Battle Magic: Rise of the Mirror Mage (Katarina's Legacy - Part 4)
At last ... the FINALE!!! (Yes, I know this is part 4, and no, I am not a secret Jhin main.)
Seriously, if you haven't read the other parts yet ... ugh, here are the links (READ THEM OR RISK SERIOUS SPOILERS!):
And now ... the final chapter! Thank you for reading! (Fun Fact: I had Worlds Collide and Ignite, as well as their Finals Remixes, on a loop when I posted this. :P)
Well, I certainly seem to have a penchant for screwing things up lately. It would certainly explain why there’s a hostile army waiting for me, just outside the city walls.
Ok, let me try to explain calmly. My dad showed up at my doorstep the evening of my wedding, and he’d been terrified after figuring out that the Kindred had granted me a second chance. That has something to do with it.
He’d tried to explain it to me the following morning. We’d all been too tired to talk about it that night. And if not for Garen reassuring me that nothing was wrong, I wouldn’t have gotten any sleep. So once we had all woken up and eaten, we settled down for what we expected would be a long explanation.
I’d been completely confused at first, so he’d had to go through it piece by piece in order for me to understand.
According to my father, when he was young, the Noxian mages claimed to sense a powerful magic radiating from my father. He never developed any powers – however, he could see an aura that, based on its appearance, helped him determine what a mage’s power was, making him an ideal tool for recruiting mages (or eliminating them). With this and his training, he quickly rose to a powerful position in the Noxian ranks.
“I never really used my power after my place was solidified, but the day you were born, I sensed that something was amiss. But I only learned what exactly that was when I saw you for the first time.
“You had some sort of power I’d never seen before, and no matter how closely I read through the book I’d found that helped me determine what each aura meant, I couldn’t find anything. Until I managed to translate the runic language someone had used to inscribe … something on the last page.
“At first, the sentences didn’t make any sense. But once I fixed the grammar and spelling so that the translation was as modern as possible, everything clicked into place. And I realized that I had to burn the page I’d written the translation on.
That sentence had immediately tipped me off to the fact that whatever he’d discovered about me was too dangerous to be common knowledge in Noxus, and that thought had nearly made me shudder.
“Your mother never noticed that I’d seen an aura around you, so I was the only one who knew about your power. But if anyone had found that page, they would have instantly known what I was hiding.”
“What’s my power, then?” I was both curious and worried at this point, since he was just going in circles around the answer.
“Not there yet, Kat,” my dad told me, before continuing, “There was a catch, however. One that, once I realized that it meant the process necessary to activating your power was impossible, relieved me to no end. It meant no one could take you and use you for your power, since the only person who could possibly activate your power was yourself … with the help of the Kindred.”
I was perfectly still as he continued with, “In order for you to gain access to your power, you had to be granted a second chance by the Kindred. And the only way for that to happen would be to defeat them beforehand. That, you did. Yesterday, they finished what you started. And as a result, your power will start to emerge. We need to confirm that it is what I’ve feared, and then help you quickly learn to control it. Because if word gets out that Demacia has a –“ he stopped and didn’t say the word “– then every faction out there, and I mean every single one, will come for you. They will all want you on their side – or at least under their control.”
“What are you saying? That Katarina’s a danger to herself?” Garen’s tone was dangerous, and I knew he’d probably attack my father if the latter gave the former the wrong answer.
“No, she’s not. But you need to understand why her power is so coveted, and it will be, especially since she’s also trained for battle. There’s nothing worse than your own magic bouncing right back at you and killing your own army – at least, that’s what it seems like.”
Some part of my mind made the connection, and I knew instantly what my dad was trying to tell me.
“Are you saying I’m a …” I couldn’t finish the sentence. Could I really have that sort of power? I decided to try and use it to confirm the truth.
There was only one simple spell I could think of. One Lux had used by accident years ago, the one that had caused the Demacian military to realize how valuable she could be.
I extended my left arm and reached out with my mind, like when I did to search for anyone who might have meant harm at the wedding the previous day. Except this time, I was searching for magic.
