Author's Note

New revised chapter, Previously named 'Lost...' The cavern sequence didn't change minus some spelling corrections, the changes starting in entering the Castle of the Royal Sisters.

Chapter 1: Fog Of War

Xor 'Vozomai woke up. He did not wake with a start, nor did he awake gradually. It seemed to him that one moment he was asleep, and the next he was fully awake. He was, however, confused. As he opened his eyes, he found himself in a...cave?

Xor simply stared at the rocky ceiling in befuddlement. Why was he in a cave. Wasn't he...he was...

He couldn't remember. Xor suddenly sat up, brows contorting in worry. He was in his armor, shields still fully charged, but for the life of him couldn't remember why. The latest he remembered was the Forerunner Guardians starting to police the galaxy.

And that was it. What seemed to be a entire year was missing from his mind. The date on his HUD verified that. One moment he was staring into the sky at a Guardian, the next he was staring at the ceiling of the cave he was currently in.

He looked around at the cave in more detail. There were crystals scattered about, giving enough light that enabled Xor to see. At first he thought they were Blamite crystals, but these were a variety of colors. He stood up, distinctly aware that he was unarmed other than a single plasma grenade. Thankfully, his motion-tracker showed no movement.

The cave had to directional openings, one at about a 45 degree angle from the other. One showed an incline, and Xor was tempted to follow that way. He sniffed deeply, however, his evolved olfactory nerves telling him that the air from the inclined passage was stale and very likely didn't lead outside.

The other passage was descending, though, which was something Xor disliked. Still, the air coming from it was far fresher. Grudgingly, the idea of going further below ground unappealing to him, Xor chose the latter.

Xor had no idea how far exactly he walked, though the clock on his HUD said it was about half a Unit. The crystals did not continue down the chosen passage, which made the light from them emit not far from the cavern. Xor was thankful that his armor had a shoulder-mounted lamp, the idea of going down in complete darkness much more unpleasing than just the act of descending.

Almost an entire Unit had passed before he heard something that made him even more uneasy. His heavy footsteps had an echo to them. He stopped, the echo shortly stopping after him. He continued for a few additional Units before stopping again. And again the echo stopped as well.

Xor dismissed it as simply what it sounded like, an echo, and continued onward. Yet again the echo came again. The Sangheili tried his best to ignore it, almost tempted to look back. Instead he stopped again.

Xor felt a chill when the echos didn't stop this time. He continued to walk through the passage, at a faster rate this time. Salvation came as something ahead shone against his light. To his disbelief, it was the handle of an energy sword. His energy sword.

A sharp pain spiked through his skull, causing the Sangheili to grunt and fall to his knees. A sudden burst of information radiated through his brain. He remembered now...somewhat. He now knew why he was here.

He had been fighting an alien. He couldn't remember the name or appearance, unfortunately, but he could positively say it wasn't Human. Or Jiralhanae. Or any other species he knew of. Xor remembered being engulfed in an orb of energy, then blacking out.

Despite having received some answers, it left more unanswered questions. What was the alien? What exactly did it do? What happened to the Guardians?

He pushed those thoughts to the side when the tempo of the echos increased. Whatever was making them, it was now running. Xor got back to his feet and dashed to the energy sword. He scooped it up and spun on a dime, igniting it.

Xor saw what was pursuing him now, and it scared him for a second on how close it had got to him. Less than two meters stood a creature on two legs similar to his own. That's where any similarities ended between him and the creature. The creature was bent forward, a long sweeping tail providing balance. It had only one arm, small and undeveloped, on the underside of its core. It wasn't all that large, around the size of a Doarmir.

Its face was similar in shape to a Kig-Yar, with its wide and long jaw. Again, that's where the similarities of any species he knew ended. It had far too many teeth, more than what Xor thought could be possible through evolution. They were needle-like, and to his surprise, seemed to glow of their own accord. It had one single eye, black as the darkness around them. It didn't seem to have any sort of eyelids, not blinking once in the bright light. Xor briefly wondered how it kept the eye moisturized.

