Beta: TheWolfParadox


Blasphemy


Titan, a moon of Saturn, hung in the vastness of space, quietly orbiting the ringed gas giant, oblivious to the horrors beneath its surface.

Up in low orbit, a single jumpship cut seamlessly through the thin clouds, the light from the nearby planet glinting cleanly off its metal hull. Inside, the pilot gently maneuvered the ship through the atmosphere, keeping them on a steady course.

Moving a hand up to the above dashboard, he flipped a switch to enable the coms and began transmitting his voice. "Tower actual, this fireteam Houdini broadcasting from Titan, do you copy, over," he waited for a response, then repeated. "Tower actual, this is fireteam Houdini broadcasting from Titan, do you copy, over."

A crackle erupted from the intercom. "This is commander Zavala, I hear you, Houdini, please report your situation, over."

"We are in orbit around Titan and are ready to receive instructions commander, over."

"Very well," the commander said over the radio. "We've been receiving reports of strange Hive activity deep within the arcologies. Sources say that the Hive have been experimenting with the light again, which if true, then these rituals have to be shut down. The last time this happened we lost a lot of good Guardians."

"Consider it done, sir," the pilot replied.

"I'm counting on you, good luck Guardians."

"Okay, we have our orders," he called back to his companions. "We're going to enter the arcology and disrupt a Hive ritual. Make sure you're ready because I'm taking us in."


As the days went on, the events of the Eliksni attack began to drift further and further from Xala's mind, becoming more like a bad dream that one forgets with time.

Just as usual, she had regularly continued to make visits to her secret apartment room when no one was looking. Thankfully, none of the other Hive had found her out yet, and she intended to keep it that way; Tal'rooth had begun to grow suspicious. While he didn't know what she was up to, he was beginning to catch onto her. It had started after their victory against the Fallen, after which Tal'rooth had started to treat her differently like he knew something was up, so she would have to be really careful to avoid him discovering her secret - if any Hive found out it would be bad, but if it was him... she could lose her friend,

Just like before, she carefully made her way to the apartment, the path having long since been burned into her memory. While she was always careful to make sure she wasn't seen, this time she was extra cautious whenever she encountered patrols, ducking down and waiting for them to pass until she knew the coast was clear. Several times throughout her trek, she would pause and look back the way she came. Call it paranoia, but she had an uneasy feeling that someone was following her, Though she never saw anyone, she couldn't help but feel that someone was there.

Glancing over her shoulder one last time, she uneasily continued on. Once she turned away, a figure emerged from the shadows, quietly tailing Xala.

She worked her way through the corridors of the Arcology. Entering the hallway, she took the grate off the wall and put it back after crawling in, just as she always did.

The room and everything there was just as she left it, untouched and unspoiled. Xala took a deep breath and stepped into the apartment, she felt a comforting wave wash over her. This was her safe place, where she could leave her grim and dark life behind and not have to worry about the Sword Logic or the Deep.

She cast a quick glance towards the window, where the wind whistled past and droplets of methane crashed into the glass as a violent storm ravaged the outside world.

Sitting down next to the table, she let her shoulders sag as she felt her body relax on the ruined carpet. Setting her eyes forward, she looked at the selection of items she had on display. She reached out for the video camera, she had to be careful when handling it, as it was worn and damaged, to the point that it was almost falling apart. Gently, she pulled open a little flap on the side and a screen popped up. The glass was cracked, but not too much where she couldn't make out the images.

Navigating through the small icons, she highlighted one with a sideways triangle. Soon, a video began playing, showing the apartment's old family as they spent a day out exploring the Arcology. As she watched them, just playing around and smiling together without a care in the world, she felt a strange warmth welling up in her chest. She wasn't entirely what to make of it, or what it meant, for the most part, it felt like a foreign feeling she barely understood. Was this happiness, she wondered. It would explain why it was so unknown to her, the Hive frowned upon everything associated with comfort, so emotions of joy weren't something a Hive would normally experience.

