Author's notes:

Here's the 11th chapter of the story.

Hope you'll enjoy it ;)

As always, thanks for all, and see you next time :D

2020.11.07 - preview posted.
2020.11.11 - a whole chapter released.

Irelia's POV (a couple of moments later):

Even though Irelia has seen bloodshed before, has seen many fights, she was not prepared for what Akali was about to do. The word 'slaughter' would not entirely describe the assassin's doing, but yet... it was the most accurate word. With her eyes filled with fear, Irelia was watching the rampage of the huntress. As she probably mentioned before, their connection could be a gift or curse based on the situation. And... currently, it was as if some gods unleashed their fury onto this world. The white-haired huntress was the representation of said wrath.

"Akali, please, stop," the officer pleaded in a whisper-like manner.

A moment later, the pink-haired woman fell onto her knees. She desperately tried to cover her eyes, as if it would stop the flood of images that were coming from Akali.

Akali's POV (a couple of moments earlier):

If someone had a chance to witness the huntress currently, it would not be a surprise for her to be called 'monster'. Even though she looked similar to humans, the woman certainly did not act like one. In fact, it would not be an understatement to call her 'monster'.

For the white-haired assassin, the time seemed to be frozen. Her mind was not working currently, after all, she did not control her body anymore. Akali was conscious, but she could do little to none to prevent what was happening before her eyes. For the crimson-red-eyed woman, it seemed as if some feral part of her very being took reign over a steering wheel.

As through the fog, the images of what was going on around her were flooding Akali's mind. She needed to do anything in her power to regain control. And… she needed to find out a method to do so quickly before it was going to be too late.

The huntress body was a killing machine. If anyone doubted that, that person was a fool. It was reacting on its own, it was relying on instincts. As soon as the assassin entered the outpost building, she hid behind the nearest wall. Her muscles tensed up, her ears tried to hear the soldiers still staying inside. The silence lasted maybe a minute or so, but then, the sounds of people running in heavy boots reached her. Immediately, the nasty smile appeared on Akali's face. Every single inch of her was screaming – 'it is hunting time'. A couple of deep breaths were used to steady the breathing pattern to calm down the mind. She was ready, her prey definitely not.

The huntress allowed herself to wait a few prolonged moments more. With every single passing second, the noises of the running soldiers were louder and closer. Soon, the patience of the huntress shall be rewarded.

"Mike, Mike, Mike, damn it. Do you copy?!" the flustered manly voice could be heard.

"Brand… he's dead most likely," another voice stated. The white-haired assassin could sense fear in his voice. "We really should call for reinforcements," he added after a second or so.

"Damn it, Greg!" the first voice shouted. "We were ordered to take care of this elevator station, and we'll do it. Brand, Pete, cover me," he ordered.

"Fine," the scared soldier responded. "The door is just past this corner."

"Alright, let's make it quick," the third voice sounded. This one was so different from others. The man was neither scared nor angry.

"Experienced one, hmm?" the huntress hummed deep inside her mind.

"I'm coming first, cover me," the first voice stated.

"Clear, you can go," the two other soldiers said at the same time.

Without making a sound, the shortest blade was pulled out of its cover. The white-haired woman was only waiting for the man to enter the room where the doors were located. The nasty smile was never fading away out of her face. The huntress seemed to be lost in some kind of primal desire.

The patience of the assassin was slowly running out. She wanted blood, and she could not wait a single moment more to spill it. The firm hand was clenched on the weapon's handle.

Finally, after what felt like ages, in the doorways, the figure of a tall man appeared. He was wearing an enhanced armour that was covering the entirety of his broad chest. Underneath it, the presumably casual military uniform could be spotted. If the huntress did not try to hide her presence, she would undoubtedly scoff. These materials would not stand a chance against her blade.

The presumable officer was so confident that the room was empty that he did not bother to check it up. Akali allowed him to take exactly 3 steps before she rushed from the corner of the room. The soldier did not even have a chance to react. As soon as the huntress's impact knocked him off his feet, she gasped, dropping his combat rifle. Within the next 2 or 3 seconds, he died. Akali did not waste any time, the short straight blade pierced through the chest plate without any problem, reaching the heart of the man. The death was swift, one more gasped, and the officer was left cold on the floor.

