Chapter 7: Revelation
Other than noticing the League Hall was bustling with activity (despite the far wall still being repaired), Shyvana and Sylus barely made it a few meters before a tall, slim summoner in pale robes hurried to them, waving excitedly.
Shyvana eyed Sylus, but he shrugged. Neither of them knew this summoner.
The stranger ran up, panting. "Champion, summoner, it's such a relief to see you safe! Queen Ashe and Lady Riven are just now having a …discussion with some of the high summoners. Your information would be most welcome!"
A shared glanced between the pair confirmed they were ready.
"Lead on," Shyvana said clearly.
(The meeting…)
"I want to know why you're stonewalling us, when lives are clearly on the line!" Riven shouted, but her sword stayed down in her hand. The power in her hardened eyes was just as intimidating, however.
Ironically, it was Ralhe centrally facing Riven and Ashe across a large, round table. Ikan was back at her left, another high summoner at her right. She tipped her head, "We aren't stonewalling anyone. This kind of information is desperately sensitive. If the structure of our spells around the games was exposed, you know how much damage could be done!"
Ashe tilted her head down, and replied, "Agreed, but you know Freljord supports the games fully, and Riven has never shown anything beyond respect for them. We're trying to help stop this murderer, and you're refusing to help."
And then the door burst open around Shyvana, Sylus, and the pale-robed summoner who had escorted them. The dragoness marched straight up to the table with Sylus in her wake.
The pale-robed summoner saw the intense situation, and decided to make a quick exit, shutting the doors after a glare from Ralhe.
Riven and Ashe smiled at the pair, Sylus tipping his head in a quick, respectful recognition, and Shyvana gave them a half-smile before focusing darkly on the summoners present. "I might be able to explain why you're refusing to help, at that. I'm sure it's filed away with everything you confiscated from Valein House."
All three champions and Sylus noticed the faint twitch in Ralhe's eye.
"Go on, Shyvana?" Ashe prompted with a wave of her hand.
Shyvana eased around the table, her fingers trailing the edge as she stalked toward the high summoners. "Tell me, high summoners, have you found your precious patient, yet? As I recall, Ikan was supposed to locate him for you nearly a week ago?"
Ikan seemed furious, but contained himself as Shyvana started to pace around the three summoners ominously. Riven was resisting a smile at the obvious intimidation tactic.
Ralhe chose to answer, "Nothing but hearsay. If you have some facts to present-!?"
"Spare me, summoner. You have one use now, and that is supplying the name of your pet," Shyvana cut her off sharply, brushing past just in front of the robed woman. "Your mad-house was overthrown by mercenaries, and a village was blown up, while you've dithered about like a child. Your 'dangerous suspect'," she waved to Sylus, "and I cleaned up your mess for you."
Ashe and Riven gawked.
"A village!?" Riven rasped.
"Blown up?" Ashe pressed.
Sylus looked over to them, and spoke up to explain, "It happened the same time as the original bombing here. A tavern was the epicenter, but Diligast is all but obliterated."
"Diligast?" Ikan whispered in dark shock.
Shyvana leaned sharply through the trio of high summoners, startling Ralhe and the third apart as the dragoness seized Ikan, and made him face her by the scruff. "The NAME, boy! Who is your precious genius you've been hiding!?"
"We don't know what you're talking-!?" Ralhe was cut off again.
Shyvana had the woman up in the air by her collar that instant, fire smoldering quite powerfully in her eyes. "I'm tired of your lies, summoner! I've watched you fail to protect the civilians and noncombatants this League exists to protect. I've walked in the crater of Diligast, and I ran down the mercenaries who seized and captured your servants at the house. You will give me the name, and everything else you know about this supposed genius, or I will expose every dark secret I have found in that misbegotten prison to the world!"
"I'd listen to her, Ralhe," Riven added firmly, leaning into the table. "Because if she stays her hand, I won't."
Ralhe firmed, despite dangling. "You don't know anything worth exposing, or you wouldn't be blowing so much smoke, dragon."
