Chapter 6
With the smoldering town now behind them, Ezreal, Teemo, and Lux were now on the fast track to Noxus. Lux had ignited a fire under the team and was pressing them forward at a hefty pace. She wanted to stop Noxus as quickly as possible and she had to constantly prod Ezreal and Teemo to keep up with her. After a rather short walk, Ezreal could see the entrance to a large cave at the base of the Ironspike Mountains.
"Here we are," Lux said proudly finally stopping for a moment which allowed Ezreal and Teemo to reach her side.
"This is one of the many entrances to the Ironspike Mountains," Lux continued. "Many years ago these tunnels were used by miners, but once the mineral they were harvesting proved to be toxic they were forced to abandon it."
Ezreal thought about this for a moment and asked, "So you are taking us through a toxic tunnel? Sounds like a great shortcut."
Lux turned on Ezreal and quickly replied, "The tunnels are no longer hazardous thank you very much. Once the minerals were deemed dangerous they were ordered to be buried back beneath the rock. Because of this parts of the tunnels are inaccessible, but the path we need should still be clear."
Ezreal wasn't sure if he felt relieved or even more worried. The good news was that the toxic minerals had been long buried, but on the other hand they were about to travel through tunnels that, to Ezreal, sounded like they could collapse at any time. Any tunnel that has at one point and time seen the signs of an explosion is always just one wrong rumble away from disaster.
Lux could see the discomfort on Ezreal's face and said, "What are you worried about? Aren't you supposed to be a veteran explorer?"
Ezreal perked up upon hearing what Lux had just said. How did she know he was an explorer? He couldn't remember ever telling her that. A quick smile fluttered across his face and confidence swelled within him.
"You're right. There's nothing to worry about. Let's go," Ezreal said confidently as possible.
Teemo, who always seemed to be happy about his situation oddly enough, cheered and skipped behind the two towards the cave's entrance.
It wasn't long before the trio was at a deep enough point in the cave to where the sunlight didn't reach. Lux removed her wand from her back and held it in front of her like a torch. A small ball of light hung at the top illuminating the direct area. Ezreal followed her lead and pulled a small headlamp from a pouch on his waist and fastened it to his head.
Noticing a faint flickering of light behind him, Ezreal turned to see Teemo holding a stick alight with flame.
"Whe…Where did you get that?" Ezreal asked his small companion.
"A true scout is always prepared," Teemo replied happily.
Ezreal allowed his stare to linger on Teemo for a moment. This little fur ball never ceased to amaze him. He seemed to be prepared for almost anything and could adapt to almost any situation. That and the fact that apparently the backpack that he carried was a black hole of infinite possibilities. Impressive was a good word for him and Ezreal was feeling better and better about his decision to bring him along.
"Alright then," Ezreal replied before turning to follow Lux.
After a few more steps in silence, Lux spoke up, "Alright we need to be careful from here on out. These tunnels run parallel to the ones that were collapsed. Who knows what the explosions unearthed, so keep your eyes open."
This put Ezreal on edge. All he could think about was another krug wave coming down on top of them before they even realized what was happening. He kept his headlamp focused on the cave walls. At least this way Lux could lead and he could keep an eye out for krugs or any other creatures that lived within these caverns.
The trio slowly made their way through the tunnels; each one getting harder to navigate as they got deeper. Some areas required merely stepping over fallen rocks while others required squeezing through the smallest of crevasses in order to get to the other side. After what seemed like a couple of hours, Lux stuck out her arm to stop everyone from moving.
"Shhh, stop," Lux said in a hushed tone. "I think I hear…voices. Up ahead."
Lux gave them a wave of her hand to follow her and to stay low. The three crept up the side of a large rock formation until they could see the hue of a bright light.
"Quick put out your lights," Lux whispered.
Lux allowed her wand to fade and she placed it back on her back. Ezreal turned off his headlamp and Teemo blew out the flame on his stick. All three had resorted to a crawl until they reached just far enough up their rock formation to peer over the side.
What they saw on the other side made them gasp. The cavern they were peering into was massive with towering ceilings and wide walls. Large drilling machines were hard at work against the cavern walls and a conveyor belt was transporting all sorts of brightly colored rocks to some other location. Blinding lights were installed all along the cavern walls which shone down back towards the cavern floor. Little creatures completely clothed in purple and blue robes were hard a work digging the stones out of the walls and quickly loading them onto the nearby conveyor belts.
