"I want to become everybody! Who says I cannot? I will prove them wrong! Then, I will become them. Last laugh? Neeko!"~ Neeko, The Curious Chameleon
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"You are willing to die for this." Shen spoke as the two trudged through the snow.
"I thought that was clear in my conversation with Ryze."
"I cannot imagine leaving my family behind." Shen replied, "Are you not willing to try?"
"Caalyx can use anyone to transform." Gregori answered, "But you have to wonder why I am the best possible host for him. Why do you think that is Shen?"
"I do not know nearly enough about the Darkin to make a guess."
Gregori nodded, "You see.... Caalyx had a brother. Another Darkin sealed together with him. But where is he?"
Without expecting a reply, he continued, "He is dead. But how? A Darkin cannot die. But he did. Two contradictory statements. But true at the same time. How? Our world works on three principles. The first, Death. Death is eternal. It comes to all. Even the Darkin... eventually, they too will run out of blood or magic, their weapons will crumble and they will perish. The second is Luck. Not the simple good or bad luck that is associated with the word but rather an outcome for your actions. A universal positive or negative outcome. And the third and most overlooked, Faith. Belief. Whatever you'd like to call it. It is the inherent power that comes from believing."
Shen paid close attention to Gregori's words.
"We can leverage these three principles in order to get what we want. To grant his brother death, Caalyx took on his belief. The very belief in his existence. The other Darkin would remember Caalyx's brother. But it will always be an empty memory. There isn't anything to remember him by since their faith in his existence is not there. No name. No face. Nothing. Not even records of their life left behind. But to bear another's existence is an immense pain on one's soul. Caalyx was the straightlaced one of the two you know... Stoic. Regal. But the brother was more crass. Wore his emotions on his sleeve. You see Caalyx display this as well now. A side-effect of our work. He has his brother within him at all times."
With an eye glancing toward Caalyx's wrapped form, Shen began to understand the gravity of what Gregori was saying. The very power to wipe someone from existence leaving behind nothing of them
"To grant Death. We had to take away Luck as well. The luck of a Darkin is quite different from that of a human's. Their existence is heavier than someone like us. Someone like me. And that is why I took on his Luck, our fates became one. Outcomes for me that should have ended in death changed due to the Luck that came with being a Darkin. A crucial aspect that kept them alive, now within me..... replacing my own."
Shen's eyes shot toward Gregori in shock.
"Shocking. I know. Luck of a Darkin. Fate of one. Within a human." Gregori let out a chuckle, "But still... without his Luck or his Faith, the brother was left with one thing alone."
"Death." Shen spoke but the word was barely a whisper.
"Now why am I the best possible host for Caalyx?" Gregori asked.
Shen looked between him and the weapon, "You carry the Luck of a higher being."
"And?" Gregori led.
"You possess the other half that Caalyx needs to unleash his true might. The might of his brother." Shen finished.
Gregori nodded, "There is none better than me for the role Shen. i have to."
"You knew this from the first time you picked Caalyx up. You knew you would die." Shen said, "You must have been a child."
"The original idea was a safer prediction. The Darkin rising up was not something that should have happened now. But it did. And do you have any guesses why?"
"Your Luck."
"Exactly. We had planned to let me live out my life till I was old and then Caalyx would fully take over."
"But it did not work out."
"So tell me Shen. Do you see a way out?" Gregori asked.
"Could you give up your Luck?" Shen asked.
"Then I wouldn't have one." Gregori replied, "An unnatural existence that Death will claim as quickly as possible to ensure that there is not lasting impact to the Luck of others."
"You will die either way." Shen noted.
Gregori nodded, "At least this way I can ensure that my death has meaning."
The gates were closer now. The statue in vision.
The two walked in silence till the foot of the gates.
"Identify yourselves!" A voice called from atop the gates.
"Gregori Hastur." Gregori answered, "I wish to meet the Warmother."
