Duty, such a simple and yet extremely complicated concept. A word as heavy as iron or steel and sharp enough to wound even the most dexterous of individuals. It was because of that single life-changing word that a young blonde woman would be abandoned in the heart of a scary immense forest as a human sacrifice. It was because of the jagged chain called responsibility that Lux would end up hunted down like a hare or a fox by her very own family members.
But let's take a step back for a moment and merely observe the panicked blonde-haired noblewoman race through the tree barks and dart between the thorned thickets. Let's ignore Luxanna's frantic hitched breathing, the tears welling up behind wet sky blue orbs. The armed men pursuing her on horseback, the solemn expression plastered on the face of the young maiden's older brother.
Garen wasn't monster of course. He didn't enjoy what he was currently doing or what he had to do. And although the brave commander of the Dauntless Vanguard would usually feel pride swelling up in his heart whenever he would defeat or capture a rogue spell caster, the valiant soldier felt no joy for aiding his men in their attempt to execute Luxanna, his younger sibling.
Before Garen was a brother he was a Demacian soldier, however. A man that followed orders to a T and served the king with all his soul even if some of the missions he had been tasked with were more damning than the others. This night was no exception to that rule. Lux's magic had manifested without a warning a few hours ago, setting fire to a nearby barn when his sister had been walking beside it. The king's council had immediately demanded for her execution after hearing the witnesses' descriptions of the horrible event. And while nobody had been hurt so far by Luxanna's destructive mana running wild the citizens needed to be appeased and the other noble houses were watching the events unfolding intently.
For the sake of the country every spell caster in Demacia needed to be watched or exiled. For the sake of its people, mages that had caused property damage and havoc needed to be dealt with and sent to the gallows without delay.
In her desperate run Luxanna stumbles upon a patch of protruding dirt and tumbles across the dense web of interweaved tree roots. A painful jolt flares within her ankle, hot tears rolling down the blonde woman's cheeks as Lux hisses in pain and starts limping forward. The sound of her pursuers drawing closer, horses neighing loudly while their hooves stomped at the ground. Aquamarine eyes riddled with wet despair abruptly spot a hole underneath a dead tree.
In a desperate attempt to save her life, Luxanna lunges towards the natural cavity formed between a nearly unearthed tree and the blanket of dead leaves and dirt accumulating underneath and around it. The tree's rotting roots almost facing the sky due to the steep angle of the scarred trunk bent backwards like a dying man staring at the sky. An abundance of bugs already feasting on the wooden flesh of the sleeping giant, moving about erratically across its hard wrinkled surface.
Lux does her best to ignore the feasting battalion of bugs as she hurriedly proceeds to cover her torn blue dress with a few handfuls of dead leaves to the best of her abilities, before suddenly stilling in her cramped hiding spot. The hooves of the horses are really close now, the crunching of leaves and the cracking of small twigs being crushed underfoot feeling the condemned blue-blooded woman with a growing sense of fear.
"Where is she?" Asks a gruff voice from somewhere behind her hiding spot, the hunting party's current position thankfully at the opposite side of the gaping schism were Lux had decided to seek shelter. The sound of horseshoes beating the earth keeps getting louder, however.
"The witch must be close," Says another one with unmistakable fervor. "She is on foot, and we would have seen her if we had passed by her." His voice sounding disturbingly closer. Were the riders moving forward adjacent to Luxanna's hiding spot or were they rounding her tree?
Somebody spits on the ground a few meters away from her, his voice harsh and audibly hateful. "Maybe the witch used her magic to transform into a woodland creature or a sea bird and hid in a hole or perched on one of the tree branches." The angry man says. "She doesn't have the guts to face us head on, like a true Demacian."
"Is it wise to still pursue her then?" A nervous soldier hesitantly asks from somewhere at the right of her tree. "What tells us that she won't be turning us into squirrels and lizards this time? We need more men if we are to hunt such a powerful witch, Captain."
"The hunt continues until we find and bring back the witch." Luxanna's eyes widen when she recognizes her brother's voice. Her breathing hitches, her heartbeat stills. The runaway woman can only watch in sheer terror as she spots the long leg of a brown horse suddenly peek through the crooked opening of her hiding place. Somewhere among the foliages a raven caws mournfully, ominously.
"What is this?" The first soldier says as he dismounts and kneels near the place where Lux had stumbled a few moments ago. "Aha!" The pleased soldier exclaims victoriously a second later while clutching at a torn piece of blue fabric that had been stuck on the bump of an extruding tree root. "I found a scrap of the witch's dress! She must be nearby!"
Lux gulps as she anxiously closes her eyes beneath her cover of dead leaves, a silent prayer forming on her lips, the cold of the damp earth underneath her back slowly seeping into her being, like the chilling embrace of death, the welcoming of the wandering spirits. As if to confirm the doomed light mage's gloomy thoughts, the raven on the tree branch caws a second time.
"You think she could be in there?" The nervous soldier from before wonders as another rider on horseback reluctantly approaches the small schism under the tree roots.