I found Lux’s signature magic easily – after all, she was standing just a few feet away – and somehow managed to _copy_ it. I can’t really explain how, but the end result was that I made my hand invisible.
Lux gasped and put both hands over her mouth. Garen stared, absolutely stunned. And my father simply shook his head slowly.
“… mirror mage,” I finished.
Ok, so now I’m going to explain what I know about mirror mages. But most of this is speculation, because no one really thought they existed.
Mirror mages are one of the most powerful kinds of magic users, because, while they have little magic of their own, they can copy the magic of other mages exactly, down to the smallest bit. It’s impossible to tell the difference between the original spell and a mirror mage’s version. This alone makes them coveted, since they can amplify a mage’s power, or counter them completely with their own spells. However, rumor has it that, if a mirror mage is enabled to hone his or her magic and increase its power, he or she can take another mage’s power permanently. So, if I, for example, learned how to take … let’s say Syndra’s magic, she’d no longer be able to use it, while I’d have complete control over it, as if I’d been the one to possess that magic in the first place.
That sounds scary, right? Well, everyone – including me – thought mirror mages were a myth, especially because it was rumored that a mirror mage could only be created by resurrecting a person gifted with the _potential_ to be a mirror mage (not the actual power) at the moment of their death. That task alone was impossible for any mortal, and there was no way to tell if someone could potentially become a mirror mage anyway. But, seeing as this is my situation … I guess mirror mages weren’t so impossible.
Now, let me explain how I screwed everything up.
I was training in one of the lightproof, soundproof rooms available in the castle with Lux, trying to mimic her spells, when there was a knock on the door. These rooms were sound- and lightproof on the _outside_ – that is, no one could hear or see into the room, but we could hear (not really see, since the walls were thick and without windows) what was going on outside.
I quickly released my grip on Lux’s magic before she walked over to open the door.
The person outside was a Shuriman ambassador who’d gotten completely lost on his way to the designated meeting room with the king. Lux agreed to take him there, but when I started to follow, she looked at me and mouthed, _keep practicing_. I nodded and turned back to focus on my task after she closed the door. This time, I tried to pick up on Lux’s magic while she wasn’t nearby, and much to my surprise, I was able to do so. I quickly ran through her basic rotation of spells – Light Binding, Prismatic Barrier, and Lucent Singularity – and then tried to hold the invisibility spell for as long as I could. I only made it for a few minutes, but on the upside, I scared Lux for a split second when she returned by releasing the spell just after she closed the door and turned to face me.
She screamed for a second before collecting herself and complaining, “Come on, Kat, what was that for?”
I just laughed, and then focused on the next task – trying to replicate her iconic Final Spark. This one would be a LOT harder, but I felt that I had enough energy to pull it off today.
Forgoing her usual windup, I manifested a ball of light in my right hand, drew both hands in towards my torso, and then pushed outwards as hard as I could.
For a moment, nothing happened. But then there was a blinding flash of light, and a perfectly copied version of Lux’s ultimate spell burst from my hands (nearly obliterating the wall I was facing in the process). Lux belatedly hit the floor, as she had the previous time one of the spells I’d tried to cast had backfired, but there was no need to this time.
Much to my delight, I’d cast the spell perfectly. After a moment, Lux had the nerve to say, “Now if only you’d cast the _other_ spells as well the first time around …”
I glared at her, and she wisely shut up. The fact that I could turn her own magic against her _probably_ was the reason she backed off. Right? At least, I liked to think so.
But then we, belatedly, noticed that the door was open, and heard the footfalls of a person running like their life depended on it. The dang Shuriman ambassador had opened the door and seen me!
And, despite the fact that most people didn’t believe mirror mages could even exist, he’d known _exactly_ what I was.
We were screwed. Because, from the little bit I knew about Shuriman politics, the recently reborn empire wanted as much power as it could get its hands on.
And now that they knew there was a mirror mage in existence, one that was obviously training to strengthen her magic …
The ambassador would be back with an army at his heels.
Garen paced back and forth across the room, just as frustrated as I was. If only that stupid ambassador hadn’t been so nosy and kept to his own business, nothing would have happened.
