“Don’t tell me you’re still sleeping, come on Ahzar, it’s time to make the king’s breakfast.” Ahzar was no normal boy, instead of getting up and playing in the mud, like most other boys, Ahzar would wake up and bake.

“Uhhhhh…”Ahzar moaned, “Is it really time already?” He slid off of the hay stuffed bag where he had slept the previous night, and walked into the kitchen. The stone furnace gave off an entrancing smell of fresh bread. Ahzar leaned on the stone arch-way that lead into the kitchen.

“It seems that the king wants his food earlier and earlier every morning… What can I do this morning?” he reluctantly asked.

“Well you could start with the eggs. Start the fire and I’ll grab you some eggs from the cope.” His mother commanded. Ahzar moved to the stove, lit a match and threw it in. Flames burst threw a hole in the stone stove. He quickly got a pan, and placed it over the hole. With a lump of butter, and a wooden spoon Ahzar was ready to cook.

“Ah good! you started the stove. Here, take this to the king immediately. I’ll finish the eggs.” His mom set down the eggs and gave Ahzar a tray with splendid breakfast foods…
The stone corridors of the castle were dimly lit. Ahzar quickly walked through these corridors until he came to a large wooden double door. With his spare hand Ahzar knocked on the hard wooden surface. With out waiting for too long, the right side of the double door opened. A man in fully clad shining amour stood at the other side of the door. “The kings breakfast is ready.” Ahzar stated.

“Alright then, come on through. The king has been waiting.” The man stepped aside and let Ahzar pass.

The throne room was a wonderful place to be, the chandler lit the room brightly, and a wonderful smell came from candles lit all along the walls of this round room.

“Ah Ahzar! Come in, come in! What has your family cooked me this time?” The king asked.

“Bacon ham and fresh bread,” Ahzar said, “And eggs are coming sir.”

“Oh Ahzar you never cease to amaze me.” The king took the tray from Ahzar’s hand, and patted his shaggy blond hair.

“Thank you sir, I do my best”

“Ahzar… the king and I were in a very important meeting, would you mind leaving so we may continue to collaborate?” A voice from behind the king’s throne said. Count Faron, which was a very large man, Stepped out from behind the king.

“I shall leave at once.” Ahzar stated. He turned around in disgust, and stormed out of the throne room. Just the thought of Count Faron disgusted him, An overfed oaf, with a bad temper. Faron had been rude to Ahzar all of his life. Faron thought that being a son of a baker was a un-noble title, even if the bakers baked for the king. Faron felt that such low class citizens should not speak to the king. The fact that Faron would think that when he had his own twisted past, enraged Ahzar. Faron wasn’t even meant to be born. Faron was an accident, his father, the original duke, slipped up and fell in love with one of the king’s maids. Faron was born as a result of this. His father was to embarrassed to declare this accident as his son, so as soon as Faron was able to take care of himself, his father disowned him. Ahzar realized that Faron’s bitter childhood made him the way he is, but that didn’t excuse the fact. Ahzar knew the king only made him count because he felt sympathy for him.
Ahzar’s head hung low. He started to walk slower and slower back to his small room in the castle.

“Cheer up son! Did Faron get ya down again?” His mother questioned, walking down the corridor with a tray of eggs in her hand. Ahzar shrugged

“This is the last of the food son; you can head on over to the court yard now. Heirn is waiting for you.” This sentence brought joy to Ahzar’s face. Heirn was the combat trainer, and every once and a while he would give Ahzar private lessons in melee combat.

The one thing Ahzar loved more than baking was sword fighting. He never knew when he might use it but Ahzar enjoyed improving his skills, especially with best friend, Heirn.

“Ah there you are slow-poke. I’ve been waiting for at least 10 minutes!”

“Well I only heard you were here 2 minutes ago, so cut me some slack.”

