Chapter VI - A Light In The Dark

Echo, Carrion, and Oris trudged through the dense forest. They had been walking for miles now, and they had no clear way to tell how far they were away from their goal. So, they continued to walk. As they did so, they passed wrecked, rusted vehicles; cars, busses, transportation from a bygone era before the Golden Age and the Collapse. A particularly destroyed car caught Echo's attention, and as he walked closer, he recognized the vehicle almost immediately. An old Chevrolet, rusted beyond repair. He lifted a hand and felt the hood, rust coming loose in flakes as he swept his hand across the dirty metal.

He was suddenly overwhelmed by nostalgia and memories from his past, ones that he had been suppressing and trying to forget for years, but in times like these, they'd well back up again and overcome him.

In the blink of an eye, he was human again, and he sat in his father's garage. His father's Chevrolet sat within, taking up most of the space, but there was just enough so that he could move around with relative ease. He walked closer to the car, marveling at its shiny red body. He ran his hand along the driver's side door, and he held his breath as his hand reached the door's handle. He pulled on it, trying to pry it open, but the door was locked. Instead, he fell backwards onto his rear, and as he did so, he heard a voice behind him. "Careful, Todd. It's brand new."

He looked behind him to see his father. Tall and strong, with salt-and-pepper hair that barely reached below his jawline, a rag draped over his shoulder. His father watched him with his kind, blue eyes, and laughed. "Hey, don't worry kiddo. Come here." his father beckoned and stretched out his arms, and the young child ran to him. The old man picked him up with ease, saying in his ear, "why don't we go on inside? Your mother and I have a surprise for you."

The memory suddenly changed, and the next three years flashed before Echo's eyes -  his father enlisting into the Last City's military and becoming a Guardian, and his mother crying herself to sleep that night, knowing her husband could die at any moment; Commander Zavala, arriving at their doorstep with the news that his father had been promoted and would be staying within The Tower almost full-time; his mother, stricken with grief and anger, and turning to drinking as her sole companion...

The final memory stuck before his eyes, one that he would never forget if he tried. One moment, his mother, father and him were eating dinner around the table, and the next, his mother was rushing him into a closet, urging him to be quiet and stay there. His father grabbing a gun, his Ghost floating nearby, urging him to stay low and out of sight.

The next sequence of this fractured memory contained only pain. Eventually, he had emerged from his hiding spot within the closet to find his home in ruins. It lay in pieces like a puzzle that had been dropped in the floor. He had searched for his parents, only to find his father's Ghost in pieces nearby, and that was enough to tell him what had happened. His father had been killed.

As it all had come to him, he had heard the air raid sirens wailing, and as he looked up, he noticed hundreds - no - thousands of pyramid-shaped floating objects. Swarming those were other, much smaller vehicles resembling busses.

Nearby, a piece of rubble shifted, and he quickly hid behind the remnants of a wall. Behind him strode the bulky form of a Hive Knight, looking this way and that, its gun raised. It had heard his footsteps, and was looking for him.

Eventually, it neared his location, and all he could hear was the beating of his own heart and the short, strange breathing noises of the giant Hive creature that were interrupted by quick footfalls. The Hive Knight jerked its head in the opposite direction and let out an ear-piercing screech, and suddenly, it toppled backwards, landing inches from his huddled form, a serrated knife in its neck. As he watched it, another form loomed over him. He swiveled and prepared to run, but he stopped as he saw what - or who - it was.

A Guardian. Standing tall and proud, her cape draped over her shoulders, her Ghost at her side. "A civilian... a child. We need to bring him to safety." her Ghost quipped. The Guardian nodded, and kneeled down to his level. "What's your name, little one?"

All of these memories flooded in and out of Echo's mind in seconds, and there he was again, an Exo Guardian without his Light, standing in front of a rusted old car.

"Hey, Echo, you done? In case you forgot, we still have a ways before we get to that Shard of The Traveler." Carrion called from a few yards away.

