[url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/254979692/0/0]Table of Contents[/url] “You won’t need to know how to reload.” Something about the way she says it makes the reality of our situation smash into me like a Pike at full speed. If there had been any chance of survival before, there is none now. All we can hope to do is kill a few of them before they kill us. What a horrible state to be in. Elena’s fire has been snuffed out. Now the Fallen of House Winter turn to us. Me sitting in the snow and Beladona in my lap bleeding out. We must look so pathetic in their eyes. The eager aliens step towards us and panic constricts my chest. I fumble to raise my rifle one-handed, but Beladona holds up her hand to signal patience. “Let them get a little closer,” she whispers, “Wait for a clear shot. Aim for the Dregs. The bigger ones have armor and shields.” I try to steady my breathing and my aim, but the gun wobbles in my shaking hand. Knowing that every passing second brings me closer to death only makes me fear it more. “What’s dying like?” Beladona is still for a moment, “…Really dying? I don’t know.” The corners of my lips turn down, trembling uncontrollably. A heavy sob rips through my throat. All I can do is force myself to hold my weapon up. The Fallen are coming closer. “It hurts a lot,” the Huntress mumbles. She slowly raises her good arm, leveling her sidearm at the ravenous pirates. “But not for long. Then there’s nothing…” Tears flow freely from my eyes now. I cry silently and listen to her speak. “And then the next life,” she finishes. I wish I could feel as peaceful as she sounds in our final moments. “I think everyone we knew will be waiting for us…Draksis killed a lot of my friends.” The air twangs as she pulls the trigger, and one of the Fallen collapses. She fires again, and this time I shoot with her. A short burst, like she told me. Some of the four-arms charge while others slow, spreading out. Arc bolts soar towards us. I try my best to target the nearest Dregs, swinging my weapon from side to side and firing without hope of actually hitting my targets. Beladona takes her time with each shot, heedless of the Arc bolts striking the snow around us. She straightens in my lap, grunting through clenched teeth as she uses her body to shield me. A streak of energy hits its mark and Beladona gasps. The impact sends her recoiling into my chest. It’s nearly enough to knock me over. She starts to fall to the side but I use my free hand to hold her in place. “Bela!” I wail, praying to the Traveler that I won’t be left alone. Her head tilts back onto my shoulder and she blinks at me. Still alive. For a second I’m relieved. Then another bolt pierces her chest. The light goes out. She dies. My rifle drops to the ground as I struggle to keep her from falling away from me. I grab her hair, turning her head to see her face as I weep, looking for some sign that she isn’t really gone. Glossy eyes stare past me. Footsteps crunch in the snow and a powerful leg stomps on Beladona’s corpse, sending me sprawling on my back with the Huntress on top of me. Greedy, clawed hands pry her off of me as a crackling knife is thrust into her abdomen. I thrash and scream even though it feels pointless. The butt of a gun strikes my head and I go limp. The world spins dizzily around me, filled with glowing blue eyes. I remember the faces of everyone who’d been in the City Hawk with me. Beladona, Olly, Elena, Javier, Hendal, Parsin. Elta. Maybe it would have been easier if the Fallen had just blown up the whole ship with us in it. Then we would’ve been spared all the trouble. A shadow falls over me. The hulking form of the Ruthless Kell looks down on his prey. I hope someone kills him one day, like my new Guardian friends had so foolishly set out to do. I’d like to be avenged along with them and whoever they had lost. Draksis is the last thing I see. [b]END[/b]