I do not own Destiny or any of the characters.
The Witch Queen
"I'm so glad you're here to see this," Savathûn greeted them as they stepped onto the top level of the palace.
She formed before them from several shining silhouettes that all merged into her full body, and she instantly opened fire with a stream of Arc Blasts, but they scattered, all opening fire on her. As Hunter passed Saint and the Slayer, both of whom had Shotguns, His SIVA formed a pair of weapons and hurled them at the pair. Saint's was a weapon somewhere between an Auto Rifle and a Machine Gun, a weapon with six spinning barrels, a white body running directly back to a buttstock, a black pistol grip with a red trigger, red along the top where the sights were, the front sight on a red ring holding the front barrels together, then a red handle on the left side at the back of the barrels to chamber a round and then hold the gun while firing. The Slayers, on the other hand, was a full-sized Chaingun with a box magazine that the belt was feeding from where SIVA would generate more ammo as it fired.
As all of them fired at Savathûn, she shouted in pain, recoiling before shining with Void Light, her right hand hurling a Nova Bomb at them. They scattered, avoiding the resulting blast and singularity, continuing to spray her with their various guns. Finally, Savathûn shrieked in rage, Arc Light shining over her body before a massive storm formed around her. Then, bolts of lightning began to strike the ground in trails racing outward from her. They all fled, Hunter grabbing Elsie and using his Void intangibility dodge to save her from a bolt, but Shiro was struck directly, and John used a Ward of Dawn to shield himself and Cayde, and Saint did the same for himself and the Slayer. As the lightning cleared, everyone returned fire instantly, Hunter having swapped the Joker for his Pulse Rifle in order to use its ammunition's SIVA drones for added effect. Savathûn shouted in frustration, spraying Arc Blasts at him with her left hand as her right hand swung over herself, forming a dozen Solar Knives and hurling them at Cayde, only for John to catch the blades and hurl them back at her just as Shiro's ghost finished reviving him.
"You're as clueless as your pathetic Acolytes," Hunter growled, sending a burst into her chest, the SIVA drones swarming into her and exploding, making her recoil but still not killing her, as her wounds healed instantly, as all of the previous wounds did.
"You're right," Savathûn admitted. "That was careless of me. Let's try this, then."
She swung a hand, and a barrage of Nova Bombs burst from her hand, scattering around the battlefield. Everyone shouted in surprise, scattering and diving for anything they could use as cover from the devastating attack. As the explosions rocked the battlefield, Hunter put his rifle away, forming a pair of fans of Solar Knives. Then, as the Nova Bombs cleared, he leapt out, hurling the knives at Savathûn. As the explosions enveloped her, she shrieked in pain. Then, three shining balls of light appeared around her in the same placement as her eyes just before she vanished. In her place, a Lucent Hive of each element appeared around the battlefield. The Solar Acolyte charged for Ana, Shiro, and Cayde, firing his Splinter crossbow at them to force them into cover. At the same time, the Void Knight charged the Slayer, Saint, and John, and Elsie and Hunter both charged the Arc Wizard, who moved to meet their charge, Hunter once again armed with the Joker.
"Get out of our way!" Hunter snarled.
The Wizard shrieked, shoving its arms forward and sending a bolt of Arc lightning at them directly from its arms, but Elsie dodged aside and Hunter dropped into a slide, slipping under the strike as he fired up into the Wizard rapidly, Elsie peppering it from the side. Hunter slid back to his feet as he passed under the Wizard and turned, firing one last shot through its already heavily damaged skull, and the Wizard shrieked in pain, burning away. Hunter grabbed the Ghost and crushed it, the light once again flooding into his hand. He looked over at the others just as Ana's dogs caught the Lucent Acolyte in a crossfire, killing it and allowing Cayde to shoot the Ghost's core. At the same time, Saint and the Slayer crashed into the Void Knight's shields, catching them and ripping them outward, forcing the Knight to expose itself just in time for John to slash its throat with his pistol's grip, then slash the Knight down the middle with his sword. As the Knight dissolved, John shot the Ghost as Daisy and Saint's Ghost healed their respective Guardian's severely wounded hands from extended contact with the edges of the Knight's shields.
