Chapter II
Jax was running. Again. It had become something he could call a specialty of his. He was very, very good at running, because he had ended up doing it often. More often than he would have ever wanted to do it. In fact, he had done it more than he had ever thought he would need to do it. The weakening of his soul, as a result of his brush with death all those weeks, maybe even years ago, had left him weak. Weaker than he had ever been.
His might paled in comparison to what it had been before. His body had recovered, but to face the greater threats that hunted him and his companions, he needed to re-obtain his might, for it appeared as if he had lost it. Of course, there were other factors at hand. Other things to consider, other consequences to bear. He had only begun his journey down the path of Wuju, and yet he already recognized the great power that it offered him.
Yet, there he was, running. To his shoulder clung Zac, at his side ran Irelia, and behind them were Lucian and Draven. Lucian's sudden appearance was not something the Grandmaster at Arms had expected, for he lacked the knowledge concerning the Purfiier's state of being. As it turned out, he was alive and relatively well. One thing that stood out to Jax was the fact that Lucian had, seemingly, known where Nasus was. Had the explosion been caused by his scuffle with the living dead, or had the explosion been caused by the appearance of the living dead? Why had Lucian appeared there?
So many uncertainties clouded the Grandmaster at Arms' mind that he dared not stop his sprint, for he could find himself needing to speak to the Purifier, so as to get some answers. Some semblance of reasoning as to what had happened, something to sate his thirst for explanations. Jax truly needed to know more, for he still felt as a stranger in a time that was not his own.
They ran. The four of them fled, like cowards, for as long as their feet could carry them. The darkness of the night was washed away by the light of day, and yet they still ran. However, that would not last.
Irelia was falling behind. She had yet to recover from the ordeals that had brought her to the current state that she was in. Jax, too, was struggling. The physical exertion of battling Nasus, even if in a play-fight, coupled with his lack of rest, was doing grave things to his physical ability.
"Let's stop ourselves here.-" Called Draven, coming to a halt. Irelia and Jax, too, stopped running, and found themselves breathing heavily. Lucian, for some reason, appeared completely unaffected by their run. It could have been connected to his occupation, but Jax could not know at the moment. "- I think we can rest here. We haven't slept, and we aren't ready for a trek across the lands. On top of that, we don't even know where we're going!" Proposed the Glorious Executioner, to which both Jax and Irelia nodded in agreement. Lucian did not nod.
"The dead do not rest. Nasus bought time for you, but it will soon run out, unless we keep moving." Warned Lucian. His eyes were narrowed, as if some kind of wrath was burning within him. Knowing little about the Purifier's past, other than the fact that he hunted the undead, Jax could not tell why that anger hid itself within the marksman.
"Even so, we are not dead, yet. And, if we wish to remain not dead, we need to rest up." Said Jax. Lucian looked at him, and it was as if his eyes tested the mettle of the Grandmaster at Arms, in a way only the Purifier could. He shook his head and sat down on the ground.
"So be it. I'll remain on guard. You three should rest as much as possible. I'd say the dead will catch up to us in a few hours, so take a nap." The dark-skinned man spoke of this grave danger with an even graver expression, as if he knew what had come to pass.
Expressing their gratitude with silent words, Jax and Irelia lied down, bundled together in an attempt to provide one another with a measure of comfort. Zac, whether willingly or not, found himself trapped between them. He did not complain about it, though, so everything was left as it was. Draven stabbed his axes into the ground and looked at Lucian, who, in turn, looked at the Noxian.
Their eyes remained locked, and it was as if each pair tested the other. The narrowed, cold gaze of Lucian against the smoldering glare of Draven. No sparks flew, no emotion could be gleaned, but they looked at each other, in silence, for minutes on end.
"You have changed." Spoke Lucian, at last, breaking eye contact. He looked in the direction they had come from, as if expecting their enemies to appear any moment now.
"You look like you're the same." Retorted Draven, keeping his eyes glued to the Purifier. The tension in the air only increased, even though they no longer looked at one another.
"I've lived through tragedy. It changes you only the first time." Calmly stated Lucian, giving an answer to a question that had not been asked. Alas, that was not the query Draven had in mind.
"How did this happen?" Asked the Glorious Executioner.
"I don't know." Answered Lucian. His tone sounded much more different than it had sounded just a moment ago. It almost appeared to contain the strain of having been defeated one too many times.
"That is not very reassuring, considering you are supposed to be the expert on all things undead!" Said Draven. That answer seemed to be a cop-out, and so the Noxian was not going to let it slide. Lucian sighed.
"I was on my way back. I'd been working with Nasus, trying to reestablish some semblance of certainty. We lacked that, and we never knew whether or not our next day might have been our last.-" He shook his head. "-There was a rumor that he heard. Sent me to investigate, up, to the northwest of Demacia. The shores were tainted by the filth of the Shadow Isles. As I was coming back... Well, you know the rest. You saw it." He finished and looked down at the ground, for only a moment.
Draven did not react to his words, physically. He thought about it. The Shadow Isles were, no doubt, connected with the appearance of these things. These undead creatures. Could it be, however, that the Shadow Isles themselves were connected to Noxus? Were they allies? Or was this a freak accident, something that had taken place due to the fact Lucian and Nasus had spread themselves too thin, trying to cover too much ground?
It seemed that Lucian had come to a conclusion, one of his own, concerning these events. To Draven, it appeared as if the Purifier believed that the undead had followed him, somehow, and had attacked. But how could the undead have seen him, all the way from the Shadow Isles? It was not possible, the distance was far too great. The maps always depicted the Isles as being far, far to the northwest, right in the corner of the pieces of paper. Another inconsistency was the fact that the undead were champions. Champions who, as far as he remembered, had perished in the Institute, on that horrible night.
That hinted at some kind of collusion. Or, maybe, agents of the Shadow Isles had made their way through the lands, to the Institute, and had dealt with its sole guardian. Following that, they had stolen the bodies and had done whatever unspeakable horrors they were prone to do to them. This was grim. Even more so than anything else. If they were moving against Noxus, that could provide them with an opportunity. If they were moving with Noxus, it could, or rather it would, spell their doom.
"There was something strange about those, though." Stated Lucian. That was unexpected. Draven had thought the Purifier would avoid speaking any more, as he, no doubt, felt a measure of guilt. And that guilt, felt by him, would keep him from speaking at length with the Glorious Executioner, knowing that he had been a good friend of Nasus.
"What was it?" Inquired Draven. If there was something strange, maybe it could be used against the undead. Or it could be something strange, for it went against all the things Lucian had known about these creatures. It could be something that would make their enemies stronger, rather than giving the four of them an edge.
"The light did not burn them."
A/N: Well, hello there. Chapter 2 of Dark Times is a go. Hopefully, the writing will be better, the plot will remain engaging and everything will be super cool. Leave a review, tell me what you think could have been better, what seems to be plain wrong, what you think about the situation our heroes have found themselves in, what you think will happen - anything you want to say, really. Farewell, fellas!