It had been several hours since they had departed the mining town of Kalamanda. Jarvan had fallen in next to Quinn, paying attention to where she looked as they made their way through the heavily wooded forest. The dark evergreen trees rose up menacingly from the rocky undergrowth, sharp outcroppings exploding up from the ground in random intervals like a forest of stone spires. The horses were having a rough time with the terrain, weaving back and forth across the open areas of the trail. Jarvan frowned, struggling as he watched for the small signs that Quinn was following as she picked her way through the forest. He noticed broken branches occasionally, and small splotches of blood on the rocks that hadn't faded despite the oppressive humidity that hung in the air. There wasn't much but he could see the pattern forming. There were branches and pine needles littering the ground from recent disturbances.
"You'll not find what you're looking for down there." Quinn said with a sly grin on her face. She gestured upwards with her thumb. Jarvan looked up and grunted in surprise, chuckling. In the canopy of the evergreen trees, branches had been torn asunder, knocking whole tree tops loose, branches often hanging by strands of their fibrous wood. Some of the sharper branches had black blood on their pale, sappy, broken shards of branches.
"Probably from his wings." Quinn said with a grin. "He was badly injured and from the look of things, his movements were callous, rough and wild." Quinn said with a frown. "He was doing almost as much damage to himself with him movement as you seemed to have inflicted."
"He did his fair share." Jarvan growled. "He did a real number on my back."
"I noticed it in the way you moved." Quinn said. "Was it bad?"
"Nothing I can't handle." Jarvan said, shifting in his saddle as the horse stepping up over a large slab of stone.
"You say that." Quinn mused. "I can see you're in discomfort."
Jarvan shifted again, grunting. The bouncing of the horse was starting to irritate the scars on his back, and though they had begun to heal well, they were still mostly scar tissue. He had been staying well hydrated, and the herbal remedy that Isaacs had Shyvana apply had helped the healing process along immensely, though he would likely have extensive scarring on his back. Jarvan shifted his weight from side to side, trying to relieve some of the tension on his lower back, but he only succeeded in shifting it directly back into the same position it had been in before.
"I've dealt with worse." Jarvan grumbled, telling a half-truth. He had been injured worse, but he'd let the healers deal with it, not choosing to tough it out with field-herbal remedies. "Though nothing this…. Ah… extensive."
"Uh-huh. Right." Quinn smirked. "You'll have to tell me abo-… whoa." Quinn's horse came to a trotting stop in a large char-blackened clearing. Pine needles had been burned away, and the dirt and rocks had been blackened with soot. Stumps of smashed trees had been burned clean away, and some of the remains were still smoldering. The entire clearing stunk of sulfur and charcoal.
"What happened here?" Forsythe asked. "Kampf?" Jarvan, Quinn, and Isaacs all looked to Shyvana.
"It would appears so." Shyvana said quietly. Jarvan could hear the anger growling under her voice, a barely constrained rage as she came so close to her prey and yet remained so far away.
"I remember seeing something like this." Jarvan said calmly. "When I drove my lance straight through Kampf's chest and he tried to breathe fire." Jarvan sighed grimly. "We're definitely on the right trail."
"Told you I was good." Quinn said with a smirk.
"Just because you managed to track down a rampaging, injured dragon in the pine forests of Eastern Demacia, might I add, the ONLY injured, rampaging dragon in all of Southern Valoran, doesn't mean you're good." Isaacs said with a grin. Quinn shot the older lieutenant a dirty look.
"It wasn't exactly easy finding that trail to begin with." Quinn snapped back defensively.
"The pillar of smoke wasn't a dead giveaway either." Forsythe said with a grin, waving smoke from his face, much of the tree trunks still smoking profusely.
"Did you see the pillar of smoke in that fog?" Quinn shot back. "I didn't think so." Isaacs chuckled as Forsythe clicked his jaw shut, an annoyed look on his face, the eyebrow above his good eye twitching. Jarvan gave him a glance, a grin on his face.
"Yeah, yeah…" Forsythe growled, sighing.
"Now, now kiddies, let's play nice." Isaacs said, sighing.
