The ~SIVA Crisis

Felwinter Peak,

Earth.

Cold. Freezing. Windy.

The mountains were just that. We were climbing a pristine white mountain slope, with trees blanketing the area, while snow fell gently onto the ground. My ship hovered to a close height above the ground and dropped me off. Paledon followed suit. When my feet landed on the ground, I could immediately feel the snow beneath me, along with the cool wind blowing against my body; and for a brief moment, I looked like a lost Thrall as I stood in the wilderness for the first time in ages—drinking in the sights, the smells, and everything that came with being outside.

After my bearings were together, I glanced at Paledon and nodded. Bringing out my weapon of choice, the Boomer, we ascended up the snowy mountain, and my ghost had picked up a transmission from Lord Saladin. “Hold up, I’m getting a signal from our Iron Friend: ‘A group of Fallen has captured Felwinter Peak. My team and I are en route, but we won't get there in time. I need you to secure the observatory at the top. It is imperative that the Fallen do not establish a foothold there. Saladin out.’”

“So we have to basically kill any Fallen that get in our way?”

“Pretty much,” my ghost said. “Let’s get moving you two.”

For the next little while, nothing eventually happened. We hadn’t crossed paths with any Fallen, which was odd given how we were lead to believe they were all over this place. We must’ve been out here for 30 minutes, but not a single thing had attacked nor was there any indication of an attack. I stopped walking and peered at Paledon. “What do you think is going on?”

“I’m not sure,” he said, turning his head to me. “I don’t get it. I thought they were suppose to be Fallen here.”

“Hmm. Let’s keep going. They can’t be far.”

We kept a steady pace up the mountains and gave each other occasional looks at one another. I payed him with a few smiles, but I doubt he knew about them since I was wearing a helmet. Nevertheless, having him with me on an ambiguous mission warmed my heart—especially since he wanted me to co-side with him. I had never once thought this would ever transpire, and for that I considered myself lucky.

I sorta wondered what he thought of all this, going on a mission together. In reality, he probably thought nothing of it; to him, this was probably just another mission, another day, and another fight.

Reality crashed down on me as I noticed a Fallen Skiff appearing in the air, after which it was deploying Fallen enemies. “Well, I guess there’s our targets,” I said, giving a glance to Paledon.

Running up the slope of snow, we took cover behind a large rock and resided our weapons. I peeked around the corner and noticed Fallen gathering around and speaking their gibberish of a language. Near them was an station of some sorts, and they seemed to have old carts on a wire-line. I couldn’t quite understand what they were since it probably had to deal with pre-golden age nonsensical technology. Looked stupid and silly.

With my Boomer in my right hand (and somewhat on edge as to how this thing was going to work) I nodded at Paledon and exposed myself to the open. Most of the Fallen took notice of me and did their little cry for battle, while some ran away to alert other nearby ones.

Determined and ready to open fire, I aimed my weapon at the poor fools that stood in our way, but I was disappointed when I pulled the trigger or whatever was used by the Hive to fire this thing. Instead, I got a stream of Arc bullets flying my way. Paledon jumped in and put a bubble in front of me (in more formal terms, Ward of Dawn, which was a domelike shield, able to block attacks, made of Void energy).

“What’s the matter? Scared to use that thing or what?” he said, popping out of the bubble to return fire.

“No, it won’t seem to work for me. Ah, shit!” I said. “Ghost. Why won’t this work for me?”

Another Skiff was en route and there seemed to be an increase of Fallen within a matter of minutes. It wasn’t anything we couldn’t handle though, but it didn’t help that my weapon refused to work—leaving Paledon to do most, if not all, of the work. Normally a smart guardian would bring more than one weapon with them, but being the dumb-ass I was…

Ghost came out and eyed the weapon. “By my analysis, the weapon is still functional, but it is losing its ability to work properly. You need Hive components to restore it.”

“For the love of the Traveler, do you two have to be talkin’ about a malfunctioning weapon while I’m trying to kill everything? C’mon!” Paledon said, jumping into the air and launching a rocket at a group of Fallen that fell to the aftermath of the explosion.

“Just keep trying! You’ll get it.”

