For those who think (like i do) that League of Legends lore could do with some more serious writing

The temple was as it always had been in those past days he used to meditate as a humble deciple, in awe of his master beside him. But now things were different; he knew he was the master. Confidently he approached the shrine on which the old master had placed the box, the object of his desire for so many years. He was determined to seize it, subdue the master to his will and fulfill what he knew to be his destiny. He paid no heed whatsoever to the old man, who sat silently beside the box, seemingly unaware of the doom that awaited him, be that servitude or death..  Zed closed in on the box eagerly, but at that moment when he tried to touch it, open it and receive its gifts of power he felt a shadow looming behind him, a shadow he instantly knew was not his own. Being well versed in the ways of shadows he knew he could not face the shadow head on, for they were elusive, and depended on the person they originated from. He felt the threat, yet could do nothing about it because he did not know who it was he was fighting, or if he was fighting at all. He had been caught off-guard.  He stayed absolutely still, listening.. Nothing moved, nothing made the slightest sound.. He found it odd that the shadow had not tried to strike him down. It would not be easy of course, but the initiative was not on his side so it would have been a good a chance as any. Whose shadow could it be, he wondered.. While he stood there, the master sought to speak to him. "Shadows are not the way of life but of death, Zed. You know this better than most, you have felt their cold touch and put many ninjas to the sword because they denied to follow you. If you choose to open this box you will be forever lost, doomed to the ways of death, which can only lead to one conclusion. You will be drawn to the void, to the non-life. You will cause unspeakable horrors, you will enable the minions of darkness like that damned Malzahar in their work, you will decay. I feel you still have kept a part of my teachings in you, I have felt your pain all these years you were away. I feel the struggle within you, my beloved student.. Let me help you find your balance, i beg of you. Let me help you, even if it is the last thing i do as a ninja master." He listened, comprehending deeply. He instantly lost all confidence. He could not deny the masters words were true, to some extent. He indeed had found it difficult to embrace the void, which nevertheless he felt was required of him if he was to master the techniques of the shadows. He had continually fought voidlings on his path during exile, for no other reason than simply because he despised them, he feared them, he felt that being alive he was the opposite of them. Yet, seeing as there was a shadow behind him ready to deal a killing blow, he knew something was off.. "Old man, you are indeed right. I have used techniques forbidden to me, i have mastered them but i have always felt not quite at ease with my shadows. They obey, of course, but there is an otherness in them, something i cannot hope to understand, let alone control. I know death is my way now, yet i am alive, and that paradoxical situation often makes my thoughts hurt. I cannot break free of what i have done, yet you say you can help me. And so i ask you, how? ...why?" The master had risen, approached and was now kneeling beside zed, as if meditating. Zed knew the master was very aware of the strange, threatening shadow which kept him motionless and on complete combat readiness but the master made no move, indeed gave no indication whatsoever. He was strangely calm, which seemed odd to Zed. The master started talking again, before zed could finish his thoughts. "You know i have mastered the way of balance. You nearly accomplished it yourself in those competitions with my own son, before you sought to defeat him. If i can get you to stop thinking in those terms, if i can get you to stop seeking improvement in spite of others but instead alongside them, then the balanced way will be yet again within your reach. You are incredibly talented, and it is your awareness of just that that unmade all that I had fought to achieve with you. You need to discard all these delusions of grandeur, you need to learn once more that being stronger, better, faster is not what makes you a better ninja. Instead, it is the balance, knowing that you cannot win or lose, that nothing else matters besides the fact that thing just are. Both positive and negative, both good and bad. That is the way, and I can show you that once more, if you only let me." Zed felt relieved. For long he had had all the power and glory he could ever hope for among his followers, an yet had always sought out some peace of mind, some rest from his seemingly unending thirst for more; always more. He recognised that now through his masters words, and was glad he had finally pieced together this puzzle that had indeed tormented his mind since that fateful day he had first opened the box. He felt his mind finally slip away from his obsession, and was glad to the core of his existance. He felt finally free.  