Chapter 10

The gates suddenly splintered apart and two massive golems came lumbering through along with the flood of Noxus soldiers at their feet. Galio took to the sky and collided with one of the unsuspecting golems, knocking it off its feet and sending it crashing to the ground. Immediately, Galio flew circles around the other golem catching its attention. Taking his opportunity, Garen let out a battle cry and his warriors pressed headlong towards the Noxus forces. Clangs of swords, armor, and shields quickly filled the air as the soldiers fought for their lives. Just after the fighting started, Garen heard a disturbing noise coming from within the city. Attracted by the sounds of fighting, hundreds of ghouls came rampaging towards the battle.

"Looks like we are fighting two fronts," Graves said turning towards the ghouls. He quickly fired a few gas canisters into the center disorienting the ghouls momentarily.

Seeing this, Garen yelled to his archers who were scattered on the walls and throughout the city, "Help Graves pick them off. Now!"

The archers immediately turned their attention to the ghouls and launched their arrows through the smoke.

Ezreal fired shot after shot connecting with different Noxus soldiers. As he looked to his friends they were all busy doing the same. Though he couldn't see them all, he could easily hear their attacks over the commotion.

Not only could he hear his friends, but he could also hear the Noxus champions. Swain's crow was squawking in the distance, Draven's axes were ricocheting off of armor, and then there was…Karthas! There he was merely standing behind the fighting holding his staff perfectly still. His eyes and the tip of the staff glowed bright blue and matched the hue given off by the golems.

Before Ezreal could make his move, two Demacian warriors to his left were swiftly cut down by a massive battle axe. As Ezreal turned he was greeted by a heavily armored warrior who towered over the rest. He wore a scowl on his face and was on an unstoppable rampage through the wave of warriors.

"Darius," Ezreal gasped under his breath.

As if on autopilot, Ezreal shot several energy blasts towards the warrior. Darius deflected two with his axe and the other landed harmlessly against his breastplate. With mighty force, he swung at Ezreal nearly missing his head, but the force from the axe knocked him on his back. Ezreal was caught off guard by Darius' impressive speed. Before Ezreal could react, Darius had lifted his axe to deliver the killing blow.

Ezreal lifted his hands as if it would help block the attack at all. His life quickly flashed before his eyes and he was convinced this is how he was going to die. Suddenly, a bright light in the shape of a sword appeared above Darius' head and without warning came crashing down. Darius staggered backwards from the blow, but quickly regained his composure. By now Ezreal had scrambled to his feet, but Darius had swung his axe yet again. This time, however, the axe was stopped dead in its tracks.

Ezreal looked to his side to find none other than Garen who had intercepted the attack. Darius' scowl grew larger as he stood face to face with his old rival.

Garen pushed off the attack sending the axe back to its owner. Without breaking eye contact with Darius, Garen said, "Go get Karthas. I'll handle him."

Ezreal looked at Darius who was now sporting a devilish smirk. Darius wasn't after Ezreal after all. He was merely trying to get to Garen. Ezreal merely happened to be in his way in his quest to prove his dominance over his rival.

Ezreal left the pair to fight and focused on Karthas in the distance. This was his opportunity as Karthas remained unguarded and was standing alone. Ezreal focused and in an instant he teleported to where he was face to face with Karthas who had still failed to acknowledge Ezreal's presence.

"Karthas! Karthas, stop your golems or I will have to take you out!" Ezreal yelled his gauntlet at the ready.

Karthas again said nothing. He was merely standing in a trace with the same blue hue filling his eyes.

Anger swelled inside of Ezreal. Karthas wasn't threatened by him at all. The feeling was clouding his mind and without thinking he allowed two mystical bows to materialize on the edges of his gauntlet. Ezreal braced himself with his other arm and then….clang.

"Ahhhh!" Ezreal let out a squeal of pain as he pulled the gauntleted hand to his chest and gripped it tightly. A sharp pain was now shooting through the arm.

"I'll take that," Draven said as he caught the spinning axe that had just collided with Ezreal's arm.

Ezreal's eyes grew wide and he began to back away as he heard, "Payback time from earlier, boy."

Draven launched a whirling axe, but Ezreal quickly teleported out of the way. Immediately, another was headed in his direction. Ezreal took aim and swiftly snipped it out of the air with an energy blast. Blood was dripping down his arm and Ezreal could feel each shot that he let out from his gauntlet. Draven sensed the weakness and continued to launch blade after blade towards Ezreal with relentless speed.

Ezreal could barely keep up. Both he and Draven knew it was only a matter of time before one of the deadly axes connected. Out of the corner of his eye Ezreal caught a glimpse of a rather bright light. Suddenly, a ball of light appeared at Draven's feet and exploded, blinding its target immediately.