Putting those thoughts aside for later. She continued watching the family's adventures, her emerald eyes magnetized to the screen. She smiled softly as they explored one of the indoor forests of the Arcology, the father carrying one of their children on his shoulders, while the mother held the hand of the other. At one moment, the mom knelt down next to her child and pointed up to one of the treetops, showing him a bird that was roosting in the branches.

Xala suddenly felt a pit growing in her heart, they all seemed so happy, both with their lives and each other, she wished she could have that. Not for the first time, she had fantasized about being there with them, not as a Hive acolyte, but as another member of their family. She dreamt of spending her days with them, back when the Arcology was in pristine condition, and the artificial sunlight streamed down from above, back before the Hive and the Deep could ever be found here.

With her gaze firmly locked on the screen, she barely noticed the sound of someone crawling through the vent until it was too late.

"Xala!" The newcomer cried out.

Startled, she quickly shot up from her space on the floor, the video camera slipping from her hand as she spun on her feet to face the intruder. Tal'rooth stood there, looking at her wide-eyed after stumbling upon her little hideout.

"Tal'rooth," she gasped out, taking a step back. "What are you-" Whatever she was about to say was lost to her when she heard something cracking under her foot. Lifting her heel, her green eyes gazed down in horror at the broken form of the camera. weakly, she dropped down to her knees and tentatively reached out for the device, the world around her seemed to grow silent and distant as she drew inward upon herself, her attention locked solely on the camera. The flap for the screen was hanging awkwardly at the side, the glass now cracked and shattered like the ruins of the Arcology, never again to show her the family she loved.

"Xala, what is all this!" he asked in an accusatory tone.

Xala all but froze at that question, her mind drawing a blank as she attempted to come up with a response. Her pupils dilated and her breath started coming out in ragged heaves. What was she supposed to say, Tal'rooth had found her safe place and now her greatest secret was about to be exposed, the Hive would find out what she'd been hiding and her life would be all but over. She clenched her palm in fear, she didn't know what to do, looking up at Tal'rooth's eyes, she tried to make out what he was thinking, but all she could see was a cold hard expression and glare leveled right at her.

Fortunately, she noted as their eyes remained locked, Tal'rooth hadn't yet seemed to notice her collection of items on the table. Quickly, she darted her eyes to the corner to check on her stuff, only to instantly realize her mistake when Tal'rooth followed her gaze.

'NO'

"It's just some stuff I found," she blurted out, perhaps a little too quickly.

"Then why would you not destroy them, they are the creations of the Sky!" he hissed with venom, glaring at the Traveller statue. He suddenly turned on his heels and was upon her in an instant, their faces so close that she could see the hate and anger burning in his eyes like a raging wildfire.

Words failed to escape her mouth as she tried to think of a response. "I- I was just curious, about what they were, I didn't-"

She watched in horror as Tal'rooth began to bare his yellow teeth before he grabbed her neck in a chock hold. "Blasphemer!" he hissed. "You dare to dabble in the Sky!?"

"Tal'rooth please," she tried to beg between gasps of air. "You don't understand, I-"

He cut her off again, "I understand perfectly, you have betrayed the Deep and our ways," he said towards her with hatred, making her shy from his angry gaze in despair. And then in a fit of rage, he threw her across the room and directly into the table, destroying it and sending her collection flying.

Attempting to recover from the blow, she used a single arm to prop herself up as she winced from the pain. She tried to sit up but was forced back down when Tal'rooth put his foot to her chest.

"You were never one of us," he growled in a low tone. "A true Hive would have destroyed those items on sight. I'm ashamed to think I ever called you my friend."

Those last words hit her harder than anything he had done to her so far, she felt as if she had just taken a wire rifle to the heart. She felt her soul breaking in two, unable to do anything but lay on the floor in stunned silence as he towered over her with a hateful glare on his face.

She could see him visibly clenching his hands as he stared her down. He was furious, his body posture was tense, his eyes bore into her like daggers, and his teeth were ground so tight she was sure he was going to break them - just by observing his body language alone, it was clear he now wanted her dead.

"How could you Xala?" he lulled in his anger just long enough to send her a questioning look."How could you betray the pureness that is the Deep, the absoluteness that is the Sword Logic? How could you do this to the Hive, to me, to renounce the ways of our people in the secret worship of that sinful... thing!" he finished with venom, looking at the Traveller with hatred.

