The Fall: 1. And All Things Will End

And All Things Will End

The king entered the throne room alone. No one knew how he had done to go unnoticed through the castle, but there he was, with his golden crown and armor soaked in blood and a dead smile shining bright under his eyes. "This is not my king." thought Garen. A long silence filled the room, and not a soul dared breathe during those seconds that felt like years.

-Xin Zhao is not coming back soon.- selflessly announced Jarvan IV, king of Demacia, last and only living member of the royal line.- No warrior of my escort will be back, as far as I know.

His voice sounded like that of a dead man; not the ones who are already under the grave, but those who while living have no motivation to do so. Jarvan had changed a lot since his battle face to face with Swain years ago; a special squad, filled with the best soldiers of Demacia and led by Garen saved him from a certain death at the hands of Urgot after he fell into the raven's claws. The man that came back from that journey was not the same that had left. But now it was different.

His were not the moves of a man. A dusty mean look that seemed to ignore everything in front of it crossed the hall. "Is it grief?" doubted his lady wife. While the king stumbled through the room on his way to the throne, the crowd kept off his way; not because of respect but fear instead. Jarvan dropped himself on the throne and closed his eyes. This was not the man their friends and sons had died for. This was not even a man.

-Everyone leave the room now. - announced the king after another long and awkward silence. Seeing that people hesitated to follow his order, he talked again. -Your king commands it. I want you all to leave.

One by one, everyone left the room through the main gate. While walking away, Garen noticed a little bit of humanity in Jarvan's eyes. His old friend, now a king. "One ashamed of what he's going to do." heard the old might of Demacia into his head. Unable to turn back and face his former prince, Garen walked away, vanishing within the crowd. Not even the queen stood there; the king told her to leave and stay in her chambers until she had news from him.

Once they were all out, they heard the locks. The last member of the royal family had closed himself alone in the throne room. Again.

...

-They will notice. -said Darkwill.

-Of course they will. That is intended. -answered the shadow with a voice that lost itself into silence. -Didn't you want it to go this way?

-It's too soon.

-You released the prince. Deal with the consequences. -spoke the voice.

-The sorcery didn't go the way you told me, LeBlanc. -shouted Darkwill, alone in the shadows of the Noxian catacombs.

-Don't you remember how Sion worked out? What did you expect Elliot? -talked LeBlanc in a mocking way.

-Elliot died with Senna, Leblanc. Fix this now, I wouldn't like to make you pay for your lies. And don't dare call me that name again.

But there was no one around to listen to those words. "Why had she talked about that?" thought Darkwill to himself. It had been more than decades since anyone called him Elliot. And that person was already dead. As the only remaining male of his species, falling in love with Senna had condemned his existence. The end of our times. For centuries I laughed at LeBlanc, mocking her about how after one of those magic tricks she would end up falling in love with a human. But the first to link the existence of his body to another one was him. Darkwill and Elliot became one, and it all happenned because of Senna. "But ours was an impossible relationship." he recalled.

Elliot was a Noxian spy at that time, a man of the shadows, slave to politics. In contrast, Senna was a mercyless Demacian warrior that brought down every single remain of the Shadow Isles that reached Runeterra; she was a roaming soul that needed no guidance. No matter what was the shadows' victim's banner, she and Lucian would always be there to help. "Noxian or not, you're a good person. If you need help, I'll be there." had been the words that trapped him into that fragile human body.

But then came the marriage; even though he had not been invited, he was present during the cerimony. Lucian and Senna were tied together now, both as warriors and souls. Elliot's soul was left to rot, and what was left of Darkwill took control of him.

He would have loved to be able to completely forget Elliot's existence, but his feelings and memories grew stronger with time. Specially since Senna's death. And now he didn't know if he was one or the other.

A sighing took him out of his thoughts; then he remembered what he and LeBlanc had done with the Demacian king's escort. Fourteen days had passed since they were captured, fourteen of them had been gloriously executed.

-You will be part of the show tomorrow, Xin Zhao. -talked Darkwill to what looked like an empty cell. -Enjoy your last hours of life.

The starving man was unable to answer. He had no will to move. Darkness had choked what was left of the warrior inside him. His pride, his life, his king. They were all lost. They had all succumbed to the will of the dark.