It was a bitter-sweet winter night. The snow was flying about in the story winds, reaching astounding heights in the silent night.
A simple abode lay in the depths of the snow, two lives struggling to survive in the wintry chill creeping over them.
Their parents went out to scavenge days ago and had not returned since.
Their older brother went out in search for food, yet all they heard was a blood-curdling screech just outside of their home followed by a deafening silence.
Wracked with fear and dismal views towards the future, the two children within the buried shelter gathered their meager warmth as they continued their struggle to survive.
Within hours, the snow storm subsided, leaving an eerie silence behind. The two children were hidden deep inside a bundle of animal skin blankets, searching for the warmth that had left along with their brother.
"Sis, are we going to be all alone?" A shaky voice whimpered from the bundle.
"Don't worry, brother will definitely come back for us." An angelic voice called out in repose.
A fairy-like face peeped out from the safe enclosure of warmth, flinching as her delicate face met with the chilly air outside of the blankets. Her large, sparkling eyes peered across the room, searching for anything to improve their situation.
"Sis, I'm so hungry," a voice called out as another face popped out of the blankets, only to disappear with a whimper as the temperature within the room continued to drop.
"W-we need fire," the fairy called out weakly as she stared longingly at the fire place all the way on the other side of the cold room, her breaths coming out as small puffs of white mist. It would have been much more convenient if their older brother was here. After all, one of his spiritual roots was fire, so he would easily be able to re-light the fire in the fireplace which died out soon after his departure.
The two youngest siblings of the family were unable to use their powers because they had not yet reached the age of 10, which is the age required for spirit root testing. It is the age that is universally proclaimed as safe to begin developing ones elemental powers because starting too early increases chances for elemental deviation or elemental chaos.
Elemental deviation is when one's elemental energies within the body deviated from their original positions and damaged the inner elemental pathways within the body. This would require spiritual treasures and medicines in order to cure.
Elemental chaos occurs after elemental deviation. When elemental deviation is prolonged without any treatment, the elemental energies within the body gradually take over the body, leading to an massive buildup of elemental power in the core of the body.
Once this buildup of power reaches a certain point, the person will become a ticking time bomb, carrying enough energy to wipe out a lower level outpost entirely. The only other option would be to completely destroy one's elemental pathways and core in order to disperse the elemental energies from building up within the body.
Of course, elemental deviation can occur randomly in any individual, but elemental researchers have found that starting cultivation after reaching the age of 10 drastically reduces chances of developing elemental deviation and chaos to one in a million.
The theory that the researchers developed is that elemental pathways only finish developing ten years after birth for the majority of the population, and beginning cultivation of elemental powers before the pathways are fully developed is the most common way to develop elemental deviation.
The two children continued to huddle within their warm bundle of animal furs, hoping for the safe return of their brother along with their parents.
All of a sudden, they heard the faint sound of crunching snow approaching their home.
The children instantly stopped their breaths, waiting for the tell tale sign of safety which came from the gentle tinkling of the elemental barrier set around their home. What greeted their ears instead was the sharp sound of the elemental barrier's alarms blasting throughout the cabin. The two children gazed at the door with panicked eyes, bodies frozen in place.
The blaring noise suddenly disappeared without a trace, leaving a foreboding silence behind as children leapt into action. The adorable girl raced out of the blankets along with her younger brother, dashing across the stone cold surface of their one room home.
They raced to the door, quickly securing all the locks upon it. They then quickly opened the elemental one way ice panel which showed the outside world to them.
What met them was the frightening sight of a blood covered figure approaching their concealed location. A hulking figure loomed above the white expanse of snow before their home, its shaky steps leaving a trail of bloody footprints behind. The twins shivered in fright as they watched the looming figure draw closer to where they stayed.
"Sis...what is that?" he asked after hesitating for a moment before coming back to his senses.
"Quickly! Get the bolts! We have to secure the door!" The delicate girl fiercely shouted before jumping into action, grasping his hand and racing towards the pile of dense wooden planks lying beside the fireplace.
They rushed to the organized stacks of planks and struggled to remove the topmost piece from its stationary position. With a ear-shattering clatter, the pile came tumbling down.
Narrowly avoiding the tumbling planks, the two siblings grasped both ends of the piece lying the closest to the door and slowly dragged it to the door. The figure was steadily continuing its approach towards the door from the outside.
The two children lifted the plank of wood up and dropped it on to the lowest bolt holder on the door and raced back to the fallen pile to retrieve another piece.
"Faster!" The young girl cried out in an urgent voice as the blood bathed figure drew closer to the only door within their home. With renewed vigor, the children quickly dragged another bar onto the second highest bolt holder.
"O-one more left!" The young boy whispered with a determined look as he ran towards the table to retrieve a stool to place the last plank. His sister consecutively rushed to the pile of wood to drag the last plank over to the door.
The last bar finally fell into its place with a thunk.
"Did it work?" The two children gazed into each other's mismatched eyes with fear.
They simultaneously gazed at the elemental tool which served as a window only to see a deep indent of bloody footprints stop right at their door, the frightening figure no where to be seen.