The Origins of Kalista, The Spear of Vengeance

Millennia's ago, before the League of Legends was created, before Demacia and Noxus warred for control over Valoran, and even before the Runic Wars; there was the Empire of Shurima. Once spanning over most of the south of Valoran, centuries of internal strife, civil wars and plagues weakened the Empire and sent many of its citizens fleeing. These pioneering immigrants spread across much of the continent,  building the origins of many of the cities that still stand to this day; Demacia and Noxus included. Others even fled overseas, inhabiting the Blue Flame Island, Ionia and even the crumbling kingdom of Burian in the Feral Isles. Yet with much work and political cunning, a young prince by the name of Azir slowly rose through the ranks of the Shuriman Empire, garnering support from all those who would declare allegiance, and crushing all those that didn't. Once Azir had consolidated his control as Emperor over all of Shurima, he turned his gaze towards those that had fled the Empire. Those that, he claimed, were still part of the Empire.

*****

Thud.

The arrow cut through the air, sinking deep into the temple of its unsuspecting victim. The now dead soldier crumpled to the ground, marinating in the blood, vomit and piss that covered the battlefield. A foot passed over him, then another and another; as a formidable looking contingent of spearmen marched through the battlefield, finishing off all those that were still alive. The purple cloaks of the spearmen stood out strikingly, in contrast to the gold lining of their amour and shields. A long blast of a war horn rang out, echoing across the battlefield, bringing the spearmen to a sudden halt.

The battle, if it ever was a battle and not just a slaughter, was over.

The spearmen suddenly drew to attention as a large canine figure strolled into sight from behind them. Clenching a large spear from which protruded some blade closely resembling a war axe, the canine individual was a fearsome sight to behold.  Once finished inspecting the carnage strewn across the battlefield, it turned back to the line of spearmen that was standing in attention in front of it.

"Officer. Give me a status report on the enemy survivors." commanded the gruff canine voice.

A spearman on the far right flank broke away from the line, and laying down his shield and spear on the ground, kneeled and replied.

"My Lord Nasus. We have eradicated any resistance we have come upon. The enemy soldiers, though few in number, put enough of a fight to allow the women and children to escape into the Bubbling Bog. However our scouts are tracking them down now as we speak. Furt-"

"Pull the scouts back" interrupted Nasus with little hesitation.

"My Lord, my utmost desire is to obey your will; however did not the Emperor himself command all his legions, us included, to bring all Imperial citizens back to the Empire?"

"Fool! Do you dare lecture me on the will of our Emperor?"

The officer trembled where he was kneeling on the ground. He knew that his career, and possibly even his life, hanged on what he said next.

"No, my Lord. No." replied the officer in a quivering voice. "I will send word to retract the scouts immediately."

"Good." replied Nasus as he turned and began to walk away, uttering a single phrase quietly under his breath.

"Enough blood has been spilt this day."

*****

3 Months Later

*****

The water slapped and slurped against the wooden planks of the ship, like a sloppy wet kiss of two youngsters. A seagull perched at the bowsprit of the ship, enjoying the view and breeze as the stem of the slip sliced through the gentle waves. In the distance, the faint shapes of islands barely protruded from the horizon. Suddenly sensing movement behind it, the seagull cawed and quickly flew away as a young girl replaced its place at the bowsprit. The slicing of the waves splashed droplets of salty sea water into the young girl's face. Sputtering from the onslaught of the droplets, the young girl wiped her face and quickly tied her raven black hair into a pony tail. Now no longer hidden by her fearsome dark hair, her gaunt face became illuminated as the rays of sunshine played across her face, highlighting her high cheek bones. She stood there for several minutes, soaking in the sunlight and rejoicing in the warmth of its soft caress.

"Kalista!" a voice behind her rang out, abruptly interrupting her.

She turned around to see a young boy making his way quickly through the deck, dodging the sailors as they went about their work. By the time he finally reached her, his breaths were quick and shallow; exhausted by the effort he had just undertaken.

"What is it Jaziun?" replied Kalista quite curtly, unhappy by the rude interruption he had caused.

Finally recovered enough to speak, Jaziun straightened out from where he had been bent over trying to catch his breath.

"Mum says we are almost at the Feral Isles. She wants you to be down in the bulge in a few minutes so that we can all be ready before we dock."

"Get a grip Jaziun. We aren't going to dock by the end of today, let alone even tomorrow. Can you not see how far away the Feral Isles are in the distance over there?" she remarked as she pointed a single finger to the faint islands on the horizon.

