A strange sound cut through the darkness that clouded Aire.

Aire’s lashes fluttered weakly.

Her body felt heavy. Too heavy. Something unseen was pressing her down into nothingness.

Then, a streak of silver tore through the void.

It came fast.

Aire’s breath hitched as a ball of silver lightning rushed straight toward her. The ball was violent and alive, snapping through the air.

Her eyes widened. Her body reacted before her mind could catch up. The ball was coming at her.

She tried to move. She tried to step back, to turn, and run. However, her limbs refused her.

Her breath stuttered in fear. This would kill her if it touches her. This wasn’t how she envisioned her end.

Aire flinched when the lightening go to her. However, the lightening passed through her. She felt no pain, no impact, and no burn.

Rather, she felt cold.

She felt a sharp, suffocating cold that sank straight into her chest and spread like ice through her veins.

Aire gasped.

Her body jerked violently as air finally rushed back into her lungs.

Her hands flew to her chest. "What...?" Her voice came out broken, small, and uncertain. She was in disbelief.

She didn’t get to dwell in her shovk and understand it as a roar erupted behind her. It wasn’t the roar of one wolf, or ten.

The war cry was so loud it shook the air itself.

Aire froze. Her heart dropped. Slowly... slowly... she turned, and her world ended.

Truly, the sound came from wolves. A thousand of them were charging towards her, and she couldn’t tell why.

Massive bodies tore across the battlefield. Claws ripped into the ground, with their eyes glowing with rage, hunger, and something primal and terrifying.

The earth shook beneath their weight.

Their snarls filled the air, thick and violent, drowning everything else.

Aire’s breath stopped. "No..." she murmured, pleading. The word slipped out before she could stop it.

They were coming straight for her.

Her instincts snapped.

Run.

Run.

RUN.

Aire turned sharply, panic exploding through her chest as she forced her body to move. Her leg pulled, and stopped.

Her body jerked.

She stumbled, and her breath caught in her throat. "No."

She tried again. She pulled harder this time, and still, there was nothing.

Her chest tightened. Panic surged through her chest, and she became desperate to survive. She bedded to run.

Aire looked down, and her scream died in her throat. Blood soaked her legs. There was an ocean of it. Dark, thick, and endless.

It stretched beneath her feet like a sea, rippling slightly with movement that shouldn’t exist.

And her legs were sinking into it. The blood swallowed her ankles, then her calves. The blood was warm.

Too warm that Aire’s stomach twisted violently. "No... no, no!!!"

She tried to yank herself free. Her hands clawed at the air, at nothing, and at everything all at once.

The blood held her, and dragged her in. It claimed her. The ground beneath her didn’t exist, only death did.

Aire’s breathing became erratic. Sharp gasps tore from her lungs as she struggled. Her heart slammed violently against her ribs.

"They’re coming!" she cried.

She could hear them closer now. They were closer, louder, and faster.

The ground trembled harder.

Aire’s head snapped up, and she saw them closer. They were almost on her. Their massive bodies lunging forward, with their teeth bared, and claws ready to tear through flesh and bone.

Aire’s chest seized. "I can’t move—!"

Her voice broke.

Terror clawed up her throat, choking her.

She braced herself, closed her eyes, and waited for impact. To her suprise, it never came.

Instead, the air shifted.

A sound sliced through the battlefield. The sound was soft, and almost delicate. Leaves brushed against each other.

Aire’s eyes snapped open.

Figures stood across the battlefield. They were still, silent, and watching. There was also thousands of them.

Aire’s breath caught.

Her eyes darted across them.

They looked... human until she saw their ears. Their ears were long, sharp, and elegant.

Faes?

Her heart skipped.

That wasn’t possible. Fae didn’t exist anymore. They had been wiped out, erases, and gone.

That’s what she had been told. That’s what everyone believed but here they are, standing, and watching.

Aire’s breath trembled. "No..." Her voice was barely a whisper in the whole chaos the wolves produced.

