Epilogue

One month later...

A gentle breeze wafted through the open terrace doors in the House of Laurent. It was spring now. The gentle smell of trees and blooming flowers perfumed the air in a gentle medley of scents. Softly, the breeze died down before stirring up again, flowing gently in and out of the room. In doing so, the perfume caressed the face of the one sleeping woman in the room, coaxing her to awaken. Stirring, the woman groaned weakly before turning over in the bed and fluttering her blue eyes open. Finally, she gingerly dragged herself into a sitting position, wincing slightly as pain lanced through her arm. Fiora sighed and brought her uninjured arm up to her face, rubbing the vestiges of sleep out of her eyes. Her mind blissfully blank, Fiora gingerly shifted her legs and slid out of the bed. Her weak legs barely supported the weight of her body as Fiora gingerly shuffled her way over to the open terrace. Atop a table on the terrace sat a small brown paper bag which smelled blissfully of freshly baked scones. It wasn't until Fiora's stomach rumbled that she realized she was absolutely ravenous. Shuffling more, Fiora fumbled with the bag, finally managing to open it with her one good arm. With a scone in hand, Fiora moved to the railing on the terrace, peacefully gazing out over the bustling city below. Finally, the duelist bit into the scone. It was sweet, exquisitely fresh and still warm. Fiora closed her eyes and smiled, savoring the decadence of the small delicacy. Opening her eyes, the duelist brought her mind back into focus. How long was I gone? Fiora wondered privately. Staring out into thin air, the duelist tried to recall what had happened, but the last she could remember was Aatrox lunging towards her. Fiora sighed gently as she recalled the name.

"Aatrox..." Fiora mouthed and a small, fleeting smile passed her face. "Where are you now..." she whispered quietly as she gazed out at the open sky. As she did so, she noticed a glint of steel to her left. Two rapiers. Gingerly, Fiora shuffled along the railing, using her hand to steady herself until she had reached the two blades. Gently lifting the first, Fiora ran an inspecting gaze over the blade's fine steel. It was cleaned and oiled, freshly sharpened to a razor's edge and holding no evidence of being in prior combat. Fiora smiled contentedly as she set the blade back down. He took care of it... Fiora thought to herself with satisfaction. Turning to the next blade, Fiora was slightly surprised to find the rapier sheathed in a strong mahogany case. Sheaths for blades like hers were incredibly hard to find and often had to be custom built. Pushing aside her surprise, Fiora gripped the sheath weakly with her injured left hand and placed her right on the blade's hilt. Instantly, she recognized the blade's touch. Drawing the blade out of the sheath, Fiora found herself holding none other than her black and red Nightraven rapier. Breathlessly, Fiora dropped the sheath out of her left hand and ran her fingers over the engravings on the flat of the blade. Much to her surprise, there were no dents or cracks on either side of the blade. Almost immediately, Fiora brought the blade up to the sunlight, running a scanning gaze across the blade's side. No evidence of damage. Not even a scratch. Finally, the duelist tapped the flat of the blade along the railing of the terrace, producing a small ringing sound as the steel of the rapier reverberated. The blade was whole once more, the cracked core miraculously repaired again. Unable to restrain her joy, Fiora chuckled slightly and swished the blade through the air, momentarily forgetting about the poor condition her body was in. After a few slices, Fiora brought the blade back to her chest, gazing at the black steel with immense satisfaction.

Then... It pulsed. It was weak and faint, but the blade definitely gave off a fleeting crimson red heart beat. Fiora tilted her head slightly, almost surprised at the weapon's sudden animation.

"No damage... Is irreparable..." A hoarse voice spoke softly from behind the duelist. Without turning around, Fiora smiled demurely, content at last to have the one thing she desired. Finally, after a brief moment, the duelist turned and gazed upon the Darkin. Perched atop the roof of the mansion, his severed arm was reattached and cast completely in a thick coat of white plaster. Briefly, Fiora fixed Aatrox with a wry smile before turning back around and gazing out across the city once more.

"How long?" Fiora asked, her voice scratchy from lack of use over an extended period of rest.

"One month." Aatrox replied before he too leaned back and turned his eyes to the expansive and bustling city below. Only his thoughts were far less absent minded as Fiora's were. Closing his eyes, Aatrox briefly recalled the words of the field medic that he had taken Fiora to after he had finished slaughtering the entire Noxian battalion.

"It is... A miracle to say the least, she should be dead with the amount of blood she has lost..."

Aatrox's lip twitched slightly. It was no miracle that the duelist survived. Miracles didn't exist. Opening his eyes, Aatrox gazed down at the duelist another time, feeling a mixture of happiness and guilt wash over him. The reality was that the duelist did indeed die, but Aatrox was too selfish to allow the duelist to move on. In a brash decision, Aatrox took his own Darkin blood and infected the duelist with it. It was the very same blood that tethered her to life through the blood's latent abilities. Aatrox guiltily broke his gaze on the duelist.

"Blood Well..." Aatrox muttered mutely. It was a saving grace and yet a curse at the very same time. Aatrox knew that the bloodlust would come all too soon.

"I should tell her..." Aatrox thought to himself, but he quickly refuted his own suggestion.

"No... There will be a better time..."

Finally, the Darkin descended from his position atop the roof of Fiora's mansion, moving swiftly to join the duelist at her waiting side. Aatrox smiled to himself.

"Yes...There will be another time..."

Author's Notes

Hello dear readers, thank you for making it all this way until the very end of this story. This has been my most successful story thus far and I must genuinely thank you all for making it so. As I reflect upon this little story, I came across a few things that I would like to share with you all. First off, yes, this is my most successful story. Now this could be a result of me picking a more interesting set of characters to write about, or it could be that my writing has improved. I would like to think that the second is the case, but the reality is probably somewhere between the two. As far as potentially continuing the series, I am on the fence as far as that goes. I am leaving the door open for a possible sequel, but I will not be making any promises at this point.

Finally, I pose a question to my readers who follow all of the works that I write. This is a genuine question and all answers will be taken into heavy consideration. Those of you who read my profile page for updates know that I am currently deciding between writing the final chapter in my Syndra series or writing Eternal Ice (A story about Ashe and Lissandra). I have the plots for both stories completed, and I am leaning towards writing Eternal Ice first. The story line is remarkably lore friendly yet has many dark twists that I feel just makes the story extremely enticing. Leave a review with what you think I should do, or send me a PM, either one works.

Once again, a very big thank you to you the readers who have made this story so successful!

~M