Behind the Veil of Balance
Irelia was a ghost. She was a mirage in the light of the setting sun.
Focus. Absolute focus. Not a single detail in her surroundings escaped the warrior's eyes. And at the same time, not a single pair of eyes could detect her.
As she flitted across rooftops and through the shadows of various buildings, Irelia focused every ounce of her being into her objective. She would not fail. She could not fail.
If one thing had been realized in her conversation with Karma and Elder Kwan, it was her own desires. In reality, nothing had changed. Only her perspective had been given a new angle. Now, her thoughts were clearer than the cloudless sky above her. She had a task; to regain the loving family that she deserved.
Breaking into the Ionian central prison was by no means going to be an easy task. There was one entry and one exit. The front door. It was a time in which her fame served to harm her. She was far too recognizable. They would know who she was long before she even reached the doors.
Irelia grimaced as the distance between her and the central prison inexorably decreased. She disliked the very prospect of rushing headlong into a bottlenecked prison. An invasion like this took planning... time... Unfortunately, Irelia had neither. Ignoring her own feelings of annoyance and perhaps apprehension, Irelia pushed onwards at an even faster rate. There was only one reason for her quickened pace. Somewhere within the depths of the prison, a lone, white haired mage lay waiting for her warrior. Irelia's lips narrowed to a grim line.
"Just wait, Syndra... Wait for me..." Irelia thought to herself.
Minutes Later
A lone figure traveled down the barren stretch of road that led to Ionia's central prison. Beneath the dark, frayed traveling cloak the figure wore draped about her head and shoulders, her features were unrecognizable. She hobbled along as she walked, shuffling onwards as though she herself didn't know her own destination. Such a thing couldn't be further from the truth. She knew exactly where she was. She knew exactly what she was doing.
Onwards, Irelia shuffled. Maintaining her feigned limp and almost suspiciously harmless aura. Finally, she got what she wanted.
"Halt!" A strong voice called out in a commanding tone. "This area is off limits to civilians. Return the way you came."
Beneath her cloak, Irelia stopped in her hobbling march. She did not, however, turn around or make any indication that she was going to leave. Finally, she started moving forward again.
The guards standing in front of the door weren't pleased with her antics. Moving forward, the leader of the squad currently assigned to the forward post spoke up in an aggressive tone.
"Listen here, traveller, you've been warned once. We're not going to warn you again." He barked in an aggressive tone.
Irelia's shuffling march increased in pace. Finally, the guard's squad leader had enough.
"Alright, if you don't turn around this instant, you're going to be placed under arrest. This is a prison. All I have to do is open this damn gate and toss you in. Once you're in there, you ain't coming back out." The man spat nastily.
Finally, Irelia stopped in her march. She was standing a mere five meters away from the guard. Beneath her cloak, the warrior swallowed and grimly set her resolve.
"TURN THE F- oof!"
Before the guard could even complete his sentence, Irelia flashed forward in a blur of motion. The fight was over before it even started.
In one swift motion, Irelia's hand balled into a fist and shot out from beneath her cloak. Combined with her forward momentum, the warrior swung her fist like a wrecking ball in a vicious uppercut; catching the guard square beneath the chin and catapulting him backwards. The poor, unsuspecting man landed in an unconscious heap a few feet away.
For a few seconds, a stunned silence settled between Irelia and the rest of the guards standing in front of the prison gate. No one could have expected such a powerful blow from a seemingly crippled traveller. Irelia herself cringed slightly as she watched her own fellow soldier crumple to the floor at her own actions. Seconds later, however, the guards recovered enough from their surprise enough to remember what their jobs were.
"SURRENDER AT ONCE!" one of the guards yelled as he brandished his spear. The rest of the guards quickly scrambled into formation as they surrounded the disguised Irelia.
It was a bad mistake. Now that the guards had closed about her, Irelia took full advantage of the biggest weakness in their formation. Ordinarily, spears served well as a medium ranged melee weapon. However, they primarily functioned with lunges and stabs. Sweeping swings, although lethal, could only be used when the spearman was alone, less he risk striking his own allies.
