"Is this it?" Ahri asked. The duo stood on a hill, looking at a giant oriental temple made out of stone and wood about half a kilometer in front of them.
"Zveh." Lanius muttered instinctively.
"What?" Ahri asked in confusion.
"I meant to say "Yes"." Lanius added, turning towards her." "Zveh" means "Yes" in the Verhean dialect."
"Oh! How do you say "No" then? " Ahri wanted a quick chat, before they went to the monastery in front of them.
"Vaarn" Lanius replied.
"Varn?" Ahri tried to imitate him.
"You have to tone the a, a bit. Vaarn." Lanius smiled at her attempt.
"Vaarn." Ahri repeated. The young man's smile became wider. "I can teach you how to speak Verhean. It's quite easy, but you'll need to learn Frejlordian first."
He then faced the temple once again.
"So supposedly this was the Kinkou monastery?" Lanius asked the vesani.
"Yeah. Now it's the Shadow Orders temple... or as they're called in Ionian, the Yánléi." Ahri stretched her back. "Why do you want to go there?"
"The Sha-...Yánléi's goal is to drive the Noxians out of this land. In order for us to succeed, we'll need their assistance. I will also need Intel on the rebel, as we have to make peace with her and try to employ her as well."
"You know that they imprison vastaya in order to harness their magic, right? " Ahri pointed out.
"I am. That's why, Ahri...pretty please put on the cloak." Lanius wanted to minimise the risk of starting a brawl between him and the acolytes. He was there to make them allies, not enemies.
Ahri huffed and placed the white and gold cloak on her shoulders and buttoned it. She then pulled the hood over her head and walked together with him towards the monastery.
"Oh, one more thing! Can you hide this?" Lanius unclipped Akali's kama from his chain and handed the weapon to her. "Zed might recognise this as a Kinkou weapon." The vesani took it and said nothing as she hid it inside her cloak. They then walked again.
As they approached it, the whole atmosphere became gloomier and darker.
"Do you hear it? The magic here is getting weather...this patch of land sounds as if its dying." Ahri pointed out. Lanius closed his eyes and listened. She was telling the truth, he could hear nothing more than a sharp cracking and creaking sound. He opened his eyes again and looked in front of him. Around 6 humans with black robes and double bolt crossbows guarded the entrance. A faint black, smoke-like aura surrounded all of them.
Lanius pulled his eye bandages off and activated his Sovereigns Dominance. A grey outline with luminescent maroon eyes marked each acolyte. The young man deactivated his ability as one of them raised his head towards them. Their distance was about 7 meters.
"You two! Stop right there!" the one that faced them called out.
Lanius and Ahri came into a hault as the other Yánléi acolytes raised their heads and began to approach them.
"Who are you and what do you want?" the same one that spotted them asked once he and three other of the guards stood in front of them. The other three next to him raised their crossbows into a semi-combative stance, ready to aim and fire at them the moment they deemed them dangerous.
"I'm here to see the Shadow Master." Lanius said with a nonchalant voice and expression. Ahri simply remained idle.
"What do you want from him? Master is busy." The Yánléi replied.
"Tell him that it's urgent."Lanius insisted.
"I'll go talk to his apprentice. Wait here and don't take another step. Don't try anything stupid either!" the Yánléi acolyte warned them and rushed off.
Lanius crossed his arms and awaited the acolyte's return. He looked at her with the corner of his eye. Her face was straight, emotionless. Lanius gently touched her right palm with his figers. It was a simple message "I'm here."
The acolyte soon returned. "You may enter the temple. Master's apprentice will talk to you." he said. The three guards lowered their weapons and moved to the side.
Lanius and Ahri stepped forward. "Easy...too easy..." the young man thought.
As they passed the gate, the magic silenced in a flash, aside from a quiet humm. Lanius could feel an abnormal weight on his shoulders. The temple's first room consisted of a big open room full of pillars.
The duo and the acolyte passed through the hallway and into another room, where a "boy" sat. He had some sort of pole weapon wrapped in bandages, sheathed on his back.
"Messala, what do these two want?" the boy asked. He was facing the opposite way, towards another long hall and was currently looking at a book.
"The man wants to see master, Kayn. He said its urgent." Messala the acolyte said.
"What about the vastaya?" the boy that was named Kayn asked again, catching both Lanius and Ahri off guard.
"Im just his companion." Ahri replied in a warm tone.
The boy nodded. "Master is meditating now, he cannot be bothered." he spat out, turning a page.
"Couldn't you make an exception? It's urgent~" she tried again.
Kayn shook his head negatively, not bothering to take his eyes off the book.
"You should tell him that the Winter wants him to speak to him." Lanius replied.
The boys shook for a second. It then closed its book with one had, turned around and looked at them. He was about in his early twenties, looking a bit younger than Lanius.
"Fine, follow me. He muttered and headed towards the corridor that he was looking at before, tossing the Book aside. The boy walked in the front and they followed. Messala left for the gate again.
He looked at them with the corners of his eyes once in a while as they passed through the long corridor,where the whispers and humming grew louder. At a point, Ahri's cloak was blown by a light gust of wind and the boy grit his teeth. Ahri, thinking that he saw the kama, quickly pulled the cloak in place and kept her pace.
They finally stopped at the end of the hall, where a big red wooden door stood. Kayn signaled them to stop and walked to the door, knocked and entered. He came out a few seconds ago and motioned to Lanius, who walked towards the door.
"Alone." Kayn said as Ahri moved towards the door as well.
"I'll be right back, it shouldn't take long." Lanius looked at the vesani and then at Kayn, who leaned against one of the pillars.
Ahri nodded and stood there, watching him as he entered the room in front of him.