"Try..." The Gem Knight's mouth formed something like and excited grin, but was more surprised. "Tryndamere? How? All that time you spent here... How did you even survive the Institute at first? I- I have so many questions to ask you!" Taric said, grabbing the barbarian king in a tight hug. He felt so happy now.
"Hahahahah... I am happy to see you too! How much time I spent here, all alone! Now I can tell you the story! What happened! How i happened! Ahahahah..." He was laughing, along Taric. Their eyes shone brightly, filled with positive feelings. When they calmed down, Tryndamere sat on the bed and looked in Taric's eyes. The Gem Knight looked at the barbarian, while he started wondering.
"So, let me start telling you the story of my way. My way from the Institute to here...
Tryndamere shouted, seeing the body of his beloved fall on the ground. Dead. His rage was fueled by this, and he turned towards the man who did it.
"DAAARIUS!" His voice echoed through the burning garden. The hand of Noxus turned to him, but was met by a devastating shout, which was mocking him, which was sitting on all he ever achieved, on his whole self. For a moment he felt like he was nothing. Meanwhile, Tryndamere charged against the brute of a man. His blade flew at lightning speeds, slamming into Darius' axe, which he was able to lift just moments before the blade slammed against it.
The weapons clashed. Tryndamere, fueled by his rage landed strikes on Darius, who was still weakened by the mocking shout. The king's blade cut deep into the general's left hand, which was the hand he held his weapon with. A thing to go for, in a lot of battles. But right now, Tryndamere only wanted to inflict more pain to the murderer of his queen. The barbarian knew only hatred and endless rage in that moment, all spewing towards Darius and his prized Noxus.
The hand of Noxus finally got a hang on himself, and started attacking Tryndamere with his own attacks, which had more force than the barbarian, whose attacks just cut. They were not landed with precision, unlike Darius'. The axe started cutting Tryndamere's veins, making him bleed and lose a lot of blood, while the force behind the attacks hit him more and more.
Alas, Darius leaped in the air and brought his axe down, in a beautiful swing, which would instantly kill the barbarian. A cry of agonizing hatred echoed through the Institute. The axe had landed, cleaving through Tryndamere. Where should now be falling a dead body, a living embodiment of hatred cleaved. The barbarian king's endless rage had made him immortal, his so called five second stand.
His blade started cleaving through Darius, cutting and cutting and cutting. The hand of Noxus started trembling, the wounds Tryndamere inflicted to him were monstrous. But then, just then, a thing that both of them didn't expect happened. A ray of blue light, sparkles, started draining from Tryndamere, crippling him. Hamstring his speed. Then, Darius took that as a gift from the gods and spun, the opposite direction to his usual, and stabbed Tryndamere's eye with the back of his eye.
The barbarian king fell to the ground and, seemingly, died. The source of the sparkling syphon was actually a bird. A raven, to be precise. Beatrice, to be the most precise we could be. Then, in came Swain, his long red cloak and robes, half covered by dark armor, adorned with golden trims. His face was hidden beneath a helm, while his hand held a staff. The staff was actually a cane, which looked exotic, just because he was the high general.
Darius nodded to him, and sprinted somewhere, probably to kill more champions. After a little, a cry was heard. They cry was recognized by Tryndamere,who was still alive, but didn't show it with anything. It was Draven, calling the champions who had survived to follow him in a swift retreat. Tryndamere didn't want to follow, but he couldn't do so also. Even if he could, he would be tempted to cut Darius to pieces more than running away like a coward.
A silent voice he heard then. It was the master tactician, talking to someone.
"Well played, Grandmaster, almost outsmarted me. Who knew you were such a tactician..."
"On the next morning I woke up, feeling the pain in my empty eye hole. Sneaking past the few remaining noxians, i made my way back to Freljord. Then... From that moment on, I think you know what happened, and what events occurred." Tryndamere finished his tale, looking at Taric. The Gem Knight was scratching his chin, thinking. He had changed really much since the last time the barbarian king had seen him.
