Title: Rise of the Thorns – Rebirth
Universe: League of Legends
Major Characters: Zyra, Sorceress Venefica
Author: Akernis
She hungered.
But this was nothing new. She remembered an aeon, long ago, when sustenance had been rich and aplenty in these fertile lands. But that was a time now long gone by.
Once, untold hundreds of seasons ago, she and her kin had been the undisputed sovereigns of this realm. Born of ancient arcane power of nature and life itself and dirking in surrounding magic like lesser beings might nectar their supremacy had been absolute; the apex above every of the myriad prey species roaming these dark and verdant jungles. Dominating their prey they had fed upon any and all creatures within their domain.
But in the end they had fallen to their own primacy, their power becoming their very undoing. They had slowly but surely hunted their prey to extinction. Eventually all living creatures of their realm had died out or fled the dread jungle's terrible trap.
With their prey gone she and her kin fell prey themselves, but to a far more insidious kind of enemy: hunger. The youngest but always the fiercest and most vigorous amongst them she had witnessed her kith and kin slowly withering and die until she alone remained, the only one of her kind left.
She had lived on, alone. But where once she had stood amongst her mighty kin, her presence and network of roots touching upon that of the others in dark harmony now only the lesser flora, the pale imitations of her kind surrounded her. Their lesser existence required only the barest of sustenance from the sun and water to live. She was the last, and with no longer any prey remained to be caught as it unknowingly wondered within her deadly reach she was also dying.
Suddenly she stopped reminiscing; something stirred at the edge of her awareness, drawing her attention and rousing her from her almost dream-like state. For the first time in years she sensed prey approaching. That alone was sufficient to awaken her, but even beyond that something was different about this one. It was not just some careless prey-animal wandering into its demise. She sensed will, intelligence and even power in this prey. Something she had not tasted for untold aeons.
Feeling her prey approaching closer she stirred slowly to life and with ageless patience she waited.
Even as she travelled deeper she could not stop marvelling at the magnificence surrounding her. It was without a doubt one of the most marvellous places she had ever experienced; the jungles were verdant and luxuriant beyond anything she had ever seen or even heard about above the Great Barrier; and even the Kumungu Jungle had not been this vibrant.
Wild and unrestrained plant growth covered ancient fallen ruins of times immemorial along with phenomenal waterfalls and springs created views that took the breath away while everywhere grew flora of the most vivid colouration and vibrancy imaginable. The place itself felt saturated with an almost palpable vitality that seemed to make everything more alive and the very air was pregnant with unprecedented inherent magic.
That last factor though was also the one that made the place so deadly.
The Plague Jungles more than lived up to their name but there where countless others dangers each of which was easily as lethal in their own right. The rampant and unrestrained magic that had been unleashed doing the Rune Wars had inflicted truly terrible devastation on the wider Valoran, particularly beyond the Great Barrier. But even compared to that the magic unleashed in the Plague Jungles had been particularly potent; and coalescing with the ancient intrinsic magic of the Jungles themselves the results had been cataclysmic.
The danger was everywhere, accented by the very beauty that hid it. Magical growth of plant and insect life had created monstrous entities that could inflict utter horror and agony in a myriad of distinctly unpleasant ways, and beyond that there was innumerable of other untold dangers; from the unnatural weather which bore little resemblance to the weather of the world anywhere else to the rampant magical plagues and diseases that seemed to almost possess a malicious intent of their own.
So far only Venefica's own potent magic had saved her doing several otherwise utterly lethal encounters.
But the powerful if dangerous magic was also the very reason for the sorceress's presence; her magical prowess were phenomenal in their own right but she sought to grow better, stronger and more skilled.
As she had always had a profound affinity for magic and been enthralled by the exalted Champions of the venerated League of Legends the young woman had originally studied and trained to become a Summoner. But as time passed on and her abilities prospered she had been ever more beckoned by her even deeper long-time dream of actually becoming a Champion herself.
