Akshan twirled out of the way of an acid shot from the beast known as Kog'maw as it fumbled around on its two flabby legs looking for anything tasty it could swallow. Tena grabs a rope and starts tying it to the hilt of her hook weapon "Keep it distracted!" Tena said, "on it!" Akshan replied as he unleashed a barrage of shots from his Absolver. "Auuhgh! Stop that food!" Kog'maw said as he protested the burning of the white pure sentinel light hitting his corrupted flesh. Najah dashes in and slides under the beast, slashing Kog'maw's leg under him and getting up on the side of him, Kog'maw responded with a tail swing that hit Najah as soon as she stood up, knocking her onto her back a few feet away. "Yuuummy," Kog'maw said as he drooled profusely as he walked up to the dazed Najah with his mouth hanging wide open. "Back to the abyss creature!" Akshan yelled as he blasted the glutton on its shoulder with his gun causing it to turn and face him in response. Kog'maw then charged toward him with his mouth open, he was easily distracted finding everyone to be a tasty meal to pursue, THUP, Tena's hook swang into the beast's mouth and bore deep into its jaw as she pulled hard on the rope. "Woo woo WOOO!" Tena screamed as Kog'maw yanked his head, pulling her off of her feet sending her flying onto Kog'maw's back.
With the hook still embedded in the right side of the beast's jaw, Tena quickly wrapped the other end of the rope around Kog'maw's left horn and pulled the noot tight while holding on for dear life. "TENA!" Najah yelled in panic as the beast took off running down the street with her sister riding on its back. "LOOK OUT!" Tena yelled as waved to people to get out of the way, several people leap off a wagon cart to the side just in time as Kog'maw grabs the cart and munches it down all while still running "OUT OF THE WAY, OUT OF THE WAY!" Tena yelled frantically. "We have to catch up to them!" Najah yelled to Akshan as Kog'maw and Tena rounded a corner and left her field of vision. "Here climb on my back" Akshan said, "What?" Najah replied, "just hurry up and climb on, they're getting away!" Akshan said again. Without reply, Najah conceded and climbed onto his back,"now hold on tight" Akshan said, "Aahhh!" Najah let out a nervous scream as Akshan shot his grappling hook and swung forward through the streets trying to catch up to the beast rampaging through the city. "OH NO YOU DON'T!" Tena yelled as she yanked the rope causing the hook to pull hard to the right making Kog'maw turn right as it was about to gobble up a handful of people that were crossing the street. The beast continued to run down the street, Tena desperately trying to get people to move out of the way or force the beast to turn itself if she could.
"Tena hold on!" Najah said as she and Akshan swung down from a rooftop in front of her. "No Worries, I'LL SAVE YOU!" Akshan said as he reached out to grab Tena off the back of the beast only to miss his swing by a good 10 feet, "Yeeeya!" He yelled as he and Najah went flying into a wagon cart loaded with hay. "Grrr enough of this!" Najah snapped as she stumbled out of the wagon and jumped onto the horse that was hitched to the cart, "YAH!" She yelled as she snapped the reins making the horse give chase while Akshan tried to get his balance while fumbling around in the cart of hay that the horse was pulling. Getting tired of fighting the beast, Tena pulled hard on both ends of the rope making the beast lift its enormous head. Kog'maw bucked hard as came to a stretching stop, Tena went flying off of his back and rolled across the street from the instant arrest of their movement. "Puuth!" Kog'maw spit out the hook out as he turned to face the house drawn cart that was following him, "BLAAA!" It said as the beast poured out a large spread of acid vomit that covered the ground in front of him. "WOA!" Najah said as she pulled on the horse's reins making it turn hard to the left, its feet just barely missing the acid but the wheels of the cart slid into the muck, making them instantly start to break and dissolve from the acid.
