Chapter 9: Fifteen minutes.
"We can give you fifteen minutes." The guard had said. That should be enough time to get some information on this awakening mage, Ezreal thought. The worship leader, Nrazin, was seated in front of him, his hands and legs bound by heavy chains. Nrazin's face was slightly swollen and some of the cuts were not healing well, yet he showed no discomfort on the matter.
"Before everything else, I thank you for saving me and my daughter as well as those of the remaining Disciples." Nrazin said calmly.
"If we may, I would prefer to speak in West Valoran. It may not be my native language, but I assume what we will talk about now might well be… confidential."
Ezreal was surprised at how flawlessly Nrazin transitioned from the quick forceful bursts of Belshuriman to the paced flow of Wevalan, as it was more commonly referred to.
"I was fortunate enough to study Wevalan during my academy days as the political climate back then was slightly…" Nrazin paused thoughtfully, his face trying to recall the blissful nostalgia.
"Warmer, if you will."
"Your guess was right." Ezreal accepted Nrazin's proposal. The forceful bursts of the language were starting to take their toll on his voice.
"I have fifteen minutes to talk with you. I want to know more about this awakening mage. I know what he did in the past as well as his name, Zewrath-"
"Its Xerath."
"Yeah, that's what I've been saying-"
"No, you are pronouncing it z-air-wraa-th. It is more guttural than that, Kz-er-a-th with a short A. If you were to pronounce it the way you do now, I doubt Xerath himself would be impressed."
"Sorry, Piltoverian habits. As I was saying, what can we expect from Xerath when he awakens?"
"In His messages to us, he talks about him being imprisoned by two things. He calls the two something like the 'Archa' and the 'Magus'. The 'Archa' is what he is freeing himself from and is a physical tomb that he was locked inside. While the 'Magus' is what has effectively fused with his being so there is freedom from the Magus' clutch just yet. He also said that he is not reawakening, more that he is freeing himself from his prison. After he regained his consciousness in this Archa, He says he was paralyzed for several centuries before being able to regain control over his body, and only now has he gained enough strength from this Magus to be able to return to the surface."
"W-wait, he says that this Magus is from where he draws power?"
"He says so, he talks about this 'equilibria' he has reached with it so his power and the power of the Magus is shared between them. He says it is heavily favored towards to Magus so his power is meager compared with the energy stored inside it."
"By the Devs! He means THE Magus Catenas? That artifact can store astronomically massive amounts of magic energy! I've only come across the name once or twice in the Institute archives, but it was supposed to be lost after the Shurima Incident. So it is real after all! I-I mean this could bring up a new frontier of research that could maybe even stop the Void from spreading!-"
"Remember we only have fifteen minutes, Explorer. After this, there is one more thing that I must talk about with you. So if you may contain your excitement for now, we need every minute we can spend."
"Y-yes. If you will continue then."
"As I was saying, he was fairly adamant about not being called 'reawakening' since he did so millennia ago. Only recently in the past couple of months has this Archa been breaking down, allowing him to contact the outside world for the first time since his sealing. I was one of the first to be able to contact him, which led me to becoming the Worship Leader of the Thunder Disciples. My family was able to gain contact at roughly the same time I did, joining in to welcome Xerath back into the world." Nrazin sighed, as he knew that what he was about to say might just change the fate of Shurima.
"We knew that such heresies would go unwelcome in the eyes of the Council, but when you came along, we knew we had an opportunity to welcome Him. The Council does not like outsiders, to say the least. There are practices that go on in Belhorashur that would break certain… terms the Institute has set out for acknowledging conflicting nations. What you saw back there with the Warden dismissing the High Seer was most likely an act the Council made to try and protect the façade they have created so as to not break the terms set out by the Institute. Now that you know, I hope this gets to the Institute. If it does, then Murakishur will have authorization to end this tyranny by Belhorashur using military force. I have spent enough time in this city to know what horrors lurk inside. And this is no uncommon incident. Other groups across Belhorashur have faced similar circumstances, and those times they had no Champions to stand against them." Nrazin's head bowed slightly. Ezreal did the same to acknowledge their fates.
"We do not have much time remaining, so I must get this out. Explorer, I doubt that I will have much time left after Xerath awakens and you leave with Him to return to the League. This is most likely a brief pause in the Council's judgment of the Disciples until you and the Battle Mistress leave the city. Afterwards, I do not need to tell you what will happen to the remaining Disciples and me." Nrazin averted his eyes slightly.
"So grant me one final wish, to allow my daughter, Azel, passage out of Belhorashur and make Xerath take her under His wing. I know her to be an exceptional scribe and scholar, as well as having arcane talent unrivaled by her other peers. I beg of you to make Xerath take her under his wing, as my request from his first contact since his sealing. I beg that much of Him."
"I-I understand what you wish. Nrazin, was it?"
"Yes."
"I hereby swear to you on my place as a Champion of the League of Legends that I will see to it that the tyranny in Belhorashur is removed in its entirety."
Ezreal quickly looked at his watch. He had one minute left with Nrazin.
"Xerath should be awakening in a few hours, so I must get everything ready for our escape out of Nalepsis and Belhorashur. I will return for Azel in two hours, so prepare her for then." Ezreal looked at Nrazin's chained form.
"It was a pleasure to talk with you Nrazin." Ezreal smiled briefly, trying to block out the thought that Nrazin and the remaining Disciples might well be executed within a day.
"I too, Ezreal." Nrazin mimicked the smile, knowing full well of what his demise would be. His broken face only amplified the sorrow Ezreal felt welling inside him.
"I too."
The guard opened the hardened steel door to the interrogation room.
"Time's up Explorer. Let's leave the man in piece now."