The Fall: 44. Tempered Fates

Tempered Fates

-He will come, Sona. I have that certainty. -calmly said Taric while his eyes dove deep into the infinity that extended in front of them.

Sona didn't know how the tower worked; they were supposed to have left Runeterra once and for all, yet there laid it in its whole extension. Again and again, when it looked like land should end and the seas would drown it all, a different Runeterra started to lay upon them. "Time is strange. Everything related to time is." Taric had said years ago.

...

-And this tower is not an exception; look at the clocks.- he continued.-Look at the automated calendars.

But she didn't dare; there was something in the hundreds of thousands of clocks that covered the walls of the room that made her feel uneasy. The calendars, cylinders tall as the fiercest Noxian warrior and as thick as wide were a Xer'Sai's tunnels, were constantly spinning. But that was not the strangest thing; they all spinned, yet they did it at different speeds, just like the clocks ticked.

When she stopped to think about it the noise would become unbearable, but the truth was that when you were focused into the beautiful and unexplainable thing that laid upon her eyes you'd lose track of your current location; there were things that looked way more interesting than a constant ticking.

-Have you looked at the clocks? Have you noticed the calendars? -Taric asked, breaking the systematical ticking noise of the clocks. -They mark different dates and times.

Sona didn't understand why it mattered; anyone could use a calendar and modify its date. But she didn't dare express the tiniest bit of what she thought, because she knew that there had to be something more to it.

-They are all different, I know it. But... -Taric's right hand dived into the pocket of the jacket he had been given by the Yordles after their arrival and took something out of it.-The weird thing, Sona, is that my pocket watch, my grandfather's watch, matches all of them. It is always in time with the one clock I'm staring at.

...

-I told you he would come.-said Taric, with his finger pointing at the giant glass window that was in front of them.- There's his trail.

...

It was dark and silent.

He was not sure if that was the right way to describe it, because it wasn't just dark and silent. He could feel nothing. No grass being folded at the weight of his steps, no weapon at his hands. He didn't even really know if he had hands at all, and he couldn't even tell if he was walking or if he was simply thinking about walking.

It was truly dark, and the silence was the only companion that Malcolm had in that bottle.

...

Riven's slash hit nothing but the ground.

Hundred of little yellow beings, which shone as if they were made of gold, dashed away from her, scared by the hit. Darius didn't know what they were, but he somewhat liked the looks of those weird things. At least until they started to surround him; he would have fought against them, but he was powerless. Also, he didn't really care about himself anymore.

...

Shauna saw it all; how the wandering caretaker, character thought to belong to nothing but fairy tales, came down from the sky. With him descended thousands of little golden beings that, if she remembered correctly, her grandmother had called Meeps.

Shauna Vayne sat besides the stone Quinn was lying at.

-Can you see them? -she asked.

-I do.

-Do you think that they took care of Valor as much as they are taking caring of Shyvana now?

No answer came out of Vayne, because she had already fallen asleep to the hug of countless meeps; Quinn shortly followed her.

The Fall: 43. Concussive Blows

Concussive Blows

Sudenly, the ground started shaking. Still, only Malcolm was paying some attention to that detail. Aatrox's bloodlust was directing his eyes towards the ongoing battle, while Darkwill and LeBlanc were still talking.

- It's all over now, LeBlanc. -said Tahm Kench.- Or should I say... Anyssa?

She didn't dare answer. She was too weak, yet she hadn't been hurt.

No, that was not true. She had been hurt, but in such a fashion that she had never known before. She had lost something she had valued nearly as much as her own life. She had witnessed the one existence that she had considered truly beautiful vanish in front of her.

...

She was the one to blame. If she had done everything right he would surely be alive now. If she had not left so suddenly, if she had dedicated some words to him before departing, only then, maybe the things would have worked out differently. But she hadn't.

Without knowing it, without meaning it in any way, she had killed the one and only man she had loved. Tears were streaming down her face, her heart pounding as fast as it could, her cries being drowned by coughs and her life being drained by grief.

Lux's existence was slowly vanishing from Riven's body, disappearing, turned into nothing but a void in the Noxian woman's mind.

...

Riven pitied the girl, but she was somewhat happy of being back in control of herself. She was clumsy, nearly unable to walk. It was needless to say that she was unable of correctly wielding her blade.

After some seconds of staring at the Piltovian man's corpse, Riven realized that she pitied him. She had never known him, but she blamed the remains of Lux's mind in her body for the mixed feelings.

She tried to wake up, but she couldn't; she was exhausted.

She was about to faint, as close as a person can be to surrendering to sleep, when she heard his voice.

Revenge was the only thing that could get such a dead woman back on her feet.

...

-Now that I think of it, you're lacking some scars, don't you? -mockingly asked Darkwill.

-Get lost into the voids, Malcolm. -spitted Darius.

-You could lose a finger or two... -said Malcolm while holding Darius' right hand.

He couldn't move. It didn't matter how hard he tried; there was something holding him, something that he could not see. Something that, even if familiar, was unknown to him.

-You could take a hand too, Malcolm.-added a weird face that had suddenly emerged from Darius' cheek.-Or both, no matter what I'm quite sure that you would not have enough with it.

-You're right in that, Aalcox. -replied Darkwill.-An arm shall suffice for now.

Aalcox; after listening that name he lost all hope that was left. He tried to fight the darkin's powers with a rage that until that day had been unknown to Runeterra, but it wasn't enough.

He was about to give up when she saw a woman walking towards them. Her blade was getting bigger and bigger while she approached; he could feel the air current shaking the ground he was laying upon, making his cloak dance with the wind.