Shyvana's expression turned viciously dark.
Then Sylus spoke again. "We do, however, have proof of mercenaries seizing a League facility. One specifically designed to secure the most dangerous and unstable summoners we know of. Do you want an inquiry, councilors?"
Shyvana started to smirk as Ralhe twitched again.
"Sylus, I will remember this when your next review comes along," Ralhe rasped.
He narrowed his eyes, but didn't respond.
Shyvana, however, set the woman back on her feet, and said, "Apologize to him."
Ralhe rolled her eyes. "You have no business telling a councilor what to do with a mid-level summoner, champion. You overstep your bounds!"
"No," Shyvana began quietly, "you overstepped yours!"
Even Ashe and Riven jerked back, Sylus just bracing as fire erupted around the room, somehow avoiding damage to anyone or thing in the area.
In her full draconic form, Shyvana growled into the councilor's face, who yelped and fell back against the table, leaning away from the burning maw. The other two high summoners were ducking away against the wall.
"You are a self-serving waste compared to the 'mid-level summoner' you so casually spat upon, woman! I have watched you fret and ring your hands while a madman slaughters your people, only fearing for your own reputation, while that man risked his life, faced every fear and shame YOU could throw at him, and helped chase down the very monster trying to kill him! At the moment, he is the ONLY REAL SUMMONER IN THIS ROOM!"
Shyvana followed her verbal rampage with a full-bodied roar into the woman's face, the room shaking from the power of it. Riven was impressed, and Ashe was simply astonished at the event. It was a grave risk to so bluntly threaten a summoner in the hall.
Then Shyvana warped back down to her human form, still glaring darkly.
Sylus was resisting the urge to blush at her powerful, vehement defense of his character, and found himself smiling despite the deadly serious situation.
"Now then, councilor," Shyvana growled. "Shall I have that name?"
Ralhe swallowed, furious, but shaking with fear. Laws or not, this dragon could easily kill her before she had a chance to stop her. "…V-Valhan…"
Sylus and Shyvana instantly gawked at each other, confused and alarmed equally.
Now it was Ashe, Riven, and the three summoners' turn to be confused.
Shyvana reached out, and pulled Ralhe back onto her feet. The woman yelped, only because at first she thought it was a punch at her face.
"Valhan? Valhan is your precious summoner who developed so many master spells?" Shyvana challenged instantly.
Ikan picked himself up. "You know him?"
Shyvana glared over her shoulder, and chose not to answer. Focusing on Ralhe, she continued, "I want the records. Everything about him from the house. NOW!"
Ralhe quickly waved at the third summoner, who yanked a few thick books out of the shelf behind her, and gathered up some scrolls that had been hidden there.
Shyvana grabbed them instantly. "Sylus," she said without thought, starting to open them onto the table that moment.
He rushed over, and started to pour over them with her.
Riven and Ashe shared a faintly amused glance at the pair working so well together, and they came around.
"What are we looking for?"
"Anything related to Valhan, first. Once we have all of that, we dig in," Shyvana quickly spoke, shoving a pile of scrolls to the pair of champions.
Ralhe smoothed her robe down after getting out of Shyvana's way to the table. "…Did you find him?"
Sylus and Shyvana paused to share a look. Shyvana then looked over her shoulder. "We don't know. That's why this information is vital. Now either help us gather the pieces we need, or leave us be."
Annoyed, but feeling the pressure of the situation as well, Ralhe waved to the other two summoners, and they came around to start sifting through the information as well.
(Searching…)
About half an hour later, all of them still pouring over the texts and records, Sylus froze as his eyes soaked in a particular line of text. His mind started whirring, and he suddenly snapped his hands out, pulling other sheets he'd previously discarded back to himself.
It was noticed by the others, Shyvana, Riven, Ashe, and the other summoners starting to watch him quietly for a moment.
With several sheets in front of him, Sylus, his hands spread on the table, started to look ill and angry at the same time.
"Sylus?" Shyvana finally whispered to him, her eyes tight.
