The arena was carved into the mountain's heart — a vast chamber surrounded by glowing runes and swirling energy seals. The air shimmered with magic, every breath charged with power. This wasn't a playground; this was where Guardians learned what it meant to control the storm within.
Master Xavier stood at the far end of the arena, watching and examining
Zayn cracked his knuckles, lightning crawling lazily up his arm.
"Alright, everyone ready? Last one standing wins," he grinned.
Tyra rolled her eyes, the faint growl of dragons echoing behind her. " I'm ready."
A flicker of tension — and the match began
Lightning flashed.
Zayn blurred forward, speed and thunder fusing into a blinding arc. Iris countered instantly, her hands slicing through the air — a wall of ice erupted before her, cracking under the force of his impact.
Katara spun behind them, fire bursting from her palms like twin comets. "You two shouldn't forget about me! " she shouted — as flames danced around her.
Annabeth raised a hand, the earth tremoring beneath her. Spikes of stone shot up, blocking Katara's blast and splitting the battlefield into uneven platforms.
And then — Cody stepped in.
A smirk. A shimmer.
Reality folded.
Half the team stumbled as the floor beneath them vanished, dropping them into an empty void," Brace for impact" He said with a wicked smile before before slamming them back into the arena.
"Dimensional pulse," Cody called out. "Try to keep up."
Red fumes surrounded Cody, filling up the space around him "No" He said in a panic covering his nose, disappearing and reappearing in a different spot but the fumes chased him wherever he went
"Ughh... Jace!" He yelled clearly pissed off but in that second he inhaled the air, he fell to the ground unable to move
Jace erupted into laughter " Who's struggling to keep up now?"
"Damn you and your miasma"
Miasma was Jace's power, he was a wielder of unseen poison. He could make the enemy go numb from a single intake of the fumes or poison them to some degree and could control the duration.
It was the perfect offense and defense.
"Don't worry it'll only last for some seconds" Jace replied still laughing
Hunter stood in the middle of it all — silent, watching. His eyes flickered black for a moment.
Tyra's voice echoed, layered with the roar of her dragons. "Hunter, you're not training. Move!"
Her seven dragons — ethereal, elemental, and fierce — circled her in orbit, their eyes glowing in unison. She launched them forward in a coordinated strike.
The training arena trembled with energy. Everyone had already fallen back, giving Tyra and Hunter the center. The air between them sizzled — lightning scars still burning in the cracked floor, smoke coiling like serpents.
" Now this is interesting" Zayn smirked in enthusiasm.
Tyra's eyes glowed gold, the seven dragons swirling behind her in perfect harmony. Each one moved with her heartbeat — air, flame, shadow, frost, thunder, crystal, and light. She was fierce. Unyielding.
He stood across from her, chest heaving. His stone — that black shard hung loosely around my neck — pulsed faintly, whispering to him in a voice only he could hear.
You're nothing without me… Let me in.
He shook his head, gripping his fists tighter.
It was a sign... He knew if he lets it take control the damage might be irreversible
"Hunter!" Tyra shouted, summoning a dragon of pure fire. "Stop holding back! Fight me!"
He didn't move. He just dodged. Barely.
Each time she struck, he slipped away, breathing heavier, his body trembling from the force of her blows.
"Come on!" she snarled, her dragons circling closer. "You think the enemy's going to wait while you hide behind fear?"
Hunter's jaw clenched. "You don't understand…"
A blast of lightning-like fire hit his shoulder — hard. He staggered back, smoke rising from his armor.
"Then make me understand!" Tyra's seven dragons merged into a colossal form — her ultimate strike.
Hunter fell to one knee, panting. The stone on his chest burned hot, almost alive. His vision blurred — whispers grew louder.
You'll die before she stops.
Let me out.
You need me.
"No," I gasped, clutching at it. His veins were starting to bulge black. "I said no—"
Tyra charged, the dragon's roar shaking the entire arena. Leaping into the air, she forged a sword out of thin air, the ground cracked as she brought her blade down —
—And then it happened.
A pulse of darkness erupted from Hunter, swallowing light and sound. The dragons shattered like glass, Tyra was thrown backward through the air. The entire arena shuddered — walls fracturing, choas inside the mountain.
Hunter stood in the center, head bowed, his eyes now pure black with red cracks running through his skin. The stone had claimed him — even if just for a moment.
Everything around him was being pulled toward the void forming at his feet — rocks, weapons, even air itself disintegrating.
Tyra coughed, pushing herself up, eyes wide. "Hunter… Control it…"
"Hunter!" Jace called out before everyone stood in front of Tyra in attempt to protect her.
He turned to her — and for a terrifying heartbeat, He didn't recognize her.
Destroy… everything.
The voice was louder, stronger
But then — Jace's voice cut through the darkness.
"Hunter! You're not the stone. You're you!"
Something broke inside him. His eyes flickered — black, then blue, then black again. He screamed, forcing the energy back into the stone. The void imploded, sucking in the last of its chaos before collapsing into silence.
When it was over, Hunter was on the ground, shaking. Smoke rose from his skin. The arena was half-destroyed.
Jace walked slowly to him, bruised but alive, Tyra followed behind,she knelt, resting a hand on his shoulder.
