The Fall: 35. The Stalker's Pray

The Stalker's Pray

Sona could not understand it. Shyvana's words had left her broken-hearted; she could not believe what the half-dragon was saying. Taric was not mean, he was not being selfish.

As much as she repeated those words to herself, they wouldn't kill the doubt that had sprouted into her heart. Taric, the calm knight that had always been there for her, the sympathetic person that had always been eager to lend a hand when needed, the warrior that had been a fierce leader when time called for it; the one and only man she had trusted enough to fall in love with.

Shyvana had to be wrong.

Those were difficult days at Bandle City. Everyone was hurrying up, trying to get their things ready for the departure. Nervous and noisy, the Yordles were always going from one place to another. "No more scouting lady, but I can still guard." used to say Teem when she found him on Bandle's City's walls. "Heimerdinger asked for some help." usually grunted Rumble "He can't handle all this mess alone, no matter how many machines are helping him.".

She could not answer. In Bandle City, no one was interested in her etwahl; whenever she played it for a while, most Yordles usually asked her to calm the tunes down instead of resting and relaxing with her. That was why she walked and stalked, looking at what everyone was doing, knowing that she could not help. Sometimes she just looked for Taric without him knowing it, just for the sake of seeing him.

He looked calm, he always did. Nothing had changed in his face, not even the day when Shyvana decided to leave Bandle city.

...

A few days of rest and LeBlanc was fine enough to walk by herself. Up until then, Yasuo and Lucian had been taking turns to carry her. While they walked and talked she was absent-minded, on her own world of plans and rules, wanting to focus on her objective, but unable to do so.

The man that she had chosen to follow her had risked his own life to save her. That was something that had not happened once in her whole lifetime before; not even Darkwill, her companion since LeBlanc could remember her own existence, had risked even a bit to save her.

But Ezreal had not doubted. He had jumped in in the blink of an eye, if Tahm Kench's words were to be believed. Without even knowing what he was facing, he received the obsidian's hit right in the arm that usually held his Shuriman artifact.

That was why she could not stop looking at him. Tahm Kench carried him over his shoulders. "Some fresh air will do good." argued the Demacian gunslinger. As usual, both Tahm Kench and Yasuo had supported his idea, so she had let the River King carry him.

In the end, they needed to get there in time.

Darkwill would not wait.

...

He had been working on this for so long.

Aatrox would love the coming years, Malcolm was sure about that. He and Aalcox had been preparing it all for the bloody bastard; still, there were things that escaped to their reach.

The armies would march, Lux would die and Darkwill would tear the world apart in front of them.

At least that was how he thought that everything should work out.

...

He missed her. He wanted to be back with her, to rest in the safety of her arms. To enjoy the comfort that her smile had always blessed with to those who witnessed it.

He had been waiting for so long.

But the wait was about to end. It would all be over soon.

The Fall: 34. The Trailblazer's Path

The Trailblazer's Path

The yordles had prepared a small building for them to live and rest after the long escape they had gone through.

-I told you that we're not the first leaving, Shyvana. -calmly said Taric.

-That's not the point Taric! -answered Shyvana, who was clearly nervous.- You tricked us into this!

-There's a reason for it, Shyvana... -said Taric on his typical tone, trying to fade out the rage that had lighted up in the half-dragon's heart.

-Your loneliness! -shouted Shyvana.- Is it the fact that you were not called? -angrily pointed out the Demacian warrior.- You know you're not one of us, Taric!

-Why won't you trust me? -said Taric, with his voice rising in volume and deepening it's tone while his gems glowed like bloodstone.- The Trailblazer has always been around here! We'll find the way back into those days!

-They won't be back, Taric.- said Shyvana, with a lower voice.- You met Zilean long ago, you know how ill he is. What he said cannot be blindly trusted.

-It's not about him. -clarified Taric, his voice calming a little while his shield glowed like a ruby.- It's not about a twisted legend that's thousands of years old, Shyvana...

-Then what's it about? -asked Shyvana, tired of Taric's words.

-Just trust me. You'll see him before Bandle City leaves. The caretaker always comes when he's really needed.

...

They needed a pause. Both Lucian and Yasuo had been following Tahm Kench's orders for long. He was supposed to know where they were going, but Yasuo didn't trust him enough and Lucian didn't even know about Anyssa and Ezreal.

Also, he didn't know how they were faring with their wounds.

...

Nothing but pain.

His arm was aching as it had never been. Jayce was supposed to have fixed the artifact, such a reaction from a hit was not expected. What had that monster used? What weapon was he wielding? It had shone as nothing Ezreal had seen before. And Ezreal, the prodigal explorer, had seen quite a lot of things.

It reminded him of the stones he had seen at the Shuriman tombs; painted in the walls, it looked like those stones had been used to keep something out. The question is; what?