Demacia’s fate wouldn’t be at stake here.
We hadn’t told Jarvan about my power – not that we didn’t trust him with the secret, but it was better to limit the number of people who knew as much as possible – but now we were debating giving him at least a heads up. He’d been surprised when the ambassador had practically fled the castle, and our reactions to his departure had confused him even more. And when the army showed up asking for his mirror mage, he’d deny the charges, since he honestly had no idea there was a mirror mage living in his faction.
“I say we tell him,” Garen said. “That way he won’t be confused when whoever comes starts taunting him about the fact that there’s a mirror mage in his personal guard.”
“Uh … it’s better if he doesn’t know,” Lux countered, taking the other side. “It might discourage the army if he genuinely has no idea whatsoever, and then they’ll leave.”
“But then what if they decide to take Kat by force instead of arguing it out through ‘diplomacy’? Then what?”
Garen was being overprotective, but he did have a point there. If the army decided to use force instead of reasoning, I’d only been able to mimic Lux’s spells so far, and not that reliably. Therefore, I would have to rely on my assassin training to get myself out alive, which, honestly, wouldn’t do me any good. I couldn’t kill sand soldiers, they would just reform after I stabbed or beheaded them.
Why, out of all the materials that an Ascended Shuriman emperor could have an affinity for, did it have to be sand?
Seeing as I was torn between the two sides of the debate, I stayed out of it, although it looked like Garen and Lux were about to start a screaming match. But luckily, I was saved the task of interrupting when my father said, “No.”
The two siblings spun to face him.
“Don’t tell the prince,” my father continued. “It’s better that he doesn’t know. We can tell him later on, but not now. Just because Shurima might force our hand because one of Azir’s ambassadors saw Katarina practicing doesn’t mean everyone else in Runeterra knows. Jarvan can wait.”
I winced, remembering yet again that this was entirely my fault. But the other three people in the room all saw me start to open my mouth to speak, and husband, sister-in-law, and father all yelled at me (for probably the fourth time today), “Don’t you dare say it!”
It made me laugh a bit, but I stopped trying to get an apology in.
“Why?” Garen was clearly skeptical, as it was his place to be so. As the leader of the Dauntless Vanguard, it was his job to ensure that no circumstance became a threat to the prince – and by extension, the king – and leaving a blind spot felt like a threat to him.
“Because, as Miss Luxanna said,” – Lux smiled at that, few people other than my father actually addressed her properly like that – “if the prince doesn’t know, when Shurima’s forces arrive, he will genuinely be able to turn them away without knowing he lied to them.”
My husband thought about it for a few minutes, pacing back and forth as the rest of us waited, before finally sighing and admitting defeat.
“Fine, I won’t tell him. But, if there is the _slightest_ indication that Jarvan could come to harm for not knowing, I will tell him. Do you hear me?”
We all nodded.
Garen, clearly satisfied with our promise, stalked off to train in the practice room. I watched him go, and Lux, seeing my expression, walked over to me and whispered, “Go ahead. He could probably use a moment to talk with you.”
Excusing myself, I headed to the training room. On my way, I grabbed something out of my room, and then, somehow finally realizing I was in my room, threw on some training gear.
I should probably mention that my “training gear” was my old Noxus uniform – all black leather. Despite its ties to my old faction, the uniform was still a high-quality piece of gear (like my blades), so I might as well keep it, even if I only ever use it for private training.
Once I reached the training room, I instantly spotted Garen punching and kicking the life out of a dummy. While I myself had severely injured some practice dummies, I didn’t think this one was going to make it. It was already missing an arm, after all…
“Easy there. If you keep that up, someone – that dummy or you – is going to wind up hurt. Well, I guess I can’t really say that, seeing as your target’s already dead.”
Garen pivoted to face me when he heard my voice, but once he saw my face and recognition clicked in, he smiled and turned back to face the dummy.
“You’re right,” he decided, “the poor thing’s already deceased.” He then proceeded to drag it to the corner with the pile of broken equipment that someone would come and fix in a few days. That pile was mostly targets and dummies, but there was actually a piece of metal or two sticking out. Well, _that_ was my fault – I forgot that my blades could cut through soft metal if they hit the metal at just the right angle.
