[Venus]

A cloudy horizon weighed down on the rocky terrain, as dense gaseous smog polluted the air. Expansive volcanic plains with rugged mountains seemed to stretch infinitely.

Three guardians could be seen painstakingly scaling upwards of a rocky granite mountain as they hung thirty thousand feet in the sky, a single slip meant a slow but deadly fall that one would never wake up from.

Despite their endless stamina, ascending the seemingly titanic height had them panting for breaths, their heavy breathalysers pushing out white fumes, the guardians grunted and growled as they climbed.

With a dogged tenacity, the three pulled themselves over a narrow ledge lining the gargantuan mountain. Their backs against the rocky mountain they peered below, only to see clouds floating beneath their feet.

A heavy wheeze rang out as a guardian started beating his chest, "I can't do this anymore, it's f*cking never ending. We've been climbing for days." He clawed at the mountain and squeezed, turning the rocks to dust as it slipped through his fingers.

"Calm down Ajax, it's just a little more and we're at the top." A titan beside him spoke, as he leaned in to the rock, his legs dangling freely.

"You've been saying but I just don't understand. There's no energy signal here, we can't find it again, we've been climbing for as long as I can remember and have found nothing. Can't you see, Ray? There's something, something very wrong here." Ajax mumbled, feeling strange sense of crisis as he stared at Ray.

" You're overthinking it. Just a few more hours and I think we'll be at the top." A warlock beside him chimed in.

"Overthinking? You're mistaken. Aren't we thinking too less of it? This mountain doesn't exist from orbit, there's not even a trace of it, and yet the moment we step foot in here, it just...appears? A mountain that stretches into the horizon? The jumpships can't even come near here!" Ajax jerked upwards as he felt a strange sensation crawl over his body.

"I just don't understand. I...I checked my sensor, we've climbed twice the estimated height of this mountain, but it doesn't end.. it just doesn't end." he held his head as a faint headache began eating away at his senses.

"Relax Ajax, sensors can be faulty. You need to calm down. Perhaps we should take a break." Ray hurriedly held Ajax with one arm to prevent him from falling over.

Ray's voice echoed in Ajax's mind as a strong migraine seemed to pulse in his mind.

"No, no we should leave this place. We should leave, yes. Look up Ray, the top, it just keeps stretching upwards. It's like a cruel trick, an illusion. I don't understand why we're doing this." Ajax held his head tight as he tried to suppress the pain.

"We can't leave, we have a mission to complete. You're just overthinking it. We need to report the energy disturbance at the top." Ray replied, placing a firm hand on Ajax's shoulder.

Ajax's mind snapped as he felt an immense sense of dread, he slapped away Ray's hand as he looked into the titan's eyes. A sour lump collected in his throat as Ajax gritted his teeth, "Why are you talking like that?"

The warlock spoke as he looked towards Ajax with soulless eyes, "You're just overthinking it, we only need to climb a little more towards the top."

His words hit Ajax like a truck, his mind went numb, hands quivering as his heart sunk to his stomach. A chill ran down Ajax's spine, "What is going on?" He asked shakily.

"Ajax, you don't look too good. Sit down, you're over-"

" I am overthinking it huh." Ajax chuckled as his hands traced over to his side, "I am just overthinking it."

With a swift jerk, he pulled a gun towards Ray's head, a finger on the trigger, Ajax uttered,

"Who are you?"

Ray slowly grabbed the barrel, "Ajax, lower the gun, what do you think you're doing."

Stolen novel; please report.

"He doesn't call me Ajax." The finger tightened around the trigger as the cold steel barrel rested on Ray's face.

"Ajax....what took you so long?" A smile crept on Ray's lips as his eyes turned dark, sharp fangs protruding through his grin.

Clenching his teeth, Ajax furiously pulled the trigger as gunshots rang out, bullets digging into Ray's disfigured face.

Blood spluttered all over the rock wall as Ajax stood backed away from the ledge, his hands trembling.

A gruff voice came from Ray's figure as it began morphing into a serpentine draconic skeleton, "Ajax, just a little bit more to the top."

It's hands stretched into gargantuan claws, as thousands of teeth grew out of it's mouth. "Ajax, you're no fun." It spoke, it's gravelly voice grated against the ear.

Ajax started heaving as his heart began pounding. The gun in his hand was empty as he tried to pull the trigger.

