By the time Ezreal made it back to mid lane, fatigue began to tug on his muscles. The game had been going on for a long time already. Tension mounted as the teams became more and more deadlocked – the kills were even, and neither group of Champions could take the other's inhibitors.
A bead a sweat rolled from Ezreal's temple to his tightly-clenched jaw. "Ryland. Wards? We need vision on river."
"Right, right. Sorry." His companion glanced at him apologetically. Ezreal could read the nervousness in Ryland's stormy gray-green eyes, and sighed internally. Having a nervous Support was potentially fatal.
"Relax," he muttered from the side of his mouth as he began firing on the wave of minions in mid. Lissandra was clearing top, he knew. Their jungler, Cho'Gath, was securing red and getting vision on dragon, and Darius was busily slaughtering minions at the base of their tier-one bottom tower.
Maybe that's why Ryland's nerves were running so high. Being on the same team as your father couldn't be easy, especially not when your father was a competitive combatant like Darius. Victory had come so easily to the Hand of Noxus in real warfare that he didn't take losing a game easily.
Ezreal kept an eye on Ryland as he edged to the front of the minion wave, ignoring their tiny shots of spherical energy. He unhitched a Vision Ward from his belt and placed it in the bush with shaking hands.
And yelped.
Ezreal flinched when an enormous green ball of slime launched itself towards Ryland. "Run!" he shouted. He wanted to Arcane Shift, but decided to save it. Ryland was knocked back by the behemoth. He flashed.
"Come to me!"
"I'm trying!"
From the corner of his eye, Ezreal saw Darius emerge behind him, swinging his axe. It sliced through Zac's hide in long, smooth strokes. Lissandra followed soon after.
"Caitlyn's behind him!" Ryland called, and pointed behind Zac's quivering form. Ezreal made eye contact with the other Carry. She looked decidedly smug. Nami sat beside her, tail-fins shivering with anticipation.
"Where's Cho'Gath?"
"He's coming," Darius called. He and Lissandra were struggling to keep Zac and Volibear at bay, the latter who had come charging from behind at Ezreal. Ryland released his Void Wolf – it pinned Volibear down, stopping his assault. Then the Support launched himself in front of Ezreal, making it difficult for Caitlyn to aim her long-range attacks.
That's when Cho'Gath came roaring down mid with Homeguard boots, incredibly speedy and enormously terrifying. He screeched to a halt in front of the team and roared so loudly the ground shook.
"Go get Caitlyn! We've got this!" Darius called. He gestured with his axe towards the slim retreating form of the sniper. Ezreal hesitated, unwilling to go past the tanky front line. But Ryland tugged his shirt sleeve.
"No one's focusing us," he murmured. "Come on."
Nervously, he and Ryland crept through the river. The sound from Lissandra, Darius and Cho'gath pounding on Volibear and Zac hurt his ears. And where was the enemy's mid?
Ezreal found out when he walked into an unwarded bush and got a Shockblast to the face. He staggered back, his face tingling.
"Oh shi –" Ryland began, throwing a ward into the nearest bush, revealing Jayce, Caitlyn, and Nami. He and Ezreal darted past Nami's bubble and began focusing Caitlyn. She bobbed and weaved like a snake, constantly shifting behind Jayce.
"Just get Jayce!" Ryland shouted, irritated. The Defender of Tomorrow smirked and leapt in the air, only to bring his hammer crashing onto Ryland's back. Ryland loosed a Void Wolf to slow his assault even as he fell to the ground.
Ezreal gritted his teeth, focused on dueling Caitlyn and Nami. He sidestepped the surging tidal wave that came roaring towards him and countered with a Trueshot Barrage. Nami went down first, flopping. Then Caitlyn.
His vision pulsing with red, he turned back to Ryland's struggle with Jayce.
Ryland's body was glowing white, pulsing with energy. Ezreal bit his lip. The shift between his sets of abilities made him vulnerable – a bold move.
He Arcane Shifted towards Jayce to distract him and fired a Mystic Shot squarely at his hips, trying to give Ryland time. The playboy staggered back, but quickly turned his attention to Ryland.
Both Ezreal and his Support gritted their teeth, bracing for the final blow.
Then Darius pulled Jayce away and immediately brought his axe down. Jayce's cry of surprise was cut short by a wet splatter.
Silenced reigned for the first time in the past hour. It left Ezreal's ears ringing harshly.
Darius cocked his head. He looked ghoulish – his dark, Noxian armor was spattered with blood and gore, his dark hair matted with remnants of his foes. Though the carnage on Summoner's Rift wasn't permanent, it could still be visually devastating.
He reached down for Ryland's hand. After a moment, Ryland took it and allowed Darius to pull him to his feet.
"Good job out there," was all Darius said. He turned and walked away.
Ryland bit his lip. He knew the three-person ambush was his fault for not having enough ward coverage. If Darius hadn't appeared, the trade would've gone disastrously.
