TALIYAH I
The Sands Claim Them All

Taliyah was still unaccustomed to the new bustle of Shurima. Before she had embarked on her journey across Valoran, she had travelled for miles and not encountered another living soul. Now large swathes of people gathered from all the corners of Runeterra, making pilgrimage to see the reforged Sun Disc, and hoping for a glimpse of the resurrected emperor, Azir. Taliyah too hoped to meet Azir, but she was keeping that to himself.

He will pay for what he has brought upon Shurima, she thought, eyeing the distant Sun Disc. Only the wonders of Ionia's rich magical landscape contained marvels incredible enough to match its scale. Are you in there, Azir? What are you waiting for?

Of course, Azir had not yet fully revealed himself. Soldiers made of sand wisps stood guard at the entrance to the palace underneath the Sun Disc, and refused entry to all. They had already killed three people under Azir's orders. Unyielding, empty instruments of war, there was no way to buy, bully, or reason with them.

"You buyin' that?" asked a stall merchant, eyes trained on the sunfruit in Taliyah's hand. Briefly, she had quite forgotten where she was.

"Oh," she said, placing it back down. "I'm sorry. I got a little distracted."

"You been holding it for a long time. Unsellable now. People will have seen." The merchant was heavily robed, hiding pale skin from the sun.

Taliyah looked down at the fruit, which was well beyond its prime. She and her tribe had considered it a luxury, rare to come across. It seemed that the Oasis of the Dawn bringing water to Shurima—no, restoring the waters of Shurima—had made it abundant, as they were in Ionia. Merchant stalls were packed with them, although they were small and green, not like the thick, juicy ones she had known as a child.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I don't have any money right now." A thought occurred to her as the merchant's expression darkened. "But I can come back, once I do."

"I've heard that before," he said, turning away from her.

"The Great Weaver does not like broken promises. I will return to you."

Taliyah's options were quickly dwindling. She had left Sivir almost an hour ago now, and the sun was beginning to set. The earth at her feet was beginning to cool. But although Taliyah could push away the hunger, Sivir was still injured, and she needed to help her regain her strength before she would let her leave. Besides, the one who called himself Nasus said he would return for her, and Nasus was not dead.

She and Sivir had watched from a nearby vantage as he and the magus Xerath had collided. Even under the scorching desert sun, the fierce heat their battle had released had winded them, and reduced those closest to ash. Taliyah had done what she could: she lifted the earth to shelter them, to protect them, but there was only so much she could do before the risk was too great.

If what Nasus had said was true, and Sivir was of Azir's bloodline, then she had to be protected. From the emperor and the magus alike. The sight of him still gave Taliyah nightmares. He was unlike anything she had ever seen, even in Ionia where magic was wild and entwined with nature. She had seen the Bridge at the Placidium, where a great battle had taken place long before her magic had awakened, and both the fertile lands of Navori, and the dark quadrant, where the bombs had fallen. Unusual creatures and strongholds moving through the air.

Yes, the lands of Ionia had taught the stoneweaver much, but Xerath…

No. She didn't want to think about Xerath right now.

She skirted to the back of the stalls and waited a little while longer. Whether it was ten or twenty minutes until she saw an opportunity, she could not tell. Taliyah could plant herself on Shuriman earth for hours, and it would keep her company. The stones underfoot contained stories, and Taliyah shared in them. Here, so close to the Sun Disc, all she could feel was pain.

The stoneweaver would do well to ignore the pain. "I have to focus," she whispered to herself.

Opportunity came in the form of a turned back. Taliyah did not feel good about her actions—the Great Weaver might even be ashamed, although she did not think her family would. There was simply nowhere to hunt. Mercenary groups had been drawn to the Sun Disc too; even with her power, Taliyah could not match a trained group on the hunt. They travelled at night on horseback, hunting some food for themselves, and others to sell to the merchants.

She took a flat pebble from her pouch and pushed on it, willing it towards a basket. She pictured the pebble unfurling, thinning, and it began to unmake itself. Supported by her will, she drew the basket to her quickly, and scurried off.

They had sought refuge in an old, long-abandoned stone hut, large enough for the two of them. Sivir spoke only when spoken to, and declined to share stories of her past. That she was of Azir's linegage, it seemed, had been news to her.

"Do you have any abilities?" Taliyah asked, hopeful.

"I can draw blood from a stone," she said.

"Really?"

Sivir smirked. "No. How many years do you have, again?"

