Hey guys, DL here.
Put down those torches and pitchforks, I know you've missed this story. And yes, I am partially to blame for that. I played too many hours of League of Legends, finished half of One Piece, finished Netflix originals like Luke Cage and Iron Fist, and Samurai Jack, and then I realized 'oh yeah, I have a story to finish.' But in all honesty I have become so busy in my daily life and the time I have spent on the story was used trying to improve the character's personalities and the overall plot and plot motivations. But the new chapter is out, and it has a lot of stuff packed in here! Forewarning: parts of it will get graphic, so bring your stomach. Why the hell are you still reading this lazy, dumbass author's note? Enjoy reading!
The Court of the Kinkou Order lay in shambles. The pristine building which could be seen for miles across Ionia's capital was now disfigured, mutilating adjacent structures in its collapse. Its once glossy lawn was now splattered with ash and blood. The parallel pools that centered the pavilion carried a small layer of soot on its surface. A thin fog of dust enveloped the area. Each champion had at least one open wound, their shivery hands clutching their weapons tightly, intently watching the fog. Two silhouettes could be seen, one blowing the large cloud away with a swipe of his hand. Poppy winced as the howling wind. The yordle girl opened her eyes. Orus and his demon partner were in sight. Behind them, several corpses both shinobi and Kinkou Order, littered the debris. The wicked wizard held something in his hand.
"Well, Furom? Were those souls tantalizing enough for your tastes?" he asked. Furom sighed.
"It was a decent meal. Most were mediocre, but I spat out a few," he replied, wiping the area of his black turban where his mouth was. "I despise the flavor of cowardice."
Poppy raised her hammer, poised alongside Riven and Shen. "Why are they not attacking us?" she inquired. Shen's floating spirit blade split down the middle, dropping into his two outstretched hands.
"They're toying with us."
Orus chuckled, licking his lips. "Maybe the sweet remains of some champions will lighten you up?" Orus furrowed his brow suddenly. "Then again, I don't think anything ever has lightened you up. I dunno….what are your thoughts?" He proceeded to lift his hand, the object he carried becoming visible. The battle-hardened champions, the Demacians and majority of the surviving Ionian soldiers, grit their teeth. Others, like the remainder of the Kinkou Order and the yordles, looked on in horror. Rumble keeled over, just barely keeping himself from puking. Orus held a dismembered head by the hair for the world to see. It was the middle-aged coward who annoyed Poppy and her comrades. The head was frozen in an eternal state of horror, eyes white and jaw dropped inhumanly downward. Blood dripped from the severed body part, a pillar of spine protruding from its stunted neck.
"Oh, don't be shy! Spit it out!" Orus turned to Furom, who was currently rubbing his eyes.
"Why must I satisfy your twisted humor…?" he grumbled. From his back, several wisps of fog erupted, flying hastily around the being. One of the misty comets separated from Furom's pack and disappeared inside the skull. The champions and Ionians tensed. Suddenly, the head's jaw cracked and snapped back into place, however the tongue remained rolled out grotesquely far.
A voice squeaked from the head's moving lips. "OH GOD NO! PLEASE, PLEASE NO! I'LL DO ANYTHING! GOD PLEASE! I DON'T WANT TO DIE! NO, NO, NO, NO, NO!" A high-pitched scream filled the air, its volume increased that seemed to stretch across the entire district. Even the strongest of wills shook. Orus scoffed mockingly. "Come now, old boy. You already know you're dead! Now tell me, you ever think Furom here will stop being a stick in the mud?"
Garen growled. "What matter of devilry is this?"
A series of bangs shot above the demons' heads, black smoke shrouding the enemy. Only for a second. The smoke cleared just as fast as it appeared, unveiling a squad of shinobi descending upon the duo, swords unsheathed. The mists that circled around Furom now changed course, an equal number of wisps rocketing upward and submerging into the ninjas' heads. More screams filled the obliterated courtyard. Poppy watched as several voices fought for dominance in each Ionian. Some ripped off their oni masks, expressions of terror written across faces. Their features twisted, two faces tried to conquer the other behind the symphony of cries. Rumble flipped behind and gave in to his heaving.
"How rude! I'm in the middle of a conversation with this fine gentleman!" Orus chided. He turned back to the deceased remains in his hand. "Now where were we…oh yes! You ever think Furom will crack a smile?" His response was the consistent screams of the poor man's soul. The mage frowned. "Fine then. If you don't want to answer me, then you might as well shut up." His hand wrapped around the exposed bone that stuck out from the neck and tugged. After a giant rip, the rest of the neckbone and the skull escaped the head. All that was left was the bleeding, mangled blob of skin. Still gripping the hair, Orus bounced it in his hand a few times, the lips still silently babbling its dreaded fate. Rumble peered up, then immediately went back to heaving. The rest were left petrified.
