Author's notes:
2021-05-23: Hey, I would like to present a short preview of the 'heart not so cold' story. It is only a couple of hundreds of words; however, I feel like it will show you my idea for that chapter.
2021-05-27: The writing process is going slower than expected. I have only managed to find time to write today; still, I expect the story to be finished by the end of the week. Sorry for delays.
2021-05-30: Hey, the chapter is ready. Let me know what do you think about it.
2021-05-30: I needed to make some adjustments. It seems I was more exhausted than I anticipated, making some mistakes, sorry for that.
I hope you will end up liking it, if not, please do tell me what went wrong.
As always, I would like to thank you for everything you have done so far. If you have not been there, I would have not continued posting. Thanks for everything, again. And... see you soon :)
Changelog:
[2021-05-23]: A preview was released.
[2021-05-27]: Added some text (around 1000 words).
[2021-05-30]: The chapter was released as a whole.
[2021-05-30]: Small adjustments were made.
Schedule for the nearest future:
1. My home is where my heart lies (a long, possibly 10k + words chapter).
2. Prisoner of Your Eyes (next chapter).
3. Black Diamond (2 next chapters)/(possibly finishing the story).
4. The rise of the Blood Moons' servants (2 next chapters).
5. Alone (2 next chapters)/(possibly rewrite).
6. Last Christmas (finishing up the story).
7. My home is where my heart lies (a long, possibly 10k + words chapter).
Bonuses' section:
Sometimes it's just better not to know (possibly rewrite).
Kiss the rain (more than likely rewrite).
Whispers in the Dark (extending beyond 2 chapters story).
Story of one lost soul (translation of 2 of my old texts - previously written in polish).
Story of one lost soul: The war call: rewrite.
*bonuses will be worked on when I don't feel like writing the chapters pointed out in the schedule :D
** It is possible for me to change the schedule a little. Stay tuned for the upcoming information.
End of author's notes.
2 days had passed in what had seemed a blink of an eye. With every passing day, the weather was only getting worse and worse; the snowstorms had been lasting longer and longer, nearly filling the majority of a day. As it was to be expected, the temperature was also going down, starting to affect even the natives. The dark tide was fast approaching in the form of Noxian invaders. Their vast hosts were spotted only a day away from Ashe's final stronghold. The chances of survival were slim and very unlikely.
For Freljord's queen, the time seemed to be fluid, passing way quicker than she could notice. Nearly the entirety of her days was being spent in the map room, bent above the map, trying to come up with any kind of reasonable defensive strategy. The saddest part of that process was the lack of considerable forces to be thrown into battle.
"Tell me that you've come up with some plan!" the white-haired queen growled at Akali as she came into the map room. "You left this room a couple of hours ago; I'm starting to think that you're not here to help but distract me!"
"What would I gain from that?" the raven-haired ninja asked, unaffected.
"Maybe, you should tell me that!" the queen uttered loudly, allowing her frustration to manifest. "Or… maybe you just bedded Kara; I've seen the way she was looking at you, giggling, flirting!"
"Would you like me to return the flirts of one of your Valkyries?" Akali asked, annoyingly emotionlessly. "Would it please you, my queen?"
"Gods forbid! No, I don't want you to befriend my guards!" the white-haired woman thundered. "I need your knowledge to prepare for the assault."
"I am at your disposal, my queen," the assassin responded confidently. "I have just thought that I could train your remaining forces in the meantime; I have come to the realisation that you do need some time alone, unbothered by my presence. Apparently, my deduction was wrong; I am sorry, my queen," the raven-haired woman uttered, performing a deep bow.
"It's an utter waste of time," Ashe concluded Akali's speech, sighing heavily. "Come here; we have many matters to discuss, and the time… is short," the queen added, trying to calm down. She knew all too well that her outburst was inappropriate, caused by her growing frustration.
As the raven-haired Ionian approached, the snow queen observed her. The outfit she had worn on her arrival was discarded, leaving her in a quite unexpected state. The assassin wore a short, sleeveless vest that barely reached the top of her defined abdominal muscles. Her skin was slightly tanned – most likely as the side effect of dozens if not hundreds of hours spent outside, training. On that exposed flesh, many marks could be easily spotted, scars of unknown origin. For a quick, passing moment, the queen thought how these hardened muscles would feel against her bare hands. When she realised what she was thinking about, she nearly jumped. The side effect that she could not control was heat quickly filling her face. The snow queen of Flerjord blushed hard.
