Practically the first person Crow saw upon his transmat aboard the ship was Silvan, who came sprinting into the transmat stage, her silver eyes seeking him. She flung herself into his arms and wrapped him in her resonance, her joy and apprehension mingling with his own combat focus.

"Silvan!" Crow exclaimed, stroking the red braids coiled about her head. "Thank the Light you arrived when you did!"

"Thank Mara," Silvan said. "She knew exactly where to find you all." She looked around the transmat station at Zavala, Ikora, and Cayde. "Where's Jayesh?"

Over the intercom, Mara Sov said, "He's just been picked up by the HELM. Come to the bridge, please."

The group hurried to the bridge. Silvan kept staring at Cayde. As they found themselves seats, she exclaimed, "Cayde-6? How are you alive?"

"Beats me," Cayde said. "I hear you married my killer."

Silvan swelled with indignation. "He's Crow now, not Uldren!"

Cayde grinned. "Just teasing you, kid."

Mara Sov turned from her commander's chair. "Please be seated and strap in. The Witness is generating a large paracausal storm and I'm not certain we can escape." As she settled back in her seat, she added, "Please tell me you found its weakness."

"We did," said Zavala. "At great personal cost."

Mara's glowing eyes settled on him speculatively. The Awoken Queen had always been capable of seeing Light and Darkness, and his mortal state was apparent at once to her. "Yes, I see. I want your full report once we know if we must flee the Traveler's interior."

But as they flew, the Light in the sky began to brighten. It grew brighter and brighter until every ship had to shutter its windows and fly on instruments alone.

"What's happening?" Crow asked.

"I'm not certain," Mara replied. "Something appears to have broken the Witness's grip on the Traveler." She raised an eyebrow at them.

Ikora shook her head. "Jayesh Khatri entered the Witness's mind space. He returned bleeding and with a sword of Light in one hand. Beyond that, we don't know what happened."

A small smile touched Mara Sov's lips. "His debriefing will be quite interesting." She turned back to her instruments. "The Light levels are dropping as we retreat from the corrupted areas. The area around the reimagined Tower should be suitable for establishing a beachhead." She keyed her radio. "HELM commander, this is Queen Kestral. I would like to speak to Jayesh Khatri."

"That's a negative at this time, ma'am," replied the other commander. "He is unconscious and gravely wounded. Emergency staff are tending him."

"Has he no Ghost?" Mara demanded. "It should mend him in an instant."

"The Ghost is damaged too, ma'am. It's touch and go. We may lose them both."

Crow tensed and Silvan gasped. Ikora laid a hand on Crow and Zavala's shoulders and bowed her head. Cayde shook his head sorrowfully.

Mara cast a quick look at the weary Vanguard in their seats. "Get them stabilized. Set down near the replica of Tower North, wherever you can find space."

"Affirmative."

They were allowed to see their wounded companion much later, once the ships had landed at the replica Tower. Here the Light was bright, but bearable. In the direction of the Witness's tower the Light was too bright to look at directly, blazing like the sun, but a battle was raging. Light pulsed at regular intervals and Darkness sent out long, reaching shadows. No one dared venture in that direction.

The Coalition forces began setting up base in the Tower, clearing out Dread and exploring. Once more the old courtyard rang with shouts and footsteps, the scrape of dragged goods, the flap of tarps. The Coalition flag was unfurled and blew in the wind, flanked by the flags of the Vanguard, the Awoken, the Imperial Cabal, and the House of Light. The friendly alien races of the coalition filled the Tower, the huge Cabal lugging heavy loads and the nimble Eliksni running cables and setting up equipment.

The huge ship that now contained the HELM, or the Headquarters for Emergency Logistics and Maneuvers, landed in a grassy field half a mile from the Tower. Even though the Vanguard were busy giving and receiving reports, Crow slipped away to check on his ailing friend.

The HELM's medical bay had been the most state of the art facility on Earth until the Reefborn Awoken took over. They brought their superior tools and knowledge with them and advanced Earth medical knowledge by centuries. When Crow looked in, he barely recognized any of the machines. But Jayesh was hooked to most of them.

