Author's Note
Alright! Armor up, and grab your weapons! The Final Battle is approaching! This chapter took me ages.. I rewrote some parts over and over again, because I wasn't happy with it at all, and I suck at writing fight scenes. :P Have Fun!
Update 5/08: Chapter 19 will take a while. I decided to start all over again, but because it is most likely the last chapter, it should be perfect!
Chapter 18
Dead on Arrival
The sun tingled on her nose, falling in through the one and only window in her small room. It was silent. The only noise which was to hear, was quiet breathing nothing else. Slowly Riven opened her eyes, and yawned. She blinked, and for a moment just looked at the ceiling until she was fully awake.
The first thing she felt was that she was still nude, as well as she felt another body, which was snuggled up to her arm. She looked to her right, and saw the still sleeping Diana. Her white hair fell over her face, during her sleep. Gently, and trying not to wake her up, Riven stroke it away, and simply watched her. 'So, it was not a dream after all..', she thought happily.
Her hand slowly wandered over Diana's side. Even though it wasn't she still felt like in a dream, everything seemed to be perfect. She would have never imagined such a peace, hell she wouldn't even dream about it. But, here it was. She didn't remember if she had ever felt something like this. But, it didn't matter anymore. Diana moved a bit, during her sleep. Riven interrupted for a moment, but she kept sleeping.
This short moment of harmony, was suddenly interrupted as Riven heard some loud knocking sounds at her door. Riven flinched slightly, before turning around. It was far too early to get thrown out of the bed like this. After everything they went through in the past days.
As the knocking sounds didn't stop, she slowly, and unwillingly got out of the bed. Hastily she put on her shirt and skirt. She didn't bother with wrapping the bandages around her chest right now. She heard the sound of moving blankets, and looked over her shoulder. Diana yawned silently, and opened her eyes.
‟Mm...good morning...already up?", she said quietly, and a bit tired. She stretched her arms and legs. She was interrupted by another knock at the door. It sounded impatient. Diana looked at the door, and got up a bit, covering herself with the blankets.
‟Good morning..yeah I am, this knocking is kind of annoying...I'll check that..just stay there", Riven replied quietly. She gave her a short kiss on the lips, before she walked over to the door, rubbing the back of her head, and yawned again. She knew that the trial was today, but they could give them at least a bit more time to rest.
She opened the door, with her best annoyed face she had. She was rather surprised what kind of person stood there. It was clearly a summoner, wearing a blue robe. But over it, he wore something like a breastplate. Some rubies were fitted in different spots on it. His shoulders were covered with metal as well. At his belt, Riven spotted a sword, which was decorated with other gems. She never saw a summoner like this.
‟Morning..I...", he began, before he looked pass the more or less messy looking Riven. He most likely spotted Diana, which held the blankets before her, as well as the clothing, especially her underwear, which still lay on the ground. Even though most of his face was hidden, Riven still saw how parts of his cheeks went red. She didn't feel too well either, and stepped a bit aside to block his view.
The summoner looked back at her, and cleared his throat, quickly gaining his composure back. ‟Eh..sorry to interrupt..or wake you up like this. But, this is an emergency."
‟Why? What happened?", Riven asked, and frowned.
‟Ionia is under attack, and we need you two immediately", the summoner answered, he sounded kind of nervous or something like this.
‟Ionia is under attack? From whom?", Diana asked, surprised from the bed.
‟Everything will be explained in the summoning chambers. Quickly! Get ready immediately!", he answered. He sounded somehow worried. Something big must have happened. ‟And..eh..sorry for that", he added, and rubbed the back of his head. ‟Didn't want to...interrupt or disturb your privacy...it stays with me. I don't tell anyone, I swear!" He turned around, and left them alone.
Riven got back in the room, and closed the door behind her. For a moment she thought about the sudden events. The peace she felt a few moments ago, was replaced by confusion, and worries. Ionia under attack? Again, after all these years?
‟That's a sudden change of heart, isn't it? Yesterday they wanted to punish us and now...", Diana said, while she got out of the bed, and grabbed some of Riven's bandages. She started to wrap it around her chest, while searching for the rest of her clothing.
