The Fall: 39. Thrashed and Scattered

Thrashed and Scattered

A duel? That Ionian warrior wanted to fight Lux? What had he thought she was? He was trying to fight with the Demacian king's sister, yet he acted as if it was a normal thing.

-For honor? -asked Garen, clearly outraged.

-I've lived my life in exile for a crime that she commited. I have no doubt of it. -answered the swordsman.

Garen didn't understand it, but it made no sense for him. Okay, maybe the Noxian woman whose body was now Lux's had done some horrible things in the past. But there's no reason for Lux to carry the blame or the shame of it. Garen looked at Lux, only to see a horrifying look in her face; she looked scared. The ionian swordsman scared her.

With a swift move, Garen slashed the Ionian swordsman called Yasuo. But there was nothing but wind around him when he first tried to cut through him.

He could feel the moving of a sweeping blade around him, yet he felt hits or heard any slash at all. He continued the long slash for bringing him the so deserved judgement, and only then he heard him fall.

-I die redeemed, you vicious king. -said the swordsman right before spitting a handful of blood onto his own chest.

Then Garen fell onto his knees, bleeding through his armor. "He was faster than I expected." thought Garen. If not for Lux's scream he may have not raised again for long.

-KILL THEM! -shouted Garen.- MARCH AND BRING JUSTICE TO VALORAN!

...

-Come here you demon! -shouted Lucian while shooting continuously.- You won't escape me this time!

They were getting deeper and deeper into the jungle. He saw creatures that looked even more dangerous than those that he had hunted with Senna. But there was no turning back now. He was so close to end her torment. He was so close to end Thresh's life.

-I will gun you down like the degenerate you are! -screamed Lucian again, while chasing the horrid creature that he had been looking for for years.

He suddenly realized that the ground looked darker than usual. The plants were looking greyish, and the soil reminded him more of Zaun's streets than a jungle. He could see how the Chain Warden was being surrounded by an infinity of small pieces of metal while moving faster with each step. But that would not hold Lucian back.

-I'll have her back monster! No matter how many tricks you throw at me! -roared Lucian, his heart torn apart by anger.- Turn back and fight!

Only then he realized what had happened. Thresh's laugh was not the only one floating in the air; a deeper, heavier sound was also drowning the rest of the jungle's noises. And then he felt the hit of the mace and fell to the ground.

A second hit instantly followed, hitting him way harder than the one before. "This is not Thresh." realized the Demacian gunslinger. He woke up in time to see who the monster that aided such a demon was, and luckily  reacted in time to avoid a third hit that would have devastated him. Instead of his body being torn, the jungle itself suffered the rage of the iron revenant. Hundreds of trees, already as grey as steel beams, were torn apart with that one hit.

-I'm Thresh's number one, you little boy.-said the metallic monster with a deep voice.- You're not annoying him anymore.

And then he disappeared into thin air.

-They will not annoy us anymore. -said Thresh. -It's just you and me now. You, me and the Noxian general that's charging towards here.

...

This was her first time fighting since she lost Valor. She was fighting side by side with those who had killed him. But she needed to leave those feelings aside; if Garen told them to march, they had to, and as used as she was to being the Vanguard, she marched onwards, running as fast as she could, like she hadn't done for quite a long time.

It took her long to realize that her enemies were not only the big creatures that hid into the Jungle; dark spheres suddenly formed into air, killing  warriors that didn't konw what they were facing. But Quinn remembered the battles at Ionia. Syndra was predictable, she was not a problem for her.

She advanced towards the man that her king had called Darkwill with quick feet, realizing when a sphere was being formed and dashing out of that place instantly. But she hadn't expected the meteors that fell from the sky. Suddenly, as if time and space had bent over in a place, a small, closed cell would be formed around a group of soldiers, who were later killed by falling meteorites.

But Quinn was not part of those groups of soldiers. She had always been part of the scouting squads, she had always been part of the vanguard that led the armies into the enemies. She knew how to adapt and face the unexpected.

...

-COME HERE BASTARD! -roared Darius.

His axe was cutting through the rotten trees that had now lost the metal they had contained a while ago. The falling wood was annoying but his bloody rage would not be stopped by such a foolish thing. He wanted to kill the monster that had killed his brother, he wanted to hunt down that creature and make it suffer as long as he could.