The look on the face Darius was seeing was not the one of the hybrid monster that Malcolm had created years ago; Riven was back.

And she was thirsty; only the sweetest of revenges would bring peace back to her heart.

...

Riven was tired, but it didn't matter. She had been waiting for years, looking, confined in a cell built into her own body, at how that demon strangled all her hopes while he used all the Noxian people Riven had once valued. He had got them all killed; the few that left his grasp alive had died in Zaun's Mental Institute years ago during the final battle with Piltover, when the whole city was razed by Piltovian soldiers and Zaun's madmen themselves.

She dashed once and noticed that Malcolm now knew she was there, but she didn't care; she rushed the distance that divided them and slashed with all her fury, attempting to cut him in two.

The Fall: 42. The Tear of the Goddess

The Tear of the Goddess

Quinn saw Syndra and pointed her out to Shauna. She had explained it all to her before heading towards the Ionian woman that had brought legions down with nothing but her bare hands and a power that escaped the limits of human condition. Yes, Syndra was powerful, but only when she knew what was coming up to her. The countless legions that had vanished had done a horrible mistake; facing her straight up. They would not do that mistake.

...

Quinn vaulted onto Syndra, who tried to maintain the equilibrium while holding the huge platforms that she was rising for Darkwill. "I need to hold on for a while..." thought Syndra. "He's so close to bringing him back. I'll be safe when he's back." thought before trying to hit Quinn with a sphere.

...

That was when she had to go in;Shauna Vayne tumbled at Syndra's side and shot a heavy silver bolt that pushed her towards the closest tree, stucking her into it. But the Ionian woman didn't stop; even though they were more unstable, the huge pieces of rock were still hanging up in the air.

...

She was cold. Really cold.

Syndra remembered Darkwill's words. "I feel your pain." he had said. Syndra had seen it in Darkwill's eyes; he had also lost a loved one. That one, the only one. He had also lost the one and only person that had understood what he was and accepted it. And, like Syndra, he would do whatever it took for having such a person back.

But she was cold. Her eyes were starting to surrender to the weight of her eye lids and the world was becoming darker. She wanted to hold on, to give Darkwill a chance of having Senna back. And then, when Zed was back, he would save her. He would bring her back from these cold shadows.

She only had to hold on, and wait for him.

...

-Stop it, Vayne! -shouted Quinn.

-Why? -asked Shauna, clearly nervous.- That man is still up there, Lux is about to blow this whole damned place up, and you want me to stop doing the one thing that can save us.

-There's no point on that... -said Quinn.- She's already dead.

...

LeBlanc was feeling horribly. Why had she done such a thing? Why had she wasted her life this way? She could have enjoyed a lifetime with Ezreal, the only man that had dared give his life for her, but no; she had to stop Darkwill. She had to get into whatever he was doing and stop it, because Darkwill could never do good.

But that wasn't the worst part of it; what terrified LeBlanc the most was another feeling that haunted her heart; doubt. What if Darkwill wasn't doing anything wrong? What if it was right to fight for those you loved, no matter what was at stake?

First, she cried. Only then she fell onto Tahm Kench's open mouth.

...

Darkwill fell onto the ground. He didn't know why everything had suddenly shaken so abruptly, and he wasn't given much time to think about it. The ground shook again, and with that he lost control of Lux's mind.

"It doesn't matter." he thought. In only a matter of seconds, Senna would be back, and nothing else would matter then.

...

Lux had no time to stop it.

When she regained consciousness the Final Spark had already been fired. Accompanied by Riven's Wind Slash, the projectile advanced like an unstoppable force towards the lantern that Thresh had given to Darkwill. She saw the woman that Darkwill had called LeBlanc in the projectile's path until the moment when she should have been hit.

Seconds after, she realized that the one that had been hit was Ezreal.

...

There are times when people are not given time to choose. Times when no one is given the chance to calmly face a situation and think what they can do to solve it.

It is during those times that the commonfolk step aside. "I can't save her." said a doctor, far away from the battle at the Plague Jungles, struggling to keep his best friend's daughter alive, trying to help her survive the hit of a stray Avarosan arrow. "I can't defend my homeland." thought an old, old man, far away in time and space, while trying to look for a way of saving Urtistan. "I can't conquer his heart." thought a maven, far away, in a beautiful watchtower that had been built ages ago in the very middle of Bandle City.

It is during these times that heroes appear. When no one dares to try, they show up. That is the only difference between the commonfolk and the few heroes that have stumbled upon our world. That they decided to show up. They decided to act. They decided to show that they did have the willpower to do something.

Two words are enough to turn a common person into a hero: I can.

The Fall: 41. The Final Spark

The Final Spark

-How does it feel bastard? -asked a familiar voice.

That voice turned Darius mad. That could not be him. He had died at Thresh's hands. His brother had died long ago, he could not be talking now.

-Answer, bastard. -he heard again while a fist hit his back.

Darius turned, trying to grasp the hand that had hit him, but when he turned he saw Malcolm, the Noxian man that was supposed to die at his hands. The Noxian hero that had been depicted as a villain for the sole purpose of calming the rage of the Noxian people. The fool that had let go of Thresh, the one to blame for Draven's death.

Without saying a word, Darius whirled his axe, trying to cut through Malcolm's chest. But he vanished, leaving only a light spplash of blood that tainted his armor with more blood.

-Why are you doing this? -asked Darius.

...

Darkwill was preparing Thresh's lantern while he used a part of his mind to control Lux, all while giving orders to the monstrous army he had gathered.

