Six Breaths

The smoke lit the streets with an eerie light, reflecting its source and painting strange shadows on the walls.

Alia spun around the corner, pulse rifle held in steady hands, even as her heart beat a quickening staccato beneath her chest piece. A breath, that was all there was time for. The clatter no pair of boots or shoes that had adorned a human foot had ever made came closer, so quickly, too many beats, as though the creature ran on four feet rather than two. She pushed off the wall with her shoulder, already sighting down the barrel. One pulse, no, correct a little lower. There, one more. The Fallen shrieked, ether flowing from its torn throat. She spun around the corner again, reloaded, reflected.

This was a little more than she had expected. In some ways better, in some ways worse than the Faction Wars that had erupted in the city. All that mess had come to a sudden and screeching halt and she was in an odd way grateful to the Fallen.

They shouldn't have been fighting amongst themselves in the first place. She had lost friends as the Factions had clashed. Innocents had died in the crossfire, the Factions had claimed it justified. Those who stood against them were of another mind. Many had joined against the Factions, determined to guard rather than suppress. Many had not.

Things had been at a stalemate when the first Titan guard had called warning of the mass approaching the walls. Two, three….six. One for each approach. Surrounded, cut off, pressed on all sides, all sides had been forced to table their differences in the face of a greater threat. A threat that was now scaling the walls like man-sized spiders, despite the Titans that strove to hold them back.

Stragglers. But still stragglers in dangerous numbers. Any one left unchecked would cause untold loss of life against the unprepared civilians that even now ran for cover, calling for help. She took another breath and dashed out into the street, her eyes searching for figures within the fire lit smoke.

"Stoneborn, to me!" She heard above the crackling flames. At least a dozen roars answered the call.

The Titans can handle this side. Toby advised.

She nodded, dashing the other direction.

She heard more chittering and slid to a halt, making herself low to the ground as she peered around another corner. This area of the city was a veritable maze, but all the better for someone like her who was used to navigating inhospitable terrain. Unless she came to a corner like this one. Too easy to be pinned down, no cover to speak of and three Vandals lying in wait.

Alia, above you.

She looked up.

The rooftops here were lower. She dashed along, her eyes on the streets below, leaping crumbling gaps that appeared beneath her feet. Within, the void lay in wait, patient. She crouched, pulled out a grenade and primed it before tossing it against the wall below. A shadestep backwards and she landed in front of the Fallen in the alley, opening fire and pushing them into the waiting torrent of void light behind them.

She shook her head, reloading again, already moving on.

Rage simmered inside her, she fed it to the void. She was tired, she fed the weariness to the void. She would allow herself to feel nothing but purpose. She would find them, and she would feed them to the void as well. Every. Last. One.

Another corner. She stopped, crouched and moved back against the wall. Rubble and shadow hid her. The mass of Fallen stood in the middle of the courtyard, the towering Captain barking orders to the gathering of dregs and vandals surrounding her. Alia looked around the area, searching for a way to lay an ambush. There was no way should could win in a straight on fight against these numbers.

Her eyes caught and her breath froze in her chest as wide eyes flashed in the darkness of one of the shattered storefronts on the other side of the square. She looked back to the Fallen. A few of the dregs had broken away from the gathering, began poking around in the debris. Close, too close.

She reached over her shoulder, fingers searching for the smooth, worn wood of her bow.

One of the dregs had reached the storefront.

They'll be seen! Toby called in alarm.

"I know." She whispered. "I need…" Where was it?

There's no time!

She knew. She knew. The void boiled to her fingertips. She needed her bow. It wouldn't work without it. She needed...

A scream.

No time. She drew in a quick inhale and leapt over her cover with a roar to draw their attention, and win the civilians some time. The Fallen, which had begun to converge on the people hiding in the shadows, turned to stare.

She needed. The bow!

Violet light erupted from her hands, forming the bow, forming the arrow. Cold filled her, surrounded her, reality tearing beneath her will.

There.

She drew.

She fired.

Void light crackled, the bow disappearing before her feet could even touch the ground. The arrow hit, striking the ground between the Captain's feet. It erupted, sending out tendrils to drag the Fallen into the hole she had torn between realities. The enemy stumbled, disoriented.

She pulled out her weapon, still dazed, when she heard the crackle of arc.

Another Hunter, covered in living electricity, dashed out of the shadows, blade flashing, cloak twirling as he danced among the captured Fallen, dispersing them into atoms. The Captain fell last, just as the hole closed itself, the tendrils pulled back from whence they came.

He stopped, flicking the last remnants of arc from his cloak with an absent gesture. "It's safe now." He called into the storefront. "But stay put, okay?"

The shadows withdrew deeper into the ruined building.

She approached, still a little dazed. "Andal."

"Hey kid, that was some fine void work." He turned. She caught the white flash of his teeth as he grinned. "Haven't seen anything quite like it."

She shook her head. "Neither have I." Never had she been able to summon the arrow without the physical aid of her bow. "It just happened."

"Yeah, sometimes it works that way." He nodded. "But hey, it was good work. You deserve to brag a little bit."

A reluctant chuckle erupted from within her helmet.

"Okay, enough congratulations. Well done, blah blah, pat on the back. We'll talk about it later." He clapped her on the shoulder then put his hand to his ear, holding up a finger for her to wait.

"City is clear." He finally said. "But there are still forces outside the walls. We need to move out."

She hefted her rifle, letting out a deep breath. "Then let's do it."

Somehow they had found each other in the midst of battle. They had fought side by side, not acknowledging the other's presence except unconsciously countering strengths and weaknesses. They had fought, and they had won.

Zavala turned, arm outstretched.

Alia took his offer of help and used his bulk to stand. He was unmoved by her weight, the weight of her armor, a Titan in all regards. She held onto his hand a little longer than needed.

He did not protest. Perhaps his eyes even warmed a little, though his expression did not change,

She wished she could coax out a smile, but there were so few to be had.

She surveyed their surroundings. "We survived." She felt moved to say, her eyes on the shattered landscape.

He nodded, the smoldering flames reflected in his glowing turquoise eyes. "Many did not. But the walls still stand. Still we survive, and will rebuild." His eyes turned to the sleeping orb above.

She nodded, "We will survive."

Just before they transmatted away, leaving behind so many who would not share in their victory, she released Zavala's gauntleted hand.

Alia settled into the cockpit of her recently acquired ship before burying her head in her hands.

"Alia?" Toby materialized above her shoulder. "Are you well?"

She breathed deeply and tapped the side of her helmet, asking him to remove it. It melted away and she took another deep breath before letting her head loll back against the seat. "It's just hard to believe it's over."

"Well, it's not entirely over. Keep in mind that the trouble with the Factions was not entirely resolved, as well as the fact that a large portion of the town will need to be rebuilt…also you still need to speak with Andal and…"

"Please, stop." She whispered. "Just let me breathe a little bit longer."

"Would you like me to take the ship around the Traveler a few times before we land?"

"That would be nice." She agreed, closing her eyes and rubbing her fingers against her palm, holding on to the sensation of Zavala's hand engulfing hers for as long as she was able. "I just need to rest…for a little while."