"Captain Fortune says we have a strong north westerly wind behind us. Captain Fortune says that the Conqueror's Sea often creates very strong winds that blow ships very fast to their destination." He paused to take a deep breath, before resuming his speedy monologue. "Captain Fortune also says that that's why it's called the Conqueror's Sea; 'cause back in the old days lots of people from the Burian Kingdom in the Feral Isles sailed across this very sea and claimed the lands of Shurima, Urtistan and even Kaladoun, as their own. Captain Fortu-"

"Jaziun!" exhaled Kalista, clenching her fists tight and trying not to shout at him "Please..... Please, stop talking."

Slowly stretching out her clenched fingers, she resumed.

"You can tell Mum that I will be down there in just a minute."

Openly surprised by his sister's frustrated reaction, Jaziun turned and quickly hurried away the way that he had came. Kalista turned back to the bowsprit after he had finally disappeared from sight, and took it all in one last time.

The gentle rocking of the waves.

The creaking of the ship as the wind continued to fill her sails.

The sound of the sailors being ordered here, there and everywhere.

The gentle marriage of sky and water as the sea and clouds faded into one at the edge of the horizon.

The Feral Isles slowly becoming more and more visible.

A chill ran down her spine as she looked closer and closer at the ever increasing isles. Whatever those isles hold will now be our future, she couldn't help think. Chased from our homeland and into the embrace of a strange land which is now all that remains of the once proud and powerful Burian Kingdom. May the Ascendants take pity on us and protect all of us. Myself, my mother and my brother.

Letting out one final deep sigh, she turned around and began to walk away; leaving the ship's bowsprit finally without an occupant.

Is It Well With My Soul?

Is it well with my soul?

When troubles mount up and the skies grow dark, is it to the Lord whom I turn to for help?

When I hate what I see in the mirror

When I cry tears of pain

When I gasp mouthfuls of hurt

When the world comes crashing onto me

When I struggle with the apathy of not giving a damn

Do I turn to the Lord?

Is it well with my soul?

Every time I turn aside

Fapping to porn. Addictive games.

Each time looking a brief ride

To leave my responsibilities and my anxiety

Yet the more I do it.

The more hollow I become.

The longer I stare at that screen

The more I can see myself slipping away

Pixel by pixel

Not because I struggle with my horniness

Nor because I enjoy video games sometimes that I become enraptured in them.

No.

It is because for that short amount of time

Or some days, a long amount of time

I no longer place the Lord as the most important in my life

Instead I replace him, in all his majesty, love, peace and patience

With something that should never be there.

So Lord God.

When the walls come crashing down.

When my friends forsake me

And my family hates me

May I always find refuge in your embrace

May it always be well with my soul

Not so that I can only lean on you in the hard times.

But through both the good and the bad

May the Lord my God, My Saviour.

Be the only thing in my life that I ever need. Ever want. Ever had.

All My Life I Have Wanted To Be In Love

All my life I have wanted to fall in love.

I love the desperation. 

The honesty.

The vulnerability.

The love.

I have liked many a girl. I have even possibly come close to loving one.

Yet I never thought that this would happen.

I never thought I would fall out love.

I never thought that my feelings would sink away.

Each day a little more of the pool in my heart, drying up.

And as much as I hated the pain of knowing that my feelings for her were not returned.

The bittersweet pain of her not even thinking of me in more than just a friend.

I hate this more.

I no longer have no pain to cling desperately onto, like a drowning sailor.

My fingernails digging in with all might as my lifejacket is slowly wrenched from my grip.

As she slowly escapes the aspirations of my heart and dreams.

Instead I now stand at the shores of my heart.

Watching in the distance the beauty of the sea.

Yes, I still see the storms. 

The waves. 

The deadly currents and the sharks slowly circling.

But out there at least I had the occasional glimpse of hope.

Of rescue.

Of my lifejacket. 

Of my aspirations.

Of her.

Instead I now stand here, the waves now crashing at my feet. The sand running between my toes.

I am trapped on a desert island.

Baren. 

Devoid of life.

Devoid of feelings.

But I want to care about her once again.

I want to slowly sink under the waves, with her almost within reach.

Love

Love.

The smile that brightens your face when you see that you have a text from her.

Love.

The lump in your throat when she smiles and looks your way.

Love.

The way that her black wavy hair delicately brushes over her exposed shoulder.

Love.

The twinkle in her eye when she looks at you with some hidden joke.

Love.

The sound of her laugh reaching my ears like a bubbling brook watering a cracked desert.

The Bittersweet Taste of Love

Your beauty is that of myths and legends,

So rare and precious that men would fight over you.

For you have become the essence of all things captivating,

In a way, only you could do.

You have stolen my attention,

Like a thief in the night.

And my knees grow weak,

Every time you enter my sight.

With eyes like jewels,

That lure my gaze.

Your skin so soft,

You never cease to amaze.

I find being with you is like a drug,

An emotional high that never descends.

Every time you glance or at me or give me a hug,

I want it to never end.

Your laugh like the rain,

A pleasant sound to my ears.

