"You're all in grave danger,"

Jayden felt his palms begin to sweat as he closed his eyes. He needed to breathe. Calming down was never a strong suit of Jayden's, though. Taking deep breaths made him light-headed; counting to fifty always made things tenser for himself, and there weren't enough rubber bands in the world to snap on his wrist to bring him back into reality.

"Gedeon now knows where you are. He won't just stop now that your powers are in grasp. I'm afraid the horrors you saw last week are only the beginning of what he is capable of."

Jayden felt his head begin to spin. This was too much for him to process. He only just found out that he could travel to a new world, but not just any world. A world that he's in charge of. Oh, and it's full of dead people. Jayden couldn't forget that. Not to mention he found out he and four kids he barely knew were all linked together as some superheroes in a different world.

"So, how do we defend ourselves?" Judah interrupted Elora and snapped Jayden back into reality. If looks could kill, Jayden was sure that Judah would be dead right now. He didn't want to defend himself. The monsters they faced last night were the scariest things he'd ever seen in his life, and Elora just told them that they were the very least of what that scary dude can do.

"You must utilize the power of the Dominions and embrace your destiny," Elora said. As if it was the most simple concept to grasp in the world.

Jayden wanted to scream.

What did that even mean? Sure, they can utilize some power they just found out they had. Who is supposed to help them with this? Elora keeps talking of destiny, but Jayden never believed that he had a destiny that was ironed out. He couldn't believe in a plan not laid out before him in his father's house. He thought that once he got to college, he would get exactly what he wanted.

That everything would change for him.

This was a direct violation of that thought, and Jayden felt betrayed by whatever cosmic force was out there. He never pretended to be a superhero as a kid. He often was nervous to stand out in anything beyond sports. Jayden just wanted to live a quiet life, doing something perfectly normal in a perfectly normal way.

"No," said Jayden softly.

"You, Judah, need to work on cementing the bond that you and I can communicate through. If we can communicate, then getting information will be easier for you, and I'll be able to get you all the information I can about Gedeon's next moves,"

"No," said Jayden with a little more force.

Elora continued, not quite hearing him. Nobody heard Jayden. It was a common thing when it came to doing what Jayden wanted. He wasn't about to be pushed around. Not when it came to something as dangerous and severe as this.

"NO!" Jayden yelled.

The entire cavern jumped and turned toward him. Jayden's fist was balled up in his lap as he took a deep breath and stood up. "I'll have no part in this. I don't want to fight an evil bad guy. I don't want the power to communicate with the dead, and I certainly don't want to be in a life or death situation with people I barely know."

Jayden looked at the group one last time before getting up and walking out of the cave, but he felt a hand grab his forearm. He turned, ready to fight the person holding him if needed when he saw Selena looking at him with her big doe eyes. The chocolate brown color filled him with sadness as he saw the desperation on her face.

"I'm scared too, Jayden," she said. "I just got to this school, and after everything that is happening in my family, I can't imagine adding more to it. I don't want to do this either."

Jayden nodded and motioned for her to follow, but when he tried to walk, her feet stood anchored into the soft clay of the cave. He turned back to her and looked at her, annoyed.

"Let go of me."

"Jayden, wait," said Judah, now standing up and coming next to him. "We have to at least hear her out. You can't look at her and see what she's saying and ignore this. You can't deny the monsters coming out of thin air and attacking us. You think that's going to stop because you decide that you don't want a part of it?"

"I'll just give him my powers," said Jayden nonchalantly. "Surely he'll be able to get in contact with me and arrange that, yes?"

He turned to leave once again, but this time, Elora appeared in front of his face. Her face was stern and filled with disappointment at what Jayden just said. "Sit down, Jayden," she said sternly.

Jayden cocked his eyebrow in defiance. He never was the type to give attitude to someone, especially an adult, but this was beginning to be too much. He wanted to pretend none of this ever happened, and if she was the one blocking him from doing that, then she was no longer an ally. She was an enemy.

