Risen

Chapter 8

Poppy and Narvuk charged toward the remaining Hive, Sienna covering them from behind. "Deal wwith Acolytess! Knight is minne." Narvuk called to Poppy, who nodded and broke off towards them. As Narvuk crossed the distance between himself and his adversary, he stretched out his hand to where his sword lay out of pure instinct. To his shock, an Arc tentacle leapt out and pulled the Cleaver to him. his fist closed around the hilt just as the Knight sprang to tackle him.

Narvuk sidestepped and whirled around to face the Knight, who had thrown away its Boomer and now faced Narvuk, snarling. They locked eyes, a silent challenge between equals and warriors. The two began circling, never stumbling or looking away. Then, on some unspoken signal, the two juggernauts charged. Narvuk jumped up, Cleaver in both hands, and brought it down hard enough to crack the floor, as his enemy spun away. The Knight lashed out at Narvuk, its rocky fist knocking him back and breaking his grip on the sword.

Narvuk quickly recovered and answered the blow with two of his own, both solidly connecting and launching his foe away. Pressing his advantage, he rushed over, scooping up his sword as he went. When he reached the Knight, however, there was only the impact crater.

Suddenly, Narvuk found himself in the middle of a dark cloud of poison. His vision went blurry, and he could feel it quickly taking effect. He managed to stumble out, only to be cut in two by the Knight, who had retrieved its fallen comrade's sword. It turned away to assist the Acolytes, and Zivath materialized, but she found herself in its clawed grasp. It half grinned, half snarled at her, baring its teeth. She recoiled as much as she could and looked to where Sienna still crouched. "Um, a little help over here?" The Hunter didn't even turn as she drew a knife from her belt and threw it... at the floor. "Really? And you call yourself a Hun--"

The Ghost was cut off by the dying roar of the Knight as the knife took him through the throat. "Don't ever question me or my knives again." Sienna called coldly before taking another Acolyte's head clean off. "Okay then, jeez." Zivath grumbled. With a flash of light, Narvuk shot to his feet, Cleaver still in hand. "Ddoes that ever get eassier?"

Zivath shrugged. "Eventually. But right now, we've still got a mess to clean up." Narvuk shook his head to clear it, then took off for the Wizard and remaining Acolytes, who had Poppy pinned down. The nearest Acolytes didn't see him until it was too late, and it was sent flying into two of its fellows, who didn't even have time to get up before Poppy's grenade disintegrated them in a miniature Arc storm. "Glad to see you decided to - unf!- join us!" Poppy called as a Shredder round glanced off her shoulder.

Narvuk huffed in amusement, but gave no other reply as he careened through the few Acolytes still standing towards the Wizard, who was trying to flee back to where they had come in. It launched a barrage of Arc blasts before conjuring another poison cloud, but Narvuk leapt over and tackled the Wizard to the ground, rolling a few feet away. As the Wizard scrambled to get away, Narvuk drove his sword into its hand, pinning it there. "Whhat is your nname, cowardly one?" It hissed in return, but the hiss became a screech when he drove the Cleaver deeper. "Hhatreth! I amm called Hatreth!"

"Bettter. Whom do you serrve?"

"I am a hhumble servant of the Black Needle, accursed." the Wizard spat, glaring at Narvuk from behind its helmet. 

"Accursed I may be, but yyou will not live to telll."

With that, Narvuk withdrew his Cleaver and brought it down again. As the Wizard's body burned away, Poppy came up the stairs, followed closely by Sienna. "How mmuch did youu hear."

"Just the last part, but that was enough." Poppy replied, slinging her rifle onto her back. "I'll talk to Eris about that name... it doesn't ring any bells, but maybe she's heard it somewhere. You, on the other hand, need to get back to the Tower. You caused quite a stir when you showed up, and it only got worse when you left without a trace."

Narvuk turned and conjured a portal to the Tower courtyard, but as he went to leave, poppy spoke again. "And Narvuk?" He turned back. She shifted slightly, looking down for a moment before raising her gaze to meet his. "Look, you don't have to forgive me. What I said was wrong, I see that now. The Traveler chose you, and that makes you a Guardian." She sighed and seemed to look through Narvuk for a moment, as if remembering someone. "You're not the same Hive we've been fighting for years. You're one of us." Then she gave him a small bow. He simply looked at her for a second before responding. 

"You werre forgiven whhen you came."

With that, he disappeared through the portal.