-Faster Syndra. -said Darkwill with the monotonous voice he had been using since he had taken control of Lux.- Lux will need another platform.

While their own piece of ground kept rising, LeBlanc saw how another chunk was being torn from the woods. That piece, smaller than the one she and Darkwill occupied, was rising faster, as if it tried to reach the height that theirs now was at. During the movement, a few rotten trees were falling back into the forest, silently splintering once they reached the ground.

-Why are you doing this Elliot? -asked LeBlanc.- Where's the point of leaving?

-You are asking the wrong questions. -answered Darkwill.- And using the wrong name.

-What is your plan then, Darkwill? -said LeBlanc in a mocking tone, specially exaggerating the Ziraeth's name. - Are you going to blind us all using this girls' lights and the lantern's glow?

-She'll be back, LeBlanc. -confessed Darkwill, clearly annoyed. Then his tone turned dead serious again.- But that's not something I should have told you.

...

Quinn was still crying when she realized what was happening; the ground was rising.

Syndra, the Ionian woman that had brought down countless legions on her own, was rising two huge rocks that seemed like part of the forest's soil; two huge empty craters nearby confirmed her hypothesis.

On top of one, Darkwill was doing something to the Noxian girl that had marched with Darius and Garen, leading the army while a blonde girl argued with him. The other piece was empty, slowly and relentlessly approaching the first one.

-Shauna! -shouted Quinn, with a heavy grief that made every word difficult for her.- Shauna!There's one more thing we have to do!

...

-You did enjoy spitting at me, didn't you? -said Malcolm while slashing Darius' face with his dagger. That would definitely leave a decent scar.- I should kill you and send you with that foolish brother of yours.

-Shut up! -shouted Darius, whirling his axe again.- Come here if you dare! A shame of a man is what you are! -another move of his axe that hit nothing but trees.-I'll tear you down to pieces!

-You won't, and I am not going to kill you anyways. -said Malcolm, appearing beside Darius and grabbing him by the shoulder.- I want you to suffer as long as you can.

Another dagger slashed through Darius, now through his shoulder and his right arm suddenly was still, hanging there, lifeless. Darius tried to him hit with his head, but there was no way he could hit Malcolm; he was too blinded by rage. And Malcolm did take profit of that.

-You will live a long life of shame and torment Darius. -said Malcolm.- You'll be blamed for what will happen today; the mass extermination of thousands of men. It was under your ruling that Noxus suffered, it was under your ruling the Noxus bent to Demacia's will and marched together as one, and its under your damned ruling that Noxus lost.

...

He had to hit the lantern right at the top for opening it. He had seen Thresh do it before, but the kind of energy needed was one that he could not have access to; at least until he knew of this girl.

The combination of the Demacian girl's light cannon and the Riven's wind slash converged into a kind of missile that could tear down the frontiers between worlds, just like Thresh did with his bare hands. It was overcomplicated, but it was worth the agony he was going through. Nothing was difficult enough if the result was having Senna back.

-You know you shouldn't do this, Elliot.-said LeBlanc.- She died, and she was a great person, but that's it. The dead should not come back, specially those that Thresh took.

-Shut up. -said Darkwill.

-No! No, I won't. -I know you're hurt, Elliot. I am going through what you went through right now!

It couldn't be possible; had LeBlanc truly fallen in love? If that was true, then this blonde appearance of her was her definitive existence. That meant that, like him, she was way weaker now. "But like me, she'll eventually grow stronger than ever..." thought Darkwill. There was nothing that taught as fast as pain and grief did, and when LeBlanc lost her loved one she would definitely be able to take control of the whole world. He had to stop it.

-You don't understand it, LeBlanc. -said Darkwill.- But you certainly would if I gave you the chance.

-Then give it to me.

-I just... can't.

Lux was already on the second platform that Syndra had brought; the final spark was ready. Darkwill tossed Thresh's lantern into the air and pushed LeBlanc off the platform; in matter of seconds, she would be dead.

The Fall: 40. A Call to Arms, pt.2

A Call to Arms

Suddenly, the ground started shaking. Still, only Malcolm was paying some attention to that detail. Aatrox's bloodlust was directing his eyes towards the ongoing battle, while Darkwill and LeBlanc were still talking.

-Here she is, Darkwill. -announced Malcolm, doing a step forward.

-Are you sure she is the one? -asked the Ziraeth- I won't tolerate no mistakes.

-And we will tolerate no complains. -said Aatrox, whose blade's colour was changing constantly from a light red to a bloody purple.

The winged Darkin couldn't let his eyes off the battlefield; if no one had noticed it was because they were too busy minding their own business. Darkwill grabbed Lux's head and looked deep into her eyes. LeBlanc looked at the whole process, disgusted, while the Ziraeth was taking control of the blond girl with apiece of his mind.

-You know you needn't do it this way, Elliot. -said LeBlanc.

-Don't you dare repeat that name again! -shouted Darkwill, clearly angry.- I'll have you killed if you do!

...

The Ziraeths had always been that way. They were supposed to know everything, about everything. Their wasy of thinking was always the right one, and their words had to obviouly be blindly followed.

But the darkin's were tired of that. Once their plan was over, the Ziraeths  would have disappeared, and they would be able to rule the world of men. War, torture, pain, agony... glory. That was the world Aatrox had always been looking for.

-Do you now know how to destroy the lantern? -asked Malcolm to Darkwill.

-Combining the Final Spark and the Wind Slash should be enough. -answered calmly while diving into Lux's mind.

-Do you really need to do it that way? -asked LeBlanc, clearly nervous.

-Kind of. -answered Darkwill with a monotonous voice.- It's easier this way.

