Chapter 2 - Path to Power

“Again!” The boy grunted, his jaw sore as the world went blank for a moment, the pain on the side of his head feeling as if church bells were ringing inside his ears. “You are weak!” The shaman shouted, the purple skinned man moving with surprising swift for a man of his age, hitting the boy across face, torso, legs, arms and hands, forcing him to defend himself using only but his own bare hands. The wood smacked against his chin and Nashor bit his own tongue, tears rolling down his cheeks as he was knocked down and spit blood, the taste of iron feeling his mouth. |Pathetic!| The man thought as he stopped, watching the boy slowly roll onto all four.
 
“Sorry Master… I will do better.” He wiped his tears, gritting his teeth and began to stood up.
 
“Enough!” The wood hit him between the shoulders and the boy’s legs failed. “We will train tomorrow.” The shaman said, turning around as Nashor passed out right there, laying down naked on the mud.
 
When Nashor finally opened his eyes he felt the cold breeze against his body, yet it did not bother him. He knew it was cold, he could feel the chilling sensation that would leave anyone not void-tainted freezing. The sound of the embers consuming the wood reached his ears as he slowly pushed himself up, arms and legs trembling from the multiple bruises across his body. “I’m sorry I’m not strong enough…” He mumbled, gathering himself and turned to face the fire.
 
“You are young. It’s normal!” The man grinned. “That’s why you must endure the pain. You do not have a hard shell or an exoskeleton! All you have is your skin!” The tip of the staff poked him on the right chest, a grimace of pain forming on Nashor’s lips as the sore muscles protested. “So, we train! And you fight until you can’t.” A distant banshee-like howl echoed through the night and the man offered him a bowl with voidling cooked meat. “Eat and sleep.”
 
“Yes, Master!” Nashor stated, quickly digging into the meat and bringing the still hot meal to his lips, teeth ripping of the cooked flesh easily, the meat literally falling from the bone as he squeezed one of the void-mangos, drinking the juice.
 
 

Wake up, train, eat and sleep.
 
That was how Nashor’s childhood was. Somedays were better than others, but there were also the terrible days where he would be forced to fight before sunrise until past dinner time. It was all meant to train his spirit and will, so he had been told by his Master. Nashor knew he owed his life to him. He had a home and was safe from the voidlings that would either attack or bully him should he step on their killing grounds.
 
“Again! Faster! Harder!” The shaman growled, the sound of steel against steel filling the air as Nashor backed for the last hour, barely managing to hold his ground while defending himself from the flurry of blows from his teacher. Every now and then he was able to sneak one or two counter-attacks or even fully dodge the swing of the void empowered staff and attack. But for now all he could do was keep giving several steps back. His Master had started their duel with a dirty kick on his face as he ate and now, here they were. “You are still a weakling! Like your whorish mother, being used by all the filthy insects!” He taunted, but even as the rage burned in Nashor’s lavender eyes, glowing bright from the Void magic within him, the seventeen years-old managed to keep his calm on how he fought. “I’m not sure what’s worse.” The man sidestepped and ducked, spinning the staff with one hand over his shoulders after evading Nashor’s upwards diagonal swing and smacked him as hard as he could on the middle of the back, knocking him off balance. “The fact you swing a sword like a scared woman trying to keep a spider away.” One, two, three quick pokes with the base of the staff hit Nashor on the chest, throat and left knee, bringing him down. “Or that your mommy… is an egg incubator for insects!” He laughed, a genuine laughter as the staff went down, ready to crack his pupil’s skull open.
 
“You pig… I told you not to push it!” Nashor’s iron grip closed around the staff, every muscle in his body tensed as he tried to ignore the lack of air going into his lungs after the hit to his throat.
 
