Alright, everyone, here's part 30 of Into the Hellmouth! Boy, I need to make a table of contents one of these days. I would've gotten this out earlier, but my internet went down yesterday (thanks Time Warner Cable). So, here's [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forums/Post/207800409?sort=0&page=0]Part 29[/url] if you missed it! If you like it, give it a bump, and I'll have more ready soon. Vell watched the bridge above him fade away in the green mist. He felt himself accelerate, going down, down into the pit. Then, as he watched, the green mist was replaced by blackness, with flashes of bright, white stars punctuating the darkness. Vell began to hyperventilate. “Ghost?” he said. “What’s going on?” “I don’t know!” it said. “I’m trying to -“ Vell fell to the ground with a thud, his shields depleting with the force of the fall. Slowly, he lifted his head up, and groaned. He felt a hand reach down, and pick him up. “Are you alright?” Eris asked. “I hurt like Hell, but at least I’m not dead,” he said. “Surprisingly.” He squinted as he tried to make out Eris’s features, but he could see nothing in the blackness. Not even his own hand. But as he looked out into the blackness, he saw a faint, bluish glow. “Where are we?” he asked. “It’s too damn dark.” “We are where the Darkness is at it’s strongest,” Toland said, “Crota’s throne world. What were you expecting? Candles and chandeliers?” Vell shook his head. “Can we get some light down here?” he said. Eriana’s ghost put on it’s flashlight. “Let’s see here. . .” it said. It cast it’s light on a nearby pole. “I believe that these are meant to be sources of illumination,” it said. “You mean they’re lights,” Omar said. “Yes,” the ghost replied. “Now, let me see if I can get them working.” As Eriana’s ghost worked on the light, Sai’s ghost spoke up. “Sai,” it said, “I’m detecting a Guardian distress beacon down here.” The Guardians grew still. “A Guardian? Down here?” Eris asked. “I sense it too,” Omar’s ghost said, “in fact, there’s dozens of them. All around us.” The Guardians began looking around at the blackness. Sai’s ghost cast a light in front of them. “The closest one is right there,” it said. Sai walked up to the light, and saw the gleam of metallic armor. She licked her lips. “Ghost?” she asked. “Are they -“ “I’m detecting no signs of life,” the Ghost replied. “Whoever was in that suit, they’re dead. Even their light is only a faint signature.” “No hope of revival, then?” Omar asked. “None,” the ghost affirmed. Sai kneeled down, touched the metal suit, and rolled it over, revealing it’s shattered facemask. Half of the face was frozen in a look of pure horror. The hair was long and dark, and the eye a dark brown. The skin tone indicated Polynesian ancestry. But the other half of the face had been ripped off, leaving a red, horrible skull. Shocked, Sai looked up, and saw the Thrall that had been on the other side of the suit. It’s maw was stained red with the Guardian’s blood, and pieces of flesh were caught in it’s teeth. The thrall looked up at her, it’s bony, eyeless head only inches from her own. Opening it’s mouth, the thrall screamed at the shocked Sai, and began moving towards her. Then, a gloved hand reached down, and grabbed the thrall’s head. The head grew orange with solar light, and then melted. Toland wiped his hand off on the ground. “We need to keep moving,” he said. But at that moment, Eriana’s ghost turned the lights on, revealing the carnage all around them. Dead Guardians were scattered everywhere. Some were still in their suits, others had already been torn apart by the Thrall. Even the exos had been shredded, their metal innards scattered throughout the cavern. The Guardians kept turning around, looking for an escape, but there was no refuge from the carnage before them. Sai was the first to scream. “QUIET!” Toland shouted. The Guardians turned towards him. The old warlock faced them. “This is a tragedy, yes,” he said, “but we must forge onward.” “They were eating our friends!” Omar shouted. “Our brothers! Our sisters! The Hive were eating them!” “Yes, the thrall were feasting on the light,” he said. “Feeding on their strength.” He looked out into the blackness. “We should go,” he said. He pointed to the faint blue glow. “That light there. It the first waypoint on our journey. Let’s go to it.” With the lights on, the Guardians could now see a path leading towards the light. “How do you know?” Eris asked. Toland began to walk off towards the light. “Call it a hunch,” he said. Vell was bewildered. “We’re just going to follow him on a hunch.” Eris looked around at the Guardian corpses. “Any better ideas?” she said. With that, she ran off after Toland. The Guardians took off through the darkness, moving towards the light. However, as they ran, they began to tire and slow. By the time they reached the light, all of them were panting. “What was that?” Vell asked. “I felt like I was being pushed down into my armor!” “Crota’s presence weighs us down,” Toland said. “Attacks our light. Fortunately, these lamps here,” he said, “should stave off his presence. For a time, at least.” He tapped the giant lamp beside them. It appeared similar to the ones on the surface, where they’d been ambushed by the Hive. Only this one had just started to glow orange. Toland frowned. “That’s not good,” he said. “What’s happening?” Eriana asked. Toland’s eyes widened. “Run,” he said. And with that, he took off toward another blue light in the distance. After hesitating for only the briefest of moments, the Guardians followed him. Just as they ran into the darkness, the lamp exploded behind them. They turned back, looking at the now destroyed lamp. “Let’s get out of here,” Vell said. He could already feel Crota’s presence weighing him down. He cursed, stopping to avoid falling into a circular pit, and then ran around it. They almost made it to the next lamp before the Hive fell on them. Thralls, acolytes, knights, and even a few wizards opened fire on them, or attempted to shred the Guardians with their claws. “Where’d they come from?” Omar panted as he reached the light. “This is Crota’s throne world,” Toalnd replied. “Did you really expect it to be unprotected?”The lamp began to glow orange, and the Guardians rushed off towards the next blue pillar. This time, they didn’t look back as the lamp exploded. At this pillar, a small group of knights stood ready to charge them with their swords. Eris tensed up. “Toland,” she said. “Earlier, you told me of the sword logic. How what the sword cleaves makes it stronger. Yes?” Toland nodded. “Yes,” he said, “I did.” Eris nodded. “I believe I now know a truth that you do not,” she said, “I know what happens when the sword encounters something that it cannot cleave.” Toland frowned. “What?” he asked. Eris readied her shotgun. “The sword must be the one to break.” She charged the knights, eliminating the first two with a single blast. She opened up the throat of a third with her knife, and then parried a sword blow from the fourth and final knight using the shotgun. Then, she pointed it at the knight’s skull, and then it’s skull was no more. Toland nodded. “Well done, Eris,” he said, “Well done indeed.” Then, the Guardians looked out into the darkness. An unusually large wizard advanced, alongside what looked to be a massive knight. But instead of a sword or boomer, this knight held a massive battle ax. And it’s skull was an odd, triangular shape. It bellowed, and then rushed the Guardians, forcing them to dive out of the way of it’s charge. As they ran towards the next lamp, Omar shouted, “What was that?” “The wizard,” Toland said, “was Verok. One of the more powerful Hive wizards. The knight beside her was her mate; Alak-Hul. Darkblade of the Hive.” Edit: [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forums/Post/208032678]Part 31[/url]