"Damn, that is gross!" Orus whooped. "Forget about dinner, Furom, I almost lost mine!" The mage sighed, tossing the flesh over his shoulder. It fluttered in the air for a moment before plopped to the ground, lost in the debris. The mage slapped the blood off his palms. "Now that that's done, who's next?"
The High Councilman snarled, holding some sort of communicator. "Have the Spell Containment Unit ready and mobilized! Those present, slaughter the two of them!" The Ionians burst forward. Poppy turned to Rumble.
"Stay back, Rumble. You're defenseless right now," she ordered, pointing toward the business district behind them. Rumble groaned.
"Don't remind me…." He said soberly, running off to safety. Poppy pivoted on one heel, and sprinted with the other champions toward the enemy. The evil duo prepared themselves. The wisps wailed, bee-lining for the Ionians. A few were able to avoid their initial direction, but those caught by the attack writhed on the ground.
"Don't let those white clouds touch you!" Riven ordered, flipping diagonally over one herself. Garen sliced through one with no effect, barely stepping of its way.
"Dammit! You can't even hit 'em!" Poppy got through the barrage, flanking Orus. She flipped Whomper in her hands, clasping it at the last second and swinging. A large wall of earth erected and blocked the hammer, the attack's redirected force causing Poppy to stumble backward. The dark mage snickered.
"You'll have to do better than that," Orus taunted. "Nasus would've put a little more heart into it!" The mage punched the rock wall, an enormous chunk busting out of its frame and colliding with the yordle.
"Poppy!" cried Riven. The Iron Ambassador coughed.
"I'm alright!" she called back. The form of Orus appeared above her, his hands ablaze.
"You won't be!" He reached forward. Poppy made it just in time to block his blazing hands with the hammer's hilt. She winced as the hilt quickly grew hotter and hotter. The hammer was pressed down to Poppy's chest.
"You should've died back at the Institute," he hissed, moving his hand along the hilt and clasping Poppy's. The yordle girl screamed. She smashed her head against Orus' skull, sprawling back a few feet. He was immediately distracted by Riven and a pair of higher ranking ninja. Poppy feebly clutched her hand, the fingers and knuckles flaring an angry red. She frantically reached into her pack, gliding along the contents surfaces until she found what she was looking for. Poppy popped open a waterskin and dripped it on her burn, whimpering. She picked up the hammer, hesitantly squeezing. The stretching skin felt agonizing, but her allies needed her.
Meanwhile, Garen and the shinobi had difficulty with the chalky white creature. Wish we had some range on this guy. We can't even get close, the warrior irritably thought, dodging another wisp. Furom's bony fingers fluttered. "Still yet, I fail to find the one who will satisfy me," he sighed, tapping his staff against the ground. The demon suddenly slammed the butt of the staff down, a gray mist bursting outward at Garen and the shinobi's feet. Responding to this, several souls branched off from Furom and scattered, flying erratically until they disappeared beneath the surface. Shinobi closed in on the enemy and continued their assault.
Something's not right. No experienced fighter would ever make a movement without purpose. Over the sounds of battle, the warrior's ear caught the sound of shifting pebbles. Frowning, the warrior plunged his blade into the earth. Small vibrations met Garen's hands. "Keep your guard up!" Garen ordered. "Something's comin'!" The shinobi who remained unharmed immediately bounced backward from the mage.
In the corner of Garen's eye, the dirt erupted, producing a pale hand that grabbed a man's ankle. The ninja was immediately thrown onto his back, with several more pairs of hands clasping onto the rest of his body. His screams disappeared when he was pulled under. Garen grinded his teeth. "Retreat to higher ground!" The Demacian's leg tugged. He peered down, two hands clutching his shin plates, followed by a half decomposed face. Garen made haste in impaling its head. He found a large slab of marble from the court building and vaulted to the top.
The debris-stained dirt started to splinter from hundreds of unearthing bodies. Each of them had similar, oriental armor, though most were brittle and rusted. The brute of a man cursed. He was known for conquering men, even slaying entire armies for the sake of his national pride. Zombies were a first.
His eyes captured the image of Riven, who was surrounded by Orus and the undead. A few meters away, the High Councilman decapitated a few foes, his subordinates swiftly closing in to aid. Garen turned to the shinobi fighting Furom, then back to the Riven. He gave into his personal feelings. Garen flipped off his vantage point, landing on a corpse, then forcefully made his way threw the fleshy wall in front of him.
