Have this story as my continuation of "The Dreaming Pool" on the official League of Legends Universe page.

Good and evil are not truths.

They are born from men and each sees the shades differently

The remaining warrior

Sirik's eyes sank in tears to the realization of what she just witnessed. Dael'eh Ahira was in pieces and its prisoner, now loose, threatened all of Ionia.

The dawn had already swept over the island with the same speed, as the thoughts of the failed mission crept in her mind. She, her brothers and sisters, all defenders of this castle, had failed. The guard looked at the lifeless bodies around her. She had to leave this cave before she joined them. The fortress peak was nowhere to be seen in the skies, which meant that the Noxians were on their way.

She forced herself up, but the sudden, sharp pain made her sink back to the ground. Her leg was definitely broken. The girl wrapped a hand around her mid-section, feeling her ribs in pieces. She struggled for a while with her own rigged breathing. This wouldn't be as easy as she had anticipated. Sirik reached for her hidden knife. She squeezed her eyes shut and bit on the weapon's handle in preparation to stand up. After what felt like forever, using whatever rocks seemed stable enough for leverage, she was on her feet. She groaned in pain, now her teeth hurting too.

She slowly made her way to the other end of the ruined hall. The exit was almost completely blocked with pieces from the towers, which stood above them earlier. Sirik turned around to take a final look of her brother's body, when her eyes drifted to the magical pool near him. The light blue water was still glamming, with Kalan lying underneath the surface. She wanted to get to him and pierce his traitorous chest. She looked at him angrily, hoping he dreamt of his treason for an eternity.

Sirik gradually made her way up the corridors, until she finally reached the castle's gate. Her steps were so hefty, she could barely keep herself up. At first she noticed only the overwhelming pain in her ribs, but as she made her way out, every wound on her body started aching. A painful groan escaped her mouth, releasing the knife off of her bite. She leaned on the wall next to her, as a final attempt to stay on her feet, until she realized her efforts were meaningless.

Her own exhales brought her to tears, as she slid down the wall. She inhaled sharply, when her backside hit the ground with a laud thud. Sirik eyed her body – it was dusty, bloody and wounded. She shoved a hand inside the side packet on her belt, hoping to find a surviving healing potion. Her fingertips recognized only sharp glass pieces and damp fabric. She pulled her hand out and licked her fingers desperately, as heavy sobs rose inside her chest.

This is how it ends.

Warm tears caressed her cheeks, as she picked the knife lying underneath her legs. The idea of staying here and having the Noxians take her life or for a prisoner, was even more torturous. She grasped the weapon with both hands, pointing it at her chest, her hands shaking from the thought of her kin. They all met their end here… it was time for her to join them. Nothingness felt excellent compared to failure. She closed her eyes and exhaled slowly, readying herself. A sudden cramp on her wrists, followed by another on the side of her neck, forced her eyes open in surprise. Her face met the ground and darkness took over.

"Master." A voice interrupted Zed's observations on the distant isle shore of Fae'lor. The fortress of Dael'eh Ahira was obviously in ruins, as only half of its peak remained on the horizon. They were too late. "We finished scouting the castle. There are no survivors, except for one Guardian."

"The sorceress? Did they get her?"

"We investigated her crypt… it's in ruins. Everyone inside it is dead. Our guess is she either escaped or Noxus has her."

The past week had been chaotic. Every faction on Ionian soil was racing to reach Syndra first. Noxus already had hold of Fae'lor and the word was, that they might try to use her power. Everyone in Ionia knew that she shouldn't be awaken, unless The Spirits decided to. "And the Guardian?"

"It isn't the vastayan traitor. She is badly wounded, I have assigned a healer…"

The shadow master lifted a hand to silence Nara; his most prized student. "I'll question her myself… lock her up when the healer is done."

Zed went back to reviewing a few mission plans. Their station was a small undercover sanctuary, masked as a Spirit chapel. The schedule was tight, so if they had to fight off Noxians to get the dark sovereign, he would need to reschedule the entire week. He shuffled through the planning, as patience was not his forte. It was noon by the time he finished explaining and sending off new groups according to plan. Before he realized, he was walking on a shredded path, leading to a side barrack they used for prisoners.

The door made a cracking sound as he pushed it open, startling the small woman inside. She appeared dirty, tired and definitely not fully healed. He closed the door, leaving the room in complete darkness. However, it appeared that it didn't bother the vastayan's sight, as she crawled backwords without taking her gaze off of him.