Yet I watch in fascination,

As you fill me with all the fear,

Of all the things I could wrong,

When you're next to me, right here.

For I would pronounce my undying love for you,

If only you would hear.

But now as you have ignored me,

My day seems as black as night.

Your light is gone from my world,

Vanishing far away from my sight.

And yet I would cross the farthest ocean,

Just to be by your side,

To hear you say my name.

With me you could confide,

All your secrets, all your pain.

All your hurts you want to hide.

But alas, it wasn't meant to be.

So here I will eternally bide,

On the other side of the farthest ocean,

Waiting for you to be here,

By my side.

The Closet Door

 I'm sure I close the closet door alot more than I ever open it.

This thought perplexed me as I reversed my car, headed to another monotonous day of work. I was a single 24 year old, who lived alone, didn't have any pets and very few friends. Strangely enough though, the closet door wasn't the only odd thing that had been happening over the last couple of weeks. I found many a thing not where I left it. The TV was on and on mute when I came back home the other day. My chicken sandwich had disappeared from the fridge this morning.

 What could possibly be causing this?

I dwelled on it as I continued my drive to work, and then  suddenly a solution came to mind.

 Screw it. I'm gona find out once and for all.

I slammed on my brakes, bringing the car to  a screeching halt. I did quick U turn and start heading back home. A few minutes later I pulled into my driveway, stopped my car and quickly walked to the door. Unlocking it and closing it behind me, I walked upstairs and into my bedroom only to be greeted by a familiar sight.

It had happened again.

The closet door was open.

I decided to put my plan into action. Closing the closet door first, I hurried over to my bedside drawers and opened the top draw, pulling out a black small bag. Unzipping it, I pulled out my video camera. I turned it on and positioned it on my bed, making sure that it can see the closet. I pressed the record button and then carefully positioned some dirty clothes over it, obscuring it from view, yet making sure that the lens wasn't blocked either.

My plan accomplished, I headed back downstairs, locked the door and hopped back into my car. Sure I was going to be late for work, but this was worth it.

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

                                                                                                

The day passed like any other day at work.

Paperwork, paperwork, and more paperwork. Boss comes by to check on my progress, and starts asking questions. Yes Sir. No Sir. Three bags full sir.

Toilet.

Coffee break.

Repeat.

But what really was on my mind the whole day, was that video camera lying on my bed.

What will the video camera catch on film?

The thought plagued me as the hours slowly and painfully inched by. The hands of clock finally struck five, after what seemed like an eternity, and my day at work was finished. I walked very quickly through the office, needing to get home as soon as possible. I could see out of the corner of my eye that some of my co-workers were raising their eyebrows in amusement at the hurriedness of my pace, but I didnt care. I needed to see what that video camera recorded.

Workcard punched.

Crowded elevator.

Underground carpark.

Car keys in my hand.

Unlock my car.

Engine started.

Pedal to the metal.

My car shot out of the underground carpark and onto the road. I was probably speeding now that I think of it, but at the time, speeding was the least of my worries.

What will the video camera catch on film?

I pulled onto the onramp for the motorway, it usually being the fastest way home.

Fuck.

I had forgotten about the traffic. Cars lined the motorway, slowly inching along every few seconds. Everyone was trying to do what I was doing... Trying to get home.

                                  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The sun had set by the time I finally pulled onto the street that I lived on. It had taken me a good hour and a half to get home through that congested motorway, and to make things even worse, it seemed like the power was out for the whole suburb.

Stupid electricity companies doing work at the worst times. Typical.

I pulled into my drive, hopped out and almost ran to my front door. Unlocking it and closing it behind me,  I flicked on the light switch. Nothing happened. I let out a heavy sigh, as I remembered that the power is down. Stumbling in the dark, my hands outstretched feeling for the walls, I finally make it to my kitchen cupboards. My hand grasped blindly in the dark, trying to feel for the box of matches and  candles that I knew was there in the top shelf. Or at least, was meant to be in there.

Please. Please, still be here...Aah, got them.

Finally feeling them, I grabed them both and after a few minutes managed to start lighting candles. Leaving one candle flickering by the front door, I lit another one and my way upstairs. To my bedroom. Stepping through the doorframe, I squinted trying to see in the low light whether the closet door was open or closed.

Thank God.

The closet door was closed. Just as I left it. This, at least was a good sign. Heading over to the bed, I pulled of the clothes and looked for my video camera. It was also just where I left it. It was still even recording. I stopped and then saved the recording, and then I hit play.

I was glued to the screen, expecting to see some ghost to appear on the video recording.  A minute passed. Nothing happened. Then two, then three. I started fast forwarding it. Still nothing.

Maybe there was nothing after all.

