#finished Nothing Left My breath came quickly as I crept through the damp tunnels, hand over mouth to reduce the sound as much as possible. Each cautious step I took made a soft scrape that caused me to pause for a moment and listen for the stirring of other life. If they could even be called life. I wished I was back in the days when you only had to worry about the Hive if you were on the Moon. After our Collapse the vile creatures had held only our Moon, festering and growing like an infection taking over the body. But in their quest to kill the Light and all other life, they clearly hadn't been satisfied with such a small prize. We found out the hard way that they had been mustering their strength, and by the time Guardians discovered Hive hidden underneath the Earth, it was already too late. They came like a storm, preceded by violent waves as they surged towards our shores. The abominations raised inside the Moon had been hard enough to deal with in the beginning, pushing through portions of our wall and killing swaths of Guardians, but even they were nothing compared to Crota. He came with a thousand of his Knights and marched upon the City as if it was already his. His blade was death and he was shadow, confronting one Guardian after another and killing them all in single combat. At one point some of us managed to rally, but even against all of our Light the butcher moved through as if wading through shallow water. By the time he reached the Traveler, hardly any Guardians were left. I was amongst them. No one knows how he did it, but Crota brought down our mighty protector, sending its broken husk crashing down to the earth. The Hive ate its remains, and the Light of the Guardians was snuffed out with that of the Traveler. Humanity was broken and the system fell to greater powers. The Fallen lost whatever footholds they had in the inner system as Earth was claimed by the Hive and Venus was consumed by the Vex. To the surprise of many, the Fallen and Awoken came to an uneasy truce, but even together they have been caught in a vice and only hold control of the Reef. Mars was a mystery, but it seemed that the Cabal were still holding off the Vex there. There was war between the Vex and Hive on several fronts of our worlds as the two fought over domination of the entire system. Any human that hadn't made it to the Reef was stranded on Earth, scavenging for the means to survive while surrounded by enemies. At first I had still called myself a Guardian, guiding and protecting others through a world that I could no longer defend until I could find them a ship to leave on…or until they were killed. I had given up several chances to leave in the hopes that those who I sent away instead would find refuge in the Reef and send help. Now there were no more ships to be found and no more Reef patrols to rescue the stranded. So I was left to die on a lost world. Eventually I realized that there was no such thing as a Guardian anymore. In these days I had been attacked and robbed by ordinary men and former Guardians alike. I knew that these former Guardians and citizens of the City were sad, broken, and scared, and that living on like that after everything they had been through could lead to selfishness and Darkness. But that didn't crush my hope for the future. What had convinced me that there was nothing left for me to be the Guardian of was a little girl who had taken my gun out of my holster and pointed it at me while her dad snuck up behind me with a knife. The attempt had ended with the father dead and with the lightly battered girl and mother whimpering as they watched me leave. This girl had been raised with Darkness in her by parents who cared more for their survival than the rightness of their daughter, and it convinced me that humanity had let itself give up all ideals of the Light. So now I wandered by myself, avoiding anything that stirred in this dark world. Movement was life now. The Hive, in all their cruelty and hunger, most definitely enjoyed knowing that humanity had been broken by them, even if they still hadn't managed to kill us all off yet. They burrowed into the Earth, their network growing everyday along with their reach across the surface and their appetite. That's where I was now: in the Hive tunnels. You were just as likely to run into Hive down here as above ground, but in the tunnels they didn't expect intruders. Although the Hive left no nook or cranny unused or unchecked, they couldn't be everywhere at once, leaving plenty of opportunity for an experienced warrior to hide. Occasional roars and shrieks from distant Hive kept me on edge, not that I needed the calls of hidden horrors to know I was on treacherous ground. Every now and then a small cluster of the Hive's strange, glowing crystals and green lanterns would be placed to illuminate the tunnels and caverns, reflecting off of dark pools and