I left the bubble and focused on firing the ascendant weapon. Focusing stupidly, I aimed it high, as I knew the projectiles from Boomers often arced and landed by curving. I channeled my ascendancy, pulled the trigger. Loud noises were a thing, I had forgotten. When the weapon fired, it roared, sending bursts of Arc blasts at the Fallen; most of them  fell to the chaotic siege that was my gun, but I could only pull the trigger so many times before the recoil and burning pain in my arm became too much. No wonder those knights were so tough. Their weapons were so ruinous.

Paledon, throwing a grenade, turned his head to me and said, “How’s it working?”

My breathing heavy, I wheezed, “It’s…powerful. My arm already hurts from all the recoil. Give me a moment.”

I had begun to wonder how over-engineered some of our weapons were in comparison to the weapons our enemies use. Obviously, (and without boring you with details) some weapons were more complex than others, but this…this was simple and easy to use! Shoot three to four times, then reload. Believe it or not, the Boomers have a recharge time, which is what I consider a reload.

By the time our assault with the Fallen was over, I had already gotten used to the Boomer. At first, it was beyond insane to use, given the recoil pattern and the burning pain that came with its use, but after awhile it was as easy as defeating Crota.

“Huh,” Paledon said, standing amongst the Fallen bodies that littered the ground. “That thing is quite the gun. You sure showed them.”

At least now I didn’t have to worry about my ammo count. It seemed as though I had an infinite streamline of energy to fire this thing, which was nice. No reloads or ammo required.

As we approached the cable carts, my ghost had aired its way to some control panel that was probably linked to control the them. “Hm, if I hack the programming, I could probably get it working for us to traverse to the observatory.”

“Do it,” I said.

Within mere seconds, the door to the cart opened, and both Paledon and I stepped in, the door closing behind us with a click. Eventually, the cart started moving north, and that’s when I picked up a transmission from Saladin (I had made sure to direct any signals from out Iron Lord friend to me, since there wasn’t anyone mounting the comms, which, now that I think about it, probably wasn’t the most responsible thing for me to do). “Guardian, there are more Fallen reinforcements headed to your position. The observatory isn’t that far from your location. Remember to not allow a single Fallen into the Iron Temple!”

“Wait,” my ghost said. “Iron Temple? As in, Iron Lords?”

“I’ll see you on the other side, Guardian.”

Paledon and I exchanged perplexed looks as we shrugged our shoulders and resided out weapons for the supposed onslaught of Fallen. Neither of us exchanged any words during our time on the cable cart, even though I (and if I were to guess based off his body language) wanted to converse (super badly) about all the secrecy to the place we heading to. As a Hunter, I never really had the responsibility of indulging myself in books or tomes, unlike Warlocks, so hearing about this Iron Temple was a first to me; but despite me not being a space wizard with a fancy library, the idea of delving into the history of the place excited me, more so stepping foot there.

After a while, a Skiff had ripped through the atmosphere and started to follow us. We were wedged between two mountains, both of which had Fallen atop, and they were firing at us as we passed. The skiff turret was also firing at us, and it didn’t help that we were in a metal box that was practically on the verge of collapsing.

With my Boomer thundering loudly and satisfyingly, Paledon, shooting his (from what I could tell) Thunderlord, flinched violently, and bumped into me, causing me to send a blast of Arc energy at our cart, causing it to wobble.

“I’m not so sure I like this metal box anymore.”

A blast from the Skiff turret had created a breach in our little box, and that’s when I had the craziest of ideas. “We should jump. This thing isn’t going to hold for much longer.”

“Are you in insane? Do you see how high up we are?” Paledon said, as if he were unwilling to go through with our improvised plan B.

“C’mon. I’ll see you on the other side!”

With that, I ran and jumped out of the cart, weapon grappled tightly in my hold. I felt as if I could take over the entire universe alone as there was nothing more appeasing than feeling my heart race and adrenaline coursing through my body, all the while of feeling the cold air strike and cool me down from the natural high. This was what being a Hunter was all about: Having fun and making crazy decisions like this.

