Author's Note: Alright next chapter. And if you want to know what Fenris is read on, I'm not going to give it away so fast. Hope you all enjoy
Chapter 5: The Ruins
Fenris was taking point as the three silently came closer to the ruins. The grass was getting longer, and there were chunks of old building laying around. The ancient structures were just in front of a cliff, so the ruins were cast in shadows.
"I don't see anybody, are you sure there are elites here?" Nathan whispered.
"They are here," Jimaelhae said, looking straight ahead. Nathan looked again, and saw a blue elite standing inside the ruins, just behind a broken wall. He looked calm, he didn't suspect anything.
"They don't know we're here," Nathan said, Fenris stopped at looked behind them.
"Yes they do. They are stalking us," she said.
"How can you know that?" Jimaelhae quietly asked her.
"It doesn't matter right now, what are we going to do about it?" Fenris said, pushing the question back onto the larger elite.
"Walk into plain sight. It is the best plan for our intentions," Jimaelhae answered.
"If I get shot, I'm going to be pissed," Nathan said, standing and leading the three to the ruins.
They walked in peace for a few meters before they heard rustling in the grass on either side of them. Though Jimaelhae and Nathan were startled, Fenris had known they were there long ago. She had heard them, had smelt them. Looking to either side, Nathan noticed the blurs. They uncloaked, revealing six elites, all with weapons trained on the trio.
Fenris bit her bottom lip barely registering the events around her; she needed some of her pills, but she was running really low and had to conserve them. She was pushing it.
"Drop your weapons," an elite in white commanded.
The three did so, though Fenris and Nathan were not very comfortable doing so. The white elite stepped forward, and made a small laugh.
"Jimaelhae. I did not expect you to show your face around here. Especially accompanied by two humans," he said, spitting out Jimaelhae's name as if in disgust.
"Vartainee, I did not expect you to still be living," Jimaelhae answered, slight anger entering his voice.
Nathan and Fenris exchanged glances, both mouthing 'shit' to each other. They knew this was going to get ugly.
"It would seem that warriors worthy of being on this sacred ring are mostly dead. I am not with them just yet. You however do not deserve to be here, you are not even a true warrior," Vartainee said harshly, stepping closer to the other elite and staring him in the eyes.
Strangely enough Jimaelhae let out a small laugh, and he matched Vartainee's stare evenly.
"I may not have been handed my honor true enough. I earned it. Did you?" Jimaelhae replied.
The other elites glanced at each other, shocked that someone, especially a low born, would talk to a Vartainee with such disrespect. Nathan and Fenris looked at the alien warriors around them, all holding weapons of some form. Fenris especially noted the elite holding dual needlers; she remembered the damage those pink barbs could do to someone. She absent-mindedly put a hand on her right shoulder.
"I have, on countless occasions. Never doubt me," Vartainee said, and then his eyes glanced over the two humans standing behind Jimaelhae, as if noticing them for the first time. He eyes narrowed slightly.
"The brute's betrayal was not enough, a Sanghelli warrior had to turn on us as well. Take them," Vartainee commanded.
"Fuck," Fenris yelled as the elites ran in. Jimaelhae screamed out in rage and threw a punch at Vartainee's face, but the older elite easily blocked the attack and hit Jimaelhae in the neck with hi elbow. The lowborn elite fell to the ground unconscious.
Nathan was punched in the chest. He gasped in pain, feeling his wound reopen yet again and fresh blood immediately start to run out from under his bandages.
Three elites came for Fenris. She saw her two comrades go down, and felt anger rise up in her gut. She hadn't had her pills.
The first elite threw a punch at her face, but she ducked and drove her shoulder into the alien's gut. She heard him let out a gasp as all the air flew form his lungs. She turned and drove a fist into the second elite's neck, and he fell to the ground much like Jimaelhae. She turned again, in time to catch an armored forearm to the face which threw her back a few feet.
She landed on her back, blood flowing from her broken nose in a steady stream. She looked up at the elite coming towards her, his hand reaching down for her.
"Mother fucker," she managed to say before falling unconscious.
"Pack it all up you dogs. We move," Barkarus roared above the noise of the camp. The brutes and jackals responded immediately, putting out fires, and packing up the tents.
