Chapter 21

Thresh made his way to one of the beacons of light, and he saw standing before him was the Maven of Strings, Sona. Though she was beautiful and played lovely music, she could kill with a sound from her etwahl or even heal with a certain melody. The sustain would be a pain, though Thresh would readily fight Sona if he had to. The Summoner was busy putting energy into one of the pillars that would serve an anchor point for the ritual to take place, and Sona looked at Thresh with a sad glint in her eyes. Thresh knew that she didn’t have the heart to kill and decimate her enemies like he did.

Yet it must be done.

They squared off with one another on the battlefield. Thresh lunged out his kurisagama, the scythe end, to capture Sona, though Sona swiftly dodged and sent out a sharp chord of power towards Thresh. Thresh tanked it and grunted slightly, though he knew that he had higher endurance and resistances than Sona did, who was very squishy. However, he had to do something about that sustain, which meant he had to harass her quite often when she came in to use her blue chord and auto attack with his own auto attacks, which were also quite formidable.

Thresh looked towards his opponent and started to fight in earnest.

—x—

Zed stood across Syndra. Her balls orbited around her menacingly, though Zed and Syndra were equally as powerful with one another, with Zed focusing on auto attacks and physical damage while Syndra was a fearsome mage. He would have to be wary when she summoned more balls and used her ultimate against him—that burst could quickly kill him, especially since Zed is squishy. They faced off with one another, with Zed throwing his shuriken at her and Syndra summoning her magical balls which he dodged with the admirable speed and skill of a ninja.

“You chose the wrong side, Zed,” Syndra said with a bitterness in her tone which indicated that she hadn’t forgiven him for choosing Akali over her. There was a time when both Zed and Syndra had been close because he had no one else, but Zed knew that somewhere in his heart, he would always harbor feelings for Akali. And yet, Zed also knew the pain of unreciprocated love, and he didn’t blame Syndra for feeling bitter. He didn’t want to fight his former friend, though her anger and bitterness propelled her to come at him with everything that she had.

So Zed would do the same.

—x—

Shen stood against Irelia. Here were the tank and the tank slayer. It would be an interesting matchup. Would Shen’s defenses and resistances survive Irelia’s true damage, or will Irelia overcome his natural tankiness and bulkiness and bring him down. Shen knew that he would have to endure a lot of pain, but he was used to pain, as a tank. He would take the punishment that was meant for someone else and dive into the fray, taunting enemies and provoking them into targetting him instead of his allies. So he would keep Irelia focused solely on himself while the others were free to fight their own battles. Shen felt slight trepidation, wondering if this would be his last moment in Runeterra. He seriously doubted that the Summoners would revive him after his rebellion with Akali and the others.

So he had to make the best use of his chance that he can. So Shen made the first move, dashing forward and taunting Irelia with his Shadow dash, while Irelia met him with equal fervor.

—x—

Kennen stared down at Teemo. Teemo never opened his eyes, though he simply serenely nodded in Kennen’s direction. His bloodlust fervor mode hasn’t activated yet, but some part of Teemo always relished the bloodshed and violence of war. Something in him changed after he was recruited as a Scout. But Kennen knew that he would have to fight against Teemo one day, and as much as he didn’t like the idea of fighting against his fellow Yordles, he knew that he must do this. Teemo prepped by planting shrooms in the area. Kennen knew he had to avoid those shrooms to avoid getting burst and poisoned. And the blinding dart was something to watch out for too. All Kennen needed to do was keep a level head, and he should be fine.

Though Kennen was normally jovial and kind, his demeanor had changed. Their lives were at stake. Even though he had to fight Teemo, he was doing this to save them all. There was no other choice, was there? Kennen threw his shuriken and charged forward with a great spark of electricity surrounding his body.

—x—

Finally, Akali herself stood down against Ahri. She was a dangerous opponent, as beautiful as she was deadly. Akali knew that she had to worry about her ranged auto attacks, though Akali knew that once she gathered enough charges for the Shadow Dash abilities, she would be able to burst down the fox as she had planned. She also knew that Ahri’s abilities went in a straight line, though her tricky maneuvering could guide her ball from any direction and strike back true damage wherever Ahri goes. Despite Ahri’s dashes, however, Akali also had dashes, and she knew that she could keep up with the fox’s mobility. However, this didn’t mean it would be an easy matchup.

Akali needed t be wary of Ahri’s charm. That was the one thing that could screw her over as an assassin. Even if It was a one on one, Akali knew that Ahri would be able to hit most of her damage through her charm, making Akali an easier target to hit with her skill shots. Akali held onto her kamas, gripping them tightly. She needed to do this to save everyone.

With that, Akali threw her kama and moved her body towards the battle.