"Something happened, my queen; you are red all over your face?" Ionian asked, quickly noticing the state of the white-haired woman.
"You can proceed," Ashe uttered in a low tone whilst lowering her gaze significantly. Possibly for the very first time during their conversation, the queen sounded unsure, worried, insecure.
"As you wish," the raven-haired woman responded. "I believe that the easiest, and the quite frankly only way for us to defend the capital is to rely on civilians. Even though they did not go through military training, they should not have problems with tossing javelins at the enemy. At least a fraction of your people are lumberjacks, hunters; these ones could be even more useful when fighting on walls begins. It is just a matter of equipping them properly, which is not a real problem; your armoury is full of equipment that no one can currently use. I have already started to work with them; I have tried to teach them some sort of discipline. It will be a crucial factor for us to have even a glimpse of surviving," she explained her thoughts process in details. "I would strongly recommend using civilians volunteers as our skirmishers; the second line should be formed from the lumberjacks, hunters. The third and, quite frankly, last line will consist of your Valkyries. After all, they are the most skilled and experienced soldiers we can rely on; to win, or rather to survive, we need to manage this resource with caution. Despite that, these women have sworn to defend your people; we can not throw their lives away recklessly. The success depends on them fulfilling their role," Akali stated in a stone-cold tone.
"The first and second lines aren't soldiers," Ashe uttered, fixing her gaze on the assassin. "What are the odds of them not running away in the heat of the battle?" she asked, worry clearly presented all over her beautiful face.
"They are not soldiers, that is true; however, they all know that if they fail, their home will be gone, destroyed by invaders. I would not write off people who have no other way to go than to stand and fight," Akali made a comment. "And… on top of that, they will be fighting for the queen. If you go to battle with them, leading them, they will offer you their lives."
The snowy-white-haired woman was regarding these words, these pieces of advice in silence. After a couple of moments, she nodded; the plan made sense, giving them at least a chance of surviving.
"What else can you tell me?" Ashe asked, solely focusing on Ionian woman.
"Would you like me to go through the plan that we have been preparing for the last 3 days?"
"Yes, remind me it with every possible detail," the snow queen uttered.
Without providing any sort of response, the assassin came straight to discussing the plan. She seemed to be in her comfort zone, relaxed. She was making a lot of gestures as if trying to add additional depth to her words.
The queen tried to focus on Akali's speech. Yet with time passing, it became more and more difficult for her to avert her gaze from these exposed muscles. Oh… how intoxicating this sight must have been to Freljord's ruler? How appealing; it quickly filled the fatigued mind of the queen, leaving her shamelessly staring at the assassin's abs. The words that were being uttered seemed to be heard yet not fully understood.
This state continued to exist for a couple of hours. Whilst Akali seemed to be unaffected by any means by the situation, Ashe found herself conflicted more and more.
"Is there anything else that I can do?" Freljord's monarch asked whilst hiding her face inside her hands.
"If you believe in gods, maybe a short prayer would not go unnoticed," Ionian replied emotionlessly. "Other than that… you need to open up the armoury and equip your people."
"Fine," the snowy-white-haired woman uttered quietly. "Go, we both need some rest. We'll distribute the weaponry tomorrow in the morning. But… for now, I need to close my eyes for a few moments; take a much-needed rest."
"Understandable," Akali stated. "Would you like me to guard your room?" she asked, eyeing the tired monarch.
"No, I won't need your assistance at night," the white-haired queen responded, lowering her tone. "If you so desire, go find Kara and return her affection; who knows, maybe it's our last day of being alive. I'd urge you to use it as you please," she added in a passive-aggressive manner.
"I will stay here, then," Akali informed the queen. "Have a good night, my queen," she bid her farewell, bowing deep.
"Pfff," tired Ashed scoffed. "You can stop pretending as if nothing gets to you. It's annoying and hardly believable."
After these words, the ruler of Flerjord left, not waiting for any possible response. She was tired and annoyed. Maybe a couple of hours of rest would do some miracle, allowing her to focus solely on the upcoming battle.
