Prologue
Planet: EXO

The two hooded figures dashed up the winding stair case, flinging the intruders out of their ways. They had one mission and it was to get the Priestess to safety. Killing the traitors had to be pushed aside for now. Luhan kicked the door open and halted for a second, eyes widening at the sight of the bodies on the floor before seeing the wounded woman clutching against the wall for support.

"My lady!" Xiumin blurted and immediately rushed to her aid while Luhan raised his hand and casted aside all the bodies on the floor to create a pathway for the two. Xiumin helped her over to Luhan before her dress shifted and they both saw the bloodstain on her stomach. Crystal droplets fell from her eyes as she pressed a hand to her wounded and bleeding stomach while reaching out to grasp onto Luhan's arm tightly with her other hand, "Where is Yixing? Please get me Yixing."

"He will meet us at the West Wing." Luhan answered swiftly while taking off his cloak and quickly wrapping it around her.

"My lady, I can stop the blood flow with a little while. It'd—" Xiumin started when she shook her head, "No! You mustn't! If you freeze my blood, it may hurt the child—I need to see Yixing right away. I need him to check on her for me. Please, take me to him." Then he nodded before lifting her up into his arms and the three of them quickly headed back down the staircase. Sounds of clanging swords echoed through the halls, but they continued towards the West Wing silently, evading everything that they could. It was when they reached the wing that Xiumin finally let the Priestess down.

"Lay!" Luhan called out, but there was no answer. He quickly moved aside the bodies and tried to see if Lay was among them. When the Priestess suddenly cried out in pain as she clutched onto her aching stomach and Xiumin immediately picked her back up into his arms, shouting over to Luhan, "We best leave now. We have to get her away from here." Luhan glanced over his shoulder, catching Xiumin's eyes, the two shared a silent exchange of nods before Xiumin quickly left.

"Lay!" Luhan shouted out again as he headed back through the temple halls. This time, he headed straight to the sounds of clashing swords and battling men and women were echoing from. He had barely stepped into the main hall when he spotted his cloaked friend in a corner, kneeling beside a dying monk. Men launched themselves at Luhan, but he only swiped them away with a flick of his hand. His attention was focused on more important matters as he hurriedly made his way over to yank his friend up and away with him.

"Luhan!" Lay gasped, but had no time to explain as he was forcibly dragged into the dark halls.

"We had specific orders. Don't stray from them now." Luhan snapped angrily as they made their way out of the temple through the escape way in the hidden backroom. Xiumin's trail was still in sight and they swiftly followed.

"You don't understand—something dragged that man into the shadows, Luhan. I only pulled him out, but it was too late. He was gone by the time I got to him and I have a really bad feeling about this." Lay panted as they ran straight for the fields. Luhan was about to retort when thunder rumbled above them angrily and they both glanced up to see dark clouds rolling in rapidly. They didn't stop running though as they continued through the tall yellow grass and into the green scenery of the forest before a gust of wind blew passed them and they both heard Sehun's voice murmur in their ears,

Baekhyun's dead. His last vision commands that the Priestess be taken to the Tower of Sigan immediately. The Gate of Kurimja has been opened.

"Where is she?" Lay gasped while Luhan clenched his jaw tightly and only ignored his question, replying directly to the wind, "We need Kai! Tell Tao to buy us as much time as possible!" The wind died down just as the rain began to pour before the two of them slid to a stop in front of a huge crater in the soften earthen floor. Broken trees and large shards of rocks stuck out of the ground unevenly. Luhan's eyes widened even more when he saw the splotches of blood spattered against the jutting edges of the marble colored rocks and he felt a drop in his stomach when Kai suddenly appeared in a wisp before them.

"Kai!" Lay blurted and Kai was about to reply, when he too noticed the ruins that laid before them. Kai's eyes became wide and blank as his jaw dropped and his limbs froze. There was a moment of silence, but it was abruptly interrupted by a sound of snapping branches. They all turned their attentions towards the direction of the sound when Xiumin swiftly stepped out as if he was ready to attack.

