This is the continuation of Chapter 7, Story 9. As Releah Crux said this, a massive explosion erupted on the window. "We're being attacked, if you haven't noticed." Releah said, as she grabbed Skorri's arm and dragged her out of the bed. Saladin caught her, and set her on her feet. "We need to get to the elevator." Kane said. As they all ran towards it, they felt a rumble. Then a horrifying thought hit Skorri. "Where is my son?" She asked, her heart shredding itself to pieces. "He's on Floor Twenty-Seven." Releah said. Then Saladin spoke up. "What are we being attacked by?" He said, as they continued toward the elevator. "We don't know, they seemed to be Iron Guards, but instead of a wolf, they had a tree... On fire..." Kane said. Skorri had no idea what this meant. But she kept moving. As they piled into the elevator, she looked outside. The city she saw as beautiful once before, was now engulfed in flames. The elevator began moving down, quick as a whip through the air. The elevator stopped on Floor Twenty-Seven. When the door opened, Skorri saw something that gave her hope. Kalipso was stabbing a guard to death, with a knife from his belt. The bodies of many before this one strewn about him. Fire was on the edges of the room, and the heat looked unbearable. As Kalipso turned around, blood gleaming on his armor, the guard fell to the floor, lifeless and drowning in a pool of blood. He ran towards the elevator, and stepped in. Instantly the elevator moved down, and Skorri hugged Kalipso. She instantly wished she didn't. "What are you doing?" He asked. She instantly let go of him. "I was worried about you. You had been such a help." Skorri stuttered out. Then the elevator door opened. Infront of them, in the center of the armory, was a huge man, in full golden gear with fiery trees painted on it. His cap was made of glistening golden leaves, and his helmet was full of flames inside the glass. As the party watched him rip the throat of a FWC Officer out, the rest of the bodies strewn about the armory. Blood glistened on him, as it caked the rest of the floor. Fire was caking the walls, so hot it had melted most of the support beams in the building. The man pointed at the party, and slowly walked toward them. "Protect Skorri. We'll handle this." Releah said, walking out of the elevator, taking Gjallerhorn off of her back. Saladin, Kalipso, and Skorri went through the isles of weaponry, they ran towards the exit, trying their best to keep away from the fire. They heard screams and splats, as Fusion Rifle charges and screeches of metal echoed through the armory. They heard a long scream, and then a snap. They ran further and further into the armory, running towards the exit. The gate to the armory had been ripped open, metal shards everywhere on the floor, as they ran through the exit, the heat was exposed to Skorri's face. They saw anarchy. There were dead bodies, burned and charred strewn about the road. Fire was everywhere, in houses, buildings, and climbing up walls. It acted as if it had a mind of its own. New Monarchy soldiers, Dead Orbit officers, women, children. They were all dead. Gone. Extinguished. As they focused on what was infront of them, not one of them, Saladin, Kalipso, or Skorri noticed what was behind them. As the figure that had slaughtered their allies and friends sauntered out of the gate, he walked towards them. Kalipso instantly turned around, and smashed his fist into the helmet of the beast. The man caught his hand, and crushed it. Kalipso let out an ear splitting scream. Saladin and Skorri turned around, and backed away. Kalipso drew his knife with his other hand and attempted to stab it into him. He caught the hand holding the knife, and forced it into Kalipso's chest. He let go of Kalipso, and he fell to the floor, sputtering blood. Skorri screamed and ran to him. Muttering two words over and over. "My son... My son... My son..." She said, the words echoing in the flames. Kalipso looked at her, blood rushing from his mouth, and the knife sticking out of his chest. He uttered one, gasping, single word of question that instantly shattered Skorri. "...m-m-moth-oth-other-r?" The man watched, the flames in his helmet shimmering. Skorri began sobbing, at the knees of her sons murderer. Saladin yelled after her, rejecting the thought of her dying aswell. The man grabbed Skorri by the neck, lifting her off the ground and into the air, choking her. "No!" Saladin yelled. With one flick of his wrist, Skorri's neck snapped. He dropped her corpse, next to her sons. Their hands seemed so close, yet so cold and lifeless. Their mouths open with a word on each of their lips. Kalipso had the word "mother" etched on his face, Skorri, the word "son". The small splashes of tears