Trying to take all of this in, Ezreal couldn't help but ask, "What is going on?"
Lux looked at him and in a hushed voice replied, "They have obviously salvaged some of the old mining equipment and have switched it back on. Those are the very rocks that were deemed to be toxic and dangerous."
"Who are they?" Ezreal asked noting the small creatures in different colored robes.
Lux was silent for a second but then replied, "I don't know their official name. All I know is that people call them minions. They can be pretty nasty if riled up."
"What do they want with those stones?" Ezreal asked.
"I'm not sure," Lux replied with a confused look plastered across her face. "Whatever the reason it can't be worth risking their health over it."
Just then the voices from before started up again. They were coming from three different men down at the bottom of the cavern. Lux, Ezreal and Teemo shifted around until they could see the owners of the voices.
"Look over there," Teemo said pointing to the three men.
"I'm telling you something is up," Draven said angrily. "There is no way it was a coincidence the twerp that was talking to Jarvan and Garen in Demacia just happened to show up and screw with my plans."
"It is your fault alone, Draven that you cannot simply follow orders without trying to show off," a raspy, angry voice replied.
Ezreal looked at the man from which the voice came. He had black hair and the effects of time and war were written all over his beaten, angry face though a bandana covered his mouth. A long, black robe draped to the floor which was crowned by armored shoulder pads which rested next to his head. He carried a wooden walking cane and Ezreal noticed that he moved with a limp as he walked closer to Draven.
"If you had devised a better plan I could have…" Draven said before being cut off by the man once again who was now face to face with Draven.
"Don't you ever question my orders or the strategy that lies behind them. Do you understand me?" the man asked. "Do you?!"
"Yes sir. I'm sorry, Commander Swain," Draven said biting his tongue as he talked.
"Besides if you weren't too busy showboating, the girl would be dead," Swain continued. "At least you managed to test the weapon in order to find out that it is still not strong enough. This will need to be fixed."
"The girl would be dead if that twerp and his pet hamster wouldn't have shown up," Draven said offended by Swain's remarks.
"How did the kid even find out? I blame you," Draven said pointing to another rather old man in a long robe holding a staff at his side.
Looking to where Draven was pointing, Lux and Ezreal's eyes widened as they let out a muffled gasp.
"It can't be," Lux said under her breath.
"I merely set the stage for the girl to show up alone. I told her that innocent people were going to be killed and that she was the only one who could to stop it because Jarvan and Garen would simply be too busy," Karthas said with a calm tone.
"I did my part," Karthas continued looking back between the other two men, "Just as Swain said you only have yourself to blame, Draven."
A scowl covered Draven's face and he stood without saying another word. Draven wasn't afraid of Karthas, but it was obvious that was not the case for Swain. Draven seemed fearful of Swain; maybe because he outranked Draven or maybe it was something else entirely.
"Regardless our focus now must be harvesting as many of these rocks as possible," Karthas said breaking the silence once again. "If we are to strengthen the weaponized gas, then these rocks will serve as the foundation on which to build that power."
"Agreed," Swain replied.
"That's it," Lux said quietly to Ezreal who returned an unsure look. "The minions don't want the rocks at all. They are slave labor so that Noxus can harvest the source of the gas without sacrificing their men. Like I needed another reason to despise them."
It was all starting to make sense to Ezreal now. Noxus had discovered an untapped potential in these rocks and managed to turn them into a weapon. They then intend to use that weapon against their oldest foe…Demacia.
"We've got to tell Jarvan and Garen about this," Ezreal replied.
Lux and Teemo gave Ezreal a confirming nod and the three began to crawl their way back down the rock. Before they could move, however, an abnormally large raven landed next to them. It stared at them for a few seconds, cocking its head from side to side, before letting out one of the loudest, ear piercing screeches the group had ever heard.
Immediately Swain, Karthas, and Draven turned to the squawking bird's location searching for the reason for the commotion.
"Intruders!" Swain yelled throughout the cavern. "Find them, now!"
Swain motioned at the minions with his cane, commanding each creature to pursue the now fleeing trio.