Then, Savathûn had reappeared, but this time, everyone was ready. Every single person except Hunter and Elsie pulled a rocket launcher off of their backs, Hunter and Elsie both forming their own, and a massive volley of rockets exploded into Savathûn together, blasting her apart, only for the pieces to all shine white and disintegrate. Hunter and Elsie reabsorbed their rocket launchers as the others cast theirs aside, all having only had the one shot with them, just as Immaru appeared, beginning to revive Savathûn.
"Oh no you don't!" Hunter snarled, moving to charge, only for his body to do nothing.
All around them all, Hive Symbols began to glow in the air, a waving, watery magic circle forming under them all. They all fought to move, to do anything, only to watch helplessly as Immaru restored Savathûn, who immediately vanished.
"Fight, run, fight, run," Savathûn intoned from all around them as their bodies began to function again. "The pattern's always the same for you."
The magic symbols and circles all vanished and Hunter shouted in frustration, punching the ground and fracturing it.
"Don't you ever get tired of it?" Savathûn continued, undeterred. "Don't you want to escape?"
Hunter's eyes narrowed dangerously as Savathûn's massive silhouette appeared ahead of them, over a structure surrounded by mountains in the distance, a bridge materializing for them to reach it.
"Little Ghost," Savathûn continued. "You were asked to accept the Darkness. Asked to turn against your cousins. Asked to defy the will of the Traveler. My Ghost makes no concessions. We serve the Traveler's true interests."
"Someone shut her up!" Spark snapped.
Hunter and Elsie both extended a hand, then swiped it away from each other's, and the Silhouette of Savathûn faded, along with her voice.
"Finally," Cayde groaned. "So, shall we go and meet her?"
"Yes," Hunter nodded. "Let's finish this."
They all ran for the bridge, starting across it at a sprint. It was narrow and long, but it was clear of Hive, so it didn't take long to cross. However, partway there, Savathûn's silhouette returned.
"That was rude," Savathûn said. "Afraid your Ghost will hear the truth?"
"How stupid do you think I am?" Spark demanded. "You and your siblings, you killed my friends! I remember Oryx and the Taken! I remember what you did to the Awoken and the Dreaming City! I'll never forget what happened to Sagira! To Osiris! I remember what the Hive did to my first Guardian! I remember what the Hive did to Hunter in the Pit! I would die before I ever chose to help the Hive!"
They all finally reached the disconnected courtyard Savathûn had summoned them to and Savathûn appeared before them. They all opened fire instantly, and Savathûn shouted in pain, firing off the same Stormtrance Arc strike she'd used before to summon more than a dozen lightning bolts, but this time, Saint and John managed to shield them all together. Savathûn hurled a Nova Bomb, but they all scattered, firing up into her again.
"We need to reactivate that portal to gain access to the Memory Altar!" Spark advised over the chaos. "Showing her the truth won't stop her, but we need to try!"
Hunter ignored him, focusing on fighting Savathûn as a Vortex Grenade passed within inches of his head. However, within a few more moments, Savathûn was joined by two more. Hunter narrowed his eyes, focusing on his newest Darkness power, focusing its power the Joker. Then, he fired a single shot into both of the new Savathûns and both of them shrieked in pain before shimmering green with Hive Magic and fading.
"What!?" Savathûn gasped.
"We're done playing with your illusions, Savathûn!" Elsie shouted. "Your time has run out!"
Savathûn snarled angrily, spraying Arc blasts at her, only for the Slayer and Saint to spray her with bullets from the other side. She shouted in pain, shielding her head from their shots before hurling a Nova Bomb at them. Ana and her dogs began to blast Savathûn in the back, and she shouted in pain, swiping her arm at them, sending Solar Daggers flying at them, only for John to catch them all between the blades of his own sword before spinning and slinging them back at Savathûn without ever once touching the blades himself. Savathûn shrieked in pain as the knives exploded against her just as Cayde and Hunter stepped up next to each other, Cayde holding a pair of replicas of a special rocket launcher called Gjallarhorn, both of which he'd formed from his SIVA for himself successfully for the first time. Hunter, on the other hand, held a Rocket Launcher formed entirely from Solar Light. Both of them fired, and their three rockets exploded into a massive fireball around Savathûn, who screamed in pain and crashed to the ground. Then, as she shot skyward in a white flash, the doorway Spark had been talking about before was filled with a portal, and they all headed for it, only to stop as Hive began to appear all around the battlefield by the dozen, their numbers rapidly climbing.