“So, what’d you come for? Need to duel to get your frustration out? I think murdering that practice dummy helped for me,” Garen asked, wiping sweat off of his forehead. He certainly looked less tense, so I guess a few minutes to himself had helped him accept that he was going to have to keep a secret from one of the few people he trusted more than anything.
“I was thinking something … less violent,” I said, quickly followed by, “and not what you’re thinking!”
My husband sighed. “Can’t catch a break lately …” and then he proceeded to very nearly dodge my elbow. I’d teleported across the room and tried to jab him, but, of course, he’d predicted it. We knew each other too well sometimes.
I then walked over to the lone bench pressed up against the wall and plopped myself down, reaching for what I had in my pocket. I didn’t take it out yet, but kept my hand wrapped around it.
Garen, after a moment, strolled over and sat next to me. “Did you want to talk about something?” he asked.
I nodded, and then started, “I’m not sure what made me think of this, but … at the wedding …”
He winced, and I grimaced, remembering that it was still a sore spot in his memory right now. Of course bringing up the day I’d died (and come back to life) was a bad idea! I mentally kicked myself for my idea, but then, surprisingly, Garen said, “Go ahead. Keep talking, I’m alright.”
“Are you sure?”
He nodded.
“Ok then … so, that day, we got a bit … caught up in the fact that I’d just been resurrected that we pretty much skipped the ceremony.”
He chuckled softly. “Oh, I remember that. Are you really complaining about that right now?”
“I’m not!” I said, exasperated for a second, and tried to whack him. Of course he caught my arm before it connected with his shoulder. Or was I aiming for his face? Maybe.
“I’m not sure why I thought of it, but on my way here … I thought about this. It’s been sitting in my drawer since that day, and for some reason, I thought now was as good a time as any to give this to you.”
“What are you –” Garen broke off whatever he was about to say when I pulled the ring out from my pocket. It was a beautiful silver ring, one I’d picked out personally for him. This was the _one_ thing Lux had let me choose, and she’d liked it too.
The ring was basically a broadsword in shape, with the very tip joined to the top of the hilt to form a circle. Up close – Lux had agreed with me – it looked exactly like Garen’s signature weapon. That had been the deciding factor for me in the end.
“Where did you find this?” Garen asked me.
“It’s not _where_ I found it, it’s _why_ I found it. It reminded me of you,” I told him, looking up to meet his eyes. The emotions I found there nearly brought me to tears.
Garen smiled – a genuine, joyous smile – before reaching into one of his pockets. “No wonder I felt like I needed this today,” he said, before showing me the item in his hand.
I couldn’t help it. I gasped.
I hadn’t seen the ring he’d picked out for me at all before the wedding, and then, due to the chaos that had occurred, it had slipped my mind. But now, I was finally seeing it. And I had the same question he’d asked.
_Where_ had he found it? The ring was perfect. It was silver, and appeared to be a circle of my throwing daggers, connected on the side edges with all of the tips pointed the same way. However, the signature “S” I’d had engraved on my daggers after earning my nickname was absent.
Garen then turned the ring so I could see the engraving on the inside. There were four words someone had somehow fit with room to spare – on one side, “_Katarina Crownguard_,” and the other, “_amica mea_.”
“When did you learn Latin?” I only knew a very small amount, but enough to understand what the inscription said.
“I didn’t,” Garen said, grinning. “I just asked a friend for a translation, and then got it engraved. And if you were going to ask, I didn’t find this. I had it custom made for you. I knew you’d probably find something like what you did …” – he pointed at the ring I still held in my hand – “so I knew whatever I gave you had to be perfect.”
Tears streamed down my cheeks.
“Before you start saying you wished you’d done the same, don’t. I love the ring you picked. I love _you_, Katarina, and to me, that’s all that matters.”
And then, in a gesture that nearly had me sobbing uncontrollably, he gently gripped the hand he was still holding and slid the ring on my finger.
