Only a hour after I had left Ben to prepare himself did I decide to board the train, after making sure everything was in order. Normally I would've headed back to Canterlot to tell Shining Armor to start his attack, and relay instructions to immediately converge onto the Crystal Empire. My ride was stopped short however, as Rasputin detected an anomalous storm containing the Traveler's energy. Inevitably, I called to stop the train, and went off on my own with a small legion of infected.

That is, if you can call a thousand infected a small legion. Needless to say, I was irritated at the amount since I am the most powerful being in Equestria. With the way things are going now, it's not as if somebody will just come by and humiliate me. The anomalous Traveler energy is north of Ponyville, behind the hills next to the Canterlot river. It barely took any time to cross, as the flier units carried all of the horde over.

After some climbing, I saw the storm. My optics analyzed the storm, confirming Skorri's suspicions as it turned out to be arc energy.

So what is it I have to do again to obtain Stormcaller?

Meditate to the point where everything in your body is equalized, and have a strong enough light. But since my light is too weak... we're going to have to get the shard's power.

You make it sound like it's murder.

When the Traveler released the ghosts, it gave them enough light to revive potential warriors of the light for eons. This alone would take a significant portion of the Traveler's power. The amount of power it takes would essentially be this shard, so yes we're going to see if it'll let us absorb it.

That doesn't show me why it's wrong.

One of the primary rules for all of the Traveler's chosen is to not absorb the Traveler's energy unless given by a ghost. For we Iron Lords fear all who ask its power would have a fate far worse than death befall them.

So in other words you're pussies about bringing people to the Traveler to become guardians.

You'd be a even bigger pussy if you've fought what I've fought.

Really? Because this sounds similar to a child not wanting to try something new.

Just get to the damn shard already Aaron. I'd prefer that I at the least get back to defending the Traveler's energy.

What about stuffing your nose in a book?

One more time, and I cut off your healing next battle.

I simply smirked, and moved to the center of the storm, Rasputin leaving the horde in guard position. As I went, the winds changed from a calm breeze, to a raging storm. SIVA helped me stay linked to the ground, but it did not bode well for mobility. The clouds obscured the sun to the point where no light shone, and I ended up rely on the flashes from the arc lightning to see, as I slowly trudged through the storm. What felt like a couple hours had passed before the wind went back to normal. Off in the distance shone a lone blue dome of light.

Due to the sight, I assumed I stood in the center of the storm, where the shard was expelling arc energy to create a barrier. I ran to the shard, eager to have the powers Skorri once wielded. As I went, it became increasingly blinding, to the point where I couldn't see a thing. I only kept moving forward, hoping I was heading in the right direction. Eventually, my vision cleared up, and in front of me, a stone 30 meters tall in the shape of a shard floated above the ground.

It's been so long since I've been close to anything like it... Skorri said in wonder. Can you feel it Aaron? The feeling of true serenity? Of life? This is what our dimension stopped fighting for.

True to Skorri's word, I felt at peace before the shard. As if I could forget about the war I led against the caribou and just lie here forever but a worrying thought lingered in my mind. Why was the shard trying so hard to generate a barrier? As I contemplated what could've possibly caused such behavior, a hole opened from the shard, powerful light going into my face. Then a massive wave of arc energy slammed into my body, penetrating the armor and into my flesh. No... I thought to myself.

It wasn't the flesh. It was something I never knew was there. Never felt it? Never realized it? I couldn't tell, but I felt so open, so safe, so... alive. I felt myself move off the ground. Was I exploding from excess energy? Was I unintentionally manipulating the gravitational field of the earth beneath me? All I knew is that the energy was still coming.

I felt energized, yet at peace.

Eventually, I fell back down to my feet. The storm had cleared, along with the shard. I felt more connected somehow.It is done... I hope the Traveler doesn't kill us for taking its energy.

Don't worry, we can come back from that!

You are both annoying and dumb.

New data feeds coming in. A few whirs emanated from the armor. An anomalous entity comprised of [O] and the Queen energies are attacking our horde.

I quickly unslung Steel Medula from my back. Skorri, didn't you say that light and darkness cannot mix under your 'normal' circumstances?

I did! Keep your eyes peeled. Whatever is fighting our horde isn't anything to be trifled with, even with our recent absorption of the shard.

Rasputin marked where the conflict was in progress as Skorri finished talking. I ran in a full blown sprint, dodging tree branches as I went. [O] energies will heal the target. Heavy weaponry is advised to counter the healing factor.

I don't need a tip on how people like me work! Just give me its important weaknesses when we get there.

Acknowledged.

Upon arrival, I saw the entity in the midst of the horde. It was almost twice as large as I was. Its head was dark gray and shaped like a human, except all around the face were holes in the skin, silver fluids pouring out from some of them. Eyes so black that they looked like dark inky abysses, swallowing all light as if they were black holes. Giant, shark-like teeth covered with blood made up its gore-plastered mouth, which was already stretched wide enough to fit the head of an unfortunate infected it caught. Its arms and legs were unnaturally stretched, and stood as if it was meant to be a spider walking on two legs, except it lacked the rest of the limbs needed to look like one. Claws that looked as if they were meant to cause unimaginable pain to it’s victims.