There was some Demacian man there too, but he didn't recall his face. Maybe he was not part of the army; when they arrived, a small group was already in the jungles' borders; maybe he was part of them. But Darius didn't really care.

He saw them run, the Demacian gunslinger constantly shooting at Thresh, who was occupying Xin Zhao's body. "That's why he was so interested in him, that's why he took him." realized Darius. But, again, that didn't matter to the hand of Noxus. He wanted nothing but blood. He wanted revenge.

He chased them, trying to apprehend them, but they always escaped his reach. That was until Thresh fucked up; maybe he wasn't used to Xin Zhao's body. Using his chain, he had tried to tie Lucian down, but he had ended up chaining them together. As they were unable to move, Darius slowed down his pace. He wanted to enjoy it.

...

The vanguard had already stopped some of the most annoying monsters that were defending the jungle; it was their time now to take down the beasts that had been eagerly waiting for them inside of it.

The creatures she was slowly killing were nothing but brutes. Beasts that charged at her only to hurt themselves when being stopped by a tree, animals with such a lack of brain that condemning them into a tree or wall looked like a joke. Vayne saw Shyvana fighting down a bunch of Noxian soldiers, tearing them apart with her bare hands. Not having to face an old friend made her somewhat happy, but the situation was still weird. She was finishing off an enormous haloceros when she realized that her feet were entangled into the ground.

-These jungles are not yours, human. -said a strange being, half plant, half woman.- The Plague jungles don't welcome those who have only looked upon us as a resource.

Without hesitation, Vayne shouted a heavy volt to her, knocing her backwards and wining enough time to get rid of the plants that tied her feet. This was not the enemy she expected. This was a challenge.

...

-Don't worry, brother.-said Lux, whose face had been cut in half.- It's allright. Everything's going to be okay.

But Garen knew it would not be okay. He had failed again. He had failed to protect his king. He had failed to protect his sister. He had failed to protect his people. Time and time again.

-I need her.- said a dark voice.

When Garen turned to see who had talked, he found no one around him. Not even Lux.

...

Darius started to raise his axe. The Noxian guillotine would chop in half their whole bodies together; why trying to aim, when it's easier to cut them both in half. He could see the fear in the Demacian gunslinger's face. He could feel the rage inside Thresh, it could be felt in his laugh, that drowned every other sound in the jungle.

He wanted that noise to stop, so once he reached them, his axe went down swiftly. The sound of cracking bones and painborn screams delighted him.

But Thresh's laugh had not stopped.

The Fall: 38. Pride, Honor and Treason

Pride, Honor and Treason

-Has something happened to us? -replied Darkwill.- I think that this is as it has always been. We constantly fighting each other, constantly taking care of the other.

-You've got to stop this nonsense, Darkwill. -said LeBlanc in a friendly tone.- This will get us nowhere, the lack of magic will kill Runeterra. They can't leave. You can't leave.

-We can. -answered Darkwill, realizing that she had never known why he was doing all of this.

If she kept calling him Elliot it was for a reason, and she was right. The man that now ruled over him was not Darkwill, the Ziraeth, but Elliot, the one man in love that would do anything to get his loved one back from the afterlife. And there he was, doing the impossible.

-And we will.

...

When the last trees of the Kumungu Jungle fell to the will of the Noxian might, the army discovered even bigger trees; the Plague jungles, home to the feared and unknown, laid in front of them. Untouched, unreached by so many men before, the jungles inspired more than fear on the soldiers. But that why generals are there.

-Can you see them, men of Valoran? -shouted Darius.- Those monsters that hide in the jungles are here to ruin our hearths. We have feared them, we had cried their victims and we have avoided them as long as we could; but this is not a day like that.

The immense army that was in front of him was dumbfounded, following his every word and feeling them in their hearts. Most Noxians had lost a relative or a friend in the incident of the arena, and the death of King Jarvan Lightshield the Fourth was still an open wound in the Demacian soldiers' hearts.

-Today we say no to their reign of fear! -continued Darius.- Today we deny them their existence the very same way that they've tried to do with us before. You, heroes of Valoran, are the men that will bring a new dawn to the continent. Blinded by pride and honor, we were nothing but mere traitors when we killed ourselves. Noxus, Demacia, Ionia... that was the mistake. We didn't recognize the real enemy. But now we've learnt, heroes.