Dancing about with unrivaled grace, Irelia easily whipped her body around the hungry tips of the guardsman's spears. Once she was within her own striking distance, the fight was instantly over. Throwing out a flurry of kicks, punches, and knees, Irelia easily bested the moderately trained guardsmen. Her decades of combat experience and her easy nullification of their numerical advantage quickly turned the fight in her favor. Within moments, only she remained standing while the rest of the guards lay battered and unconscious.
Out of the corner of her eye, Irelia watched as one guard managed to cling to his consciousness. Weakly, the guard crawled to the gate before struggling to raise a hand as he reached for the emergency backup call button mounted on the side of the gate.
The warrior watched him silently. She made no move to stop him. In fact, stopping him was the last thing on her mind. By allowing the guard to call for help, more guards would emerge from within stationed positions inside of the prison. Certainly, more guards would be a problem, but at the same time, it provided Irelia the solution she was looking for. They would open the gates for her.
A few seconds later, the sound of a blaring alarm shook Irelia out of her brief trance. Mixed in with the sound of the alarm was the thundering roar of over one hundred guards.
Irelia grimaced inwardly. There would be absolutely no way she could fight such a number without arming herself with a weapon. If she did that, her attacks would be fatal. She didn't want to harm or kill any of her comrades. Thus, Irelia took the only other option. She ran.
However, rather than running away from the guards and the prison, Irelia elected to take a one way ticket straight into hell. She leapt over the heads of the mass of guards and dove straight into the depths of the prison.
"Holy shit!" One of the guards yelled as Irelia whizzed over their heads.
Some of the other guards were less impressed.
"STOP HIM! STOP HIM NOW!" The prison warden screamed over the intercom.
Catching the warrior, however, proved to be even more difficult that chasing a shadow. As Ionia's Captain of the Guard, Irelia knew every military installment in Ionia's capital as well as she knew the back of her own hand. The knowledge served her well. She didn't even need a map to navigate the winding maze of corridors. The warrior also knew that there was only one area in which Syndra could be housed. There was only one chamber which had enough barriers to contain a mage as powerful as Syndra.
Unfortunately, as quickly as Irelia had determined where the mage was in the prison, someone else beat her to it. An old friend and a long standing comrade.
As Irelia flew through the maze like corridors of the central prison, dodging blows and sprinting past guards, a familiar feeling of being watched descended upon her. It wasn't until she finally reached the prison's central chamber that the individual finally revealed herself.
"You're destroying the balance." A cold, almost pained voice sounded from the shadows around Irelia.
Instantly, Irelia halted in her headlong charge towards the central chamber. The voice was familiar. Feminine and soft, and yet at the same time cold and reprimanding. It belonged to one of the warrior's oldest friends, the only female member of the fading Kinokou order. Akali.
After a few moments of silence, Akali finally emerged from her concealed position in the shadow of a nearby wall. The ninja eyed the disguised warrior with an air of confliction. Pain reflected in the hazel of her eyes. It was a pain that stemmed from the feeling of betrayal and conflict between duty and friendship.
Silence descended upon the pair again as they stared at each other; engaged in a silent conversation that only they could understand. Even through Irelia's heavy cloak, the ninja could tell who she was. Finally, Akali broke the silence.
"Why..." Akali whispered, "Ire... why are you doing this..."
Beneath her cloak, Irelia trembled slightly both out of desperation to save her lover and out of her own feelings of desertion.
"Don't call me that." Irelia whispered back, her voice barely audible.
"Ire... this is our country... we must preserve the balance..." Akali pushed onwards beseechingly.
Irelia's massive blade slid out from beneath her cloak and floated out into the air in a threatening manner.
"I said. Don't. Call. Me. That." Irelia hissed darkly. Her tone, however, clearly lacked the conviction to make her threat believable.
"It is my duty to stop you if you take another step." Akali replied in a cold tone. Abruptly, however, her demeanor softened.
"Please just come back..." the ninja begged.
Irelia swallowed hard as she watched her friend beg her to return to her side. However, the warrior forced her feelings back down her throat before chaining them down through pure willpower.
"There is no going back." Irelia whispered back, "She doesn't deserve this."