Then suddenly something flashed across the screen in the video recording. I held my breath in anticipation , but  the fast forwarding was too fast and I couldn't see anything but a blur. I immediately rewound it and pressed play, and what I saw made my body freeze in terror.

A man had walked into my bedroom, opened the closet door, got inside, and closed the closet door.

HOLY FUCK!

Screw ringing the police! I have to get out of my house.. NOW!

Still holding the video camera, my legs lept into action. I raced out of my bedroom and down the stairs. Almost skidding on the floor, I turned while running, heading for the front door.  And then I froze.

There was a man blocking the door.

In his hands lay my metal baseball bat. A grin escaped his lips as he uttered but a single sentence.

"Did you think you were alone in the dark?"

The Mansion [Part 3]

We all stood there, staring at the bloody handprints.

Shocked.

Dumbfounded.

Matt was the first to break the silence. "That's it guys. We are getting out of here first, then we're gona call the police."

"Wait, we can't just leave that little girl.... She needs our help!" exclaimed Aroha, as she hurried over to Maria, enveloping the now crying beauty in her arms.

"Did you see a little girl, though? 'Cause I sure didn't. So let's just go now, okay!" spat out Randy.

"You bastard! Are you a calling me a liar?" shouted Maria, her shock quickly turning to anger. "I know what I saw!"

"Calm down guys!" I shouted over the top of everyone. "Let's just sort this out, and a make a decision. Together."

Surprisingly everyone stopped bickering, and looked my way, waiting for what I had to say next. I slowly rubbed my temple with my fingers, desperately trying to collect my thoughts and say something that would help.

"Look guys.." I continued "IF there is a little girl in there, and we leave now to go back to my place and call the police, it might be too late for her by the time the police arrive." I paused, then resumed. "How about we try get inside the Mansion, find the landline phone while keeping an eye out for this girl, and then call the police from the landline? Or does someone have a better idea?"

We discussed back and forth for a few minutes every option. Some accused others of being spineless cowards, others of being delusional drunkards, but at the end everyone agreed, some grudgingly, that we would go with my plan.

We split up initially, everyone circling the Mansion trying to find some open window or unlocked door that would allow us to sneak in, without having to forcefully break in. We soon found though that there was no such door or window. We reconvened and decided to smash a window, climb through it, and find the phone from there. Tane managed to find a nice rock that did the trick, and a few minutes later, we were all inside.

We all took in our surroundings. We were in a large library, bookshelves covering every part of the wall. We had a look around, but there was no phone. We checked the next room, and the one after that and still, there was no telephone. So we decided to split into two groups as to find the phone faster. One group, comprised of me, Kate, Randy, Aroha and Hayato, was going to keep checking the downstairs rooms, while the other group, comprised of Matt, Tane, Maria, Patricia, were going to check upstairs.

Minutes dragged by as we frantically looked around, hoping and praying to see that telephone, or some sign of that little girl. We entered the next room, a large lounge by the looks of it. And then we saw it. On a small coffee table in the corner of the room.

A phone.

Randy raced over to it, picked it up, put the phone to his ear. He reached down to dial, and then froze.

"What's wrong Randy?" Kate called out. Randy didn't reply. I followed Randy's gaze. The rotary dial of the telephone was covered in blood. And below it, lying on the carpet was a hand.

A mangled sawn off hand.

At the sight of so much blood, Randy wavered and fell to the floor, causing a loud bang to echo around the large lounge. He had fainted.

Before any of us could get to him though, we suddenly heard a noise. A noise that was coming from behind one of the couches. We had awoken something.... And now it was coming for us. I don't remember what the others did, but I stood motionless, my whole body frozen in fear. My eyes glued to that couch. The noise continued. It was coming closer. A hand emerged from behind the couch, the palm pushing hard against the carpet floor, as if holding someone up. The fingers on the hand extended out in opposing and unnatural angles. Someone had gone through the struggle to break every single finger in a different direction. An elbow soon followed the arm, and then a shoulder. And then a face...

It was a little girl.

Or what was left of a little girl.

Her nose had been cut off... Her earlobes, bitten off... Both of her eyes were almost completely swollen over by massive bruising that surrounded them. Parts of her scalp showed through, from where her long black hair and had been torn off. And I will not even describe to you what state the rest of her body was in, for such cruelty and malice has no place in the world of the living.

And even though it was the most horrific thing I'd ever seen, I yearned to run over to her side and pick her up. Comfort her, tell her everything was going to be okay. Tell her that she was still a beautiful little princess. Yet I did not move, nor did I speak, for the horror that my eyes beheld was paralyzing.

She must have looked at all of us, hurt by the looks of horror and disgust that we could not hide. But all I remember was locking eyes with her, those eyes brimming with pain and suffering that I could only begin to imagine. And as her bruised lips moved to utter something, I sank to my knees and began to weep.

"Help... Me...." the little girl gasped.