Chapter 2: Bleak Hour
Summary of Chapter 2: With the gang finally situated at the royal palace, they'll discuss on how to proceed from there. Whether or not this would be business as usual remained to be determined.
"Always tell your loved ones that you love them for tomorrow holds many unknowns."
"Quote from Aesir's Edge Hero Nightblade or Irvine Stratos"
Runterra City/ Palace Throne Room
The palace was spacious with many hallways and rooms that either led to offices, barracks or living quarters. Anyone not familiar or a first timer in the palace would wonder to themselves whether or not they would get lost or not. It was a beauty if anything. Decorations, various types of majestically designed furniture and tapestries filled the surrounding areas along with fountains that shot streams of water into a wide concrete dome that made residence on the floor. The tank and sharpshooter had no trouble finding their way to the throne room. After all, they've been to it dozens of times. Alex and Luna walked in to immediately be greeted by the sight of their two friends in front of Jarvan who he himself, sat in a chair of utmost craftsmanship. The king had a warm smile on his face while Irvine gave a slick smile in the worgen's direction and causing him to roll his eyes. Kai'Sa gave a sheepish smile as well and let out a tiny breath of air with an eyebrow raised. Seeing as everyone seemed to be in relatively good spirits despite the two's tardiness, they both visibly relaxed.
Alex walked up beside his best friend and gave him a light knuckle bump while Luna threw an arm over Kai'Sa much to her minor displeasure but quickly dismissed it and gave her an equal inviting smile. Jarvan watched them all before clearing his throat and speaking which snapped everyone out of their minor group activity.
Alex walked forward and quickly lowered himself to one knee, almost forgetting that again, he was late, very late. " I apologize for my tardiness milord. We had a matter of the upmost urgency to take care of and tried to rush here as soon as it was finished." The wolfman said politely. Jarvan held an open hand out and shook his head.
"It's quite alright noble Alex. Raise yourself, no need to be so formal. While the matter is urgent, I'm just glad you and the lovely Luna made it here." Jarvan said. In the background, Luna fake coughed.
"Kissass..." She mumbled which in turn caused Alex to glare at her while Irvine and Kai'Sa's muffled chuckles filled the small area. Jarvan then turned his attention to Luna.
"So, did you get your issue squared away lass?" He questioned. Luna perked up at being addressed. If they were to hold an award ceremony for best acting, then the guild's sniper would have won five global nominees.
"I did! It was horrible though!" She exaggerated. Kai'Sa gave her friend a look of disbelief.
"You're such a drama queen..." The Shirumian woman stated. Luna whirled her head around.
"Shh!" She said with a finger to her mouth and blowing with a little too much enthusiasm. Jarvan was amused by it. He always was and liked hearing the group's banter with one another.
"Oh? Do tell?" He said and with that she did. He had both hands folded under his chin as he listened. He laughed at the part where Durendal came in and the recording, nodding here and there and giving vocal cues that he was listening as she went on. Kai'Sa found all of it hilarious herself. While they were talking among themselves, Irvine and Alex broke off from the conversation to have one of their own. Alex was the first one to start off.
"Hey man, sorry for being so late. Got caught up with her shenanigans." He said apologizing. Irvine pounded a fist lightly on his breastplate.
"It's alright, she didn't get you into any trouble did she?" He asked. Alex shook his head.
"Me? Not at all, Reggie? Let's just say he's going to be using the restroom in a lot of different openings if he doesn't turn up with that shipment." The worgen said humorously and causing his smaller friend to chuckle lightly. Irvine looked down at the ground for a second, his lips forming a thin crease before looking back up at Alex.
"How's Anduin holding up? He adjusting to his new responsibilities?" He asked curiously. Alex's eyes went wide for a second before answering back.
"Hahaha, yeah, if you want to call it that. He said it's kind of a pain in the ass but he's adjusting to it really well though." He said good heartedly. A mechanical click could then be heard as he reached and unsheathed his greatsword from it's resting place. Judging from Irvine's reaction to it, he had a hard time believing what he was seeing, as if a mischievous ghost played slapsticks with his face. "Still don't know why he gave it to me, even though we spent half of the time playing mental gymnastics and me insisting that it would be wasted on me. He wasn't going to let up so I just agreed to it." Irvine looked to the sword and back at him then to the sword again.
"So he just up and gave you Shalamayne? You sure he didn't throw back too many that evening?" He said still in shock. Alex rubbed the back of his neck.
"Like I said, he's the one who kept insisting. Even said I'd probably be a better wielder for it. So I just went with it." There was a brief pause with Alex being thoughtful for a second before he found a spot somewhere in the distance to look at. A solemn expression was now plastered on his wolf like features. Irvine picked up on this and went on a limb to guess what he was thinking about.
"I'm sorry about Varian. I know how close you and your grandfather were to their family. He was a good man. Maybe if we would have found out sooner then I could have went with you and we could have maybe prevented what Gul'Dan had set in motion." He said, remorsefully.
While Alex wasn't directing his frustration and anger out on him, he did let it be known. Teeth visibly grit. "No, it wasn't your problem at the time. There were just too many variables that happened during the Alliance and Horde's joint effort to stop that accursed degenerate but no, this all falls on me. Grandpa Genn and Anduin told me that no one was to blame but Gul'Dan but I still blame myself. There was something I could have done but instead, I was so caught up searching for that damn father of mine that I didn't hear about it until the last minute. By then it was too late..." He said in a low voice but furiously.
