The cliffs overlooking the sunken city were as pleasant as place as Achlys could have hoped for to enjoy a picnic with her Auntie. Elise had brought a basket full of goodies from Noxus, including Achlys's favorite cake, and set it down on the heaviest quilt Karthus was able to bring from the cathedral. Anytime Elise returned, she always brought new foods for Achlys to try. The young girl's eyes sparkled as she beheld all the treats Elise pulled from the basket. There were bright red apples, grapes, candied naaps, salted pork, sweet oranges, aged Gouda, biscuits, and sour rhubarb.
"New food!" Achlys cheered.
"Of course, my little bug," Elise cooed, "you are a growing girl and your appetite must be growing as well. Poor dear, you must be so tired of eating dried and pickled goods."
"We have a garden. We grow beans and beets."
"A garden, this I must see."
"I show you later. Not s'posed to go with no Father."
"Of course, I wouldn't ask you to disobey your father."
"When will he be back?"
"I don't know, my dear. He told me he has important business to deal with and that it is too dangerous to bring you along."
"But Achlys a big girl. I am brave. I want to be with Father."
"I know you are. Be patient, I cannot imagine that he will be gone long. It is your finding day after all and I know he must want to celebrate it with you."
"No cake with no Father," Achlys demanded.
"We can wait," Elise agreed, "although you know he will not be able to eat it like we can."
"I know. Cake taste better when I shares with him."
"Let me help you with a snack while we wait."
Elise grabbed one of the oranges and began peeling it for Achlys, its rind still too tough for her soft nails to cut through. There was a squirt of juice, and the air began to fill with the uplifting aroma of citrus which had Achlys's mouth watering. Elise handed the sweet fruit over to the expecting child before peeling one for herself.
"Thank you," Achlys smiled.
"You are welcome, my little bug."
The pair sat in contended silence, enjoying the orange and watching the restless spirits flutter about the ruins from their high perch. Elise tossed part of the orange's rind to the ground where it was instantly set upon by one of her attending spiderlings. It sunk its fangs into the bright peel, but finding that it wasn't prey, dropped it immediately. Elise reached down and scratched her pet along its thorax.
"Are you still hungry, my dear?" she asked it, "I thought you had your fill earlier?"
"Does spider not like orange?" Achlys asked, "or cake?"
"No, my spiders are carnivores."
"What's carni-or?"
"Carnivore. It means that they will only eat meat."
"We have meat," Achlys said as she tried to offer a piece of the salted pork to the spider.
"It must be fresh," Elise corrected.
"Oh," Achlys thought for a moment before asking, "like a fish? I eat fish."
"Yes, like a fresh fish."
"Katherine is teaching me to fish. I get fish next time for spider."
"Katherine? That is a name I have not heard before. Is she a friend?"
Achlys nodded and pointed towards the secluded cove.
"She is my friend," the child answered," she lives down there. She likes to fish."
"You made a friend!" Elise cheered, "I was worried you would be out here all alone with nobody but moldy old books and your father to keep you company. It's so important for a young lady to socialize." Elise reached over and curled one of Achlys's hair ribbons around her long fingers, "four finding days. Four long years without anyone else like you."
"I'm not lonely. I have Katherine now. She is a nice wraith."
"Of course she is," Elise sighed, "are all your friends wraiths?"
"No. I have you, Auntie!" Achlys chirped.
Elise pulled Achlys close and hugged the small child.
"Of course you do," she cooed, "but I wish you could have a companion closer to your age. Back home, I have an associate who has a little girl as well."
"Is she like me?"
"She's seven, so she's a little older than you are," she uncurled four of Achlys's fingers and then three more, "but from what I have been informed, she can also use magic."
"Her hands glow?" Achlys asked excitedly.
"I do not know, but I do not believe her magic is anything like yours is."
"Aww."
"That just makes your magic special to you."
"Think she will be my friend?"
