Alec woke up at noon and immediately jumped up when he noticed what time it was already. He woke Ryoe and they both went straight to the throne room. Neo was gone when they left.
"We're late ..." Ryoe yawned, wiping a tear from his eye.
"I know ..." Alec replied. ", but nobody woke us up. Maybe we should train at a different time of the day ..."
"Yes, you are probably right, but now we have to go to the meeting first."
"This stupid session !!! I hope it won't last too long, I promised Reur to help him out on the field."
"HMM ... don't you think you have other responsibilities?" Ryoe looked at him.
"Pffh, you always help the farmers, don't you?"
"Yes, maybe. But I'm not the king's son either !!!"
Before Alec could answer, they reached the great oak portal of the throne room and went inside.
The huge room was made entirely of marble and in the middle a green carpet covered the length of the cold floor.He showed the way to the end of the throne room, where he climbed the stairs and ended at the throne. This was also covered with green velvet. White fluted columns adorned the way there. Alec and Ryoe passed between two pillars and got into another part of the throne room, there was a large solid wooden table on the sides of which a multitude of high chairs were lined up. At the right foot end there was a particularly high chair on which the king was enthroned. The red cloak hung on his shoulders and covered parts of the armor he was wearing. His face was good-natured, but also stern.
When Alec and Ryoe entered the room, his features darkened. "Where were you?" asked the king.
The people in the chairs turned and looked at them in amazement. Alec looked around. Knights, soldiers, young warriors, no other king or statesman.
What is going on here?
"Mh, don't you have anything to say my son?" Said the king, looking at Alec."Well, we overslept and ..." he replied, embarrassed.
"Overslept? Until twelve o'clock? Well, today I'll still use it as an excuse, but if you should be late again ..."
The king remained calm.
"Ok, let's sit down!" Ryoe whispered to Alec. They took the only two remaining seats right next to the king. The men and women at the table stared at the two.
The king broke the silence and straightened up.
"Now that we are all gathered here, I can begin to present my request.
Once upon a time in the 13th Kingdom, many races lived together equally. The territories were distributed fairly and all races, from elves and humans to orcs and fairies, lived in peace with one another.
But then everything changed.
The otherwise very peaceful people of the Cupiditas broke the alliance between the races and invaded the land of the people. They were not prepared for the sudden attack and therefore could not protect themselves.The Cupiditas raided several large cities and killed anyone who got in their way. They burned down houses and castles and made the invaded land their own. The people had to do something not to be completely destroyed by the attackers. The other peoples also feared for their land, because the population of the Cupiditas had reached enormous proportions: more and more of these terrible-looking creatures came out of the earth and hidden caves. Her otherwise cute face had completely changed. The jaws had grown broad and strong. Pointed teeth protruded from their mouths and their eyes were pointed and pitch black. The normally light skin now stretched gray and leathery around her bones.
They were no longer peaceful, good-natured beings. No, they had become ... hideous and brutal monsters !!!
To stop the Cupiditas, the armies of all peoples joined together.Now a huge war had broken out, and there was fighting all over the country. But neither side gave up. Little by little the fighting races destroyed all cities and castles. The grass broke under the heavy warriors and burned under the fire of the pillaging robbers. The trees fell and the forests disappeared. For 300 years the peoples destroyed their land and when they could no longer watch the sun through the black smoke and haze and the air was unbearable through the stench of the dead, the Cupiditas withdrew.
The war seemed over, but when the peoples looked around, they realized they had destroyed their own land.
Countless people died from starvation. The war had left no animal or plant alive.
For another 200 years they lived in darkness and constantly hungry. But then the smoke cleared and the stench of the dead disappeared. The sun rose again. There is a poem from this time which is called:Surrounded by rubble
tormented by pain.
But never given up;
and the soul is purified.

With dirt on your face
Rise - free,
From dark to light:
The elf, the human, the dwarf - all three!

Yes, only these three races survived. A handful of each of these three. The other races had fled to other kingdoms or been exterminated.
A new country had to be built, so each of the three peoples chose a leader for themselves.
