Ezreal Fanfiction

I looked down below me and thought, based on the distance I’d covered, that it would be a fair time for a break. It had been a pretty long climb. I pulled myself over a decent ledge, buckled my harness on my belt loop, and took a well-deserved seat, wiping a sheen of sweat from my forehead. There was a slight sting right smack in the middle, and I realized that I’d gotten a scratch, maybe from squeezing through two difficult rocks before. It was fine though. I’d been through a lot worse.

I looked up at the spotless sky, then turned around to see how much of this rock I’d be climbing today. When I flew over here, it took me one look to map out its height, width, and other dimensions, but even someone as cool as me couldn’t see what I was looking for at that distance. I was kind of excited when I realized I’d be climbing, no doubt. Plus the talisman I was scoping for was pretty decent – a charm left behind by migrating Noxians, apparently. I think Noxians are the scum of the earth, but Swain was making some pretty sweet offers, and the way Darius’s axe-cleaver-death-scythe gleamed in the moonlight that night…you can probably guess where my priorities were.

The mystic glove shimmered and pulsed on my right hand, catching my attention. Sometimes I found myself just staring at it, mystified by the fact that of all people to find such an artifact, it was me. I wasn’t really religious, but the thing was too much to be a coincidence. Fate had allowed me to choose this particular glove or, rather, it had chosen me. Either way, I was grateful.

A bright shape flitted into view, obscuring the sun for a moment. I took note of the lean stature, zipping wings, and lithe body and recognized my partner, Dmitri. Dmitri was half-man half-fairy (don’t ask me how that worked out), and as a result he somehow managed to mix the plump, full form of a human with the thin delicate build of fairy, making him right in the middle. With a body as agile as an acrobat and bright fiery wings that never seemed to stop moving. He was potentially the only Noxian native I liked, mostly because he acknowledged how backwards their system was and never tried to hide it.

At the moment, Dmitri didn’t look too happy. He planted his hands on his hips. “And just what do you think you’re doing? Is this Christmas?”

I wiped some more sweat. “Yes, Christmas in July. That makes a lot of sense,” I said sarcastically.

“Well, the fact that you’re just lounging here, soaking in the sunlight and getting an tan implies that you think it’s break time,” he said back, fighting a grin.

“Just a moment. We’ve been climbing for two hours. I think I deserve some rest.” I looked him up and down. “Well, I’ve been climbing for two hours. You’ve been… you’ve been doing whatever the hell you’ve been doing.” I yawned and lay on my back, closing my eyes.

“You mean all the work?”

“I’m sweating like a pig and probably burned about twenty thousand calories already. That’s work.” I yawned again.

“As far as I’m concerned, all you’ve been doing is getting a workout. Which is equivalent to nothing. You haven’t even tried to find the charm, let alone something remotely relevant to what we’re doing here. You’re renowned for having the eye of an explorer, but your ‘eye’ hasn’t caught anything of value yet.”

I cracked an eye. “Not true. I found an interesting looking boulder a second ago.”

“You’re just lazy. We’d be done by now if you didn’t take so many breaks.”

“This is the only break I’ve taken so far.”

“Exactly! That just proves my point. You’re lazy!”

“Says the guy with wings,” I laughed, closing my eyes again. “You could scale this rock in two seconds if you wanted. One and a half if you tried hard.”

“These are nothing.” I could imagine him stroking his wings tenderly. The guy was crazy about them, constantly keeping them groomed and clean. With that thought in mind, I aimed and shot a small bolt of energy. His yelp of surprise and outrage told me I’d hit home. “Hey! No firing!”

“No firing?” I chuckled, opening my eyes. “Okay, if you say so. On one condition: no flying.”

Dmitri landed softly and folded his arms, the sun illuminating his orange hair. “Please. I could fly up and down this mountain twice and you’d still be behind. I could finish twice as quickly as you.”

I smelled a challenge, one aimed more at getting the job done than actually winning. But a challenge all the same.

I do not back down from challenges.

I grinned mischievously. “You’re on.”

---

Dmitri came back down a little too quickly, so of course I didn’t believe he’d gone all the way to the top. I stared at him and realized by his confused expression that something wasn’t right.

“You ever heard of sapphires growing on plateaus, Ez?”

I squinted. “Uh, no.” I reconsidered. “Well maybe, if there’s a cave. They usually grow lots of rods in one spot.”

“How about, um, one sapphire?”

My brows furrowed. “One?”

“Climb up about fifty more feet. I’m not crazy.” He disappeared.

Ten grueling and sweaty minutes later, I hauled myself over another ledge, this one leading into a cave-like opening. The distinct yet soft blue light caught my eye immediately, even though Dmitri was standing right in front of it. I stood up and brushed my clothes, taking a step inside. “What are we looking at again? Last time I checked, sapphires don’t glow.” He moved aside and let me get a better look.