Akali's eyes dropped to the floor with disappointment. None the less, she didn't even appear surprised with the warrior's answer. Instead, the ninja wordlessly reached down to her sides and grasped the hilts of both of her kamas. When she finally spoke, her tone was once again a cold, emotionless voice.
"I will do as balance dictates." Akali stated. She lowered herself into her fighting stance.
"Let me go... Akali... please just let me go..." Irelia whispered softly.
Akali's eyes wavered slightly before returning to cold, glassy chips of marble. She said nothing as she tightened her grips on her weapons and took a step forward.
"Akali..." Irelia repeated, "Please don't..."
Akali coldly ignored Irelia's words and took another aggressive step forward. It left Irelia with little a choice. A fight was inevitable.
Finally, Irelia lashed out. It was a blow that clearly lacked the intent to harm the person before her, and Akali spared the warrior no quandary. Parrying the warrior's massive blade, Akali brutally knocked the floating sword away before flashing forward in a blur of speed. In an instant, she turned, whirled, and sent a crippling kick straight into Irelia's gut.
"Umph!" Irelia gasped as Akali's heel sank deep into her stomach, robbing her lungs of air. The warrior crumpled to the floor, gasping for air.
Akali, however, refused to allow the warrior to even recuperate to the slightest degree. Before Irelia could even return to her feet, the ninja flipped through the air and barbarically swung both of her kamas downward.
Time seemed to slow as Irelia's eyes traced the ninja's fluid like movements. It was the glint of steel, swung with killing intent that finally brought the warrior completely into her battle mentality. She reacted within milliseconds.
Just as Akali swung her blades downward, Irelia crudely tossed herself to the side before tucking into a tight roll and rebounding to her feet. Her muscles sang with energy. Her thoughts, clearer than ever before. Finally, Irelia drew in a deep breath and silently called her blade to her side. In one fluid motion, she ripped her cloak off of her body to reveal her lithe form, clad in a form fitting black suit of armor.
Akali watched her mutely. When the warrior entered her classic fighting stance, not a single trace of former doubt or hesitation reflected in the sapphire blue of her eyes. There was no intent to hold back. Her eyes shone with resolution, pure will to forge a path and accomplish her goal.
"Good..." Akali thought to herself, "That's what I want to see..."
Her thoughts, however, were interrupted when Irelia let out a blood curdling war cry. Instantly, Akali snapped herself back into focus. Moments later, Irelia was on top of her; besieging the ninja in a flurry of lethal blades. Akali blocked and parried, whirling about in a dangerous dance of blades until finally, she found an opening. Ducking beneath one of Irelia's strikes, Akali vanished in a puff of smoke. The action disoriented the warrior, but only briefly. Seconds later, Akali shot out of the shadows, simultaneously pulling a kunai knife out of her belt and throwing it straight at Irelia's head.
The blade didn't even travel a few feet before crashing to the floor; it's flight interrupted by a glowing blade. Akali, however, ignored the failed attack. Instead, she chose to maintain her momentum and shot at the speed of a bullet straight towards the warrior. She knew she was flying straight into a trap, but the ninja had seen enough.
As Akali barreled straight towards her, Irelia easily brought forth her massive blade and swung. In a resounding clang, both Akali and Irelia crashed into each other; their weapons locked together with unyielding force. Moments later, however, three glowing blades phased into existence around Akali; surrounding her on all sides with lethal blades.
Silence settled between the two women as they stared into the depths of each other's eyes. Finally, Akali relaxed her body and slowly removed the force she was putting on her weapons in keeping Irelia's blade at bay. A mixture of pain and sadness reflected in her eyes when she finally spoke.
"That... is what you need... Irelia..." The ninja whispered in a muted voice as she sheathed her weapons.
Irelia continued to stare at the ninja without replying. Her face, a mask of unreadable emotions.
"No hesitation... No regrets..." Akali finally finished.
Lowering her hands, Irelia allowed her transcendent blades to dissipate and her massive blade to return to her side. Still, she offered no words to the ninja. Thousands of thoughts, apologies, words surged to her mind and yet not a single one made it out her mouth.