"Any idea how long ago this was caused?" Jarvan asked, dismounting his horse. The beast stepped lightly, pawing at the ground. None of the horses seemed to care much for the blackened landscape. The animals shook their heads from side to side, all of the riders struggling to keep them from straying. Jarvan kneeled and pressed a hand to the ground, it was still warm to the touch. The ground crunched under foot as he moved towards a rock, running a hand along the shiny surface of the stone. Shyvana whispered softly to her mount, leaning in as she stroked its mane, her other hand holding the reins safely away from her body. The animal calmed itself, though it was still shaking its head in distress as she slid from the saddle. She offered the reigns up to the Lieutenant, and the officer took them without complaint. She kneeled to the ground, running her hands along the glassy surface.
"The horses can sense the malevolence in the air, and the scent of blood is still fresh despite the scorched surface of the entire area." Shyvana said softly. "A day at most, maybe two."
Jarvan shot Shyvana a curious glance, but she refused to meet his gaze for more than a second. She was staring emptily at the ground, as if the life had been sucked out of her. She seemed tired, almost haggard, the playfulness and mischief drained and replaced with the look of a veteran that had seen too many battlefields, too many dead bodies to be able to keep company with the living any longer. Jarvan had experienced and seen it all too much before. Jarvan didn't know what had caused the almost catastrophic crash in her attitude and part of him was almost afraid to find out, but he owed her at least the notion of sympathies.
Shyvana had wandered away from the group, Isaacs still minding her horse. She was bent over the ground, examining the burn remains of a stump.
Jarvan frowned. How do you comfort a dragon? "Shyvana?"
She dropped and spun, lashing out with a fist cloaked in flames, bright orange diamond glaring back at Jarvan. Shyvana snarled softly, the sound dying in her throat. She shook her head and blinked rapidly several times, holding her head. "I'm sorry, Prince, I don't know what…"
"Just take a deep breath." Jarvan said, forcing himself to take one as well. "I know this is personal for you, and I feel your pain, but you need to keep a calm head." He gestured with a placating manner, his palms out and down to the dragoness as she collapsed onto the ground, shivering as she exhaled heavily.
"Do you? Do you really?" Shyvana snapped, glaring at the prince. Jarvan was taken aback, blinking in surprise as he dropped to one knee. Shyvana's hair fluttered as heat boiled up with her body, she growled again, but the sound died as she ducked her head. "Year after year I've been pursued by Kampf, hounded from one side of Valoran to the other. I've never known happiness, I've never been allowed peace. I've been robbed of the one source of stability in my life, the one constant in the past nineteen years of terror and distress. He killed my father, MY FATHER! When you know the pain that comes with having the most important person ripped from your life, you can talk to me."
Jarvan took a deep breath and patted the dragoness on the leg. "I lost nearly one hundred and thirty men in a matter of hours, based on a decision I made. I sent every man under my command to his death because I was arrogant and believed myself infallible. It was as if I cut their throats myself." Jarvan took a deep breath, and exhaled through his mouth. "I know the pain better than you think." Jarvan pushed himself back to his feet and turned away.
"Jarvan…" Shyvana's voice was small, but it was enough to stop the prince in his tracks. "I… I'm sorry. I didn't know."
"I know." Jarvan said, glancing back at her, and then looking to the ground. "I understand you're angry. I only want you to know that I'm here if you need to talk. I know what you're going through right now, and you don't need to bottle it all up inside."
Shyvana tried to find her voice again, but it was lost in her anger and grief. he had already rejoined the group of others in his company. Shyvana hung her head and took a deep breath, dragging herself to her feet.
"What was that about?" Isaacs asked with a frown, looking past Jarvan to the dragoness and back to the prince after a few moments.
"It's nothing." Jarvan growled softly, shaking his head and heaving a long sigh. "Just some issues
"It's definitely something." Isaacs murmured, but he shrugged. "I'll try talking to her when I can."
"You can try." Jarvan said softly. "You might just have to wait till she takes the first step, though. This hatred she feels goes much deeper than I thought… It might take a while, even if we track the beast down and kill him."
"As long as it did for you?" Isaacs grinned, gesturing beyond the prince. Jarvan looked back over his shoulder as Shyvana approached. "Welcome back, youngin'. Get your head straight?"
Shyvana nodded but said nothing. Jarvan frowned, watching her for a moment. She looked uncomfortable amid the others, withdrawn and distant, but her eyes no longer seemed as empty as before, though they still lacked their spark. As soon as he was able and had a free moment, Jarvan would pull her aside and talk to her. He wasn't exactly good with discussing feelings, but he would do his damnedest to try for her. She at least deserved that much.
"What do we want to do?" Quinn asked, leaning forward on her horse, stretching her back.