“Haha Ahzar, lets get started then shall we?” Heirn tossed a sword to Ahzar. Without hesitation Ahzar rushed toward Heirn and tried to strike. *Ding*

“Whoa! Nice charge Ahzar, I almost didn’t see that one coming!” Heirn exclaimed. Ahzar took a step backward, and swung in for his next strike. *Clang*
Hours passed, and Ahzar, and Heirn were exhausted.

“I must say Ahzar, you have gotten much better.”
“Why thank you, it comes with practice!” Ahzar remarked. Suddenly a voice was heard, low, and deep. Faron was walking through the outside hall way along side one of his servants.
“No that will never work… the boy would suspect something.” Ahzar, and Heirn, hearing the count, dived into nearby bushes to listen to the rest of the conversation.
“But sir, what if we take out the boy first, then we make our move on the king.”
“Yes, but the boy cooks everything he eats, so poison won’t work. If we took him out by brute force, people in the kingdom will suspect something… we cannot be suspected of anything…” The sound of their voices faded into the distance as they left the courtyard.
“Heirn! Did you hear that? It sounds like they are trying to poison the king!”
“Ahzar, lets not jump to conclusions… it could be anything they were talking about.”
“No I must warn the king!” Ahzar bolted through the corridor, heading for the kings room. He was already tired, so the run made him very fatigued.
“Just a few more steps and I’ll be in the throne room!” he thought, determined to warn the king. He turned the corner and was left in complete shock.

“What’s the matter Ahzar? Did you hear something you didn’t like?” Faron smirked.
“How did… how did you get here so fast?” Ahzar gasped. It wasn’t too long ago that Faron had been headed the opposite way of the throne room. There seemed to be no possible way Faron could have made it here this fast, especially with his large body.
“It seems like you are confused boy. no matter, there is nothing you can do now… Especially since now you have assaulted me.” Faron said
“Assault you? What are you up to Faron?” Faron rushed over to Ahzar with incredible speed, and grabbed him by his shirt.
“Your king will be gone by the end of this evening, and there is nothing you can do about it.” Faron dragged Ahzar to the castle gates, Ahzar kicking and fighting all along the way.
“Sir Knight, this boy has assaulted me, and he is to be exiled from the castle immediately!”
“But count, you can’t just…”
“Are you questioning my authority? The head advisor of King Tyrias!” screamed Faron.
“Uhh no sir… not at all… we will make sure this boy does not return to the castle.”
“Good” Faron smirked. He threw Ahzar out of the gates, and into the rough ground.
“Goodbye Ahzar, perhaps I will let you back in, when I am king.” Without a word more, Faron turned around and walked back into the castle, the gates slamming behind him. Ahzar was panicked, what could he do? The king was going to die, and he felt it was completely his fault. He ran to the gates and pounded!

