Quest for the Past

by Ekhidna

Dog of War

Chapter 8: Dog of War

"RETREAT! RETRE--" A demacian soldier yelled before a voidling ate his upper half in a single bite.

The entire battlezone was a bloodbath. The Rakkor Tribe, Noxus, Demacia, Piltover, Bilgewater, and surviving Freljord armies had united to fight off the creatures of the void advancing against the City of Legends. They were buying time, putting up a great defense, but it was futile.

Shurima had already fallen and with it Renekton, Nasus, Azir, Sivir, and all of their power and knowledge. The current battle had gone for over eight hours and everyone was too exhausted to put up a fight against the never-ending tide of voidlings. Soldiers fell left and right and with them their commanders and even some Champions. Ashe, Sejuani, and Lysandra had been on the brink of reviving the Watchers when the void attacked. Lysandra and Ashe fell in combat alongside Nunu, Anivia, and Gragas; the few remaining straggler survivors of the tribes made it out thanks to the sacrifice of Nocturne, of all champions.

Pantheon let out a mighty war-cry as he ended at least two dozen voidlings in front of him in a barrage of spear thrusts. He saw his fellow champions fighting or slowly retreating. He cursed when he saw Singed being torn limb from limb and how a mangled Ekko charged into the heart of the void swarm and overcharged his clock. The ensuing explosion consumed several hundreds of voidlings.

"MONSTERS!" Pantheon screamed as he threw his spear impaling a creature in the head as another spear materialized in his hand.

Still, the battle raged on.

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Pantheon stopped when he saw a monster Lyra had described to her as a hydra, devoured and lifeless, was surrounded by several corpses of the monsters he knew all too well. He also noticed a hole beside the hydra that sent shivers down his spine.

"Clairvoyance," he said regaining his breath. THERE! He could see it now! A small town, a village, filled with ponies and monsters Lyra had talked to him about going around the village carrying supplies and objects. They were trying to form some sort of barricade between them and the forest. He was able to see a Great Wrait and an Elder Lizard come out of the edges of the forest when his spell-time ended. "I'm close. I'm close!" Resuming his run, he sprinted faster than ever feeling that familiar sensation of a coming battle. One he would not, could not, miss for the sake of Lyra.

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"WHAT IN THE HAY ARE THOSE THINGS!?" A pony yelled seeing a horde of monsters coming out of the Everfree. Monsters no one had ever heard of seen before.

"Great Wraiths and their spawns... Worgs... Great Golems... Elder Lizards... a R-Rift Herald..." Lyra muttered seeing so many deadly monsters coming right at them. "Twilight, order everyone to attack! Now!" She yelled at her filly school friend.

"Alright everypony, you heard her! Fire!" Twilight ordered as she began shooting beams of magic at the coming horde.

"FIRE!" Yelled Rainbow Dash before kicking a thundercloud, sending a jolt of lightning against the monsters.

Several other magic beams, spells, rocks, lightning jolts, and makeshift throwing weapons began raining down against the monsters; most of which weren't even bothered by the defenders' attacks.

"Twilight!" Spike said holding a scroll in his hand. "Princess Celestia says she's sending us a battalion of guards right away! Until they arrive we have to hold them back!"

"On it," Twilight grumbled seeing the monsters advance mostly unhindered. Gathering as much magic as she could to her horn, Twilight created a bubble shield similar to her brother's signature shield spell around the entirety of Ponyville. The first monsters crashed against the shield, but that didn't stop the ones behind to try climbing over the first row or from attacking the shield itself with bestial rage and bloodthirst.

Everypony cheered seeing the monsters being halted by their princess of friendship. For several minutes the defenders moved around preparing further defenses when the biggest monster came to the forefront. It was like a massive hybrid between a crab and a beetle on two legs.

"The Rift Herald," Lyra said next to Twilight.

"I assume that's not good for us then?" Twilight asked while focusing more magic on her shield.

The Rift Herald took a charging stance before ramming itself against the shield making the entire thing tremble.

"GAH! It's very strong!" Twilight grunted back at the sheer strength this monster showcased. She grunted again when the Herald punched the shield. "Lyra, do you know anything about how to defeat them!?"

"Uhmmm," Lyra pulled her journal from her bag. "The Herald's weak point is on its back. It opens it up once in a while in a fight both to hit harder and to cool itself. Attack it then." She began skimming through her journal. "I-I don't understand why our attacks didn't harm the other monsters. Pantheon killed like they were nothing to him!" She exclaimed looking through her notes. "The monsters that travel in packs with a bigger one leading them have to be dealt with by killing the smaller ones first. Killing the Ancient Golem grants magic casters an increased magical recovery. Killing the Elder Lizard grants anything a burning effect to anything you attack," she skimmed through her journal telling Twilight what she thought could be relevant.

"Any other--ARGGGH!--- monster like this Herald we need to worry about!?" Twilight asked desperately as other unicorns began to mingle their magic with hers.

Lyra looked over at the ever-increasing horde of monsters. "No, thankfully. If Rift Dragons show up or the Baron Nashor..." Lyra shook her head. "How long until the guards arrive, Spike?"

"If they hurry, I think an hour," Spike answered, eyes glued to the Herald hitting and ramming itself against the barrier.

Suddenly, a loud roar was heard over the edge of the forest. With it, the seemingly endless horde of monsters stopped pouring out from the treeline. Instead, a great, bestial, feral dragon came out.

"That's a dragon!?" Spike jumped back, frightened at the sight of the bigger, animalistic dragon.

"An Elder Dragon," Lyra bit her lower lip. "I hope the guards make it in time," Lyra said as the dragon leaped landing next to the Herald and together began smashing the barrier.

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The barrier had endured for the forty minutes so far, but everypony knew it was going to fall soon. There were several cracks all over its surface and many unicorns had already fainted due to exhaustion. Twilight herself was starting to strain from the effort of maintaining the barrier; perplexingly, the monsters showed not a single trace of exhaustion.

The inhabitants of Ponyville had done all they could to build a barricade and arm themselves as best they could. Fluttershy had even managed to pacify and convince most of the regular Everfree monsters to join them in the coming fight. They were as ready as they could be.

And with a final push from a multitude of Ancient Golems, Elder Lizards, Bramblebacks, the Herald, and the Elder Dragon the barrier finally gave in and shattered.

"GET READY!" Twilight shouted to those behind her. "We have to hold until the guards arrive!" Beams of magic, lightning bolts, and everything ponies could throw rained against the monsters advance.

Suddenly, the monsters stopped and with them, a gush of wind blew all over the place. Ponies and monsters looked around confused when a whistling sound was heard. No one was able to determine the source of the sound, for something big and heavy landed between the Ponyville defenders and the monsters creating a heavy dust cloud and an even stronger gust of wind. The landing of the object was so strong that the shockwave alone was enough to send several ponies to the ground.

The dust cloud dissipated soon after revealing a tall, imposing figure in the middle of a small crater it had created on its landing.

"For attacking Lyra, The Truth Searcher, my friend, your fates have been sealed..." The creature clad in some form of armor, carrying a shield, a spear, a cape, and a helmet said in a deep, rumbling, and incredibly angry tone. Its voice making everyone who heard him shiver in fear.

"PANTHEON!" Lyra shouted, happy and surprised to see her human friend had come to their aid.

Pantheon raised his spear in response. "If you want them and my friend, then you have to go through me first." He said to the monsters.

They charged as one.

Author's Note:

Special thanks to anyone that read this!

Comments

[deathoverlord]

I wonder what hapened to Xerath, I mean he is pretty much unkillable being made of energy