Prelude to an End
Syndra yawned and rested her head on her desk. At the front of the classroom, the arch mage continued his droning lecture about magic manipulation. Boring. She thought as she drew invisible circles on her desk with her hand. Moments later, Syndra felt a furious glare being fixated on her from the arch mage at the front of the room. Syndra didn't even bother looking up or pretending like she was paying attention. She didn't care one bit. Basic magic manipulation was boring. So very boring…
"And perhaps Syndra would like to demonstrate this concept that we have been covering for the past two hours?" The arch mage questioned suddenly and loudly.
"What?" Syndra replied, still uninterested. She shifted her head slightly so that the arch mage was in her field of vision
"Ah, you see Syndra, you should pay attention, that way you would know what we are-"
"No, what do you want me to do." Syndra interrupted rudely with a tone of nonchalance.
"A movement spell, one that would be easy for someone that pays-" Syndra interrupted the man again by reaching out with her right hand. Pointing her hand in the direction of an empty chair, Syndra called the chair, willing it to move at her accord. Syndra clenched her hand. Immediately, the chair shuddered as it were being held by an imaginary hand. Then, Syndra promptly moved her hand straight towards the arch mage. The action sent the chair zooming across the room and knocking directly into the back of the mage's legs. The man gave a yelp of surprise as his legs buckled and he landed in an awkward sitting position in the chair. He blinked, stunned with surprise. Small chuckles arose from the room as the other students suppressed outright laughter. Syndra sighed and turned her head back away from the mage.
"Boring…" She muttered. The arch mage's face turned beet red, utterly defeated by Syndra's innate ability to wield magic. The mage promptly leapt back to his feet and furiously continued his lecture as though he were pretending that the event had never occurred. Syndra sighed as she tuned out the man's voice and let her mind drift aimlessly. This was her second year at battle training, yet she felt like she had accomplished nothing. Everything they taught her, she picked up immediately whether she tried to or not. Realistically, there was only one reason she stayed at the school, and that was her one and only friend Irelia. Syndra lifted her head and gazed out of the window, straining to see the soldier's training grounds located opposite to the mage's quarters. –Ring- the sound of bells in the distance snapped Syndra out of her daze; classes were over for the day. Syndra immediately got out of her seat and hurried out the building.
The moment Syndra got out of the mage's compound, she immediately headed over to the battle coliseum in the warriors training grounds. There was already a match going on when Syndra entered the coliseum, a young girl in her late teens versus a large burly male in his early twenties. Syndra smiled at the match up, already knowing who would win. The male clearly had brute force and strength on his side, but what the girl lacked in pure power, she made up with nimble dexterity and speed. At the moment, the male had the advantage, he had the girl pinned against the wall and was hammering heavily on the shield on her left arm.
"Rah!" The male suddenly roared and swung down with his sword, using both hands. The blow was so heavy that the shield shattered under the pressure. Instantly, the crowd roared with approval, their expectation for the man's victory drawing near. But Syndra knew better, this was going to be an upset. The girl, suddenly free of the bulky and burdening shield on her left arm instantly ducked beneath the man's next blow. The crowed "ooh'd" and "ah'd" with exhilaration as the girl danced between the man's hammer blows. Finally, the man grew impatient as none of his attacks even forced the girl to block. Recklessly, he charged forward with a massive overhand cleave. Opening Syndra thought subconsciously. Indeed, the girl capitalized on the man's impatience. With blinding speed, the girl sidestepped the blow and counterattacked with a ferocious knee straight into the man's gut. The force of the blow combined with the man's downward momentum completely winded him. He collapsed to the floor on all fours, gasping for air. The crowd instantly shot to its feet and roared with surprise, calling for the girl to finish the fight. They expected the girl to severely injure the man with her sword as tradition usually dictated, but she didn't comply. Instead, she drew a small dagger from her waist and pricked the man's skin, drawing a few droplets of blood. The crowd immediately went silent.
"By rule of first blood drawn, the winner is Irelia!" A booming voice echoed over the stadium. Instantly, the crowd roared booed as their bloodlust went unsatisfied. The girl threw off her armored helmet and shook out her hair. She immediately turned to her downed opponent and offered to help him up. He snarled and swatted the hand aside.
"You cheated" The man finally growled at her "You made me destroy your shield so you would have an advantage." Irelia shrugged in response before replying:
"In the battlefield, I'm allowed to discard my shield along with anything that weighs me down." Irelia continued "You had the advantage walking into this match. Don't complain about bring yourself down, blockhead." With that, Irelia turned away from her downed opponent and walked swiftly into the locker room.
Syndra was waiting outside the coliseum when Irelia came strolling out of the doors. Immediately, Syndra felt happier when her gaze fell upon the blossoming young woman. As Irelia reached Syndra, the two turned and began walking together. It was an odd sight, the two girls walking together. Although they were both eighteen years old, that number was about the only thing similar about the two girls aside from the color of their hair. On one side, Syndra came from a fairly dark background. Her parents, whom she had never met, abandoned her as a newborn infant in front of a foster home. Later, she was discovered to harness an incredible amount of latent magic ability, a fact that would eventually serve to isolate her. Irelia, on the other hand, came from a wealthy family. Though she did not know her mother well, her father was an incredibly famous and well known blacksmith. This in turn made her equally famous and well known. Indeed, she was quite popular among her peers. The contrast between the two was none more apparent than in their vastly different personalities. Syndra was a dark and brooding type, usually taking interest in darker, more violent material, while Irelia was a lighter hearted and fun-loving person. Perhaps it was the contrast between their personalities that made their friendship so strong, perhaps it was something else. Regardless, the two had become almost inseparable over their past several years of friendship.
"I watched your match earlier." Syndra finally spoke up, after a few minutes passed in silence.
"Oh?" Irelia replied, somewhat absentmindedly.
"I knew you were going to win." Syndra continued almost smugly. Irelia smiled in response, but didn't reply. Suddenly, Irelia turned and bear-hugged Syndra from behind. Syndra yelped in surprise and cried out,
"'Relia! Stop it!" Syndra laughed aloud.
"There! That's better!" Irelia replied with a large smile on her face. "Stop being so mopey!" Irelia took both of her hands and pinched Syndra's cheeks, pulling upwards and creating an exaggerated smile on Syndra's face. Syndra pulled away, looking slightly flustered. She smiled slightly, but tried to cover it with a small cough. The two rounded a corner and paused briefly to look at a news stand on the corner. It was not updated, still displaying word the Ionian defeat at the hands of Noxus from the previous week. There was a picture of the Ionian commander of the battalion that had been defeated. He was still missing in action. Irelia gave a small sniff of disappointment as though she was hoping that the commander was still alive. Syndra looked away, disinterested with the entire war.
"Ah, excuse me ladies" A voice spoke from behind the pair. It was a messenger. "Parcel for… actually, both of you. How convenient!" The man exclaimed happily, though he deliberately avoided making eye contact with Syndra.
"What is it?" Syndra questioned dubiously. She never got mail and was unaccustomed to receiving it.
"No idea, but its official." The man replied nervously as he pointed at the red Ionian seal that held the letter closed.
"Well, better run, lots more to deliver!" The man quickly continued, eager to get away from Syndra. Immediately, he turned and hurried down another street.
The two girls simultaneously opened their letters. The message was the same:
In observance of outstanding performance in training, you are hereby ordered to report to the boundary forest, coordinates (624,800) for advanced tactical training. Orders are effective immediately.
The letter was stamped at the bottom with an official Ionian seal of approval. Syndra groaned out load.
"I wanted food first…" she complained lazily
"Oh c'mon Syndra, it can't be that bad…" Irelia replied.
