Two years had passed since the guardians defeated the Frost Tyrant. The world seemed to hum with perfect peace. The Frostpeaks were covered in young forests that sang in the wind pines and firs and birches growing so tall they touched the clouds. The Charred Wastes had become the greenest part of the land, with farms stretching as far as the eye could see. Corn grew tall in the fields. Wheat swayed in the breeze. Vegetables filled baskets in every village market. The Coastal Villages filled the air with the Sea Singer's songs from dawn to dusk, and fish jumped in the waves so often they looked like silver rain falling from the sky.
The guardians had built their home in the Whisperwood's training clearing, right where the eight stone markers stood. Their cottage was made of thick oak wood and gray stone, warm and bright with windows that let in the sun. Ashreign and Mai lived there full time, and they had planted a garden around the eight-colored tree now so tall its top was hidden in the canopy above. The garden was filled with flowers from every corner of the world: red poppies from the Fire Mountains, blue lotuses from the Water Marshes, green ferns from the Wood Forest, white daisies from the Air Hills, gray moss from the Earth Plains, gold roses from the Whisperwood, black lilies from the Moonwell, and purple irises from the Lightning Plains.
One morning, Ashreign was watering the garden with water from the nearby stream. He moved from flower to flower, making sure each one got just enough to drink. He stopped when he reached the gold roses Mai's favorite. One of them was turning pale. Its petals were not soft and full like the others. They were thin and brittle, like dry paper. It looked as if all the life had been sucked out of it, leaving only a gray husk behind.
" Mai," he called out, his voice full of worry. "Come see this rose. Something is wrong with it."
Mai walked out of the cottage, drying her hands on a rough cloth. She had been baking bread something she loved to do, filling the cottage with the warm smell of grain and fire. She looked at the rose, and her face fell. " That is impossible," she said, touching the pale petal gently. "These roses need only light and water to thrive. They should not be dying here, where both are so strong."
They walked together to the eight-colored tree. Its leaves, which usually glowed with eight bright hues that danced in the wind, were dim. The gold of Light was faint, like a candle flickering in a storm. The silver of Darkness was dull, like a moon covered in clouds. The red of Fire was barely visible. The blue of Water was washed out. The green of Wood was pale. The gray of Earth was lifeless. The white of Air was thin. The purple of Lightning was almost gone.
" The elements are weakening," Mai said, her own Light power glowing softly in her hand. "I can feel it in my bones. It is not just here in the garden. It is everywhere. Something is wrong. Something that runs deeper than we can see deeper than the earth, deeper than the sea."
Soon, the other guardians arrived at the cottage, each with their own troubling news. Leo had come all the way from the Fire Mountains, his clothes still smelling of smoke and ash. " The hearths in the mountain villages are not staying lit," he said, sitting down on one of the stone markers. "Flames sputter and die, even when there is plenty of wood. People are cold, even in the middle of summer. The fire keepers say their power feels thin like trying to hold water in their hands."
Kidlatina arrived next, her hair messy from flying across the Lightning Plains. " No storms have come in six weeks," she said, running her hands through her hair. "No Lightning has struck the ground. The soil is hard and dry. Crops are wilting in the fields. The children who can call small sparks say their power is gone like a fire that has burned out completely."
Lira came from the Water Marshes, her clothes still damp from the water she worked with every day. " The water is not moving," she said, her voice quiet. "It sits still in the pools and streams, like glass. Fish are growing sick their scales turning gray, their eyes going dull. Some are dying and floating on the surface. The healers say the water has lost its life like it is just dirt and rain, not the element that gives us life."
Elara arrived from the Wood Forest, carrying a small branch in her hand. It was thin and gray, with no leaves. " The trees are not growing," she said, holding up the branch. "Their branches are thin and weak. Leaves fall off in midday, even when the sun is bright. Even the oldest oaks trees that have stood for a thousand years look tired, like they are ready to fall over and die."
Terrax came from the Earth Hills, his hands covered in dirt. " Little tremors shake the ground every day," he said. "More than before. Not hard enough to knock things over, but enough to make people feel uneasy. They say their homes are shifting. Walls are cracking. The ground itself feels like it is coming apart."
Aeris floated down from the sky last, her face more serious than the guardians had ever seen it. She had been flying for days, covering every part of the world. " I have flown to every corner of the land," she said, hovering above the garden. "The signs are everywhere. The Air is thin in the mountains, making it hard to breathe. It is thick and heavy in the valleys, making people feel sleepy and sad. The wind does not blow like it should it is either too strong or too weak. The elements are not working together. They are pulling apart, one by one, like threads from a blanket."
