Author: I apologize in advance everyone. This chapter took awhile to dish out and it is still considered rushed in my books. Please be aware that this story was made and conceptualized back when Irelia was first released. Hence only Du Couteau's disappearance has been mentioned and champions who are released after Irelia might not be taken into consideration. Again, many thanks for your patience. Your comments are very encouraging and I hope to hear from more readers/summoners.
Chapter 8: Unexpected Path
Kassadin sat meditatively, with eyes closed, on a rock at the base of a cliff. The sands of the Shurima Desert wailed against the cliff and blew past him. The hem of his black robes waved about in the intense wind. The Nether Blade on his right arm was now sleeping in a transparent yellow state. Embedded inside of the translucent blade was a small blue crystal that emanated a lucid glow even in its dormancy.
Otherworldly whispers crept into his mind, speaking great promises of salvation and harmony. The Voidwalker heeded none of them and blocked the voices out of his mind. Kassadin could almost physically feel tendrils reach into the depths of his thoughts. A faint wave of light pulsed from his body, and soon the dreaded whispers were gone. Glowing eyes slid open to look at the eternal sands of the desert that seemed to howl with the displeasure of his presence. The voices that called from the depths of the Void were trying to pull at his mind even more frequently now. He surmised that it was also connected to the constant fluctuations in his powers.
Kassadin looked down at the inactive Nether Blade to his side. He raised it and attempted to focus energy into the blade. The wickedly carved stone crackled for a moment with Void energy, but nothing happened.
Was this an ill omen? Perhaps the Void stones were weakening?
Well over a week had passed since he had embarked on this trek towards Noxus. He had felt a familiar presence, faint but nonetheless it was of the Void, in that direction.
His contemplation was cut short by a breeze of tainted wind blowing in from the side. Kassadin looked to his left curiously.
There was quite literally a crack floating in the middle of the air. The crack brimmed with eerie purple energy that was all too familiar to Kassadin.
No! It can't be! He thought with a frightened gaze. To his mortification, the crack in the air slowly grew larger. Purple crevices spread out further from the source until it was human sized.
The air shattered as dozens of Voidlings began pouring out of the dimensional tear.
A crackling of pure Void energy surrounded his Nether Blade as it thundered to life and Kassadin instinctively flourished it in an arch-like manner. The powerful blade produced a wave of energy that cut a swath through the crowd of Voidlings. More of the small critters scuttled out of the portal and replaced the lost numbers, even reinforcing their forces.
Several Voidlings lunged at the guardian, however Kassadin avoided the attempt by entering an instant Void portal he produced. He appeared behind the small band of Voidlings, launching a violet orb of energy from his hand that seemed to distort the space around it. The spherical energy detonated on impact and seemed to swallow up the group of Voidlings in the twisting of the air around it.
Upon finishing off the remnants of the Voidbourne, the Voidwalker directed his attention towards the rift that still swirled with otherworldly energy. A slash from his blade closed the crack, resealing it and repairing the air. The Nether Blade at his arm once again slept, and he now felt the Shurima sands scraping across his dark blue skin.
Kassadin looked about and saw the bodies of the Voidlings dissolve into a black mist. Narrowed eyes of disbelief could only wonder what was happening in Runeterra.
"So you're claiming that the Summoners, even our very own High Summoner Terzer, are part of a cult that worships the Void?" Katarina confirmed with a sceptical brow in the direction of the hulking metal titan's form in front of her. It was bad enough having to be near something so related to disease itself, but now she had to breathe Zaun's smog ridden air while following this thing.
"They do not worship, the Void chooses who to associate with. Those chosen are tasked with the goal of opening a path for the Voidbourne to enter." Mordekaiser growled in his usual dark tone. The heavy thudding of his steel boots hitting the stone ground could be heard, sometimes even felt, from great distances. "However, there has always been an interfering force on Runeterra that stops them. The Voidwalker, Kassadin, comes to mind but he is not the first to bear the responsibilities."
"So you're claiming that the assassin who killed our Summoners is another of these...so called guardians, and expect me to just let it go? Do you happen to know what the hell the High Command will say to that?" The crimson haired mercenary snarled at the back of the dark one.
Mordekaiser brushed Katarina's statement aside in a mocking tone, "There are more things of concern here, human, than your pitiful politics. Your father merely wanted you to know the details of his recent disappearance was all."
"Guh..." She gave a wretched grin of dissatisfaction, gave a quick glance towards one of the citizens that lay nearby in a sickly state, and then turned back to the Master of Metal. The grin was a sign of her disbelief at the whole concept of just accepting this rubbish. "Alright...say I believe you about the whole conspiracy theory, now what? What exactly does being in Zaun have to do with any of this, or is this just one of your daily strolls down sickly lane?"
Mordekaiser gave a dark laugh, "In order to track down an old...acquaintance of mine, I have need of a certain Zaun mercenary's assistance. I believe you're very familiar with him...he's fairly...bloodthirsty..."
High Summoner Rem felt talons of cold metal dig into his neck. He stared back at his attacker face to face, though there was really nothing to look into given the mask his assassin wore.
He struggled through the metal grip, but eventually began uttering raspy words. "The prophet foretold of your coming! I never thought that you'd actually be able to get past the Demacian guards though!"