"So much for being quiet. We need to move!" Ezreal exclaimed as he was basically pushing Lux and Teemo down the rock.
Upon returning to the cavern floor, Ezreal, Lux, and Teemo saw a wave of purple and blue flooding in their direction. Each little minion had turned every piece of mining equipment they could find into weapons and were violently swinging them over their heads.
"Run!" Ezreal screamed as the trio darted in the opposite direction.
All three were running for their lives; jumping over rocks, clearing wide fissures with single leaps, and dodging hidden pools of water. No matter how hard they ran, however, the little creatures still seemed to be gaining on them.
"Which way?!" Ezreal yelled as they came to a fork.
Lux paused as she looked back and forth between each option trying to make up her mind.
"This way," Lux said as she ran down the cavern with Ezreal and Teemo in tow.
As they ran down the chosen path, something in Ezreal's stomach told him this was wrong. Before too long he saw why as their path was cut off by a large boulder.
"This wasn't here before," Lux said panic setting into her voice.
"Well it is now so what do we do?" Ezreal said looking back over his shoulder. He could hear the minions right around the corner.
"Just give me a second. If I can focus I can blast a hole in the rock big enough for us to pass," Lux said as she shut her eyes trying to calm herself down.
"I don't know if we have a second," Ezreal replied, but Lux was tuning him out.
"Teemo," Ezreal called down to his friend who for the first time looked scared. "Throw a handful of your mushrooms as far as you can back the way we came."
Teemo perked up, reached into his bag, and pulled out a handful of bright green mushrooms, "Yes sir!"
He hurled them as hard as he could and they watched them disappear into the darkness of the cave. Ezreal then lifted his gauntlet, took aim down the corridor, and waited. Within seconds, the sound of the exploding mushrooms filled the cavern accompanied by the squeals of the unsuspecting minions.
"Here goes nothing!" Ezreal exclaimed as he pulled back on the mystical bow that had now formed on top of his gauntlet. He released and a large crescent energy blast shot forward cutting the edges of the cavern as it flew in the direction of the squeals.
Ezreal and Teemo listened as the attack hit its mark. More squeals echoed through the cavern, but it wasn't long before the sounds of stampeding feet and clanging mining equipment picked up once more.
"Okay, we bought you your second," Ezreal said as he turned to look at Lux who appeared to be meditating.
"Lux!" Ezreal yelled just before Lux opened her eyes and removed her wand. Lux held the wand out in front of her and with a loud yell she forced a blinding stream of light to propel from its tip. The light stream carved through the rock as if it were made of paper and cut a hole just large enough for the three to crawl through.
"You did it!" Ezreal yelled.
Lux was panting hard, but looked up to the wonderful sight of a very passable crawl space. Without hesitation, Ezreal pushed Lux and Teemo through the hole. He urged the two on as he watched the minions round the corner. At the last second he slipped through the hole and listened as the wave pounded against the bolder. One by one the minions followed the trio, crawling through the newly made path at an alarming speed.
"Persistent aren't they," Ezreal yelled right before he reached the other side.
"Look, there's the exit!" Lux exclaimed urging the other two to follow her.
Just as they were about to exit the cave for good, Ezreal felt a tug on his foot. The minions had caught up to him and were now hanging off his feet. Ezreal kicked the minion away, but not before more swarmed his location. They were coming through the boulder at an alarming rate and there was nothing else to slow them down.
"What do we do now? We have no way else to stop them," Lux said.
"I guess we fight," Ezreal said lifting his gauntlet. "If we can thin them out quickly we will pick them off one by one as they come out of the boulder."
Ezreal, Lux, and Teemo turned to confront their pursuers. Energy blasts, flashes of light, and poison darts flew back into the cave's mouth striking the minions as the exited the cave. The trio was giving it all they had, but it began to sink in that there were just too many.
"We are going to have to run," Lux yelled over the fighting. "We will tire ourselves out before they quit coming."
"Agreed, on three," Ezreal replied. "One…two…THREE."
The moment the word three left his lips, Ezreal watched a huge lance travel over his head and into the arch of the cave's mouth. The arch, weakened by years of explosions and mining, quickly caved in pinning the minions below and sealing the cave shut. Immediately, Demacian knights on horseback surrounded the trio and quickly dispatched of the remaining, stranded minions.
