Prologue

Each of the 7 Realms lived together in relative peace during the early stages of their creations. The deity-like Rulers that governed over these Realms kept to themselves for the most part, they would only visit the other Realms out of curiosity and sometimes to build friendships. Other times the Rulers would convene in the only Realm that was without a Ruler, the empty Realm of Dreams.

These years were quite uneventful, until one Ruler’s ambitions grew too great for any singular Realm to contain.

Chapter 1

Creatures of all shapes and sizes roamed this prehistoric land, and constantly struggled in a violent but sustainable circle of life. Dinosaurs were king, but even these gargantuan beasts weren’t safe from danger. There was one who hunted even the mightiest of Earth’s creatures. The Ruler of this Realm: Ignacia.

The great centaur, Ignacia, stalked her latest prey silently. When her target was in her sights, she pulled back on her colossal bow, an arrow to match the bow’s size, nocked and ready. With bated breath she let loose!

The arrow soared through the air, perfectly struck its target and brought the Tyrannosaurus down in one blow.

Ignacia moved over to retrieve her arrow and return her kill to the Earth from whence it came, so that its body could rejuvenate the world around it. But as she was doing so, a blindingly radiant light started to shine upon the Ruler.

She raised a hand to shield her eyes from the light, and that’s when it hit her.

A great bolt made from the light itself plunged through her body. Her eyes widened as she reared back in pain, she cried out as blood spilled from her mouth and she lost her grasp on her bow. Another bolt rapidly advanced towards her. Ignacia just barely avoided it and felt the searing ray of light graze her lower half. She winced and gritted her teeth, and that is when she saw her attacker. That was when her eyes came to rest upon God.

‘It is a beautiful Realm you’ve made Ignacia. I love what you have done with the place,’ God’s divine voice echoed out, as if it were spoken twice at the same time. Ignacia glared at the winged figure hovering up above.

‘To what do I owe the pleasure? I wasn’t expecting the Ruler of Heaven to suddenly drop by; if you had let me know I would’ve prepared a much warmer welcome for you!’ the centaur spoke harshly through her gritted teeth, one hand clutching at the smoking wound that had been blasted through her upper torso.

God responded with a laugh, ‘oh I’m sure you would’ve. But I thought you would love a surprise like this,’ they smirked, ‘you see, it really is a lovely place after all… just a shame that most of its inhabitants are sorely lacking.’

God sighed before they continued, ‘That is why I’ve decided to repopulate this Realm. Sure, I am fond of some of your creations. But really, I think this place would be much better off if it housed my next creation. This scenery is wasted on those brutish lizards you have roaming around. As such, this Realm now belongs to me.’

Ignacia tensed at such a brazen proclamation. Now that the proverbial gauntlet had been thrown down, there was no need for her to delay any longer; she had to respond, and emphatically. ‘If you enjoy this planet I’ve created so much, then why not serve to strengthen its foundations!’ Another identical great-bow materialised in her hands along with a trio of arrows that she was quick to fire. But the arrows didn’t reach their target. They ricocheted uselessly off a golden barrier that formed around the sneering God.

‘Foolish girl. Your power is no match for what I’ve cultivated.’

Chapter 2

It was a day like any other in the perfectly peaceful and harmonious Fey Realm. All throughout the Realm, every creature that lived under the twin suns and moons was a herbivore, and conflict was never an issue. This was the dream of its Ruler, Tobias: a pleasant three-eyed shapeshifter.

Tobias watched over all his cherished children; the elves and the faeries of the golden forests full of purple and blue leaves. He watched over the unicorns of the blue plains and the nymphs of the red seas. He watched over the gryphons that soared through the green skies, and even the tiny little pixies that lived amongst the rainbow gardens.

Tobias lived for his creatures. The joy and happiness that all his creations experienced, was more than enough for him. He watched them all grow and flourish. It was a welcome distraction from his curse; a curse he was born with: the curse of knowledge and nigh-omniscience. This curse caused him to rarely have a moment of peace despite the serenity that surrounded him, migraines would plague him due to the constant stream of visuals and noises stacked on top of one another. Yet it was this curse that allowed God’s attack against Ignacia to play out within Tobias’ mind as if he had stood right next to them.