Xala just broke his gaze in response, dropping her head down as a feeling of despair overtook her. Nothing she could say would be able to fix this.

"Not going to defend yourself are you, well then this is the fate that both you and the blasphemous Traveller are going to share!" Without another word, he walked up to the statue of the big white sphere and swiftly brought his foot down upon it. Xala watched in horror as Tal'rooth destroyed her replica, grinding her work into what amounted to broken eggshells under his heel. A feeling of hopelessness and heartbreak overcame her as she looked at the remains of the faux Traveller on the floor, now just a sad husk of what it used to be.

Tal'rooth panted heavily, his chest heaving and his shoulders rushing and falling with each breath. He stood with his face away from her, much of his anger had burned off as he stood above his handiwork.

Slowly, he began to turn, an air about him that sent shivers down her spine as he made to face her. He raised his hand and pointed one spindly claw at her. "Now it's your turn!" he growled out just before lunging at her.

Xala barely had time to roll away before Tal'rooths foot came down where her head had just been moments prior. Scrambling to her feet, she found herself backpedaling away from him as he tried swiping at her with his claws. Her heart was pounding in her chest as her former friend attempted to kill her. She looked past him to the open vent, she had to get away, but every time she tried to get past he swiped at her again, keeping her trapped in the corner of the apartment.

As she tried to find a way past, Tal'rooth attempted to lunge at her again, but she quickly jumped out of the way. Unable to stop due to his sudden momentum, he continued onwards until he stepped on a piece of the Traveller statue, disrupting his balance as he struggled to stay upright.

Seeing her chance, Xala shoved him down and made a break for the vent. She reached the grate just as Tal'rooth recovered, letting out a bellowing roar as he set after her. Fear coursing through her veins, she dove through the passageway, her knees colliding painfully with the rim, but was drowned out by the adrenaline pumping through her. Xala hurried through the tunnel, her rapid movements reverberating through the metal walls around her like a violent thunderstorm with Tal'rooth right on her tail.

"Xala!" he screamed from just behind her, rage and blood lust evident in his voice.

Tuning out her pursuer, she kept on going until she literally tumbled out of the vent. Once she was back on her feet, she bolted down the hallway, trying to put as much distance between them as possible. Xala ran as hard and as fast as she could, sprinting blindly through the Arcology, she didn't know where she was going to go, but at the moment all she knew was she had to escape Tal'rooth.

So preoccupied she was with getting away, that she didn't realize where she was until it was far too late; she had found herself back on the grounds for Verra'nal'toa's experiments. She attempted to turn back but discovered that Tal'rooth had cut her off from the exit, blocking her only means of freedom and leaving her trapped.

Now left with no other options, Xala turned around and did the only thing still available. "Tal'rooth, please, don't do this," she begged him, taking one step backward for each one he took forwards.

Tal'rooth simply met her pleas with a dangerous growl. "Why shouldn't I, you've betrayed the Hive and everything we stand for - and for that the punishment is death!"

By now, their little confrontation had caught the attention of all the Hive in the area, several sets of green orbs falling on the two as they had their standoff.

"But what about our friendship, all the things we've done together, does that not mean anything to you anymore?" she tried to get him to see reason, persuade him to stop.

Tal'rooth looked at her as if she'd said something vulgar. "Any sort of 'friendship' died the moment you decided to betray the Deep!" he snapped at her, causing all the other Hive to give death glares and level what weapons they might have at her. "It died when you chose to serve the Sky and forsake the Hive! 'Friendship' Xala, we were never friends!"

She felt another jab to her heart when he said that, her will to go on simply fading like dying embers. Before she knew it, Tal'rooth had backed her up against a pillar with nowhere to go.

She watched in fear as he wore a victorious expression on his face. Attempting one last chance to escape, she tried moving to the side, but he stopped her and slammed her painfully back up against the pillar. Her heart was beating rapidly in her chest, her breathing and movements tense as her eyes made contact with his in terror.