"Go." Akali finally managed to force out of her mouth.
At last, Irelia drew in a breath and brushed passed the ninja without a word. The warrior knew that nothing she said could have eased the pain that Akali was feeling. No amount of thanks could be given to the ninja who had put aside her own feelings just to ensure that the warrior was ready for what lay ahead. And now, the ninja had chosen to be the one to let go; to release Irelia from the bonds that had tied her down for so long.
However, just as Irelia stepped past the ninja, Akali reached out and caught Irelia by the wrist one last time. The warrior halted and tilted her head back at her friend. At first, the ninja looked away, finding it difficult to form words. Thankfully, Irliea waited patiently for her friend to speak one final time. At last, Akali trembled slightly as she took a breath and spoke.
"Remember who you are..." Akali finally managed in a shaky voice. At last, the ninja released Irelia's wrist and gave her a small push away.
The warrior nodded in muted promise as she slowly walked away. Fighting back her own emotions, Irelia brought a hand up to her face and rubbed her eyes. When she glanced back up, the ninja was gone once more.
Irelia's heartbeat quickened as she drew ever closer to the mage's confinement quarters in the prison. With each pulse of her hear, her mind seemed to echo with Syndra's name. Still, the guards got in her way, but they did little to even slow the warrior. At last, Irelia arrived at the iron double doors that sealed the confinement room. Without even slowing down, Irelia catapulted herself into a flying kick straight into the doors. She knew it wouldn't be enough to break down the doors, but the warrior was far too frantic to even be bothered to think logically.
After rebounding off the doors with a clang, Irelia blindly called forth her blade. She went to work like chainsaw chewing apart a tree. The blade's sweeping slashes left huge scores in the metal of the doors. Yet, Irelia paid no attention to the destruction she was causing; her thoughts were filled with only the desire to be reunited with her fragmenting family.
"SYNDRA!" Irelia howled at the door, "SYNDRA IT'S ME!"
The warrior redoubled her efforts as she put all the strength in every fiber of her body into forcibly breaking down the door. Unfortunately, all of her attempts were halted when a large contingent of guards finally caught up to her.
For a second, the entire contingent hesitated; stunned that their warrior was trying to break the Dark Sovereign out of prison.
"She's being controlled!" A voice shouted from within the mass of guards.
The words seemed to finally shake the guards out of their trance.
"Capture her!" one of the guards yelled, "We have to save her!"
Irelia, however, wanted no part of their rescue. Screaming with uncharacteristic rage, Irelia turned on the entire regiment of guards and launched herself straight into the mass. She left her blade behind at the doors, allowing it to continue working away at the iron. Irelia, on the other hand, went completely berserk with just her bare hands. Blinded with fury and the thought of having Syndra torn away from her, Irelia pummeled away at the first guard she saw; beating the poor man's face to a pulp before bodily tossing him into the mass of guards behind him.
"Sedate her!" One of the other guards screamed before Irelia pounced on him.
The rest of the guard frantically sheathed their weapons and reached for their sedatives. It was clear that they didn't want to actually injure the warrior, they merely wanted to subdue her. It only made things easier for Irelia. Thankfully, before the warrior could further harm other guards, a resounding crash sounded from the double doors. Irelia whipped her head around long enough to see one of the massive doors fall off its hinges and crash to the floor.
"SYNDRA!" Irelia yelled and immediately sprinted through the gaping doorway, simultaneously managing to completely forget about the guards she was fighting just a few moments before.
Summoning four magical blades, Irelia forcibly lifted the door she had just cut down and barricaded it back against the doorway, creating a temporary shield to keep the regiment of prison guards at bay. Moments later, the guards outside began pounding at the doorway in effort to reestablish contact with Irelia. Yet, Irelia completely ignored them. Instead, she dashed to the center of the room in desperate search for Syndra.
"SYNDRA!" Irelia called out again, her voice echoing against the stone walls of the room.
No response.
Finally, Irelia's eyes settled on a small, crumpled form resting atop the one bed off to the side of the room. It was a figure that was none other than Syndra's.
"Syndra! I'm here, I'm-" Abruptly, Irelia's voice cut off.