Ashreign looked at the dim eight-colored tree, then at his friends. Their faces were full of worry and fear. " Two years of peace," he said, his voice quiet. "We thought we had fixed everything. We thought we had defeated the darkness for good. We thought the balance was safe forever."
Mai shook her head slowly, her eyes full of sadness. " We did not fix it," she said. "We only gave the world a rest. A chance to breathe. Something big is coming. Something that is strong enough to break the elements apart completely. Something that has been waiting in the shadows for its chance to strike."
The guardians decided then and there to find the source of the trouble. They packed food from the garden, water from the stream, and clothes for the journey. For ten days, they traveled from place to place, seeing the signs of the elements' weakness for themselves. In the Fire Mountains, they saw flames that could not even warm a pot of water. In the Lightning Plains, they walked on soil that cracked under their feet like glass. In the Water Marshes, they saw still water that smelled of rot and decay. In the Wood Forest, they touched trees that felt like cold stone instead of living wood. In the Earth Hills, they stood on ground that shook with steady tremors, making their teeth chatter. In the Air Hills, they breathed thin air that made their heads spin.
Every village they visited told the same story. Strange things were happening. The elements were failing. Fear was growing in people's hearts, like a dark cloud that would not go away. Parents were afraid for their children. Farmers were afraid their crops would die. Healers were afraid they could not help the sick.
On the eleventh day of their journey, they reached the Heartstone the massive crystal in the center of the world, where the first guardians had once tied all the elements together in perfect balance. It was supposed to glow with eight bright colors, a beacon of hope that could be seen from miles away. It was supposed to hum with the power of all the elements, keeping them connected and strong.
When they saw it, their hearts sank into their stomachs. The Heartstone was not glowing. It was gray and lifeless, like a rock that had been sitting in the dark for thousands of years. Cracks ran across its surface like spider webs, spreading from the bottom all the way to the top. The ground around it shook with steady, powerful tremors. The Air was so thin it made them dizzy and sick. The very air felt like it was dying.
" This is where it all starts," Terrax said, his voice quiet and serious. "This is where the elements are tied together. If the Heartstone dies, the elements will break free from each other. The world will tear itself apart. Fire will burn everything it touches. Water will flood the land. Wood will wither and die. Earth will shake and crack. Air will become too thin to breathe. Lightning will strike without end. Light and Darkness will fight each other until there is nothing left."
Lira walked forward and touched the crystal gently with her hand. She closed her eyes, feeling the energy inside it. " I can feel something inside it," she said, her voice full of fear. "Something dark and hungry. It is not like the Frost Tyrant or the Shadow of Chaos. It is older. Bigger. It has been sleeping for thousands of years and now it is waking up. It is sucking the life out of the Heartstone, one drop at a time."
Aeris floated above the Heartstone, closing her eyes. She could hear things no one else could sounds from deep beneath the earth. " I can hear it moving," she said, her voice trembling. "It is crawling toward the Heartstone, through tunnels it dug thousands of years ago. It is big. So big it makes the Frost Guardian look like a small child. It will be here in one month. Maybe less."
Ashreign looked at the small group of volunteers who had followed them from the nearby villages farmers and healers, fire keepers and tree growers, all ready to help. " one month," he said, his voice strong despite the fear in his heart. "Time enough to prepare. Time enough to gather everyone. Time enough to save the world."
Mai nodded, her Light power glowing as bright as she could make it. She pressed her hand to the Heartstone, and her light flowed into it. For a moment, the crystal glowed faintly with gold light. Then it went dark again, like a candle that had been blown out. " My power is not enough," she said, her voice quiet. "None of ours is. We need everyone. Every person in the world who can touch the elements, even a little. Every person who cares about the balance. Every person who wants to live."
" We will go back," Leo said, standing up tall. "We will travel to every village. Every town. Every corner of the world. We will tell them what is coming. We will ask them to stand with us. To help us strengthen the Heartstone before it is too late. Before the darkness wakes up and destroys everything we have built."
The guardians turned to leave, heading back to gather as many people as they could. As they walked away from the Heartstone, the ground shook harder than ever before. A low, deep rumble echoed from deep beneath the earth like the growl of a beast that had been asleep for too long. And in the sky above, a thin, dark line appeared stretching from one end of the horizon to the other, like a tear in the fabric of the world itself.
The disaster was coming faster than they had feared.