Jarvan stepped up to the cliff and shuddered. "I hate heights." He brought his arm across his body and stretched it, tugging with his free arm. As effective as they are... those Zaunite Health Potions are painful. Jarvan shuddered at the memory as he continued working his shoulder, stretching it out and around, ensuring he had retained the entirety of his range of motion. I'd rather be laid up in a field hospital for a months time if meant no more of those Health Potions. He shifted from foot to foot as the sound of approaching footsteps tore him from his thoughts. Shyvana slid a hand into Jarvan's palm and then interlaced her fingers with his.
"I'm not exactly fond of water myself." Shyvana said, teasing him slightly, squeezing his hand.
"I would imagine it would be a bit easier to teach you to swim than it would for me to learn to fly." Jarvan said, pointing from the river flowing below to the sky above
Shyvana laughed, shaking her head. "Have you ever seen a dragon swim?"
"I remember accidentally taking a dive into a river a month or so back with you in tow, yes." Jarvan said, grinning sheepishly.
"Yeah well, that was me when I was a human." She said, smiling at him with a slightly grating look. "That was a rather graceful bout of simply drowning; you obviously haven't seen a Dragon swim. It's a lot of flailing and splashing, interrupted by occasional bouts of drowning. Quite the show really, if they make it up from the deep."
"Well I'll say this about humans and flying." Jarvan said with a knowing grin. "It's not some much flying as it is falling and flailing." Shyvana chuckled as she took a deep breath.
"We can work on that, dearest." She said, giving him a devious smile.
"I take it you want swimming lessons then?" Jarvan said with a grin to match. Shyvana gave him a scornful look that softened.
"Maybe sometime." She said, patting Jarvan's arm. "What of Quinn and Forsythe... and Isaacs' body? Surely we must give him a proper burial." Her face hardened as she looked up at Jarvan.
"There is a tavern in a small town outside of Demacia proper." Jarvan said softly, as if he were remembering a fond memory. "Not more than half a day's journey outside the city, where Isaacs and I met with our men for the last time on Demacian soil before departing on this journey. Forsythe knows to head there."
"And Isaacs?" Shyvana said, a concerned frown creasing her brow.
"There will be time for that soon enough." Jarvan said, clamping his eyes shut and taking a deep breath. "Isaacs would have hated for anyone to mourn over him like this... he hated that sort of attention." Jarvan paused and thought to himself for a few moments. "That's not entirely true... he would have hated the lack of action and the wasted time." Jarvan looked backwards over his shoulder to where Isaacs had been buried under the collapsing stone of his arena. "For now though, we have something to do." Jarvan said, taking a deep breath and nodding. "Are you ready?"
"I could ask you the same." Shyvana said, giving him a brave smile and squeezing his hand. Jarvan nodded, looking slightly hesitant, but he sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly.
"I think so..." He said, looking up at the sky, watching the snowflakes defend for a few moments. "But you know what I mean..." Shyvana shriveled up her nose and looked towards the ground, nodding slowly.
"It's time we put an end to this." She paused. "An end to Kampf." Jarvan nodded. "Besides, we need to get your lance back."
"Damn right we do." Jarvan said, grinning. Shyvana stepped away from him and took a deep breath. She looked at Jarvan and smiled.
"Ready?" She asked, knowing the answer. Jarvan simply nodded. Shyvana doubled over in pain as she grunted, her body beginning to change. Her skin started to stretch and peak like a hundred little mountains before armored scales burst forth. Her arms bent at odd angles as bones split, and light, leathery material stretched between the bones. Her legs snapped and bent backwards, the muscles expanding and hardening as a long tail extended out behind her, swinging back and forth as her long red hair became a bristly mane. Her nose elongated and her teeth became massive fangs. Claws burst from her feet and hands, each as long as Jarvan's hand, and as sharp as a blade.
Shyvana snorted, billowing a great cloud of steam towards Jarvan. She bowed her head as Jarvan stepped forth towards her. He reached out tentatively, letting his hand run over the scales upon her neck. He was surprised. They weren't cold and metallic like he had suspected. Instead, they had a warm and slick feeling, almost like they were made of glass. Shyvana shook her head from side to side, looking back at Jarvan.
"My prince..." Her voice was softer than he had ever heard it before when she was a dragon, the sound like the distant rumble of thunder rather than pained shrieks and cries. It still carried two tones, the higher feminine one and the deeper, rumbling one. "If you so desire, I shall become your steed." Jarvan looked surprised as the dragon looked away, the purple skin around her eyes turning a bright red color as she blushed.
