Chapter 1 | Dreaming About Dark Inhaling Pits…Fun!

I've been down here for three weeks. I know it doesn't seem that long but days down here pass so slowly. Up in the Golden Equonix, time goes by like a flying piece of crap heading for your face. No wonder the gods' lose track of time so easily. Three weeks of loneliness and isolation. Even worse, my own mother was a part of my banishment. She personally walked with me through the portal and told me to stay here. She said she would come and get me when the "problem" was taken care of, but she never came back. I was sick and tired of being alone. I would go to the Magick Realm, but they too, have kicked my sorry butt out of there. I wanted to go to the humans but they change too much, and it would be a little hard to make friends who end up dying in a year. Not only was I alone, but I also was shut off from any communication towards the gods. Ever since my banishment, my dreams to connect to them has stopped. Usually, they appear in your dreams. It's one way to give someone visions of the past present or future. Sometimes it's real. And sometimes it's only made up. It's usually really easy to tell. It's one way of communicating, but it's tricky, unpredictable, and like twenty percent reliable.

Stupid dreams.

Another way of communicating is by using water. Light from another location reflects off of your water and shows you what you want to see. You have to make some sort of sacrifice by tossing some of your magic into it. It's hard to explain but it usually works, as long as you know who you are trying to find. For the past week, I have tried to reach the gods again but it didn't work...as usual.

Now you're wondering; what has Ember done so bad to get banished from her own precious home. Let me explain to you….I don't even know. The gods told me it was for my own good, and that I wasn't safe there. I'm not sure what that's about but I know they're hiding something from me. They wouldn't answer any questions. Every time I asked one, Tabetha and Zach would give me the I-will-vaporize-you-on-the-spot-if-you-don't-shut-up look. My mom actually had to save me from Tabetha once because I wouldn't stop nagging her. The memory almost made me laugh if it didn't remind me how much I missed home…

I only had one person to hang out with; Laura, my half-sister, and I call her that because she spends half of her time running quests for my mom…. I'm kidding! She supposedly is a daughter of Phoenix, but no one knows where she came from. She definitely wasn't around when my father was. The only person who seemed like she had an idea was Tabetha, but of course, you couldn't go around questioning the Leader of the Golden Elders...unless you have a death wish, especially if you're not me. Anyways, Laura is supposed to be my half-sister. My mother claimed her immediately and Tabetha agreed too. I don't know what Zach and Zilpha thought, but I sure had my suspicions.

Laura never really hangs out with me. She spends most of her time in the Darkaurus Dimension, Dark Heart's domain, the god of evil and probably arrogance because he named the world after himself. He is the worst amongst the gods. He is a god, but he has a thirst for power. Long ago, before I was born...no, way before I was born, he turned evil because he wanted a realm of worship towards the Golden Elders. They disagreed with his idea and he became resentful. He began to spend less and less time in the Golden Equonix. Eventually he separated completely, until he created a world of his own. You probably guessed it; the Darkaurus Dimension. Where the world's worst baddies get created, and yes, Laura spends most of her time there. I'm not sure why but she says it's for quests from mom. I want to ask her but I got kicked out before I had the chance. She visits me occasionally, but she doesn't stick around. She comes over to me and stays the night, but she often leaves early in the morning. I looked up in the sky not even knowing what I was hoping for. I had such a pathetically long list Then I sighed and dropped my head. What was the point?

I stumbled from exhaustion from hunting that day. I decided it was best that I get back home. From the last of my power, I created a portal. The golden/fiery sparking portal appeared. I hefted my sack of carcasses and went through the line between my new "home" and the world I was hunting in.

The realm I chose to live in was uninhabited. There were only a few species of animals that lives in my realm. Alicorns and Night Foxes were some of the beautiful creatures that I lived with. I didn't have the heart to hunt them so I settled with some basic deer. I didn't have that in my realm so I had to jump worlds to get it. Anyways, my realm was always warm. It had a lot of cliffs mountains and waterfalls. Most of the land below the mountains were covered in trees. That's where all the animals roam. There were even griffins that occasionally took flight on the sky above. The griffins here were sacred to Tabetha, if anything could've happened to them, she'd probably go into a murderous rage, but I couldn't quite imagine that would happen. Since Tabetha is a leader, she can't really lose control because it would set a bad example but I guess I could see why she would be so protective of them. They had chocolate brown eagle heads and gorgeous golden feline bodies. Their wings were the color of fresh forged steel that gleamed in the moonlight. Their wings were sharp and usually served as a defensive purpose but they can still use them to fly. I met once, his name was Axe, but he doesn't come around often. I encountered him when I first came to the realm. I gave him some fish and he wouldn't leave me alone for two days straight. I even flew around on him once. He was cool but I hadn't seen him since.