Jayesh lay on a medical cot, stripped of his gear and draped in a blanket. His chest, arms, and legs were bandaged, as well as his forehead and both temples. Tubes and wires were attached to his left arm, chest, and head. An oxygen mask covered his face, and his Ghost lay beside him in a clear box under a special light. His cracked shell had been removed and his core patched with resin, but a little Light still escaped him now and then.

"What did the Witness do to him?" Crow whispered, gazing down at his friend.

Mara Sov stood beside him and shook her head. "Only he can tell us. His Ghost is so heavily damaged, we don't even dare access its databanks. All it will tell us is that he freed the Traveler and some of the dissenters."

"Freed the Traveler." Crow grinned and shook his head. "No wonder the Witness lost it's minds. If the Traveler is freed, is that why the Light is so bright now?"

"We believe so," Mara replied. She folded her arms over her sleek black combat armor and frowned at the motionless form on the bed. Her white hair fell about her face with a tender ferocity. "He is in a coma now. We are exerting all our knowledge to keep him alive, but the Witness tore him as I have never seen a living being torn. His only hope now is for his Ghost to mend him, but there it lies."

Crow stooped over the glass box and peered at the wounded Ghost. "Phoenix," he whispered. "Phoenix, wake up. Jayesh needs you."

The spiral eyelid remained tightly closed over the little glass eye.

Crow turned to Mara. "I want to stay with him."

Mara shook her head. "Too many people need you, brother. There is much work to be done, especially now that Zavala has lost his Light. We must find a way to excise the Witness once and for all…" She trailed off at the look on Crow's face. It was a stubborn look, usually given her whenever she bossed him around too much. Uldren had only given her that look sometimes, but Crow looked like that all the time.

"Mara," he said softly, "he's my friend. He stood by me when no one else did. If he's going to die, I don't want him to be alone."

Mara gazed into her brother's eyes and felt the beating of his heart in time with her own. She also felt the pain of his worry, the need to hold vigil at the bedside of his suffering teammate. Then she looked down at the still, quiet Guardian in the bed, his body sustained only by the machines around him.

"I'll have the orderlies bring in a cot," she said. "And I'll tell Silvan."

Jayesh was carried on the wings of the hawk through the heavens, looking down upon the system of Sol. He glanced upon damaged Mercury, and lush Venus with its forests. Then they swooped over Earth and circled it, observing the ruins of civilization, the single thriving human city, the various camps of friendly aliens. They passed over the Farm, and Jayesh saw his own house and land. Kari sat on the front porch, gazing at the sky. Almost her gaze seemed to follow the hawk's motion. Jayesh wanted to call out to her, but he was only an observer.

The vision grew more dreamlike. The hawk carried him through clouds sparkling with stars and skated the edges of galaxies. Jayesh rode along with it, voiceless, at peace, letting it carry him where it wished.

In time he found himself cradled in a tree of Silver Wings, its boughs twined together to create a comfortable bed. The wind rocked him and he dozed, warm and safe.

"Jayesh Khatri."

He opened his eyes to see the Traveler standing at his bedside. The Traveler's avatar was dressed for war in white and silver armor. Wings trailed from his shoulders like banners, and he carried a sword and shield. Yet the black spike in his heart remained.

"Yes, Traveler?" Jayesh said.

"You have done well," the Traveler said. "I am free to fight my enemy. But the Witness lives, and it is angry. Angrier than a star during a supernova. We have fought to a stalemate. My Guardians must tip the scales."

"I'm broken, Traveler," Jayesh said sorrowfully. "I cannot rise, I cannot wake, I cannot fight. The Witness has killed me."

"Devotion," said the Traveler softly, smiling. "Bravery. Sacrifice. Death. Righteousness." He held out a hand and Phoenix appeared above it. Light swirled around the Ghost in a bright aurora, bleeding from the cracks in his core.

"Why have you not healed your partner?" the Traveler asked.

