Toland spoke. No words. No sound. Neither eye nor ear could perceive it. Then the runes glowed.
A cold gale swept across the barren plains, and an eerie thrum reverberated—low, resonant, inescapable, rooting them in place.
Void faltered. He was inches from the portal when a gelid chill slithered up his spine. The hymn echoed. Soft at first, then rising—spindly notes threading through bone, weaving into mind.
It beckoned.
A viridian brume rolled over the horizon, stitching the fractures in space like an old wound. Ghastly reflections stirred within.
Void's sixth sense screamed. His hand shot to his blade. But the sword, stripped of its souls, robbed of its voice was nothing more than a dull fang against the mysterious Hive magic.
It was too late.
Everything stalled.
The air folded. The world paused. And then they came. A cohort of Hive Wizards descended. Their robes burned with fiendish fire, their voices humming a wretched melody—a song that peeled the soul itself.
Their wretched melody swelled, layering over itself in discordant echoes, and the air hitched, choking every heart with an unseen pressure. Void's vision blurred, he saw as the cohort of hive wizards, pale and ghastly, stretched open their mouths.
A fiendish hue engulfed the world, their voice grew louder, and then life began to unravel, akin to a frayed string stretched thin. The death song, had begun.
Void's vision blurred. The song was not heard—it was felt, etched into marrow, slithering through the gaps between ones thoughts.
Mercy, was not in its nature. The death song, It was not a weapon—it was an extinction event, an antithesis to the symphony of life itself. As its echoes cascaded down the lunar plains, even the wretched Hive army reeled.
No soul could survive oblivion.
The Guardians staggered.
Some screamed. Others whispered incoherently. Many simply dropped to their knees. Their Light frayed at the edges, worn thin by sound alone. Their bodies convulsed as the Deathsong's magic coiled around their cores like a serpent tightening its grip.
Void dropped to his knees, and strained against it—every breath a battle.
All around him, the trance deepened. Guardians stood frozen, glazed eyes wide and unseeing. The light in their chests flickered.
Watching it all from above, Crota loomed over the Horizon. The deathsong reverberated, its echoes rushing past him. The Hive prince watched, impassive. The fight was ending. Whatever miracle the Guardians had hoped to bring, it had withered.
Crota's eyes dimmed. The battle bored him now.
With a ripple of darkness, his figure flickered—and vanished.
The battlefield was left to the song.
----
As it all came crumbling down. One spark cut through its oppressive haze.
A rich violet light flared, shimmering against the Deathsong. Defying the melody of death itself, Ikorra stepped forward. Eyes ablaze with unrestrained vigour. Her light couldn't overpower the song. At most, it was akin to lighting a torch within a blizzard.
Perhaps futile. But its warmth could not be suppressed.
"You will not take us."
Ikorra's Light swelled as she spoke, as it spread, one by one guardians broke free from their trance. As warlocks that followed her voice began to weave counter-spells, within seconds, thousands of guardians were freed.
The trance fractured. But the Deathsong continued, oblivion could not be stopped. With no choice left, the warlocks immediately summoned portals leading back to the colony ship.
"Heed my words, retreat now!" Ikorra barked, wielding her light she managed to keep them all lucid.
As guardians retreated in droves, Void got back up, his eyes darted beyond the ridge as he spotted them. The Nightstalkers.
Too far from Ikorra's light, and still within the song's grasp. He could see it, they were fading. Void glanced at his status.
[Lightning Waltz: (40 Seconds Remaining)]
His lightning card was still active. It was his only lifeline. He clenched his fists, and a brilliant coat of lightning enveloped him it wasn't enough to completely suppress the song, but with Ikorra's light still in his system he would be fine. As he stepped forward, a sudden voice caught his attention.
Just behind him, a portal flared, the others were calling him back. He took one look at them, but didn't hesitate.
Void shot towards the ridge.
----
Darkness bled into the corners of Tevis's vision.
He staggered, one hand braced against the rugged lunar canyon, the other clutched his bow, its shine dimming with each breath. As the song coiled tighter, his eyes burned. He could feel it, deep within him, his soul was struggling to keep up.
He looked around, Levi knelt beside him, venomous fangs sinking into his spirit. Bandit, flat on his back, his lips parted as he echoed a silent scream. Cory stood tall, but his body began to rot, slowly crumbling to dust.
The song wasn't just a trance, it wasn't just a melody. It was something far more sinister, akin to drowning in open air.
Tevis wrestled against an overwhelming darkness fighting to pollute his soul. Each breath he took was a herculean effort, and as the song clouded his spirit, he felt himself beginning to blur.
But something in him said, it wasn't his time.
'No, not yet.'
Call it instinct, but Tevis listened. He couldn't fall, not now. He grit his teeth, searching for the last embers, searching for himself. If he was to go, he wouldn't die kneeling.
Then, something tore across the field. From beyond the ridge, past the veil of viridian brume.
A blue spectre.
It was fast, desperate, but most of all, familiar.
Darting through the viridian brume, the spectre left a ghost trail behind him, almost as he himself was a mirage.
