Preface: The Prophecy

The Prophecy

    No one knew how the sword got in the stone, or how the stone got into the cave on the side of Mount Corolith, on the outskirts of the Verantine Forest. The sword belonged to King Alexandre, the last truly good king of Belladona. After his death, the sword disappeared, most people thought for good. It wasn’t until the fifth king after Alexandre, King Koeleil, sent a search party through all the lands that the sword was found. King Koeleil sent his strongest and bravest men to pull the sword from the stone, but none could achieve it. King Koeleil was disappointed, so he went to pull it himself. Not only did he fail, but he managed to make it stuck further into the stone. From then on, a yearly contest was held. The one to pull the Sword that Conquers, or the Conqueror’s Sword, would win a place in the King’s court for him and his entire family, forever. Every year, men from all over Belladona made the three-day trip to the Cave of The Sword. Soon after, the contest spread throughout the neighboring kingdoms, and men from all over came to pull the Conqueror’s Sword from the Stone of Alexandre. Though hundreds of men tried, none achieved the task.

    About fifty years after the contest began, an old man came to the cave, most thought to pull the Sword from the Stone. The king at the time, King Alenorio, welcomed the old man.

    “What is your name, elder?” King Alenorio asked the old man.

    “They call me Simon the Seer.” He replied.

    “Well, Simon the Seer,” the King said, gesturing to the Conqueror’s Sword, “Have you come to try your hand at the Sword?”

    “I have not.” The Seer replied. “A vision has come to me about the Sword. I was told you were here.”

    “What is this vision, Seer?” the King asked.

    “The One to wield the Sword that Conquers all shall be born as the last leaf falls. Only they shall bring the Sword from Stone, and they alone will bring peace to their home.” Simon recited, his hands on the Sword and the Stone.

As soon as the words left his mouth, they were etched on the Sword and the Stone. Though these words were written on the Sword and the Stone, and the prophecy spread throughout Belladona and the surrounding kingdoms, men still lined up to pull the Sword from the Stone. No one knew that the prophecy would be fulfilled by the most unexpected person in all of Belladona.