It unleashed enraged, pained screams reminiscent to a human as it ripped apart the horde. I stood there in shock, only able to watch as it ripped the horde to shreds. It eventually turned its head towards me, and it almost felt like time stopped as we stared each other down, my eyes staring into its endless black.

Then it unleashed a full-on tackle towards me.

On instinct, I fired a strand of SIVA towards a tree, it pulling me to it as my free hand fired Steel Medula at the creature. It screamed in rage, dissatisfied at the denial of its free meal as the bullets bounced uselessly off it. I tapped into my storage unit, swapping out Steel Medula for Ether Nova as I climbed up to the top of the tree. The creature didn't give time, as it charged into the tree, forcing me to leap off and roll onto the ground.

I jumped up, already charging up Ether Nova, and fired a stream of void beams towards it, making a noticeable mark in the skin. The surrounding infected tried to immobilize the creature, but in response the creature released a blast of the sickening silver liquid from its body, disintegrating all of the nearby infected. How about that scan Rasputin? I thought behind trees that weren't touched by the blast.

Data acquisition almost complete... target's weak spot is relatively same to your own weak spots.

In other words, give it a headache that'll blow its mind.

Well it'd be easy to do that, I rolled to the side, narrowly dodging a downwards slash. If I wasn't so concerned about not getting instantly killed!

Aaron, a retreat is necessary. This isn't any ordinary soldier of the Queen.

Greatest warmind has to scan something to figure that out?! I growled in frustration. Fuck it, if it survives this, I'm out of here. I then pulled out Sleeper Simulant, quickly climbing up another tree. The creature simply stared at me, as if watching my next move. I charged up Sleeper Simulant in response, and fired it at the creature. A half second before the shot, it whipped out its hand as if to block it, and to my utmost surprise caught the beam without so much as a flinch, turning it into a glowing solar ball.

The Sleeper Simulant in its current state shoots a high density cylindrical solar energy beam of 1.54 feet. The solar energy is so powerful it's capable of vaporizing iron, and if it didn't kill you it'd go through anyways as if you weren't there to begin with to bounce off on the environment.

The creature then opened its mouth, a eye visible on its tongue. Whether it was connected or not, I couldn't tell, as without a moment's notice it swallowed the energy whole, no bulge evident in its throat. I sat on top of the tree, at a loss of what to do.

Then it growled, reeling its ugly head back. I quickly attempted to leap off the tree, but it was far too late. It fired two red beams from its eyes, killing plenty of my flying units and severing my arm. I screamed in agony, clutching the spot where my arm used to be as I ran, blood pouring from the stump. I felt Skorri already making preparations to regenerate the arm, but she could do nothing to fix the pain.

The shot seemed to have a recoil effect on the creature, as it charged into a tree opposite of where I was going. The ground infected continued their fruitless assault on the creature, in an attempt to protect me. Using the distraction given to me, I retreated to the train tracks in the Canterlot mountain, the arm regenerating during my 20 minutes of non-stop adrenaline.

One would think it's a bad idea to not listen to a centuries-old AI.

One wouldn't expect something to eat energy Skorri!

Just don't be stubborn. That's the downfall of many children of the Traveler.

A sigh escaped my lips. Skorri, I understand you're looking out for ourselves, but I can recognize a lost cause too!

Who had to heal you again?

I couldn't think of a come back, still getting over the adrenaline rush gained from the attack.

Regardless, you're going to have to get used to these powers you've gained. Especially if you want to not be stopped by pitfalls, which from personal experience are everywhere when it comes to the Vex. So when we get to the surface, we'll start with the pulse grenade. It's the most standard one for light-forged stormcallers.

Light-forged?

Remember when I said that there were multiple kinds of light? Well by that I meant there are variations, some invented by others, and some that come from the Traveler itself. In my time we had to get our own means, which is the meditating I kept mentioning. Skorri said, using her memories to paint a picture for me. But the rarest of those variations are light-forged. Chosen warriors who have survived the collapse with the direct gift of the Traveler intact. I only knew a bare few who had lived through the collapse, and fewer ghosts who brought these powers to the risen. I honestly would

Who were those people? Because they definitely need to be powered up by SIVA; if Rasputin lets us of course.

There is Osiris, though he's always been a odd one. No matter how much I asked, hacked, or researched, he was always just there. Some say a faulty ghost resurrected him, but the chances of a faulty ghost succeeding in a resurrection and surviving the fatal attempt, is lower than escaping the solar system. Yet that's all I could scrape up. Skorri said, showing a still memory of a warlock dressed in gold, before switching to another memory, one of a lone baby beneath the Traveler.

The other, and last one I knew of is Ikora Rey. The very last one touched by the light, before the Traveler released the ghosts. She was the sole survivor of a crossfire between the Darkness and the Traveler. At least, it's how the stories go. She was one of the first to help lay the foundations of the last city. I wonder how she is now?

Though it won't really matter much. Osiris has gone missing for two years back home, and Ikora is still growing up. The best we've got right now are ourselves, and I did not just help absorb a shard of the Traveler so you could waste it. To Canterlot! Time is wasting, warlock!

I'm a wizard.

You're a warlock.

Author's Note

This chapter came out kinda late, because I was slapped in the face with a massive amount of lore to catch up on. On top of that, I got so sick that whenever I stared at the page, I thought of nothing.

Editor:Vutava