Disclaimer: I own nothing and make no money from this work. Anything recognizable to the League of Legends and its associated parts belongs to Riot Games and affiliated companies.
Warning: Strong language, blood and gore, incest and sexual theme.
Chapter 1: The Fall of an Empire
Freljord, the land of freezing cold winds and vicious ice storms, is located in the northenmost of Valoran. This remote land is the home of fifty thousand people, and because of its unique weather, prisoners from all places of Valoran are sometimes taken to this place under army escort, they are exposed to the fierce winds, forced to kneel down the cold snow, the torturing only ends when all the information is extracted or someone died of a frozen lung.
Even the people here struggle for life during the winter of their motherland.
The shortage of food was the cause of two hundred deaths in the past week, the leaders must do something. Demacia was offering its massive aid, and three leaders knew too well that they would have a big price to pay after this aid, giving up the western part of Freljord for a hundred tons of food was not a good deal after all.
"We have the magic that makes your people immortal, we can give you the power that no one in Runeterra has ever possessed, we can together rule the Valoran, your loyalty is all we need."
The voice echoed in the Queen's Palace room where three young leaders were seating in their own ice thrones. Standing in front of them is a 3 meters tall, humanoid creature, its blue eyes was glowing and its long white hair was covering the human-shaped body. The Frozen Watchers is a rare race living in the remotest pine forests in southern Freljord, none knew why they came to existence.
"I know your people are starving to death, we knew these days would come, and here they are, harsh and unforgiving storms are raging… We have been offering you our help for three years, and this is your last chance, the Frozen Watchers have limited patience."
Avarosa, the eldest of three and also, the leader of the Frost Archer's tribe, was leaning back on her throne with fingers on her temple, she knew that the Frozen Watchers did not offer their help for no reason, and loyalty is not cheap. Alliance, as the Watchers said, is just a fancy word of slavery. She knitted her brows in deep thoughts.
Unlike the queen, Lissandra, the leader of the Ice Dervish, was sitting still in the smaller ice throne with her sparkling eyes wide opened when she heard the Frozen Watcher mentioned magic. Magic is a thing that Lissandra had been dreaming of as a child. She wanted to get rid of her vunerable body, therefore, the ability to control other people with magic is, to her, an invaluable gift. The young mind had come to a decision.
Not paying any attention to her older sisters, Serylda just sat still in her throne with left hand holding her chin. Her eagle eyes was hiding behind platinum hair strands, searching for the evidences, she can see the dark within the Frozen Watcher's glowing eyes, telling her that she should not trust this creature. Her instincts had never been wrong, and this time should not be an exception, she hoped.
Despite three young leaders have differrent personalities and ways of thinking, they share the same royal blood. Their mother and father, who were the first Queen and King of Freljord, had set their feet to discover this winter land before anyone else. After the King had passed away in a chaotic war with Noxus in Western Freljord, princess Avarosa, their oldest daughter who was just fifteen at that time, was announced to be the heir to the throne.
Her sisters, princess Lissandra and princess Serylda, had no envy towards the power of their sister, now their Queen – Avarosa. However, the need of developing their unique skilled army to protect their motherland was urging them to establish their own tribes.
Under Avarosa's approval, Lissandra's people passed the Ironspike Mountain to the north-east of Freljord, the place is famous for its deep ice valleys and kilometers of permafrost. The people named their tribe the Ice Dervish and their city Rakelstake. The people preserve used weapons and, sometimes, dead bodies of their allies and enemies in permanent ice layer to make deep studies about the outside world. The Valoran is big, and having a good understanding of it is vital. That was what Lissandra thought of when she picked out the wisest people to join in her tribe.
While Lissandra led her tribe to the north-east, Serylda together with her strongest warriors went to the north-west of Freljord to form the Winter's Claw tribe. Even the snowflakes here attack humans with their sharpest edges, the eternal winter and raging snow storms do not favour any survival. And that was an ideal place for Serylda to train her most powerful warriors. Also in this land they found the wild horse-sized boars, which later became their assistants in transportation and warfield.
The peaceful time passed so fast, it had been three years since the sisters' last meet. Now, they had to make the greatest decision of their life, should they follow the Frozen Watchers, or throwing their prople's lifes away in the neverending blizzards?
