When Destiny Burns, Ep. 1: A Halo and Inheritance Cycle Crossover

Chapter 8. 3 A poisoned mind pt. 2

He attempted to contact Aeraleth again and this time, put a little bit more urgency behind his shout.

'Let us make one thing clear,' a feminine voice then told him with a tone that made it very, very clear to the Spartan that she was royally pissed off. Even though she still sounded more like a teenage girl in his head, there was still something else present. A certain effect in her voice that made her sound more royal and convincing than any officer could ever hope to aspire. He disliked the compelling effect of her voice. His body was ready to obey her will without thinking about it and that gave the dragoness so much control over him. 'I am NOT yours to command. You might have more experience than I do, but I am so much more than simply your ally in combat. You have no right to tell me what to do and I will not have it!'

Maine was more disturbed by the fact that he kept losing his cool in the fight with ever-increasing frequencies than the dragon being upset with him, but he knew where his priorities lay. If the bond between him and Aeraleth ran so deep that even his body was completely ensnared in it, he couldn't afford to anger her like that. His body was bound to her body like his mind was bound to her mind. He knew that he had no choice but to force himself to act without animosity against her but it felt so forced...so compulsive. He wasn't capable of talking to her like a civilian would, as she expected of him. It wasn't who he was –it wasn't what he was.

'I am here to free those two eggs for you, but nothing more. I want to return to the UNSC and to do so I will finish these fights ASAP. I expect you to follow my lead.'

'You still wish to escape your fate? I chose you from my egg because I knew that you were worthy of becoming a rider. You are here now, you have a destiny. It is foolish to try and escape it.'

She was right. He knew that and she knew that...and he hated it. He was stuck on this world with magic, elves and dwarves and there was no returning to the UNSC for him. The mission to recover Math had been a disaster...the random trajectory that the When Duty Ends had been forced into had thrown him into a completely new conflict. But this wasn't how he wanted to live; he wanted to remain with the UNSC and fight for humanity. He wanted to destroy all that remained of the Covenant and make sure that the Flood was gone forever. Then and only then could he res. But until then, his purpose was to protect mankind.

His thoughts must have been a bit too close to the surface, as Aeraleth took a gentler tone and tried to comfort him, despite her initial anger with him. 'Be calm Maine, there are humans here. You can still protect them, even though your initial duty has burned away. You hold a new duty here. Focus now, for we have long to go.'

He grunted in reply and backed up against the dragoness, the last remnants of the black fog in his mind clearing up, allowing him to analyze the battlefield with serene clarity. The urgals around them were slowly creeping backwards, creating a large circle around them in doing so.

The Spartan raised his pistol –having only spent half a clip during the fight- and tried to spot the reason for the hostiles to retreat like that.

Aeraleth suddenly hissed in anger and he felt a stab of fear running through their link. She quickly informed him of what had disturbed her by sending a smell through their mental link, but he couldn't understand what she meant with it. He simply lacked the senses to translate the otherwise nonsensical message.

'What's wrong?' He asked and scanned his surroundings for a change in the fight. The answer presented itself pretty quickly when he spotted a row of urgals parting near the back of their formation, allowing a person to step through their ranks unopposed.

Aeraleth did not answer him, instead choosing to send him a garbled collection of emotions and smells. He still didn't understand a damn thing, but the intention was crystal-clear to him: she was afraid. Honestly so.