"The Warmother does not just meet anyone." The voice answered.
Gregori looked taken aback, "D... Do you not know me?"
"Your name does not ring any bells." The voice responded.
That was very odd. As far as he remembered..... everyone in the relatively small tribe of the Avarosans knew him and he did not think that they would have forgotten him that quick.
"Is Sigra there?" He asked, "Could you call for her?"
"Sigra passed away three years ago." The voice responded.
Gregori stilled.
Sigra had passed. The righthand to the Warmother. She was a genuine friend to him and the revelation brought him some grief.
He closed his eyes and let out a heavy tired sigh.
"Braum?"
"I will send word." The voice called back.
A few minutes later the gates opened and Rakelstake stood in front of him.
"GREGORI!" A booming voice pulled his attention as Braum stood on the other side of the gates. Beside him, hiding behind his legs was a child about four years old.
"Braum." Gregori walked up to the large man.
Braum reached for him and gave him a strong hug, "Ha ha my friend, how have you been?"
Gregori hugged him back, "I have been good my friend. How have you been?"
"Great!"
The two stepped back and Gregori noticed a claw mark dragging across his chest and right arm.
Braum looked past Gregori and at Shen, "Where are your children? and who is this?"
"A friend." Gregori introduced, "This is Shen. From Ionia."
Shen gave him a small bow.
"The children are at home Braum. I did not bring them with me."
Braum looked crestfallen for a moment but then smiled brightly, "Still... it is good to have you back Gregori."
"It is good to be back Braum." Gregori replied, "Would you mind leading me to Ashe?"
"Come with me." Braum said as he reached behind him and lifted the small child onto his shoulder.
"Your child?" Gregori asked.
The child had white hair and brown eyes. White hair was a an easy identifier for the Iceborn. Not all of them had white hair but everyone with white hair was an Iceborn. The child looked back at him, observing him
"No. No. This one is just attached to me." Braum answered as he led him through the now drastically different Rakelstake.
There were significantly more people inside. And they all looked well fed and healthy.
"Quite a few tribes have joined now it seems." Gregori commented.
Braum shook his head, "There is only Avarosa now. The Winter's Claw and the tribes under them have joined us."
"You fought a war?" Gregori asked.
Braum glanced at him, and then turned back, "We fought a god."
But before Gregori could ask for more clarification, a large man walked up to them. Alarm bells went off in Gregori's mind as he felt the magic roll off the man. But the magic flowed back into him as if the world itself was feeding him. Matted hair hung off his head in an animalistic way, a blue feather was tied to one of the matted locks. He sported a thick bear on his face.
"You have the clothing of a monk of Hirana." Shen said as he looked at the man.
The man looked at them for a moment and then turned to Braum, "The Warmother is looking for the little one."
Braum nodded, "I am going to her Udyr."
The man, Udyr, turned to Shen, "You have been to Ionia?"
"I am from Ionia. A member of the Kinkou monastery." Shen answered not revealing his status as the Eye of Twilight.
The man gave him a short bow before speaking, "I spent a few years in Ionia training to control my magic.
"You are a Spiritwalker." Gregori stated.
The man nodded.
"Come with us Udyr." Braum said as he began walking forward, "You would like to hear what this man has to say as well."
Gregori frowned.
He would?
Did this man hold considerable power among the Avarosans?
But there was a more pressing matter to attend to.
"What do you mean you fought a god?" Gregori asked Braum.
"The Warmother will explain it better than me." Braum said.
The giant wooden house that had held the council remained the same. The same large corridor. The same tusks, claws and bones adorning the walls. It had not intimidated him the first time that he saw it and it did not now.
Braum pushed through the door and walked into the councilroom.
"Ah there's the little one." Gregori heard Ashe say, "How the boy likes you more than his mother is beyond me Braum."
"Everyone likes Braum." Tryndamere replied, "Jotunn is not exception to tha-" He stopped as he watched Gregori step into the room after Braum and Udyr.