It wasn’t a sapphire. That much I could out. It’s radiant blue exterior seemed to bleed onto the rock around it, and if I looked hard enough, I could make out little brown specks and streaks, like pierces of island against a brilliant blue ocean, white clouds dotting it. It looked sort of like a mini-Earth. The gem emanated a type of silent energy, one that we could both feel, one that was both comforting and warm and suffocating at the same time. I felt an uncontrollable urge to take it and stash away, protect it. It’s aura felt powerful, everything about it did. But then again, I was never one to obsess over power. So was it that kind? The evil kind that took the minds of its pursuers and turned them into lunatics? I reached over to pick it up.

My glove suddenly became hot, burning my hand. Hissing, I jerked it back and tried to wave the pain off.

“What?” Dmitri asked, concerned.

“I don’t know,” I replied, looking at the glove. Its glowing orb was becoming brighter and brighter by the second, as if competing with the new artifact we’d found. “I don’t think it likes that gem.”

A strange sensation. I could feel power building up in my right hand, but I wasn’t planning to shoot anyone or anything. Fearing the worst, I quickly pointed away from us just as a massive bolt of energy erupted, striking a wall and ripping rock away. A boulder loosened and fell, and the whole structure started to shake.

“Uh,” I said, staring at the gaping hole in the cave. “Is that supposed to happen?”

“Ezreal!” Dmitri said, alarmed. “You just blew away a part of this thing’s foundation!”

I gripped a wall to stay balanced. “What?” I called, barely hearing him. The shaking intensified. “What did you say?”

“This thing is going to implode!”

A large rock fell inches away from me, driving his message home. I sprinted for the cave’s exit, weaving between falling rocks, sustaining a few hits. Dust gathered around and started to travel down my throat and my eyes. I coughed and tried to focus on the bright exit. An orange blur. Dmitri was out before I could even call for help, but the opening was still there, inviting and promising safety. I got to the opening before realizing a major problem: I’d climbed up here, and as far as I could see, the only exit was a cliff, leading to a very far ground. I looked behind me and saw giant rocks raining, decimating everything below. My odds were pretty bad. Either I stay inside and get crushed, or I jump out and count my blessings. I hated this. Bets and risks were Twisted Fate’s thing.

I noticed Dmitri soaring erratically above, probably looking frantically for my corpse. “Hey!” I cried, waving my arms and motioning my predicament. His eagle eyes found me and he dipped into a very steep dive. I raised my hands and caught his, allowing him to heave me up just as a cascade of rocks fell right where I was a second ago. The ledge, unable to hold the extra weight, gave in and released an avalanche of rock, dust, and sand down the cliff side. I hoped no one was sightseeing today.

Dmitri exhaled deeply gripped my wrists, digging his nails into my skin. His wings flapped with a fury that was unlike him. I couldn’t believe it. For once, I was seeing him become tired.

“Uh Dmitri, we’re falling,” I noted as we descended slowly.

He looked sharply at me. “Of course we’re falling! You’re not a poro!”

“You sure about that?”

He rolled his eyes as we got closer to the ground. He dropped me and collapsed on the ground beside me, panting as if he’d run a mile. I was pretty beat myself; bleeding almost everywhere, dust and sand in my clothes and head. I shook and ran a hand through my messy hair, inspecting Dmitri from the side of my eye.

“You okay?” I inquired. His wings slumped, touching the ground. He never let those things get dirty. “You’d better not die on me.”

He sighed. “I’m fine,” he answered, grinning weakly. “You just weigh a ton. Maybe you should let up on the biscuits.”

I laughed. “I don’t know what happened back there,” I said, thinking. “That’s never happened before. I never lose control of my powers. And I never just shoot things.” I hoisted myself on my elbows and looked at him. “It was that gem. Just being near it made my glove go haywire.”

He shrugged, then smiled, rebellious. “Oh, I don’t suppose you mean…this gem?”

And lo and behold, the idiot pulled the beautiful stone out. I apprehensively checked my glove for any warnings, but it seemed fine, ordinary.

For some reason, this crept me out the most.

“Get rid of that thing,” I said, eyeing it mistrustfully. “It almost killed us.”

“No, Ez, you almost killed us, and come on! Don’t you want to find out what it is, what it does?”

“No,” I replied bluntly. “Besides, that’s not even what we came here for. We’re looking for a Noxian charm, not some ocean rock.”

“Please,” Dmitri said, waving a hand. “I found that charm hours ago.”

“What?” I exclaimed, outraged. “And you didn’t—”

“That’s what you get for being lazy! If I saw you making a conscious effort to find the charm I would have told you. But nope, you wanted to lounge around and think of nothing.”

“You’re a terrible person.”

“I had you in mind,” he said, shrugging.

“You’re a terrible person.”

“A terrible person who saved your life. And got my wings dirty, too.”

I opened my mouth to retort, but couldn’t. “Huh. Touché.”