“Let me in! I’m innocent!” … no answer… “He’ll kill the king!” … still no answer. Ahzar pounded his fist on the gates once more in anger.
“I have to get in and save him!” he said to himself.
“Well you certainly won’t get in by complaining.” A voice said from behind him. Ahzar turned around. A man in bright blue robes stood in front of him.
“Life’s problems cannot be simply solved by knocking on doors that are forever closed.” the strange man said.
“Who are you?” Ahzar questioned.
“I am someone who knows your problem, and may possibly have a solution. You seek to save the king, do you not?” Ahzar fell silent in disbelief. “You want to save the king but you are having trouble finding the entrance to your solution. Like I said before, you cannot solve a problem by knocking on a door that is forever closed. It is like trying to make a loaf of burnt bread no longer burnt. Your objective is to have good bread, but what you are doing is trying to cook the bread more to make it better. Burning burnt bread only makes it more burnt, like the time you are wasting by knocking on a closed door. ”
“But how do I make the bread better if I cannot be done?” Ahzar questioned.
“Simple” the strange man said “You have to make a new loaf of bread. You have to make a new solution to your problem. So let us start by using the flour. As you know, flour is the main ingredient for bread. It is the most dominant taste when you take a bite out of your sweet bread. What is the main ingredient to your problem? Why do you want to solve this problem so badly?”
“If I do not, the king will die! Worst of all, Faron will take command!”
“Good, you have the base for your bread. Without the immortal desire to solve your problem, you cannot solve it at all. Just like bread, with out flour is just salty, yeasty water. Now go! On the other side of this castle there will be something to help you there. Here, take this…” The strange man handed Ahzar a small brown bag.
“Do not open it until you are prompted to.”
“Thank you sir, for all of your help!” Ahzar yelled, running to the other side of the castle.
When Ahzar looked back to see if the man was still watching him he was surprised to see the man had disappeared. Ahzar still was not sure exactly what it was the strange man had in store for him but he somehow knew that this man was going to lead him inside the castle. Ahzar quickly encountered new terrain, making him nearly trip. This new pathway was extremely rocky as he ventured into the rushing riverbed grazing past the castle wall.
“There is no way I am going to be able to cross this…” he said to himself.
“That is where you are wrong” A deep voice said from behind him. Ahzar turned to see a broad tall man standing a small distance from him. He wore a long dark brown over cloak, with a hood shading his face. Underneath the over cloak was a dark red robe, giving the broad man a dark and fearsome look.
“A man should never be afraid to do everything in his power to overcome a certain task. A man should be able to rise up to any obstacle and overcome it”
“Yes… but a river is a river… not an emotional barrier. There needs to be a way across for me to actually cross it shouldn’t there?” Ahzar questioned.
“But there is a way across, Ahzar; you just have to have the courage to take it. Like yeast in the bread, courage builds character in a man’s heart. The bread rises, and so must a man rise over his obstacles. Take this bag, open it only when you are prompted. Ahzar, I want you to cross this river. Have courage, and look for every small thing that will aid you in baking your new loaf of bread.” Ahzar blinked and the broad man was gone. He looked towards the river again, and saw something he had not before.

“Rocks!” He exclaimed. “I must have courage…”He started to run “I must have courage.” He became faster and faster. “I… must… have… courage!” Ahzar bolted in an all out sprint across the riverbed. When he got to the water he hopped up, and landed on the closest stone in the water. With great speed Ahzar was able to cross the river by hopping on stones. Ahzar was amazed at what he could already do. This was all because of the words the wise men gave him. He then began to run to the side of the castle. When he reached the designated side of the castle, he found nothing.
“I am here… now what?”

