A second. 

The smallest time unit that runs faster than a heartbeat. Humans call it the nick of time. Even minimizing further till one begins to wonder what could happen at that short amount of time... Well I tell you a lot could happen. 

It all happened in a second, the world was thrown at the brink of extermination. 

Flashes of Magic and sounds of explosion. Bodies flying here and there as blood spilled, dying the once brown sand red and filing the air with the pungent scent of blood and sweat.

On one side, a union one had never seen before. Supernaturals and humans working hand in hand to fight the creatures crawling out of the dark night. The look of their faces sent fear on first sight. Bulging fangs, crooked wings, all in all a hideous appearance. No need to sue them, no one ever said there was beauty in monstrosity. Calling them creatures was already a more befitting name one could give.

Guns roared spitting out bullets in dozens, men yelled as they threw their fist against their opponent. The valiant bravery they showed failed miserable in the sight of the gory deaths. The voice shouting 'charge', was swallowed up by the yells of pain, agony and the sounds of breaking bones. Monsters picked them up like clothes, tearing their Kim's apart or breaking their bones with a swing of their hand. Seeing humans treated like meats on a chopping board brought a wave of unsettlement, the Gore so heavy their belly's churned in disgust yet their heart stilled in fear, swallowing back every retch that threatened to emerge.

Amidst the battling crowd, dressed in white robes with her silver hair fluttering under the evening winds. Demigoddess Elara battles, her bloodied dress am evidence of how intense her struggles were, still she fought on. Her body surrounded by a blending wave of Yin and yang energies clear to the naked eyes. A dazzling sight yet no one had the time to admire. Her fist swung fiercely at every creature that charged at her, her actions precise and lethal, moving for their vital points, in one swoop cutting them in halves. 

Like an Asura God, the blade in her hand swung dangerously at those Demons, never coming back empty. The bodies of those beast fell at her feet gradually piling as a mountain around her. Her head turns darting through the deserted grounds till it rest on a young man. Olcan, her husband. His prowess almost as valiant as her, still his not on par with her who's almost a god. She watch him take a hit that sends him stumbling backwards with blood splurging out his mouth. A Monster's claw stabs into his stomach from his back, leaving a ghastly hole and what seemed to be his organs hanging out uncomfortable. 

Olcan groans in pain. More blood finding it's way out of his lips. The Monster retract it's claw. Blood poured out of of his torn abdomen, the floor under his feet gradually turned to a puddle of blood. His knees lost their strength and soon he fell to he ground.

"Olcan!" Elara yelled frantically. Abandoning her opponent she makes a mad dive towards his location. Her path gets blocked by a bunch of demons, her desperation to be near the fainting man fuels her anger. Her eyes turn pitch black, a burst of black flames wrap around her, extending through her sword. With a swing of her hand, the heads of those things standing in her way were detached from their body, disintegrating into a pools of black smoke before their bodies could hit the ground. 

Elara picked up her pace, she arrived at his location and dropped to her knees beside her dying husband. A transparent shield extends from her body, enclosing the both of them in a all circle. She places her hand on his stomach. Her palms shining a subtle bright light. She tried to concentrate but her eyes poured at tears faster than his stomach leaked blood. A Continuous attempt to heal his wounds was made but the hole remained as did his fading breath.

"Why is it not working?" She grumble in a teary voice. Her glowing hands till over his stomach, now her shoulders shivered with her increased sobs.

Olcan groans in pain. He moves his hand and gently brake her palm off his body. A regretful smile finds its way up his lips, his hand extend and brush the tears off her lips. He tries to chuckle but all that echoed was a painful groan and the sound of him choking on his own blood. 

Both their eyes watered with tears still he smiled happily. They say you know a man who loved happily when he dies with a smile on his face. If anything he wanted to be that man, caused he lived happily. A life he would not regret if he was to live it over again from the beginning. Unlike her smiling husband, Elara only had tears in her eyes. They both lived well but she wasn't satisfied, they should have lived even longer together with their daughter...

Their daughter!

She turned back regretfully. Her eyes travelled through the distance to a glowing crystal tower miles away from the battlefield. Though it was miles away, she could see this pagoda awfully too well, and as if zoomed in, she could also see the girl standing in the room with her hands pounding desperately on the thick glass walls. The girls face overflowed with tears and her mouth moving a set of inaudible words.

Regret filled her heart to know the girl would see this scene. She bowed her head and tears poured out of her eyes. A cold palm once again stretched forth and wiped the tears of her face. She looked back to the man in her arms. His eyes fluttered in determination as he mouthed in his last breath "Save our daughter" 

His face stilled simultaneously as his hand dropped to the floor lifeless. He had breathed his last with his eyes still looking at her firmly. Time seemed to paused in this moment. Elara stared at him stricken in shock. The sound of her own heartbeat ringing in her ears like the sound of a running train. The thin string of hope in her heart snapped and then came the flood of tears.

She held him close to her heart, crying her eyes out in agony. Out of her body poured out fierce waves of energy, they acted like sword qi slashing through the bodies of creatures around her in a few meters. Her hair flew in the wind, her clothes rumpled but none of these made any difference to her. All in her head was the now lifeless man before her. No one could get close, human got blown away by the surging winds while demons and monsters got torn into shreds.

She stayed like this but time had a trait of never waiting. Without her help the battle around her slowly began to turn sides. The battlefield no less became an annihilation ground, of course for the humans and supernatural. 

Slowly she opens her eyes and looked around her. Like falling leaves the bodies of the people she once called family laid bare for her eyes to see. Some of them died in way she could not bare to look at for long. Her heart clenched and shattered even further to see their gory deaths.

It was never supposed to end like this. Where it had all gone wrong, no one knew. Perhaps this was the end or rather...the beginning of the end.

"Mother!" A fleeting voice echoed in her ears from the distance. She turned and that little girl was now dashing from afar on the back of a huge brown wolf. Her eyes dimmed. 

"Raaya" Elara called out gently, tears rolling down her eyes as it did down the girl's facsy. A reassuring smile crawls to her lips. She nodded slightly at the girl and looked away to the man in her arms. His snow pale face still holding that smile and his determined eyes brought back his last words to her head, 'save our daughter'

Her body began to shine. A bright light growing out of her chest, gradually growing into a huge ball of light by the second.

"Mother!" That frantic voice still echoed in her ears. It called even more as her body was enveloped by the bright light. The light shine over the whole battlefield, illuminating the sky till it exploded, sending that light across miles and miles.