Been a bit since I worked on this one. Let's get back to it.
A Haven in the Isles Part IV
Path to the Glade Part II
Braum stumbles forward, fists raising and cracking down, caving clean through the first spider's head.
"A Yordle holds Viego's sword?" he slurs, teetering even as he bashes another arachnid aside with his meaty fist.
"Yes." Necrit mutters, green fire igniting the head of his staff, "Sanctity was always a fickle thing."
"The blade's got feelings?" Caid demands, dropping to one knee and bolting a shot clean through another spider, his hound shaking another to pieces with vicious glee.
"Not important." Yorick states, clenching his hands and forming a wall of knotted limbs and writhing flesh to block the insight, "We are in no shape to fight that!"
"The Yordle?" Caid snorts.
"No, the Demon at her feet." Yorick snaps, grabbing hold of Braum and dragging him into the undergrowth, the others a step behind.
Caid snarls, firing several shots as the immense arachnid rumbles forward, horrid maw snapping hungrily as it crashes into the wall.
He lunges after Yorick, Necrit hovering behind, forming an intricate rune in the air that then bursts into a wave of ice that shreds several of the smaller spiders to pieces.
He sends the largest shard racing towards Vex, who cuts it in half with ease, Sanctity seeming to scream in delight as she swings it back in a forward slash, an arch of shadow flying out.
It connects with a nearby tree, and the limbs twitch and wraith, becoming shadowy hands tha attempt to grapple the fleeing party.
"She sure learned how to use it quickly." Caid barks, rolling under one of the lashing limps, wincing as his old bones ache in protest.
"It is said that Yordles are born with an innate understanding of magic, in some form or another," the mage rambles, "A Yordle tied to dark magic claiming a cursed blade. It is quite a match.
"Better than the whiny bastard who started this mess?" he demands.
"Let us hope not," Necrit mutters.
"She has appeased Vilemaw. I don't know if that began with Viego or not, but if it didn't…." Yorick remarks, calling more of the sleeping dead to burst from the ground and intercept their pursuers.
"Then we are in trouble?" Braum rumbles, fighting to keep moving as thick threads of black were spreading down his shoulder from the wound in his neck.
"Yes." Yorick returns, skidding to a halt as dozens of Camavorn specters, soldiers, and sailors rush from the brush, snarls on their rictus-ridden faces, spears, sabers, glaives, and shards of metal rising to find their bodies.
"Down!" Caid roars, unhooking a small orb from his bandolier, twisting it, and chucking it at the largest cluster of the Camavorans.
Yorick slams his shovel down, raising another fleshy wall. At the same time, Necrit waves his spear behind them, pillars of flaming stone erupting from the ground, battering, piercing, and maiming a number of the chasing arachnids.
There is a soft click, and a crescendo of screams as a dome of light briefly flashes into existence and then vanishes, taking many of the Mistwalkers with it.
"Move!" Caid cries, rushing to the left, his hound covering his flank, tearing one of the remaining Camavorns to the ground and removing their head with its stony jaws.
They rush through, the Maiden surging from the Mist and gleefully caving in the head of two of the remaining soldiers.
"Traitors." she snarls, tossing their dissipating bodies to the ground and whirling on the others with relish.
A loud crash reverberates as the spider charges into view, Vex perched atop its back with hands held wide.
The clatter of hooves echoed behind her, revealing several of the Iron Order before Hecarim emerged, a deep chuckle echoing from his fanged maw.
"Getting worse," Caid notes.
Yorick nods as he stumbles to a stop staring at the Maiden.
She was glaring at Hecarim, and he could feel the tumultuous desires battling in her brain.
"No," he orders, and she looks at him with utter disdain.
"He-" she snaps.
"You are too important!" Yorick shouts, struggling to hold back the teetering Braum as well.
The Order stalks forward, weaving through the trees, the spider shrieking as its brood pours forward from behind them.
"Run all you like," Vex cries, pointing her blade at the Maiden, "There is nowhere you can hide from me. This is his kingdom, and I will not fail him!"
