Prologue: The History of Denderath
The sound of sword against scales ensued during and endless battle of the crystals. The dragon king, King Annaheim, had his royal blacksmith Gerrund create five crystals and had his best magician Marlow added special powers that would either help or destroy the kingdom of Denderath. The humans soon heard about the crystals that could change their fate. So the humans revolted in demand that the crystals be handed over to them, and when that did not happen, a battle soon followed.
"Your majesty, the only way we will be able to stop the invasion and protect the crystals is to push the humans out of Denderath," dragon General Samuel exclaimed as Annaheim gazed over the battle field. So far the dragons had been able to defeat the humans easily in close combat, but the humans were becoming sneaky. They found other ways to defeat the dragons.
"Send your best out to create a fire barrier between us and the humans," the king said, "Place a notice on every home that a human occupies telling them that if they do not leave Denderath on their own, they will be forced out because of their rebellious action."
And that is what they surely did. Many of the humans had crossed the boundary lines. Dragons and humans had lived in peace until that dreadful day. So the dragons decided to take action by forcing every human out of Denderath for good.
The majority of the humans lived in the capital city of Denali. So the dragon army had a particularly difficult time making sure that every human was eradicated. Not eradicated in the sense of killed, but making sure that every one of them was out of sight of the sovereignty of Denderath.
"We have pushed the humans out of Denali," Samuel gave the report.
"Keep pushing them west. Do not let them rest enough to regroup." Annaheim stated.
"May I ask why?" Samuel inquired.
"If they regroup, it might give them the advantage to take over your contingent of troops. Did not you yourself say that they had created new ways to kill us?"
"Yes sir I did. And we are taking every precaution to avoid that. We mainly stay in the air and hardly ever land unless we absolutely need to," Samuel stated.
"Keep it that way. I do not want to lose any more of my people," Annaheim instructed as Samuel bowed low and then opened his massive wings and flew away.
The next couple of days required skills like none other from both the humans and dragons alike. The humans were corralled onto boats once they reached the port city of Portsmouth. The sail was slow due to lack of winds between Portsmouth and Dagonia where the ships were restocked with food from the island and more humans and boats sailed westward.
The most perilous part of the journey westward was the open ocean between Dagonia and and the unknown isle. Treacherous storms threatened the voyage as the ships rocked from side to side, threatening to flip the ship completely around. But soon they were in sight of their destination. The dragons called it the unknown isle because there were not any dragons in the land and it was uncharted. It was also a peninsula from larger land mass that stretched both north and west.
As soon as to humans landed, a new dragon force arrived to replace the weary ones. Samuel was one of the replacements. He could see the scowls on the faces of the humans as they looked upon his glistening yellow scales that were adorned with the garb of a dragon general.
But this wasn't their last stop. Knowing very well that if they were to keep the humans on the unknown isle, they could very well come back in force and destroy the dragon race all together. So Samuel decided to order to new dragon force to push the humans even further west to islands and mainlands that were unknown to the dragons of Denderath.
"And that is why, to this day there are no humans in the land of Denderath," Martin the market story teller told the crowd that had gathered around his tent.
Martin was well known in the country for his fabulous and sometimes fabricated stories of past events. He was the oldest dragon in Denderath and had lived through the rule of many kings and queens. He lived through the history of many years of triumph and failure for the kingdom.
"How do we know that there weren't humans here to begin with and you are just making up that story just to fill our children's ears?" Someone from the crowd protested.
"It is as true as the scales on my nose, I tell you. I lived through it myself although I was only a teen when this was all going on; I remember it like it was yesterday. Go and try to find one of the oldest history books in the country and try to prove me wrong," Martin argued.
The crowd dispersed but not all left. Two teen dragons sat on their haunches waiting for Martin to tell them a special story that only they would hear. Each one of them had a golden band that stretched around their horns signifying royalty.
"Are your highnesses looking for a story to fill your ears?" Martin asked as his back was turned. He was shuffling through some old scrolls that were in crates. He glanced back at the two who were still sitting patiently awaiting the wonderful words of the magnificent story teller.
"Yes please!" They both shouted together.
Oreon and Orion were their names. They were rare twin dragons as most dragons only develop one egg at a time.
Oreon was the oldest and the stronger of the two. His scales were black and the scales on his belly were a stunning burgundy red. He had a temper to match so no one really wanted to make Oreon angry.
Orion was the smart one. Not saying that Oreon wasn't smart too, just Orion spent his spare time reading and studying about math or history. He had a yellow green underbelly and green scales that gleamed when he flew.
They were both seventeen and princes of the Denderath and eager to learn as much as they could about the fabled tales of their ancestors or tales of many daring battles of old.
"You know those crystals that I was telling you about. Each one of them have a special power. If they are found by a true sovereign of Denderath, then they can help or destroy the kingdom, depending on the motives of the wielder," Martin started.
"You mean to say," Orion started, "That if we find them, then it could bring good fortune to the country?"
"You could say something like that!" Martin exclaimed as he turned to face the princes.
"Or we could use them to destroy every kingdom that is not friendly to us!"
"If you do, then the whole kingdom is doomed," Martin finished, "It is said that the heart of the dragon determines how the crystals use their powers. If you have an evil heart and evil desires, then the power of the crystals will pour evil onto the land and vice versa."
"Wow. So how can one go about finding these crystals?" Orion asked.
"With a very special map that has been handed down a certain family line for centuries," Martin specified as he unrolled the scroll that he had picked up.
The unrolled scroll showed a map of Denderath. The country came to life as the eyes of the princes glanced over the map. There were five spots where the crystals were hidden exactly where Annaheim had left them so many years ago.
"What are you looking at?" a deep voice asked. Both Oreon and Orion turned around and saw their dad King Garmadon enter the tent.
"A map," Oreon answered excitedly.
As Garmadon lumbered closer, he recognized the intricate design that bordered the map. Immediately a displeased look fell onto the dragon king's face. He knew that if his two sons were to go and search for the treasure, it could mean death to both of them and the end to the rule of his family line.
"What stories have you been entertaining my children with?" Garmadon demanded.
"Just the same story that I told everyone else. I told them the reason behind the disappearance of all the humans in Denderath and your sons are the ones who asked me to divulge deeper into the story," Martin defended.
"Kids come along," Garmadon ordered, "I don't want you to tell those kind of stories again to my children. You know how dangerous that journey is. You have taken that excursion yourself."
"If you would have let me finish, your majesty, then maybe you would have let me say that it is a perilous journey and I do not recommend anyone, especially the heirs to the kingdom to take on such a journey," Martin concluded.
"I hope that you meant it," Garmadon retorted as he lumbered away with Orion and Oreon in tow.
"Dear creator, I really want those two young princes to find the crystals. Please let the desire that I see inside them kindle into a flame that can never be extinguished so that they have the desire to find the crystals that could help this hurting kingdom," Martin prayed to the creator of the world.