With a toothy grin, Tal'rooth suddenly reached a hand out and fastened it around her throat, cutting off her air supply. Xala beat madly at his grip, trying and failing to get him off of her. The edges of her vision started to grow dark, while her movement began growing sluggish and weak, her lungs crying out for oxygen as she feebly continued to fight back.

Her arms started to go limp and her head started lolling to the side as the strength left her body. She fought to stay awake as her eyelids grew heavy, fluttering shut as the forever sleep threatened to claim her. Before they had a chance to close permanently, however, a sudden explosion from the entryway ricked the entire balcony, distracting Tal'rooth and the other Hive long enough for her to escape his grip.

Collapsing to the ground, Xala rolled over onto her hands and knees as she coughed heavily, letting her lungs get all the air they needed.

As she regained her senses, she heard the sounds of guns starting to fire, followed by the deathly roars of the Hive. Blinking the haze out of her eyes, she turned her head towards the fighting and saw the Hive running in droves to intercept...

...The Guardians!

Xala froze as she stared at the Guardians in awe. She had never actually seen any of their kind before, only heard stories about them from other Hive.

From behind the safety of the pillar, she watched as the battle began to unfold before her eyes.

There were three of them, a Titan, a Warlock, and a Hunter: warriors of the Light, defenders of the Sky, and the protesters of the Last City. They shone like beacons in the darkness, bravely charging headfirst into a sea of Hive.

Unlike the Eliksni attack a few days ago, the Guardians tore through the Hive like they were nothing, effortlessly ripping apart their ranks with the Traveller's blessing flowing through their veins. They amounted to gods on the battlefield, dancing gracefully around their enemy as they dealt blow after blow. For every kill the Guardians racked up, the Hive were unable to make any headway, for any wounds they received were not enough to stagger them and would heal quickly.

In one instance, she watched as one of the Guardians began to shine with the Traveller's light as rolling flames enveloped their entire body. Tongues of fire reached out for anything they could consume as the Guardian threw burning hammers at his foes, causing any Hive they came into contact with to be disintegrated instantly.

She watched in doe-eyed fascination as the Guardians fought, their wonderous light helping them to control the battlefield. They were absolutely amazing, the warriors and defenders of the Sky, everything she had ever longed for was now right in front of her - getting to see them and the Light so close, it was like a dream come true.

...And then that dream shattered before her eyes.

As she gazed upon the battle, the sense of euphoria she was experiencing all but vanished when one of the Guardians looked directly at her. Green eyes met the cold, uncaring expression of the warrior's faceplate, her heart dropping in her chest like lead as the Guardian loaded his shotgun with a fresh slug and marched right towards her.

She ducked behind the pillar just in time for a fired shotgun shell to blast apart a chunk of rock from where her head had just been. In a panic, she scrambled away from the tower of stone as the Guardian emerged from behind it, leveling the barrel of the weapon at her once again. She evaded the spray of shrapnel as best as she could, putting as much distance between them as possible.

"Please! I don't want to fight!" she cried out, but her begging for mercy fell on deaf ears to the Guardian.

In one instance, a lucky shot managed to grace the outside of her thigh, causing her to cry out in pain as she lost balance and collapsed to her knees. Unable to move, she weakly turned her head towards her attacker, desperately holding out a halting hand in one last attempt to stop him. When he showed no sign of doing so, however, she hung her head in defeat, about to be killed by the very thing she had worshiped and loved all her life.

Just before the end could come for her, however, she was saved when a couple of rounds from a Hive shredder impacted on and around her assailant, distracting him long enough for her to struggle to her feet and take cover behind a nearby rock outcropping.

She took a deep breath, letting her nerves calm down for a moment as she tried to assess the situation. Taking her hand, she felt around the back of her leg. Investigating where she was hit, she found a small wound, a crack in her chitinous armor that stung when she touched it. Pulling her hand back, a woozy feeling overcame her when she saw the dark green blood that coated her claws and palm.

As the battle raged on, Xala found the world falling apart around her as if the Arcology was coming down on her head. Staring at her bloodied hand, she was struck down with a feeling of all-encompassing dread, her breathing quickened and her thoughts became fuzzy and unclear like fog as her mind became dejected from the physical world.