"Anyone would be privileged to have you as a friend."
"Can I meet her?"
"When Karthus allows me to kidnap you, I would love for you to meet my associates. I know that they would be very interested in you and your magic."
"Can I go with you?"
"I know your father will not let me take you away yet."
"Aww."
"Someday, little bug, someday."
Achlys leaned back into her Auntie. Much to her delight, Elise began to play with her hair as she continued to munch on her citrus snack. The sticky juices covered her fingers. She tried to imagine how magical the land to produce such a wonderful fruit had to be. She wondered if her father had ever been there. She wondered where he was now and if he was almost done with his errand.
Karthus never cared much to venture to this part of the island. It was quiet here. There had been no nearby villages when the land succumbed to the Ruination, and so few souls lingered in these woods, drawn instead to the locations of mass death. It was not as though he had found the solitude of the forest to be unsettling, but rather, without souls to guide, he felt as though his efforts would be better off spent elsewhere. Today however, was not for drawing new souls into his fold. Today was for finding a rare material he would need to complete his special project for Achlys.
Through the gnarled branches of the dead trees, Karthus spotted a crumbling monument. It was the statue of a warrior clad in heavy armor. The Ruination had not been kind to the monument. The tsunami of magic that had washed over the Isles had stuck the statue with such a force that one of its arms had been knocked off; shattering the scepter it had held against the pavement below. Karthus glided past the damaged monument. The enchanted glass that had decorated the statue glowed dimly as the wraith passed, briefly reactivated by his magic. He followed the road upon which the statue was built towards his destination, an old fortress.
When these lands were still considered blessed, the fortress served as a place where the Isles defenders would practice war games, though they had likely never imagined that they would ever need to utilize the skills they practiced here, so protected and hidden was their home. Perhaps if they had been in Helia all those centuries ago rather than their secluded fort, they would have been able to repel the invaders? How fortunate, Karthus thought, that they were not.
Karthus levitated over what remained of the fortresses walls and descended into the deserted courtyard. According to what he had learned in the great library, the enchanters who were stationed here would create stone golems, similar to the mighty sentinels that dwelled in the wilder places of Runeterra, by imbuing specially prepared stones with the water of life. With the water of life destroyed, Karthus lacked the means to treat the stone to recreate a construct as the ancient enchanters had. He did not allow this fact to deter him though. It simply meant that he would have to reclaim some of the stone from a completed golem.
Cracked stones served as lead for Karthus. Never truly living, these stone golems were spared the worst of Ruination, and they now continued to patrol the territory they were assigned while their creators lived. The pavement that they patrolled over countless times had become pulverized under their tireless steps, creating an easy trail for Karthus to follow. He followed the tracks through a rusted out gate at the far side of the courtyard and back into the woods.
Spider webs, clinging to the branches of the trees, swung gently in the breeze. Karthus pushed the webs aside as he tracked the stone golem. If the spiders were annoyed, Elise could complain to him later. Sudden movement in the underbrush caught Karthus's attention. A pack of wolves, spectral and skeletal, went prowling by. They growled at the lich's approach, but did not dare attack him or his accompanying wraiths. Karthus paid them no mind, as they were no danger to him, but one of his wraiths grew aggressive and hissed at one of the wolves, believing that it stepped too close to its master.
In turn, the wolf snapped at the wraith, its phantom teeth sinking into its aggressor's forearm. Karthus was quick to respond, and he summoned a burst of magic into the center of the park before they could all lunge upon the pinned wraith and tear it to misty shreds. The first wolf, startled by the spell released the wraith and sprinted back to its pack. They growled at the wraiths who screeched back with equal malice. Karthus remained unfazed. He reached out with his magic to subdue the wraiths to his will, when suddenly a groaning noise, like a tree beginning to fall, echoed through the woods. The wolves, recognizing the sound, fled. Karthus turned in the direction of the noise and readied himself. His search for the stone golem was over.
