"What do you mean, you haven't managed to banish Nocturne yet? I thought you were considered an arcane prodigy or something. Was that all just a hoax?"'
It had been almost a day since the whole infirmary incident and the countless failed attempts to release Vayne from the Eternal Nightmare's clutches. The concerned Summoners did of course their best, but the specter seemed to be lodged deep inside the unconscious huntress' brain and every attempt to remove him was met with gut-wrenching screams and ribbons of crimson nectar being torn out of Shauna's bloodstained lips. The vampire's last seizure had been so tremendously violent that the Head Summoner had finally decided to call it a day and leave the vampire at the Starchild's care until he came up with a solution.
Quinn's eyes narrowed dangerously as she glared at the Rogue Mage and the blue man just sighed exasperatedly before motioning for the ranger to follow him, Quinn silently complied and soon the two of them were standing inside the inner study of the powerful blue sorcerer.
Ryze's study was enormous, a huge chamber filled with lines upon lines of dusty bookshelves containing arcane tomes of immense power and ancient spell books written in forgotten languages beyond mortal understanding. Whatever small space remained that wasn't covered by scrolls, grimoires or cobwebs was occupied by the huge glass displays that housed the powerful magical artifacts that the primal mage had gathered from all across Valoran, while searching for mystical fonts of knowledge during his younger days.
"Please, have a seat."
Quinn remains silent even through her eyes wander across the chamber searching for some sort of chair or cushion hidden beneath the piles of book that threaten to reach the ceiling, but apparently there is none. She is about to point that out to the Rogue Mage, when Ryze that was frantically gathering scrolls and parchments in the meantime suddenly pauses and snaps his fingers loudly making a wooden chair appear out of thin air.
"Sorry about that, sometimes I forget that not all of us know of the Forty-four verses of the Great Maeyer. I will be with you in just a moment."
Quinn just stares at the comfy looking chair and pokes at one of its legs with her boot before finally concluding that yes, it is safe enough for her to sit down. The scout doesn't really know much about magic and how it works but the little things she does know about it makes her extremely cautious around witches and unfamiliar spellcasters in general and even though the experience didn't really manage to traumatize her, her recent encounter with the infamous Ice Witch while gathering intelligence in the frigid land of Freljord doesn't really help her see magic in a new light.
"Yeah, me too."
Ryze ignores her sarcastic remark, lost in his thoughts as he wanders around the bookshelves tracking down various tomes and parchments from a wide variety of origins and time periods before delicately placing them on the big wooden desk in front of her. The primal mage takes a few more seconds in order to make sure that everything he needs is gathered in front of him before he takes a deep breath in order to compose himself. He then leans forward so he can peer straight into the inpatient amber eyes of the young Demacian ranger.
"Ok, girl, I will try to water this down as much as possible, but pay attention because I won't say it twice and I don't want to waste daylight."
Quinn has half a mind to lash out at the rude blue mage for belittling her intelligence, but she restrains herself. The more she occupies the bitter old scholar, the more time she will have to spend in his presence and she would also prefer for Ryze to go back to helping Vayne as soon as possible. She nods politely and Ryze just huffs and starts opening random books in front of him before pointing at specific drawings of symbols inscribed among their ink-stained pages.
"The Thorn, the Freljordian symbol of protection granted to people by the ancestors of Queen Avarosa, the fist Queen of the Freljord that led the region to prosperity countless ages ago. Some tribes still engrave this rune in the bones of their fallen warriors in order to ward off evil."
Ryze cracks another book and starts shaking it in front of the scout's face, Quinn has just a few fleeting moments to inspect what looks like an open eye encased in a golden triangle before the scholar starts speaking again as he shoves the book away.
"The eye of the Emperor, a magical symbol frequently located in the ancient tombs of Shuriman priests. The symbol is supposedly helping the spirit of the deceased traverse into the afterlife. Are you still following me girl?"
Quinn nods and Ryze pauses for a second, he reaches for something under his desk and then presents to her a tattered piece of paper covered in shaky black letters.