Draven yelled in pain and Ezreal saw his opportunity. He launched a barrage of bolts towards Draven each connecting with its target and each doing significant damage. Draven rebounded and launched both of his axes like a frisbee that floated only inches above the ground. Ezreal hurdled the attack, but tripped. As he looked over his shoulders he saw the axes coming back. Just before they connected, they bounced off a wall of light that was now surrounding Ezreal.

Draven snarled and turned only to see Lux, her wand hovering in front of her body. Once he realized what she was doing it was too late. His eyes grew wide and he braced for impact as a solid beam of light shot from Lux's wand and hit him dead center in the chest. The wave pinned him against the castle walls leaving behind a deep cut in his chest. Draven slid to the ground and let out a gurgling sound.

"Draven out," Draven said as his eyes glassed over and he allowed his head to hang.

"Thank you, Lux," Ezreal said looking to his friend.

Before Lux could answer they both heard a loud squawk followed by the terrified scream of Teemo.

"Teemo!" Both said in unison.

Lux looked back to Ezreal and said, "Go get Karthas, I'll tend to Teemo."

Without waiting for a response, Lux hurried off back towards the battle in pursuit of her little friend. Ezreal looked to the sky only to see Galio swirling around the golems. He still had their attention, but Ezreal could tell he was beginning to struggle with them. Ezreal ripped off some cloth from his shirt and wrapped it tightly around his wound. He had to take out Karthas.

Ezreal turned to Karthas who still hadn't moved. He had to break Karthas from this trance in order to stop the golems. Ezreal lifted his gauntlet again and let out every attack that came to mind. Shot after shot he launched at Karthas, but not a single one had any effect. The attacks stopped harmlessly before hitting Karthas and it was quickly apparent to Ezreal that Karthas had a force field protecting himself.

Ezreal's brow furrowed as he only had one more idea. Ezreal braced himself and focused. Within seconds, his signature crescent moon blast launched from his gauntlet towards Karthas. Ezreal watched in sheer disappointment as the energy field cut his attack in half and sent it careening off in two different directions. Karthas hadn't budged a bit.

What was he going to do? Ezreal thought to himself. He had no idea how to break the force field. Ezreal's attention was jerked to the sky as Galio was sent crashing into a building. The golems had finally become too much and bested their opponent. They turned only to now focus on Ezreal. He panicked. In a last ditch effort, Ezreal let out a yell and charged the deranged mage.

Ezreal easily traveled through the force field and collided with Karthas who stumbled backwards. Karthas' eyes returned to normal and quickly angered as he realized who had broken his concentration. The golems stopped and then began to wander aimlessly.

"You insect!" Karthas barked before slamming his staff into Ezreal's stomach.

Ezreal doubled over only to then be lifted off the ground. Karthas had his staff pointed at Ezreal and was using his magic to control Ezreal just as he had the golems.

"You think you can beat me? Ha!" Karthas boasted as he dangled Ezreal in midair.

Karthas continued to talk, but Ezreal wasn't listening. The force field only protected Karthas against magical attacks. His attention focused on an unbroken barrel still full of the toxic weapon which was nestled within a destroyed building behind Karthas. An idea suddenly flooded Ezreal's mind.

Idea or not, Ezreal still couldn't move. Karthas had him trapped as he forced Ezreal to float harmlessly in midair. Ezreal could see a grim smile crack across Karthas' pale face before he began to laugh manically. Karthas was beside himself with glee amongst the widespread destruction and the fires that continued to burn across Demacia. Karthas waved his staff back and forth laughing uncontrollably as he watched Ezreal's body mimic the motions against its will. Ezreal was now his puppet.

Try as he might Ezreal couldn't break free of the deranged mage's spell. He had been a thorn in Karthas' side for far too long and now he was paying for it. As he swayed in every direction imaginable, his sights continued to focus on the unbroken barrel lodged within a destroyed building behind Karthas. There had to be some way that he could get to it.

Karthas lifted Ezreal higher in the air just as an explosion rang out across the area. A nearby factory had taken all the abuse it could handle and had finally collapsed in on itself. Stone and debris flew into the sky and new flames emerged within the building. The explosion caught Karthas off guard forcing him to flinch and drop Ezreal to the ground. This was his moment. Ezreal had to do something now or Karthas would surely finish him off.

Realizing he had lost control, Karthas raised his staff again, but he was too late. Just before Karthas lifted Ezreal once again, Ezreal launched a bolt which instantly connected with Karthas' shoulder. Karthas yelled in pain and jerked the staff to the side flinging Ezreal through the air and into the nearest building.

