Chapter 60: A New Dawn
[ Hive Colonies, The Moon]
"Don't fall back! Give no ground!" A shout reverberated, thousands of guardians marched the barren lunar grounds, their rushing footsteps echoed against the deathly still emptiness of space.
The air grew heavy with thick miasma , the horizon smeared green, defiled by necrotic energy, thousands of hive rituals sprouted, archaic runes spread across the surface.
Darkness loomed over the moon, swallowing the light. The day of disaster had arrived, the traveler's light could no longer reach the moon. For he had arrived, the eater of hope, Crota the son of Oryx.
They were helpless against him, like sheep to slaughter, numbering in the hundreds they rushed forwards.
"Go! Go! Go!" Zavala barked.
Thousands of Acolytes rushed. screeching, clawing to the surface as they erupted forth.
A roar of thunder ripped through the horizon, Crota surfaced from the deep, commanding an army of hive wizards, he charged. Their hymns and melodies began, conquering the minds of weak guardians, burning their very soul.
Hundreds perished, forever erased from existence.
The armies met, Crota laughed, a deathly grin, his hollow eyes turning pitch black, he swung his blade. Knights broke sprouted from the ground, marching in hundreds as they met the guardians, challenging them with Impenetrable shields.
With their light stolen, the guardians were weak, faced with a finality they couldn't exceed, they had become mortal.
"Nightstalkers, now!" Ikorra summoned, a dozen shadowshots blasted through to the center, threatening to swallow the hive.
Crota roared, a hive wizard appeared, its book of spells fluttering as it recited a cursed hymn, chains sprouted from the earth, swallowing the arrows.
Nothing could stop his army, yet the guardians charged, trying to brute force through. Bit by bit, their numbers fell, a frenzy ensued.
"ZAVALA, what madness is this. We can't win, we need to retreat." Shaxx roared, axe in hand as he barely held his ground, hacking through the hive.
"NO! We can do this, we must win." Ikorra warped in, a void pulse disintegrating the acolytes nearby.
Instantly, ten hive wizards summoned themselves forth, wisps of necrotic energy blasting towards the guardians.
Zavala slammed the ground, a weak barricade rose up absorbing the blasts of energy.
"Old friend, the consensus has decided we must fight! We cannot retreat." He grunted.
The Hive Knights broke through the first line of defense, their ascendant swords carried wrath and unquenched hatred, power enough to suffocate the remaining light within the guardians.
"Knights charging, TITANS, WITH ME." Zavala rushed forth, his feet planted into the ground, shoulder bashing into the knights, he rammed them away.
A fierce battle ensued, Zavala, Shaxx and Ikorra covered each others backs, yet even the fiercest of champions couldn't fight the armies of Crota alone.
"Zavala, they will slaughter us. This is not wise." Shaxx heaved, slashing through three knights yet his axe couldn't penetrate their shields.
The titan vanguard felt pressed, his light running low, his back turned to Shaxx, he glanced at Ikorra. One look and he could tell, her strength was running out.
His eyes fell on the front lines. Crota reaped hundreds of guardians, madness spreading through him, the hive god felt immortal.
'Traveler, have you forsaken us?' Zavala lamented, snapping to his senses. He grit his teeth, and accepted reality.
"GUARDIANS! RETREAT." He bellowed.
But it was too late, half their numbers had perished, the remaining exhausted to the brink, and with no light to replenish their strength. Humanity faced a disaster.
Ikorra's energy surged, her spirit unfazed facing the greatest calamity humanity had tackled. She shouted. "NIGHTSTALKERS! COVER THE RETREAT. WARLOCKS, OPEN YOUR PORTALS."
The warlock Order mustered their last ounce of light, flickering portals fizzled at their retreat. Salvation seemed close.
Ikorra flew up, exerting her light, a massive nova bomb gathered in her palms, with a flick of her wrist, it rushed to the hive wizards, who immediately hid behind their knights.
Mindless acolytes rushed forth, turning to ash. However, their numbers were into the millions, another army sprouted seconds later, rushing to the guardians as they struggled to cover their backs.
But the worse had yet to come, Ikorra's ear buzzed.
"It's an ambush, the wizards found us. Run NOW." Tevis screamed, the Nighstalker squad caught by thirty Hive wizards encircling the hunters.
Ikorra's head jerked towards the lunar dunes, a hidden spot they had secured for their team, numerous runic circles etched into the horizon, hive wizards spawning through.
Despair was imminent, she clenched her fists, and closed her eyes. Ikorra glanced back at the retreating guardians. Determination grew within her, she shot towards the dunes.
"I am coming, please, stay alive." Her voice a whisper, she rushed as fast as possible, just one more portal, the only one who could do it was her. She had to make it.
Tevis felt his light drain, a horrid cold spreading through his veins. Hive wizards flew above, his entire squad behind him.
"Void! I told you to run, it's not your time to die." Tevis clenched a dagger, grunting as he faced the hive.
