1616 words

The Guardians of Legend

By Zach

Chapter One: The Battle for the Capital.

The darkness was profound. Almost nothing could be seen. It seemed like any other calm
night at the dwarf capital. The walls were as tall as they ever were, and the market had long since
closed for the night. The trees were swaying softly in the breeze, crickets were chirping, and
owls were hooting. A twig snapped. Suddenly, the Goblins were all around the city! They sprang
out from behind the rocks, and flooded from between the trees of the forest, with the Goblin
King himself at the head of the force.
Sound the alarm! the sentry shouted. Utter chaos erupted. The army scrambled
drowsily for their weapons and armor, but the goblins were far too close to defend the castle in
time.
A scream echoed through the night; Warn the king! The goblins are attacking!
The citys defenses wont hold for long! cackled the Goblin King. A hail of crossbow
bolts fell towards him. Ha ha ha! he guffawed, Youll never kill me!
And with that, he raised the nearest goblin soldier like a shield and the bolts sailed into
his bare back. Dropping his dead minion, The King let out a disgusted grunt.
* * *

Far away, in the tower on Spiny Rock, Wizard Aldor was gazing into his crystal ball.
We have to help them! he cried in dismay. We cant just let the goblins wipe out the
dwarves!
I suppose not, said Grolbeard, the leader of the wizards. Nobody knew Grolbeards
exact age, not even him, some say, but rumor has it, he was over 200,000 years old.
Then lets go! urged Aldor.
Grolbeard seemed dubious, but consented anyway.
* * *

Back at the dwarf capital, the battle wasnt going well.

For added protection, the city had three concentric walls, each 20 feet thick. One had
been breached, and the goblins were pouring into the courtyard in an attempt to break the second.
Fall back! shouted the captain of the guard, looking at the state of the battle in dismay.
Fall back to the inner wall!
But it wont be any safer there! a soldier moaned.
All at once, time seemed to slow, and the captain of the guard cried out in alarm as he
saw a crossbow bolt headed straight for the king. He raised his shield but it was too late. With a
dull thud, the bolt lodged itself under the kings armor. The life drained from his eyes. The
sparkle that always remained, even in the direst circumstances, disappeared without a moments
hesitation.
No! the captain screamed.
Yes! laughed the goblin king with glee.

Immediately, the captains eyes followed the trajectory of the bolt to a group of cackling,
hooded, crossbow wielding goblins.
Thats strange, he thought, as he realized that goblins never wore anything more than a
loincloth, or in the kings case, a bone crown. He was too enraged to care. Sprinting, he charged
the goblins, brandishing his axe, and then he realized that they werent even goblins! They were
evaporating as soon as he struck their robes.
What are you!? he screamed in frustration.
And then a gust of wind blew the corner of a goblin robe upwards, revealing nothing but
a shadow underneath, and with one last gleeful cackle, they vanished, leaving only robes.
The real goblins pushed the defenses back and back, until they were about to overtake the
wall. Then, as if in answer to their prayers, a troop of wizards materialized in front of the horde,
launching a combined fireball into the midst of the goblin army, which wiped out a third of their
ranks. The goblins were shocked.
What sorcery is this? screeched the Goblin King, terrified.
The sorcery of the high council of wizards! boomed the wizard spokespersons
magically magnified voice.
Retreat! wailed the goblin king. We cant win!
As the goblins disappeared into the night, one wizard asked permission from Grolbeard to
follow the goblins and find their camp. Upon receiving it, he dashed off in the direction that they
had left in, with another wizard following.
The remaining five wizards rushed to the dwarf kings side. The captain of the guard was
already there kneeling by his side. Its too late, he sobbed. Hes dead.

Theres nothing we can do, said Grolbeard, looking at the once proud dwarf leader
lying still on the ground.
And what of the young prince? asked Aldor.
He shall grow to be a fine king, prophesized Grolbeard, his arms crossed majestically.

Chapter Two: The Mystery Elf.