trickles of water that dripped into the damp depths of the earth. The stone was dark and oppressive, engulfing victims in its rough and jagged gullet as it dragged them into a maze of identical halls. No light pierced the eternal night aside from those created by the Hive, and no enemy trespassed into the endless labyrinth of death. That is, no enemy that had another option, had no experience, or had no substantial amount of lunacy. Luckily for me, I was a crazy warrior with no options who had done this a thousand times. Unluckily for me, each attempt was another gamble with death, no matter how good you were. A bone scraped the ground as my foot pressed down on its end, shocking me into a complete halt, breath caught back in my throat as I listened. Nothing. Letting out my held breath, I lifted my foot from the bone and placed it back down in a clear spot. I realized that my free hand had shot to my pouch protectively and I pulled it away. That was another thing. The bones. The remains of the Hive's victims littered their home; most were human, but the skeletal remains of all the other species in the system could be found, including those of the Hive. Despite understanding their ways of killing and infighting to grow stronger, I was always unsettled by how normal killing each other was to them. A scream rebounded to my ears through the tunnels, but it was human, not Hive. Cursing softly under my breath, I moved on at a quicker pace. They had found some prey, and I would have to get away in case some hungry Thrall began clustering around whoever they caught. It stilled hurt, knowing I couldn't save them. Counting my steps, I came upon a fork and turned left, taking note that they had dug out a third tunnel connecting at this junction. I had never seen what created these passages for the Hive, but they sprung up out of nowhere and left it clear that lesser Hive hadn't been the ones to scrape away at the dirt and rock. The only clues were the giant bones left in the corners of the largest caverns, each with ribs that towered above the height of men. But unseen monstrosities like that were too horrifying to think about. In a maze where everything looked the same, the only way to find your way through was to venture in repeatedly, counting your steps and going deeper each time until you found a new way out. I came to a cavernous room at two hundred and eighty three paces and adjusted my gait as well as my count because I was seven ahead of the correct number. Eventually the inconsistency would've grown, and being just a dozen paces off could get you lost in a place with so many tunnels. Of course, before entering the cavern, I pressed myself against the rocky wall and peaked out to make sure it was clear. All looked safe, so I took several steps inside. Claws scratched on stone and I raised my head to see a Thrall standing in the tunnel I was supposed to go down. Cursing my bad luck, I drew my hand cannon and ran down a passageway that I knew from my exploits, not bothering to shoot the Thrall. I had to save ammo. Feet pounding now that I didn't have to worry about silence, I stormed down the tunnel, searching for a place to hide since I knew this wouldn't lead out. There was nowhere that could keep me covered, so I continued on. Hungry and angry cries of Hive followed me down the hall until I came into a cavern that ended with a wall of white stone. No exits, no cover, nothing. Apparently whatever dug these places out had stopped when only half finished. The screams stopped, and I turned slowly to find the Thrall clustered just inside the cavern, a single Wizard floating silently above them. Raising my cannon, I backed up against the white wall, waiting to see what they did under the Wizard's direction. I wasn't surprised when the Wizard laughed, her grating voice making me wince in pain, but when the Thrall began chittering and gnashing their teeth excitedly I had to wonder what was happening. Then the wall moved against my back and I spun around. The massive bulk curled up into great coils of white, revealing that the creature had been stretched out across the cavern and creating the illusion that the room ended. The beast turned its head toward me, displaying gaping fangs. It was a Worm, only this one had grown huge. I gripped my pistol tightly as the Worm looked down on me, but I did not falter or try moving away. My left hand reached into my pouch and pulled out the single item I always kept inside. I looked down at my last reminder of the Light. The Ghost rested in my hand, cold and empty. After so long, I could still almost hear his voice, telling me "quit getting distracted and fight William". "Thanks for everything, Rush," I whispered to the husk of my first and best friend, then turned my eyes back up to the beast that now surrounded me with its coiling length and raised my weapon. I would die a Guardian, one last time.