Ezreal landed amongst the debris with a hard thud. With no time to waste, he rolled over, rubbed his head, and got a quick sense of where he had been tossed. As he looked around, he saw it. The unbroken barrel was directly in front of him and Karthas was still reeling from his now damaged shoulder.

Ezreal crawled to the barrel and pushed it will all his might, but nothing happened. He kicked, punched, and pushed, but no matter what he did the barrel wouldn't budge. Ezreal panicked. He had to think of a way to move this barrel quickly before Karthas found him again. Suddenly, an idea popped into his head. Maybe if he used his entire body at once and pushed with all his might the barrel would spring free.

Ezreal got down behind the barrel and in a squatting motion placed both of his feet against its side. He then situated himself to where his back was flush against what remained of a heavily damaged wall and secured his hands against the ground. Once in place, he took a deep breath and pushed as hard as he could. To Ezreal's surprise, the barrel rolled slightly up before falling back into place.

He had to hurry because Karthas had recovered from his shoulder wound and was now looking for Ezreal. Ezreal pushed again with the same results, except this time the noise alerted Karthas to his position. Karthas smiled his grim smile once again and began to walk towards Ezreal.

One more shot, Ezreal thought to himself as he positioned himself again. He pushed harder than he had before but this time with more grunts and breaths. Finally it happened. The barrel rolled out of its hiding spot, away from the debris, and headed straight for Karthas. Karthas stopped dead in his tracks after seeing the barrel and raised his staff once again. This time, however, Ezreal would be the first to strike.

Ezreal took aim with his gauntlet and let off an energy blast. The blast hit its mark and just before it collided with Karthas, the barrel exploded covering the mage in the toxic liquid. Karthas screamed as the liquid seared his skin and burned his eyes. Ezreal watched amazed that his plan had actually worked.

It wasn't long before Ezreal realized, however, that the liquid, and the gas it produced, wasn't having the same effect on Karthas as it had on everyone else. The mage twisted and turned refusing to succumb and turn into a monster. His flesh dropped from the bone and his face grew sunken. Before long, Karthas fell face first into the dust and didn't move.

Ezreal didn't know what to do. Normally whoever came into contact with that weapon turned into a mindless, ravaging monster and here Karthas appeared to have just died or at least passed out. After a few seconds, Ezreal cautiously approached Karthas.

"Karthas? Karthas, are you alive?" Ezreal said still creeping in the mage's direction.

Just before Ezreal had reached Karthas, the mage raised up until he was staring straight at Ezreal. Ezreal jumped back before noticing something different about Karthas. He no longer had legs, or skin, or….anything. Karthas was a ghost floating above where he once laid with the angriest stare Ezreal had ever seen. Everything in Ezreal's body told him to run and so he did just that.

Over his shoulder, Ezreal heard Karthas yell, "Behold your undoing!"

The air around Ezreal grew heavy and the wind began to swirl. Within seconds, the immediate area around Karthas had changed. Everything was dark and the wind had created a mini hurricane slowing Ezreal and trying to swallow him whole. Ezreal looked to the sky and noticed dark clouds had formed above Karthas who was slinging his arms like some sort of crazed choirmaster. Adding to the chaos were small explosions that began to erupt at random around Ezreal's feet. Buildings, statues, walkways, all were being torn apart as the explosions continued and eerie blue lightning rained from the sky.

Even one of Karthas' prized golems fell as it was caught in the winds and succumbed to the onslaught of damage. Ezreal looked for a way out before noticing an object whizzing through the winds like a large bullet. Before he could react, Ezreal was covered in giant stone wings which had wrapped him in a stone cocoon of protection.

"Galio!" Ezreal exclaimed. "Am I glad to see you."

Galio's stone head turned to look at Ezreal. He smiled and said, "The best defense is a good magic absorbing colossus."

Ezreal laughed and listened to the chaos that ensued outside of Galio's wings. Explosions continued to tear apart buildings and Ezreal listened as another golem, who was caught within the attack, crashed to the ground. Debris pelted Galio's wings, but they didn't falter. Just as quickly as it had appeared the winds died down and returned to normal. Galio lifted his wings and turned with Ezreal to get one last glimpse of Karthas as he disappeared like smoke in the wind.

Ezreal stood unmoving as he took in the sheer damage that Karthas had caused. The once vibrant and structure filled area was now nothing but rubble. Even the golem's bodies had been mostly pulverized leaving them almost unrecognizable. A small crater was now present at the center of the commotion exactly where Karthas had been floating.

"That was ridiculous," Ezreal finally said to his stone companion.