Sprinting to the mage's side, Irelia frantically tossed Syndra's blankets off of her body. Instantly, her throat constricted with emotion. The mage's skin was unusually pale; her body disturbingly cool to the touch. Rolling the mage onto her stomach, Irelia's face contorted with agony as she counted five sealing devices mounted on the mage's back. Given what she knew about what Syndra had done back in the courtroom, she knew full well that the mage was still unconscious both due to the strain she had undertaken and because of how severely her magic was sealed away. Pure guilt punched Irelia in the stomach as she realized how her actions had resulted in such painful consequences for her mage. None the less, the warrior forced herself to focus on correcting her deeds.
Wasting no further time, Irelia immediately went to work on the runes, tapping out sequences she had memorized in order to release the leeching devices from their grasp on her mage. Finally, one rune popped off. Irelia's fingers instantly flew to the next rune.
A second rune popped off.
-BANG- A large dent appeared in the iron doors as the guards continued their efforts to break in.
A third rune popped off.
-BANG- Another dent appeared in the door.
A fourth rune popped off.
-BANG- Irelia's transcendent blades shuddered under the strain of keeping the door in place as the warrior kept her magical blades summoned for far longer than she usually could.
Finally, the fifth rune relinquished its grasp on Syndra's flesh.
-BANG- At last, Irelia could keep her blades summoned no longer.
"Shit!" Irelia swore and flung herself at the door just in time to catch the huge metal object before it collapsed under the combined might of the guards.
-BANG- The guards struck the door again just as Irelia caught it, sending painful reverberations through her entire body as she desperately tried to prevent the guards from entering. Grimly, the warrior kept herself pinned to the door as she desperately searched for an escape. Alas, even the warrior herself knew that there was only one entrance to the room she was in. Swallowing in apprehension, the warrior could bring herself to do nothing other than maintain her position at the door. Time was running out, and it was running out fast.
"Very good, Syndra, perhaps tomorrow we will begin more advanced techniques..."
"Aww, I don't want to wait until tomorrow, can we start today?"
"Now, now, patience, my dear child... There is a time and place for everything."
"But I don't want to wait, I'm bored!"
"Syndra, patience... It is a virtue that you must learn."
"But I'm ready now! I wanna learn more!"
"Syndra. I'm being serious now, we will wait until tomorrow."
"Mmmm... Fine..."
-BANG-
"What was that?"
"Hmm? What was what, my child?"
"That loud noise, what was it?"
-BANG-
"My dear child, you must be getting tired, here, let us return to our quarters, I'm sure some rest will do you just fine."
-BANG-
"Didn't you just hear that? It happened again!"
"Ahaha, yes, Syndra, very funny. Come now, let us go."
"NO!"
"Excuse me?"
"NO! I want to know what's making that noise!"
-BANG-
"Syndra! Stop this nonsense, you will come at once!"
-BANG-
"NO!"
-BANG-
"No, Syndra, don't go that way!"
-BANG-
"..."
-BANG-
-BANG-
-BANG-
Finally, Syndra's eyes flickered open. Dazedly, she blinked as her eyes slowly regained their focus on her surroundings. In the distance, Syndra could see a blurry figure pushing a door closed with all her might.
"... Ire...lia..." Syndra mumbled weakly, stretching a hand out at the figure.
The warrior didn't notice the mage as she maintained her focus on keeping the door shut. Finally, Syndra groaned and brought her hands up to her eyes before rubbing away the vestiges of sleep that lingered. She blinked, and finally, her eyes focused.
"Irelia?" Syndra repeated, this time slightly louder.
Her words finally drew a response from the lightly armored warrior. Turning her head, slightly, Irelia did a small double take as she finally realized that Syndra was awake and staring right back at her.
"Syndra! You're-"
-BANG-
"Okay!" Irelia managed to grunt, simultaneously managing to sound relieved and worried at the same time.
"Plaything, where... what are you doing?" Syndra stuttered confusedly.
-BANG-
"Sorry... Kinda..."
-BANG-
"Busy at the moment!" Irelia gasped.
"Where are we?" Syndra continued rather cluelessly. It was apparent that she was still extremely disoriented.
