Hello, everyone, here's part 37 of Into the Hellmouth! With this part, we have finally hit 40,000 words. Yes, the story has officially entered "novel" length. In the meantime, thank you all so much for your support on this series, as it really does mean a lot to me! Here's [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forums/Post/209091473]Part 36 [/url] if you missed it, and here's the newly created [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forums/Post/209303839]Master Post[/url] if you're looking for a different chapter! In the meantime, if you like it, give it a bump, and I'll get more out soon! Stay classy, guardians! Toland looked out at the bridge, and smiled. “Alright, then,” he said. “Let’s cross.” “Can we get off our platforms now?” Eriana asked. Toland shook his head. “I don’t know what will happen,” he said, “just. . . stay on them for now. I’ll go cross the bridge.” He ran up past Eriana to the beginning of the bridge, and then looked back at the Guardians and grinned. “See you on the other side,” he said. He ran up the bridge, and got about ten feet across the abyss. Then, his body was wracked by a wave of nausea. It felt like his insides were being shredded! Gasping, Toland stumbled backwards, nearly falling off the bridge before falling at Eriana’s feet. Her ghost immediately began to scan him. “Toland, your internal organs have been damaged,” it said. “What happened?” Toland growled as his ghost worked to repair his damaged body. “Hell if I know,” he grumbled. He stood up, and went to a nearby corner, where he sat down, and tucked his knees into his chest. “Toland?” Eris asked. “What’s wrong?” “I don’t know!” Toland shouted, the frustration apparent in his voice. “There’s got to be a way to cross! We must be proved worthy of fighting Crota! We killed his minions, built his bridge - but no! We are stuck here, away from him!” And then, cutting off his coms, he muttered, “And away from the song.” Toland took out an object that Eris recognized as his journal. He began speaking into it. She shuddered. Something had happened to Toland when he’d attacked that knight, and it had changed him. And not for the better. “What should we do?” Omar asked, after several long minutes. “I’m not sure,” Eriana replied. “Eris; any suggestions?” Eris looked up, startled. “Why are you asking me?” she asked. “Because Toland said you were his ‘student,’ whatever that entails,” Eriana replied. “So. . . do you have anything?” Eris shook her head. “No,” she said. “If Toland could figure it out, I don’t see how I would be able to.” Sai nodded. “So,” she said, “what’s it like?” Eris frowned. “What’s what like?” she asked. Sai indicated towards Toland. “Y’know,” she said, “being his . . . student.” Eris thought about the question for a long time. “It’s. . .” she began. Between his temper, the depth of his knowledge, his penchant for incomprehensible monologues, and his frequent moodswings, working with Toland was . . . “Different.” Sai frowned. “Different how?” Eris bit her lip. “He’s a brilliant man,” she said, “but he doesn’t seem to be a good teacher. One minute, he’ll be going along, making perfect sense, and then he’ll launch into a tirade about the Sword Logic -“ Eris paused as she remembered what Toland had told her earlier. “Understand that this nightmare logic underpins His nightmare world, and you will see why the ascendant blade has so much power there. Whenever in our passage we find ourselves in need of power—remember that the greatest authority here is a blade made keen by eons of use.” “The Sword Logic,” she whispered, “that’s it!” Omar frowned. “The ‘Sword Logic?’” he asked. “It’s the Hive’s way of life!” Eris said, feeling her excitement rising. “They live on the concept that you can only become greater by taking from others - the Sword Logic. That’s why this test is here! So that Crota can get a stream of worthy opponents to face him, and allow him to grow more powerful!” “Then why can’t we cross?” Eriana asked. “Because we don’t follow the Sword Logic!” Eris said. “We’re not here to Take from Crota - we’re here to destroy him - wholly and completely!” “So, how do we get over the bridge then?” Sai asked. Eris looked over at the shattered remains of the knight Toland had killed. The sword was still there. “We become the Sword Logic by using their sword to get over there,” she said. Omar frowned. “As helpful as those swords were earlier, how is holding one of them going to help us now?” “Toland told me that swords are given power by the Hive because they so perfectly emulate the Sword Logic,” Eris said, “and in a world that has been created by the sheer will of a being imbued with the Sword Logic, that power should be magnified to a high degree. Using that power should allow us to pass.” Omar and Sai looked confused, but Eriana nodded thoughtfully. “It makes sense,” she said. “After all, our light is given power because we believe in it. I don’t see why the Hive can’t do the same thing.” Omar frowned. “You can’t seriously be comparing us to -“ he began. “Enough debating!” Eris said. “We can argue about it later! Right now, our objective is getting across that bridge.” Sai nodded, and picked up the sword. She looked it over. “Alright,” she said. “You’re all on the platforms. So I’ll go across the bridge.” “Sai,” Omar began, “you can’t seriously -“ But Sai was already at the foot of the bridge. “Well,” she said, “Here goes nothing.” She stepped onto the bridge. She felt fine. She took a deep breath, and began walking across the bridge, sword in hand. “So that was it!” Toland said. Eris jumped. The old warlock had snapped out of his brooding, and was now staring at Sai. “The Swords - we needed them to cut through the Darkness!” Sai continued walking. She reached the other side. . . And narrowly avoided a massive sword that slammed down on the ground. She looked up at her opponent, a large, blue green knight. It roared, obviously frustrated at having missed it’s target. It swung at her again, and she narrowly blocked it with her own blade. Bone-grated-against-bone as the swords hung in the air. Then, the knight disengaged, and the opponents stepped away from each other. Sai hoped that the practice she’d had with a blade earlier would help. But somehow, she doubted that it would matter against the knight. Edit: [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forums/Post/209417900]Part 38[/url]