Akshan leaped from the cart as it toppled over onto its side, "bite on this glutton!" He said as he fired a shot of light from his weapon. Najah looped around while riding the horse, she picked up a broken plank of wood and began charging towards Kog'maw looking to impale him. "Graaah!" The creature roared as it chumped down on the wood Najah was jousting with and then shook his head violently, pulling her off the horse's back and sending her flying, rolling across the ground coming to a stop next to Tena, "you having fun?" Tena teased her sister. Kog'maw seemed to stop paying attention to them all of a sudden and began sniffing the air looking for something that caught its attention. Akshan took this chance to run around the beast to get to the sisters and help them get on their feet. "The Void calls…" Kog'maw purred as he wobbled away from them and into a large adobe temple that was right across the street. "Aaaahhh," people's screams could be heard inside the building, and Akshan quickly helped the other two get on their feet before they all ran into the building chasing after the beast. Upon entering the temple they saw dozens of people fleeing out the side door as the beast gobbled up a massive pile of food offerings on an altar in the back of the temple, Najah then noticed Sehla hiding in the corner next to them in the front of the building. "What are you doing here!?" Najah said as she took her hand and lifted her to her feet.
Sehla gave Tena a mild look of disgust but she held no ill will toward Najah or Akshan. The four stumbled back onto the street outside the temple while the beast was distracted "are you okay?" Najah asked as she examined Sehla and Tena for any injuries. "I'm fine," Tena replied while Sehla just nodded her head affirmatively. "Hate to break the bad news, but I don't think that beast is done with us!" Akshan said as Kog'maw stumbled out the front door of the temple, rivers of drool flowing from his mouth as his eyes now fixed onto them. The beast panted and groaned as it bellowed up its throat, filling it with acid so it could dissolve everyone in front of him. Not knowing what else to do, the four all started running hoping to get out of the beast's spitting range. Najah thought they may be too late and braced for the burning acid's pain as she ran with the others. "SILENCE!" A strange voice yelled out along with the sound of a plasma blast that struck Kog'maw on his side, sending him tumbling right before he could spit his acid. The four turned to see the man that blasted the beast, he wore a strange black kilt around his waist with a skin tight purple armor that looked like a wetsuit on his chest, he had a breathing mask and helmet on that distorted his voice, and he welded a menacing sword that glowed with a bright violet energy.
"It's the Voidwalker… Kassadin" Akshan said in a cautious tone. "Is he good?" Tena asked, "Depends on who you ask," Akshan replied. "Graaah! How's your family been Kassadin, mahaha!" Kog'maw laughed and teased as he got up and charged at the Voidwalker while spitting a flurry of acid spit balls at him. In an instant, Kassadin disappeared then reappeared right in front of Kog'maw dodging all his acid attacks. "You will feel their pain monster!" Kassadin growled through his helmet as he grabbed Kog'maw's tongue and flung him over his shoulder, smashing him back into the ground. "Eeeeeerh," the beast laid on the ground moaning from the impact. Kassadin's Neitherblade crackled with energy as he prepared to execute the vile creature, "You can't stop what is coming mortal, our Queen is coming, and all shall join her in the beautiful lavender sea…" Kog'maw said with a menacing grin as he started to glow more violet by the second, his flesh started to boil as if he was about to explode. Thinking fast, Kassadin grabbed Kog'maw again then teleported into the sky, flinging the beast away from him as he then teleported back to the street level. "Brrrrraaaaaaa! BOOM!" The Voidborn exploded in the sky off in the distance like a big purple firework.
"Have you heard the rumors, great curator? Men speak of a Void queen arising…" Azir asked Nasus as he walked into the emperor's chamber. "Men talk, it's what they do… while it is enough that we should be on guard, I'd place little odds that this Kai'sa is this "Queen" they speak of…" Nasus answered calmly. "What do you see in her?" Azir asked curiously. "I see a scared girl that has learned to do what she must to survive, nothing more" Nasus said. "Still, she may prove useful. It means men's wills are not completely hopeless to the Void's corruption if she was about to control it." Azir said as he stood up from his throne and walked over to the fireplace. "Perhaps, but then again, for years my ascended kin held off the corruption in their own minds, only to enviably fall and turn into the Darkin," Nasus said as he walked away from the entrance of the room and stood over to the map table. "If there is any sign of her becoming corrupted, we must give her a swift end, to avoid the mistakes of shurima's past," Azir explained. "I agree, the world was almost forever lost from Shurima's past failures," Nasus said while nodding affirmatively.