Riven meanwhile, stood on guard. Two came forward, immediately cleaved through in response. Another rushed forward and raised its sword. Front-flipping, Riven sliced downward, shattering the ancient blade and splitting the zombie in half. Ki burst off her body, stumbling the leftover enemies. The bloodshed was about to continue until something sliced across Riven's cheek. She immediately retreated and surveyed for its source. She spotted Orus, who had an outstretched palm. Noise of intense breeze perked her ears. Instinct kicked in as she danced across the battlefield as blades of wind grazed her. Many zombies who acted as Riven's meat shields were sliced clean through by the barrage.
"It's been many years since I saw a woman fly so gracefully," said Orus. "It's too bad that same woman had to be a turncoat-," One gem dimmed and another suddenly illuminated. A wall of rock blocked against Poppy's swing, who winced at the sudden resistance against her burned hand. The wizard clicked his tongue. "Your mother should've taught you it's rude to interrupt a conversation." Orus raised a hand, another wall rising up behind him. "Wait patiently, I'll get back to you in a second," he chided Riven, who now wielded a full black blade that glowed a vibrant green. The two champions momentarily turned their attention from the mage to attend to the undead, bludgeoning and slicing their hideous remains.
Riven breathed raggedly, wiping the sweat from her frowning brow. "You don't know a thing about me."
"No?" Orus replied playfully. "Well, what I do know, Riven Elizabeth Dolstaine, is that your bleeding heart, rags to riches story is stomach-wrenching. No one ever cared for the feel-good example of Demacian compassion. It's disgusting! But, you fortunately redeemed yourself! Instead, you're now infamous across Demacia for your treachery toward your country and the family who took you in. Now that grabs attention! Well, you wereinfamous until my associates burned Demacia to the ground." He covered his eyes, snickering haughtily. "The Crownguards must have seen that taking a trashy mutt off the streets would never make you any more than how you started off: a trashy mutt." The mage erected another stone blockade, which Riven cut through like tofu.
"Shut up! Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!" Her blade flurried in the air, each swipe laxly dodged by Orus. Poppy, removing the pests around her, noticed the erratic movements of the Exile. With each attack made by Riven, she seemed to sweat excessively, her deep breaths almost a desperate clinging for air. Poppy took the head off a zombie with the hilt of her hammer, peering closer. The area around the two combatants was blurry, and distorted further by the second. An orange gem on Orus' arm was glowing.
"Riven! Get away from him!" Poppy's words fell on deaf ears. Every attack left Riven's limbs heavy. The heat was almost unbearable. But she wouldn't let that red bastard speak of those lies freely. She wouldn't let him insult her nation. She couldn't. Orus snorted.
"And here I thought you were an impressive swordswoman! This is just pitiful!" he taunted, bending over backward to avoid a reaching swipe. Riven roared, only advancing the mage's amusement. Riven flipped, her blade descending onto the enemy's figure. "You just don't understand what you're fighting, do you?" He fired his palm toward the blade. A loud bang, and Riven was blown backward. Poppy tried to move closer, but another wave of undead blocked her path.
Riven sat up, staring at Orus. The black blade she wielded proudly was now shattered once again. A small sphere of fire rested above Orus' hand. A dark mist wrapped around his shoulder, helixing down his arm until it reached his open palm, wrapping over the fireball. Polluting the small spark, its color changed into overlapping reds and blacks. Orus closed his fist, his knuckles turning white before reopening his hand. The fireball was much smaller than before and produced sounds similar to a high-powered blowtorch. "Lucky for you, I'll freely offer you a gift. Your past sins will finally be purged with hell-fire." He cocked back his arm. For the first time since she met her, Poppy saw fear in Riven's eyes. She spotted Garen, who called for his friend's name vainly. He'd never get to her in time.
"Goodbye, Riven," said Orus. He fired his palm forward. His body suddenly stumbled sideways, less than a second later a large boom resonated across the battlefield. An eruption of black flame scarred the land. The long, rectangular parallel pools outside of the fallen courtroom splashed powerfully as the wave passed. Entire armies of corpses were charred, some reduced to nothing but ashes. On a nearby building, a blue-furred boy rested what appeared to be a large, makeshift cannon on his shoulder. Rumble sighed in relief. "Not a second too soon."
"Rumble!" Poppy cried. A scream grabbed Poppy's attention. Riven's body thrashed as fire licked the full length of her arm. Garen broke through the remaining zombie barricades, joining Poppy at her side. The man frantically searched through the bag on his back, finding a large blanket to throw on the flames. Thankfully, he was able to put out the fire. However, when the cover was removed, Poppy gasped. Any burns she had in the past paled in comparison to the flaring dark crimson, partially melted skin.
