• The Pith Of Existence
    Chapter 1: Never Say Die

    This story is not for those who don't believe in the unusual, in the unpredictable. The readers of this story who do believe, who watch their backs at night for vampires, who cling to their pistol when a full moon is out, are those we most certainly want to read this book. It is filled with information that nobody else has written, nobody else has seen. It is life on the seven of the ten planes of the All-Seeing Eye.

    Life was created on the first plane by gods, of which each human choses and sticks with in their beliefs. The rest of the planes, however, belonged to the All-Seeing Eye. He believed mortals were not supposed to be dominant, and locked away the rest of his creatures in the other nine planes.

    Each plane had it's own king of it's own species, and together they lived in harmony.

    The King of the first of the nine planes was Bargathol the Fearsome, a very large and very strong Werewolf.

    The King of the second of the nine planes was actually a woman, but preferred the title King. Her name was Lilac the Gentle, and she was a Forest Nymph.

    The King of the third of the nine planes was an Elvish man named Yogetha.

    The King of the fourth of the nine planes was named Algathar, a Genie.

    The King of the fifth of the nine planes was Emaculus, a Wizard. You may think that he was human, but he was not.

    The King of the sixth of the nine planes was named Hamacules, a Merman.

    The King of the seventh of the nine planes was Manlies, a woman Fairy.

    The King of the eighth of the nine planes was Terega, an Elemental.

    And the most respected King, the ruler of the ninth plane, had no name. Whoever referred to him had their own name for him, and he rememered hem all. He was wise and powerful, overcoming most problems that any of the Kings had. He was what he wanted to be.

    Together, these Kings lived in harmony, each of the people of the planes able to see one another, except for the corrupted eyes of man, who, thanks to their greediness, could not see past the first plane.

    Until scientists discovered a spray, that, when mixed with the chemicals in the air, could allow them to see, even step into the other planes. That was when Bargathol's plane was overtaken, his kingdom crumbled thanks to humanity.

    Outraged, the other Kings gathered their strongest and tore most of humanity apart. The weapons humans had made were no match for the strong counterweapons the enchanted creatures had made just in case if this had ever happened. Frightened, most of the humans cowered in fear of their enemies, dying just at the thought of being killed.

    Whatever ones that did not die on the battlefield and did not die by themselves had fled to other parts of the world, where they believed the creatures had no access.

    Sacrificing her life, Lilac, the Forest Nymph, had sealed the rip in the planes, and peace was restored once again. Lilac's daughter, Emelia, had taken rule on her plane.

    Life was back to the way it was...

    Or so they thought.

    The Center of Rakasha, Pretock

    The bell tolled four in the morning, and silence drifted over the damp, dark streets of Rakasha, the busiest and dirtiest city in Pretock, which was in the fourth plane. Though it almost never rained, the streets were always wet, the air humid and thick, the sounds of water trickling around repetitious and ongoing.

    If you were to walk around this city at night, you'd be afraid, even if you were the scariest creature around. Down dark alleys was where the water trickling would get louder, and become the sounds of your worst fears.

    The water brought an ominous glow about the city, the bricks paving the streets of crowded buildings shining like stones on the Glowing Rivers, on the less crowded west side of Pretock. Water filled the cracks in the stones, giving them the sort of mended look they needed. The moon was large, providing enough light to accomidate the needs of the damp city.

    But nobody really cared what lived below the city, within it's vast length of sewers.

    Nearby a drain, a sewer lid was being grabbed by a creature with stubby, thick orange fingers, with long, broken fingernails. Gloves made of rags covered most of the creature's hands. It hoisted the lid upwards, setting it aside, and a head with a knit cap on it and long, pointy ears appeared, a wrinkled face with sharp teeth pointing out of the mouth and an average-sized nose popped out of the hole, looking around before sinking back in. The edges of the sewer were grabbed and the creature hoisted itself onto the damp ground, showing it's malnourished body, with a wifebeater on and baggy jeans that were ripped in every noticable place. It picked up the sewer lid and placed it back on, sighing and smiling as it wiped it's forehead and turned around to look at it's tail. A Goblin.

    Looking both ways, he sprinted down an alley, turning strategically again and again until it came to the city limits.

    Around the gate, two guards were standing straight, their weapons gripped tightly in their hands. A Genie and a Nymph, who, as far as the Goblin was concerned, didn't need weapons because of their magic.

    The Goblin sighed and approached them, his bare feet tapping in the water. He removed his cap and hung his head, sighing, as the guards looked him over.

    "What business do you have?" The Genie asked in a stern voice.

    "I want to leave," The Goblin said.

    Sighing, the heavily armored guards removed their helmets, and the Nymph kneeled down next to the Goblin.

    "For the last time, Niklas, you can't leave," She said. The Nymph was more Ghost-looking than Nymph-like, with long hair that spread out behind her and levitated, pointed ears and full lips, with a normal dress underneath her scale mail and armor plates.

    "But why not, Annen? You're both my friends, you can let me out, I don't need a ticket!" Niklas argued.

    "Niklas, try to understand," The Genie said, trying to get the Goblin to see reason, his broad Scottish accent taking over. "All ya need to do is get a job and save up for a tickeh. It's only 20 gold."

    "I tried to get a job, but nobody would hire me, Orogal. I'm too small, I'm too loud, I'm too weak, I'm too this, I'm too that! Why is it that every job I go to, they hire everything else but the Goblin?"

    "Maybe it's because you live in the sewer!" Annen said, and Niklas sighed.