Time had pased since their town was burned to ground. The archer, named Kai, saved them and carried them to a safe place. It seemed that he discovered the Noxian plans for invasion, but when he was going to warn people, it was too late. He told both of them that he was joining the resistance. Damien and Iraki joined as well, him to be a soldier and her to treat the injured.
Iraki hadn't spoken since the fire. Also she hadn't smiled since then. She spent the days looking to the sky or to the forest, walking around or helping people. Damien got his back's burns treated, leaving his back scarred, but without pain.
Damien wanted revenge against Noxians, for all they took from him and from Iraki. "Please, Kai." he one day finally asked "Train me. Teach me how to kill. Teach me how to be useful for Ionia." he was desperate.
Kai simply nodded with a little smile "As you wish. However, once you start killing, there will be no stop. Not until the war is over." He looked at him in the eyes seriously "You're about to make a oath for Ionia. If you go back on your words, I'll consider you a traitor and murder you, understood?" Damien remained silent for a few seconds, a bit scared from what that man said. Suddenly, Kai started laughing "Just joking, pal. I'll teach you all I know, but we must move to the frontline, so I suppose Iraki will stay here. It seems that your girl isn't the kind of fighter you are."
"Wait, I can't leave her. A husband shall not leave his wife. I can't leave her here like this." he said, looking down, a bit embarrassed.
"Well, You are not married, right?" The older replied "Let's make a promise, but first bring Iraki here. We'll need her for this one." Confused, Damien obeyed, bringing the silent girl with him after a few minutes.
"What kind of promise are you talking about, Kai?" Damien asked, hugging her softly
"Well, It's quite simple. You and I, Damien, will end this war. And when that day comes, we will come back here and you will marry Iraki, and I'll be your best man, ok?" He replied with a smile.
"Huh? Bu-but that could take us years!" Damien worried said "What if we die?"
"Well, you see, none of us can die 'til that day" he happily answered
"And what about Iraki? You're suposing she wi-"
"I" said suddenly Iraki with a small but not shy voice "I'll wait for you, no matter how long does it take for you to end this war." She looked at Damien's eyes with a smile and some tears "I'll wait for you and then we will marry, ok? Then we will have children, two would be good for me, and we will live happily until we die from age."
Damien cheeks turned red as she hugged her tightly, sharing some tears of emotion. After some seconds in silence, he spoke "I'll end this war, I promise you, my love."
Kai smiled, walking away slowly "Then it's set. C'mon, Damien, we have a war to win, and a wedding to celebrate."
And the promised was made. That was his resolve. That gave him the strength to be what he's today. That kept him alive against all odds.
Katarina woke up confused. Her head hurt a lot, but when she tried to touch it to see if she was bleeding or not, she realised she was tied to something. She looked down and saw a wood chair, with some thick ropes around her arms, wrists, legs and torso. She tried to calm herself as she looked around, looking for something to free herself. She only saw the back of a man busy with something. He didn't seem to pay attention to her, even though she couldn't move and sneak around. She tried to speak, but a thick cloth covered her mouth, not letting the words come out of her mouth. The man turned as he heard her attempt to speak through the cloth. She noticed that the man had bandages around his head and a sword on his belt.
He calmly smiled as he bent down to her eye level "Well, well, look who's gotten up, lady Katarina." She looked at the man in confusion, trying to remember who he was. "Oh, yeah. You can't speak with that thing in your mouth, right?" he took the gag off her, careful not to hurt her. "Now, how have you been? Slept well?" She then remembered, he was one of the two Ionians on the boat. She was now in the hold of the ship, where she hid before attempting to eliminate them.
Her head still hurt "How long...have I slept?" she asked confused.
"Oh, well, you have been knocked out for two days straight. Your mission failed, though. The Ionian Whisper's still alive and Im the only one who can stop him from murdering ya." Kai replied as he got up again "He healed well, thanks to our medicines, or you wouldn't have any limb by now"
Katarina hid a smile "That's perfect, if we are on day four of the trip, my plan to meet with a Noxian ship will still go well. We are meeting on day seven, so I should try to survive until then." she thought to herself. Then, she looked to the Ionian in front of her calmly "So I guess Im your prisoner now, right?"
"I guess Damien didn't hit your head strong enough, huh?" Kai laughed a bit "Of course you're our prisoner, Noxian. You'll give us all your info or you'll get some new scars." He voice was calm, but she knew he was not lying. They would torture her to death without hesitation if she didn't collaborate.
"Ok, ok, I get it." she shrugged indifferently "So tell me, where's your friend? At least if we're negotiating, i want both of you to be here."
Kai sighed and turned back "We'll talk later, for now keep quiet of I'll cover your mouth once again, understood?"
"Right, boss" she said rolling her eyes. The Ionian kept working on something, letting Katarina to keep looking around, planning her scape.
That night there was a low, calm wind. The boat wouldn't loose its way, so both Ionians decided to have a talk with the assassin. Damien had his stomach covered with bandages, but he didn't seem to have any limitations on movement, thanks to Kai's treatment with ointments.
"Ok, let's talk, Noxian bitch." Damien said looking down on her "You see, you have two options, help us and get to the shore safe and sound or..." he pulled out his dagger, pointing its tip to her throat "you die, right?"
Katarina simply sighed tired "Well, it seems that the Whisper isn't a scared boy anymore, huh?" she smirked mockingly "I'll tell you something, Noxus doesn't accept traitors, neither does Ionia, so whether I help you or not, Im dead. However, I'll give you a prize, for trapping me." she remained silent for a second, choosing carefully the words she was going to pronounce "Noxus wants you dead, Whisper, and if they know you're here, alone in a tiny boat, they will destroy you and everything you love. Now, we don't know what's the objective of your trip down to Shurima, but" She laughed a bit, looking both boys to the eyes intimidatingly "They will catch you and make you pay, Whisper"
"Now, that was some sort of monologue, Katty" said Kai, turning to Damien and whispering in his ear "Does she mean that Noxians are coming after us?"
Damien nodded off "If she is the only one to know the mission, then we must simply alter the sea route so your boat doesn't reach us, right?" Katarina remained silent, with a poker face "So, let's say this, what if instead of making a detour to the coast of Shurima, we went straight ahead, since we know that the Noxian fleet was waiting for us on the original route? You see, that would make our trip shorter, so we would have more chances of victory, right?"
He smiled as she realised "You didn't...it's impossible..." she said shocked
"Oh, we sure did" he said raising his tone "From the moment you attacked us, we figured out that would mean that you Noxians knew our route, so we changed it. Thanks to you, now it will take us only one week to arrive Shurima. You thought Ionian were this stupid?" he laughed "The stupid ones are you, Noxians scum, trying three times in a row to invade our land, and three times you will be defeated."
Kai remained silent, arms crossed. What Katarina saw him do was altering their route through Shurima once they arrived. They originally planned to arrive on the South, crossing Ixtal and reaching the desert. But now, their plan was to arrive directly into a Shuriman city, Nashramae.
To be continued...