Lux turned and to her relief said, "Jarvan! So good to see you."
"You too my lady. And it seems I was not a moment too soon," Jarvan replied from atop his armored horse.
"What are you doing this far out, Jarvan?" Lux asked.
"We have had to increase our patrols due to the increase in Noxian soldier incidents. When I learned of your disappearance I ordered my patrols to find you with haste. But I could ask the same question of you, Lux," Jarvan said with a fatherly tone.
"I see you have met our new…recruit," Jarvan said motioning to Ezreal.
Ezreal gave a forced smile and a slight nod of his head as he listened to Lux explain herself.
"I came to help the town that was going to be attacked," Lux said firmly.
"I told you we didn't have the resources to…," Jarvan replied before being interrupted.
"It was a setup, Jarvan. Karthas planned the whole thing. He knew you and Garen wouldn't have the men to spare and he knew I would foolishly try to help," Lux explained.
"Karthas?" Jarvan replied sounding shocked. "Are you sure?"
"Yes I'm sure," Lux replied. "He along with Draven and Swain are the ones that sent these minions after us. They are mining Viralite from the mountains to be used for their weapon."
Jarvan stiffened up obviously pondering the information he was just given. After a few seconds he said, "How do you know of the weapon?"
"I saw it with my own eyes and Ezreal filled me in on the rest," Lux said motioning back to Ezreal who only gave a nervous wave as he hung his head.
"I see, so you couldn't do it on your own then," Jarvan said motioning to Ezreal. "You had to involve Demacian royalty into your…"
"He saved my life Jarvan," Lux said cutting off Jarvan again. Hearing this Ezreal lifted his head in pride. Happiness swelled in his chest after hearing Lux give him credit for saving her life. "He and Teemo that is."
"Who is Teemo?" Jarvan said with a distorted look on his face.
"Teemo show yourself," Ezreal said as he turned his head to the seemingly empty space next to him.
Within a few seconds Teemo appeared out from behind Ezreal with a hung head and said to Jarvan, "I am, sir."
Jarvan looked at the tiny yordle and said, "Be that as it may you are coming with me. These two have a mission to fulfill, but we cannot risk losing you. You are lucky that I haven't told Garen that you are missing. He would be worried sick."
"I am not leaving. I'm going to see this through," Lux said angrily.
Ezreal listened to Lux make her case to Jarvan, but the happiness that he had felt left him as fast as it had come. Jarvan mentioned that he hadn't told Garen about Lux's disappearance. Ezreal knew what that meant. It meant that Lux was even farther out of his league than he had previously thought. How didn't he see it? Of course she would be with Garen. He was the most decorated fighter Demacia had ever seen. He was a perfect fit for the girl who was basically the princess. Ezreal couldn't compete with that. He was a nobody; a simple explorer that until recently was pretty much unknown. He didn't stand a chance. Ezreal's shoulders drooped and he allowed his head to hang once again.
"Fine, you can stay," Ezreal heard Jarvan say. "But, be careful Lux."
"I will Jarvan, I promise," Lux said with a nod.
"Me and my men will ride back to Demacia to investigate the allegations you have claimed against Karthas," Jarvan said grabbing the reins of his horse. "If he is indeed working for Noxus we will find out and we will arrest him. In the meantime gather as much intelligence as you can about this weapon. We must find out everything that we can."
"As for you two," Jarvan said with a strict voice ridding over next to Ezreal and Teemo. "Your mission just got a little more important. Do not, under any circumstances, let anything happen to Lux. You must protect her with your life if need be. Is that clear?"
Both Ezreal and Teemo nodded and replied in unison, "Yes sir."
"Good, now all of you be safe and proceed with haste. We will talk again soon," Jarvan said as he spurred his horse and commanded his men back towards Demacia.
The trio watched Jarvan and his knights ride off until they were out of sight.
"What was that about?" Ezreal asked trying to hide his anger.
"Jarvan and Garen still think I can't handle myself," Lux replied with obvious frustration. "They are so overprotective of me. That is part of the reason why I ran off to try to defend that town by myself. I wanted to prove to them that I can hold my own. And that's also why I want to see this mission through even though Jarvan obviously doesn't want me to."