"I hurt so bad," Phoenix whispered. "I'm afraid that if I move, I'll fall apart."

The Traveler touched him, closing the worst of the fractures. "There, my child. That will do for now. You must be well enough to fight alongside your Guardian. As the courageous Targe demonstrated, Light can destroy the Witness, but it is old and strong. It will do everything in its power to keep the Light at bay. But if you do not fight, it will eventually seize me again, and I fear that there will be no return from a second imprisonment."

Phoenix flew to Jayesh and opened his cracked shell. He began pulsing healing Light into his Guardian, mending him on the molecular level, where he had been harmed.

"But Traveler," Phoenix said as he worked. "Ghosts don't fight. It's not our job."

"You must have noticed how the Witness despises Ghosts," the Traveler replied. "It has a particular seething hatred for them. That is because the simple Light of a Ghost is enough to tear the Witness apart, breaking down the unity of the souls within it."

Jayesh found his breath coming easier. He hadn't noticed the pain before, but now that it began to fade, he noticed the agony that laced through his whole body. He had been cracked like a pane of glass, every bone fractured, every muscle and organ scored. He had bled through microscopic slices through his skin, his very sweat mixed with blood.

"If Light is how we fight," Jayesh said, "then every Guardian will need Light-imbued ammo."

"Yes, you will need to do much planning with your companions," said the Traveler. "Help has come and you are no longer alone."

The fractures within Jayesh's body mended and smoothed away under Phoenix's ministrations. He sat up in his Silver Wing cradle and held out a hand to the Traveler. The Traveler knelt and took his hand, his wings draping on either side like a feathery canopy. He was much bigger than he had seemed a moment ago, a towering giant of the Light.

"Traveler," Jayesh said, "once we defeat the Witness, what do we do about the portal? And the corruption the Witness has wrought within you? Can you purge it all with Light?"

The Traveler smiled. "I must ask you a question. Do you like the landscapes of memory I've built for you?"

"Yes, very much," Jayesh replied. "The beauty of the good places is breathtaking, and I love that you've replicated Tower North. But doesn't it cost you? What of the Witness's black tower and the corrupted caves and the black roots?"

"They must be purged, of course," said the Traveler. "The portal is troublesome, but manageable. Once the Witness is out of the way, I can remap the portal into one that is easier to traverse."

"Are you saying you want us in here? You don't want us to leave?"

"I admit, the idea took some getting used to," the Traveler said thoughtfully. "It's not easy to have you all here, spilling memories and feelings in every direction. But now that I've begun, I cannot bear to stop. I've learned to love the activity, the things you imagine and create. I will lay down rules, of course. This is my household and I expect good behavior of my visitors. But I think, once this is over, I will leave the gate open to my Guardians."

Suddenly the Traveler winced and doubled over, clutching the black spike in his chest. "Do not wait too long," he gasped. "Within a few days the Witness will have me in its clutch again."

"I fight for you, Traveler," Jayesh said, and woke up.

The first thing he saw was Phoenix, who floated above him with his shell open, his Light field as bright as the noon sky. Next he saw Crow and Silvan, who stood with their hands outstretched, lending their Light to the Ghost. As Jayesh blinked at them, his friends beamed.

"There he is," said Crow. "About time, sleeping beauty."

"You're alive!" squealed Silvan. "He's been healing you for an hour already!"

Jayesh turned his head, looking around the room at the high-tech medical equipment. He lifted his left arm a little and looked at the tubes and wires attached to it, then lay back and closed his eyes again. "Where am I?"

"The HELM's medical bay," said Crow. "You've been out for two days."

Jayesh's eyes flew open. "Two days! But the Traveler can't hold out against the Witness much longer! Has anyone helped it?"

"A team is making ready right now," Crow said soothingly. "They hope to head out within the hour."

"I haven't given my report!" Jayesh exclaimed, struggling to sit up. "I learned how to fight the Witness, but they need swords! And Light-powered guns!"