Sylus was starting to bare his teeth in a grimace surprisingly reminiscent of Shyvana herself, which had everyone at the table puzzled and concerned anew, including the dragoness herself.
"By Demacia's crown, summoner, what is wrong?" Shyvana finally prompted.
Sylus snapped his eyes up at her, his emotions still twisting his face, but he quickly rounded his glare on Ralhe and the others. "Valhan. Tell me, did he ever give you a strange story about Kog'Maw?"
Shyvana eased up straight. She recognized the reference, but didn't understand the connection yet. She waited. Riven and Ashe seemed eager to listen for the moment as well.
Ralhe eased back, shaking her head, but Ikan seemed grim.
"Why do you ask that so specifically?" Ikan muttered.
"So you did?" Sylus pressed firmly.
"Several months ago. He shared some madness about Kog'Maw's stomach being a void portal. Why? Did you speak with him yourself?"
Sylus shook his head. "No." Then he picked up one piece of paper, and slammed it down on the table. "But I did speak with the man who actually came up with the idea. The same man Valhan shared a CELL WITH in your damn maximum security hall!"
Shyvana's eyes locked on the paper.
Meridian Stalk.
Ralhe lunged forward. "Don't be insane! Meridian is a complete psychopath, we'd never use his arts. They were too dangerous, too-!?"
"Difficult to understand!?" Sylus challenged, suddenly full of fire and fury, his frame straightening. "Like barriers that can withstand void spells!?"
Ikan's eyes widened, and he rose up, easing back. "By Runeterra… no, no it can't be! Valhan gave us the schematics himself! In such insane detail! He couldn't have…"
"Stolen them?" Riven offered, looking to Sylus.
The mid-level summoner nodded instantly to the exiled warrior. "Exactly. None of those spells came from Valhan. His talents were for memorization and an ability to copy spells he saw a single time. He started using it to cheat other summoners, and it got him planted in the house." He rammed another sheet of paper forward. "He was using Meridian's ideas as his own genius, and used it to buy his own freedom. Tell me, councilors… have you published any newly 'discovered' spells in recent journals?"
Ralhe's brow creased. "…You know we have."
Sylus nodded. "And aren't those the only bit of reading those maximum security prisoners get? More to the point, why in all the planes would you let mad summoners SHARE CELLS!?"
Ashe raised a staying hand. "Please, calm. I'm not sure I follow you, Sylus. What would the publication do?"
Sylus calmed, and tipped his head to the Freljord queen. "Pardon, my lady. …It revealed to Meridian that his ideas, his genius, were being stolen the whole time. Valhan had been visiting in secret. Meridian likely assumed it was to be kind to his 'new friend', so they could talk. He would stop in Diligast each time he did so. However, his true purpose was to get new ideas and spells from Meridian, so he could further ingratiate himself to the League. Meridian recognized one of his own ideas in the papers they're allowed to read. It revealed everything he needed to know."
Shyvana nodded, frowning. "Of course. Which is why Diligast was blown up."
Sylus turned to her with a nod as well. "Exactly. He knew the League explosion would draw most of the attention and cause chaos, so his personal revenge wouldn't even be noticed until his plan was well under way."
"What plan!?" Ralhe snapped finally. "You're making no sense, Summoner Hale! Where is Valhan!?"
Shyvana answered, "Dead, councilor. One of Stalk's first victims, along with the match."
All three councilors froze, horrified at the knowledge.
Sylus moved closer to Shyvana. "This means we had him in our grasp, and let him go. He must be able to leave the House at will, and was just playing inmate once we crashed the gate."
Shyvana tipped her head. "It seem so. Well done, Sylus. Don't blame yourself. We had no way of knowing. In truth, he may have turned the House into his stronghold. We only saw a fraction of it. If he has control, and if he has the talents you described to me, his resources could be limitless."
"We have to go back," Sylus replied instantly.
The dragoness found herself smiling at him. "Precisely."
Ashe pulled her hood back over her head. "You won't be alone. This is a threat to the League. As Champions, we have a duty to see it through."
