"LET ME SLEEP!" The being in my mind snarls. I wince.
"We may need your help. Leilah's not as sick from using your magic anymore, thankfully. We'd like to learn from you what we can do." Starshadow tries to help me.
"MY POWER SHOULD HAVE NEVER BEEN AWOKEN!" The being shouts. "LET ME SLEEP!"
"What's wrong with your power?" I ask.
"I WAS A BEING OF RESPECT, TO BE CHERISHED. I AM HATED, I AM FEARED. LET ME SLEEP!" he screams, sounding like he's in agony.
"I'm not afraid of you." I say confused.
"LIES!" He throws some magic at us. Starshadow takes the hit. It turns him dark for a moment. I hear him grunt before he returns to his normal yellow self of my mind. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry." The being whimpers as Starshadow shakes it off. Both Starshadow and I look at each other.
"Are you ok?" I ask shyly. The being curls into a ball.
"Once, I was beloved. More so that the great general of the Ascended. Now I'm a cur. I hate this world, but I cannot hurt it. I need it gone, but I cannot do it." The being cries.
Did you wake up Daamien? Both Starshadow and I look to Aurora. Starshadow shoots over to Aurora for a hug. She gratefully returns it.
"Daamien?" I ask.
He's a bit of a lost soul. Poor guy. He's not wrong. I watched him take care of all the surviving wounded during Shurima's greatest moment. Aurora starts.
"He's from Shurima? That place has been buried for centuries!" I blurt out.
Yes. He would take all those that were innocent and didn't want to hurt anyone back to the hospital. He rescued so many during the war. They all loved him and would fight for him alone. He collected his own mass of followers. He could never harm anyone. All he could do was use his magic to heal. That's where you get the healing magic, Leilah. One day, the war stopped. His commanders began to fight amongst themselves. They ever tried to force poor Daamien into choosing a side, but he refused. As he could not harm, he would not fight. He was the one to give the people warning of the fallen commanders. All those that praised him heard his cry. 'The Ascended have fallen! Run for your lives! They will not rest until war starts again!' Most people heeded his words. Some worried about Daamien and asked what he would do. Do you know what he said? Aurora tells his tale. I shake my head. 'Your lives are in danger if I do nothing. I must stop them.'
"Daamien sounds like a wonderful being. Why does he sound like a lost child now?" I ask.
"I knew him from my own watching in the stars." Starshadow picks up the story. "When he became a part of the Ascended, he took an extra vow. Most Ascended vowed to protect Shurima. He vowed to help any and all that need it. He vowed to never hurt another being purposefully. By the time anyone understood what he promised, it was too late. The general was furious. Daamien was a promising individual. He was skilled enough to be a great warrior. The general had his heart on Daamian being his protegee, but Daamien had a soft heart. Daamien hated war. He hated hurting people. So his vow made him unable to harm anyone. He could only help, you see?"
"Is that why we can't attack?" I ask.
It certainly is part of it. I too influence your abilities. Regardless of what Starshadow says, I am but a guide. Just like you, my dear.
"Is that why you chose me?"
Out of everyone in Runeterra, a small farm girl asking someone for their story because you want to know them was heartwarming. Using that knowledge from the warrior to help someone else, you were the perfect candidate. No one else even came close. She gives a soft smile.
"What about Daamien? He looks to be in pain." I gesture to the crying individual. Aurora glides over to Daamien and caresses his hair. The being shivers and melts into her touch.
Even if Daamien could not be hurt, he was still labeled as a fallen Ascended. Even if he constantly pulled people from civil war, even if he never harmed anyone, his power is too great for an ordinary human. His followers never even dreamed to fear him, but the fear of the others kept the humans at bay. Daamien stood alone against his fellow Ascended. The Fallen were getting too strong for Daamien to stop. He needed help, so he called for Myisha. Myisha gathered all those who loved their healer. She taught the humans how to capture the fallen Ascended, but in order to keep the Ascended from learning that they would be trapped, they needed a distraction. Daamien volunteered. Everyone who knew him and loved him cried and begged, but Daamien was set in his ways. He knew that out of everyone, only he, the healer and protector of everyone, could hold them at bay long enough. So, he strode out into the open, calling his fellow Ascended.
