Light: Exploits, Book II.

Part 16. Bound By Nothing.

Priest and Rei took careful moments to find the places to stand where their Wards would overlap into one another.
The full weight of what I was about to try hit me right then.
I was taking a Dead Ghost, and, in its own small pocket reality, rewind time to bring it back to life.
A maddening prospect.
My Ghost was right.
I would need tremendous Void Light.
It may well even kill us both with how much I need.
But I'm bound by my fear alone if I do not try.
I hear Priest and Rei shift at my sides.
They've found their places. They were ready.
I was knelt down next to Farah's body.
Her wound, cleanly cut right through her, separated her torso from her legs.
She was bleeding Light. Coughing sparks.
The lights from her Exo body were flickering and her cries of pain grew more to sound like static.
Empty, dead static.
I would not lose her again.
Not to Darkness.
Do it. I whisper.
I felt two waves of Void Light wash over me.
Their purple hue was as hypnotic as it was empowering.
I held the cocoon of Darkness that encased Farah's Ghost.
I enveloped it in the Void Light around me.
What was Darkness was being infused with Light.
I reached my hands inside the now purple ball.
I begin to push my own Void Light inside of it and close my eyes.
I remember what happened.
I focused all of my Light and mental energy into reversing what The Crusader had done.
Farah's Ghost was absorbing the Void Light.
It floated out of my hands and bobbed before me.
It was bathed in brilliant purple light, softly contrasting to the soft purple of Priest and Rei's Wards of Dawn.
Soon, the Void Light was beginning to show its metal skin once more.
It's pointed round edges and big eye, compared to its small size.
Ghost... I ask her.
The Ghost was taking in the last of the Light before it looked down at Farah.
Oh no, she said before she buzzed down to her and scanned her body.
Then we saw her separate, as does a Ghost when it's Guardian dies in battle.
I'll need time Guardian, the Ghost said.
Then I'll wait, I replied.
The Wards of Dawn dissipated around me, and Rei sat next to me and rubbed my shoulder.
You did it... She said in awe.
I didn't think I could... I say honestly.
That's okay. I knew you could. She said.
You did? I ask.
Yes. I didn't doubt you for a moment. She says with a smile under her helmet.
Neither did I, Priest says as he stands over my other shoulder.
And I know you'd do it for any other Guardian, he continues.
I would. I assure him softly.
Then, from before us, Farah stepped from the Light of her Ghost.
She wiggled her fingers and looked herself over.
I feel funny... She says with a childlike tone.
How so? I ask curiously.
I dunno... Just... Like I've never felt it before. But I'm not scared of it. I'm relaxed. She says.
Curious, indeed.
Ghost, make sure she's no worse for wear. I say.
My Ghost buzzes up to Farah's helmet and shoots out small beams of light, inspecting her.
It was a few long seconds while we listened to the mechanical hums and chirps.
There's definitely residual Void energies, but she's most certainly a Guardian. My Ghost says confidently.
So, I'm okay? Farah asks.
Yes, you're okay, my Ghost chips back.
I breathed a sigh of relief and leaned my head on Rei's shoulder.
Thank goodness, I sighed and shoved myself up.
As soon as I was upright however, I felt my legs turn to jelly and collapse.
Rei was all too fast to catch me with a hand across my chest.
Slow down Dylan, she says with a chuckle.
Farah and I can go and try to find the Crusader, Priest says holding his Fatebringer tightly in his grip as Farah nodded.
And what if you do? You saw what he did to Farah, I say,reminding them.
Rookie mistake, Farah laughs. He isn't gonna get to take the same shot a second time, she says with a confident growl.
I looked at them both. Despite me not wanting them to go, I was in no condition to argue.
Mind your light, I say, remembering Tolands words, and take care of each other.
Priest nods, the bristles of his Helm of Saint-14 swaying softly in the breeze of the pit.
I smiled at having noticed how often he had his Ghost change his armor. He had something for everything.
Murphy's Law, he would always tell me.