“Now you learn what all men must learn.” A female voice answered. Once again Ahzar looked behind him to find a slender short haired blond woman, draped in a long, purple dress.
“What is the lesson you must teach me fair maiden?” Ahzar asked.
“Mine is the lesson of water, for men are dry. When you make bread, you essentially need flour yeast and water. The flour gives the bread substance, the yeast gives the bread shape, however, those ingredients are nothing without water. Water is the joint for both flour and yeast. Just like friendship is a bond for desire and courage. There will come times when we will all need someone else to guide us through our trials. You appear to not have many friends outside of the castle walls, so I will teach you what the other meaning for water is. This element is trust. It also joins desire and courage to make them more powerful then ever before. Tell me Ahzar, can you trust me?”
“It’s not every day I get to meet strange people who teach me lessons, but what you say makes sense to me, so yes I do trust you.”
“If you trust me, then I can trust you to not open this until you are prompted.” The woman stated. She handed Ahzar a small capsule full of a substance that looked like water.
“Thank you!” Without another word the woman grabbed Ahzar’s hand, and threw him up to the castle roof. He did not have to question what his next aid might be, for a beautiful lady with long, brown hair, and a long, red dress, was standing before him.
“Catch!” she threw a small bag at Ahzar. Ahzar quickly caught it and walked up her.
“I am the last one to give you verbal aid, but I am not the last person to aid you, Ahzar.”
“You must be the salt, what lesson do you have to teach me?” Ahzar questioned.
“You guessed right” she giggled “The salt is not necessarily the most important ingredient in the bread, but it is the most powerful one. I can tell you know Ahzar, you are not ready to fight your enemy… you are far from it. For he has inherited a powerful ingredient from an evil source, and he can perform many unspeakable acts. Like salt gives flavor to the bread, a man must be seasoned to defeat his greatest enemy. Ahzar, you have been given several ingredients… desire, courage, trust, and now it is time to learn the last and put it all together. The bag that I gave you is power. You may now open all four of your bags. Devour the contents of each one, and you will be able defeat you adversary.” Ahzar opened the bag that this woman had given him. Inside was a crystal like substance, much like salt. He closed his eyes and pored it all into his mouth. A strange power suddenly overcame him; power felt like it was flowing threw his bones. He quickly did the same with the other objects, and washed them down with the watery substance.
Ahzar felt good now, he felt like power was rushing threw his veins.
“Now you are ready to take on your foe Ahzar… Come through here, and fix your problem!” the lady exclaimed.
“Wait… Where is here?” The lady took a few steps to the left, and pointed at where she once stood.
“I believe that this area is where you should be.”
“But how will that get me in?” Ahzar said in confusion.
“Silly Ahzar,” she giggled “The floor will not get you into the throne room. Only you can. You are a loaf of bread now Ahzar, use the attributes you have been taught.” And with that she was gone. Ahzar stared at the spot, which the lady had pointed at. “I must get through, I will get tthrough, I’m on my own, and so I have to do this myself… That last thing, power… could that possibly be real power, Or power of the soul?” Ahzar clenched his fist in his hand.
“There is only one way to find out! For the king!” He shouted. Ahzar took a single leap that shot him up 20 feet into the air, he came back down breaking down the roof of the castle.
As the dust cleared from the collapsing roof, Ahzar was able to see where exactly he was. The sun had fallen by now so all that shown through the hole in the ceiling, was a bright, moonlight that lit the room with a dim light. Ahzar looked around, he saw the king lying on the floor with a pool of red slowly getting larger, and seeping into the cracks of the stone floor. Ahzar was about to scream, but the air was knocked out of him from a blow behind him. Ahzar fell to the ground wondering what was happening.
“You are too late Ahzar, but you are right on time.”
“Faron!” muttered in disgust.
“Yes Ahzar, I kept my promise… I killed the king, and soon I shall inherit his throne.”
“They will never follow you, the people of this land will suspect you killed the king!” Ahzar shouted.
“Ha-ha” Faron chuckled “That is why it is so great that you are here now. I will just tell them, ‘OH… it was so horrible, Ahzar and the king engaged in a swordfight to the death, and they wound up killing each other. I tried to stop them, but there was nothing I could do’” Faron chuckled evilly.
“I’m going to kill you!” Ahzar shouted. He stretched out his arm and felt intense power move threw it. From what seemed to be from nowhere, a sword appeared in his hand.
“Now Die you traitor!”
“So it is a sword fight you want? I will happily oblige” Faron drew his sword, still red from the king’s blood. He threw his sheath to the ground, and raised his sword point to meet Azhar’s face. There was a small pause as the two rivals glared at each other. Ahzar suddenly rushed into motion, hopping backwards about 20 feet, and then rushing up to strike Faron. *Ding* Parry… Faron reacted quickly by bringing his sword down, and coming back at another angle. *DING* The sound of metal clashing rung through the throne room. Faron looked down at his sword. His sword was slightly bent, and looked as if it might break at any second.
“NO! This is not how it is supposed to happen! This sword was given to me by the dark lord Draak! He promised me it would not fail!” Faron yelled
“Dark lords lie!” Ahzar said smugly. He jumped up over Faron’s head and brought his sword for another strike. *Ding*… *DING, Ding, ding* Half of Faron’s beautiful blade lay on the floor. Faron stood in amazement.
“Your Dark Lord has failed you. What power do you possess now that you stand alone? So weak, that your only god abandoned you!”

