A/N: Italics and non-Italics represent two parts of the storyline for the separate parties.

Prologue:

'When the sun shines brightest, highest in all the days. With his power, shall he the city raise.'

A magical being of fire was sealed long ago in a magical sarcophagus, but now he was free. Freed by an unknown hooded man whom this being caught but a glimpse of. Free from his countless years of imprisonment underground, he stumbled upon a town in the middle of the desert. Feeling eager to relish in his powers of destruction once more, he shot balls of fire towards this city. As the buildings exploded, the inhabitants were frantically screaming and running for their lives. 'How futile…' thought Brand, as he knelt on one knee and placed his hands onto the ground before him, he felt his power surge. Closing his eyes, he concentrated on his fire. Suddenly his eyes flew open, burning with the most intense of flames as he looked towards the city. In an instant, the ground beneath the city heated up and started glowing molten red, and then it erupted. The city was engulfed in a pillar of flames. The screams died as the bodies of the people burned instantly. Brand stood and laughed as he watched the city burn, it was an evil laughter, one that promised of much more destruction. Soon there was nothing left except for the sand and dust charred black, where the city once stood. Brand was nowhere to be seen.

A day later, word of this destroyed city reached Shurima. Azir was the Emperor of Shurima at the time, and although young, he was studious and noble as he cared deeply for the people. Upon hearing this tragedy, he employed his most trusted warriors, prompted by his loyal advisor, to seek out the culprit of this destruction and bring him to justice. Nasus, the jackal-headed ascended being who guards the Great Library, and his younger brother Renekton, the Crocodilian ascended being who leads the army, left in search of Brand. Azir was not only young in age, he was also young in mind. He was able to make important decisions with the help of his trusted advisor, however this dependence also meant that Azir was easily impressionable.

The brothers made their way through the desert towards the destroyed city. The entire city itself had been reduced to cinders, sand and dust whilst the inhabitants became ashes that blew in the wind. It would have been impossible to find, had it not been for the column of smoke that still billowed from the ruins of the city. Upon arrival, Nasus and Renekton saw the wake of destruction that Brand was leaving. Their eyes glimmered with anger and hatred as they began their search for Brand before he laid waste to another city.

It was an uneventful day in the capital of Shurima, the sun disc floated high above the city as the sun beamed down. Azir was studying in the Great Library when his advisor, Xerath walked in.

"Emperor, please, you must not stay cooped up inside. It is a beautiful day today, you ought to be outside enjoying the great Shuriman Sun."

"Xerath, how many times have I told you not to call me Emperor? We have been friends longer than I can remember, you don't need to call me Emperor." Replied Azir.

"Sorry Emp… Azir, but it's tradition, and it's difficult to break away from. In any case, you really shouldn't stay inside too much, I think I can see you getting visibly paler." Teased Xerath.

"Nonsense, everybody else is working, so since I don't have any political issues to deal with, I figured that I shouldn't idle around either."

"Oh? So this is a personal endeavour? May I inquire as to what it is?" Asked Xerath.

"It's nothing big, I'm just learning more about Nasus and Renekton, their history fascinates me."

"Yes those two have been through quite a lot together haven't they? You know Azir… If you want to understand them better, you can undergo the ritual yourself." Suggested Xerath.

"The Ascension Ritual? Don't be ridiculous."

"No seriously, it will be the solstice in a couple of days, and I do believe that you are the 'He' in that old prophecy."

"Prophecy? You mean that saying, that's been passed down from generations never being written? The one talking about raising the city? Honestly, I don't believe in that, I have half a mind to believe it to be a hoax started by some mischievous child some generation ago." Replied Azir.

"Oh Azir, it's true that it has never been written, but I do believe that it's a real prophecy. After all the Augurs have been saying it since before we were born. I honestly believe that you could be the one, you love the people, you have great magical aptitude, and you have the support of the people. Everybody loves you, I am certain that you will be worthy for the Ritual of Ascension."

Azir seemed to ponder this for a while, when he finally looked up at Xerath and said, "I guess so, I'll meet with the Augurs immediately, to see my worthiness for myself."

As Azir looked back down to his open book, he missed the subtle glint in Xerath's eyes. A glint that betrayed his true intentions. A glint that showed ambition, jealousy, greed and betrayal.

"Brother, we have been walking for hours, are you sure the nearest town is this way?" Renekton asked Nasus in a slightly irritated voice.

"Yes, I have memorized the maps of this desert, I practically know it like the back of my hand. Brand was just released, who knows how he got free, but one things for sure. After so long being imprisoned he won't be smart enough to choose where he destroys. He'll just find the closest thing and burn it to ashes." Replied Nasus in a low sombre voice.

Nasus has continually been feeling a sense of unease ever since they had left to capture Brand. He keeps wondering what this feeling is, but in the end he attributed it to the danger before him, Brand and his fire.

"Brother, I see it!" exclaimed Renekton, interrupting Nasus' train of thought.

"There's the city, and it's still standing. Then we aren't too late!" said Renekton gleefully.

"The question then, is: where is Brand?"

Renekton began to move, but stopped his step. He felt an immense heat start radiating from a distant sand dune to their left. It was alien to the desert, it was hotter than the desert sun and carried with it an evil aura, one of killing intent.

"Brother, can you feel that?" asked Renekton.

"Yes, it's coming from that direction, let's hurry! He must be preparing his attack!"

The brothers sprinted in the direction of the magical aura, weapons in hand.