Better to have something and not need it, than to need it and not have it.
Those two found the incline leading up, and soon they melted away in darkness, and it was only Rei and I.
She knelt down, and her fist glowed with bright orange fire.
You can harness Solar Light... I said in awe.
Yeah, little trick I picked up on the road, she says with a laugh and she slips off her helmet.
She sighs as her hair falls loose, her pale purple skin and brilliant orange eyes shining in the fire she built.
Where? How? From who? I ask curiously.
Titans that call themselves Sunbreakers. They told me one day that I may even be able to surpass a Sunsinger, she says with a chuckle.
Lucky you I'm not a Master Sunsinger, I say with a soft sneer.
You telling me you're a Master Voidwalker? She laughs.
I'm not saying anything, I say with a laugh also.
The wings of my Light Beyond Nemesis brushed in a soft breath of wind.
Have I mentioned how much I hate Hive? I say with a shiver.
I peered over and looked at Rei.
Her look toward me was of genuine fear.
I sighed deeply. I knew the look.
What's got you so scared old girl, I say gently.
She snapped her head at me and her lip quivered.
Don't make me talk about it... She says, and shuffles to hug her knees.
I leaned in over the fire and rested my chin on crossed fingers.
Don't think about that. You said you saw what... I pause. He would do. To us.
I shuffle closer to her.
To me. I start.
She looks at me, tears welling in her eyes.
What's worse than death... I ask.
Finally, she bursts into tears.
She bawled and cried, dampening her hands in tears.
Being... Taken... She says through trembling sobs.
I saw Him... He took them... She cried.
I couldn't stop Him... I tried so hard... And He just laughed... She continues, stopping to breathe, and compose herself to speak again.
He laughed as he just... Destroyed them... A million ways, all at once. She said, her voice lowering to a scared whisper.
I felt a cold chill creep up my body.
In all my time as a Guardian.
All I'd seen.
All I'd seen done to Guardians.
Had done to me.
I had never heard of anything like this.
What Titox did to me... I start with a hush, you said he learned it from somewhere else.
Who? I ask gently.
Rei wiped her eyes and folded her hands on her lap.
I don't know His name... But he called himself a King. A God. She starts.
He said, "Light will submit to The Taken King." She says softly.
I felt my stomach roll.
I wanted to shake what I just heard from my mind.
Oh, sometimes, how I wish I wasn't so curious.
Where did you see him? I ask.
I was with a few Rouge Hunters, an unnamed Titan and myself, and a Warlock who only called himself Martyr. She recalls.
We were... On Saturn...
I felt every hair on my body stand on end.
That's too close to The Traveller. To the Guardians. I say with a hush.
We cannot stop His arrival. Rei says.
Then we be ready for when He does. I say softly.
You must tell this to Eris. I say.
But- Rei starts, but I stand up slowly, silencing her.
I look down at her, my fists balled and, even though my helmet concealed my emotionless face, she knew that now, I was ready to tell her why.
You. Must go. Tell her. Tell Eris what you saw. I say again, stern yet soft.
She knows He's coming. Rei fires back.
She knows something is on its way, I retort. She does not know who, nor what it is capable of. I say with a growl.
She stands up, slowly and deliberately. She balls her fists, and I hear her knuckles crack over the fire.
It licks the cold air, shimmering light off of our armor.
She looked at me, her eyes and nose slanted deep.
Her once effeminate and delicate face was now angry, and focused.
I'm not going anywhere; not when I know it's happening here, and you're here. I'm not letting you fall victim to it... I couldn't live with that guilt. She says softly.
It's not yours go live with Rei, I say gently.
I'm here on my own accord. My fate is my own. I know I may well die here, but I'm determined. I must find what's here. There's a reason the Hive are here, but it's all of their strongest warriors.
They're guarding something here. I think Titox was here just in case a Guardian were to come here. I say. Something is buried here. Something the Hive don't want anyone to know about. And I am bound by nothing but curiosity to find out what that is.