-She won't get through it.

-That's none of my concern.

-It should be.

-I am the one who choses if it is or not. -said Darkwill, ending the argument.- And I choose this way. Whatever happens to her after our job is done is none of my concern.

-We will leave, Darkwill. -said Malcolm, while Thresh gave a lantern to Darkwill.

...

Once the Darkins were not with them, LeBlanc started the argument again.

-You needn't control only her body, Elliot. -said LeBlanc.

-I told you not to say that name again, Anyssa. -answered Darkwill, still somewhat absent because of what he was doing with Lux. -And I need it. I want my mind to do it's own thing, whatever she thinks while I choose how her body acts is an unnecessary detail.

-She might die before you finish your job. -replied LeBlanc, trying to convince him of going fully into Lux's mind. If he did that she'd be able to stop him, since his concentration would be somewhere else. 

But Darkwill's ability to separate his mind in two different pieces amazed her. LeBlanc had never seen someone do something that way, and there were several reasons she hadn't. 

The first one was that it was horribly painful for the one being controlled; the fact of seeing your body act independently, ignoring your orders, always devastated the minds of even the strongest warriors.

The second one was that if this thought got to the main vessel the one controlling the two bodies would suffer the very same pain, abruptly breaking the link and mixing up both existences. And being two different beings while being one was not something to rejoice over.

...

-We will hurt him, Aalcox. -said Malcolm.

-I know. -answered the Darkin.- He'll suffer as he has never done before.

-Do you really want to do this? -asked Aalcox.

The voice that answered the Darkin's question was not Malcolm's.

The Fall: 40. A Call to Arms, pt1

A Call to Arms

She could notice the warm embrace of blood running through her face; Vayne was, after such a long time, struggling against an enemy. The plant-woman that called herself Zyra had proven to be a worthy opponent, but she needed to get to Darkwill. "Those are my orders at least." thought Vayne.

With no hesitation, she tumbled out of Zyra's vision range and hid for a little while. Vayne could hear her footsteps through the jungle; it didn't matter how weak the noise was, Vayne's hearing sense was always able to detect it.

Once she realized that the monster was in range of her crossbow, Shauna swapped her weapons.

-Impure fools. -said Vayne before shooting the first silver bolt.

...

She didn't see it coming. It stuck onto her shoulder, and the forest cried a little when Zyra's blood was spilt onto the ground.

While she was still trying to understand what was happening, a second bolt hit her, right in the middle of the chest, knocking her back and stucking her onto the closest tree.

Only then she noticed.

The Demacian night hunter was tumbling through the jungle, always hiding in the countless shadows that covered the place, plying with light and the lack of it for being nearly invisible. But she was the forest; a human wouldn't stop her.

When Zyra heard a third shot from Shauna's crossbow, her frail human body had already been abandoned.

...

He could still hear the echoes of the madman's laughter.

-Come back, you sick bastard! -roared Darius to the trees, without knowing where to look at.- Come and let me chop off your very existence in two!

Then, Darius' axe fell onto Lucian and Xin Zhao's body once again. With less difficulty than before, Darius unstuck the axe from the corpses and let it fall again onto them. Blood was everywhere, and the corpses, now unrecognizable, had been tore down to countless pieces.

-This is what will be left of you once I find you, you coward!

...

Luckily, she had not found a single Demacian soldier while fighting. "Not yet." thought Shyvana.

All the corpses that laid around her were clearly Noxian soldiers, and the few that fearfully tried to escape from her obviously were too. She could feel it in their weapons, whose edges were not designed to kill, but to hurt and cleave instead. Countless wounds would have covered her if not for the dragon that she had learnt to fully embrace after so long.

With a quick movement of her huge jaw Shyvana caught the last remaining Noxian fighting her. She could feel his fear and the pain that he was going through while tearing his flesh with her very own teeth. "My old friends would find it disgusting." she thought, while witnessing a shooting star."Is that the trailblazer that Taric talked about?" Shyvana asked herself.

But she was given no more time to think about it; a crossbow hit her on the right shoulder and pierced through the thick dragonskin, hurting her for the first time in a long time.

-Is it you, Quinn? -asked Shyvana to the Demacian soldier that was on top of her, pointing to Shyvana's head.- I'm so glad it's you, Quinn.

There are a lot of reasons that explain why this battle was not considered a victory for the Demacian historians and, even though a little one, this event is clearly one of them.

...

He had seen everything but Yasuo's slashes. How the Ionian outcast had walked towards the whole army and faced the king, how he had called for a duel and, finally, how he fell onto the ground. Ezreal couldn't let him die there.

In the blink of an eye, Ezreal teleported besides Yasuo, grabbed him and teleported back into Tahm Kench. The Demacian King was unable to understand what was going on or why his victim had disppeared, but he was too busy looking for his sister to care about such a triviality.

-You can help him, right? -asked Ezreal to Tahm Kench, clearly worried.

-You're asking the wrong questions, dear boy... -answered the River King with a smile that didn't give any hope to Ezreal.

-Why won't you help him? -said Ezreal, starting to realize with what kind of creature he had been dealing with.

-Again, that is not the question we are looking for. -answered Tahm Kench.

Ezreal wanted to reply, but Tahm Kench was nowhere to be seen.  

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.

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.

The Fall: 32. The Hunter's Night

The Hunter's Night

Rengar didn't understand it.

What had gone wrong? He had done exactly what he had been told. He had followed Darkwill's rules and Tahm Kench's advice, yet he had failed. That's what this had been; an utter failure.

