"It's not how much time you have, it's how you use it."~ Ekko, The Boy Who Shattered Time
How do you like Caalyx? I wanted a Mimir like character but also something to balance out Gregori's gloom.
I wanted a grittier fight. But being empowered by Darkin is kinda busted no? There is no way Gregori doesn't blitz through these guys, even if they do look cool as fuck and serve Lissandra.
Also, quick update, if you look at the map of the Freljord, you can see Gregori had to travel past Naljaag to get to his current position. This is because Rakelstake is close to Demacia. Like literally over the mountain type distance. Yeah, I did not pay attention to that but I'll try to not fuck up the distances and destinations. Writing an upcoming chapter has made me realize this, but..... I can make it work to my advantage.
Also, with Arcane Act 2, Singed has only now joined Noxus. That means the invasion of Ionia is still going. I will wait till we get some more information. But I can make it like a follow up to the invasion, a secondary show of force if you will.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The actions of the day left Gregori extremely tired. A far cry from any of his normal state. Blood magic. As the name suggested, it was one of the most vile kinds of magic that could be performed. Not because of what it took to perform the magic but the result of said magic. Blood magic used both blood and magic. A single mistake would spell your death. You only had so much blood in your body, that made the total use of the magic very minute. Losing a pint of blood would leave you feeling dizzy. More than that would leave you incapacitated. The only way to safely use blood magic was to replenish your supply with the blood of others, or just use other's blood to do the magic in the first place.
But therein laid the issue.
Using or accepting the blood of another always led to corruption. Insanity was the most common result. A complete loss of control and turning into a mindless blood sucking monster was a really bad end for anyone.
That is why the magic is vile. Not because of its connection to blood. There are a lot of magics that are powered by sacrifice or deaths but they are not considered vile.
Then again, no one cared if you were using vile magics or not. Whoever lived to tell tale embellished things in their favor. That was how it always worked.
Gregori's use of Caalyx was a form of blood magic. And he had not replenished his blood. Blood that he used to enhance his physical capabilities. That blood did not simply return to his body. No. That blood combined with the magic had already left him.
Now all he could do was slowly and naturally gain it back.
But it was worth it. The usage of blood magic had forced his body to heal a certain portion. The injury from the wolves had healed but it did leave scars. The wolves were magical in nature. You do not heal perfectly from magical wounds. Just another thing that had left a mark upon his body. An addition to the many scars he had received. Tattoos he had gotten willingly but scars were something else. A trophy collection of times he survived and his enemies did not.
Despite his tired state, he gathered the heads of the two men, the inquisitors he had been sent to collect. He tied their weapons with ropes and kept them with the True Ice he had already collected. He had seen the inquisitor's weapon knock the shield out of its path. No normal weapon could do that. It also had a similar look to the ice that surrounded the Darkin host.
The Avarosans probably knew more about it.
He hung the heads off his slung bag and then rummaged through the men's items. He found food. Quite a lot of food. Gregori had a smile sprout on his face, it had been almost four weeks since he had consumed good food.
These men carried around FRUIT.
Not the hard ones from the Freljord but stuff you would find in Noxus. They also carried with them some well seasoned meats.
Both paired for a nice and heavy meal. He drank from their water skins hoping that it would be safe..... not protocol but he could not be bothered at the moment. He needed lots of nutrients and heavy rest.
The best part of all of this was the weird mounts the two Draklorn Inquisitors had rode on. They hadn't run away and he hadn't killed them. It looked like he had gained two mounts.
Gregori petted them and they purred. That was a good reaction. He always did like cats. He then checked the nags affixed on the mounts, only to find more food and rations. They also contained the odd set of maps. They only seemed odd because he didn't understand the language it was written in. Something either a secret or old.
After a few hours of sitting around, he packed up everything, fastened them on one mount and got on the other. His spear and shield attached to his mount.
After he got on he realized something.
He did not know how to ride these creatures.
Bending down, Gregori patted the creature and said go forward. The beast. Both beasts did fuck all. They just lazed around.
Imitating the inquisitors, he placed his hands on its horns.
GRRRRRRRRR
As if forced awake, the beast growled. It shook itself and started moving. Gregori turned its head to the right and it moved right. He turned it left and it moved left.
"I see...."
He turned around to spot the other beast following them silently.
"That's nice?"
Turning back around, Gregori aimed the head of the beast in the direction he wanted it to go and pushed the horns forward.
The horns did not move.
But the beast did. It bolted. Straight through the frozen land.
Gregori's neck jerked back from the sudden acceleration and his vision faded to black.
He did regained consciousness sometime later. He did not know how long. But despite being unconscious, he had not let go of the horns and had not let up on the pressure at which he pushed.
Gregori stopped after his vision cleared and the black spots vanished.
The beast slid to a stop and so did the beast that diligently followed.
