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Based on this prompt it’s quick and dirty but whatevs
Umida’s gloom vanished when she tasted the cold air. Finally back in the snowy peaks after so long away. Her father was a claw-bearer, meaning he was a warrior who patrolled the border of Dragonlord Atarka’s realm. Umida was old enough to be on her own but she lacked the hunting skills needed to survive in the harsh wintery landscape. Her father claimed she was brilliant, and she would admit to having a lot of knowledge about local game and hunting. She just lacked the ability to put it into practice. She felt ashamed that she couldn’t hunt and discussion about it made her uncomfortable. Unfortunately she was an Atarka clan member and hunting is all she heard about.
The dragons had been fed and the clan sat around the fire. The mix of smells, cooking food, cold snowy air, the conifer trees, all mingled in the air. She loved this smell, it comforted her in the nights where the clan shared their best tales of the hunts before. Her dad was boasting loudly beside her. She couldn’t hear his words, her mind was focused on the bear tooth she hid in the pocket she secretly sewed into her cloak. She rubbed the carving of a dragon human hybrid on the tooth when she was anxious. The circle had gotten to her, she would be up next to tell a tale.
Umida stood slowly, “Father I’ll be right back,” she mumbled, hoping no one would hear.
Her father Bolat stopped boasting to quickly say, “Alright dear, be careful, love you.” He reached down and messed her hair. He was roughly twice height and three times her width. He returned to his tale as she slunked away.
The almost silence of the wilds surrounded Umida. Her mind was at peace from the lack of judging eyes. There were only the small animals and the crunch of snow. She bent down and lifted two handfuls of snow. She puckered her lips and blew the flakes into the air. They hung in the empty space, suspended by magic. Umida focused her mind and flung the snow above her head. It held just the same, twinkling with magic and moonlight. Umida giggled and waved her arms, the snow followed on a slight delay. It was like her gloom never existed.
“Umida?” A cheery voice asked from the dark. The ice magic vanished immediately and dropped the suspended snow on top of her. “It is Umida right?”
“Yes?” Umida replied between shaking off the snow.
“I’m Aruzhan. Your father asked me to see if you’re okay.“ A girl slightly older than her stepped into the moonlight with Umida. She was a head and a half taller than Umida with a more athletic build. She wore most of an Atarka warrior’s outfit, the rest presumably left by the fire. Despite the heretical display of ice magic Aruzhan was smiling at Umida, her eyes were inquisitive. “Who taught you to do that?”
“It’s just something I can do,” Umida mumbled unconvincingly.
Still grinning, Aruzhan raised an eyebrow. “Really? That was some display, and it just comes naturally?”
“In a sense,” Umida exhaled. “I was taught while I was asleep.”
“What?” Aruzhan was shocked. “Dream magic? Please tell me about it.” she begged.
Umida hoped Aruzhan didn’t notice her blush. Attention from anyone other than father was alien. Everyone in the clan only cared about killing and hunting, this was refreshing. “In my dream, the trees came to life. They twisted together into a person made of trees. Conifer trees. And they led me to a special spot and pulled a bear’s tooth from a hill of snow. They handed me the tooth and when I touched it carvings appeared.” Umida was speaking quicker than she ever had. “The next day I went to where the conifer led me and I found a tooth, with the exact markings! I couldn’t believe it. So then every night in the mountains where I held this tooth I dreamed of conifer people and walking craters. Eventually I found they were the shamans of old and of now. I think I’m bonded with everyone like me. They teach me about our ancestors and the khans and their shaman magic. It is amazing.”
Aruzhan sat in stunned silence.
Umida’s smile began to fade. Her hand sped into her pocket and onto the carving on her bear tooth. “But amazing or not. Please don’t tell anyone about it, or what I can do. I have never heard of anyone else who could do this and I’m afraid-”
“It’s fine Umida.” Aruzhan finally assured her. “I actually have heard of this before.”
“You have!?” Umida’s eyes lit up.
Aruzhan broke eye contact. Her gaze drifted down to the snow she played with using her foot.
“Aruzhan?”
“It was my uncle. Some warriors found out he could manipulate ice. They called him a shaman. Something about elementals and then they took him. I never saw him again. My father eventually told me that they took him to the dragonlord and she ate him on the spot for practicing that magic.”
A tense silence took over the two Atarka youths.
“I’m sorry.” Umida tried to comfort the other woman.
“It’s okay” she replied wiping away a tear. “But we should go back now. Don’t worry though Umida, I’m on your side. No one will know about this.” Aruzhan smiled up at her.