'Clearly, the first option is better, and I can change it later', wild thoughts appeared on Avarosa's head.
"The choice is yours, Queen Avarosa, but I would suggest the best thing for our people is to follow the Frozen Watchers, it does not take anything precious from us." Princess Lissandra finally spoke out her opinion, her cyan eyes were still locked in the humanoid creature with great interest, while the princess's hands were caressing her white braided hair.
"And how about you, Serylda?" Avarosa could feel her sister's unfriendly attitude towards the Frozen Watchers' representative. Serylda removed her hand from her chin to rub her boar's head, her face showed no emotion, "Do whatever you consider to be the best for our people, Queen."
Avarosa let out a long sigh before she turned to face the Frozen Watcher.
"Tell the elderly Frozen Watchers that they can come to see me at the Royal's Hall next week."
"Wise choice, Queen Avarosa."
The Frozen Watcher's body turned into floating snowflakes and was slowly fading away down the hall.
Lissandra
Wandering around the Spiritswood is a way of Lissandra to relieve her tensions. She could hear the echoed voices of Frozen Spirits and see small glowing dots sitting on the oaks' leafless branches. The Frozen Watchers well kept their promise. Lissandra could feel the significant changes in her body, she could see in the dark and commute with acient spirits, her skin was getting paler and paler somehow. But the changes did not bother her at all, as long as the magic power was still running in her blood.
Unlike her sisters, she was not the type of leader who likes sitting down for negotiations, or touching weapons. She did not want to be like Avarosa, whose power was slowly fading away because of the dominating council. Avarosa should better enjoy her last glory days in the throne before being turned into a political puppet.
It was a shame that they were supposed to be in a better relationship, at least not as cold as it currently is. Lissandra remembered how her sister taught her to shoot arrows, Avarosa's arms used to wrap around her, her fingers are gently fixed on the bow. She still remembered being scolded for not hitting the bull's eye, times to times, or the cosy feeling when she was sitting on the same horse with her sister and seeing her steamy breath went up in the bright blue sky. Good old memories.
If only Avarosa had not been poisoned with the nonsense from the elders of the council.
The fact that Avarosa appeared in her head filled her with disgust. Their siblings bond was slowly fading away as Lissandra could see the changes in Avarosa's and Serylda's eyes. They were planing something big, because each time she came to see Avarosa or Serylda, her veins convulsed for a while, her magical sense was trying to warn her about something dangerous that is going to happen. She told the Frozen Watchers to be aware, but she knew it was not enough.
Out of a sudden, a sound of rush running in the snow disturbed the silence, it was midnight, if something wrong happened during this time, it must not have been good. Lissandra could hear her sharp intake of breathe. She took a few steps towards where the sound came from, the tall body shape of the man was familiar. He must be Nathan.
"Princess Lissandra, please run away from here, they are coming-" The young soldier fell on his knees, gulping for air. She could see red stains on his face and hood, the dripping blood from the big wounds on his chest and thighs meant it had just happened. Lissandra reached her hands to grip Nathan's shoulder, helping him from falling to the ground.
"They are coming, your sisters! The Watchers are being chased to the edge of the abyss, and they are coming to take your magic away… please run … Princess, our tribe need you-" Nathan let out his last words, his head was lying on her shoulder, unmoved.
"Nathan…"
Lissandra gave the poor man a soft hug before she laid him down on the snow ground. He was her best friend and advisor, his sudden death caused her a big shock.
The sound of horse hooves cut her thoughts, Nathan said that her sisters were coming to take her magic away. Finally, all her predictions made sense. She knew it from the beginning, the way Avarosa and Serylda looked at the Frozen Watcher at the Queen's Palace, the way her magic told her to stay away from her siblings. Now, they were attacking the Frozen Watchers when they were vulnerable. The truth came, but too late.
Her tribe could not fight back, they are all scholars who do not know how to grip a bow and had nowhere to go now, except for the abyss. She had to go there, at least she could save some Frozen Watchers and hide them.
Lissandra quickly run to the stable and pick a horse, her body shivered with cold, which was unsual because she had been used to this rough weather. It is undoubted that her body was weakened because of the magic lost. She whipped the horse to run faster, Lissandra had to arrive at the abyss before her magic run out.