And then, more figures stepped forward.

Her eyes widened further. The figures had lightening on their palm, ready to strike. A few of them had silver hair.

Witches?

They stood beside the faes, calm and unmoving with power radiating off them. They stood composed, and cold.

Witches didn’t exist either.

Not anymore. Not after the war. Not after the extinction.

Aire’s chest tightened painfully.

Her mind struggled to catch up. "This... isn’t real..."

It couldn’t be. It shouldn’t even be real. However, the air, the blood, and thw wolves all felt too real.

The wolves didn’t slow. They charged straight toward the line of fae and witches, with rage burning in their eyes.

The world snapped. The leaves moved first.

They didn’t fall, they rose, sharp, fast, and deadly. They shot through the air like blades, slicing through the wolf flesh with terrifying precision.

Wolves lunged, and were torn apart mid-air.

Aire gasped.

Blood exploded into the air, and more wolves howled as invisible forces crushed their body, as their bones snapped with sickening cracks.

The witches didn’t move, but their lips moved. They were chanting, soft and rhythmic.

A wolf began to shift back to human against its own will, with its bones twisting, and reforming. Then, it froze mid-transformation.

Aire’s breath hitched.

The wolf screamed.

The sound was so raw, and so full of agony, that it made her stomach twist violently. Its body lifted into the air.

It was held and trapped there until it tore apart pieces by pieces.

Aire’s eyes widened in horror. She blinked, and that was when she realized she might he seeing an era from one of the many wars of thw centuries between witches, fae, and wolves.

This was a war, this was slaughter.

The fae moved like shadows, graceful, elegant, and merciless. Their leaves obeyed them, the branches twisted, and the very air bent to their will.

The wolves were dying brutally and hopelessly.

Aire’s chest tightened.

Her breathing became shallow. "They’re... killing them..."

There was no mercy, nor hesitation. The war wasn’t even balanced. The witches and fae were together with magic while the wolves had just themselves.

The witches raised their hands slightly. Their chants grew louder, and stronger. The battlefield shifted, and wolves were dragged into the air, crushed, and split open.

They were torn apart before they could even land a hit.

Aire’s body trembled violently.

Her stomach churned. "This... isn’t right..."

But something worse settled in her chest. She felt colder than fear. She could feel something deep in her chest.

The power felt familiar. The leaves, the control, and the pull all felt familiar.

Her breath hitched. "No..."

Her fingers twitched instinctively, and a leaf moved.

Aire froze. Her eyes widened. She was in the war, and at the same time, not in it. The leaves also answered to her.

Her chest tightened painfully. "I’m not... doing this..." she whispered, close to tears.

Aire shook her head, panic rising again.

She tried to pull away and the blood tightened around her legs, holding her in place, and forcing her to watch.

Her breath came out broken. "I don’t want this..." she sobbed, as tears left her eyes.

She tired to run again, and then, her eyes lamded on two figures who stood apart from the chaos.

They stood, untouched, and unmoving.

A woman, and a man. The woman had silver hair, and it shimmered even under the blood-soaked sky.

Her face was calm, cold, detached, and powerful.

Aire’s chest tightened. Her heart began to pound harder, and her breathing began to quicken.

The man beside her had long red hair with sharp features and fae ears. His presence was overwhelming.

Aire’s lips parted. "Evil." The word slipped out unconsciously, and in that moment, the woman moved.

Her head tilted, then, she turned. Directly toward Aire.

Aire’s breath stopped. That wasn’t possible. She couldn’t see her. This wasn’t real. This wasn’t happening.

However, those eyes locked onto hers.

Aire’s entire body went cold. "She can’t see me..." Her voice trembled. "She can’t—"

The woman’s gaze narrowed slightly. Recognition flickered in her eyes.

Aire’s heart slammed violently against her ribs. She tried to run again, but she couldn’t. Then, her voice broke into a scream.

The sky responded. It split open, and then blood rained from the sky, drowing everything, and everyone.

Aire screamed again.