Hopping off, he inspected the two creatures again. He did not know how much distance he had managed to cover or if they had changed direction at any point.
The beasts were tired. Their tongues were out.
Thirsty as well as tired.
Pulling out a water skin pouch, he gently lifted the head of one of the beasts and emptied the water skin. After doing the same to the second, the led them forward by foot.
He led them forward. Hoping to find a cave and spend the night.
They did not chance upon a cave for multiple hours but a slow walk kept both him and the beasts from tiring out.
Eventually he did come across a cave.
Only he would call it a cave, no one else would call it that.
It was a dugout. Just a little hole at the bottom of the frozen cliffs.
Gregori had a wide smile as he entered the tiny cave. He had spent a night here. That was good. He was on the right path. That was incredibly lucky on his part. The two beasts followed him inside barely fitting.
With a rare smile on his face, he pushed past the two beasts and pushed them to the back end. The beasts turned around and laid down. Gregori gave them some water and fed them some fruit.
They ate it with no complaints. A pleasant surprise for Gregori, these beasts were omnivores. That was good. Very good. They would not attack him when they were fed.
He gave them a couple more fruits and then laid against the wall.
Within minutes, he fell asleep.
The fastest solution to being anemic, is to take eat, drink and rest.
A long sleep later, he awoke. Still tired from missing a lot of blood, he pushed himself up and checked his surroundings. The beasts were still asleep.
Gregori stretched his limbs and sat facing the scenic outside. He ate some fruit, some meat and washed it down with water.
He thought of how long it took for him to move from this cave to the place of the barbarians. Two days.
Two days by foot.
Crossed in mere hours by these beasts. How many hours he did not know. He was out of it then.
Stepping outside, he looked for the sun. It shone right above him.
Midday.
He then turned to face the star in the sky. Annie. Even if he reached Rakelstake quickly, he wouldn't be able to go to Noxus immediately.
He needed to both heal and then be fit enough to do what he needed to.
Gregori couldn't just bang his head into every problem and hope to break through. Noxus was the land of political games. But that did not mean they weren't mighty. The brain that hid behind the brawn was the true cause of his apprehension.
He could do everything covertly and get Annie out without a hitch but things would change on the fly.
Even if he got Annie out, he still had a vow to fulfil. And fulfilling vows were important. Magic bore witness to every vow made.
If he succeeded, then he would be rewarded.
If he failed, then there would be a penalty.
A sink or swim situation bet from the world itself.
In order to do everything, he needed to be at the peak both mentally as well as physically. That was key.
Gather information.
Infiltrate.
Kill the Mallat.
Kill or screw over the Faceless badly.
Get Annie.
Leave.
The optional missions of wreaking havoc across Noxus and rampaging through their army did exist.
But those were suicidal in nature.
He would not live through the ordeal.
Caalyx would be able to push him and his body far enough but he would run out eventually. Faster than other Darkin. He wasn't whole. That weakened him. It also weakened his negative influence over Gregori's body.
The undead legion they possessed would eventually overwhelm him.
Death was the most probable outcome.
But being a complete nuisance? That was achievable. Mallat needed to die however. Then it would be whoever he pointed towards. Until the mastermind was revealed. Then Annie.
Then he would take them all the way to Demacia and finally to Targon.
A simple set of instructions for his future.
Gregori knew things would not go as planned but he could and would adapt to every situation and make the situation work out in his favor.
It had not been going in his favor for a while now, but it would snowball from the moment he reached Rakelstake.
GRRRR
The two beasts awoke and walked outside.
"Ready?"
The beasts did not reply.
Gregori frowned. He would need a way to communicate with these creatures.
Instead of continuing, he patted both the beasts and got on to the one he rode previously. Grabbing the horns, he steered it in the direction he remembered walking through and then slowly pushed.
The beasts started walking.
As the push deepened, the beasts settled into a jog and then into a run.
Their run was at a blinding pace. Land zipped past him.
He curled inwards, bending his back and shrinking his neck. The force from the creatures running was harsh on his body.
Whenever his body hurt, he slowed down and made them move at a walking pace. As the pain faded, he pushed them to run.
Every few times he stopped to give them water.
The beasts certainly did not complain about the pampering. Unbeknownst to Gregori, the beasts had accepted Gregori as their master. He had treated them a lot better than their previous master in the short time he had rode them. He didn't whip them or hurt them. Most important of all, he had given them lots of water and food.
Fruits!
They were rarely given fruits. Meat had been a primary diet for them. But now they were just given fruits. They liked the change.
Gregori eventually found another cave and settled in for the night.
The pattern continued for close to a week until Gregori spotted the large gates of Rakelstake. The Statue of Avarosa had never seemed as welcoming as it was now. Its glow in the darkening sky, feeling like a warm hug.