Chapter 1

While Dracon fought Darks, Dragons still rule earth…in an alternate dimension. Like every monster myth, man wiped out each and every mythical creature, starting with Phoenixes, ending with Dragons. But like the Dragons of Dracon's world they evolved in order to survive, although in a more subtle way. Instead of losing abilities, they were gained…

Peter was late for school. Again. He couldn't help it; he had been exploring the day before and got back home at 11 o'clock. Now he trekked across concrete, pedaling furiously to make it to school. He glanced at his watch. 7:45. He had 5 minutes to cross three intersections, and ride a total of one mile. Shit…he thought. By the time he burst into class, it was 7:51.

"Late again, Mr. Le," snarled Mr. Dillings, infamous for thick red neck. Peter restrained himself from saying, I know Mr. Redneck. Instead, he set his books down and plopped into his seat. He rubbed a hand across his short black hair. He had slightly chubby cheeks and wore glasses.

"Hey, think you can get up earlier, you ugly fat bastard?" whispered a voice beside him. He glanced to the right. It was Sam Baba, douche extraordinaire.

"One, I'm not fat, I'm just big, two, turn around or I'll bust your face," hissed Peter.

Sam just grinned and raised his hand, and Mr. Dillings called on him.

"Sir, Peter just called me a bad word," Sam said sweetly, but his eyes glowed with malice. Peter simply groaned and prepared for the worst. This happened most every day. First, Sam would call Peter something totally obnoxious, tattle that Peter called him a bad word and then Mr. Dillings would roar at Peter about self-discipline and respect. Although, Peter was passing History with extraordinary grades and Sam was failing, Sam was more or less the teacher's pet. The problem was that Mr. Dillings was possibly the only teacher in the entire school, no district, who liked Sam.

So twenty minutes later, Peter left the class, as usual, in an angry mood. He stalked out, his blowing steam through his ears. His friend, Kyle Martin, had a little trouble keeping up with him. It took until lunch to calm down, but the trouble didn't stop there. Along came, ta-daa, Amy Lin, possibly the greatest female mastermind ever, and her favorite pastime was, you guessed it, taunting Peter.

"Hey four-eyes, how's it going?" asked the evil genius.

"Great…first, the douche, then the feminine killer, touché," muttered Peter, wincing in disgust.

"Hmmm? Speak up, I can't hear," she replied grinning deviously. Peter was more inclined to slam her face into the table, but instead stood up and left. This was usually a good day for Peter, in school.

But the best days were the weekends, when he had the time to do what he loved best. Explore caves. He would travel deep into the forest and find hundreds of random caves. He had been doing this since he was 6 and it was a habit now. He trekked across the hard rocky trail and came to the mouth of the biggest cave he had ever seen. He was inclined to continue hiking, but some invisible force drew him in. He entered the strange opening and walked inside. He walked deeper and deeper, when he fell through the floor!

"Shit," he muttered standing up. He was bruised on his ass, but okay. He looked up at the hole he had fallen through. Too high to jump up and grab the ledge. Plus he had dropped his cell phone during his fall, and it was practically destroyed. Probably, when Peter landed on it.

With a sigh, he continued on, hiking across the rocky soil, when he encountered a light in the distance. He ran towards it, hoping for an escape from this underground nightmare. He reached the light, but it turned out just to be an area of crystal. He groaned and began to leave when he saw it. A luminescent rock. With a strange symbol. It looked like the letter I but instead of two straight lines they were curved. He touched it and snatched his hand back. The glow seemed to dim, then it grew brighter until the whole "room" was illuminated. Suddenly, it hit him squarely in the chest. It flung backwards having him land in a small heap. He was standing up when he saw something curious. The little I symbol seemed to be floating around. He raised his hand as if to grab it, but instead it dived into his chest. Peter gasped and his eyes began to glaze. In seconds his body connected to the floor in a dead faint…