"All in"

A cloaked man, wearing a gas mask and rusted bloodied armor pushes all his chips into the pot. 

"THRALL SHIT! I KNOW YOU CHEATED, THINK I DIDN'T SEE YOU PULL THOSE CARDS OUTTA YOUR SLEEVE!"

A big, bulky man adorned in spiked and fur lined heavy armor slams his fist into the table.

"You know the rules Fik, show some evidence or pay up"

The hooded man speaks, with an edge of smugness coating his words.

"Evidence? It's as obvious as the Traveler you cheated!"

Fik loses his cool and arc energy gathers into his fist

"Eat this you slick prick"

Fik cocks his arm back, and swings on the masked man.

"Alright, you swung first big man"

The hooded man conjures some throwing blades between his fingers and he throws them, one landing on the forehead, one in the throat, and another in the sternum. Fik's corpse collapses on the ground, then immediately dematerializes as his ghost revives him. 

"GRAAAAHHHHH, FUCK YOU SZARYX, FIGHT ME WITH YOUR FIST LIKE A REAL MAN!"

Yeah, should've mentioned, that hooded man? That's me, Szaryx. And Fik, the roided up crayon eating hippo? A Shadow of Yor, just like me. We're technically fireteam members, but we never stay in one place with each other for too long.

"Will the crayon eater shut his meat flaps? And will the knife flicker stop blatantly taunting the disabled child?"

A golden exo looks up from his tome and scolds me and Fik. His name is Kronik, the resident librarian, I mean Warlock. He's like me, one of the only non-Titan members of the Shadows. 

"Hey hey hey, the book sniffer finally notices our existence, whatcha reading now? The history of the art of Vex milking?"

"Since all of your brain cells are spent on how shiny your knife looks, I'll take pity on you and enlighten you, awakening you from your ignorance. This tome records the various Hive Broods, their leaders, and their strategies."

The titan interferes in our squabble

"What's our mission again?"

Kronik deigns to answer 

"We're heading to a ruined village on earth, in the EDZ, rumors have it that the village was the one where Dredgen Yor pillaged and razed it to the ground, Shin Malphur's home town. Supposedly one of the founding Shadows managed to steal the ORIGINAL Thorn from the Vanguards lockup and is hiding out there. Our mission is to recover the weapon and bring back our agent"

The original Thorn, the weapon Yor himself used. This chance is huge, all our replica Thorns pale in comparison since they have to be "Crucible Compliant", and considering the fact that the original Thorn permanently kills guardians, not exactly compliant.

"Hey look, we're here"

The ship lands outside the desolate ruins of a long since destroyed town. The buildings have been reduced to rubble and debris, and the signs of nature claiming what remains is seen. One of the buildings is noticably more maintained, and we head towards it. Fik, with all the subtlety and elegance of a Hive Knight barges into the house. 

"Anyone home!?"

Me and Kronik shake our heads in our embarrassment. Fik walks ahead and enters another room, and promptly exclaims

"What the fuck!?"

Kronik looks worried, or at least I think so, it's rather hard to read the facial expressions of a fucking robot. He calls out to Fik

"What happened?"

"Get your asses in here!"

I walk in and a corpse is in a chair, Thorn dangling in his hand, his head exploded, and blood splattered on the wall.

"By the Traveler Fik, what'd you do to the contact?!"

"Shut it knife hoarder, as you can see it was a suicide. Read the note on the table." 

Kronik steps in before Fik decides to get physical. He picks up the note, and reads it aloud.

"To the fireteam of Dredgens here to pick up Thorn, don't. It whispers and claws into your mind and sanity, leave, before it is too late."

Well that's pretty cheery. I look around the room some more and notice an auto rifle leaning against the table. I call out to Kronik

"Oi loremaster, what's that gun there?"