“Then show m-“
 
The shaman had no time to finish speaking. After seventeen years, that final push finally allowed Nashor to fully delve into the emotions he felt. The rage he tried to deny, the pain of knowing he had been abandoned by his mother because she wished to be humiliated by those ugly humanoid-insect looking abominations of nature. Nashor had visited the village once to buy provisions for he and his Master. He had kept his head low and the voidlings had let him in be, but on the way out he saw her. He knew it was her the moment he heard her voice, a moan that felt both as a stab to his heart, but arousing. He knew how the voidlings corrupted, he had even been approached by a female in heat a few years ago and much to his shame, he had given in to that primitive desire upon inhaling the aphrodisiac musk that this particular voidling species let out. Every month the insects would go into heat and after had experiencing it, curiosity got the best. He had sneaked around the building and saw the ‘hive’. Moss, dead weeds and roots covered the floor while humans who willingly wished to experience the pleasure of laying eggs were bred. And there she was… his mother, taken from behind as she shared a passionate kiss with a stranger in the same situation than her. Nashor watched the scene to the end, none of the participants minding him; even if he only had eyes for one person. And when the deed was done, he turned and left, following his training and putting the memory away in his mind palace, where it would stay closed. He knew his mother’s fate, and that was it. But the shaman’s words were too much and this time, as Nashor remembered the scene and that the person was actually his mother and not a random face he used each time he thought of it, the thought was enough for him to change.
 
Purple and dark spirals of magic swirled round him, the sword was dropped and Nashor grew. Bones were broken and reshaped, his scream turned into a roar and his ‘inner’ self was revealed. This was how the ‘monster’ inside him took shape, inspired by an old legend from this world about the river guardian and long since dead. Six undeveloped legs that ended in sharp bone claws big like a human sunk into the swampy terrain beneath him, pushing his body forward while a tail with torso sized spikes was wildly swinged, knocking down the nearby trees. Thick purple scales covered it’s whole body with a difference the ones by his belly appeared to be thinner and more malleable, allowing him to quickly coil around his Master, reaching out for a bit with the giant mouth, twelve golden eyes glowing with anger. Still, even surprised, the shaman was quick, a cloud of magic surrounding him as Nashor bit only air.
 
“Bravo! So that’s how you want to fight? With a bed time story?” He laughed.
 
“I WILL SHOW YOU WHO’S THE BED TIME STORY, OLD MAN~!” His voice boomed, all shades of purple forming an aura around his body and then Nashor growled in pain, a mix of silvery purple blood dripping down his back and along his flanks as he forced himself to evolve! The River Guardian had been defeated long ago in a battle with a beastial voidling but Nashor was going to fight like one. Twenty-four tentacles emerged from his back, the sea of flesh tendrils shifting into spears as they lunged forward and the Shaman’s grin finally faded. This would be a true battle. But even as Nashor attacked, from his neck six tentacle mouths formed, each pairing a trio of forked snake tongues to better allow him to be perceptive about his surroundings while carrying three rows of sharp teeth. “YOU WANT ME TO MAKE YOUR VISION TRUE~? THEN I WILL BEGIN BY GIVING YOU THE PEACE YOU WANT, TEACHER~!” A tentacle mouth lunged forward, quickly smacked across hard as the pain was felt and recognized by Nashor’s mind. It was like when he was a kid, yet different. Tentacles withdrew, the transformed voidling moved sideways, trying to move back but it was hard with his tail. After all, the River Guardian was a snake and the legs he had created were for the creature to crawl across the river’s depths.
 
“You lack experience.” The Shaman replied calmly, pressing the attack while he spawned his own tentacles, summoning them all around them to keep Nashor busy. The staff knocked away the few that attempted to reach him and then, the man revealed his own secret. Four wings spurt from his back, a similar sound to a bee feeling the air as he flew high. “You thought I had no tricks? That the Void had only give me magic and a different skin color?” He snickered, the fingernails glowing into claws as a second row of eyes formed on his forehead. “I merely choose a more human form, so I don’t forget my humanity. To not be only a highly intelligent and cunning animal that seeks to feed and fuck.” The staff pointed down and dozens of purple and lavender darts materialized from thin air, each enveloped by magic. “Give up, boy!”
 