"We keep moving for now." Jarvan said, mounting up on his horse. "First we figure out which direction he headed and we depart immediately. We'll break for dinner at sundown and then we ride through the night till we find cover to bed down. I don't fancy getting caught in Noxus with our pants down. Which direction?"
Quinn trotted around the perimeter of the clearing, looking for signs of movement out of the clearing. There was a swath of half-knocked down trees leading away to the northeast, some of the black blood and pine branches littering the ground. She jerked her head in the direction the path was leading away from the clearing of burned trees.
"Here." Quinn said with a grim look. "He's headed northeast towards the Ironspike Mountains."
"Northeast? Great." Jarvan spat. "We move, now." Shyvana mounted her horse, accepting the reigns from Isaacs before snapping the reigns and moving out.
Quinn nodded, taking off along the path. Isaacs and Forsythe fell in to the rear as Shyvana galloped off to catch up to Quinn. Jarvan fell in behind the two girls, pushing the horse forward to catch up with them as Forsythe and Isaacs struggling to stay with them. The path cleared for a short length as the forest thinned out as the grade started to increase, a long climb leading up along the rise. The path lead along the top of the ridge, climbing towards the final break over the rocky rise that dominated the low lying region. The underbrush was windswept and ragged as the rocks grew into a solid mass from the random spires that rose up from the stone. The sharp rocks fell away revealing a distant waterfall and a sheer drop, the path leading away to the side, winding back down the cliff towards a lake below. The horses slowed to a bare trot as they headed down the rocky path, trees exploding from small cracks in the stone and the bare patches of dirt and shrubbery that crumbled down the side of the cliff. Scraggly trees reached desperately into the sky and grabbed for sunlight, spilling shadows onto the path. The shade was cool and damp as clouds rolled in across the valley. The trees were ragged and worn, but they were holding onto the cliffs, hanging out into the air, high over the valley.
"It's almost beautiful in an eerie sort of way." Quinn said with a sad grin as he horse picked its way over a tree stump.
"It was like this in Shurima." Shyvana said, looking at the rocks and scraggly trees. "Life would cling to the smallest spark and it was gorgeous in a sad way. It would warp and ruin even the most beautiful flowers, but life could survive in even the harshest of environments. It was depressing to watch life struggle to survive."
Jarvan frowned. Is she talking about herself? Is she homesick?
The path twisted around the waterfall, the spray crashing off the rocks as the path cut under and behind through the rocks, almost through the cliff side. The spray was cooling and Jarvan felt a bit of tension ease away as the sound of the hooves was drowned out by the roar of the falling water. As they came out of the darkness of the rocky overhang, the horses had to be held back from galloping into the freedom of the open ground between the base of the cliff and the tree line in the distance. A massive lake stretched out to the left of the falls and path, framing the bottom of the valley, gentle waves lapping at the cliff side and the rocky shore. The pine forests framed the lake, hitting the water and the sides of the cliffs like an evergreen lake.
Jarvan was tempted to stop and enjoy the lake, but he also knew that they needed to track down Kampf before his wounds healed and decided he wanted to terrorize the local populace to force action from the dragoness, the prince, and his companions. In their time tracking beasts around the Great Barrier, they had learned that Kampf had been preying on wild beasts and the odd roving traders traveling through the pass. While passage through Mogron was rare, what trade existed between the few outlying settlements and the larger civilization centers north of the Great Barrier had all but ceased under Kampf's terror. Few had been affected by his terror over Mogron, but if he was allowed to roam the wilds near the Ironspike Mountains, it wouldn't be long before he found a village or town and began to prey upon the inhabitants. Kampf, having been forced to flee northeast and now he was roaming dangerously close to Noxian territory. If rumor got out that Jarvan, the prince of Demacia, was responsible for driving a massive, blood thirsty dragon into Noxian territory, it would run the risk of starting an international incident, if not a full on war.
Jarvan reigned in his horse, the mighty black beast stamping angrily at the ground. He made sure everyone made it off the path that wound dangerously along the edge of the cliff and then looked skyward, watching the sun drop down towards the distant tree line. They would have an hour at most to travel in the light. The horse stood still and circled, stamping aggressively as thunder rumbled in the distance.
