General Swain led his Noxian army through the terrain of Runeterra as if he had performed the march a thousand times before. Nothing seemed to be capable of deterring his stampede towards the capital of Demacia. The man did not even bother to waver from the straight route in order to avoid frightening citizens and peasants; part of him wanted the country to begin panicking. An enemy in discord was much easier to strike down. He had nothing to fear with the Prince out of the country, and even less with Garen Crownguard out of commission. The combination of warriors was a tough and formidable force, but without their leadership, the opposing army hardly stood a chance. The thought pleased Jericho, but it did not appear on his face, much like many other emotions that never got the opportunity to surface.
Behind Jericho, the Noxians rode with a lust for blood with the thought of being written in history as a soldier who helped Noxus conquer their long lived rivals in Demacia. Unfortunately for them, Jericho had no intention of helping a single one of them survive once Prince Jarvan IV heard the news and decided to return home. He was sure to reform the remainders of the Demacian army and slaughter every last one of the Noxians as they pretended that they were capable of opposing him. Jericho's mission was not to kill every Demacia, but simply to behead their king, and crumple their will. The act of killing the king of Demacia would grant him the entitlement among the Noxian people that he wanted, and with that entitlement, he would be declared as the one official ruler of Noxus. Perhaps, then, he would be able to set the dying country back on course to what it was supposed to be. It had shifted quite drastically away from its dominant force of well bred and strong individuals working as one, unifying country of the best humans in all of Valoran, to a survival of the fittest mosh pit. The entire ideology of the country sickened Jericho to the point of nausea, and he had wanted to pick it up and put it back where it belonged; and at that point in time, he was incredibly close to attaining that goal.
In the dead of the night, the Noxians were about midway through their march, and they passed the Institute of War. The building had been strategically placed along the outskirts of both Demacia and Noxus, in order to help keep them from constantly fighting one another; and for the most part, the plight had been successful.
Quinn sat along her windowsill, as she had been since early that evening, still staring out into the long-blackened sky before her. She had not expected to see what she did at that moment, being an entire army heading westward. She had to shake her head and open her eyes wider to insure that she was not hallucinating. She thought that perhaps her consciousness had slipped away and left her mid-dream in order to create the image she saw on the horizon. Determining that the army was not a figment of her imagination, she pondered where it could be heading. The only thing to the west of the Institute was, in fact, Demacia, while the only country directly to the west was Noxus. In a slight north western angle, Piltover and Zaun resided, but neither of them had populations big enough to support the hundred person army storming through that evening. Panicking, she grasped the gem around her neck in an attempt to meet with the High Summoners and tell them of troupe heading westward, but the magical item did not seem to do anything. Quinn was fairly certain that she had never been unsuccessful in being able to gain audience with the Summoners, and wondered if the two actually spent their evenings sleeping. She wished that she knew more about how the crystal worked; perhaps she could have known why the Summoners were not responding.
Quinn swiveled herself off of the post upon the windows' edge, and proceeded to rush towards Valor, who was still sleeping upon her bed. She shook the large bird awake and got the usual annoyed look that she always did from the creature. Seeing her anguished face, he sprung out of the bed and got to his feet. Valor could clearly see that Quinn was not in a playful mood, and he approached the open window out of curiosity. Gazing upon the stampeding squadron, he flapped his wings multiple times and held an open spanned position as if he was a mount, anticipating his rider. Quinn smiled and climbed upon the massive bird's back as he launched out into the crisp night air at speeds breaching those that she had ever traveled before. The great Demacian eagle flew so gracefully that one would have suspected it to be rather accustomed to having passengers. Its wingspan stretched over ten feet and blatantly expressed no signs of deterrence from the added weight as it glided towards the Demacian capitol. Quinn had to turn her head sideways to keep the gushing winds from drying her eyes out as she rode. The thought of looking any direction but forward as she flew through the air on an enormous bird at speed nearly doubling those of the horses carrying the Noxian army, should have been petrifying to Quinn, but the simple fact that she was riding upon Valor, left her calm and comfortable.
The flight did not last all too long; Valor and Quinn arrived at the Demacian capitol in no time. They glided through the town, much to the awe of the civilians standing about, and landed at the front gates of the royal castle. The guards were somewhat puzzled by her appearance, but saw her urgency and did not bar entry. One of them remained posted by the entrance and the other followed to get a few answers out of her.
"Quinn? What is the matter?" the guard asked.
"Noxians. Hundreds of them. En route to the capitol."
"What?! Are you certain?!"
"Would I lie about something like this?!" she exclaimed while maintaining a jog through the castle. The Demacian guard followed her and told any further soldiers to stand down as they passed. The two made their way to the king of Demacia and bowed before beginning to explain the situation.
"What brings you here from the League today, Quinn?" King Jarvan III inquired.
"I saw an army of Noxians heading westward across Valoran. I believe that they plan to attack Demacia."
"You are certain that they were Noxians? How many? Were they armed?"
"They waved the Noxian flag," Quinn told him. "At least a hundred, and they were all armed."
"That is not a very large force…" the King said with hesitation. "They most likely do not plan to just assault Demacia as a whole. How long until they arrive?"