"Good thing I came along or you would have something in common with those golems," Galio joked.

"Yes, thank you again," Ezreal said.

Galio nodded and said, "You are very welcome, Ezreal. It is the least I could do after making my job easier."

"What do you mean?" Ezreal said confused.

Galio motioned to the few remaining golems before saying, "The blue hue is no more which means their magic is gone. They will now easily crumble under my might."

It actually worked, Ezreal thought to himself. The golems were getting their magic from Karthas and now that he was gone they had no direction or special powers and were now wandering aimlessly amongst the fighting.

"And now we finish this!" Galio exclaimed as he saluted Ezreal before taking off towards the remaining golems.

Ezreal didn't have a moment to catch a breath as he heard squawking and screeching in the distance. He darted in the direction of the noises as they got louder and more frantic. As he rounded a burning building, he realized he was back in the center of Demacia and the fight as well.

Soldiers were still swinging away at each other trying their best to gain the upper hand. Garen and Darius were still locked in a heated battle, Graves was busy blasting away at a nearby golem, and Teemo was….running. Behind Teemo was a massive, grotesque monster that stood at least eight feet tall. It had a massive beak, glowing red eyes, and razor sharp talons. Ezreal quickly realized this monster was none other than Swain.

Teemo tripped and fell to the ground only to have Swain on him in an instant. Ezreal noticed that the Noxus general had gashes on his body and multiple darts protruding from his feathers.

He hovered over Teemo before screeching, "You and your bothersome friends have ruined everything! Noxus was supposed to reign supreme and now we are nothing! I will not come out of this empty handed. A yordle trophy will look very nice on my mantle."

The beast let out a roar as Teemo yelled in fear. Ezreal raised his gantlet, but before he could act a blinding light froze the monster in place. Ezreal smiled. He would recognize that attack anywhere.

"Thought you could get away from me Swain?" Lux said now standing behind the monster. Ezreal noticed that she had several cuts on both her body and her armor. She had obviously already tangled once with the beast.

The monster let out a loud screech towards Lux who was holding her wand at the ready. The monster quickly twisted, turned, wrenched, and shrank down in a storm of feathers and dust until Swain stood in its place back in his human form, but heavily exhausted.

"You bothersome winch!" Swain spat towards the golden haired mage.

"It's over, Swain," Ezreal said now showing himself and brandishing his gauntlet towards the general.

Swain turned and acknowledged Ezreal before swiveling to see Teemo who had also regained his footing and was holding his blow gun at the ready.

"It's over Swain. You are finished," Ezreal yelled again still holding his gauntlet ready to attack.

Swain didn't say a word, but instead started laughing manically. Ezreal's brow furrowed in confusion. He was surrounded, Ezreal thought to himself, how could he laugh at a time like this? Has he simply gone mad?

"I'll never be finished, boy," Swain yelled as he continued to laugh. "The war between Demacia and Noxus is an eternal one that will never die."

Suddenly, Ezreal caught the sound of what sounded like running. It was faint, however, as Swain's laughs were almost entirely drowning it out.

"Say what you want Swain, but you are surrounded. There is no way out of this one," Lux said as she crept closer to the deranged general.

This only made Swain laugh harder. An evil tone was now apparent in his laughs and Ezreal was growing weary. Though Ezreal kept his eyes on Swain, another more alarming sound was drawing his attention elsewhere. There was that running sound again, Ezreal thought, but its more prominent now. It was coming from behind him, and from back in the city. Hundreds of feet could be heard pushing across the hard ground. It was as if someone had let all the horses out of their stable at once. This was different as Ezreal could now hear another sound. Growls.

"He is stalling!" Ezreal yelled to Lux and Teemo who looked his way.

Ezreal turned just in time to see a horde of monsters round a corner. The wretched toxin spared none as armor from both armies along with commoner's clothes hung on the bones and failing skin of the hideous creatures. Gnashing and growling, the product of Noxus' weapon was barreling in their direction intending to attack anything in their path. They had obviously been attracted by the commotion and were headed straight for them.

"About face men! Attack!" Lux yelled pointing her wand towards the oncoming wave. A ball of blinding light flew from the end and exploded at the feet of the monster's front line, crippling the unlucky few that were in its path.

The remaining Demacian soldiers raised their shields and charged their former comrades. Lux, Teemo, and Graves followed flinging searing light, blinding toxin, and exploding shells into the center of their new enemy. Ezreal stood still locking eyes with Swain who merely smirked before taking off in the other direction amongst the crowd. Not today, Swain, Ezreal thought to himself before darting after the general.