I trudged into my house if you can call it that and sat on my sheepskin covers. The place wasn't finished yet but I was currently working on it. The roof for the main room was still open and the wall to my kitchen wasn't up yet. I hadn't put any furniture in except for my bed and my shelf. Laura came and helped me out yesterday. She brought me some books for my shelf. I grabbed a random book and read the title. It was a textbook about the dark dimension. Just great, now I'd be reading about the worst possible thing before I went to bed. I layed on my stomach and tried my best to get comfy. I read my book. Most of it was about different types of monsters. There were thousands of kinds because Dark Heart was always making monsters in his mixing bowl. I could almost imagine seeing him as a short evil old man grabbing a bunch of jars with the title "ugly" and "diet: demigod meat" on it, and dumping the content into a giant cauldron. I shivered. Even though I've never seen Dark Heart in person because he was banished from the Golden Equonix, it wasn't hard for me to imagine what he'd look like. My mother told me he could appear any way he wanted to, just like the gods. I wondered what he chose to look like most of the time. I set my book down on the side of the bed and lay there. I thought about the day I got kicked. My mother escorted me to the Magik Realm and told me to try not to jump worlds too much. She also told me not to go to the Darkaurus Dimension even though my sister went there. I thought it wasn't fair but I played by her rules. I only jumped when I needed to hunt and I never went to the Darkaurus Realm. To be completely honest with myself, I was afraid of it. I had glimpses of what it was like. Every once and awhile, I would have a dream about it, and I hoped that they'd be fake; some random made up illusion, but something told me that it was real.

Even though I felt restless, I eventually fell asleep. I wasn't sure when but I drifted unconscious and had a horrific dream.

My dream ended up settling in this memory which pained me to relive.

It was way back when I was young, and my mother did have time for me. She told me stories of my father, Murdock. He was a Dark Magi from the Magik Realm. Even though my mother was forced to kill him, she still admired and loved him. She told me about him all the time, and how many battles they shared together. I caught her one night crying and holding a picture of him in her hand. I guess I was still too young to understand, but I knew one thing was for certain, my mother wanted to bring him back. She argued with Tabetha and Zach but it was against the ancient laws to bring back the dead, so one night she snuck out. I followed her. I was only seven at that time, and I didn't know what I was getting myself into.

I followed my mother as we sneaked through the night. She was in her mortal Magi form so it would be easier to complete a stealth mission. She cast a portal to another world and I foolishly followed. On the other side, I was up on a cliff. All land behind me was bare, the grass was grey and flowed gently with a chilly breeze. I couldn't see that far because any land beyond that was covered in murky fog. Phoenix stood at the edge of the cliff looking down. I couldn't see her face but I heard whispers. Some came from her as she chanted some kind of spell, some came from the bottom of the cliff. I got on my knees and crawled to the edge. A deep void of darkness loomed below me. My vision tunneled as I backed away breathing hard. My mom turned at the sound I had made, but her eyes weren't the usual eyes I saw (meaning either little balls of flames or just simply red and blue, in this case, red and blue because she was in her Magi form). They glowed faintly of murky green. The same shade of the grass and atmosphere. "You shouldn't have come," she spoke. Her voice seemed hollow and like it was being multiplied. It was void of any emotion.

Suddenly her body turned to a light green mist that began to trickle down the edge. The other half encircled me. I screamed trying to pull away but it dragged me towards the cliff. It collected carried me down with it as I dropped to an endless void of darkness.

Then my dream shifted to an even darker setting. I knew it wasn't where my mom was taking me. I knew how that would happen but my dream didn't wait for me to recap on my past.

I was in a cave. I couldn't locate the exit but I definitely noticed the big circular pit right smack down in the middle. It was like the void over the cliff except this one was tunneled, and it radiated ancient power. I couldn't see my own body anymore but I did locate a young man ten feet away from me. We both stood at the edge.

