Holy crap! I was not expecting to get the amount of readers that I have so far. I encourage my silent readers to leave feedback, but to those that have, thank you. To 'Billy' I will eventually incorporate your character into the story, but I have to find a right time to add him. To Buzzkill Hunter, I hope I wrote your character well. I hope you all enjoy this chapter, it will delve into the House of Wolves story. Thanks to Brawl499 for the help.
"Well…I didn't do this." The Titan and I stared at the area around us, which was littered with deceased House of Devils forces. The banners that hung from the crumbling walls were torn as if something had ripped them with a knife. "The Queen isn't going to be happy when she sees this..." The Titan stooped down and picked up a teal colored cloth, marked with white symbols. I was hoping for an explanation from her, but she dropped the cloth and motioned me towards the exit of the room.
"By the Traveler." I stared in wonder as we exited the run-down room and out into the open. On the snow covered grass laid over a hundred more House of Devils bodies, and the remains of three Devil Walkers. We stepped cautiously over the corpses as we searched the area for their killers.
"I think I know who did this. We need to hurry if my suspicion is correct." The Titan broke into a full on sprint towards a large door, above it hung teal banners, obviously in place of the House of Devils ones which were left sloppily in front of the door.
"You're going too fast; we can't just rush into things. Do you mind telling me your name, Guardian?" I trailed behind the speedy Titan who jumped through the entrance into the next building.
"It's Kaira, your pleasure to meet me, Warlock." She said over her shoulder. I wished she would fill me in on what was happening. It seemed as if she knew. "Up ahead I hear explosion and gunfire, sounds like my type of party." She pulled out The Last Word; I did the same with Thorn.
Despite the loud noises, shouting was heard, not alien, but a Guardian's. We ran up the stairs and stood in front of a giant hole in the wall, obviously made by the beast that stood in front of us.
"Please don't shoot! I'm sorry I tried to kill you, okay, but we can be friends, right?!" A Hunter bobbed and weaved through discarded Fallen equipment, avoiding blasts from the oversized Servitor in front of us.
"What am I looking at?" I stared confused at the battle, or lack there of, between the Guardian and the Servitor. For some reason the Hunter hadn't reloaded the machine gun that was slung down by his side, instead he was begging for its mercy.
"A Hunter about to get killed; they're flimsy unlike us Titans." She held her fist against her plasteel chest plate. "We need to kill that Servitor so we can get to the real problem"
"What's the real problem?" Before Kaira could answer she was already going full speed at our enemy with her left fist raised. She had a gun, so why did she act like such a brute? No matter, the Hunter needed assistance.
The Hunter's cloak was dragged on the dusty floor as he slowly limped into a dimly-lit room. Following him, my Ghost popped up next to me, providing light. Crumpled up against a wall, he tore a piece of a cloak off and wrapped it around his head. Considering the red liquid that ran down his neck, I knew why.
"You alright? I'll get you out of here once we kill that thing out there." He looked younger than me, in his late teens maybe? He looked at me, smiling from ear-to-ear.
"Ciao, fellow Guardian." Chow? Maybe he was delusional and was saying made-up words. That would explain why he wasn't fighting the Servitor. "I'm glad you came when you did, I would've been blown apart." He laughed before falling on his side.
"Ghost, watch him. We can't lose another Guardian." I knew there wasn't much Ghost would be able to do, he's no doctor, but at least he wouldn't be alone. I was about to enter the fray when Kaira was sent backwards from one of the Servitor's energy blasts. Flying like a ragdoll, she slammed into a wall, crumbling it further.
"If I can't kill it with my fists, then it can't be killed at all." She stood up on wobbling knees, using a Fallen equipment box to steady herself.
"How about you shoot it?" She tilted her head as if confused by the thought. "Watch how it's done Titan." I smiled behind my helmet as I aimed Thorn dead-center in the Servitor's 'eye'. The projectile imbedded itself within the metal plating of the Servitor, causing its shell to crack slightly.