As I neared the snowy ground, I braced for impact and did a front roll, only to fall on my face afterwards. Being cooped up in the tower for months really did make me clumsy. I pushed myself up, feeling the snow on my hands melt and soak my thin armour. This was the first time I had ever really come into contact with snow; to me, it was strange as learning how to use a new subclass. By the time I had gotten on my two feet, I looked up, seeing Paledon flying in the air and coming down with a crash; when his feet struck the ground, it shook slightly. With his back lurched back and knees bent, he gazed up at me.

“Dramatic much?” I asked.

Paledon gave a grunt of annoyance. I could (somewhat) sense that he was getting tiresome and intense. “Let’s get moving.”

Continuing our climb, pushing through the blowing cold wind, we encountered more Fallen, but they were far from problematic.

Eventually a large tower made of iron and stone crossed out paths and we discerned it was the observatory or at least part of it. There were old markings etched into the wall on it—like one of them Iron Banner symbols with the tree and a wolf on either side. Unlit braziers were scattered around, and I wondered if those were what carried the sacred flames the Iron Lords used to forge their weapons.

As we ascended an iron stairwell, my ghost came out of its dimension and said, “I’m picking up an odd energy reading. I’m not quite sure what it is, but whatever it is, it can’t be good. Let’s keep moving.”

And so we did.

We reached the top of the stairwell, and noticed something floating in the distance. It was a giant Servitor that appeared red and heavily damaged; incipiently, I immediately thought about Sepiks Prime since this Servitor looked like him, but we killed him two ago, so how could that be possible? Fallen goons were kneeling before whatever that thing was, and they were offering it some rod shaped offerings. If I had known any better, it was regenerating.

Paledon and I snuck closer to the site of interest, taking caution not to get caught. Stealth as a Hunter was a speciality, but for a Titan, not so much. Still, we got behind a wall of a tower structure, and I peeked my head around the corner to see what was going on. I couldn’t believe my eyes. It was Sepiks Prime! But…it was regenerating with red energy markers of some sorts.

While I was comprehending and evaluating the situation, Paledon was tapping my shoulder for attention. I could (somewhat) sense he was curious. “What’s going on?”

“Well,” I whispered, “Remember our old friend Sepiks? He appears to be back.”

“Wh-what? Let me see.”

Paledon tried to cross over me, but I grabbed him and pushed him against the wall quietly. “Don’t ever do that. It’s a good way to blow our cover.”

“Since when did you care about playing smart? Usually you rush in headstrong, what gives?”

“Paledon,” I said, stealing another glance of Sepiks. “This is different. We don’t know what we’re up against here. Just think: A dead foe suddenly back from the dead? Yeah, he’s a robot and all, but why are they now just resurrecting him?”

“Why not ask them?”

“Ha! Very funny. Never took you for a smart ass,” I said, pulling out my ghost. “Ghost, what do you make of this?”

My ghost wandered off to get perspective of the situation, its shell spinning and one eye blinking. “Sepiks? Is that him? He appears to be regenerating. How strange. Also, remember those energy signatures I mentioned earlier? They’re through the roof now.”

Immediately after ghost finished speaking, Lord Saladin got on the comms, screaming, “Did you just say regenerating?! Guardian, destroy Sepiks Prime right now! There’s no time to explain. Just do it.”

Then all was silent, but only for a brief moment. “Someone’s cranky today,” I said.

“Time to strike,” Paledon said.

With that, I swiftly vaulted out of cover and immediately conjured two Vortex Grenades in my left hand, along with a poison smoke bomb for good measure. I tossed it at a trio of Dregs about a metre away, who flinched back in surprise at the sudden attack; and after the grenade plastered to the ground, where the group stood, it turned into a mini singularity (or whatever those Warlocks call it) and they fell to their death.

Like the slightly sadistic, savage bastard I am, I momentarily revered in the Fallen’s anguished cried as they were killed one by one, each death giving me a satisfying sense for that which helped me understand my purpose in the universe. As soon as they dropped dead, the singularity of my grenades vanished.

Sepiks did a hard teleport—red matter traversing and streaking in the air—and vanished to a courtyard in the distance, which had stone towers and unlit fire pits scattered around.