...

An obsidian blade. LeBlanc had not expected an obsidian blade. She hadn't even expected the attack, but if it had been a normal beast she could have simply dashed out of its range and stop him. But, why was she alive?

Usually, an obsidian blade would have killed her in the instant that it got to pierce her skin. She could feel the pain of it, but she couldn't tell where her wounds were. She was simply aching, her whole body in pain and paralyzed.

Still, if hat was the case, someone had stopped the monster from getting to her.

Someone was foolish enough to try to save her, and she loved every detail of it.

...

Hecarim and his army reached him hours after he had finished with the last remnants of Xin Zhao, and after him came Kalista, Mordekaiser, Karthus and more.

It had been difficult for Thresh to convince them all of joining him; most of them had had some highs and lows between themselves during the last hundreds of years, but when Thresh made a call of this type they were all eager to follow.

-To the Kumungu jungle, Hecarim. -said Thresh.

Without an answer, the Shadow of War marched. He had been needed to guide the rest; now he left, since Hecarim had never liked Thresh's tricks. No one liked to fool around with Thresh's lantern.

...

When LeBlanc started to feel better, Tahm Kench explained it all to her.

Rengar was the name of the beast that had attacked them; he had never lived in a place so close to where they were by then, but someone had invited him to make a stop by her. Darkwill had given the beast the idea.

-Do you really think I don't know how he got the Obsidian blade? -said LeBlanc, still aching a bit but now able to hold herself on her feet.- Answer my question, you demon.

-You may only have a slight hint, but you can never know something you didn't witness. -answered Tahm Kench, clearly mocking LeBlanc.

The Fall: 33. A Skirmisher's Escape

A Skirmisher's Escape

When Sona, Taric, Poppy and Shyvana reached Bandle City, a whole committee was waiting for them. Teemo had been scouting for days, and once he saw them coming he had returned to the city in order to prepare everything that was needed.

-You're not the first to come.- said Tristana.- We've been guarding for long, waiting so that as many yordles as possible could be able of coming back to Bandle City.

-Since when? -asked Taric.

-Can't tell for sure... since the last Zaun-Piltover incident eight years ago? -answered the yordle.- I just know that we've been on duty since then. When Dr. Heimerdinger returned the work became a little easier.

Sona was listening carefully, without knowing what they would do next. What had Taric planned?

...

Tahm Kench and Yasuo found Lucian after days of walking and talking. The forest was getting more dense with every step, and the nights were as silent as Yone's tomb, where not even the wind howled.

The demacian gunslinger followed them without a word after they first met. Tahm Kench's look was enough for him to know that he had to go with them.

-How did you end up here? -asked Yasuo after hours of walking.

-This world is crashing down, I'm just trying to fix a little bit of it. -answered Lucian.

-The world's not going down, it's just your kingdom's problem human. -pointed out Tahm Kench.- Mankind should stop being so self-centered.

-I was just trying to get to know where my friends went.- said Lucian now.- They left because of the chaos that Garen's rage brought to Demacia. But we will need them. I need them.

-You are late, man. -calmly said Tahm Kench.- They are far away now, and it doesn't look like they'll be coming back.

...

-That was my last day out. -happily shouted Teemo.- It's a pity to leave Valoran this way, but I guess that it's our only chance. They say that Lulu will bring us to somewhere safe.

-What do you mean with your last day out? -asked Shyvana. Tristana laughed at her ignorance of the situation and decided that it was best to let Rumble explain it.

-You don't know how Bandle City works, right? -said Rumble.- It's quite simple. If we want someone to get in, we're here. If we don't we just aren't. That is how we stay safe. But it takes years to settle down, or at least it usually does. Hundreds of years passed before we could get to roam around Valoran, and for thousands our species did. One of my ancestors was the yordle that opened the gates into Valoran for the first time, Corbyl. -explained Rumble with a proud look in his face.-But, as I said, that was thousands of years ago. Leaving a place is quite faster, specially with the technology we have bee able to develop. And, if the wise ones are right, Lulu should be able to help us settle way faster than it would usually take.

-What are we supposed to do? -inquired Shyvana.

-That's not something I should answer. -said Rumble, looking at Taric.

...

Lux didn't like where this was leading to. She had never liked to fight, even less when there was no true reason to do so. If she could just explain them...

But she couldn't. There were a lot of things going on in her mind. Firt off, she neede to keep Riven down. It was difficult to use her powers when the Noxian exile was running rampant through her mind. Yes, she was dead, but it was still her body and a little bit of what she had been was still around. Second, she had been cursed by Aalcox. There was only one way of stopping the curse, and she knew well how.

She had always wanted to do it since that last battle. The last day that she had seen Ezreal, the day when she had left Demacia for good. But she didn't wnt these whole armies to suffer the consequences.