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Greetings, I am Dartmoor Vashta, second son of Gerfred and Verune Vashta. This may come as a suprise, but I only know their names because the people I was once a part of kept very good records. My older brother, Vertruis, is the only family I know, though things between us are... complicated.

Currently, I am... Well I don't really know how old I am since time has a interesting behavior of not being a straight line. It also does not help that the entirety of everything was destroyed in one catastrophic event, and life was restored once the planets and universes reformed. But that is another story that I'll share on another day. This one is about where I come from, and the beginning of a chain of events that has brought me to where I am.

On the planet designated RG479.28.50139, or known to it's inhabitants as Pezrounis, there resides a city known as Aldersburg. It was a beauty to behold, laiden with white marble. Everything was made of it, including homes and bathing houses. The people were very much prosperous, and it helped that they were peaceful as well. In the center of the city, a temple was erected. Stairs surrounded it on all sides, being one circular slab on top of the next, upto the building. The temple itself was very simplistic. A dome, inlaid with gold, placed upon eight perfectly spaced columns. At the core, a simple tombstone with some writing upon it. Unfortunately I cannot tell you what those words were, as the stone has long since been shattered.

'The White City' or 'Heaven's Glory' were common nick-names for Aldersburg. Rumors had it that on a clear day, it was visable for 1,000 miles. The only way that that could have even been remotely possible would be from the sea. Shores of the gulf came right up, making it so trader vessels could easily dock for merchant goods. In no way were they secluded from the rest of the world, which one would have supposed given the unity of the people. Perhaps it had something to do with them not being human, though they certainly passed for them on a daily occurance.

I was born five years after my brother, my only sibling. Our parents were doing what they could to raise us proper, like any other native.

Things weren't exactly the same in our home as it was with the city. You see, my brother tried to kill me shortly after my birth. My father stopped him when Vertruis entered the nursery with a butchers knife. According to mother's journal, they supposed that he was afraid that he was no longer loved and in turn, lose affection to me. Assurance was the only thing they could give him right then, letting him know that my birth didn't mark his insignificance.

If only it had ended there.

More attempts on my life came, each time being more clever so that blaming anyone would be difficult. There were several variations of pillow smothering, tripping down the stairs, and even leaving a snake inside the crib. Gerfred and Verune just couldn't understand it, as each time they rescued me before any harm could be done, my brother would receive even more affection in hopes that he would stop it. I wonder how long they would have gone on with that.

Shortly after I turned three, this also being the first memory that I can recall as it was so well imprinted, a great tragedy befell Aldersburg. Out of nowhere, a massive army of creatures began to attack. Never before had I seen anything like them, nor would I ever again. They were all white, translucent, and vaporal. If a zoo ever hosted animal ghosts, this would be the stampede that was let loose. Preying Mantises, Alligators, Lizards, and all manner of beasts, each at least five times their regular size, barred fang and claw down upon the people.

As fate would have it, the temple was really a weapon, seemingly designed to fight such monsters. Beams of green light would shoot out and disperse one into a light mist that vanished. It was not enough, as citizens were still being caught up, ripped apart, and devoured. Walls ment nothing to these things, nowhere was safe. You could only run, and that we did.

I don't know when it was, perhaps while rounding a corner into an alley, that I saw it. A terrifying monster, one that was teal-green and it wore black, standing upon one of the walls and looking down at me. It's flesh appeared to be made of stone. Considering the glare that it was showing my entire family, baring teeth, I screamed and ran away. A moment later and I'd hear the roar, of what sounded like a lion, entwined with blood gurgling screams of what had to be my parents.

Then, just as suddenly as the massacre had begun, it was over. The beasts dissolved into mist and were gone. Crying, I had hoped that my tears would steal away the illusion of blood splattered on the white marble. That the wounds in so many would be erased. But most of all, that my parents would be returned, instead of spines sticking out of their lower halves. Vertruis survived and was smiling and laughing like some sort of maniac. "It's all your fault. If you were dead, mom and dad would still be alive." I was too young to understand that there was something wrong with him, and believed what he had said.

As everyone was gathering together at the temple, to rejoice in those who lived and mourn those who were taken, a second wave struck. It wasn't the same creatures, or anything like them. No. This new enemy descended from the sky, in a mighty ship colored with lights on it's bottom. I thought this was a response to my prayer to be taken from the world. Ironically, it may just have been.

This new invader had things we never had seen. Craft that soared through the air, shooting out beams of light, very much alike to those the temple had made. These, however, were destroying our city. Panic set back in, and people struggled to regain the burst of adrenaline they just had.

Soldiers, clad in armor that refused to expose any traces of skin, began their march into our city. Those that ran were killed. Their rifles shot something, but it moved way to fast to be seen. We had been given a choice. Run and die, or stand and die.

They lied.

I stood, waiting for death to great me. If it would reunite me with my parents, and they would be more than just spines on legs, I would sacrifice myself for this. Instead, I was picked up and carried away. So was my brother, and any child that was still alive. We were being abducted.

The last I saw of Aldersburg that day, it was in flames. The temple was nothing more than a pillar of smoke upon the stairs. 'Heaven's Glory.' That day, Hell had won a victory. It eradicated a people of unique birth, who would quickly be forgotten. A seceret was stolen that day, and it is destined to never be returned.