Months passed, Umida and Aruzhan grew inseparable. Umida shared her ancestral wisdom and led Aruzhan in the hunts. The freedom to practice her ability and spending time with Aruzhan cleared her head and freed Umida from her gloom. She had even learned to connect to the shamans while awake.
“Do you really have to be naked?” Aruzhan asked. “You’ll die of cold.”
Umida scowled at her. “Apparently I do. It’s what the ancestor spirit told me. It’s what the shamans of old did.“
The two sat atop a glacier under a night sky similar to the one above them the night they met. Few were left in Atarka territory but the ancestors told Umida there had once been many but Atarka’s fiery reign affected more than her people’s traditions.
“It’s an ancient tradition called the thaw. Now be quiet so I can enter my trance.” Umida pouted.
She threw her heavy clothes at the other woman and closed her eyes. Umida sat naked atop a frozen glacier with only her bear tooth in her hand. For a moment of utter silence she rubbed the carving before her skin flushed. Umida radiated a faint blue glow and an intense heat. Aruzhan reached out to her but paused. The glacier melted beneath Umida, slowly pulling her into its icy bulk. Aruzhan hoped this was part of the thaw.
Eventually Umida was encased in the ice with little room for air. Umida’s mind filled with voices of ancestors past. They told her their stories of the past. Tales that would shame even her father around the fire. They told of a time before dragons ruled humans and warred with the savage beasts instead of feeding them. They told of the crimes Dragonlord Atarka committed against the shamans and how they hid. They spoke over and over of the ice elementals. Towering ice formed shapes with twisted horns and ragged cloaks that lent them aid.
The massive influx of wisdom stopped. She heard a single voice call out to her.
“Run!”
Umida tumbled from the side of the glacier. She shimmered slightly, like she was wearing a second skin of ice. Aruzhan jumped down and helped her redress. As she dressed she realized she did have a second ice skin. The ice shell split and reformed before the couple. An exact ice duplicate of Umida stood, twinkling in the moonlight.
“Are you okay?” Aruzhan asked, never looking away from the ice clone or moving her hand from her blade.
“I’m fine,” Umida wrapped the other woman in her arms. “That, also, is the spirit of a shaman ancestor now here to aid me in my shamanic learning.” Umida shivered up against Aruzhan. “It is so cold in there.” They both giggled.
The cracking of twigs alerted the ice clone first. “Oh no.” Aruzhan gasped.
“Don’t move.” A thick gruff voice came from the darkness. “Any of you.” A man who made Umida’s father look weak broke into the clearing. “Dragonlord Atarka doesn’t like this thing happening anymore.
“I’m sorry Umida. I thought I covered our tracks.” Aruzhan drew her obsidian sword. “Run. I’ll slow him down.”
“Don’t run Umida.” Bolat her father stepped up next to the first man. “Please, if you swear off this magic forever you can come back to the clan.”
“What clan!?” Umida shouted. “We are nothing more than dragon feeders. I will not throw this away. This is who I am. This is who we are. This is our clan not the dragons.“
“Enough, Bolat your daughter is a danger to the Dragonlord. I’m taking her.” The stranger barked.
“Forgive me,” Bolat drew his axe. “Brother,” he slammed his body onto the other man. “Run! Both of you!” He shouted before taking a blow to the face.
“Father!” Umida shouted. Aruzhan grabbed her hand and ran for the trees. “You! Spirit! Help him!” As they ran from the sounds of battle Umida saw the ice clone wrench the man from her father.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” Umida clung to Aruzhan’s arm as they ran. Sunrise reflected in her tears. “I got you kicked out of the clan.”
Aruzhan pulled them both to a stop. “No. You said that wasn’t our real clan. The ancestors were right. I believe you not them. Siding with you will never be a mistake for me.” She kissed her cheek. “Now this is going to be hard but we need to get away from Atarka’s lands. The badlands would be best. Steering clear of the Kolaghan should be easier than the Ojutai.”
The two embraced. “You’re right.” Umida wiped her tears. “We can bring back these traditions together. The spirit ancestors told be what I can do. It’s not as cold as I like but lets go where you said.”
She looked into Aruzhan’s eyes and shared a moment before the were back on the run. They didn’t get far when a blast of fire hit Aruzhan in the back. The couple toppled to the forest floor. The warrior whimpered as Umida rolled to see an efreet and the large warrior from before. Both of them were covered in wounds. Her clone must have exploded into shards. And her father must have gotten in some good attacks because the human was limping.
Rage welled in Umida’s chest. Snow lifted off the ground around her. Ice formed above her hands. It spun into thick spikes and she flung them at her attackers. The human dodged and the efreet blasted them with fire. Umida summoned more ice shards and sent them at the two but the efreet always melted them before they met their targets. A scream broke her rage trance. Aruzhan screamed at the top of her lungs. She charged the distracted efreet and plunged her blade up into his gut. Fire poured out of the efreet and engulfed them both.