"And what do you make of this weaver girl? A stone weaver is an incredibly useful gift, but I sense she is unyielding… like a wild steed that refuses to be subjugated," Azir said as he asked for Nasus's council. "Yes, she truly is a wild spirit, from my experience however, the nomads of the Sai often have a stronger spine than most Shuriman warriors, something about never having a home on the sea of sand that makes one always ready for a fight," Nasus replied. "Yes, but just because one has learned to live on their own doesn't mean they have the right to stand in the way of the needs of the empire," Azir said. "Hmm, perhaps… I would advise patience with the girl Taliyah. She may be difficult to deal with, but she has out-performed my expectations twice now, and offered sound knowledge to me both times… few mortals have surprised me this way over my many years." Nasus replied, clearly fond of her charisma a bit as he walked back over to the main door. "Very well, I will leave them in your charge, great Curator. But remember, Shurima fell before because we did not diligently protect the empire, and let sentiment make us weak. I will not allow that again, for anyone..." Azir said, his voice growing serious. "Understood great emperor, I shall keep my eyes steadfast on the safety of Shurima," Nasus replied as he opened the door to leave the throne room.
"Thank you sir, though I think I had that creature in the bag haha" Akshan said with a small chuckle as he thanked the Voidwalker. Kassadin didn't reply, instead his gaze fixed onto Sehla and started walking straight towards her. Najah stepped in front of the group protectively not sure what the stranger's intentions were. "Step aside woman, do you have any idea the danger you put everyone here in?" Kassadin said, his voice blunt and stiff, as he stopped face to face with Najah. "What the hell are you talking about, we were here fighting that beast before you came along!" Najah said definitely as she stood strong in front of him. "Not you! You!" Kassadin said as he put his hand over Najah's face and pushed her aside, and then pointed at Sehla. "Me?" Sehla replied with a little fear in her voice as Najah pulled out her sword to threaten the stranger. "You don't want to do that…" Kassadin said as he turned his head to look Najah in the eye, "The stone around your neck, give it to me!" Kassadin said again this time looking back at Sehla. "What no… it's mine, and why would you care!" Sehla said, her voice growing slightly more bold.
"The man who gave it to you, where is he?" Kassadin asked. "What, I… I don't know, It belonged to my father, it belongs to me!" Sehla replied boldly. "Then your father was a fool! And you are a fool to keep it!" Kassadin said coldly. "How dare you!" Sehla replied as she drew her weapon, Tena also put her hand on her weapon ready for a fight. "Wooh wooh wooh easy everyone, no need for more bloodshed, why do you want this stone stranger, what's so special about it?" Akshan asked. "It's a Void corrupted moonstone, it resonates with the reached voices of the Abyss, it mine as well be a dinner bell for the Voidborn," Kassadin explained as he lowered his weapon. "Well in that case we sure don't want it," Tena said. "No," Sehla snapped back. "What did the man tell you that gave you this stone?" Kassadin asked, as he secretly had been following him for many days. "He told me my father wasn't dead, that there is a prophet that restores people that were taken by the void," Sehla said, her voice trembling a bit. "He… He told me to meet him in the old scorched ruins on the western Sai… he said my father was waiting for me there and gave him this stone so I would know it wasn't a lie," Selha said again. Kassadin stopped and thought about what she said for a moment, everyone staring at him to see what he was going to do or say next.