She was suddenly brought back to reality when a shredder bolt impacted just a few feet from her position, bringing her back to her senses. Looking around it was clear that this area wasn't safe, the Guardians fighting on one end of the balcony, the Hive on the other; both of them wanted her dead - she had no allies here.

She knew she had to get to safety but where would she go, there were only two paths that led off the platform; the way she came was blocked by the Guardians. Turning her head, she located the entrance to Verra'nal'toa's experiments, it wasn't a good idea, but it was clear to her that it was the only option still available.

Getting to her feet, she fought against the pain lancing through her leg, limping her way across the battlefield as a white-hot fire burned at her nerves. Halfway through her trek, she collapsed to her knees and once again, succumbed to her wound.

Taking deep breaths, she hissed through her clenched teeth at the pain. Head hung low, she closed her eyes and sighed, if she couldn't get past this simple injury, then maybe it would be better just to give up. Her life here was pretty much over anyway, Tal'rooth knew her secret and it was only a matter of time till he told the other Hive, once that happened there would be nowhere she could hide, she would never be safe among her kin again. Maybe it would be easier to just give in, let the misery that was her life come to an end, she would no longer have to worry about killing for the Hive - it would all just be... over.

'NO!' She screamed in her head, her eyes snapping open with fury as they became the size of saucers. She wasn't going to give up just because things got hard, she wasn't going to die here, not like this, maybe she didn't know what she was going to do going forward, but she did know that she wasn't about to lie down and quit.

With an extra boost of determination, she got on her feet once more, marching steadily onward towards her destination with a resolve of pure iron. She ignored brutal fighting going on around her, content to let them distract each other as she slipped quietly past.

Reaching the steps that led up to Verra'nal'toa's study, Xala hunched over on her knees as she took a relieved breath, her eyes gazing at the fuzzy Hive lichen that covered the stairs. Just a moment to rest herself, she thought, she would stop for just a second to regain her strength then she would be back on her way.

"Xala!"

She was suddenly startled out of her reprieve when she heard an angry voice shout her name. Looking back the way she came, she saw Tal'rooth streaking towards her. He was visibly fuming, rage radiating off of him like fire as he sought to bring her end.

With a start, she scrambled up the stairs, her hands planting into the soft fuzz as she pulled herself up.

She had lost track of Tal'rooth when all the fighting began; the excitement of it all caused her to temporarily forget about him - first from the awe at seeing the Guardians, then from terror when they started trying to kill her.

At one point, when the stairs turned into a curve, an enraged roar from Tal'rooth caused Xala to slip and lose her footing out of fear. When she fell, her hand came down on a Hive crystal, crying out in pain when its sharp edges dug into her palm like razors. Pulling herself up, she didn't even check to see the state of her new wound before she fled back up the steps.

Reaching the top, she emerged into a large spherical chamber. It was surprisingly clean and immaculate, practically free of Hive growth. Purple neon lights built into the walls cast the room in an eerie glow. Further on, she noted that the room ended in another balcony, falling off into a dark chasm, while in the center stood a round platform, connected to the rest of the room only by a few bridges.

In the middle of the platform, atop a pedestal, was some kind of Golded Age artifact. It looked a bit like a tree, she mused, with metal branches that levitated and spun independently of each other. And at the end of each branch, were what looked like mini-Travellers about the size of one's fist, they were connected to the artifact by thin strings of pure light, like fruits growing on a tree.

And hovering right in front of the object, was Verra'nal'toa herself.

She had her back to Xala, her hands working some kind of magic as she experimented with the artifact, doing who knows what to it.

Overcome with a powerful sense of fear of getting caught, she quickly took cover behind a banister off to the side, making sure to stay out of sight.

Wanting to get a closer look at Verra'nal'toa and what she was doing, Xala began to slowly make her way around the room. When she was at about the halfway mark, she paused when a pair of Knights made themselves known from the opposite side of the room from her. Keeping hidden, she peeked her head up in curiosity when they began to approach the Witch, one of them stepped up to her, a large cleaver in his hand.

"Your eminence," he bowed his head. "The Guardians are tearing through our defenses and are all most upon us, should we retreat?"

