Chapter 2: Silence
A rippling void tore through the air, a violet purple that seemed to writhe around and distort trees and air alike. A humane figure glided through the otherworldly portal, a being padded in black pauldrons and vambraces with silver horns protruding from each piece. A mask that covered his mouth was hooked to two tanks slung heavily over his back. His face was further obscured by the helmet; two horns curved backwards were protruding from the top. Only his pale blue skin and intense glowing eyes were revealed through his attire. His pitch black robe was in tatters and gashes were dug deep in various places on his skin. He sluggishly floated down the open pathway that was paved between two forests. Violet magical lines followed the ground he floated lightly over.
That was close; we need to go heal up, Kassadin. The champion remained silent but agreed with the soft feminine voice that echoed within his thoughts.
Moments later, the Void Walker suddenly halted, his glowing eyes widened as he felt something tug at the crevices of his mind. It felt as though one of Kennen's lightning tempests had hit him from the inside.
"Kassadin! Behind you!" An aged Ionian toned voice warned. Surely enough, Kassadin felt every fiber of his being getting fried as a lightning bolt had connected itself to his back. He turned about only to see a purple blur pass by followed by a wickedly curved scimitar fashioned shortsword imbed itself in his abdomen area. Finally giving way to exhaustion and the wounds he had suffered earlier, the guardian fell over on his knees as his spirit left him.
"Ungh..." He gave a last unearthly groan. He could still hear the clashing of blades sound in the distance. The voice that spoke in his mind also gave a painful grunt.
What's happening Kassadin? You're response has been somewhat odd recently. The voice asked sternly.
I apologize Summoner Jessica, something seems to be...breaking my focus as of late. A brilliant bolt of white energy whizzed past his corpse followed closely by a high pitch scream, not quite sure if it was female or male though.
Fortunately, our team isn't doing too badly, and the absence of Ernste from the battle makes things easier. The Summoner sighed with a relief upon hearing the sound of a structure collapsing nearby.
Another Summoner who leaves the Fields of Justice without any notice...we seem to be seeing more and more of these types recently. The Voidwalker remarked as he saw a radiant light flash before his eyes. In the blink of an eye he was up and fully rejuvenated to full strength. He stood before several descending stairs with runic glyphs engraved over them. After the stairs a castle of several mage statues holding up a large crystal lay before his glowing eyes. We should be wearier of Mordekaiser next time Summoner.
No, I don't think that was what got us last time. I don't know what the hell his Summoner is thinking but he got two Phantom Dancers so I guess that's a good thing. Even the Master of Metal himself seemed pretty embarrassed. If anything we should watch out for Warwick and Katarina, those two are starting to catch on to our plan. When a Summoner and a Champion fight, they have to enter a pact first. This pact allows for both Summoner and Champion to act as one, increasing response time and doubling the awareness that one usually has as well as imbuing the Champion with some of the Summoner's unique abilities. Both pact makers hear each other's thoughts as if they were standing in front of one another and conversing normally. Twenty years ago, the Institute of War was able to take advantage of this unique spell and use it as a means to mediate battles. Five champions and Summoners combating five other champions and Summoners with their own goals in mind, this was what the Fields of Justice were maintained for. This was their means of how to wage war, instead of large scale armies decimating cities and lands. Influence and power were the spoils of such wars.
Done, I think Zhonya's Ring should do the trick. Let's head out now. The Summoner said in a determined tone.
As you wish! Kassadin's voice reverberated back in response. The Voidwalker made his way through the middle among three forked pathways to join his fellow champions. Not too long after, the sight of a battle ensuing came into Kassadin's view. Rammus, the Armordillo was in the midst of the chaos, the ground rippling with every step he took.
Wait for it…The voice tempered his patience. Off from the corner of his eye, Kassadin caught sight of something moving off to the right side of the jungle. An arched wave of golden light weaved itself magnificently through the forest and eventually tore through the enemy team that surrounded the small Armordillo. First Mordekaiser dropped to one knee clutching his heavy metal mace tightly over his shoulder. Kennen collapsed through the intense pain from the energy wave.
Go! The Void energy pulsated around Kassadin and in a split second a portal of the same energy started writhing open in the air in front of him. He immediately dashed through the new portal whilst another wormhole had ripped through the air in the middle of the team fight. With Nether Blade crackling with intense energy, Kassadin ripped through the wormhole and flew towards the downed Master of Metal. He made a wide slash through the air with his Nether Blade, the air in front distorted and twisted sickly. Several of the dimensional slashes had managed to rip the very plating armor off of the metal titan. The dark being dropped his mace and quickly dissolved into a mist of black dust.
His Summoner alerted him to a presence approaching from behind. The masked guardian turned about, he was going to throw a fully charged Null Sphere at whoever was behind him. Off in the distance, a woman dressed in complete pitch black came into view. She wore a leather jacket over a very low cut bustier. Her long blood crimson hair seemed to follow the flow of her movements. The scar that ran deeply across her left eye seemed to further accentuate the killer instinct that exuded from her. Katarina the Sinister Blade of Noxus, Kassadin noted, took a quick step forwards and had already closed the gap between them in the blink of an eye. He shot an orb of violet Void energy at the Noxian mercenary by reflex. It came as no surprise when she simply sidestepped the destructive sphere; it was a sloppy shot in the Voidwalker's opinion. Katarina followed by stepping forward and bringing both of her sickly curved swords around for a swing at Kassadin. Void energy enveloped him once again as he disappeared from view, Katarina's blade simply passed through thin air. Kassadin had used his Riftwalk ability to relocate himself behind the Noxian. The Nether Blade mounted on his right arm once again came to life with energy and he had it poised to take his opponent's life.
A faint aching in his head slowed his movements down. The aching quickly spiked and emulated what felt like searing pain, causing the Nether Blade on his arm to wither away as Kassadin gripped onto his head trying to steady himself. He heard the voice of his Summoner in quick ethereal torrents of screams; she seemed to be experiencing the pain as well. The Voidwalker could not even concentrate, even upon clearly seeing his target turn around, he could do naught. Katarina planted a thick leather boot into his chest and sent him toppling backwards.
Curse the Void! What was that infernal screaming that now rang out in his mind? It was not just one feral scream he heard, but several dozen off in the distance seemed to be chanting the same scream as if taunting him. Between the noise in his head and the hammering pain against his skull, he was only semi conscious of the fact that the assassin was ready to plunge one of her blades into his body. He saw the tip of the blade overhead; slowly it bore down on him. Kassadin braced himself for the intense pain of the cold metal going through his body before-
Under the moonlight a shadowy figure, draped in a black robe, knelt over one of the two corpses. A metal gauntlet hand, rummaged through the crimson robes of the dead body. His movements stopped as he pulled an amulet that hung around the man's neck. The black form held the amulet between his metal palms. The amulet in question was a palm sized rock of dark luster, and in the center of this very rock was what appeared to be a deep scar that emanated a radiant purple light. The enigmatic figure held the rock close to his face and examined it further. Light from the rock illuminated the robed figures features, a faceless mask.
Twin plates placed on top of each other curved elegantly to form two upward archs around the head, like silver wings spread out on a bird. On top of these two plates there was a smaller piece, a symbol resembling the head of a trident. The two spikes at the side of the trident were altered slightly and pointed outwards slightly.
Light that pulsed from the stone itself slowly faded. The light was soon diminished to a dull purple color, and then suddenly a large crack split across the stone. All signs of energy from the talisman had disappeared just like that.
Steel hands closed tightly around the rock. The rock cracked and crumbled in pebbles and stones.
Damn! Too late…