Nashor growled, string up as his tentacles regroup, a deep rumbling hiss vibrating from his throat. “Chaaaaaaaaa~!” And then he watched, a rain of arcane projectiles fell down onto him, just as a swirl of magic wrapped his body and Nashor reverted to being a human, stumbling onto the floor as he tumbled over to grab his sword and raised his free hand. The ground beneath him glew, and from that light a dome of tentacles formed around him.
 
“…Idiot!” The shaman huffed, the darts shot with enough force to pierce through the tentacle dome but once this faded, Nashor was nowhere to be seen. All that was left behind, was the battlefield of their training and once the shaman landed on the soft ground, confused as to what was happening, he tried to reach out, but his pupil was nowhere in this world. And that could only mean one thing!’s when he heard the voice on his head.
 
The Void had chosen a Champion…
 
…his pupil!
 
 

Soft purple clouds moved slowly in the distance while strange lavender, pink and black streaks of light swirled all around him through this vast sky that had no end. Several shapes seemed to form all around him, but he could not perceive them fully; their middle parts revolving angrily like pieces of string rolled between a child’s fingertips. He glanced down, wondering what supported him and thus he could see the ancient stone, strange carvings marking every inch of it. Runes and glyphs of ancient power emanated from the floor he stood upon and before him, stood one large purple crystal, a starring like storm of constellations, stars and magic swirling inside it, calling his name.
 
That’s when Nashor realized he had forgot to breathe this whole time and as he filled his lungs with air, it was something sweeter and perhaps, he dared thought, even more solid than fresh air. It was dense and intense, it burned down through his nostrils and as it filled his lungs, it felt natural. Rather than gagging, drowning or even struggle with the sensation, it seemed perfectly natural and he acclimated to it. An electric thrill raced through his limbs as Nashor found himself mesmerized by the simple act of respiration.
 
Instinctively he reached out, his right hand extended towards the crystal before him and as he walked towards it, as he stepped onto the same abyss that filled the skies in the wide circle on the floor where the crystal levitated upon, Nashor felt this was right. He know that sometimes, Void Priests and Prophets were granted their powers by the Void itself rather than any bargain, deal or corruption inflicted upon them by the Void Gods. The simple idea the Void had called him to this sacred place, where the Heart of the Void stood unprotected filled his heart and being with the greatest of gifts.
 
 “I understand…” He whispered, spirals of magic flowing around his hand and up his arms, his eyes sparkling with happiness. “I accept your offer. I embrace the Void! I will conquer you all the worlds.” Nashor said, and thus as he breathed again, he felt it. He drawn onto his body a part of the pure magic within this sacred place and for the first time he could remember, he felt truly alive! “I shall become your Champion and connect all the worlds.” Void Champions were the Void Gods most trust-worthy generals and it had been over six hundred years since the last one. But as he accepted the gift, Nashor remembered what his Master taught him, a wide and wicked grin took over his face as he scratched the crystal with his fingernails, feeling the break as he stepped closer. The pain did not bother him, for it was all but something as natural like breathing, walking and eating by now. His life was marked with pain, both physical and mental. “But I shall do it my way~…” A low purring whisper escaped the man’s lips as he stepped back. “I won’t serve others! I will be my own Master from this day forward, until the end of my life!” Nashor claimed, true to his desires and agenda. And as he spoke, the crystal’s glow became more intense, enough to even blind his sight.
 
 

Across the several worlds and demiplanes within the control and grasp of the Void Gods, all felt the creation of a new Champion! But what had soon been a reason to not only celebrate but plot, trying to gain any leverage over who would earn the loyalty of this General that would lead the Void armies in countless battles against those who dared stood up against them… soon turned in doubt and fear. They had reached out for Nashor, but his mind was blocked. He had built himself a mind palace surrounded by several walls, each within their own protections! Someone had thought the Champion how to protect himself against their influence and magic, but who? The trick was known only by Void mages, so it meant this Champion would be very dangerous. Was he or she planning something? Maybe it had already allied with someone.
 
