[b]Episode Five[/b] [b][url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/103939962/0/0/1]Episode One[/url][/b] The stars, burning diamonds in the cloudless sky, hung over Saladin and Radegast, lighting the Wall that stretched above them for hundreds of feet. Their army was close behind, but they wouldn’t need any help. Jolder was alone. He was the only Iron Lord without his own Guardians—a title he earned because he had took it upon himself to build a monumental barrier that would repel the City’s enemies. Saladin’s jaw clenched. “We should arrest him.” “I will kill him,” whispered Radegast, emotion touching the edges of his voice like a hint of red sunset against the slate-grey clouds. He looked at him. “Does honor or justice mean nothing to you? My wife deserves justice.” They stepped onto a mechanical scaffold and they made their ascent to the top of the Wall. Saladin didn’t want to correct Radegast, but the man wasn’t going to mete out justice for the benefit of society and arrest the criminal. He was going to mete out vengeance. The Iron Lords were supposed to rise above these things having established the first rudimentary law system, however, Saladin couldn’t hope to imagine what Radegast was going through. All he could do was obey. The lip of the Wall passed them over and they were faced with a figure’s back. “I’ve completed it,” said Jolder, sweeping his stocky arm around in a circle and turning to face them, eyes sharp, yet impish. He scratched his thick, white beard. “After ten years, it is finished. But since you’re here, you know that is not my only recent accomplishment.” Saladin could feel the hot black temper suddenly radiate from Radegast. It was like standing near a fire. “Why?” he asked, gripping his auto rifle. “I would have that answer before I kill you.” Jolder frowned. “Why? Because it is my right. I have been protecting this City from day one,” he said, his voice steel and stone. “Do you know why I did not bring my own colony with me when I came to this city?” Silence. “Because they were killed. I had gathered thousands upon thousands of survivors when the Darkness struck our planet, and when we were just a hands-breadth from the Traveler’s saving grace, a Fallen starship attacked us. “My people were decimated. I could not protect them, so I promised them, and myself, that I would become king of the last city on earth. And what do I find when I arrive? Other [i]little[/i] kings. Others who would try to take what is mine. I planted the seeds. I manipulated Efrideet to kill Gheleon and break the alliance. I used Timur’s hand cannon to kill your wife. If I had to do it again, I would, because I sat upon a boat of bones and a river of blood to get here! And it is [i]mine[/i]!” Radegast leapt forward, faster than Saladin could blink as the chirping sound of electricity filled the air. Jolder was ready. He set down a Ward of Dawn, but it did nothing. Radegast’s fist passed through the shield like ripping through cobwebs and slid his bladed hand into Jolder’s chest. A deafening torrent of gunfire exploded around them. Saladin hunched down, alarmed, but was unharmed. He looked at the wall of the garrison beside Jolder, and sticking out of the wall was a black barrel—the barrel of a machine gun. Radegast trembled and he fell to the floor, clutching at his own chest. Jolder removed the offending hand as his Ghost appeared to repair his master’s deep wound with mending beams. “You didn’t think I’d fight a fair fight with the great Lord Radegast, did you?” he asked, a hint of a smile playing across his lips. “That would be suicide.” “You swine,” rasped Radegast, blood pooling beneath him. It couldn’t end like this. A man such as Radegast brought low by a mere firearm? Saladin yelled and his arms rippled with violent static. A gun wouldn’t be able to kill the Defender Titan, so he ran forward and Jolder caught his strong right hook. Jolder scoffed and broke his arm in two. A jagged piece of bone broke through his flesh and a chink in his armor, searing pain blossomed and all he saw was red. The Iron Lord drew his shotgun from his back and pulled the trigger. All he saw was black. *** Saladin awoke from the dead. Since being reborn, he hadn’t died many times. He had been killed once by a Fallen sniper, a stray grenade and a careless eye, but he had some hope that he would have been revived. He didn’t expect to be revived this time. Saladin sat up and for a moment hope billowed wildly through his chest that all of it was just a dream, but he was still on the Wall, Jolder still stood before him, and Radegast was still on the ground. It didn’t make any sense. Jolder folded his arms and grinned. “Took you long enough.” “Why?” asked Saladin, cotton-mouthed. Thick bands forged from the powers of the Ward of Dawn wrapped around Jolder’s body like a second armor. He waved a hand and raised a dome, fragmented it into levitating, square panels of violet, and watched Saladin. “Because that was a pathetic first punch” said Jolder. “After all this I need a real fight. Protege of an Iron Lord. I want you to fight with all you have. Give me a battle. Fight me!” Saladin didn’t notice it before, but Radegast’s Ghost was crushed next to him. He was Dead. Fully and completely. Before he knew it, a sudden rage enveloped him and a storm seemed to grow in his belly. The electricity rippled past his arms and across his body as he unleashed the Arc to full capacity. Everything seemed white. Jolder’s eyes widened, face surprised. He hadn’t been expecting this. The old man had probably thought to use Saladin as a trivial play-thing. Now he was going to die. Saladin ran forward and everything was a blur—the clouds, the wall, the lights below. He moved his arm into the same right hook and the violet plated tempest moved to the lilt of Jolder’s fingers. They stacked as his fist connected, so he only broke three Void-woven panels. Saladin skirted to the side, trying to find an opening, but Jolder’s expertise caught him at every blow. Every fist was met with a plate. Jolder smiled and moved his arms, manipulating his Ward of Dawn as deftly as playing a harp with a hundred strings. Jolder’s Ward of Dawn might have been unconventional, but it was highly effective. He could form and replicate these plates at will to absorb gunfire, he could walk with his shield, expand the radius of his defenses, and could adapt to every changing situation better than any other Defender. Then Saladin had to move faster. He stepped closer inch by inch, arms and body moving faster every second, breaking Jolder’s defenses like chipping away at stone. This time, Saladin caught the hidden machine gun. He ducked and high-caliber rounds whizzed past his head. Saladin focused all his energy in one hand and shot his arm upwards, breaking a stack of wards. Jolder caught his arm again at the last second and turned his body to break bone. However, Saladin moved with his force and pivoted. His elbow connected with Jolder’s face and the man crashed to the ground. That was it. Saladin jumped in the air and landed a Fist of Havoc onto Jolder’s chest. [b][url=http://imgur.com/VJgfLIh]JOLDER CONCEPTUAL ART[/url][/b] [b][url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/111345318/0/0]EPILOGUE[/url][/b] [b][url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/105489558/0/0/1]EPISODE TWO[/url][/b] [b][url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/106570331/0/0/1]EPISODE THREE[/url][/b] [b][url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/109058736/0/0/1]EPISODE FOUR[/url][/b] [b][url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/100362914]DESTINY FAN FICTION ARCHIVE[/url][/b] [b][url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Clan/Forum/823422]JOIN GROUP FOR FAN FICTION UPDATES[/url][/b]