If you missed the last chapter, you can find it [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/218537738/0/0]here[/url], or if you need to find a previous chapter, you can find them all in the [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forums/Post/218618986?sort=0&page=0]Table of Contents[/url]. Enjoy the story and if you like it, a bump would be greatly appreciated! If you have any questions or corrections, comment or message me anytime, I welcome any and all feedback. *** They say Taniks is the last of House Scar. They say his arms were taken by a Kell he challenged, and that Taniks spent years crafting his revenge and a new set of arms before he used them to murder the Kell. They say that he broke Aksor, the Archon Priest, out of the Prison of Elders and murdered the Tower’s Hunter Vanguard Andal Brask. I can’t speak to any of these legends about the Shadow Thief, I can only tell you what I know of Taniks from my own experiences: he is cruel. And he likes to keep trophies. I was once one of those trophies. I don’t know if he chose me because I was a Reefborn Awoken or if it was because he wanted a souvenir from my home after he destroyed it – I never asked for and he never offered a reason. It didn’t really matter, though, because you forget about things like reasons when Taniks decides to play with his Trophies. And the games of a powerful, sociopathic monster beholden to no one but the highest bidder can stretch the limits of how one experiences pain and despair. The doors of Kaliks-Syn open as my Exile escorts, led by Happy, hold onto my arms, restraining me. [i]Bury it[/i], I think forcefully, willing myself to bury everything but anger and hate as I step inside. As the doors close behind me, I try to comfort myself by repeating that this is what a captain does, but there’s still a part of me that can’t help wondering if letting the Exiles sell Solis back to the Wolves would’ve really been worse. I think back to seeing Solis led away – she was roaring, fighting against the Exiles, but something in her eyes as she looked back at me conveyed a strange curiosity. [i]Why did you do that?[/i] her looks said to me. I’ve been asking myself the same thing. As we pass through the dark corridors of the Traitor’s Ketch, I keep wondering – [i]Am I doing it to prove myself to some idea, or to Seren and the Mob? Why? It's just a job, I’ve only been with them a few years, and I lived far longer without them than with them. What do I care? I didn’t do it for Solis, I know that much – she’s all right to be around, but not worth giving my life up for. So why did you do exactly that, then?[/i] the sensible part of me asks coyly. [i]…it seemed like I good idea at the time,[/i] is all I can come up with. [i]I’m not perfect – but neither are you so piss off.[/i] [i]And you’re the one talking to yourself,[/i] the sensible part reminds me. I do my best to bury that too as we round another corner and come upon the door to Taniks’ chamber. As we approach, the door opens to admit us, and we step inside. [i]Just focus on what is[/i], I tell myself, preparing for the moment I see the monster again. [i]That’s the only way you’ll get out of this.[/i] But as we enter Taniks’ chambers and I finally see him again, the thoughts of escape are drowned by a greater sense of unbidden panic I struggle to control. The rugged yet elegant chamber is hung with the orange banners of House Scar, the symbol that Taniks alone has taken for himself since their collapse. At the end of the hall is the throne welded together from the weapons, armor and ships of his enemies, and upon it sits the Shadow Thief himself. Taniks rises from his throne with surprise as he sees me being dragged in, purring rapidly with barely contained avarice. His bottom arms hold his infamous modified scorch cannon menacingly. [i]At least I’m worth standing up for right away to him[/i], I think, already looking for any new weaknesses or distractions I can perceive. Taniks growls and rasps, pointing to the Exiles – “[i]Name your price[/i].” Happy growls back to him in Eliksni, and Taniks considers his offer, the Vandals behind him looking around in wonder. His scorch cannon swings toward them in a moment, unleashing a miniature sun at the Exiles – I drop to the ground, the heat of the projectile burning my back as it soars over me – The Exiles have no time to escape – they’re evaporated in a flash of solar energy. I look back at the charred remains of Happy and can't help but think, [i]Told you you'd regret it.[/i] I start to rise, but Taniks is already on top of me, looming twice my size as he brings his foot down on my back to restrain me – he reaches down and picks me up, holding my face next to the lit barrel of his cannon – I push my fear down as I pull my face away, looking him dead in the eye. Taniks laughs. “[i]My lost Ia Tanis, I’ve missed you. You always endure more than others. Good Tanis[/i].” The word stings as I hear him say it. I’ve spent years working my way back from my captivity, making the only name I can remember having into something more than what it meant before, what I deep down feared it still meant. [i]A Tanis[/i] – I scald myself with the name again, repeating it to myself to get used to hearing it first. [i]I’m a Tanis.[/i] A specialized torture subject for Taniks to practice on, attended to by the most skilled healers Taniks can afford to nurse us back to health so he can do it all over again. We are as diverse as he can find so that he can practice his craft on us to hone his skills for his many different enemies on the battlefield. Only he is known to keep subjects like us, and thus he predictably named us in honor of himself. [i]I’m a Tanis,[/i] I repeat to myself again. [i]For now,[/i] the sensible part of me replies as I stare into his face defiantly. He reaches out with two fingers and pinches my arm between them. “[i]Must break you in again,[/i]” Taniks growls gleefully. “[i]Time away makes you….rusty.[/i]” He snaps my arm with the barest of ease – I fight with every fiber to hold in my scream, but it escapes unbidden through my gritted teeth, tears springing to my eyes as rage and fear course through my veins. [i]Bury it[/i], I hiss to myself again, repeating the mantra that allowed me to endure then, and will allow me to endure now. As I gaze into the cold, cruel eyes of my captor again, I keep repeating the mantra to myself, over and over and over: [i]Bury it.[/i]