Excerpt: The Ambassador Stone

Prologue – What Went Before
Long ago, back when the world was still young, all the races of Earth lived together in relative harmony. This all changed when the God of Chaos and Destruction, known as Saranus, decided he was going to create a new race. The God took the rocks and the earth and fashioned a form for his creations, using molten lava for blood. He named his people the Demonati, and set them loose on the world, where they quickly spread, causing devastation and killing anything they came across.
The Goddess Karini, seeing this destruction, created the Angelli from the forests and the rivers of Earth and set them free to stop the Demonati from destroying everything. Working together with the Weres – animal shape changers – and the Wytchkin – mages and sorcerers, the Angelli managed to stop the onslaught of the Demonati, although many lost their lives during this long and difficult battle. The Moon Mother, along with the Fae God Darathanian, created a realm for the Demonati below the earth, which they called Abismall.
The world had been all but destroyed by the Demonati, so the various Gods and Goddesses also created realms for their people to live in while the Earth recovered. Hayven was created above the clouds for the Angelli to watch over all the realms. The Weres were given the forested realm of Holmwood, and the Fae went to live in Arakadi, where they could play their tricks on each other without getting in trouble. The Wytchkin retreated behind the mirrors to Dagon, and the Vampires went to the perpetually twilight realm of Syncyti. One more realm was created at this time. Edenna, built for the Humani to live in peace while the Earth healed, has long since been lost to history. Some Humani went to live there, but most of them chose to stay on Earth and help to rebuild what was destroyed.
To get to each of these realms, you need a Portal Stone. When the Gods created the realms, they issued stones to several trusted members of each race. The Abismall Stone is a deep red garnet, and must be used deep within a dark cave. To get to Arakadi, you need a Portal Stone made of lapis lazuli, and somewhere quiet to meditate. The Dagon Stones are made of amethyst, and will allow you to step through a mirror to get to that realm, and the Holmwood Pendants, used in the clearing of an ancient forest, are malachite. To get to Syncyti, you need the jet-black onyx Stone and an old abandoned building, and the Hayven portal is created by a piece of moonstone, although only the rulers of that realm will allow you access, whether you have a Portal Pendant or not. The Earth Stone is fire opal and the lost realm of Edenna may be accessed with an amber Portal Pendant, but only if someone can find out how to get there...
Each race has fourteen of these Portal Stones and seven Ambassador Stones, which are made of clear quartz crystal and allow access to all of the realms, instead of just one. The Edennan Stones have been lost since the early days, and most of the Earth Stones are also missing at the moment. One of the Ambassador Stones is known to lie at the bottom of the ocean, while another was lost in an earthquake a long time ago. That leaves four of the Earth Stones remaining somewhere in the world. Somebody knows where they are, even if they are not sure of exactly what they are. One day these Stones will show up, and the realms will be waiting...