"He will never love you." the Maiden rasps, and she darts backward to Yorick, "There is nothing left but a greedy, single-minded hole."
Vex shrieks in rage, and their attackers surge forward in unison.
Necrit tosses several stones down, and a pair of portals briefly snap to life as Yorick reaches deep into the dead earth at the edge of the forest.
Bestial bones pull free of the earth, snapping and snarling as they rush past, and from the portals, several of Necrit's wards dart through before they snap shut.
"Host, Protect the queen!" the lead roars, decked in greened-bronze and desiccated leathers.
"They will give us time." Necrit states.
"Not enough," Yorick remarks as the group continues.
"She is damned persistent." Caid spits.
"The bridge…" Braum remarks, limply pointing, "I remember…."
He stumbles, almost taking Yorick with him, but Caid manages to push him outright.
"We can't keep this up." he remarks, "Big guy is going to keep over."
"We are close." Yorick states, "Across the bridge, there should be sanctuary."
But as they hit the bridge, the Monk sees Black Mist clinging to once-living foliage. The Glade had never been vibrant but had held for centuries. But it seemed that was the case no longer.
"This…" Necrit begins, turning back the way they had come seeing the flicking lights of the Iron Order grow closer.
"I know," Yorick mutters.
"Something is coming," the Maiden states, floating closer to the Glade.
Braum pulls free of Yorick, "It…it is fine, we helped the Spirit, he gave word that he would guard…it is trick, come."
And he takes several steps forward before falling to his knees, the inky ribbons beneath his skin now reaching up into his face and down into his abdomen.
"The old bastard in there is even more stubborn than you." Caid states, eying Yorick, "Find him, save the Northman."
Yorick stares at him for a moment, seeing steely resolve in the man's glowing eyes.
"End of the bridge." Caid orders, "Now."
He reaches into his satchel, forcing a map into Necrit's hands, "You're the studious one. Keep this in mind for when the time comes."
"Caid," Yorick begins.
"Get it done, Yorick. Tell whoever shows up I got sick of waiting." Caid states, "And that they'd better not fuck it up. Now, take care of my dog. Stay, Scrapper."
The spirit whines, but even in his debilitated state, Braum is able to reach out and hold it close.
"Get moving," Caid states, saluting the group.
"Good luck," Braum mutters as Yorick lifts him and continues on as fast as they can, the others floating after.
"Luck's for fools. I know what I'm doing." Caid barks back, "I'll see you all on the other side!"
Caid races back the way they came, dropping several objects as he goes that roll and spill about.
Smirking, he falls to a knee and blows the head off the first knight that comes down the slope, sending its undead mix of human and horse spilling down, dissipating into a clutter of armor.
Another shot, dead spider.
Poofed Misterwalker.
Dented a Knight, who comes at him swinging, and he leaps to the side-firing a bolt through its armpit and out the other side. It takes several steps before clattering apart.
"Are you even trying?!' he shouts, "Come on! I'm half blind, with bad knees, bad elbows, a bad back, and the worst case of foot rot! Make it a challenge!
He punctuates a sentence by pulping the head of a spider with the but of his rifle.
Hecarim and Vex crest the hill, the latter still astride the immense spider.
"Come here, ya ugly bastard," he mutters, planting and shouting with glee as one of the spider's many eyes goes dark. The creature shrieks, shaking its head and almost sending Vex spilling to the ground.
He backs further onto the bridge as more Camavorn spirits appear all around her.
"Ignore him!" Vex cries, "After the others!"
The Order charges, intent to bullrush over him, while several other Mistwalkers take to the air, racing past him.
He pivots, firing and catching one in the back of the head, sending it scattering into the chasm below.
Another shot, but a miss as a barbed arrow finds his shoulder, and as the thunder of hooves takes on a staccato beat of stone underfoot, he rolls, narrowly avoiding getting his head loped free of his body.
The Order rushes past him, baring down at the others as they reach the other side, and Caid smirks, drawing free a cobbled-together detonator made from the Vesani tech he had scavenged across the island.
