"Mu'takl!" Xayah said through her teeth. A bloody traitor that worked with the humans. They set that trap for her and Rakan. Perhaps they wanted to capture her...maybe even kill her.
"I wouldn't call her a traitor." the young man said.
"Shut your mouth, human." Xayah hissed at him.
"Human? You think I'm merely a human?" the young man shook his head. "What mere human would be capable of organising all that to find the Violet Raven?"
As he said those words, he closed his mouth and emitted a clear, territorial growl that some vastayan species used and then smiled, showing off a set of sharp fangs.
This caught her of guard. No human was able to perfectly imitate that sound. Was he really a vastaya? He did not look like one.
She took a few seconds to look at him from top to bottom, mainly focusing on his face. The three stripes like the vesani had in her face, the teeth and then...his right eye. A crystal blue iris with a slit pupil and a black sclera. The other eye was hidden behind black bandages. And then there was his posture. He was slightly leaning forward with his knees lightly bent and his heels slightly raised, similarly to the Ziraq.
"You're a Ziraq?" Rakan came into conclusion before her.
"Half. I'm half-vastaya, half-human. You could say that I represent one of the few balanced being of Ionia." the young man joked.
"Another mu'takl...less than Ahri over here...but still a traitor." Xayah exclaimed.
"I'm not here to betray you, Xayah. Quite the opposite. I'm here to make a deal with you." Lanius said as he briefly looked at the vesani.
"Did the Navori bastards harm you?" he asked, looking concerned.
Ahri gave him a small hug. "They wouldn't even get to think about it." she said.
"Navori? The Navori Brotherhood? They weren't Yánléi?" Rakan asked.
"Only the boy with the scythe. The rest were Navori Brotherhood members posing as Yánléi acolytes." Ahri explained.
"As weird as it might sound...the Yánléi have agreed to cease exploitation of vastaya and magic for the greater good of the lands." the young man said.
"Bullshit. Sweet lies." Xayah said, still keeping her daggers raised. Rakan also kept his ready, but had now slightly lowered it.
"Allow him to explain, will you?" Ahri said. "What did I tell you back at Xaehara? For the first time, the First Lands want to unite to fight a common enemy. And not only humans, but vastaya as well."
"Are the Yánléi or the Navori the enemy? Cause they're the biggest threat." Xayah said. "They hurt the lands,can they not hear it cry?" she raised her voice.
"No...only vastaya can. I can, that's why I want them to stop. I need them as allies. I also need you." Lanius extended his arm towards her. "I need you. You and your eli."
Xayah hissed at him. "Don't.call.him.that! Only I do." she said through her teeth.
The young man's hand dropped. The ground then began to shake. A large rumbling sound was heard from behind the vesani and the young man.
Xayah saw something big erupt from the ground. Ahri and Lanius also turned.
It was a stone sentinel. She then looked at its top, where the dagger that she had thrown had stabbed a tree. It's trunk was white and its leaves red. Cyan liquid was dripping from the feather on the ground.
"Oh...crap..." Rakan said as his eyes widened. The Rebel was sure that she had the same expression right now. The stone beast moved towards her way. Lanius grabbed Ahri from her hand and pulled her to the side. It's target was her for sure.
Rakan rushed away. "Babe let's go!"
She couldn't move for an unknown reason. The beast raised its stone fist, ready to hit her.
"Xayah!" Rakan realised what happened and turned around. A primal instinct caused her to unfreeze and roll to the side as the stone fist pounded the ground. The sentinel then moved its arm towards her, as if it was swatting a fly. Xayah was quick enough to place her hands in front of her face to cover her head.
A loud thud echoed through the plain and she was flung on the air, landing a few meters away. The last thing she saw was Rakan rushing towards her as the sentinel approached her.
.
.
.
"Xayah!" the young man heard her lover scream her name as he reached her. The sentinel was a few meters away from them.
"She's breathing!" he said a few seconds later with a tone of relief.
"How do we stop it?" Ahri asked as she threw her orb again. It slammed the sentinel repeatedly but the stone golem kept marching, emitting large thuds as it made its way to the Lhotlans.
"We can't." Lanius said. In mere seconds, he had scanned the all previous Winters memories regarding sentinels, but to no avail. He didn't find anything helpful. "Xayah angered it by damaging the tree, even accidentally."
The sentinel stopped and raised its stone fist, looking at the two Lhotlans with its big beady blue eye. Something clicked inside the Winter's head. He darted forward as the stone monster was ready to strike.
.
.
.
As the stone fist hammered down, Rakan raised his right hand in despair, as he held Xayah with his left. A yellow spherical barrier surrounded him as the fist came down. As the fist was inches above the shield, he instinctively closed his eyes, hoping that it would hold and braced himself for the hit...that never came.
Rakan felt cold. He opened his eyes. The Sentinel's stone fist had stopped, and was now encased in a thick layer of ice, same with the rest. He deactivated the shield and looked up as he swiftly pulled Xayah away and set her down on the grass next to a spear.
The young man was sitting on the grassy patch that housed the tree. He held Xayah's dagger in one hand and touched the trunk with the other. An ice patch had sealed the opened wound on the tree.
.
.
.
"What...did you do?" he asked Lanius as he sat besides the Rebel, lightly brushing his fingers against her cheek.
"Rakan wasn't it?" the Winter asked, and continue when he nodded positively. "Froze it in place."
"Thank you for helping her..." Rakan replied.
"No need to thank me. I just want you to reconsider my offer." Lanius said, taking Ahri's hand.
"Humans made many promises. More than I can remember..." he said, looking at Xayah. "... They kept none." Rakan looked at him straight in the eyes. "How can I trust you?"
"I'm not entirely human..." Lanius explained. "Rakan...I'm going to be honest with you. Driving Noxus out will be just the beginning."
Lanius looked at the sky. It was mid-day. "I came up with this uprising, because ultimately I plan on delivering a message to Noxus. They're the ones that made this land like this. They killed my entire tribe. I plan on ultimately attacking Noxus, so they won't lay eyes on us again."
"That's a risky move. Lot's might die." Rakan said.
"They won't. Because we have our champions, our legends to fight besides us. Two are already in front of me." the young man said.
Rakan looked at him. "I'll talk to Xayah. She'll ultimately listen."
Lanius smiled. "Perfect. Now we gotta head back to the city. All we need is to talk again to the council."