I don't being boxed in between the Lake and the Cliff if trouble comes to call. Jarvan frowned, as he watched his company come to halt around him. The horses dipped their heads to drink from the lake, and their riders did the same from their bottles. The horses are growing weary from our pursuit. Even the riders grow tired, but we can't stop yet. Not here. "Let's move." Jarvan barked, taking off, again following the destroyed swath of trees. Quinn caught up with him and fell in beside him.
"Are you alright?" The tracker asked, only just loud enough fro the prince to hear her voice overt the pounding of the horses hooves as they galloped through the forest.
"I'm worried about the weather." Jarvan growled, eyeing the storm clouds rolling towards them like a menacing wall. They were angry and black, laced with lightning that tempted to boil out and strike down upon the landscape. "We can do much to catch up if we are able to plow through the storm, but I don't know if it's worth it."
"If we run into this dragon of yours, it could prove disastrous." Quinn said, nodding.
"If we run ourselves ragged just trying to catch him, we're going to pay for it as well." Jarvan said sighing, sitting low in the saddle, letting his shoulders sink. He bucked forward, smashing his chin on his breast plate as the horse mounted a small rock. "Kampf already killed off most of my men." Jarvan said with a growl as he rubbed his sore chin. "I don't plan on letting him get away so easily."
"You really have it out for him, don't you?" Quinn said, tilting his head forward and sighing as her horse slowed into a fast trot, navigating a mix of rock and root that had grown up around the path.
"He has debts to pay." Jarvan said sourly. "But not just to me. He took Forsythe's other eye, he took Isaac's son, and he took Shyvana's Father. This beast has wrong all of us."
"I didn't realize this was so personal for you all." Quinn murmured. Jarvan stayed quiet as Shyvana moved up to match pace with them and then pushed past, driving her horse faster. She snapped the reigns and pushed her horse faster, putting distance between her and the rest of the party. Quinn glanced at Jarvan and sighed at the pained look on his face. She could see that he was feeling the dragoness despair, taking it personally, his own loss compounding the mixed feelings between them. Quinn had only observed them for a short time, but she could tell that their feelings were a blur, muddled somewhere between chivalry and affection. If the prince forced himself to believe he was bound by his duty as a knight to help her, nothing but pain could come for both of them, but even Quinn could see the feelings he held for her. If only he didn't think he had to hold them in for the both of them… Quinn shook her head. "You should go after her." Quinn shouted as a bolt of lightning lit the landscape for a brief moment before the rumble of thuinder shook the world around them. The horses ground to a halt, neighing woldly, the black beast Jarvan rode snorting and stamping wildly at the ground. The prince struggled to keep the horse under control, the animal finally calming, though it still stamped at the ground expectantly. Jarvan looked to her with a frown. Quinn pointed down the path after Shyvana. "Go. The terrain ahead is dangerous. I'll let the others know what's happening and catch up shortly."
Jarvan nodded solemnly and took off at a gallop, winding through the forest, leaping over rocks, ducking under branches and dodging past trees, chasing after Shyvana. He leapt over fallen trees and ducked and dodged branches, the world around him turning into a blur as it raced past. The world around him exploded into brightness as lightning arced across the sky and giant splashes of water began to crash down around him. Jarvan caught a glint of gold and red ahead of him, disappearing behind a tree. As he rounded the corner, he saw the glimpse of color appear for just a second and then just as quickly disappear.
"Shyvana!" The shout seemed to catch in his throat, but the sound echoed around him, bouncing off of the trees and cutting through the growing roar of the rain as the rain drops grew heavier and heavier. Jarvan refused to slow his charge through the forest, pushing his horse to race faster and faster, chasing after the distant blur that he thought was Shyvana. The world around him remained a blur as the roar of thunder and rain in his ears became nothing but white noise lost in the distance. The blur of greys, browns and greens faded to nothing, leaving Jarvan seemingly floating in nothingness, even the rocking of the motion of the horse beneath him disappearing.
Jarvan seemed to be floating in darkness, hanging in the air. He choked, grasping at his throat as the air drained from his chest. Bubbles shot out of his mouth as he gasped, his throat closing as water rushed into his mouth. His vision tinted red at the edges, with jagged spikes of black creeping in. Jarvan felt water rush down his throat, filling his lungs as he began to sink. He clawed at his throat and then at the water around him, grasping for life as it seeped out of him. The red in his eyes faded to nothing and soon there was only blackness. Jarvan faded to unconsciousness.