Irvine walked over and clocked him lightly over the head. He reached his gauntleted hand towards the spot, a look of confusion on his face before pausing. Irvine's face was passive but no nonsense. "You snap back into reality now? Dumbass, I'm your brother, if something's going on with you then of course I'm going to make it my problem, regardless of what it is. I'm here man, anytime you need help with anything. Anytime you're in trouble, I'm going to be there, as well as the rest of the guild. Did you forget rule number four of our creed? If a guildy is in trouble then no matter what, we all will assist him or her, regardless of circumstance?" He said finishing his lengthy dialogue.
Alex watched him for a few minutes before closing his eyes and smiling. "I didn't forget brother and I know you guys got my back. Thanks for giving me the wake up call." He said holding his hand out. Irvine took it and they both gave each other a thundering handshake before bringing it in for a brotherly hug and then breaking it off. Irvine then brought up one last question before he'd be satisfied and dropping the matter entirely.
"Still no luck finding any info out about Warwick?" Irvine asked. Alex shook his head.
"Nothing. I went through dozens of sources and there's been no kind of concrete info on where father's gotten off to. It's like he's disappeared off the grid. Ever since that incident happened and he, deciding to seclude himself from mother and I. We got bigger things to worry about so for now I'm going to put it behind me until we get the here and now sorted out." With no further inquires, Irvine gave a nod of approval before the both of them turned back to the rest of the group. Both of their faces took on a dopey expression. They didn't know when they stopped their conversation but they apparently heard theirs, in all of it's glory. Kai'sa was beaming, mostly at Irvine. He caught a faint glimpse of red on her cheeks. In her mind, she found it cute and always thought their brotherly bond was special. Luna on the other hand clasped both of her hands together mockingly and cooed while batting her eyelashes, with the full intent of being aggravating.
"Such a heartwarming bromance, *sniff*" She teased and causing Kai'Sa to smack her arm. Irvine's face went between a smile and trying not to say something back but stuck his middle finger up at her while Alex shook his head. Luna laughed loudly at his reaction, she liked poking fun at him but she knew it was always in good fun.
"Anytime babe, anytime." She winked. Irvine made the ugliest face he could muster, a little too forcefully. If he did it anymore, his face would have looked compressed.
"I'd rather do a backflip in lava..." He stated and causing a juicy red tick mark to appear on the ocean haired girl's forehead. He reflexively caught an ethereal blue dagger aimed right between his eyes. He blew a sigh of relief before becoming livid in the most comical manner ever.
"Hey, I'm not trying to be the next human pincushion! You could have poked my eye out!" He said holding the dagger in one hand and pointing at it with another. She shrugged.
"Hand slipped, my bad..." She said lying through her teeth. Jarvan was in tears from laughing so badly but after a few brief moments quickly composed himself and adorned a serious gate causing all of them to change to match his demeanor as well in the shift of atmosphere.
"Alright, think we had enough chatter and fun now and we've wasted enough time. Here's the situation. We've got leads of a Darkling incursion in a small village, south of Runeterra City named Darrowmere. I've got guardsmen stationed there as well as sending a detachment further out from the village to pinpoint the source of where they're coming from. They came in force one night and almost overwhelmed the guardsman but they were able to ward off the attack to the village. It didn't stop them from taking the village folk from their homes in the night however. The soldiers I sent further out haven't reported back either according to one of my legionaries who made it back here to fill me in. This isn't some simple attack from roving mindless beasts. This was coordinated. Irvine was quick to interject.
"As in someone is leading them.." He proclaimed. Kai'sa piped up too.
"They sound like they're after something as well, question is what? Darklings usually don't venture too far into settlements, especially if they're met by force. There's got to be a reason why they're taking those villagers." She mused. This caused Jarvan to nod at their assessment.
"Indeed. The soldier told me that the villagers unearthed some unidentified crystalline object. They weren't able to determine the material or what it was but from what I was told, they could feel faint traces of magic emanating from it. That night of the raid they hauled that off along with the people. What they're using it for is still in question but nothing good can come out of it the longer those monsters are left to their own devices. Still poses the question of where they're coming from?" Jarvan said ending his explanation. Cackling into existence, the hologram of the AI Ma3a came into view from her digital home that resided in Irvine's technological arm.
"Actually, I know exactly where it is your majesty." She said producing a square shaped computerized map. Irvine looked down at her.
"Why didn't you say anything sooner?" He asked. She looked up at her user and smiled.
"Hey, don't look at me like that. It's not like I was withholding information. There were major energy fluctuations this morning, coming from this direction." She said spinning the map around and moving her finger along to a giant red bleeping dot." I had to make sure that this is where it led to but yes, I have pinpointed the location. Besides, it would have been best if we all would have gotten together first to discuss a course of action before any of us acted." She said. Irvine didn't argue and was actually throughly impressed with her. Never ceased to amaze him how sophisticated and reliable she was. He knew the AI was state of the art but she was something more, almost human levels of sophistication. He asked her at one point in time who created her?What was used in her creation? Many questions. She didn't have an answer to them. Stating that there was a lot of restricted information locked behind a safeguard that she couldn't crack nor did she have access to. Like it was put in place purposely. Heck, when he first got the suit, they didn't really give him much to go on. Putting that aside he smiled back at her.
"Ma3a you really are something else, best AI partner that money could buy!" He praised. Jarvan also offered his appraisal.