However she knew that her powers must be honed for combat and that she needed more than simply magical expertise to make it in the League. So she had decided to travel and learn; first the more civilised City-states and areas of Valoran and then beyond the Great Barrier to hone her skills and abilities. She had felt drawn to the ancient sites of the dreaded Rune Wars to learn more about them and actually see for herself the terrible power of what she along with others would hopefully help prevent from ever occurring again. So she had been visiting several of Valoran's ancient runic battlefields and now found herself in the one she felt must be both the most stunning and terrible amongst them.
Venefica stopped shortly to rest. Careful not sit anywhere near the lethal indigenous flora she found a large stone that was only covered in a dark green moss-like substance that appeared reasonably harmless.
She took out a small pale stone in a long thin metal chain and held it over the vegetation. The stone was an enchanted amulet that would glow warm and bright green if it was near poison. Due to the ubiquitous toxins and venoms everywhere in this jungle the stone had been moderately warm and tinted in a faint green ever since she entered, but it did not become truly hot or glow brightly as she held it over the stone. That did not mean that it was harmless of course but she was fairly certain that this was as good a place as any to rest.
As she relaxed she noticed something rather odd. Beyond some faint bird calls in the far distance there was no sound of animal life at all. As she had entered the jungles they had been teeming with life. She had encountered or observed everything from small furry, if still perilous, critters to hulking monsters. As she had gotten closer in towards the heart of the jungles she realised that she had seen and encountered not more but less creatures the deeper she penetrated.
The lush plant-life was also denser here as if fewer beasts came here to keep the jungle in check. Particularly abundant were some strange viridian vines shot through with what looked like bright, almost emerald green veins. The vines crawled through and across the ground like roots but also up the trees and out along the branches and up into the canopy. Each vine was only a bit thicker than her thump but judging from some places where their presence had prevented trees from falling over they were rather strong despite that.
After having rested a while to recuperate her strength Venefica decided to move on, she brushed her voluminous brown hair away from her thin face and retied it back into a long ponytail before drinking some fresh water she had carried with her.
That was when she noticed the smell. She smelled a sweet fragrance in the air. The aroma was sweeter than anything she had smelled before. Though it had appeared subtle at first it now felt almost overpowering in its potency, sending a chill of euphoria through her.
Though as careful as always she rose from her position and began following the scent almost compulsively. Perhaps not so surprisingly it let her deeper into the heart of the jungles.
Following the scent for a good while, and she was not exactly sure whether it was minutes or hours or anywhere in-between, she noticed that the trees where thinning somewhat, not by much so that it became easier to move but noticeably enough that she wondered about it.
Continuing on the trail of the strange aroma she eventually came upon a glade in the jungle. The trees were still here but they surrounded a small valley and were forming an almost spherical hollow of sorts around and above it. But there was something different about this place; the trees were old, very old if their size and growth where any indication. Some of them were so colossal that they could well have housed an entire village of houses build in their branches. Only a few rays of sunlight penetrated the canopy that stretched over the glade like a roof and even these were mostly broken up by the leaves, creating a strange semi-illuminating golden-green ambience that made the enormous hollow seem somehow both welcoming and sinister at once.
Here the veined viridian vines where everywhere, snaking through and over every metre of the ground so that they formed a weave that practically obscured the ground; likewise they crawled up all the trees and spread across the canopy so that not a single branch, root or piece of bark seemed untouched by their presence. She also noticed that few of the vines here were as thin as those she had come across earlier, most of them were a bit thinner than her wrist and some were as thick as her upper arm, that was not the only difference though, quite a few of them, the thicker ones in particular sprouted long wickedly curved dark amaranthine thorns that ran in size from common thorns to that of small knives.
She did not know whether she was actually in the heart of the Plague Jungles but somehow that seemed a reasonable guess. The air in here felt pregnant with what felt almost like expectation. She realised that with the exception of her own breathing and heartbeat everything was completely silent. Not even an insect in the air or even a faint breeze of wind stirred the heavy air of the colossal glade; as if the very nature itself was holding its breath and waiting. She could feel a soft tickling across her skin from the intrinsic ambient magic that seemed to fill the air like the specks of light dancing across the green leaves and vines.
