Thanks to all of you that left a review and or Favorited/followed this story so far. Thanks to Brawl499 for helping me with this.
Getting out of the Hellmouth wasn't easy, but the rewards were worth the risk. Observing the Thorn it seemed as if its jet black paint reflected no light, only absorbed it. The Speaker would want this gun, but it poses no threat to a Guardian with a strong enough will.
It was quiet at the Tower, an unusual thing. Few Guardians were relaxing in the courtyard, admiring the Traveler's beauty and basking in its Light.
"Guardian." A voice called out. I looked around only to see three green eyes peering at me. "I have a mission for you."
I tried my hardest to steer clear of that witch Eris, but once you made eye contact with her, you had to speak.
I nodded my head.
"I have sent a Titan to exterminate a trio of Wizards hiding near the Forgotten Shore that have been disrupting the push to take back the Cosmodrome. Unfortunately, the Titan has gone missing. I fear she has been captured by those abominations. Go to the Forgotten Shore, save the Guardian, and annihilate those Wizards."
I bowed and walked away, not able to look at her piercing eyes, nor the river of darkness pouring out of them. I started towards the Ship Bay, but noticed that Ghost was hanging unusually close to my head.
"You lied. You never do that." Ghost appeared in front of my face, stopping me from walking. "You said you'd give Thorn to the Speaker."
I grabbed the Hand Cannon from my waist and inspected its jagged, bone-like exterior. Simply holding it sent chills up my spine.
"I can't give it up yet, I will when Eris' task is completed."
A blue light shone from ghost, sweeping my body up and down. "The longer you stay with that cursed weapon, the more you risk becoming like Dredgen Yor."
"He let power corrupt him; I shall not be that weak." Lightly pushing Ghost out of my face, I went to the Tower Hangar. "Ghost, call my ship so we can get this job done."
Ghost shook his metal shell, as we faded from the Tower.
X
X
X
Explosions and gunfire echoed across the landscape of Old Russia, as I was teleported to the ground. Looking around I could see that Ghost had conveniently dropped me off on a rusted ship, surrounded by water.
"I'm surprised you didn't transport me into a Fallen outpost." I dropped down into the shallow water; doesn't he know how hard it is to clean these robes?
"That can be arranged."
"You're so moody. Here… how's this?" I sheathed Thorn and brought out The Last Word. "Happy?"
"You don't get it do you? That weapon will be your downfall; do you even know how many Guardians were killed by it?" Ghost dropped his calm attitude, and gained an authoritative one. If I wasn't imagining things, it sounded like he had raised his voice.
"I fully understand the risk. Trust me for right now." Ghost scanned me again like earlier, and then seemed to give up reasoning with me.
I began jogging towards the coordinates Eris had given me, occasionally hiding in a bush when a Fallen Skiff loomed over the area. I came to an entrance to a cave that a Hive Seeder had created. "Her coordinates lead to there." The only problem was getting past the legion of Acolytes blocking the cave. Then again, the Hive were basically walking zombies, a bullet would tear through them with ease.
Ducking behind a rock, I picked out my first target. The first thing the Acolyte would have seen was the barrel of my gun, and then it would have seen the bullet I promptly shot into its head. Responding, the surrounding Acolytes shrieked as they pointed their guns at me.
Shooting five more shots, I sent five more of their heads flying off their boney necks. I went back behind the cover of the rock, quickly reloading the Hand Cannon. I was about to exterminate more of the creatures, but a looming shadow blocked out the light from where I was.
Without hesitation I rolled from behind the rock, right next to the Knight. Unfortunately I didn't have time to react as the Knight swung its fist, knocking me into the air.
Landing roughly on my face, I struggled to get back on my knees. The Knight approached me as it swung its sword haphazardly, flinging snow and dirt everywhere.
"I hate these things." I said through gritted teeth. Putting its head in my sights, I shot The Last Word, attempting to break apart its withered body. Raising its sword above its head, the Knight swung it down towards me. Blink jumping seconds before my death, I increased the distance between me and my foe.