As she was going closer to the abyss, the sound of the Frozen Watchers' scream was getting clearer and clearer. She could see from afar that the Watchers are being pushed into a pack, Avarosa's army and Serylda's warriors were standing on both ends, pushing the Frozen Watchers to the center of the bridge. Some Watchers slipped over the bridge's rail and fell down the abyss.
Lissandra could not believe what was happening in front of her. Her eyes had never opened this wide, her jaw froze and her mouth could not utter a word, her skin became darker. It was not only because of the Frozen Watchers' situation, but also because of her magic, it was disappearing, bit by bit. She had to stop this now, or never.
She forced her horse to run to the bridge end where Avarosa and Serylda were standing.
"Traitors!" Lissandra's shout towards her sisters echoed through the air.
She could see Avarosa and Serylda were startled by her voice. They turned back and looked at her, not much suprise was shown in Serylda's face.
"There you are, we have been looking for you," Serylda smirk.
Avarosa got off her horse, she took a few steps towards Lissandra, "Lissandra, the Frozen Watchers are hiding a secret, we don't know about it, but clearly they bribed us into giving them the most precious magical resource, the True Ice. We believe that they need it for dark purposes, and one day they will take back all the things they gave us, we are just a tool to them. Please, Lissandra, the door is still open waiting for you to come back… We are still a family, after all."
"Stand away from me!" Lissandra took a step back, she made a circular movement in the air with her index finger, then suddenly an ice wind appeared out of nowhere and hit Avarosa, it made the queen fall on her knees.
"Family? After all the stealthy things you have done to the Watchers, you want me to go back? It was them who saved us during the rough time, and this is what you give back to them? Betrayal?" Lissandra could feel tears of anger running down her chin.
"They are the traitors, not us! They used magic as a blindfold, and you was lured to wear it, now look at your body, are you even a human anymore?" Serylda shouted and pointed her finger at Lissandra.
Lissandra froze, she knew she was too deep into training her magic. Her skin turned blue, her eyes was glowing, like the Frozen Watchers. But, are they thinking she is a witch now?
"Yes, because learning magic to protect Freljord is a sin? Am I a witch to you now? Has my name been left out from the family yet?" Lissandra looked at her sisters with eyes glowing, the tears fell down, creating small holes on the snow ground.
"I said the door is still open, if you promise us to give up your magic. I know it is difficult, but we will help you. As long as you still keep it inside you, it will just do more harm than good." Avarosa stood up after the ice wind struck her, she gave her hand to Lissandra as a guarantee.
"As long as I don't harm people with my magic, you have no rights to take it away from me!" Lissandra hissed at her sisters then whipped the horse.
She had to get out of this place as soon as possible, she knew that Avarosa's arrows are faster than anything on earth, but it was weird that she had left their place for three minutes and there was not a single chase, did they just let her go that easily?
While strange questions was popping up inside her head, Lissandra stopped the horse then commanded it to go back near the abyss. She wanted to know what they had done with the Frozen Watchers, and if she could save them.
When she was getting closer to the abyss again, a terrifying scene appeared in front of her. She could see Avarosa's archers shot their arrows to the Watchers, even from this far, Lissandra could hear them screaming in pain. In the other end of the bridge, there were a group of monks who were holding their books, she could see they were mumbling something. Then suddenly the part of the bridge where the Frozen Watchers were standing broke into small pieces, all the Watchers fell down the abyss, their scream echoed through the forest, to her place.
"No!...No…"
The monks continued to mumble again, this time, a layer of permafrost appeared in the air then it fell down the abyss. They used the permafrost to trap the Frozen Watchers, forever. She knew that her sisters had been planing this for a long time, but it did not have to be this brutal.
Suddenly, Lissandra felt a chill was running up her spine. Her body was shaking hard, she could see the tips of her fingers was turning black. Her mind was still working but she could not control her body at all. She fell off the horse after a sudden shiver, her body met the cold hard rocks, the pain was so intense that she thought her ribs had been broken. But it was not the worst. All of a sudden, her eyes stopped glowing, everything in her sight was slowly blurred out, she was losing her eyesight.