"Indeed, excellent work madame AI, you probably just saved a lot of lives and time by finding this information." He said acknowledging her which prompted her to bow.
"Thank you your majesty, speedy." She said gratefully. She looked up and caught the sight of the other three smiling and giving quick nods of approval at her. Jarvan then asked one more thing of her.
"Ma3a, I know you can interface with our computers here from Irvine's arm. I want you to update me if you sense any changes in the readings you got. I also want you to get any info you can while you guys are investigating the source of that disturbance. We need to know why they were here. We got caught with our pants down and there might be bigger repercussions if something like this is allowed to happen again." He commanded. Ma3a nodded.
"Yes sir!" She exclaimed. Jarvan then focused his ice blue eyes at the other four.
"Now, my fine Aesir's Edge. Your objectives are as follows. You're to head to the village of Darrowmere and assess the situation. Once you're done, I want you to head to the source of that disturbance and do whatever you can to shut down their activities. Gather any information you can. Rescue any soldier or civilian that may still be alive in there but fore and foremost, you're to completely eradicate any darkling threat that you encounter, with extreme prejudice. They can't be allowed to expand anywhere in this province or else they may become a bigger problem in the future. Those are your orders my stalwart champions. Any questions?" He asked.
The four of them looked between each other and smiled confidently. "None!" They all said in unison. Jarvan smiled broadly.
"Then cleanse this taint that has plagued our holy lands for the sake of Runeterra and her people!" He quaked mightily. With that the four made their way out of the throne room. Jarvan watched as they walked out before turning his attention to a person standing near an entry way that lead to another hall. It was a butler. Jarvan put on a friendly smile.
"Ah, Jeeves, didn't see you there." He said. The man named Jeeves put a hand to his chest and gave a slight bow.
"Forgive me your highness. I was here for quite sometime now but seeing as you were in a lengthy monologue with the young champions, I decided to wait until you were done." The man had a proper air about him, befit of his duties. He motioned for a maid to come over, a tray in her hands and the contents being tea and a pastry of some kind. "I just came to tell you that your afternoon tea and snack were ready. Also you neglected to ask young master Irvine how your daughter was doing." Jeeves said and causing a look of recognition to flash on the Demacian King's face.
"Eegad! I did didn't I? Well I can always message him through Ma3a. Thank you for reminding me." He said graciously. His right hand man and head butler gave another curt bow.
"Think nothing of it milord, I exist to serve you and the royal family." He stated before looking back up and towards the door. " I do hope our paragons don't run into too much trouble? This doesn't sound like they're dealing with the usual ruffians." He said worriedly. Jarvan slouched down with both hands folded towards his mouth.
"Yes. I just can't shake this feeling that something bigger may be going on than we were initially led to believe." He said thoughtfully. While they did pray for their safe journey back and for the mission to go without a hitch, they both surmised that it wouldn't be as simple as that.
As the group neared the exit that led back into the courtyard a screen with a message appeared in front of the white colored AI's fov. It was from Jarvan. Irvine nodded at her to accept the call. A video of Jarvan came into view.
"Is this thing on! Oh! Irvine sorry to call you out of the blue like this." He said from the other end. Irvine grinned and shook his head.
"Not a problem big guy, what's up?" The ninja asked.
"One thing I neglected to ask you, how's my daughter? Is she okay? Have you heard anything back from her?" The king said. Irvine could hear a slight bit of worry in his voice but quickly put him at ease.
"She's fine your majesty. My younger sister and Jayce are with them. They actually completed their task and should be back sometime during the night." He said assuredly. Jarvan seemed to be satisfied with the info before continuing the conversation.
"That's good to hear. Puts me at ease a little. I want to thank you for continuing to take care of my little girl and seeing to it that she makes it back safely from each assignment." He said thankfully. Irvine again, shook his head.
"Really, it's no problem. We wouldn't have gotten this far if we didn't look out for one another." He replied. Jarvan nodded.
"Well one more thing? Even though I know you guys will be okay, just please be careful. Something doesn't smell right with this particular assignment I sent you guys on and you need to be vigilant." He said seriously and causing Ma3a to join in on their dialogue.
"Don't worry your highness, I'll make sure these knuckleheads don't get themselves into a jam. You can count on it." The AI said reassuringly. Jarvan chuckled.
"See to it that you do madame AI. Well, I've taken up enough of your time. Good luck to you all! See you when you come back." Jarvan said bidding him and the rest of Aesir's Edge farewell. Irvine waved before the video call ended. He looked to the rest of them walking beside him and smirked. Luna was the first to speak up.
"Well, let's go make trouble then? Eh Aniu? Guys?" She said looking down and petting the wolf which answered her with a bark before looking at the rest of them. Alex slammed both of his fists together with a thundering crash which caused a loud clank to reverberate around the area.
"Yeah, eager to cleave some minion fodders with Shalamayne. Whatever the good king is worried about, I'm sure we'll be able to whether past it like we always have." He said confidently as Kai'Sa agreed herself.
"Certainly but it never hurts to be too careful. Wouldn't be the first time a rodeo turns into a baddie thrashing festival. However, I never shirk down from a good hunt." She said with a hungry edge in her voice. Irvine reached a hand for his katana's hilt and gripped it tightly before breaking off into a sprint with the others following suit.