It's skin was white, the same shade one would expect to evolve into with generations of no sunlight. The skin seemed to shimmer slightly, and Xor found out why. It was covered in short hair. Said hair was nearly completely translucent.

The creature shrunk back from the light, growling softly. It seemed to recover quickly, and started to salivate uncontrollably. To Xor's astonishment, and mild horror, the rock below sizzled and crackled. The creature's saliva was acidic, enough to corrode through rock.

It threw its head back and shrieked, a noise Xor would most likely never forget. It was high-pitched, primal and crazed. Xor could also hear it's eagerness at finding a potential meal. The creature lowered its head and spat at him.

Xor dove to the side, evading the acid saliva. He recovered from his roll to see the beast charging him, giving out sharp barks. Ultimately, though, it was an animal. And Xor was a trained warrior. He waited for the best moment to side-step the charging creature, jutting his sword-arm out.

The result was the creature disemboweling itself from its own momentum as it ran past. It gave a gurgle as it hit the floor with a wet thump. Blood bled profusely through the flesh that wasn't cauterized, and the creature's intestines and internal organs started to slide out of the gaping slit in its side.

Xor deactivated the sword and stood up straight. He huffed in disgust. Not in the creature, but at himself. How could he have ever felt fear from a simple-minded creature? He was about to inspect said creature more closely when he heard something that did give him a reason to be afraid. Howls.

Howls and shrieks echoed out of the passage behind him, undertoned by the thundering of multiple footsteps There must have been dozens of similar creatures all rushing to him. Xor, proud as he might be of his skill, wasn't an idiot. He knew this wasn't a fight he could come out unscathed, let alone alive.

He turned around and booked it to what he prayed to the Gods was an exit. The passage seemed to go on for miles, and each second the trample of the animals hunting him came closer and closer. Xor made the mistake of looking back.

Their teeth did indeed glow in the dark, emitting a sickly pale green light. It reflected off their glossy black eye, adding to the feeling of unease. Smiles of death stared at him, gleeful for the promise of a hearty meal. There were too many to even think about fighting. One opened it's mouth and spat a wad of saliva at him.

The ball of spit went by dangerously close to his head and Xor realized that he should focus in front of him. He didn't want a face full of acid. More spitballs shot by him, and Xor knew it was only a matter of time before one got lucky.

That poor luck appeared quickly, as he felt something impact him in his back. In less than thirty seconds, his shields broke and he heard sizzling on his back. Damnation, though, was up ahead regardless if the acid ate through his armor.

The passage ended abruptly, spelling certain doom for the Sangheili. At first Xor though his nose had deceived him, but he could make out faint light coming from small gaps in the wall. Xor realized that whoever this planet belonged to must have sealed up the access to the surface for fear of the creatures pursuing him.

Time seemed to slow down as he tried to think of a way, any way, that could save him. His eyes caught on one aspect of his HUD. The grenade counter.

If Sangheili had the capability to smile, Xor would be beaming. Still, he had to time this just right. He grabbed the grenade from his belt as pellets of acid hit all around him. He primed it and threw straight and true, the now glowing ball landing in an opening.

The resulting explosion melted a hole through the rocky barricade, and caused cracks in the ceiling above him to form. Dust and rock rained down on Xor as he gave all he had into his sprint. Behind him he could hear loud thuds, telling him that the passage behind him was collapsing.

Xor dove through the hole, thinking he was safe. Not yet, as he found out, as he felt something slam into his back. He shrugged one of the creatures off of him, watching in the corner of his eye the passage fully collapsing behind him, killing the majority of the creatures.

The creature scrambled to recover but Xor was far more ready. He lunged forward, kicking the creature with all his might. He felt something in the creature snap and the animal gave a screech of pain as it slammed into the opposite rocky wall.

Xor didn't want to waste the charge on his energy sword, his only true weapon left, and instead picked up a large rock. Far too tired for any theatrics, he rushed to the creature and raised the rock above his head. He brought it down on the creature's eye.