"I would guess a two or three hours. I was at the Institute of War and headed here straight away. It took about that much time, and I was moving roughly twice as fast as they were." The King bowed his head and stood up from his throne. He turned to a nearby guard and told the man get his battle gear before telling another one to warn the people to take cover. He ordered the guard who had escorted Quinn to rally all troops within the capitol to defend the city's borders. The most elite soldiers were to remain at the castle itself and defend its gates. Jarvan III then turned to Quinn to give her his instructions.
"Quinn, thank you for the warning. I am going to assume that there is hardly adequate time for any other Demacian champions from the League to get here before Noxian troops arrive. However, if you can get the message to them, we could use all of the help that we can get. My son has left to the Frejlord recently, and I doubt that he will get any information within a reasonable amount of time. Shyvana and Xin Zhao are with him, while Garen Crownguard remains away. His sister, Luxanna, Shauna Vayne, Galio, and perhaps a few others may be able to assist us. Can you get the message to them while remaining here to fight?"
Quinn turned to Valor, who had been flying in just behind her, quickly tied a letter to his leg that she had received from one of the scribes in the room who had been recording the conversation, and nodded to him. The bird screeched out and took off at top speed out of the castle. She had no idea who Valor intended to give the message to, but perhaps he planned to figure that part out after he got there.
"Valor will take care of it milord," she told him.
"Excellent. We will prepare for the worst here. Quinn…" the King paused mid sentence and confused the woman heavily. Being the king of Demacia and an old, respected man he was rarely unable to find the right words to say.
"Um… yes milord?" she pressed.
"If I fall tonight, Prince Jarvan is to take my spot as King." His words stung Quinn's ears in an unexpected manner; while they were true, they were not the words that she wanted to hear.
"I understand sir. But, you shall not fall tonight. I won't allow it to." The King relaxed his shoulders, closed his eyes, and leaned his head toward the ceiling. A pause ensued while Quinn waited for a response. In a very calm and non-majestic way, he replied to her.
"Spoken like a true Demacian. But Quinn, I fear that the small Noxian army is not here to invade Demacia's people. It is simply here to remove me from my throne. The likelihood of me surviving through the day is very grim. So please, head my words, and watch over the Prince closely." Baffled by his speech, Quinn spoke with urgency.
"If that is true milord, we must remove you from the castle at once!" The King shook his head.
"No Quinn. Fleeing will just cause them to pursue. And the longer the pursuit, the longer Demacia is in turmoil. My son, Jarvan, knows what he is doing. He is a bright and talented young man, suited more than anyone to rule this country. He will return and remove the Noxian tyrant from this throne. But for now, it is about time I relinquish my duty. I will not go down as a coward." And with those words, the King gripped his lance and honed the tip before marching towards the entrance to the castle to micromanage his limited troops. Quinn kept her head bowed and did not attempt to convince the King that his decision was ill placed, but was unwilling to accept the loss of a great man and a powerful ruler. She decided that she had to do whatever was in her strength to annihilate the Noxian troops before they could take out her King.
The next few hours passed like days as Quinn and the other Demacians waited for the arrival of the Noxian horde. Everyone seemed to be standing around playing with their weapons and fidgeting at their armor; not because they were of genuine concern to them, but if the soldiers did not fill their time with idle tasks, they would begin to truly understand the severity of their situation. Demacia had fought with Noxus on numerous occasions, and not one of them had ended in a positive manner. They were a strong and powerful enemy, equally matched with, if not simply better than, Demacia itself. The two countries had never created a peace treaty or anything of the sort, but the League's presence had kept fighting at bay between them.
The eternity ended when the Noxian troops could be seen riding up to the front gates of the castle. Clearly, the guards surrounding the city had not proven to be all too formidable. Some of the enemy soldiers looked wounded and the size of the army was not nearly as big as Quinn had remembered it being, but their numbers remained strong. Quinn stood behind the castle gates, in the actual doorway to the building. She had no intention of going straight in, so she stayed where she was and loaded her weapon. The Noxian forces walked up to the gate without saying a word. In the lead of the army was a fully armored man with an enormous axe that he slung around with a strangely casual manner. He grinned as he dismounted his horse and was mimicked by most of the other soldiers in his army. The last of the men to step off of his mount remained in the far back of the army; General Swain from the League of Legends. Quinn was not surprised to see him there, but she had to wonder what his motives were, and why he was not partaking in any of the action.
The man with the axe did not hesitate for even a second as he swung his weapon in a mighty arc that lopped the head clean off of the first elite soldier guarding the castle. The rest of the men immediately sprung into action, fearing not for the fact that they were grossly outnumbered. Quinn remained in the background, sticking to corners and shadows as she let loose a hail of crossbow bolts into the crowd of Noxian forces. She could hear the satisfying twang of her shots sinking into the flesh of her enemies, but she knew that no matter how much ammunition she had, it was not enough to fight off the massive force. The elite guards began to fall as they quickly became engulfed by their ruthless enemy, forcing the soldiers to fight two or even three Noxians at a time. Each man did as much damage as he could before he fell, but their efforts hardly dented the moral of the Noxians. It was clear that the men sought to kill; and they were quite successful in their effort.
