Chapter Five: Transforming Light The air felt warmer here. It was not filled without fear and foul thoughts. The blue veins ran through out this chamber, forming crystals that filled the caverns with light. Mar had walked several miles through caves of varying size and look. This cave system seemed to just keep going on forever. Mar was coming near to where the beast told him he needed to be. Once there he would know where to look. He kept walking, the rock beneath him always seemed to make a path. He followed that path, hoping he did not finding anything dark hidden in these caves. He knew something didn’t seem right about the creature that lead him on this quest. He trusted it still, feeling as if it was right. Mar felt pushed to find the artifact, both for his own curiosity and to appease the beast who sent him this far. Every step seemed almost not of his own. This whole place did not seem right. Mar felt calm, comfortable even, but at the same time he worried, knowing he should not feel so at ease. The rock path guided Mar further and further. He walked through another series of caves and tunnels before coming to a different room. He came to the center of it and looked down, looking to where several new paths lead to. The room was larger with a dome feel, several sets of pillars reached to the curving roof. Five paths all met at the center, each spreading out between pillars to different tunnels. On the ceiling was a large crystal cluster that showered Mar in light. “My friend, where to now?” Mars ghost did not appear or speak. He had not said anything since the meeting with the beast. Mar manually called the ghost forward, holding his hand out for him. The ghost appeared and twitched several times before figuring its self out. Once done it looked around the cave and quickly turned back to face Mar. “Mar, did I miss something? Last thing I saw was a pitch black room, felt with chilling air.” Mar stared at his ghost. “That’s odd, run a diagnostic. In the meantime, we have been sent on a quest by some beast that pulled us down here. It wants us to find an artifact so it can leave this place.” His ghost chuckled. “Do you realize how insane that sounds, Mar? How do you know it was on our side? What if it’s a trap? Or it wants us to steal something for it?” “I trust it. I’m not sure why, but I trust it.” “Oh, that’s reassuring. We should think hard about what we are doing.” “Well, do you know the way out of here?” “Umm, no. I ran a diagnostic, something knocked out my servers. I came back online when manually booted up. Though strange thing is, that’s not why I don’ know how to get out of here. I am currently scanning this place. The caves seem to keep changing. The path we came from is a new path now.” “The beast said finding the artifact was the only way out of here, so we are doing it.” “Sound logic, just a few questions. What are we looking for? And if the caves aren’t a set path how do we find it?” Mar looked around at the exits. Studying them and searching for something that would lead them forward. He came to the exit to his right and something sparked. A small light popped in the darkness. It was the blue like the veins and crystals. “We are going that way. The beast said I would know the way, something is pulling me that way.” “Should we really follow that feeling, look where it got us?” “Do we have a choice?” “I suppose we don’t. Fine, what are we looking for?” “A tree, the core of a tree. The beast said a shard of something was stored there, keeping it away from the beast. The tree has something that the beast cannot get through, and he needs us to do it.” “So many lovely things about this quest, I’m sure this end well for us..” “Oh shut up.” Mar began to move forward. His ghost following shortly behind. They moved forward, heading into the unknown before them. They walked through more caves of varying size and look. Every time the path came to a split a blue light appeared to guide them through. This light seemed different though. It didn’t seem alluring at all. It seemed almost like a cry for help. Mar felt pain for the light, or more of the source of it. He knew it wasn’t from the beast. This was too pure to be from that darkness. Mar walked on for another mile or two. He finally came to a door. He looked at it and knew he had found the right place. He was a large double opening door carved to fit inside a rough stone opening. It was made of the same material as the door at the beginning of the caves. He stepped forward and placed his palm against the door, his ghost eyeing him with hesitance. The cracks and grain in the door began to light up with the same blue glow. Mar tugged on two handles in the middle, pulling the doors open. With great effort they swung out, coming to a deep thud against the stone. Inside the doors was a whole new world. Mar stepped forward, walking on a large patch of grass. The cave itself was not very large, it reached far up into the stone though. The ground itself was a mix, patches of grass mixed with both sandy mounds and cold stone. Lush grass and flowers grew everywhere, being fed by a pond on the left side of the room. Small waterfalls trickled down the walls, finding their way to the pond. High above sunlight spread down into the cave, falling on the grass and a lone tree that stood in the center of the room. Mar walked up to the tree and inspected it, this was what he was looking for. The canopy spread across half of the room, bringing shade to the flowers. The roots spread along the ground in every direction, seeking water. Mars ghost appeared and began scanning the tree. Smooth bark covered the tree, it looked just like the material the doors were made of. It looked like a light bronze stone, smooth to the touch. Veins of the blue liquid pulsed through the tree, seemingly starting from the center of the tree. “Mar, this tree is made of something incredibly old. The bark is petrified, but it’s more metallic then stone or wood. It appears there is something inside, a form that is throwing my readings everywhere. I would say that liquid is pumping from it though. It seems to be a power source.” “We need to take it to get out of here.” “But Mar, it’s powering this system, this liquid is spreading further then my scans can reach. If we remove it, it may destroy this place. That would kill us.” Something kept pushing Mar to dig his knives into the bark, to take the power source. He could not control his urges. He ignored the advice of his ghost and pulled his knives out. He stabbed into the bark, cutting into the grain. The veins started pumping quicker, as if it was alive. The light inside the room began to fade, the grass beneath him began to curl and turn brown. Mar kept digging deeper, he could not stop. He screamed at himself, wanting to stop, knowing he shouldn’t do this. It didn’t matter. “Mar! Stop, you are killing this place, you are going to kill us!” In that moment the grass all turned black, all the water evaporated. The sunlight had turned red and the leaves fell. Mar had struck the core of the tree, his knives hitting the hard exterior. The world was freezing, slowing down, but Mar could see what was happening. He saw everything die around him. His ghost was void of all light, falling down to the floor. He could feel his own light leaving his body, it tore at his soul. Mars gained self-control back and tried to pull away from the tree, but his hands were frozen. He watched helplessly as a blue form shot along his arms, reaching out towards both his mind and heart. It all hit him at once. Then everything went black. The Rise of a Legend Chapter 1: The City https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/120713153 Chapter 4: Faded Light https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/124308809