"Daamien held them. By sheer will, even if he could never hurt them back, Daamien kept them around long enough for the humans to contain them. He became absorbed into a ring he carried, always the symbol of his status, as his fellow Ascended were imprisoned into their own weapons. Daamien couldn't see his people's tears. He couldn't hear their wails of grief. He was stuck in a senseless world." Starshadow picks up. I find myself kneeling before the great healer, tears flowing down my own face. I join Aurora in trying to give him comfort. His blood red cracked eye, so similar to my own, looks at me in fear and fury. "The years passed before someone would take up the ring. They heard Daamien's voice, heard him greet the holder. The ring was dropped. Daamien was stuck alone in his prison again. What he didn't know is that the being who picked up his ring was a thief. The ring was a center of hope and love from the people. It was black adorned with a glowing ruby. To an outsider, Daamien was the perfect thing to sell. The ring he held for a moment, he dropped it into his bag. The thief took his prize home to Targon."
All of Shurima wept the day they discovered their beloved healer gone. Aurora comments. Daamien doesn't look like he can hear any of what was being said. I think he thought they forgot him, and he fell like his former comrades. He was mad at the world. The next time a thief tried to hold his ring, he emerged. He took over the being and found himself in the middle of a forest. He tried to strike the ground, but the vow he made would not let him. Everytime he tried to strike, he would feel the pain he would cause. He hated the world, but he couldn't harm it. Instead, he led the thief to a sapling. He forced the thief to dig a hole too deep for the thief to easily dig him back up. The last time he saw the world, he was dropping his prison into the earth, taking him with it.
"Then you climbed the mountain. You gained Aurora's powers. And Zoe interfered. She's certainly a fair bit of trouble. She took us to the tree. Over the centuries, the ground could feel his pain. The sapling grew into a great big tree, and cradled his prison in its roots. When we touched it, Daamien was overwhelmed by his senses being awakened. He lashed out. Only the interference of myself and Aurora kept you as, well, you. Daamien was wild, his mind lost. We don't know why the ring disappeared, but it was clear that he would stay. He pleaded for us to kill him, but both Aurora and I knew him. We knew he was a lost soul, so Aurora took him into her light to heal. He's still not ready." Starshadow hovers nearby.
"He's a healer?" I ask. They nod. I bite my lip and try to access his magic. I feel it respond to me. It's annoyed and reluctant. It feels like his magic wouldn't acknowledge me as it's user. I ignore it.
"Leilah?" Starshadow asks. I see my hands shimmer with darkness. I reach over to Daamien's head. Immediately, I'm pulled into his mind. It truly is fragmented. There's so much pain in his head that I almost back out, but I push in. Some of his memories float by in the fragments. I see him appear and disappear using light itself. He would grab whomever was on the ground and give them a bed. He faced his general's fury but kept strong. The part that is painful is his isolation. I can hear his thoughts turn on him. I ignore those poisonous words and keep moving forward. "Leilah! You're turning into him!" Starshadow's voice echoes. I grit my teeth.
"His mind." I hear my own voice echo. "It's poisoned. He hates himself. I need to help him." The poison words and magic is starting to weigh me down. I stumble and fall. I feel the darkness sink into my body. I panic and struggle to pull myself out, but it's no use. I just keep sinking. I reach up as the blackness pulls me down. I take a deep breath right before the ooze covers my face. I feel my hand slowly become more and more corrupted before someone grabs it. It pulls as hard as it can. I can feel the ooze back away. I cough as my head emerges to see a bright man. On his finger glints a ring, a familiar ring from under the sapling. The only difference being the color. His ring is gold with white diamond sparkling. A stark contrast to the ring that was dissolved.
"You are a fool, you know." His voice is kind but scared for me. "You can't help. Get out while you can." He orders. I'm still mostly stuck in the ooze.
"I'm not leaving, Daamien. You might be a healer, but you need help too!" I hear my voice sound like it did when I was six. I glance down at my hands. They're so small.
"You, a child? How can you possibly help?" Daamien humors me. I glare at the dark thoughts around him.
"With a little bit of light. Aurora, a little help here!" I yell. I hear the dark thoughts scream as a borealis appears in his own mind. Daamien blinks. The ooze no longer tires to hold me down.
"What did you do?" Daamien asks. I gasp and pull myself out of the blackness. It tries to swarm me, but the magic I was gifted with flows out of me. It backs away rapidly. It hisses and mutters even angrier thoughts. I feel myself grow taller.
"Aurora's powers, they're a guide. Now, I'm giving you a choice. You can stay here, or you can follow the borealis out of this place. It will be long, it will be hard, but you can get yourself out of this and feel better. Come with me." I offer my glowing hand.
"I deserve this punishment. I imprisoned my family. I hurt people." Daamien backs away. I can see the darkness reach for him.
"What were your vows?" I blurt out.
