Chapter 1

It was a late evening in the city state of Noxus, most citizens have long retreated to the relative safety of their homes, while the brigands and cutthroats come out for their nighttime fun. The only commotion left in the city was at the old gladiator arena, where "The Fleshing" used to take place. In more recent years it is used primarily for entertainment, but in the city of Noxus, entertainment often colored in the red of blood. Executions, held by the famed Draven were a show that most would come out to watch in this arena every week. Tonight, however was different, the Noxian High Command are the only spectators for the duel that is taking place in the arena, and the future leader of Noxus is being decided in the bloodied sand below.

A young woman, clad in leather armor is leaning over the railing, sharp daggers decorating her sides and curved blades hanging on her back tell the uninformed to stay away. Her crimson hair is just as much of a warning to those who are not familiar with one of the finest Noxus assassins. Next to her stands a cloaked man, bladed edges of his cloak shining dimly in the moonlight, unlike the woman in leather, one wouldn't even notice him, unless looking directly at him. Both were a bit tense, watching the fight below unfold

"So this is really it?" the woman glared at the cloaked man standing next to her, "He is really going to do it?"

"Most definitely, he was waiting a long time for this opportunity." The cloaked man nodded.

The woman sighed, "His ambitions will bring a lot of trouble for this city." The corners of her mouth rose slightly, "And more work for me."

"You make it sound like it's a bad thing," the man quipped, "Still, his obligations to the League will impose some manner of restrain on him."

The woman smiled widely, "That applies to both of us as well."

"Have you decided yet?" The man turned slightly towards the woman, but kept his gaze on the fight.

The woman's eyes widened a bit, "What makes you think I have a say in this?"

There was a bit of silence as the man was pondering if he should proceed or not, the conversation was leading into dangerous waters, "With the absence of your fath…"

"I know that!" the woman interrupted quickly with a frown, with a sigh she continued, "My father and him, they go way back. That's why I said that I don't have a say in this."

"But you still have to make it official, Katarina Du Couteau." The man replied, underlining her Katarina's last name slightly.

Katarina grimaced slightly at the sound of her full family name pronounced out loud, she was never big on formalities and her house name presented like turkey dinner at all the official meetings just made it even more irritating. She did not say anything, but she knew that it had to be done, her father would have wanted it this way. After all, it would be in the Noxus' best interests.

Finally the duel below came to an end, and both participants have been invited on the platform where the High Command resided. Some of the High Command seemed a bit shocked by the result of the dual, so looked downright disappointed, but most looks satisfied with the outcome. Katarina straightened out and nodded towards the platform, "Come on, Talon, we are going to miss it if we don't go now."

Both quickly moved past several elite guards, all of them throwing salutes at the sight of Noxus assassins. As they got close enough to hear the conversation, Katarina prepared herself to move in at the right moment.

One of the high ranking Noxus Generals stopped fourth towards the victor and raised his hand up in the air, asking for a moment of silence, the debates around the High Command quickly died down as the attention once again focused on the victor.

"That was quite the performance, General Swain, I think you have made your point quite clear to those who had their doubts and those who did not believe in your victory." The general glared to his side, meeting the gaze of a few members of Command he just mentioned, all of them quickly looking away. "I hereby swear my oath of service to you, Grand General Swain, it is an honor." The general knelt down in front of Swain, the enormous axe he was holding in his had made a loud noise at it hit the stone floor. Many of the other Generals quickly followed his example.

"Please, Darius" Swain spoke, "No need for formalities, I humbly accept this position and hope to be as much of great leader as the great Boram Darkwill." He then turned to the opponent of his duel, a young man, bloodied by the earlier fight, clad in bulky armor and a piercing gaze. "Keiran, your father would have been proud of you. Perhaps when the time comes for me to step down, you will continue your father's legacy."

Keiran nodded, "Thank you Grand General, I humbly accept my defeat and swear my oath of service to you." He tried to kneel down but stumbled and nearly fell, his wounds, while not fatal, were quite severe. Several Noxus guard ran up to him and helped him up. "Forgive my rudeness, but I must leave you to attend to these wounds." He nodded to the guards and they let him go, he turned and started moving towards the arena exit, several guard followed.

As he left, Katarina seized the opportunity to quickly move close to the Grand General, her bright hair catching everyone's attention. Whispers quickly spread throughout the High Command and everyone's focus was now on Noxus' Sinister Blade. She stood in front of Swain, quickly glancing up and down his robe, he hardly had a scratch on him. Keiran was young, but he was a skilled duelist and very crafty with his sword, yet Swain came out of the duel almost unscathed, it was not just impressive, it was downright scary. Katarina quickly knelt down in front of Swain and spoke, "Grand General Swain, the House Du Couteau swears their oath of service to you." Silence quickly fell on the High Command, not every day one of the most powerful Houses of the city swears an oath of service, even the previous Grand General did not get receive such a treatment.

Swain moved his staff slightly to his right and bowed down slightly, "It is an honor, Miss Du Couteau." He straightened out and continued, "As my first order, I hereby grant Katarina Du Couteau a seat at the High Command." Katarina stood up and looked at Swain, she had a slightly puzzled expression on her face, "This seat will be active till General Du Couteau is found."

Katarina nodded, the news of her addition to the High Command was a bit shocking, but it should not be a surprise, considering she is next in line of succession of her father. Nevertheless, she knew what this meant, unlike her father she was no General, but she had to represent her House and if her father was to be found dead, that meant she would have to step up to his duties. Still she appreciated Swain's lack of details on the matter, Master Tactician through and through.