"Hunter and Elsie, go!" Shiro ordered.
"We'll stay here and keep them busy!" Cayde agreed.
"Be careful," Hunter said, then turned, stepping through the portal with Elsie.
They stepped out onto a small platform connected to a much larger one with the Memory Altar in the center and the platform surrounded by towers. All around the large platform were portals to reach the towers, Hunter expected, though only three of the six were active at the moment, and above them was the Traveler. And connecting the Traveler to the towers were webs of Hive Magic.
"This is a spell!" Spark realized. "Savathûn's spinning a web around the Traveler!"
"Then let's burn the web," Hunter said. "I'll start left."
"I'll take the right," Elsie nodded in agreement, winking out of sight as Hunter drew the Joker and headed into the first portal on the left.
He stepped out directly behind a distracted Wizard, and laughed. It was just too easy. He swung his left arm up, a single knife flashing out and punching through the Wizard's shield and into the back of its head, killing it. As the webs it was spinning faded, a blinding light filled Hunter's eyes as he was transported back to where he started, appearing at the same time as Elsie.
"What do you think you can do?" Savathûn's voice asked. "You can't stop this."
"Watch us!" Hunter growled, he and Elsie heading for the next portal.
As they reached this tower, it was no different than Hunter's previous one had been, or Elsie's judging by her laugh, and together, they raised their Hand Cannons, blasting the Wizard in the back of the head and killing it instantly. As they were transported to the main platform again, they headed to the memory altar, Spark depositing the Worm Familiar on it for them.
"These frail siblings will soon be claimed by the Light...unless we claim them first," a distorted mesh of several voices spoke as an image of Sathona holding the Worm Familiar appeared.
"What is this?" Savathûn demanded. "How did you..."
"We will tell the most cunning sibling of a cataclysm," the distorted voice continued. "A prophecy of great loss."
"No...No, that's not what happened!" Savathûn seethed. "The Traveler never came! We were forced to choose the Deep! How could I have missed this?" She snarled angrily, glaring at Hunter and Elsie. "So, now you want to play games? Then let's play!"
Hive Magic swarmed around them both, suffocating and blinding. And when it cleared, they were back outside of the portal, at the mouth of the bridge before the courtyard, and the others were all gathered around them, panting, any who didn't have Hunter's SIVA upgrades for their weapons reloading, and having their Ghosts heal them.
"There were a lot of Lucent Hive," the Slayer explained when he saw Hunter's confusion. "Nothing permanent. But most of us are low on ammo now."
Hunter extended a hand, his SIVA rushing out to their weapons. He added an infinite ammo functionality to all of their weapons except the Slayer's, whose weapon didn't work properly for that, being break-loaded, but instead, the SIVA formed a new belt of shells which would generate new shells for him. The Slayer nodded, tearing his old belt free and tossing it aside as Hunter's SIVA also repaired Ana's dogs and added an auto-repair function to them.
"Should have done that earlier," Ana commented.
"If I'd thought of it, I would have," Hunter said. "Now, me and Elsie really pissed off Savathûn, so we're about to be in for a world of hurt."
"Great," Ana said dryly.
"Can't wait," Shiro added in a matching tone.
They all stood, nodding, and they headed back toward the portal. Savathûn appeared before them again, dozens of other Hive warping into the battle all around the courtyard, and they all scattered, opening fire as much as they could. Hunter spun and twirled, sending waves of knives and Hand Cannon bullets into the Hive around him as well as Savathûn as much as he could, but this time, with reinforcements, she was more than capable of putting them all on the defensive. Cayde and Shiro were both fighting the way Cayde had taught Shiro and Hunter, Hand Cannon in one hand, knives in the other, both as ranged and melee weapons, the Slayer was doing what he did best with the Hive, John was displaying every ounce of his skill with his weapons. The others were largely trying to keep the ranks of lesser Hive to a minimum while staying out of Savathûn's sights.