"I'm sorry Ghost." This was no ordinary Knight. I the longer I battled it, the more likely death was. Pulling out Thorn, I pulled the trigger despite the protests of my conscious. The creature attempted to run at me, but stumbled to the ground. Its body withered even further before crumbling into a thick, black dust.
I expected to see my Ghost staring at me accusingly, but to my surprise he hadn't spoken about my use of Thorn. Wiping the dust off my robes I continued into the cave.
Green crystal-like objects covered the roof of the cave, providing light to the otherwise dim area. Detecting motion ahead, I progressed slowly. I could hear their devilish chanting and laughing. The sick freaks were probably laughing at their latest kill.
Slightly angered at the possibility of another Guardian getting killed, I stormed forward, determined to kill the minions of the Darkness.
Nearing a wider part of the cave, a loud crunching sound attracted my attention.
I looked down at my foot only to find the shattered remains of a Ghost. My own ghost hovered above the deceased one.
"I'm sorry, I didn't see it."
"I can detect the light of a Guardian up ahead. Make sure the Guardian doesn't suffer the same fate." I definitely wasn't going to allow these monstrosities to claim another life.
Peeking around a pillar of rock, I could see the captured Guardian, and her captors. She was tied down by heavy chains as the Wizards hovered in circles above her, chanting.
"You're lucky I'm tied down. If and when I break out, I'll kick all your asses!" The Titan flailed around, struggling against the chains.
The Wizards let out a sickening laugh, hearing it made my heart feel heavy.
"Why are you all laughing? If you wanna hear something really funny, wait 'till you hear one of my jokes. The punchlines are real gut busters." The Titan didn't seem to grow weary of attempting to break the chains. If anything she was fighting against them harder.
Not wasting any more time, I ran out from the cover, firing the Thorn as I charged the Wizards. With an agonizing scream, one of their comrades became nothing more than ash from a well-placed shot. The Wizards seemed to be falling back further back into the cave. Taking the chance, I went to aid the Titan.
"A Guardian?" The Titan's head perked up. "Hurry up and untie me, I need to kill the one on the left." She glared at the Wizard as I freed her.
"You need a weapon." I offered her The Last Word, hoping she'd take it so I'd have a reason to use the Thorn.
"I don't need a gun." She jumped off the table and began to sprint at the retreating Wizards. "Runnin' are we? Cowards, you can't outrun a Titan." The Wizard on the left turned around just in time to take one last look at the Titan, who shoulder-charged her into the wall. The rock crumbled, burying the Wizard and its final screams.
The Wizard on the right stared at me with its luminous blue eyes. Those eyes, I had seen them before on the Moon. With a blood curdling laugh, the blue eyed wizard disappeared in a thick cloud of smog. I was about to speculate on what that freak was staring at me for, but the uproars of the Titan grabbed my attention.
"Stupid…filthy…worthless!" The Titan stood, kicking at the crumbled rock. "You killed my Ghost you decrepit, withering, creaky, dust-blooded…..!" She kicked harder each time sending more rock falling off the walls. She fell to her knees and stared at the rock pile.
My Ghost looked from me to her.
"I got it." I assured as I approached the Titan. Placing a hand on her shoulder, she quickly stood up.
"That bastard killed my bastard." She shook her head. "The poor little beautiful bastard." She sighed then outstretched her arm to me.
"Oh, hello my name is Alister, what's-"
"I wasn't trying to greet you. Give me your weapon now, I've got a job to do and it involves killing these monsters, which I intend to do." I cautiously handed her The Last Word, grip first
My Ghost watched me with his luminous eye, silently warning me as I held Thorn behind my neck.
The Titan looked me up and down. "Are you a Warlock or a Hunter? Quit posing like that, I have things to do, and you're gonna help." She inspected The Last Word for a quick second before using it to motion towards the deeper and darker part of the cave. "Try and keep up, little Warlock." She trudged further into the damp cave, disappearing in the poorly-lit tunnel.
Ghost floated next to my head, spinning his axis. "Go ahead, little Warlock."
"You first, Little Light."
"Not funny."
I hope you all enjoyed. Any feedback would be appreciated. I know that this chapter was short, but if I didn't end it here the chapter would be too long. Chapter three should be up soon.