Chapter Text
Xerath I
The change was startlingly immediate. The rage that dominated our ages long conflict in the dark abyss, the bestial fury that allowed my foe to shrug off bolts of lightning and dark magic with infuriating ease, the sheer dogged fervor that made him a veritable whirlwind of blades and claws just vanished. I expected it to peter out, slowly extinguished by our ceaseless combat and the silent darkness that cloaked our forms.
"Is this the all that the legendary Butcher of the Sands can aspire to? A forgotten relic, betrayed by his own brother, languishing in the darkness? Where is the fire that made you the hero of Zuretta? Where is the passion that led you to joining your brother in Ascension? Where is your fury at being locked down here by your own flesh and blood?"
A guttural sound was my only answer, one between a bestial growl and a raspy chuckle. I do not know how much time has passed since we stopped fighting, how much time I have spent whispering these poisonous words in those rage filled ears, how much time I have spent acting like I did with Azir once. I spoke of how his treacherous brother sealed us both in this dark pit, locked in eternal combat for his own amusement. I spoke of how the jealous Nasus was enjoying his immortality without his brother. All this time and effort merely resulted in those baleful red eyes glaring at me with constrained anger.
"Have you grown so weak, Butcher? Has our time in these depths chained your anger like a pitiful mutt? Are you now no more than a slave to your brother's memory?"
The ethereal magic that comprised my Ascended form twisted and turned at my own words, memories of Azir and his broken promises wallowing in my thoughts, the sarcophagus shards that kept me chained rattling as it resisted my magic's struggles. A harsh sound echoed around our prison, like the grinding of Shurima's sands on the stone walls of its cities. Disoriented, it took a few seconds for me to realize that the accursed beast was laughing at me.
"I know you are... but what am I?"
What?
The words came out slowly, as though the beast was trying to learn how to speak again after decades, perhaps centuries, in this dark solitude. I knew the words, but together, they did not make much sense. Has all this time driven the beast insane? An opportunity then, a chink in the scaled armor. Perhaps my taunts have borne fruit after all this time.
"You are a monster. A bloodthirsty killer, betrayed by your own brother. You are..."
The sudden illumination startled me, a beam of near forgotten sunlight erupting from above. In that split second of hesitation, a primal roar erupted from the beast and I felt the blades dig deep into the eternal fire that was my core, gouging out huge swathes of magical power as my foe took advantage of my laxity.
"Oraoraoraoraora!"
The sound echoed into the newly lit Tomb, roared out from my foe's crocodilian visage, a series of nonsensical growls that signified my opponent's sinking into the depths of his ferocity. Truly, no more than a mindless beast.
It took a mere thought to blast the beast away from my still shackled form, bolts of lightning and flame punishing him for his audacity. My gaze turned towards the now open doors of the Tomb, the sunlight streaming in, bathing me in its radiance. A sure sign that my ambition of remaking this world in my image, an ambition that has been festering in the darkness of the Tomb for ages unknown, is about to be realized. Soon, this world will be made anew. A world where slavery is a mere memory of the past. A world where every man and woman is equal under my eternal reign. But for that to happen, I would have to first take Shurima. And to take Shurima, all of Azir's blood must die.
The furious bellowing of my foe as I emerged into the outside world and took to the skies where it was unable to follow was a pleasant sound to hear.
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Sivir I
That prissy Noxian got the drop on me.
It was a simple tomb raid, and in that moment of success, I forgot everything I've learned as a mercenary and turned my back on someone I shouldn't have.
Now I'm here, bleeding out on the floors of a forgotten ruin, with naught but a cross-shaped blade for my trouble. Probably hallucinating too, if the waters magically erupting from the ground was any indication. Still, I crawled as best as I can, one hand still clutching on to the cross-shaped blade that led to all this. I was going to die alone and penniless, no need to add thirsty to the list.
I heard a loud sound, as though something massive came in contact with the ground, and I froze.
Thud, thud, thud.
There was no mistaking it. Those were footsteps, probably of something very large. I felt the sweltering heat on my back vanish as a massive shadow came upon me.
"If you're going to kill me, scavenger, make it quick. Time is money."
A harsh guttural sound rasped out from the figure behind me. Taking a deep breath, I got ready to push my self up, the cross-blade clutched tightly in one hand. Pride and dignity were not worth much, but if this was to be my last moments, I would spend it fighting.
I held back a whimper, unsuccessfully, as a massive clawed hand scooped me up, the stab wound on my back erupting anew with pain. A sardonic retort, possibly an insult was on my lips when my voice got caught in my throat.
A massive reptilian face glared down at me. I've spent enough time digging around old ruins to be familiar with legends and myths. History, some would call it. Call him.
A claw, as long as the dagger hidden in my boot, came up to my nose.
"Rawr, uwu, boop."
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The Shuriman capital rose from the sands, calling the Emperor's subjects back to the fold. They call him Hawk Emperor, the Illuminated One, He Who Walks in the Light. But those of us, the young who only knew the freedom of the desert, not the long forgotten rule of the old Shuriman Emperors, those who know that history is best left in the past, those who would not bow to the whims of a tyrant whose ambitions shattered the Shurima of old. We follow him. They call him butcher, monster, a merciless god. We call him brother.
- Taliyah, the Butcher's Guide