I reached for his hand, somehow grabbing it through the tears, and did the same for him. Garen reached up to wipe the tears from my face before interlacing his fingers with mine. The two rings shone side by side. They were two halves of the same whole – just like Garen and I.
“I love you,” I whispered, and met his eyes once more before he leaned in to kiss me. This kiss was the one we should have had that day, if we’d been lucky enough to not have an interruption. But was I complaining? No. To be honest, I preferred how everything ended up, even if it left our lives in chaos.
Because, after all, the chaos of battle had been the only reason we’d ever met.
Finally, I composed myself and stood up, asking “Now how about a duel? Winner gets to pick a prize.”
“That sounds perfect,” Garen replied with a grin.
“Ah, ah! You can’t win if you can’t catch me,” I retorted, fading from view.
Garen groaned loudly. “Come on Kat, that’s just not –”
“Fair?” I finished, still invisible. “Seriously? And _you’re_ the guy who’s always screaming ‘JUSTICE’ on the battlefield.”
“I guess I walked right into that one,” he conceded with a sigh.
I laughed, and then settled into a fighting stance (while invisible).
“Ready?”
Well, everything seemed perfectly fine then, but then when you’re staring at an army from the battlements of your city’s walls …
Jarvan shook his head. “What is going on?” he asked us. Seeing as we hadn’t told him, all we could do was shake our heads.
Jarvan, Shyvana, Lux, Garen and I were all on top of the wall, staring down at Azir’s assembled army. What was confusing Jarvan – and surprising me as well – was that Xerath was also present.
Everyone, and by that I mean _everyone_, knew that Azir and Xerath were nemeses. So why were they standing united?
Clearly they wanted my power a LOT, because the only time they would ever stand together would be to raise Shurima to the most powerful faction in Runeterra. But if they got me, they’d probably tear each other apart over who got primary control of me, obliterating everything and everyone in the nearby area. And knowing them, they’d duke it out right here.
So obviously step one was to make them leave.
But how?
Before I could think of anything, Azir emerged from behind his army, and strolled through the ranks of sand soldiers to place himself at the front. Xerath also made his way through the sea of soldiers, so the two were both front and center.
Hmm, guess they were going to try diplomacy first.
“Greetings, Prince Jarvan IV,” Azir began.
“Greetings to you as well,” Jarvan replied. “But may I ask why you’ve brought an army to my doorstep?”
“Because we are here to make you a deal,” Xerath interjected before Azir could speak. Azir glared at him, and Xerath ignored it, continuing to talk.
“You see, one of our ambassadors found a mirror mage in your possession. We’re offering you this: turn over the mage to us, and we both swear on the Sun Disk not to harm you or your faction.”
That was a serious oath right there. Azir backed it up by saying, “We know you’re trying to hide your new toy. And that’s why we brought an army – if you continue your charade. If you don’t hand over the mage, we’ll take her by force, and won’t hold our promise to leave you be when we rise.”
All four of us looked to Jarvan, who seemed to be struggling to reply. The first thing he managed to force out, however, was “I have no idea what you’re talking about. I wasn’t even aware that a mirror mage _existed_.”
“Liar!” Azir yelled. “She’s standing right next to you, one of your chosen guards! Are you so intent on keeping her?”
I think Jarvan was confused for a moment (and Shyvana was the closest one of us to him), because he yelled, “My wife is not a mirror mage! She’s a half-blood!”
“Oh, that’s not who we meant,” Xerath said, chuckling. “But clearly … you don’t know. That’s curious. So, what’s making them hide the secret?”
Now Jarvan was getting skeptical. He looked over at Lux, Garen and I and asked, “Is what he’s saying true?”
Before Garen could say anything, I asked, sounding bored, “Can I just kill them already?”
Lux actually laughed at that. Garen frowned at me, but Jarvan seemed to be seriously considering it.
“So, what is your choice, young prince?”
Jarvan shook his head and yelled down to the pair, “I’m not making any deals with you!” And then, softly, he told me, “Do it.”
“My pleasure,” I replied with a grin before leaping off of the battlements. I tucked my legs into my torso and flipped in midair (sorry, kind of used to being a show-off) before landing on my feet with both blades out.
