Whispers of the Abyss - League of Legends story

Chapter 1 - The First Encounter

- What's even the point of that - Selene sighed, shaking her head in boredom.

She was slowly walking through the dense forest. The air, thick with the intoxicating perfume of pine and earth with nothing else around, only her and trees in her sight. She hated being sent for patrolling. She's only done that three times so far, but each of them felt no different from each other, nothing ever happened, which made each passing second feel like a reluctant march through endless monotony. The only enjoyable part of it was spending time with her friend, who now went deeper into the forest, as she felt the call of nature, leaving Selene alone on the path.

A few minutes into her walk, she took a look at a tree log lying on the ground in front of her and decided to sit down and wait, not wanting to leave her friend too far behind. The rays of sunlight painted a gentle mosaic on her face as she was sitting and fiddling with a blade of grass. In the hush of rustling leaves and bird songs, a subtle disruption crept into her ear from behind. She glanced over her left shoulder, but saw nothing. "A squirrel" she thought and rested her elbows on her thighs, with her chin put on a palm. Just a few seconds later, unidentified noises reappeared, but this time they could be heard all around. Selene stood up immediately, her body straightened when the forest fell silent, as if it was trying to listen to the mysterious voices itself. All that could be heard now were the echoes of branches cracking under the weight of an unidentified being, revealing someone sneaking through the shadows. She started studying her surroundings, but still couldn't spot anyone or anything.

- Lux? - the girl yelled into the void, getting no reply, what made a chill go down her spine. The noises kept encircling her, becoming louder and more frequent. - Show yourself or you'll regret it!

Form the shadows of the forest emerged a mysterious humanoid figure with face still uncovered as the sun wasn't able to reach their body. As the girls' eyes widened in concern and her eyebrows lifted, the stranger started walking briskly towards her, making her step back and lift her hand up in front of her.

- Stay there! - she shouted in high-pitched voice.

- Or I will regret it? - said the stranger, now identified as a young man. He continued moving forward, ignoring what the woman had said.

- I said don't move! - yelled again Selene, this time more confidently, her chin lifted, shoulders back. - You're not allowed to be here. You'll go with me now. Turn around and move your hands back - ordered, still keeping her palm open in front of her, facing the stranger. He casted a mocking gaze on the anxious girl, sneering at the sight of the fear flooding her face as she tried to appear confident. The maturing of the day and approaching of dusk made the whole scenery look even more spine-chilling, more and more shadows were emerging as sun rays couldn't make it through the tree crowns anymore.

The unknown man kept on moving towards Selene, as she was slowly losing her inner strength and confidence. She felt she needed to protect herself, the man didn't seem to have good intentions. While extending her right hand in front of her, she summoned the might of her magical power, creating a strong gust of wind which she then forced forward against the emerging stranger. To her surprised, he sleekly sidestepped, as if guided by unseen intuition, swiftly dodging the magical strike, soundlessly appearing right behind her with a corner of his mouth lifted. Frightening thoughts raced through her mind. On the spur of the moment, she bent her arm and fiercely pushed her elbow back, but instead of meeting the man's stomach, as intended, it stopped right in his palm. All her actions predicted as if every though of hers was transparent. She froze at that moment.

- Okay, since your temper has already subsided and you started to notice in what position you are, it's time to teach you some lessons - he began while bending the mage's arm behind her back, doing the same with the other one next. - Lesson number one, - his hand ran through her blonde hair. He clenched his fist and pushed the girl's head back, her ear right next to his mouth - don't wander around the forest alone after dusk. Not everyone in as polite as I am.