"Ah—" Xiumin stopped just in time when he saw them.

"Xiumin, what happened?! Where's Kyungsoo?!" Kai burst before anyone else could speak.

"Kai—I—I'm sorry. We did everything we could. Kyungsoo stayed behind to give us time." Xiumin spluttered apologetically and there was a pause of silence for a second. Then he quickly turned his attention to Lay, urgently, "We need you right now. The bleeding won't stop. At this rate, we'll lose both of them." Xiumin then turned and led the way, taking the three of them deeper and deeper into the forest until they reached a small cave that had been carved into the hillside. Once inside, they met up with a panicking Chanyeol as he did his best to keep the Priestess warm with his fire.

"Lay! Hurry, she's losing conscious!" Chanyeol blurted as soon as he saw them before Lay quickly rushed over to her side and felt her head. Then he gently placed his palms against her stomach and a soft light emitted from his hands. They all watched breathlessly and waited patiently until the Priestess let out a small sigh and the pain in her face subsided. Lay turned back to them with a breath of relief, "They're going to be okay. The stab missed the baby, but her body is weak. She won't be able to travel with Kai. We're going to need Kris to fly her there."

"Where's Kris?" Xiumin frowned and they all turned their attention to Kai.

"He's with the others at the gate." Kai's eyes lowered, "Baekhyun says that if we need to get the Priestess to Sigan or else we're doomed. Chen's tried to keep the balance and close the gate, but his powers gave out on him. Whoever that was opening the gate, definitely did not want it closed." He crossed his arms and continued, "Kris and Sehun still can't detect or find where the source of power is coming from while Tao and Suho are trying to slow down the creatures coming through."

"That's what I saw take that man!" Lay blurted out before they all looked back at him, "Without Baekhyun, we need to keep Chanyeol close to the Priestess. His fire can substitute for light and keep her safe for now at least."

"Safe from what?" A soft voice asked tiredly and they all turned to see Chanyeol help her slowly sit up right.

"The Gate of Kurimja has been opened, My lady." Kai bowed uncrossed his arms and bowed his head while her eyes widened, "The Gate of Shadows? Who would do such a thing? That means we need to open The Gate of Cheonsa." She shook her head and tried to get up when Chanyeol stopped her, "We need to get to you The Tower of Sigan, My lady."

"What for?" She gasped slightly and touched her stomach again.

"Baekhyun's last vision was Sigan." Luhan answered quietly before her eyes widened and she gasped in shock at the news, "What? Baekhyun—what about Kyungsoo? Where is he—he was just with me a moment ago!"

"Baekhyun said that he's sure that's where The Gate of Yu is. We are to take you there and transport you through it." Kai replied quietly, avoiding the answer to her last question. Her eyes watered and she quickly looked away when there was a brash gust of wind and Sehun came crashing through. He skidded across the dirty floor and Luhan rushed over to him when there was another blast of wind, killing the fire. Darkness fell upon them instantly.

"They're here!" Sehun coughed out blood as Luhan pulled him up onto his feet and put Sehun's arm around his shoulders so that he could support the wounded boy. When Chanyeol suddenly let out a surprised shout as he was suddenly dragged into the dark by an invisible force.

"Get her out of here!" Lay instantly pulled the Priestess up and pushed her over just in time to Xiumin when something caught a hold of his foot and he disappeared as well. Luhan swiftly pulled Sehun along with him while Xiumin quickly pressed the Priestess over to Kai and exclaimed, "Go! I'll try to slow them down!" Bone crushing sounds echoed from the unknown and the Priestess gasped out in tears when Kai swept her up in his arms and dashed out into the rain with Luhan and Sehun right behind them. Xiumin watched them disappear into the night and then raised his palms before freezing the water droplets from outside into sharp needle like shards and flinging them into the dark.