Verra'nal'toa kept her gaze on the device, continuing in her work before she replied without breaking her attention. "No, I was counting on this," she replied evenly. "This is to be a first test run, I need to see how these react to the Guardians' Light," she finished, gesturing to the small orbs.

The Knight nodded his head in affirmation before he and his partner retreated to the edge of the bridge to stand guard.

Suddenly, there was a commotion near the entrance as Tal'rooth burst into the room, vocally announcing his arrival as he shouted out her name. At his outburst, both of the Knights moved to intercept him, with Verra'nal'toa pausing to cast him an inquisitive look.

As the Knights took him to the Witch, Xala made sure to put as much distance between them as possible, soon coming up on the edge of the balcony.

From a distance, Xala watched as Verra'nal'toa hovered imposingly in front of Tal'rooth. She knew that he now wanted her dead, but in light of that, she couldn't bring herself to hate him - she hoped the Witch didn't hurt him.

Xala watched as Tal'rooth respectfully bowed his head. "Forgive my trespassing your grace, I was in pursuit of a traitor to both the Hive and the Deep. Last I saw her she fled up this way.

It had seemed Verra'nal'toa was about to react to this startling news, given the shocked expression on her face, but before she had a chance to open her mouth, she was stopped by another commotion by the entrance.

Just like time, the Guardians came bursting through in a blaze of glory, quickly spotting the Hive as they started to open fire.

"You!" Verra'nal'toa hissed to Tal'rooth as she cast a shield to deflect the bullets. "Take up arms, I need more time to finish this."

At her beckoning, Tal'rooth jumped into the fray, shredder at the ready as he engaged the trio of Guardians. Xala witnessed as he and the two Knights held the chosen of the Traveller back, keeping them occupied as Verra'nal'toa performed the final touches on her experiment.

As the battle raged on, Xala found that she had less and less space to hide; the fighting kept pushing closer to her position, the Hive and Guardians slowly making their way to her side of the room as they exchanged bullets.

When Tal'rooth came near, he chanced a look in her direction and became red with fury when he spotted her. If it hadn't been for the Guardians keeping him distracted, he for sure would have come to finish her off.

Eventually, the Guardians were able to wear the two Knights down enough to take them out, their bodies collapsing and the swords falling from their hands as they were peppered with bullets.

Soon, only Tal'rooth was still left alive and fighting them, he constantly dodged and rolled for cover, taking shots at them whenever he could, but he wouldn't be able to keep it up for long.

As it turned out, however, he wouldn't have to, because, at that moment, Verra'nal'toa finally finished her work. Grabbing one of the small orbs, she left the platform and started drifting towards the battle like some sort of phantasm, uttering a strange chant the whole way.

When she got close enough, the Guardians diverted their attention from Tal'rooth to her, raising their rifles to engage. Before they had a chance to fire any shots, however, she suddenly held out the sphere, and Xala watched as they froze like statues. The Guardians let out sounds of struggle as they fought against their bonds. Looking to Verra'nal'toa, she saw that the air in front of the strange artifact was now seeming to glow and ripple like water - she was using it to do something to them.

"Uh, why can't I move?" she heard one of the Guardians cry. "Specter, what's happening!"

"She's doing something to our Light," another one responded, grunting out in pain as she was assaulted by whatever it was Verra'nal'toa was doing.

As if on cue, all three Guardians gasped out in alarm and objection when their Ghosts were ripped from where it was they were hiding and levitated out before Verra'nal'toa. Suddenly, a strange light started to emanate from the Ghosts as all three Guardians started screaming out in agony.

Xala felt a chill run down her spine as she saw what was unfolding right before her eyes. The Guardians were all but struck down, powerless to do anything while at the Witch's mercy.

Their screams grew in tremendous intensity, whatever she was doing was clearly causing them great pain. The glow coming from the captured Ghosts grew brighter and brighter with every second, Xala didn't know what was about to happen, but she knew that it wasn't going to be good.

A sick smile plastered itself onto Verra'nal'toa's face as the experiment reached its climax, by now, both the Guardians and Ghosts were screaming from the pain, their sounds of torture being too much for Xala as she tried to cover her ears - but to no avail.