At first he didn't understand where he was; a huge hall, with windows that showed a dark seabed that surrounded him. The room was empty but for a small creature with a trident, inlaid in armor and ready to fight.

Where was he now? It didn't matter anymore. It looked like, again, he had to fight for survival. The white beast let go one last roar before jumping into the fray that the Atlantian palace's room was about to become.

...

Tahm Kench had carried both Ezreal and Anyssa.

At first it had looked like a trap or something, but Yasuo had to trust the River King; he didn't feel like facing such a demon, not after what had just happened some days ago.

Still, the walk was silent, and he had grown used to Ezreal's talking and Anyssa's orders. The lone wanderer was not as comfortable as he had once been while walking in silence. That's how his conversation with Tahm Kench started.

-Mr... Tahm Kench? Is that your name?-asked Yasuo, without exactly knowing how to ask what he wanted to know.

-Call me King, call me Demon... The River forgets the name of the drowned... -said Tahm Kench with a nostalgic touch in his face.- But yes, Tahm Kench is one of my names. What troubles you, outcast?

-The battle at the riverside some days ago. -straightforwardly pointed out Yasuo, ignoring how the monster knew about his past.- What happened there? Why did that beast attack us?

-You're not asking the right questions, Yasuo. -whispered Tahm Kench.- Or should I call you... Yone?

...

He could hear them coming.

Thresh had told him to start marching before they arrived, as if he knew at exactly which point they were meeting without having talked with anyone at all.

-You haven't even whispered to your damned souls. -shouted Xin Zhao.- How are you supposed to know what to do?

-Some of us have plans, Seneschal.- said Thresh.- When you know what's lying ahead of you, it's easier to know what to do. Don't you agree?

-You call everything a plan... -whispered Xin Zhao, clearly annoyed.

...

Thresh had brought Xin Zhao down quite fast. The Demacian seneschal had not expected the hit that had brought him down in a second; a death sentence that had been written since they met. As a flayed and tormented soul, Xin Zhao was still alive. Still, he was nothing but a parasite now.

-You understand it now? -asked Thresh, his ghostly voice coming out of Xin Zhao's rotten visage.

...

-Swain is ready to leave with them. -said Aalcox.

-The girl will be there too; the Noxian and the Demacian army will march, and she'll take the lead with those weak kings. This battle might be the greatest of them all, Aalcox...

-Remember what our plan is, Aatrox. -said Malcolm.- This is not only about the greatest battle; this won't be a bloodshed of a week and end; we've got to make the worls sink with Darkwill.

-Is he really leaving?- asked Aatrox.

-You never listen to Thresh, don't you? -pointed out Aalcox.- The female Ziraeth that can still transition gives him the information just as if he was working for her.

-Haven't we fooled enough of them during their existence? -asked Aatrox.- Their whole species is coming down, can't they see it?

-They know it Aatrox.- calmly answered Malcolm.- They just don't care. They're nothing but weird specimens of a weird species.

...

It had taken a long time, but Tahm Kench had narrated Yasuo's life from beginning to end, taking into account details that even the unforgiven Ionian swordsman had forgotten. Now he understood; Tahm Kench was not a being to mock and poke.

-Are you going to ask the real questions now Yasuo?

That is how he learnt who Anyssa was. That is how he learnt what she was and why he and Ezreal had been chosen. He also learnt who they were looking for and where they were marching afterwards.

...

Night had finally reached the hunter's life.

He had craved for a worthy opponent, and Tahm Kench had given him what he asked for even though he had failed. He knew what was coming next.

Rengar was bleeding, his only working eye covered in dry blood. The slippery blue creature had managed to avoid every single trick he had prepared for a fight like this. The little trickster had been a fight that he had been wishing for long.

Even though he hated to recognize another being's strength, facing an opponent like that one before dying had been a dream for long. A daydream that let him awake hour after hour, day after day, both in the search of a prey and taking care of his surroundings.

Now he could finally rest.

...

Meanwhile, all around Valoran, countless little beings wandered through the lands, blessing forests, paths and lives while they crossed a land that was about to change forever. Those who were busy with their own things didn't see them; meanwhile, every single child from Runeterra had noticed that something huge was about to happen.

But adults don't always listen to children, do they?

Adults tend to be busy.

The Fall: 17. Haunted

Haunted

-She left a long time ago, Yasuo. -said Yone. -The assassin you were looking for, the one that we should have been chasing instead of you, is dead now.

-That's impossible brother. -arrogantly answered Yasuo before taking a drink. -I saw her when the Noxians came. She still walked, holding that cursed blade and a bright wand with her.

-That's not who you're looking for, I am telling you that Riven is already dead. -repeated Yone while looking at his brother empty the bottle in the blink of an eye. -I have met her here, and so have you.

Yasuo spitted on the floor and rose, only to find out that there was no ground at all.

-Why am I still dreaming brother? -asked Yasuo to the remains of his brother.

-Maybe you don't really want to wake up Yasuo. Knowing what you have done because of our chase, being certain that you'll never have the chance to prove that you're not guilty... -said Yone, who was now at his back. -You can join me brother. Here you'll have nothing to worry for.

-I'm really sorry, brother. -whispered Yasuo. -I can't join you, I just can't. I've got things to do...

Suddenly, Yone's eyes turned red. Blood was streaming down his face, and the ground, once inexistent, was now a growing pond of blood.

-You are not understanding me brother. -said what was left of his brother. -You will join the mist! -screamed the spirit.

Suddenly, a barrage of yellow missiles cutted the monster in half, waking Yasuo up.

-Looks like we got here just in time. -shouted a blonde man that Yasuo didn't recognize.