"Gregori." He spoke, a smile forming on his face.
"Tryndamere." Gregori replied, he turned to Ashe, "Ashe."
"How have you been Gregori?" Ashe asked.
Gregori smiled, "I have been good Ashe." He looked at the child hanging off of Braum, "I see that the two of you have decided to make a child of your own."
"Jotunn." Ashe stated with a proud smile, "Our son."
"I am happy for you." Gregori replied.
Ashe looked past him, "Where are your children?"
"I did not bring them with me this time." Gregori replied, "I need to speak with the two of you."
Only after his words did he observe the people in the room.
It was filled with Iceborn.
A man with bright orange hair and beard, ran his fingers across two runic axes, True Ice glowing in the center of both his axes. Scars littered his body.
Gragas stood beside the man taking gulp after gulp of his drink.
There were others too.
Gjura.
Kanna.
And to the side sat another white haired woman, she wore a large cloak. A scar ran down the side of her face, her eye closed where the scar passed. A True Icebola hung from her waist.
"But first..." Gregori began, "What happened? Braum spoke about a fight with a god?"
"My sworn sister over there." Ashe pointed to the white haired woman, "She led the Winter's Claw. She was their Warmother. Winter had become very harsh for them. No food. No rations. They were starving. Then they found a way to end their days of starvation."
Gregori listened in silence.
"Freljord has stories, legends of the impossible." Ashe explained, "One such story is about the Forge God, Ornn. He created a cauldron that produced endless food. But we believed the story to have been a legend."
"It was not."
"Yes. The Cauldron of Ornn was real. But it was in the hands of the Ursine. Spiritwalkers taken over by the power of the Valhir. The Stormlord, Volibear. They were mostly beat rather than man. These were from one of them." She said as she pointed to a set of horns mounted above her seat. "The gods are brothers but Volibear held anger toward Ornn. And so he took over Ornn's mountain, and with it the cauldron."
"The Winter's Claw fought their way to the Ursine. And eventually managed to get the cauldron from them. But the Volibear did not let them go. He himself, appeared to hunt them. They came to us. And we stood with them and we fought the Volibear and the Ursine. But the only way to push back the Volibear was to have another god." Ashe looked toward Udyr, "And Udyr got us that chance. He held back the Volibear until Illdhaurg, the Iron Boar and Ornn appeared to fight him."
Gregori's opinion of the man shot up, someone who can face a god and last long enough for help to arrive..... that was a feat of strength he had only heard of in legends.
"Sigra died fighting?" He asked.
Ashe nodded sadly.
"Now you do not need to fear running out of food." Gregori said, shifting away from Sigra.
Ashe nodded, "But with one problem being solved... another has appeared. The fight carried all the way to the north. And the Old Spirits that roamed those lands have begun walking down. Mad murderous spirits. We go out to fight them." She gestured around them, "This gathering is for that purpose."
She leaned forward, "Tell us Gregori. What would you like to say?"
Gregori looked around the room for a moment, hesitating.
"Speak freely. They have our trust." Tryndamere said.
Gregori made eye contact with the man, "The war is going to begin soon. HE will be there."
Tryndamere gripped his blade, "You want me to be there."
"No." Gregori shook his head, "I am here to inform you. And to warn you. With the nature of his defeat... he might not be able to keep his curse on you going. You might be able to die. I wanted to warn you of this."
"I want his head." Tryndamere said as he rose to his feet, "I will take it myself."
"You can't." Gregori replied. "I have a plan for him. Suffering beyond your imagination. For eternity."
"You will finally be free." Ashe said as she looked at Tryndamere.
"And you?" Tryndamere asked Gregori, "You told us that wielding him will kill you."
Gregori nodded, "I will not live past the week. Which brings me to another thing.... One day... my children will come here. Look after them."
Those who knew him looked at him with sadness in their eyes.
"We will."