Advent of Chaos

1

Beneath the starry black skies, and across the white wasteland blanketed by thick, bitter snow-- legends of generations shone brightly before the months of winter. They'd once told of betrayed and lost races, like the Fallen and-- perhaps the people who once lived in these barren territories. No, the world below was overtaken by the fall of mankind, who roamed and prospered endlessly, sifting through decades like fish mindlessly swimming forever. Those once here had vanished long ago, retreated to perhaps a safer place guarded by the Traveler. And those left here... Consumed by Darkness.

Behind a glistening, foggy helmet adorned with dark gold wings at its sides-- a warlock of forgotten pasts heaved a sigh, her black cloak and breathable armor not doing her any justice for this cold world. A walk, her ghost--Lotus-- had suggested. She hadn't done much in the past month, she realized as she scanned the blue screen in her helmet, noting how there were hardly any bounties or quests assigned to her. Most of them that were sitting about had no progress. The few that did, she didn't bother inspecting for further details.

Sure, this place was a bitter wasteland, but... A break was well deserving of, after she'd taken on several other guardians in the Crucible-- hoping to strengthen her light and train with people above her. Lest her ghost suggested otherwise. Lotus was constantly suggesting things, pinpointing locations she'd never even heard of. At times, it grew quite annoying, but... She had a feeling that perhaps he knew more than a ghost should know.

"Mora." The voice rang through her helmet, a robotic male voice calling her name.
"What is it?" Her tired, soft voice a bit muffled through the COMMs but she was sure that the ghost didn't have trouble understanding her.
"I've found something, traces of Light from an upcoming patch of snow." Lotus tapped into her radar with a crackle-like pattern of beeps. Instantly, a white dot appeared-- the once blank map glowing in her peripheral vision.
"Lotus, what is that?" Her voice rose to a growing question, the possibilities of this being a sort of enemy extremely low, but Mora still kept her guard up. She unsheathed the large sword strapped across her back, the familiar carved metal thrumming with a dark, pulsating energy that almost made her shudder-- knowing she could wield such powers. But it didn't bother her now-- not when she'd taken on gods and kings and entire armies at that. The dark energies and forces that plagued these worlds had no effect on her already questionable mental stability.

With her mind snapping from one possibility to the other, Mora angled her head to the side as she ducked out of the way of a low branch-- the trees growing thicker in this area. Suddenly, the crunch of snow beneath her armored boots ceased, and not a single sound was made-- the whole world went quiet, and the faint whirring of Lotus' processing seemed to die down as well. The clouds circling the moon above shifted, almost opening up to shine down upon the area above. Mora tore her eyes away from this uncommon phenomenon, noting on her radar that she was just a few inches from the location of this mysterious manifestation. She froze in her spot, for some reason-- not wanting to take a step further. There was a heavy feeling in this area-- something off, something that shouldn't be there.

"Lotus, can you feel that?" She breathed, unable to hear anything but her own voice-- the silence deafening in this area. Even the wind went silent. Lotus didn't say anything, he only whirred in response-- perhaps a comforting reminder that he was there.

Mora shook off the heavy feeling the best she could, for some reason-- not really knowing why-- reaching out to touch the bitter air. But to her surprise... A hiss from beneath the patch of snow in front of the large pine tree alerted her-- and she remained as vigilant as ever. Then, the ground beneath her boots hissed in response to the unusual sound, and she tore away from the unusually thin air.

A silver wisp emerged quickly, the snow melting away as it came in contact with this awakening anomaly-- and Mora's eyes widened. She didn't know what it was--but it felt wrong. It felt forbidden and unnatural in every possible way, and some part of her lost memory lashed at her, begging her to turn and run and never look back.. But she couldn't, for she was immobile in the presence of this forbidden being. The wisp moved in circles before her, it's actions jittery and hurried. She noticed a trail of white flames following it as it moved, and realized that it was assessing her, scanning her for...something. But as she stood there, waiting-- she felt it growing attached to her, to her mind, her memories and journeys just by looking at her.