Luna's shout cut through the stillness. "ALDIN! WAKE UP!" Her voice snapped him to consciousness, his room a blaze of fury.
"What's happening?" Aldin's voice was thick with shock.
"Move, we've got to move!" Luna's words were sharp, a command more than a suggestion.
"What's going on?"
"There's no time, just come!"
With that, she stepped into a swirling portal. Aldin followed suit, emerging on the other side, his knees buckled under him. The smell of smoke was overpowering, the ground beneath him hidden under a layer of ash. A cloud of smoke mingled with the air.
He tried to move forward but found himself disoriented by the smoke. Then, without warning, his body acted on its own, tracing a strange symbol in the air. A new portal opened, and he was compelled through it.
He found himself falling through the night sky above Seattle, the city below shrouded in darkness. In a panic, he summoned another portal, landing hard on the concrete. Pain shot through him, his breath momentarily lost.
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As he regained his composure, he was met with a nightmarish scene. Vampires and werewolves hunted in the streets, terrorizing the city. A vampire sunk its teeth into a passerby, while a werewolf made quick work of an unsuspecting couple. Another creature boarded a bus, leaving a trail of destruction. Ghouls bit in to any person they could as a menagerie of creatures wreaked havoc amongst the populace while the city burned.
Aldin attempted to flee, but his limbs wouldn't obey. A vampire, cackling wildly, lunged at a group of children huddling together in a park nearby. Instinctively, Aldin's magic sent the vampire hurtling into the sky, disappearing into the void.
"What kind of hell is this?" he shouted, seeking answers in the bedlam.
The earth shook violently, buildings crumbling around him. Aldin's eyes were drawn to Mount Rainier, its outline menacing against the chaos. The volcano was erupting, and a towering abomination pulled itself from the explosion.
"This can't be a dream. But what can I do to stop it?" he mused aloud, panicking.
In an instant, he was floating, staring down at the smoky titan. How did I get here? he thought to himself. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a figure in a robe racing across the sky towards the giant, a ball of light growing in his hand. Aldin watched as the figure drew closer to the smoky demon. Just before the impact, the hood slipped back, revealing a face identical to Aldin's. A brilliant flash erupted, and then darkness enveloped him.