"I don't think I'd ever hear the end of 'mounting' joke if Isaacs were still with us." Jarvan said, shaking his head. Shyvana chuckled softly, nodding. She lowered one shoulder and let Jarvan swing his leg up and over her neck. He grabbed a handful of her mane and she lifted upwards, hauling him off his feet as he scrambled to get a hold of her. He took a hold of her mane, wrapping his hand in the thick, bristly hair, letting his knees wrapped down around her body, just behind her arms.
"Hold on!" She shouted, bucking, taking off along the ground at a sprint that nearly sent Jarvan tumbling to the ground. Her muscles rippled under his body as he saw the cliff rapidly approaching.
"Wait... wait a second!" Jarvan said, tightening his grip upon Shyvana's mane. "I SAID WAAAAAIII-" Jarvan hollered as Shyvana dived over the edge of the cliff, her wings spread out along either side as Jarvan clamped his eyes shut and wrapped an arm around Shyvana's neck, holding on for dear life. Jarvan lifted his face for a brief moment as Shyvana swooped down through the canyon, racing along the surface of the river. Jarvan hung slightly over the edge of her shoulder, watching as her claws scrapped along the surface of the water.
"This is amazing!" Jarvan shouted over the roar of the wind in his ears as Shyvana banked around a corner, continuing to follow the river.
"You haven't seen anything yet!" Shyvana rumbled as she started pumping her wings, gaining speed. "Hold on!" Jarvan barely had time to grab a hold of her mane before he was slammed down along her back. She pulled up and started rocketing skyward, her wings rapidly flapping in great swells, sending them higher and higher. A chill struck Jarvan as they crashed into the bottom of a cloud. Jarvan felt as if he was plunged underwater as water condensed on his skin, but the water began to freeze ad the temperature within the bank of solid white dropped rapidly. Ice began to build in his hair and in Shyvana's mane, his hands becoming not much more that popsicles.
"Almost there..." Shyvana bellowed as she continued their ascension. Jarvan could feel her beginning to lag as the mountain air became thinner and thinner the higher they climbed. "Just a bit more..." Shyvana panted, working hard to pump her wings. They broke through the cloud cover and Jarvan saw what she had been speaking about.
Around him the world stretched out in a plain of perfect white, the cloud billowing and rolling like a plain of wheat blowing in the wind, hills and mountains rolling endlessly. Jarvan raised an arm to shield his eyes from the sun, the giant orange orb glowing above him.
"Wow," Jarvan said breathlessly, his words lost in the wind, suddenly losing his fear of heights for a few moments. "This is... this is... beautiful."
"It is, but it's merely the quiet before battle." Shyvana said softly as she banked and begun a slow spiral back down towards the clouds. "Whenever I needed to cool down from a rough day or I couldn't sleep, I'd simply take off and come here, high above the rest of the world where my problems couldn't reach me as if I weren't even there."
Jarvan looked down a Shyvana's back as she skimmed over the top of the clouds, sending up a rift of cotton behind them as her claws dipped into the billowing white vapor. Her words struck in his mind, the memories of a place he had visited not long ago coming back to him, visions of his grandfather and great grandfather sending a pang of homesickness to jab at his heart. He had been away so long that he hadn't even realized just how much he missed his home, friends and family. With Isaacs gone, all I have left is Forsythe. Jarvan, let his eyes drift along the horizon as he stared out at the great blue yonder, stretching out in every direction like the ocean. That's not true... I have Shyvana now, but at what cost? Had it been worth finding Shyvana though? Jarvan had lost eleven of his closest friends, each as close as a brother or son to him.
To say it like that... that's unfair to both my men and Shyvana. Jarvan tried to banish the thoughts from his mind. His men had known the possible cost going in and they had all been willing to do what was needed. Finding Shyvana... it is both a boon and a curse.
Jarvan inhaled and exhaled heavily, the weight of his friends' lives did not rest easy upon his shoulders, not yet.
Shyvana's muscular back began to pump again as she began to fight for altitude over a massive storm cloud, dark with snow. Jarvan loosened one hand from her mane and ran it along her scales, the smooth, warm surface unlike anything else Jarvan had ever felt. Jarvan exhaled, his breath catching in his throat as Shyvana was buffeted but a gust of wind, his hand shooting to her mane and grabbing a hand full of her hair.
"Hold on!" Shyvana rumbled as she hit a massive updraft, getting launched higher, bouncing like a top as she twisted about. Jarvan clamped his grip around her like a vice, his heart pounding as they crested the top of the cloud.
"What's wrong?" Jarvan said, pulling his helm down further against the wind.
"The weather is getting worse." Shyvana said over her shoulder. "I think it's getting pretty bad down below."
