Even before it starts, Yixing had a feeling it would be the toughest battle he had ever been a part of.

“What the-?”

The ground shook in a violent earthquake and threw some people off balance, as sprout of vines and roots and trees grew rapidly from nowhere, catching the men and threw them away as if they were rag dolls.

“Kyungsoo!” Chanyeol yelled as he dodged a vine aiming to pierce his chest, blindly throwing a ball of fire behind his back. “Try to control the earth!”

The smaller Guardian rolled, narrowly avoiding a tree growing into his path. “Hold on, let me-“

“AH!”

Zeev was the first victim, a vine looped around his ankles and dragged him upside down, his arms flailing around in futile before he was thrown on the ground a few meters ahead.

“Zeev!” Glasnant yelled in worry, already moving toward his companion.

“Going somewhere?”

Another tree popped out of thin air in front of him, already swinging its branches at him. The Teima’s ruler gritted his teeth and unsheathed the long sword strapped on his waist. Running towards the tree, he used his momentum to leap onto a branch, swinging his blade in midair and hacked the tree’s trunk as its branches tried to choke him. Another branch missed his sword though, and immediately pierced his left shoulder with a horrifying wet squelch.

“Look out!”

A strong torrent of wind caught Sehun and Itzal in a whirlwind, lifting them high up in the air, slicing their faces, arms, legs and bodies with its sharp blows. Itzal quickly threw his shadows around to find some anchor while tying the Guardian with him.

“Hold on to the rope!”

Sehun reached out to grab the shadow rope while waving his other hand wildly. “I…I can’t do anything! This wind….I can’t control it!”

Wufan flew high in the air, trying to break into the tornado now engulfing the two men but couldn’t find a way in. Instead the wind knocked him sideway easily as the tornado stopped in the same time, leaving Itzal and Sehun plummeting down to the ground, only saved in time by the Teiman’s shadows forming a net that caught them just inches above ground.

Yixing ran to them, quickly crouching down beside them to simultaneously running both hands over them.

“Hold still! Let me heal you first!”

To his relief, they were fine; bloodied from their numerous cuts but still relatively fine.

Baekhyun was thrown besides him in a loud crash; the smaller man heaving heavy coughs splattered in drops of blood. He looked worse for wear and Yixing immediately grabbed his arm, forcing the healing power through their touch.

“Duck!”

A burst of water smashed itself on the ground they were sitting on, shaking the surface by its force. Even with Itzal’s warning and push, some of the water’s force hit his back and Yixing hissed at the sharp pain searing his skin.  Looking back over his shoulder, there was a small crater where he was kneeling moments before and Yixing had no doubt the water could shatter their bones had it hit them.

“ARGH!”

Yixing swiveled his head quickly, eyes widening in dread. “Joonmyun! Jongin!”

At the other side a burst of fire pierced the air, trapping Joonmyun and Jongin together, tongue of flames burning them slowly. Joonmyun tried to gather his gift but any drop of water he managed to conjure simply sizzled, evaporating in the blaze of fire trapping them. Swirls of black smoke twirled around Jongin’s feet but the fire won’t let him teleport, instead snaking up his legs and Jongin screamed in pain as the fire burned through his clothes.

Yixing ran towards them, his heart aching with every pained scream Jongin let out. A figure ran beside him, Vadim muttering a chant under his breath and threw his hands out. “Protego!”

A force field seemed to emanate from his outstretched hands, barreling through the fire and pushing it back, leaving the Guardians to slump on the ground, twin piles of mangled, blackened lumps.

Vadim quickly kneeled down to check on them, Yixing by his side in an instant. The Guardian’s heart twisted in agony as Jongin and Joonmyun writhed in pain, the smell of raw, burning flesh made him nauseous.

Vadim muttered another incantation and a yellow glow flowed from his palms, dousing the fire still encroaching some part of the Guardians’ clothes, enabling Yixing to assess his brothers. They didn’t look too good, suffering from major burns all over their bodies but it could’ve been worse had Vadim didn’t save them.

Even before Yixing could opened his mouth to say thank you, large vines sprung out from the solid ground and curled itself on the Teiman’s High Priest, lifting him easily. Yixing’s shouts were mixed with terrified dismay when even from the distance he could hear the other man’s bones broken as the vine threw him some distance away.

“H-help!”

Luhan grabbed his own throat, almost scratching his own skin out, eyes almost bulging out of its sockets. A water spirit hovered nearby him, a hand raised as if she was choking him and Yixing realized in sickening horror that she was filling the other Guardian’s lung with water.

Jongdae’s lightning rumbled and almost zapped the spirit, leaving her to move away with a shriek and Luhan fell to the ground gasping for breath.

Yixing had just took a step forward to reach him when he had to leap to the side as a burst of fire came at him, narrowly missing it. On his right side Minseok was flinging ice spears after another at the water spirit, growling in frustration as the spear hit its target harmlessly, dissolving into water the moment it tip hit the spirit.

“Silly, silly human,” the spirit laughed, the gentle sound, almost like a small stream running, belying the mocking in her tone. “You can not hurt me.”

Minseok almost snarled as he formed a snow blizzard in his hand. “Doesn’t mean I would stop trying.”

Before he could fling his new weapon a flurry of snow had launched itself at the Guardian, knocking him back and froze his hands and legs into blocks of ice, leaving him immobile.

Alik ran over to help Yixing freeing Minseok, doubling himself in six copies even as he run. Several of his copies run over to help his ruler, others tried to help Jongdae as he launched relentless lightning to every spirits in his way but Alik himself slide over to Yixing, a dagger plucked from his right boot already in hand.

“We need to figure out a way to defeat these beings,” he spoke through gritted teeth even as his hands chipped furiously at the ice block enclosing Minseok’s feet. “And fast!”

Yixing pushed his hands towards portion of Minseok’s feet already uncovered from the ice, forcing the blue, healing glow from his hands to enter the flesh to remove any threat of frostbite.

“I know, but wh-“

Yixing never completed his sentence, already knocked over by arrows of ice that embedded itself on his right leg and arm, leaving him gasping in pain. Valiantly trying to keep his eyes open, he saw the Teiman didn’t fare better. A long arrow protruded from his back, but still the Teiman struggled to stand up, clenching his fists as his body shimmered and out two more copies of him popped out.

“Coward!” he hissed at the ice spirit. “You’re nothing but a coward, attacking people when they turn their backs!”

The spirit lifted a thin eyebrow haughtily, not seemingly perturbed at all. “Why should I, when humans itself have been nothing but selfish and arrogant? You don’t deserve the kindness.”

Snow began to fell heavily around them, dropping the temperature to a chilling degree. The spirit smirked as ice began to form in her palms again.

“Say your goodbye now, humans.”

“Not quite.”

The spirit jerked around but a heavy fist landed on her face, throwing her sliding into the snowy ground. Wufan panted, chest still heaving as his right hand still poised on air.

“You guys alright?”

Alik spar