He looked down at the little red wyrm at his feet. She had a book in her mouth and was looking up at him expectantly, "Yes, Martia?"

*Skittles, could you read this to me? It's in a funny language you haven't taught me yet and it looks really pretty. Could you please read it to me?*

Skittles bent down and picked up his bondmate. "Let's see if I can read the book first." He set it on the table for inspection, and found that it was an ancient book written in a dead holy language. It had various artworks scattered across the cover.

"You got this from the En'dai didn't you?" He asked himself more then Martia. With a sigh he opened to the cover page, which had a two lines of writing in plain black ink. "The Story of the Gods and Goddesses: A Never Ending Battle." Heh. You've struck gold."

*You mean it?* Martia's eyes widened even more.

Skittles nodded, "Now, shall we make ourselves comfortable? This is a rather long book and I don't want to stand to read the whole thing."

Without a word more Skittles made himself comfortable on a stool while Martia made herself comfortable sitting on a table top. And so Skittles began to read...

***

At first there was nothing but Chaos. A form of complete nothingness not known to anything that has ever lived. The Chaos was the only thing for an unknowable amount of time until from it came two things. Life and Death.

With the coming of the forces Order followed shortly after. Order, with the help of Life and Death, created a universe. In that particular universe, a little planet was created. That little planted was very lonely, even if there were several others around it, so it created the gods. The Mighty Gratira came first, and she was the goddess of good, honor, day, and life. Next came her young sister Col d'tirra the goddess of love, nature, joy, and determination.

The little blue planet was not the only one lonely, the Heavens that protected it were lonely as well. The Heavens created to children as well, one now called Aritarg the Terrible, the god of evil, cunning, night, and death. His brother was Kynadtuli the god of intelligence and magic. 

Upon the planet the gods met each other. Nothing bad had come from it, and all was peaceful for a time. Until, the gods became horribly bored of utter silence and perfect everything. They defied the wishes of Earth and the Heavens.

Kynadtuli was the first to stand against them. He made the first race of dragons. They were small, cunning and eager to explore the world. Alas! The god of intelligence made a dangerous mistake, and forgot to give the dragons caution. The race, in turn, destroyed itself but gave the gift of bravery to any race after them. Earth and the Gods were left to their own doings.

Col d'tirra came next, and failed just the same. Her race was filled with happiness and bliss, but they were foolish and wanted far to much. In the end they became hateful and spiteful, leaving spirits of misfortune behind.

Aritarg decided to try his hand at the art of creation, but when he made his race they were built heavy and vicious, lacking any heart. One by one they killed each other leaving only a river of blood. 

Gratira hesitated in making any sort of race. She knew perfectly well that she would fail on her first attempt, but eventually she decided to continue. So she made race of heroes. This race lasted longer than any of the others. It failed as well, because the dragons could not adapt to change in weather and elevation.

Fed up with failure, the dragons decided to work together to create one common race. This common race would have a variety of dragons. Ranging from red to violet and more. Some would be brave, while others would be intelligent. The gods would give the best gifts, and talents. So, they each gathered energy to create four dragons. 

One was simple with slick shining scales and blue in color. That nameless little dragon was said to be the first of a Machesri Clan Dragon. It matched in every way, except for the talons on each of his feet. He was given the gifts of a good heart and superior speed. 

The second was dark hand had two sets of wings, it was black in color and had glowing red eyes. Obviously a Hirgyae dragon ancestor, and was given the gifts of mental speech and the power to harvest the wind.

The next was given fur, for varieties sake, and sported four legs and a tail like a modern day fox. This dragon was given the gifts of magic in its purest form and the dangerous knowledge that goes with it.

The last dragon was given the gifts of radiance and passion.  She was like no other dragon brilliant and shining. She stood taller then all the rest and was given both wings, legs, and the power to swim.

These four dragons lived happily, and were given companions to live with. All seemed well for a long while until the first four were long forgotten. Other animals, created by Earth, came forward and over shadowed the poor little Bishel dragons. Even being over shadowed the Bishel dragons made their way through life, but forgot about the gifts the gods gave them. 

This worried Gratira the most of all. She spoke her fears to Kynadtuli, who agreed with her philosophy. "Yes, Dear Gratiria, we must show them who they need to be thankful too!"

They told  the plan to the two others, who agreed whole heartedly. They would manifest themselves in front of the two most prestigious dragons descended from the original four. The names of the dragons are lost but the closest translations are Ghal for the male and Luka for the female.

Gratira took the form of a powerful golden dragon, with two sets of feathered wings, on set of regular ones, and finally four powerful legs. Aritarg was next, as a sliver dragon, with four powerful wings, two sets of regular wings and one feathered. Col d'tirra choose her form next. It was of a copper dragon combined with crystal, she had a set of regular wings and a set of feathery ones, along with four legs like her sister. Kynadtuli was the last to choose his form of a platinum dragon, with two sets of regular wings, and a set of four legs with slightly webbed feet.

With their new splendid forms the came to see Ghal and Luka, only to be greatly disappointed. Both said that the Bishel dragons abused the gift given to them long ago. Both admitted that they themselves had squandered the gifts quite often.

Furious Aritarg condemned the dragons. *How dare you speak in such tones! You should be condemned to live in eternal suffering! I leave you now with this thought: "Beware the raging storm ahead!"* With that he thundered away, leaving the group with hatred for living things in his heart.

Col d'tirra nudged the frightened Luka. *Don't bother with him. He's more steam then anything else.  You must leave this place and seek shelter in the earth even so.*

Gratira agreed whole heartedly, *Be careful in your safe haven! The Earth is bitter because we took things into our own hands. The Heavens and Earth will most certainly convince Aritarg to do something terrible. So, as protection, I bless you and any of you descendents.* With that blessing both Gratira and her sister left the estate leaving only the God of Intelligence left.

Both dragons looked at him fearfully. He shook his head slowly, *Next time your children see me I will be in a far less divine form. I will still have this coloration but my wings will be tattered and torn, and mix- matched of sorts. Tell your children of me, and O! You must tell your children of the others or face the consequences.*

Ghal and Luka were left alone to master their own destinies. Knowing better they followed the gods advice and hid. Many others followed suit when they saw the worried expressions on the mates faces.

Shortly after a freezing cold came. All those who could not adapt died in the freezing cold brought on by Aritarg's anger. Gratira and Col d'tirra mourned during the many years the earth was covered in a blanket of white...