-Are you fine Yone? -asked a girl with blonde curled hair.

...

-What happened? -asked Malcolm while waking up.

-Ask Aalcox. -answered Swain.- He can explain it way better than I.

Only then he realized; Aalcox had been sleeping for years only to wake up in the very moment of his death. Malcolm's pitiful existence could have ended, but the Darkin had spared the life that the Noxians were going to take. Well, it had been a pitiful existence after Aalcox's loss.

Now that he was back...

...

After days of walking non-stop, Thresh sat down and opened his lantern.

-Come out, I want you to do something for me. -whispered the Chain Warden towards the souls that were starting to leave the lantern.- There's  some people I want you to look for, you already know them and you will all do it for me.

The dead man was on his feet, looking at Thresh and listening to the sick dialogue he was having with the sorrowful souls that inhabited his lantern.

-Do they always do what you tell them to? -asked Xin Zhao, who felt alive and curious for a second. Curious and afraid.

-It looks like it will be hard to teach you when you should talk and when you shouldn't. -the Chain Warden said while looking at Xin Zhao's heart. -You've changed, that's for sure, ha ha ha...

-Do they always do what you tell them to? -asked Xin Zhao again, with the same monotonous voice.

-What they will do is something unpredictable, but in the end it's right. -said Thresh.- They do what I need them to do, not what I want them to. But without orders they would never move.

-Why wouldn't they? -asked Xin Zhao, feeling more alive with each word. He could feel Thresh's curiosity starting to grow, but the fear he had of the Chain Warden was bigger than the part of him that was coming back to life.

-Because I gave them the time of their lives. -said Thresh, pointing the lantern. -Their existence is only painful when I want it to, and the fear of being punished keeps them calm. Look at your surroundings; your lack of soul won't let you notice, but this place would scare the shit out of any human that dared to walk alone through these woods. Specially now...

Suddenly, the place started to shine and a warm breeze hit Xin Zhao's face. After some seconds, everything was back to normal.

-They'll be here soon, dead man. -said Thresh. - You'd better prepare yourself.

The Fall: 16. For the dawn is bright for those who fight

For the dawn is bright for those who fight

Aatrox was nowhere to be seen, and Aalcox was feeling weaker than ever. Malcolm asked himself what was going on, but he could find no answer; a bright light blinded him, and something was tying his feet to the ground.

-This is him Quinn! -shouted a distorted voice.- I can't contain him for long!

The thought of having been caught was started to annoy him, but that phrase made his day; the mage was scared. Some seconds later, he felt his feet breaking free of the chains that tied him, and the light that was blinding him suddenly weakened. Before the woman inlaid in armor could notice, Malcolm had her grabbed by the neck. After struggling a bit he felt that the armor was being torn to pieces; he then found the mage in front of him, wielding a wand whose end was shining bright. Only then Malcolm realized that he was facing the Lady of Luminosity.

She was well known within the Noxian ranks; countless soldiers had succumbed to her spells and sorceries. Still, that little girl was nothing more than a warm-up for someone like him. Malcolm avoided spell after spell moving rapidly through her missiles of what looked like solid light. Once he reached Luxanna's back, he grabbed her face and lifted the Lady of Luminosity from the ground; he wanted to read her before erasing her existence.

A dark and secret past. A family forgotten, another one planned. An explorer. A gift. A smile, hope. A lie. A secret kept. And a long life to live.

-She's the one! -shouted Aalcox and Malcolm at once.

Suddenly, Aalcox started to feel something that weakened him. The light chains had hit deeper than they thought, and he was now being confined to the deepest part of Malcolm's heart.

-Let her go! -shouted Aalcox using Malcolm's voice.

But Malcolm could do nothing because the hero's light was blinding him. Aalcox decided to interrupt the channeling ignoring the possible side-effects; there was no way he could survive such a force for so long.

...

Riven ran towards the last place she had seen the bird land as fast as she could; the wind she had felt was clearly the fruit of Aatrox's wings.

When she got out of the forest and reached the hill she saw them; Malcolm holding the Demacian mage known as Luxanna with one hand, and Quinn, the Demacian scout that she had been hunting, pointing her crossbow at Malcolm's head.

Riven had never liked Malcolm; he was a quiet man who always did his job in silence, ignoring everyone who tried to help or advice him. But her opinion didn't change a plain fact; Malcolm always suceeded. That was why she still wanted to save him; even if she was escaping Noxus, Riven was still Noxian. She wanted them to win this war, and Noxus needed Malcolm in order for that to happen.

-What's broken can be reforged. -whispered Riven to the sword that Malcolm gifted her when she was a child while positioning between him and Quinn.

She heard Quinn's crossbow fire a bolt. After that, Malcolm screamed in pain. Riven called the winds and slashed fiercely in front of her, directings the shockwave towards Quinn who disappeared downhill, falling into a huge rock's gap. And then she realized she was bleeding. She turn towards Malcolm, only to find him grabbing her by the throat.

-I knew you would do something important Riven. -said Malcolm.- I did right, you were the best recipient I could find for the sword that killed the last archmage.

-Why are you doing this, Malcolm? -whispered Riven while choking.

-You would never understand it, and I have no time to explain it. -answered Malcolm, feeling how Aalcox was weaker after every second that passed by.

Lux suddenly fainted, and Malcolm let go of her body, which then hit the ground doing no sound at all. With a strange smile on his face, Malcolm raised a foot and stomped Lux's neck until the head was separated from the body, which got kicked and fell where Quinn had ended up.

-You'll serve a greater good now, Riven. -said Malcolm, raising a fist that was glowing as if it was nothing more than solid light.