‟Yeah, it is...anyway. I guess they thought about us as Irelia's friends who would gladly help out", Riven answered, and dropped her shirt again, as she started as well to wrap her chest. It was rather practical, when she needed to run and fight, even though her breasts weren't that big to get in her way.
‟Well, that's true", Diana replied a bit amused, while she put on her armor. ‟She's our friend, and we both share a connection with Ionia."
‟Kinda ironic somehow...anyway. Let's see what happens...hopefully we arrive in time."
‟Don't worry, Riven. There will be no second war...", Diana said encouraging, and smiled at her.
They only needed a few minutes to get ready. In a hurry, they grabbed their weapons and left Riven's room. They started to jog through the Institute, and didn't really care about the early time. While on their way, they spotted other champions and more of this armored summoners, most of them equipped with swords. Most of the champions they saw were Ionian ones. All of them looked like they prepared themselves in a hurry. They heard some yelled orders, which echoed down the corridors. It looked like the whole Institute was preparing itself for a big battle.
Riven and Diana stormed in the summoning chambers, which was filled with more champions as well as summoners of all kinds. Most of them were Ionian ones, as well as some Piltovians and a few Demacians. On top of the platform stood one High Summoner, accompanied by Kayle, which overlooked everything.
Riven had never seen so many different people gathered in one room. She spotted Lux and Garen which discussed something, as well as Shen, Akali and Kennen. It was rather noisy, but through it Riven heard how the High Summoner cleared his throat.
‟Attention!", he shouted, to stop the loud noise of dozens of voices which spoke. The room immediately went silent. Riven spotted Vi in the distant, and together with Diana, she walked over to her. She greeted them with a short nod, but stayed silent. She looked somehow far more serious than usual. She wore her typical giant hextech gloves as well as her armor.
‟Listen up! We received an emergency call from Ionia, just half an hour ago! The island is under attack by unknown, but heavily armed forces. The estimated strength of this force is pretty high. At least hundred to hundred fifty soldiers...", the High Summoner spoke. His voice was loud, and clear to understand in every corner of the room.
‟Not that many. If I remember right, Noxus invaded with whole regiments and thousands of soldiers. Aren't they able to fight off such a force?", someone threw in. Riven grimaced for a moment, when she was remembered at this. She looked around to find out, who said that, but as the room was filled, it was unlikely that she would see him.
‟It's not about the numbers. The first unit Ionia sent in to stop them was slaughtered. A whole company of soldiers, two hundred fifty men and woman are dead", the High Summoner answered. A murmur went through the crowd. The Ionians were skilled warriors. Losing a whole company wasn't something easy. ‟The enemy lost only a few soldiers. That's why they requested backup. But, it's not only about the soldiers. Unconfirmed reports states that this invading force is led by a summoner."
Riven looked at Vi, and Diana. All of them had the same facial expression. ‟It has to be Elena...", Riven whispered and the others nodded. 'But, why?', Riven thought. She always thought of Elena as a woman who worked in the background. A careful, and calm person..not someone like this.
‟Couldn't we use the time stop again?", a summoner asked. ‟Like the one we used in Kalamanda. Wouldn't that be more effective than sending a whole unit?"
‟No. The time stop would cause too much magical damage to the island of Ionia. The whole place could even collapse. That's why the League will send in champions as well as summoners to stop this force from advancing. A troop of Ionian champions is already in position. While we speak, they're gathering other regular troops. You will work together with them, and eliminate this threat to peace. Did I make myself clear enough?!" The High Summoner sounded more like a military commander, than an magician.
‟Aye, High Summoner!", was the answer from nearly everyone in the room.
‟One thing though. Summoner? Step forward." A single man got up to the High Summoner. He wore the same style of armor, like every other summoner in this room. But instead of a traditional hood, he wore a helmet which covered his complete face. Riven remembered a picture of Swain in his High Command armor, this summoner looked nearly like him.
‟Summoner Sky will lead this operation. Understood?"
