A Flame in the Darkness
"Come on! We have to find a way out of here!" I yelled, holding my little brothers hand as we ran through the 14th floor of our burning apartment building. I saw a gap in one of the walls and ran towards it as my little brother cried, "Theo, I'm scared!" We reached the gap and I lifted my brother through the hole. A firefighter on a ladder grabbed him and then rubble fell, shutting off the hole. I ran back to the middle of the floor, looking around for any exits. Then the roof and floor fell inwards and I was left standing at the edge of a gaping hole. I looked up, and saw the moon shining above. The light comforted me and I turned my back on the hole, spread my arms and fell back, letting the fire take me as I fell. As my body burned, I heard a voice in my head saying, "Rise, young one. You shall be the one to light the way through the darkness."
My name is Theo Flamethief. I'm a fire elemental, but also a summer spirit. When I became an immortal, I was lucky enough that I retained my mortal memories. I work closely with Mother Nature and the other elementals and seasonals. Jack Frost and I get along surprisingly well, considering we're basically polar opposites. (Get it? Polar opposites… never mind) Anyway, I was flying over Phoenix, Arizona, bringing in a heat wave at midnight, when I saw dark… things, trailing black sand behind them, flying over the roof tops. My grin vanished, a frown appearing in its place as I dove to intercept the Nightmares.
I lashed through the first one with a flaming whip, the nightmare sand turning gold as it dissipated. Then I spun and a flaming dagger on the end of a burning chain shot out from the sleeve of my hoodie and stabbed into a Nightmares shoulder. I thrust out my other hand, and another dagger shot out to sink into its other shoulder. I grabbed the chains and pulled back. The Nightmare shot towards me, and I sliced my knives across its neck, causing it to turn into more dream sand. I saw the last Nightmare galloping away, and my knives shifted into a pair of pistols. I sent a barrage of flaming bullets into its flank, and it dissolved into more sand. I shot back up into the sky and looked around for more Nightmares. Seeing none, I nodded, then continued on my circuit.
North Pole, Midnight:
North was working at his workbench when the moon shone through a window and he heard a voice in his head say, "Gather the rest of the Guardians. Pitch is back." North stood up, went to the globe, and turned on the northern lights. Once the guardians had gathered, a crystal rose out of the floor, and the image of a tall young man with a red hoodie, red jeans, red fingerless gloves, and bare feet appeared. He was leaning on the haft of a scythe, with flames curling up from the blade. "Another new Guardian?" said Bunny incredulously.
"Hey, I know him!" said Jack. "He's an elemental and a seasonal. He and I are like brothers."
"Very well," said North. "Let's go get him."
Later:
After I finished in Phoenix, I headed to New York and perched on the tip of the Empire State Building. After about an hour, I felt a cool breeze on the back of my neck, and I turned to see my adopted brother, Jack Frost, step out of a portal in midair. He floated over to me and said, "'Sup, Ez." "Hey Jack. What brings you to New York in the middle of summer?" I replied.
"You're needed up at the pole," said Jack.
"What for? Does North want his workshop warmed up a bit?" I asked.
"Just come on, you'll find out when we get there," he said, grinning.
"If you say so," I said as I pulled out a snowglobe and broke it.
"Where did you get a snowglobe?" he asked.
"Stole it," I said as I darted through the portal.
We emerged in the middle of the workshop, and Jack led me up a set of stairs. "The other Guardians are gathered in North's library," he said. Then I saw a certain golden, smiling sandbag come floating down the stairs, and I ran forward to hug Sandy. "It's good to see you again, Sandy," I said.
It's good to see you too, Ezra, he wrote in dreamsand above his head as we continued up the steps. "Hey Jack, we're both elementals who can fly, right?" I said.
"Yeah," he said slowly, looking confused. "What are you getting at?"
"If we can both fly, why bother with the stairs at all?" I said as I perched on the bannister.
Jack opened his mouth, then closed it for a moment while he thought, then said, "Good point."