Two days later, at the knight academy, word of the battle had not yet surfaced. The guard
was making his early morning rounds when he found a sleeping child just outside the gate.
Thats odd, he thought. Usually children didnt come near the academy.
Hey! he grunted. Get out of here!
The child didnt move. It was then that he realized that the youngster had pointed ears!
He was an elf. Oi! he persisted. We dont want no stinking elves round here!
Finally the young elf stretched his little arms and yawned. Whe- where am I? he asked,
bewildered. Who am I? What happened?
Well, I dont know. Actually I was about to ask you the same question, he confessed.
It was then that he noticed a small nametag around the boys neck. Uvaron it said.
I do know one thing though. Im cold! and with that, he dashed past the bewildered
guard and into the academy kitchen.
Later on, the elf became fascinated with swordplay.
You could become a squire if you would stop being such a troublemaker! a knight said
once.
Really? Could I really? Like, train to be a knight?

Yeah sure!
He was just kidding of course, but he invited the elf for a teaser practice.
He thought that the boy would be scared off by the difficult work, but he was an intrepid learner.
Eventually, he really did take him on as a squire, because he was a good pupil, and a fast learner.
***
Meanwhile, at the elf citadel, a womans distressed wail could be heard: No! he cant be
gone!
Never fear, my love, a voice comforted, there are two score search parties out looking
for him. He is the prince after all!
Sadly though, they wouldnt find him. At least not for a very long time. No elf would
dare venture across the human border. The elves and humans were sworn enemies, and in order
to provoke conflict, an evil sorcerer had magically transported the young elf prince right into the
heart of the humans capital city. Unfortunately for him, no such conflict arose. The elves
accepted the fact that their prince had been taken, and moved on. Many of the humans became
good friends with Uvaron, the elf prince, and didnt think much of it. Magic, of course, was a
very common occurrence, as many people had trained themselves and others in its countless
twisted and confusingrules, many of which were forbidden, causing a lone elf or dwarf to
occasionally flee their home country for another.

As Uvaron matured, and I use that word very lightly, he became very skilled in the art
of swordplay. His skills were so great in fact, that he soon became the undefeated champion of
the annual tournament three years in a row! On this third victory, he was presented with the
finest sword in the kingdom: the legendary Greatsword. No other swordsman had been able to
achieve the herculean feat of winning the championship thrice over, but he continued to win, and
win, and win, and win.

After seven years, he was banned from the tourney altogether. Or at least he would have
been, if he had had more than four years. Before the evil sorcerer got bored of waiting around for
something to happen, he sent seven dragons to decimate the hunting party that Uvaron was
leading.
***
This time of year, the hunting was excellent. It was Uvarons first time leading a
hunting party, and they had already shot two deer. Faster than you can say dragon, the
squirrels of the forest scattered in every direction. Dragons are so good at camouflage,
that it took the hunters a full fifteen seconds to realize that they were no longer the
hunters, but the hunted.
Too late, someone shouted, Hit the deck!
Dragonfire exploded from the trees.
Were surrounded! somebody wailed.
Everyone whipped out their swords, but they all knew there was no chance of
survival. With a single blast of fire just one of the dragons disintegrated half of the party.
Were doomed thought Uvaron, as he dodged another claw swipe. But then, all of
the dragons seemed to stop, as if by magic.
A booming voice jolted the stunned party back to reality. I am Aldor, the wizard
of- yknow what, Im just gonna cut the crap. Im a wizard. Yay. Now get your butts out
of here before you end up like your friends over there.
They didnt need to be told twice. The threat of the dragons coming to life at any
moment was very real. Not one of them trusted this strange-speaking wizard.

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Soon, the party was well on their way back to the academy, and stopped to catch
their breath.
What in the world just happened? said one member, his tongue lolling out of his
mouth.
I dont know, but we really ought to report it to the king. We did lose half our party after
all, Uvaron winced as he remembered their unceremonious end.
To Be Continued

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