Quinn fell back deeper into the castle and did her best to take potshots at the pursing army from behind walls and around corners as she went. It was quite obvious that the Demacians were not going to be able to hold off the Noxians, but the reinforcements were sure to make quick work of the remaining army as soon as Valor returned. Royal guards fearlessly held their positions as the flooded halls engulfed the soldiers and their lives, rarely held back for longer than a minute by each checkpoint. Quinn could not stand and fight alongside them, as much as she wanted to, or else she would fall just the same.
Quinn ran backwards through the castle's hallways until she came across King Jarvan's throne room. She quickly slipped through the doors and saw that merely four men and the King himself stood inside. She bowed her head to indicate that they were about to be breached, and the men nodded in acceptance. Readying their battle stances, Quinn moved to the very rear of the room. Her heart pounded in her chest with such tremendous force that she could not even hear the approaching footsteps of the Noxian army. Her vision began to blur in fear and the subsequent moments for her buzzed by with hardly an acknowledgement. The next thing that she knew, she sat slumped in the corner of the throne room, with the four guards visibly decapitated, and the King kneeling before a Noxian man with a tremendous axe, honed and shining in crimson, held inches above the man's neck. The opposing army had clearly not been dissuaded by the final defensive line. Before the axe could fall through Jarvan's head, a man pushed through the troops and placed a hand on the executioner's shoulder to indicate that he should back off. As the man stepped aside, Quinn got the full view of General Swain standing before the kneeling Demacian King.
"King Jarvan," Jericho said casually.
"Jericho Swain… I cannot say that I understand your motives. You have to be fully aware of the fact that you will be punished for your actions… The League will not tolerate such aggressive acts of war… And the rest of Demacia will be at our doorstep and prepared to defend within hours…" The King spoke through gasps for air and a sputtering cough of blood and agony.
"King Jarvan. You misunderstand the situation. You see, while I did lead this army here, I have yet to lay a finger on a single Demacian soldier. See to it as you would like, but I have not violated even one of the pacts I hold with the League of Legends. And in just a few moments, I will have killed just one man, and, as far as anyone will be concerned, it was in a fair and just duel. I just happened to be the victor. In terms of my motives… I will not trouble you with such talk. I can hold my reasons regardless of whether or not a dead king knew of them." Jericho followed his words with a swirling cloud of blackened magic that engulfed him as a razor sharp raven claw swept out and sliced its way through the king. Just as soon as it appeared, the haze of feathers and magical essence was gone, and Jericho remained standing where he had been prior. The wound stretched clear from the King's face down to his legs, and the lifeless leader slumped to the ground with a dramatic clanking of armor. Jericho smiled and turned to walk out of the castle.
"Hold this castle men, and the glory of being the ones to conquer Demacia will be yours. Darius," Jericho said to the large axe wielding man, "hold the castle with your men, but do not let yourself fall. I have need for you still." A sinister snarl eroded over Darius's face as he heard the words and he turned to rally his men. Roars of triumph echoed throughout the halls of the castle as they spread out to guard against the inevitable Demacian army. A few men walked towards Quinn to insure that she was not a living witness, but Valor crashed through the throne room's window and tore into the soldiers. A quick flurry of talons and a devastating beak ended their lives and Quinn quickly jumped aboard Valor as he turned to take flight out of the castle. A few men from outside came into the room to check on the commotion, but saw merely a few dead comrades and small scattering of blue feathers. Confused but not deterred, they returned to their posts outside of the room.
Quinn's mind fluttered with a million thoughts as she scanned the surrounding Demacian town. The sun was beginning to set, and Quinn realized just how long the battles had taken; but at the same time, it felt like Noxus should not have been able to march up to – and kill – the King with such ease. The timing and placement of the assault was impeccable, which came of no surprise if Jericho was leading the ambush. Quinn saw the General mounting his horse and riding outwards towards Noxus. Perhaps he was getting more troops since the castle had fallen, but it looked more like he was abandoning his army. She had no idea why he would march up to the front doors of Demacia just to kill their king, and why he would not have just sent an assassin in to do the work instead. He had to be looking to make a statement, but the concept completely baffled her.
Below, she saw a burst of purple light and the apparition of a small squad of men. Upon further inspection, she saw Prince Jarvan, Shyvana, Xin Zhao, Garen, and an unfamiliar silver haired woman, standing in the middle of Demacia's capitol. Valor must have gotten the message across to the League, and they had sent someone to the Freljord to bring them back home to fight. Quinn knew that the soldiers were strong, but she had no idea how they could possibly manage to fight the entire army. Strategy aside, Quinn knew that floating above the city in turmoil was bound to lead her nowhere, so she patted Valor on the side and pointed towards the group of Demacians.
The sky was transitioning into a dark blue hue whose wind blew the short hair resting atop Quinn's head ferociously as she and Valor began to descend towards her allies. Quinn had countless questions for the group, and was certain that they held the same for her. She had no idea how she would answer any of them, or what her future without a king would hold. And yet, the simple sight of Prince Jarvan held a spark in her heart that her nightmare would turn out all right.