I jumped back off the railing, then zipped up to North's library, knocked, then floated up above the door. I heard heavy footsteps inside, and I held one finger to my lips as Jack approached. North opened the door, poked his head out and looked around. I rotated in midair, then dropped my head down into the doorway and said, "'Sup." North stumbled back in surprise, and I laughed and darted into the room. The other Guardians looked up as I landed next to Jack. The first to unfreeze was Bunny, and he said, "Oh god, not another one."
Jack and I looked at each other, then busted out laughing. "Oh man, Jack was right! You really do look like a kangaroo!" I said between laughs.
"Oh, that's it," he said as he pulled out an explosive egg. "Happy Easter!" he yelled as he threw the egg. It exploded, and the fire from it formed into a dragon, which shot back towards him, singeing a whisker before it dissipated. "Really, Bunny? Do you really think using fiery explosives against a fire elemental is the best idea? Hmmm?" I said, floating up in the air. Bunny went to throw a boomerang, but a small hand touched his arm, and he relaxed.
"Now, boys, why don't we just call it even, hmmm?" said Tooth, hovering between the two of us.
"If you say so," said Bunny. He turned back to me and said, "This ain't over, hothead."
I shrugged, then froze and said, "I just thought of something. Jack's the cool one here, so I guess you could say that I'm the hot one? Eh? Eh?" All I got were facepalms from the other Guardians. "Aw, come on, you gotta admit that was a good one," I said.
"Dude, that stunk like the inside of North's gym," said Jack. Then the room darkened, and a sinister voice that seemed to come from everywhere said, Guess who's back!
"Pitch," I said, my hair turning into white flame, and my scythe appearing in my hands. "Where are you? Or are you too chicken to show yourself?" I growled.
I would have thought you'd learnt that by now. I'm everywhere… then he appeared behind me and leaned forward, "…and nowhere at once," he purred into my ear. I rammed the butt of my staff into his stomach, but he crumbled into Nightmare sand.
It won't be that easy to get rid of me, he said. "Oh really?" I said as my eyes glowed. "Cover your eyes, Guardians!" I yelled as my entire body erupted into brilliant white light brighter than a supernova. Every shadow in the pole disintegrated, and I heard a scream from Pitch. I dropped to the floor, my body smoking, and said as I slowly got to my feet, "I didn't even know I could do that. Man, that stings." The other Guardians got up, and I saw an elf staggering around and bumping into things. "Are you okay?" asked Tooth, looking worried.
"I'm fine, but we've got bigger problems. Look," I said as I pointed to the globe. Lights had started flickering out in China, and I said, "We need to get to China, ASAP!" I said. "Let me summon some friends to guard the Pole and Tooth Palace." I closed my eyes, and when I opened them, they were glowing like pulsars. I slowly raised my hands, and fire erupted from the floor and shaped itself into 10 clones of me. "Five of you, go to the Tooth Palace and guard it from Nightmares. The rest of you, stay here and guard the workshop," I said. They nodded in unison, and five of them sank into the floor, while the rest zipped off to various places of the pole. "Now that that's been taken care of, let's get going!" I said.
When we exited the portal, it was absolute chaos. Nightmares were everywhere, and there were screams coming from houses all over the place. I jumped out of the sleigh and began spinning in midair. My body lit on fire, and I went kamikaze through dozens of Nightmares. I stopped spinning, then summoned more fire elementals and sent them after the Nightmares, then dove to the attack. My daggers shifted and turned into a pair of pistols, and I opened fire on them and sprayed burning bullets into the main swarm, tearing a massive gap in it. In the middle of the swarm, I saw a girl, a spirit, hovering in the middle of the swarm, directing it.
I saw a flash of blue light from above, and Jack froze the entire swarm. The girl flew up out of the frozen vortex, and I got a better look at her. She had black hair with a silver streak in the middle, with piercing green eyes, a black dress, and a necklace with the yin symbol, made of fiery red crystal.