"Hey, hey, lay back down," said Crow, catching him with a hand on his chest. "Silvan, run and call the Coalition leaders. They need to hear this."

Jayesh lay back down, running over the details of the Witness's mind-space and what he had learned there. When Mara Sov arrived, followed by Commander Zavala, Ikora Rey, and Cayde-6, Jayesh was ready. He managed a weak salute, but Mara Sov waved a hand.

"Dispense with the formalities, Guardian, there isn't time. Your report, please."

Jayesh told them about the Witness's temptations and of the dissenters in a prison of darkness within its mind. The whole time he talked, Phoenix worked on him, with Silvan and Crow continuing to lend their Light. Mara Sov recorded his report on a small device she held in one hand. The Vanguard listened in silence, but often exchanged triumphant glances, as if Jayesh was confirming their own theories.

When he finished, Jayesh lay back, too weary to hold his head up any longer. He was satisfied to see his commanders and the Queen shooting excited looks and whispers back and forth. Then Zavala said, "Get some rest, Guardian. We need you at full strength for the next step."

"Yes sir," Jayesh murmured.

It seemed like he'd only closed his eyes for a few seconds, but when he opened them, everyone was gone. Phoenix lay in a glass box nearby beneath a lamp, but his blue eye was on, watching the room. Crow sat in a chair that was tilted back against the wall, tapping away on a tablet with Glint at his shoulder. Everyone looked up as Jayesh stirred.

"Where is everyone?" Jayesh asked. "Did my report help?"

"Oh, they left hours ago," Crow said. "You went straight to sleep. The doctors said to let you rest because the healing had sent you into a state of Light burn. How do you feel?"

Jayesh sat up and cautiously moved his limbs. The dreadful lethargy had departed, and his stomach gave a tremendous growl.

Crow laughed. "Silvan went to fetch dinner. Glint, send word to bring up Jayesh something, too."

Presently Silvan entered the hospital room, followed by an Awoken doctor in a white lab coat. He examined Jayesh with many strange, tiny instruments that swirled with the circles and symbols the Awoken used. Then he worked some sort of magic that flowed through the machines and into Jayesh, who felt as if ice water had been dumped over his head. He cringed. "What was that?"

"Energy infusion," said the doctor. "Your Light gave us trouble, Guardian Khatri. You've somehow melded the Darkness's powers into it without using any Darkness energy. We've never seen this before."

"The Traveler did it to me," Jayesh said. "It's called Prismatic."

"I see," said the doctor, staring at him with his glowing eyes. "Well, whatever you call it, we've had to dose you with Light and Dark together as if you were an Awoken. At least it's not leaking out of you any longer." He turned to Silvan. "Did you bring him a meal?"

Silvan opened the paper sack she carried and displayed containers of soup, salad, and fresh flatbread. The doctor approved it and left them to their meal.

Jayesh tore into the food, barely stopping to breathe between bites. Silvan and Crow watched him and laughed.

"You really ought to slow down," Silvan admonished. "You'll give yourself a stomach ache."

"Starving," Jayesh managed to say with his mouth full.

Crow shook his head. "Never mind him, Silvan. Last time he was inside the Traveler he didn't eat or drink for five days, but I guess this time was different."

"I didn't fight the Witness last time," Jayesh said indignantly. "You know how hungry and tired the Darkness makes you. And I was in its mind." He soaked his flatbread in his soup, then crammed it into his mouth.

Silvan laughed again. "I know it's a scary situation and all. But being inside the Traveler is so wonderful! I can't seem to be afraid. The landscape is so impossible and beautiful, and I keep finding amazing little details. My Light is empowered all the time, and sometimes I think it's talking to me."

Her Ghost appeared at her shoulder, wearing a metallic purple shell. "That would be me talking, if you'd only listen."

"I don't mean you, Bramble, I mean the Light. The Traveler keeps saying things. I just don't quite understand it."

"Keep trying," Jayesh said. "You'll get it. But it's fighting the Witness right now. It said they're at a stalemate and it needs the Guardians to tip the scales."

