With a groan and a clang, the steel gate finally gave way to Ostarion's blows. Forcing the gate open, he strode in, as Noxians fell and rose again around him, his men from outside slowly filling in behind him. He turned his head, and locked eyes with that impudent commander from earlier. He grinned. The battle was already won. The last few living enemies were on the run from their reborn former comrades. Now, it was just matter of having some fun for himself.

If we can just hold through the night, reinforcements will arrive. Truth be told, he highly doubted he would live to see these wraiths crushed by Noxus, and crushed they would be. The might of Noxus was far too great. But here and now, every wraith more they put down was a victory in its own right.

As he and his forces were pushed back, Jered would make one final stand. The fort a castle of times past, and Jered had every last living soldier hold the keep. Then Jered saw the leader of these blasted invaders walk towards him. He looked into his eyes for a split second. He saw that smug grin. In that moment, Jered's life was already forfeit.

What mattered was taking that bastard down with him.

With a cry, he leapt from the keep, spearing down a swordsman. He batted away two more and charged right at him. An undead Noxian tried to get in his way; he ran him through and flung him over his shoulder. He stabbed another and swung around, the body a makeshift hammer head, knocking away more of the horde in front of him. With an overhead swing, he threw the body from his spear at him. He batted it away with his sword.

Jered finally got a clear look at his foe. He stood, clad in gold and dark teal armor. From his body rose a sickly green flame. In his hand was no ordinary sword, but what looked to be the jaw of some great beast. The undead warrior grinned once more. "Back away. He's mine."

Ostarion had never been a very nimble warrior. The Wraith King tended to prefer the unwavering advance style of combat. He had seen his opponent in action for a while now, and he knew the commander was far more agile than him. But Ostarion would not have come as far as he did if more mobile warriors had bested him.

Very well. Let's see what you can do.

"I am King Ostarion, King of all Wraiths. You will prostrate yourself."

"I am Jered, commander of the forces of Noxus! And you will die this day!"

With that, Jered charged at Ostarion, stabbing him in the stomach with his spear, then ducking and rolling away from a swing of Ambinerath's jaw. While the Wraith King couldn't feel pain the same way living beings did, he registered another stab of Jered's spear into his back.

You have some sting to you. Good. Competent field commanders are so hard to find these days.

With his free fist, he swung behind him as he turned, and hit nothing but air. Jered had already rolled away, now using his spear to poke away at the Wraith King, out of reach of his sword. As Ostarion walked forward, Jered continued to walk back. Suddenly, Jered rolled forward, and ran the Wraith King right through the ethereal gut.

Ostarion didn't so much as flinch. Jered barely had time to pull his spear back out before feeling the teeth of the dead dragon dig in, and the weight of the whole jaw swat him aside. A tooth had cut into his arm, leaving a nasty deep gash. He had barely a few seconds to instinctively clutch his wound before another swing of Ostarion's blade demanded he tumble away.

I suppose all good things must come to an end, and this ends now.

Although he wouldn't acknowledge it, Jered's heart was pounding. The pain of his injury was starting to get to him. He was having trouble standing. But he would do Noxus a disservice if he did not fight to the last bitter breath.

He barely managed to rise with the support of his spear when he felt a blast of some sickly energy smash into his gut. He stumbled, then tumbled back. His back slammed into a wall, and she slid down, slumped at the base. He looked up as the shadow covered him, looked into the eyes of his soon-to-be killer.

He snarled, even as he coughed up specks of blood. "My death is meaningless. The warriors you killed here today pale in number to the army that will be arriving soon. You will be run over, and you will be crushed. It's simply a shame I won't be around to see it."

"On the contrary. You will be here to see it. In fact, I expect a full report of it." Jered saw the jaw rise above the Wraith King's head.

The last thing he saw in the land of the living was the jaw fall.

Ostarion ascended the stairs to the keep, and gazed out upon his new base of operations. Noxian flags were already being burnt, soon to be replaced with ones that carried the Empire of Wraith's colors. He peered into the horizon. Forward scouts confirmed the fallen commander's words. But that was not important right now. He looked out upon the soldiers before him. Some were of his homeland. Others were the remains of the fallen warriors outside the gates. Still more once held this fort for Noxus. It was irrelevant now.

"Welcome to all my new subjects! Now, let's get to know each other." A ghostly cheer erupts from the assembled.

Unseen, a raven takes flight.

An eagle screeches.

"Yeah, I know, Valor. I don't like it either." She sighed. Rangers and archers mill about her.

No point in putting it off. Time to go meet the new neighbors.

I will confess, I hoped the battle scene would turn out a little more epic. Hopefully they will become more exciting as we start seeing some champions in combat.