Meanwhile, in the corner of my eye, spotted the easily distinguishable Wire Rife powering up from afar, but, with a practiced motion borne from experience, I shadestepped (think of it as a rolling evade) to my left, and the shot careened past my side. I brandished my Boomer and lined up the shot before firing and hearing the thundering boom of my weapon. My Arc projectiles struck the snipping Vandal. The first projectile staggered it while the second one perforated its skull.

A violent barrage of energy projectiles impacted me from the side, causing me to stagger and I fell to the ground. Normally, I would’ve tried deflecting the oncoming projectiles with a sword, or at least dodged them with a shadestep, but everything was happening too fast.

Paledon came rushing up and stood in front of me, acting as a shield. His right shoulder was facing the direction of the oncoming projectiles and he ate them for breakfast. With a tap of his scout rifle he quickly dropped the remaining enemies astray.

He quickly turned around and offered a hand for me to stand. “Get up. We got an old friend to take out.”

As we left the site, we came across an old wooden bridge, suspended by rope, over the highrises that were the mountaintops. We traversed the bridge and found ourselves on the courtyard I had mentioned earlier. In front of us was a massive stone building, with a stone staircase leading up to an entryway, with gigantic stone columns holding the structure.

Suddenly, Sepiks materialized in front of us. “UUUUUUGHAHAHA,” it mocked in its machine voice.

“The hell is with that thing?” I said. “It’s all red and it looks…augmented?”

“Doesn’t, matter,” Paledon said. “We have to take it down.”

“You better do it fast,” my ghost said. “Fallen reinforcements incoming!”

I readied my weapon and glanced at Paledon. “Let’s do this.”

Running headstrong, I fired my Boomer three times, then reloaded. Fired another three times, then reload. I double jumped my way over the staircases, slide on the pathway, and found cover behind a stone column, right near the entryway to the structure. Sepiks was firing his Servitor attack at me. I peeked around the corner and noticed he was now focusing on Paledon. Fallen soldiers were being deployed by the Skiffs, and they all directed their fire at him.

For a moment he staggered, fell to the ground. He looked up at them and, if I were to guess, had the biggest “You’re so dead and going to pay for that” smile. Within mere seconds, while taking damage from Sepiks and the surrounding Fallen, he arose. And that’s when I heard a violent, uproarious, sharp metal clang of a hammer striking an anvil; the battlefield was engulfed in flames, pacifying everything in the inferno. Amidst the bloodshed stood a Titan, a warrior of Light, his form nothing but that of Solar Energy.

Paledon leaped into the air, whipping fiery hammers at Sepiks who flinched for a short period of time before making a hard teleport and moving aside the barrage of hammers. Soon Paledon collapsed to the ground from sheer exhaustion, no doubt from channeling all his Light to ward everything and Sepiks with his ultimate ability, Hammer of Sol.

With nothing but determination, I vaulted from my cover and threw a smoke bomb at Paledon, causing him to go invisible—which should give him more than enough time to find cover. As I ran toward the Prime Servitor, firing my Boomer, I dodged, left and right, most of the projectiles being directed at me, being quick on my feet not to trip on the small rocks that were embedded in the snowy ground.

When I reached a reasonable distance, I stared into the Void without fear. My mind  crossed an endless span of nothingness—a reminiscent of what was Earth in the pitch-dark of night. I steered my consciousness toward that nothingness, and scooped up a handful of the Void. My mind faltered for a moment from the immense influx of power, despite the little dark energy I had grasped in comparison to the infinite vast expanse, and I threatened to lose my mind and indulge in the Void. I sort of wondered what Paledon saw of this since I was the only Nightstalker around, or at least from what Cayde-6 told me. I didn’t let my mind veer too far off, though, or else I would’ve lost all focus.

The literal loss of my mind averted, I exited the ethereal confides of my subconsciousness with a bow in my hand. Time in the corporeal world resumed, and I was still at the zenith of my assault against Sepiks. I stopped running and aimed the Void bow up at my target; I concentrated the energy in my right hand and drew Light from the Void. Within mere moments, a barrage of Void arrows soared their way and struck Sepiks. A purple tether was latched to him, preventing him from teleporting. I subsided my power for a brief moment and took the liberty of unloading with my weapon—each subsequent shot firing more thunderously.