Both Riven and Lux screamed a word after that.

...

Quinn was crying; Valor was dead, Lux had been captured and she was going to die abandoned between some rocks lost in a small hill of Runeterra. Nothing could be worse than the certainty of being unable to do anything. At least that what she thought until Lux's beheaded body fell at her side.

...

Darius didn't know what to do; the alliance's army was marching, and they were not morally prepared to face them. His soldiers were afraid; not of death, because a Noxian never fears death, but afraid of going back home with the burden of a lost battle at their backs. The dead ones would be the ones considered lucky that day. A few hundred Noxians against the biggest army that Runeterra had ever seen.

-Malcolm's here. -said a timid voice, whose owner's hand was pointing towards the fading sun.

Darius could not believe what he was seeing; Malcolm and Riven were walking towards the Noxian soldiers, slowly, the man with a smile on his face and the woman hugging her broken sword. When Malcolm was in front of Darius, he showed him Luxanna's severed head.

The Noxian soldiers were silent at the beginning, until they understood what that meant. The whole army singed that day while they marched towards their enemies. No one would believe what happened that night. Not even the protagonists of the unfolded events.

...

-We did it Darkwill. -said Aatrox. -The Darkin of Glory and the Darkin of History crowned the alliance as the victors of the battle and the war, but they had nothing but tears to share. The Noxians were the true victors; theirs was the glory and they rewrote a story that otherwise would have already finished, granting themselves another chance to live.

-But you couldn't stop Jax. -answered the Ziraoth.

-I didn't even find him, and Aalcox thinks he's dead. -replied Aatrox.- As far as we know, he might be dead, his corpse laying in a frozen tomb of the Freljord.

-If that's the case find the body and bring it to me, Aatrox. Stop fooling around.

The Fall: 15. For the night is dark and full of whispers (Noxus)

For the night is dark and full of whispers (Noxus)

-Go after her Malcolm. -said Darius.

-I know that we need every sword we may have, but it's pointless. -answered Malcolm.

-What's that thing that you find pointless? -arrogantly asked Darius. - Your fear?

-Going after another soldier that leaves is pointless Darius. -replied Malcolm. -Riven is nothing but another sword leaving our ranks. I won't waste my time chasing her.

Darius grabbed his axe and left. Malcolm heard a familiar voice in the dark in the very moment that the Hand of Noxus was out of sight.

-This battle will be our masterpiece, Aalcox.

...

Without Darius knowing, Malcolm left the temporary military base in the search of Riven. He could not leave loose ends.

The ones of his kind had a proficiency for finding the right person in the right time; Riven was one of those special people whose destiny is carved in stone, but Malcolm didn't want Darius to change her destiny. She would die in a fight worth her sword, not a silly suicide skirmish.

Even though... as Aatrox had told him, today's battle didn't have to be a skirmish. With his power, this day could be remembered as one of the greatest strikes that Noxus had ever accomplished. A battle worthy of leaving it's trace in Runeterra's history.

But Malcolm had other plans. Yes, the Darkins had all been created with the same purpose; war of yesterday, war today and war for tomorrow. But that didn't mean that their goals were the same. Different powers, different ambitions and different destinies awaiting them, having in common nothing more but the power to change history as if they were the ones writing it; the irony was that theirs was the only fate they could not rewrite.

He was diving deep in his mind when he suddenly saw a spark light up in front of him. A bird attacked him, blinding Malcolm for a second until he understood what was happening; an ambush planned by one of the Demacian reconaissance squads.

In the blink of an eye the bird was back at him, but now there would be no surprise for the darkin. He'd grab that bird on flight and squeeze it until blood ran as is they were on the Noxian arena. He could feel the bird approach him. It was fast, but Malcolm's control over time let him know when to strike.

Unless another one of his kin intervened; the butterfly that had been flying around him suddenly bursted, and Aatrox, the Darkin of Glory, appeared in front of him. His blade didn't hesitate and swiftly cutted through the bird's head; now it was no more than dust, laying on the ground.

Another spark shone in front of him in the very moment that Aatrox turned his face towards him. Malcolm could not even hear him saying goodbye.

The Fall: 7. Crows for the Dead

Crows for the Dead

It was a strange feeling.

He didn't really have any memory of his life before his brother's arrival. When Draven was born Darius thought of him as a pet; something loyal that would never leave him, helping each other constantly, always being there when needed. But time had taught him that a brother was more than that.

His brother had been a hug when he needed it, a smile that had made him feel better countless times. He had also been what had tied him to reality when being into the fray turned him into the monster he now was. He couldn't remember a day without his brother. The ones before his death had always been shared, even if he just crossed him on his way to the arena. Draven's smile was always strange; he didn't express happiness, but love for himself. When they were young they have talked a lot about that. "What's love for you, brother?" had asked Draven a long time ago, when they were no more than teenagers working hard to earn a spot in the army. "Love is what you feel when you are with someone that can make you smile no matter how hard the situation is. At least that's how I think of it, even though I'm not sure if I have ever felt it." Darius answered back then. "Then I have certainly fallen in love, brother." answered Draven with a big smile on his face.

It had taken him long to understand him, but one day at the arena, watching his brother Draven tear down a man from the distance by using those spinning axes of his, he caught a glimpse of what he had meant back then. While tearing corpses down, Draven was alone in the arena, at least to the eyes of the thousands of spectators that filled it up every week. But Darius knew the truth; his little brother was never alone, he was always with that person he had always loved. The only one always able to make him wear a smile no matter how hard the situation was; Draven himself.

