Hecarim pointed his spear towards them and the wraith army began their charge with a terrible scream.
Lanius remembered the time when he was chased by a bear-wolf it was three times bigger than him. Lanius, who was just a boy then began running like mad towards a tree. He clearly remembered what his father had yelled at him.
"Run Volund, Run!"
It was this memory that caused the young man to summon his weapon and sprint forward, towards the temple. They had about a kilometer to cross and the wraiths approached them with great speed. Xayah and Rakan had the lead and Ahri was behind them, Lanius and the Sentinels were last on purpose, wanting to defend everyone.
Hecarim was about five hundred meters away from them and raised his spear. He then flung it towards their way. It slammed behind them and instantly dissolved. As a response, the Rookie turned around and fired a shot with his wayfinder, hitting the centaur's right shoulder.
Hecarim stumbled, but regained his footing and continued to chase them with rage in his face.
"Do we still keep on running, shouldn't we fight?" Kayn asked.
"Best if we avoid it." the elder Sentinel replied, turning to shoot again. The shot hit a wraith, dissolving it.
Sett then turned towards the young man. "Lanius, is there a way for you to propel me forward?"
"There is. Why?" Lanius asked.
"We need to buy time for them. Do it!" Sett demanded. Lanius thought as he was running. Something then clicked inside his head. The trick at the pit.
"All right, but I need you to stop running." Lanius said. Xayah turned around."Are you crazy?! They'll tear you apart!."
"I know what he's doing, just go." Sett and Lanius stopped. Xayah also stopped. Rakan looked at her in horror and also stopped, but she pushed him forward. "I got this." she told him. Rakan turned around and continued to run.
"Trust us! Xayah, go." Lanius ordered.
"No way." she approached them and grabbed more feathers. The two guys looked at each other and sighed, then faced the army. They had to buy time, lots of time. The three stood their ground, ready for the army to come.
Lanius raised his poleaxe and readied himself. For a split second, his eyes lit and a brief image of a transparent ice wolf appeared above him.
"Call of the lonewolf!" he thought and with a battle-cry, he slammed it on the ground. Ice formed around the area that the weapon hit. In an instant, two large wolves made out of ice erupted from the weapon and charged at the wraiths. One pounced on Hecarim, while the other striked at the undead men.
At the same time, he kneeled down and Xayah jumped on his back, using him to propel herself in the air. In an instant she opened her wing, and a purple aura surrounded her.
"Feathers fly!" she released a volley of feathers that hit the wraiths, then came back, ending more. She continued to send and recover her feathers, as Lanius and Sett fought, trying to buy as much time as they possibly could.
The three warriors stabbed, punched and sliced wraiths with all their strength as the army continued to swarm at them.
Hecarim seemed to gain the upper hand with the wolf. Whatever they had to do, they had to do it now.
Rays of light then slammed against the army. Lanius turned towards the temple. They had made it and the two Sentinels were now shooting at the undead, assisting the three.
"Let's go." Lanius ordered, kicking a wraith. Sett nodded and after tossing another one he faced the temple and crouched down.
"Xayah, you ready?" he asked.
"I am, go!" Xayah recalled her feathers and stood there.
In an instant, Lanius stomped his foot on the ground. An ice spike formed under Sett's feet in an angle, propelling him twenty meters in the air.
.
.
.
Sett couldn't believe that it worked. He spun around mid air and opened his arms. A faint glow appeared in his palms. The Winter and the Rebel were suddenly lifted and moved towards the Beast-Man. Sett closed his arms, securing both of them in his hug. Sett spun yet again.
.
.
.
"Position your as if you're sliding!" Lanius ordered. He saw Sett do so, indicating that he was ready. Lanius formed an ice sphere and aimed at a specific location. He then threw it, activating an ability.
A ramp made out of ice formed under them as they landed, causing Sett to snowboard forward. Lanius expanded the ice lane as far as he could.
"Woah, woah, woaaah!" Sett tried to balance himself. As the ice lane stopped, he allowed himself a second to calm down, before crossing the remaining one hundred meters to the temple.
As they met with the rest, they rushed in the temple, not wanting to waste any time, as the wraiths approached.
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.
.
Hecarim roared as he tossed the dissolving ice wolf away from him. Those damned humans wouldn't escape. Not only that, but they were heading for the blade. They couldn't get to it.
"Commander, what do we do?" a wraith soldier asked.
"Full on charge...at the temple." he ordered and galloped towards the location.
"But Commander...what about the Blade?" the soldier asked,following him. "What about the Warden?"
"The Warden isn't here, he's in Noxus collecting his stupid souls. Neither him, nor the Shepherd can stand in our way." Hecarim snickered. "These stupid mortals think that they can walk in and out of our territory unharmed...how foolish they are."
.
.
.
Ahri and the others looked around as they passed through the empty halls. Everything within the place was distorted, warped in a surreal manner.
"How bizarre..." Sett exclaimed as he was sprinting.
"Bizarre indeed. This place was a sanctuary...now its a living tombstone." the Rookie replied, keeping his pace steady.
"Have you been in here?" Akali asked.
"I have. I've crossed the whole Isles for two years now, chased by a mad wraith that is obsessed with collecting souls. Ever since the defeat of the Ruined King, he chased me from one edge to the other. If I didn't have the wayfinder with me, I'd be long gone." the Rookie explained as they passed through the corridors.
The screams behind them loudened. They made it this far already.
Ahri and the rest rushed through, trying to find the right path. The Rookie was leading the way with Lanius next to him. Farru was last, dripping a bit from his lantern once in a while. He said that it would temporarily hold the wraiths back. Lanius turned through halls now, trying to pinpoint the room.
"Over there! Through the hall." the Rookie said. As they were meters away from the room, inside an open hall, wraith soldiers swarmed from the sides and the corridor behind them.
"We'll hold them off! Lanius, go!" Akali yelled, spinning Mesfin's weapon in her hand. The elder Sentinel turned around to fire along with Sett and the rest, forming a semi-circular barrier around the door.
Lanius rushed into the room. The waters were long gone and the marble that once housed the blessed waters had cracks everywhere. At the centre of the pond stood the Ruined King's Zweihänder, forever stabbing the ground.
Hecarim was opposite of him, at the other side of the room, with rage in his face. At an instant he galloped towards the young man, raising his spear to drive it through his heart.
Lanius rushed towards the blade. He had to get first to the blade.
The young man saw everything in slow motion. He simultaneously summoned his weapon, ready to plunge its tip at the wraith's torso.
The two opponents roared in rage as they approached the weapon. Lanius dove towards it with his hand already stretched out as Hecarim hurled his spear at him.
The weapon missed him and the tip, instead of hitting him, hit the blade the moment the young man touched it...
...then everything faded.