In the following hours the Void Gods arranged a meeting, confused regarding the location of the new Champion but then, they heard it. A strong psychic link that reached out for all of them at once, claiming the time for abusive hunt and conflict was over. No longer would the Void attack any world unless, they would had been invited first! No more they would let mindless starving beasts run wild and feed upon entire planets! And no more they would be the ones in charge. The message was a clear threat. Submit or die!
 
Naturally, the Void Gods immediately riot, ready to join forces and stop this Champion should he refuse to comply but it was already too late. The Void home world where the Heart stood was sacred ground. Sacred enough that no mere voidling was able to arrive there and any rifts connecting the birthplace of the Void to all other planes was something only the Void Champions and Gods were allowed to visit and allow those able to come and go in between.
 
All that time the Void Gods had been discussing amongst each others, in their arrogance and ego they had not thought of sending anyone to visit their sacred place. If only they had, they would had found Nashor drawing in the powers from the whirlwind of leylines that stood underneath the Temple as he created his own army! Nashor knew how the Void’s corruption affected life and the mutant changes occurred during the process but, like everything, he figured it was time for the Void’s fauna to evolve.
 
First he created the Void Hounds, canines similar to a wolf with longer and more muscled legs that ended in sharp claws strong enough to scratch through rock and metal. A sturdy yet flexible exoskeleton covered their back and sides, meant to protect the muscles and make it more difficult for the flesh to be damaged. Their jaw was split, allowing the mouth to open in three directions as forked snake tongues and several rows of teeth would emerge, granting them not only blindsight but a more vicious and dangerous bite. However, as Nashor created the first of this Void Hunts, meant to become the new apex predator, he gave them something extra; a spiked tail able to shoot the spikes within and a deadly poison coating the spines alongside their glistening surface of their claws and saliva. A single scratch would be enough to kill any voidling, even him! However, it would only paralyze any non-voidling.
 
Nashor’s second creations were ogre-sized muscular creatures with thick legs, arms and a torso and no face. Over time they would be known as ‘Big Ones’ but for Nashor and other voidlings they would become The Faceless Guardians because of no eyes, ears, mouth or nose on their bald heads. Unlike the Void Hounds, which did had a highly sharp and cunning intelligence, the Faceless Guardians were nothing more but Void Constructs, artificially created by magic alone, standing at twelve feet tall and meant to be the brutes of Nashor’s army. Obedient and focused on one task only, to wreck anything their officer in command would order them to do.
 
Last but not least, for Nashor’s army of eldritch looking voidlings to be completed, he reached out for the greatest warriors in each world of the Void, men and women who had either been born or corrupted when the Void cam to their worlds and that experienced the peace they had grown used to. For them, Nashor did what he would become known for doing best: deals! Not only did he blessed them with the power to control voidlings, access to the mystical powers of the Heart and even open rifts between the planes, he granted each and everyone a full black and purple body armor set formed with the dust from the clouds above the Temple.
 
And so, as Nashor’s ultimate was made, his army was ready to storm the Void God’s meeting and slay them all. Wielding nothing more but a sword whose blade was made out of pure void energy, Nashor led the charge. The Hounds were unleashed, doors and walls knocked down by the Faceless Guardians while his Void Knights, each riding a void mutated horse with similar armor than them trampled everyone on their path, swinging swords, axes, spears and shooting arrows imbued in Void magic! The assault was swift and bloody but at the end of the day, each and every Void God perished by Nashor’s deadly and merciless blade. No matter the form they took, they realized too late Nashor wasn’t only the newest Void Champion but that he had committed an unforgiving act; with a sword made from pure Void energy, he had pierced the Heart of the Void and performed the same ritual that had destroyed the Void’s homeworld. A ritual carved all across the Temple’s stone floor and pillars. A ritual to become the living embodiment of the Void for one hour! And one hour was more than he needed. No attack reached him and by the time the Void Gods had been butchered like pigs, Nashor stood with a happy smile on his face.
 