"Will it force Kampf to ground?" Jarvan said, a frown creasing his brow as he leaned out and peered down towards the ground. They slid over the edge of the top of the storm cloud and Shyvana began to circle, spiraling slowly down to maintain as much altitude as possible.
"I doubt it." Shyvana said softly. 'He's badly wounded, but he needs to find warmer ground before he can go to ground. Fire Drakes are not fond of cold temperatures."
"He fled north when I tired to dispatch him..." Jarvan said grudgingly, his fist clenching around Shyvana's mane.
"Gently!" She squealed as she glanced back over her shoulder at Jarvan. He loosened his grip and sheepishly apologized, annoyed that his emotions had let him cause pain to Shyvana. "He can't have gotten far." Shyvana said, turning back towards the endless sky in front of her. "If I were him, wounded and needing to flee in a blizzard..." She paused and Jarvan could hear her rumble slightly.
"What is it?" Jarvan barked, becoming more alert, leaning forward and peering into the distance.
"I don't know..." Shyvana rumbled quietly. "I thought I saw something." She dived, gaining speed, swooping forward along the clouds, accelerating with gravity. "What are we going to do if it is him?" Shyvana said, looking back over her shoulder towards Jarvan. The massive violet eye watched him for a few moments before turning back towards their heading. "I can fight him, but you have no weapons... and if I get injured then were both as good as dead from this height."
"I know, I know..." Jarvan murmured, grimacing. He was banking on his lance still being imbedded in the beast's neck. If it's not this is going to be one short battle. "I have an idea though. My lance should still be in his neck... the barbs should have made it impossible to remove."
"And if he snapped it off or ripped it out?" Shyvana said. Jarvan could hear the doubt in his voice, but she seemed to believe the words that Jarvan spoke.
"He won't have been able to." Jarvan said, injecting confidence into his voice as he shouted into the wind. "I buried it deep into his flesh... If he tried to rip it out, he would have ripped his own head off!"
"If you say so..." Shyvana sounded nonplussed by Jarvan's enthusiasm and confidence as a black dot appeared on the horizon. Something glinted in the sunlight directly ahead of them.
"He's just below us!" Jarvan said, watching as Kampf crested the clouds a few thousand feet forwards. "We've got the altitude... let's take him down." Shyvana looked back at Jarvan again, but the determination and anger that she could read on Jarvan face told her that he was set on ending this once and for all.
"Are you ready?" Shyvana rumbled. Jarvan exhaled and then got a good grip of Shyvana's mane.
"Ready!" Jarvan called back, his gut continuing to flip flop about. He had no weapon, save the dragoness he loved and rode, but that would soon change. Shyvana ascended, her wings pumping hard as they rose up above the clouds till they were hundreds and hundreds of feet above the clouds below. Jarvan could see the entire world from where he sat, and in every direction the vast blue ocean of sky was simply limitless. He could see the curve of the world, and the deepest blue of space beyond, and for a brief moment, he was lost amidst it all.
"Here we go!" Jarvan was ripped back to reality by the feminine rumble of Shyvana voice. She no longer ascended, letting her wings catch the air as she glided. Jarvan laced his hands into the mane of red, bristly hair that lined the back of Shyvana's neck and held on for dear life, laying himself flat against her back.
Shyvana rolled 180 degrees and then pulled herself into an steep dive, tucking her wings into the side of her body, accelerating rapidly. She leveled out of the roll as they began to descend through the sky like a meteor dropping through the atmosphere. Kampf was just a speck at first, but he grew rapidly as Shyvana careened through the sky like a bullet. Suddenly, he began to grow exponentially larger as they closed the gap. Shyvana roared a fearsome battle cry as Kampf swiveled his head up and around, his one good eye narrowing and then growing massive as if a rift had opened. Shyvana let out another shriek that tapered off with a painfully sharp tone as she doused Kampf in a wall of flames. Jarvan clamped his eyes shut and tightened his grip, preparing for the strike. Shyvana struck his torso with her claws, jarring both herself and nearly sending Jarvan crashing into the void but she rolled and pulled up as they hit the top of the clouds, disappearing.
A terrible roar echoed from behind them as Shyvana banked her wings and flapped, putting them into a loop that brought them coming back out of the clouds just to Kampf's rear.
"There it is..." Jarvan hissed, as Kampf turned his head and sent out an explosion of flames that cut through the air towards them. Shyvana dived and rolled, disappearing into the clouds again as Jarvan felt the heat upon legs.
"Did you see it?" Shyvana rumbled as she dived and twisted, bringing them up and about before she leveled out, giving them a moments solace in the bank of clouds. The freezing vapor sent a chill through Jarvan like a knife.
"I did... it's still in his throat." Jarvan shouted over the roar of the wind.