"Prison." Irelia grunted back as the door she was holding shut shuddered violently, "Trying to... Break you out..." Irelia managed to finish.
Abruptly, all of Syndra's memories surged back into her brain. Dazedly, the mage blinked until one single thought pushed everything else aside.
"Get out of the way." Syndra growled menacingly, clawing both of her hands and willing forth a blistering amount of magic.
Irelia glanced back and caught a brief picture of the livid fury written across Syndra's face.
"No, don't!" Irelia immediately spoke up.
Syndra completely ignored the warrior's requests and instead spoke up in a livid tone.
"They will DIE for what they did to you!" Syndra roared furiously. "There will be NO forgiveness! They. Will. PAY! Now open the door!"
"Please Syndra, let's just escape!" Irelia begged.
"There are no other doors here!" Syndra yelled back irately.
Desperately, Irelia tried to come up with another plan for escape. Unfortunately, Syndra decided for her.
"RAAAH!" Syndra screamed, unable to restrain her fury for any longer.
Blindly, the mage grabbed Irelia and tossed her aside before completely blowing the doors off of their hinges with a massive wave of energy. Without a moment's hesitation, the mage floated through the chaos and hovered into view of the guards. For a brief moment, the guards stared in stunned horror as they realized who they now faced.
"ATTACK!" One of the guards screamed in panic. The single word was enough to shake the guards back into action. Drawing their weapons, they unwisely rushed towards the furious mage.
"How DARE you hurt what is MINE!" Syndra screamed back before scattering the guards in a flourish of raw power.
"I will have your heads!" Syndra roared and willed forth a deadly amount of raw power. Reaching out, the mage snatched the foremost guard with her magic and smashed his body into a wall; ending his life in a spectacular spatter of blood.
"There will be NO forgiveness for what you have done!" Syndra declared, her eyes burning with livid rage.
Before the mage could lash out again, Irelia finally emerged from the confinement room and latched onto Syndra's wrist.
"Syndra, run! We have to get out of here!" Irelia begged, unwilling to see more damage befall her people.
Unfortunately, Syndra was far too consumed with her own boiling rage to see the light of Irelia's reason.
"Run?!" Syndra repeated incredulously, "I will NOT run from these fools! They must pay for what they have done!"
"Syndra, please! Let's just go! We have a clear path!" Irelia begged before attempting to pull Syndra down another hallway.
"NO!" Syndra screamed and ripped her hand out of Irelia's grasp, "I WILL have vengeance! I will NOT allow them to escape their crimes! I will- hhgph!"
Abruptly, Syndra's voice cut out with a gasp. For a second, the mage froze in mid air. Blinking, the sovereign glanced down at her stomach, where a thin blade protruded into the air. Her hands shaking, the mage reached down to the wound before clasping the sides of the bleeding hole in her stomach. Blood pooled over her hands before she raised her gaze to meet Irelia's horrified stare. Then she started to fall.
From her position, Irelia's shot wide with horror as she saw the glint of steel emerge from Syndra's stomach, causing a spurt of hot blood to splash on the warrior's face. Time slowed as Irelia watched Syndra's furious gaze abruptly lose its hostility before turning blank; stunned with shock and pain. At last, the blade withdrew from the sovereign's flesh, allowing the mage to collapse to the floor as her power seemingly evaporated into thin air.
Whatever rage Syndra had harbored, finally transferred to Irelia.
"RAAAHHHH! HOW COULD YOU!" Irelia screamed in a horrifyingly blood curdling roar of blind fury.
Losing all sense of prior restraint and reluctance to harm, Irelia caved in to explosive rage she had kept in check for so long. Within seconds, pure bloodlust consumed her like a fire devouring fuel.
With Syndra collapsed to the floor, Irelia had a clear view of the guard that had stabbed her mage. For a second, Irelia stared at the guard; an unexpressable amount of absolute hatred burning within the depths of her of her sapphire eyes.
The guard stared back, unsure of whether he should celebrate his victory or cower in fear of the Ionian warrior before him. He didn't have a chance to do either.