"Soon to be eighteen."

"Right. Well, no. I can't draw blood from a stone. But with a stone you could draw blood from a man, and the price of blood is often gold. If you're doing it right, it could be a lot."

Taliyah replayed conversational titbits in her mind often, searching for concealed meanings, for answers, because none were forthcoming. The Noxians, Sivir, Nasus, and even Master Yasuo—they had hidden the biggest parts of themselves from her. Nobody wanted to share their burden, as Taliyah's people would. She missed them dearly.

If I could trade my power for my family, she thought every day, I might, but then there would be no one to protect them.

No, she needed her gifts. Especially now.

The stone Taliyah had fashioned into a door for the hut was slightly ajar—not the way she had left it. Taliyah bounded quickly towards the door, feeling seismic vibrations every time her feet collided with the ground.

Two exasperated, hushed voices sounded from inside.

Sivir said, "—because I can't. And the girl stays with me."

Nasus sighed. The Ascended Curator of the Sands still perplexed her. She couldn't understand what he was, or even what he could do. But he had survived an encounter with the dark magus, so he had to be doing something right.

"Mortals," Nasus said. "You have no imagining of destiny, or its pull."

"I have no interest in destiny. I make my own path, jackal. And my path carves a way into the future, not ancient history. This is a war between things above and beyond me. There is nothing I can do against Xerath."

"You owe Azir a life debt, Sivir."

"I have nothing to offer him."

"Your blood—"

Taliyah accidentally leaned too heavily on the door, pushing it open slightly.

"Taliyah?" Sivir interrupted.

The stoneweaver pushed open the door. "Hello. I didn't mean to listen, or to interrupt."

"No. I am very glad you did," Sivir said, smirking. Her eyes flickered to the basket. "Nasus was leaving."

Nasus turned to Taliyah. He was standing at his full height now, no hunching, no hiding: his full, Ascended might. Faded gold armour with a blue, metallic sash around his waist. His axe was mounted upon his back, damaged.

"We want no part of Azir's war," Taliyah said. "You seem good, and honourable, but we will not sacrifice Shurima for a slave-master."

Nasus paused, reflecting. "Azir has no slaves."

"The soldiers—"

"—are constructs. Sand, no more. Not unlike your own abilities. As his final act before the destruction of Shurima, Azir freed the slaves. Xerath among them."

Taliyah didn't think that made much sense. "Xerath was a slave?"

"Yes. A magus, but a slave. Xerath is beyond that now. His mind is so consumed with hate. He will hunt Azir to the ends of the Earth, and if he succeeds… The world is lost, Taliyah. Everything you have ever known. Everyone you have ever loved. He will turn the world to dust."

"I have to find my tribe."

"Your family are no safer with you at their side. He is far beyond any of us alone." Nasus turned to Sivir. "When he finds you, he will not just kill you. He will defile you with dark magic."

"Then we'll leave," Taliyah said. "If he can't find her, then there's nothing he can do. What can Xerath do in the mountains of Ionia?" Taliyah thought of the flying fortress, or the River of Blades. The world was so big; she could hide Sivir, if she had to. Taliyah didn't much like to stay in one place.

"You are willing to let Xerath tear through Shurima as an ill wind while you hide in a mountainside?"

Taliyah paused. No. She wasn't willing to do that. "What would you have us do?"

Sivir let out a long sigh, then slowly ambled to the basket, taking a sunfruit and biting into it. Even still, she was weak. Whatever wounded her was not so easy to recover from. She had refused to talk about it, although Taliyah had tried.

"You must return to Azir, and the Library of the Sun. The High Priests of Shurima are all long dead. The last remaining hope is there."

"What do you mean you?" Sivir asked, perplexed. "After all this, you won't even accompany us?"

"In time, but I have business elsewhere."

"Your brother," Sivir suggested.

Taliyah did not know that Nasus had a brother. She knew very little of Ancient Shurima. The Great Weaver said very little of ascension rituals and sun discs. It was more of a way to live.

"No," Nasus said darkly. "Another fire that must be stifled."

"Alright then," Sivir said. "Where is the library?"

"Beneath the Sun Disc. I will take you to him. He is expecting you."

Taliyah and Sivir shared a long, haunted look. She did not want to brought before Azir. Would he look like Nasus? She had heard tales that he appeared as a red hawk, imbued with dark purple, like the sky above Icathia. The Emperor of the Sands did not frighten her.

There is stone beneath your sand.