"You're not in charge of me," Jayden said as he tried to walk past her.

Elora held her hand out, and a white light shone brightly. Jayden gasped as he was lifted off the ground in a bright cocoon. He tried to break out of it, but his muscles couldn't even budge the magic that soared around him. Elora sent him flying back toward the rock he was previously seated on with a flick of her arm. With a loud thud, he crashed down onto the hard surface, and a gasp escaped his lips.

"This is what will happen if you refuse to embrace your destiny,"

The cave began to vanish. The familiar black cloak drenched over them, blocking them from seeing anything outside of the darkness, but the air started to thicken instantly. The heat was the first thing that Jayden noticed as he felt the warmth hit his skin. It wasn't a pleasant warmth like a nice day at the beach. It was hot like a fire that burned everything in its path. He looked at the others, who looked just as uncomfortable as he felt.

When the darkness lifted, Jayden felt his jaw drop to the ground. They were in the same realm that Elora brought them before, only it was different. Fires were everywhere. People screamed as they ran from unknown monsters that only belonged in nightmares. Jayden couldn't believe what he saw as he watched people get burned and slaughtered out in the open.

"Gedeon is not the type of person to just take a surrendered power," Elora said, breaking the horrible silence. "The power of the Dominions will always belong to the chosen. There is only one way that he will get ahold of your powers, children."

"He'll have to kill us," Jayden said.

A solemn silence fell over all of them. Elora walked out in front of them and bit her lower lip before she spoke again. "This is not a set in stone future," Elora said. "You might have free will to overcome and take your own choices, but in the end, destiny is your birthright. It's what you were chosen for and what the Guardian bestowed upon you from the moment you were in your mother's womb."

Jayden cringed as he watched a family get set on fire by one of the monsters chasing them. He covered his eyes, and suddenly the scorching heat was no longer there. Jayden opened up his eyes to see everyone back in the caves sitting on the same rocks that they were on before.

"No offense," said Asher as he stared at Elora, "but that was your world. Not ours,"

"Asher!" said Elle as she hit him on the arm. "Show some respect at least-"

"If you think that Earth is safe if you don't embrace who you, think again," said Elora. "The power of the Dominions let you travel across realms before. You were reborn into this world, but you started in mine. If given the power, Gedeon will surely take over many worlds. You'll not be able to live a normal life if he accomplishes his mission."

Judah stood up and looked at the group. Everyone was silent as they processed the words Elora just said. He cleared his throat, and Jayden looked at him, anxious for a way to change the subject.

"Look," said Judah looking at everyone. "I understand that this is scary. I'm scared too. I can't just turn away from this," Tears welled up in his eyes, and he cleared his throat. "I feel...a connection to Glorianna, and I've always felt out of place in Saffron. Don't pretend like you guys haven't," said Judah.

"We can't run away from this. There's no ignoring who we are. We are chosen and hold powers beyond our wildest dreams. It's all there; we have to use it." Judah took his hand out in front of him and expected the rest of them to pile on in agreement. Like he just gave a locker room talk, and now the team has to win the state championships or something.

But this wasn't just a sports match. This was their life. This was something that would impact them tremendously. It's not something that you can just get on board with.

"I'm in," said Selena as she stood up, placing her hand on top of Judah's.

"I guess me too," said Asher as he placed his hand in the middle. "If I get killed, I swear on everything, Jayden will bring me back, and I'll kick your ass, Judah."

"Same," said Elle as she reluctantly put her hand in the middle.

The entire group stopped and looked at Jayden as he sat on the rock. He wanted to run, that feeling hadn't vanished, but he bit his lower lip and paused as he processed what was happening.

You have a great destiny in front of you, my boy.

His grandfather's words came into his head. He remembered how proud his grandfather was of him when he was in the Dead World, and he wanted to continue to make him proud.

"Screw it," said Jayden as he stood up and put his hand in the middle. He looked at Elora and shrugged his shoulders. "Now, what do we do?"