Looking around Venefica was stunned by the sight, where was something unnatural but at the same time magnificent about the place, an almost dream-like wonder hidden within the very heart of the jungles. Something was not right though. So far the most wonderful things in the Jungle had hidden the gravest dangers; but despite that she did not feel nervous or anxious, the sweet smelling scent that filled her nostrils was at its most potent here and had a calming, almost intoxicating effect on her.
Only then did she notice what lay within the centre of the hollow. At the centre of the weaving vine web at the middle of the glade was a plant.
The single most extraordinary plant Venefica had ever seen. Unique, that would be the first word that came to mind if she should describe it. The plant was huge; it resembled something between a tree and a flower. Though far shorter its central part was nearly as thick as that of a tree though it bore more resemblance to a flower-stalk than a tree trunk. It was a fiercely deep green colour and rather than hard and dry as bark looked fresh and supple like leaves, the golden light glistened clearly from its slightly moist surface. At the jungle floor the plant turned a green-veined viridian in colour and spread out into the vines encasing and touching everything within dozens of kilometres. Across the plant were an untold myriad of thorns of a rich dark purple the size of daggers that spread over its surface in a fearsome display. Between the thorns were several honey-colour rifts that shimmered with a soft amber radiance. Crowning the plant was the largest and most beautiful flower Venefica had ever seen. The open petals themselves were at least as long individually as she was tall and each practically glowed in a cascade of the most brilliant hues of red, purple and amaranth, highlighted by intricate deep blue patterns.
Venefica starred almost mesmerised at the wondrous plant for a good while before she realised that she was walking towards it.
Forcing herself to stop she became aware that in her dazzled state she had walked almost two-thirds the way across the glade. Confounded she wondered why she felt almost hypnotised and dizzy. She took a deep breath to steady herself but this only made the almost drowsy effect feel stronger. Not wanting to lose control of the situation she took out her bottle of water a splashed some of the fresh water in her face.
That helped, washing the intoxicating scent of the plant spores away from her, she felt her mind clearing. To make sure she did not fall prey to the insidious influence again she made to cast a spell to protect herself and keep her strong.
"Aquatia Fortunia" she intoned softly, guiding her magic with her words.
Her magic itself did not require vocal spells, and indeed it was not a technique in widespread use amongst Summoners or Champions, but it was the way she had found worked best for her as she could more easily direct the focused power and was now her practically exclusive methods of casting.
Immediately she felt fresh energy flowing through her and shortly thereafter her head stopped spinning and she could think clearly again.
Shaking her head once to clear the last trace of the effect she took a moment to wonder about her situation. She had sought the heart of the Plague Jungle thought she did not really know what she had expected to find there.
She was barely a stone-throw away from the plant and it was obviously special, possibly too much so to be ignored in her travels to study the effects of the Runes Wars. Though whether this entity actually was a result of those terrible magical cataclysms or perhaps even older still she did not know but it was certainly dangerous. The thorns alone were sufficient proof but the alluring scent it exuded was also worrying. But there was something else, something deeper; standing in its vicinity Venefica almost felt like she was being watched by something predatory or even malignant.
Deciding that at least for now discretion would be the better part of valour Venefica made to retreat enough for her to safely figure out how to proceed. However as she tried to take a step she realised that her feet would not move.
Glancing down she saw that vines had roped themselves around her feet and angles. She looked shocked at the vines, they were not moving but they had definitely not been coiled around her angles a short while ago. Suddenly rather anxious to be away from here Venefica drew the small but sharp dagger she had used often enough in her journeys before bending down and beginning to cut into the vines.
