[i]Chapter Twenty Two: The Well Part Six[/i] “What were those?” Warlock asked. “If I had to guess…” I readied my rifle and slowly scanned the area around me as I spoke, “The Oracles.” My motion tracker suddenly burst to life, and I spun on my heel. Harpies flooded out of several passageways linking to the Well, followed by Goblins. A couple of them came around the corner and almost ran straight into me. Gunfire broke out across the Well as the Vex and my raid team clashed, and I tore the eye straight out of the closest of the two Harpies, then kicked the other and began shooting it and its allies as they opened fire on me. My shield broke a few seconds before I made it back to cover, allowing a few Slap Rifle bolts to scorch my armor and skin. As I waited for Rush to start mending me, I watched Hunter face some other Vex and readied a grenade for when the Vex I had been fighting made it to where we were. A sharp buzz suddenly sounded, followed by my shout of pain as a hole was burnt straight through my left shoulder. Spotting the Hobgoblin that shot me out on a tiny floating platform several meters away, I shot its head off and then blew a hole through its stomach. Now that I was looking out there, I saw another couple of Hobgoblins teleport onto other small platforms overlooking the one we were on. I shot them down before they could do any harm, then saw movement on my HUD and tossed my grenade off to the side, destroying a couple of Vex that had been moving up the ramp and stopping those behind them. I looked back to the platform that the first Hobgoblin had been on, and my eyes widened in surprise when I saw another Hobgoblin teleport into position, and then more on the other perches. I healed up just in time to lean out of the way of another Line Rifle shot, then scramble away from a few more. “Everyone keep moving! If you stop the Hobgoblins will get you, and if you destroy them they’ll be replaced!” I warned. Several grunts and words of acknowledgement replied over the channel, and as I dashed by Hunter and Shoulder Charged a Goblin behind him, I saw the others leaping around the platform sporadically with dozens of red beams zipping through the air around them. We continued this way for maybe half a minute, unable to stop because the Vex were everywhere on the platforms and the Hobgoblins fired continuously from numerous perches around us. After that half minute, the chime of an Oracle announced its arrival right in front of my face, making me slam to a stop on my heels so hard that I fell back. Acting more than thinking, I pointed my scout rifle up from down on my back and unloaded into the Oracle. Just as my clip was running empty, a burst of yellow light erupted from the Oracle and the construct vanished. I heard another chime somewhere else in the cavern, joined by the abrupt start of the Templar’s speech even though it was nowhere to be seen. “That’s the Ritual of Negation again,” Rush notified me. “Destroy the Oracles!” I commanded over the comms, “Before they can mark us!” As I stood up I heard some concentrated gunfire, and looked around just in time to see the second yellow light go out. A third chime went off. “Got it!” Drew announced, and was followed up by the slap of a shotgun firing. The Templar continued its droning for a second while we fought more Goblins, then finished and roared angrily when it realized we were still present. Another chime. I began counting. Again we eliminated three Oracles and were answered with the Templar’s rage. Then five. Each time they appeared in a different order, but there were only so many places that they could be summoned to. Now the team moved in almost a planned circuit, keeping everyone spread out so we could respond quickly no matter where the Oracle appeared. But there were still gaps. I saw Guardian eliminating the fourth Oracle of the next set, then heard the fifth nearby. Stopping for just a moment to look around, I saw a yellow light up where the right conflux had been earlier. My feet carried me over and pushed me up to the raised area, where I grabbed onto the ledge and vaulted the rest of the way up. A couple of columns blocked my view of it, but the Oracle was right there in front of me. Sliding around the pillar, I raised my rifle. The Oracle vanished. I blinked in surprise. Drew barreled straight into one of the columns and bounced back onto the ground, having dove for the Oracle in the instant that it disappeared. “Where’d it go?!” Drew exclaimed. Before I could come up with an answer, I felt a sensation that I thought compared to something grabbing my soul while it was still inside my body. “What’s doing that?!” Sierra groaned. “One of the Oracles marked us…” I fretted, shooting at a Hobgoblin as I struggled to get my feet moving again. “Well does that mean that…?” John began to ask, then faltered as he realized the answer. “Oh we are so fu-“ Hunter began to curse, but was cut off by Drew. “What are you guys so worried about?” Drew questioned. “We’re going to get erased from time, idiot!” Sierra snapped. “Just take a dip in the pool thingy,” Drew ordered dismissively. “Will that work?” I pondered aloud. “Uh, yeah,” Drew answered like it was obvious, “I already did it and I feel fine.” “He did jump in,” Guardian’s Ghost verified. “Everyone in!” I barked without hesitation. The other five of us all passed through the pool of Light and quickly spread back out around the platform. The Oracles had already vanished, and as the Templar finished its ritual…nothing happened. Given no time to celebrate our survival, we continued to go about destroying the Oracles as they appeared. Seven Oracles came in this set. Then seven more. Then Nine. Only once did we miss another Oracle and have to cleanse ourselves after finishing off the last few of the set. When the last of the second group of nine burst and the ritual ran its course, the Templar did not speak again. We finished off the remaining Vex quickly, and no more reinforcements came. Even the Hobgoblins stopped being replaced out on their overlooking perches. Despite the sudden break, we remained cautious. The Templar was still out there, and all the other trials it had given us had come swiftly with breaks that never lasted. Eventually we all filed into the center, figuring it would be best to keep an eye on where the Templar usually appeared and to stay together where we could back each other up or take any other position quickly. Nothing happened for a minute, not until we all noticed the glow from the pool of Light brighten below us. As we watched, the Light rose higher up into the air from the ground and was drawn into a single point. After building up for a moment, the Light burst out of existence, leaving nothing of itself left in the ring aside from a single little puddle that kept an object suspended in the air. It was a diamond shape formed of silvery metal, a large handle occupying its center and a slender rod protruding from each of its four corners. “What’s that?” Sierra gestured at the hovering object with her pistol. “It’s the Aegis…” I stated in awe, “The last thing Kabr left for us.” “So what is it?” Hunter repeated the question. “A tool,” I answered, “It will help us win.” “I have made a wound in the Vault,” I recited from memory, “I have pierced it and let in the Light. Bathe in it, and be cleansed. Look to it, and understand: From my own Light and from thinking flesh of the Vex I made a shield. The shield is your deliverance. It will break the unbreakable. It will change your fate. Bind yourself to he shield. Bind yourself to me…” I finished, letting my words hang in the air. I did not dare finish sharing the last words of Kabr, the Legionless, but they burned through my mind nonetheless. [i]And if you abandon your purpose, let the Vault consume you, as it consumed me. Now it is done. If I speak again, I am not Kabr.[/i] Pt5: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/249614356/0/0 Pt7: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/249614422/0/0 ToC: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/212710816/0/0