He turns and looks, somewhat annoyed at first I think, then surprised. I think, exo expressions are hard to read. He turns to look at me and Fik with utter glee

"I can't believe what I'm seeing, that it's even true, I thought it was nothing than mere conjecture! This you ignoramuses, is the fabled last weapon made by Yor, Inferno. It was also built out of the plates of the hive, but this one was from a wise sorceress. Unfortunately he never got the chance to use it, so no one ever knew it even existed, until now. Do you know what this means? We are the first to know of it's existence, imagine the fame and glory we would receive!"

All of a sudden, a voice can be heard whispering to me.

"Szaryx, hidden worshipper of the Darkness, you, are strong, obey the sword logic, slaughter the weaklings in front of you, and become even stronger."

It knows, it knows my allegiance, what the hell is it? I realize there's something in my hand, i look down and see Thorn in it. I don't recall grabbing it, but here it is. I must follow it's commands, Thorn was made corrupted by the hive, who serve the Darkness, therefore, serving Thorn serves the Darkness. Kronik is still explaining to Fik what Inferno is, and I move myself to an ideal position. I'm slightly behind Fik, and when Kronik turns around while monologuing, I shoot Fik in the back of the two times to be sure with Thorn. I watch as the poison runs across his body, corrupting, withering, desiccating, until nothing is left. Kronik turns around, sees what happened, aims inferno at me, and talks

"Woah there Szaryx, never took you for a vanguard, blended in real nice. Tell ya what, drop Thorn, and I'll let you go, Inferno shoots faster and you know it."

"Thanks, but no thanks"

I sidestep and throw one of my corrosive smoke grenades, masking me and taking his armor down to make him even softer. I throw my knives to see where he is, and sure enough one of them hits. I immediately magdump Thorn in that area, and the Warlock is gone, reduced to atoms.

I grab their ghost, now hollow, devoid of light and life, and stuff them in my backpack. Mementos, trophies, my first true... Murder. I hear a laugh in my head, from Thorn. It congratulates me, and tells me that my audience awaits, that in the basement, a portal to the ascendant plane is open, and in there I will commune. I go down, and I enter the portal 

I see a mighty sword plunged into the ground. I look around and realize that this is Oryx's dreadnought, where the Silent Guardian slew Oryx. I feel a sense of...longing, for the sword. I touch the pommel, gliding my hand down and lightly grasping the handle. All of a sudden it starts morphing, whereas before it was thick and crude, now it was long, slender, elegant. Even the material changed, from a rock like substance to liquidized starlight.

I look over and even my ghost and armor are transforming

Agony wracks my body, but is soon replaced with euphoria. Nearby shadows coalesce, forming an image of the one who can be perceived as the Darkness most devout apostle, Oryx, the Taken King. He gazes upon me, and I kneel. 

"You look Taken, yet you are not. You are born from the Light, yet you are dark. We are different species, yet we have the same belief, and the same master. Curious. That sword, and your new armor, are your rewards. The sword was once mine, but now it is yours. It shall be known as Pride. It shall serve you well in your new mission."

"Thank you My Lord, what is this mission I am to undertake?"

"Szaryx, hidden worshipper of the Darkness, a new reality has been discovered, one where the Light and the Dark don't exist. Your goal is to go there, spread the Sword Logic, and turn all to the Darkness. Normally you wouldn't be able to use your powers there, but with this, the Crown of Corruption, you will be able to channel the Darkness. Your Ghost has been replaced, a part of my consciousness now resides in it so that I may relay orders and advice."

"Yes Milord, is there a specific way I am to Proselytize this reality?

"It does not matter how it is done so long as it is done."

 "And how long would I have?"

"Until you die. Once you go in there is no going back. And since the more people follow Darkness the stronger it gets, therefore you get, it is in your best interest to Proselytize as much as possible as fast as possible. Any other questions?" 

"No, Milord, thank you."

"Good. Now, enter the portal, and be careful, no one knows what it's like on the other side."

I step through the portal, and my vision fades to black and my body decomposes into nothingness.