"The team we just sent should do that," said Crow fiercely. "Their mission is to attack the black tower and unravel it from the Traveler. The Witness has lost its hold on the Light, so we have a tiny window of time in which to break its biggest weapon. If they pull that off, the Witness will be crippled, and we'll go after it directly."

Jayesh nodded his approval. He drank his soup in one long, continuous draught, then put his empty container down with a sigh of contentment. "I want to be there when we do." He sat up straight and scanned the room. "Can I leave? Where're my clothes?"

"You're still wired to the machines," Crow pointed out. "I'm no doctor, but I think you ought to be careful when you have wires plugged straight into your Light."

Jayesh glared at them impatiently. "The Traveler needs us and I'm lounging around in bed. Somebody call the doctor in here to let me loose."

The doctor came, accompanied by two nurses. He lectured Jayesh on the condition of his Ghost and his Light, and told them both to rest, at least until the final battle began. As he talked, the nurses removed the equipment from Jayesh's arm, chest, and head, and also applied an additional magic treatment to his Ghost. Jayesh smiled and nodded, but his anxiety rattled about below the surface. As soon as the doctor left, he sprang out of bed. "I'm going to grab a shower and get dressed."

"Sure," said Crow. "We'll wait for you in the HELM's bridge."

Jayesh joined them fifteen minutes later, his damp curly hair combed into what was supposed to be spikes but wound up looking more like a quiff. The first words out of his mouth were, "I need to call Kari. Do we have reception now?"

"Yes we do," Silvan said promptly. "Mara Sov set up relay stations through the Traveler's portal. They both hold the passage open and allow communications. It's not the fastest, but it's better than nothing."

"Great." Jayesh took over the nearest console, donned a pair of headphones, and began the process of routing a call through to Earth and the Farm. After a while they heard him say softly, "Kari? It's me." The tone of his voice was so tender and intimate that Silvan and Crow retreated outdoors to give him privacy.

There they met a female Titan who was loitering about the entrance as if waiting for someone. She wore sleek black armor that appeared to have been custom made to show off her curves, but the odd thing was that she was attended by five different Ghosts. They hung about her head and shoulders like a flock of birds, or wandered in this direction or that one to look at things. When Crow and Silvan descended the boarding ramp, the Ghosts hid behind the Titan and peeked over her shoulders.

"Oh, hello Charon," said Silvan brightly. "What are you doing here? And you brought your flock!"

"Oh, I was just, uh." Charon ran a gloved hand through her hair. She was of Asian descent and had long, glossy black hair that cascaded over one shoulder. She had that combination of unselfconscious beauty and poise that drew men's eyes like magnets. Crow gazed at her as he might study an attractive painting.

Silvan was well aware of Charon's looks and faintly envied her for it, but she also knew about how Charon had lost her Ghost and bonded with a new one. He floated at her shoulder among the others in a fancy black and yellow racing shell.

"Do you know if Jayesh Khatri is going to make it?" Charon asked.

"Oh, he's much better," said Crow. "He's on the phone with his wife at the moment, but he'll be out soon."

Charon brightened. "Oh good! Last I heard, they thought we were going to lose him. I need to talk to him about healing the Traveler."

"Healing it?" Crow said cautiously. "With … Ghosts?"

"It's an idea," said Charon.

They stood there in awkward silence. Charon seemed to want to keep her thoughts to herself, and Silvan and Crow didn't want to just walk away. They stood there until Jayesh clattered down the ramp, all smiles. "Everything's fine! Earth side has been quiet, waiting to see what will happen next." He turned his smile upon Charon. "Hello there! Charon and Phantom, right? The Ghost in the cage?"

"Right," said Charon, shaking his hand. "I wanted to talk to you for a minute, if you don't mind."

"Sure," said Jayesh. "Let's head to the Tower and we can talk on the way."