Tobias acted quickly. It would be simple for him to move between the Realms, as it was for most Rulers, but he knew that his power outside of his Realm, even combined with that of Ignacia’s, would be no match for that of God’s. Though he could not sit idly by and watch his friend be murdered so pointlessly.

Instead, he focused his energy, stood from his comfortable seat upon his hill, and raised his arms out. The space in the sky before him ripped open into a circular portal, a tunnel formed through the shapeless Realm of unending colour that was the Dream Realm: A Realm that connected all others, acting as the mortar that glued them together into the same shared reality. At the other end of this tunnel, another portal opened in the Mortal Realm.

Ignacia was no match; God’s superior might had easily overwhelmed her, and the coup de grâce was about to be delivered.

‘Any last words, Ignacia?’ God’s brightly glowing palm aimed at her. Ignacia staggered on her haunches, then spat blood on God’s face.

Tobias’ portal opened beneath the helpless centaur before God could launch their final attack, and Ignacia tumbled out of her Realm, through the tunnel, and to safety on the other side. A bed of flowers and vines sprouted from the ground and caught her, they then carried her gently to Tobias.

After she had made it into the Fey Realm, the tunnel closed on both ends. God did not pursue their enemy, though they knew which Realm they had been transported to. They laughed and wiped the blood from their face, satisfied to have rid the Mortal Realm of its Ruler and protector. Their home for humanity was secured.

With Ignacia safely secured, Tobias sat back down, closed each of his three eyes and entered a state of deep meditation. He used his powers to heal and treat his wounded friend; a soft and warm green glow enveloped her body. While doing this, he also erected a protective barrier around the outer layer of the Fey Realm to prevent unwanted entry.

‘Sorry my friend. I should’ve helped you sooner,’ a tear welled up in each of Tobias’ closed eyes. Ignacia weakly reached out to place her hand on top of Tobias’.

Chapter 3

God returned to their own domain; a Realm made within the skies; a floating paradise of shining perfection where the glorious sun never set. Their palace made atop the clouds. Polished marble pathways led from one cloudy island to the next. There were even beaches of white sand and crystal clear, shimmering water.

God was the hermaphroditic Ruler of Heaven, and they lived in this Realm alongside their children. Angels that were made in God’s own image, they were only few in number for now, but God had plans to raise their numbers greatly in the near future.

More importantly God had to continue melding their ultimate plan together, their magnum opus of creation, the new species that they would fill the Mortal Realm with: humanity. While they waited for the first generation of humanity to be created, God tasked two of their most trusted children with exterminating the hideous dinosaurs that infested Earth.

‘Go forth. Cleanse that world of Ignacia’s abominations. It needs a clean slate if we are to repopulate it with humanity. I’m sure you’ll have no troubles, my sons,’ they looked upon the two angels who were knelt before them.

Mephael raised his head, ‘Of course mother, though I still believe that only I am needed to eradicate those lizards. You can leave it all to me and I won’t fail you,’ he lifted his chin higher and smirked.

Though God shook their head, ‘I do not doubt you. But if Gabriel is to accompany you it will make the job quicker. Work together and the sooner you will be able to come home,’ this quelled any further objections from Mephael, Gabriel followed the orders silently and happily.

Chapter 4

Gabriel and Mephael were sent down to Earth. God’s eldest sons, with Mephael being the first “born” of all God’s children. The two brothers culled the mindless animals without problem – God had blessed their children with the same divine power they held themselves – they even made a friendly competition out of it to see who could kill the most.

A problem arouse however when the brothers came across a peculiar obstacle that blocked a considerable amount of the landscape. From high above they thought it was a wide crevasse, but upon closer inspection it was not a crack that split open the ground, but a scaly lump that went on as far as the eye could see.

This round lump, was as wide as some of the oceans of the planet, and so long that neither of them could find the end of it no matter which way they went or how far they travelled.

‘This has to be her first and most horrible creation. An abomination of ungodly proportions; a mistake that she simply failed to correct or erase,’ Mephael decided. He thought there was a simple solution. He raised an arm in the air, a pillar of golden light shooting out in a constant stream from it. He swung his arm downwards and slammed the enormous blade of light against the obstacle, a brilliant flash blinded the brothers when the attack connected.