“ARUZHAN!” Umida screamed. Two shards of ice pinned the bulky warrior to a tree. Beneath the shaman grew an ice elemental twice the size of her father. “I will end you!” It brought it’s massive hand into his chest and tore him apart.
Umida’s concealment magic faded. It was a hassle to keep up and she and her elemental were free from Atarka territory. The ancestor spirits had taught her to focus the draconic magic into a shroud. The heat of the area was unusual to her. She’d never gone that far with her father. She had been traveling for days now and wasn’t even sure this was still Kolaghan’s turf. Her elemental shambled behind her, half melted. She could be in the shifting wastes of Dromoka’s territory for all she knew, there was a lot of sand. She hadn’t heard much of the scalelord’s domain but it was far from the clan that would kill her on sight.
As the thought crossed her mind a caravan of Kolaghan raiders sped toward her. Lightning crackled around them as they charged at her. They had no good reason to attack her, but that clan didn’t need it. They fought for their sick love of fighting. She started summoning ice from her magic but she was far from the lands she bonded with. The air was hot and full of sand which added to the difficulty. She channeled the elemental into its raw ice but none of it was enough.
She dropped the spell. It fell into an icy puddle around her feet. “What’s the point?” She muttered to herself. “Why honor the ancestors at all? I’ve never felt sadness like this. I failed you ancestors, I failed you father, and you.” She couldn’t say Aruzhan’s name out loud. It hurt too much. Or that was the sand.
The air was more thick with sand and wind. It itched her crying eyes and clawed at her skin. She must have been caught in a sandstorm.
“Either way, I should just join the ancestors.” Uminda sobbed.
“No” A voice whispered. It was like shifting sand but somehow soothing. “Honor them. They are right.”
The sand surrounding Umida formed into a human shape. Umida didn’t believe it. She had to be seeing things. She was taller than her. She wore Dromoka armor and wielded a two handed sword all also made of sand. She showed a smile but her eyes were sad. She placed a hand on Umida’s shoulder.
“Ancestor spirit.” Umida realized out loud. “From another clan.”
“Anafenza.” The spirit introduced. Her smile grew and she flew towards Umida’s attackers. The entire sandstorm was pulled by the spirit into the oncoming horde. They recognized what was happening and tried to turn away and run but the spirit Anafenza was upon them. They didn’t stand a chance.
Clawing through depression to play bits of Jaws of Hakkon got me thinking about an Inquisitor as companion drabble:
My iron boot hammered onto the stone floor. “I may not have your authority, Knight-Commander! I have held my tongue for years but Andraste has showed me your folly! I will speak my mind today!”
“‘Lady’ Kaya Trevelyan!” the knight-commander barked. I hated that nickname. I gave up my family’s nobility. My deeds speak to my character not my blood. “These apostates will be put to the sword!”
“They are children!” I shouted back. “I will not murder them!”
“It is not murder in the Light of the Chantry.” Before I raise my shield, two of my fellow templars grabbed my arms. The Knight-Commander killed the young mage couple with his broadsword. I couldn’t fight back the scream. And the templars on my arms couldn’t fight my rage. Blood rushed, tears poured, and templars flew to the ground. I borrowed a sword from one and wheeled around. Three more behind me, six including the Knight-Commander and the two on the ground.
Before they could draw their swords I had mine in one’s throat. I left it there and took his weapon. I parried the templar on my right. Blocked the other with the shield on my back. The air was full of ringing. Metal on metal never pissed me off more. I lifted the sword quickly and powerfully knocking the templar off his balance. I wrenched the sword from the fallen man’s throat and swung. A blow hit me hard in the back. The lunge forward gave my swing the force needed to lob off the other’s forearms but I ended on the ground. Blood had sprayed my face. It felt good. I felt righteous. I could feel Andraste guide my limbs, I couldn’t see now, faith was my eyes.
I dropped my weapons and rolled. A swift kick to the leg toppled the third templar onto me. I found a space in her armor and drove my gauntlet’s sharp thumb into her flesh. She was the one I’d regret but right now she was just meat in the way of Andraste’s light. I found the rest of my fingers in the opening. Then they found her throat. I pulled.
I got to my feet but so did the first two templars I threw. I drew my sword and shield, both given to me by my brothers. “Gregor! Darion! Drop your weapons and leave. The Knight-Commander is corrupt! This order is corrupt! I will not let evil loose under the name of good.” They held their stances. “Then it’s too late to save you any other way.”
I roared and charged. My shield deflected blows. My sword found meat.
