Come, young ones, and listen to my tale. Gather round and hear a tale of stars children, love, darkness, and dragons.

Chapter one, the once great land of Thormic

Once, long ago my child, I would have become the queen of this land and we would have been free. Yes my love, free. We had no men in masks to hold us down or force us into a world of darkness. No, before all of this death and despair, we were free in a land of our own creation. We were dancing, singing, farming, and even running in a land of dreams, guarded by fierce creatures who breathed fire and flew with massive, leathery wings and cries that rattled the earth itself. But be still my dear, for they did not harm us, they did love us. They were dear friends, who sat at our table and kept us safe in our houses. They were called dragons. The dragons came from the far south. They had fled their home, the volcanoes of Rothes, in search of a better place. Led by their mighty leader, Thornwall, they tracked a star in the north, which led them through snow, fire, wind, and the darkness itself. When they arrived, over the northern horizon, the land was dark. No light shone anywhere and the people where scared, cold, and meek. The sight of these behemoths with fangs and claws whose height was three times our size, we surrounded them and pleaded for their help. Thornwall was taken by the courage of this creature that he stopped the dragons and smiled. Then, the dragons raised their heads and let lose their fire. It swelled and grew great in the sky, and it shone on everything and everyone, scaring the darkness away. They called it the “sun”, and it was warm and bright. It helped the crops grow, and the animals to dance. Flowers of every color, size, and shape imaginable grew rampant. Seeing what they had done we thanked the dragons and offered them to stay, and so they did. We built a city together, which glistened in the sun, and called it Thormic, after their leader Thornwall the magnificent. There dragons and humans lived side by side with nature. Many a year passed in good health and joy, but it was not to last. There were, in the clouds above, an evil force that wished all that sparkled and gleamed to die. It was Ganorga, the dark bringer, and her horde of dark crystal minions. She saw our existence and the joy we had and hated it. She sent horde after horde of her minions to cover the land with darkness. They wilted our flowers, turned our crops to dust, and tried to enslave our people. But our friends the dragons fought alongside us for the land we had built. Many a bloody battle were fought between our army of dragons and the armies of Ganorga. Many died trying to protect our home, but while still in battle, the dragons disappeared one day and with them the sun. With no sun or dragons to protect us, we could not save ourselves from the armies that fell from the sky like rain. We were left defenseless, and were soon captured by Ganorga. The skies turned black and dark storm clouds covered the land and never-ending rain fell. Mud soon covered our grassy lands and our hearts. We were put into cages, and only released for work in the soot mines. So, here we are, my dear, stuck in this prison. But, look out these bars my dear princess. I have hope that one day, over that horizon there, the dragons and the sun will return and save us from these evil monsters. I pray they will, for your sake and mine. And one day, I wish to show you a real dragon. So, my lovely Lilith, stand tall, and grow like the flowers use to, for, one day, when you will take my place as queen, and you will be a sign of hope for your people. I hope that by then, the darkness will be gone for good. So, sleep my dear, and even though you have never seen any color then gray and dirt brown, dream of field of green grass and oceans of blue. Sleep.
Chapter Two, The Star twins.
Oh, your fever rises higher with every passing day. Be still my dear princess. Do not shake anymore or cough any louder. If they find you ill and unable to work, they will take you away from me forever and you shall not see me again. Here, will a story help you sleep? Alright, then I will tell you the story that has been passed down from my own mother to me and many before her, an age old tale of things that were called stars. Since us, the humans of the earth who had cried during the day and slept during the night, we thought that we were all alone for we saw no light and thought that all was dark. But that was not true. Stars existed, many and of different sizes and shapes. They were there in the beginning, the only light that shone anywhere in the universe was stars. Millions of them glowed colors of blue, green, red, and yellow which danced in to night sky. These glorious things, that where constantly threatened by a darkness that grew at the edge of the universe, where taken care of by beings called Star Children. They were said to be more like gods than men, flawless and radiant. With golden eyes, silver hair, and dresses of light blue, they cared for the stars and frolicked amongst the galaxies. They lived for many years as children unafraid of the darkness, until they reached the age when they became star gods and goddesses, each with their own stars to protect from the darkness. They lived in a lovely kingdom that was called Athos. There, all was glass and shone; even in darkness. They danced all day, in star flowers and cloud covers. They shimmered and danced, like flying comets. Can you see them my dear? Aren’t they beautiful? But, sadly, there are no more to speak of. Do you want to know what happened to them? Well, there was once a king, my dear, who had two beautiful daughters: the young princess Clara and the older sister Varro. Both sisters were born flawless and glowed with the brightest light that gave hope to the star gods of a future free from the darkness. They lived many years, ignorant of the war between their people and the darkness, until their sixteenth birthday. It came time to choose which sister would take the throne. Varro wished for her crown, but was overlooked by her father. He declared her sister the next star queen. Varro, outraged, attacked her sister. She was arrested and thrown out of the kingdom. She wandered long and far, with not a kind word spoken to her. All who saw her cursed her and her deeds. Tormented by the world, she eventually fled to the end of the universe. There she met a man who took her to a place of no stars. He then told her he was the embodiment of the darkness that threatened her people, who wished to help her. It told her, in a sickly sweet voice, that he could give her the power she craved to destroy the star children and gods for what they had done to her. Her anger and distain for them lead her to agree to give away her soul to the darkness in order to become all powerful. With all that dark power, she attacked the palace and destroyed the armies of her sister. After she had taken the castle, she turned its people into horrid creatures with black masks. These same creatures are the ones which keep us here. But, so power hungry was she that she decided she wanted the whole universe to be hers. She took over many planets, and then found ours. It is said, that when she saw us dancing with the dragons, it reminded her of her home and her sister. So, like a cloud of locusts, she descended on our land, fighting our dragons, destroying our villages, killing our women and children. It was not till she has cleared our land of all light, did she finally enslave us, and became ruler of the whole universe. But do not lose hope, for as long as the dragons live in our hearts, so do they live in our lives. We will be free someday, and we shall go find the dragons. Now rest my dear, and get better soon. Think of the dragons and be well.