"Very well, you may keep the pendant, but the road to the west is long and far too dangerous if you keep that rock with you, I will see to it that you reach there safely," Kassadin said. Straight away Sehla stepped away from her friends and walked over to Kassadin, "can we leave now?" She asked. "Yes, if you wish," Kassadin replied. "Wooh wooh wait a minute! Even if he saved our lives or not, you can't just leave with a stranger, Sehla!" Najah said. "You were all strangers not long ago. I can and I will…" Sehla replied coldly as she started walking away with Kassadin. "Wha, what wait…" Najah started to say, "leave her be, there is no getting her to change her mind," Tena said. Najah bowed her head, sad she couldn't help her. "Here, let us go get fixed up, we all took a little beating," Akshan said as he helped Najah with a small limp.
Kai'sa and Taliyah returned to the guest house, it was alive and bustling with people enjoying a dinner banquet buffet that was left out for all guests to enjoy. A sharp grumble Kai'sa felt in her stomach as the scent of the food hit her as they walked in, "oooh I really am hungry," Kai'sa said, in a tone that was almost asking for permission to eat. "Welp, I'm pretty sure there are no limits as to what you can take here," Taliyah replied. "Really! Are you serious?" Kai'sa asked, the idea that something as precious as food would be given away for free seemed odd to her. "Yeah, I'm sure, go get what you like, I'm gonna get something to drink," Taliyah replied as she stepped away from Kai'sa and approached the bar section in the banquet room. "Hello, do you have Sai grog?" Taliyah asked the waitress behind the counter. "We sure do, though if you ask me, it's not as strong as it should be," the bartender replied. "Anything will do," Taliyah replied. The waitress nodded her head then poured a mug full of a hot thick tea, it was a mixture of roasted cacti seeds, dried dates, and fermented corn kernels, ground into a brew that the people of the Sai would store in barrels under the great sand dunes, so only they could find them. "Awww, thank you, that's pretty good…" Taliyah said as she enjoyed her drink, taking her mind off of her surroundings for a moment.
"Taliyah! Taliyah, you gotta try this!" Kai'sa said as Taliyah swiveled her chair around to see what she was offering. It was some kind of pastry covered in powdered sugar and Kai'sa was holding a plate full of them. Reluctantly, Taliyah decided to try one, they were filled with jam and tasted extremely sweet, "umm, it's good, but how many of these have you eaten?" She asked as she noticed powdered sugar covering Kai'sa's lips and hands. "Umm, I don't know, nmmmnnm, didn't think to count." Kai'sa replied as she ate another one. "Eh, okay that's plenty of that!" Taliyah snapped as she took the plate from her. "What! They are amazing!" Kai'sa whined back. "It's not good for you to eat this much sugar, especially when you haven't eaten any real food, you gonna make yourself throw up," Taliyah explained. "Oh… okay, well guess ill get something else that's not sweet." Kai'sa replied. Taliyah was about to say something in reply when she noticed a familiar face walking behind Kai'sa in the crowd. "Sivir! What are you doing here?" Taliyah asked, happy to see the familiar face. She was mid height, thin and fit, she had bits of golden armor adorning all her limbs and a golden tiara, along with teal colored cloth garbs covering her chest and legs. She had long flowing blackish-brown hair, eyes that looked the color of blue oasis water, and few battle scars she had on her face, but they didn't remove from her beauty at all and she held herself proud like she knew that very well.
"Ooh hey pebbles… Taliyah was it?" The mercenary called Sivir replied in her usual aloof tune. Kai'sa swivels around to see who she was talking to, Sivir then gave Kai'sa a strange glare as she wasn't sure what she was. "Oh this is my friend Kai'sa," Taliyah said as she got up from her chair to introduce her. "Hmmm… pleasure," Sivir Replied. "So what are you doing here?" Taliyah asked. "Just chillin, what about you? Didn't figure you were the type to help the Empire," Sivir replied. "Well I could say the same about you, miss reckless," Taliyah teased back. "Uhg, listen pebbles, I'm just here because there is this angry ball of lightning that wants me dead, and the wine is really good, so… that's it," Sivir explained as she took a drink of her wine glass, annoyed with Taliyah's teasing a bit. Kai'sa's mind kinda went in a swirl as she found her eyes drifting, examining every inch of Sivir's body. She felt uncomfortable at her beauty and the fact that Taliyah was standing right next to her made it way worse, "Stare any longer and I'll be charging you rent…" Sivir's comment snapped Kai'sa out of her gazing, "I'm sorry, that's some nice armor you have there," Kai'sa said, hoping to convince everyone it was the armor she was staring at. "Yeah it is pretty armor," Taliyah chirped, agreeing with Kai'sa. "You too… I guess" Sivir replied, not knowing what the hell Kai'sa was wearing. Taliyah smiled a bit, happy she could get them both to talk a bit, "so did your injuries heal up ok?" Taliyah asked Sivir.
