I wasn’t the first to wake up in the morning; I’ve always been a deep sleeper. So it wasn’t surprising that Lance had to come and wake me up.

“Good morning young master,” he said, smiling down with his confident smirk. “I was told to come and wake you up”

“Who told you that?” I asked as I stretched. I was still a little groggy and confused. No one else was in the tree with us.

“Tara did, she has something she wants to show you” Lance informed me.

“Alright let’s go” I said, moving to get out of bed only to be stopped by Lance.

“Not before eating breakfast” he told me and handed me a small red thing. It looked very similar to an apple. For the first time I remembered that I hadn’t eaten since I had arrived here and my stomach let out a small cry revealing my hunger.

“Where did you get this?” I asked, taking a bite. It was an apple; it tasted just like the ones I would get in the fall. That was when they were the sweetest and juiciest.

“I’ll show you as soon as you're finished” Lance said taking a seat on the bed, I tried to eat quickly not wanting to keep Tara waiting. Unlike the apples back home these didn’t have the core that couldn’t be eaten. After I finished Lance and I made our way outside. I was amazed at how different it was, not most of the dead ground was replaced with luscious green grass with a variety of flowers spread out around it.

“That’s where I got your breakfast,” Lance said pointing towards a tree that had grown a few feet away from the tree we had slept in. This tree was by far much smaller and looked to be an ordinary apple tree.

“Wow, did Nesso and Tara do all of this while I was sleeping?” I asked if I would have wanted to be there when they had started working.

“Yes, it took them 3 hours, 17 minutes and 33 seconds to do all of this,” Lance said. He was very specific but that was expected from a God of time. We began walking towards the tree when I spotted another new addition. A hill had risen towards the right of the apple tree. Hovering above the hill was a dark grey cloud that was releasing a great torrent of rain.

“I see Nesso is using his powers well” I mentioned.

“Yes, though he still hasn’t said anything he seemed very pleased about his roaming sky water” Lance said.

“You mean the cloud?”

“The what?”

“That big grey thing that the water is coming from, it’s called a cloud.”

“I see, thank you for informing me. We weren’t sure what to call it” he said, sounding a little embarrassed. I guess they don’t have any information on things that are not connected to their elements. We made our way over to the apple where I saw Tara and Nesso sitting in the shade. Nesso was leaning against the tree with his arms folded and eyes closed; he looked like he was asleep. Tara was looking up at the tree’s leaves lost in thought. Only when Lance and I were next to her did she notice us.

“Morning Phanes, did you sleep well?” she asked with a warm smile.

I sat down next to her before answering ‘yes I did, do you?” Lance remained standing behind me

“Yes, I really liked sleeping on the soft grass,” she told me. I saw Nesso had one eye open and was watching us.

“Did you sleep well Nesso?” I asked hoping he would finally speak. He opened his mouth as if he was going too but he then closed it and simply nodded. I saw his teeth were pointed like a piranhas.

“You’re so quiet Nesso” Tara said her voice showed her disappointment.

“Don’t worry about it. Nesso when you’re ready to talk you can” I said. “Now Tara, is there something you want to show me?”

“Yes he should be here soon,” She told me.

“Who,” I asked the only person who wasn’t here was Evan.

“Evan” she said with a mischievous smile as if she had told an inside joke. Before I could ask anything else a large flapping sound distracted me. It sounded as if a large bird was flying over the tree. I jumped up as Evan came into view. He had grown to the size of a large dog. The growth was amazing, I knew dragons grew to large sizes but I didn’t think he would grow so fast.

“Hey Phanes” he said, his voice now deeper like a grown man.

“Evan is that you?” I asked in disbelief. He proudly raised his head to full height and gave a sharp toothed grin in response.

“We were surprised too when we first saw him.” Tara said. Evan's looks had changed as well his scales had deepened to match the leaves on the trees. His wing also had grown to be as big as I was 5 foot ten inches. Lance stepped forward and began petting the dragon.

“Soon he’ll be big enough to ride on,” Lance said, looking at me.

“Humph, I can carry Phanes if I wanted to,” Evan said. I never even thought of riding Evan though it would be pretty cool to see my own world from the sky.

“Before we get into that there is something else we need to discuss” Tara interrupted.

