"NO!" an adventurer shouted as he seethed his sword out. "YOU'RE JUST A LEGEND!" He cried, filled with fear and discourage.
"Really?" A deep voice asked, then lashed out its mighty crystal tail at the sword, breaking it in half in an instant.
"YOU'RE NOT REAL!" The Adventurer shouted again "YOU'RE A MYTH!"
The beast that guarded the realm was not pleased with the adventurers words.
"A myth?" the giant asked.
"Y..."
"I am Skarner, The last of the Brackern. I defend this realm from all who wish to seek it, no one will get over me and reach it!"
The tail lashed again, this time cutting down the seekers left arm.
As the human shouted with pain and agony, he fell on his knees.
"A MYTH, YOU SAY?" The crystalline scorpion shouted with a question.
The man cried for help, begged for mercy with words that were not understandable from the amount of tears he had.
"I WILL NEVER BECOME A MYTH!" The monster shouted, releasing his claw and smashing the adventurer's head, leaving only pieces of flesh around the dead body and a splatter of blood on his arm.
After he smashed him, Skarner took a deep look onto the humans headless body.
"I will never become a legend..."
He lifted the body with his arm
"I will make sure that whatever happens..."
and took a bite of it, mawing the fragile human skeleton under his powerful fangs and eating the nutritious flesh and meat.
"The Brackern will live on."
"Hrrmm... Another..." He heard footsteps approaching. Skarner took another bite off the body, eating it's right hand and splattering more blood around his mouth.
A small figure came closer to Skarner. The figure seemed at the size of a yordle with a large pointy hat. Yet Skarner saw something he has not seen in any traveler that tries going to the realm behind him.
The figure seemed to Hop, instead of walk towards him.
He felt insulted by the act, dropped the body on the floor and prepared his body.
He encrusted his body with Crystals and imbued magic into his claws.
But then, when the figure approached to the point of full sight, he indeed saw a small yordle. A child, to be precise.
Skarner did not flutter, he faced enemies that were small and powerful nonetheless.
"oHH~" The yordle spoke as she finally took a look at Skarner. "Such a pretty statue!"
Skarner understood he was ignored, and decided to keep himself this way for a while.
"Such a big gate!" The yordle spoke again "I wonder what's beHIND IT!" She then spinned 180 degrees, looking backwards and waiting for an enemy to appear.
"No response, Ha?" She asked vaguely "I know that there is someone in here..." She started walking around, searching for a peeping hole.
A second later, she was already tired of searching. "Really? Not a single person here? I heard someone getting in..." She Sat on Skarner's flat head.
As her feat went up and down, she suddenly felt on the back of her legs breaths.
But, she ignored them.
"What do you think, Mr. statue?" She asked "Did someone really come in here, or was it my imagination..."
Suddenly, Skarner's armor broke.
The yordle felt her nice seat suddenly breaking under her, so she jumped of it and looked at the statue again.
Instead of a fully blue crystal head, she now saw Skarner at his full might. Colors of purple and Blue combined upon his body while the tip of his tail shined with magic.
"PRETTY! SO THERE WAS SOMEONE HERE~!" She shouted, suddenly jumping on Skarners face, hugging it.
"... Please leave my face alone" He asked her politly, unsure of how to react to the event he saw.
She released her claws from him and looked again. His mouth was splattered with blood and a stench came from aside. "ewwww why does it stink here?"
"Err..." Skarner pointed at the direction, showing a pile pf bodies upon each other.
"Soooooo..." The yordle grabbed her stick "What are you?" She asked as a small Fairy-like creature sat over her shoulder.
Skarner, on the other hand, was in awe. He had never faced an intelligent adventurer before. He was so used to the shock and awe they bring as they see him, he had not expected a normal gesture to be presented to him instead.
He knew that there was no need for violence here, so he thought that he might as well talk.
"I am Skarner, The last of the Brackern. I defend this realm from all who wish to seek it, no one will get over me and reach it!" He made his point clear
"OK" She responded
For Skarner, it was a first. He had never seen someone as simple and polite before. No one started questioning him after he said this sentence, no one responded, even. Everyone either attacked him or ran away in fear.
'But this little one answered "ok"?!' he thought to himself 'She is either The Bravest one I have seen until know, or an absolute idiot!'
Lulu gazed at Skarner's body. "You're all so PRETTY AND SHINY! I bet you go all VROW VROW psssssssss PHPHPH!" She started waving her hands all over and making magical noises.
'An idiot.' Skarner understood after her last actions.
"And who are you, Yordle?" Skarner asked, wondering who is this idiot he is facing.
"I am Lulu! The Fae Sorceress!" She explained by waving her staff around. She then pointed the staff at the fairy on her shoulder "And this is Pix. Nice to meet you Skarner!"
"N..Nice to meet you too..."
"The Brackern..." She wondered "I haven't heard of them... Can you please tell me more about them, Skarner?"
"Em..." He mumbled, then Started.
He told her about the Brackern's history, about their intelligence and fierce, he told her about the crystal scar and his old home.
But then, he started speaking about The Noxious cloud. As he did, Lulu's eyes opened widely with shock, hoping to hear a happy ending.
Skarner spoke of the terrible sites he has seen and about the lose of his family, and at that point, he noticed Lulu's expression changing.
He saw her legs closing her face, her eyes closed and filled with tears, he saw Pain through every move of her body
A very familiar Pain at that.
Skarner stopped talking. "Lulu? Is everything alright?" He asked as she cried.
She suddenly went to him and hugged him, still crying.
"I..." She spoke, filled with snot and mucus "I also lost my family..."
Skarner looked at her as she grazed her head into his claw. She cleaned her nose with her sleeve. "So this is your home?" She asked
"I am a Vanguard by nature. I am here to defend." He said "I guess... I guess you can call it my home."
"It's a sad home... It's lonely." She said.
"It's fine..." He said while hugging her back.
"It's all going to be fine..." he pet her head gently with his small hand, But then, he heard a Screeching sound coming from under him.
The earth shaked around them and a massive amount of magic flew up from below.
"No..." He said, showing his feeling about what is about the happen. "Lulu, Run."
She lifted her head to look at Skarner, trying to understand his sudden change of heart. "What?" she asked
"RUN!" He commended, releasing her from his embrace. "Please, for me, RUN LIKE YOU HAVE NEVER RAN BEFORE!" He shouted.
Without a single more word, Lulu listened. She ran back to the far away stairs, into the direction of the outside.
Skarner was sad from the fact Lulu had to leave... But he knew that now he had bigger problems over his mind.
The ground around him started rippling and breaking apart. "Damnit!" He shouted, not sure what to do.
As Lulu exited the tomb to Skarner's protected realm, she looked around her.
For a second, she thought she was imagining, but the image she looked at was far more then her imagination.
For just a second, she saw an ancient civilization made of sand. People walking the streets, trading goods and talking.
For just a moment, she saw what was once a desert of death turned into a life-filled city.
And a second after that, She saw a giant sundisk floating above the reviving sand civilization.
All she could there, though, is keep running away.
Skarner ran inside the realm he was protecting.
"The time has come..." He spoke loudly to himself as he looked around him,
"The Ascendants have risen, And my life of solitude returns...
I wonder what would happen to the world now, after seeing the True might of Shurima"
He looked back at the gate he came from
"I hope she is safe..."
His voice echoed amongst the crumbling walls of rock, the sands whirled around him and were lost to the wind, as Shurima rose once more.