The snowy-white-haired woman was ripped out of her dreamless slumber by the cracking sound. If she could have relied on her hearing sense, it had come from the corridor outside her chamber. The queen could still feel fatigued, yet as quietly as she could, she reached for the dagger. It was hidden inside the only drawer of her nightstand. As soon as she enveloped her fingers around the weapon's handler, she felt more confidently. Still, the adrenaline was pumping through her veins; Ashe was sensing imminent danger. Her king-sized bed was located a solid couple of steps away from the door.
A split second of hesitation costed her dearly. She had an opportunity to crawl out of her bed and vanish in one of many hidden tunnels; yet, she decided to remain still, waiting for the further development of the events. When she heard the footsteps, it was already too late for her to react. The door opened with a single kick, revealing 2 tall, muscular masked men clothed in dark coats. They spotted her in a blink of an eye, then ran toward her. The white-haired queen tried to get out of her to even have a chance of fighting the men. Unfortunately, her leg got entangled in the bedding, slowing her down significantly. These fractions of second were all the intruders needed to close the distance. Without an ounce of hesitation, they rammed into the woman, pinning her down to the king-sized bed. Ashe tried to wrestle with the man; however, her efforts tuned out to be mostly fruitless. All she managed to accomplish was to stab one of the mens' arm with her dagger. She could feel fresh, hot blood staining her right hand. Still, her efforts did not stop the men from anything.
Freljord's queen continued to wrestle up with the attackers for another minute or so. If she had been allowed to, she would have continued doing so till she succeeded. However, the masked ones had other plans regarding her. As soon as they managed to pin her down, they started tieing her up. A rough, thick rope was wrapped around her delicate wrists, marking her skin with small wounds as if sandpaper was being used on her. The white-haired monarch wanted to break free, yet she knew that with every single attempt, she was only hurting herself more. Within the next few heartbeats, her mouth was sealed with some fabric. At the very end, they tied her feet too.
At this point, Ashe could wrestle as much as she wanted, yet her effort was pointless. She was being carried by these two men. They were much stronger than her; that was evident as their iron grip was being held on her arms. The attackers did not even need to force her to walk. In their situation, it was fair simple; they just lifted her up, dragging her with them.
"Where are the guards?!" Ashe asked, deep inside her mind. "Where are people who have sworn to protect me?!" she continued to ask questions, annoyed with the current situation.
Slowly, they left the queen's chambers, entering a long corridor. Just a couple of steps to her right, the remnants of the porcelain vase could be seen. The sight was utterly ridiculous; it was just a bit of dumb luck that the vase had not landed on a thick carpet. The cracks were shattered all over the floor, yet the impact area was clearly distinguishable.
Without anything better to do, Freljord's ruler started to gather as much information about the attackers. As much as she was allowed to, she started to look around, spectating the men. Quite quickly, she learnt the first thing about them. They must have been slaves at some point in their lives. The sleeves would roll up from time to time, showing the commonly used tattoos in Noxus to mark slaves. Their coats were wet, soaked with what smelled like sweat. People are sweating differently when they are afraid. And… it was the smell the queen sensed. Even though they had not uttered a single word since their arrival, they stayed vigilant all the time. Both of the men were constantly spectating the space around them, suspecting an ambush.
The capital was so peaceful, so quiet. As the ex-slaves dragged her all the way through the hold, they had not met anyone. There were no guards anywhere.
After a couple of prolonged moments, they reached the main entrance. Usually, there should have been two guards standing outside. The guarding party would have been changed every 4 hours. However, based on the sounds coming behind the enhanced door, there was no one around.
The attackers seemed to be moved by this discovery as well. As quickly as they could, a couple of stares had been exchanged. The ex-slaves felt uneasy, maybe even… scared. A couple of additional moments were spent waiting, looking directly at the door, listening. After that short period, the men decided to proceed. The one on her right took a step forward, opening the entrance. Nearly immediately, the freezingly cold wind started to hurl inside. As soon as the cold air reached Ashe, she began trembling. Her rather lacking clothing consisted only of her nightgown and nothing else.
Even if the second man spotted her trembling, he did not opt to act. The white-haired queen was dragged outside, leaving her vulnerable to the cold. The heavy snowflakes were falling from the skies, quickly covering everything they encountered with a thick layer of whiteness. The snowy-white-haired woman was shuddering intensively. It was apparent to her that her death was only a couple of minutes away from her. The frostbite would soon claim her life.