The time had come for the Covenant to take back the sacred ring.
"What's the first objective?" Cerberus asked coming up beside the chieftain.
"We're splitting into two groups. There is a human held structure to the north. I'll lead the majority of the troops there; the humans are proving to be a considerable thorn, more so than the elites. For you though, there are some ruins to the west, just past the valley where you attacked the Arbiter. It is held by a small group of elites. Kill them all," Barkarus said.
Cerberus snorted with approval. He pulled a large axe off his shoulder. He was tired of the brute shot, death from a distance was not as fun. He preferred the feeling of cold metal swathing through warm flesh.
"It will be done," Cerberus told the chieftain, then walked off, rubbing the metal shaft of his axe.
Barkarus watched Cerberus go. That was one warrior he was thankful of being on the same side with. He was also afraid to be on the same battlefield as him. That brute would be difficult to take down, maybe more so than even Tartarus.
Cerberus gathered those brutes he thought to be the most bloodthirsty, while Barkarus prepared the rest of the troops.
"Tomorrow, we feast on our fallen foes," Cerberus said to the brutes following him.
They raised their own axes into the air, and as one they let out a roar of bloodlust. They ran out of the camp chanting for blood the entire way.
Fenris opened her eyes, and immediately regretted it and clamped them shut. Her head was throbbing, and her nose hurt like hell, and it had seemed so bright.
"They gave you a good hit," Nathan said.
Fenris opened her eyes again, it was dark in here, but a single stream of light came in through a hole in the wall. Her head was directly in its path, which was why it had seemed so bright. She crawled away from the stream of light, and her eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness.
They were packed into a small room, which for some reason had bars. It had been a prison once, and was being used as one again. Jimaelhae was in the corner, his face hidden by shadows. Nathan was sitting on a bench, arms wrapped around himself to try and keep himself warm in the cold cell.
All three had been stripped of their armor, which left Jimaelhae naked. Fenris looked at the elite.
"You okay?" she asked.
"You were right, there will be no peace in the galaxy," Jimaelhae said.
Fenris raised her eyebrows. She had already known that, how could he not. She knew that even if the elites had been willing for peace, humans never would. They would want vengeance, they would want blood. Humans really were just as bad as these aliens. No one could see the other side's point of view.
Taking a breath Fenris reached into the pocket of her combat pants, hoping the elites hadn't searched her, or at least hadn't taken them. Her fingers closed around the plastic pill container. She let out another deep breath, and pulled them out.
"What are they for?" he asked.
The look she gave him let him know he was stepping into very personal territory. He looked into her eyes, and his own widened. He had not really noticed them before. They were hazel, flecked with gold. Behind them was something else though, something not entirely human.
"They keep me… calm," Fenris answered with slight hesitation, before popping two of the white tablets in her mouth.
Almost instantly her eyes changed from their stunning hazel and gold to a warm brown. Somehow it reminded Nathan of his dog Jasper instead of another human.
"As long they don't affect your performance," Nathan said, though the statement seemed empty somehow.
"They do, but that's the point," Fenris responded, walking over to the bars, and pressing her head against the cold metal to try and calm the throbbing. The combination of cold and her pills was helping with the pain running through her head, much of it stemming from her nose. She reached up and forced the bones and cartilage back into place, causing more blood to flow.
Nathan could hear the crunching even across the cell. He winced slightly. He took a breath.
"Have you heard anything about reclaimers before?" Nathan asked her.
She spun and looked at him.
"How do you know about the reclaimers?" she asked.
"One of the flood spoke to me, he called me a reclaimer," Nathan answered.
Fenris frowned, and slowly turned, again placing her head against the bars.
"I know about them, or should I say I know about us," she said after a few moments of silence. Nathan stood and walked across the cell so he was right beside her. Even Jimaelhae looked up.
"Tell me," Nathan said. Fenris bit her bottom lip, before she turned her head slightly, to look up at the sergeant.
"We were created by the forerunners to reclaim the galaxy from their mistakes. Unfortunately for them and us the forerunners disappeared before they could teach us everything. Now we are on the brink of extinction, and we are supposed to save the universe," Fenris said, a humorless smile crossing her face.
"So humans are the reclaimers," Nathan asked for confirmation.
"Not all of them," Fenris answered.