"He shouldn't have any flames." Shyvana said with disgust. "I gashed his chest and everything... I don't understand."
"It doesn't matter, I have an idea!" Jarvan said, a sly grin appearing on his face.
"What is it?" Shyvana hissed, flapping her wings and breaking cloud cover, her mane of hair and Jarvan cresting the clouds like a shark's fin above the sea.
"We don't have time!" Jarvan said, tugging on her mane. "Just get me above him and get ready for another strike like before."
Shyvana turned her head and looked back at Jarvan like he had grown a second head. "You're mad if you think I'm going to let you-"
"Trust me!" Jarvan said, patting her neck and giving her a smile that melted her heart. She scowled and rumbled softly but spread her wings and started pump, ascending but keeping her distance from where Kampf still struggled to stay above the clouds. "Just keep his attention!" Shyvana roared as she started her dive toward Kampf drawing his gaze upwards and over his shoulder.
"Go now!" Shyvana bellowed as she sprayed a wall of flames into the air, the flames disintegrating rapidly into a cloud of black smoke. Jarvan slid off of her, his entire body catching the force of the wind, tears welling in his eyes as he started to rapidly slow. Jarvan clamped his eyes and mouth shut as he crashed into the heat of the smoke. Cold air slapped him as he passed through it.
Kampf had gone from being a speck to a mountain of flesh bone and terror, one of his wings alone as long as Shyvana's entire wing span. Jarvan tucked his arms into his body and began a face first dive towards the beast's head. Kampf roared in indignation, rolling and turning onto his back, sucking in a deep breath. His chest started to glow a shade of orange like that of the sun, as a noxious silver gas leaked from his chest, the silver ribbons of fuel arcing away from the gaping wounds in his chest. Jarvan slashed through the silver ribbons, the stinking fuel coating him in gas.
What are you... The realization slapped him as if he had hit the ground.
...
Shyvana had circled past, drawing Kampf's attention as she tried to give Jarvan the time he need to make his move. Kampf had followed her as she harassed him with flames, but he had seen through the ploy and rolled onto his back, tucking his wings in as he prepared to breath flames.
"You'll kill yourself!" Shyvana bellowed as she watched Kampf pump the silver ribbons of explosive fuel out of his body. Kampf cast a wayward glance up at her as a crooked smile spread over his face. "JARVAN! WATCH OUT!" Her screech cut through the air like a dagger. Electricity sparked in Kampf's chest and the flames rapidly began to ascend the trail of fuel like a fuse to a bomb.
A wall of flames consumed Jarvan as he plunged into them with a smile on his face.
"NO! JARVAN!" She screamed, tucking her wings in and then rolling rapidly, cutting in and carving a sharp circle around the column of rolling fire.
"HE'S GONE NOW!" Kampf roared with a chuckled, starting to turn onto his stomach again to continue his retreat.
"KAMPF!" Jarvan shot from the bottom of the pillar of flames like a bullet fired out of a cannon, his arms tucked into his side as the shining bubble of his Golden Aegis dispersing around him in an explosively expanding golden halo of light.
Kampf roared in anger as his eye grew wide in surprise, a smile blossoming on Shyvana's face as she watched.
Jarvan shot past Kampf, his arms reaching out as he did, clasping around the shaft of his lance. The force of his attack caused him to spin Kampf around like a top, nearly ripping his neck completely off, the sinewy pop and crackle of shattering muscle and bone echoing like thunder. Jarvan ripped the lance from Kampf's neck as he swung around the 180 degrees, disappearing over one of Kampf's shoulders and reappearing over the other as a fountain of black blood erupted from Kampf's neck. As Jarvan came up and around, he brought the lance up and around his body, bringing it down like the headsman's axe. It sliced through Kampf's wing, black blood spraying from the wound as the dragon began to tumble, his limb shooting upwards in the air as Kampf began to tumble.
The dragon began to writhe and bellow in pain as Jarvan glanced over his shoulder, Shyvana directly above him, her wings tucked into her body as she accelerated from on high like a bolt of lightning. Jarvan aimed his lance and slapped the trigger, a standard exploding out of the tip and striking Kampf in the soft belly, striking and holding, angry black blood boiling up from the wound. Jarvan thrusted his arm forth as the tip of his lance exploded forwards, hooking upon the standard and nearly yanking him in as he accelerated rapidly. Jarvan grimaced as his arm was nearly ripped form its socket.
"Now! SHYVANA!" He shouted, looking up to her as she dove in upon a jet of flames.
Jarvan raised his lance above his head and let the power flow through his body and into his being, summoning all of the force he possessed. Shyvana's pale arms clasping around his chest as the heat of her flames erupting behind them like the wings of a demon, driving his lance into Kampf's chest with the force of a dying star.