Riven twirled her massive, broken blade. "I'm in."
Shyvana and Sylus were appreciative, the dragoness nodding, Sylus bowing. Shyvana, however, added, "We'll take flight. If you can, gather more allies. Even Noxian Champions."
Everyone blinked at her.
Ashe smiled gently out of her surprise, "To show a united front…"
The dragon tipped her head. "Yes. If just the four of us take the battle to Stalk, it might seem questionable. If we invite the other nations' champions to help in the raid?"
"Quite the diplomat," Sylus chose to tease with a bright smile.
Shyvana gave him a playful glare.
Ralhe sighed, and straightened up. "I'll sound a general alarm and call for action. Every champion in the League will know what's happening within the hour."
Her fellow councilors were horrified anew, but the champions and Sylus were considering her with new respect.
"Our thanks," Shyvana chose to add, and then turned. "Come, Sylus!"
"My lady," he called, running after her.
Ashe and Riven shared a nod, then rushed out as well, going to rally their own comrades.
(Later…)
Shyvana had wasted no time. The dragoness ripped down through the air, Sylus holding to her neck with more desperation thanks to her ferocity and speed. Mindful of her passenger, even so, she did slow enough before slamming down to the gravel lane just in front of Valein House.
Once Sylus was off her back, she warped into her humanoid form, and waved for him to stay in her wake, fire already lit on her fists. Sylus fell into line as ordered, and she quickly led inside.
The building seemed ominously quiet. The entry hall was still charred and broken from their fight the previous day, some charred bones now obvious in the wreckage.
"I can't smell anyone nearby," Shyvana whispered.
How she could smell anything in so much charred ruin was lost to Sylus, but he knew her instincts were practically made for such an environment. "To the max security hall then?"
She nodded, and led on. The halls remained quiet beyond occasional moaning from residents. They were still in their rooms, apparently unharmed.
"We need to get proper care back to these patients. They'll starve, if nothing else," Sylus muttered, a bit guilty for telling all the patients' caretakers to flee the area.
"Once the building is secure again, we will," Shyvana offered in a low, firm voice.
They made it all the way back to the entry of the maximum security hall without incident, which did not comfort either of them. Again, the doors opened without effort.
The hall was empty. The cells were still there, but the glowing walls were all gone, leaving it darker and more haunted.
"Why would he free them all?" Shyvana muttered, brow creased.
Sylus shook his head warily. "I have no idea. He couldn't possibly control them well enough to use them."
Pausing most of the way down the hall, Shyvana nodded to a chamber on the right. "This was his?"
"If memory serves, yes," Sylus agreed.
They both eased toward it. They had little else to investigate other than Stalk's last known location, so it would have to be the start.
Shyvana waved for Sylus to stay, and she crossed the threshold first. Nothing reacted immediately. She gave him a nod, and Sylus joined her in the simple cell, the two starting to look around.
Sylus ran his hands along the right wall, a cringe of uncertainty marking his mildly aged face. Nothing seemed amiss. All this, just to lose the trail?
Shyvana was sniffing and listening for the most part, her eyes panning the floor and walls carefully.
Near the center of the cell, her left foot eased forward for another step. The moment the armored boot touched the stone again, Shyvana jerked, grimacing, an awkward strangle coming from her throat.
Sylus was already twisting around, his mind feeling the magic moving.
"Shyvana!"
Runes of gold-green light were dancing up around Shyvana's legs, torso, arms, and head, starting swirl faster and tighter as she shivered, her eyes about the only part of her that could move, glaring in every direction as she strained.
Sylus' hands snapped forward, clenching like claws, and his body started to quake with effort, his eyes constricting with mental focus.
Shyvana watched the runes she could see start to stutter and hesitate, some of them stopping. She could shift faintly if she strained against her magical restraints with all her force.
"W-what… is this…?" she hissed through her teeth.
"C-can't," Sylus wheezed. "Trying…to give you… chance… Break loose!" he gasped, his body trembling.
