[b][u]Episode 2: The Silent Fang [/u][/b] Liksor wiped the ether off his blades as the Winter Baron fell to the floor of the wintership Simiks-Fel. Surrounding him were the bodies of many more Fallen Barons and their bodyguards, murdered by the Silent Fang. Skolas had tasked him with eliminating the Winter leaders to ensure that his takeover of the House would be absolute. His communicator signaled that Skolas was contacting him. "Is it done?" the Wolf Kell asked. Liksor nodded. "Yes, all Winter leaders aboard are dead." he looked around the room, where his Silent Fang were standing at attention. Skolas laughed. "Good! Proceed to the extraction, you are to return to Kaliks immediately. The rest of the Silent Fang will go to Earth to assist in the eradication of the Devil's leaders." "Understood my Kell." he ended the transmission and turned to the fifteen Silent Fang warriors gathered in front of him. "We're moving to extraction, don't get left behind." They nodded, and got onto their individual pikes, and sped off into the ravine. Liksor got onto a Heavy Pike and was about to follow suit when a flash appeared in the corner of his eye. He turned to see it had come from the direction of the volcanic cliffs looming above the now lifeless Ketch. He shook his head. Must have been the glint of the lava showing through the billowing smoke. He pushed the thought from his mind and sped off. _______________________________________ Once the Silent Fang were out of sight, the Fallen Skiff removed it's cloak. "It's unbearable in here!" Toland complained, gasping for breath. The Skiff had taken cover inside the ash clouds thrown up by the volcano. While they were near impossible to detect, the boiling heat and nauseating smoke made it hard to stay patient. "Come on," he said to Variks, "let's follow them." Variks shook his head. "That path leads into a ravine that I cannot follow... and they would spot you immediately if I dropped you on top of them." Toland scanned the edges of the ravine‎. "We can't approach them with any vehicles of our own... that would alert them as well." his eyes flashed as an idea formed in his head. "I have an idea." he smiled, then moved out of the cockpit into the passenger area. "Gear up, we're approaching the drop zone." Dredgen loaded up Thorn, then unsheathed a Fallen Shock Blade that Variks gave to him. "What's the plan?" "We pull a death-from-above on Liksors crew, take him prisoner, kill the rest." Toland strapped Bad Juju to his back then waited at the door. "That sounds more like the objective than the plan." Kabr observed, strapping his Shield to his back and checked Vex Mythoclast's charges. "The ravine they are heading through leads into a series of subterranean caves, with our only option for intercepting him being a sinkhole above." he shouted at Variks to open the bay doors. "There is a slight complication however." As the door begins to open, Dredgen peers over the side. "Oh you have got to be kidding me." Toland smiled then leapt off the ship and into freefall. He plummeted to the sinkhole from nearly a kilometer above. Kabr looked over the side, then chuckled. "I thought you weren't afraid of heights?" Dredgen shook his head. "I'm not! It's just that Hunters aren't really that good at controlled descent." he shouted, peering over the side again, he suddenly felt a blunt impact as Kabr body slammed into him, and they both fell. "Relax! We'll be at the ground before you know it!" Kabr's words were ripped away by the wind and he dove, hurtling to the surface below as Dredgen fell. Dredgen scrambled to regain his focus before he could become a mess on the floor. He watched Toland glide peacefully, throwing Vortex grenades into the sinkhole. Kabr hurtled past him, his Shield in hand, hitting the ground with the force of a Fist of Havok. Dredgen felt the ground rush up towards him, and he waited till the last possible second to blink upwards, halting his momentum. Thorn leapt into his hand and he fired it three times, each shot eliminating one of the Silent Fang as they sped by on their pikes. Kabr unstrapped his shield and knocked a Silent Fang off of his Pike. He pulled out Vex Mythoclast and ignited the fuel cells of a fleeing Pike, which was consumed in a fireball. Toland leapt into the air, hurling a Nova Bomb at three pikes. Their numbers were starting to thin. A series of explosions peppered the ground as the Heavy Pike threw it's firepower at the three. Toland and Kabr backed off while Dredgen drew his sword, staring Liksor down. Liksor roared, charging the Heavy Pike at Dredgen. He leaped off just as Dredgen slashed the power lines, destroying the vehicle. He drew his sword and lunged at his foe. As their blades clashed, Liksor bared a grin. "You have improved greatly." he slashed at Dredgen, forcing him onto the defensive. "Maybe this time you won't cheat with your cannon!" he slammed his hilt into Dredgen's face, stunning him and ripping his opponents sword out of his hand. Dredgen charged his Arc Blade, locking eyes with Liksor. "Formidable, but it's going to take more than a knife to stop me." Dredgen smiled viciously as his blade elongated from a knife to the size of a sword. "You were saying?" he slashed at Liksor, who parried and retaliated. The battle went on until Dredgen's blade began to lose its arc charge. "Your luck has run out with your blade, and you are left all alone with your knife." Liksor chuckled, advancing on Dredgen, knocking him over. "You forgot about his shield." Dredgen smiled. Liksor frowned, and turned just in time for Kabr's Aegis to slam into his face, knocking him out. "I wasn't alone this time." Kabr nodded, then helped Dredgen up to his feet. Toland contacted Variks. "Package acquired, prepare for extraction." _______________________________________ Dredgen approached Petra, who was just exiting Liksor's cell. She looked frustrated, the Wolf's Blade must not have been very compliant. "Having trouble?" he asked. She nodded. "I have interrogated many enemies of the Reef, but this one won't break. He won't talk to me, he won't talk to Variks, it's like he's just waiting for execution." she wiped the sweat off her brow. "Do you mind if I have a little chat with him?" he smiled viciously. "I can be very... persuasive." "Be my guest." she waved her hand dismissing him, and opened the cell door. Dredgen walked past her when she grabbed him by the arm, stopping him. "But I'm going to have to remove your weapons. If you fire a single shot here in the Reef, the consequences will be rather dire." Dredgen sighed. "Fine, no weapons." he handed her his knife, then grabbed Thorn, and was about to give it to her when he accidentally ejected it's cartridge, causing all nine jagged and twisted projectiles to fall to the floor of the cell. "Finger slipped." he muttered, handing Thorn to Petra, who nodded, giving him what might have been a wink if she didn't only have one eye. He turned to face Liksor as the door closed behind him, leaving him alone with the prisoner. Liksor was sitting on the floor, each arm chained to the floor. "You cannot break me." Liksor smiled. "I am the Wolf Blade, a weapon. A weapon doesn't feel pain, it serves it." "You're quite the sociopath, aren't you." Dredgen picked up one of the thorny projectiles off of the ground. "I used to be like you, thinking I was a force of nature, something that can't be stopped. Which is why I took the name Dredgen Yor." Liksor's smile was starting to get to Dredgen. He slapped the Thorn against his hand, pacing around the chained Fallen. "Do you know what it means? In the ancient language it means the 'Eternal Abyss'... on the moon I underwent a... transformation, you may say." Dredgen smiled himself, and Liksor's smile faltered. "Let me show you what I learned..." And then the screaming began. _______________________________________ [i]To be continued.[/i] Next Chapter: Table of Contents: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/114713352/0/0 ‎ [quote]‎I am really, really, really sorry for how late this is, and I unfortunately can't promise it will be a shorter wait this time. When I started writing book 6, I had written the end, had a good idea for the beginning, and no clue what to put in the middle. I ask you to give me a few weeks to sort out my real-life shit and give you guys good-quality content. I am not pulling a Centauri, trust me. I love you guys, and I don't want to disappoint you. I just ask you to give me time.‎[/quote]