The hulking construct burst forth from the underbrush. It had been alerted by the sounds of the brief fight between the wolves and the wraiths, and followed its ancient orders to protect the fortress from attack. The monocular head of the golem focused on the undead before it. Runes of bright blue flickered over its form as it lurched into action. Stoney fists came swinging downward, determined to crush the lich in one blow. Karthus levitated backwards, easily avoiding the attack. He responded by pointing his staff at the creature and commanding his wraiths to attack.
"Go, my choir. Sing for this ancient being."
The wraiths howled in unison and washed over the golem like a wave. They spun about it, clawing at it from all sides. Though their claws did little to the stone, the distraction they provided allowed Karthus to assault it without having to worry about being struck by the stone fists. In rapid succession, Karthus was able to strike the golem with several bursts of necrotic energy, blasting off chunks of stone as he did.
The golem let out another groaning roar and swung wildly. As it continued to fight, it became faster, as though all the magic stored in it were steadily waking up. A rocky hand closed around a wraith clawing at the shoulder of the golem and tossed it aside before delivering a mighty punch to the downed undead. The earth cracked under the force of the blow and the wraith dissolved back into mist. Karthus scowled. Since these golems were powered by the waters of life, he was unsure if this destruction would be something the members of his congregation would be able to reform after.
Not wanting to risk another wraith's destruction, Karthus filled the air around the golem with necrotic energy. The dark magic seeped into the golem, disrupting its own magic just as the energy would disrupt the life force of a mortal. Its movements slowed. Seizing the opportunity, the remaining wraiths redoubled their efforts to bring down the large foe. Karthus joined them, concentrating an explosion of magic at the shoulder where his destroyed wraith had been. With a bang and burst of light, the arm was blown off and crashed to the ground. Magic began to pour from the damaged surface like blood from a wound.
"Countless years you have patrolled these lands, but now your time has come," Karthus spoke to the doomed golem, "Crumble, and know that your stone will serve a greater purpose."
Now unable to shake the undead off of itself, the golem quickly collapsed under the relentless assault of the wraiths. Karthus extended his hand, bringing it within inches of the golem's head. Then, he released a blast of energy centered on the top of its head. The stone exploded, sending a shower of pebbles across the ground. The headless body toppled over. Its stone limbs, no longer bound by magic, fell apart. Karthus commanded his wraiths to move the disenchanted stone aside until he found the golem's heart.
Knowing gems were a reliable vessel for magic, the mages who created the golem had used a massive quartz crystal to serve as the heart of their creation. Here, the magic of the water of life still clung to the clear crystal and was visible as a blue light, small as a firefly but as bright and intense as the sky at midday. Karthus raised his hand to shield his eyes before the brilliance, and with his other hand, he reached out to claim the heart.
At his touch, the crystal corrupted. The Black Mist swirled around Karthus, using him as a conduit to flow into the pristine crystal. Its surface became clouded and dark, completely concealing the light that had once shone so brightly, as the Mist worked to extinguish the power of the damned waters and turn it into something more aligned with its own nature. Underneath the smoky surface of the gem, the radiant light grew sickly and cold as everything else on the Isles.
Karthus nodded in approval at the crystal's change. There was still power in the stone, but now it was something he would be able to manipulate and mold into a companion for Achlys. Satisfied, Karthus called his wraiths to his side and departed the forgotten fortress. He had his daughter's finding day celebrations to attend to.
Greetings Summoners,
Goodness gracious, I miss Twisted Treeline. But I'm not here to talk about that. The iron is hot right now for the Shadow Isles, so I'm going to strike. I'm going to do my best to get more Deathsinger chapters out to you all this summer. New characters are on the misty horizon, so check back often. As always, feedback is appreciated. Until next chapter (which will be next week), please remember to say "please" and "thank you" to your support, make kind choices, and always kiss your Featherknight goodnight. Best of luck on the Rift,
-Gwoo