"Water, Poppy!"
Garen's voice didn't reach her ears. Riven's harsh complexion mixed with the fear that controlled Poppy's brain unsettled her stomach. A turn of the head and she saw in front of her what was a massive pole-shaped crater, fires still raging upon what was left of the grass and the degraded bodies. Poppy's entire body quivered.
"Water, Poppy! Water!" Garen snapped the yordle out of her panicked thoughts. A few moments and a rummaged bag later, Riven shrieked, wrestling against Garen's grasp as Poppy delicately poured liquid on the wound. Shen's unexpected presence jumped the yordle, who soon sighed in relief.
"What the hell are you three doing?! We're in the middle of a war zone!" Shen exasperated. Poppy raised an eyebrow.
"What do you think?! One of our own is badly injured!" she spat back.
"That is no excuse! The fate of Ionia rests on this pavilion, and every second spent should be eradicating the enemy! Leave the wounded and fight!" Poppy and Garen scowled at the shinobi.
"I don't know what this country's beliefs are, but if you abandon an ally on the battlefield, then you are worse scum than what you're fighting!" Poppu fired back. The Ionian's mask twisted into a frown.
"There is too much at stake to break away from the fighting and attend to one soldier! As a veteran fighter, you should well know this-," The spirit blade fired toward Shen's figure, emitting a field of blue energy in time to deflect an enormous fire roaring across its surface. When the smokescreen of heat dissipated, Poppy shifted her gaze to the warlock, shivering with anger to the point he appeared unhinged. Orus dabbed his fingers at the large cut on his forehead, then wiped away the blood that seeped into his eyes. The burgundy man's vision darted hastily before his eyes caught on the rooftop Rumble stood on. His hands sizzled before spontaneously combusting, raising his hands toward the unharmed buildings. Dark mists flooded over his arms and into the flames, changing its shape as how it looked before. The embers divided five ways in each hand, orbiting over Orus' hands before launching the barrage toward Rumble.
"Ah, shit." The yordle boy was soon shortly cut off as the blaze ruptured the building's frame, momentarily crackling before collapsing from the attack. Poppy watched intently as Rumble's figure flew out of the top of the flames, bouncing from rooftop to rooftop as a screaming Orus fired projectiles at the teen. Each missile from the mage acted like an ignited bomb, sparks flying like shrapnel as structures toppled one by one. One blast blew Rumble sideways as he leapt from a vantage point. In mid-air, Rumble cocked back the cannon and lined it up with the mage.
"Eat this!"
The cannon kicked back with a flash. Within a split second, as if in slow motion, a bundle of rockets unlocked from their confines, a vicious spinning drill on the front of each, speeding toward their target. This took Orus by surprise, panickily glancing at his arm. Just as the orange gem implanted in his skin started to dim, the rockets impacted. Smoke and debris splintered. Rumble landed on the terracotta ceiling of a shop, skidding momentarily. When the smoke cleared, an unveiled Orus clearly did not escape unscathed. A blackish purple energy flowed around his form, hovering over small burns and embedded shards of metal.
"Why didn't he block the rockets…?" Poppy thought aloud. Garen shook her for attention, pointing toward her bag.
"Grab some gauze. We need to get this wrapped up." Riven now lay passed out, her skin now an ugly blemish of body liquids and dark reds.
"You are wasting precious time," Shen growled through his teeth, slicing away a pack of undead that strayed too close.
"You go on speaking that scummy trash and I'll spend my time throwing you to the wolves," Poppy spat. Rumble's blue head popped over the incline of the shop roof. He noticed three champions huddled together around someone. From this distance, he couldn't place the person's identity. His gaze moved to Orus. The mage's unkempt rage could be seen washing over him. Red and black magic flowed around his frame, Orus clenching his shaking fists.
"You puny mortals think so highly of yourselves, huh?!" seethed the warlock, spheres of black magic assembling in his palms. "Back in my day, all of you combined couldn't stop the weakest link of a nation's army! The Rune Wars would have devoured you all!" Shen's mask furrowed.
"Rune Wars? Does this lunatic know what he's spitting from his mouth?" Garen tapped Poppy on the shoulder.
"Watch after her." Three words were all that needed to be spoken. Garen plunged his broadsword into the dirt at Shen's side. At one point, such a wall of tanks would send fear even among champions' spines.