"We are collecting all we can my lord," he said. His voice caught me by bitter surprise. It was soft and cold, like ice trickling down your shirt. He had a black leather jacket on with an animal fur collar. He had shoulder blades...literally. Spikes grew out of his armor. It would've sent a chill down my spine if I wasn't already scared out of my mind. Only the trickiest coldest warriors wore armor like that. A strap wrapped around his body with a sword sheathed in his back. It glowed a cruel color of black, sucking the light out of the air. I couldn't see his face because it was shrouded in the darkness of the cave. Only two glowing irises lit the dark. His eyes are glowing I realized. Most of his clothes and armor was black, except for his ivory skin. A deep wave of wind came out of the pit. A whisper filled my mind and someone began to speak. "Good, all is going to plan. As soon as we have enough power we can travel to this other universe and rip the roots of the gods. You yourself will be my loyal lieutenant leading the attack." His voice was even crueler than the man in black. It sank into my head and grabbed hold of my consciousness.

His voice made me feel as if someone had reached into my head and wrapped their slimy cold hands around my brain. "Find me the most powerful creatures in the realm," he spoke silently. "I will bring you the best my lord," the man said. "Good, with this next stage of power, we can bend fate itself."

"I already have a band of monsters gathering up the bones of the fallen banes. They will rise and subdue the gods." The pit inhaled air, causing my non-existence body to lean towards the edge. "I know you can do better than that my faithful servant, monsters aren't enough, rise the king first." The man stood silent for a moment. He finally opened his mouth and spoke, "My lord, it will take a lot of energy to do that. I don't know if I can--"

The pit practically roared. The wind sucked in like a vacuum cleaner. Small bits of rock and pebbles got pulled in. The man in black stumbled. "Do not make me question your power. I know you can rise him." The pit's whisper got softer. "And besides, I can lend you my strength. With your full power and a fraction of mine combined, we can raise him by the end of December. The December solstice it perfect. The sun and moon's power is separated and the gods are at the least and the power favors the darkness." The pit inhaled one last time, finally succeeding in sucking my essence in and that was when I woke up in a flaming building.

I really needed to get a fireproof bunker if I'm gonna ignite while I sleep. The place was on fire and I barely was able to grab all my stuff. I didn't really care about my safety because I was immune to fire...duh, but I had to get my books out. Laura would be so mad if I gave her ash back instead of books. My covers and my bed was pretty much destroyed by now since it had went through the damage first. Darn it, there were only two realms that had actual sheep. Nature realm and the Human Realm. Ugh.

I ran outside holding my charred borrowed books. I set them down on the grass and glared at the fire. I held my hand out and all the flames got sucked into my palm, which was glowing orange. The light faded and I picked up my books. I sighed and looked back at my house, which wasn't really much of a house at all. The walls were charred and burned, the roof had collapsed, and the walls were half destroyed. I groaned in annoyance and pitty. It took me an entire week to get it like that, now I had to start all over. What was even more disturbing was the fact that I had a dream. I thought the gods cut off my visions, but I guess I was wrong. It was the first dream I had in three weeks. I put my books in my satchel and slung it around my body. I looked over the mountain at the other mountains that were faded in the distance. I needed a place to get away from my own messed up "house". Suddenly a noise, like something scraping across a thin layer of metal filled my ears. A figure rose up in front of me. It landed in the grass and squaked.

"Axe," I said happily. He was the only thing that could make my day--er--night, better. He nuzzled me with his massive ferocious eagle head. "Aw buddy." I patted his head. He stepped back, and squacked again hungerly. "Uh sorry bud, I don't have any food with me right now," I said regarding my burned out house. Axe growled in a low tone like he was disappointed. He was. "Hey, if you give me a ride to another mountain, specifically that one with the pond on it that we found last time, I'll get you some nice Koia fish." Axe jumped in place excitedly, almost making the ground shake. He bent his head and allowed me to climb on his back. He spread his wings and jumped off the cliff.

Flying is great. Especially on Axe, he can spin a mean three sixty, which made me sick before. I told him to never do that again. The midnight breeze blew in my face and cooled my nerves. Ever since the dream I had, I've been getting a chilly feeling that something was following me. I looked behind me but I couldn't see anything but the night sky, and the tall mountains. Axe flapped his silver metallic wings that gleamed in the moonlight and dived. I held onto his thick neck as we spiraled down towards the earth. I laughed on his back as we flew.

