League of Legends: Short Stories

Flesh and Stone

"A shadow fades before the light," the girl repeated to herself.

The words were a mantra, one she often used to put herself at ease when she felt herself losing control. Though she was only thirteen, she had become adept at using tricks like this to ease the symptoms of her affliction. But today she found the words to be little help. Today, the girl needed to be alone.

She fought to hold in the tears, avoiding eye contact with passersby as she walked briskly toward the scrutinizing glare of the sentries at the city gates. If they stopped her, she felt she might break down and spill everything to them. At least then it would all be over, she thought.

But they paid her little mind as she walked through the archway, to the open lands outside the city.

Far off the main highway, the girl found a quiet nook in a wooded hillside. Once she was sure she wouldn't be seen, she removed a clean handkerchief from her pocket, placed it to her face, and sobbed.

The tears came fast and thick down her cheeks. If anyone had seen the girl like this, they probably would not recognize her. Everybody knew her as the fresh-faced optimist who cheerily bid them Good morning! and Nice to see you! everyday, regardless of circumstance.

The other side of her – this ugly and decidedly un-Demacian one – was a face the girl shared with nobody.

As she stanched the flow of tears with her thin linen cloth, her mind began to settle. She finally dared to recall the events that had led to the tears. She had been in the lecture room with her classmates when her gaze began to wander to an open window. The flock of fuchsia nectarflies outside were far more interesting than the drab lesson in field tactics their instructor was offering. The flies danced, not in unison at all, but in a vivacious chaos that was strangely beautiful. She had taken in their movement, feeling herself warming to the core with an intense happiness.

The warmth was familiar to her. Most of the time it could be tamed, stuffed back inside her like feathers that had leaked from a mattress. But today the warmth was... hot, with a life of its own. She felt it burning, in her teeth, threatening to explode into the world with a fan of iridescent hues as it had only done in privacy before.

For a brief moment, a thin trickle of white light leaked from her fingertips.

No! This is not for anyone to see! she thought, hoping to suppress the glow.

For the first time in her life, it felt too big. The girl had only one chance to save herself. She needed to leave. She stood and gathered her belongings.

"Luxanna," her instructor had said. "Are you-"

"A shadow fades before the light," she had muttered, and ran from the room without explanation. "A shadow fades before the light. A shadow fades before the light."

As she finished drying her eyes in the calm of the woods, her feet carried her farther and farther from the city. She began to assess the cost of the incident. Word would spread quickly across the citadel that a student had stormed out of class without leave. What punishment would she receive for that insubordination?

Whatever was to come, it would be better than the alternative. If she'd stayed, she would have erupted, filling the entire building in the brightest, purest light. Then everyone would know she was afflicted with magic.

That's when the annullers would come.

Once or twice, the girl had seen the annullers in the streets with their strange instruments, rooting out practitioners of magic. Once these afflicted people were found, they were forcibly relocated to slums outside the kingdom, never to take part in the grand society Lux's family knew so well.