hive that were present then began to join in the chanting, which caused the pool of transformed Quintessence to churn and bubble. The Witches, Wizards, and Acolytes then threw their magical powers at the pool, causing it to violently react to the magics of the Hive. The Galra noticed something rising in the pool, for a shadow had appeared within the liquid Quintessence, and as it got closer it looked more and more familiar to them. A large liquid sphere then rose from the magic of the Hive, and it was then there that the Galra realized where they were, and it shook them to the core. And the last thing they would see, is the shadowed form of the Devourer of Worlds. For as the Liquid sphere had at last stopped rising, tendrils of Hive magic had gone to their mouths and forced them to open to proportions that were not possible without pain being felt, and another tendril reached down into their throats, pulling the small amount of Light that they possessed from their very bodies, their Lifeforce, their very souls. The tendrils then brought the two little embers of Light to the sphere and placed them inside, where they were then sent toward the body of the Exiled One. And once they were absorbed into the body, it twitched. And the Sphere was lowered into the pool, as the magic was now focused on the body. And though the Galra had their Light extracted, they still lived, if only in a half life state. It led to them unable to register what was going on, but they could start to see darkness even though their eyes were not shut. They also felt pain, as if they were slowly dying to be consumed by something. Screams began to echo in a twisted form of a harmonic symphony within the Hive nest, from both the Sacrificial Pit and the very chamber. All to the delight of the High Celebrants.

Savuun then began to finalize the ritual by speaking the name of the Exiled One, "We speak thy name, oh god of ours in the name of Savathun and Xivu Arath, in the name of the Deep. Exiled One, Devourer of Worlds, Princess of the Taken Throne, Heir of the Osmium Dynasty, Demon Princess, Lady of Outcasts, Worm-eater, Sister of Crota, Daughter of Oryx, the Taken King, the god of Death. These are the titles that all have given you to refrain from speaking your name, for the mention of it brings only fear to those who know you and what you have done. We speak the name of Aurash, the Taken Princess!"

After her name was spoken, the ritual's magic abruptly stopped suddenly, much to the confusion of everyone. The High Celebrants looked at each other after that and then back at the pool which started to turn into a black tar-like liquid.

"…. Is that it?", said Xavar, who was then going to question his fellow High Celebrant on whether they had actually just wasted 10,000 years' worth of Quintessence and a few embers of Light on a "Light Show".

Only to then feel a sudden rumble upon where they stood and everyone else was feeling it as well. It felt like the entire planet was starting to collapse, but then an explosion of magics shot straightforward from the pool and straight through the sealing until it reached the surface of the planet itself, unleashing a wave of Hive magical energy that could be felt from all corners of the Galra Empire's territory, and the effects that most would get is a small chill run down their spine. While those who practice the magics of the Light or Dark could sense a deeper meaning to this, but could still not understand what it truly meant, other than it being a Dark Omen of things to come. And at the source of the explosion, every last being within the Hive nest were either knocked down by the explosion or, as is the case where you are dead center at the source, you were pushed back and slammed against the wall so hard that the walls begin to crack under the amount of pressure unleashed upon it. It left many of the Hive unconscious while others had difficulty in remaining conscious.

But while everything that was occurring occurred. Aurash had been doing more than just sleeping, in fact, she was not devoid of thought. For she was doing as anyone else would do, if they were placed into a deep sleep. She had been dreaming.

Aurash's Dream: 12,000 years ago

Aurash had been dreaming the same thing for the last 10,000 years, the day when it all happened and what came after. The day where she was exiled and began a journey 2,000 years before the Collapse, before the creation of the Demon or as the universe knew him, Voltron.

I know that it has been a while since I have updated this story, but school had been taking up most of my time and other things happened along the way. And now I am in college, but I hope that I won't have to worry about balancing the writing along with my school work. But even so, this chapter is going to be going through a MASSIVE rewrite, reason why is because of the information and lore introduced in Witchqueen that has made me rethink how I want to introduce Aurash, so until I am able to get this chapter rewritten, it will be a while till I can continue the story. That and I also have another story that I am working on as well, so I will see about balancing priorities when it comes to this sort of thing.

Hope you guys understand, and I will be seeing you guys again once I rewrite this chapter and maybe I could also work on the next chapter as well, who knows. Let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions then voice them and I will see what I can do.