The drums sounded stronger with every phrase while most men acclaimed the Noxian general. His words were bringing light to the hearts of men that had been struggling through the jungle for days without really knowing what they were facing. Only now they recognized their enemies; dragons, spirits and beasts that were now leaving their hideouts in the Plague Jungles.

-We shall fight today until the life of those beasts has come to an end. For our children, for our wives and friends. For those who are not here with us today and, why not, for ourselves. For Valoran!

...

The armies were screaming, with the soldier's weapons raised and drums roaring through what was left of the Kumungu Jungle. Their general, a Noxian, talked to what looked like the Demacian king and left towards the Jungle, running towards Lucian.

But there was nothing that Yasuo could have done; the Demacian gunslinkger was too far to hear him shout. Also, other things caught his attention way more than the Noxian general marching enraged.

A soldier able to manipulate the wind. When she raised her sword he felt it.

That must had been the one to kill his master. The one to blame for his whole life; his brother's death, the massacres that he had been forced into and the slashed through the throats of those who had one been his friends.

He had to get her.

...

-Where are those two men? The Noxian and the pale one? Where did they go?-angrily asked Garen.

-They marched with Darius, brother. - said Lux.-They are there, with the hooded man and the blonde woman.

She knew that it was still difficult for him to accept her. She had been missing for years, and now a completely different woman appeared and was called his sister. Yet it was the truth, and hiding that fact, like Malcolm had proposed, would have left her broken-hearted. She had to try to reach him.

-They shouldn't leave without permission.-complained the Demacian king. -They will pay for this lack of obedience once this war is over.

-They are just following their leader, just like these men are here waiting for your words. -said Lux.- Don't think of the two that stood loyal to their lords, think of the whole army that, even though years ago they were fighting against you, now accept Garen, the Demacian king as their leader. Think of the immense quantity of people who were their friends you might have killed. Yet they are here, eager to follow you into battle.

Her brother was nervous, but her words had calmed him down a little bit. She had always been there for relieving Garen's worries; how he had gone through the latest years of life without her, she knew not. But now she was there to calm his rage down. But peace was never long.

-I, Yasuo, the unforgiven, call for a duel with that Noxian swordsman. -said someone who looked like an ionian warrior.- For the honor of my name.

Lux could see how Garen was falling into rage again, and she wouldn't be able to stop him in time.

Marcos

Loco. Sin un tornillo. Demente. Mentalmente inestable. Ido. Me han llamado de muchas maneras desde que llegué aquí, nunca por mi nombre. Hace tanto que no lo oigo que tampoco soy capaz de recordarlo; mi existencia se ve ahora reducida a paseos, ayudar a María a cocinar, a cargar la compra con Antón, a ser llamado Marcos, a ordenar la casa y a dormir. Al principio, cuando no podía dormir (cosa que pasaba muy a menudo) leía. Leía con ansias, deseando encontrar una historia con la que sentirme identificado. Pero con el paso del tiempo me he rendido. Viendo que nadie contaba mi historia, he decidido escribirla aquí.

Para empezar, déjenme decirles que no soy de este lugar. Tampoco recuerdo exactamente de dónde vine, pero sé que éste no es mi lugar. Yo tuve una madre que, aunque murió, no es la madre que María dice que compartimos hasta el dos mil tres. También tuve una hermana, pero no era María; aunque no recuerde ni su cara, estoy seguro de que ella no es la hermana que vagamente recuerdo. Recuerdo también a un padre bondadoso; María describe un monstruo que no se parece en nada a aquello que sé que he vivido. Pero sí que se parece a cosas que he visto en sueños.

Siempre tuve problemas para dormir; hasta los ocho años me la pasé invadiendo la habitación de mis padres casi todas las mañanas. Llorando, yo les contaba mis sueños; aquellos donde yo era un niño cuya única protección ante la bestia que azotaba a su familia era su hermana mayor. Por aquél entonces María era la luz que hacía que mis pesadillas fuesen más llevaderas. Por cada golpe que recibía de la bestia podía contar un abrazo de María. Por cada grito, una sonrisa. Aún así, yo temía a las pesadillas, y cuando entraba en el cuarto de mis padres lo hacía llorando. Entre berridos y mocos les contaba lo que soñaba y, con una sonrisa, ellos me abrazaban. Su calor corporal y sus palabras me consolaban; cuando, al cabo de unas horas, mi hermana traía el desayuno a la cama me sentía estupendamente. Estábamos todos juntos, estábamos todos bien.