"His kingdom, my whole ass," he mutters, pressing the button even as he feels the beginning of a halberd dig into his back.
An explosion of brilliant blue, purple, and white shakes the bridge, shattering many of the charging knights into shrapnel instantly, sending others tumbling into the gap below.
He feels himself get pushed backward, further embedding the halberd into his flesh, before he and it are ripped from his attacker's hands and sent spiraling over the edge of the bridge.
And out of the corner of his eye, he sees blue fire vaporize the flyers he missed, and the trees move to enclose the remainder of the path, further blocking Viego's forces from following his allies.
Vex's shout of rage catches his ears, and he smirks widely.
"Get fu-" he spits, blood rising into the air as the halberd impacts first, and darkness takes his vision.
Yorick turns just in time to see Caid get speared from behind by Hecarim before the bridge detonates in a brilliant explosion. He casts his hand out as Caid falls over the side, intent on sending some of the goodly dead to catch him, only for an arrow to catch him directly in the sternum.
Looking up, he spots several twisted Camavoran archers, capes, and spectral flesh warped to resemble vast bat wings or racing forward with trails of Black Mist in place of legs.
An arrow grazes his forehead, and another catches Necrit in the throat as he goes to cast a spell, a lethal move if he had not been stuck Inbetween.
Yorick pushes Braum behind him, the Maiden tearing the first to get close out of the air, ripping into it like a cornered wildcat, and Necrit rips the arrow free, green fire burning in his eyes.
Bolts of blue fires race above their heads, catching the second nearest and obliterating it, then the third, and as the fourth turns back, it suddenly freezes, cocking its head as a soft whisper catches Yorick's ears.
He turns, spotting, to his surprise, a living Vesani, nine white tails fanned out, her vulpine eyes narrowed and glowing, while her ears are pressed close to her head.
She crooks a finger, and the phantom inches forward and then begins to scream as she draws its corrupted vitality from it, leaving nothing but hollow metal that clatters to the ground.
"Ahri!" Braum gasps and the Vesani's countenance changes, genuine worry overcoming her.
"Braum!" she cries, racing to him and gently clutching his chin, fingers tracing the corruption seeping through his body.
"He is dying." Necrit states, "We need the Treant."
Her ears droop, and if he could still feel it beat, Yorick is sure his heart would have fallen still.
"You will have to settle for me." Ahri mutters, "And I hope I can be enough."
And behind them, the trees slowly close, muffling Vex's angry cry.
"Then we must move," he states, lifting Braum without another word as Ahri leads them deeper into the clearly weakened Glade.
Vex stands at the edge of the bridge, stroking the side of Vilemaw's head.
"We should go after them." Hecarim growls, stomping about beside her.
"We will," she assures.
"Why wait?" he demands.
"They're trapped." she states softly, "And their new Guardian is weak."
"How do you know?" he asks, and Vex looks up at him, running a shadowy finger pointedly down the length of Sanctity.
"He knows." she states, "We will wait, gather our forces, and when the time is right, we will crush this resistance in the ways your kingdom was so famous for."
"Good." Hecarim snarls, taking his leave.
"And you," she whispers, feeling the chittering thoughts of the great spider-demon at her side fill her mind, "Will feed quite well."
"He will never love you." Isolde's voice echoes in her mind.
"Not so long as you exist." she thinks, briefly closing herself off from Sanctity and the shard of Viego within.
Vilemaw chitters greedily.
"Quite well." she echoes, turning and gliding away from the cliff, the vast arachnid falling in step with her.
And far below, a hand wraps around a glaive, eager to rip it free.
And scene!
I know I promised Battle for Silvermere, but I am going to have to wait on finishing that one for a bit due to work. It will be a big chapter, and I currently don't have the time to sit down and get it all out.
So have some story progression for the Isles Team. Next time, what has happened to Maokai? What will become of Braum? What of the Vex? How far afield am I going to go with this story?
Well, if you have been paying attention to the others, you should already have a taste.
As always comments, questions, and critiques are appreciated. This has been VerBeeker, signing off!
