Chapter(7)The price to be a king again part 1
In Zilean's room...
"Hohoho... What an intriguing beginning, isn't it? Those two sisters, like two sides of the same coin, despite their different paths, they share the same motives..."
He paused for a moment, then continued in a calm voice:
"But enough about them, let's now talk about two others... Yes, I'm talking about the story of a monster who crowned himself king and lost the trust of his people, and now must pay the price to become king again.
---
Somewhere in the Freljord mountains...
There was no sign of life around the mountain, except inside one of the vast caves where some massive tribal buildings were gathered, but they were crumbling as if they were the remnants of a giant's ruined village.
Amid these buildings, massive creatures with blue skin, over two and a half meters tall, moved around. They wore tattered clothes despite the freezing cold of the icy ground. They were fiercely fighting among themselves. They were the Ice Trolls.
As the fighting continued, some noticed a troll approaching, carrying an icy staff. He had red hair and wore tribal clothing better than the others, but he wasn't alone, as he was dragging something massive behind him with his other hand.
"Look! He's here!"
"Trundle has returned!"
The trolls gathered, their eyes fixed on what he had brought with him. With all his strength, Trundle threw the corpse of a great dragon onto the icy ground, then looked around with his dark blue eyes.
He raised his icy staff high and said in a booming voice:
"Trolls! Look closely! I have slain this great dragon, the one who ruled the skies! But he was no match for the King of the Trolls, Trundle!"
The trolls' eyes lit up with excitement, and cheers began to rise.
"Amazing! The king is strong and fierce!"
"He killed a dragon!"
"We will rule the skies!"
"Long live the King of the Trolls!"
"We will dominate the Freljord!"
Trundle stood among his followers, enjoying the echo of their words. This was what he wanted... to be recognized as their king.
But suddenly, another voice cut through his.
"But... what if this is one of his tricks?"
The cheers stopped, and Trindle's angry eyes turned toward the speaker.
"True! I thought the same!"
"He previously claimed to have defeated an army of humans and made soup from their bones! But now he was defeated by a single human!"
A heavy silence fell, before another troll stepped forward, pointing at Trondle with his finger:
"Are you really a troll? Or a half-troll?"
He didn't get to finish, as Trundle lunged at him with a sudden strike from his icy staff, knocking him to the ground with force.
"You ungrateful wretch! Have you forgotten who raised you from your lowly state? Have you forgotten who gathered you together? Who made you dominate the Freljord mountains? Who built this place!? It was me!"
Some trolls looked at him with regret, while others remained skeptical, igniting a raging fury within him. In a moment, the ghost of that defeat returned to him. The image of the warrior who had overthrown him came back to haunt him.
Trjndle gripped his staff tightly and shouted in anger:
"Curse it!"
He rushed out of the village, ignoring the calls of some, as only one thing was on his mind.
"All of this is because of him! Because of that damned warrior!"
He stopped for a moment, took a deep breath, then muttered:
"I must... visit her... I must visit the Ice Witch."
...
Trundle carried his staff as he pushed through the harsh snowstorms, moving with force and reaching his hand forward. This was the third storm he had passed through. Three days had passed since he left. Trundle was now in the far north.
Finally, he reached the place. He looked through the fog that was trying to hide what lay beyond: the Frostguard Citadel.
The citadel was built of black and dark blue stones, covered in thick layers of shimmering ice under the moonlight. Its towering spires resembled giant teeth, reaching into the sky as if guarding the entire region. The outer walls were adorned with icy decorations and ancient magical runes.
Trundle looked around the hall as he approached and saw that around the citadel were deep trenches of frozen ice. The only safe way across was a massive black stone bridge, carved with mysterious symbols.
Trundle moved forward, and as he approached the bridge connecting to the hall, he saw the Frostguard soldiers preparing to fight him. The guards wore armor made from strange horned beasts resembling long-horned bulls.
Trundle expected a warm welcome as soon as he arrived here, but he didn't have time for that.
"I am here to meet the Ice Witch!"
The guards looked at each other with suspicion and anger before shouting at him:
"You don't even deserve to utter her name here, you ugly creature!"
"I would accept this, but I don't have time! I want to meet Lissandra, the ice witch!"
"How dare you! Guards, come and___"
"Let him enter....."
Five warriors appeared, wearing different clothes and more robust armor. They were different from the regular guards, and in their midst was a person carrying an axe, unlike the four who carried swords. There were shards of real ice embedded in the weapon carried by this warrior.