We finally landed on a grassy plateau. I hopped off dizzy from action. Axe pushed me with his head and I almost fell over. "Hey," I chided. He made a grumbling noise with his throat. "Okay, okay." I stumbled to the edge and not to low from me was a twenty foot drop onto another plateau but it was mostly covered in water which flowed off the edge as a waterfall into a river deep below. I circled my hand and a portal formed. Gallons of water gushed out. Fish spilled everywhere. I closed the portal and the water shut off. Axe pecked at the ground at the orange Koia fish, clearly enjoying his midnight snack. Even though he got wet, he ignored it. None of the water touched me though. Before it got

close, it curled into steam and disappear. I sat on the rim with my legs dangling over the side. If I jumped in the water, I'm pretty sure I'd turn the place into a hot tub.

I still hadn't learned how to switch myself to normal. Apparently I'm always superheated, which means what it is. I'm always over four-hundred degrees. It seems that Axe is the only one who can handle my hot aura. I haven't been able to turn off my heat ever since I got to this place. I might've been because of my emotions. That's what powers do, they reflect off of what you feel. You have to learn how to control it or else you'd get someone killed, or it could get yourself killed.

Usually when I'm in the Golden Equonix, I'm always superheated because who can I blame, I'm always around immortal gods. It's not like I can kill them.

I closed my eyes and concentrated on trying to turn my hot aura off. I didn't feel any physical change but a tingling sensation crept down my throat. I suddenly felt empty and cold. When I opened my eyes I scooted closer to the edge and saw the pond. I looked back at Axe who was happily enjoying his fishy snack. He made no sign that he noticed me. I turned back to the ledge and stood up. I took off my coat and my gear. I took a deep breath and jumped.

For a moment I felt like I was flying, then I hit the water. I sunk through the surface and into the cold pond. For a moment I panicked because I couldn't tell which way was up or down. There were bubbles streaming everywhere. When they cleared, I saw the dim light of the moon shine. I swam up and surfaced. I took a deep breath and swam in place. Axe stood above me looking down and screeching. I figured he didn't want his source of free food dying on him. "I'm alright," I yelled from the water. Axe squacked one more time before disappearing behind the rock. I splashed the water which still felt reasonably cool. I sunk down beneath the surface and peered into the blue void. I swam around entertaining myself. I liked it because it reminded me of flying. I didn't need wings for this! I could float whenever I wanted to.

I guess I looked kind of ridiculous because some night foxes decided to come and check me out. I saw a few come out from the trees and look at me. Their dark midnight coats matched the black sky. Their icy cold eyes peered at me with curiosity. I swam towards them slowly. They flinched but didn't run away. As I got in range I held my arm out to pet them. The first one took a step forward and bent down. It put its head under my hand and made purring noises. The patterns on its back glowed a faint sky blue. The others surged toward me now knowing I was not a threat. The sniffed my shirt and my hair and I smiled.

Then the front fox turned and froze, the others followed his example. A ruffle in the bush caused them to stop. No one, not even me made a sound. The suddenly a black figure pounced out of the thicket. The foxes scattered. It was a monster that was the color of moldy bread and it had spikes all over its body. It ran on all four legs hungry for a snack. I was too shocked to move. It chased the foxes as they ran in terror. I shook myself out of my daze and pulled myself out of the pond. I was soaking wet and shivering. The monster chased the foxes. Most disappeared into the bushes but one was cornered. I tried to summon a ball of flame but to my utter horror, nothing happened. The monster was closing in. I teleported myself in between the two creatures and faced the green eyed creep. He roared and spit poison. I tried to dodge but it had landed on my shirt sleeve anyways. I screamed as it steamed and slowly burned through my clothing. The fox still cowered behind me. I wouldn't let this creature die. The monster crouched low and snarled in triumph, knowing that I was done for.

Then all of a sudden something landed behind it. The monster instinctively turned around to meet the new attacker who was covered in black robes. He roared but than got blasted in the face with blue hot flames. He fell to the ground sizzling and had become a new entree of poison spike kebob. The shadow figure out her foot on his chest. "Go to hell!" and the creature melted into shadow.. "Laura," I shouted gleefully. She took her hood off and let down her jet black hair. Her pale yellow eyes looked at me and she said, "We have a problem."

