Ahri slowed down as the wolves also slowed down. She took a look around the area. Setting aside the stone/ice box, more signs showed that a battle had taken place there, as the place was filled with ice shards, vines and cracked rocks.
She and the wolves circled around the log, to discover even more chaos and something that caused Ahri to stop and look in awe.
A big crystal blue dragon was laying down on the ground. The Ionians and another woman stood in a semi circle around it. Lanius was in front of its head and currently touched its snout with one hand and held something else with the other.
As she approached them, she was able to see more stuff, such as the fact that Lanius was holding the echo amber in his hand and was using vastayan magic on the dragon, or that Kayn looked exhausted and had placed Rhaast on his back again.
"What is going on?" the Vesani asked Akali.
"I don't know. He's been like that for over ten minutes now. I think he's taking to it and healing it. We did a good number on it, but he told us to stop as Princess over here..." Akali motioned towards the other woman. "...was about to finish it off."
Ahri took a few steps towards Lanius. "Lanius? Are you all right?" she calmly asked.
The young man nodded positively and assumed his previous position again. He remained that way for a few more minutes. The vastayan magic then stopped flowing from the Winter's hand and the young man opened his eyes.
"I am with you and you are with me. You and I will be spiritually connected, bound by our oath to protect each other. The Winter requires your assistance...and in return he will also aid you. We're the same...despite our nature." he said.
Ahri raised an eyebrow as the giant dragon stood up and flapped its giant wings, then lifted its giant body from the ground and flew in the vicinity.
"What was that thing that you did till now?" the vesani asked the Winter.
"I was communicating with it. All entities that use ice magic have a direct connection to the Winter. This dragon is just like me. It lost its kind from foreigners. I've bound myself with him, he is now part of the Winter." the young man watched the dragon dissappear over the horizon. "Besides, a dragon would help us in the upcoming war. But what about you? What happened?" he asked her with a concerned tone.
"No need to worry, Wolfy." Ahri leaned forward and gave him a quick kiss on his lips. She saw with the corner of her eyes that Xayah mimicked her on Rakan and chuckled. "Your boys over there did a pretty decent job. That kitty mistook me for Viom...and I played my part neatly." she exclaimed with a wink.
The young man shrugged and faced the one that Akali called "princess". She was currently petting one of the wolves with a face full of joy.
.
.
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"So Qiyana, how come you have assisted us?" the young man asked her.
"I've thought about some stuff, Winter...and realised some things too." she crossed her hands behind her back. "Might we discuss it privately?" she asked and batted her eyelashes.
Lanius saw Ahri grit her teeth and decided to act quickly. "If it's a matter that regards Ixtal, it won't take much time, I suppose." he followed her.
The Winter and the Yunalai climbed up a big hill that overlooked the whole jungle.
"See this big square building? It is the Palace of Ixaocan." she pointed to one side. Lanius saw a giant square over the horizon. "I will one day be the true leader of Ixtal."
"This over there..." she turned around and pointed forward. Lanius could see the desert in the vicinity. "...is Shurima."
"Shurima, interesting. Why are you showing me all this, though?" the young man asked.
"Because I need a witness." Qiyana stood straight. "I will claim-" at that point she hicked. "...claim this land-" she tried to continue, but hicked again. Qiyana spend the next minute having uncontrollable hickups. When she finally stopped, she said what she wanted with a single breath. "I will claim this land for Ixaocan..."
"...And for this, I will need your assistance." she leaned closer to him.
"My assistance?" Lanius instantly knew where she planned to end the conversation. "Qiyana Yun Tal...nature sides with nobody." he exclaimed, which was a lie of course...but in his eyes, she was just a megalomaniac child.
The young man began to climb down the hill. Qiyana rushed to his side and tried to change his mind. "B-But...think about it, about the power you'll hold! If you help me, I'll give you Shurima."
"I have power. And I don't need it anyway, Freljord is mine." another lie, technically at least.
Qiyana then directly stopped in front of him. "How about I bare your child? Imagine how strong it would be if we combined our bloods?" the ypung Yunalai bit her lower lip.
Lanius blinked. "I highly doubt that a twenty year old royalty would willingly want to bear the child of a forty year old half-vastaya...even if he is the Winter. If you want to achieve your goal, you'll have to rely on yourself. You have faith in your skills, you just need some extra training." he extended his hand towards her.
Qiyana shook it and followed him back to the others.
" Ok...let's head back to the ship." the Winter told them.
"Actually..." Xayah stood next to Qiyana and placed a hand on her shoulder. "...we'll meet you there...."
Rakan also placed a hand on her other shoulder. "We have a few things to, errrr...discuss."
Lanius raised an eyebrow, grabbed Ahri's hand and turned around, towards the jungle.
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The ship sailed steadily through the sea, moving yet again for another location.
"Ok, next stop is Targon...for sure this time." Sett exclaimed.
"Yes,but before all this, we gotta talk about something." Kayn replied and everyone gathered.
"So we were in Ixtal and not Shurima, why did you lie to us?" Akali demanded to know.
Lanius looked at Ahri, who nodded at him, then faced the others again. "Not many know about Ixtal...the reason being our small encounter."
"It doesn't matter, what matters is that you hid info from us, the ones that will assist you in this journey." Kayn replied. "Do you not trust us?"
"I'm aware. I was hoping that I wouldn't need to hide anything else." Lanius leaned against the railing of the wheel. "Don't worry, I do trust you, I just didn't want you to panic. Especially you Kayn. Since Ixtal was...well, part of Shurima."
Kayn didn't say anything else and just walked off, followed by Akali. Sett looked at the sea and also walked off.
"Do you think that they'll forgive me?" Lanius asked the three.
"I give them max a week of irritation." Ahri replied.
Xayah looked first at Lanius, then at Ahri, then at Rakan. Rakan shrugged and grabbed her hand.
The two Lhotlan walked away, before the young man stopped them by asking them a question. "What did you do to Qiyana?"
Xayah and Rakan looked at each other and smiled, before facing the young man. "We gave her a little challenge." they both said at the same time and walked off chuckling.
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"GNNN...MMMPH!" Qiyana growled with irritation as she struggled to move towards the ohmlatl.
Who would have guessed that Xayah and Rakan wouldn't forgive her even after she assisted them with the drake. Here she was now...SHE, the Princess of Ixtal, hogtied and gagged in the jungle, left alone. The two vastaya left her, her ohmlatl in a short distance. All she had to do was to wiggle her way towards it and free herself.
Qiyana growled again and tried to move towards her weapon.
As she turned around, a set of yellow luminescent eyes from a nearby bush caught her attention, causing her to freeze.
Damn it, it wasn't her day.
The eyes blinked two to three times, before a weird looking female vastaya, the owner of the eyes, emerged from the bushes and approached her.
Qiyana tried to move away in fear and discomfort as she was approached by the creature.
"Don't worry, Neeko won't hurt you. Neeko just curious about Yunalai." the vastaya sat down next to her with curiosity depicted in her face. "Neeko release you...but first Neeko get to know you." with a swift move, she removed the gag from her mouth and looked at her. "What do you say?"
Qiyana lied there in confusion. Today wasn't her day at all...oh, how she wished that she listened to Bayal.