Avery opened up the heavy book. There was a forwarded note from the scribe.

“I, Sir Zweiback, promise to do my honourably best in my written works of ‘At the beginning; Mother of the Gods.’ As the only scribe to have lived in all of the ten temples in the known world, I believe I am the person most qualified in telling this tale.”

Avery rolled her eyes, great a very humble beginning. She continued reading.

“That being said, please remember, man has many faults and storytelling is no exception. You will see throughout my works; I tried only to include the history that was found consistently throughout all ten of the temples and shared by all species. At the time of origination, the known world was five large countries rather than the ten that exist today. Lastly, I would urge all scholars to read my travel notes that I have combined into a guidebook, ‘The Master Scribe’s Journey to the Ten Temples’.”

Avery glanced longingly at the two books she had borrowed from the library. Maybe if I start with them instead….No, I always finish what I start reading.

At the beginning, the world had no name. The Mother of God's realized she had created a world too hard, too cruel, to live in; it remained nameless, as only things of worth deserve a name.

Seeking to rectify her mistake, she created ambassadors from herself to balance the world and ease its woes.

Her ambassadors appeared in the form of 12 dragons. Each dragon symbolized a unique stone, name, and strength. They spread their great wings and flew down to the nameless world. The 12 travelled over every landscape, listened to the people, animals, plants and more to learn about how they could help. By the end of their search, many decades past, they rejoined to create a single masterpiece, a stone they titled 'unendlichkeit'. Unendlichkeit would insert good into the world.

They took turns nurturing, treasuring, and strengthening the stone. Until one day, Thaolias, the Mother of the Gods favourite dragon, got a feel for the power of the rock they had created. After years of living in that dreadful world, he had been tainted. His mind corrupted by the idea of power he would be able to control, perhaps even more than The Mother herself. In trying to steal the stone, he committed an unspeakable crime.

On that day, the Mother of the Gods, screamed the most horrible sound ever heard on the nameless world. Oh, how she wished she could destroy Thaolias, but the 12 were a part of her, and thus like her kin. Maybe even more. Pieces and reflections of herself. She could not destroy Thaolias.

She took the stone away before the weeping Thaolias could react. She punished him in the worst way she could imagine; she wept a single tear. A tear that could cover the entire world she had created. It encapsulated Thaolias and buried him deep under the roots of the world where he would be punished to live in exile for the rest of his years.

The other dragons, truly scared of what they had witnessed, agreed no single entity could have such power. They destroyed the stone into five great pieces to be shared over the nameless world.

And so the new beginning had five new places. And as they were marvellous places, five proper names. Azuren, Sinceria, Ophalia (Land of the Suns), Ellastern and Aldebrand. Each glorious within itself, each with its distinctive qualities.

What Thaolias had tainted on the stone was such a small part, that separated, it held barely any effect.

The remaining dragons, still horrified but more importantly humbled by seeing that even themselves were not immune from the desire of power, returned to the Mother of the Gods. They continued to keep a watchful eye on the new world.

They had not seen their exiled brother, but they knew he still existed. Sometimes in the known world, something incredibly wicked would occur that they knew could not have happened without his influence.

So they watched and patiently waited until the day would come that they would be called upon again.

Avery sat very still and slowly exhaled. She hadn’t realized she had been holding her breath. The others were slowly heading to bed, and she listened to the soft sounds that filled the forest at night. She reached over and tapped the magical light; a blanket of darkness engulfed her. Avery wanted to keep reading, but her brain was shutting down. The last day had been enough activity for a lifetime. Her eyelids heavy, she slipped the book under her pillow, and fell into a deep sleep.