Or was he?  On one hand all these thoughts of change were racing through his mind, and on the other he pressed himself not to let his guard down. The shadow was still behind him, as threatening as ever. He could not seek help from his master, for he could not yet reveal his weakness; he was proud of his mastery of the dark way. Admiting the presence of a shadow not of his origin or control was to admit failure. Having an army outside ready to kill at his command only made it worse. What was he supposed to be, if not Master of the Shadows? He kept silent for a long time, contemplating his options. Somehow he felt sure his master was not going to urge him furhter, was not going to do anything else at all. He sensed the other was meditating, hovering between awareness and deep thought, ready to receive either his failure and doom or his success and changed student. There was only one thing to do. Well, rather, two things to do. He could either kneel and open the box, receiving its power and becoming the true master of shadows or drive his dagger through it, destroying it once and for all, ending his power and misery.  He decided to destroy it. However badly he wanted to be the best, he felt more driven to find peace again, seiing now that through this way he could find a world view where there was no need for anyone to be anything other than what he was. Somehow that made more sense to him. How wrong he was... at that moment, at that very moment when he raised his arm to destroy the box once an for all he made the deciding error. He let his guard down.. He was not ready for it when it happened and received it with a cry of absolute agony..  The master swapped positions with his shadow, and stabbed Zed through the heart. Zed felt the pain, but that was not what most hurt him. He felt utterly betrayed. He had a moment to think, and realised the master had not answered the question completely. Why help him? The answer was now plain. He chose to deceive zed, to first persuade him of a shortcoming and then make him believe he was willing to help, just to make him drop his guard. The threatening shadow was the masters, for he had made the secrets of the box his own and embraced the shadows even before Zed had come to the temple. In Zed he had seen the potential of an open rebel against the balanced way, he had drove him subtly but surely to open the box, and raise an army in the service of the void. He had dared not do it himself due to his absolute fear of Kassadins wrath had he found out of the plan, but his schemes had worked and the plan was now nearly complete. Only Zed now stood between him having his way after all these years of planning and Zed had a dagger through his heart.  The master laughed, almost imperceptibly, quite pleased with himself..  Zed was angry. Too angry for him to realise all this, even though he was already half way there. Now all that mattered to him was revenge against the one who had twice betrayed him, the person who was one with everything he was instinctively at war with and at the same time absolutely depended on. He realised he was mortally wounded but he had one thing to do before he died. He summoned three shadows of his own, overpowering his master with the power only sheer white hot hatred can provide. He bid them surround the master and distract his attention with their blows. And so the shadows began slicing the master, wounding him in his arms and legs just enough for him to relax his hold on zed. Zed seized his chance. He jumped high into the air, grabbed the dagger the master had driven into his heart and pulled it out. Curiously no blood came gushing out. As he descended, the shadows held the master to his knees and he landed beside him, dealing him a devestating blow. A moment later zeds shadows had disappeared, leaving him alone in the temple, kneeling beside the box, which was now open.. Dark shadows of no form had risen from inside the box, enveloping Zed, healing him, protecting him, accepting him as their new master of their own accord. The wound on his back did not kill him, yet did not completely heal either. He was doomed to feeling the pain the old master of shadows had inflicted upon him, for as long as his reign lasted. For such is the way of the shadows. Zed now knew. He had realised through this ordeal that the balance of the world was not the opposite of the way of the shadows. It was simply how the world was. He had realised that from his former masters twisted words, and thanked him for that. The shadows themselves had revealed their prefference, which could only mean one thing. He knew that the balance of darkness and light will be held as it is, with the world staying as it is. The old master had sought to tip that balance, as Malzahar is trying to, but to no avail. It was, is, and will not be possible for good to thriumph over evil, or vice versa. He knew there was nothing he could do about it but play his part. That of the master of shadows, at war with shen, his rival and comrade, his enemy and brother. There was only one thing left to do, then..