"Let's not keep our guests waiting then! Aesir's Edge! Move out!" He yelled. As they ran towards the end of the city, some of the soldiers and civilian populace waved and screamed out good luck to them, figuring they had gotten another job of some sort.
Village of Darrowmere: 10:00am July 10th 2041EE
After a lengthy trek through a dirt path surrounded by woods, they arrived at Darrowmere. Unfortunately, the place was a ghost town. Not a single human in sight. A couple of dust bunnies rolled by but that was it. As they walked in they took notice of their surroundings. A majority of houses and huts were intact and looked surprisingly untouched for a hub that just survived a raid. Other structures weren't as lucky. Some of the brick abodes were completely destroyed and nothing more than a pile of rubble while the straw huts they observed were either caved in or had the roofs taken off entirely with destroyed items strewn about everywhere. The four guildmates were all in consensus that something definitely wasn't right here and Jarvan was right on the money with his suspicions. The four bunched up tightly, looking all around themselves, readying for an ambush.
"So, I take it we missed the welcoming committee?" Luna said deciding to break the monotony. Kai'Sa decided to humor her analysis.
"Perhaps but this is eerily unsettling... you guys don't think the darklings made another raid and got everyone in one feel swoop did they?" Kai'Sa asked nervously and looking to her companions for input. Irvine disagreed.
"No, there would have been heavier damage than this and there seems to be no signs that a fight went on here except the other day when they were intially attacked." His yellow irises, narrowed. "You guys be ready. We aren't alone." He said with urgency. Alex looked at him then back to the supposedly empty houses.
"You sensing something buddy?" He said cautiously. Irvine nodded.
"Yeah, my Ki is picking up life force. They're hiding, whoever they are." He said. Ma3a offered input of her own.
"He's right, there's movement from within those houses." Before she could say anything else, a flash followed by the staccato boom of a gunshot filled the air as a bullet zipped from the obscure darkness of one of the houses. Everything happened in a flash. Luna was the closest and would have been the bullet's mark if Alex hadn't positioned himself in front of her and blocking the bullet that pinged off the shield. She on the other hand spun in a semi circle around him and came to a skidding halt before drawing her ethereal bow Managarmr and nocking an arrow faster than the human eye could follow, training it on the sight of the attack. Aniu was right beside her master, growling ferociously and ready to pounce on anything that made the mistake of engaging them. Kai'Sa and Irvine were quick to follow suit, focusing on the opposite side of them. Purple void energy swirled and hummed as it materialized two oddly shaped guns composed purely of empyrean essence in each of her hands. Kai'Sa angled them, ready to fire on the first hostile she saw. Irvine kept a steady hand on the hilt of his katana Onimaru and summoned four light forge kunai, (white kunai shaped energy charges that are brought into existence by an auxiliary power unit within his Nightingale suit that feeds power directly to his arms and allowing them to be used on the fly) and curling them between his fingers. Already prepped to nail anyone who stepped foot outside and ultimately bringing swift death to them up close and personal with his high tech katana should it turn into a battle. Irvine and Alex mimicked each other, both of them repeatedly tapping their hands on their hilts, adrenaline and anxiety at it's upmost peak. Making slow and subtle movements. The ninja however stopped the uncomfortable silence.
"Whoever you are, come out!" He said authoritatively. They waited a few moments. Nothing. Their sharpshooter quickly lost patience.
"We aren't playing games with you! Come out now or we'll force you to!" She threatened. They all looked apprehensively as several shadows shifted from within the huts and houses before visibly relaxing. Several soldiers along with villagers, men,woman and children being among them revealed themselves. One of the soldiers, a gruff looking middle aged man, assumed to be the commanding officer, stepped forward. He shot one of his underlings a harsh look. Judging from the young fellow's cowering reaction, he was the one who fired.
"I told you to hold your fire Jenkins! What if you would have hit one of them?!" He said angrily. The soldier named Jenkins spoke in a quivering voice.
" S-Sorry sarge. I-I got nervous.." He said meekly. The sergeant's upper lipped curled upwards a little.
"I don't want to hear your excuses. If we weren't facing a crisis right now, I'd have you do double night shifts with no breaks." He said before sighing. He looked at the four champions in front of him, replacing his anger with a composed greeting. "Sorry about that, everyone here is just on edge due to the attack on the village. One of my men reported seeing you guys approaching from the pathway there but couldn't really get any positive ID on you. We didn't want to take any chances so sorry if we put you guys on alert." He said apologetically. He then held out his hand. "Sergeant Billoway, 31st regiment." The rest of Aesir's Edge looked between each other before putting away their respective weapons. Irvine and Alex walked forward. Each taking turns to shake his hand before Irvine answered in kind.
"It's alright sergeant. I'm Irvine Stratos, leader of these rowdy folk and Aesir's Edge." He said and causing the sergeant to give him a nod. He looked then to Alex. Alex followed suit.
"I'm his second in command, Alex Greymane, nice to met you sergeant. We're here to assist in anyway we can." The worgen answered as well. Billoway looked at the two woman. Luna looked up from trying to settle Aniu down, a look of annoyance on her face.
"Look, I'm not really good with introductions but you can call me Luna, pretty sure we're known already anyway." She shot a look at the soldier who fired the gun with him trying to avoid her gaze. She jerked a thumb in his direction. " Why don't you tell go lucky idiot here to ease up on the trigger happiness or next time he might find an arrow lodged in his cranium." She said snarkly with a wicked smile and causing a look of dread to appear on the younger soldier's face. He then got on his hands and knees, begging for forgiveness.
