A few minutes after Felix had left Alex rush down the stairs hopinghe will still catch Felix unto his surprise Felix hard left. His mom then said "looking for Felix well he just left a few minutes ago.
Alex was so out of it, he thought his brother was just playing hide-and-seek in the house, even though it was broad daylight.
The world on the other side of the portal was darker and colder than anything they'd experienced. Shadows clung to the edges of every object, swirling in impossible patterns as if alive. The distant glow of their town was replaced by a twisted, desolate landscape where mountains rose like jagged teeth and the sky pulsed with hues of blood-red and midnight blue.
Felix, Bella, Owen, and Lyra paused for a moment, taking in the surreal view. The portal snapped shut behind them, leaving them in eerie silence.
"Lyra," Felix murmured, gripping his sword tightly, "do you have any idea what we're dealing with here?"
Lyra's eyes glowed faintly, her hands outstretched as she muttered an incantation. "It's... unfamiliar. But there's a powerful energy here, something older than anything we've faced before. I can sense... malice."
Owen clenched his fists. "Whatever it is, it's not sticking around long enough to enjoy it."
Just as he finished speaking, a rumble echoed from beyond the mountains, and the ground trembled beneath their feet. Bella felt a chill run down her spine as the rumble grew louder, almost like... footsteps.
"Whatever's coming, it's massive," Bella said, summoning her strength and preparing to open a portal. "I can get us closer or maybe help us evade it—"
"No," Lyra interrupted. "I've set wards up around us that will buy us a little time, but it's best if we don't move right now. Let it come to us. Then we strike."
A massive figure began to emerge from the shadows. The creature was unlike anything they'd ever seen, a mix of twisted metal, stone, and dark energy that seemed to absorb all light. Its eyes glowed with a sickly green hue, and its body radiated a heat so intense that the air shimmered around it. This was the force that had breached their world, and it looked every bit as deadly as Lyra had warned.
Owen stepped forward, his muscles tense. "So, how do we take this thing down?"
Lyra's face tightened. "We need to sever its connection to the portal. It's drawing power from the breach—if we can disrupt that link, we can weaken it."
Felix glanced at Bella, who nodded, her jaw set. She quickly summoned a portal, positioning herself on the creature's flank, while Felix and Owen took the front. Lyra, her hands glowing brighter, began weaving a complex spell in the air, strands of magic twisting together to form a net.
With a roar, the creature lunged toward them, slashing at the ground and leaving deep trenches in its wake. Felix met its attack head-on, dodging its claws and swinging his blade in a wide arc. Owen followed close behind, landing a powerful punch that sent shockwaves through the air, momentarily staggering the beast.
"Bella, now!" Lyra shouted.
Bella, with precision and speed, opened a portal beneath the creature's massive foot, causing it to stumble forward, off-balance. But it was relentless. Even as it stumbled, it lashed out with a tail of writhing shadows that grazed Owen, knocking him back.
Owen gritted his teeth, getting back on his feet with a fierce determination. "That all you got?"
Felix, seeing his chance, leapt onto the creature's back, plunging his sword into one of its glowing green eyes. The creature let out a piercing screech, and Felix had to hold on tightly as it thrashed in pain, bucking and shaking.
"Almost there!" Lyra yelled, finishing the spell.
The magical net she'd been creating flared to life and wrapped itself around the creature, binding it in place. Lyra's face was strained, beads of sweat gathering on her forehead as she fought to maintain control.
"Bella, we need one last portal," Lyra managed to say through gritted teeth. "It needs to be close, just enough to destabilize the breach!"
Bella closed her eyes, focusing all her energy. She knew the risks of creating such a powerful portal, especially without full control, but her friends' lives—and possibly the fate of both worlds—depended on it.
With a surge of power, Bella opened the portal directly beneath the creature, causing it to be partially sucked into the swirling void. It struggled, but the combined efforts of Felix, Owen, and Lyra kept it immobilized. Slowly, inch by inch, the creature was drawn in, its body crackling as the link to the breach weakened.
As the final remnants of the creature disappeared into the portal, Lyra released the spell with a sigh of relief. The portal snapped shut, and the oppressive energy that had filled the air began to dissipate.
Felix, Bella, Owen, and Lyra sank to the ground, exhausted but victorious.
"That was... too close," Bella muttered, her breathing heavy.
Felix managed a weak smile. "But we did it. Together."
They sat in silence for a moment, savoring the hard-won peace. But Lyra's face remained tense, her gaze distant as if listening to something far off.
"Something's wrong," she said softly. "I can still feel the portal's energy. It's not fully stabilized. If we leave it like this, it might open again, letting through even more dangerous creatures."
Felix looked at his friends, his expression grim but resolute. "Then we finish this. Once and for all."