When they regained their sight, nothing had changed about their obstacle. The Earth around it had been sundered, yet whatever that thing was, it was perfectly unharmed.

The brothers recoiled when it started to move. The ground rumbled and shook, clouds of dust being kicked up high into the air all around as that thing tore and dug into the earth. A massive trench left in its wake as the scales continued to fly by in a blur. When the dust finally settled and the Realm stopped shaking, the brothers stared into the eye of the beast they had just attacked.

This beast was a serpent of unworldly proportions. A single eye was as vast as an ocean, and its length could easily coil around the entirety of Earth. Its tremendous jaws were wrapped around its tail, caught in a perpetual state of swallowing itself.

The serpent’s voice boomed out, ‘Whom dareth to strike Uroboros? Ye insects are no creatures of Ignacia. What business have thee in this Realm?’ it didn’t speak so much as its voice invaded the head of the angels and rattled around their minds telepathically.

Mephael grit his teeth and glared at Uroboros, ‘We are here to rid this Realm of the foul creatures its former Ruler has plagued it with.’

‘Former!?’ their minds were again assaulted by that sky-splitting voice.

‘This Realm now belongs to our mother, God! So state your business here serpent or I will be forced to cut you down like the rest of those lizards!’ Mephael stood defiant and refused to back down.

Uroboros’ eye narrowed and it started to hiss, a hiss so deep and loud that it sounded like a continuous roar to the angels, ‘God!? He dareth to defile this Realm?!’ the serpent’s coils vibrated, the ground around it quaked and cracked under the pressure of Uroboros’ constrictions.

‘Brother. This snake must be another Ruler. I heard that some of the other Rulers were so vain as to enlarge themselves to fill up their entire Realm! This must be one. We must leave and inform father,’ Gabriel’s cool voice cut through the rumbling as he tugged on his brother’s arm. The two flew away and into a beam of light, the serpent left to its aimless raging.

Chapter 5

Uroboros would traverse across all of the Mortal Realm in search of their friend Ignacia; he feared the worst. These fears were not helped when they found no sign of her. Only the arrival of God into the Realm would draw the serpent away from the deep recesses of the universe and put a halt to his search.

God hovered over the planet of Earth, looking down at it in disgust. What little had remained of the dinosaur population, had been wiped out from Uroboros’ frantic searching, but as such, so had most of the beautiful scenery and the other species that inhabited the world as well. The world only remained as a flooded ball of mud and rock.

God’s confrontation with Uroboros came quicker than they anticipated however. The serpent flew straight into an attack in a fit of rage, ‘God! You bastard! You’ll pay for what you did to Ignacia!’ Uroboros’ jaw unhinged and opened further; he swallowed God whole down his unending throat alongside his infinite tail.

But God could not be so easily defeated: not long after being swallowed, they erupted out from within Uroboros’ winding body in a glorious flash of golden light. The serpent cried out in pain before it was swatted down to the Earth by God; as easily as one might swat a fly.

‘As disgusting as ever,’ God muttered. Their golden light shone down upon themselves, cleansing whatever filth had sullied them due to their escape from the serpent’s innards.

Uroboros was able to recover before they crashed down into the planet and obliterated it. Their maw opened once more, teeth and mouth carved through the earth and opened a portal back to their own Realm, the Realm of Hell. But God was quick to follow before this portal could close. They would not let Uroboros off as lightly as they had Ignacia.

Chapter 6

The Realm of Hell was a dark and rocky place, it was totally underground, a series of cramped tunnels. With the way Uroboros loved to burrow around, it had been split into separate layers, these layers formed a looping and unending circle, much like the infinite loop Uroboros himself created. Each layer was similar to the ones conjoined to it but had some differences, some subtle, others quite clear.

The only inhabitants of this Realm were Uroboros himself, the hardy, subterranean creatures that served as his prey during his tunnelling and burrowing, and his mate. A much smaller snake-like hybrid creature of Uroboros’ own creation.