The two men who were supposed to cover the officer were starring at the huntress with their wide eyes. Maybe 3 or 4 seconds took them to process the information about what was going on. As soon as it happened, they started to fire at the assassin without an ounce of hesitation.

"Zven, Zven, code red!" the very tall black man shouted into the intercom. "We have casualties… I repeat we have casualties. At minimum Brand is dead, possibly Mike," he added, the fear was filling his voice.

The huntress dodged the firing without many problems. She chose to run away through the door. Of course, she could just kill them where they were standing, but then, she would have to search every single inch of the facility for the survivors. By allowing the black-skinned soldier to report the encounter, she made sure that all of the stationed soldiers would run to help their comrades. And… that, was what Akali's primal side wanted to accomplish. The woman allowed herself to chuckled quietly, after all, everything was going according to the plan.

It was all too know to the huntress that those soldiers would not try to hunt her down before their backup came. Without anything better to do, the beauty started to pick the right weapon with which she was going to kill the men hidden behind the thick doors.

On the other hand, the mind was Akali was screaming. She did not want to do that. It was meant to be a quick and quiet mission. But somehow, all went wrong. She was supposed to go in and out, taking the least lives as she could. Yet… here she was, waiting for the men to gather, waiting for the opportunity to butcher them without an ounce of mercy.

"Let me take back control!" Akali was screaming but to no avail.

Soon enough, the rest of the stationed soldiers came. It was so easy to tell, they were too loud, too chaotic for their own good. The white-haired assassin did not opt to listen to their conversation this time. To be perfectly honest, she did not care what they were discussing. All she cared for was them to come to her.

After a couple of prolonged moments, Akali heard that they were closing the distance to the doors. She smiled. Without hesitation, the huntress climbed to the next level, making sure to be as quiet as possible. The moment, the assassin decided to rest her weight onto the railing, the doors below her opened. Two small items were thrown to the open. The white-haired woman chuckled before closing her eyes. When the objects exploded, the assassin waited for a couple of more seconds before opening her eyes. As she expected, at least 15 soldiers exited the facility and were currently scanning the area in search of her.

To some extent, it was ridiculous that none of them thought about looking or even sparing a glance at the level above them. It seemed that the men were taught to fight against the enemy who would not use anything to its advantages. It was just a matter of time before they would start to split up to cover broader ground. It would be much easier to deal with them once they would do it, but it was not a part of Akali's plan.

Without much thinking, the huntress jumped to the level below, catching the attention of the soldier solely on her. She flashed a nasty smile before charging toward the nearest man. Once again, the utter shock prevented the warriors of the Empire form firing immediately at the assassin. To them, it seemed surreal. How someone could just jump between 15 armed soldiers and expect to survive. The answer was relatively trivial to guess, but before they would be aware of that, they would be dead. You might already know it. The huntress was on an entirely different level, so the rules that they needed to obey were nothing to Akali.

Before the first bullets had a chance to be fired, the nearest soldier was cut in half. The thick, fresh blood covered a nearby area. It took just a moment, a fraction of second, and the man was gone. Between the remnants of the man, the huntress was standing, her clothes soaked with blood. Within moments the throat screams filled the air as one by one the soldiers started to shoot.

The men of the Empire were so enraged that the important detail was omitted. The white-haired woman was not stupid, she positioned herself right between them to discourage them from shooting. After all, they would be in caught in their very own crossfire. However, it seemed that those men were far past the point when they would be able to spot the imminent danger.

Akali could not help but bust with loud laughter. Those soldiers were more of the fools that she had initially expected. Even though the huntress was still laughing, she continued to dodge the bullets. In a matter of seconds, she became a blur for the men. She simply was moving around too fast for them to even catch a glimpse of it. So… in the end, it seemed that the trained soldiers were shooting no better than a blind man would. It did not take much time before the first soldiers started to collapse under their own fire.