"Only one way to find out." Another replies and Luxanna starts shivering when the man's words are instantly accompanied by the screeches of razor-sharp swords coming out of their respective sheaths.
One by one the armed Demacian soldiers dismount and approach Luxanna's hiding spot. A glinting sword is raised cautiously above the blanket of dead leaves, the point of the sharp Demacian steel unwittingly aimed straight for Luxanna's concealed chest below the fragile shroud of disintegrating foliages.
The sword swiftly descends. A pained scream is torn from the lips of the bleeding Crowguard.
"Captain!" The soldier that was about to impale Lux screams, his sword hovering mere inches above the heart of the frightened blonde mage.
"It's an ambush!" The most fearful of the bunch screams, another arrow finding its way into a soldier's leg through the gaps in the armor of the bulky man. Not even a meter away from Lux's hiding spot, two men are attempting to drag Garen away from the barrage of stone-tipped arrowheads that are raining down from between ancient tree barks and unmoving thickets alike.
"The Captain is injured! Retreat!" An arrow narrowly misses the armored man's neck by mere inches. "RETREAT!" Screams the soldier again as he clears the distance between himself and his horse and hastily jumps on the saddle.
Minutes after the hurried galloping of the fleeing men fades, the forest is once again engulfed by blessed silence. Lux remains perfectly still, eyes slowly opening moving sideways, carefully examining the quiet world outside appearing at the edge of her vision.
The blue-blooded outcast takes a few slow controlled breaths as she tries to spot something –anything moving outside of her hiding place without her announcing her presence. Nothing…
A raven then lands just in front of her, staring at her through the opening of the earthly damp schism that Lux had found shelter in. The raven's cold orbs instantly meet those of the speechless exiled aristocrat and Lux can actually see the underlying intelligence hidden behind the small creature's sharp amber-colored eyes.
And then suddenly, even though Lux hadn't taken her eyes off the unnerving bird's cunning amber orbs and nothing could have possibly changed in the span of a single heartbeat, the blonde Demacian mage finds herself staring at the honey-colored eyes of a black-haired woman instead of the eerie beady orbs of the strange raven.
"Get out of there, child." The hooded witch commands and Lux is so surprised by the shapeshifter's sudden appearance that she jolts backwards and hits her head against the schism's filthy walls, a pained moan unwittingly escaping from the lips of the exiled mage. The hooded stranger frowns.
"Leave her be, Emilia. If the idiot prefers to stay here until the knights come back with reinforcements, then so be it." Another stranger abruptly emerges from amidst the tree trunks and bushes with an oaken bow held in one hand. The new arrival doesn't wear a hood allowing Lux to take note of the young archer's long brown trenches and chocolate-colored eyes, azure war paint forming delicate circles and thin twirls across the woman's exposed arms, forehead and attractive cheekbones.
"We don't abandon our kin, Ashe." The one named Emilia replies even though her scowl remains strong. "There are few of us as it is, abandoning a Gifted to the knights would just bring us closer to annihilation."
The rough-spoken archer curses quietly under her breath, narrowed eyes balefully pointed at poor Lux. Tiny wisps of cold fog start leaking out from the clenched fists of the brunette woman, the sturdy oaken wood trapped in-between Ashe's death grip slowly being covered with a fragile layer of ice. "You will be coming with us, if you know what's good for you, little blue-blood." The archer growls warningly.
Emilia sighs, but doesn't chastise Ashe for her approach. After all, the knights would have undoubtedly reached the capital by now, time was of the essence.
Extra:
And then suddenly, even though Lux hadn't taken her eyes off the unnerving bird's cunning amber orbs and nothing could have possibly changed in the span of a single heartbeat, the blonde Demacian mage finds herself staring at the honey-colored eyes of a male Yordle instead of the eerie beady orbs of the strange raven.
"Caw, caw! Mothafacka!" Ravenborn Teemo yells and Lux is so surprised by the shapeshifter's sudden appearance that she jolts backwards and hits her head against the schism's filthy walls, a pained moan unwittingly escaping from the lips of the exiled mage. The edgy Yordle frowns.
"Leave her be, Teemo. If the idiot prefers to stay here until the knights come back with reinforcements, then so be it." Another liliputian stranger abruptly emerges from amidst the tree trunks and bushes with an oaken bow held in one hand. The new arrival doesn't wear a hood allowing Lux to take note of the tiny archer's long purple trenches and jade-colored eyes, purple war paint forming delicate circles and thin twirls across the yordle woman's exposed arms, forehead and pouting cheekbones.
"We don't abandon our kin, Lulu." The one named Sexmo replies even though his scowl remains strong. "There are few of us as it is, abandoning a Yordle to the knights would just bring us closer to annihilation."
"W-what?" Stutters Lux confused and suddenly the blonde Demacian realizes that her arms are covered in soft yellow fur and that she is as short as the two strangers. Teemo smiles almost soothingly as he places a palm on Lux's trembling shoulder."
"It's all Yordle now" The handsome scout whispers and sky blue orbs just blink confusedly.
"Caw, caw!" Then Teemo abruptly yelps spooking Lux for the second time that day.
Sexmo is back, everything is good again in this world.