The group set out across the meadow where the HELM had landed. The replica of the Tower rose in the distance, surrounded by lesser buildings of the Last City from other people's memories. It was about noon and the Light streaming from the rippling sky was warm and bright with the Traveler's benevolence. Charon's Ghosts spread out around them, flying over the grass or zooming into the air like a swarm of bees.

"It's like this," said Charon. "I'm one of a small group of Guardians who escort Ghosts around to look for their partners. I've been working with Micah-10, who has been doing this job since before I resurrected. She thinks that our Ghosts, especially the unattached ones, could heal the Traveler's wounds."

"How do you figure that?" Jayesh asked, watching the Ghosts fly.

"Unbonded Ghosts have a seed of potential inside them," said Charon. "It's one reason the Fallen hunt them. Their Light is unusually powerful, because they need it to resurrect and bond with their Guardian. After that, the Light is shared between Ghost and Guardian. Now, unbonded Ghosts could use that potential to mend the Traveler. The going theory is that the Traveler would instantly return the spent Light to them, but we won't know until we try."

"And the Ghosts are all right with this?" Jayesh said.

Charon held up a hand and made a quick gesture. At once all the Ghosts gathered around them, blinking and spinning their shells questioningly.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Jayesh asked them, coming to a halt. The Ghosts drifted over to float in front of him in a semicircle. Jayesh went on, "What if it harms your ability to find your Guardians? Aren't you taking an awful risk?"

"Mr. Khatri," said one Ghost in a soft feminine voice. "I … I don't mean to be rude, but … but if the Traveler dies, so do we."

"We're willing to give back what we have," said another Ghost.

"Yes, yes," chimed in another. "Here in the Traveler, we're drinking in Light all the time. Even if I spent all my Light helping the Traveler, it would recharge within a few hours. I'm not afraid."

"Neither are we!" chorused the others.

"Thank you for asking, though," said the first Ghost with painful shyness. "It was very kind of you."

Jayesh smiled at them all, then gave them a short bow. "Thank you all." He turned to Charon. "I guess that answers my questions, then."

They walked on toward the Tower entrance, Silvan and Crow lagging a little behind, holding hands and murmuring together. Jayesh's mind was full of thoughts and worries, but he couldn't let Charon merely walk along with him in silence. "Did you come with the Coalition?"

"Yes, we had to get special permission." Charon smiled a little. "This is a combat mission, and unbonded Ghosts were deemed too delicate to accompany us at first. I was only able to come if I remained on the ship until given the all clear. We received it this morning." She drew a deep breath. "Word is that you've learned a new kind of power called Prismatic. I hoped you would help me find areas of Darkness and protect us while my Ghosts purge it clean."

"I'd be happy to, but it depends on the other team," said Jayesh. "The moment the Witness's monolith breaks, I'm headed back in with the Vanguard."

"I understand," said Charon. "But until then, perhaps we could purge a few areas. It's good to keep busy while we're waiting."

"Right." Jayesh scrutinized her face and saw only calm and resolve. He had seen Charon around the Tower and helped her out a few times, but he didn't know her very well. Kari probably knew all about her. But Kari was back on Earth, trusting him to save the Traveler. Maybe healing it, piece by piece, would give it that extra strength it needed to fight its enemy.

They entered a City street that became a flight of stone stairs, merging into the Tower architecture without the seventy story height of the actual Tower itself. They entered the courtyard and found it bustling with activity. Jayesh halted, taking in the flags, the stacks of supply crates, the docked ships, the Cabal legionnaires standing guard or helping tug a stubborn tarp into place, a couple of Eliksni rigging lights on a pole.

"It looks like the Tower did before," he remarked. "But with more Coalition."

"It's delightful," Charon said, smiling.

Crow and Silvan came up behind them and Crow tapped Jayesh on the shoulder. "The Vanguard are down in the old control room."

"Are they?" Jayesh crossed the courtyard and descended the steps, curious. This was where he had found the conflux where the Traveler had taught him how to become Prismatic. Was that center of power perhaps still there, and had anyone else achieved the same power?

But no, as soon as he entered the room, he sensed that the conflux had closed long ago. The room felt cool and empty, Light-wise. It was otherwise full of everything else.