"You mean the injuries I had last time we met, piff yea, that was like 2 years ago," Sivir replied in a way that implied there had been many other injuries since then. "Well that's nice" Taliyah replied. A moment of awkward silence drifted between the three ladies, "sooo, you never said why you are here?" Sivir asked in a tone that implied she didn't really care about the answer, but she was bored so mine as well ask. "Well, we were on our way here to talk to the people in the capital about the Void, maybe recruit some help in fighting it. But we ended up running into Nasus and helped him, then got invited to the palace here… I'm not totally sure if we are guests or prisoners," Taliyah explained. "That Nasus always seems to get around," Sivir replied. While Sivir and Taliyah talked, the smell from Taliyah's grog hit Kai'sa and she found the smell quite gross, but she couldn't help but smile at the fact that she was enjoying her gross drink. "So, if you don't mind me asking, what is your armor made of Kai'sa?" Sivir asked, getting Kai'sa's attention. "Um, it's the carapace of a Voidling I killed when I was young, I used it as a shield for a bit, before I knew it, it was attached to me and slowly evolved into a living armor that encased me over the years," Kai'sa explained as she looked at her own hands. "Uuuh, oookay, that's not creepy at all…" Sivir said quietly. The second skin crawled over Kai'sa's skin responding to her comment, but also because the suit was still hungry. "Um, I'm gonna leave you to chat, I'm gonna go get some more food ok," Kai'sa said. "Okay, be safe," Taliyah replied as she gave a little smile and waved.
About 6 hours later, Taliyah was long asleep in her bed while Kai'sa tossed and turned trying to sleep in her own bed. Her second skin itched at her while she could feel it drawing energy from her blood, her stomach also didn't feel well from eating too much sugar. She knew her suit wasn't going to calm down until she let it feed, the energy in her own body was clearly not enough to slate its hunger. Uhg… gotta be careful around here, Kai'sa thought to herself as she slowly got up out of her bed. The window was open and the thin white moonlit curtains waved gently from the breeze outside, slowly and quietly she stepped through the window while she closed her helmet and cloaked herself. Leaping from the window, she dropped a good dozen feet before landing on the backyard grounds, making sure to remain quiet and keep her invisibility up. She then worked her way around the building to the front side, everyone had gone to bed at this time except a few guards that were walking patrol routes. She made her way through the garden fields and headed towards a barn that was on the side of the barracks. Two guards guarded the front entrance to the barn, and she decided to look for a different entrance to avoid the chance they would see her footsteps. Kai'sa made her way to the side of the barn and noticed only one guard watching the side door, moreover he was asleep so she took her chance and snuck past him.
Entering the barn, Kai'sa decided to collapse her helmet and decloak to save energy, and because no one was in here but a bunch of livestock. She then made her way to the chicken coop, it was a large walk-in coop so she quietly let herself in. I gotta be fast, I'm sure the guards outside are going to run inside when they hear the noise, gotta be gone by then, Kai'sa thought to herself. "Don't worry, you won't feel a thing…" Kai'sa said quietly as she charged up her hand and pointed at the chickens that were gawking at her, "May you find the endless fountain… and always be welcome…" Kai'sa said as she took a deep breath… Zzrump Zzrump Zzrump… Kai'sa fired a quick flurry of shots that reduced a handful of chickens into a pile of unmade organic matter lit with purple flame, which the suit quickly sucked up through Kai'sa's hands. The remaining chickens gobbled in terror as they tried to run anywhere they could in the coop. "Time to go," Kai'sa said to herself as she closed her helmet and left the coop, her suit purred in satisfaction at the meal, and though Kai'sa felt a little guilty about killing the chickens, she also did really enjoy the feeling of her second skin relaxing into comfort. Kai'sa paused for a moment, it was strange she heard no alarm from the guards coming to tend to the livestock, she also saw the leg of the guard poking out from the other side of the door that he was watching, she would have assumed he just fell over and was in deep sleep, but something didn't feel right.
