Chapter One

"Long ago, when there was nothing but empty space, the universe chose to create a small burst of light. The light transformed into a huge, glorious being, soon to become the first dragon and the Mother. The universe entrusted her with the power of creation, which the kind-hearted dragon put to use very well. She created a planet, and seeing it was so desolate, added dragons and humans to it. But the dragons were cruel to the humans! The Mother stole the wings of the dragons to cure their pride and honored the humans with the gift of Spinjitzu. All was well with the world of Ninjago."

But as happy as she was with the planet, she soon grew lonely, for she was much too large to converse with those on Ninjago. After contemplating on the subject for many days, she came to the conclusion that children would cure her loneliness. However, she feared that she would seem greedy, so she vowed these children would have a purpose to fulfill in order to keep everything going smoothly on Ninjago."

So she gathered her greatest power and created her children. Each one was different, oh so very different! There was first the eldest, a pure white dragon named Light, who would bring good and light to Ninjago. The second was Darkness, a pure black dragon who would bring evil and darkness to Ninjago. Don't say that was a stupid decision, child! There must always be a balance! Anyways, where was I… oh yes! The children!"

Next came Destiny. My, was she a beauty! Soft cream colored scales with the deepest purple eyes! She was granted the legendary Book of Destiny, to keep track of- yes, son, destinies. After this was Fate- no, fate and destiny are not the same things- then the Keeper of Time, then Ice, Earth, Lightning, and Fire, in that order. Each understood their purpose and served their Mother well."

Until the fateful day, when the Mother… died. The cause of her death still remains a mystery today, but her children were shocked. Light, being the eldest, believed he should be the new king. Shocked by how sudden he was to take charge, the rest of the children refused to listen to him. Light simply shrugged them off and turned to more important tasks- achieving his ambitions."

Light wanted pure good on Ninjago. No evil could roam! Ninjago was full of spite and hate, though, and he blamed it on the humans. He came up with a clever plan. He first created a Kingdom for the Dragons, accessible only through a hidden portal, then simply destroyed Ninjago. The dragons lived, but millions of human lives were lost in a fiery explosion. His brothers and sisters where shocked beyond belief! Light ignored them and created planet after planet, destroying each one as he discovered the evil on each."

Frustrated and tired of the effort, he turned against Darkness, blaming it on him. Darkness argued with his brother that there will always be a balance, and that there was no such thing as pure good. But Light would not listen to Darkness, and a battle broke out between the two. As they fought, the remains of the previous planet began to join together, much to the surprise of the others."

After many years of fighting, it was clear this battle was not easily won, so Light pulled a dirty trick: his spirit left his body to destroy Darkness's body from the inside. Darkness was strong, but this was too much. He gave up, and just as Light (back in his own body) was about to destroy him, Destiny rose up, and with immense strength, struck the brothers apart. The source of her great power was a complete mystery, but she banished her brothers to opposite sides of the universe. The Great Council, as they were known, scattered."

But on the planet that had been created, called Platana, people were hiding in the Dragon Kingdom. In order to avoid death from the destruction of the previous planet, they had struck a deal with the dragons: they would work on what the dragons could not, and the dragons would provide them with a place to live. However, the dragons are harsh, cruel creatures, and the humans are no better off than slaves- and sometimes steal human children. This is why you must stay inside, little Kao."

The small child sitting in the lap of his soft red haired mother yawned. He turned his head to look up at his mother with his big blue eyes. His mother ruffled his almost-white hair.

"Mother," the child nodded. "I love that story. I hope one day we can get Annie and Jacob back. And… be free. With a land just for people!"

Kao yawned and then made a pouty face. "Mother," he whined. "Why did you name me 'Kao'? I don't want to be 'face' for the rest of my life. And Jacob and Annie have regular names."

Kao's mother brushed his face with her hand. "Your face contains so much emotion, Kao. We can't name you anything simple. You deserve this name. Wear it with pride."

Just then, a strong, tall black haired man ran into the room and grabbed Kao. "Who's my little man?" He smiled. Kao shouted back "I am! I'm going to grow up and beat up those filthy dragons who took Annie and Jacob!"

Kao's father set him down and looked at Kao's mother. "Dear," he said, growing worried. "You look tired."

Kao's mother nodded, too tired to argue. "Bedtime for everyone!" His father shouted out. He winked at Kao and Kao winked back, then proceeding to take off in a run towards his bedroom. He would win the falling-asleep race this time!

As sleep closed his heavy eyelids, his dreams filled with images of heroes fallen and heroes rising.