However the plants were far tougher than it appeared and her cutting barely even bit into the organic viridian material. As she cut away she saw very worryingly that the vines where not only tightening their grip but snaking further up her legs. It took several minutes to cut through the first vine securing her angle, but as it finally snapped several new ones had joined the first ones and a couple had reached as far as to her knees.
Feeling her fear rising rapidly Venefica sheathed her dagger and open her hand while holding the palm upwards.
"Aetherion Pyris" she chanted quickly and a brightly glowing sphere of ethereal flames appeared in her hand.
She threw the magical fireball down into the vines at her feet and instantaneously the plants were vaporised in a fiery hiss of magical energy.
The vines did not take kindly to that however and before she could react the ground seemed to almost explode as it became alive with dozens or even hundreds of vines that sprouted from it with a ferocious aggression far closer to predators than flora. Some of the tendrils twisted across the ground towards her while others rose into the air like serpents poised to strike before lashing out towards her with almost blinding speed.
Jumping away she tried to avoid the striking plants but it was useless; there was far too many and they were far too fast. The vines quickly snared themselves around limps or her body and she had to blast them apart with spells from small blast like the one she had used in the beginning to greatly more powerful ones that incinerated entire groups of the fell tendrils at once. Some of the vines also spotted thorns which caused vicious lacerations across her skin that she could barely spare the mana to heal.
As she blasted another couple of the vines to cinders an unseen one lashed in from behind and coiled itself forcefully around her neck. Almost choking she only just managed to gasp out an incantation.
"Tran... Transcendio"
In a soft blue light Venefica phased through the plant binding her and fell forward to the ground. Quickly scrambling to her feet she tried to back away from the malicious tendrils. Her skin was coated in a sheen of sweat and she knew she would not be able to perform that spell again anytime soon, or any spell for that matter if kept this up for long.
She had gotten herself a slight breathing space but as she cast a glance of her shoulder she realised how treacherous that small glimmer of hope actually was. Throughout the fight the vines had pressed her back, step by faltering step she had been unknowingly driven towards the vast plant in the centre of the glade which even now loomed above her, barely more than half a dozen metres away.
She had scarcely more time than a single furious heartbeat before the vines were upon her again; rising from the ground and either trying to bind her fast or to physically wound her with cruel and fierce lacerations. Destroying yet another thorned stem as it attempted to ensnare her she realised that there was no way she would ever be able to win against these vines like this. There was simply too many of them.
"Tempestis Vindicare" she screamed in desperation.
A flurry of magical lightning leapt forth from the young woman to engulf and incinerate the closest stems and a good deal of those beyond.
Turning around in her brief respite Venefica looked at the fearsome flower at the centre of the hollow behind her.
"Sure hope this works" she said to herself before she collected her mana for an attack.
"Aetherion Infernium" she yelled as she sent a blast of pure burning magical power screaming towards the terrible plant.
The spell struck the plant straight in its vast stalk-like section where the magical attack exploded in a powerful magical detonation. However as the spell vapour cleared she saw to her dismay that the great plant was barely even lightly wounded with only a few missing thorns and a small amount of amber liquid bleeding down the stalk from the impact to indicate any kind of inflicted damage.
Whether because she had angered it or because it knew that she was vulnerable the plant itself now intervened in the battle. From several of the honey-golden slit-like rifts between its thorns sprang long vicious vines. But these were not like the untold thousands lesser ones surrounding her. They were a dark green in colour and each spotted dozens of knife-sized deeply purple thorns and at the end of each were a single thorn easily the size of a long spearhead.
With a near inhuman speed the dark vines speared out towards her and she frantically attempted to throw herself away and out of their reach. She was nearly fast enough. One of the vines passed right over her arm, the wicked thorns slicing cleanly through her light but strong leather armour and leaving several long and deep lacerated wounds across her arm. But even worse she felt a burning sensation tear through her veins in searing agony and realised that these thorns were toxic. She did not know what kind of toxin it was but she feared that it might even be inherently magical in nature and she was sure it was utterly lethal.
