Shifted...

Unbeknownst to the world there lays a town hidden from most eyes that guards a dark eluding secret… and throughout the town everything laid in shambles; from fire leaping from house to house to children with bloodstained hands that helplessly gripped onto their perishing parents. Following the path of destruction and carnage eventually leads to a clearing of the town square, decorated lavishly with a gem encrusted fountain with its water’s muddled with soot and blood, revealing a single man with scriptures along his right arm as he tore off the burning sleeve. The man was surrounded by dozens of mages, mostly injured and exhausted while the others began to chant and murmur spells frantically.

The earth rumbled and groaned as massive golems were created from the surrounding debris from the once shattered ornate floor and the demolished buildings. Hissing water familiars were formed that warped to any appearance of their masters’ will, some taking the form of animals while a majority was nothing more than mere blurry silhouettes. Weapons of various shapes and sizes began to materialize around the tattooed man, quivering at the hope to pierce him. The skies darkened as clouds began to form overhead, releasing an earth shattering crackle, nearly shattering the concentration of the hundreds of mages. In addition the wind speeds began to increase alarmingly, easily surpassing tempest winds and ripping bolted objects from the ground with ease. All the while several mages struggled to keep a barrier up to protect the brave warriors from a potential backlash.

Time seemed to stand still in that single instant as the man calmly stood before the massive army before him. The multitude of mages and ethereal beings alike made his thoughts of a successful counter-attack look bleak. However, reality was suddenly back into perspective as the golems bellowed, the familiars hissed, the weaponry let out a shrill ring as it quivered, the lightning crackled, and the mighty winds howled; the culmination of all their masters’ contained fury was released in a single instant of an elemental blitz. The lumbering golems began to stumble momentarily before charging into a terrifying rush, surpassing the speed and force of a bullet train quite feasibly. The water familiars snaked around ecstatically as it let out jets of high pressured water, piercing through any barrier their target may create. The fiery weapons dropped into a low hum and began to dance by mimicking the shifting waves of the ocean, creating a whirlwind of fire, as they twirled around the tattooed man before striking maliciously at his body. Several dozen bolts of blue and purple lightning fell from the sky, haphazardly ravaging the area, as it made their descent. The winds rumbled through, wreaking havoc on the terrain, ripping through buildings and the ground alike; however, like the other furious attacks, they were coordinated in complete harmony, avoiding each other’s path effortlessly to destroy the one man.

All the while the hundreds of mages heaved heavily in anticipation for the man’s demise, gripping onto each other for support as the exhaustion became unbearable. The dust and debris cleared slowly, and there was a strong uproar of cheering from the mages. However, all was not as it would seem to the joyous and victorious group. After the debris gave way to a fully visible plaza, it was revealed that the fountain was demolished along with rest of the adjacent buildings, and a large smoldering crater was left. Not a trace of the man was to be found. The mages searched frantically once they noticed the man absent from his supposed grave… and that sight caused the town to become a state of high alert once again, sending flares of a cool cruel crimson into the skies as the bells rang ominously. Yet in all the confusion and anguish, a sliver of a crack, barely noticeable even to most attentive person, of the library doors was beginning to shut, creaking ever so softly that ended with a small thud, with a silhouette of a man inside its grand doors.