Two more down. One left. I had no words for him. Only steel. His broadsword swung wildly. He was scared. It found my face. I gained a new scar to match the many I boasted there. It zigzaged from my lip to my forehead, almost catching my eye. I stabbed up through his breastplate. His gurgling told me I’d found his wicked heart.
When I regained my bearings I was at the Circle. I’d killed every templar who wouldn’t see the truth of the order. Some were regrets, most were duty to Andraste. I rushed the mages to freedom. They were dangerous, all power is, but they were pure of heart. I had mingled with them for a long time I trusted them more than my ordermates. Today proved that.
I destroyed the phylacteries, burned the tower down, and left to the town guard. I collapsed to my knees at their door. “Andraste has guided my sword. She told me to snuff the darkness at her Chantry’s heart. I killed the templars of Ostwick. As many of them as I could find. They were killing and tranquillizing innocent mages. They took bribes and sold mages to slavers and brothels. They framed mages to build hate. They did not exemplify the Chantry. They did not represent Andraste. I am no longer a templar. I am a champion of justice and the people should see me pay for my crimes.”
Kaya Trevelyan shrugged in the moonlight filtering in through the jail window. “A few transfers later and that is how I ended up in this cell, Herald of Andraste. Now tell me, how did you end up on the other side of my bars?”
"The Fallen do not usually take prisoners. What do they want with me?" I whispered to Ra. A group of Fallen captains had taken my squad. Two newer guardians and I were assigned a patrol on Old Russia. It was supposed to be easy, supposed to be my first mission without X, Y, or Z carrying me but I failed.
"You are special Phoenix." Ra replied. The Fallen can sense it, hence the ambush."
"You're so comforting." I began but the four armed alien rattled my cage and grunted. I didn't know why they didn't want me talking but I didn't have a choice. As the captain left to guard the outside of the door, I took a few deep breaths to prepare myself for what needed to be done.
I nodded to Ra.
"Where are you?" A lone ghost asked to the empty Cosmodrome. Rusted cars piled in a cruel reminder of what was. "Where are you?" It repeated in a solemn voice. It opened its shell to scan the surroundings. "There!? Unbelievable!"
The ghost sighed and flew into a nearby tunnel.
"There shouldn't be this many Fallen camped here. XYZ killed their Prime Servitor, they should be in ruin, but this. This is thriving. I'll distract them, you get these guys out of here."
"But Phoenix." Ra the golden ghost began.
"I have a revive built up, which is enough energy to topple this tunnel on them all."
"You don't have weapons."
"I'm a warlock remember?" I exhaled heavily, I needed confidence even if I had to fake it.
Ra dematerialized and appeared in the other cell. The guardians' ghosts were intact but damaged. The door was easy enough for a ghost but I was worried that no one was waking up.
"Phoenix... I have a problem." Ra admitted.
Before the ghost could explain, Fallen dregs came piling into the makeshift dungeon, squealing and hissing. They slammed the door tight and stood against it.
"And I have a solution!" I screamed and solar fire poured over my cage. The bars melted and I jumped out into a roll. By the time I stood I was in full radiance with a firebolt in each hand. Before they could respond the dregs were buried in grenades and righteous fire. "HA!"
I ducked under cover as the first salvo crackled down. I hadn't taken down enough dregs to escape and I needed a recharge.
A loud slamming sound came from the door. Then another. A Fallen captain knocked back by some unseen force ripped the door from its hinges.
"Pathetic." A mechanical voice grunted from the doorway. The dregs ran with what I would swear was fear on their faces, but it was too late and they had nowhere to run.
An exo woman in freshly manufactured titan armor walked over the body of the Fallen captain and the door. She punched the palm of her hand threateningly. The few remaining dregs were like wet paper to her fists. She sweapt one with her leg and brought an elbow to the back of its head, flinging it across the room. A second took an armor shattering punch to the gut and splatted against my cover. I nabbed its gun and stood, I took out two more but the titan woman was surrounded by Fallen corpses.
"Same team?" She asked me.
"Same team." I nodded. Ra simulated a cough. "Yes and so are they. We need to get all of us out of here."
The titan looked at me and the two unconscious guardians. Both Awoken hunters were wounded and their ghosts unresponsive. She made it across the room in two strides and piled the young men on her back. "Then lets go. Lead the way I don't know where we are."
We cleared the end of the tunnel with little resistance, a few dregs and Vandals but we made it out, ghosts and all. Before I could contact the tower for an extraction a dark laugh echoed from the tunnel.
"We were followed?" I asked rhetorically.
"Yes it appears to be big trouble." Ra remarked.