"Now you see," she whispered, "that's why you can't run from it. You face it — or it'll face you."
Hunter looked up, his voice hoarse.
"I wasn't afraid of losing to you… I was afraid of losing myself... but I still did."
This power, I wasn't the first amongst my predecessors to have destruction as an ability... But I happened to be the first to be consumed be it. Every abilities has been built on by its previous wielder,so with each passing generation it gets stronger and I was told my father, Achlys- was the best wielder with the control of a god... Only makes me a laughing stock.
"I need a break and some fresh air... Cody?"
"Of course..." He snapped his finger and we returned to our original dimension- in our house.
We never trained here to avoid being seen, having Cody's dimensional powers were very handy.
I immediately got up and walked out of the house- no one stopped me. Master Xavier didn't seem to have come home with us.
Our house was built on the top of a hill... It was easier to see the rest of the town and it's from up there. We were a bit isolated from the town, we hardly went out because we didn't want to get exposed by accident- We didn't have any friends too-it was just us.
The town didn't seem to care though.
Walking down the street of Elton, there were different shops here and there, everyone was working for their money. I shoved my hands in my pockets, my mind racing back to what had happened. I thought I had everything under control, but I almost hurt everyone... My powers were meant to lift the burden not add weight to it
I sighed, dismissing the train of thoughts. My eyes flew across the street and landed on a small shop... Dimly lit but was open. I crossed over slightly intrigued by what they sell...
The door rung a bell upon entrance, calling the attention of the salesperson.
"Welcome to Amanda's Blossoms" A teenage girl with a petite figure smiled warmly with gleaming eyes
Amanda's Blossoms... Never heard of it, sure enough she sold flowers of different kinds both artificial and natural. I instantly lost interest and was about to leave...
" What can I get for you?"
I turned around to face her slightly annoyed couldn't she see I didn't want to buy her flowers. Her eyes were gleaming with hope as if I was the long waited customer she hoped for. I couldn't just walk away after seeing her like that
*Sigh*
"Daffodils and Tulips, please."
I called out the names of the flowers we had back at home
"Artificial or Natural?"
She happy stepped out of her counter and walked up to the shelves were each plant and the flowers were kept
"Artificial" I replied briefly. She selected the necessary and wrapped them at the counter were I stood to pay for them
"Here you go." She handed it over to me. Our fingers brushed slightly and I felt something in her aura, faint but it was there... Magic.
Another magic user? Master Xavier did say there were other survivors of the war that happened twenty years ago. Could some of them have teleported and based here? Did Master Xavier know? I couldn't ask her... I could be wrong, also it's not like she'd outrightly just tell me the truth, people were persecuted for having magic.
"Hello? Is everything alright?" Her soft voice brought me back to reality.
"Thanks for the flowers." I turned around and strolled out ... Since I could sense her faint magic, could she sense mine?. I needed to get out of here as soon as possible.
I strolled back home thinking of the many possibilities of other magic users living in Elton. Too many questions and uncertainties...not enough answers or clarity.
" You're back."
Katara said the moment I walked into the house
" Ready to confess your undying feelings to one of the girls? Who are the flowers for?"
I completely ignored Zayn. 'undying feelings?' what a meat head.
"When will you learn brother?" Cody shook his head disappointed in Zayn while his eyes never left the newspaper he was reading
" I'll help you with the flowers, Hunter." Iris took them from me placing them in a vase on the center table.
" Couldn't you have at least bought something edible?" Annabeth teased me annoyingly
" I was low on cash and it was unexpected."
Cody immediately dropped his newspaper and jolted up
"Cody?" Jace called out worried.
" They are attacking the barrier. It won't be long before they make it to the Walls"
" Our dimension?... Let's move" Tyra said and we all assembled
Cody snapped his fingers and we teleported to the scene.
By 'they' he meant demons, usually we clashed with them outside our dimension to ensure the safety of people living there.
They'd never been this close. What do they want?
We appeared by the border separating our dimension from another, there was a hole already, Cody immediately patched it up and we separated , moving around searching but we didn't find anything or anyone.
Could they have made it through already? How easy could they have broken through?The barrier was just before the dimension wall and it was set up by Cody- It couldn't have been that easily broken ... Except... except by an upper phase demon...I didn't want to think about it, I can't be... Upper phases were demons who had royal blood or who were royalty... They were the closest to the demon king... And they spelt the word trouble.
"Hello Hunter." The unfamiliar voice spoke behind me calling my name, I didn't notice his presence until then. I turned around expelling my powers in a huge wave behind me.
"Who's there?" I heard a sinister laughter that made my skin crawl that's when it dawned on me, that voice, this presence I'd felt before, it was similar to the one I heard when I got my Element
"Who's there?! Show yourself don't hide in the shadows, you coward."
I tried pissing him off expecting him to reveal himself
"Coward? Me? I know my worth... Hunter. I could end you where you stand but that's not fun and you need to play an important role in this charade. So until you defeat your Old man, don't go calling superiors cowards"
Anger surged through me. I felt belittled. How dare he? I couldn't rage out... I couldn't pinpoint his location and my friends weren't too far away. All I could do was stay alert to the subtle movements he made
" To answer your question... Who am I?
I'm the nightmare that threatens your very existence..."