Quote:
Originally Posted by Darren Ninja 7
I have some ideas for characters in the next few chapters:
Draven could join alongside his brother Darius to help in the battle against the Void, however, Kha'Zix could join the battle at a critical moment, turning the battle around when it is seemingly won already. Adding these bring more suspense to the storyline. I've read all the chapters so far and I'm really liking your writing style so try to continue!  |
Thank you for your suggestion! You know what's really creepy? I incorporated your idea into the story without even knowing about it! And thank you for liking my style! A lot of people say it's sloppy, but everyone has opinions, right?
Quote:
Originally Posted by 15leear1
Nice plot!
Where is Xin Zhao?
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Xin Zhao was left in the defense of Demacia and it's king. Sorry I didn't add it in the last chapter. Should've been more clear.
And here it is, folks!
Chapter 16
The Demacians stood side by side, having Freljordians at their back. “Freljordian” is quite a broad term, considering there were three tribes in Freljord. The Demacians had the Avarosans to fight with them today, at the very least. As the clouds grew dark and thunder began to roll. The Dauntless Vanguard yelled at the void creatures who were charging forward, and the deafening thunder masked the bigger roars of the void creatures at the back lines. Garen raised his sword, and the Dauntless Vanguard, as their name suggests, prepared for surging forward. The first to fight. Many people believe being first to fight also means being first to die, but that death would be worth one’s life if it makes a huge difference in the outcome of the battle.
The steady breathing of the thousands at their back urged the Dauntless Vanguard to be stalwart, and with Garen leading the charge, they all echoed in unison, “Demacia!” The ground shook as the heavily armored Demacians charged straight into the void creatures. Their front lines consisted of the expendable fighters, the voidlings. Behind the voidlings were the human-sized creatures with varying appendages or colors, and the rest were just abominations. As the next thunderclap roared, the Demacians made contact with their enemy. Blood splattered everywhere with the initial charge, and some weapons were not sharp enough to cut through some void monsters’ hardened skin. Some of the larger, fiercer monsters could send squads of soldiers flying with a single swing of their massive appendages, while some soldiers had the ill fate of being flattened by elephant-like void beings. The swords and spears of the Demacians combined with the bows and axes of the Avarosans, as they stood, had little chance of defeating the entirety of the void army that they engaged with. The smashing sound of bones, the cries of pain, the yells of encouragement, and weapons clashing filled the ambient air of the battlefield.
Shyvana and a detachment of Elite Guards were trapped within enemy lines as they charged too far ahead, while Jayce and Katarina were attempting to secure Noxus’s walls from being charged. Jarvan was already en route to Shyvana’s aid, and Lux was providing cover for the Noxian defense team. Jarvan and Garen ensured the front lines did not falter, and Tryndamere was being himself, going berserk on the enemy. Ashe and her archers fired volley after volley into the ranks of the void army. Annie was kept safe under Ashe’s care. Prior to the charge, Garen made it clear that Annie was not to join the battle in the front lines. She was too young to even be present at the battlefield, but considering her parents were from Noxus, she might want to defend it.
Garen swung his sword at a monster with brute force, cleaving through it’s claws. Jarvan then impaled the monster with his dragon lance, leaving his flank to Garen. The two were an incredible team, but they could only go so far with their abilities. When a gigantic void monster slammed it’s front legs on the ground in front of Jarvan and Garen, they both were launched airborne, and crashed into the soldiers behind them. Like water in a river, the soldiers quickly filled the gap that Jarvan and Garen had made. It was their protocol. Demacians never retreat, they say, and that’s because of their battle tactics when it comes to front line combat. The line must always be in tact. If someone falters, make haste to replace him or her. It was almost like a phalanx, but instead of shields, it was a phalanx of lethal soldiers. What’s the point of defending when you can eliminate the enemy before having to defend, right?
“Garen, how long do you think before the Noxians come out?” Jarvan asked his partner as they recollected themselves.
“I have no idea,” Garen retorted, having great distrust in Noxian command except for Katarina.
“Right. I hope the forces we brought would be ample enough to stop this menace.”
Garen offered his hand to Jarvan, who took it and lifted himself up from the ground. Both then turned to the front line, and resumed combat after a loud shout of encouragement to the men who fought beside them.
Jayce and Katarina, on the other hand, were having a tough time trying to hold back the void monsters from trying to ransack the walls of Noxus. Jayce would send a massive blast by firing his shock ball through an acceleration gate, and it would take down plenty of little voidlings, but more monsters replaced them. Some were larger than most. Katarina did her best to throw her daggers and shunpo-ing to safety, and the handful of soldiers with them also did their job. However, because of the ruckus they were making, the void army began sending more monsters to their direction. Originally, the void creatures were present to attack the city of Noxus, but with the joint army of the Avarosans and the Demacians, they decided to attack them first. Nothing like a hearty meal before a heavy task, right? Jayce and Katarina’s actions reminded the void army of why they were here in the first place.