Tevis blinked once, his mind was in a haze, and then realization struck him.
"Void..." It was the faintest whisper, perhaps barely a murmur compared to the song that threatened to consume them. But the moment he uttered the word, there was hope, as if life itself clung to him.
He was coming.
The others saw it too. They stirred faintly, their souls clung to the moment and thin cracks formed in their trance.
He bolted across the canyon, arc flaring beneath his feet, light surging around his frame. A healing grenade glinted in his palm.
He skidded beside Tevis, grabbed his shoulder—eyes locking for just an instant.
And then the Light surged.
It hit like lightning. Tevis gasped, clarity flooding his veins. As Void turned, the grenade burst—waves of healing light rolling over the Nightstalkers.
The trance shattered.
As light finally coursed through their veins, the Nightstalkers got to their feet and the squad assembled. They were bruised and battered, no words were spoken yet, but one thing was clear. Their hunt wasn't over.
All eyes shifted to the Deathsingers looming above their heads.
Void's hand hovered over his blade, an arc jolted through his palm as he unsheathed the sword. There was no ghastly presence, no Ahamkara to rely on. For a moment, it was just him, and he would make it count.
A blue sheen spread across its edge.
"You dog, you had me worried." Levi chuckled, a dark bow manifesting in his hand.
"Where's the backup?" Bandit heaved, playing with his daggers.
Void raised his sword, "Retreating. It's just us."
"For now." Tevis's eyes narrowed as he triggered his distress signal.
"Fighting to survive, not a bad way to go out." Cory limped, clutching an ashen arm, his light was back, but the song had succeeded in poisoning his body.
Void stomped, and with a flash of light, he jolted upwards. As his blade reached the wizards, two Shadowshots cut past him, restraining the Deathsinger. With a vicious stab Void tore one, and swiped towards the next.
But the Deathsong reacted, a sonic boom erupted flinging Void backwards. Void tumbled, and Cory kicked off, a shadowy tendril replacing his lost arm, it wrapped around Void's ankle swinging him back up.
Void raised his sword and cleaved downwards, but the next verse of the song surged.
The blade's edge struck air, met with an unseen barrier and its backlash cracked the sky shooting Void down again.
Crashing into the canyon's wall, Void dug his blade into the rock as he continued to fall. Arc light flickered, and a dust storm kicked up around him.
Falling to the floor, he gasped, the wind knocked out of him.
The Deathsong still surged—thick, suffocating. His Light crackled faintly, but he felt it... fraying. Flickering. Failing.
The Deathsinger he had killed had simply rewoven its existence.
Their light wasn't enough to kill what was dead, he needed something more. Something stronger.
As the wizards wailed, the song's suppression struck them all, pushing them into the ground
Void grit his teeth. Then, he remembered. A last resort. A weapon not of Light… but of fire. Of war. Sheathing his blade, Void pulled a rustic javelin from his inventory.
{ Using Valkyrie Prototype }
The air around him shimmered. As he channelled his strength, and the Valkyrie prototyp synchronized with his visor.
---
"⚠️ WARNING: Valkyrie Prototype CORE UNSTABLE. "
"DETONATION IMMINENT!""IGNITION AUTHORIZED.""GLORY TO THE WARMIND."
---
He held it with both hands and rose slowly.
"What the hell is that?" Levi asked, stepping back.
The Deathsingers shrieked again, and the next verse echoed, threatening to rupture the sky. Cory flinched—his shadow tendril recoiled. Bandit cursed under his breath.
The javelin lit up—crimson at first, then golden, a miniature sun in his hand. Sparks trailed behind him as he marched straight into the cohort of wizards.
"Cover me."
He didn't wait.
He ran.
The Deathsong reached its peak, a vortex of banshee screams and psionic pressure. A sonic wave slammed toward him. Void thrusted forward, the Valkyrie flaring. Plasma met corruption.
The javelin held, but barely. Hive magic pushed back, gnawing at the weapon's core.Another verse. Another shriek. Another wave.
Void was struck again—lifted, hurled—yet he kept moving, kept swinging.Every blow a shockwave, every step a defiance.
The Valkyrie was incomplete. A prototype, barely stable. It sparked violently now, overloading. Still, he fought. Strike after strike.
Tevis's communicator shimmered, and Ikorra sheared through the viridian brume. Watching as Void contested the Deathsong, she created one final portal to the colony ship.
"Go!" She urged.
The Nightstalkers obeyed. One by one they limped or sprinted toward it. Tevis hesitated, but even he knew—they were spent.
"Void!" Ikorra called.
He turned, just in time to see the others disappear. The Deathsong erupted with another verse.
He parried. Barely. The Valkyrie flared—unstable now, whining with pressure. The wave launched him into the air.
Ikora raised her hand—her eyes blazing with command.
With a crack of Light, she snatched him midair with telekinesis, yanking him toward her.
As Void flew toward the portal—he made one final choice.
He hurled the Valkyrie behind him.
The javelin spun once—then detonated and the portal snapped shut.
===
A/N: Back after a long while. Enjoyed the chapter? Throw some stones! Comment! Post a review!! Add to Library!