"I-I'm terribly sorry Lady Luna, p-please forgive me. This was my first assignment so I didn't know what to expect. I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to put you in a position like that, forgive me." He said genuinely. Luna crossed her arms with a hmph and her eyes closed before opening one of them and smiling at him impishly.
"Sure, I'll forgive you but going to need some compensation for it fir.." She tried to get out before Kai'Sa smacked her swiftly over the head and causing her to let out a small yelp while gripping her head. "Hey!" She yelled. Kai'Sa on the other hand gave her a look that shut her up instantly and reduced her to mumbling some incoherent babble. She smiled sweetly at the soldier and sergeant.
"What she meant to say is that she accepts your apology and there's no hard feelings. As my friend Alex said we're here to help." Her eyes went big for a second with a hand to her chin. "Oh? Where are my manners? I'm Kisala Shiruma but you can call me Kai'Sa." She said politely.
The young soldier as well as a few guards shared hushed whispers, some of them calling her a goddess while a few of the villagers walked over to converse with her and causing Irvine to smile broadly. It was crazy how much she changed from the girl they had lost to the void when they were kids. When they had found her again, she was cold, almost emotionless. It had taken her awhile to adjust to normal life again. Not to mention she also had a dad that pretty much abandoned her at a young age for reasons unknown. She had no other sort of family so Luna and her family took her in. While she spent most of her time in Freljord, she came to Demacia to visit along with Luna and her sister Ashe. While Irvine was the only other besides Luna that she told what went down while she was trapped in the void realm, there were still things that she couldn't tell them. She told him, in due time she'd reveal more to him. It was a promise. He didn't pry anymore than that. He was just glad that she was with them. Once introductions were done, they got down to business with Billoway speaking up.
"Heard a lot about you Nightblade. If it's you guys that are on the scene then I have no doubt you can stop whatever those beasts are plotting." He said. Alex prompted the commanding officer for another question.
"Can you tell us anything more about what happened that night?" He asked. The sergeant looked at him before facing towards another path that led to another pathway out of the village with a face as hard as iron. They could tell that the event left a lasting impression on him.
"I'm sure the king filled you in before you got here but... by all that is holy, I still don't know how we pulled through." He said morbidly. " Everything was fine until we dug that dang object from that crater over yonder." He said pointing to said thing. " I had taken second shift with a couple of my men that night. Nothing out of the ordinary. Seemed like it was going to be another quiet night then out of nowhere they came. At least 30 of them." Billoway explained further. Irvine and Alex exchanged unsettling looks between each other while Luna and Kai'Sa peeked over. They too didn't find the news pleasant. Billoway continued his story. " We heard a couple of screams and immediately came out to engage them. We fought hard but we couldn't stop some of them from taking some of the civilian populace. We even had casualties. A few of my soldiers and any civilian who tried to resist. By the goddess Dwayna, even innocent children..." He said angrily. He was deep in thought for a second before his face became even more grim. " They were led by a small creature. He was dressed up in a purple robe and a wizard like hat with eyes that glowed like scorching brimstone. That wasn't the worst of it however. I've never thought something so tiny could pack so much magic power. Some of my men tried to engage him but he reduced them to cinder piles instantly. I don't know if there are others like him but he seemed to be the only one calling the shots. He ordered the other darklings to take that giant crystal to wherever they were held up at, along with some of the village folk. Johnson's team, with orders from the king, went after them but they haven't reported back in. That was twenty hours ago so I fear they may be KIA as well." He said pointing towards the pathway. "Why he didn't decide to eradicate the rest of us, is a conundrum to me. He would have been very capable and we would have been able to do little to stop it. His mistake however. Guess he wasn't counting on you guys coming in eh?" He said, slowly regaining hope. Irvine and Alex nodded with Irvine putting his doubts to rest. A steel like glint in his eyes.
"Yeah, you're right, he didn't and it's going to be his downfall along with any who follow him. Don't worry, they won't get away with this. Whatever they're planning, it's going to be put to an end today..." He said resolute. Alex whole heartedly agreed with his best friend.
"You guys did well to hold out for as long as you did but we'll take it from here. If any of those people they took are still alive then we'll bring them back. I give you my word." Alex said. Over on the far side, a few of the villagers approached Luna and Kai'Sa, a woman and her two daughters to be specific. The mother was a middle aged woman with green eyes but was pretty for her age. She had her auburn hair tied into a ponytail and wore a pretty pink/tan dress. Her daughters wore dresses too one blue and the other orange. They resembled their mother greatly although one of the little girls had a lighter color of hair than her mother. She went up to Luna specifically and grasped her hands, causing the sniper's cheeks to flush a light color of red out of embarrassment. The little girl's took an instant liking to Aniu. The wolf allowed the two to pet her as well as licking the two girls and causing them to giggle. Luna was at a loss for words for a second before managing to find a way to form sentences like a normal person.
"Um... you kind of have me at a lost here ma'am." She said flustered. The woman smiled serenely at her response.
"I think it's a brave thing you young heroes are doing." She said with an aura of warmth. It was however replaced with a sad frown and causing Luna along with Kai'Sa to adopt a look of alarm. "I know we're asking much of you already but please, I have an older daughter that was kidnaped but those nightmarish fiends. Please... I'm begging you, if she's still alive, rescue my baby." She pleaded. Luna and Kai'Sa shared sympathetic glances before the norse girl closed her eyes with a smile and gripping the lady's hands tighter.
