A Chill in the Air

My nova bomb was flawless. It always was. I relaxed my shoulders, centered myself, brought all my emotions to my chest and let loose. I felt the void energy flow threw my arms, collect into my hands and release into the mess of Siva infected Fallen in which I'd found myself. As my nova hit the ground in the middle of them I saw the flash of red. The shot struck me directly through my chest. I could feel the hole, I felt the shot go all the way through. Almost in slow motion as I was thrown backwards into the lake behind me. The crash of the thin ice on the lake, like a glass window. The rush of water engulfed me, embraced me. I reached for Lyan, my Ghost, but she was out of reach. A Fallen Vandal had her in its claws. I saw him flicker in the Vandals hands as he tossed her aside. I knew this was the end. I hoped Ikora would forgive me.

"Kaylin! Can you hear me?"

I heard my Lyan, but I was so cold, everything was black, I knew I was dead. For real dead, not Guardian dead. I knew there was no coming back this time.

"Kaylin! I'll get help!"

It's too late, friend. I felt it. I felt my mind slipping. It's cold. So, so cold. I couldn't feel my fingers anymore. I doubt I even had fingers at this point. I could feel my mind slipping. So. Cold.

"Kaylin, no!"

I heard the crack. I assumed it was the pressure of the water finally cracking my skull. Another loud crack. But, I didn't feel anything, not that I assumed I would. Suddenly light rushing to my eyes. Wait, eyes? I still have eyes? What is that noise? It sounds like, Hive. They grab my arms, my legs. I can feel it! I struggle to open my eyes. I see an Acolyte peering down at me. Must be hell. I'm here, for my failure.

Days must've passed. I keep hearing the Hive speak. I regained my sense of smell, it was horrid. I wanted it gone again. The wretched scent of death was everywhere. It had to be from me. I don't even know how long I'd been dead. My body must've decayed by now. Every time I open my eyes all I see is a blur of green, flashes of red here and there.

"Kaylin, you're alive! I knew it"

I knew that voice. It was Lyan, my Ghost. Probably here to make me feel guilty for not being able to save her. Great, guilt in the afterlife. Wonderful.

"Kaylin" it was a whisper now "Honey, I need you to get up, right now before they come back."

My eyes peeled open, I tried to focus on the light. Her light. But, there was an emptiness inside of me. There was no light.

"Your eyes, they've turned blue! Ice blue! Oh kiddo, come on. We need to leave."

Kaylin always took care of me. As I started to get up, I started to feel more of my body. Unfortunately, the stench got worse. I followed her voice, the flicker of her light.

"Lyan. What happened?" Speaking for the first time, it hurt, my breath was cold.

"You...died. During the Siva attack, you fell into the lake, they grabbed me. I came back for you, but the lake was frozen over. You were in the ice, so deep. I couldn't even see you anymore"

We stopped near the entrance. The sun was painful, even with closed eyes. It hurt my whole body. Lyan guided me out. We heard the shrieks of the Hive behind us. They knew I was gone. We had to go fast. My legs were barely moving. They felt frozen still. Inside my veins I felt the icy cold blood flowing.

"At some point you're gonna need to fight back. But, be careful, I can't bring you back. The light, it's gone. The Traveller is dead."

I stopped moving, my heart gave out one pump. It cracked like ice.

"What do you mean, dead?"

"The Cabal, attacked, they destroyed it. Some madman named Ghaul. It's gone. So be careful, you're mortal now."

We stumbled further down through the woods. It was summer now, weather was warmer. I must've been in the Hive cave for at least a few months.

"Did this happen at the same time as the Siva Crisis? How did we manage to fight Siva AND the Cabal?"

"Oh, honey" Lyan stopped and moved in front of me "You've been in that lake for almost two years."

That's not possible. We finally stopped at an abandoned building. I fell to my knees. I now could feel my entire body, but the cold, the chill of my bones, was still there. Lyan filled me in on the past two years. The Guardian that stopped the Siva Crisis, destroyed Aksis. The Red Legion attacking and destroying the Traveller. The light being gone, the city destroyed. I heard the words, I sensed her sadness, but I felt nothing. My emotions were iced over. I felt cold inside.

"So, now what?" I asked, hoping she knew what to do.

"There are slivers of the Traveller all over the European Dead Zone, rumor has it a Guardian has found a way to regain their light by touching them. It's worth a shot. But The Fallen are everywhere, Devrim has been sending out scout reports. It's a mess."

"Let's go"

We got up and pushed forward. As we got closer to the center of the EDZ we heard shots everywhere, Fallen and Cabal shouting, tanks and pikes screaming over hills and through the forest. We found several dead guardians along the way, I scavenged as many weapons as I could. I got a hand-cannon and an auto rifle. No heavy weapons in sight. A few ammo drops here and there, they looked different than I remember. Lyan explained that after the Siva Crisis, the Vanguard retooled the armory of Guardians. I didn't like it.

We finally made it to a shard. It glowed like the moon. It was so bright, it shined like nothing I had ever seen. But even it's bright light couldn't even warm me. We approached cautiously, we hadn't had any encounters with any enemies, until now. The pikes roared over the hill. A Vandal sniper shot flew past my head. I felt a rage inside of me, it took over my mind. I turned, and without a second thought, barely aiming, I pulled the trigger. Instant relief as the bullet left the barrel, pierced the Vandal directly through his eye. I was awake. I wanted revenge. Lyan stowed herself, as I began firing off shots. I no longer had my light, no grenades, no melee, no super, just pure icy rage.

They just kept coming. No matter how many I felled, two more would crawl over the hill. I knew this is where it ended. I was going to fail Ikora, again. And then, it happened. A rush, a wave of light. I felt it through my entire body. But the cold didn't dissipate, it grew stronger, it hardened. I felt the chill down my spine. But it wasn't out of fear, it was an awakening. I focused all my emotions, my rage, my lust for revenge, and it built into my chest. I felt the storm brewing inside of me, It was a tempest of ice. I let out a shrill as the storm released from my soul. The wind kicked up, snow and ice, swirled around me. I let it flow through my hands, snow storms kicked up around me. The Fallen became stunned, frozen in place. I started one by one channeling my Warlock melee as I smashed each one. Destroyed them, as they had destroyed me two years ago. Every hit was another satisfaction. One after the other they fell, broken into pieces.

It wasn't enough. I needed more. The shard had faded. There was no more light, just me and the shattered remains of The Fallen. Suddenly a wave of heat blasted my back. The first I had felt since the lake. I turned to see the Captain staring down the barrel of his gun. He shot again, hitting me directly in my chest. The fire of the blast was unbearable, it was seething, burning my flesh. I fell, a gust of snow flittered above me as I looked up. Then Lyan appeared.

"I got you, girl"

My eyes focused, the ice inside of me hardened yet again. As I lay in that swamp, my resurrection now complete, the Captain towered over me aiming down his sights at me. I looked up at him, and smiled. He had no idea the flurry of vengeance I was about to unleash.