"I thought you wanted to play, Hunter," Savathûn taunted as he dove behind cover to avoid a stream of Arc blasts. "I thought you had something you wanted to do to me."
"Oh, I do," Hunter agreed. "But for right now, I'm just the bait!"
Savathûn's head snapped around just in time for the Slayer's shining, Solar-charged fist to explode into the side of her jaw, sending her crashing to the ground. He brought his sword down at her, but she fired a Nova Bomb up at him. He survived the explosion, but his sword didn't, and he was hurled across the battlefield regardless. As Savathûn began to rise, however, Hunter stepped out of cover behind her, then launched himself at her, his SIVA swarming to his hands and forming the Lament. Then, the Thruster screamed as the blade tore down her back, Savathûn screaming in pain as the brute force behind the blow hurled her forward and to the ground, only for her to vanish a moment later. As Hunter released the sword, the SIVA swarmed across the battlefield to the Slayer, who was being swarmed by countless Thralls, and who was doing his best with only his Shotgun and Light, but was beginning to be overwhelmed. Then, the SIVA swarmed together into a new hilt for his sword and dropped. His hand snapped up, catching it and igniting his blade before he spun, splitting a massive ring of Thralls instantly before snarling horrifyingly.
"Hunter!" Elsie called over to him. "The portal's open!"
Hunter nodded, and ran for the portal, leaving assisting Slayer to Shiro and John, who were both just reaching the outside of the swarm of Thralls. Hunter and Elsie reappeared on the tower again, but this time, Hive Thralls, both normal and Cursed, scrambled up over the edges of the platform as soon as they arrived. Hunter sent a wave of daggers out to kill them as he and Elsie ran for their portals, only to find themselves halfway down the towers this time. However, they both instantly used their new Darkness power to reveal a series of platforms leading up the towers and climbed them quickly before killing the wizards. This time, as they were transported back, it wasn't just Thralls and Cursed Thralls waiting for them. There were two Savathûn illusions as well.
"Shit!" Elsie swore.
"Get the last Wizard!" Hunter shouted over the Arc blasts and his own gunfire. "I'll handle this!"
Elsie hesitated, then nodded, sprinting for the last portal. Hunter cleared her path with his daggers, then turned on Savathûn once Elsie was out of the way.
"I really hope this works," Hunter muttered, focusing on his new power.
He'd sensed potential in it the more he'd used it, but up until now, it had seemed to only be useful for clearing the illusions Savathûn had woven. Until he and Elsie had dispelled the illusionary Savathûns before. Even channeled into a bullet, he'd felt something. A deep reservoir of untapped potential and power in this ability. A possible use that he hadn't tried. So as he focused, he reached down deep into that abyss of Darkness, a place he usually avoided, even when using Stasis, and then directed it out to the sides through his hands. And then, in a wave of shimmering, black and silver Darkness energy, two more Hunters appeared. Hunter fell to one knee instantly, panting, but the two illusions of him went on the attack, their daggers and bullets slaughtering the Hive Thralls and slamming into the illusions of Savathûn with very real effects.
"WHAT!?" Savathûn demanded. "IMPOSSIBLE! HOW!?"
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Hunter grinned. "I know something you don't know."
He rose, joining his illusions in the battle, but even with three of him, two Savathûns was a tough win. And then, as the third Wizard died, it was three. But then, as Elsie reappeared, it was with a pair of Gjallarhorn replicas, as Cayde had used again, and she fired them both at the newest Savathûn. The rockets exploded, hurling her backward before the two dozen total tracking micro-rockets released arced around and swarmed after her, slamming into her chest and face and exploding, each micro-rocket bearing half the force of the full-sized rocket, which meant that the micro-rockets in total bore three times the amount of force of the rocket that released them. The final blast swallowed the Savathûn whole, and Hunter let out a laugh.
"I'm ahead!" Elsie smirked. "And you're even cheating! How'd you do that?"
"I'll explain later!" Hunter shouted back, but grinned wickedly. "But I just realized. I have no reason to hold back here. I don't care about collateral damage here!"