Better not to dwell on it. Ezreal tapped his shoulder. "Come on, let's get bot. The game's almost over."
The rest of the match was practically effortless. Since the stalemate had dragged on for so long, the death timers had already reached more than a minute. It was simple for Ryland to buff Ezreal's attack speed, allowing them to take bottom turret and inhibitor. Darius took mid. Though Cho'Gath and Lissandra had perished in the exchange, it was still a good trade.
Ezreal's team had just started wrangling the Baron Nashor when the enemy nexus exploded. A surrender.
The Prodigal Explorer clasped Ryland's shoulder as they made their way towards the exit of The Rift. Despite the victory, Ryland still looked down, and was obviously upset by his mistakes. Aside from the ambush, they had failed to secure dragon a few times because he was out of wards at crucial moments.
"Ward coverage is something you always have to work on," Ezreal murmured. "It's alright, man."
Ryland sighed harshly, running his fingers through his night-black hair. "I almost got you killed."
"There will always be wins and losses." Ezreal smiled. "That's what Soraka would tell you."
"Support's a lot of responsibility, isn't it? If I mess up, you die, and we all know the carry's the most important."
"Hmmm?" Ezreal frowned. He was listening, but half of his mind was occupied by thoughts of Lux. That match had been the last one of the day. Now he was free to be with the woman he loved. Aloud, he said, "It's a team game. There are five people for a reason. Your job does have a lot of responsibility, but I wouldn't say I'm the most important person…everyone has to do well, you know?"
"Yeah." Ryland's smile was wistful. "Thanks for being understanding."
"No problem. Want to get dinner with Lux and me?"
"I'll see if Kat's up to it."
"How's she been lately? I haven't seen her."
"She's been a little upset that she's not a top pick of the Summoners right now. I can kind of understand, but there's so many Champions…"
"Some of us have to go unpicked, yeah." Ezreal readjusted his goggles. "That sucks, though. I think I'd be happy if I wasn't chosen as often."
"She just gets bored. And I think she might be jealous that I'm more popular right now." Ryland blushed slightly. "Anyways, I'll go get her. Where do you want to meet?"
"In the mood for Central Fountain?" Ezreal yawned and stretched. He waved to a group of Summoners passing by with a smile.
"Definitely. See you in about an hour."
"Wait a sec." Ezreal tugged the sleeve of Ryland's Rift costume. The clothiers had toned it down a little bit – he wasn't entirely clad in armor, and his clothing sported more silver than black. "Seriously. Don't let your mistakes get to you."
Ryland blinked. "Wh –"
"I know you dwell on things. It makes you play worse. Just relax tonight, alright?"
"Yes, sir."
Ezreal snorted. Ryland hurried away, as eager to see Katarina as he was to see Lux. Though Ez was tired, the thought of Lux's blue eyes made him walk a little faster.
"Zandred, you have someone to see you, sir."
Zandred looked up from the list of Summoners on his desk to find Erinae tugging nervously on the end of her hair. His apprentice was currently in the process of growing her short blonde hair out, and now looked like some incredibly feminized version of Ezreal. Her bangs were constantly flopping into her eyes, something that Zandred loved to tease her about.
Zandred couldn't focus on the state of her tresses just then. The look on her face told him that whoever the visitor was, they weren't bringing good tidings.
"Very well. Send them in."
When the visitor came in, Zandred had to clamp his lips very tightly shut to keep a gasp contained. Shock reverberated throughout his skull, tingling in his bones.
The figure in front of him was a man, a barbarian in the same vein as Tryndamere most likely.
He was tall and broadly built, boasting muscles as large as a boar.
But his skin was tinted a frosty blue, and his black beard had traces of mossy green in it. His eyes were so black that the irises had disappeared into a great, benighted mass.
Seeing Zandred's look of surprise, the visitor hurriedly put his right fist over his left shoulder – the Demacian standard of peace.
Zandred steepled his fingers, trying to quiet his thudding heart. "Ah…hello. How may I help you?"
The barbarian took a deep breath. When he spoke, his voice grated like two large boulders grinding together. "The North is breaking. The land of daylight has become night again...We couldn't fight it, and we are a proud people. I am the last of them. They tell me to come here for help."
The hair on Zandred's neck began to prickle. Oh my, this is almost never good.
"What's wrong?"
"It is coming. It is coming here," the barbarian sighed, then collapsed.
Erinae gaped down at their fallen visitor, soft mouth open in shock. She looked to Zandred, mouth still unclosed. "What do we do?"
Zandred shook his head sadly. Ah, well, peace never lasts forever. "Bring me Tryndamere, Ashe, Lissandra and Sejuani. Then bring me the top ten Summoners."
"Anyone else?"
"Oh, yes." Zandred put his head in his hands. It is coming... "Bring me Ezreal and Ryland, too. I'm sure we'll need them."
