Lanius moved over the wooden bridge. As he stepped foot on the other side, Vitiate moved once more.
He was pretty close to the end, he had passed the clouds hours ago, but couldn't see the top as the area he was was covered with a thick fog.
The giant ice wolf stopped and sat down in front of a rock. On top of the rock sat a figure with plum hair styled into a simple braid. It wore a black trencoat with fur on its shoulders that had its sleeves rolled till the elbows. The figure wore black tassets with furr and plated boots. Finally, its arms, torso and left eye were covered by black bandages.
"Verhea...derivative off the ancient Frejlordian word Je'Verhe'anev. It means..." Child of the Cryophoenix"." the figure spoke as it leaned forward to pet one of the two ice wolves that sat in front of him.
"So close, yet so far away. Are you really ready to become the Winter, Lanius?" the figure asked him.
"Am I? Would I be ready, if I wasn't looking at my future self?" Lanius asked.
"So perceptive." the figure muttered. "But are you really ready? Is this the future you desire?"
Lanius was instantly teleported to the Howling Abyss. It was as if the image was frozen in time.
The young man stood on a broken bridge. Sett, Xayah and Rakan, along with some Freljordians he had never seen were fighting some weird monstrosities.
Lanius and another woman with a bow made out of true ice were at the edge of the bridge.
They seemed to attack a giant one eyed monster with horns.
"Bizarre, isn't it?" the figure asked, as he approached the young man.
"It surely is...but I'm ready for this." Lanius replied.
Suddenly, the place around them changed. Lanius found himself back in Ionia, in yet another image frozen in time.
He was in a large snowy glade, in the middle of a battle. Lightning was seen on the horizon. Bodies and weapons were scattered everywhere, Ionian and Noxians alike.
The future Lanius was at the front lines, with his weapon raised ready to strike.
Irelia and Ahri where besides him, with Kayn and Zed a few meters behind.
On the Noxian side, two men seemed to lead the front.
One was tall and bulky like a mountain and carried a waraxe. The other seemed like one of the men that worked on Sett's pit. He carried four weird weapons that seemed to spin around.
"What about this?" the figure asked.
Twenty meters behind them, another man stood, surrounded by Noxian warriors. He had a black coat similar to the Winter's, yet he was way older and had a crow on his shoulder.
He seemed to observe just one man, only one.
Lanius
"Who is this man?" the young man asked the figure.
"This? He will play a major part in the upcoming war. This...is Grand General Jericho Swain!"
"Swain...this is the man I need to draw out of Noxus. This is the key to the Witch."
Lanius was teleported yet again, this time in a dark room. Lanius could see a bright light in the horizon.
"Your future...unlocked. Do you really want this power though? If so, head into the light." that now familiar disembodied voice spoke to him. It was mixed with his.
Lanius moved forward again and again...and again, till he stepped into the light.
.
.
.
The young man opened his eyes. He seemed to be drifting into space.
Lanius looked around him and heard. It looked...bizarrely odd. He was taken aback by the fact that he didn't need air to breath, or that there was no magic.
The young man looked below him. He could perfectly see Runeterra below him. It looked like a massive sphere.
"Astonishing, isn't it?" the disembodied voice asked. "What one can make if he has enough time."
Lanius turned around as he finally heard a massive concentration of magic. It sounded like thousands of little bells.
The Winter stood there in awe at the sight of an enormous dragon. His skin was dark blue as deep space and glistened with the light of stars.
He glew in this form in light and dark shades of blue, and his head was white with sharp spikes resembling teeth around his mouth.
What could be considered his hair was a deep purple and dark blue, and attached to his head was a golden crown.
"What is it, Aspect of the Winter? Am I that beautiful in your mortal eyes?" the now embodied voice asked.
Lanius didn't respond. The figure was indeed beautiful in a weird way.
"You can indeed speak." the giant dragon did not open its mouth, though Lanius could hear it. It was just like when Freida spoke to him.
Lanius then thought. "Are you...Sol?"
The dragon chuckled. "A small correction first, mortal. I'm not a dragon."
"Then, what are you?" Lanius asked.
"I am you. I am everything you ever saw and interacted with. I'm in the air, I am in the skies." the dragon smiled. "I forged everything. I existed long before the Cryophoenix was ever born. I will continue to exist even when you are gone, even when your last descendants will leave their final breath. I am Aurelion Sol."
Lanius was left speechless.
The dragon chuckled yet again." Isn't it...intriguing. To meet your creator?"
Lanius nodded. "Why are you so interested with me?"
"Oh, your little Odyssey seems interesting." Sol explained as he shifted around. "A young man sets out to obtain a relic of the past, in order to obtain power to avenge his tribe. Kind of childish, but still interesting."
"You watched everything?" Lanius asked.
"Everything, every part and clash from Ionia to Targon, every little detail. Even your private time with that little vesani." Sol explained with a cynical smile.
Lanius didn't reply. Sol's smile became even wider. "But what you seek is power? Terrific. You tiny humans desire strength and power again and again. Always."
"I desire this power to avenge my tribe." Lanius replied.
"Ah, vengeance! How...cute. The Aspect of the Winter desires vengeance! We have a common goal then." Sol exclaimed.
"I'm not an Aspect, Star Forger!" Lanius reasoned. "I might host the Spirit, but it doesn't make me an Aspect."
"My apologies, Embodiment of the Winter. But you see, I'm not a dragon myself either." Sol shot back.
"But you resemble one." Lanius stated. "It's a fact."
"These humans. They call me a comet. They call me a dragon. They have no words for my true form."
"And may I find what your true form is, great primordial deity?" Lanius then asked.
"Duch compliments...foolish, but I like them. Do you really want me to show you? Do you?" Aurelion Sol smiled again. "Then...behold!"
The Star Forger was engulfed in bright light. Lanius was able to see it for a split second. Then the body became of a dragon again.
"Magnificent..."