Elsie's eyes widened before she groaned just as Hunter hurled a pair of SIVA grenades at the two Savathûn illusions before he and Elsie both smashed a Stasis Crystal into the ground in front of them, forming a thick, high wall of Stasis Crystals to take cover behind. And a moment later, the SIVA drones released by the grenades surrounded the Savathûns in clouds of Azidoazide Azide before detonating, the blasts dwarfing Elsie's rockets and completely erased the remaining illusions. Once they were gone, Hunter released his own illusions, then walked over to the Memory Altar where Spark once again deposited the Worm Familiar.
"We will feed her fear," the distorted voice from the earlier half of the memory continued. "Her pride."
"Go on, then!" Savathûn seethed. "You know so much? Tell me who I am!"
However, before the memory could finish, Savathûn had cast them out again and they rejoined the others as they were just finishing up the Hive.
"Did you do it?" Cayde asked. "Is it-"
"Get clear!" Hunter shouted, terror filling his chest as he sensed the rage and bloodlust quickly growing heavy in the air.
The others seemed to sense it, too, because they all dove for Saint and John, who once again formed a Ward of Dawn together, shielding everyone. Then, Savathûn returned with a massive storm of Arc lightning that tore across the entirety of the courtyard, even shattering their combined defense, but failing to kill anyone, and the wounds were all minor.
"Shit!" Cayde cursed. "Not over!"
"What the fuck did you do?" Shiro asked.
"She didn't like the memory we showed her," Elsie said dryly.
"Scatter!" Hunter roared, everyone fleeing before the wrath of a barrage of Nova Bombs Savathûn unleashed at them.
They all sprinted for cover, slaughtering any lesser Hive in their way almost like it were an afterthought. However, once they were in cover and were able to return fire, Savathûn pulled one final trick. A Ward of Dawn of her own formed around her, enclosing the majority of the courtyard, but since all of them had gotten distance from Savathûn for safety, they were outside of the Ward of Dawn's circumference. All but Hunter and Saint. They were alone, as when the others tried to join them, the Ward of Dawn not only was solid, it repulsed them all ten feet just before Hive troops, including Lucent Hive, began to appear all around the courtyard outside of the Ward of Dawn.
"So, you wanted a personal grudge match," Hunter smirked, tossing his rifle aside and forming his Glaive. "Good."
"Very good," Saint agreed, raising the gun Hunter had given him. "We accept!"
Savathûn grinned horribly, but just as Arc lightning began to flash around her, Hunter hurled his Glaive like a javelin. It impaled her through the chest, the back end of the handle glowing with Void Light for a moment before its ammo supply erupted into a Singularity which crushed at Savathûn's chest. She shrieked in pain, firing off her Arc strike, but Saint shielded himself and Hunter used his Void intangibility dodge to evade it. Then, Hunter's arms snapped up, the Joker in one hand and a replica of the Ace of Spades in the other. At the same time as Hunter's Hand Cannons began to fire one after the other, sending their bullets slamming into Savathûn, Saint's new Auto Rifle roared to life, its own bullets slamming into her from the other side. Savathûn shrieked in rage, hurling a Nova Bomb at Hunter, but he used Arc Light to enhance his movement speed as he dodged aside, clearing ten feet in an instant and returning to firing unscathed as the Nova Bomb exploded, covering for Saint as Saint was forced to dive behind cover from a flood of Arc blasts. Savathûn shrieked in rage, sending a trail of lightning bolts at Hunter, only for him to once again avoid it with his Void intangibility dodge, infuriating Savathun, even as a line of Solar blades exploded to the ground in a trail chasing Saint but failing to reach him.
"Would you just DIE!?" Savathûn seethed.
"My thoughts exactly," Hunter snarled, hurling his Ace of Spades replica at her.
It deconstructed into SIVA as he holstered the Joker, the SIVA drones burrowing into Savathûn and exploding, wounding her, but no more permanently than any of the other wounds so far had been. However, just as the drones finished, Savathûn shrieked in pain as a barrage of blades stabbed into her from Hunter. She lunged, hurling a Nova Bomb as hard as she could, only for a shining, Solar hammer to explode against her back, knocking her forward into her own Nova Bomb, which exploded and hurled her backward. As she crashed to the ground, Saint retreated from her as Hunter flipped into the air over her, then hurled a dozen flaming, Solar knives down into her, the explosion swallowing her instantly. However, just as Hunter's feet touched the ground, a flood of Arc blasts slammed into him, obliterating his body below the diaphragm and sending him exploding backward into the Ward of Dawn, which repulsed him, sending him crashing to the ground. Saint shouted in fear and dismay as Savathûn rose, scarred and burned, and shouted in rage.