The aged Summoner was pinned against the door by a darkly draped form. Twin blades protruding out of metallic arm guards were pressed lightly against his neck, predatory fangs threatening to slay their prey. He glared back at his attacker with spiteful eyes and began uttering words out in no more than a whisper, "You're too late!"
"Wouldn't you rather be somewhere else than guarding little old me?" Jessica questioned Luxanna as they strode down the grand hall of the arcane spire. "I'm just here to see how the research is going anyways."
The upbeat girl puffed up her chest and lifted her head in an almost prideful mannerism. "His majesty has commanded that we guard Summoners from this assassin, it is imperative that I carry out this important task!"
"What about Garen? You don't want to catch up?" Midway through her words however, the Summoner realized that the mention of Luxanna's brother brought a sad note to the conversation.
The Crownguard girl heaved her chest heavily and gave a light sigh, "No, I'm sure brother has more important things to worry about...like Summoner Alicia's death..." She recalled Garen's usually determined and awe inspiring expression had turned into a drained exhausted one upon reporting to the audience.
The two were startled by an abrupt crash that came from the second floor. Something flew overhead and crashed into the wall on the opposing side of the hall. Rubble and dust fell aimlessly everywhere and Luxanna reflexively grabbed her magically empowered baton.
"Lady Luxanna! What was that sound?" Two guards in their dark blue uniform approached the scene with pikes in hand.
"Detain that man! He is the one who murdered Lady Alicia!" An aged voice choked the words from above. High Summoner Rem stood behind on the second floor behind a broken railing with an accusing finger at the fallen stranger. The intruder rose from his collapsed state and dusted off the black cape that wrapped itself around his left shoulder. He seemed unhurt, no limps or hesitation in his movements, despite the heavy fall he took earlier.
The two soldiers rushed at the assassin with their pikes extended outwards. They made quick jabs at him, but the intruder seemed to dance around their attacks with ease.
Lux was surprised, the silver armor he wore shouldn't have allowed for such quick and precise movements. She saw him quickly take a step outside of the soldier's reach and then made her move. With a wave of her wand, a wave of rainbow particles rippled towards the intruder. He did not notice the particles as they wrapped around his left leg and produced several bindings that fastened themselves onto the ground.
The intruder seemed surprised to have felt his footing being restraint. One of the pike men took the opportunity and made a downward swipe with the tip of the pike. His weapon was caught by the pole arm and the soldier was pulled in by the weapon. A gut wrenching steel fist imbedded itself into the Demacian's stomach. The soldier dropped his weapon out of agony and was greeted by another punch to the right side of his head.
A firm gauntlet grappled onto the falling soldier's collar and threw his body towards a nearby Lux and Jessica.
"Down!" Luxanna made a desperate dive at her Summoner friend. The airborne body crashed into one of the wide doorways that led to the research labs.
Lux waved her baton again, this time focusing more of her magic into her wand and producing a traveling distortion in the air. It was faint, but the assassin could see the ripple in the air and took a side step. In an instant the space at his left side exploded into a blinding light that flooded the entire hallway. A brief moment of inactivity was all the assassin gave for the other guard to rush in.
A fist fight broke out between the two combatants as the black robed man disarmed the soldier. Luxanna helped her friend stand up with an apologetic look on her face.
The soft jingle of metal hitting the floor echoed through the hallway as the remaining guard collapsed onto the ground. With a calm yet ominous demeanor, the intruder stood triumphantly over the guards. Despite the Demacian girl and her Summoner being blatantly in his view, the assassin's attention seemed drawn more towards the now vacant second floor.
He was specifically targeting Summoner Rem, Luxanna was sure of that. She waved her baton in a forward arc and a small ripple in the air accelerated towards the shadowy figure. Her target noticed the movement that wandered towards him and reacted with step to the side. The distortion detonated behind him, giving off a flash of blinding white light and an unexpected shock wave that launched him forward several feet. Lux followed up with another graceful wave from her baton, this time colorful particles dispersed towards where her enemy had landed. An invisible shock wave blasted the intruder away and sent him crashing into one of the research labs. The young Crownguard quickly gave chase, words of caution seemed to fall deaf on her ears.
"Lux! Wait! Don't go in there!" Jessica yelled desperately.
Lux barely ducked underneath a steel arm that took a swing out at her all of a sudden. She found herself merely inches away from the assailant. The man swiftly followed up with what appeared to be a downward smash on the young girl.
Lux responded by raising her baton up to guard the attack. The assassin's fist rebounded in mid air, stopped by an almost lucid bubble that slowly faded around the girl. She took her opponent's mishap as an opportunity and started focusing all of her magic into her baton. The empowered baton spun furiously in midair.
"Demacia!" She yelled the triumphant Demacian battle cry...the blinding light never came as she had always done in the past.
"..." Despite the mask, one could not help but feel that the assailant also gave off an air of disappointment. For several seconds the crumbled research lab was quiet.
Suddenly the ground gave off a strange light, pulsing with energy. Luxanna's gaze fell to see the glyphs on the floor beginning to light up. To be more specific, the teleportation glyph. The light was slowly beginning to intensify, and the young Demacian could only guess what was happening before trying to step out of the gylph's vicinity.
"Lux! Get out of there now!" Jessica screamed frantically. The Summoner reached out towards Luxanna, hoping to be able to reach her in time. However it was too late as the light quickly swallowed the two combatants and vanished in the blink of an eye.
What was left behind was a crumbling lab...and a distraught friend.