Muttering the incantation she channelled healing magic through herself to counteract the effect of the toxin and heal the wounds. The lesser vines closed in again as well and she could quickly feel herself weakening from the strains as she blasted vines apart with destructive spells; but though the lesser vines vaporised when they were hit the dark ones from the plant itself only sustained mild damaged and temporarily pulled back when struck.
There were so many tendrils around her now that it was impossible to fight them all. She felt them snaking around her legs and body and as soon as she managed to remove one another two took its place. As a couple of the tendrils snared around her angles and shins and pulled her down she fell hard to her knees on the ground and screamed in pain as one of the viridian tendrils snaked around her midriff where its non-poisonous but sharp thorns bit deep. More and more of them were binding her in their vicious grasp, snaking around her bound legs or up around her body. She could barely even remove any of anymore as she had to concentrate all her attention and magic just keep more away but it was a hopeless task.
Tears of fear and pain stung in her eyes as one of the dark vines sent her falling to the ground; only barely managing to avoid being completely overwhelmed she sent several basic spell blasts at the attackers, it was not enough to get free but just enough to get back up to her knees again. She destroyed a further couple of the tendrils before she saw a pair of the dark vines rising before her.
She summoned her mana for a spell to drive them back or even destroy them before they could strike; but the plant was learning.
"Aetherion Infer– Mmmmphhh!"
Her words were cut off as a vine that had crawled up her back and neck sprang forth from beneath her hair and coiled itself tightly over her mouth.
Immediately her hands flew to her face as she clawed at the vine gagging her. But it was useless; the plant was too strong and would not relinquish its grasp.
She felt the vine excrete a viscous resin-like substance that flowed across her mouth and plastered her lips firmly sealed shut.
As her control of magic was verbal in nature silenced she could not cast spells with any degree of power that could help her.
Venefica eyes widened in terror as she saw the malicious plant lashes descend upon their helpless victim. Though she did her best to resist several vines coiled themselves around her arms, pinning them to her sides and rendering her practically immobile. She struggled terrified but the fight was lost; with both her arms and legs secured it only took the tendrils mere seconds to make sure that she was completely helpless before they dragged her towards the terrible plant itself that waited like a monstrous bladed spider in the heart of its dark writhing organic web.
Unable to resist she felt the sharp sting of long razor thorns piercing her skin in her shoulder, midriff, thighs and chest and she knew that the dark vines had also wrapped themselves around her. She screamed in pain but no sound escaped her. She soon felt the magical toxin flow rapidly through her veins. Mercifully the powerful poison seemed to act so fast that the initial searing agony quickly faded and she felt only darkness taking her. Her last thoughts as she looked up at the plant that was taking her life for its own was of her now lost dream of becoming a Champion of the League of Legends.
Zyra felt her prey go limb as the toxin entered its body; as its struggling ceased she dragged it towards her in order to feed. The prey had fought fiercely to escape but in the end she had overwhelmed her unwary foe with ease.
She felt her form seethe with anticipation, the desire to satiate the hunger that burned through her was tantalizingly enticing. But there was also something else compelling her; some other, deeper instinct that she could feel but not entirely place.
Drawing in her prey she began to feed, consuming it and siphoning its life for her own. But as she savoured what might very well have been her last meal something unexpected happened.
Foreign Images poured through her mind along with sounds, smells, tastes and sensations. Memories that were not her own saturated her psyche. At first they were incoherent and disjointed, but soon they came with ever great speed and lucidity, their presence adding coherence, relevance and context to each other; like the pieces of an unfathomably complex puzzle resolved itself before her. She saw countless things but the most important amongst which were great jungles of steel and stone, home for myriads of people beyond counting who lived and thrived.
Then suddenly she felt an even stronger sensation. Potent magic surged through her veins bringing with it an unprecedented vibrant vitality. She felt the raw power flow through her. The prodigious magic of the former ex-summoner sorceress intertwining and merging with as well as enhancing the inherent magical essence of her kind becoming a power far greater than the sum of its parts; augmented further by the innate arcane energy she had through aeons siphoned from the rune wars' legacy left in the jungle's very air.
