In the beginning, there was nothing. No stars shone in a night sky, no water lapped gently against a sandy beach, no wind whistled through canyons. There was nothing. Only Cra and her brother Canih existed. And Cra said, "Let there be Darkness, for from the Darkness there shall be Light." And there was darkness, and darkness covered the nothing and filled the nothing. And Cra and Canih were in the darkness and filled the darkness together.
And Cra said, "Let there be Light, for from the Light shall come all good things." And there was light that shone everywhere and cast no shadows, for there was nothing to cast the shadows. "And let the Light travel in patterns for all eternity, dancing in a void." And the light formed in to constellations and traveled in set patterns. And Cra watched the stars and marked the passage of the stars and thus created time. And Canih watched her and hungered after her power.
Once the stars had danced for a short while, Cra said, "Let there be Fire, which will cast light and heat and warm the universe." And fire sprang into existence in the heart of the light, and cast the light, and still there were no shadows because there was nothing to cast them. And Canih watched the fire and feared the fire and tried to destroy it, but Cra stopped him and the fire was forever protected from destruction.
And again Cra watched the stars and once they had danced for a short while, she said, "Let there be Earth, from whence all life shall grow. And let it dance among the stars and around the stars for all eternity." And there were great spheres of earth, which spun and danced around the stars and cast shadows. And the shadows were long and stretched far into the universe and thus night was born. And Canih watched the earth and feared the earth and tried to destroy it, but Cra stopped him and the earth was forever protected from destruction.
And Cra watched the stars and earth and once they had danced for a short while, she said, "Let there be Water, which shall flow and ebb on the surface of the Earth and wear away at the Earth." And there was water, which covered the earth completely. And Cra said, "And let the Water gather into areas large and small and let them stay in those areas." And the water receded and the earth showed once more. And Canih watched the water and feared the water and tried to destroy it, but Cra stopped him and the water was forever protected from destruction.
And again Cra watched the stars and earth and once they had danced for a short while, she said, "Let there be Air, which shall cover the Earth and the Water and blow and bluster across the surface of the two and wear away at the Earth." And there was air, which flowed across the earth and the water and, like the water, wore away the earth. And it fed the fire, giving it life And Canih watched the air and feared the air and tried to destroy it, but Cra stopped him and the air was forever protected from destruction.
And Cra stood on the earth and watched the sun and the stars and the moon and once the sun had returned to its place in the heavens, she said, "Let there be Spirit which will form the basis of all life and will not be seen. And the Spirit will cover and fill the Earth and the Water and the Air and the Fire and the Darkness and the Light and will be a part of myself." And there was Spirit, which covered and filled all that had preceded it and was a part of the Bright Lady. And Canih feared the Spirit, which was a part of Cra, but did not try to destroy it, for he knew he would fail. And Spirit was not protected from destruction forever.
And Cra stood on the earth and watched the sun and the stars and the moon and once the sun had returned to its place in the heavens, she said, "Let there be life, for the Spirit hungers a solid form, and Spirit shall fill it and envelope it and life shall be Spirit manifest. And life will take many forms, from the birds of the Air and of the Earth, and fish of the Water and animals of the Air and of the Earth and of the Water. And Fire and Light shall shine down on them and warm them and from this warmth and Light shall come plants of all shapes and sizes. And these plants shall grow on the surface of the Earth and beneath the Water. And the plants shall feed and appease the Fire in its righteous wrath." And there were plants and life of all types and they thrived on the Earth and in the air and under the water, which were able to burn and feed the Fire. And Canih watched all life and feared all life and hid from it as it could not be destroyed, being a part of the Bright Lady. And life was not protected from destruction forever.
And Cra stood on the earth and watched the sun and the stars and the moon and once the sun had returned to its place in the heavens, life fell silent and she said, "Let there be humans and cats, for I desire a solid form and I shall fill them and envelop them and they shall be a part of myself solid. And humans and cats shall come in all colors and live together with life in harmony." And there were humans and cats who lived among the rest of life in peace and harmony, never killing except to further their survival. And Canih watched and feared and plotted to destroy the humans and the cats, but bided his time and waited. And humans and cats were not protected from destruction forever.
And Cra, alone and in her many forms, watched the sun and once the sun had returned to its place in the heavens, she alone said, "Let there be the ability to control a part of the elements among the humans for they are myself manifest and they shall use this ability only to help themselves and all other life. And all humans shall have this ability." And humanity was granted the ability to control all the elements save light and darkness, and they gave their solemn oath only to use in the aid of life, humanity and cats. And Canih watched and hid and plotted, but bided his time and waited. And the ability to control a part of the elements was not protected from destruction forever.
