Dear Diary,

The wind is howling through burning willows and crackling bark. Embers from burnt down trees dancing through the blood-tinged sky. Screams encompassing us at every corner on this blood-sodden earth. Houses are destroyed, and families are torn apart. The world is coming to an end faster than anticipated and it is up to us to put an end to all this destruction and chaos.

It has not been too long since the War of the Races broke out and life as we know it is over. Witches banding together to fight off the evil that has seeped through the earth's surface. Vampire's minds being controlled by the hell that has broken loose. The problem is that we do not know what we are up against or how to banish it back to where they came from. My goal is to seal off the Dark Dimension to, hopefully, keep it out of our world for good.

A sudden loud explosion drew my thoughts away from my writing. It came from the area near the postern gate, which is near the south side of the castle we resided in.

"Blaise, come quickly!" I hear Samuel, my trusted college and lover, holler after the commotion finally stopped.

I tossed down my diary and whispered a quick chant to the Goddesses who watched over us, "Goddesses and elements alike, I ask that you intertwine yourselves through us and keep us in your safeguard from whatever evil that has come to us on this sorrowful night." As I felt their warmth and protection flowing through me, I slung my leather quiver of well-crafted arrows over my left shoulder, grabbed my black horn bow, and made my way to the postern gate, prepared for a battle.

On my way down the stairs, I was suddenly engulfed by a solemn gray cloud of smoke and debris. "Air, I call on you for your assistance in clearing this smoke so we may breathe and think clearly." In a matter of seconds, the smoke began to swirl around and slowly dissipate from the area. "Thank you, Air. Please, make your way to the others and aid in their protection." I am eternally grateful for the elements that watch over my friends and me, especially in our moments of need.

"Samuel, Derek, Aria, is everyone alright?" I felt relief wash over me when I realized that there was nothing besides my friends and the broken wall waiting for me down there. "What the hell happened? After the last battle with the mind-controlled vampires, I needed a little more time to revivify myself.

"I have no clue as to what happened," Samuel retorted. "We were just in the middle of discussing how we are going to figure out what we are up against and the next thing we know, the wall was blasted out."

"Yeah, I definitely will not be sleeping anytime soon after this. This is supposed to be our safe-haven, and suddenly it is being destroyed! Plus, we have no idea from where or by whom," Aria said.

I looked towards my brother, who had his back to us with his right hand on his head. His left hand was placed on the wall as if he were attempting to balance himself. His face was twisted with affliction; his auburn hair ruffled with the slight breeze coming from the massive hole in the wall. "Derek, are you alright? You are oddly quiet right now." He is never this silent, especially when something terrible has just happened. He is usually the voice that calms down the crowd, the voice who uplifts those who surround him. Something was wrong.

He turned his head slightly towards me. "Y-yeah, fine," Derek said in a tone that sent shivers down my spine. Everyone looked at each other and immediately knew that action needed to be taken. In that instant, we all began to move at the speed of light. Sam and Aria quickly grabbed Derek by his arms and restrained him to the best of their abilities.

To be continued...