"Your fruitless efforts are all for naught. You won't stop us from reigniting the Rune Wars! So just do me a favor, and DIE ALREADY!" He slammed the spheres together, condensing them. On one knee, Poppy slammed Whimper's hilt into the ground, right behind Shen and Garen, who readied their weapons. The High Councilman and the other shinobi stared with jaws agape. Furom rested against his staff, watching with cold, stoic eyes. Meanwhile, Rumble fidgeted with his cannon, anxiously reloading the barrel. "C'mon, c'mon, c'mon you damn thing." He turned back toward the fight scene. He already knew it was too late.
Orus let loose the blast. A radiant omen drifted at the speed of sound toward the three champions, large enough to engulf a full-built Order courtroom. Rumble tried to speak out, but his voice refused to move from its silence. Dread strangled his lungs. The other champions felt it too. That this might be the end.
The blast never impacted. The space in front of Poppy was abruptly torn, a blue, wavy plane full of emptiness capturing all of its power. The sheer amount of magic froze every combatant. When the attack finished, the rift repaired itself and warped out of existence. Ryze came into view. Beads of sweat dripped off every section of his body. Every breath sounded like a gasp.
"Took you long enough," said Garen. Still panting, Ryze shot the warrior a look.
"Be glad you're still remaining after that spell. If I didn't make it…here in time, this entire field would be decimated." Orus noticed the new arrival and howled.
"You will not save them, Ryze! They'll end up as you left our families, friends, professors, neighbors! I'll make sure you remember their deaths! After all, the only reason why so many died in the first place was because of what's hidden inside that scroll on your back!" Ryze frowned.
"On my mark, rush him," he informed, struggling before finally creating a blue sphere.
"You can't stop me, Ryze! You will not deny me my Armageddon!" Orus pulled out a carven stone that fit in his hand, marked with a translucent scarlet marking. A white fog wisped in the sky and fell to Orus shoulder, gripping it as Furom solidified. Ryze's tired eyes suddenly rounded to saucers. Fear was even seen in Furom, who tried negotiating with his comrade.
"We've done enough here! You cannot use it!"
Orus tried shaking him off. "I can and I will! I'll wipe these stains from the face of the earth!"
"Think rationally, Orus! You can't!"
If beings as powerful as Ryze and Furom were shaken by something like this, Poppy well knew she should be terrified as well.
The surface of the pavilion cracked, and each body on the battlefield felt heavy. Garen and Shen fell to their knees, tightly holding their weapons. The stone in Orus' hand started to pulse. "How do you know of the World Runes?!" Ryze called out, who was the only one among his peers to remain standing.
Orus slid his tongue across his teeth. "Oh, my old friend, wouldn't you like to know!" Rumble cocked back the cannon's slide, jumping off the roof. Orus lifted the stone into the air. "Prepare yourself, Ryze!'
The cannon banged. The rockets exploded, throwing Orus off balance just enough for Furom to grapple him with a white mist that wrapped around his appendages. A portal warped open behind the two. "Furom! Let go of me! Let go!" His ally silently pulled the mage toward the portal. The stone throbbed violently. Just before Orus was dragged through, a final pulse triggered. Serpent-like shadows burst forth from the stone, digging into the dirt and swiftly worming in and out of the ground towards an unprotected Riven. Garen tensed.
"Riven!"
The shadows grabbed hold. Dark shackles locked around Poppy, extended as a human shield. She alone had time to save Riven. Garen and Shen rushed to her side, the yordle girl already being dragged through the shadows. The two men grabbed hold of her arms. They strained and fought, but Poppy was further and further pulled deeper into the darkness. Rumble dropped the cannon and sprinted. He had to make it in time. He had to save her.
Dammit, man! Of all the times in your life to do something, just run! Run! Run! RUN! Anxiety and adrenaline tidal waved through the boy's body. Move faster! C'mon! C'MON!
Ryze now aided the two warriors, blue tethers winding around Poppy's wrists, tugging tightly. But it was a losing fight. Poppy was now to her shoulders in the shadows, gripped with an emotion she rarely felt: despair. The shadows now wrapped around her shoulders, dragging Poppy down to her neck. Rumble was so close.
Tears escaped Poppy's eyes. "Rumble!" she called out pleadingly. Rumble dove.
He ignored the pain as he made a hard landing, instead frantically searching for something to grip. Rumble found nothing.
Poppy was gone.
Ooooooh boy if you guys hated me before, I bet you really hate me now. I hope you enjoyed the new chapter though! I'll post new chapters occasionally (hopefully sooner than later, sorry about that). I think I've got the plot and setup for the next few chapters planned out and ready to put on digital paper. Well guys, as always, thanks for reading my unknown works, smack a review on this story so I can improve my storytelling, don't forget to like and subscribe (dammit have I become a YouTuber now? What is my attention-grabbing life coming to...), and until next chapter guys!