Chapter 2 : Corruption
The sun rose, and the sun set, and the planets turned and time passed. All life lived in harmony with the humans and the cats, and all was peaceful. One man rose upon the earth, and Canih whispered lies into this man's ear while he was asleep. Canih whispered that he was greater than the others, and that he deserved to be set above his fellows. And the man listened and agreed and plotted in secret how to become greater than his fellows. And he was so devoted to Canih that he changed his name to Hinac, which is Canih in reverse in honor of his new god.
At Canih's orders Hinac put his devious plan into action and set himself above his fellows as their dictator. And his fellows looked at him in adoration, forsaking their worship of Cra and worshipping Hinac. Hinac was pleased with this and thanked Canih, begging him what he could do to repay Canih's kindness.
And Canih, in his wisdom told Hinac, "Gather unto yourself twenty of the animal named wolf. You will take ten females and ten males and bring the to your palace. You will train these animals and breed these animals, so creating an animal called 'dog'. This will be my sacred animal."
Hinac abased himself before Canih, and Canih said, "Go! Fulfill my orders and you will be greater than ever before." Hinac thanked Canih and went and did as Canih had ordered. Gathering ten female wolves and ten male wolves, he trained them and called them dogs. They obeyed him and were his friend, for he would not defile himself by consorting with those lesser than him. But Canih's sacred animals he allowed himself to love, for they were sacred of his god.
Cra watched all this, and was furious that her people had forsaken their worship of her and followed Hinac, and through him Canih. Going to her beloved brother, Cra said, "Why have you tempted my people, Dark Lord? Why have you taken them away from me?"
Canih looked at her and said, "Bright Lady, you have the humans and the cats and the rest of creation to fill your loneliness. I was not blessed with the gift of creation, and I have no one to fill my loneliness."
Cra looked upon her brother in pity and said, "Since you are lonely, I will allow you to keep the creature you have created, dogs, as your own. They will fill your loneliness and keep you company. You may also consort with the humans and the rest of creation, but you may not consort with the cats. They are my sacred animal and you may not harm them." And Cra remembered than she had not forever protected cats from destruction and was troubled, but did no let her brother know. For it was too late to forever protect them from destruction, as the world was not new and such things malleable.
Canih nodded in acquiescence to his sister's statement and went off on his own and laughed. For he too knew that cats were not forever protected from destruction. Going to Hinac he said, "Bring all your dogs here to the palace, for I wish to see them." Hinac did so, and Canih looked upon the animal he had helped create with joy.
"This is all of them, Dark Lord," Hinac said, and Canih thanked him. Gathering his strength, Canih said to the dogs, "From now until the end of time you shall be a physical extension of my will. Because you are a physical extension of my will, you shall harbor a resentment for cats as Cra's holy creature and because you are larger than them, you shall chase them whenever you can."
Turning to Hinac, Canih said, "Cra has betrayed us. You must punish her for that betrayal. To do so, find all the cats you can and bring them here. My sacred animal shall destroy all of them."
Hinac bowed his head and did as Canih ordered. But Cra heard what Hinac was doing at Canih's orders and gathered as many cats as she could to her breast. Hinac was unaware of Cra, and therefore did not know that he did not have all the cats. Bringing as many as he could, Hinac went before Canih.
"Dark Lord, here are all the cats," said he. And Canih let loose his will on the dogs, and they attacked the cats with such ferocity that by nightfall there was not one left. Canih then said to Hinac, "You have done well, my faithful servant." And Hinac gloried in his god's approval.
Because the cats were and extension of Cra and a part of her manifest, Cra felt their destruction and cried out in great pain. Filled with righteous wrath, she went to her brother and said, "You have done a terrible thing, Canih. You have lied to my people, seduced them away from their rightful worship of me and destroyed many of my sacred animal. For that you and your followers shall have to bear the consequences."
Gathering her great power, Cra said, "The consequence for your followers is that they shall be stripped of any ability to control the elements. Forever shall they weep and wail for what has been lost, but they shall not gain it. Only in their descendents shall they have any hope of regaining what has been lost."
To Canih, Cra said, "You shall forever be exiled from the Land of Light. Never again shall you wander among the humans or the cats except in the form of a dog. You are not permitted to interfere with the life of any being of creation. Go! Leave this land!"
Canih bowed and abased himself before his sister, but she held firm and he fled, leaving the Land of Light to hide in the darkness. There he formed the creation around him into another land. In the midst of his land, Canih said, "I name this place the Land of Dark. Here all shall seek refuge from the burning and glaring of the Light. My followers shall be welcomed here with open arms."
Cra watched her brother with sadness, but still she held firm to her decision. Turning away from the Land of Dark and the rest of creation, Cra lay down and slept a healing sleep, for her wounds of the soul were many.