Milliseconds later, his stare was lifeless. In a blur of light, Irelia's blade flashed to her side, cleanly slicing straight through the guard's neck with such speed that it looked as though nothing had happened. Nothing until Irelia kicked the standing corpse to the floor and the guard's head rolled away from the rest of his body. Blood poured out in rivers from the man's severed arteries in his neck, leaving a large pool of crimson life on the floor around his body.
For a few seconds, a stunned silence settled between Irelia and the rest of the guards. Coldly, Irelia gazed forward into the eyes of the guards before her. Her icy expression said nothing, but beneath it all, there was only one color Irelia could see.
Red.
Surging forward, the warrior began a battle that couldn't even be described as a fight. It was an extermination.
Heartlessly, Irelia plowed through the guards. Her blade flourished and flashed about, ending lives in an effortless display of heartless slaughter. Within seconds, nothing but corpses lay strewn about the hallway. Blood coated the surface of the floor as well as huge swaths of the wall. It wasn't until a gasp of labored breath echoing from down the hallway that Irelia snapped back into her normal personality. Ignoring the fact that she had just killed dozens of her own soldiers, Irelia turned and sprinted back to the sovereign's side.
Dazedly, Syndra's eyes flickered over to Irelia's face, desperately asking for help without wasting air for words.
"No... Syndra..." Irelia started, but immediately stopped when Syndra lifted a hand off of her stomach. Using her own magic, the mage managed to halt the blood from flowing out of the forward part of her stomach, but she was clearly unable to stop the blood from flowing out of the rear entry wound.
Instinctively, Irelia snatched the arm of her shirt and ripped apart the fabric before forcibly pressing the cloth against Syndra's back. Syndra immediately cried out in absolute agony; putting her on the verge of blacking out, but still, she clung to the vestiges of light and refused to cave in to the darkness.
"Hang in there..." Irelia encouraged, sounding more like she was telling herself to believe her own words than she was telling Syndra.
Moments later, however, the sounds of thundering boots met both of their ears. Irelia glanced up at the end of the hallway before glancing back down at Syndra. In the depths of her eyes, anger flared once more until she grimly rose from her position and readied her blade. Yet, before she could leave, Syndra's hand shot out and pulled Irelia back down. Shutting her eyes and breathing heavily, Syndra focused once more; forcibly drawing forth more magic from her body.
"Syndra! Stop! You're going to..." Irelia started, but Syndra refused to listen.
The sound of thundering footsteps echoed closer.
Finally, the mage lifted a shaking, clawed hand into the air. At last, Irelia understood what the mage was going to do. Unable to stop the mage from doing as she was planning, Irelia did the only thing left. She helped the sovereign's efforts.
Gently grasping Syndra's wrist, Irelia steadied the mage's arm as she aimed at the ceiling of the prison. Forcing her body to take even further strains, Syndra coughed violently as she forcibly willed all of her magic into her finger tips.
"More..." Syndra thought as her vision faded into darkness, "Just a little more..."
Seconds later, it erupted.
In a violently uncontrolled blast, Syndra released a massive amount of raw power. The wave ripped through the ceiling and completely tore apart everything in its way. When the debris finally settled, the cool night air wafted into the prison. Irelia, however, didn't even wait for the smoke to clear. As quickly as the hole had been made, the warrior had already lifted herself and the unconscious mage out and away into the protection of the darkness.
Author's Notes
Hello again everyone, sorry for the delay in getting this chapter out. I'm in the middle of midterms and I'm pretty much buried underneath my mountain of work. Fun stuff... Not really... That being said, I am a little bit tentative about how "rushed" this chapter feels. Again, that could be because there is just a ton of action going on in this chapter, but if it is really lacking in content, please let me know. I'll revisit this and improve it when I have more time to dedicate to perfecting the chapter.
Anyways, here we are. Irelia has finally snapped and revealed where her true loyalties are. We've still got a long ways to go before this story comes to its conclusion, so I'll look forward to seeing you all there. I'll be keeping this A/N short since I've got to get back to shoving my face in more textbooks, so this will have to do!
As always, thank you all for your support for this series. Do leave me any comments or critiques you may have. Hope to see you in the chapters to come.