“No Ahzar! He gave me more power than you can imagine! I have yet to show you my true power!” He laughed menichically, and jumped to the center of the room. He hovered just above the throne. Dropping the remains of his weapon, he threw his arms out in front of him, and formed a dark energy ball.
“Now Ahzar… Witness my power! ” He brought his hands in to his side, and then threw the ball at Ahzar. Ahzar barely dodged the ball as it hit the ground exploding. Ahzar was left on the ground from the explosion.
“Is that all you can do? HA!” Faron made another energy ball.
“You’re weak Faron! You always have been.” Ahzar yelled, getting back up.

“Shut up, you insignificant pulp!”
*Boom!* Ahzar had made it out this time, in fact he was now ready to make his move. He ran to the wall, jumped toward it, then jumped off of it. He whizzed by Faron slicing his back.
“Arrrg!” Blood from Faron’s back dripped on to the golden throne.
“Give up Faron! The power you hold is useless in your hands!” Ahzar shouted.
“No you fool! Don’t you see! I have to win! Draak told me that if I lost, he would ruin my life, he told me if I won I would be king! I can not lose!” One more energy ball was formed in Faron’s hands. He threw it at Ahzar, but it landed nowhere close. The explosion shook the room, Ahzar took no time to think what was to happened next. Again he jumped off of the wall, shooting towards Faron. This time Ahzar’s sword made a shallow cut in Faron’s Chest.
“I… can not… lose…” Faron failed to finish. He suddenly stopped and fell into the bloody throne. Ahzar walked up Faron.
“Why Faron? Why would you become so power hungry? Did you not know that power corrupts? Why would you willingly put this burden on your shoulders?” Ahzar questioned.
“Ahzar… My life is a mess! Ever since I was a little boy, the whole castle hated me. I was an accident! A disgrace! On my tenth birthday my father told me what I was. He told me I was unwanted. I had to support myself Ahzar! I became stubborn and hard hearted, and when my daddy died, I felt no remorse. Shortly after the king asked me to be the high advisor… I knew he only felt pity on me… and for the years I served him I held back my anger. You came into the picture… I first met you when you were only ten. Everyone loved you. You were such a good boy. Everybody loved you! This struck anger into my heart, which quickly grew as you did. Those memories of my own past came back up. Thoughts of murder crossed my mind everyday. Until one day… HE appeared before me, Draak, The Lord of Darkness. He told me he would give me unimaginable power if I were to carry out my plan to take out the king. I then knew that only you would stand in my way. I faked a plan, announcing it aloud in the court yard to get you to fall into my trap. I then killed the king only to be attacked by you. Now here I lie regretting that I ever got involved with Draak.”
“Your story is sad… yet I too got my power from strange sources. However, They taught me the way to use my power. They taught me the ways of a hero. It seems that you regret your actions, so I will grant you your life… but only if you change your ways, and give up your devotion to Draak.”
“I… I will…”
“You will not!” said a demonic voice.
“Draak!” Screamed Faron
“You belong to me Faron, you already sworeyour self to me” A large Dragon appeared from the shadows. It stood on two legs, and its hands gripped a long lance.
“This world is mine! So are you Faron.” He took his lance and destroyed the rest of the roof. Rubble fell everywhere. When the dust finally cleared Faron was gone, with Draak’s lance where he used to be.
“You monster! You took his life, when he was about to change! You are a murder!” Ahzar screamed.
“Do you dare question my actions?” Draak said “I am more powerful then you will ever be!” Ahzar ran up to the dragon and swung his sword at his foot. *Thud* nothing… He jumped up and took a slice at Draak’s mid section *Thud*. Nothing was working, his sword was useless.
“HAHAHA! You cannot harm me! I am invincible!” Draak shouted.
“Ahzar! Get away from him!” A voice from behind yelled. There were four small thuds. And there stood the four mysterious people that had helped him before
“Ahzar, This creature is too powerful for even you” The man in blue said.
“He will kill you, he can kill anyone” The broad man said.
“Let us use the power of friendship. We will fight this battle for you.” The lady in purple said.
“Ahzar, you have fought your own battle, so we can fight this one for you.” The lady in red exclaimed. Ahzar dropped his sword, and it faded in the air.
“My protectors, my masters, my saviors, aid me at thy will.” Ahzar said. Fear was shown in Draak’s scaly face.
“You may be the four deities, but this is my world! I shall not be defeated!” He swung his lance down at the deities, but they dodged at once. The hit to the ground cause dust to rise everywhere. When it faded, Ahzar was nowhere in sight, and Draak was in the middle of the room, crushing the throne. Draak growled, he could not see the deities anywhere. Suddenly the man in blue jumped out of the shadows, and slicing Draak with his katana.
“Arrg!” Draak Snarled. The broad man next, came running up smashing the giant dragon’s belly with his fist.
“Cowards! Must you hide to fight me? Show your face!” He began swinging his lance around wildly in hopes of hitting one of them. The lady in purple jumped out and caught hold of his lance. The lance began to freeze over, and suddenly it was solid ice. Draak Shook off the lady in purple, and tried to hit her with his lance. She rolled out of the way, and the whole thing shattered.

