[b]Broken[/b] Part Five Refilled with drive to protect whatever was left of the Light and humanity, I marched amongst the bodies of fallen civilians and Guardians with Marcy at the forefront of my mind. No cries for help, no moaning from wounds, no sobbing from despair, no breathing. Not a single one of these people had survived. I punched the ground in anger as my several minutes of searching ended at Marcy's mother, her eyes dull and her body limp and bloodied. She wasn't in the worst shape, considering the dismembered and shredded conditions of many of the others, so she was still recognizable. I only hoped that Marcy hadn't directly witnessed their deaths. "William," a soft call barely reached my ears even in the dead silence. I turned to see Marcy peeking out from around the wing, not saying anything else but clearly wanting me to come back. Feeling better on my leg now, it didn't take more than several moments to get back and herd Marcy back under the wreckage, looking around for any approaching threat. "Did you see something?" I asked quietly. "That one moved," she whispered, raising a shaky arm to point past me. Following her arm, I looked through a section of the street holding only several Cabal bodies and a couple Vex, leading up to a Guardian resting against a bloodied patch of wall. My eyes roved over the Cabal, watching for the slightest twitch that would indicate life, but I was surprised to find that it was the Guardian who shifted a little from his position. Grabbing Marcy, I began striding as quickly as I could to the wall that amazingly still stood despite having sustained some blast damage. His head rolled to the side slightly so he could peer up at us as we approached, but I couldn't see his eyes through his helmet. Warlock robes covered most of his body, but that didn't hide all the blood stains and seared flesh that could be seen through the gaps and tears in the cloth and armor. Taking a knee next to him, I carefully lifted off his helmet, revealing tired green eyes and short black hair on a young blue face. A drop of blood slid out of the Awoken Warlock's mouth as he gazed at us. "Do you know what's going on?" I questioned him softly, hoping he had the strength left to speak. His mouth opened and a small croak came out before he broke out with a few weak coughs, splattering some blood on both of our chests and faces. Recovering with a few shallow breaths, he tried again, "When…the Cabal turned that…o-on…the few that didn't ge-get sho…shot came here to guide the…the…" Another small fit of coughs broke his sentence, so I helped him along, "The civilians. Then the Vex came." He managed to bring his head back to lean against the wall, dipping his chin back down a bit for a moment to give me a nod. "We held up a f…f-few seco-," another cough, this time releasing a small trickle of blood down his chin, "Seconds…I was pushed here, killed this lot. W-watched the…the people die after I cou-couldn't stand anymore." I nodded sadly, knowing he had given everything trying to push through the enemies and protect the civilians. The bodies spread in front of this wall proved his determination. "Saw her…" I looked to him again, then followed his eyes to Marcy, "Thou…thought she died a-after a ship went d-down next to…" More coughs, and I patted his arm reassuringly, "Thank you." Grimacing with pain, the Awoken brought his gloved and bloodied hand up in front of him. "Fehri Draij," he introduced himself. "William," I took his hand, then put my other arm around the girl and urged her forward a bit, "And Marcy." "Marcy…" Fehri almost smiled, then focused on me, "Your shift mate. When I g-go, could you…?" "Yes," I nodded, knowing he wanted me to lay him down peacefully. "G-Ghost in my pouch," he told me, "Gun broke…" "No worries," I dismissed his apology for having no ammo to give and smiled, "Fehri. You look horrible." "Looked worse," he choked out a laugh, letting more blood drip down his jaw onto the collar of his robe. "Looked better too," I chuckled. "Haven…haven't felt worse," his grin curved back towards a frown as he thought of his missing Light, "Take care of Marcy." "I will…promise," I replied, "See you when you wake back up." "Ghost n-never d-d-did like to k-keep me waiting long," Fehri's smile returned, and he held up his hand again. I took Marcy's hand and guided hers with mine to take hold of Fehri. He watched us for a minute before closing his eyes, keeping the small grin on. A couple minutes passed before his breathing grew more shallow and quick, then suddenly stopped. His hand went slack in mine as the soft rasps from his mouth gave way to silence. I let Marcy pull her hand away and watched for a moment as she wiped away her tears before I brushed off a couple of my own and turned back to Fehri. Taking the Warlock's other arm in my grasp as well, I found that he had managed to slip his fingers into the pouch at his side he had told me of and touch his Ghost. Moving him delicately, I placed Fehri's arms on his chest and laid him down from his sitting position against the wall. Next I took his Ghost from his pouch and placed it in his hands, then I reached for the weapon that had been laying behind his back as he sat. It was a pulse rifle, bent and scorched beyond repair by some explosion or blast that seemed to have caused a few rounds in the magazine to go off, probably resulting in some of the damage that had been on Fehri's left hand. The gun was placed under his Ghost and then both were clasped under his folded hands. Standing up after the short ritual, I walked a few meters back to where Marcy had stood, watching, and took her hand in mine. I gave a final salute to Fehri, mimicked unsurely by Marcy, and then began guiding my charge down a street that looked less war stained than the others. I hoped Fehri was the last person I would perform the old ceremony on…and the last I would watch die. There wasn't much point in paying attention to the condition of the buildings and streets anymore. It was all a disaster: homes crumbled, roads torn, debris everywhere, bodies everywhere else, scorch marks, blood stains, Cabal pressure gel splattered, Vex Mind Fluid dripping from cold metal frames, fires…the list went on. What I looked and listened for now were the signs of life; particularly hostile life. Marcy stayed close to me, not letting go or saying a word since we found Fehri. Her little feet scuffed the ground tiredly behind me, and I had no idea how long either of us could keep up this pace before needing a break. We had both been through so much. Where would we go now? Outside the City? Or to the center where the Traveler's shards may provide refuge? "Burning," Marcy's voice dragged me away from my thoughts on travels. It took me a second to find what she was pointing at, but when I spotted it I was fueled with new fears as well as new hope. A column of smoke billowed up into the air just above the line of buildings, its dissipating top barely visible to us. "Come on," I urged Marcy, and quickened my pace, searching for a gap to see what was going on over there. There was a collapsed building down the street, on the side that the smoke was rising from. We reached it and found that whatever building had been behind it had fallen too, giving us a clear view of the skies behind where they had stood. The pilar rose up from an area of the City that still looked to be burning fiercely, with several smaller patches of smoke near to it adding to the haze in the air. Then I saw the ships, and my heart sank. It was the Cabal fleet, and although they appeared to have lost around half their number, it could still be seen that they were exchanging fire with some enemy on the ground below. The Cabal and Vex were both still in the game. As I watched, one of the Cabal warships listed, a series of explosions running from one of its engines and down its hull, and began sinking to the ground with a trail of smoke floating behind. ___________________________ Link to part 4: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/229945699/0/0 Link to part 6: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/229945844/0/0 Link to Archive: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/217384398/0/0