Tales of Adaranth

Adaranth sat heavily in the enormous chair, enjoying the wonderful sensation of soft cushions supporting him for the first time in what felt like ages. He gingerly lifted a large leg of some sort of meat from a silver platter next to him, sitting upon a small ottoman, and delicately bit into the tender flesh. Exquisite. He looked around, taking in the lush palace he had just inherited, and noted that the man the local law had named "Duke" had lived with the ecstasy of a king. He grimaced. He could not stay here long. A palace fit for a king was an improvement from his recent conditions, but still not what Adaranth in all of his glory deserved. His eyes wandered to the marbled floor, where the body of the late duke lay limp, torn apart by some large beast, in a pool of blood. Adaranth tasted bile in his throat.

 "Servant girl!" He snapped loudly, sitting up in his throne, "Where are you, you dirty pig!?" He relaxed in his position again as a young woman dressed in a black dress with a filthy white frock, eyes filled with fear, slowly crept through a door to his left. She opened her mouth to speak, but Adaranth cut her off. 

 "Do not speak in my presence!" He screamed, like a child throwing a tantrum, hurling his greasy meal at her. The leg fell short by several yards and landed on the hard marble tiles with a pathetic slapping noise. She started and backed away quickly despite his childish demeanor. 

 "Stay here! Clean up this disgusting mess on my floor!" He whined, gesturing toward the mangled body of the former duke. The woman turned her gaze toward the mangled body on the floor and something revulsion seemed to pass over her. It appeared for a moment as though she was thinking about running away, however, she seemed smart enough to realize what the strange man who had just broken into her home and killed her master and his guards would do if that happened, and hurriedly rushed over to the duke, holding her head down and drawing a rag from her skirts. Adaranth sat back and stared at her, emerald eyes bright with disgust. He did not understand the mannerisms of peasants. Would she not relish the opportunity to spend a few more moments with the man who up until a few hours ago she had called "master"? The duke had been nothing more than a speck of dust to HIM, of course, but the political figure HAD held a higher position than this swine in front of him, and she should appreciate this last hour of servitude. The ingratitude of the lower class was and forever would be beyond his comprehension, and would be repulsive to him just as long. He should just kill her now.

 No. 

 That would mean preparing his own meals and drawing his own baths, tasks he was high above. He shook his head, it was beginning to ache. He could not bear to be in the presence of this mongrel girl much longer. He stood, his silky viridescent robes cascading about him, and began to briskly walk toward the door. 

 "When I return, this floor will be the purest white I have ever seen, and you will be tucked out of sight in your quarters, yes?" He did not wait for an answer. He left the palace, shoving open the ornate wooden doors with a flourish. He strolled down a paved walkway for a moment, then stopped, looking around at the bright blue expanse of the sky, the vivid green of the trees, and the organized technicolor beauty of the palace gardens, their lush beauty lost on his calculating eyes. Adaranth could not be bothered to pay attention to any of it. If he had, he may have noticed the strange metallic glint of the nearby bushes. He cupped his hands around his mouth as a misty green energy began to swirl around his head.

 "MAGGOT!"

 The green energy exploded outward in a sphere, magically amplifying the volume of his voice. The name echoed into the air several times, and after a few seconds an enormous creature bounded into view. The massive beast was a Zaunite Tiger, standing six and a half feet tall at the shoulder, and running ten feet long, the monster was bore a similar resemblance to its mundane cousin, merely larger in size, and possessing a greenish tint to its coat, thanks to the noxious Zaunite experiments conducted on it throughout its life. This tiger was one of only four of its kind in existence, but the exotic nature of the animal was lost on Adaranth. He knew only that he needed something lesser than himself to get dirty when the situation required, and this thing was the best slave he could find. The monstrous animal sprinted toward Adaranth, but knew from experience not to touch his master, or come too close. 

 "Come, Maggot. You shall accompany me." The green, misty energy of Adaranth's magic floated through the air and saturated the maggot's very flesh, forcing Adaranth's intent upon him. He turned in a whirl of robes and began to embark along the cobbled path, but before he could he was interrupted by a loud growl. He swiftly turned about, intent on pounding the maggot into the earth for making noise, when he saw the cause of the threatening growl. A soldier, clad in Demacian armor, had emerged from the forest a stones throw away and was silently approaching him. The soldier carried chains of stone, as if he was actually intending to cuff Adaranth. Righteous indignation flooded through him like blazing fire. The utter impudence of this... this... this _bottomfeeder_. This worm was planning to make physical contact with a being like him? The very concept almost made Adaranth puke. He held up a hand, and tendrils of vaporous emerald energy exploded from his palm and wrapped themselves around the soldier, lifting him into the air.