She Quietly and carefully walked over to the door, she slowly looked around the corner to see the guard, her heart sank in horror at the sight of what she saw, the man had been cut in two, but what was more horrifying was the fact the weapon used clearly was Void energy powered because the man had decayed into a pile of unmade matter and glowed with Void energy from the slash. Kai'sa knows she must leave the scene before someone thinks she did this, but also, the fact that the Void was already here and no one knew it was terrifying to her. She runs around to the front of the barn and notices two more piles of unmade matter, she assumes it's the other two guards, now fear really hits her as she wonders if this is a full scale attack, "Taliyah!" She says to herself in a panic as she runs into the garden fields. Seeing no guards in the area, within a few seconds she makes it back to the backyard of the guest house and immediately teleport dashes up into the open window of their room. She sees Taliyah still sleeping though she shifts a bit from the noise of Kai'sa's dash, but falls right back to sleep. Phew… Kai'sa lets out a sigh of relief as she decides to just crawl into bed and pretend she saw nothing. She laid in bed for hours desperately listening for any sound of danger, if she heard anything she would be ready to help people but she didn't want to be accused of murdering guards so she would lay in bed to be safe. Her mind raced, wondering what could have done this, she had never faced a Void creature like this before, a… assassin, that clearly was intelligent… or, a person welding the Void, like me… both thoughts sounded equally terrifying to her as her mind finally drifted into sleep.
Kassadin walked across the moonlit dunes with Sehla following behind closing, "I never got your name?" He asked. "It's, Sehla,'' she replied, "hhhm," he replied with no words, still pondering whether or not he should grow familiar with her lest he get attached. "I'm curious, why are you wanting to help me sir?" She asked timidly, still not sure she could trust him. "Sigh, I once lost someone to the Void, you say someone has found a way to save them lost to the Void, I want to see it for myself if it's true," Kassadin replied, still not wanting to reveal his true motivations. "It will be true, I believe my father is there. Something about this rock he gave me, it's like I can hear his voice through it." Kassadin's attention peaked when she said she heard someone from the stone. "I hope you find who you're looking for," Sehla finished. "Hmmm… I hope so as well…" Kassadin replied. "It's a long journey, best if we find a Dormun caravan we could hitch a ride on," Kassadin said. "Hmp, that's fine by me," Sehla replied.
Back in Vekaura, Tena, Najah and Akshan sat on a bench outside a drink stand while they recuperated from their fighting of Kog'maw. "We can't just let her go, something doesn't feel right about that man," Najah said. "She wanted to go, I don't know what she heard, but someone saying they have brought people back from the Void smells like a scam to me," Akshan replied. "Exactly! Everyone can see that it looks like a scam, yet this, Kassadin just volunteers to help a stranger across the continent for a wild quail chase, it makes no sense," Najah reasoned. "Yea, your right, doesn't make a lot of sense, what do you think about it Tena?" Akshan asked. "I… sigh… even though I don't like her, I agree with Najah, we should go after her, she still needs our help," Tena replied. "Okay, very well, I can buy a few skallashi we can ride in the morning, and should definitely be able to catch up with them in a day or two. "Perfect, then Jaffa could join us," Tena said. "Who is this Jaffa fellow?" Akshan asked. "Just a friend, he and Sehla were kinda close, if anyone could be close to her," Tena replied. "Welp, as long as he can keep up I don't mind," Akshan replied. "Oh don't worry, he's a good hard working kid," Najah said. "Excellent" Akshan said.