Pero ahora ya no es así. Para empezar, el sueño ha tomado el control de mi vida. Lo peor es que ahora no hay bestia, y María no me salva de nada. Siento que soy una carga; noto como todos me miran raro, como no les gusta que mi pensamiento se ausente ni que mi mirada vague hasta el infinito. Cuando paseo con María y su marido Antón noto que casi nunca vienen los niños. Además, si nos cruzamos con alguien que sé que ellos conocen no se saludan como de costumbre; se reprimen, y lo hacen por mí. Se avergüenzan, y lo hacen de mí.

Esos momentos, esas situaciones tan crudas y difíciles de tragar, son las que por momentos me hacen creer que no he dejado de soñar. Que la bestia ha tomado el control de todos los personajes de mi sueño. Hasta que empecé a escribir esto, pasaba los días buscando la manera de despertarme. Pero como ya he dicho, nadie contaba una historia como la mía. Nadie había pasado por mi situación, y si alguien lo había hecho se me ocultaba. Es por eso que tampoco le he contado a nadie que estoy escribiendo. Si María o Antón se enterasen se lo dirían a los psiquiatras, y ellos volverían a hacerme preguntas a las que no sé responder.

Y es que el cambio empecé a tenerlo cuando los psiquiatras se inmiscuyeron en mis sueños. Mi edad rondaba la veintena cuando mis pesadillas recuperaron su fuerza; en ellas ya no había bestia alguna que me azotase. En vez de eso, los psicólogos se la pasaban haciéndome preguntas, llamándome Marcos Gómez, preguntándome por lo sucedido con mi padre Enrique, instándome a explicarles qué sentí cuando murió mi madre Eugenia, intentando averiguar por qué fuera del trabajo solo me relacionaba con mi hermana María. Obviamente, yo no lo entendía. Los psicólogos de mis sueños me preguntaban cosas que yo no conocía realmente; recordaba el nombre de María como parte de mis pesadillas del pasado, y tanto Enrique como Eugenia habían formado parte de esos horribles sueños. Pero, como ya he dicho, los recuerdo como eso; eran los restos de mis pesadillas, huellas de una realidad que nunca aceptaría como la mía.

El paso de los años no me ayudaba a dejar atrás aquellos demonios de mi pasado; los psicólogos de mis pesadillas se convertían en psiquiatras, las conversaciones en tratamientos experimentales. Llegó un momento en el que dormía más de lo que vivía, y debido al funcionamiento de la mente durante los procesos oníricos acababa soñando más de lo que dormía.

Llegado cierto punto empecé a ser incapaz de discernir una realidad de otra; llamaba María a mi hermana, en el trabajo me asustaban las preguntas que se me hacían, empecé a temer a todo mucho más... mi vida entera fue cuesta abajo. Acabé recluido en mi cuarto, y lo único que recuerdo de mi anterior vida es que me fui a dormir. Aquella noche empezó como cualquier otra; soñando. El de aquella noche empezó con un psiquiatra diciéndome que estaba curado. "Ya no hay nada que temer, Marcos." decía el Dr. Gil. "Todo estará bien ahora, en unas horas vendrá tu hermana María a buscarte." dijo con una sonrisa mientras se iba. Y aún sigo aquí.

Salí del instituto mental y me instalé junto a mi hermana María y su marido Antón en su casa. Les ayudo con las tareas del hogar y cada tanto paseo con ellos. No me dejan quedarme solo con los niños, pero si ellos están cerca me dejan hablar con ellos e incluso a veces jugar. Cuando llega la hora de dormir les oigo discutir; la mayoría de veces lo hacen sobre mí. Y el principal problema es que todo es muy real. Lo único que se me hace raro en este mundo son mis recuerdos; aquello que considero sueños del pasado tengo que llamarlo "mi vida", y lo que siempre habían sido mis vivencias y experiencias ahora no son más que sueños y sombras de un pasado oscuro.