"DEMACIA!"
The blow struck Kampf as if he had been struck from the sky by God himself, the three of them disappearing into the clouds as if nothing had ever happened.
An explosion shook the world, flames erupting from the ground and cutting through the clouds, staining them black.
Jarvan opened his eyes to darkness.
No... no, not again! Panic flooded his mind as Jarvan stared up into darkness as black as pitch, a frightening memory of his brief time locked within a casket and buried underground. His breathing quickened and he felt his chest tighten. Heat and smoke filled his nostrils as he turned his head, the pain he felt in his neck enough to clear his mind. He blinked a few times to make sure the darkness wasn't just in his mind, but when he opened his eyes again, there wasn't anything to be seen. He tried raising his arm up to his face, but something was in the way. He tugged his arm free and held it in front of his face, light showing on his fingertips. He raised his head back and looked back at the opening, small and round like the mouth of a cave. Jarvan squirmed a bit as he tried to get himself out the hole, grunting as he pulled himself slowly towards the opening.
The cave rumbled and shook around him as if it were alive, squeezing him for a moment and then receding around him. A violet orb slowly opened, a thin black diamond gleamed in the light. It danced back and forth, taking in its surroundings before glancing down. It locked onto Jarvan and then closed, the cave around him tightening and then receding again.
"Shy-...Shyvana?" Jarvan said, running his hand along the side of his tomb, the material soft and warm, dry and smooth to the touch. The scales along her body shivered as she let out a weak grunt of affirmation. Jarvan laid back against the leather material of her wings and breathed a deep sigh of relief.
"Thank god you're alright..." Shyvana breathed out one last time, and then the darkness seemed to recede as Shyvana lifted her wing. The dark leather, purple with blue scales, seemed to lighten in color as light flooded in as she began to shrink, leaving a small girl who arms barely managed to reach all the way around Jarvan's chest. Pink burns showed upon her shoulders and back, signs of the immense heat she had faced to protect Jarvan upon their impact. Jarvan pushed himself up off of her small arm and sat up, pulling the Dragoness into his lap. He drew the cloak he wore from his body and wrapped it around Shyvana, tucking it over her shoulder and pulling it around her body. She opened her eyes, letting them flutter as she looked up at Jarvan with a weak smile pulling at the corners of her mouth.
"Hey there..." She said softly, her voice barely a croak. Jarvan brushed hair from her face and wiped some of the dirt from her cheek with his thumb, cradling her gently in his arm.
"Hey." Jarvan said, a cocky smile sliding onto his face.
"Is it done?" Shyvana said, looking down across her body. "Did we get him?"
Jarvan looked up from her violet eyes out towards the deep depression they had been lain out in. Snow boiled as it hit the ground, flooding the depression with an eerie cast of steam. On all sides of him, stone rose up in a sharp ridge, trapping him within a massive bowl, almost as big as the arena Jarvan and Shyvana had reunited in, deep within Noxus. Jarvan inhaled and exhaled as he looked around him, unable to tell just how far below the surface of the ground he had come, but it was a hundred feet or more from where he lay to the tips of the jagged walls that rose up.
Towards the center of the depression, in the very deepest part of the massive bowl that had been carved in the ground, a lump of flesh rose and fell, a faint gurgle and rumble echoing around the massive cataclysm that Jarvan found himself trapped in. Jarvan sneered to hide his surprise that the dragon's tenacity and sheer willpower that kept him alive through the attack. His body was in ruins, barely a pile of meat hanging by simple sinews between the bones of his skeleton.
"I think so..." Jarvan's voice trailed off for a few moments, listening to the squelching thump of a heart that still struggling to beat. "Can you stand?" Jarvan asked, helping Shyvana to her feet, as gently as he could.
"Maybe." Shyvana said, accepting Jarvan's arm around her hips to support him. She hobbled for a brief moment, but she caught his arm and held on firmly, her legs still quivering as she tried to put more weight on them. She let go of his arm, trying to stand on both of her feet but her knees began to shake. Jarvan had to catch her as she collapsed again, her legs failing her. "I guess not." She said softly, shaking her head and looking up at Jarvan, blushing slightly. "Sorry, Jarvan. It looks like I used up the last of my energy with our last attack."
"Like a meteor, we struck from the heavens." Jarvan murmured softly, a smile growing on his face. "Meteor strike...what a silly name." He shook his wandering thoughts off and looked back to the center of the depression.
"He still lives, doesn't he?" Shyvana said quietly, following Jarvan's gaze towards where the bubbling and sickening noises came from.
