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: 27. Denial (Apex)

Denial (Apex)

Lucian heard the chaos while leaving the cave, and Galio's glowing guided him to the skirmish.

-Are you seeking for help gargoyle? -shouted Lucian while culling in.

...

He should not have come. At least not now.

If Lucian entered the spell's area, Durand's enchantments would hurt him as much as they will punish those beasts. Galio had to interrupt it, and so he did.

-Bastard! -roared Rengar- Why did you let him go?! -asked the beast while jumping on Galio.

-Calm down kitten. -said Lucian while taking aim.- You'd better rest, they might be coming.

-WHO?! -shouted Rengar again, annoyed by the presence of foreigners in his woods. If he had not lost the habit of killing the visitors this situation would have never happened.

-Demacia, Noxus... whoever they are now. -answered Lucian, with his guns still pointing at Rengar's head.- We should be leaving.

But they were given no time to abandon the place.

-There's something we need to talk about.- said the Ziraeth.- But first...

With a glance of the Ziraeth, Lucian turned into stone.

-He'll be fine, gargoyle. -said Darkwill while walking toward the beastly trio that laid in front of him.- There's something we need to talk, and I'm not a friend of human ears.

...

-Don't you see it in her, Garen? -asked Darius.

The girl, once known as a Noxian exile, was looking at him in a strange way. There was something familiar in her, but be it the look, the timid smile or the luminous broken sword, it was not enough for him to recognize his very own sister.

-This can't be her.- answered the self-proclaimed Demacian king.- This is not her. OFF WITH IT, THIS WOMAN IS NOT MY SISTER! GET HER OUT NOW!

-You only need time, you will acknowledge your mistake. -said Darius.- You will do it, given the right time... Do it, Lux.

A waving of the sword, as slash in the air and a bright light preceded the luminous prison that held the Demacian king on its spot. No more words from the Noxians were needed; Garen's face was enough for them to know that he believed them now.

-How? -curiously asked Garen to Darius.- And... why? -he whispered, while looking at his sister.

-It was for Valoran.- said Darius. 

"Thanks, Malcolm." thought the ruling Hand of Noxus. He had never liked the man, but it was clear that he had always been doing some things right. Even his disappearance had been a favour.

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.