When Nasus and Renekton underwent the Ritual of Ascension, they both chose a weapon with which to accompany them for the rest of their lives. A connection that ran deep through the magic of the Ascension. Nasus had chosen a War Axe, it was almost as tall as he was, with a blade razor sharp, and a turquoise gem embedded in the middle of the axe head. Renekton had chosen a Bat'leth. This was a large curved blade with a handle in the middle. It too had a bright green gem embedded in the middle of the curved blade.

As Brand came into view, the brothers could see him kneeling preparing his attack. Renekton sprinted faster, ahead of Nasus and roared in rage. Brand heard the roar, turned and saw a crocodile man hurtling towards him. His expression soured as he turned to face them. He held a hand up and pointed it in the direction of Renekton, his eyes flared a brilliant flame as Renekton's scaly skin caught fire. Renekton roared, but ignored the pain in his anger. Renekton charged at Brand with his Bat'leth at the ready, reaching Brand he immediately began to launch a series of assaults. Slicing and dicing this way and that, but it didn't seem like Brand was fazed at all, his wounds just resealed itself with fire. Renekton saw Brand hold up his hand once more in his direction, and he charge in. Brand drew his arm back and threw a ball of fire at his attacker. It hit Renekton in the face and for a moment, he was blinded and dazed by the impact. Taking this opportunity Brand held his arms towards the ground where Renekton stood, and threw them into the air. Eyes burning with fire and rage, Brand watched as the ground beneath Renekton erupted and the crocodile was engulfed in a tall pillar of flames.

Renekton roared in pain as the fire's heat burned him through his scales. Seeing this Nasus pointed his hand at Brand and stared at him. His hand began emitting a purple glow and likewise, Brand's body also glowed in the same colour. Brand relished in the Ascended warrior's pain, so much that he failed to notice that he had two assailants, before it was too late. He immediately felt a debilitating wave of exhaustion hit him, his eye lids grew heavy as the fire in his eyes dimmed. He no longer had the strength to keep the pillar of flames going and as it stopped, Renekton was freed. He turned to see the source of this magic and with his remaining strength he held up his hands and collected a concentrated ball of pure evil fire. He screamed in defiance as he hurled the ball at Nasus who dodged out of the way thus releasing his spell of Withering. At that, Brand smiled and redirected the ball towards Nasus once more as he was freed from the spell. The Pyroclasmic ball hit Nasus square in the back and he grunted in pain, but Brand wasn't done. He then telekinetically moved the ball towards Renekton and proceeded to pummel the brothers with it. Brand had full control of the fire, and each time the ball hit either Nasus or Renekton, he would make it explode. Nasus, seeing the predicament they're in, held his War Axe and swung it at the ball. On impact, his Axe glowed purple as Nasus began to syphon the magic away from the Pyroclasm.

Nasus roared, "You like fire so much? How about this then!" and he span his Axe above his head and then pointed it in front of him towards Brand. The ground around Brand immediately lit up in a ring of bluish-purple fire. He recognised this from the last time they fought. This was how they sealed him in the first place. He panicked and started to run out but the magic prevented him from leaving the threshold, he tried to control the fire but couldn't and he didn't understand why. He controlled all fire, so why couldn't he control this? He was frantic, he didn't want to be sealed again so soon after being freed so he desperately hurtled fireballs towards Nasus.

"It's useless Brand." Nasus said coldly. "This fire is that of the spirits. The spirits of the people whom you murdered. You have no control over it. Nor will they allow you to escape. This is the end."

Brand screamed. "NO! I REFUSE! NO!", but dropping onto his knees as he screamed his defiance, the Spirit Fire began to spin.

Nasus watched quizzically for this was not his doing. He watched as the Spirit Fire span and coalesced around Brand, and then it began to enter him. Nasus and Renekton stared as Brand fused with the Spirit Fire and the result was nightmarish. Instead of the normal red of the flames, Brand was now burning with blue and purple. The colour of the Spirit Fire. His face covered with a mask, like a totemic mask, as he stood there.

"That's not possible." Whispered Nasus. He and Renekton both charged towards this Brand, if he could still be called Brand. Nasus had a feeling that there was a malevolent spirit who took advantage of the situation and Brand's desperation to possess him. Regardless, the brothers attacked. Bat'leth and War Axe met what would be flesh, but was instead incorporeal fire. Brand started burning them both, but this fire wasn't hot. It didn't burn the flesh. It burnt the soul. Nasus and Renekton were in immense pain, their souls were being destroyed, nevertheless they continued their onslaught. Seeing that physical attacks led to nowhere, the brothers made an alternate approach. They both concentrated and drew from the magic of the Ascension. The gems in Nasus' War Axe and Renekton's Bat'leth glowed turquoise and green respectively as the two brothers grew in size. Magic enveloping them both and sweeping up sand. They figured that if a physical approach would not work, then a magical one should. They attacked with their weapons now imbued with immense magic, and although the newly possessed Spirit Fire Brand held the weapons off momentarily with his magic, it wasn't enough. Nasus and Renekton both sliced him across the chest deeply, this wound did not heal, it couldn't. Brand screamed in pain as the spirits left his body, and he collapsed onto the sand unconscious.

Nasus and Renekton constructed a new prison for Brand, away from the city, in the middle of the desert. Sealing him underground once more and hoping that this time, nobody would find him. After this was done, the two brothers rested for a night, while they healed their wounds and in the morning began their journey back.