Soon enough, all of the servants of the Empire were lying on the cold floor, wounded. The fresh blood stained the stone. The air was filled by the groans and cries of the injured or dying. In the middle of that circle of the death, the white-haired huntress was standing. Even though her clothes were marked by the bullets, but still, she was uninjured. She was still able to fight. And… her hunger for blood and death was not satisfied.

After a couple of moments of complete silence spent among the cold air of the night, Akali moved slightly. The short, curved daggers were reached for. For a few seconds, the goddess of death was staring into the razor-sharp steel as if it wanted to tell her something. It can sound really ridiculous, but it seemed to be an intimate scene of some sort.

It did not last long. After what felt like just a fraction of a second, the daggers were lowered. The eyes of the predator focused on the nearest still-alive soldier. Akali's eyes became even darker than previously, her hunger needed to be satisfied. When a small mischievous smile was flashed, the fangs of the huntress could be spotted easily. Without a hurry, she closed the gap between her and the dying man.

Even though he was most likely not able to see her clearly, the assassin found fear in his slightly fogged eyes. The crimson-red-eyed woman cupped his chin and straddle his chest. For a couple of prolonged moments, she was crushing the man's jaw with her left hand while playing with the dagger in the other one. The white-haired huntress was enjoying every single second her current occupation. Every single little groan, scream, whine, she loved all of them. The assassin was all too aware that the soldier had little time left. But… she deserved to have a little fun after all her struggle. So… she continued to toy with the man who was not able to even lift a finger.

As you might know, even the best game must come to an end at some point. In Akali's case, it did not take long before she got bored with the weakling. As a sign of mercy, the huntress stabbed him right through the plate into the heart. She spared him a long, painful death.

The white-haired goddess of death allowed herself to wait a moment or two before standing up. With a dagger close to her chest, she turned around and started to head toward the next wounded soldier. On her pretty face, the maniacal smile could be spotted.

Irelia's POV (in a mean-time):

Irelia could not stand it. It was too much for her. Still, on her knees, the pink-haired officer started to cry silently.

"Akali, please, stop," Irelia begged once again through their connection.

To her utter surprise, Akali's vision started to blur. The assassin was trembling. Maybe… just maybe, there was a chance to prevent the huntress from killing all of them. Perhaps if she continued to assault the very mind of the white-haired woman, she would succeed.

Without a moment of hesitation, the pink-haired officer focused on Akali with everything she got. Every ounce of strength that she could muster was needed. She wanted to push through the invisible, invincible wall that seemed to be blocking her very thoughts from the huntress mind. Even though she had closed her eyes a couple of moments ago, she could still see everything that Akali could.

At first, it seemed that once again, her actions were to no avail. The huntress was still trembling, but nothing else happened. It appeared as one of the internal fights, maybe even the same one that got her hurt before. After a minute or so, the white-haired woman froze. Her sight was set on the nearest wall, but no thoughts, no words were sent back by Akali.

Irelia gasped loudly. "It's working," she exclaimed cheerfully in her mind. From her point of view, all she needed to do was to continue. It would seem so easy if someone thought about it for a moment. After all, the only way, Irelia could reach the huntress was through the connection that the said woman established herself. With that particular idea in mind, she focused even harder on her goal. She wanted the assassin to stop butchering people. She wanted her to stop.

"Akali, if you hear me, please, let it go," the soldier was murmuring under her breath.

Akali's POV (in a mean-time):

The pain that was running through the huntress body was unbearable. But… the source of it was her head. The mental bridge that Akali explained as a connection of some sort was causing it. The white-haired woman felt as if she was about to explode. The only good effect of Irelia's efforts was the fact that the primal instincts that took hold of her body were wavering. Of course, the problem was that the pain remained. The lips of the white-haired woman seemed to be glued together. Out of the corners, the trail of fresh blood was flowing. She could feel that her sharp fangs were buried deep in her own flesh. It was just a matter of time before her fists were clenched till the point her knuckles went white out of the put pressure.

As through the thick mist, she could see the wall. Her vision was becoming foggier with every single passing second. She felt weak, useless. With an effort equivalent to running the marathon, she was able to take a single step toward the stone surface.

"Akali, Akali, Akali!" the pleading tone of Irelia's voice was echoing inside her mind.