“You alright?” Jayce asked over his shoulder to Katarina.
“Don’t worry about me, just keep doing what you’re doing,” Katarina yelled back.
Jayce switched from cannon to hammer mode, and knocked back the larger monsters to buy some time for the people behind him. He also activated his electric field to ensure that any monster coming near him would pay for ever thinking of doing just that. Katarina shunpo’d to a monster and used a flurry of blades to eliminate plenty of monsters, but all of a sudden, a creature with scythe-like claws and large wings jumped on her and clawed at her, making Katarina fall. The monster pounced on Katarina, stabbing her arms to the ground with it’s claws and stepping on her knees to make sure she cannot get up, then it brandished its teeth. Katarina closed her eyes, when all of a sudden, the creature made a loud noise and got off of her. She held her arms close, then scanned her surroundings to see what made the monster leave. It was then that she saw blades flying around in a fashion she knew the most. Talon.
The ground shook, and Katarina turned to see what caused it. She saw two whirling... axes, headed right her direction so she rolled out of the way. The axes chopped many monsters in it’s path, and took out some body parts of the Demacian soldiers that were unfortunate enough. The axes didn’t just go straight. They rebounded and chopped everything in it’s path on the way back as well. Katarina followed the axes with her eyes, and saw Draven catching them. He had the usual crazy grin as he bounced his axes off the monsters he saw. Then a flock of birds began flying to and fro, attacking what they encountered, then returned to their owner: Jericho Swain. With the Noxian champions out on the field, it was clear what was about to happen. The rumbling of the ground happened again, but this time more intense. The Noxian Army charged from their walls and yelled obscenities at the void army, then crashed ranks with them. The Noxians were known for their gruesome and bloody way of fighting, and the void army experienced it first hand. Unlike the Demacians and their organized way of war, the Noxians let loose on the battlefield, caring little if they injure friend or foe. Ruthless soldiers. Talon kept fighting what now was known as Kha’Zix, and Draven enjoyed seeing blood come out from the monsters he bounced his axe off of. Katarina began to stand, but another void monster threatened to kill her. She tried to defend herself, when suddenly someone appeared before her eyes, seemingly coming from the air. The monster that attacked her suddenly fell in two, as if chopped in half. The man turned around and offered his axe to lift Katarina up.
“Darius...” Katarina muttered.
“Get up, woman. It already pains me to have to lift a fellow Noxian when they should be strong enough to rise themselves,” Darius replied.
Katarina held onto the dull part of Darius’s axe and lifted herself up, then Darius grabbed her arm. Katarina thought it would hurt, considering Darius wasn’t really the gentle kind of guy, but she was surprised that he was actually being cautious with the way he held her.
“We’ll get you treated once this skirmish is over,” He said. Katarina looked at Darius with confusion, then Darius added, “Don’t get hurt.”
What was this? Darius being nice to Katarina? The brute man was not known to be anywhere near nice. He was brutal, forceful and powerful. Katarina had never seen this part of Darius, to be honest, and it reminded her a lot of Garen. He was the stalwart Demacian warrior who would never even talk to a Noxian if it wasn’t for the benefit of Demacia, but he showed her great care and love. What was it with tough guys suddenly going soft for her? It puzzled Katarina, but Jayce’s shock blast exploding near her vicinity made her snap back to reality, and she picked up her daggers to resume the fight.
Lux fired a large laser in the ranks of the void army for Garen and Jarvan to exploit, then she retreated to Ashe’s side. The Avarosan archers seemed to be getting tired from firing volleys nonstop, and their ammunition was running low. They have dispatched a messenger to run back through the Ironspike Mountains and into Freljord to send a convoy of supplies to the front lines. It should take the messenger half a day to to get to Freljord on horseback, and a whole day for the supply convoy to reach their current camp.
“How are you holding up?” Lux asked Ashe.
“We’re doing alright,” Ashe said as she wiped the sweat off her brow.
“How many more volleys could you do?”
“At this rate, maybe five or six more. We’re really low on arrows. We might have to resort in throwing rocks if this keeps up,” Ashe commented, ordering her archers to stand down. Ashe had 160 archers with her, and the other Avarosans were on the front lines. Ashe’s gaze suddenly became worried when she had passed upon a horrible sight on the battlefield. Thousands of dead soldiers littered the field, and only a handful of void corpses were visible. It was obvious that the front line was exhausted, and the Noxian army showed no intention of relieving the Demacians of the battle. They only fought to keep their walls safe. The battle worn soldiers still fought beside their champions in what seemed like a futile effort. Their shields were battered, their swords chipped, their armor broken.