"The writing of the Shadow Isles, Vayne used at least five of the symbols depicted in this parchment in order to decorate the flesh around her chest and torso. The meaning of these inscriptions along with the first nine symbols carved across her arms and forearms still eludes me, but the rest of them seem like broken Biljewater nonsense to me. And then.. There are those…"
The Arcane scholar's voice lowers as he throws an age-old tome into the unprepared hands of the scout and the book almost ends up falling from her before Quinn manages to catch it. She sends Ryze an annoyed glare before her gaze returns back to the decayed pages of the ancient tome and Quinn's anger instantly dissipates, lost in a maelstrom of other emotions as her gaze lands on the faded red symbol. The same red symbol she remembers encountering on the vampire's bleeding face, carved deeply into Shauna's bloodstained cheeks.
"…What is it?"
Quinn raises her amber eyes in order to meet the Rogue mage's flickering orbs of thunder and Ryze seems to be out of clever retorts and sarcastic remarks for once. The wise old scholar sighs, he leans over the desk and proceeds to glare into its dusty surface as if the wooden furniture has somehow insulted him before he starts talking in a serious measured tone.
"That's the Hollow Dice of Fate, the Dark Covenant, the Shinning Chariot, The Last Kiss of the Saint, Devil's Whisper, it has countless other names, but that doesn't really matter at this point. The important part is that this character used to be the 27th letter of the Riverers' alphabet, a nomadic tribe living across the Serpentine river until they later adopted the writing of Bilgewater and the Serpent marks, as they called their ideograms, were abandoned."
The scout just nods and so Ryze continues.
"This particular symbol doesn't have a specific meaning set in stone, its purpose changes according to the wishes of the bearer and the details of the inscription process. If one carved it on his lips for example it would mean Life since our mouths are the tools that we use to sustain ourselves. Another example would be tattooing it on ones' legs, our legs help us stand, but also walk and traverse distance so it might mean path, but the meaning would change if it was carved in the flesh of a cripple since the bearer would infuse it with his desire to walk again. The symbol would then be spelled as Wish or Dream or even Determination since the invoker is determined to overcome the difficulties and live his life to the best of his abilities.''
Ryze takes a deep breath and when he speaks again his voice is soft like velvet and that alone sets off all kind of alarm bells inside the scout's now aching skull.
"You see the problem originates from the fact that Vayne isn't an experienced spellcaster like, let's say me or Veigar, so she probably had no idea of the right way to cast a spell of this magnitude. She must have panicked upon realizing that Nocturne was torturing you and started drawing the symbols she encountered during her witch hunts, or maybe she already knew some basic things about thorn magic and witchcraft from fighting corrupted spellcasters, I don't know. She certainly doesn't look like your average spellcaster and that's the scary part, because..."
"She succeeded. I can't be sure if the ritual is complete, if it backfired, or if it is still in process and something bad is about to happen at any second now, but she somehow managed to pull it off. She chased Nocturne away from your head and into her own. I can only make speculations about the real nature of the spell and the enchantment's entire purpose, but it would explain why the Summoners have so much trouble expelling the Specter from Shauna's mind. My deductions so far aren't really pleasant, do you still wish to hear them?"
Quinn just nods, her head is hurting and her throat is too dry to even utter a single word, her gaze drops back on the desk only to land on the ominous symbol and for a second she thinks that she sees the glyph glow as if it's mocking her, but the light disappears after she blinks and Ryze doesn't comment on it, so it must have been her imagination.
"Shauna heard of the announcement about Nocturne's escape and immediately rushed to your room where she found you already asleep, trapped inside your own mind. Seeing the Specter injuring you and the wounds appearing on your body, the Night Hunter decided to help you, but alerting the Institute would take too much time and you would be dead by the time the Summoners arrived or at least that's what Vayne must have concluded because I afraid that she cursed herself. "
Ryze stays silent after uttering those words and Quinn doesn't dare raise her eyes to meet his flickering gaze, she keeps her amber orbs locked on the yellow pages and the faded symbols and she counts her heartbeats until the room stops spinning and she remembers that she has to breathe.
"You said that she carved on her flesh a symbol of protection."
"The Thorn? She reversed it, now it is a beacon for malice and malevolent entities. I hadn't even seen a reversed Thorn before yesterday."
"What about the Eye of the Emperor? You said that it helps the spirits reach the heaven."
"I said the afterlife, Quinn, not heaven. The Eye of the Emperor is basically a gate for wondering spirits."