¿Descubriré algún día cual es la realidad? Si alguien lee esto y se siente identificado, si alguien puede compartir conmigo una historia similar, por favor hágalo. Si no voy a poder escapar de este mundo, ayúdenme a formar parte de él. ¿Cómo lo han hecho? ¿Dónde están? ¿Por qué no se habla de nosotros? Solo busco respuestas.

Firmado,
G.

The Fall: 37. Clash of Fates

Clash of Fates

It took them some time to understand what had happened. The teleportation had reminded LeBlanc of Thresh's lantern and the likes, but those who were more unexperienced with it, Yasuo and Lucian, were clearly disoriented.

-Where are we? -asked Yasuo, clearly unable to believe what he had just gone through.

-At one final frontier, swordsman. -answered Tahm Kench.- This beautiful existence that you're now witnessing is the borderline between the fearful Kumungu Jungle and the misterious and unexplored Plague Jungles.

-I see nothing but a bunch of trees. -said Lucian, mocking the demon.- A lot of trees and...

-Is that what you were looking for, Ziraeth? -interrumped Tahm Kench.

The men that had been with her during the journey stared at her. They did not understand Tahm Kench's words. They had not dared fight her since joining; Ezreal expected a prize from the rich Piltovian girl, Yasuo had nowhere to go and Lucian had followed the demon's orders.

-What does he mean, Anyssa? -asked Ezreal, with a sprout of doubt in his face.

LeBlanc could not stand that look any longer. Luckily for her, Darkwill made his appearance.

-Come. -said what looked like nothing but a masked man for the rest.

-I don't follow orders from you, Elliot. -pretenciously responded LeBlanc.

-You'll be coming anyways. -said Darkwill before vanishing into the air and appearing next to a man that was a hundred meters into the jungles.

And he was right. She went, leaving those who she had secretly wanted to call her friends without an answer.

...

The blonde girl was walking into the jungle, making her way with her bare hands when she needed to move aside plants, roots and the likes. At first he couldn't see where she was going. He was still a little bit dizzy because of the flashy teleport.

-I know who he is. -said Lucian.

-They are two. -pointed out Yasuo, on a serious note.

-We all know who he is, the girl just called him Elliot. -mockingly said Tahm Kench.

-That monster. -said Lucian, while starting to wield his guns.- He has changed his appearance, but it's still him.

They could not stop him, and they didn't really had the will to.

...

-He's coming for you, Aaresh.- said Darkwill.

-And your lady friend is also around.- said Thresh with his ghostly voice.

-The man is annoying.- commented Darkwill.- I want you to take him down.

-I don't follow your orders, you masked clown. -said Thresh before breaking into what sounded like rotten laughter.

Only then Darkwill took the mask off, throwing it into the ground. As frail as it was, thousands of pieces scattered into the ground. Thousands of little shining pieces of a life that he was leaving behind.

-I was already going to do it, unmasked clown.-mocked Thresh.- He's a fun game, there's a woman he's fighting for.

Darkwill's eyes shone like blood-bathed rubies; he understood the pain that the man was going through, all while hating himself for working with the likes of madmen like Thresh. Lucian was not alone in his struggle, but he was not going to help a fellow victim.

...

An ardent blaze was shot from Lucian's gun, illuminating the darkest corners of the jungle. The few animals that were still around escaped while Yasuo was unable to see anything, but he still heard them under the noise of the firing guns.

-This is senseless. -said an astonished Ezreal.- This culling will take him nowhere.

Ezreal was getting a shot ready; aiming at Lucian's weapons, his point was to take them down and calm the man down. Firing at will into the unknown would just get him killed. But Yasuo was trying to talk him out of it.

-He's got the right to do it.-emptylessly said Yasuo.- We shouldn't stop him.

-He's going to get himself killed.-replied the Piltovian explorer.

-If it happens, it will be fighting for what he wants. -pointed out Yasuo.- He'd better die that way than whatever is waiting for us. Can't you feel it in the wind?

-I'm not going to let a man die when I can save him, swordsman.

But Yasuo was not going to let a wish be vanished by a fool's pride. Yasuo knew what fighting for an impossible meant; his life had been a struggle of that kind. Someone born and raised in the so called city of progress could not understand what he had been through, what Lucian was going through. That's why he called the wind.

...

His trueshot barrage had disappeared in front of him. He knew it had happened, who had done it and why; the question to be made was how the void had Yasuo done that?