"Please, stop it. It hurts so much!" the huntress was groaning loud while slowly closing the distance to the wall.

After what felt like an eternity, she rested her tensed, hurt body against the pleasant cold surface. With every single moment, with every single plead that seemed to be roaring inside her skull, she became weaker and weaker. If it was to continue, soon she would not be able to stand, she would not be able to muster enough strength to do so.

The constant pain brought the assassin toward the brink of catastrophe. Deep down, Akali knew that the only way out of the suffering was to allow her instincts to kick in again. The huntress despised that idea with every once of herself. Soon after the hopelessness… the rage came.

Within the next minutes, the white-haired woman tried to contain the wave of negative emotions that flooded her mind. She tried to control herself, not to allow the rage to get better of her. It was a fight that she lost long before it truly started. The fury filled Akali's veins in what felt like an instant. Unintentionally, she once again began to tremble. The crimson-red eyed woman roared furiously. She was still trying to wrestle up against the lost fight.

Soon enough, Akali could not hold her rage inside her body. It was too difficult for her. The wall she was using to support her fame was a cloudly point before her very eye. At this point, she could be just blind. The head was still threatening to explode in any given moment. The huntress was at her limit.

With another primal, furious roar she started to punch the cloudy object before her. Even though her bones were enhanced at least a couple of times, soon enough, she began to feel the pain. That's said, she did not back down, in fact, that detail only fueled her rage even more. After a couple of moments, she started to bash with her head against the solid surface that she no longer could see. The blood began to trail down her forehead, her cheeks, her jaw, all the way down. As you might expect already, Akali was in some kind of a trance. She no longer cared whether she would do any harm to herself as long as the echoing inside her head would stop. If the only other way out of that situation was to kill herself, she would opt for it without a moment of hesitation.

"Akali?" the tender voice of Irelia called her through their connection. "Please, don't hurt yourself anymore," she added in a cry-like manner. "You're the one who can kill your mentor. If you're gone, I fear how many more innocent people will die. Beside… you've promised me something," the officer said in a pleading tone. "You can take my however you want, but please, stop," she finished, crying.

"You are going to be the death of me," Akali groaned, choking on the mixture of her own blood and salvia. "But… I can not tell if I am going to be able to hold onto my promise," she added, whispering. "I am so hurt, so weak."

"No!" the pink-haired officer denied. "I won't allow you to leave me!" she uttered in a strong voice. "I'm coming for you."

"No,…" the huntress whispered. "Your kind will be here soon if they see you, your career and life will be ruined. I am going to reach you… no matter what," she added, coughing, having problems to catch a breath.

"Akali… I… I… need you," Irelia stuttered. "Come to me," she pleaded.

"Do you have med-kit with you?" Akali asked, groaning through her teeth.

"I have a little of first aid kit hidden in my armour," the soldier replied. "What do you need?" she asked.

"You will see," the assassin breathed out. "I am cutting the connection for now," Akali informed the officer.

"Why? Akali…" the voice of Irelia faded away.

Even though the bridge between their mind was currently closed, the echoing did not stop. In fact, it became even more difficult to survive. Even without her sight, Akali knew where her blades were attached. A little effort was all it took for her to pick up the short dagger. For a couple of prolonged moments, the huntress was passing the razor-sharp steel from one hand to another, hesitating. With pain currently was difficult to cope with, but if she decided to proceed with her plan, soon she would screaming on top of her lungs.

"Come on, coward," Akali taunted herself. "She got the point, if you are dead, no one will stop Rengar from wreaking havoc," she added.

"Fine," she exhaled deeply after a couple of moments. "Let's do it."

The decision was made.

Within the next few seconds, the sharp blade was pointed at the midriff of the huntress. Gently, she was touching her frame with the tip of the dagger, trying to find the right spot to thrust the steel in. Her top priority was no to kill herself or cause massive internal bleedings that could end her life before she would be able to patch herself up.

It took her at least a minute to find it. A couple of deep breaths were taken to calm the huntress's mind. Or… at least to calm it down as much as it was possible in the given situation. Akali was all too aware that she could postpone the action, but in the end, it would only cause her more problems. With both hands resting on the handle of the weapon, she pushed it toward herself in one swift motion.

