Author's notes:
2021-11-18: Hey, I would like to share a short preview with you. Though as I have mentioned recently, I will try to take more time to finish each chapter, rereading it a couple of times. So, please do not be surprised if some parts of the preview do not make it through into the final release. Besides that, enjoy the text :)
Don't forget to comment. I really appreciate your feedback.
Note that the dialogues written in italic are thoughts.
As always, I would like to thank you for everything. See you soon :)
Changelog:
[2021-11-18]: A preview was released.
Info: Overall, the current plan is for me to write 'My home is where my heart lies' and 'Family tree' alternatively. Between the updates of these stories, I will try to upload other texts. Maybe, just maybe, I will be able to finish some of the short stories. However, I truly doubt that. It seems that most if not all of the stories will be extended both in terms of the time and the number of chapters.
Bonuses' section:
A war call - extracting the parts into a new separate story.
A new story taking place in the Warhammer 40k universe.
Story of one lost soul: The war call: rewrite.
An entirely new story (possibly Akali x [Irelia, Syndra, Katarina]).
A new short story (Vi x Cait).
An entirely original story (possibly even 2 stories, one taking place in medieval times, the other in the far future)
*bonuses will be worked on when I don't feel like writing the chapters pointed out in the schedule :D
End of author's notes section.
Before the queen could have noticed, the morning came. As slowly as possible, the white-haired woman left her cosy bed, leaving behind the still-warm sheets. If she had been allowed, she would have stayed there the whole day, crawling into a small ball. But, sadly, as the monarch, her presence was required somewhere else. Still, the pressure of the inevitably coming events began affecting her more than she would have loved to admit. Thus, Ashe was not in the greatest of moods out of the start.
Merely a couple of moments, it took the white-haired woman to reach the blinded windows. Frankly saying, they should have been already uncovered, but someone must have prevented her maids from doing so. Considering how eventful the last night had been, she had a clue of whom had been behind this occurrence.
With little to no hesitation, the queen reached out toward the curtains, pulling them aside. Once the passage was cleared, the light beams blinded her at first. So, getting used to the current illumination level took her more than a couple of seconds. However, it really lasted shorter in the mind of the queen.
As soon as her eyes got used to the light, she looked through the window. Unexpected, the early Sun flooded the nearby area with countless rays of bright, almost blinding light. After all, the last couple of days had been nearly entirely reigned by the snowstorms. The ubiquitous snowdrifts that covered virtually everything nearby reflected these rays to make the current situation worse, amplifying them.
In most situations, the current weather could have been described as favourable. Although Ashe would not have agreed with such a statement, fully aware of what was coming her way. According to the scouts, it was a matter of time before the invader's forces would lay a siege. Some would swear that the black as night banners could be seen in a distance.
The only advantage of the current weather that the queen could think about was the extended line of sight. With the skies being as clean and blues as now, they should have been able to spot the approaching army from miles away. Still, it must have been admitted that snowstorms would have inevitably slowed down the marching enemies. Time, the most precious resource now, was running lower and lower.
As a result of her deepest fears, a heavy, exhausted sigh was drawn out of Ashe.
"What would I give for more time and warriors to work with?" the queen allowed herself to slip away, contemplating deep inside her conciseness. "Does it make any sense to resist? Would it save more of my people if I just surrendered. Of course, not; they'd have been slaughtered all the same," she continued to think intensively.
Knowing all too well that if she had kept daydreaming, she would not have achieved anything. So, after cursing silently, she opted to leave her cosy bedroom. Some move would do her good now.
With a complete disregard for her clothing, she quickly closed the distance to the door. One swift twist of her wrist and the passage toward the rest of the hold stood open before her. Though it must have been noted that something felt off. As a result of that realisation, she decided to look around more thoroughly.
She did not have to look around for too long. To her left, she spotted a bench that she could swear had not been there yesterday. Surprised by her discovery, she opted to come closer. Within moments she was faced with an unexpected sight. Akali, the dread assassin that only yesterday had saved her life, was laying still, sleeping soundlessly. The face of the ninja was fully covered by the once snowy-white mask. On its surface, the stains of blood could still be seen, proving that the eventful night had indeed taken place.
"Have you slept well?" the exhausted voice of the Ionian sounded nearly instantly. "You were through a lot yesterday. How are you holding up?" she slowly stood up, allowing the stained piece of wood to fall onto the ground.