Jarvan found himself on a familiar grassy knoll, but there was something wrong. There was no one on the knoll with him, the tall windswept grass almost perfectly silent, even as hundreds of boot prints moved through the field as it stretched out around him. The sky was dark and grey, a sticky humidity settling along the ground around him in the depression. Jarvan hauled himself to his feet, looking around as the boot prints faded and reappeared, as if there were specters moving through the grass around him. Jarvan started walking, following the motion of the footprints in the grass. Jarvan could hear his heart pounding in his chest as he emerged, overlooking a large encampment. Sentries stood around the edge of the bivouac like scarecrows, the green and gold Noxian armor glimmering menacingly in the darkness. Jarvan stepped up to one of the sentries and reached out to touch the armor. The sentry collapsed, bones and armor clattering around him and rolling away, a sunken skull rolling to a stop at his feet, the deep black holes looking up at him. Jarvan shivered as he looked up, realizing just where he was.
An oily black raven dropped from the black sky, settling atop the main tent in the center of the bivouac. It crowed, as the ground around Jarvan was splashed with blood. The sound echoed around him eerily as blood splattered the ground across the encampment silently, a sea of red slowly creeping along the ground. Jarvan took a hesitant step forward and heard something crumble as he stepped into the sea of crimson-drenched grass. The boot prints were no bodies, flattening the grass around him. Jarvan looked down and saw the ground crack beneath him. The prince jumped back and tumbled to the ground, tripping over a body he hadn't seen before. The body grabbed his ankle, the gold and blue trimmed armor clawing at his legs as Jarvan tried to scoot backwards along the ground. Jarvan felt bile rise in his throat, threatening to spill what little was in his stomach. A blood drenched Demacian Soldier clawed at his legs, the corpse's skin gaunt and grey, the blood black and cracked. Maggots dripped from his empty eyes sockets. Jarvan felt other hands begin to grasp at his arms and legs, holding him down.
The prince tried to scream but his voice was lost, only the terror in his chest and the pain in his head telling him that he was trying to scream. The world around his was utterly silent as he fought the corpses that clawed at him, pulling him towards the crack in the ground. A massive beaked beast exploded upwards from the crevice, rising hundreds of feet above Jarvan. The beaked face was contorted in rage, the cruel face of Swain exploded out of the beak, sneering at him, his laughter echoing through the roar of the monster.
Feathery tentacles exploded from where Jarvan was crawling backwards, lacing around his limbs and chest and pulling his down to the ground like a vice. Jarvan felt himself getting dragged into the ground, something slimy tightening down around his neck. Swain loomed over him, blackening out the sky above them.
"Jarvan!" The voice was distant and hollow.
Jarvan could smell Swain's disgusting breath, and feel the heat and saliva that sprayed over him. Black and green blood dripped from cracks in the monster's skin, dripping over his like stinking hot tar. It began to burn his skin where it dripped over him, burning like acid. Jarvan tried to scream in pain, but again his voice was silenced. Jarvan tried to struggle with the bindings, but he couldn't get free, the force of the tentacles binding him crushing his limbs. Jarvan opened his mouth to scream and shout, but he felt his jaw fall open and no sound came out. He looked down and saw his jaw fall away, rotten and black. Jarvan was rocked back as lances exploded outwards from Swain's chest, blood and flesh crashing over him as the lances pierced the prince's body in the shoulders and thighs, holding him in place. Jarvan tried to scream in pain, but he couldn't form the words.
"Jarvan!" The voice was louder this time, closer.
Swain loomed just over the prince's head, the grotesque raven opening its beak to let its long black tongue hang out of its mouth. Jarvan tried to shrink down into the ground, but he couldn't seem to sink any lower. The bandings began to lift him up, the sound of his bones snapping and twisting like twigs could be heard, the pain cutting through his body like lightning striking his chest with every snap. Like a great snake, the tongue curled around his neck and began to tighten down, coiling and constricting. The great beak and haunting face closed down around him, the darkness beginning to creep closer. Suddenly the tentacles drew back, and Jarvan began to fall, disappearing into the black abyss.
"JARVAN!" Shyvana shouted. Jarvan grabbed onto the voice and held on for dear life. He pictured her face and clamped his eyes shut, trying to escape the disaster. His eyes ripped open and he saw that same pair of gorgeous magenta orbs hovering over his face. Jarvan awoke in a cold sweat, his chest heaving, out of breath. He swept his hair from his face and sat up, sweat streaming down his face. He breathed deeply as Shyvana swept his hair from his face, much of it was plastered to his brow with sweat.