"You said something about symbols from Bilgewater."
"Yes, you see, Bilgewater is a hovel for gambling rodents and lowlifes. Their most common belief is that everything can be bought and sold and that everything has its price… Even life and death for that matter. Vayne probably wrote some kind of bargain for the Dream demon.
"Then why did she have to use her own fangs in order to draw the Dice? She could have just as easily used the crossbow bolt like in the previous symbols."
"The action's nature was probably symbolic, a boon for the Dream Demon perhaps, or a show of her conviction to uphold her end of the deal, it could also be the power of intent that powered up the spell. One could even interpret it as an act of submission, since the canines are a vampire's most prized possession and parting with them is extremely painful for them, Shauna could be offering herself to the shade. She may even have removed her fangs in order to instantly lose consciousness, pass into the land of swirling dreams and guide you back to safety before the Eternal Nightmare realized what was happening under his nonexistent nose."
She is trembling, she is sweating, the whole room is spinning but she still has to ask even if she passes out or throws up all over the Rogue Mage's precious tomes, so she gathers her wits for one final question and opens her mouth.
"What does the Hollow Dice mean for Vayne?"
Ryze closes his eyes and leans back in his chair until his body hits the cushions, he licks his lips to earn some precious seconds as he tries to find the right words to soften the Scout's blow.
"Well.. She carved it under her eyes and the eyes are said to be the windows to one's soul, right? But now that she is… Dreaming the doorways to Shauna' soul are closed and the windows are barred because the light can't reach her anymore. So, I guess that would make Shauna's eyes… A windowless room, a locked chamber, a closed box or more specifically, a prison for the Eternal Nightmare. "
The Rogue Mage sighs and the room seems to be fading and Quinn has trouble keeping her eyes open as her body starts tilting to the side, but Ryze isn't finished with her yet and his voice can somehow still penetrate the fog of her mind and reach her ears. His words are still painfully audible.
"So you see the reason why we have so much trouble trying to free the huntress is not because we are lacking as masters of our craft or because Nocturne has somehow managed to regain his old power in such a short amount of time, but because the Night Hunter intentionally turned her soul into a cage in order to save you."
The room disappears, her eyelids silently close, Quinn doesn't even realize it when her body hits the floor or hears the old Scholar's startled voice. No, her mind can only process Ryze's last five words and see a picture of Shauna screaming her lungs out while getting strapped down to her bed. She doesn't hear the Rogue Mage's footsteps or Lux's angry yells as the blue man hurriedly carries her back to the infirmary, she can only observe the fractured scenes in front of her as Shauna's nightmares start slipping in her mind through their connection.
000000
Little Shauna suddenly shivers, she blinks in confusion, swallows her last bite of cake and then turns around in order to face the beaming face of her mother.
"Sorry mommy, did you say something?"
The older woman just smiles at her kindly and starts wiping the child's mouth with a handkerchief as Vayne pouts cutely.
"Yes, sweetie, I asked you if you liked the cake."
Shauna's eyebrows furrow as she solemnly starts pondering the question with a maturity completely unlike a normal seven year old child. Well, the cake itself wasn't that bad and the presentation was ok mostly, but the creamy white letters at the top of the confection were shaky and kind of all over the place as if that was the first attempt of the chef in pastry and the bottom was kind of burnt at some places. Everything else was fine and the strawberry cake tasted ok even if it couldn't possibly be compared to the chocolate goodness the Head chef had prepared for her birthday last year. Shauna still had dreams about that cake and the absence of the treat this year stung just a little bit, even if she wouldn't admit that to her dear mother of course. She opens her mouth to announce her verdict, notices the burns covering her mother's hands and puts two and two together. She smiles sweetly.
"It was delicious mother, in fact it was the most delicious cake I have ever eaten."
Her mother laughs and hugs her and then shyly admits that she was the one that made the cake along with one of the servants working in the kitchen, she cheekily declares that the next one is going to be even tastier and proceeds to kiss the child on the cheek. And Shauna? Little Shauna doesn't reply and she mostly remains silent throughout the whole exchange, because she already knows how this story ends and she knows that there will be no cake and candles or smiles and hugs or presents on her next birthday and because she can already see the vampire approaching them while smiling sinisterly, bathed in her father's blood.