"Sorry, it's just... been a while since I've seen one of these." he responded, hefting his hand cannon and joining with the other Guardians.

***

Several more hours passed before the Guardians reached their objective. They stood before the so-called "Shard of The Traveler", marveling at its sheer presence. Even now, Echo could feel the Light within the shard. Feel it flitting through the air around them. So close, but just out of reach.

Without thinking, Echo stepped closer to the colossal marbled fragment. "Echo, hang on. It may not even give us what we want. We should be careful, I-" Orris began. However, he was suddenly cut off as a blue bolt of plasma lept from behind a bush and shot through his shoulder. He cried out in agony, dropping to the earthen ground just as several more blue bolts shot out over him. Echo and Carrion ducked as several more bolts flew overhead.

"Fallen, by the looks of it." Carrion observed.

"Yeah, thanks, genius." Echo muttered, annoyed. He stood up, brandishing his hand cannon at three approaching Dregs, who he dispatched with ease as they ran haphazardly forward. Behind him, Carrion emerged from cover, shooting several Dregs as well. He ducked behind the cover as a large purple bolt of energy flew over him, barely missing him.

"Echo, we have a problem. Servitors and a Captain." Carrion hollered. He emerged from behind cover once more, but this time, the Servitor landed a shot square in his chest. He fell backwards, groaning in pain, his armor singed. Echo whirled around, firing a few more shots at the Servitor that had wounded Carrion, and ducked again. As he did so, his eye fell on the Shard of The Traveler once more.

In a move of desperation, he lunged at it, his hand outstretched. He pressed his palm against the glassy surface, and held his breath...

Nothing.

Echo looked behind him as several Fallen approached, their wire rifles pointed. Dregs, Vandals, Servitors... they outnumbered them ten to one. Echo raised his hand cannon, but a shot from a wire rifle sent it skidding several feet away. He fell to the ground, and as he did so, he heard the cries of Oris and Carrion as the Fallen began firing on them.

Echo stopped for a moment. He closed his eyes, seeing nothing but blackness. His fists clenched, dirt and moss moving between his robotic fingers. Thoughts raced through his mind, drowning out the screeches of Fallen gunfire nearby. His thoughts were briefly interrupted as shots from a wire rifle slammed into him, but he didn't stop thinking. He dug his fingers into the earth, extending his mind as much as he knew how. Looking for the tiniest spark among the blackness. The smallest pinprick of light...

And then he found it. In his mind, he reached out for the spark, cupping it into his hands, and watched it grow brighter, hotter, until the spark became flame. Dazzling, red flames swept through his mind and body.

Oris opened his eyes as the gunfire came to an abrupt halt. His armor was rent, and Carrion lay motionless beside him, his arms covering his head. Oris's gaze turned to Echo, whose bodily condition was no better, but something was different. He was sitting upright, not cowering in fear. His hands were clenching fistfulls of dirt and moss, and his chest was heaving.

Suddenly, Oris saw sparks of electricity crawl over Echo's body. The sparks soon turned into tongues of blue fire... Light.

Immediately, Oris felt that same energy well up inside him. He felt his spirit become whole again. He looked at his hand, and saw the same electricity move across his own body.

As Echo got to his feet, his body suddenly erupted with white light. Tongues of the ethereal energy crawled across his entire body, and his eyes shone a fierce, terrifying blue. The Fallen surrounding the three Guardians lowered their weapons, faltering, as Oris, then Carrion, stood up as well, their bodies erupting with similar energy.

The Light had returned.

With a cry louder than any of them had heard in their lifetimes, amplified by the sudden renewal of their Light, the three Guardians lept towards the Fallen soldiers, Light crackling all around them. They began to slaughter the nearby Fallen; Dregs, Vandals, Servitors, even a few Captains fell to their unmatched power.

Soon, all the Fallen around them lay dead, their corpses smouldering. Echo returned to their previous position, lifting his hand cannon and holstering it. He then turned to Carrion and Oris. "Eyes up, Guardians," he began.

"We've got a City to reclaim."