"Captain, respectfully, I am not f***** going anywhere" Void barked back, panting.
The Nighstalkers ran empty on bullets, three days of fighting had exhaustion setting in. Their light reserves depleted. Yet, not a single hunter ran.
Quietly, they stood behind their captain. Unsheathing their blades one after the other. The squad peered above at the chanting wizards.
"Boys, let's make it out alive." Tevis chuckled necrotic rot spreading through his legs.
Down at the battlefield, guardians ran, as fast they could. Chaos and fear spread, the wizards chanted their songs, summoning chains that wrapped around the light-bearers, pulling them to their death.
Crota, the hive prince reveled, with each soul reaped, he grew stronger. No power could pierce his shell, and no spell could harm his soul. A deep instinct ran within the prince of the hive.
His eyes glistened when he spotted the portals. Speaking in an eldritch tongue, he commanded the wizards to stop them. There was no escape today. For today was the day of despair.
Not far away, Jason, Warrod and Edith's fireteam lingered, rushing the guardians to the portals. Warrod and Jason held the line as Edith opened a portal.
"Let's go! We have no time. Jason!" She pleaded, her arms quivering. A strange rot spreading through it, her breaths felt heavy, the magic was making her unstable, she couldn't hold the portal for long.
"Warrod! Clear the acolytes, I see survivors." He ignored her words, wrestling the Knights back, barking to the gunslinger.
Warrod wasted no time, hundreds of bullets showered on the hive grunts.
"Get back, I will be finished soon." Warrod yelled.
Jason struck with might, throwing back a knight, "No! There's no time."
The titan grabbed each survivor he could, hurling them back through the portals. But the hive had caught up.
Crota approached, a sense of suppression washed over them, Jason clenched his teeth as he felt his feet sinking into the ground.
The wizards immediately cast their spells, hundreds of necrotic chains slithering towards the Edith
Jason's body jolted, his power rising to new levels, he raised his hands, a dome of protection erupted from him.
"Jason!" Edith screamed, her heart clenched in place, the portal she made flickered violently. Edith stretched out her hand, inches away from him.
The titan glanced back at the warlock, her memories fluttered through his mind. She screamed, urging him to rush back.
But he knew it was too late. All wizards channeled their spells towards him, his dome of protection covering the backs of the retreating army.
The moment he let go, every other guardian would perish. Jason understood it well.
He looked once more to the warlock, struggling to keep the portal open, tears running down her face, her eyes distraught with fear and longing.
"I've always loved you." His lips parted.
"NO! Please!" Edith cried out, her hand banging on the dome, as she rushed out of the portal.
Jason shot a quick glance to Warrod the hunter inches away from death, he nodded.
"I'm sorry."
Jason turned back, facing the hive prince himself. Shouldering the entire army alone. He bellowed, a final war cry.
Edith stumbled trying to dash towards him, the portal seconds from closing, she felt a hand grab her waist. Their figures flickered as Warrod shot towards the portal, the hunter's eyes clouded with regret.
The wizards summoned their tomes and grimoires. A symphony of pure horror, the deathsong shook the horizon.
Jason felt the last portal close behind him, the strength leaving his body, his arms going numb. The Dome shattered under Crota's sword and the titan fell to his knees.
Looking up, the wizards had finished chanting, he closed his eyes. A bright green flash beamed through the moon, a dreadful melody echoed, rending all life futile. Oblivion had come.
----
"Wake up." Pahanin prodded Void with his scabbard.
Void jolted awake, a sudden twinge of pain gripped his head. He was sure he saw something. Something he couldn't recall.
His eyes drifted to the Ahamkara bones. What had he seen? But he quickly discarded the thought. Whatever it was, the Ahamkara's whispers could play with the mind. He was sure it was just a side-effect.
"Are we done?"
"Just finished up." Kabr replied, cleaning the blood off his fist.
"So what's next? We're going home?" Void stretched his back, feeling slightly sore.
"No, Vanguard ordered all the bones to be destroyed. Their skeletons still carry some power." Pahanin responded, handing void a few grenades.
"Get to work."
"Are you sure this isn't abuse of power?" Void stumbled to his feet, grabbing the grenades.
"Gather all the bones, pile them up, you know what to do." Pahanin waved him off as he took a seat on a boulder.
"Can I at least keep some?" Void immediately chimed.
Pahanin looked to Kabr with a raised brow. The titan considered it, and shrugged.
"Thanks." Void saluted and got to work.
Naturally, had they said no, he would have still tried to sneak pieces into his inventory, but Pahanin's eyes were not easy to avoid at all.
Nevertheless, so began brutal manual labour, as he carried hundreds of corpses to separate piles.
His eyes lingering on the system window, but it seemed that his reward wasn't available till he had truly finished the assignment.
Void shook his head, fate was indeed cruel.
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A/N: hope you enjoyed chapter, leave a like, comment, and a review!! Stones are good too.
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