"Fragile lives." A demonic voice boomed out of a wasteland, shredding an ice barrier into million tiny pieces which settled as a frost fog.
It slowly emerged out of the thick fog with its incredulous size while dragging a massive sledgehammer that was held firmly in its right hand.
The demon, known as Xarath, a bloodsucking giant with crimson red eyes which sought vengeance with large horns that sat on its forehead like a crown was honored with a mecha battle suit.
It swung its left hand to the side, slamming some mages— known as the chosen who were trying to create a barrier into a building which sent the walls crumbling due the impact of the harsh toss.
They were four in number and now that they were almost at the brink of death, the fate of humanity relied on the last chosen, the last of their kind— Aethera.
The wasteland trembled beneath Xarath's feet as he emerged from the frost fog, his massive form casting a shadow over the desolate terrain.
"What a waste!" Xarath boomed, his voice like thunder.
"We need her right now or else this is the end for us." One of the chosen cried, coughing up an amount of blood.
"Death is not the ending for our kind." Another spoke with great defiance in their tone despite being weak.
The four all watched in terror as the demons all began to swarm into their direction. They knew what they wanted and only one person who could protect the fragment of their soul and the mark of the chosen they all bear.
Aethera.
As they all squirmed back, not in fear, but as a last resort to protect the Starheart within them, Lora, one of the chosen spotted a figure from behind.
"Over…there..." She began with a stammer. "She's here!" Lora shouted, pointing at a figure standing about a hundred feet away from where they were.
A figure emerged from the distance, her presence radiating an aura of unparalleled power.
Aethera, the fairest warrior, shone in all her glory in the desolate wasteland. Her silver hair flowed behind her like a river of moonlight, and her eyes burned with an inner fire that seemed almost divine.
Her sword, imbued with holy light, hummed with energy, its blade shimmering with a power that seemed to defy the laws of reality.
The demons defiled their initial plans, charging towards Aethera at once, but before the lower ranking demons could get to her, she swung her sword at them, her sword slicing through the air with a deadly elegance with arcs of holy light spinning out of it and turning the demons into rubbles of nothing.
Xarath, seeing how his frontline soldier had been defeated fumed, rushing at Aethera at once, she also charged at the demon.
Xarath swung his massive hammer in a wide arc, aiming to crush Aethera beneath its weight. But she dodged to the side with a hair's breadth of clearance, the hammer crashing into the ground mere inches from her feet.
Aethera seized the opportunity, striking back with a swift slash of her sword. The blade bit deep into Xarath's arm, slicing through his dark, scaly skin and releasing a gout of black ichor. Xarath roared in pain, stumbling backward as Aethera pressed her attack.
The battle raged on, Aethera's sword flashing in the dim light as she dodged and weaved around Xarath's crushing blows.
She avoided a blow that would have shattered her skull by a fraction of an inch, the hammer's head whizzing past her ear with a deadly whoosh. Aethera countered with a swift kick, her foot connecting with Xarath's chest and sending him stumbling backward.
As the fight continued, Aethera's power grew, her mana defying the laws of reality as she manipulated the very fabric of space and time. She created miniature singularities, drawing Xarath in with an irresistible force as she locked him briefly in another possibility of perception.
"Let's back her up from here!" Rach, one of the chosen raged, pushing forward towards the demons with the strength he had left.
The others followed after him, charging their mana into their weapons at full throttle.
But just as it seemed that Aethera was gaining the upper hand, a new wave of demons emerged from the shadows, their dark forms swarming towards the wounded chosens.
These demons were unlike any others, for they had the power to steal the very essence of light itself.
The demons descended upon the four chosen, draining their lights and rendering them useless.
The chosens' bodies went limp, their lights extinguished, leaving Aethera as the sole bearer of light in the desolate wasteland. She fumed as she heard the cries of the other four— the light they all bore were being drained, the very essence of their existence.
Alone and surrounded by darkness, Aethera felt helpless. The existence of the other chosen was her sole strength, but now, her source had been slashed off.
Finally, she unleashed a blast of holy energy that would have incinerated any ordinary foe.
Xarath, however, was no ordinary demon. He absorbed the energy, his power growing as he counterattacked. Aethera, her light beginning to falter, stumbled backward under the onslaught.
Xarath's hammer crashed down, striking her with the force of a falling star. Aethera's sword shattered and her body crumbled to the ground.
"In the end, you're nothing but like the other foolish chosen." Xarath said to her in a mocking tone as she laid there.
As Aethera lay there, her vision fading to black, she gazed up at Xarath, her tone soft and her skin turning pale.
"You may take my life," she said, her voice barely above a whisper, "but you will never take the light that burns within me. It will rise again, and it will be the fire that consumes you."
Xarath cackled like a manic, his horde of demons applauding his menace as he moved forward towards Aethera to remove the very essence of her existence— The Starheart.
With those final words, Aethera felt her Starheart, the source of her power, begin to break free. The Starheart burst forth from her body, shooting upwards towards the heavens, transcending the boundaries of their world and entering a new dimension.
Xarath's face twisted in rage as he realized he had been denied his prize. But his anger turned to calculation as he gazed up at the departing Starheart.
In a sinister voice, he growled, "I will find it. I will travel through the entire universe and time to claim that Starheart, no matter the cost."
He turned to his horde, his eyes blazing with fury. "Soldiers, assemble! Today, we have defeated the holy warriors of this race. Now, we travel through time and diverse dimensions to get the key, the key to our master's return. We will not rest until the Dark Master walks amongst us once more!"
The demon horde erupted into a frenzy of cheers and battle cries, their dark forms swarming across the wasteland like a plague. Xarath's eyes gleamed with malevolent intent as he gazed out into the unknown, his heart fixed on the Starheart and the power it held. The hunt had begun, and nothing would stop him from achieving his goal.