I never knew I feared death. But so it was, me laying on the floor, cut and broken, waiting for an end. I was ready to die. I should've. But for reasons I do not know, I am alive. And so I recount this story that you may learn. _________________________________________ Hunger. It bawled at me like a dog and bone. My strength was fading. Kill. Kill. My mind repeated these words. Kill. Why should I? Kill. Kill. The world was fuzzy, my mind was wandering. Kill. Kill. Secrets learned by killing. Kill. Kill. I walked like this for quite some time. My mind was going over cryptic messages and hidden meanings that made no sense. Kill. Unravel. Learn. Kill. Absorb. I heard something. A rustle. A swish. My mind snapped back to reality. I was in a corridor. Cells hung from the walls. I was in a prison of sorts, a holding place for Oryx's enemies. I crouched down . My robotic arm touched the ground and offered support for my heavier weight. I crawled into the shadows of a nearby cell. I heard boots. Clank. Clunk. A metal-slinger reloading. I pushed myself farther into the shadows. A Dead-walker passed me. Crimson robes. Standing proud. It was a Reality-Breaker. I prayed to the Great Machine that it would not notice me. It walked on, disappearing from sight. I heard it's footsteps turn into a run and gunshots being fired. I waited until all noise was gone. I crawled out of the shadows and stood. I crept forwards carefully, staying near the shadows. I came to a gate and slipped under it. I walked onwards, my only light was my metal arm, which was glowing softly. The corridor began to brighten and I came upon a huge room. Bones littered a dusty floor, thrall feasting on whatever was in there. The sight of the thrall unnerved me, and I stepped on a bone. Crack. The thrall stood up and turned to face me. What then happened is fuzzy. Screams. Cracking. A sword slashing. Streaks of gray and green in my vision. I felt a small surge of power. My vision cleared and I saw the thrall all dead. I walked onwards. More hallways. Small rooms, glances at huge cathedrals, docking bays. I came to a large room. In the middle stood a knight, surrounded by acolytes in prayer. My vision did not go fuzzy this time. I stabbed the first acolyte in the back and flipped over it, throwing it over the Knight and into one of it's comrades. My two lower arms pulled out my shock pistols and fired one shot into the acolytes' heads on either side of me. I shot the Knight and kicked it into an acolyte. I threw my sword into a acolyte trying to rise. I grabbed the Knight's blade and threw it into the final Acolyte. I was breathing heavily. I walked over and retreived my sword. The knight was laying on the floor clutching a wound in it's chest. I raised my blade and killed it. I felt the power soaking into me like water to a sponge. I crouched down to scavenge the knight when I heard a Taken warp in. Skintar. He stood in front of me, black flames kicking off of him. His white eyes stared at me. I was curious. I needed some consolation before I could fight him, if it came to that. "Skintar, why did you join Oryx?" I asked him, my voice hoarse from lack of use. He gave me a slightly puzzled look and silently inquired to Oryx. I felt vibrations in the air as the spoke, but could not hear. "I don't want to fight you! But.....I don't think I have a choice!" He told me, an apprehensive look on his face. "No, I will not fight my friend!" I proclaimed to him. "Don't worry, I won't fight you on my own will." He said with an apologetic look on his face. I noticed he had a scar. He began to shake violently, and the flames licked higher in the air. He began to twitch erratically as most taken would. My body language was enough to convey I wouldn't fight, but he lunged at me, attempting an uppercut. I drew my blade and blocked it. He preformed a backflip and landed a few meters away from me. He paused and seemed to study me for a moment. I took a defensive position and waited for him to advance. He jumped, I prepared to party, but then he disappeared. He didn't expect it and was surprised. I felt a burning pain on my back and felt blood leaking from the wound. I staggered and did a little Flip to regain my balance. He ran at me again. I anticipated he was going to try and teleport again, and sure enough, he disappeared and went for a quick stab. I blocked it. My blade have a resounding clang that bounced around in my head. He staggered backwards and rushed again, this time punching me in the jaw. I felt a burning pain and knew it was broken. I steadied myself and took a swing at him, connecting with his shoulder. He fired a small ball of darkness at me in retaliation. I jumped away and avoided it until it fizzled out. The cut on my back was burning, and I felt my strength draining. "Your blades are sharp, but mine are sharper!" I growled at him. "My power is beyond you, you shall fall to my hands!" He spat back at me. So we stood, gazing at eachother, waiting for the other to move. I stared at his scar. Where did he get it? How? Why? We lunged at eachother. Then he disappeared. I felt my side being slashed open. I fell to the floor. What remained of my Ether was draining, my blood pooling around me. I was scared. I knew death was close, but I mustered all my remaining strength and looked up at him. "Why!? Why did you do this?" I asked him. "I; I didn't have a choice" He responded. I fell to the floor, my strength gone. I heard a conversation and him leaving, but my vision was black. So this was how I was to be discarded from existence I thought, feeling my blood slowly draining away. I closed my eyes. My strength was gone. Death was almost upon me. But then the Dead-Walker appeared. [spoiler]Moderator edit: This thread has been updated with tags that are more appropriate. Feel free to private message the moderator who moved your post, link to topic, for further clarification about why this topic was moved.[/spoiler]