Our world is much the same as yours. It functions the same, in ways of nature, economy, even the work force. But in so many ways it is different. Whereas your world is one mass, one giant sphere separating its lands with water, Rift is made of many, of countless floating plates of stone, ranging in size from mere pebbles to kilometres in size. While you call your inner soul your spirit, our Spirits are our lifelong companions, animal beings which we somehow find in our first two years, and share an instant and everlasting friendship and psychic bond. But one thing that never changes is mans hunger for power. There will always be a greater evil, a force trying take hold of the world for itself. This darkness can take many forms, and it will never dissipate, only changing its form. But, in the same sense, a light will always burn strong to fend it off. A light, however young or old, however skilled or not, will be there, to fight.
This is the story of our light
Geoff and Naomi are dead, and they're depressed, but when Geoff's cat Bernie dies as well, they embark on a wild journey to find it in the underworld.
*****
When Geoff dies, alongside his girlfriend Naomi, they end up sharing an apartment in the Underworld as skeletons. But after a few years, Geoff starts suffering a mid-death crisis. What's the purpose of going through the motions as a skeleton if you can't really live? Then he gets word that his cat, Bernie, just died and he can collect him and bring him home! Geoff and Naomi hurry to get Bernie only to discover that, due to a clerical error, their cat has been lost. With the hunt for Bernie giving new purpose to Geoff's un-life, he and Naomi begin a quest to get back their cat. Battling skeleton pirates, climbing the sky ladder and facing off against the villain who took Bernie, Geoff is determined to find his purpose - or die a second time trying!
[[2018 Wattys Winner - The Originals]]
[[word count: 30,000-40,000 words]]