"ENOUGH!" she raged. "I HAVE NO MORE PATIENCE FOR ENTERTAINING CHILDREN!"
She pulled her arm back, a Nova Bomb shining in it, and then shrieked in surprise and pain as Saint hurled a round shield formed from Void Light up into the Nova Bomb. It exploded, consuming Savathûn's arm and hurling her away before Saint flipped up over her, bringing a Flaming Maul down into her face, sending her exploding to the ground. Then, just as she began to rise, Hunter pushed himself up, Arc Light screaming over his restored body and flashing off of him in bolts. As he regained his feet, an Arc Staff appeared in his hand, and he flashed forward to appear below Savathûn so fast he might have teleported. He swiped the back end of his staff upward, the blade tearing up through Savathûn's chest and face, hurling her up to her feet, only for Hunter's staff's front end to slash her across the shins, knocking them backward and forcing her to her knees as he leapt into the air and backward. Then, he hurled the staff, sending it stabbing through her chest, successive bolts of Lightning striking the staff instantly as Hunter flipped backward, landing on his feet and forming himself a pair of Spectral Blades from his Void Light. Savathûn roared defiantly, shoving her remaining arm forward, a flood of Arc blasts, Nova Bombs, and Solar blades exploding from her palm at him, only for Hunter to push off of the ground, turning intangible for a moment as he sprinted forward. The first of the blasts passed through him before he stepped sideways out of the flood of attacks just in time to turn tangible again. Then, he jumped, spinning, and sliced her arm off at the elbow before his other blade flashed around and both faded as he landed on his feet behind her. Around them, the Ward of Dawn faded, and Hunter looked around, seeing the Hive had cornered the others and were bearing down on them. Hunter leapt into the air, all of his dagger blades shining with Solar Light before he swiped his hands, sending the blades raining down on the Hive and slaughtering them. Everyone looked around, then stared at Savathûn, who sat motionless on her knees, the Arc Staff having faded but left a hole in her chest that had been blasted and scorched wide open by the lightning, and a thin line of Void Light glowed across her neck.
"It's over," Hunter said.
"Isn't this interesting?" Savathûn croaked. "I miscalculated. I underestimated the skills of a Blademaster." She drew in a rattling breath. "So did you, though, Guardians...Hunter. So protective of your Traveler...that you wouldn't let me keep it safe. But the Witness...is coming. The game is yours to play, now. Yours to win...or lose. Just don't say...I didn't warn you."
"Don't lose your head about it," Hunter said, snapping his fingers.
The Void Light along her neck, where his Spectral Blade had carved through her so cleanly as to leave her alive with her head disconnected, pulsed and vanished, the pulse tossing her head a foot off of her body, which immediately slumped to the ground.
"Oh shit!" Ana groaned, looking away.
"By the Light!" Saint exclaimed.
"Excessive," Shiro said.
"I had a promise to keep," Hunter shrugged. "I'm a man of my word."
Immaru floated down into view above Savathûn, staring at her corpse, but before they could do anything about him, there was a blinding light as the Traveler vanished from the sky above them, and Immaru was gone. Hunter narrowed his eyes, dropping his gaze back to Savathûn.
"No!" Spark said, appearing at Hunter's side. "Where did her Ghost go?"
"He fled," Hunter said. "It's fine. He can't do anything without the body."
"Hunter!" Ikora radioed, breathing hard but alive, having to talk over Hunter's pet yipping excitedly. "I just got the message. The Traveler is back in the Last City. Is it done? Is Savathûn..."
"She's dead," Hunter confirmed. "But her Ghost got away."
"Good enough," Ikora said. "Hold your position. The Hidden are coming to secure the remains. Good work, Hunter, Elsie, Guardians. You all did the right thing."
"Now what?" Spark asked.
"Now we prepare for the Witness," Hunter said simply. "Now we prevent another Collapse."
Leave a review
