Greetings, Guardians, here's part thirty-one of the Journey Home! Here's[url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forums/Post/228510963?showBanned=0&path=0] part thirty[/url] if you missed it, or, if you're looking for a different part, here's the[url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forums/Post/222615264?showBanned=0&path=0] table of contents![/url] Stay classy, Guardians! The first wave of Fallen crashed through their western flank. The Villagers took aim, and began to shoot. The Fallen shouted, and charged, elated to have finally caught sight of their quarry. But the villagers had the upper hand. In addition to that, they had a Guardian. Soon, all of the Fallen lay dead on the forest floor. Oren nodded. “Easy enough,” he said. Erling watched as smoke drifted through the trees. “That was just the first wave,” he said. “Let’s keep a lookout.” Sure enough, more Fallen soon found their way to them. “Erling -“ his ghost began. “Not now, Ghost,” Erling said. He rushed up to the Fallen, and blasted away with his shotgun. A dreg fell, a hole in the middle of it’s chest. Then, he whipped out his hand cannon, and, balancing it on his wrist, took aim at a Vandal Sniper that was a little ways away. The sniper fell to the ground, it’s head missing. “Erling!” his ghost shouted. “What?” Erling snapped. “I’m detecting Fallen comms,” he replied. “The main force of Fallen is going to attack another group of humans farther North.” Erling frowned, and the swore. They were going for the other villagers! Alesha and the others quickly moved through the forest as the sound of the firefight faded behind them. Smoke drifted through the trees, signaling the oncoming blaze. Aunt Beatrice was grabbing her hand tightly. Alesha looked around the smokey woods. “Maybe they’ll get away,” she said, with more confidence than she really felt. “Yes,” Bea said, grabbing her tight. “Yes, I think that’s exactly what’s going to happen.” Neither of them bothered to correct the lie, for fear that the other might actually believe it. Suddenly, the people in front of them stopped walking. Alesha caught her breath, and walked up to them. “What is it?” The an in the front of the group, a blonde man named Naymeer, pointed. “Look,” he said. About fifty feet away, a line of fire was burning its way towards them. They were trapped. Alesha looked at the blazing inferno. “What do we do?” she asked. “We’ll have to go around,” Naymeer said, “and hope that the fire doesn’t catch up with us.” Suddenly, a bone-chilling screech cut through the air. It was a sound that Alesha had come to know all too well. The Fallen were coming. “Run!” someone shouted. The villagers ran parallel to the fire-line, hoping to outrun their pursuers. Their hopes were dashed when Alesha practically bumped into a Vandal. She skidded to a stop in front of the alien, and gazed up at it, frozen. The creature looked down at her with all four of it’s eyes. It let out a roar, and pointed it’s wire rifle at her. Suddenly, several holes appeared in it’s chest, and the vandal stumbled backwards, and fell. It’s wire rifle went off, the blue projectile harmlessly firing into the air. Alesha turned around, and couldn’t believe her eyes. Standing before her was Matthias, holding a gun. “Need some help?” he asked. The other villagers turned to look at the newcomer. “Hey,” one of them said. “You’re that bandit, aren’t you!” Matthias ignored them, and walked into the middle of the group as if nothing had happened. Naymeer gave him an uneasy glance, and then nodded. “Alright,” he said. “Let’s move out!” “You came back,” Alesha breathed. Matthias nodded. “Well, somebody had to save you,” he said. “Let’s go!” And with that, the villagers ran. The villagers ran through the woods, hoping to escape the Fallen. But they weren’t so lucky. The first sign of the Fallen was the wire rifles, the blue projectiles flying over the villager’s heads. Naymeer cursed. “We have to return fire!” he shouted. He turned around, aimed his weapon, and fired into the forest. Alesha could see the blue eyes shining in the darkness. The Fallen seemed to have them surrounded. Beatrice grabbed her, and held her tight. “We’ll be okay,” she said, “everything’s going to be fine. Everything’s going to be fine.” Beatrice repeated those words softly, over and over again like a prayer. The Fallen continued to fire. A Servitor eye blast impacted the ground to their left, leaving a smoldering crater. Suddenly, a group of Fallen rushed forwards, lead by a Captain with shock daggers. The other Fallen fell quickly under the villager’s fire, but the Captain kept coming. He reached them, and sent Naymeer flying with a simple swipe of his arm, and stabbed Dana in the back. The remaining villagers scatter, trying to get away from the angry Captain. Beatrice practically dragged Alesha through the forest. “Stay close to me,” she said. “We have to run! We’re going to -“ she was cut short when a bolt from a wire rifle penetrated her upper chest. She fell to the ground, crying out in pain. “No!” Alesha shouted in horror. She turned Beatrice over. Her eyes were flickering open and shut, and her breath was ragged and inconsistent. Suddenly, Matthias appeared at her side. He looked down at Beatrice, and grabbed Alesha’s hand. “We have to go.” “No!” Alesha shouted. She grabbed Beatrice’s shoulders. “Wake up, Bea! Wake up!” Matthias pulled harder. “We have to go now! The fire is coming!” Alesha looked up, and saw that the wall of flames was advancing towards them. It was now only about twenty feet away. Suddenly, a dreg leaped out of the fire, parts of it singed by the blaze. It shook it’s head, and attempted to get it’s bearings. Michael pointed his weapon at the alien, and pulled the trigger. But the only sound was a dry click. The dreg turned towards them, and pulled out two shock blades. “We have to go!” Michael shouted. “Alesha, we have to go now!” But Alesha barely even heard him. She could only stare at the dreg, petrified. It was like the sight of it had hypnotized her, the flames giving it an almost demonic appearance. And worst of all, it seemed familiar somehow. As though - [i] The wooden floor creaked beneath her tiny feet. The flames were everywhere, the heat scorching her face. Her doorway was blocked off by the flames. She cried out. “Mommy! Daddy!” but neither of them answered. But something else did. A thing, about six feet high, appeared in her doorway. Two cones stuck out of it’s side, just below the ribcage. Four cold, glowing blue eyes stared back at her, and a red tuft of hair stuck out of the back of it’s head. It’s skin was scaly like a reptiles, and it let out a horrible, horrible screeching sound. In it’s hands were two glowing daggers. Something about it awakened a primordial fear within her. She screamed in terror as the thing advanced towards her. “Mommy! Mommy! Daddy! Please!” [/i] Locked inside of her own memory, Alesha was, once again, trapped, without escape. [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Clan/Post/1371758/228692754/0/0]Part Thirty-Two: Flashbacks[/url]