Xayah opened the door and got into a medium sized room. A vastaya with fox ears and a tail was chained on the wall in front of her,sitting on a wood bench. The vastaya was emitting an irritating aura and was currently facing the ground. She looked up and a spark lit in her amber eyes as she saw the Rebel.
"I heard commotion outside. Are you...here to help me?" she asked. Xayah approached her and examined her restraints. She had simple steel cuffs that chained her hands to the ceiling.
"Are you the politician that assists the Ziraq?" The Rebel asked. The fox nodded positively. "Good, I'm here to break you out."
"Did you not try to use magic to get free?" she asked the fox vastaya.
"I tried." she said. "See that collar around my neck?"
Xayah looked down. A white and blue stone collar was fixed around her neck. She had not seen this again. "What is that?"
"Petricite...it nullifies magic." the fox explained.
"Well have to find the key." Xayah muttered. "What's your name?"
"Ahri. One of them had the key for the locks. A tall and muscular one. A kid with a scythe has the keys for the collar."
"Well Ahri, I'm Xayah." she said.
"Xayah? The Rebel? The Violet Raven?" Ahri was shocked.
"Yeah. I can fetch the keys for the locks right now...but the collar's another story. The boy is upstairs fighting with my man." Xayah moved outside and retrieved the keys from the acolyte to release Ahri.
Ahri rubbed her wrists as her shackles fell on the bench. She got up and stretched her limbs before she walked out of the room, followed by Xayah. She stopped at the stairs to look at the scattered corpses outside the room and on the staircase.
"Wow...no wonder you're never caught." she said with a surpised look on her face. Xayah huffed.
"Humans are weaker than us. Especially the Yánléi. They fear us, so they drain this lands magic to become stronger." Xayah said with an empty voice.
"And what if they stop? What if its time for you to set aside your differences?" Ahri asked.
Xayah stopped and looked at her. She had a puzzled look on her face. "What are you trying to say?"
"The cities are buzzing like a wasp nest. They want to unite against Noxus." Ahri was serious.
"..." Xayah did not reply. She looked confused. Unite? Fight Noxus? The whole island? What was she talking about? Were the humans really planning to unite with the vastaya and cease the magic exploitation?
She zoned back in as alarmed yells sounded from upstairs. "Hurry! They mustn't catch us."
Xayah and Ahri rushed up the stairs. As they made it to the end of the staircase, Yánléi swarmed from the other floor.
"Over there!" one of them yelled, before he was met by a sharp feather/dagger, thrown by Xayah. She plucked it out of his lifeless body and kicked it back, momentarily stopping the swarm.
The two passed through the door and made it to the courtyard, where Rakan still brawled with Kayn.
The Charmer turned around and saw the duo, then spun back to Kayn and caught the scythe with his crossed hands inches above his head. He then kicked the boy, who fell back a few meters and assumed a crouching battle stance yet again.
Rakan joined the two escapists. They made their way towards the wall and climbed up, then jumped over the other side and continued to run away from the fort, disappearing into the forest.
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Lanius watched as the trio distanced itself from the fort. He briefly turned towards the courtyard, where the remaining nine Navori warriors and Kayn had just reached it. As they made it on the wall, the trio had already vanished into the woods.
Kayn cursed and momentarily looked towards the watchtower, as if he was looking at the sky. The Winter silently vaulted the watchtower from the other side and glided from the wall down on the ground, hidden from the guards. He soon made his way into the forest and activated his Sovereign's Dominance in order to track the three escapists.
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Xayah, Rakan and Ahri continued to run in the woods. The Rebel and the Charmer moved at the front, and Ahri was just about a meter behind, despite Lhotlans being faster than Vesani.
"So...you're the Ziraq politician?" Rakan asked Ahri as they sprinted.
"Yeah." Ahri confirmed this, just as she did with his lover.
"How come Ziraq have a Vesani, an almost extinct vastaya specie as their ambassador?" He continued.
"Mieli now's not the time." Xayah told him.
"It's okay. I was going to marry a Ziraq, but the Yánléi got in the way." Ahri stated.
"Sheesh...why do they always get in a vastaya's way?" Rakan questioned.
The trio slowed down as they made it out of the forest and into a vast, plain field, filled with spears and other weapons. Ahri had recognised this place.
It was a historic site where the battle of Zouhn had taken place. A single Wuju warrior decimated an entire Noxian legion at the span of an hour. The warrior then disappeared, only to appear elsewhere when he was needed. The Noxian bodies were removed, but the weapons were kept as a reminder of the this one-man army.
As they finally stopped, Rakan examined the petricite collar. "Yeah, a feather dagger won't do, we'll have to get it to a magician or something similar." he said.
"That won't be a problem. I'm just glad that you came to save me." Ahri thanked them again.
Rakan approached his lover and gave her a quick kiss, only to look at her straight in the eyes. "I tasted blood, miella. Are you all right?" he asked, visibly concerned.
"Yeah, it was nothing. The guy that did this is gone now." Xayah brushed it off, looking at her lover.
"She destroyed them." Ahri exclaimed. "I haven't seen a vastaya throw daggers with such precision."
Xayah went to open her mouth, still looking at Rakan. She then froze in place as The Charmer was silently looking towards the vesani.
"Rakan?" she asked, when another voice was heard from behind them. "I have to say that even I am surprised. You surely must be the best Lhotlan battle dancer..."
Xayah turned around, already plucking three feather daggers from her wing. A young man with silver hair, styled into a simple braid was a few meters behind Ahri. The vesani stood there. As the stranger came closer, a faint smile appeared in her mouth.
"Who are you?!" The Rebel demanded to know. Rakan took a protective stance next to her, holding one of his feathers in his hand.
"My companions know me simply as Lanius." The stranger said as he approached Ahri.
Xayah grit her teeth and raised her dagger. What was this petty human trying. No way she was going to let him harm the ambassador. Xayah threw one of her three daggers straight at him, aiming for his forehead. The stranger sidestepped to the left, dodging the projectile, before he approached the fox, who was now smiling.
Xayah's eyes then widened as the stranger reached behind Ahri's head and removed her petricite collar with a soft "click".
"I'm glad that it worked. You're a perfect actor, Ahri." he said, dumbfounding the two lovers.
It was a trap, the Ziraq deceived them.