His armor, once blue, was now black. Like ebon darkness. He had replaced the mallet with a sword, instructed with rubies, while his shield was green, covered with emeralds. A hood dropped from the back of his armor, showing that Taric didn't go by without hiding his face. Well, what wasn't hidden by his long brown hair, was hidden under the coul, Tryndamere thought.
Taric's eyes were tracing the whole room, especially interested in the little bed - like object. the barbarian king eyed the Gem knight.
"It is such a tragedy that Ashe or Volibear aren't here anymore...If they could but still be amongst the living..." A tear formed under his only functional eye. He was really sad. His gaze then turned to the knight. "Why did you come Taric? We have nothing left. Abseloutley. Nothing. What could a man like you want?" He asked.
Taric turned to face him. Both his eyes then flew to the door, and an idea formed in his mind.
"Let's go for a walk." He offered while standing up, walking towards the door. Tryndamere followed swiftly, but a bit of insurance was nestled in him. " Tryndamere, do you know what immortality is?" He asked as they walked in the waste. The cold wind didn't affect them, so they walked.
"Yes. It is the state of life where you cannot die..." The barbarian king said. Tarick tchked, and looked to the sky.
"Immortality is a place of the human brain, or just a creature's brain, which is locked to all of us. But, with enough patience and practice, some can, and will unlock it at all costs. Because, immortality protects you forever. You cannot die, cannot leave the world. There are forms of that state, but the most common one is unbeing. You call those who are unbeing, undead. Because they died once, and can't do it again. It is an easy way to enslave your soul in a body, but you pay a prize. You can never feel again. Do you understand?" Taric looked at Tryndamere, who simply nodded. "The second type is rebirth. You have seen it, in the cryptophoenix, Anivia. She is immortal, but also mortal, because she can feel pain, but never can die. Always rise again. The bad parts of this are to feel your body wrecking under the restless assault of time. Speaking of time, Zilean is immortal, but in the most terrifying way one could be. His being is trapped in the fabric of time and he cannot simply die. Even if his body is fully destroyed, he will come again. "
"But there are other types, right? Not only those." Tryndamere interrupted him. Taric nodded and continued.
"Another type of immortality is the pure variant. To achieve that state of immortality, the locked part of one's brain will be broken with force, force caused from the lack of space in one's mind. Xerath, for instance, is one of the few who were able to do this. Your whole life was dedicated to learning, and if you learn new and new things, you can, at one state become a being of just power and arcane energy. It is a state which allows you immortality, and endless amount of power surging through the body you occupy. One of the lesser types of immortality is the bodyswap. It is one of the most unrespected in all worlds, because when on the verge of death, you kill the soul of someone else, and take over his body. Even if it is the opposite gender, you still become accustomed to it. We have seen it in Lissandra, who is a witch. Simply chaotic being which cannot live a life of it's own, needs the bodies of others to feed on. Then again, that is not the only lesser type of immortality." Taric looked at Tryndamere and smiled.
"You, yourself control a type of lesser immortality, which makes you unique. Your inability to die in a battle is a unique gift, which has not been registered in so long that I don't think any mortal could have written it. Other types are of a more wicked state. You remember Zac? He is himself immortal in a way, because to kill Zac, you have to kill every cell which builds his body. When his... Body is exposed to too much damage, it will be blown up, resulting in a temporary disable for him. But it is almost impossible to kill Zac. Also, Aatrox is a case of great interest for me, because his immortality is a new type. One of which I have never met before." At the mention of the name, Tryndamere snarled. It was really easy to recognize that he didn't like the other man who had a type of immortality in himself.
"But do you know why I asked you?" Taric looked at the barbarian king. He lifted his shoulders, showing that he didn't have any idea.
"I asked you, because Volibear might have unlocked that part of the brain."