Moonlight pooled in from the open balcony, spilling lazily across the bed. Jarvan sat up, the silken sheets pooling in his lap as Shyvana stroked his hair, her eyes glued to his face. Jarvan lay back and pinched the bridge of his nose as he willed his heart to slow its racing pace. He felt like he had just fought a battle, his body sapped of its strength and fatigue heavy in his chest. His chest ached, his breathing was ragged and his eyes strung as he blinked the scene away. Shyvana perched herself on Jarvan's chest, her chin perched on his collar bone and her breasts pushed against him. She peered down into his eyes and frowned. She stroked his cheek with two fingers and wiped sweat from the corner of his eye.
"Are you well, my king?" She spoke softly, sleep still heavy in her eyes.
My king? Jarvan clamped his eyes shut and wiped the sweat from his face. He propped himself up on his elbows, Shyvana lazily rolling down onto his lap. The silk sheet barely hid what Jarvan couldn't see, and even then he got the tantalizing forms and shapes underneath. He brushed his hand across her shock of dark red hair, the color almost purple in the moonlight.
"Just… just a nightmare." Jarvan muttered, shaking his head. Shyvana reached up and touched his nose with her finger.
"I've never seen you like that before…" She spoke softly. "That must have been some nightmare." Jarvan only peered at her for a few silent moment and then nodded. She lifted herself from his lap and draped her arms around his neck pulling him close. She pressed her lips to his, closing her eyes as she drew him in. Jarvan didn't react at first, but her exuberant effort finally got him to part his lips. The dragoness tasted spicy, her tongue brushing across his lips, trying to gain entrance. Jarvan finally let his lips part, letting her in. Their tongues tangled briefly, Jarvan reveling in the oddly familiar taste. He brought his hand up and rested it on Shyvana's neck, stroking the nape gently. She leaned against him, forehead to forehead, staring deep into his pale blue eyes. She blinked, her eyelashes brushing against his face, tickling him. He grinned sheepishly, tiredly. Shyvana smiled broadly, sleep still heavy in her eyes. She kissed Jarvan deeply again and leaned against his shoulder.
"I'll be fine." Jarvan said quietly.
He snaked himself out from under her and slipped off the massive bed. He pulled on a pair of shorts and stepped onto the massive balcony that stretched out from one of the many spires of the Demacian Palace. He leaned against the heavy marble railing and pondered the moon. Shyvana slumped out of the bed behind him, draping a sheet loosely around her bare form. She walked slowly, trying to rub sleep from her eyes. She stretched and tried to perch her chin on his shoulder, but her small frame wasn't tall enough even on her tip toes. She whimpered as she tried to snuggle against him, running her finger along the scars of the burns he had gained when he protected her from Kampf. Jarvan looked over his shoulder, a small smile on his face. Her turned and held Shyvana close against him, wrapped in his arms and loosely in the sheet.
"You seemed to have developed a fondness for those scars." Jarvan murmured, grinning sadly.
"You say that as if you're the only one to bear such scars." She raised her nose into the air haughtily and began to turn away. Jarvan pulled her back in and kissed her. He grinned.
"So why don't we head back to bed then?" She said huskily, trying to tug him along. "We can get familiar with each other's scars some other time." Jarvan leaned back, letting her tug on him a wry grin cracking on his face. He looked down on her, taking in her fine red hair, her brilliant magenta eyes and the bountiful cleavage that she was failing to hide with the sheet she had tugged with her from the bed.
"I'm already quite familiar with your scars if you'll recall." Shyvana did recall his medical care that had helped her heal up so much quicker when they had first met. The realization of what Jarvan was hinting at rocked over her, her face turning a brilliant shade of red to match her hair. Jarvan could feel the heat pouring from her cheeks as she leaned against him blushing furiously.
"It's so nice out here though." Jarvan said, sighing. He turned back and looked up again to the moon.
"You're going to leave me?" The voice had suddenly turned to pain. Jarvan spun and felt his heart freeze in his chest. Blood pooled on the ground at Shyvana's feet, stains along the sheet forming around his hips and side. The blood began to pour down her face as her eyes turned dull and distant. "If only you had saved me from Kampf…"
"Jarvan."
His name echoed around him, bouncing around in his mind like a shadow.