Shyvana started to roar, her body grinding forward, and she finally ripped one arm free, then a leg, and churned out, diving and rolling into the far wall.
Sylus' arms snapped limp past each other, as if he'd lost something between his hands, and Shyvana looked back to see her previous position fracture and contort in almost crystalline waves of light and power, ceiling to floor.
As that display faded at last, Sylus swayed on his feet, blood dripping from his nose.
"Sylus!" Shyvana called in alarm, leaping for him as he started to fall face-first.
Catching him, she crouched down as she turned him up to face her. His eyes were rolling back, his body too limp.
Before she could stop them, tears were in Shyvana's eyes, but she ignored them. She shook her companion, shouting, "Wake up! You can't give in! Not now, Sylus!"
His eyes flared, trying to refocus, finding her at last. He breathed weakly, wheezing, and managed, "Pushed… beyond my limit… caught him… by surprise…"
Shyvana tried to smile for him, but she saw his face falling, trying to black out. She quickly reached up, pawing his cheek, shaking him firmly. "Stay with me! You did well!" she snapped between firm command and affectionate, forced cheer. "Bested a genius!"
"You… saved yourself, my lady… If you weren't so powerful… wouldn't have been… enough," he managed, clearly trying to obey her, stay awake, but his body was failing around him.
"No!" Shyvana growled, shaking him in almost childish frustration. "Stay with me! I can't let you fall asleep after that kind of exertion, Sylus!"
His head lolled, trying to stay up. "C-can't… I just… need… some rest… I should be… fine… Shyvana."
She propped him against her leg, and gripped his face with both hands, forcing his eyes to meet hers. "You swear it? You will be alright? You will recover?"
He faintly nodded in her powerful grip. "I s-should… just can't… stay… awa…" He completely blacked out.
Shyvana gathered him up in her arms, furious tears trickling down her cheeks with a frown barely holding in her storm of emotions. She rose up, walking out of the cell with him draped over her arms, dark rage etched into her eyes.
(Later…)
In a matter of hours, Valein House was all but a fortress of League authority. Dozens of Champions had rallied to the call, from every nation (and even many independents). The promise of a rewarding hunt beyond just the simple necessity got the attention of even the most self-serving champions.
Summoners re-secured the building itself, sealing it magically, verifying that Stalk and any cohorts were absent, and already starting investigations into the missing maximum security patients. A rally-crystal was established anew (it had always been intended, but was one of Stalk's first victims before the entire debacle), allowing all but instantaneous teleport between the League Hall and Valein House.
So far, the only thing clear was how horribly they had underestimated Stalk.
Riven sighed, rubbing a hand over her forehead. She stood just outside Stalk's former cell, a loose gathering of champions and high summoners present. "You mean he just summoned himself out of this place? And we can't trace him?"
Ralhe was one of the leading investigators still. "Precisely. Were it not such a dire situation, I would be in awe of his talent. More so…" she added in a dark mutter.
Katarina, Noxus' Sinister Blade, rolled her eyes, snapping, "The incompetence of this entire establishment is enough to drive me insane and require its services. You used the same type of magic to contain the man that he, himself, mastered better than all of you combined? Are you thick?"
Riven was awkward enough being in the same room with Katarina and Swain himself, the cane-wielding leader of Noxus so far silent and brooding, but she had to admit the assassin had a point. Why did they ever think this would work?
Queen Ashe was also present, her legendary weapon down her back and her hood down for once. "Do we have anything to go on? Even a hint?"
Kha'zix and Malzahar were present (much to the discomfort of almost everyone else), and it was the insectoid hunter that spoke up in his rasping whisper of a voice.
"The spell weave is potent, I can smell it. Surely that gives you some kind of trail, summoner?" His alien eyes fixed Ralhe with an unmistakably dry glare.
Ralhe frowned at him, but nodded. "Yes. We have a direction. Northwest. Technically toward Noxus—And no, we don't think you're involved, High General," she cut herself off with a hand raised toward Swain before he could even start to object.
