AUTHOR’S NOTE: I apologize for the late release; my personal life has ben rather busy lately. However, here is the next chapter, as promised. I intend to get the entire story out before I go to college, so I will continue posting as soon as possible. Thanks, and enjoy! -LR ———————— It was a dull, dusty afternoon on the Martian surface. The Sun barely shone through the sky, which was full of stars. An endless display of infinite lights. Despite the constant low howl of the wind, it was rather beautiful. And he was here, getting to enjoy all of it. Sylarissan-1, or Lord Sylar as the New Monarchy called him, was sitting with his back to a rock formation in the Martian sand. Tall, well-built but not huge, with dusty and dented armor to suggest his experience. He was a Hunter, with a long, billowing cape to match. It was adorned with the symbol of the Monarchy, a cowl that came over his helmet, and a high collar. It was impossible not to know which faction he supported: the cloak, the red and white colors on his armor, even his helmet bore the Monarchy symbol. He was here on a special mission from Hideo. The Monarchy was all about an Earth-based kingdom, but they still took a keen interest in the outer planets. Especially with the new Taken threat, the Monarchy made sure it had soldiers in the field keeping an eye out for anything important. Sylar was on a recon mission. Which would turn into a rescue mission. He was sitting, relaxed, enjoying Mars when his comms went off. “If anyone can hear this, we need help.” A female. Not anyone he knew. “We’re under heavy fire in the Black Garden. Taken everywhere. Please send help.” Sylar tensed up. The Black Garden? But the girl sounded too young to be a veteran Guardian, so why was she there? And Taken? None of this made sense. Nevertheless, he decided to find out where this young woman was and save her…and someone else. She had said ‘we’. He started to get up. Grunting, he slowly got to his feet, searched for where he put his gun. He was about to reach for it when another comm came through. “And…and another thing…a Guardian was Taken.” Sylar’s eyes widened. “Michas Damengar. By something called Oryx. Please help us. We won’t last much lon…” A Guardian? Taken? Impossible. The girl must have seen something else. A Guardian cannot be ‘taken’ by Oryx. But the name…Damengar. Definitely sounded familiar. Where had he heard the name? He began his trek to the gate. Ah, yes. Damengar. That was the family name of his close friend, Carbo. A Titan. He had been inseparable with Sylar, until Carbo went to investigate some ship called the Dreadnought near Saturn. He hadn’t returned, but hasn’t been found either. Dead, or missing, or whatever. But he did know Carbo had an older brother named Alrahn, who had a son… Michas. That was his name. The boy mentioned in the comms. Michas…was Taken? It didn’t seem possible. He made it to the Black Garden. Unless… He’d heard the rumors. Rumors of Guardians being Split between the Light and the Dark, causing them to be harshly affected by the Darkness. If a new-gen Guardian like Michas were to disavow himself from the Light…of course he could be Taken. The thought made Sylar shudder. He stepped through the gate. —————————— He’d been here before. Numerous times. Sylar had been here with Carbo for patrol missions, keeping tabs on the Vex. But now, he was here to rescue someone he’d never met before. Sylar didn’t like meeting people. And he had no clue where to begin his search. It became obvious that a battle had occurred here. Vex scraps lay everywhere, along with their eerie blue “blood” splattered on everything. There were also no other enemy bodies to be found. Which means the destroyed Vex faced off with Guardians…or Taken. Either way, Sylar didn’t like it. Especially the Taken part. Why would they be here, in the Garden? This was not good. But if the battle had occurred in that direction, and the Guardian from the comms said the Taken were overwhelming, that means the Guardians retreated…in the opposite direction. He turned around and looked more closely at the surrounding area. And sure enough, Sylar found a trail. A trail…of blood. Human blood. Fresh. Looked more like Awoken blood. He picked up his pace. Knew he must be close. He figured he’d try the comms, see if he can retrace that signal. “If anyone can hear me, I received your distress call. My name is Sylarissan, and I am on my way. Stay put.” He listened intently for a response, all the while moving at a slight jog down the halls of the Garden. But he did not need to wait for a response because as he turned the corner around the stone hallway he saw…her. It was a young Awoken woman. Cradled in the arms of a Warlock. And she was dead. The Warlock never looked up. Whether he did not notice Sylar, or maybe he just did not care. Either way, it wasn’t until Sylar crouched next to the young duo that Norid-2 looked up. “Are you Sylarissan?” he whispered. “Yeah, I am,” responded Sylar in the same tone. He knew these two were the ones from the message. But the girl had been the one to send it… “She was shot in the lung,” said Norid-2, sensing the Hunter’s thoughts. “She tried to hang on, but eventually she just…stopped breathing. Her name was Klaeda,” he said softly. “I’m sorry, Guardian. But I’m here to get you out of here. And…she has to stay,” said Sylar, noting that a dead body could not go through transmat. Norid-2 nodded. He gently set Klaeda’s body down against the wall, put her helmet back on her head, and stood up. Turned to Sylar. “There was another one…” “I know. A Titan, presumably, that was named Michas Damengar, correct?” Norid-2 nodded again. Sylar was curious to know the details of the battle. “Klaeda said he was…Taken? How did that happen?” he inquired. But before Norid-2 could reply, the air grew dark. Swirled with pure Darkness. He knew exactly what that meant. So did Sylar. They both readied their weapons, spun slowly, waiting for the orbs. But when the swirls only condensed into one single orb of Blight, Sylar lowered his weapon a little. This was unusual. The orb burst, and out came…a shadow. A large, overwhelmingly large shadow. Of Oryx. Then the laughter began. A deep. resonant booming that made the Guardians want to scream. Oryx spoke. “HE IS PROVING DIFFICULT TO BREAK. BUT I WILL TAKE HIS WILL. IT BELONGS TO ME.” Another orb swelled and burst right after Oryx finished speaking. It was another image. It depicted a violently shaking humanoid figure, chained up to the wall by his hands over his head. Parts of him began to look like the typical Taken Blight, but other parts of the figure remained normal. Norid-2 could see the eyes had remained untouched so far. Those eyes…were unmistakeable. They were human. Those eyes…belonged to someone he knew. “Michas?” whispered Norid-2. Just then, the figure let out a wail so devastatingly loud it actually cracked Norid’s faceplate. It sounded…terrifying. Like a thousand Michases had screamed each at a different pitch in unison. The figure began to shake even more violently. It was disturbing to watch, but the sound is what got to them. It was a wrenching cry that sounded like the very soul itself of Michas was being ripped apart. It was demonic. Oryx spoke again. “COME TO ME AND SAVE HIM IF YOU CAN. I WILL BE WAITING.” More laughter from Oryx, then both shadows disappeared. The air cleared of Blight. “He…he isn’t Taken yet,” noted Norid. “Partially. He is in the process of being Taken, if you will. Oryx hasn’t found a way to overcome whatever Light is still left in Michas, so part of him still remains human while the rest is stolen from him” explained Sylar. “But you heard Oryx, right? We can still save him!” Sylar sighed. “Maybe. Or maybe it is just a trap, a trick designed to bring us to the Dreadnought.” “But we have to try.” Sylar sighed again. He knew how dangerous the Dreadnought was. It was what made Carbo disappear in the first place. Maybe…just maybe…he could find his comrade while he was there. It was worth a shot. And if they could get to Michas in time…all the more reason to go now. “Fine.” “Awesome! Let’s go, now! I want to see Michas again.” Sylar chuckled, which threw Norid off. “Oh, you’ll see him again. One way or another. One form or another.”