To Xor's surprise, the black spot on the creature's head wasn't an eye at all. It shattered like bone, revealing flesh beneath. The creature shrieked again, loud enough that it physically hurt Xor's senses. Pushing through the ringing following the noise, he brought down the rock again. And again.

The fourth blow was the one that killed the beast, crushing its skull inward. Xor lifted his hand to see it dripping with blood and gore. He dropped the rock and wiped his hand on the creature's pelt. Xor finally gave a sigh of relief and looked around.

The light he had saw seemed dimmer now, emanating further up the passage. Xor grunted, displeased he was still underground. He forced himself forward, taking the light as a sign he was almost out of this hell. His footsteps thudded against the bedrock, taking pleasure in not hearing echos.

The passage bent up ahead, and Xor quickened his pace. He rounded the corner and stopped. A clear line marked the end of the passage. In its place was a stone room. Xor could see wooden, round containers lining the back wall facing him.

Xor stood still, listening and eyeing his motion tracker. Both told him that there wasn't anybody around, but he still gripped his energy sword rather than clipping it on his thigh. He approached the opening and peaked his head through.

To his displeasure again, Xor was still not above ground. The light he saw was coming from up a ramp. Curiously, he saw no stairs or other exits other than that ramp. He looked around the room as he stepped into it. In addition to the containers, there were shelves with bottles in them.

Xor ignored the features of the room and made a beeline to the ramp. He stopped at the bottom. There was indeed a door, wood with rusty hinges. But it was small, to a point an Unggoy would need to duck. Still, with a little effort, and some broken walls, he managed to get through the doorway.

He came out into a hallway, at the end specifically. Immediately something caught his eye. It was a tapestry, located by a wall next to a door. What was on it made him pause. They were bipedal, and quite similar to Humans with the exception of the head and appendages.The two were depicted to be dressed in regal gowns. They both had a protrusion from their heads and what looked like wings sprouting from their backs.

The two figures were in front of two circles, one yellow and orange while the other was white with grey dots. Xor guessed they were the sun and the moon, respectively. They were facing each other and looking into each other’s eyes. Their heads reminded him somewhat of the Keifra on Sanghelios.

His eyes trailed to the door next to the tapestry. This one was larger, more suited for a Human or Kig-Yar. He reached and pushed it open, the hinges squeaking painfully loud. If anyone didn't know I'm here, they do now.

He ducked and stepped inside. It was a bedroom. A bed immediately caught his eye. It was obviously for someone important, and if it was still in its prime it would have been magnificent. The embroidery, despite being worn down from the years, still displayed proudly the skill of the sewer. Intricately carved wooden posts held up the now tattered canopy above the bed. Oddly, there was more of the Keifra-like figures on the poles, and on the hems of the blanket.

The other things he saw was a dresser with a mirror that had long fallen down. A nightstand was next to the bed, with a book on it. There was a study desk, covered in rotting paper. The rug on the floor had long lost its splendor of color. Xor suddenly sagged, acutely aware of how tire he felt.

Xor picked up the chair at the dresser and moved it to barricade the door. He moved to tear down the sagging canopy when he stopped. This room had obviously belonged to an important individual, and despite the likelihood that they are long gone now, it felt disrespectful to take down the canopy with the force he was originally going to use.

Instead he took it down with respect and placed it on the study desk. The bed small for his size, meaning his feet would hang off. It would still be better than sleeping on the floor, he figured. He settled down, somewhat amazed that the bedframe held up his weight. His eyes snapped to the nightstand, and the book on it.

The edges of the cover were frayed, and was covered in a thick layer of dust. He brushed the dust off and opened it to the first page. To his amazement, the words were in Sangheili. They glowed of their own light, leaving Xor very confused. The inside of the book's cover had glowing words as well, saying something about the book being 'enchanted' for others. He didn’t know what exactly that meant, so he decided to ignore that for now.

Year 1 A.B.

A new Age has come, one that I wished never had...