"Tell me, what happened at Dael'eh Ahira?" He began. She kept his gaze without saying anything. "Where is the sorceress?" He took a few steps closer and lower himself to her level. He examined her features. The face tattoos, worn only by Fae'lor's guardians, started off on her forehead and disappeared down her neck. She had a few cuts on her face, and many wounds on her limbs. It seemed like she had put up a good fight back there.

"Speak." The mixture of trained warriors and interrogation were a pain for his impatient nature. Zed rose back up, and lifted a hand silently, summoning a shadow by his side. The dark silhouette materialized behind the woman and grabbed her by the neck. She got frightened from the strange touch, her eyes widening, as the shadow form placed its hand on her forehead. "Where is she?" He asked again. The woman kept looking at Zed angrily until her features twisted in agony.

"You won't get her!" The shadow master was not entirely sure what his shadows did to one's mind like that, but he was glad it was so effective on stubborn creatures like her. His thoughts drifted away to another place, until the woman started groaning in pain. The groans eventually grew in to screams. "I'll tell you! I'll tell you what you want… just make it stop!" She finally yelled.

Zed waved his hand once and the shadow form disappeared. He gave her a few moments to gather herself, before asking again. "What do they call you?"

The woman dried the tears on her cheeks before answering "Sirik."

"Sirik… What happened to Dael'eh Ahira?"

"We awakened Syndra."

"Why?"

She looked down on to the darkened floor. "It was not on purpose. We wanted to kill her instead."

"Where is she?"

Sirik looked at him with a face full of defeat. "Let her be. Who are you? She will kill you all! She is a monster!"

"Where?" Zed hated to repeat himself, as the guardian was getting unstable. Perhaps the sorceress was a sight to behold… true to the legends. He summoned a shadow again, intimidating the woman, who crawled even further in to the wall, then whispered "She broke the fortress and took it with her to the north."

"The Noxians?" He asked simply. Sirik seemed to guess what information he wanted, from the way she looked at him in a mixture of grief and anger. This was taking a lot longer for his taste. A light nod, resulted in the shadow form, placing its palm on Sirik's forehead. This time, she immediately screamed, until her eyes whitened and her head twisted upwards. "Tell me!"

Her voice cracked in to a monotone calmness. The corner of Zed's lips lifted. They were all so fearsome, yet surrender so easily to his shadows. "We fought the Noxians occupying the island…we killed all on our way, but one. We fought him inside Syndra's crypt… but she woke up… she killed everyone but me and him..."

"Where is she?"

"…I don't know… she drifted towards Puboe…she was angry…"

Zed grimaced at the thought of rescheduling more. He had to go towards Puboe before the Noxians get the same idea. "What about the Noxian, the one not dead?"

"…she put him in her pond…she knew he guarded her prison… a traitor will sleep forever now…"

Zed was over his patience as he walked out of the barrack, leaving his shadow with the vastayan. "You can play with her if you want."

For a whole week, Zed and a few selected travelled north. They crossed the whole of Navori, mainly during the night to avoid the dense population. When they reached the mountain base, the air grew colder and the daylight; noticeably longer. The plan was to climb up and find Dael'eh Ahira's remains. But when they were a day up the mountain a scout reported, that the fortress was nowhere to be found around the peak. It took another three days for them to split in to two groups and browse the mountain base. Finally, on the early morning of the eleventh day, a scout announced to have found the ruins.

The fortress peak was half collapsed on the rocky shore. It looked as if frost and ice were the only thing holding it together.

"We will camp on the forest line until nightfall." The shadow master ordered. The remaining daylight was spend in planning of how to reach the sorceress inside, without dying as a result. When the bright, misty sky slowly transformed in to a cloudy dusk; the group prepared themselves for leave. And when clear darkness transformed the scenery; they made their way towards Dael'eh Ahira's remains.

.

Some things happened with my previous story. After a settings issue while updating chapter 4, followed by new lore around Syndra, I came to a conclusion, that future readers, unfamiliar with the old lore, won't be able to make sense of it. Because of these reasons, I made a final decision to discontinue it. Instead, I decided to share a different story I've been working on, which can implement the newest lore much, much better.

I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoy writing it! Do excuse any grammatical errors, as I am not a native English speaker. I try to re-read and correct any typos I find, even after I post a chapter.