"I'm sorry?"
"The vows you took when you Ascended. What were they?" I demand.
"I would only help and never harm." He sounds confused.
"Then why do you say you hurt people?" I cry. Daamien blinks.
"I… I can't, can I?" Daamien whispers to himself. The ooze shrieks a little louder and tries to make Daamiien disappear again. I blast a little bit of borealis magic to the ooze and push forward.
"Grab my hand, Daamien. There's friends on the other side, just trust me!" I cry out. He looks at me. He smiles. It's so radiant that the angered voices quiet. I feel his hand grab mine.
I blink to find Aurora and Starshadow staring at me, absolutely scared. I take a deep breath and fall forward. Starshadow catches me. I notice that my arm is as normal as it ever was.
"What were you thinking?" Starshadow asks.
"He was a healer with no healer. I thought I'd be his, even if I'm not one."
That was rather brave and foolish of you, Leilah. You could have lost yourself. Aurora scolds me. I smirk.
"I was in trouble. His vows, he couldn't leave me."
"You are certainly trouble, Leilah." Everyone snaps their heads to see Daamien looking at us. There's no sign of the conflict that he had earlier. "You took a rather large gamble."
"So did you." I retort. Daamien gives a chuckle before looking around my mind. "It's beautiful here."
"Thank Aurora. She's the one that is causing all this."
I did no such thing. I turn to Aurora, confused. This is all you. This is what attracted me to you. I just gave you the magic. You are the one who manipulates it. Aurora firmly informs us.
"Aurora…" Starshadow almost protests.
You and I both know this. This is why I asked you to go to her in the first place.
"If I may, what have I missed?" Daamien interrupts. I laugh tiredly in Starshadow's hold on me.
Why don't you go back to the real world? I'm sure you're starving by now, Leilah. The great Aspect suggests. I'll catch Daamien up on everything. I nod my head and close my eyes.
I open my eyes to stare at the world around me. For some reason, everything in my perception seems brighter. I stretch myself out and stand up. My neck cracks as I work out all the kinks. Starshadow's form, a little bit bigger than before, shakes as he wakes up.
There was really no need to do that.
"Yeah there was. I'm a conduit for their magics. I'm guessing that their magic and vows flow through me as well. As much as he couldn't leave me to be hurt, I couldn't leave him."
You are a fool. And what are we going to do for food?
"Really? You're still going on about food?"
Leilah, We're in the middle of nowhere. The cabin may have supplies to last us for a little bit, but we are still going to be in trouble if we can't find food.
"Don't worry so much, Starshadow. I'm a farmer. I can grow food." I wave him off.
What food can we grow? Body manipulation and light-dark illusions. Yes, we can grow plants.
"You made your point. There's enough food to last us until we can get to a town. I'm sure we can find some work there and see what else we can do."
The mageseekers mentioned a place, Wrenwall?
"Yeah, a day away. We take some time to recover and for you to get a bit bigger, then we head to Wrenwall. Deal?" I ask as I walk inside to clear up the mess.
Deal. Now make some grub, woman. It better be good.
"Excuse me?" I snap.
Please? I roll my eyes before shadows start creep up our bodies. There's no sign of illness. I give a very loud groan at the timing of it but don't fight against it. It pools over our heads and releases us into a large room. I barely get the time to rub my temples before spears are pointed directly at our heads. I raise my hands up to show that I am not armed. Starshadow wiggles himself into my scarf to hide. The ones holding the spears reach out and grip my wrists tightly.
"Hey!" I snap. The spearmen glare and attempt to hold my wrists tighter. I force them to relax and let go. It's a drain on my magic, but I can still stand. "I'm not a threat! I'll come willingly, I just don't have a good experience with being manhandled." I explain as calmly as I could. One points a spear directly into my face.
"How did you come here?" He demands.
"By shadow. Where is here, by the way?"
"You have come here and you do not know where here is?" He demands.
"I believe I just said that, yes." I snap.
"Do you not know you stand in the presence of the Empress of Ixaocan?" He pushes his spear closer. I back up.
"And where the hell is Ixaocan?"
"Ixtal. The true origins of magic."
Did I just travel across Runeterra into a new, unknown location, AGAIN?
Hello again, wonderful readers! I know I might have spoiled his name a chapter or two ago, but here he is in the flesh! Daamien, a fallen Ascended healer. And we all know who else is a fallen ascended. Ballsy, that girl is, diving headfirst into a crazed mind to help him.
Thursday, I'm sure you can guess who we're going to have a chat with. Until then, Be extraordinary!