The Nightstalker’s ability was truly something to fight for as a Hunter: Being able to tether your enemies, slow them down, and deal more damage, who wouldn’t want that as a Hunter?

With the little time and energy I had left, I launched two more arrows at my foe, and it didn’t seem to do the trick: Sepiks made another hard teleport and materialized in the middle of the battlefield—this time with a protective Arc shield around him, rendering my attacks useless. For some inexplicable reason, Sepiks remained still, not retaliating but rather regenerating itself.

A Fallen Captain and other goons were being deployed on either side of him, forcing me to retreat back to cover momentarily. I made myself invisible with a readily available smoke bomb and motioned to Paledon, who was peaking over the rock, giving me some covering fire.

I leaped in the air and, upon landing, did a front roll into cover. Back padded against the rock, Paledon still firing away at the reinforcements, I grabbed a few incendiary grenades from Paledon’s side—yanked the pins off, and chucked the grenades backward, sending them flying in the air. Along side them, I activated two of my own grenades for good measure. Their detonation resonated, and the sound of dying foes couldn’t have been more assuaging.

Meanwhile, Sepiks began his barrage of attacks once more, each striking the rock in front of us.

“We need to deal with these, Captains, otherwise we can’t do anything!” Paledon shouted over all the barbarous noise. “And there’s more Fallen now!”

If one were to stand here on the battleground, it would be safe to assume anyone with a brain would say that there’s practically a full blown-out war here; and to make matters worse, it was only Paledon and I warding these pesky Fallen off as there was no sign of Saladin anywhere. Where was he? It’s not like there’s gridlock in space or anything.

Regardless though, I took the plunge and nodded at my partner. “You got my back?”

“What the hell kind of question is that?” Paledon asked while reloading.

“Dramatic effect. Duh. I’m a Hunter. It’s all about talking and getting shit done with style.”

“Enough talk, what’s your move?”

I didn’t answer with words.

Tempered by the fires of Light, my iron will remained steadfast through the onslaught of Fallen that prey upon the weak; for I alone was the Slayer of Oryx, the Unchained Conquer, a Knight of Light who sought retribution in all quarters, dark and light, in the beginning and the end and sought to hunt the defiers of Light with barbarous cruelty.

I vaulted over the rock, brandished my weapon, and readied for another battle. There was a Reaver Captain carrying itself around with an aura of authority and rightful hubris. The Captain towered above its lesser brethren in both rank and stature with intricately designed and intimidating armour and a large Shrapnel Launcher to complement his status. A worn but regal cape depicting the Fallen House it served swayed aimlessly on its back, serving as an indiction of the superior statuses in the Fallen hierarchy. A Captain’s armours were usually fortified by heavy shielding, so this one shouldn’t be any different than the ones I had defeated before.

Its many eyes look at me as it stood still, but only for a brief moment: After I shot my Boomer, the Captain teleported to the side, evading my projectiles. By the time I realized where he was, bullets from his weapon were being directed at me. I flinched and fell to the ground, my knees burrowed in the ground; but after a brief moment of recovery, I stood and fired my weapon.

I stood in the same place, firing my diabolical instrument of siege, dodging when essential, and being cautious not to misdirect any of my shots. I used a vanished in smoke for invisibility, and translocated myself elsewhere to get a better advantage in the fight. I was at the highest point in the courtyard, giving me a view of the entire (and practically) battleground. Having the high ground was always a stellar advantage to have, no matter the circumstances. Always easier to shoot down than up.

My weapon unleashed its thunderous destruction.

Boom, Boom, Boom.

Reload.

Boom, Boom, Boom.

Either I was using this weapon incorrectly or the Captain I was fighting had been empowered by something. I was getting frustrated. My shots slowly became more concentrated and I somehow put the weapon in overdrive, allowing me to discharge more shots before reloading.

I had enough of this cocky Captain.

I stared into the Void once more, and as my mind steered into the infinite span of nothingness, I drew my Void bow once more and welcomed it back like an old friend. I shot a devastating arrow at the Captain; when it struck him, he flinched and was unable to teleport and attack as my arrow tethered and acted as a means of suppression.