The laughing continued until its source broke into the sunlight. A devil archon lumbered out of the small opening. He shot at our feet to keep us from running. Me away and the titan towards him. Two captains emerged and flanked him, shrapnel launchers pointed at out vitals.
"Grenades. How did you make them?" The titan asked me quietly.
"I focus solar light into a volatile orb of- Is this a good time?"
"Yes." She dropped the unconscious guardians off her shoulders, it was a little less gentle than they deserved. "Get ready to survive." She held up her hands in mock surrender.
The archon laughed again, but the titan jumped as he shot low at her legs. She flipped through the air using her lift technique. Her fists filled with solar light as she descended. She brought them hard against the archon's head. She jumped back towards me and revealed the two solar grenades left on the archon's shoulders. The archon's helmet was cracked badly and he clawed at the grenades.
While they watched the superb display demonstrated by a just revived guardian I threw my own fusion grenades onto each of the captains. All three Fallen exploded in unison to a gorgeous display of orange fire. The titan wasn't even looking at her handiwork. She held a palm out and her ghost formed.
"Ghost," She looked at it puzzled. "How do I leave?"
"I'll take care of it." I responded "I'm Phoenix by the way." I waved my helmet off and, smiling, I extended a hand.
She grabbed it. Her hands were warmer than I expected an exo's to be although to be fair she had just demonstrated an affinity to solar light. "Olga-9. I've been told I am a guardian now."
"That is correct Olga-9." Her ghost chimed in. "If Ms. Phoenix would be kind enough to take us to the Tower I can explain all of what that means on the way."
"Of course. I'll take you there now." I signaled Ra to call extraction.
I waited for Olga-9 to finish talking with the Speaker. He explained our role in the solar system and she seemed to take a liking to it. By no means was she happy to hear about the strife but she seemed to want to do the right thing.
"Phoenix? You didn't need to wait for me." Olga-9 said approaching the bench I where I was sat.
"You saved me and I have news." I grinned up at her face. "We're going to be teammates from now on. I think we'll work very well together and the Vanguard somehow agrees with me. I get to teach you what it really means to be a guardian. Not that the Speaker didn't but experience is a better teacher."
"I like the sound of that. Shall we get started?" Olga-9 said happily.
"Please wait." A vaguely familiar voice came from behind us. A young awoken man in a cloak approached us slowly. "I am Nikita. I want to join your team."
"You are one of the other guardians from the tunnels." Olga-9 pointed out. "Why would we want you?"
He shuffled in silence then explained, "I'm new, and that was not a new guardian patrol. I want a chance to redeem myself and use the life that you two gave me." He bowed deeply. "I will prove my worth, I guarantee I will."
"I'm not in charge. I'm just here to hit the minions of the Dark until they're a fine paste." Olga-9 turned away. She was clearly giving me the final say but I could tell she liked his attitude and wanted him on board.
"We'd be glad to have you Nikita. Olga-9 here is just grumpy after being reborn. We've all been there." I chuckled alone.
"Oh yes, ha ha" Nikita joined me, though uncomfortably "I was brought back not too long ago myself."
"Great! Then we're all in the same boat. But before we get to making Darkness paste I have to tell you about a few personal things and speak to slash beg Ikora Ray about a shift change... Again."
Grimoire card for my Destiny OCs The Reef Epilogue
I am Phoenix. Newly revived Guardian. Sunsinger.
The exo known as Xavier-3 and I were led to a large room. At the center was a throne. On the throne was a Queen. She had a brother. He was very rude. My mind is still reeling from being dead for so long but Ra, my ghost, says that will pass. Ra was unable to think clearly up until now. Xavier-3 says it was without me for so long he went mad.
"We clearly explained that the contents of the shrine belonged to us!" The Queen's brother barked.
"And I clearly explained that Phoenix is a Guardian. She belongs by the Traveler's side!" Xavier barked back.
"Brother." The Queen cooed from her throne.
"Yes," he responded weakly before crawling to her side.
They talking in whispers while Xavier-3 turned to me. "I am honored to meet you after all this time. I am sorry for all this mess. I will get you to the City. Don't worry."
"I'm not worried." I spoke with confidence. I fanned a hand over my face to unequip my helmet. I caught a glimpse of myself in the reflective surfaces around the room. I saw my brown hair fall into place. It was cut just above my shoulders and had bangs nearly to my eyebrows. I felt the movement of my hair. I wasn't sure if that's how I looked before I died but I looked familiar to me. I saw my brown eyes as they adjusted to the artificial lights of the chamber. It felt better to view the world with my own yes than through the lens of my helmet. I saw beads of sweat fall down my skin. I saw their glow contrast beautifully with my dark skin. I felt the touch of all my warlock gear. I don't know how to explain the feeling of feeling. I wasn't aware while I was dead but somehow I missed using my senses. I cannot describe it well yet but looking and touching, smelling and tasting the air. It was amazing.
