Zander 3: Orcs and Gold Dragons

When he arrived at the front line, he saw an army of orcs lined up to the north and preparing to attack, King Guilliam and the other Counts greeted him and thanked him for coming.

As the invaders faced them and drew their shields and spears to form a wall, the king told his men to wait patiently and their time would come.  

Suddenly, flaming arrows from behind the wall flew into the sky and some of them hit the king's soldiers. Then, catapults threw fireballs at the army and the invaders cheered and shouted and began to chant.

Count Kristoff told the king to pull the men back so that the catapults could not pelt them and the king thought about it and said that was a good idea and he ordered the lines to fall back.

As the army moved back, the army from the north was ordered to charge them and their generals shouted "Charge!"

As they stood up and charged at the castle, streams of fire and ice hit them head on and a dozen gold dragons flew over head led by Oriel. The dragons destroyed the catapults on the first run and then circled back to attack the archers. As the soldiers were being hit from all directions, they panicked and ran, breaking up the wall. Then Zan gave the order for his men to charge, and they attacked the remaining soldiers. Soon the northern army retreated and ran back home with the gold dragons on their tales.

As the army disappeared over the horizon, the king's army cheered. Zan turned to the other Counts and Barons around him and they all congratulated each other, but the king was not with them. He had been struck by a fireball and killed during the charge.    

The army learned of his death and a great silence fell over them. The army had won the battle but lost the king. They marched back to the castle and informed the queen of his demise. The couple was young and had no children and after hearing the story of the battle, the queen asked Zan to take the throne and lead the kingdom and he looked at Malory who was by his side and asked him what the future had in store for him.

Malory told him that he should take the throne, and so Zander became the new king of the kingdom. Zander the first. He took Queen Aria as his bride, and produced many heirs to the throne. His kingdom became known as Zandera, and his first daughter was named after it.

Malory married the queen's mage, Mabella, and their first son Merlyn became Malory's apprentice. Merlyn would learn much from Malory and become a great and powerful mage in time, but that is another story.

Zander 2: The Ogres and the Dragon

After a month had passed, there was still none who could remove the sword from the stone except Count Zander, and his army was still growing in numbers, but Zan had no desire to lead his people into an unnecessary war and was determined not to. Malory just smiled when he told him and stared out the window into the distance. Zan asked him what he was looking for, but Malory told him that he did not know.

That night as the sun was setting the people outside the castle began to scream and fire lit up the sky. Zan looked outside and saw an army of giant ogres attacking his army and they had a large dragon with them. The dragon was gold in color and breathing fire and ice at the soldiers who were bravely trying to protect the kingdom from it.

Malory looked outside and told Zander it was time and only his sword could save the people from them, and immediately Zan pulled the sword from the stone again and charged into the invading army on foot. As he swung his blade at them, the ogres fell all about him and soon began to retreat. As the army ran into the distance, only the dragon remained to face the Count in battle. Zan raised his shield and his sword to protect himself from the flames of the dragon's breath and though the shield was a little warmer, it seemed to be un-phased by the attack. The wooden shield stood up to the dragon's breath without a scratch and it did not burn. Zan glanced back at the castle door where Malory was watching and chanting a protection spell for the army.

How is the fire not burning me like the others, Zan thought, and then Malory shouted out to him that the sword would protect him as long as it was in his hand. Zan swung at the dragon and the sound of the sword slicing the air seemed to hurt its ears badly. And each time he swung the sword at the dragon it cut it deeply, soon the dragon backed away dizzily and fell to the ground. With its dying breath it swore its allegiance to Zan if he would have mercy on it.

Malory approached the beast and chanted a healing spell for it that slowly began to close its wounds. Although the dragon was weak from blood loss, it bowed down to Zan and his enchanted sword and promised to fight for him in the coming battle. The gold dragon called itself Oriel.

Zan looked at Malory as if to say, I told you I dont want to take the throne, and Malory smiled and told him, "Your destiny awaits, my lord."
 
Zan looked at the sword and the wooden shield in his hands and walked back to his castle.

The next day, a messenger arrived at the courtyard and approached the Count with a letter. It was from the king and was asking him to help defend the kingdom from the invading army of orcs from the north. Zan realized at this point that the sword was sent to him for a reason, and he took his army to the King's castle to protect it.