Peering out across the chasm, I could just barely make out some other tunnel openings scattered across the other side. They probably spread everywhere under the Moon's surface, hiding who knows what in the dark. Now the waypoint was pointing to the opposite wall, there had to be some way across. The stairway soon ended at another tunnel and we entered it, following it's slightly curved path. It was warmer in this one, and moisture dripped from protruding rocks in the ceiling and down the sides of the passageway, forming dark pools of water on the ground. Our lights eventually stopped shining on stone wall and flared out across a cavernous room as the curved tunnel ended. It was rather large, the sounds of water dripping into pools from stalactites echoed constantly through the cavern. We saw our first real sign of Hive presence for the day. The platform we walked into upon entering the cavern was Hive built, going several meters above the actual cave floor and sporting fluorescent crystals at regular intervals along the platform's edges to illuminate the area. Our Ghosts turned off their lights as we wandered across the platform. Halfway across there was some form of giant monument just over the side of the platform. A thick column of stone that went from the cave floor to the ceiling had gotten the likeness of some skeletal and multi-horned being carved into it, several of the fluorescent crystals were placed around so that it could be seen clearly. The figure itself and the shadowy form created by the lighting made the carving rather frightening. When we reached the other side and passed into the continuation of the tunnel that had so far marked our only path, a smell drifted into my visor and made my face contort with disgust. It smelt like rotting flesh. A couple quiet groans from the others let me know they smelt it, too, and we all suffered it together as we walked. Then a loud crunch sounded through the tunnel and we stopped dead. Maxwell looked down at his feet and shuddered, and when everyone else's eyes followed we saw that he had broken what appeared to be a human skeleton. The Hive had to eat, and back in the Collapse and the battle for the Moon they had gotten plenty of food from our people. We continued on, watching our steps carefully. That's when I realized that our Ghosts had never turned their lights back on. It was still suffocatingly dark, but my eyes had adjusted to where I could just barely make out my surroundings. I saw more bones, and I knew the others could, too, because they moved their feet to avoid them. After another minute or two of winding along, the tunnel straightened more and began to grow wider and taller. As the tunnel expanded the amount of bones scattered across the floor increased, but they were more piled against the sides away from our feet. The bones clearly weren't all human anymore. Once reaching a width of around thirty feet the passageway stopped increasing in size horizontally but continued to grow vertically. The ceiling was eventually unable to be seen without the aid of a light, but I think it stopped around fifty feet up judging by the consistency of our footsteps' echoing. Each wall became smoothed over, made to look more like actual walls by their carvers, and pillars of rock that looked like columns sticking halfway out of the wall became evident. Each was placed at an even interval and after passing the first several pairs they started being equipped with the dimly glowing crystals, although the ceiling's height was still concealed in shadows. Some of the spaces between the columns were taken up with largely painted Hive symbols and tattered banners, some even held gruesome paintings of battles fought long ago. One Hive symbol constantly recurred, and besides that the most consistent image was the Hive that had been carved into the pillar earlier. It stood among the battlefields depicted in the paintings, its horns like a deadly crown, wielding a massive sword and often shown cutting enemies open, tearing them apart, or being bowed to by lesser Hive. The images showed it as something massive, towering several meters over the depicted enemies and other Hive. I had never heard of any Hive being larger than several feet tall, but even in some images that appeared to show it fighting Guardians, it was a giant in comparison. "It's Crota..." I heard a quiet whisper, and turned to see that Cassie had stopped dead in her tracks in front of the image of the beast fighting Guardians. "What?" I asked, and the other five of us walked back over to her. "I didn't realize until I saw the image with Guardians, but this...this monster...is Crota, the being responsible for our failure to take back the Moon," Cassie explained to us, practically spitting out his name in disgust, "He killed thousands, one by one with his guard of Knights, all but destroying the army of Guardians that had gone to the Moon. Most that had gone were of a Warlock order...so many lost..." I hadn't seen her this worked up before, and Maxwell put a comforting hand on her shoulder. Other Warlocks must have told her of that tragic event. We all shifted around uncomfortably, unnerved by the thought of how powerful and brutal a creature Crota must be to have slaughtered so many. Then I remembered a time when I had heard the name Crota before; in the story of Wei Ning's death, one of the stories of legendary Titans passed from Titan to Titan. I clenched my fists. This monster was responsible for the death of one of the Titan order's greatest leaders, along with those of countless other Guardians. If we encountered that thing on our journey, I was going to make it pay. "Let's go," I growled, taking the lead on our walk once again. The others followed, eager to get away from the horrible images. It luckily didn't take too long for us to get past all the images of battles, but the tattered green banners bearing a large red Hive symbol persisted to appear between the columns. Each space that didn't have a banner began being filled by slots carved out of the walls that contained more bones. [i]The Hive need a healthier and less disturbing diet[/i], I thought to myself, grossed out by the sheer number of bones crammed in the slots and lining our path and the growing stench of decay. We reached the mouth of the tunnel, opening out into another party of the abyss. At this one a slender bridge of stone stretched out across the chasm to the other side. Only a few feet wide and not very thick; I doubted it could take a whole lot of weight. The waypoint had been flickering around on my visor display the most of the time down here, unable to choose a direction or figure out where we were because of the layers of rock above us blocking signals, but now it appeared solidly for a few moments and pointed across the bridge to the other side of the chasm once again. There weren't any stairs leading up or down along the walls to the sides of the tunnel mouth this time, so the bridge was our only option anyway. Claire was the first to step out onto it, taking shaky steps. I realized that this was the first time I had seen her completely out of her normal lighthearted mood. She was probably intimidated by the story of Crota and the risk of falling into the seemingly bottomless pit. I wanted to walk out with her to make her feel better but knew we should go one at a time for safety; I still put myself next in line to cross, though. Then she slipped. A loose piece of rock at the edge of the bridge had slipped out of place from under her foot, tumbling down into the dark and taking her with it. I ran out into the bridge, engulfed in panic and lunging forward to try catching her. I wasn't moving fast enough. Her scream echoed loudly through the trench way, sounding throughout its length and down its tunnels. But her screaming stopped a moment after her hand latched onto the edge of the stone walkway, and she just stared down at the pitch black pit in horror. I made it to her and grabbed her forearm, pulling her up and setting her down safely at the center of the bridge, at least as safe as she could be on it. Claire latched onto my armor, not wanting to let go for fear that it would mean falling into the black. Her scream didn't go unheard. Behind us the sound of clattering bones grew in a low chorus. Skeletal forms crawled and dropped out of the slots in the hall behind us, bones being dragged out with them and falling to the rocky floor noisily. Thrall had been sleeping among the bones, their bony frames allowing them to blend with their meals and go unseen by us. A grating shriek pierced the air, echoing through the caverns as Claire's scream had. Several more shrieks followed the first from that hallway before distant cries could be heard from other halls in this abyss, and soon our ears were assaulted with the emissions from hundreds of Hive throughout the labyrinth. "RUN!" Derick commanded loudly, not caring to keep a low volume now that our presence was known. We did exactly that, running across the bridge with me in the front, dragging Claire, followed by Jason, then Cassie, then Maxwell, and Derick in the back. The Thrall came on several meters behind us, claws and fangs slicing through the air in their angry swarm. To my amazement, the bridge held perfectly fine, a few loose rocks were scuffed off, but the rest was surprisingly solid and the narrow platform didn't crumble under all the weight. We were being outrun. They were being far less careful than us, so though a few would fall from the edge every so often, they went at a faster pace than us. That's when, to all our horror, Derick stopped and turned around. I stopped, too, halting the line. Part 4: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/217378906/0/0