"Don't you worry. If she's in there, we'll get her out along with anyone else that's in their vile clutches. I'll make sure they get an extra helping of arrows for the trouble they caused!" She said balling one fist up and thrusting it in the air at face level. The woman had tears of happiness, nodding vigorously as she did it.
"Thank you thank you." She said through muffle sobs. Her other compatriots smiled at her. Even though Luna could be a sassy, fiery tamale, her heart was always in the right place when the situation called for it. Kai'Sa walked over to the little girls and whispered something to them since she took notice that they were carrying candy around. She let it slip that Luna had a sweet tooth and that she'd be putty in anyone's hand if they buttered her up with it. With that, they walked over. Luna raised both eyebrows at this, with a puzzled look and trying to determine what they were up to. The one with the blue dress was the first to approach her.
"I just wanted to give you this as thanks for going to rescue big sis Sarah." She said offering a hand with an assortment of candy in it. Luna's eyes lit up with stars and a loud squee. She quickly pocketed the candy, grabbed both little girls and brought them into a crushing hug. Rubbing her cheeks against theirs and causing the both of them to enter a childish giggling fit.
"Oh aren't you two the sweetest, considerate little adorbs!" She said happily. "Strawberry Ghost Candies too?! Yeah, just leave it to me! I'm all over it!" She said going into a happy dance and tangent. After some more dialogue with the soldiers and villagers Aesir's Edge set off for the direction that would lead them to where the darklings resided. The little girls, the mother, Billoway and everyone else present waved them off and vocally wished them good luck.
Unknown
Lurking deep within a cavernous, technological facility, teeming with dark and profane magiks, sat one lone figure as he observed the unsuspecting four through a magical orb. There was clear disgust in his voice as he watched them. He spoke in a high pitched voice that betrayed his sinister appearance.
"Cheh! Out of all people they could have sent after us, they called in assistance from that detestable Aesir's Edge..." He scoffed. "No matter, there's nothing those fools can do. Everything has already been set in motion." He said darkly. Another figure approached. Infernal red eyes shone bright through the darkness and the faint gleam of metal could be seen emanating from the broad figure.
"Doesn't mean we should just let them waltz in here. If Nocturne and I go out there with a couple of minions then we would be able to impede them from encroaching any further and potentially disrupting our operations here." The figure spoke with a distorted and modulated voice. Another entity, with blue shadowy eyes also appeared from nowhere and agreeing with his partner. He spoke in an astral, almost ghastly voice.
"Mordekaiser is right. Those mortals aren't weaklings like the soldiers the fool king sent and they definitely aren't some rag tag guild. We can't take the risk of them breaking in here. If they compromise our operation then our lord will be most displeased and there will more than likely be severe repercussions for our failure." He warned. The figure who they both were in dialogue however, disagreed.
"No, I need you two here. I'm still not done extracting power from the Dae Crystal. Some of those human souls I used weren't enough so I need to use my own magic power to finish the process. I'll send my strongest detachment of minions after them. They'll slow them down. I need you two to act as a second line of defense. They will eventually get past but that will give me enough time to finish my work. Mordekaiser, I need you to arm that mana bomb. We don't need to leave any kind of evidence here and I don't want that filthy garbage getting their hands on anything that could expose the brotherhood." The entity said. Mordekaiser let out a grunt of disproval.
"Since when do I take orders from you?" He challenged and causing the figure's hellish eyes to flare. He gave another mocking grunt, un-phased by the spike of magical power. "Very well, I'll do as you ask. Just know this, if your little plan goes up in smoke then it is you who will explain your failure to the master." He said before disappearing along with Nocturne. Satisfied, the being focused his attention back on the orb.
"Yes, come little heroes. Come and embrace the pandemonium! Heh heh heh HU HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" He cackled maniaclly.
Abandoned Pathway: Darrowmere Woods Downs
They were cautious the moment they entered the lush woods. They immediately got down to business with Irvine, interfacing with his suit, called upon his helmet that piece by piece formed until it snapped shut with a hiss. A wide t shaped visor that glowed white and bladed accessories adorned the sides of where the ears were suppose to be, finishing his stylish appearance. Kai'Sa followed suit. She shared a symbiosis with the organic attire that she wore, allowing her to interface with it from her mind. Gray web like strings stretched and washed over her like sludge until it covered her entire face. A thin film of velvet opened in the middle revealing her facial features while an opening in the back allowed her long hair to flow down her back and breathe. Alex for whatever reason decided he didn't need his helmet for now but already had his greatsword and shield drawn while Luna allowed a wispy blue targeting reticule to form on her left eye. She had her bow and an arrow firmly grasped in her hand and positioned along the string of the ghostly weapon. As they walked further, Irvine held up an inclosed fist for them to stop. He spoke in a whisper.
"Alright here's how we're going to do this. Kisala, Luna, I want you up in those trees and covering us from there." He ordered. Kai'Sa nodded.
"On it." She said and making her way to one of the trees closest by. Luna followed suit.
"If Aniu is going to be down here with you guys, then make sure you two look out for her. Don't worry though, if any of them are up there or hiding somewhere down with you guys, then we'll get to them before they can act." She said confidently. Irvine and Alex shook their heads in acknowledgment before Irvine addressed said wolf and his second command.