The Vanguard had set up folding tables in the approximate position of the old war table. On one, two Eliksni scribes were carefully copying down a map of the Traveler's heartlands from a holographic map provided by Ikora's Ghost. Mithrax, a towering four-armed Eliksni chieftain, the Kell of the House of Light, oversaw this work and occasionally made a suggestion.

At the next table, Zavala was deep in conversation with Empress Caiatl, leader of the Imperial Cabal. She was huge even for one of her race, a massive, thickset alien that the Guardians had unkindly referred to as space rhinos. Being female, a pair of tusks protruded from her mouth, currently sheathed with gold caps. She wore shining parade armor and was about three times bigger than Zavala, but it was plain that the two liked and respected one another. Caiatl was advising a frontal attack on the Witness with all the hardware they possessed, while Zavala was advising caution.

Meanwhile, Ikora was off to one side, never quite letting her Ghost out of sight, talking to several other warlocks. As Jayesh approached, one of them stretched a line of green Strand between his fingers and began to knot it carefully.

Ikora turned and smiled. "Jayesh! Good to see you up and about."

Jayesh saluted. "Yes ma'am. What's the news on the away team?"

"Still infiltrating the black tower," said Ikora. "They're scouting it from top to bottom before they begin planting charges. It extends far underground."

"Of course it does," Jayesh muttered. One hand lifted to his chest, where he felt the Darkness like a knife in his heart at all times. Then he shook it off and smiled. "Charon, here, wants me to assist her in healing the Traveler."

"Yes, I know," said Ikora. She turned to Charon with a smile. "Are you and your flock ready to begin?"

"Yes, we are," Charon said. "In fact, we–"

She broke off and stared as Cayde-6 wandered up, staring at a tablet and tapping its screen. "Hey Ikora, about these readings, I think I–" He looked up and saw Ikora, Jayesh, Charon, and the other warlocks staring at him. "Is this a bad time?"

"Cayde-6 is alive?" Charon breathed. The other warlocks murmured similar things.

"Alive but Ghostless," Cayde said, lifting a finger. "It's more fun for you than it is for me. Anyway, Ikora, that one Darkness cave we visited looks like it's spreading. We need somebody to go burn it out."

"I was just about to dispatch Jayesh and Charon," said Ikora.

"I was about to suggest myself and Crow," said Cayde. "I know a warlock and a titan make an all right team, but nothing beats having a couple of hunters for recon."

Ikora started to argue, then changed her mind. "All right. Crow, do you have a minute?"

Crow had gone to speak to Mithrax while Silvan bent over the table with the mapmakers. Crow spoke in Eliksni, including the hand signs, and Mithrax answered him gravely. When Ikora called him, Crow bade Mithrax farewell and walked up to them. Ikora told him the mission and Crow accepted. But the energy between them was unlike the energy between Ikora and Cayde. Jayesh sensed that Crow was still the junior member of the Vanguard, still taking orders instead of giving them. He was unlikely to win many arguments with Ikora. Meanwhile, Cayde-6 always got his way, and knew how to walk all over both Zavala and Ikora. Jayesh sighed for his friend.

"All right, then," said Crow, turning to Jayesh with a grin. "Let's hit the wilds. Everybody got their weapons?"

Within a few minutes the team set out. Silvan remained behind after a fond farewell to Crow. The four of them left the Tower and began the hike across country toward the cave where Crow had been tempted by the Witness. Jayesh couldn't help remembering how badly Phoenix had been hurt there. As they walked, he held out a hand to summon his Ghost, but Phoenix refused to appear.

"Phoenix," Jayesh thought.

"I can talk to you just fine from here," Phoenix replied in his head.

"Come on, the Traveler healed you. You spent all that time healing me. I know you can tolerate showing up and looking me in the face for once."

