Sett looked around the campfire. Ahri had long fallen asleep, same for the two Lhotlan. Kayn was on the verge of sleeping too.
For the past two days, they lived in the outskirts, next to a village. Ahri was always on edge, constantly looking towards the satchel that the rune was.
The vesani uneasily shifted in her sleep. Her face was a grimace of pain. Sett wondered what she was dreaming of, that made her roll around.
Sett silently got up as he heard her mumble the Winter's name in her sleep. He slowly squatted next to her and lightly tapped her shoulders to wake her up.
Ahri woke up with a shake and looked around her, then straight at Sett.
"Rough dreams?" he whispered.
"I wonder what will happen to him." the Vesani sat up and whispered back. "Will they try to kill him? Is he going to break out of the city all by himself? Are they going to chase after him?" Ahri asked.
Sett could see her eyes tear up. He reached forward and gave her a small hug.
"Lanius is a tough nut, he'll manage." Sett reassured her.
Ahri bitterly smiled and lied back down. Sett got up and went back to his seat.
He slightly gazed at the stars and wondered about the Seer. Was she seeing him at that exact moment?
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"You know, Shyvana...you never told me why you're in here." Lanius asked in between two pull-ups.
Shyvana haulted in between one of her pull-ups and though. "Oh yeah, I forgot."
As the two cell mates did not have many options to kill time, for the past four days they resorted to exercising.
Lanius and Shyvana completed one set after the other.
"I was part of the Dragonguard. Then Jarvan the third died...and his son ordered all the mages to be imprisoned. Along with them, I was too. Then the Ruined King did some shady stuff...and here I am." the Half-Dragon explained in disbelief.
"That's just...sad." Lanius muttered.
"The whole motive of Demacia is sad." Shyvana replied. "Instead of coexisting with magic or controlling magical use, they flat-out crusade against it, to the point of imprisoning children."
Just as she said that, footsteps sounded at the end of the hall, that made their way to the door of their cell.
"Ice mage! Somebody is here to see you!" a deep harsh male voice sounded in the shadows.
Lanius looked towards the direction of the voice, then back at Shyvana.
The Half-Dragon motioned towards the door. "Go on, we'll finish it later."
Lanius dropped down from the cell's ceiling bars with a soft thud, and moved towards the door.
A young woman, probably in her early twenties stood on the other side of the bars. She was slender, with long blonde hair and was wearing something that Lanius could describe as a cute parody of an armor.
Lanius was confused. The girl on the other hand, seemed like she wasn't. "Are you the ice mage that they talk about?"
The young man did not reply straight away. "Why do you ask, child?"
"Are you?" the girl insisted.
Shyvana also approach the bars, and snickered as she saw the visitor. "Well...well,if it isn't little Lady Crownguard. Nice to see you again..."
The girl's eyes moved towards the Half-Dragon, as if she acknowledged her, then back to Lanius. Shyvana giggled and moved back to her bench. "I'll let you two discuss your matters."
Lanius looked at her. "I'm the...ice mage. Or rather somebody that uses ice magic."
The girl took a good look at the Winter, from top to bottom. "You're from Freljord, aren't you?"
Lanius squatted down. "What is your name, Lady Crownguard?"
"Luxanna, but you can call me Lux." the girl replied.
"Well Lux, I'm Lanius. Why do you ask me all of this?"
"I'm looking for somebody. His name is Sylas. Last time I saw him, he was in Freljord." Lux explained.
"Sylas?" Lanius turned towards Shyvana.
The Half-Dragon looked at him with interest. "A mad mage that caused all of this." she explained.
Lanius turned back at Lux and stuck his right hand out. "Touch my hand, little Lady."
Lux looked around and then stretched her hand out, touching the young man's.
The memories of the Echo Amber poured in flooding his brain.
"Little light..."
"Don't be afraid..."
"Kill the Royals! Burn their castles!"
"Garen, don't let him touch you!"
"Read their ranks!"
"Demaciaaa!"
"Lux!"
"I...trusted...you...."
Lanius zoned in. He saw three years in two minutes. He raised his head and got up. "No, I haven't seen him. But I saw the root of this madness."
Lux let go and nodded. She seemed sad. "Thank you very much then...and good luck."
"Don't worry about me. I'm not in danger." Lanius chuckled,prompting Lux to turn around in confusion.
Lanius just smiled and retreated back in the shadows. He heard the girl's footsteps as she walked away from the cell.
"What was that?" Shyvana asked.
Lanius just turned his head from side to side to pop his joints and grabbed the ceiling bars again. "Nothing much. We might see something interesting at the trial."
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Kayn opened his eyes as a low buzzing sound sounded in his ears. He was in a dark forest, currently passing through a small river. A mysterious thick black fog, like the harrowing mist of the Ruined King covered everything, not allowing the Shadow Reaper to see much.
Furthermore, a constant feeling of dread overtook his mind, numbed his senses and fogged his brain.
The young assassin looked around him. An eerie sense of being watched lingered in the atmosphere. Kayn turned around as something splashed in the waters behind him.
"Kill the mind...kill the mind." he muttered to himself as he turned around.
And then suddenly, the sky was painted red...same with the fog.
"Dark...ness." a voice whispered, sending chills down his spine.
"Kill the mind..." Kayn continued to chant as he scanned the area.
Kayn came into a hault and looked around him. Just then, a black figure darted forward from the fog. It raised its two bladed arms forward to stab the young assassin with a roar.
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Kayn let out a blood curdling scream in his sleep and woke up, startling the rest of the Ionians. He backed away as he grasped at the dirt with his hands and gasped for air, trying to get over the temporary shock of the nightmare.
"Kayn, all good?" Rakan asked.
Kayn took a little while to reply. "Yeah...all good. Just a nightmare."
"This place gets on our nerves, I hope Lanius is done quickly." Xayah muttered and sat back down.
One by one, each of the Ionians lied back down. All except Kayn, who decided to scan the area for anything out of the ordinary. Maybe it was just paranoia. Maybe it was an aftershocks from the nightmare.
Or perhaps it was something far more sinister...
...because the feeling of being watched still lingered around him.