"Shyvana! Wait!" Jarvan tried to reach for her, but she seemed to escape his grasp, sliding away from him. Flames began to stretch along her body, darkness creeping along her form as she tumbled away.
"Jarvan!"
It was louder this time, forcing its way into his mind and sticking there like a bad memory. It hung over him like a weight on his shoulders. It wasn't the soft, musical notes accented by a bit of outwards toughness that Shyvana exuded. The words were harsh and tired, with anger accenting the deep tones.
Jarvan was running now, trying to catch up as Shyvana dwindled away, fire dancing over her body and blood pouring from her eyes and nose. A sad smile was left on her face as she dissppearing, out of his reach. "SHYVANA!"
"JARVAN!"
The words were hot and searing like a knife. They cut into the back of the prince's head, the pain shooting through of his skull. His body spasmed as the blow came again, shaking him through to the core. Jarvan felt water on his face as he gasped for breath, sputtering and choking as he rolled onto his side and coughed up water. He felt cold spreading through his body, like ice racing through his veins as rain poured down over his shoulders, splattering him with mud. He sat hunched over, coughing and spluttering as he heaved, with his shoulders shuddering.
"Welcome back to the land of the living, Prince Jarvan Lightshield IV." The deep tonal notes were vaguely familiar to Jarvan, and they sent chills down his spine. He looked up in the face of a masked man, his face shadowed by a cloak, his hood pulled up over his head. He sat back on his haunches, clearing Jarvan's field of view, revealing a cloaked female.
"Drowning would be a sad way to go." The man growled. "The famed Demacian prince, drowning in a puddle… it's too pathetic, even for the likes of him."
"Don't patronize him, Talon." Jarvan saw a flash of red hair and for a moment, hope pooled in his stomach, but that hope he felt instantly turned to ice as the female pulled her hood back just enough to let light spill across her face
The scar across the emerald left eye was instantly recognizable.
"Yes, Mistress Du Couteau."
Katarina Du Couteau.
The Noxian assassin grinned at Jarvan with a toothy smile, her full lips and flaming red hair pooling around her face and accenting the pale skin. Her emerald green eyes glowed like gems in the dim, grey light as rain fell heavily around them.
"So…" Katarina grinned, posting her fists upon her hips. "Who is Shyvana?" Jarvan ran a hand across his mouth, wiping mud and blood from his lips, the copper taste and the burn of along his chest telling him that he had been ambushed. He could feel the pain in his chest and the stars that still danced in his vision reinforced the notion.
"I believe your ward here referred to her as my 'trophy bitch'." Jarvan growled, pinching the bridge of his nose as his head began to pound.
"You heard that?" Talon muttered, surprise in his voice. Despite the face mask he wore pulled up over his nose and mouth, Jarvan could hear that he was impressed. He barked a sharp laugh. "How long have you known we were following you?"
"Enough, Talon." Katarina snapped, dismissing him with a wave of her hand. He put his hand to his chest, his long cloak falling back to reveal a long, shining blade attached to his forearm. The weapon gleamed as rainwater dripped across the slender blade. He stepped back as Katarina leaned against a tree, crossing her arms over her chest. "So, what happened, have a fight with your pet after you got done screwing her?"
Jarvan froze, his hands grinding into fists as he sighed heavily. "Why the hell does everyone think I'm intimate with her?" Jarvan snarled, glaring up at the Noxian. She gave him a blanwk look and snorted, bursting into laughter.
"Really?" Talon muttered, jabbing Jarvan in the chest with a finger, deadpan. "I can see the way you two look at each other through a fucking spyglass. How the hell can't you two see it?"
Katarina jerked a thumb at him, a smirk plastered across her face. "He may be an ass but he is right." Jarvan shot them both a dirty look and frowned. He pulled his leg underneath him, trying to get to his feet. He blinked something salty out of his eyes, his free hand going to his face to wipe it away. He touched his head, dirt, mud, and blood coming away. He whipped his hand away from him, sending a spray of a blood and mud to the ground. Jarvan was unsteady as he got to his feet, rocking back and forth as his head swam.
"Yeah, yeah." Jarvan grumbled. He stood tall, stretching his back, the soreness he felt in the entirety of the body withering slightly. He looked down and saw both Talon and Katarina looking up at him, their looks of superiority stunted for a brief moment. Jarvan glanced at both of them, the Noxian general's daughter blushing and looking away awkwardly. Jarvan glanced back at Talon and he turned his head coughing.