‟Understood, High Summoner!" Sky nodded simply, and was quiet. He looked over his troops, one hand at his sword. He looked calm, like a veteran general of some kind.
‟I will summon you personally. You will land in an Ionian field camp, build up close to the frontier. Stand still while I channel the spell", the High summoner said, and grabbed a small magical item out of his pocket. They whole room stood still, and blue lights circled around them. Then they all vanished in the blink of an eye, teleporting the great distance between the Institute and Ionia.
While she floated between the worlds, Riven thought about this 'invasion'. 'Elena wouldn't do such a movement...after all of her planning..', she thought, but sighed. How could she look inside the head of a mad girl like this? Even though, she still thought that it didn't really fit her style.
Finally, she felt the ground under her feet, and opened her eyes. It was clear that they were on Ionia. Riven saw some great mountains in the distance, as well as a monastery on top of it. She looked down. Their whole troop stood in something like a rune circle. Blue lines were drawn on the ground, forming mystical symbols and circles. Around it other summoners stood around, as well as Irelia which watched the whole process. She spotted Riven and the rest of the group, and smiled shortly. Sky stepped out of the circle, his voice was clear to hear.
‟Alright, listen up! Prepare yourself for battle, and help out where you can. I will speak with Irelia, and talk about a plan. Get moving!" His voice was calm, like he did this kind of stuff everyday. He walked over to Irelia, and talked shortly with her. Irelia then pointed at them, and Sky simply nodded.
‟Riven! Diana! Vi! Come with us!", he shouted, and the three moved to them.
‟I'm glad to see you three. What is with Caitlyn?", Irelia asked worried.
‟Well, Soraka patched her up, but she's still pretty weak so she stayed back. But, I'm here!", Vi winked at her. ‟But, now let's get cracking. I want to punch some of these enhanced soldiers. Nobody hurts cupcake like this unpunished."
‟Enhanced soldiers? You have some information for us?", Sky asked. He put down his helmet, holding it under his arm. Long brown hair fell on his shoulders, his dark eyes watched them. A scar divided his face into two halves. He really looked like a former soldier.
‟Yeah, we have. We have a guess who our enemy really is..as well against what kind of enemy we will fight", Diana answered calmly.
‟Alright. Let's get to the command tent. We will think about a strategy, then", Irelia suggested, the rest of the group nodded, and followed her through the small camp. While they walked Riven looked around. A few other tents were built up, and everywhere were some Ionian soldiers, prepared for war. She didn't have any idea, where on Ionia they landed.
For a short moment she thought about the irony, of her current situation. She once came to this island to conquer it, and now she stood here again to defend it. 'How things can change..how I changed..', she thought for a moment, before stepping inside of another rather big tent.
She looked around for a moment. A table stood in the middle of the tent, different maps showed the area of their operation. A few chairs stood around, nothing more. Riven looked at the maps for a moment. They were somewhere close to Couer Valley. 'Oh, the irony', she thought again with a short smile on her face. Irelia stepped to the table, as well as the others. Sky looked at them for a moment.
‟I heard about rumors that you all broke into Zaun to rescue, Riven. Pretty brave to fight against a whole city state", Sky said somehow respectful.
‟Well, we do everything for a friend. And she does everything to rescue her beloved!", Vi replied, with a broad grin on her face. Diana blushed slightly, and turned her face away for a moment.
‟You're an interesting group of friends, to be honest", Sky said amused, before turning serious again. ‟Alright, then. Irelia what do you have for us?"
‟Well, nothing much. After our first assault, we didn't attack them again and instead focused on evacuating the civilians of this countryside. Right now the attackers marching...here", she pointed at some point on the map, ‟they're destroying any village they can find, while moving on. It's like they didn't have a real goal...they don't conquer only destroy."
‟Let's make it short, we don't have much time", Vi said impatient. She jumped a bit on the spot, like warming herself up.
‟Vi is right...", Riven threw in, and Sky looked at the group for a moment.
‟You talked about enhancement soldiers or stuff like this?", he asked curiously.