Phoenix reluctantly appeared in a swirl of transmat particles and looked up at Jayesh. Jayesh had to work hard to hold back a gasp of horror. The second encounter with the Witness had shattered his Ghost as much as it had himself. Phoenix's once brave yellow and red shell was held together by patches of resin and tape. Beneath it, his little metal core and glass eye were cracked so badly that Jayesh expected him to crumble at any second. The blue eye light was blurred and fractured.

"Oh Phoenix," Jayesh whispered. He raised a hand to the broken eye, but Phoenix vanished before he could touch him.

"Now you see," Phoenix said sadly. "I can do most things from phase. It'll be fine."

"I can't take you back in there," Jayesh thought. "The Witness has it out for me, now. It'd make short work of you."

"The other Ghosts will handle it," Phoenix said, sounding more cheerful. "I asked them about their techniques a few minutes ago. It will work."

Charon had observed this from nearby. Now she said in a hushed voice, "What happened to your Ghost?"

Jayesh explained about the Witness's attack and how it had used this place to try to tempt Crow away from the Light. Charon's expression grew more and more horrified. When he finished, she said, "We'll exercise extreme caution from the outset, then. The Witness will sense our Light and may try to interfere. Watch our backs, all right?"

"I can do that," Jayesh said, drawing Lumina.

Meanwhile, a few yards away, Crow and Cayde-6 were inspecting a patch of soft ground beside a pond.

"Tracks," said Cayde. "Eliksni?"

"Scorn," said Crow.

"How do you know?"

"Dark ether. Smell it?"

"Kid, I ain't had a sense of smell in six reboots."

"Scorn?" exclaimed Jayesh in alarm. "Zombie Eliksni? Here?"

"I imagine the Witness loaded them into those empty pyramid ships and flew them in," said Cayde-6. "While you were out, we noticed a whole lot of them flying in through the portal. The Witness gathering its troops, I guess. Anyway, be careful sticking your nose into that dark little hole. Might be a nasty surprise in there."

Charon and Jayesh approached the cave entrance. Even from outside, they could see the black roots that filled the inside, clawing their way along the walls and ceiling. They had grown since last time and the cave was almost completely blocked off.

"Let me try something," Jayesh said. He began to sing softly under his breath, and a fireball began to take shape in his cupped hands. Charon hastily backed away to a safe distance, her flock of Ghosts fleeing along with her. Jayesh kept singing meditatively, thinking of suns and stars, and the Traveler's voice, and the melody of life itself. The fireball grew to the size of a basketball, then a beach ball. Jayesh added a little flourish of blue flame and hurled it into the cave mouth. The results were spectacular. The roots sizzled and writhed as if he'd dropped a lit match into a nest of centipedes. Many of them caught fire at once and incinerated in a flash of heat and smoke. The fire spread rapidly, chewing through the infested cave, until they could no longer see its progress. But smoke continued to pour from the cave for some time.

The Hunters peeked out from behind the same rock.

"Hot damn," said Cayde-6. "Always bring a Sunsinger when you need to burn out the weeds."

"One fireball is all it took," Jayesh said in surprise. "Why couldn't I save the Tree of Silver Wings that way? My fire barely touched the roots then."

"You broke the Witness's hold, remember?" Crow said, clapping him on the back. "Without its direct interference, these roots burn like dry grass." He ducked into the cave and explored as far as the first junction. "The Dark is just about gone from in here. Tell Charon to bring her Ghosts."

Charon entered the cave without hesitation. Jayesh loitered outside, reluctant to take Phoenix back into danger. But after a moment he felt a pulse of pure Light from inside the cave, then felt a shifting of the ground and the Light around them. Crow, Charon, and the flock of Ghosts returned, smiling.

"That's done it!" Charon announced. "Little Flea used her Light to heal the Traveler, and the whole cave changed at once. All the creepy stuff vanished and it filled with plants and flowers."

"And I feel fine!" the Ghost in question announced. She was slightly smaller than the others, but brave enough for all of them. "The Traveler gave me back my Light, just like Charon thought it might. I feel even stronger now!"

Charon beamed and did a little dance. "Come on, everyone, let's find another spot to purify!"