Ezreal was amazed at the old general's speed as he could barely keep Swain in eyesight. Ezreal felt as though he was trying to paddle upstream in his attempt to weave through the crowd that was pushing headlong in the other direction towards the monsters. Once out of the crowd, Ezreal's head was on a swivel catching sight of Swain at the last second.

He's heading to the front gate, Ezreal thought.

Just before reaching the now destroyed gate doors of Demacia, Ezreal stopped in his tracks. The remnants of the Noxus army were retreating behind Swain, flooding out beyond the gates as if their lives depended on it and led by none other than their champion, Darius.

Swain turned on his pursuer and said, "So hero, here we are. Outnumbered and outgunned. Maybe we should take a prize with us back to Noxus."

Swain's crow let out a screech and Ezreal began to backpedal with his gauntlet at the ready. He picked up the pace until he backed into something. It was tall and metal. Panicked Ezreal spun only to see Garen in all his might and sword in hand.

"I would like to see you try, Swain," said Garen confidence in his voice.

Swain recoiled as Darius approached his side.

Just before the two sides locked in battle, a familiar voice rang across the city.

"Ezreal, Garen we need your help!"

"Lux!" both Ezreal and Garen said in unison.

Swain smirked again as he and Darius backed away towards the gate and said, "So what's it going to be? Capture us or save your friends?"

Ezreal turned immediately and ran back towards his friends. He only stopped after realizing Garen wasn't with him.

"Garen? Garen come on they need us," Ezreal pled with the warrior.

Garen stoically stood in place with anger plastered across his face and his sword at his side.

"That's right Garen, run along," Swain taunted shooing Garen with his cane.

"This isn't over, Swain," Garen finally said. "We will never stop hunting you and all of the scum that Noxus can spit out. You will pay for your crimes against Demacia."

"I'm counting on it," replied Swain with loathing in his voice before backing away beyond the debris of the gate.

Garen stared for another second before turning to Ezreal and nodding. They both ran as fast as they could to aid their friends in their fight against the remnants of Noxus' scourge. Without hesitation, they plunged steadfast into the fray slashing and shooting at every ghoul in sight. Ezreal launched his signature crescent moon blast cutting down a handful of the monsters while Garen claimed multiple with every swing. Within the commotion, Ezreal heard the sounds of his friends doing everything they could to best the creatures.

Day turned to night before the fight was over and Demacia stood victorious. As he was regaining his breath, Ezreal looked around at the piles of the hideous creatures that now littered the ground. He sighed as he then looked even farther around the city shocked by the sheer destruction. The still burning flames could be seen even better now flickering in the starry sky as they continued to destroy some of the heaviest damaged buildings. Karthas' golems, once the harbingers of this destruction, now lay lifeless around the city. The bodies of soldiers of both armies, that weren't afflicted by the toxin, also added to the madness.

"It will take forever to rebuild," Ezreal said to himself.

"Nothing that we can't handle," a voice came from behind him.

As Ezreal turned, he saw the ever beaming face of Lux staring back at him. Somehow she managed her bright smile even after all they had gone through.

"I guess," Ezreal said still unsure.

"Perk up," Lux demanded. "We won and better than that we are all alive. That in itself is enough to celebrate. Demacia can be rebuilt."

"You're right," Ezreal said finally returning the smile that Lux was searching for.

As he straightened up, Ezreal realized he and Lux were face to face. For what seemed like a long minute, they stood staring at one another only smiling and not knowing what to say. The silence was broken by a familiar face.

"Would you two kiss already? I'm getting a headache watching you two awkwardly dance around it," Graves said as he was leaning against a nearby damaged wall and lighting another cigar.

Ezreal and Lux immediately looked away, their cheeks burning red. As their eyes met once again they smiled.

"But you and Garen are…." Ezreal managed to stammer.

"Brother and sister," Lux said quickly.

Ezreal's eyes grew wide as the realization hit him like a ton of bricks. This entire time Ezreal thought Garen was competition when in reality he was the farthest from it. Happiness flooded Ezreal and without thinking he leaned in and gave Lux the kiss he had been wanting to since he met her.

"Glad that's over," an unenthusiastic Graves said as an excited Teemo cheered and clapped at his feet.

"Glad to have you in the family," Garen said clasping his armor clad hand on Ezreal's shoulder forcing him to lose his balance and nearly knocking him and Lux over in the process.

Ezreal smiled and rubbed his shoulder, "Thank you, Garen."

Garen nodded and then turned to Graves and Teemo, "I am thankful for all of you."

Teemo stuck out his little chest and gave a salute while Graves gave a slight nod as he puffed on his cigar.

"Now let's get to rebuilding Demacia."