Guardians Rising Season Two [S]: Strife! with Cthulhu's Cousin Master post: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/212143155/0/0 Previously, on Guardians Rising; There was one thing left to counter this beast. Another, more powerful beast. One which could only be accessed by calling upon the Darkness. The Maw, XeneX. Daltec was caught in the grasp of the Leviathan, and sent sprawling into the portal, with the Demon ‘swimming’ after him... And out they both fell. They were in the cold reaches of Crota’s Realm. Daltec had been forced out of his Bladedancer trance, and Xenex was on the recovery, orbiting the dead Oversoul. Daltec had bested this demon in the past, but that was when this Titanic creation was but a Babe, fallen from the nest of its mother of which it is now the size of. The air had become toxic, but the Hunter’s mask filtered it out, obtaining only breathable air from a transmat link on Earth. The beast flew near to Daltec, and slowed, recoiling to turn and bite at Crota’s Portal base, but the prey was nowhere to be seen, not invisible, for that was clear, but through the Mindscape, the souls of those who were trapped within the Oversoul provided the Bane with camouflage against the Soul-seeking vision of the Leviathan. Daltec clutched his two daggers with a grip that could break the bones of Knights, and jumped to the beast, swinging the knives above his head to latch onto the Chitin Scales. He was going to have to ‘Shadow-of-the-Colossus’ this, that was his best chance. Problem was, the Maw of Crota was pretty damn huge, and would certainly take many an hour of Sparrow boosting to overtake the speed this Dragon was flying at, but there was no time at all for that. Daltec knew this, and braced himself for a move that only he could pull off; a Blink-Dash. The Hunter pulled back, and started sprinting, until he reached a speed he was comfortable with. He kept at this speed, and launched himself forwards into a Blink, mixed with a Shoulder Charge and a Bolt of Arc lightning. He landed upon the upper torso of the creature, near the Shoulder Blades. “Damn, thought that would get me straight to the head. Guess I'll just Wing it!” Daltec pressed a hidden button on his chestpiece, and the Cloak he was wearing split into thirty-two parts, sixteen on each side, cut into sword blades. He then called on his Arc Super, and used the energy of the Arcblade to charge his cloak pieces, spreading them out, as wings. Daltec jumped off from the Spine of Xenex, and soared above it, taking in the view he was so rudely robbed of earlier, when he was drawn down into this pit. The dragon was a glorious sight to behold, with Chitin Scales covering most of its body, and everything else was protected by Rough Skin, hardened by years of wear. What had not been hardened, however, was its upper jaw, of which was missing entirely because of their last encounter, and the lower jaw was split into three parts. Two arms reached out wide, ending in Pincers so sharp it could cut a Dreadnaught in Half. It had but one eye, that was blind to the real world, but was able to see the essences and thoughts of others. Its many legs clawed at the vacuum behind it, waiting for prey to fall into their grasps. He dived down at Terminal Velocity, preparing his wings to slice at the neck of the beast, to finish the job he started years ago. However, all he did was fall into the Husk of the Oversoul, breaking his focus, and retracting the wings. He panicked and flailed wildly, trying desperately to obtain a hold upon the orb. He failed, and so he instead attempted to fall in the path of Xenex, so that he may be safe, for a time. But he had the utter misfortune of falling right into the mouth of the Leviathan, and slipping down the windpipe. “Oh, hell no. This is GoW2 all over again!” He was in the belly of the Beast, both metaphorically, and literally. Inside, bones clashed together and muscles contracted and retracted, making for a fairly decent puzzle to work through. He dodged and jumped through the treacherous tunnel of death, but for a Hunter, a Bladedancer at that, it was trivial for him. On his way down the windpipe, he found a parting, a crossroads. Daltec deduced that this was the way to the lungs of the beast, and as he knew Hive Anatomy well, he noticed the distinct markings that the bones and gear of the many that had fallen had left marks upon the path to the Gullet, and so chose the second option. After about an hour of traversing natural Puzzles, hostile Thralls, and the split of the Bronchus, he came to the wall that separated him from the bloodstream, and from the heart. He merely cut it open with his blade, and joined the stream of dark liquid, and eventually, he would reach the Heart. When Daltec reached the Heart, the Dance of the Blade began, and the Heart cut to ribbons. The Hivebane heard the Moans of Agony and Roars of Anger from the beast, but when they didn't stop, he realised that there must be more than one heart, or at least it was taking a long time to die. The Hunter decided not to chance it, and followed the Arteries to what he believed, and was, the final Heart. Like the first, the second Heart was reduced to little more than confetti and ribbons. He listened, and heard the Death Screech of Xenex, the Maw of Crota, and smiled, knowing that he had finished a longtime Enemy. As he cut his way out of the Creature, he then wondered. “How the hell did I get here? Huh, how the Hell am I gonna get back? Wasn't the Door sealed?” He was correct, and was left sitting upon the Balcony of Crota’s Shrine, pondering on ways to create portals and gates through space, or something.