//------------------------------//
// Chapter 1 
// Story: The Dragon's Roar 
// by Zephyr Spark 
//------------------------------//

            In the earliest days of the world, night and day agreed they should be separated into different parts, each with a herald for the end and a beginning. Beneath the Queen Sun, the Mage of Twilight brought the night’s ending and the day’s beginning and Knight Solar Flare maintained the day’s light. Beneath the Queen Moon, the Sorcerer of Sunset brought the day’s end and the night’s beginning and King Sombra maintained the night’s darkness until the Mage of Twilight ended the night. The Wizard of Starlight would pattern stars in the sky at night and make sure the sun was never to hot or too cold. Meanwhile, the Sultan of Black Holes would make sure the night sky was never too crowded with stars and that clouds of rain would interrupt the sun’s light when it became too burdensome. During this time, there lived dragons, who maintained the natural flow of the earthly realm. Should one avatar seem too eager to combine their power with another and rule two elements of the world, a single dragon’s roar would alert the world, which would soon right itself. Should any injustice linger in the world, the dragon’s roar would move the wheels of progress and change. Thus, no injustices or violations of the natural order could linger.

            But one day, Lord Stagnation, the avatar opposed to any progress, planted seeds of malice and weeds of greed into the hearts of Knight Solar Flare, King Sombra, and the Sultan of Black Holes. These avatars became corrupted with power-hungry desires. Knight Solar Flare placed a seal on the Mage of Twilight, trapping her in a state of deathlike sleep, and locked away Queen Moon in the heavens. Thus, day could never begin and the sun would never rise. King Sombra placed the same seal on the Sorceror of Sunset and locked away Queen Sun in the heavens. Thus, night could not begin and the moon could not rise. The Sultan of Black Holes wiped out the dragons, so no one could roar against the tyrants. But in doing so, he gave the Wizard of Starlight time to escape into hiding with a single baby dragon.

            This baby dragon, named Spike for his piercing voice, was the adoptive son of the Mage of Twilight. She was his mother, the only one he ever knew. Although the Wizard of Starlight told him not to think of risking his life to save the Mage of Twilight, he continued training himself to become strong enough to restore the natural order. “I will never stand down and accept what destroys the world. I will become strong enough to stop them.”

            As King Sombra and Knight Solar Flare bickered over who should rule the heavens, the Sultan of Black Holes spent the next ten years tracking down the Wizard of Starlight, who still dotted the skies with stars. He found her in a cottage buried deep in the heart of the woods. When Spike was asleep, the Sultan of Black Holes ambushed her and dealt her a deadly blow to the heart. He was devouring her magical powers when Spike awoke and blasted dark-green flames at the Sultan of Black Holes. Injured and facing destruction, the Sultan of Black Holes retreated. Spike tended to the Wizard of Starlight’s wounds.

            “Spike,” said the Wizard of Starlight. “I was wrong. You are strong enough to free the Mage of Twilight and the Sorcerer of Sunset. If you can free them, I may yet recover and get my magic back. Then, maybe even the world will return to its natural order.”

            “What must I do?” Asked Spike.

            “Go to the realm of Knight Solar Flare where east beats back the west. There you will find his castle. Deep in the dungeons, you may find the Mage of Twilight. To break her seal, you will need my blessing. Then, you two can reignite the stars. Head where the west beats back the east and climb the stairway to King Sombra’s Castle of Night. There you will find the Sorcerer of Sunset. Once they are freed, you will have the power to free the rest of my magic from the Sultan of Black Holes. Then together, we can restore harmony.”

            He held her hand tightly, “I swear to you, I will bring back order.”

            The Wizard of Starlight gave Spike her blessing and the last embers of her magic, before drifting into a deathly-sleep. Spike headed to the place where the east beats back the west. Over the horizon appeared a castle, so blindingly white that gazing upon its walls and parapets burned anyone without scales or magic. Spike snuck past the sentries into the dungeon where he found the Mage of Twilight resting in a coffin. Her face was paler than the white castle walls, sickly and sunken. He leaned down and placed his hand over her still heart. From tips of his dragon claws, a flicker of starlight trickled down into her heart. The pale white engulfing her broke, and the Mage of Twilight opened her violet eyes. Upon seeing her adoptive son, she leapt into his arms and embraced him. Together at last, they wept with joy at having found each other. The Mage of Twilight brought her lips to Spike’s forehead and stroked his scaly head.