"I think so..." Jarvan said, nodding coldly. He took a step, helping Shyvana along, the Dragoness limping along, hanging onto one arm. They stopped at the edge of a massive pool of silvery-black liquid, the silvery fuel mixed with the sticky black blood that had leaked from the guts of the dying beast that lay before them. With every breath there was a sucking sounds, and with every exhalation there was a soft bubbling. In between every action where was the empty wheeze, like that of an old and dying man.
Jarvan stepped forward into the hissing, bubbling pool of noxious liquids.
"Jarvan..." Shyvana said quietly, tugging his arm slightly. "I don't... I don't think this is a good idea..."
"We can't let him drag us down any further. I refuse to let him continue to drag us down and ruin our lives-your life." Jarvan wore a frown of indignation, oh anger and fear all swirled into one. "I will see him dead... by my hand."
"Alright." Shyvana took a step forward, letting the thick black liquids ooze up from between her toes. She shivered, but followed Jarvan's steps forwards towards the hulking black mass of flesh and bone.
"You've come..."
The voice echoed up from the deep like the devil himself was speaking from a crevice of the earth. The voice was distant and cold, but the disgust dripped from it like the black blood that dripped from the bones of the corpse.
"You cling to life like the shit that clings to my boot." Jarvan hissed angrily. He stepped upwards onto one of the beast's flanks, the muscles squishing beneath his boots. "If it weren't pitiful, it might be impressive that you survived this long."
"Hah, such words from a bastard prince and his dog..." The voice rumbled, trying to form a laugh, but it failed, a gurgling emerging from the deepest pit of black goo and bone.
"You're dying, you monster." Shyvana hissed. "To the very last you try to insult and offend us... as if you believe you were correct all along."
"That is the beauty of it all..." The dragon said softly, whimsy sliding into his words. "I've been killing her a little bit since the day of her birth. I claimed every fond memory she could have had at any point in her life. I would have claimed your life as well, but unfortunately I wasn't able to." A deep sigh burbled up from within.
"You failed then." Shyvana said softly, lacing her fingers with Jarvan's hand. "In your desire to kill me, in your attempts to break my spirit and turn make me hate humanity...you never expected one thing."
"Something I did not expect? Impossible." The anger and offense he felt could be heard in words.
"I came to love a human, didn't I?" She tried to smile, but she felt tears begin to form in her eyes. "You may have taken my father from me, you may have taken a dear, dear friend from us both... but in the end, you failed to destroy me."
Kampf's roar of anger failed, turning into a gurgle and a pathetic rumble.
Jarvan smirked. No longer can you roar in indignation.
"Before you die, I want you to know something." Jarvan growled, breathing in and out, hoping of an answer that would mean something for once. Shyvana gaze him an uneasy look, but he held a hand out towards her, calming her. She took a step back and nodded to him. "You've been played, Kampf. A human by the name of 'L' has been using you. You've been nothing but a pawn for a long time."
"You say this just to spite me?" Kampf gurgled a forced laugh, trying to put an imperious tone into his voice. "I'm no fool boy, I don't fall prey to human illusions. I played along with her little games because it suited my needs,"
"She? Who is it?" Shyvana shouted angrily.
"Wouldn't you like to know!" Kampf chuckled, the sounds strained and bubbling, a sucking sound as he inhaled slowly after her breathed out.
"Just because you're going to die doesn't mean there aren't ways to make you talk!" Jarvan snarled, surging forward. He brought his lance up above his head and then slammed it down into the Dragon's shoulder, wrenching it about. Kampf opened his mouth to let out a bark of laughter, but the sound died in his throat, ending in a gurgle. "Tell me!"
"Jarvan..." Shyvana said, watching the anger contort his face in a mask of fury.
"TELL ME!" Jarvan bellowed, driving the lance deeper and deeper into Kampf's shoulder, using all of his weight to drive it into the rock beyond.
"Jarvan!" Shyvana tugged on his arm gently, pulling him back. "Let him speak." Jarvan glared at her for a moment, but jerked the lance out of his shoulder. Jarvan slashed the lance to the side, shaking the blood off of it, splattering it along the ground. Jarvan grunted, but slammed the lance down into Kampf.
"Speak, if you are still able." Jarvan said, disgust dripping from his voice.
"Beware..." Kampf gurgled, his voice whistling as air escaped the pulsing organs in his body, his heart beat now erratic and violent. "Beware the Black Rose."
Jarvan glanced as Shyvana, asking her silently if she knew of what he spoke, but Shyvana shook her head and then frowned.