Chapter Three: The Disappearing Dragons
My father was the most amazing dragon in history. He was strong and big with a tail that could have speared three knights clean though their armor. My mother said that he could move mountains and evaporate whole oceans, and I believed her. We lived in a cave in Mount Rothes for many years. But then, the lava started to rise unexpectedly. It rose and cooled quickly, trapping many of our kind (including our leader) in eternal stillness. My father, as the largest dragon, was the leader of the dragons during the great exodus from Mount Rothes. I was only five when we left. The world was hard a cruel place for a young dragon. So I became like the world to survive and please my father. I helped the sick and wounded, and moved forward, protecting our clan. They called my “Ragnorak the kind”, but all I wanted was to make my father proud. I was sixteen when we reached the land of the fleshy creatures. There, we saw them, crouching crying in heaps waiting for death. My father told us to press on, and many looked away from them, so as not to cry. I thought that they were all weak. I wished to leave no trace of our existence there. But, they in circled us, praying and crying for help in loud shrill voices. My father, who was sensitive, looked unto the darkness that surrounded this land, and breathed a ball of swirling yellow flames. It rose high in the sky, and flushed away all the darkness. Grass grew, flowers bloomed, and the land looked plentiful. Cries of joy erupted from the animals, which hugged us and thanked us with smiles and kisses. My father surveyed the land and told us that this was our new home. They welcomed us into their land, and we lived side by side. Soon enough, we lived in the same houses, ate the same food, and danced all day. When I was old enough, I chose a wife, and moved in with a kind human called Simon. He, too, had a wife and two children, and we lived together for what now seems like a short time before it came. The one the humans called Ganorga sent gnashing beats upon a tribe in the south, killing many of both human and dragon. My father was called into battle, and so was I. I left my pregnant wife and my humans to go to war aside my father. We fought many of these creatures in the battles to save the western and northern tribes, but lost many and failed. So, eventually, my father sent me and my head general Fillion into a battle, which I lost. My shame knew no bounds, but my father did not blame me. Finally, my father challenged the evil goddess to a final battle, dragons and humans against darkness. While the humans where small and mostly useless in battle, but willing to fight alongside us against Ganorga. We meet on the field, and the bloodiest battle of all time ragged on. Claws scratched, fangs bit, spears pierced sides, fire pierced the darkness, many fell, but in the end, I was the only one left. I held the body of my father in my arms and turned to the humans for help. But, the coward lice fled, leaving him to die. Enraged, I spread my wings and flew up, not knowing where to but wanting to escape this world. I flew for many days, until I reached the planet again. Nothing but brimstone and fire remained. Not a soul remained uncontrolled by Ganorga or not locked up. The battle field was now but a dragon graveyard, with bones and skulls littered everywhere. I turned in horror to return home, but only saw more terror. The village was destroyed. My house was gone, my human’s bones littered the family room and my wife lay dead in our nest. I searched her for any signs of life, to find that she had protected our egg from the attackers. Hopeful to find others, I took the egg and searched the town for dragons, only to find another egg and the remains of dragons. My soul was gone. I took the eggs and returned to the only safe place I knew, Mount Rothes. There I stay, watching the eggs, hoping they would never hatch into this world of horror and darkness.
Chapter Four: The last Dragon
It was many years after I came to Rothes that they came to find me. Two small children, a boy and girl, called out to me one morn. They were much like the creatures that we had seen when my father and my clan first came to that land of death; covered in soot and blood. These horrid creatures, with selfish minds and useless bodies who should have died long ago came before me now. And here they were again asking me to return and save them. Telling me of the turmoil of their people and how much they need me. I hiss at them and return to my cave. As I hug my eggs and try to shake away the nightmares I have seen, I hear a soft but heart shattering noise; the sound of a child crying. The young girl weeps and begs me to listen to her reason for coming here. I oblige so that she will stop her infernal crying. She weaves a talk of her mother, and how she believed in the dragons, how she longed to see one, and knew they were wondrous creatures who were strong and righteous. How, until her last breath, she believed that they would come save them so that they could live in harmony once again. This woman, so weak and old, who had the strongest heart I had ever heard of. And, images of my father, his love for humans, my mother, my wife, my humans, and even my unborn child danced though my eyes. And I cried. I had strayed so far from my fathers will to live and his ideas, that I did not know my own face anymore. I shook from my daze and said that I could not help. My old body and wings where broken and faded. “But, instead, take my son and this girl. Let them live and breathe in your arms, so that they might bring back life to your world.” As they disappeared over the horizon, I could feel the life draining from me. My last thoughts were “Have I made you proud, father?” And somewhere deep in my heart, I knew I had.
And so, children, I have ended my story. You may wonder what became of the last two dragons or of the princess and her kingdom. Well, young ones. I am the great granddaughter of the princess of Thormic. We are all children of those two who first brought back the eggs to our land, and set us free, so that we may now see the stars at night, and fly with the dragons.