A Female Reader is left in Aatrox's path. The result will surprise them both.


You feel the iron of the shackles bite into your wrists as the rain splatters against your face. Even nature seemed to despise you. You shiver as the thin fabric of your summer dress becomes sodden and begins to cling to you, sending a fresh spike of cold through you. The village elders had dragged you out here, hours from town, and left you while the sun was still high in the sky. A post had been driven into the middle of the road and your chains affixed to it. "Good use for a witch," they had all somberly agreed as they left you for dead or worse. Now the night had fallen, the heat had vanished, and the cold rain came to further torment you.

Just when you begin to think you might actually get to die before worse could happen, a monstrous figure appears from the trees that the road disappeared into. You gauge he is at least twice your height. Even at a distance, his flesh emanating a visible crimson glow. When coupled with the silhouette of a brutal sword at his back, you know this could only be the monster your village had so feared. Aatrox, they claimed he was called. He had been carving a path of destruction straight toward the little town you resided in. The reasons were unknown, but the cowards who served as the elders decided to see if he could be bought.

With inhuman speed, he advances, coming upon you quickly and stopping abruptly, as if he had only seen you at the last moment. "What are you?" He speaks with a voice that resounded with a power so ancient and terrible you knew it to be an enemy of mankind by instinct.

"A sacrifice." Tone flat, you answer straight-forwardly, no use hiding the truth. "My village left me here in hopes you would take me and not lay waste to them."

You turn your eyes up as he looms over you. "And what am I to do with you?" The disdain he carries for this deed is clear.

"I don't know." The chains binding you make a jangling noise as you shrug. "Kill me, eat me, enslave me." Deep down, you realize you should be terrified, but you can't feel it. Perhaps part of you is already dead, the stinging betrayal of village and family tearing away a piece of your heart. No one stood against the elders when they declared that for your crimes of "witchery" you should be a sacrifice, not even your own blood.

A derisive snort comes from above you. "Do they even comprehend the depth of this insult? Believing that I can be bought with mortal flesh. I am destruction incarnate not some petty warlord." As he leans down toward you, you can feel his breath, hot on your face. "Tell me, Little Mortal, shall I return their 'gift', shall I take you with me to witness their destruction? It would bring them great agony to know their foolish plot failed, and you could have vengeance on them."

Those eyes like smoldering embers seem to burn into you, and you turn away, unable to bear the heat of them. "There is no point to it, smite me and be on your way."

"Ah, but you are mine now and I say you do not die." Without warning he reaches down, causing you to jerk away as far as the chains allowed. A sound between a snort and a laugh escapes him and with a quick motion, he grabs your bound wrists, and with the force of a single taloned digit, the manacles were broken. "You will return with me to your village. When I have finished laying waste to it, you will go out among all the peoples before me and spread the word. Aatrox cannot be bought, Aatrox has no desire but your destruction." The thought of a being whose sole goal was simply to destroy life should fill you with terror or sadness for those who would suffer, but your heart still burned with the bitterness of betrayal, and you found no empathy for your fellow humans. A firm grip upon your shoulders and he spun you around so you face the way toward your village. "Now walk, Little Mortal."

Limbs stiff from standing for most of the day, you begin to march forward. The rain had not let up, although it was not a downpour either, instead becoming a consistent, irritating drizzle. The trip to your home was many miles along the dirt road, worn down by years of travel. In silence, the two of you walk, him a massive shadow, constantly behind you as though he thought you might flee. If only you had that kind of strength. Instead, you obediently plod along for hours until your foot catches a rut in the road and you feel yourself stumble. The cold and fatigue finally caught up to you and your legs collapse beneath you. From somewhere far above you, he spoke. "Get up Little Mortal."

In a daze, you fight to right yourself, trying to push up from the ground, only to crash back down. "I can't." Your voice is a pitiful whimper. Would you anger him, would he at last end you? Now as you cower on the side of the road, fear returns to you, the numbness from earlier vanishing. Perhaps his very presence had worn away at it, finally awakening the terror that should have been there. "Please Great Aatox." Would your appeal stay his hand?

He scoffs. "You mortals are always so fragile. Fine, rest, I will obliterate your village in the morning." You curl up where you had fallen, shivering in the grass, as he disappears from view. Time slips away from you as you lay there, freezing in the dark, slipping in and out of consciousness.

You are barely aware of the feeling of two rather large hands plucking you from the ground and the grip of the terrible cold being broke. Sitting somewhere that felt safe, apples fall from that same massive hand, tumbling red and tempting into your lap. "Eat. You are fading." The taste is like a healing elixir causing a wave of relief to wash over you.

That was the last you remember until you awoke to a strange sensation, warmth. As your senses stir you realize that warmth is emanating from a body that's pressed against you. A quiet gasp escapes you, eyes wide with surprise. You jerk back as you find yourself laying on his massive chest, supported by his arm under you, one wing folded over you. His flesh is strange and smooth to your cautious touch, and warmer than any human's, as though some fire burns within.

A noise that despite your disbelief, was surely a chuckle, comes from him. "Is that my repayment for keeping you alive, Little Mortal?"

A crimson burn blooms in your cheeks. "I..I'm sorry Lord Aatrox." You attempt to look down but only find more of him within your gaze. Something is stirring inside you, drawn out by your proximity to his powerful form. No longer do you feel fear or longing for death.

"Do not call me Lord, Little Mortal, I am no ruler of yours. This is a means to an end." His voice does not betray any emotion or sudden affection, yet somehow, it emboldens you.

"Would you allow me to thank you in a different manner then, Aatorx?" As you tilt your face towards his, you aren't sure what madness has come over you. What is your draw to him, this creature that seemed to care only for the destruction of life and had mostly shown you a brusque harshness? Is it the simple bits of kindness you'd also seen or the allure of the one who would punish those who sentenced you to death? Or is it simply the thrill of the danger of him? Hesitantly, you brush your lips against his.

A startled noise and he jerks away. Terror comes upon you again. Surely, this had been an offense and now you will pay for it. "What nonsense is this? I do not ask this of you?" Though he speaks with shock, he does not seem repulsed by your gesture.

"But I want to give it." Why? You still aren't sure, but the urge continued, strong and insistent. Once again, your lips find his and you let out a small gasp as he returns the kiss with passion.

Your form seems so small laying against him, and you know you would be helpless if he turned his massive strength against you. Yet, there is a sense of safety you feel, as though you know he would not do such a thing. Suddenly, he pulls away, leaving you hungering for more of that intoxicating kiss. As he sits up, he keeps you tightly in his grip so that you end up nestled in his lap. One enormous hand brushes your hair from your face with a previously unknown gentleness. "No one has willingly been this close to me in centuries. What plot is this?"

It would seem you were not the only one to see the strangeness of the situation. It didn't stop the warmth that was racing through your veins, the pounding in your heart, or the rushing in your mind. "No plot. It just…" as your fingers reach out to cautiously trace along his massive cheek, it hits you like a charging beast "seems like we could understand each other, we're both alone."

"Little Mortal." That hand that could crush you delicately wraps around your waist, his voice was no longer harsh. "This is no Yordle tale, where do think this path takes us?" I will continue with my quest to annihilate the living, starting with your village as planned."

It did give you a moment's pause. Could you really bear witness to all of it, stand by and allow it? Yet when had mortals taken the same care with your fate. All your life, from the cradle on, you'd been no more than chattel due to your poverty, now a witch due to powers you weren't even sure you had. "I don't know where it leads, but I wish to stay by your side to discover it."

This time it is he who inclines his head to you and captures your lips with his. "You are quite the surprise, my Little One."