“What is it?” I asked

“Well, if my knowledge is correct you need two more gods to complete your world.” She exclaimed. I thought about what she meant, with everyone here we could do a great job shaping this world. Tara could continue growing life throughout the world, Lance would control the flow of time, Nesso would create rainfall and drinking water, and Evan would do whatever he can to help. That’s when I remembered the four basic components of life. Four elements are necessary in all life, earth, water, fire, and air. Without all four elements the world would be doomed.

“You’re right. We need a Wind God and a Fire God.” I said and gave a brief explanation on the 4 Elements of life.

“So what are you waiting for?” Evan asked, “Let’s get started” . He didn't lose his enthusiasm when he grew.

“Hold on, I need to think of what to use for the core,” I reminded the impatient dragon. The best gem for a fire god would be a ruby. Rubies were the most common gems used in fire ceremonies and were often found in temples for Gods of fire. I wasn’t sure of what to use for the wind God. I guess topaz would be the best; it had some affiliation with the wind element, all right now what to use for the core. I looked up into the tree hoping for some inspiration and an apple caught my eye.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“Hey Tara can you get me one of those apples?” I asked, pointing at the tree. Tara began to stand but was halted by Nesso. The blue god had once again moved without our notice and was standing next to me. He reached up and plucked an apple out of the tree. He placed it in my hands then silently went back to his seat against the tree.

“Thanks” I said. Tara gave me a small shrug and I went to work. I tore the apple in half, one side was bigger than the other but they would do. Taking one half in each hand I turned the bigger part into the ruby and the smaller into a topaz. I took the gems out farther past the tree’s shadow and set them down next to each other. I sat down and began working on the topaz first.

I thought of air and its great force, I recalled how whenever there was a storm outside me I would listen to the wind wailing against the house. Wind was very powerful, it created tornados and was always a sign for the approaching storm, but it also had a very calm side to it. The gentle breeze on a summer day came to mind and the dance performed between the wind and a discarded bag. As my thoughts trailed into the topaz the yellow light that had sparked within it grew to the shape of a human, but I didn’t look, I instead went right to work on the fire God.

Fire was known as the most dangerous of the four elements. Many creatures and Gods affiliated with fire were bloodthirsty and violent, I almost reconsidered even creating a god that could be like that, but fire was also necessary for life. In Greek mythology the titan Prometheus gave primitive humans fire so that they could begin to grow and learn. With fire humans grew wiser, cooking their meats and crafting the first tools. Fire was the beginning of technology and was used to advance humans farther up the food chain. While fire was destruction and chaos, it also represents strive and ambitions. My thoughts flooded into the ruby causing the red light within it to grow farther into a human shape. After giving all I had to the two gems I opened my eyes to welcome the two new Gods before me.

Two gods stood before me, one was a man and one was a woman. My best guess was that the girl was the wind God and the man was the fire God. While the light from the gem had taken a human shape like before, these gods had a very noticeable difference about them. They were made entirely of what looked like energy; they didn’t have skin like the others. The woman was made of a yellow energy that didn’t have any distinguishing features except for two green ovals where her face would be that represented eyes. She stared at me with her head in an angle in confusion.

The man was made of red energy and had more features to him. The energy that made up his body was curved creating the appearance of muscles across his arms and torso. Also his face had more to it than the wind God’s. He had a mouth that was pulled back in a sneer revealing two large fangs that resembled a vampire’s. His eyes looked almost human except that his pupils were slanted like a cat. On top of his head flames mimicked a head of wavy hair. He glared down at me; his ferocious appearance along with his muscled form gave him a very intimidating presence. His appearance reminded me of a mythical creature from Arabic lore.

“Ifrit” I mumbled without thinking.

“What?” the fire God barked, I stepped back worried that he would become violent. “Is...Is that my name? He asked using a softer tone.

“Um well it could be. It was just that you reminded me of an Ifrit.” I explained.

“What’s an Ifrit?” the wind God spoke up. Her voice was soft but was carried by a small breeze, the first I felt in this world.

“An Ifrit is a type of fire demon that is usually depicted as having sharp teeth and a head of flames. “ I informed her. She gave a slight nod then looked towards the other Gods surrounding us, I noticed that she was actually levitating off the ground instead of standing. The fire God followed her example and began glaring at his surroundings.

Lance stepped forward “I’m Lance” he introduced “and this is Tara, Nesso, and Evan, you’ve already met Phanes.”

“Ifrit,” the fire god said. I guess he decided that will be his name. I looked at the wind God and wondered what her name could be, she also reminded me of a mythical creature.