Uroboros crashed down within the primary layer of his Realm, the foundations of it shook in response. His mate sprung up from beneath a barren, grey tree  a tree that Uroboros would coil around and rest upon — and slithered as fast as she could to his side.

‘My love! What hasss happened to you?’ tears in her eyes as she looked Uroboros over; who appeared much smaller than usual.

‘Niphilia… please, run!’ Uroboros writhed and shoved his body against her, this nudged her away from him and towards the direction of a tunnel that led to the another layer.

‘No! How can I leave you when you are like this?’ her tears fell upon his scaly body as she laid herself against it and sobbed. Uroboros closed his eyes, and a deep breath rattled his form. He didn’t want to have to use such a thing, but he felt it was the only way to protect her. He hissed, a soothing and calm hiss this time, Niphilia’s body tensed, and her sobs ceased in response.

‘I love thou Niphilia, but thou must go,’ Under his commands, Niphilia wordlessly turned away from him and slithered off, still in her trance. He sent her as far away from him as possible, to the layer directly opposite them.

God was not long behind the serpent, they appeared in a flash of golden light as was their customary entrance. They took a preliminary glance around the Realm. ‘Hm. This is my first time in your Realm Uroboros… it’s as unappealing as yourself.’ they jeered as they lowered themselves closer towards the injured serpent.

Uroboros writhed again, their body whipped upwards to strike at God, but with a kick, God easily repelled the attack and sent Uroboros back down into the rocky floor with a crash. God spread their hand out towards the serpent; their palm glowed golden and shoot forth a beam of light to crush Uroboros.

Uroboros grew smaller and smaller throughout God’s onslaught, the light grew larger and larger until eventually it fully engulfed him. When God finally let up, only a crater remained and there was no sign of the serpent to be found. Not even their presence could be felt anymore.

God turned away from their destruction, and wiped at their brow, lips curled up in disgust at the sweat that coated their hand before they flicked it away.

‘This Realm is too hot,’ a doorway of golden light opened and swallowed them whole as they travelled back to their own Realm.

Chapter 7

Ignacia had recovered her strength but was yet to recover her resolve and spirit. Not even when Tobias introduced a new species; moulded after her own image,

did her mood brighten. All she would do was sit atop his hill and stare off into the distance, even as the flowers began to bloom around her. She wouldn’t return to her own Realm, firstly because she knew God would return to finish off what they had started, and secondly because Tobias prevented her from leaving his Realm, in fear for her safety.

She had hardly even spoke to her friend the whole time she stayed a guest in his Realm, and Tobias hadn’t attempted to push her out of her silence. He was unsure what she must be going through, and for once he didn’t know something, he didn’t know what it felt like to have his home taken from him. Even just the thought about losing his own Realm sent chills down his spine.

But if they thought this would be the worst of it, they were both sorely mistaken. For as things stood now, Ignacia could still mount an attack to retake her home, retake her Realm. Though that was soon to change.

‘AAAARUGGH!!’ Ignacia cried out as pain erupted in her chest and quickly seared throughout the rest of her body. A pain worse than anything God had inflicted onto her during their battle, a pain that sapped her of all the strength she had just recovered, sapped her of all the power she had been gifted as a Ruler.

Tobias rushed over from the nearby garden, eyes shaking with worry, ‘Ignacia! What happened?! What’s wrong?!’ but just as the panicked words left his mouth, Tobias’ mind was assaulted with the answers by way of visions.

God had erected a barrier around three of the Realms, cutting through the Dream Realm to interlock the Realms of Heaven and Hell with the Mortal Realm. A barrier that blocked the rest of the Rulers out from his newly expanded domain; similar to what Tobias had done around the Fey Realm. But God’s barrier also cut off the former Rulers from their former Realms and even their powers.

Ignacia would slowly recover once more, under the care of Tobias; though her power was truly gone. Something that was unfixable. Even Earth would heal slowly from its near destruction at the coils of Uroboros. Under the nurturing eye of God; its natural beauty would return, and it would soon flourish with life again.

Both Hell and the Mortal Realm were without a Ruler. Ripe for God to pick their favoured children to surmount the thrones of both and ascend to the height of Ruler themselves.

Story Over.

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