The Sinister Blade made a quick nod to Swain, turned and headed for the exit, as she approached the arc, Talon stepped out of the shadows. Katarina frowned, "I thought you would come with me when the time was right."

"My apologies, Katarina, but I have already sworn an oath to your father and his House." his face unchanged, "To make a second oath, would mean to risk a... conflict of interest."

Katarina was about to tell Talon off but stopped herself, since he was telling the absolute truth. Talon was a hard ally to obtain and her father worked hard for it, she simply scoffed, "Psh! Whatever, lets go."

The two prepared to head out when Talon suddenly stopped and turned around, staring somewhere at the top rows of the arena, unlit and barely visible in the moonlight. Katarina stopped and turned around, "What is it?"

"Do you think he noticed them?" Talon replied, still staring into the distance. Katarina walked up to him and squinted slightly, trying to see what Talon did. She could barely make out several figures standing in the shadows of the arena walls. She pouted slightly, as she did not notice them earlier, her scouting abilities lacking behind Talon's and she hated that fact. However after a quick glance over the rest of the arena she noticed something else and replied playfully, "Of course he did, just look over there." She pointed in the direction slightly to the left of them. For once Talon's face changed slightly to that of a mild surprise, in the distance at the very edge of the arena wall was set of six tiny glowing red eyes, a black raven perched on the edge and focused on the very figures that Talon noticed. Talon grunted slightly as he did not notice such an obvious thing before, "That he did, Master Tactician indeed." With that he turned around and headed for the exit. Katarina took one last glance and figures in the shadows, the corners of her mouth raised, this little victory over Talon has made her evening. She turned around and left the arena, following Talon.

Jericho looked around him, members of the High Command were preoccupied with discussions among themselves of the future plans of Noxus. He turned to his right and met the gaze of Darius, waiting anxiously for him to do something. That man was a valuable and powerful ally, and Jericho did not forget the deeds that he has done for Noxus and himself. He let out a loud cough, catching everyone's attention, "High Command, I would like to discuss just one last matter for the evening. He glanced over everyone, making sure he had everyone's attention, "Noxus always had a tradition to designate one general as the commanding field general. I would like to continue such a tradition and designate General Darius as the new Hand of Noxus." There was a bit of unrest among the members of the High Command before everyone settled down again, Jericho continued, "Furthermore I think it is time that Noxus sent their next candidate to the Institute of War, and I would like General Darius to consider this opportunity." He then turned to face Darius, awaiting a response.

Darius was caught a bit off guard by such statements, but quickly recovered. "Grand General, if there are no protesters..." he looked around himself, his grip on his colossal axe tightening slightly, "... then I humbly accept such a position." He paused pondering at the second bit of Swain's proposition. "If you excuse me, I would prefer not to answer right away about the candidacy to the League."

Swain nodded, "Then I think we are done for today, now if you excuse me, I am a bit exhausted, we shall continue the regular High Command meetings starting tomorrow." With that Swain turned and started moving towards the exit. Half way to it, Darius caught up to him, "Grand General..."

"Please, no formalities, Swain is just fine." Jericho waved.

"General Swain." Darius continued, Jericho grimaced slightly at his use of formalities again but did not say anything, "It is about the candidacy to the League."

"You made up your mind already?" Swain played coy, "I thought you asked for more time."

The jab missed Darius completely and he continued, "As you may know, I have a younger brother, it has always been his dream to get as much recognition and fame." The two have reached the arch and Swain stopped, Darius continued, "I would like you to send him to the Institute in my stead."

A black raven flew down and landed on a specially made perch on Swain's left shoulder pad. "I have heard of your brother's skill..." Swain paused, watching Darius' face closely, "However, what we need right now is a show of strength, not a performance. You fit that role perfectly." The General's face remained unchanged, although perhaps slightly more tense, he was silent for a few seconds, thinking over Swain's words.

"Then lets us both join." He replied finally.

Swain raised an eyebrow, "That is a pretty tall order, General. The League does not usually accept champions from the same city state in a row."

But Darius did not falter, "Both or neither, that is my final answer."

"I cannot promise that League will accept these terms, but I will bring it up to them when I am at the Institute." Swain sighed in "defeat".

Darius seemed rather pleased with himself, nodded, and left ahead through the arch. Swain remained for a minute, he turned his face to his raven Beatrice, its beady red eyes glowing faintly in the darkness of the night. "Perhaps I really can convince the League to make an exception this time around? Maybe a donation to the Institute would ease their minds and they could make an exception." Beatrice croaked and nodded in approval, as Swain reached up and petted her gently. Swain then turned around and walked through the arch, heading in the direction of his mansion. He would usually be accompanied by his guards, but tonight he dismissed them early as he liked to walk the usually quiet streets of Noxus at night. As long as he remained above ground, he should not be troubled, or so he thought.

Jericho walked a few blocks before finally stopping and turning around, he looked back into the distance and said loudly, "Do you intend to follow me all the way to my home?" There was no response, "Very well then." Swain turned and continued to walk, he tapped his cane slightly harder once and took several steps before a loud yelp caused him to stop. As he turned he witnessed a young woman in a long black dress kneeling down and trying to pry away the obsidian claws that were pinning her foot to the ground. Swain slowly walked back and stopped in front of the woman, "So what does the Black Rose want with me, LeBlanc the Deceiver?"