"Akhan," the first of the attacker uttered in a low tone. "There's blood on snow," he pointed out.
The white-haired queen did not understand what he had just said. Truth be told, she suspected that he was speaking the language of Noxus; However, she could not know for sure.
"Where's Then? He was the one guarding the entrance; where the fuck he had gone?" the other man cursed, looking around intensively.
"As you might already assume, he was killed," a voice sounded from up ahead. "He did not abandon his post though; that much I can tell you," the feminine voice added.
"Who are you?" the first of the men asked. "Show yourself, you coward!" he demanded.
"Coward?" a burst of short devilish laughter could be heard. "You have the audacity to call me a coward; however, I will do as you wish. After all, I have nothing to hide," the voice responded.
In a span of a heartbeat, the woman figure appeared up ahead. She was wearing a heavy dark coat; the snowy-white mask was hiding her face. Long raven-black hair was being moved by the wind blows. The masked woman did not seem to be in any hurry as she slowly but steadily was coming closer and closer.
"Who are you?" the man's question was repeated. "What are you doing here? If you were sent by Sarin, screw you, we've been there first!" he added, not even trying to hide hostility.
"You will not be bothered by such mere details soon," the woman uttered emotionlessly. "You will end up just like your friend – Then," she added, her voice as cold as ice.
"Pfff!" the men scoffed in a union.
"You're freaking crazy to fight against both of us at the same time, alone," one of the men responded, giggling nastily. "We're giving you one last chance to run away before we deal with you just for fun!"
As the masked woman was getting closer and closer, more details regarding her frame could be spotted. Her coat was undone, ripped in numerous places, bore the marks of being cut recently. The snowy-white wooden mask was covered in dozens of stains. The bloody red colour distinguished itself from the surroundings.
"Ohhh," the newcomer faked a gasp. "You are coming straight into violence, do you not?" she mocked.
"Get the fuck out…," the man's response was interrupted by the short blade that pierced through his throat.
The very next few moments became hectic. The ex-slave who still was holding her was not given even a chance to react. In what felt like a heartbeat, the raven-haired woman closed the distance between them. A short ghostly-glowing steel dagger could be seen in the woman's hand. It must have been drawn whilst she had jumped forward. Ashe had just enough time to see the fear laying behind the man's eyes before she fell into the snow. Based on the piercing scream that sounded, the dagger cut off one of the attacker's hand, freeing the queen at the same time. A small bloody mark was left on her nightgown; however, it was not the right time to be bothered with such minor details. As soon as she had fallen down, her rather lacking clothing started to soak with the melting snow.
On her right, Freljord's queen spotted the man with his throat pierced. He tried to somehow saved himself, yet he was losing blood quickly, choking on it. His death was just a matter of a few additional moments. She did not pity him; in her mind, he got the exact fate he deserved. Still, the main problem remained; her limbs were tied up, limiting her movement capabilities significantly.
Even though she did not see the death scene of the second man, she certainly heard him dying painfully. Based on these sounds, the night-piercing screams, she would assume the man being torn into shreds.
"My queen, are you alright?" Akali's familiar voice sounded behind her.
"Get me to my chambers," Ashe demanded, trying to sound confident.
"As you wish," the assassin uttered in response before cutting the ropes.
The razor-sharp dagger cut through them without any problems. She was lifted by an Ionian woman in the very next moment, pulled close to her chest.
"What have you done with the second attacker?" the white-haired woman asked, hugging Akali as tightly as she could in search of warmth.
"I would suggest not looking at his corpse, my queen," the raven-haired assassin tenderly responded. "These Noxians should not have breached into your hold," she added angrily. However, who was the target of this anger was unknown.
As you might already anticipate, the ruler of Freljord did not listen to Akali's advice. What she found on the snow on her left froze her blood. The man had been cut into pieces. The various pieces of recently alive man were scattered all over the place. It seemed that she was not far from what she had initially anticipated in her mind in the end. The only difference was that the limbs were not torn; the cut marks could be easily detectable.
"You were right," Ashe uttered, trying not to vomit. "Take me to my chambers, please," she added in a pleading tone.
"As you wish, my queen," once again, the assassin responded with tenderness detectable in her voice.
Without wasting even a moment, the Ionian woman pulled the queen closer, beginning her way toward the hold.