The warlock beside him grinned, his figure hunched over contorting as bones and scales grew through it's spine.

Ajax screamed as he tried to scramble backwards into the rock, but the mountain seemed to cave in as he touched it, his figure sunk into the sandy grain of the rock as it began withering away. He fell as the two draconic serpents slithered towards him.

Reality itself seemed to crumble as he sunk from the horizon, the mountains turned into titanic waves as they slammed into him, the world changed to an ocean as he kept sinking to the deepest darkest depths.

Ajax frantically tried to move, but he couldn't. The ocean seemed endlessly deep, as the weight of the world pressed down on him. He felt water seep into his lungs, all life seemed to slip from his eyes, but he couldn't die.

The light revived him, into a never ending hell, he drowned again, and he kept on drowning, living and dying for what he could only say was a century.

It all seemed unreal to him, where was he? But it didn't matter. The pain was too much, it seemed as if he was trying to swim against the tide of the universe.

No matter what he tried, water filled his lungs rendering him useless. Ajax felt hopeless as he saw himself descend into the dark depths of the ocean. He looked up as the last rays of light escaped his eyes, he saw the two dragons swim through to him, their bodies enlarged as they enveloped the whole ocean.

Ajax's mind began questioning himself. What was he seeing? The dragons surrounded him as he sank further, their gargantuan bodies encircled him.

Was this a new hell he had entered? What had happened to him? What had happened to his companions.

In a state of unending death and life, Ajax seemed to float for an eternity. His body desperately gasping for air every time he revived, only to drown once again. But the dragons waited, beside his corpse. For a reason unknown to him, they did not leave his side.

His heart and mind had both collapsed as all semblance of sanity crumbled in his soul, Ajax wished he was back, back on earth. The last city, he couldn't remember it now, but he loved it there.

Anywhere, but here in this purgatory. He died once more, but this time the dragons weren't silent.

"You could go back, away from this place. Safe, with your friends, your home. All you must do is wish for it." It spoke, it's voice reverberating through the endless ocean.

"Just wish for it, you can be so much more Ajax, just wish for it." The dragons whispered as Ajax felt life return to him.

He did not understand what was happening, but he uttered with trembling lips, "I wish..."

His next words drowned out by the water as bubbles moved from his mouth. But it was enough for the dragons, as they grinned.

The oceans parted, as reality's fabric was twisted once more, a wish was granted.

Ajax's body twisted as a tear in space formed, his remains vanished into the wormhole leading to the last city, as he disappeared.

"Oh vagrant, we grant your wish. But the debt must be paid in due time." The dragons echoed as the oceans dried out, the world began to reform into the rocky plains once again.

Unbeknownst to them, the wish they granted lead to their own demise.

-------------------------------

[The Last City, Vanguard Quarters]

Ikorra surveyed a few documents in her office as a spectral whisp wandered behind her.

She frowned, as the warlock revealed himself, bowing before her.

"What is it" Ikorra asked, slamming her book close.

"A disturbance on Venus was detected, the energy signals don't match anything we know. The orbital imaging...showed us something unbelievable." The warlock immediately pulled out a few images.

"It's like the world...collapsed on itself. This level of a catastrophe is only possible through one means." The warlock stopped as he looked towards Ikorra, her eyes gleaming with understanding.

He collected himself before he continued. "We believe a wish was granted. The Ahamkara were on Venus, we can no longer sit back and watch them destroy our world."

Ikorra turned towards the pictures as she saw mountains disappear and appear from orbit, waves erupting in Venus's atmosphere. Her eyes were glued to them, as she couldn't believe what she saw.

Her thoughts grew grim, if the Ahamkara were capable of terraforming worlds. They had to be dealt with.

"There is, one more thing." The warlock interrupted as he brought out a gps locator.

Ikorra examined the locator as she saw it blinking, still wet. The sensor seemed to malfunction as she couldn't get a proper reading.

"A survivor?" She guessed.

"The sole survivor from the Venus fireteam. He somehow ended up here. There's only one problem. He seems to have lost his mind." The warlock's words fell with a deafening silence.

Ikorra looked to the device in her hand as she put it down, she contemplated for a few minutes as she gave out an order.

"Gather the consensus, tell all the captains to attend. It's time for a hunt."

The warlock nodded and warped away.