were heard from the inside of Saladins helmet. To the left he had seen a man, with his eyes gouged out and chained to a post, crawling, clawing his prison. Saladin looked at the door to the armory, and looked at the man. He thought he could make it. So he had to try. He ran past the man, who attempted to grab him, missing most of his body except for a small back piece, meant for him to jump. He ran towards where he knew the corpses of the FWC soldiers were, he thought he may find a weapon there. As he ran towards them, he noticed the white shine of the rocket launcher he saw in Releah's desk. He had not heard an explosion, so it either hadn't have been fired, or it didn't work. Next to it was the body of her, split in half from the waist. He ran towards the launcher, thinking he could atleast take a chance. He knew his target wasn't far behind him. He picked up the launcher, and graced himself in its beauty. He took aim at the beast, now noticing what he was doing. He looked through the scope, and fired one rocket off. It spun through the air, and it was as if it spun for minutes, or hours. But it finally ended with it hitting its mark and exploding into a fiery blast. Little light lines were drawn in the sky, which he didn't realize were more rockets, homing in on the beast. When the smoke cleared, there he was. Kneeling on the ground, wounded. His mask was torn in half, his armor was black. His gloves were now but shards of metal. He pointed at Saladin, and began speaking in one of the most forceful tones he had ever heard. "I..." He boomed, "AM LORD RAGNAROK! IRON LORD OF THE FLAMES! I WILL DESECRATE YOU, MORTAL! I WILL BREAK YO-". The blind man he had seen chained up outside had jumped on top of him, and began bringing the beast down. When the beat was on the floor, he lifted its head up, and smashed it into the ground. He did this over, and over and over, until the floor surrounding him and himself was splattered with blood and gore. The man screamed and screamed. Saladin ran towards him, holding him, and attempting to calm him down. "It's all right! It's over! ITS ALL RIGHT!" Saladin said, over and over. Then the man stopped. He looked with his nonexistent eyes toward Saladins voice. "Saladin...?" The man said, in a barely recognizable tone. This was not any man. This was Jolder the Blacksmith. Yet this was not the Jolder he remembered. His clothes were caked in blood, his hair was thin. His eyes were now holes with blood trails and bags underneath them. "What... What happened to you?" Saladin managed to sputter out. The clothes on Jolders back were torn with whip marks, and his unshaven face now had a slight beard to it. He still had the strength he had before, but his frame was thin and dangerously famished. "This... Beast did. When I left you and Skorri, all of the guards were dead. All of them. This was Ragnarok, Iron Lord of Fire. We fought against each other, I stabbed a piece of metal into his eye, and he gouged both of mine out. He whipped me, never stopping. I am no longer who I was... Under him, I was a Worm. So he named me that. Worm." Jolder spit on the corpse of the large man. When Saladin looked down, he saw the hulking frame of the man who murdered his friends, and spit on them too. "Where is Skorri..." Jolder asked, in a raspy tone. Saladin felt a tinge of regret and sadness. He had loved Skorri, but never told her. "You didn't know about Kalipso, did you Jolder. But you knew of your sisters miscarriage." Saladin said, looking down at the man. Jolder looked down, no tears came from him for his tear ducts had been destroyed. He stood up, taller and bigger then Saladin by twice his size, even as he was thin. "I knew. So did our father. We were all heartbroken about the miscarriage. All of us, especially Gheleon. We didn't see him for months." Jolder said, still hanging his head low. His resemblance to Radegast was uncanny. Saladin walked away from Jolder, and out into the streets. The fire still burning, he had finally gotten a chance to see who he loved, disappear before him. That's the end of Chapter 8! Chapter 9! https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/139112714/0/0 Chapter 7! https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/138771588/0/0 Chapter 6! https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/138338694/0/0 Chapter 5! https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/138085435/0/0 Chapter 4! https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/138060832/0/0 Chapter 3! https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/138060832/0/0 Chapter 2! https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/137808905/0/0 Chapter 1! https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/137779752/0/0