A convulsion exploded in her veins and she could feel them trying to escape under her skin. Another pain came, it hit her straight in the brain that now she could not think about anything at all.
However, her ears were still working. She can hear voices of people and the walking sounds on snow. Were they Avarosa's scouts?
"There she is. Bring her back to our base. And you, go tell our queen that we have found the princess."
She felt her body was lifted by a soldier, her energy was so drained out because of the convulsions that she could not move her body parts to fight them back anymore. Everything was blurry, no matter how hard she tried to get her eyes focused, she just could not make them work. She was so weak and vulnerable, even an untrained archer could kill her now.
"Find the medic, quick! She is bleeding so bad now, the queen won't let us live if we return with her dead body!"
That were the last words Lissandra could hear before her brain decided to go to its own sleep.
Lissandra was woken up by some familiar voices. She was lying in a warm and comfortable bed, the feeling was great until she realized that her feet and hands were tied with metal chains. Even though her eyes were not working, she knew that she had been to this place before. The warmth of the blanket, the light scent of wild herbs from the air, they were all familiar to her.
"She is still alive, Avarosa. Looks like our sister didn't want to go to hell with those Frozen Watchers after all."
That was Serylda, the sarcasm in her sister's voice could not be mistaken for anyone else's. In a normal day, she could fight back, but not this day. And she knew Serylda was not the only one in this room.
"Finally..."
Lissandra could hear Avarosa's footsteps towards the bed, "Our medics have tried their best but they could not figure out what had happened to your eyes. Don't worry, just rest, your magic had gone with the Watchers, it won't harm you anymore."
Lissandra felt a warm touch in her forehead, definitely from Avarosa. She could not help but burst out a bitter laugh. "You want me to rest with these chains? For you to know, the magic rooted deep in my veins, and when they run out, I will be dead too, don't worry. I will not be your threat for any longer."
"Just leave her alone, Avarosa. I don't have time for this, better go train my soldiers rather than sit here soothing this twenty years old child."
"Relax, we did not do anything bad to you. We will have a dinner when you are fully recovered and talk about this later."
"Go away!"
Lissandra heard Avarosa's long sigh before the sound of her closing the door hit her heart. Now her sisters left her all alone in this room. Again. And that was what she wanted.
She knew that her magic had not gone. The weird tingling sensation from her hands and feet told her that it was still there, just not as strong as they used to be. As long as they were there, she could still use them to escape from this place.
'Frozen Watchers, are you still out there? I know you are still alive, please help me to get out of this place, I will make them pay for this!' She tried to communicate with the Watchers through telepathy, like the way she always did.
After a few minutes of waiting, there were still no changes in the atmosphere around her. Just her alone in this huge room.
'Maybe they killed you all. I'm so sorry that I came too late.' She let out a long sigh, the princess had never expected that these days would come. Weak and alone, blind and vulnerable.
Suddenly, she felt cold ice winds began to swirl around her, they were getting stronger and stronger, and she could feel goosebumps all over her body. Lissandra saw glowing dots through her blurry vision, they were dancing around the bed where she was lying. They were trying to save her, the Frozen Spirits.
Lissandra felt the extreme heat from the burning hot liquid from her wrists and ankles, the Spirits were melting the metal chains. When the chains were all melt down, she felt her body was gently lift up from the bed, the Spirits created a bed from the glowing dots to support Lissandra's weight, the bed was slowly floating out through the open window. It was dark, she guessed the guards had treated themselves with a good sleep after the victory. They could probably get away without being noticed.
The cold air hit Lissandra in the face, but she found it pleasant. The Spirits were bringing her back to the secret place near her tribe. She could smell the unique yet familiar scent of the Spiritswood, the echoed voices that had been living there for centuries were closer and closer.
A hot stream of tears fell down her cheeks, "I owe you my life. Now please tell me,… what should I do next?"
A/N: Thank you for reading my first chapter. I know there are a lot of grammatical problems in my writing but I tried my best to correct them. I hope the errors did not bother you guys so much.
Feel free to leave your corrections on my grammar and if you have time please give me your thoughts on the story. Thank you. Have a nice day!