"He's taller than I thought." Katarina said with a small voice.
"It could be hard to detain him for questioning." Talon said with a hint of jovialness in his voice.
"Is that what this is about?" Jarvan growled, immediately beginning to search for his lance. His hand when to the short blade he kept against the small of his back. Satisfied that it was there, he let his hand fall to his side as he glanced around. "You two did this?"
"Hardly." Kat snorted.
"You got off the trail of your tro-… ah, dragon." Talon said, covering his masked mouth with a discreet cough as best he could manage as he avoided the unintentional, repeat insult. Jarvan caught the tail end of a partially hidden nod from Katarina. "You hit a low lying branch in your blind gallop through the forest and ended up face down in the mud."
"Oh…" Jarvan said lamely, rubbing a hand over the back of his head. "My horse?" Katarina jerked a thumb over her shoulder.
"Somewhere that way." She said, putting a boot up against tree she was leaning against. "He was spooked by the lightening and his lack of rider. As for your friends, they're a good ways north of here, almost to the mouth of the valley already."
"And you know this how?" Jarvan looked around for any of his gear, but sighed, realizing it was all with his horse. He looked over his shoulder in the vague direction he figured he had come from. He looked back forwards, towards the tree Katarina had been leaning against expecting to see her there. As he turned, looking for Katarina, the glint of golden plated steel shone in the dull light for the heavy rain, barely visible through the mist. He felt the kiss of a razor edged blade on his neck and froze, his hands barely raised in front of him.
"Unlike you…" Katarina said sweetly. "Talon and I have to rely on our wits and agility to survive, not brute strength and power."
"Care to test that claim?" Jarvan growled.
"Don't tempt me." Katarina said coldly, her blade still pressed to his neck. "We've been following you, prince. We have some questions we'd like answered now that we've got you alone."
"What answers could I possibly have for a Noxian?" Jarvan snarled, raising his chin away from the blade.
"It'd be easier if we didn't have to beat the answers out of you, yes?" Talon growled. "Just make it easy on yourself prince
"Try it, scum." Jarvan snapped.
"I will!" Talon snapped back, stepping forward.
"Enough!" Katarina shouted, silencing the second Noxian. "Prince, I don't know why you're in such a pissy mood, but all we want are answers, not trouble. You obviously know something or else you wouldn't be fighting back so hard. So just spill it."
"A Noxian who doesn't want trouble?" Jarvan exhaled sharply. "I don't believe you. If you want information about Demacia, I have none. I know nothing. I've been away for two years. If you really want answers you can try and rip them from my corpse!"
Talon snarled in anger. "Why are you being such an ass!?" He glared at the prince in frustration. "You know what? Fine! I will! Katarina, let me at him!"
"Talon, I told you to back off!" Katarina snapped. "Prince, we only want information! If I have to, I will find your dragon myself and beat HER within an inch of her life if I have too! Now will you answer my questions, or not?"
Jarvan slowly fell backwards, until he felt the pressure from Katarina's blade fall away from his neck. The red headed assassin push back against him, setting a leg and applying force. Jarvan spun sideways, barreling towards the ground as he lashed out, kicking at Talon's shins. The prince failed to make contact with him, the swish of a cloak and another blade barely brushing his temple, taking a few hairs with the slash as he leapt past. Jarvan's hands hit the ground and he pushed off, launching himself backwards towards his lance. He felt a jagged stone cut into his palm as he arced backwards, the surprised, wide-eyed look of Talon glaring up at him. Katarina as well was glaring up at him with a bright eyed smirk, as if as if she welcomed the challenge.
Jarvan crashed backwards, his boots scrapping into the mud as he stuck a hand down grabbing at roots, bracing as a knee went down as well, having overestimated the force with which he had thrown himself. He felt the skin getting ripped off his fingertips, his nails straining as he tried to stop himself. Jarvan felt his boot hit the lance, the weapon giving way in the mud. Jarvan spun and snatched the weapon with his right hand clasping around his lance and ripping it from the ground. He held the weapon in front of him as lightning played across the sky, thunder roaring in his ears and rain began to pour even harder than before.
"Fight me, cowards, and if you win, you'll get to ask your damn questions." Jarvan barked, gesturing them forward.
"You're going to talk, prince." Talon growled, backing away, disappearing into a shadow. "Mark my words."
Jarvan smiled. It had been a while since he had fought in a good duel.
Bring it on.