"You're lucky I weakened it for you. A few more punches and it would be dead, but I can shoot it if you want me to." I ignored her arrogant comment and continued to shoot at my foe.
Every shot Kaira and I fired into the Servitor the further the cracks grew on its exterior. It didn't even have a chance of retaliating due to its constant flinching.
"Burn by my Light!" Gathering void into a sphere, I hurled it in front of me, hoping to finish my enemy off. With a flash of purple light, I thought I had done it, but the Servitor's metal chunks weren't raining down like rain; it was gone.
"Behind you Warlock!" I heard Kaira shout. I could hear cold metallic noises behind me, and an eerie groaning sound. The hairs on my neck stood on end, warning me, but there was no point in turning around: I would be dead before I could look at my killer. With a slight humming sound, I braced for the upcoming attack.
I felt myself fall backwards, landing on the dust covered ground. Looking up, I saw the fabric of a very exotic cape that belonged to the person in front of me. The cloak had an elk on it, surrounded by seven stars; he wore the Cosmic Joke cloak.
"Don't you dare hurt my friend, demon." The stranger in front of me raised a hefty looking machine gun. Arcs of lightning ran down the gun's barrel, making it look even more menacing. Adjusting his footing, the Hunter let loose a volley of rounds towards the Servitor, some exploding on impact. The area was filled with the thunderous uproar of the machine gun firing, and the Servitor shooting energy blasts haphazardly, trying to hit us. After what seemed like forever, the fire stopped, and the room went quiet. The cracks on the Servitor shone like a bright purple light as its metal frame began crumbling apart. The 'machine god' became enveloped in a blinding light, so bright that Kaira, the Hunter, and I had to cover our faces. With a loud screech, one last explosion shook the area as bits and pieces of the Servitor were sent flying everywhere like shrapnel.
"This is really bad." Kaira mumbled as she helped me to my feet.
"What's wrong, friend? We killed the one-eyed tin can," My ghost appeared next to the Hunter, staring him down. The Hunter laughed nervously. "And none of us died, right?"
"I know who you are." Ghost scanned the teen's body repeatedly. "You are not fooling anyone." My Ghost seemed suspicious to say the least of the Guardian. Ghost was suspicious of everything lately, but then again, I couldn't detect the Light of the Hunter.
The kid rubbed his neck as Ghost flew circles around him. Kaira patted the Hunter's back roughly, causing him to tense up.
"Nice job. Even though I did do most of the heavy lifting." Kaira said as she took the Hunter's hand. "The names Kaira, write it down if you need to."
"My pleasure to meet you. My name is Lucius." He bowed, almost falling forward, probably due to blood loss.
"Well I'm Allister. Where are you from, if I may ask?" Ghost quit inspecting him, looking forward to his answer.
"I was born and raised in a settlement in Old Rome." A settlement outside of the City? I didn't buy that.
"Raised from the dead right?" Kaira spoke up. She removed her helmet, letting me see her facial features for the first time. Her hair was silver, wolf like. A small scar marked her chin, obviously earned long ago, due to it almost blending in with her tanned skin. She frowned, puzzled by Lucius' response.
"Yeah…" He ran his fingers through his blood soaked hair. "Our town was very well hidden. The ruins of Rome have been pillaged by the Fallen long ago; we rarely saw any of the Darkness' minions."
Kaira and I exchanged looks; we both knew something was off. "Well, where's your Ghost?"
"My Ghost?" Lucius looked puzzled; Kaira shook her head, catching onto his lies. My Ghost didn't seem to care about what the teen had said, but looked around aimlessly.
"I'm picking up energy confluxes around this area." He hovered around different objects, scanning them before moving to another. "No, it couldn't be." He stopped and darted back to our group. "We need to go to the City now!"