Cracks started to form in the Ghosts' shells, whisps of Light seeping through as they began moving erratically, trying to escape as if they knew what was about to happen.

The screams grew louder as the Ghosts grew brighter still, and then, when it became clear they couldn't take it anymore, they gave off one last death wail before their shells erupted. An explosion of violent Light tore through the room, illuminating everything as the Ghosts and Guardians were killed by their own power.

Being far closer to it than Verra'nal'toa or Tal'rooth, Xala was caught directly in the blast as a wall of Light crashed into her like a tsunami, knocking her off her feet and pushing her back. She felt the Light pierce through her body, eliciting a pained wail of agony from her worm, echoing in her head like thunder. The surge of Light threw her off the edge of the balcony, her eyes flickering shut as she fell into the darkness below.


Tal'rooth stood by as Verra'nal'toa inspected a piece of broken shell. "Your eminence, if I may, what just happened?" he asked.

"What happened," she replied, dropping the shell dismissively as she turned to face him, "is my experiment was a success." She drifted back to the metal tree and put the strange orb back with the others. "This was just a test run," she clarified, "I have yet to make it as powerful as I want, but once it is finished, we will be able to turn their own Light against them."

A grin appeared on Tal'rooth's face at the prospect of the idea. "Nothing will be able to save them, not even their beloved Traveller," he spoke its name with disdain.

Verra'nal'toa turned to face him, a serious expression on her face. "Now, onto other matters. When you first arrived up here, you claimed you were chasing a traitor, explain!" she demanded of him.

"Yes, your grace," he obliged. His eyes narrowing in annoyance, after the Guardians were subdued and killed, he had let it slip his mind why he had come here. "Her name is Xala, and I'm ashamed to think I ever called her an ally. I discovered she had a secret area where she would go to commune with the Light-"

Verra'nal'toa let out a hiss of horror at that.

"-And when I attempted to subdue her she ran."

"Where did you see her last?"

"Here," Tal'rooth gestured to the room around them. "I last saw her when we were fighting the Guardians, but I lost track of her again after that. I think the blast may have knocked her over the edge?" he postulated.

Verra'nal'toa nodded, "Thank you for bringing this to my attention, I will see to it that all available forces keep an eye out for her - we will not tolerate a traitor hiding in our midst. You may excuse yourself now, I'll handle this further," she said, gesturing toward the exit.

"Very well," he said as he turned to leave, but stopped when a thought occurred to him. "May I make one request, your grace?"

She cast him a curious look.

"If you find her, I'm going to be the one who drives a blade through her heart and watch as the life leaves her eyes!" he demanded'

The Witch wordlessly turned her back to him as she started to hover away. "So it shall be."


So, what did you all think of the latest chapter, I know, Xala went through a lot today: her secret was exposed, Tal'rooth has turned against her, and all the Hive want her dead. It doesn't look good, but, don't feel too bad for her just yet, this is just where her real story is beginning, so much is coming her way, and she has no clue yet.

There were a couple of things I wanted to convey in this chapter, such as Xala reacting the way she did to seeing the Guardians, I wanted to make sure she was in awe, the way she idolized them as much as she did the Traveller. She's placed everything associated with the light atop a pedestal, and now that she's wanted dead by the Hive, it's pretty much all she has left.

In that scene where Xala got blasted with light and thrown off the balcony, I can't help but picture that one part from Captain Marvel when I think about it, you know what I'm talking about? That one scene where Carol got blasted and got her powers? Now before you get any bright ideas don't misread this, Xala's not getting superpowers now, that's not what's happening. In fact, her getting blasted by the light signified something else happening, I even teased it a little, can you figure it out?

Oh, and speaking of the explosion, you remember the device Verra'nal'toa used to do that? Don't forget about it, it's going to be a big plot point moving forward.

Well, that's all for now. I want to give a big shout-out to everyone who has faved, followed, and reviewed. And for everyone who hasn't...well... well why haven't you, seriously what are you waiting for go do it, this isn't something you want to miss.

Till next time -Endless.