Katarina just smirked, and Swain seemed almost demure instead of ruffled.
Malzahar was still playing his hand over the floor. "Fascinating conjurings… I sense the Void in some of these traces."
Up to this point, Jarvan IV, Prince of Demacia, had been brooding himself, leaned against the wall opposite Katarina and her master. He leaned onto his feet then, and asked, "There is no way to gather more detail? Not even a range?"
Ralhe sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose to alleviate her growing headache. "No… though…"
Everyone was about to press her, but it was Riven who actually spoke it, "What is it, summoner?"
"Sylus might," Ralhe admitted.
"Then why isn't the little summoner here?" Kha'zix snarled, his wings jittering.
Jarvan IV retorted in similar tone, "He nearly killed himself protecting one of Demacia's Champions in this very room." He gestured to the spot Kha'zix and Malzahar had been examining. "He is recuperating, and not conscious enough to assist right now."
Malzahar stood up. "We have ways of making an unconscious man give testimony."
Riven snapped her blade up in a simultaneously casual and so-lightning-fast gesture that the entire room pulsed with tension. Her eyes hardened at the self-proclaimed Prophet of the Void, and she replied, "None that I will permit, if you could get past the Champion guarding him to attempt it. His mind waged a battle against a vastly superior opponent. There is no telling how dangerous further aggravation to his mind would be. He will be more than cooperative once he is conscious, if indeed he has any additional information."
And this was when Swain finally spoke, his voice disturbingly kind and passive compared to his ranting in the hall some days previous. "Certainly, none of us wish to further harm the unlikely hero of the hour. I do find it… taxing that our two best witnesses are currently indisposed, however. Why is it, again, that Shyvana is not here to aid in our effort?" His tone was so masterfully crafted, it almost sounded like he was concerned for the dragoness. No one in the room believed that, however.
Ashe's voice cut through the room like one of her mystical bolts, "Shyvana has been Sylus Hale's guardian since his entry into this investigation. She is making sure he is guarded properly. Especially with an enemy of this magnitude targeting them both. Councilor Ralhe herself assured us he should recover quite soon. Is that not so, Councilor?"
Ralhe nodded. "It is. He was, in fact, surprisingly resilient considering the nature of the battle. It will be factored into future reviews of his advancement."
The reversal on Ralhe's previous threat back at the hall brought a faint smile to Ashe and Riven's lips.
Katarina shifted her weight impatiently, "So how long then?" Her long, crimson hair was even more reminiscent of blood in the dim light of the cell than usual.
"It should be safe to wake him in an hour or so," Ralhe chose to answer.
Swain turned, his loyal champion following, "Then let us know when we have his information to share."
Letting the handful of champions leave afterward without contest, Riven turned directly to Ashe as Prince Jarvan moved to further assist the summoners present.
Quietly, Riven asked, "Are they alright?"
Ashe winced a bit. "I don't know. I've… never seen Shyvana with that kind of emotion in her eyes. I don't envy Stalk if she gets to him first."
Riven had to crack a smile at that comment. "Nor I. I think I'll go back to the League, check on them. Mind watching the fort here for me, Your Majesty?"
Ashe offered a smile. "Not at all. Go on."
Riven bowed respectfully, and then ran off herself.
(Author's Note)
My particular pleasure in this chapter was the confrontation between Ralhe and Shyvana. A bit childish, perhaps, but very satisfying. The reveal about Stalk in the same meeting I hope carried some real surprise or tension for you guys. It felt like it came off correctly, but one can never certain of those results.
Thanks again for all the reviews! I'm especially glad the emotional content is seen so positively. Clearly, the emotions are a primary theme of this story, so them working, feeling legitimate, is vital. I'm glad that seems to be the case thus far. Hopefully this chapter didn't spoil any of that.
I do appreciate the notes and suggestions, Devyn. Every review keeps the fire fueled, and I'll look into the items you mentioned. Co-writing tends to be a balancing act with its own challenges, but I've had it go well many times
Stay tuned, and enjoy!