Lux sighed, but when she looked out into the field, she saw that with just a final push, they could gain victory. Lux turned to Ashe, and she knew what the plan was. Ashe resumed firing volleys with her archers, and sent Nunu to the middle of the enemy ranks. Lux fired a laser to clear the way for him, then ran to the front lines. Annie followed Lux, and summoned her Tibbers to fight alongside the soldiers. Naturally, the two were quickly engaged in battle and were on the verge of defeat.
Lux held Annie in her arms like a mother protecting her child as Cho’Gath loomed over the two, about to feast. Garen ran to their aid only to be knocked away by Cho’Gath’s massive tail. He kept fighting, hitting Cho’s hard skin with his blade, but Cho ignored him. Garen summoned the might of Demacia onto Cho, and it inflicted enough damage to make Cho retreat. The exhausted champion dropped his sword and fell to his knees. He crawled to the shivering girls with what little strength he had. His arms scooped up dirt as he crawled, and it disoriented him as the blood from the cut on his eyebrow rendered one of his eyes useless. Lux and Annie saw that Cho was gone, and that Garen was making his way to them. They both ran to him and embraced him, taking comfort in his presence. Their tears flowed like a river from their eyes, and Garen sat up to be able to wrap his arms around the two. The tightness of the girls’ embrace let Garen know how scared they were, and that they didn’t want to let go in fear of being in danger again. It’s true, they face danger almost every day, but it was on the fields of justice. To learn that they could’ve died with no chance of being respawned scared the two to great length. Both were young and naive, so Garen couldn’t blame them.
Nunu’s ultimate cleared a lot of the void army, and they were forced to retreat. With thousands of corpses littering the battlefield, the survivors all embraced each other. It was like the end of the world for those soldiers who survived, and it was a reality for those who did not. Men and women who survived embraced, and they cared not for their previous relationships with each other. They survived, and they all celebrated. It wasn’t that they were not devastated by seeing their comrades die, but they were just so happy to find that they were not the only ones who survived. They cried tears of joy, but those tears also reflected the pain of losing so many in a single day.
Garen sat with Lux and Annie, comforting them from their traumatic experience. Jarvan walked through the sea of blood and dead bodies with Shyvana in his arms. Ashe supported Tryndamere in standing, and Jayce couldn’t help but realize how sheltered he was. This was what the Demacians and Freljordians have been experiencing all this time while he was in his lab and fighting Viktor. He thought the fights he had been a participant in Piltover and Zaun were horrible. They were, but this was on such a massive scale that it felt worse. However, Jayce knew that the immediate events that were to happen would be difficult. It was already about to play out, as Swain and Darius approached Jarvan and Shyvana. In Swain’s hand was a parchment.
“We want your rabble rousers out of our lands immediately. We will burn the dead bodies, and we will take back Katarina. Sign this, and these survivors will not be harmed,” Swain demanded.
Jarvan’s face contorted and he shook with anger, but Katarina appeared from behind Swain and put a hand on Jarvan’s shoulder, “He can’t get himself to say it. However, we are in a limited alliance until the threat is over.”
Jarvan scowled at Katarina, “And what were those demands?”
Katarina turned to Swain then back to Jarvan, “He’s deceiving you. If you read what the parchment said, you’ll find that what I have said was true.”
Jarvan sighed, then looked at Swain. He was obviously not happy. Jarvan looked to Swain, then to Darius, “We’ve lost so many. Where’s our guarantee that you will not attack my forces?”
Darius replied, “There is none.”
Jarvan grit his teeth, “Then how do you expect me to sign this ‘alliance’ treaty, huh? We aren’t in an ‘alliance’ if our ‘allies’ attack us.”
Talon made an appearance in the scene, and being the calm dude that he was, he made a comment. “We may be ruthless killers, but that doesn’t mean we do not know diplomacy.”
Draven made an appearance as well, and he pointed at Jarvan with both his fingers in a gun-like position, “Besides, you Demacian dudes get into battles like this so much. If we tag along with you guys, we get to kill many dudes too. Draven likes killing dudes.”
Feeling surrounded, which he was, Jarvan took a step back. Jayce stood beside him, then Jarvan nodded to Jayce. Jayce took the parchment from Swain and opened it for Jarvan to read, and when Jarvan finished perusing the document, he closed his eyes. He adjusted Shyvana in his arms so he could free his writing hand. Jayce handed him a pen and Jarvan signed the alliance treaty, until Jarvan saw the fine print. They wanted Katarina back right now. Jarvan knew the effect it would have on Garen, but he can’t just throw away the opportunity to have the Noxians bound by oath not to attack his devastated army.