‟It's only speculation because of the fact, that hundred soldiers killed a whole company", Riven replied calmly. ‟Piltover made an invention of enhancement technology. This things strengthens the user. A normal man could easily carry around a barrel completely filled." She looked over to Vi for a moment, waiting for her approval.
‟Yep. Riven's right with that one", Vi said nodding. ‟The technology can build within armor suits for example. Jayce called that kind of stuff 'power armor'. Even though these enhancement soldiers only use a rather old fashioned style of it."
‟There not normal soldiers either. My guess is that they're Noxian elite soldiers, as if things weren't hard enough already", Riven explained further.
‟Wait...Noxians?", Sky asked unbelieving, and frowned.
‟Yeah, that's a rather long story, but I make it short. I was captured by a summoner named Elena. She is betraying the League, and works together with Zaun and Noxus to create the ultimate army to conquer Valoran and destroy the 'weak'. Because of the rumor a summoner is leading an army...our guess she is in charge of everything here. She leads her enhanced army. But...", Riven stopped for a moment, and thought about it, ‟it's not really her style to go in like this."
‟We would have explained it more detailed in a today's trial. But, with this emergency there was no time for it", Irelia explained, throwing her hands over her head. ‟What a bad time for an attack like this."
‟Yeah...such a bad loser. We snatched Riven away and now she's mad. What a crazy girl", Vi said in a mocking tone.
‟If that's true...then we a rather small problem. We're enough summoners to capture her, and a whole bunch of champions is here too. I guess this will be enough", Sky said confidently. ‟Our job is clear. And we will execute it no matter the cost."
‟You shouldn't underestimate her. Her soldiers are very powerful, and she is a strong summoner, when she was able to hide herself for so long", Diana threw in calmly. ‟Caitlyn was injured by one of them."
‟And I am not a normal summoner either." Sky smiled at her, and cracked his fingers. ‟I and the others here, were trained for battle. Some of our masters even served in the last rune wars. We use our magic to empower our weaponry, and armor, which is equally a source of our power. We're more or less the striking force of the League."
‟The League has something like her own army?", Riven asked surprised.
‟You could say...yes something like this", Sky answered. ‟But, it's a dying tradition, as the League didn't need to interfere that much in the past years. Anyway...", he waved, and switched the theme, ‟where are they? We will make an ambush to welcome them. We summoners will take care of the traitor, you of the soldiers. Let's end this little war, as soon as it started."
‟They're here. Close to Couer Valley, at least that's the last report from our scouts half an hour ago", Irelia answered, and pointed at the map. The rest of the group stepped closer, and looked at it.
Riven somehow didn't feel very good. She had bad memories of this place, and fighting another battle within this valley would be...challenging. She felt Diana's hand at her own, grabbing her and slightly squeezing it. Riven took a deep breath. 'Focus...', she thought.
‟Good. Then let's make a plan...", Sky began.
One hour later...
Riven felt like she was back in the war. The fog was the same. The muddy ground was the same. The only difference was that there weren't piles of dead bodies, and no stench of them in the air. And of course, this time she was on the other side of the conflict. 'Couer Valley...'
She swallowed, and tried her best to stay calm. Memories constantly flashed in her mind, but she tried her best to keep focused on her mission. She had thought, that she overcame this whole thing, as she was at peace with herself. But, some things can't be forgotten. 'Come on girl...pull yourself together..', she thought, and crunched her teeth. She clenched her fists around the spyglass.
Riven laid on a small hill, a bit above the valley and watched it through a spyglass, even though they couldn't see much because of the fog. Beside her were Diana, and Irelia together with a bunch of Ionian soldiers. They would attack the approaching army from multiple sides, not allowing them any great movement. It was the same tactic, which was used back in the war.
‟You're alright?", Diana whispered, and looked at her for a moment. Her face was worried.
‟More or less...", Riven replied quietly. ‟I guess it will be better, when the battle starts..."
‟Just remember: Stay close to me...", Diana said, amused before looking back through the spyglass. Riven sighed for a moment, but felt a bit better. This time it would be different. They saw a short light flash, from the other side of the hill. A purple light, which disappeared immediately again. Then another one. A green one on a different side. Short signals.