The fox ran away first chance it got. I let it. The poor thing was scared out of its mind. Me and Laura teleported back up the hill that I was on earlier. Axe lay down on his back snoring with his clawed feet in the air. No wonder he didn't come and save me… My wrist was burning from the poison but I tried to ignore the pain. I told Laura to wait next to Axe while I fixed my wound. I grabbed my belt and my gear and trudged off to the bushes.

I took off my shirt and slowly, painfully, I peeled my acid shirt sleeve off. I groaned in pain when I did it. When it was finally off, I noticed the skin peeled off of it as well. I cleaned and bandaged the wound as best as I could but it still burned. I put my white button up shirt back on but the sleeve was ripped. When I came out of the bushes again, Laura was waiting. She regarded my bandage. "You're gonna need better treatment than that if that's godonian poison," she said. I sat on a rock and sighed. "I'll do that later but for now you need to tell me about this trouble." Laura grimaced at my burn one last time and began to speak.

"I got a message from the gods about something disrupting the Magick Realm—" My mouth dropped open.

"The Magick Realm? That junkworld of disrespectful brats?"

Laura nodded. "The place is in danger and the gods don't want it to be destroyed just yet." I let out an annoyed growl. "I think they should be destroyed. They have done nothing for nobody and they don't care about anyone but themselves!" Laura stared at me bewildered. I didn't know what she thought of me lashing out so much anger but at the moment I didn't care. I didn't like the Magiks and they didn't like me. It was that simple. "Ember, you have to help them, they're are the greatest people the Golden Elders ever created." I looked at her with anger flaring in my eyes. "I don't have to do anything Laura, you can help all you want but I won't be a part of it," I said sternly. Then my tone softened. "I'm sorry."

Laura stood up abruptly. "Fine," she snapped. She walked straight toward the water and created a portal close to the glimmering surface of the pond. She jumped in the air and fell through, closing the hole behind her. I sighed and shook Axe. He just snored louder. I took it that he wouldn't wake up easily. Instead I just created another portal to the same hill my house burned down on and walked through it. I still held the satchel of books that Laura had given me the first time we met. I sat down in the grass and started reading them.Chapter 2| IDK Yet

I must've fallen asleep because the next thing I knew the sky was lightning and it set off a soft pink glow. I woke up with my head was buried in the book and I lurched up in disgust. I shut the book loudly and put it back in my bag. I gazed upon my burned out home and decided that I didn't feel like sleeping on the ground.

I was still wearing the same clothes as yesterday and they smelled so I'd need to buy myself a new batch.

With effort I formed a portal to another realm. When I arrived into the Unknown, Keracs immediately began shoving merchandise in my face. "Want a wooden beaded necklace? Buy one get one free!"

"How about a nice boiling bath of lava, it does nicely for your skin!"

"I'm selling limited fluorescent octopus tentacles. Buy twelve and get thirty-five percent off!"

They nagged me until I was able to escape when a new group of customers arrived. They forgot all about me and went to convince another group of Keracs who weren't selling.

The Keracian World is strange. It is covered in rubbery pastel textured stuff. It is very annoying and distracting. The world isn't linked to any sort of equonix which meant I was the only one (aside from Laura) who had access to it. The Keracs were even more disturbing than the world they lived in. They had long bendy legs and long arms. They didn't have necks, their head jutted from the base of their body which seems like they ate too many hamburgers (yes, I have eaten a hamburger from the human world before. I actually gained what they call "fat" from my last vacation there. Don't ask me to do it again). They didn't have fingers as I did. Their arms ended in stubs which made me question how they were able to make any sort of products. I only came here to buy my clothes and lately I have been striking good deals with some of the people here on buying equipment for my house...ah sorry, their shopping vibe is affecting me.

I rushed through the massive market filled with a variety of bizarre stuff I couldn't even name. I finally found my way to the familiar street I usually went to shop. I scanned the row of markets and waving away shop keepers. Jordic, the home depot man spotted me before I could. "Ah Ember, there's my star customer! Let's see now what do you need today? A new sheet of metal? Several planks of sapped coated birch wood? Perhaps a stained glass window of your old pal…?" He held up a window with himself fused into it. "Jordic, I've only known you for two weeks," I said flatly. Jordic sighed dreamily and said, "Yes, and those have been the best two weeks of my business. Never have I made such a profit!" I pushed him off me. "Ugh, I'll take the sapped birch wood. Have you seen Mel," I asked. Jordic nodded excitedly and pointed to the back. "She's in her room stitching, I'll go get your wood." And with that, he darted off.