These were the Draklorn Inquisitors, her most loyal servants. Trindle remembered them well. They were with her when he first met the Ice Witch and thought she would kill him.
When they appeared, all the regular guards bowed and stepped aside to make way for them. The axe-wielder, who seemed to be the leader of these Inquisitors, spoke:
"The Lady of Ice and Darkness has been expecting your arrival."
"Good, that makes things easier! I want to speak with her!"
"(A moment of silence).....Come with us."
Trundle stepped forward, crossed the bridge, and entered the citadel. The citadel was different from what he had imagined at first.
Inside the citadel, the corridors were wide and dark, with smooth icy floors and walls covered in layers of frost.
As Trundle looked around the citadel, he saw that throughout the citadel were ice statues of Lissandra's enemies, preserved in poses expressing pain or fear, as if a warning to anyone who dared to challenge her. He felt tense because he was on the verge of becoming one of them if he hadn't allied with her.
Finally, they reached the main hall, the heart of the citadel, where Trundle was waiting for her. The Ice Witch, Lissandra, sat on her throne, a massive block of shimmering black ice. Lissandra stared at Trondle (through her ancient magic, as she was blind and couldn't see the features or shapes of things) with an unreadable expression on her face.
Then she looked at the Draklorn Inquisitors and gestured with her finger, and they left, leaving Trondle and Lissandra alone in the throne room.
"Ice Witch, I am here for___"
"To fix your error?"
Trundle looked at Lissandra in shock, feeling tense and afraid before answering again:
"Did you know?"
"I have eyes almost everywhere in the Freljord, including your humiliating defeat at the hands of that Noxian."
"Then I'll get straight to the point. I want power! Please, grant me power!"
"Then You want to become stronger?"
"No... not that kind of power."
"Hmmm... interesting. Then what kind of power do you want?"
"I want the power to influence all trolls. I want the power to command their absolute obedience, so they never rebel against me! I want them to regard Trondle as their one and only king!"
Lissandra clapped her hands warmly, as if she was enjoying a circus performance, and rose from her seat.
"Good! Now that's real power! Not in physical strength, but in the mind! Very good, I would have been disappointed if you asked for something trivial and stupid."
"So does this mean___"
"But of course, everything has its price in return."
Trundle looked at Lissandra and understood what she meant. "I understand that. What do you want me to do for you?"
"In a place far to the east, there are people from a distant village called Hartsir who have recently started worshiping a spiritual god called Haestryr.... and I want you to do something about them."
"What exactly?"
Lissandra smiled, and this was a rare occurrence, especially since the witch had lived for over 10,000 years (this is information known only to me and a few others in the entire world of Runeterra: Zilian).
"I want you to___"
...
In a distant place where there is a remote village building a large statue of a suspicious-looking deer in the center of the village, Trundle was there with the trolls looking at the village with happy expressions.
"I can't believe my eyes!"
"Look, they're even offering food to this stone!"
"There are so many livestock too!"
"My king, you were right! This village is rich and delicious!"
"Yes, when have I ever been wrong, you fools? Now listen to me before you enjoy looting everything. There's one important thing you must do."
"What is it, my king?"
"I want you to exterminate them all!"
"Oh, are we going to eat all the warriors?"
"No....."
All the trolls looked at Trundle with a puzzled expression.
"I want you to..."
...
"I want you to kill them all without exception."
"All of them? You want me to kill all the warriors of that village?"
"I think you misunderstood something."
"What?"
"Elders, women, and children. I want you to kill them all. Leave no one ALIVE."
"Why? This seems unnecessary. I don't mind killing them all, but what will you gain if I do this? No one will witness what I've done?"
"That's what I want."
"Hmm?" Trundle tilted his head curiously.
"I must teach these heretics the price of betrayal. These people used to worship the Three Sisters, but as soon as they found some book, they destroyed all the statues and books. That's why I'm doing this to teach them not to worship idols again."
"And whoever sees the destroyed village will think that this deer is a sign of black and cursed magic! And they will never think of worshiping it again!"
...
"I...want you to exterminate them to the last one! No children, no elders. I want you to kill them all. No exceptions. All humans must die!"
All the trolls looked at him with suspicion and doubt.
"You will have a feast that will fill your bellies!"
Suddenly, the looks of suspicion turned into excitement.
"Let's kill them all!"
"Leave no one alive!"
"Yes, we will kill every human!"
"I will kill every human in my path!"
Trundle looked at the trolls with satisfaction, smiling wickedly.
"Yes, that's it! Now go and kill them all!"