‟Alright..Vi and Sky are in position...",, Irelia mumbled. Her blade lay beside her on the ground, it vibrated slightly, and with that showed them Irelia's tension. ‟Let's wait for them to arrive..."
They waited, and waited. After about another fifteen minutes, they heard the sound of marching boots, which entered the valley. Riven swallowed hard, and put down her spyglass. She grabbed her sword, and prepared herself mentally. She wouldn't allow it. She wouldn't allow another massacre on this island. Even if it meant to fight against other Noxians.
The sound came closer. Riven looked to Irelia, which grabbed a small signal pistol. Irelia looked over them, her blade hovering impatiently around her. Riven looked back. The soldiers got ready. It felt like silence before a storm. The tension in the air was nearly palpable.
‟Three...two...one...", Irelia counted down, the marching was nearly directly in front of them. ‟GO!" She fired the pistol and red light illuminated the whole valley. That was the signal. They heard the sound of yelling and shouting, and the sound of running boots as the defenders started their attack. Some magical spells were clear to see through the fog, but nothing else.
‟Charge! For Ionia!", Irelia yelled, and jumped up. Riven, and Diana followed her and ran down the hill, followed by dozens of soldiers. Suddenly the fog was slowly blown away, as some summoners of the League channeled a spell. 'For a better overview', Sky had said.
For the first time Riven saw the complete valley. Down from some other hills more troops ran down, one group lead by Vi, the other by Sky. In some distant she spotted the memorial, the Ionians had built, but she quickly focused back on the army in the middle of the valley. They already formed a circle, to protect every side against an attack. Most of them carried giant two handed weapons like axes, and swords with them the typical Noxian weapons. But, there were also a few with shields as big as themselves. Four of them protected a hooded figure. 'Elena', Riven thought.
All of them were clearly enhanced soldiers. Riven spotted some of these 'bioforge' soldiers as well, even though the only difference was the hoses on their armor, filled with this green liquid. Even though they outnumbered these forces by far, it would be a tough battle. Riven heard how the first Ionian soldiers clashed with the Noxians.
'This is for Fury Company..', she thought, and with nothing more than another thought she summoned her whole blade. With a scream, she jumped at the first bioforge soldier within her reach.
The battle was merciless, and brutal on both sides. The formation of Noxians was already torn apart, and everywhere soldiers were locked in close combat. Riven heard screams, loud shouting, and the sound of exploding magical spells used by the summoners. It was a chaos, she had nearly forgotten in all these years. She felt some sort of excitement. She was back on a real battlefield, where only strength would matter.
The first soldier she had engaged, was killed by a combination of a wind slash, and her broken wings combat style. She quickly found her next target, another bioforge soldier, who killed an Ionian soldier, by dividing him into two pieces. With a scream Riven dashed at him, targeting his hip.
He was surprisingly fast, as he turned around and block her attack with his giant sword. For a short moment, which felt like an eternity, they were stuck with each other.
‟Oh, it's you!", he snarled at her. He took away one hand, from the grip of the blade, and simply grabbed her shirt. Riven tried to break free, while holding on to her blade. With a grunt he threw her away. Riven landed on her back, and moaned in pain. Slowly she was getting used to it.
The soldier stormed to her, raising his sword, obviously trying to kill her in one blow. Riven rolled to her right side, and his sword hit nothing more than mud. In another fluid movement, she stood up and released a quick Ki Burst, which let him stumble backwards. She jumped back as well, to get a bit distant between them. She got a steady stand back, and grabbed her blade with both hands again.
‟Why do yo invade this peaceful land again?", she asked as calmly as she could. The bioforge soldier tightened the grip around his blade, and without any warning charged again at her. He attacked her with a real series of blows, even though most of them were random at any body part of her, without any particular skill or something like this. Just raw strength, nothing else. Riven needed to walk back a bit, dodging and parrying any attack from him. Her arms got heavier.
‟Talk with our commander, if you want to know!", he simply answered, between two attacks. He targeted her hips, clearly wanted to divide her into two pieces, like he did with the Ionian. Riven parried the attack with ease.