I fired my weapon, knocked out the Captain’s Arc shield, and eventually dispatched it. He writhed on the cold ground, looking up at me as a sign of mercy, hoping I would do the same. I didn’t.

Immediately after the Captain’s death, I eradicated the remaining Fallen with Paledon’s aid. He managed to recuperate and summon his Hammer of Sol once again, unleashing brutality against those who opposed us.

Eventually Sepiks’s shield disappeared, but rather than fight back, he stared at us. “YUUUUUUURRAGH,” he said, his form spinning and sparking. The red energy around him was still regenerating him even after all the damage Paledon and I had done. Eventually he teleported away in the distance.

I quickly jumped down and found a feeble Paledon on the ground. “You all right?”

His breathing was heavy, but he was able to speak. “Oh, yeah. There’s a reason I love and hate being a Sunbreaker. It’s so draining.”

“Ha, I bet,” I said, extending a hand to help him stand.

“Back there…with your bow and arrow. That was pretty damn cool. ”

“Years of practice my friend. I’m just glad Cayde-6 was—”

“Shiro!” Saladin said on the comms, not giving me ample time to finish. Does this guy get more ruder? “Get a lock on Sepiks location, if that’s what I think it is we need to stop it!”

A ship in the distance came into the sky and hovered lowly over the courtyard ground. Saladin materialized from it and landed next to us. “Shiro, did you get a lock on?”

“I did. Looks like he’s back in the Devil’s Lair. We can deal with him later. But right now you should probably let the two lads in front of you what’s going on. I’m going to continue scouting the mountains and make sure there aren’t any more Fallen around.”

“Guardian,” Saladin said, turning away from us and walking toward the entryway to the giant stone temple. “Begone. This is a matter I need to deal with and me alone.”

“Hold on,” I said following behind.

Saladin stopped in his tracks and turned around. “No. There’s not a hold on here. This threat is something only I know how to handle. I won’t let anyone else suffer the same fate as my fellow Iron Lords who past away from said threat. If you know what’s good for you, back down right now.”

My calm demeanour slowly changed and I felt my body heat up into consuming anger. As I stood, my hands clenched into fists, I nearly drew my weapon up. Saladin seemed to take notice of my Boomer, and gave a contemptuous look. “We just saved this place, you should be thanking us!” I said.

Saladin turned around and ignored me.

“Why you walking away?”

“Hunter…” Paledon intervened, putting a hand on my shoulder.

“No! Seriously. Why? You asked us to come here, to stop the Fallen from breaching this temple and now that we’ve done just that, you’re telling us to fuck right off. Give me one good reason I shouldn’t strike you right now.”

“With what? That thing?” Saladin said. “It probably doesn’t work for you. You’re nothing but flash, kid.”

Out of anger, my finger accidentally slipped on the trigger, sending a few shots in Saladin’s direction, but none of them hit him. I creased fire and stood there; if he could see my face through my helmet, he would know, right there and then, that I do not like being played or misguided because of some underlying truth of a problem that refuses to loom to the surface.

With the wind blowing and nothing but silence between the three of us, the air was getting oddly tense and distressing.

In all seriousness, I couldn’t quite pinpoint why Saladin was acting this way, given that he was a mature, respectable, and honourable Titan. Perhaps whatever the threat he was talking about rattled his nerves severely. After thinking over the perturbed silence, I sheathed my weapon and said, “Look, just tell us what’s going on. Why was Sepiks reanimated? We killed him a few years ago, back in the Devil’s Lair in the Cosmodrome.”

No response. Just a still figure whose form was moving slightly in the wind.

“To hell with you then.” I turned around, but was abruptly stopped by none other than Paledon. “What?”

“Let me speak with him,” Paledon whispered in my ear. “I’ll get him to talk.”

For the next little while, I sat alone in the courtyard, surrounded by dead Fallen, getting met thoughts in order. Normally I am the precise and calm type, not one to act temerarious and stupid, despite my nature (as a Hunter) to act to the former and latter. Never had I threatened another fellow Guardian with a weapon or out of anger; doing that was a first for me.