"Oh that's good." The Brother interrupted my sensory overload to say. He chuckled then continued, "We will gift you this Guardian and the Key once you bring us the head of a Vex Gate Lord." He paused just long enough to let Xavier-3 begin a sentence "but! You owe us."
"I never imagined that I didn't. I will be in service whenever you call Your Grace." Xavier-3 had a habit of talking right through the Brother.
"See that it is." The Queen spoke flatly.
"Let's go Phoenix." Xavier-3 said kindly. "And a thousand thanks to you my Queen." He bowed sincerely before leading me away from the throne room.
"Come Phoenix, I have so much to fill you in on." Ra spoke as he led me behind the exo.
"I am more than ready to learn." I chimed through a smile. I swear Xavier-3's eyes shone a little brighter when he heard me.
I donned my helmet and followed Xavier-3 into his ship.
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
✓ Live Streaming✓ Interactive Chat✓ Private Shows✓ HD Quality✓ Free Actions
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
"A void-stasis cell. How quaint. I had heard of the Prison of Elders but this is unremarkable." I stood motionless in my cell. The two ghosts with me hovering in stillness. "If this is supposed to keep the Fallen in check I have bad news..." I had a few injuries from Her Majesties vandals but none anywhere near fatal. A few hours had passed but I had plenty of time. My answers were here, so I had nothing to do but wait for them to come to me.
"This isn't the Prison of Elders, fool." I heard the Queen's Brother spit through the com device in the stasis cell. "Tell me how you came by that catastrophe in ghost form and you might get to live."
"Tell me first, why is it that you and her Majesty are so afraid of my friend?" I needed answers more than him. His questions could wait. I slowly gathered the void light energy from the cell and from the deep space surrounding the Reef.
"That thing nearly destroyed the Reef when last we met. Hacked into ship controls. Burned through hulls. It committed a plethora of crimes before stealing a treasured, what is the term you Guardians use, ah yes, Golden Age. It stole a Golden Age ship and flew away. How did you find it."
"I found Ra in a crashed ship near the tower. What a coincidence."
"Yes of course."
My wounds sustained from the Fallen vandals under the Queen's command were healed already. Though healed is not the right term. I used the power of void light to make them never have happened. Controlling time and space made controlling matter, especially my own, an easy task.
"I haven't had the chance to explain why I am here."
"That is simple. To return that ruinous thing and overthrow the Queen. If your city wants a war we will give it to you." I could hear that fool practically foaming at the mouth.
"When we question other's motives we often reveal only our own." The Queen had come to see me. I did feel a little flattered. "It came to ask for help. Let us see what it wants."
"Then may we do this without the humiliation of the cell?" I gathered the void light into my hands.
"So be it." I heard the Queen's voice say. The beeping of controls came next. How unnecessary.
"Humiliating for you. I am the foremost warlock in the field of void light and space manipulation. This cell is nothing more than an extra battery to me." I raised an arm against the stasis and wiped the front wall from existence. "I require two things. One, I need to know how to get into the Black Garden. Two: I need to know exactly, what Ra was doing here the last time it visited." My eye lights shone brightly against the lingering void magic.
"It is impressive." The Queen spoke. She brought a hand to her chin in a thoughtful pose, I could swear she smiled. "Put your weapons away brother. Come." The commanded me.
"As you wish." Her Brother and I both replied.
"Tell it of the Black Garden brother."
The royal siblings had taken me to a ship. We were flying somewhere within the Reef, either to my answers or another cell, or worse. My ghost floated next to me but Ra was kept in a contaiment cube not much larger than its frame. It kept it quiet, the Awoken didn't much care for Ra and that intrigued me to no end.
"Yes my queen." He turned to me. "We can make you a key." He was smiling far to much at this point. "All we need is the head of a Vex Gate Lord."
"Why do you want a Vex's head?" My ghost and I asked.
"Oh we don't, but it's the only way you'll get to the Black Garden."
"Why does it want to enter the garden so badly?" The Queen asked, not looking my direction.
"We need to destroy the darkness at its heart." My ghost explained.
"Of course, you want to make it into a battleground." Her Brother scoffed.
"We want to save us all from the Darkness." My ghost assured him. I nodded in agreement. I was busy admiring the ship. It was a beauty.
"We are here my Queen." The pilot announced over a com.
They led us to a shrine. Well it looked like a shrine, it was a pyramid of ship wreckage atop an asteroid, but it was adorned and presented as though it was a holy place. "That ghost found something in here that it couldn't open. So it hacked apart our information systems to find a way inside. When we stopped it, it fled into the darkness of space on a refurbished ship." The Queen's Brother explained as he gestured to the exit.