“Your time of evil is at its end Draak!” The lady in red exclaimed. She jumped up right in front of him, and threw a magnificent ball of fire. A darkish portal was opened behind Draak, and he was knocked in by the fire ball.
“This is not the end! I swear I shall return!” Draak’s fading voice raged. The portal closed, and Ahzar was returned to where it was he was standing.
“You guys… killed him?” Ahzar asked in disbelief
“No Ahzar, we did not kill him” The lady in red stated. “We merely sent him back to where he belongs… for now.”

“Draak will be back, and then it will be your duty to destroy him.” The lady in purple said.
“When that time comes, you shall be powerful enough to stop him!” Exclaimed the broad man.
“For Ahzar… You shall be king!” The man in blue shouted.

Later that day the castle had been fully repaired. All thanks to a little magic, the work had gone fast. Although the old king was dead, a new one was being created. A mighty king, a wise king, a powerful king, King Ahzar!

“I would like to say, that I am fairly proud,” Ahzar announced, “To have such loyal people to accompany me in my rule… I will not be able to do some of the things that our previous king has done, but I will take the law of this castle and work with it to be rid of all evil in this world. Let me guide you through this world, threw this hard time. Let me Know of your problems. Let me fix them all. Let me be your King!” A crowd cheered as Ahzar made his inaugural speech. He stood high up on a podium near the roof of the castle, while thousands of residents cheered him on. Oil, followed by a crown was placed on his head. This simple baker, just a boy, was now king. Nothing could stand in his way now. Nothing could defeat him, for he stood with the power of the gods with him.

“Ahzar, I’m so proud of you!” His mom exclaimed “I always knew you were special, I just had no idea you would become king.”
“Thank you mother. I hope that I will continue to make you proud.” He gave her a hug, and took one last bow to the crowd.
“Give it up for my son!” His mother screamed into the crowd as Ahzar walked inside.
“They really do love you, I hope know that.” The lady in red sat on the new throne. “You family is very happy, your Kingdom loves you. I guess you won’t be needing me and the others anymore…”
“I do need you! Without you I would be nothing. Without you I would be dead. So don’t you be saying to me that I don’t need you. Because I do, and I always will.”
“Very well Ahzar, We will stick around, but be aware that this world will always be in need of help out past your influence. We will need to help resolve those conflicts. So we may be gone for long periods of time. Take a piece of bread, and dedicate it to us, and eat it. Do this to always remember us, and the fine loaf of bread you have become yourself. Once every week, and we shall always be with you in your heart. Of course we will visit every once in a while, but we cannot stay forever.”
“I will do what you ask, and I shall always remember you all.” He bowed to her, waved good bye, and watched as she faded away…
From that day onward, King Ahzar led his Kingdom in peace, and as many would say… He lived happily ever after.