He was about to complain to the swordsman, but the sound of drums drowned the beginning of his words. The sound of marching feet, of military songs. Rough voices piercing through the air, armors ready for the battle and a King leading them through the Kumungu Jungle. The only sound that got over that cacophony was the roar of the millenary trees falling to the hit of axes.

...

Thresh never changed. She could sense him from afar, there was no need to see him. The soil itself crumbled in fear when the Chain Warden stepped on it. That horrible being was one of the few existences that could say that she, LeBlanc, had felt the need of avoiding them.

-A pleasure to meet you, m'lady.- said Thresh when she arrived, while Lucian's piercing shots hit the ground and the trees.- I'm sorry, but I got to leave. Always good to see you, Ziraeth, haha.

Thresh was calmly walking towards Lucian, being hit by every single shot that came out of him while his laughter grew in volume, drowning the war drums' and the falling trees' roars.

-That being is as sick as it has always been. -casually commented LeBlanc.- How can you work with him, Darkwill?

-Sometimes a man's needs go beyond his preferences. -said Darkwill, with a light smile on his face.- this is one of those times.

Unexplainably, they were happy to face each other, to meet, to be able to talk between them. It had almost felt like those days thousands of years ago, when life through most of Valoran was too rudimentary for them to care about it. It made them remember about the days inwhich the Ziraeths walked the continent like any other species did now. A time in which they were not gods among men, but a community driven by its will to create.

-What has happened to us, Elliot?

The Fall: 36. Filling a void

Filling a void

-Can you walk now?- asked Anyssa.

-Yes, it's way better now.- said Ezreal, even though he wasn't sure if it was correct to say that his coal-black arm was "better".

Even though they tried to hide their thoughts, Ezreal knew what was going through everyone's mind. Most people always tried to take a glimpse at every stump they got to see. The lack of something, sometimes even the lack of knowledge, was something that baited most being into things. And having nothing but a dark cloud in the place that had once been his arm definitely called his companions atention.

Except for Tahm Kench. He never looked as someone who cared.

...

Lux was starting to feel fear. A fear that she had not felt for years.

The faces of the marching men were horrible. Noxus and Demacia had allied for nothing but the sake of killing and massacring. Those sick being preferred to call themselves a hunting party, but they were nothing but an army. A huge army marching towards an enemy that they didn't really know, parding just for the sake of blood gold and pride.

She could also see it in their faces they didn't look at her as people would normally do. Darius saw in her nothing but a weapon, Malcolm's look scared her even more than when he had taken her hostage into Riven's body and not even her brother's eyes could make Lux feel more calm. Garen didn't look like the man he had once been.

...

-How is it working Mr. Ezreal? -asked Tahm Kench.

He had not told the rest was was going on, but it was definitely time for some words. It was clear that they wanted an explanation, and Tahm Kench's comment had sparked some curiosity in them.

-Looks great. -answered the Prodigal Explorer.- After some training it's working even better than before.

Not even LeBlanc could believe what they saw afterwards.

They were not getting there late.

...

Everything would bend to their will. Darius wanted Thresh's head, and the Hand of Noxus had made Garen believe that LeBlanc and Darkwill, those who had disappeared after Draven's death, were the ones to blame for what had happened to Jarvan. Malcolm coudln't believe that Darius was letting him live; maybe it was because now he had something to fight for. Darius had always known that Malcolm had nothing to do with his brother's death, even though he knew wrong; that was the only reason that Malcolm could find for Darius to ignore every chance he had for chopping his head of.

How would they react there? How would it all be when they got there? He could feel Thresh's mark on the soil they were stepping on, he could feel the deathhug of the Shadow Isles around the Kumungu Jungle. They were definitely closer to Darkwill than them.

If it all happened as Aalcox and Aatrox expected, Darkwill would leave in front of them, escaping with Thresh, LeBlanc and all those that these two armies blamed. With no one to behead for revenge, they would surely turn onto each other.

-Are you enjoying the ride, Astor? -asked Malcolm to the albino merchant.

...

He could feel it. She was closer. But Thresh was not the only thing he needed to get her free; the chain warden would not handle her to him that easily. He needed Malcolm's girl. And he wanted LeBlanc to see it.

He had been planning it all for years. He had tricked everyone into it, he could not fail now. Another mistake like Galio's death was not a possibility.