‟Oh, I will. Out of my way now!" She gathered runic energy at the sharp side of the blade, and with one clear strike her blade cut through his one, separating it into two pieces of more or less useless metal.
With no time to waste, Riven jumped forward using her broken wings combination. She turned around herself striking from the left side, cutting over his breastplate, another spin this time from the right side. For the last strike, she jumped in the air, attacking him from above, charging her blade with energy. Her sword cut over his chest, killing him in one mighty blow. Blood spurted from the wound, covering parts of her clothing.
Riven took a deep breath, and allowed herself to look around for a moment. She searched for Diana, which she spotted just as she was about to kill one of these enhancement soldiers. She called upon the powers of the moon, and lances made out of pure moonlight pierced through his chest and belly, killing him instantly. She looked over to Riven. ‟Let's get Elena!", she shouted, and with a flash of moonlight she was close to Riven, using her Lunar Rush.
‟There she is!", Riven yelled, and pointed in the middle of the battlefield. She was still surrounded by her bodyguards. For a moment, Riven believed to see some flash of light. ‟Shit! She's conjuring something!"
Together with Diana, she ran towards the body guards. A few soldiers tried to stop them, but they didn't care much about it. Together they fought them off, injuring or killing them, it didn't matter to them right now. Riven spotted Sky, who ignited one of his attackers, while fighting against another soldier at the same time.
‟Sky! She's channeling a spell!", Riven yelled at him.
‟I know! I feel it in the air! Interrupt her!", he yelled back, before parrying an attack from a giant axe, which would otherwise decapitate him. Riven looked around for a moment. Most of the battle summoners were fighting, while most of the bioforge soldiers tried to ignore the regular troops as good as they could, focusing only on the magicians.
'They...planned something like this?', Riven thought for a moment.
‟Riven! Watch out!", Diana suddenly yelled. Riven looked forward again, seeing a soldier, which charged at her with his shield. But, before he could reach her and knock her back, nor before she could even try to avoid his attack, something strange happened.
He stopped. He just stood there, and didn't move anymore. Even sweat, which normally would run down his face, was frozen. ‟What the fuck?", Riven exclaimed, and looked around her for a moment, thinking that a summoner could use some kind of exhaust spell or something like this. She wasn't prepared for that, but she remembered the pictures of Kalamanda instantly.
Everything, and everyone were frozen in place. They didn't move even slightly, it was like someone made very realistic looking statures for a battle scene. Riven even saw how some blood drops flew in the air, out of an open wound of a soldier. One soldier looked like, he was about to slip. He hung midair, shortly before hitting the ground with his back. It was a strange, yes, nearly terrifying scenery.
Riven looked back. Diana stood there too, like a stone. Only her crest, which glowed on her forehead during battles, shimmered slightly. Riven looked up in the sky. She saw some clouds, which were still moving. So it really only affected this area..but, wait a second.
‟Why the hell can I move?", she thought loudly. Why she didn't stand still like the rest? And why the hell stood the time still anyway? The High Summoner said, that the League wouldn't use such a magic, because it would deal damage to the whole island. So, what is happening?
Riven heard the sound of boots, which made a disgusting sound in the mud, which was already filled with blood at some points. She saw how the hooded figure ran away from the battlefield. ‟Hey!", Riven yelled, and followed her immediately. She was sure, that this was Elena. She would stop her, even though right now she didn't have a plan how to stop such a mighty summoner on her own.
The area which was affected, was bigger than Riven imagined. Slowly the everlasting fog returned to the valley, without summoners to blow it away. A chill ran down Riven's spine, the whole scenery had something unnatural. It nearly felt like she wasn't on Ionia anymore. But, luckily she reached the memorial, which were built by the Ionians.
‟So, it had come down to this, right?", a voice said, and Riven immediately knew to whom it belonged.
‟I didn't have any doubts, that you would be here...Elena", Riven replied calmly, and looked to the summoner, which leaned slightly against the memorial. She turned around, and put down her hood, revealing her face, and her long blonde hair. She smiled.
‟It's you and me now..."