"Okay, you guys are with me. The ones they don't pick off are ours." He said before crouching down and meeting the lupine animal at eye level. "You okay with that girl?" He said petting her. She gave a quiet snort that she was content on what he wanted. He smiled. "Good." He said. The three of them watched the two girls scale the trees. Luna was kicking and launching her self from trunk to trunk with acrobatic prowess. It was something she picked up while down in the tropics of Kyrta one summer. Once she was at the top she jumped from the last trunk and grabbed hold of a limb, allowing her weight to let her body hang for a moment before sexily whirling herself upright and onto the thick long limb. Kai'Sa on the other hand fashioned claws from hand to toe and began her accent in a predatory fashion. She was fast about it too. Once she reached a sufficient height from the adjacent tree, she sprang from her position, reverse corkscrewing in the air before landing on her branch in a crouched position, similar to a lioness on the prowl. Both woman then took off into a silent sprint while the boys and wolf below them broke off into one of their own. As they progressed further, Luna caught the sight of a translucent clear figure perched up on one of the limbs. Wasting no time she took aim instantly and let an arrow fly. It whistled from the velocity before embedding itself in the head of the unknown assailant. The blue ethereal arrow stuck to the creature's head flared while dark black blood sprayed from the entry wound and revealing a Darkling Marksman. It's body sagged before going limp, allowing it's oddly shaped rifle to drop from it's hand. It let out a final monstrous choked gurgle before falling to it's death, causing the three below to stop instantly. The ocean haired sniper sucked in a gust of air before yelling out.
"Contact!" she screamed. All hell then broke loose. Several shots of darkness infused energy rung out in all directions forcing the two girls to find cover while dark bolts of magic energy assailed the group below them. Alex spun around and slammed his large tower shield into the ground to reflect the projectiles while Aniu and Irvine took cover behind him. Both boys gave each other a silent nod, understanding what was going to take place next. In a burst of speed, the ninja was off, Onimaru already drawn and leaving white afterimages behind him as he closed in on the nearest minion. The group of Darkling Grunts were unprepared. Flipping behind it he raised his sword in a stabbing motion before driving it through the small creatures head and flicking his wrist downwards, splitting it in two. He then flipped out of the way, narrowly avoiding more magic blasts from the creature's small wand like armaments and renewing his blinding assault once more. He bisected another with a skillful horizontal slash before focusing on a third, grinding his blade against the ground, launching himself, spinning in mid air with agile reflex and mincing the unfortunate creature into pieces. He felt heat in the back of his head as he crouched and brought his blade up to block a blow from a taller entity known as a Darkling Warrior. It brought the profane blade it wielded down hard, causing Irvine to struggle under it's bulk with teeth gnashed together. Two more were coming at him. That was until a familiar spiked shield slammed into the warrior, causing it to be taken off it's feet and careening back, finally coming to a rough tumbling stop. The worgen used one of his two magical affinities called Ground to send a colossal amount of earth along with the shield that coasted against the dirt ladened floor like a surf board and into the hapless darkling that took it in full force. Afterwards, Alex immediately set upon them with a mighty roar, shoulder checking one and staggering it before bringing Shalamayne down, two handed and chopping the nearest warrior's arm off along with a partial amount of it's torso, instantly felling the creature. Aniu in the background tore the neck off one while she pounced on another, mauling it to death. Irvine raised himself and got back to back with his best friend with Alex using the greatsword's special ability to split itself into two separate swords, Shalla'tor and Ellemayne. The two then became a whirlwind of steel and death. Alternating between, skillful footwork, blocking and exchanging strikes all in that order. In the midst of the carnage, Alex and Irvine found that they sandwiched one of the sword wielding minions. With a flurry of strikes Alex pressured the creature until he broke it's guard and with a mighty gale strike, blew it backwards into the clutches of his assassin friend. Irvine angled his leg, a sheathe of white energy surrounding his foot before twisting himself and driving it with sickening force into the creature's face, kicking it back to Alex. The armored behemoth of a worgen, turned himself slowly before winding up like a baseball player and driving his greatsword in an upwards arc, meeting the creature with a loud wet clank. The shinobi then boosted himself off the ground, getting an untold amount of air and aligning himself perfectly behind the creature. Grabbing it with an unbreakable grip, he turned the both of them towards the ground, spinning before driving the creature's head into the ground and causing it's head to crack completely like an egg, finishing one of his clan's most fabled arts, the Izuna Drop.
In the canopy, Luna and Kai'Sa were doing great work to keep the other darklings busy and ultimately off their compatriots. The creatures were having a hard time lining up shots and hitting the void woman with their focused fire as she dodged and titled her body with the grace of a ballerina while silhouettes of purple blanketed the trail behind her. She used their frustration and clumsy moves to her advantage. Angling herself on one of the trees she kicked off it, upside down before thrusting her void produced pistols forward and fired, showering a volley on top of them and causing their bodies to shake and jerk with violent movements due to the force of the impact and ending them swiftly. One of the creatures however was still alive. It tried in a vain attempt to grab her but she instantly picked it up and brought it into a choking lock. This didn't stop it's allies from firing. Finding something to grab on from behind the creature, she crouched down to avoid taking any of the hits. Seeing as they weren't going to let up, she did the only thing she knew would take all of them out in one fell swoop. Her gray organic wing like appendages flapped to her sides before the glowing violet openings began empowering void energy with a loud hum. With a flash of purple, dozens of thin beam like photons began peppering the marksmen and grunts, immediately atomizing their bodies followed by echoing explosions. It was her ability Icanthian Rain. Once she was sure they were all dead, she broke the creature's neck with a gruesome crunch that she had in her possession before letting his body fall into a crumbling heap.