Both Ascended did a momentary double-take when they saw my right eye, marked by the Kindred’s favor, but then composed themselves and smiled at me like they had not a care in the world, and I wasn’t about to tear them to pieces.
Azir chuckled. “You think your blades will save you, mage? We are Ascended. Nothing short of a fellow Ascended can slay us.”
I then proceeded to sheath my blades and smile at him.
“You do realize your buddy Xerath’s a mage, right?” I retorted.
Azir managed to dive to the side just before a nasty blast of Xerath’s arcane power struck the ground where the emperor had just stood. And then before either of them could react, a bundle of Janna’s strongest winds sent them flying across the soon-to-be battlefield.
Then, once I was sure the two were currently out of the way, I teleported to the center of the sand army and wreaked havoc on Azir’s forces.
First came Lux’s blazing light. I unleashed wave after wave of it, not even bothering to use a proper spell, obliterating any sand soldier that was too close before they even realized I was there. But it wasn’t long until I heard Azir scream, “KILL HER!”
Then I switched tactics.
Ok, maybe using Annie’s fire next wasn’t the smartest move, but it did create some pretty cool glass sculptures (particularly the ones that looked like they were poised to attack – maybe this would become a memorial for me, or I’m just being vain now). And while Annie was an insane 7-year-old or so fire mage, her magic was powerful and came in handy here. (No wonder she was insane, there was absolutely no reason anyone that young should have to carry the burden of that much power.)
After that, I followed up with some of Nami’s water magic to put out any stray flames (didn’t need the city to go up in flames), and then sent a tidal wave blasting through the soldiers’ ranks for good measure. Once the soldiers had regrouped after my copied spell mowed a few over, I teleported back into the middle of the fray. A few blasts of Anivia’s ice magic froze a number of the sand soldiers in place, making them easy to finish off with a few orbs courtesy of Syndra. Syndra might have an attitude problem, but her power was still impressive – and just wicked when it came to clearing out clumps of soldiers.
Now, just a few soldiers remained. These seemed to have a semblance of intelligence, because they didn’t just charge me like most of the others did. They formed a line, copying an ancient technique, and waited for me to engage. I just smiled and altered the ground using one of Taliyah’s spells, knocking them apart. Then, deciding to put on a show despite the fact that I didn’t need to, I repeated the spell the Shuriman ambassador had seen me use, this time with a lot more flourish – and with an actual body count. Then, seeing that I hadn’t gotten all of them, I finished the last few survivors off with Ryze’s incredible arcane power. While he was a fairly easy lane to deal with, his power was _seriously_ limited in League, and now I understood why he always complained about not being able to use any new tricks.
Now it was just Azir, Xerath, and I. Azir was going to be fairly useless in this fight unless he had any more sand soldiers available, so my main focus would be putting Xerath out of commission, and then turning to the emperor.
“You’ve always struggled against me in lane,” Xerath taunted. “What makes you think you can win now, with my power unfettered by League restrictions?”
“Because one thing I’ve learned from League is that an overconfident champion is a dead champion,” I fired back before sending Azir flying away again with another blast of Janna’s winds. “So, care to prove me wrong on that?”
“You’re going to regret what you’ve done,” Xerath growled as he charged up an arcane orb that I knew I had to dodge. Without limits on his power, any of his spells would likely kill me, but the orb was the worst. Well, except when he decided to play magical cannon.
I rolled under the first orb and fired a Light Binding in response. Somehow, he dodged the dang thing without the use of Flash. Yes, most of the time Xerath uses Flash to escape Light Binding – and tends to still get locked down anyway.
“You got faster. Have you been exercising finally?” I taunted him. He yelled something back at me and threw out a line of energy (that wasn’t even close). I then proceeded to teleport in and hit him with a point-blank fireball. Take _that_, moron!
Then I was gone before he could throw anything at me, now switching targets. Out of the corner of my eye, I’d noticed Azir trying to raise some sand soldiers, which would have been a nuisance. I quickly remedied that by whacking his staff out of his hands – then changed my mind and grabbed it. If I was going to take down one of my worst matchups in real life for once, I wanted to do it with style.
