Destiny: House of Wolves Novelization

Prologue: Wolves off the Leash

"When the Fallen sought to destroy us, I protected the Reef. In the end, they all bowed before me. We showed them mercy, and offered them a home amongst the Awoken. They met that mercy with betrayal. Now.... They will feel my wrath. Open the Reef to the Guardians. Offer the riches of our realm as bounty for these betrayers. Let the hunt... begin."

-Mara Sov, Queen of the Reef.

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Chaos. All evidence that remained was just that: chaos.

Scattered corpses of Awoken soldiers, the Guard among them. The Queen, with her brother, Uldren, gazed upon the sheer destruction on the pathway before them. Mara's eyes narrowed. Each Awoken corpse had a number of holes burnt into the side of it, and there was no blood splattered to speak of. The burns were evidence of damage from Shrapnel Launchers, something the Fallen under her servitude should not have, let alone turn against them.

Oddly, not even the corpse of a Dreg remained. How quickly, how decisively had the Wolves escaped?

Either way, there was only one option.

"Bring Petra to me." Mara said. Without a word, Uldren bowed, and walked away to find the Emissary.

Mara herself took a few steps among the dead. These people-HER people-had been slaughtered at the hands of those who swore allegiance to her. A sight caught her glowing blue eye. Not an uncommon one, and certainly not significant. She knelt down by a corpse, wearing the badge of a Corsair. In its lifeless blue hand was clutched a sidearm, standard issue among Awoken armed forces. She reached down and took the blue and grey Vestian Dynasty from the deceased Corsair, and checked the magazine. Not even a single shot was fired. There simply wasn't the time to do anything more than draw it. Mara stood, holding the weapon tightly in her hand. Her expression had not changed even slightly. Not even when she heard the familiar, raspy breathing of a longtime ally.

"House Wolves nowhere to be found, my Queen." Variks. The last loyal Fallen remaining among the Awoken, held to his staff with his artificial left upper arm. His four blue eyes blinked once, twice, three times before scanning over the scene of destruction, and once after. "Many regrets, indeed, but not without consequence," He rasped, grabbing at a handle on his right hip with his lower right arm, and pulling his upper right artificial arm over his abdomen. His staff hit the ground, and he put his weight on it, to steady himself. The Queen merely looked at him, as if asking silently what he meant. "Attacker's identity discovered. Escapee from the Nine."

"Is that true, Variks?" Petra Venj, Emissary to the Queen, asked as she walked into the room, gazing upon the destruction, and bowing. "My Queen."

Uldren had followed behind her.

"A Crow confirmed it." He said, plainly.

"Yes, yes..." Variks said. "He came through. Wolves followed him without question." He glanced to Petra, then back to the Queen. That single name was on everyone's mind. None of them wished it true, of course, but the truth was not so kind.

No one else was going to say it, so the Queen did:

"Skolas."