A/N: Some spoilers for the Baron Hunt you undertake over the course of Forsaken's story campaign.
Rhylan felt himself slipping away.
It took just about everything he had left in him to even kneel; his left arm dangled and felt strangely disconnected from his body. Through his helmet's cracked visor he could see Reksis Vahn struggling to push himself up, and his mutilated claw desperately clung to whatever chains remained attached to his flail. Straining against his injuries, the Titan stood up - legs practically screaming with pain - to look for his discarded hand cannon. It was nowhere to be found.
Neither was Kiara.
Reksis Vahn had risen to one knee and twisted the upper half of his body to stare back at the Lightbearer. Despite the lack of illumination, Rhylan could see what a well-placed grenade had done to him: a portion of his helmet had been blown open, and where should have been his right eyes were now streams of corrupted Ether streaming down his face.
Knowing that he had mere moments to react, he let the right hand that had been unconsciously clutching his shoulder drop to his side, and began to let Arc energy course through that same arm, then the rest of his body. The hated Hangman - sensing the end to this duel - had coiled his legs and prepared to spring at the Guardian, his intact right appendage holding up and spinning the now-burning flail in the air. Neither being moved for a second. Then another.
Rhylan's body burst with torrents of Arc energy; Reksis Vahn roared and split the silence between them.
Rhylan shot into the air - his body a living missile of pure lightning - and aimed for the oversized Eliksni; the Hangman swung his flail to strike the Titan out of the sky.
A charged fist connected with an alien skull, and two bodies hurtled towards the end of the dank pit.
Kiara rushed to the slums. Having been delayed by the nearly endless waves of the Scorn that she told Rhylan she would handle, Kiara worried about the fight between the Hangman and her partner - what with the way the Titan seemed to shake with anger every time the Eliksni gloated over their comms.
She eventually came to a stop at the pit where her helmet's tracker pinged Rhylan's radar signature. Summoning her Ghost to unlock the door blocking her path, the Warlock could only grip her rifle tighter as she waited anxiously for whatever sight would greet her.
The door's seals hissed open as her Ghost dematerialized. Stepping into the doorway, Kiara allowed her helmet to compensate for the lack of illumination before turning and moving towards the direction of a rather sickening sound - bones shattering bones.
Her heart sank when her helmet lit up to give her a better view of what was in front of her: an injured and armored figure - left arm dangling, right arm raised and curled into a fist - pounding what seemed to be an enlarged skull that had caved due to the force of the trauma. Kiara dropped her weapon and sprinted towards the Titan kneeling next to the Baron's corpse, hands reaching to pull the Guardian away.
"Rhylan, stop!"
Her plea seemingly heard, Rhylan held his fist frozen in the air as he felt slender arms curl around him. "Stop, please. He's dead," Kiara's voice quivered. "You've done it. The Hangman's dead." Stricken with concern, the Warlock shifted to see that Rhylan's helmet had depolarized, and his face could be seen through the cracked visor. She held her breath when she saw the Titan's face wet with his own tears.
Rhylan lowered his arm and remained still, his exhausted body leaning into Kiara for support. As the Warlock shifted to a more comfortable position she heard Rhylan let out a sob, followed by another. She hugged him a little tighter as the Titan cried silently.
They stayed like that for a while.
A/N: I miss Cayde.