As she drank in the invigorating sensation of the power that bloomed to life inside her she felt an ancient desire stir within. For aeons Zyra had longed to take control of her own fate, and now at the near edge of her demise she had the opportunity to achieve it. Inspired by the memories of her consumed prey she devised an elegant but risky plan to survive; to transfer her consciousness into a human-shaped vessel; a form capable of assuming control of her own destiny.
Seething with power she poured her newfound magic into the creation of her new form.
The ancient plant's petals folded in upon themselves as the flower closed. Soon unbelievable arcane power flowed through it. The petals seemed to become brighter and more vibrant with every passing second, as if they drank in all the power and growing stronger with it.
From dozens of kilometres out the deadly vines began to lose their viridian patina before starting to shrivel and wither as their vitality and energy was being drained to something vastly more crucial. One by one the millions of vines died, releasing their stranglehold upon untold thousands of other plants as their life retreated back to their creator who needed the life of her semi-sentient children, and whose call they readily and keenly answered.
Soon magical light of the most brilliant hues of green, blue, red, purple and gold shone forth through the bright petals and illuminated the hollow within; casting into relief the outline of a feminine humanoid shape lying in foetal position.
Reaching the peak in the luminous metamorphosis at last the petals split open to reveal the figure within.
Zyra rose and opened her eyes
Eternally young and never-aging she was as ravishingly enchanting and terrible as nature itself.
She was tall, slender and lithe of build; though while humanoid she was clearly not human. A seamless fusion of plant and person her skin – both where it was human fair and flora green or purple – gleamed with a glossy lustre of subsurface scattering. Her head was crowned by twin pairs of petal-like growths that rose in the air like tall sharp ears from behind which long deep amaranth coloured hair fell down her back in thick waves and appeared to possess an almost leaf-like quality and intermittently seemed to brighten to a brilliant red or deepen to a rich purple. Her alluring eyes were vividly golden and glowed like the sun shining through amber while her full rose-coloured lips concealed small but razor sharp fangs in mirror of her predatory nature. At each of her shoulders spread a flower of outwards-pointing petals from the centre of which a long sinuous dark green vine filled with terrible purple thorns coiled threateningly around her arms in an even more dreadful legacy of her former self.
Zyra gazed forth, for the first time she beheld the world as the creatures of flesh and blood did. And though she was a unique creature only partially one of them she was struck by the sheer wondrous beauty of the world around her: so visceral, so tantalizing, and so alive.
As she looked around in the glade she saw that not a single of the tendrils that had once made up the vast web of wines remained and the mythological plant itself that had once been her had lost all its vivid colour and vivacity. Its own vines withered, its thorns hardened to fragile and desiccated empty shells, its flower petals faded to a dry yellow and the plant itself a dead wood-like brown. Only as she saw the shrivelled remains her former self did it occur to her how vulnerable she had become; if this body died there would be not vine network to retreat through, no roots to regrow her .
But it did not matter: for the first time in her life she felt free and truly alive.
Feeling the sensations of her new self Zyra was overwhelmed by the sheer raw power ready and available at her fingertips, her magical essence an intrinsic part of her, as elemental and primal as the waves of the ocean or lightning from the sky and as natural to her as breathing was to the people of this world. She was a physical incarnation of the terrible ferocity of nature made manifest.
A dark smile crept across her lips. She was reborn, and there was so much now within her grasp.
Zyra threw her head back and laughed. Her hauntingly sirenic voice sending balefully reverberating echoes resonating through the Plague Jungles, seemingly vibrating with insidious resonance through the roots, branches, vines and leaves.
As the echoes faded Zyra stalked from the glade that had been her home and prison. Having gained a second life she knew of the world out there and it was hers for the taking.
But she also saw in her mind the most significant location within her victim's memories, a place where she could grow stronger, where she could bloom and thrive.
The League of Legends.