"Are you malfunctioning or something? You've been acting strangely as of late." I was tempted to pick up Ghost and inspect him for any damage, but out of the corner of my eye, I could see dark clouds forming behind me, above the remains of the Servitor. We all looked at the strange cloud; Kaira slowly approached it, aiming The Last Word directly at it.
"I want to say that this is the strangest thing I've seen, but then there's Xur." Despite the fact that it was a poor decision, Kaira stuck her one of her hands into the dark cloud, before stepping into it completely.
"Am I seeing things, or did she really just do that." Maybe I had blood loss like Lucius because Kaira was nowhere to be found. We looked behind the strange cloud only to see that Kaira was indeed missing.
"If my prediction is correct, Kaira is on Venus somewhere, and we all know what that means." Ghost grimly.
"The Vex, how it that possible though? aren't they usually on Mars and Venus? And last time I checked the Vex couldn't teleport guardians."
"Impossibilities have never stopped the Vex before. I detected strong energy readings near the Ishtar sink on Venus, those correlated to the ones here on earth. I believe we should investigate this further." Lucius stepped in front of the cloud, and then turned to face me.
"We need to get our friend back, and if that involves stepping into this cloud thing, then so be it." I hastily grabbed the back of his cape and pulled him back before he could step into the teleporter.
"You don't have a helmet, and you're bleeding all over the place. You should wait here." I said, cautioning him.
"I think it's best if he comes with us. We can't leave him alone in Fallen territory." Ghost said. A white mist surrounded Lucius' head, when it dissipated a typical, newborn Hunter helmet was on him.
"I don't like this one bit. Just make sure you stay close to me, alright?" I slowly stuck my foot through the teleporter before letting my entire body go through. Everything was quiet, and all I could see was white. So this was what it's like to teleport like the Vex. After a moment, I felt weightless, looking down I knew why. The Vex platform below me would break my fall, if it didn't break me completely.
I stuck my hands out in front of me attempting to break my fall. Taking the blunt force, I collided with the platform, rolling around in pain. When I was about to get up a large weight pushed me back down.
"Sorry friend; I appreciate you softening my fall." Lucius rolled off of me, and helped me get on my feet. My jaw dropped at the spectacle in front of me. Not too far from us, stood a Fallen solider easily ten feet tall, surrounded by Vex Goblins.
"Since when does the House of Winter get along with the Vex?" A further inspection of the Fallen soldier revealed that its color was off. Instead of being a solid blue, it was of a lighter color, teal maybe? In front of the hordes of enemies stood Kaira, with her fists up she shouted curses at her foes.
"Leave it to a Titan to pick a fight with an army." I turned to Lucius. "Make sure you reload that machine gun of yours. I'm afraid we have a lot of killing to do." He nodded and scrambled to get rounds for his gun out.
"Remember when Kaira mentioned the Queen being upset about something?" Ghost spoke up. "It looks as if her loyal guards pledge their allegiance elsewhere."
"Doesn't she control the House of Wolves; why would they be working with the Vex?" I readied Thorn. Both factions together under the same roof were always a bad thing.
"We may want to get those answers afterwards. Our Titan ally seems to be in a bit of trouble." We turned our attention back to Kaira who was now in an all-out brawl with the legions of Goblins, punching and shooting them in their abdomens, causing them to explode, splattering their organic goo everywhere.
"Leave it to a Titan… Come on Lucius, let's go help her out." We ran from behind cover towards the battle. Whatever the Vex and the Wolves were up to, I would get to the bottom of it.
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Leave feedback if you have time. It helps a lot. Just in case you didn't know how to pronounce the Hunter's name, its pronounced Lu-Shus. He was a submitted character. The name that was given to him is very interesting, and it kinda foreshadows what might happen in the story. If you want your character in this story, don't be afraid to submit him/her. The next chapter will have a lot of House of Wolves stuff in it, and it will introduce the main antagonist(s). That's it for now. Until next time, see you all later.