            Spike told her everything the Wizard of Starlight had said. The Mage of Twilight understood and grabbed Spike’s hand. Where their hands touched, a beam of light shot out to the sky and returned fire to the stars. “Now we must climb the stairway to King Sombra’s Castle of Night,” said Spike. The Mage of Twilight nodded and said, “To do that, we must find the stairs of stars.” They headed to the opposite end of the earth where the east beat back the west. A trail of feebly blinking stars descended from the sky and formed a stairway that ascended deep into the night sky. They climbed into the sky. After leaving the earth, they found in the clouds, King Sombra’s Castle of Night, surrounded by a swirl of thunderous clouds. The castle was built with night stones, the only stones that could rest on top of darkness. The Mage of Twilight pointed to the thunderclouds that swirled like black holes and said, “The Sultan of Black Holes is warring with King Sombra to claim ownership of the night. They won’t notice us getting in.”

            They managed to sneak past the warring tyrants. In the dungeon, they found the Sorcerer of Sunset trapped in a death trance within a coffin. A pale darkness clung to her skin, making her look haggard. Spike placed his hand over the Sorcerer of Sunset’s heart and let the starlight flow into her chest. Life returned to her eyes and she rose from the coffin to embrace her friends. “Now,” said Spike, “we must take back the Wizard of Starlight’s magic from the Sultan of Black Hole.” “It will not be easy,” said the Sorcerer of Starlight, “the tyrants will likely join forces to stop us.” “Perhaps,” said Spike, “But we cannot leave the world in disarray. We have the power to restore order. We must use it.” So inspired by his words, the Sorcerer of Sunset and the Mage of Twilight agreed they would fight their counterparts.

             They climbed to the top of the Castle of Night, and then climbed the stars into the heavens above night and day. There, the three tyrants approached them, armored and lethal. King Sombra launched magical arrows of sharp darkness, but the Mage of Twilight changed them into harmless rays of light, ending their threat. Knight Solar Flare flung his brilliant javelin across the heaven, but the Sorcerer of Sunset changed the weapon into a powerless shadow. As they dealt with their counterpart avatars, Spike charged at the Sultan of Black Holes. The Sultan of Black Holes unleashed his full magical wrath on the young dragon, the weight of a trillion collapsing stars and lightning bolts. Although Spike felt the injuries across his body and his blood seeped from wounds, he refused to bow down. His desire for natural order was too strong for his own body. He reached the Sultan and opened his mouth, releasing a torrent of dark-green flames. Blinded by the fire, the Sultan of Black Holes could not stop Spike from attacking his heart and freeing the magic stolen from the Wizard of Starlight.

             The magic fell from the heavens like a single drop of rain into the sky, where it culminated and spread through the night, strengthening the feeble stars to their utmost brilliance. Amidst the radiant beams of her starlight magic, the Wizard of Starlight regained her powers and awoke. She melted into starlight and traveled up into the heavens where the other avatars warred. Upon reaching the heavens, she joined her fellow mages. The Sorcerer of Sunlight rested her hand on Spike’s right shoulder, the Mage of Twilight rested her hand on Spike’s head, and the Wizard of Starlight rested her hand on Spike’s left shoulder. Channeling their power into the young dragon, they fueled his mighty roar that shook the heavens like an earthquake. The piercing roar broke into the minds of the tyrants and rooted out the plants of malice and weeds of greed, planted by Lord Stagnation long ago. Freed from insanity, the three released Queen Sun and Queen Moon and apologized for their sins.

            As natural order returned to the heavens, the avatars discussed what they should do next. “We must find a way to keep Lord Stagnation from disrupting order in the heavens,” said the Mage Twilight. “I would suggest making Spike the avatar of progress.” “That’s all well and good,” said the Wizard of Starlight. “But who will defeat stagnation and corruption on Earth? The dragons are all gone.” Lord Stagnation could not be killed, as he too was an avatar, necessary in certain parts of the natural world. But in areas of moral stagnation, there were no longer dragons on Earth to roar against injustices. After some debate, Spike came forward, “I have spent much time on Earth. There are some creatures who could recognize any stagnation or breaches of justice on the world. I could give them my gift of roar, to speak out against injustice, so they may change things.” The eight avatars agreed. Thus, Spike gifted mankind with power to speak out against injustice, against stagnation, against breaches of the natural world.

            So whenever order seems unachievable and money planted seeds of corruption in the rulers of your lands, just remember: you have the voice of a dragon, the power to change the world. Some may try to silence you and the voices of dragons, but never despair. For they know your power, and by speaking—by roaring against injustice—you too maintain the natural order, you too move the wheels of progress.