 "I will give you one chance to speak before I shred you to pieces for affronting me like this," Adaranth exclaimed, "So choose your words wisely." The man held up a scroll. An official document. Adaranth would permit its being read by an inferior person. The soldier cleared his throat. 

"Adaranth, of Noxian origin, you are, by royal decree, selected to be tried for death, based on the murder of a combined total of eighteen Demacians, four of which being royalty, five of which being soldiers, and nine of which being citizens, and for the deaths of an untold number of Noxians and Shurimans prior to your arrival in this kingdom." Adaranth raised an eyebrow.

"You have come to arrest me, peon?" The soldier looked affronted at these words.

"I had hoped to do so peacefully, despite your reputation, good sir," He replied, to which Adaranth smirked.

"-but it appears as though you would resort to an altercation."

"I would resort,"Adaranth spat the word out like acid, " -to leaving the presence of an inferior like you and cleansing myself of your stink, but you do not look like you will leave me be. Very well. Maggot!" He commanded his beast, "-get this thing out of my sight."

Adaranth turned away as the tiger leaped forward to confront the soldier, but was met with another surprise. The way into the woods was blocked by at least twenty soldiers, with the silhouettes of more in the surrounding trees. A quick glance over his shoulder told him that a large number of soldiers were emerging from the trees where Maggot had already torn apart the first soldier to confront him. He looked back to where ten soldiers were rushing him, swords drawn, and more were nocking arrows to bows. The very concept, the mere idea of these men even coming near him, with weapons or otherwise, sent an inferno of righteous indignation blazing through his veins, inciting in him a fury that he had never once in his life felt before. With a mighty roar of outrage, he thrust his arm forward with an open palm, and the magical energy that had been lazily sweeping around him shot forward in two tendrils across his shoulder, helixing around and down his arm before amalgamating at his fingertips into an emerald ball. The ball exploded, firing missiles in opposite directions that arced midair, flying straight into each other several yards away, their trajectories forming a wide circle that passed straight through the first wave of swordsmen, ripping through their armor and reducing them to a fine dust while imbuing the ground between Adaranth and their collision with a glowing green color. The four men that were not blown to bits stood in shock for a second, then redoubled their attack. They stepped on the glowing earth in their approach. The ground erupted around the men in a secondary explosion, sending debris and four corpses flying high into the air, before showering down on the distant archers.

Adaranth rapidly approached toward the row of archers, green energy whipping about him angrily. The archers heaved the corpses off of them, and nocked their arrows once more, sending them hurtling toward the mage. Adaranth clapped his hands together, and energy sprouted from his hands and shot forward a few feet before splitting off in opposite directions, encompassing himself in a green sphere of energy. The arrows meant for him bounced off of the sphere, flying away wildly in random directions. An anguished roar pierced the air, and he grimaced. The stupid animal had gotten in the way of the arrows. Hopefully some soldiers had been stupid enough to get impaled as well. One more blast of magic utterly destroyed the rest of the soldiers, and Adaranth smirked as he turned around to see the maggot tearing into the chest of the final soldier.

Should have brought your famous Demacian petricite, He thought to himself.

The entire lawn was littered with bodies and carnage. Having disposed every threat, the maggot laid down on its side, chest heaving. The beast was littered with arrows and lacerations, and with a final breath, stopped resisting the inevitable, and allowed the comforting finality of death to overtake it at long last.

Adaranth rolled his eyes.

"You can't die yet, you ugly thing." He stretched forth his hand, and the familiar green energy seeped into Maggot's wounds. The arrows dissolved into nothingness, and the cuts cris-crossing Maggots body sealed together and disappeared. The tigers eyes flew open, life restored. Gratitude overpowered wisdom, and it attempted to lick Adaranth in appreciation, at which point it was hurled into a tree thirty feet away. He magically commanded the beast to find some food for itself, and it slinked away into the darkness of the woods, leaving him alone. He rounded on the palace and entered with a practiced flourish.

The floor was a beautiful white marble, free of corpses or blood, and the young dirty girl was no where to be seen. An emotion resembling satisfaction warmed Adaranth, and he regally mounted his lavish throne.

"Servant girl!" He cried, "Do not show yourself to me. Know that I have taken up temporary residence in your mediocre home, and I will permit you to eat tonight as commendation for not disappointing me." Adaranth settled back, slightly disgusted at himself for showing a street rat such kindness, and began to finish his dinner, served on a silver platter, suspended on a small table, with a brand new roasted leg of some beast.

So that is my story, based off of a champion idea that revolves around a permanent pet that I presented earlier. If you like it feel free to give his champion concept a gander. If you want to, the post is titled Permanent Pet Concept, Adaranth, The Narcissistic Mage, and it's my most recent post.