It took many hours to recover the injured from the dead, and to dig graves for the fallen. The Avarosan archers consisted of mostly women, and the women of Freljord were trained in medical procedures as well as combat, so they acted as nurses to the injured as well. Tryndamere was in a critical condition with several lacerations and impalements from his side of the battle, and Garen had reopened his wound from his fight with Darius in the battle. Jarvan had a slight concussion and a foot injury, and Jayce suffered dehydration. Shyvana was also in critical condition, and the Avarosans were doing their best to stabilize the injured. In Noxus, Katarina received treatment for the wounds she suffered, but she couldn’t help but think what became of the Demacians she lived with for a while. As she was deep in thought, Darius knocked on her door.
“Busy?” Darius asked.
“No, not really,” Katarina replied.
Darius entered Katarina’s room and closed the door shut behind him, then leaned on the wall with his arms crossed. Katarina gave him a confused look, then Darius sighed.
“I was told to interrogate you, considering you lived with the enemy.”
“Weird. They wanted to do that to me too,” Katarina said.
“Yeah, well. What matters is that you’re back, and Swain wants you to make sure you don’t go back to their wretched city.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
The two observed some silence, then Darius decided to step up and break the ice, “Wanna go get a drink?”
Katarina looked at Darius oddly, then rolled her eyes, “I don’t see why not,” she said then got up from the bed.
Back in the Demacian - Avarosan camp, Garen sat on a rock silently. He had just received the word about the alliance treaty and the conditions that Jarvan signed it under, and he mulled about it for a little. Ashe came to his tent and checked up on Garen, because after all that happened, he was still the lost poro that wandered to her gathering hall one bright night. She sat down beside Garen and kept quiet, not wanting to disturb the brooding hulk by her side. She took a cursory glance at Garen’s face, and noticed his brows were furrowed, his mouth a frown, and his eyes squinted. It was as if he was staring at some grotesque image that he couldn’t process it’s purpose.
Ashe grew worried, then gently lay her hand on Garen’s shoulder, like a feather landing on the water’s surface. Garen broke his trance then turned his head to look at Ashe. From the disgruntled look to a mask of pure confusion, Ashe could tell Garen was beginning to question the choices he made recently. Garen turned his gaze away from Ashe, and she promptly held his chin so he would look back at her.
“It’s okay. I’m here,” Ashe said, comforting as a mother and reassuring as a queen. She smiled softly at the confused man, “It’s okay, lost poro, it’s okay.”
Garen bowed his head, and Ashe put an arm around his shoulders. She had to be really close to him, otherwise she would have a hard time covering both his shoulders. He WAS a big man. Garen turned so he would be facing Ashe a little bit more, causing Ashe’s arm to be on his shoulder, and her palm on the back of his neck. She then felt a large and heavy arms wrap around her torso, and Garen’s face buried in her shoulder. Ashe embraced Garen and kissed his head, swaying to and fro in an attempt to comfort him.
To see the paragon of Demacia’s military strength seeking comfort in the arms of the Avarosan Queen was a sight no one had ever seen. Garen had no room to show emotional distress. He was the shining example of the best Demacian soldiers could be, and being sad was not part of it. All of the years he suppressed his feelings now came out in the form of tears and his controlled sobs, and Ashe felt motherly compassion. The way Garen entered a deeper, more intimate relationship with her and Tryndamere shed light on Ashe that this was a taste of what motherhood was like. To take care of a child, to teach them your ways of life, to cheer for their success and to carry them from defeat. And now, to be present in their time of need.
Ashe couldn’t give anything to Garen that would make him feel better, and her loving embrace was all she could spare. She thought quietly, then sang gently:
A song is enough
To change the world
And make it alright in the end
I'll sing it for you
To mend your lost soul
And make it alright in the end
She found the song most appropriate for the man in her arms, and she followed through with humming a gentle tune. Just things she thought would comfort Garen and make him know that there is still going to be a new day, a new beginning.
Garen’s thoughts raced. His love for Katarina, the loss of so many soldiers, the closely avoided death of his sister and Annie. Were these what the paragon of Demacia’s might should display? He was conflicted with the way he had devout feelings for Katarina, but he knew she was a Noxian. When she returned to Noxus, everyone was satisfied but him. His people will be happy, the Noxians would be happy, but not him. Was it so bad to love someone who belonged to the people you’ve been waging war with since the beginning of civilization? Garen fell deeper and deeper into the abyss of confusion until Ashe’s voice filled his ears. Her warmth enveloped him, and lifted him from the abyss. Her humming brought comfort to his heart, and he began to relax in Ashe’s arms. The last time he felt this way was when he was injured as a child, and his mother held him lovingly. Garen held Ashe tightly, as if he did not want to let her go. As if he was afraid to let her go. Ashe smiled, and rubbed Garen’s back gently. She made him lie down with her so he would be more comfortable instead of having to support his own weight, and she also felt that he was straining not to lean completely on her.
The pyrrhic victory, and the realization that Garen had deviated from his original image permeated Ashe’s thoughts. Maybe all he needed was love and food, just like a lost poro.
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