As I sat on the stone ledge, my feet dangling in the air, I felt the cool air swirl around my legs, sending chills through my spine. The stars were gleaming and the Traveler sent its glorious Light to us—not only as a means to power us, but also illume our lovely planet.

Out here in the mountains, where there is practically no one, was quite a beautiful excursion: Being left to oneself. Heh, that’s what Hunters are all about, really, working alone. We tend to get shit done more efficiently alone than if we were to have someone tag along; besides, Warlocks and Titans have a difficult time keeping up with how fast we move and how nimbly we move, since we’re naturally gifted with agility and stealth. But for me…having at least one companion or a team was something I was more particularly fond of since it gave me more reasons to be mischievous and talkative.

My ghost pulled itself out from its dimension on his own accord. The nice thing about ghosts was that, while extremely useful and pleasing to have, they couldn’t read our thoughts or mind; and it was something I was grateful for since ghost can get a tad sappy with me sometimes.

My ghost’s eye trailed the gun I wielded, which I now held loosely at my side. “You know,” he said, “I’m surprised that thing worked for you. May I ask what’s up with you and that thing, anyway?”

I shrugged my shoulders and continued to stare at the star-painted sky.

“You unceremoniously picked it up off the ground a little while after defeating the Warpriest back on the Dreadnaught. Normally we leave our fallen foes’ weapons when they die as a way of honouring them in battle. Now you’re treating it like a gift from the Traveler. Also, do you remember what I said earlier about it?”

“Mhmm,” I mumbled, paying little attention to what ghost was saying.

Another thing about ghosts, or from what I had learned, was that they never seem to get angry at you, despite how rude you may be toward them: Not listening to them, pushing them aside, calling them “Little Light”, and even desummoning them.

But I knew I had to say something eventually; my ghost was ruthless when it came to getting something out of me. So I answered. “What sort of components do we need to fix the weapon?”

“I’m not sure, but Banshee-44 would be a good start.”

“Duly noted.”

My ghost vanished as I got up from my seat, my eyes never averting from the night sky, though. I had always had a fascination with stars; made the night more beautiful than it should be. I always thought of starlight as the Traveler’s aid, helping us fight the Darkness, but my belief is simply not true.

With the little courage I could scrounge, my eyes averted from the sky and focused on the giant temple in front of me. It had been nearly two hours since my confrontation with Saladin. Paledon and him couldn’t have been talking for this long now, or if they were, what about?

Curiosity got the best of me and I decided it was time for me to see what those two knuckleheads were talking about.

I traversed through the entryway and found myself inside the gigantic stone structure; and it was right there and then when my eyes dilated, giving me a wide, impeccable view of the Iron Temple. Inside there were multiple tall statues circling the closed-colosseum; between them was a giant tree, branching all the way up to the ceiling, where the iron bells suspended above the statues. In the middle, there was a stone walkway with water surrounding it, and in the middle of it was an ablaze firepit.

Brown, also. The atmosphere was very brown and old-fashioned.

The two Titans were standing in the middle, their voices slightly audible. Oddly enough, they didn’t take notice of me, probably because of my sneaky nature. My footsteps are always silent and immaculate, each step calm and precise enough to not distinct my whereabouts; but it wasn’t hard for me to make my presence known. When they noticed me, they faced me. I was curious as to what they had conversed.

“So,” I said, “did you two have a nice little slumber party without me?”

“Real talk, Hunter,” Paledon said.

“Oh no, please don’t tell me he infected you with seriousness too!” I had my hands plastered on my face like I was scared and shocked.

Paledon took his helmet off, and I saw how severe his expression was. “I mean it. I’ll give you the gist as to what’s going on. Right now we should leave Saladin to clear this place of the dead Fallen and let his mind grasp the situation. We got a lot of work to do, Hunter.”

I smiled reluctantly, unsure as to what work had to be done now that we’ve (at least from what I could discern) got a new threat on our hands. Paledon gave me a look that suggested that I best get in serious mode, even though that’s a defiance of my nature. Paledon kept walking, and I fell in line behind him.