I walked to the back of the shop to a door with a label on it that read "Mel." I opened it and wandered inside. Mel was not a Kerac. She was a Giffa. Another species that lived in the realm. Unlike the Keracs, they were beautiful creatures. They were more humanoid than the keracs, they have usually long dark thick braids of hair, they were very tall and they had long but thin gentle hands. They had human faces so it didn't seem too strange.

I forgot who created this world but who ever did definitely had a wild imagination but I guess they had some sense to create giffas.

"Hi Mel," I greeted. Mel looked up from her weaving and smiled. "Ember!" She set her loom down and stood up. I half hugged her but it made me feel uncomfortable. "Did my brother give you any trouble," she asked. "Heh, he went to go get me some of that wood I ordered." Mel smiled a bit and sat back down. She began weaving again and asked, "So what can I get for you?" Unlike Kreacs, Giffas aren't very pushy. Mel was Jordics half brother since he didn't have a family before. His parents abandoned him. Mel found him and took care of him.

Jordic barged in. "Ember your sapped birch wood is waiting, come outside to pay," he said eagerly.He left the room as quickly as he entered. I turned back to Mel who was smirking. "Anyways I need a few new clothes…" The last word died in my throat because even before I even finished my sentence, three new sets of shirts and khakis sat on the table. "Th-thanks," I stuttered. This time Mel laughed lightly. "No problem Ember, I'm willing to help out any time." I grabbed the neatly folded clothes and slipped it in my satchel with my books. "So...how much," I asked suspiciously. Mel shrugged. "No charge, you're the nicest person I ever met, keep being who you are and you won't have to pay." I sucked in a breath. "Thanks Mel, that meant a lot." Mel nodded but she already seemed focused in her weaving. I left her alone to do what she loved and exited the shop. Jordic was there to greet me.

"Ember, there you are. I was wondering if out were ever coming out at all," he chided. I shouldered my bag which was starting to get heavy. "No I'm out, so how much for the wood?" Jordic put his stubby arm to his chin. "Well that's two tons, every ten pounds costs about fifty coin so that would be…"

I swirled my arm to make a portal and grabbed something out of it. A clear red crystal weighed in my hand. I tossed it to Jordic who barely caught it. He looked at me, shocked. "This is a Polyphonian crystal, do you know how much this is worth?"

Jordic nodded his head furiously. I half-smiled. "Keep it, thanks a lot Jordy," I replied. He ran back into his shop with a massive crystal in his arms.

I leaned on the big pile of logs for a moment. Then I stepped back and began moving my arms in a big circle formation. A portal opened up beneath the logs and they fell. I jumped through the hole and disappeared into the sky.

When I got to the other side. I jumped off the logs easily and clapped he dust off of my hands. I happened to look in the direction of a batch of trees and saw a dark silhouette leaning on a trunk. I sighed and trudged over to it.

I was greeted by my sister, Laura. "What are you doing here," I hissed. She rolled her yellow lamplight eyes. "To help you, duh." I heard a hint of annoyance in her voice. I should've been the one to be annoyed here. I motioned her to follow me over to the logs. For the next three hours, we worked on my house. We destroyed the first design and rebuild the next. It didn't take long because one, the logs were easy to teleport around where we needed them and two, I had help. We finished the outline and we'd get the rest done the next day. Right before Laura left she asked me about if I still wanted to help her out in the mission for the gods to save the Magick realm. I shut her down but before she left, I told her about my dream I had the night before. Of course, I left out the part when it showed me about my backstory.

She had a thoughtful look on her face. "The man in the dark sounds like Dark Heart but I don't know who the creature in the pit is. He sounds like a primordial god," she said. I shook my head. It can't be, aren't the Golden Elders primordial?" A flash of regret crossed Laura's face, but she hid it quickly. "Nevermind, I need to go. I have to figure out what's going on," she said and disappeared. I focused on the spot she had just been, then shook my head and turned to my new, almost-built house and shook my head. No, I need to figure out what's going on.