"If you have nothing else to say, it is time for you to pass into hell." Jarvan said, glaring down at the mass of blood and meat that was once a dragon. A chuckle shuddered from the desolated creature below them. "This is for Isaacs." Jarvan said, his tone firm and even. Jarvan yanked his lance from the dragon's chest and then raised it above his head in a single, fluid motion. He spun the weapon and brought it down in an arc that cleaved through the dragon's scales and skin. As his chest slid open, it revealed his pulsating heart, glowing and beating while a fearsome orange burned within. Shyvana stepped up beside him, malice in her eyes, a frightening look upon her face.
"I may not have killed you... but I created a monster." Kampf rumbled. The gurgle of his breath slowed.
"I see your end." Shyvana said softly as she reached down and grabbed his pulsing heart. Shyvana ripped the organ from his chest, as black blood drained from it and the orange color faded to a dull gray.
The beast fell silent at last as Shyvana dropped the lump of meat back into the corpse as she tossed her head back and let out a roar that seemed to shatter the heavens and pierce the silence of the snow filled sky.
Jarvan paused at the edge of the depression and looked down into the swirling pot of blood, meat and mist, a blank mask upon his face. In one hand he held a tooth from the monster's jaw, and then other he held his lance. Snow whipped around him as the blizzard continued to worsen.
"Do it." He said, his voice tired, as if he had been walking for far too long. Shyvana cast a ball of fire into the depression and watched as flames spread and consumed the dragon's flesh. Soon a massive pillar of greasy black smoke rose up towards the sky like a gruesome funeral pyre. She stood and watched the burning flesh and gas roll like a pit of hell, but he felt little satisfaction in the action.
Isaacs... I know it isn't much, but I hope you and Shore are able to rest a little easier now. His turned his face to the clouds and let the snow fall upon his face, cooling the pain he felt.
"Jarvan?" Shyvana said softly, her voice still subdued. He stared into that void a few moments longer before he looked to the softened expression of Shyvana. She looked concerned as she reached up and brushed the water from his face, his tears hidden among the melted snow. He closed his eyes briefly and tried to smile at Shyvana, but his smile faltered and Jarvan let his gaze fall to the ground, his hand convulsing into a fist.
Isaacs, Reynolds, Shore, Torn... all of my lost men...
"You miss them, don't you?" Shyvana took him by surprise with her words, as she stared up into the sky, tears running down her face. "Whenever I think of my father, I can't help but be sad." Her face fell, shrouded by her ruby locks. Her shoulder shook slightly as sobs wracked her body. "I miss him every day, Jarvan... I can't help it, I miss my father so much..." Jarvan stared up into the sky.
"Argyle, Reynolds, Vanneth, Halcyon, Marntin, Torn, Jean, Orion, Shore, Laryn, and Isaacs." He paused for a few moments letting the names sink into his mind. "And Faust as well...They knew what they were doing, and they didn't regret any of it." His words seemed hollow, but to Jarvan, the thought of his friends waiting for him seemed to bring some peace to his heart. He inhaled and exhaled deeply, letting the nerves drain from his body.
"Jarvan?" Shyvana's voice was small, barely audible over the wind
"Hmm?" He grunted, looking down at the tooth he had pulled from Kampf's mouth. He tossed it up into the air once and then closed his eyes as he caught it. He tucked it into his belt and exhaled slowly, taking a deep breath of the frigid winter air.
"It's over isn't it?" Shyvana said, looking down into the rift. "It's finally over..." Jarvan slid his hand into Shyvana hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. She looked up at him as tears welled in her eyes.
"It is." Jarvan said quietly, letting his arm slide around Shyvana and pull her in close. "It's finally over, my love." Shyvana stood quietly for a few moments, pressed against Jarvan, gathering what composure she had left.
"What happens now?" She said, wiping her cheeks. Jarvan nodded silently, agreeing that he didn't know what the future was going to bring. He had hoped to find answers in Kampf's death, but where the death of the Dragon had brought momentary solace for the fallen, unanswered questions were already nagging at the back of Jarvan's mind.
"I'm afraid that our story is only just beginning." Jarvan said quietly, closing his eyes again and concentrating on the warmth that flowed from Shyvana's hand, letting ti spread through him. He opened his eyes and stared into the fiery violet eyes of the red headed companion he had gained at the cost of so many of his men. "Through this crucible of fire and flame we have emerged beaten, battered and scarred..." His voice trailed off as he let out a soft sigh and sucked a deep breath back in. "But not broken. We now stand on a precipice of war, with conspiracies clouding our future. The Black Rose..." Jarvan's gaze darkened as the memory of plot he had become embroiled in, Kampf's words only swirling them about. He shook his head, trying to banish the questions in this moment of triumph. Jarvan looked back to Shyvana, masking the pain he felt with a broad smile. "You, who are born of both dragon and human blood have been invaluable to me in so many ways, through this immense cataclysm that marks the land and our lives... Will you serve Demacia at my side and accept her as your new home?"