"I see and you're showing me this out of the goodness of your hearts?"
"It has shown a great deal of understanding until that remark."
"And you will want that understanding on your side in the future." I finished for her.
"Correct. Besides, the contents of that vault are intriguing you may open it, but the contents belong to us. To the Queen" He quickly corrected.
I exited the Queen's jumpship and made my way to the entrance. The ship began to lift away from the asteroid and hang in space, very far away.
"For safety sake," The Brother hissed into the com they put in my helmet.
"Of course," I replied in fake acceptance. It didn't matter, I was feet from my answers. "And should I try anything or Ra lose it again I'll be safely trapped here."
"My Queen was right, you are smart."
"Ra, wake up." I removed him from the cube. "Ghost, send a message to Y and Z. Tell them if I don't come back they need to bring the head of a Vex Gate Lord to the Queen of the Reef."
"I'm on it." My ghost replied as Ra lifted out of his cell.
Another feedback screech. "THE SHRINE!"
"Yes and we are going to open it this time." I explained, my eyes caught the cannons on the Queen's ship locking onto Ra. I can't blame them much however, if Ra had met me on similar terms he'd be dust right now.
"SHRINE OF THE SUNS! OPEN! OPEN!" Ra chanted to no one in particular.
"Message sent."
"Good. Now help me analyze this door."
My ghost and I examined the shrine as Ra chanted and screamed. By some twist of fate the Queen's ship lingered there. Waiting for us to open the shrine. It took hours but we cracked the system.
Excitement pounded away in my head. The door was screeching open, ancient dust sprayed forward. Ra hung silent in the air. Then there it was. Sitting up in a pilot chair ripped from some Golden Age ship sat a charred skeleton. Human, female, around age twenty.
"Ra?" Was all I could say before the golden ghost went flying into the skeleton. On impact with its head solar fire spread over the entire shrine. I went running, keeping the intense flames from my ghost and I.
I tumbled out of the inferno, burnt but that was easily fixable. The Queen's ship had pulled further up. "What?" I managed to say. Facing the blazing pyramid I was in awe.
"What was in there!?" The Brother demanded.
"A skeleton. A human skeleton." My ghost explained after I could not find words.
"It's her. The guardian Ra was meant to revive. It found its guardian." I would be weeping of joy were I an organic. "The Second Sun."
All at once the solar pyre imploded and vanished. Floating almost divinely above the burnt remains was a warlock, clad in basic synthesized robes we all were in at one point. When a ghost revives its guardian it creates gear from the surrounding matter. She floated in full radiance, solar light poured over the asteroid.
She landed gracefully on her toes. "Greetings Xavier-3. I am Phoenix." Her voice was like music. "Ra speaks very highly of you."
"Get in the ship now!" Her brother shouted from above us.
Dumbfounded I led Phoenix into the Queen's ship. Ra floated behind us, it was quiet for the first time in a long time. I noticed its eye had changed to blue, like all other ghosts.
"It is very far from home and it is alone. Why does it demand audience with us?" The Queen of the Reef questioned as she shifted in her chair. It wasn't a change in posture or in comfort. She moved so I would see her patience for me was already gone. My eyes flickered brightly for a moment, I couldn't help but admire this organic noble for her understanding of little details in her methodical movements and speech.
"With all due respect Your Grace," I dropped to one knee and lowered my head as a sign of submission and respect. "I have encountered a puzzle only your vast wisdom can solve." I removed my helmet, another sign of respect.
"You're almost too submissive Guardian." The Queen's Brother spat. "What do you want?"
Rude. He matters little and I think he knows it. But that is how organics act when their meaning is challenged.
"I am of the Dead Orbit. In our eyes the Reef shines brighter than the city. For yours is closer to the true goal, the stars beyond." Technically true of Dead Orbit but I have come to love Earth since joining but my fascination with the stars is ever growing.
"Flattery gets you nowhere in the Reef." Her Brother slithered his way to me.
"Besides, I am a Guardian. I am never alone." My ghost materialized near my head.
"Greetings Your Grace," my ghost said with a nod. The whole time the Queen watched from her chair. I dared to think I found a non-exo as attuned to detail as I. I would go so far as to say I admired the Queen.
"It and it's ghost are not the only visitors it seems." The Queen squinted her eyes. Her head tilted just slightly as if she was asking me a question.
Two Fallen vandals, clad in a house banner I had never seen slunk from behind her throne. In an instant I was on my feet, holding a pistol from one of the Reef escorts flanking me and aimed at the vandal closer to the Queen.