As the huntress expected, the pain that came a moment later was difficult to describe. The closest thing she could come up with was being cut piece by piece. The burning sensation mostly caused due to the poison that the dagger was covered with. It was meant to attack the nervous system, to cause immense suffering.

The assassin managed to slowly raise up. Even though her entire frame was aching, trembling, she needed to press on. The tears unintentionally started to run down Akali's cheeks, mixing with the blood that was still leaking from the corners of the woman's lips. The huntress did not even try to hide her suffering anymore, she just did not have any strength left in the tank to do so. Time after time, the loud, feral scream would sound in the night. The crimson-red-eyed assassin was weakened, but still, she was in control of her very own body. Which frankly, was already far better than what she endured throughout the evening.

With every passing second, the huntress was slowly regaining her senses. The only problem the assassin was left with was the wound that would not heal on its own due to the used poison. Akali was heavily bleeding, but she could not allow or justify removing the blade right now. After all, it would only make her bleed more. However, due to her increased regeneration, her body might be able to at least seal the breach in her vessel.

With another scream and the curse that followed it, the wounded woman began to head toward Irelia. Some things still required her to be alive, she could not allow herself to die.

Irelia's POV (a couple of minutes later):

To say that Irelia was worried would be a massive understatement. She entirely lost the sense of time, she felt as if trapped in time, froze. The pink-haired woman was quickly getting sick out of pure worries. To her, Akali seemed like an invincible statue carved in stone that stood everything that the world decided to throw at her. Even when she got back to her apartment covered in blood, she was still as dangerous as ever. To Irelia, it seemed as if the huntress just allowed her to take care of herself. The assassin merely allowed her protective wall to be lowered.

Sadly, the current situation was far from the mentioned case. Akali… Akali seemed to be broken, to be lost inside her mind, devoured by her instincts. It was, at the same time, both shocking and terrifying. It could be compared to the person that you know as very controlled, calm, and out of a sudden, that person could go wild.

Irelia was still resting her weight onto the railing of the building. It was at least a couple of minutes since the white-haired woman cut her off, blocked their mental connection. Under her very breath, the pink-haired officer was pleading, begging, praying that Akali succeeded in anything she planned. She did not lie when she said that she needed the huntress. It would be just delusional from her side to deny that she was frankly saying smitten with the crimson-red-eyed beauty. She would do anything to prevent her from going through that alone.

Within the next moments, the panic started to wake inside of her. "What if Akali wounded herself so badly that she can not move, or worse killed herself?" Irelia thought deep inside her mind. "I need to come to her, I just need!" she added, panicking.

The moment she wanted to avert her gaze out of the railing and to turn around, she froze again. With the very corner of her eye caught a glimpse of something. Without hesitation, she focused on that only to find out that in fact, it was Akali. With agility, that cat would probably kill for, the white-haired huntress was slowly but surely climbing onto the very top of the building. It was just a matter of time before she would be close to the soldier, close enough for her to hug her and maybe… kiss her? With nothing better to do, the officer continued to watch the assassin climbing.

After a couple of prolonged moments, the crimson-red-eyed woman jumped over the railing. She looked terrible. Her clothes were torn into shreds, the blood was covering the entirety of her frame. At the huntress's face, the trails of tears and blood could be easily spotted. The skin was shattered on her hands. Quite a few bruises could be found there as well. But… it was no the most terrifying thing that Irelia spotted. The dagger that was standing out of the assassin's midriff was.

"Akali!" the officer gasped loudly. "We need to take care of it, now," she added.

To her surprise, the white-haired woman did not say a word. Alarmed by that detail, Irelia focused on the face of the huntress once again. No emotion could be read out of it, not even pain, just emptiness.

"I am sorry, but it is the only way," Akali whispered a moment before landing a crushing hit onto the head of the soldier.

"Why?" the surprised pink-haired woman asked before losing consciousness.

"I will explain later," the huntress replied in a whisper-like manner.

In the very next second, she picked up the unconscious woman and started to carry her out in a bridal style.