The Void Gods were dead! The former Void Champions, for they represented an old and dying ideal. All across the worlds, all heard Nashor’s voice as he claimed the start of a new age and thus, his reign began. Like the Void Gods, he created his own demiplane where he could live and protect himself should he ever be defeated and need a place to rest and regain his strength. After all, just like he, Nashor knew at some point someone would try to dethrone him as well in order to fulfill his or her vision of a better utopia where the Void reached.
 
But unlike those he had defeated, Nashor would surround himself by those who shared his vision and grant them the gifts of the Void. Nashor’s first Void General was the shaman who raised him from childhood, who had taught him everything he knew. Shaen, the First General!
 
 
 

Over the remaining centuries the Void’s corruption spreaded across new planes as, rather than send voidlings to hunt in new places, he allowed a single Void Priest to wander the land in search to create cults and prepare the world to be ‘assembled’ by the Void and become yet another beacon of magic and life represented in the Void’s Heart.
 
In time, Nashor’s attention eventually wandered towards Runeterra, more precisely to Valoran. He had learnt about an ancient and secret ally of the Void: the Watchers. But they had been trapped long ago and so, as Nashor planned to send the first Void Priest to this new land, something incredible happened. The Void’s Heart chose another Champion, a man by the name of Malzahar that was destined to become the Void’s Prophet and help to corrupt the world. And Nashor agreed. This was the first time a ‘Champion’ was chosen from a world never before touched by the Void and once the first spirals of magic arrived, Nashor saw a world of possibilities. This was the cherry on top of the cake. The diversity of species, magic and ancient secrets dwelling in Runeterra was exactly what he needed to expand the void and create the perfect utopia for everyone.
 
But before his plan could take place, there were important matters to deal with. If he could free the Watchers, then for the first time he could leave this world on the charge of another not entirely bounded to the Void. And at same time, the rebellion he had waited to happen sooner or later was giving its first steps. Creatures like Cho’Gath and Kog’maw had decided to make Valoran their hunting grounds, wandering around to feed even though this world had not yet been claimed for the Void. What followed in the next months was the start of Nashor’s loss of control. He had forced this rules upon the voidlings but clearly, not all agreed with it and if war was to be waged, he would require allies… allies like the Watchers, for they would surely owe him upon their release. Nevertheless, as Nashor heard the advise of his First General, Malakeous (his most devoted Void Priest) and Malzahar, rather than share control of Valoran with the Watchers, Nashor’s attention was turned towards one that served them, Lissandra!
 
If he was able to corrupt and make a deal with her, then he could make the Freljord not only a base of operation for the voidlings to get a first taste of this new world, but fight Cho’Gath and those who would dare to stand against him in the future. He would conquer this world the old fashion way and regain the full trust and loyalty of the voidlings. Besides, this world had several champions and heroes scattered across the land, people who would be a worthy challenge. This world was worthy to be personally corrupted by him!
 
Trusting Shaen and Malakeous to focus on the political and warfare problems with Cho’gath, Nashor assume his true human form for the first time in centuries and stepped through the rift. His boots sunk on the snow while the cold wind howled around him. The heavy cape over his shoulders was hugged tighter against his form and then he stared at what Malzahar had called the Howling Abyss. A true ice bridge connected this side of the cliff with a beautiful castle on the other side. With a smile on his lips, Nashor took a deep breathe of fresh air once more, the cold filling his lungs before he gave the first step towards his next potential ally.
 
 

From her room on top of the tallest tower, Lissandra watched the rift between planes appear and the man that stepped out. The Watchers had informed her about the Void and perhaps, this was exactly what she needed. An alliance to free her Masters and rule the North in exchange of whatever was the Void Priest desired.
 
Little did she know that she was about to welcome Nashor himself on her home…