"But let me get something straight," Lux said now turning to face both Ezreal and Teemo, "I don't care what Jarvan thinks, I am not a little girl and I don't need you to protect me."
Realizing her overly harsh tone, Lux continued, "Now that doesn't mean I don't need your help. I just ask that you don't treat me like some delicate flower that can easily be damaged. I can take it."
"Believe me you don't have to tell us that, Lux. We've seen it firsthand. You are amazingly talented," Ezreal quickly replied as Teemo nodded behind him.
Lux felt herself blushing and she immediately looked in the other direction, "Well good…let's um…keep it that way then."
After a few moments of awkward silence between the three Ezreal finally said, "Well I guess we better get going. Now that the highest Noxian general knows of our meddling he will surely amp up his efforts."
"Agreed," Lux and Teemo said nearly in perfect unison.
"What's our plan then?" Ezreal asked looking back and forth between Teemo and Lux.
"We have to go to Noxus," Lux replied. "We can't let them test or even ship out any more of that vile toxin."
"Agreed. Which way then?" Ezreal replied.
Lux looked around to survey where they currently stood. The only entrance to the Ironspike Mountains was now sealed shut and she could hear the remaining minions still trying to find a way through the rubble. In the other direction was a wide open field with no cover whatsoever. This was also not an option as they were now deep in Noxian territory and would for sure be spotted before they reached the city which could be seen over the horizon.
"We are very close to Noxus," Lux finally said, "But I just can't figure out the best way to approach without getting caught."
"We could go through the sewer," Teemo said who had outstretched a large map across the green grass at their feet.
"That's a good option," Ezreal said looking down at the map and shaking his head in agreeance. "It would definitely provide us cover and I bet it isn't patrolled at all."
"Yeah there's a reason it isn't patrolled," Lux said with a severely crinkled face at the thought of having to walk through a sewer. "Are you sure there isn't another way?"
Lux watched Teemo as he scanned over his map as fast as he could trying to locate a better route to the reviled city. His little furry fingers ran over the map and his eyes were moving so fast Lux was worried they would pop out of his head.
"The only other safe way would be to go back through the Ironspike Mountains, through Zaun, and then approach from the coast," Teemo said worry plastered across his face. "However, because our only nearby entrance into the Ironspike Mountains is now sealed shut, this would be a couple of day trip at best."
Lux pondered what Teemo was telling her and asked, "Well where is the nearest entrance to the sewer?"
"It should be located next to this large river that cuts through the mountains," Teemo said pointing to the location on his map. "Noxus is notorious for their unconcerned approach when it comes to the environment. If I remember correctly their sewer dumps directly into that river via a drain pipe. We could enter the pipe and follow it into the city."
"So, what are we looking at travel wise?" Lux asked.
"No time at all," Teemo said happily looking up at Lux and Ezreal. "If I'm correct in my thinking this cave fortunately brought us out very close to the river."
"The river should be right over that hill," Teemo said pointing to a nearby grass mound. "And the pipe should then be close. The trek into the city then at that point shouldn't take very long. I would say in all we are looking at a few hours."
"Wow, that's it?" Ezreal exclaimed after hearing Teemo's explanation. "A couple of days versus a few hours? That's a no brainer. To the sewer it is!"
Teemo cheered, folded up his map, and placed it back into his pack. Though both of them liked this plan, they turned to find a far less positive Lux staring back at them.
"What's wrong?" Ezreal said to Lux.
"We have to walk through a sewer?" Lux said disgusted at the idea.
"Unless you can think of a better way," Ezreal said shrugging his shoulders, "but there doesn't really seem to be one."
Lux slumped her shoulders and let out a long sigh. She knew Ezreal was right and that the sewers were their best bet and fastest route. She slowly ran her hand down her face and then straightened back to her full height.
"I know," she dragged. "But let's make it as quick as possible, okay?"
"Of course we will," Ezreal said placing a hand on Lux's shoulder.
They gave off a smile and a nod to one another and then noticed Teemo who had his backpack firmly secured and was raring to go.
"Besides," Ezreal continued, "we have the best team anyone could ask for."
The trio laughed and began walking in the direction of the drain pipe. They all began to enjoy the sunny weather and the wind against their faces. Once in the sewers that would be a luxury that they wouldn't be afforded.