“Sylph” I said, I figure she would like to go with her brother’s idea and be named after a mythical creature.

“I am Sylph” she said, it sounded more like a question than a statement.

“I like it” Ifrit said though he sounded kind he continued to glare at the other Gods. He seemed to glare at Nesso the most.

“Then I will be Sylph,” the flying God said. Her excitement was causing her to drift higher; I now had to lean back to look at her. The sound of wings flapping started behind me and Evan joined Sylph in the air. Evan floated in front of the goddess unsure of what to do. Sylph let out a small giggle that traveled on the wind like a whisper and flew up till she was above the green dragon. Evan gave one large flap of his wings and rose above the wind goddess. The two flew higher spinning together in a game only those who could fly would understand.

“What is he doing with my sister?” Ifrit growled, I could feel the heat from him.

“They’re just getting acquainted,” I told him, hoping to calm him down before he set the trees on fire. The two flyers were now just specs against the sky, but we could still see they were steadily getting closer to each other. Ifrit let out another animalistic growl and reared his arm back as if he was going to throw a baseball.

“Wait” I shouted but he paid me no heed. He moved his body as if he threw something and out of his hand sparked an arrow made of fire. The flaming arrow shot up in the sky heading right for Evan and Sylph.

“Look out” Tara warned but there was no way they could hear us from their altitude. Lance stepped forward and snapped his fingers. The fire arrow slowed down on its ascent moving at a snail’s pace through the sky. Nesso then jumped up and pulled his hand back in a fist. His arm shot forward changing into a water missile charging towards the arrow. The missile ran through the fire arrow, leaving behind a small cloud of steam, and continued through the air crashing into Evan. I saw the dragon fall a bit before regaining control of the flight; he didn’t seem hurt, he and Sylph began making their way back down.

Ifrit turned towards Nesso “what are you doing?” he yelled murderously. Nesso gave no reply but only stared back.

“What are you doing?” Tara shouted “You could’ve shot them out of the sky.”

“It was a warning shot telling them to come back down” Ifrit defended himself. “It would’ve just flown over their heads, not hit them like his shot” he pointed at Nesso. Who walked forward and stared angrily at Ifrit, as if challenging him to say more.

“You got a problem?” Ifrit asked the fire on his head growing dangerously hot. I quickly jumped between them and tried to push them away from each other but the two Gods were too strong.

“Come on guys, Evan and Sylph are on their way down. No harm no foul” I said. Nesso let out a small grunt and backed off.

“Fine but water boy, better watch where he’s aiming,” Ifrit warned before walking away. Evan and Sylph landed next to the tree, the former was slightly wet.

“What happened?” Evan asked. I answered before anyone else.

“Nothing, we were just trying to get you guys to come down.”

“Oh well next time just shout” Evan replied and then shook himself dry.

I chuckled at Evan’s animalistic behavior “Alright everyone let’s get to work. We have a world to make.”

Over the next few hours we spread out and shaped the world. It turns out that Sylph was better at manipulating and creating the clouds than Nesso, so she was in charge of watering the ground before Tara would grow more grass and trees. Tara wanted to create a few mountains and caves but I told her to wait until we were farther away from the tree. Nesso was hard at work creating a lake by the apple trees; Tara had made a large hole in the ground before we had spread out. Ifrit followed us as we widened the grass meadow, staying close to his sister but well out of the way of any rain clouds. I didn’t know where Lance and Evan were most of the time, Lance had said that he had something to take care of and Evan volunteered to help. They reappeared to let us know that we should head back soon since the sun was going to set in an hour.

We covered a lot of ground but I believe that there was a lot more ground to cover. When we reached the tree Nesso had completed his lake and was swimming in the clear blue water. He rose to the surface and climbed out as Tara and Sylph explained the progress they made. After they explained we started making plans for tomorrow, Sylph and Evan somehow got the idea that creating a castle out of clouds was a good idea. Once Lance told us that the sun would set in a few moments we all opted to go to bed. While Lance, Tara and I got up to head back to the tree, Nesso went back into the water signaling that it would be where he was sleeping. Evan said he would be sleeping outside. He said that if he grew any more in the tree he might not be able to get out. Sylph also said she was going to sleep outside and Ifrit immediately followed. After making sure no one needed anything to sleep I returned to my warm bed and quickly fell asleep.