Sehun stumbled a couple of times, but Luhan kept his grip on the younger boy and only pulled him back up to his feet, shouting over the pouring rain while they blindly ran after Kai and the Priestess, "Call Kris!" Sehun nodded tiredly and weakly lifted his free hand to his mouth before whistling high, but loud one pitched note. Within seconds, the sound of large flapping wings were heard and the four of them came to a stop. Kris swooped down and took the girl into his arms instantly. Then he turned to face Sehun and shouted over the pitter pattering of the rain as he nodded his head in a certain direction, "Sigan is that way! But I'm going to need you to clear a path in this rain!"

"Kai, go there and clear out the perimeters before Kris!" Luhan yelled over to Kai who disappeared right away before Sehun pulled away from Luhan and clasped his hands tightly together. He grunted in pain and then hollered over the pouring rain, "When I clear the path, leave as fast as you can! They're not far behind us now!" Luhan nodded as Kris got in a ready stance, his wings spreading out while the Priestess clutched onto him. Then Sehun let out a breath and whipped his hands out in front of him as if he was trying to push something apart. An outburst of strong wind blew and Kris immediately shot up into the sky, flying as fast as the wind separating the rain for him while Luhan ran as fast as he could on land, knocking down anything in his way.

Luhan made it inside just before he heard a crash from above. Then cursing under his breath, he rushed up the winding staircase all the way up to the top of the tower where he was met by and dying Kai. Luhan gasped and ran straight over to Kai when Kai shouted, "No! Stay away! It's a trap!" Luhan froze and his eyes widened as he saw what Kai meant. He had been paralyzed and was being displayed as bait. The shadows were already slowly engulfing him, wrapping around him tighter and tighter.

"I didn't tell the others, because I intended to do it, but in order for you to open the gate successfully—there must be bloodshed or else—" Without a warning, he was swallowed whole by the dark nothingness and Luhan's eyes widened when Kris crashed through the roof. He landed right in the center of the room when the shadowy creature shot out at him and the Priestess. Kris turned and shielded the Priestess when he got dragged into the darkness as well. There was a sound of ripping limbs and then the shadow dashed out again, straight at her. Instinctively, Luhan immediately jumped in front of her and as soon as the shadow creature's darkness touched his shadow, he instantly felt a loss of control over his own body.

His foot gave out beneath him and he felt his body crash onto the ground and his head smash right up against the hard and cold floor. Searing pain shot throughout the veins in his body and he felt like his head was going to explode, but no sound could escape his lips. He heard a voice scream in the distance as his body was dragged away. He could feel a wet warmness at his temple and tried lifting his head to see what it was when he saw the line of his trail of blood. It was then that he noticed that the whole floor was an image of a clock and that his blood trail had struck twelve o'clock. The floor started to glow brightly and he felt a release on his body. He smirked to himself while his vision rapidly blurred together and the light shined brighter and brighter, illuminating the whole room.

Then just as soon as the light appeared, it gradually vanished without a leaving trace behind and he was forced to look up once more. To his relief, the Priestess was gone. With that he collapsed back onto the cool floor as the darkness engulfed the room again. Luhan grunted lowly when he felt sharp claws dig into his sides and his legs this time. There was a bitter crushing grip on his once again paralyzed body as he was lifted up into the air. He came face to face with the hideous looking monster and they stared at each other for a long time. There was a flash in the creature's red eyes before Luhan chuckled and let the Kurimja drag him away.

Little Info: There are 5 Gates.

The Gate of Kurimja {The Gate of Shadows}
The Gate of Cheonsa {The Gate of Angels}
The Gate of Saenghwal {The Gate of the Living}
The Gate of Go-In {The Gate of the Departed}

*The Gate of Yu {The Gate of Existence}
*The Tower of Sigan {The Tower of Time}

A/N*
Hello everyone, this is my first action/adventure focused story, so I hope that it wasn't too bad! Thank you to everyone ((: I was really glad to see all the kind support and nice comments that I've received way before even posting up a chapter! I'll do my best not to disappoint you! Thank you and I hope that you'll anticipate what's more to come (: This was just just the prologue!

사랑합니다, 은애