[i]Chapter 24, The Glass Throne Part 4 (final)[/i] Then, space itself seeming to bend to make way for its slender fingers, Atheon raised its hand above its head. All the light and shadow in the great cavern bent towards Time’s Conflux, forming a glowing point above its open palm that sent whispers of infinity and nothingness through the air. We didn’t dare let up our attack. Not when our bodies began to scream against the strain or when we felt space and time start trying to rip every atom in our bodies apart. Not even when shadows crept over our vision and all the Light and warmth in the world felt like it was being pulled away from us so the Darkness and the cold could swallow everything. But then…then there was one light. It blossomed from the Aegis, restoring the brilliance to the barrier that had been fading around us and filling the space inside with energy and hope. It felt like clinging to an anchor that had torn the Light out of Atheon’s grasp and held it out of reach. And with that feeling came a voice in my mind. [i]I have made a wound in the Vault. I have pierced it and let in the Light. Bathe in it, and be cleansed. Look to it, and understand.[/i] The voice resounded in infinite echoes within me, continuous in that it was always ending and always beginning anew, even as it grew too faint to make out any longer. The voice of a man I had never heard before. The words of a man I had never met, but words I knew all too well. Kabr. His final message, embedded within the Aegis with his Light. [i]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] Suddenly, there was a single point, brighter and more focused than anything else. Guardian, standing unwaveringly between us and Atheon, the Aegis held up in front of him by arms that did not give in even when reality itself was beating against his shield. I felt his Light swirling in the air around us, feeding into and pouring out of the Aegis just like Kabr’s. Once more a burst of Light came forth from the face of the Aegis, crossing the sea of warped reality and colliding with Atheon. In that moment, a hundred images surged through my mind. Few clinging to my memory, and none clear. A green fire I had seen once before burnt over my eyes, but was quickly swallowed by a shadow that glittered with a starlight so cold it sent a chill up my spine. From the starlight came fire that ate the stars, and from the flames came a single red light that pierced me like a blade before fading under a slithering shadow. Finally, from the shadow came forms so dark they made me wonder if I’d ever see light again. But it was only a moment, and they were gone, leaving only those vague impressions. Time’s Conflux took a shaky step backwards, and then another, and another. Everything slid back into its place around us as Atheon’s hand fell, and the presence of Darkness released its hold. With a mighty crash, Atheon fell back onto the stairs of its throne, metal shell busted open so that sparking electricity and dripping Mind Fluid poured out if its torso. It lay there for a moment, staring off at nothing as if trying to understand what it meant for a being laced into time itself to die, before its great white eye flickered out. As we watched, the massive frame of the Vex began to fade like smoke until there was nothing left where it had lain. The wall of Light that curved around us dissipated as Guardian lowered the Aegis, and the shield itself disappeared from his arm only moments later. Everything grew still and quiet, although the silence was not as ominous as when we had waited for Atheon to come to us in this very spot. “We…we did it…” Guardian’s Ghost spoke with awe in his voice. “We…we…” Rush mumbled. “WOOOOOO!” Drew leapt up and pumped his fist in the air, “HELL YEAH WE DID IT!” “Fluff you, tincan!” Hunter jeered merrily, throwing his two knives in random directions. “Eat that!” Guardian’s Ghost laughed as well. [i]They can’t eat[/i], I thought to myself, but didn’t correct him. I was too busy trying to survive a bear hug from Drew. “That’s one more to the Light’s tally!” John declared, and he and Rush began bobbing around the air in circles with Hunter’s Ghost. Warlock, Hunter, and Guardian had all started dancing on our little platform. Drew naturally joined them immediately, making Sally come out so he could toss her into the air like a father would do to his child. I felt a hand on my shoulder, and when I turned to look at Sierra standing next to me I finally felt myself relax. It was over. We were celebrating. “Not bad for a bunch of misfits, huh?” the Huntress chuckled, patting my shoulder before letting her hand drop. “Not bad at all,” I grinned under my helmet. “Ah, look, the stress is gone,” Sierra was probably giving me a bemused look beneath her own helm. “Definitely,” I laughed, “I think this warrants celebratory hugs all around. Drew’s already started.” I pointed to the Titan, who was currently getting his head pounded by Hunter while he hefted him up in a hug. “…Just this once,” Sierra sighed defeatedly, holding out one arm for me. I graciously accepted the gesture and embraced her, receiving an unsure pat on the back before I let go. “Not really my thing,” Sierra seemed embarrassed. “You can only get better,” I smiled, then went over to Guardian, who had just dropped the crippled Hunter to the floor after a rib-breaking hug and was now holding his arms out to me expectantly. What an odd, jolly person he was beneath that silent exterior. “Hey…HEY! NO!” a gunshot went off as Sierra tried keeping Drew away, but he had already scooped her up in his smothering grasp. “Wait a minute…” Rush thought aloud after Drew had put Sierra down and everyone else had finished sharing relieved embraces, “How do we get out of here?” Everyone halted, including Drew, who had been in the middle of waving two severed Vex heads in the air. The Exo’s arms drooped down slowly as he looked back to the door we had come from, clearly recalling the mess getting down here had been. “Holy sh-“ “Oh! Hey!” John interjected, “The transmat is open!” “What?” Guardian’s Ghost gawked, “How?” “The Vex probably want us to leave,” I deduced. “Why?” Rush asked. In answer, I waved my arm to call attention to the destruction around us. “Ooohhhhhh…” Rush clearly felt silly for not realizing it, “Right…” “Well, no point waiting,” Warlock shrugged, nodding to her Ghost in a signal to get her ship ready, “Who knows, maybe we can save humanity again today.” With that, her form dissipated for transmat. Hunter followed suite, then Drew. “Job’s never done,” Sierra sighed with amusement, then elbowed me in the ribs before vanishing as well. “It never is, huh?” I smiled, then turned to Guardian, who stood next to me, “We’ve done a lot for a couple of KinderGuardians.” He nodded with a sage-like air in response, making me chuckle. “What’s left for us to do?” I asked him. He tilted his head in thought for a moment, then answered in a joking tone. “Become legend.” Ch24 Pt3: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/252637037/0/0 Ch25 Crota’s Bane: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/253618845/0/0 ToC: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/212710816/0/0 DONE! Thank you so much to everyone who’s followed this far. It has taken me way to long to reach this point, and I hope to move through the series faster now that I’m entering the easier to write parts of the series. Keep an eye out for my next lore posts and the first chapter of Out Of Time!