"Jarvan..." Shyvana said, shaking her head, trying to hide the tears. "I don't care anymore... I don't care where we go, whatever we may face, what hardships we are at odds with... as long as I'm with you, I shall be happy." A smile spread upon her face as tears began to streak her face. "You said you were afraid that our story is just beginning..." Her voice trailed off as she tried to wipe away the tears, only to have more replace them upon her cheeks. "I'm just glad that there is a story to begin."
"I made you cry again..." Jarvan said softly, cupping her cheek and wiping away a tear with his thumb. She nuzzled his hand and shook her head.
"These are tears of joy and relief." She said softly, wiping away the tears that dripped down her chin. "To have this burden lifted from my shoulders...the freedom of no longer having to look over my shoulder - these are things that I will never be able to pay you back for." Her voice trailed off. "Jarvan Lightshield IV, I am yours to do with as you wish. Anything you want of me I shall do, for I owe you a debt of my life...for you have returned it to me." She smiled at him and blushed as Jarvan mirrored her smile.
"Then let me ask of you this one thing." Jarvan said softly, pulling her into a warm embrace. "Please, stay with me. I don't think I could bear to live without you." Shyvana felt the tears pouring down her face as she was swept into Jarvan hug, her lips pressed fiercely to his. Several long moments passed as she enjoyed his embrace and taste, letting it fill her mind. She finally had to pull back and bury her face in his neck to hide the tears.
"Of course, my love." She pulled back and looked at Jarvan for a few moments, the prince offering her a warm smile. He wrapped an arm around Shyvana and she exhaled softly, looking up towards the sky.
"Isaacs, Faust..." He murmured under his breath. "I hope you're resting just a bit easier, wherever you are. I just wanted to thank you for everything you did for Shyvana and I." Jarvan closed his eyes for a few moments as he listened to the howling of the wind.
"Did you say something?" Shyvana asked, looking up from the now muted fires that still burned in the pit. Jarvan looked down towards her and shook his head.
"It was nothing." He raised his lance up onto his shoulder and looked out over the frozen landscape. "We should hurry and get out of this storm."
"I think you mentioned a tavern just outside Demacia." Shyvana said, opening her mouth and chomping down on a snowflake that had drifted down towards her. "I think a warm meal and something to drink would be perfect right about now."
"Fire drakes don't much care for the cold, do they?" Jarvan said, grinning after her. She smiled and nodded.
"We prefer warmer climates." her voice trailed off after a few moments. "Though in a pinch, a warm bed and someone to curl up to will do." Jarvan raised an eyebrow at the image of trying to fit a dragon into a human sized bed. He snorted and burst into laughter, taking Shyvana completely by surprise, leaving her at a loss for words. She blushed as the surprise turned to anger and embarrassment.
"What's so funny?" She stammered, steam rising off her head as the snow melted with her rising temper. Jarvan waved his hand in front of his face, trying to ward off the angry looks he was receiving.
"Nothing." Jarvan said, trying to hide his fit of giggling with a smile. "It's just that I can't imagine trying to cuddle with a dragon, what with the claws and teeth and all." He burst into a fit of laughter again and Shyvana posted her fists upon her hips, glaring at him.
"How is that funny?" She demanded, stamping her foot as he continued to laugh. Jarvan shook his head as he struggled to control his laughter, looking up to the sky and running a hand over his face to wipe the tears away.
"I guess it wasn't that funny." Jarvan said with a faint smile still showing on his lips as he looked back to Shyvana. "I just needed a good laugh." He turned to Shyvana and planted his lance in the ground, still holding it firmly in his grasp. He closed his eyes and inhaled sharply, steam streaming from his nose as he exhaled, opening his eyes with a determined look upon his face.
"Jarvan?"
"It's time I stopped running. There are questions to be answer, and war is approaching." He said softly, his pompous and proud facade fading for a brief moment, letting Shyvana see something else within. It wasn't grief or pain, but something else, something darker.
Fear? It was gone in an instant, but Shyvana couldn't shake the image from her mind. Something that could scare Jarvan like that... She shivered, but it wasn't from the cold.
"It's time I returned home." He paused a moment and then shook his head, looking down into Shyvana's eyes, a brave smile upon his face. "It's time we returned home." Shyvana was surprised by his words, but there was a warmth in them she hadn't heard spoken in a long time.
Shyvana slid her hand into his as a warm smile spread over her lips.
"Let's go." She tugged Jarvan along the path that led to the West.
"Right behind you."
END