Later that day, Darius met up Draven and asked him about it; he was curious about that. When he asked his brother about it, he didn't answer at all. He just walked out of the restaurant they had met at, alone, with a smile on his face. And that's how he made sure of it. His brother loved no more than himself; as narcissistic as a man could be, his brother would always live his life with what he considered the best company a man could have.

That kind of insanity was what brought him back to a normal life once a battle was over. No slaughters, no killing, no skinning. No heads waiting to be smashed, no Ionians to be tortured to death, no Demacians being cut a piece a week that would be sent to their homeland as a reminder of what was about to come. It was just him, his brother and their smiles. "Malcolm's execution would be way easier to handle if he was here..." whispered Darius for himself. Always overshadowed by him, Malcolm was a good man; he just hadn't been good enough to save his brother. He wished he could have protected Draven from the Chain Warden, to avoid reaching this situation. But someone had to pay for what had been done, and the one to be punished would be that noxian general.

The only danger Darius was facing now was his own madness, and nothing could save him from it.

...

The crowd didn't even dare to look at his eyes; they were silent. Some of them hated him for not being able to protect the people that had died in the arena, but they didn't dare speak a word. Malcolm had been a hero of war, one of the few to come back from the last war with a Demacian head, and it was not any common head; the Lady of Luminosity had died at the hands of that man. That was why they were so nervous yet so quiet. Fear or respect, the fact that Malcolm was not a common prisoner changed how things were.

By contrast, several crows haunted the place, their squawks following the rythm of Malcolm's footsteps. He could feel their black eyes digging deep in his flesh, but somehow he knew they saw no feast in his corpse. Why were they there then? Malcolm was certain that he wouldn't live long enough to know the answer to that question. The new executioner was eager to get his hands on Malcolm's head.

The death of Urgot in the last war had left them with little to no people wanting to become the Noxian headsman of reference; that was only until Draven got into the scene. He loved his job, he did it effectively and he committed to it with a love that no Noxian had ever felt. But the incident at the arena had forced Noxus to look for another executioner. With no permanent headsman taking the job, Darius had taken it temporarily.

When he was forced down and told to lay his head on the steel bar, Malcolm looked up a last time to see Darius' face. To his surprise, Darius was crying. "Someone had to pay for this, and you are the only one to blame for such a loss Malcolm." whispered the Hand of Noxus. He raised his axe unhesitatingly and ordered him to face the steel bar. As cold and clean as it was, Malcolm could only feel a fiery fire burning inside him. It was all over.

The Fall: 6. The Glorious Execution, pt. 2

The Glorious Execution, pt. 2

Malcolm knew that sound; Thresh's laugh was not something anyone could easily forget. But he was given no time to react. Darius was on the floor, and Thresh's sickle was stuck at Nellestar's chest. That was his death sentence. 'I'm sorry, Nellestar....'' thought the General.

Without a doubt, Malcolm dashed away from his pupil, pushing him down to the ground. Without looking back, he ran towards Darius, who was laying in the ground. Was he dead? He didn't think so; the Hand of Noxus couldn't be taken down so easily. He could hear Thresh whisper at his back, but Malcolm didn't want to turn. If he had to die now, he would; his cowardice deserved such a punishment. Trying to wake Darius up and bandaging a wound in his front, he waited for his death to arrive, but it looked like the gods had thought of another fate for him.

Why would the Chain Warden leave them alive? Two of the strongest men of Noxus could have fallen at his hands, but he had completely ignored them. He would have called that mercy if he wasn't talking about Thresh. Something had drawn the attention of the chain warden.

Darius' coughs stopped his thinking.

-¡What has happenned! -shouted the Hand of Noxus while getting on his feet.-¡¿Where did that monster go?!

-He left, Nellestar died and you fainted instantly. -answered Malcolm. -I have no idea of where he went. I came to take care of your wounds.

-¡You have let it free! -screamed Darius while running through the path marked by Nellestar's blood. -¡You'll die if I see you again, traitor! ¡You'd better run!

Malcolm did not answer. He didn't know what to do next.

...

That was it.

He could feel it; a life without a soul. A man who was alive and dead at the same time. Such a curious thing could not be overlooked.

Every step brought him closer to his objective. With every cling of the chains he felt hundreds of weak souls grouped. 'This is the arena...' thought Thresh. He could feel death's scent in the air, he could even talk to it.

-It's been so long since we last met... hahahaha... -he took a deep breath while walking.- I missed this.

He could hear the crowd. He could hear the executioner. 'But there is no word of my soulless man...' thought the warden.

When he entered the arena everyone fell silent. Even the executioner, who was well known for never shutting up, was quiet. But there was no calm in the arena. The silence that had suddenly invaded the Noxians was caused by fear.

-Step out of my toy. -calmly said the chain warden looking at Draven's eyes. -Please.

-¡¿What are you doing he...

Draven didn't get to finish the sentence. Thresh's sickle went through his throat. His lantern moved on its own, floating for a while; seconds later, both Draven and the Lantern hit the ground. A minute later, the arena was no more than a bunch of corpses laying in a dead cold graveyard.

...

He was late. He had failed his nation. The silence of the arena stuck in his ears, even his heart stopped for a while. Men, women and children alike, they were all dead. Now they were no more than bunches of corpses. Open mouths, scared eyes... That was the work of the madman.

Then he thought about his brother. He ran to the center of the arena, Draven's favourite place for taking down prisoners. When he found his brother, he wished he had not. His disfigured face was still helplessly calling for help. His throat, torn to pieces, did not look like the one his brother had used countless times to laugh at his victims.

And it was all his fault. His and Malcolm's.