"Drop the weapon Vandal!" I demanded. I had a bead on its head until the Queen's Brother shoved his blade against my neck and his pistol in my gut.
"How about you do that." He hissed where my ear would be if I had them.
"How funny." The Queen said without a smile, "It does not understand that these," she faintly gestured to the vandals, "ones are mine."
I passed my borrowed weapon to its owner. 'Mine' she said, not the royal 'we.' Interesting. My eyes lit up. "Sincerest apologies."
"Of course, how could it know. It is cloistered in its city."
"That is exactly the problem." I said as I returned to my submissive pose and the rest of those assembled returned to less battle ready positions.
"As I was saying. Who is your third?" The Queen looked at me like I was transparent.
An electronic feedback screech tore the air and everyone returned to their tense battle ready positions. Ra came into being above the crowd, letting loose a cacophony. "THE SUN! THE SUN SET IN THE REEEEEEEF!"
"It has returned!" The Queen was suddenly standing. She thrust a finger at the golden ghost. "Contain it, contain them all!"
Record of Xavier-3. Voidwalker of Dead Orbit. Keeper of the Sun's Ghost. After called to Venus by another somehow stranger exo there was a battle. The Fireteam barely made it back from their first fight with the Vex and reported to Ikora Ray immediately.
"Venus is turning into a mess. The Fallen are slowing the Vex down but they are poised to conquer that world. Did you learn anything from this 'Stranger?'" Ikora Ray questioned. She threw our report down onto her desk. Was that a punctuation? Or is the Warlock Vanguard job taking its toll on her?
"Not much ma'am. She told us to go to the Black Garden." Zeus answered. Around authority figures he snapped into a perfect soldier. The bandages on his head hid his scarring, and the hood hid his identity to passersby.
He is an icon, a symbol who was stained by the Vex. He couldn't be seen like this just yet. Only I seemed to notice the void light in the air hung closer to him than it did before. After he and Yasha talk, I'll need to bring him in for study. That being said I am glad my friend escaped alive and moreso that my friends had the chance to release their pent up organic frustrations.
"Preposterous." Ikora fumed "Even if the garden is real it's the most dangerous place I can think of. No, I can't let you three go. You're too important to the city."
"Just as well. We don't know how to get to the garden." Yasha pointed out so delicately.
I just sat. Listening to all these things I didn't want to hear. My brow-plates lowered in a mock of human scowling. My finger planted on my temple. "Are you all done?"
"Xavier!?" Zeus and Yasha chirped in surprise. I'll admit I'm not one to out burst but I couldn't stand the conversation.
"Excuse me warlock?" Ikora growled.
"We have to go to the Black Garden and tear out its heart. This isn't a request for permission. Our options are that or all die. The Awoken Queen will know how to get to the Black Garden." I ranted.
"You trust this Stranger that much?"
"And more."
Ra materialized. Hovering around my head, the ghost prattled on in it's unknown tongue.
"Ra knew the Stranger. I could feel it."
"New stranger knew the Stranger." Ra repeated. I held out my hand and it hovered above it. It looked into my eyes and I looked at its shell. Odd runes decorated its golden shell. Too many years I've been studying this ghost. Too many years and learned almost nothing. This was my chance. On Venus Ra suggested the Queen and my ghost confirmed there was more Black Garden lore in the Reef than in the tower.
"We can't do anything without seeing the Awoken Queen." I reminded them.
"Stop talking about those reeflings." Yasha spat through gritted teeth. A grudge I'd inquire on later, once she and Zeus sorted out their organic business.
"I can't send you three there either. After the Sepiks Prime battle you three are heroes. Heroes the city needs to remain alive. Morale would deteriorate immediately if any of you should fall." I could practically hear Zeus' heart break at that sentence.
"So we are to be paraded around the tower while the Darkness eats us all!?" I blurted again. I hadn't felt fire like this from within for a long time.
"Exactly what do heroes do if we aren't allowed to be heroic? Waste our best guardians on parades!?"
"That's not what I'm saying. You still are a finely tuned fireteam capable of great deeds. But like it or not you three are a symbol of hope, and the missions you're suggesting aren't dangerous, they're suicidal. Look, I have another strike for you." Ikora handed Yasha a folder of info for our next mission. Their next mission I should say. I will be far from Venus for some time.
"I cannot do that right now. I will see the Queen myself. I'm the only one who knows where to get a ship for it after all. Ra, follow." I stood and walked to the door, my coat dancing in my purposeful movement. The golden ghost trailing behind me. Dead Orbit will provide me the ship capable of travel to the Reef. Whether they will appreciate it isn't an issue. I'm not asking their permission either.