The people chose satyr, a strong determined warrior.
The elves Anjina, a young and very wise magician.
And the dwarves Tobar, the wildest and most talented blacksmith of their people.
These three are the heroes with whom all humans, elves and dwarves identify to this day. They rebuilt the country and saved their people !! "
The king paused.
"What's this ?? !! Why did he tell us this story ?!" Ryoe whispered in Alec's ear.
"Hm, we'll find out in a moment, wait and see!", he answered, for the king started again:
"But they could never have done all of this without the help of one person: Audacius, the brave dragon.
As the three heroes had just been chosen, the races noticed that the dragon had been watching them from a distance. Audacius said to them: "If you want to survive, then you should never again wage such a war, but trust in the wisdom of the dragons, we will help you!"
"Pah you help us? Where were you when we were attacked! You have nothing to say in our country!", Said the people.
Audacius did not care about this statement.
"You humans are brave and clever, but you are also arrogant and do not take the advice of others, that is your weakness!"
"But you are right, we immediately rushed to the aid of the people!" Replied the elves.
Audacius replied again: "You elves are skillful and wise, but if you only see your own merits, that is your weakness!""We don't need you dragon, we can do it alone!" Said the dwarves.
Audacius replied: "You dwarfs are strong and good craftsmen, but you are idiosyncratic and always believe that you can do everything by yourself, that is your weakness!"
"You are really wise Audacius.", Anjina said. "But what is the weakness of the dragons?"
The dragon smiled at this challenging question and said, “We are proud.” Then he was silent.
The years passed and the 4 peoples rebuilt the country under the leadership of Audacius, Satyr, Anjina and Tobar. Since then there have been many wars, but these only strengthened the bond between the peoples. Above all, humans and dragons grew together.
That's why I called you here! "
All eyes were now on the king. Was it just here for a story?
"W-What ?! That's why we're here?" Asked a young knight, dismayed. "Was that all?!"
Alec looked at Ryoe, who looked confused. But then the king began to speak again."Well, all of you are here because of the dragons. We have to help them.
I just got a message from Minjar. The messenger told me about poachers who roam the plains and kill dragons that live in the wild. "
He took out a map showing the 13th Kingdom. The land was bordered by the sea to the north and west. Caen Aigion was in the northwest of the country. You had to travel east for almost 3 weeks to get to Minjar.
"In this area," the king circled Minjar widely with his finger. "the poachers hunt the dragons."
"Are you chasing her?" Ryoe asked suspiciously. "I can't imagine humans can kill a dragon that easily."
"That's not easy either," replied the king. "They have sophisticated weapon and trap technology, but what worries us most is that they use magic."
“Magic ?!” Alec was amazed only a few people had this gift and most of them could do nothing more than levitate a few pebbles in the air."We were amazed to hear this too," said an adviser to the king. "But not all poachers are masters of magic."
"Yes, most of them kill the dragons with devious tricks and traps.", Added the king.
"How many poachers are there?" Ryoe asked.
"Well, our ambassadors have not yet been able to give precise details on this, but probably two dozen."
There was brief silence but then the king said: "Well, we are of the opinion that we have to stop them, that's why I have decided to found an order, the Dragon Knight Order. All people in this room should belong to this order. You all became Chosen because you are the best warriors in the country and have the courage to do this job.
The Dragon Knight Order serves to protect the dragons that need to be protected in their current state. The existence of our dear friends is threatened, so we have to help them !!Well, I'm almost at the end of my talk, but before I finish, I have something for you guys. "
Etenor clapped his hands briefly and a short stocky servant appeared behind him, carrying a box in his hands. The king beckoned the servants to come and took the box from him, which was decorated with small precious stones and filigree gold ornaments. The servant bowed politely to those present and then turned around, only to disappear in the next moment.
Alec stared at the small box his father was carrying in his hands, wondering what was in it. King Etenor revealed the secret by opening the box. A small round brooch emerged with a red-hot ruby ​​in the middle. On the right side was a small silver wing.
Etenor cleared his throat, tucked the brooch on his cloak, and raised both arms. In response, some shouted his name out loud,