Blame the sudden sense of vanity I’d earned with my new power.
“Hey! That doesn’t belong to you!” Azir yelled as I switched back to Xerath. The mage, noticing my new weapon, merely grinned (or I think it was a grin? I can never tell with him) and said, “Like _that_ will help at all.”
But he was dead wrong. Whatever magic this staff was infused with … it wasn’t meant for use with sand.
It was for the sun. And now I would show Azir that.
I grasped the staff with both hands, shoved it skyward so that it pointed directly at the sun, and yelled, “NOW!”
For one horrible second, nothing happened. But then the clouds began to close in and circle around the celestial body overhead, and I knew I’d done it. Azir and Xerath were doomed now.
I was about to call down the pure, unfettered power of the sun. And not one of Leona’s tiny solar flares – this was going to cover the entire battlefield.
Xerath, somehow realizing what I’d done, tried to turn and run. But this time, the Light Binding hit him square in the back – and also snagged Azir for good measure. Now, I struggled to maintain the binding while also charging up the massive solar attack that I was about to unleash.
I almost didn’t hold on long enough. But at the last possible second, just before Azir and Xerath broke out of the bindings, the top piece of the staff light up like Leona’s sword did whenever she was about to call down a solar flare. The spell was ready just in time.
I didn’t hesitate when I slammed the staff down into the ground and screamed the one word I’d used to fear and now had wholeheartedly accepted as my own battle cry.
“DEMACIA!”
And then the whole world was awash in blinding golden light. I couldn’t see anything, but the two Ascendant beings’ screams cued me in to the fact that it was working. I waited patiently for the attack to subside, checking that Azir and Xerath were still rooted to the spot. Thankfully, the binding was still intact.
Sadly, I found Azir and Xerath still alive, but both were looking quite worse for wear. And they were both staring.
I decided it was time to start talking. I threw the staff in Azir’s direction, noticing him reach out and grab it as soon as it rolled within reach. He then proceeded to eye it carefully, as if he thought he could replicate my last attack. But I didn’t give him a chance to try anything before I gave the pair an ultimatum.
“Go, and spread the word that I have risen, and that should any faction try to claim my power for their own, I will hunt each and every member of that faction down and burn its cities to ashes. And if anyone, even a champion, tries to harm those I love, I will _personally_ see to that person’s torture and execution. Am I clear?”
After Azir and Xerath both started nodding like idiots, I released the Light Binding on them and yelled, “Then GO!”
I wasn’t done with the theatrics yet. With a shove, I sent the pair flying off in some random direction (hopefully away from the city, I really hadn’t been paying attention). Guess Taliyah’s ability to shove people using the earth came in handy in real life every once in a while.
Now finished, I teleported back up to the battlements, where Jarvan, Shyvana, Lux and Garen were all waiting for me with varying expressions on their faces. Lux’s face showed that she was exasperated with me, Garen’s expression was a mixture of disbelief and pride, Shyvana was openly displaying her amusement, and Jarvan’s jaw was still hanging (assuming his jaw had dropped when I’d plunged into battle alone against a giant army of sand soldiers).
“What … where … when …” Jarvan was struggling to ask a question. Eventually, he stopped trying, closed his eyes and shook his head. When he opened his eyes again, he glared at me, right at my Kindred-marked right eye, and said, “You owe me an explanation.”
“Fine,” I told him. “I’ll tell you the _entire_ story this time, and won’t leave anything out.”
Then I looked over at Garen, who smiled at me. I smiled back and reached out to grab his hand. He squeezed my hand and then amended, “_We’ll_ tell you the entire story, down to the smallest detail. Well, maybe not the extremely personal moments.”
I laughed, and then finished with, “This time, we’ll start at the very beginning.”
And then, hand in hand, the two of us turned and walked away, ready to finally begin the future the both of us had longed for since we had first met.
Thank you for reading! Seriously, thank you for staying with me throughout the entire story. Please post your thoughts below.
See you on the Rift!
