Thunder roared overhead, occasionally scorching the snow and lighting up the increasingly dark and blue Winter's Claw camp. Ashe and the rest of her army barreled down the slope towards the camp as soon as they had seen the storm clouds brewing ahead. Anivia knew exactly what sort of monster could bring down such immense power. It had to be her brother, Volibear. Anivia soared over the battle as she saw Ashe and Gragas leading the charge, with the young girl looking like a fierce leader as she screamed at her troops atop a giant snow ram, bow raised at the sky in defiance to the gods.
Gragas was the first to meet the Ursine fleet as he charged into the first one he saw, wrestling it to the ground with sheer brute strength. The bear creature's claws tried to grasp at him but he held it down against the snow and pummeled it into submission until it struggled no more. Next to this were the initial attacking fleet of barbarians, frozen in place as a tall iceborn warmother swung her bola and charged her mount into the living statues of Tryndamere's men. Anivia and Ashe spotted Tryndamere himself in the middle of this. Frozen in place like the rest of them, he could do nothing but watch as the oncoming army tore through his men, slowly making themselves to him. The cryophoenix swooped down and summoned a wall of ice to block the frozen barbarian army from Sejuani's. It would buy them a little time. Anivia's ice was thick and laced with her magic, yet Sejuani's true ice weaponry would soon be able to find its way through there and they still had Volibear's army on the other side to worry about. It took almost a whole family of tribesmen to bring down a single ursine warrior, and nobody was able to stand in the way of Volibear himself. The wall had bought them time, but they would soon be surrounded.
Ashe swung herself off her ram as she reached Tryndamere and yelled at her archers to fire volleys over the top of the wall. The remaining barbarians would thaw out and be back in action again by the time the wall was broken down, Anivia was sure of it. She had to be sure of it. A small hole was chipped into the middle of the wall but she quickly fired a shard of ice into the hole, sealing it up and piercing the skull of whoever had made it. Behind her she could still hear Gragas wrestling with the bear warriors and she screeched at the archers closest to her to help with the fight going on behind them.
"Anivia!" Ashe called over the sounds of screaming as she fired volley after volley over the wall, "Can you do something about Sejuani's attack?"
"It's true ice magic. Very powerful, we'll just have to wait," as she said that a bolt of lightning hit an archer just next to Ashe herself. Anivia pounded her wings and took flight.
"Where are you going?"
"I have to deal with my brother", Anivia called behind her. The plan was a mess now. They had to clear the ursine warriors from behind them and retreat as quickly as possible, before any more died. Finally beating Volibear was their only way. He had seen her coming, though. As she began to fire an attack which would freeze the bear spirit in place, he dropped down onto all fours and charged in her direction, destroying the soft bodies of the tribesmen as he went. Braum hopped in front of the bear, hitting him square in the face with his heavy shield. It barely slowed Volibear down but had given Anivia enough time to fully charge up her attack. A ball of her ice magic flew towards the bear but he simply jumped into the sky, the power alone knocking over the humans around him. Static buzzed in his paws as he rose higher in the sky, as if the air itself was carrying him towards her. She shot an icicle into his knee but rather than slow his ascent, the anger it caused just made him rise even quicker. Almost inevitably his paws clasped around her feet, the touch of the thunder completely robbed her of any ability to fight back. In midair Volibear flipped and smashed her against the ground.
Anivia almost didn't have enough time to turn herself into her egg before her body shattered against the ground.
Braum saw it. He saw it all. The man had tried to help but his best effort had made hardly a dent in the demi-god's armor. The bear landed awkwardly on the ground, ice still lodged in his knee and head still slightly dazed from the impact into Braum's shield. Volibear scooped up Anivia's egg and held it like a trophy above his head. Now that she was in her rebirth form, the wall had started to melt away and lose it's effect. They had to leave. This was bad.
"Gragas!" He called to the closest other bloodsworn to him, "We have to go back."
Gragas was grunting with effort, the continued deep scratches were rapidly ridding him of vital blood, "Do it, man. For godsake."
Braum lifted his shield and called to the tribes around him to fall back to him. As they did he slammed it against the cold floor and tore the earth apart. Fissures erupted between the two armies and launched a few ursines into the air which was still crackling with electricity. This was their chance, they ran.
He shouted to Ashe and barbarians who had just thawed out and they also followed suit with wild looks in their eyes. Tryndamere himself was shaking from fear and that intense cold. Ashe was instead shaken from the weight of what had just happened. She had led her people to a slaughter.
As they reached the top of the slope, Braum heard the roar of Sejuani's mount as the wall shattered in two. They wouldn't chase them. Volibear had Anivia and that was enough for Winter's Claw. For now.
Elise could not stop herself from twitching with nervous excitement. Having the black mist at her back as she arrived back to her home had filled her mind with worries about how the average Noxian would react towards her. They already thought of her as a monster and now it would be even worst. But the streets were laced with adoring crowds cheering and ooing at her as she and the Shadow Isle inhabitants marched through the streets of the Noxian capital. They were clearing expecting this to happen which meant Swain and Darius had announced it already and had taken credit for everything. The whole thing was orchestrated by the Black Rose, however.
Elise didn't care though. Maybe this would finally give her the stature she deserved in Noxus. She had, after all been summoned to the Throne Room as soon as she stepped foot on solid Noxian territory.
She had never stepped foot into the throne room before. She expected it to be fancier and to be abuzz with guards and advisers all chattering about upcoming war plans. Now, however, it was deadly silent. One man sat in the middle throne at the far end of the room.
"Ah Elise, how pleasant it is to see you", cooed Swain as he almost nonchalantly traced his fingers over the arm of the throne, "I hope you enjoyed the reception I had planned for you."
So she was right, he had taken credit for it all, "Thank you, Grand General."
"Oh no, Elise dear. You know better than that. We've done a lot together back in the past, you don't have to start calling me that just because I'm sat here and you're stood there. You know I'm still the same Swain as always."
"Of course, Gr- Swain", she knew what he was doing. The Black Rose didn't trust him anymore and he knew it. He wanted to get back in their good books.
"Being the head of Noxus' Trifarix is very demanding work, as I am sure you all understand", his voice grew harsher, "Yet I still expected to be kept up to date on any meetings that take place. You understand correct?"
"I think I do."
"Well", he rose to stand and the birds that were once settled around him began to screech and grew restless, "Let me be very very clear. I am not somebody who the Black Rose can just destroy and replace like all the others. You forget I was a part of those plans. I executed many people under the orders of our darling matron. I know who put me in this position and I am more than happy to listen to any plans our organisation have for the future. But I am no puppet. I will be informed of every discussion our Black Rose has. You do not work in the shadows of the government any longer, my darling Elise. You work with the government. You work for me. Am I clear?"
It was not a question that needed answering. Suddenly Swain no longer looked like the old man he used to. He continued in a softer voice, "The Black Rose works for Noxus. I speak for Noxus. I am Noxus. The Black Rose works for me. Now, kindly run off and tell the darling LeBlanc all about this discussion", he started to move back to the throne and gently petted one of his raven's on the head, "Be sure to tell her every word. I'll know about it. I have little birdies everywhere."
A/N: Reviews are better than sex. I'm really loving this story now and it is going exactly in the direction I want it to. They'll be a lot more Noxus, Demacia and Ionia POV chapters coming very soon, also Azir's reaction to Ryze's death! Let me know who you reckon might be the next to die.