Out of all of them, Luna probably had the biggest body count. Before most of them could squeeze off a shot at her, she instantly dropped them with the precision of a killer with years of experience. She leaned back, allowing a ray of darkness to pass by her before shooting another arrow from the odd position she was in, sending yet more of the fool hearty creatures to Hades. She alternated between cover and using the thick branches and large bushes to throw them off. She didn't realize one of them had got the jump on her. She reacted in time to back hand a dark needle like object. She frowned in contempt as she realized it was stuck to her armored arm. She yanked it out before tossing it below. The marksman drew two more of the needle like objects as it advanced toward her, intending for a knife fight. A savage grin then graced her beautiful lips as she raised Managarmr over her shoulders and back into it's resting place. She then summoned her two daggers Dáinsleif and Mistilteinn.
"Sure you can hang? It'd be pretty sad if I dropped you like I did the rest of those flunkies." She taunted. The creature let out a nasty snarl.
"Shut your mouth you clever bitch! You and your wretched comrades will pay for killing my brothers!" It yelled angrily. Luna let out a laugh, tossing one of her daggers up and down before spinning it in mid air and catching it skillfully.
"That a fact? Well, it's like the saying goes fugly, put your money where YOUR MOUTH IS!" She thundered before rushing the creature. She had to admit, it was doing well to stay alive for the time being and it definitely wasn't like the rest of it's buddies that she sent to hell. She started with blinding machine gun stabs in it's direction. It managed to dodge a few but they were coming with such strength and speed that it had to focus on either parrying or ultimately blocking her blows. Seeing a tiny window of opportunity from the brutal assault the creature got low and tried to take her legs out from under her with a sweeping kick but she caught wind of it and flipped backwards, intending to catch the creature with a speeding foot. It leaned it's head back avoiding the foot but she too caught onto that. Time seemed to slow down as she twisted her body around, performing everything in one fluid motion. Turning her face to one side where one eye was visible, she let one of her daggers loose, grazing the cheek of the creature before it found itself in one of the trees with a loud thunk. Seeing that she was off balance, it rushed forward with terrifying speed, swinging wildly and with renewed fury, putting her on the defensive. She end up tripping and falling backwards, causing the creature to let out a triumphant laugh before setting upon her. While it did have the advantage of having her in a precarious position, none of it's strikes were meeting their mark as she weaved her body to and fro to avoid the blows. It then aimed low, a little too low, making her spread her legs wide and causing one of the needles to embed itself in the limb, close to her lady parts.
"Heh, who knew mindless monstrosities could be pervs." She joked. Seeing that the creature was stunned from her outburst, she wrapped her legs around it's neck like a boa constricting it's helpless meal and instantly snapped the bones in the elongated flesh that attached itself to it's head before it could retaliate. Both of it's arms slumped down to it's sides with it taking a dirt nap permanently. "Game over..." She said coldly.
Countless time seemed to pass but they eventually wiped out the darklings that were sent after them and made it to their destination. It was a rock formation but there seemed to be no entrance.
"Whew, that wasn't half bad for a warm up." Luna said wiping a bead of sweat from her forehead. Alex spoke up next.
"Indeed. I see why they were able to give the guardsman so much trouble. Even with a well assembled detachment, they would have given anyone a hard time." He stated thoughtfully. Kai'Sa along with Irvine were more focused on the rock formation with Kai'Sa voicing her thoughts.
"Ma3a? Are you sure this is the place? Not seeing anywhere that we could enter?" She questioned. Ma3a came once again came into view and answered.
"Positive, energy readings are off the scale, wait hang on...what's that noise?" She said in alarm. They area around them began to vibrate and shake with a loud rumble, making them jump into battle ready positions. Part of the rock face began to raise itself and revealing a wide dark entrance. They all watched until it was fully raised.
"Well, if that doesn't spell trap..." Luna quipped. Irvine however was quick to respond.
"Doesn't matter. Even if it is one, we'll be ready for it. Here's our entrance, lets go." He finished. With that, the four set off into the decrepit darkness. Uberknownst to them, the sinister forces leading the darkling attack were already expecting them.
Upcoming Chapter: Chapter 3: Unsettling revelation and journey to the Nakhiti Deserts.
Author's Note:
Well, that's it for chapter 2. Hope you liked it. You can review, tell me what you think, silently read it or don't at all xD! Either or is fine. Just a heads up, I got classes soon so development on this will be slower but I won't be stopping at all unless something in real life really calls for me to manage my time towards that. Plus I do work so I have to factor in all of that as well.
If anyone is wondering how Ma3a knew about the entrance, it's because the guild already had an idea of what their assignment was about. They just didn't know the full details. Once they got to Jarvan's and heard the four o one, she put two and two together and bam. I'll probably save adding any fun trivia or one of the things I mentioned in my previous note for chapter 3 or maybe a future chapter. Another thing, I did edit my previous chapters as well as this one. I tried a format that was a preference but I had noticed before anyone told me anything that it didn't look right. It did when I initially edited but it came out wrong when I published.
Once again thanks for reading and hope you enjoyed.
Giorgio~