Lance shifted uneasily. His reckless brother Chris was really starting to grind his gears. They were here, after all. Chris Mightford was barely a man, 21 years of age, and already a great alchemist. He would speak of mercury and manganese and black aurichalcum, all of which flew straight over Lance's admittedly thick head.

Lance likened himself a 'free lance hero', no pun intended. A self proclaimation that met everyone with confusion. When he could be bothered, he'd lumber his muscular frame from village to village, mainly to flex his arms and impress the women. Yet he still could walk the walk when he needed to. It's just unfortunate, as Chris had often noted in his mind, that Lance had the brain capacity of an Igladian Catfish.

Lance had begrudgingly accompanied his brother on this mission, to keep him safe, more than anything. Even though he was a little slow, there was no getting around the fact in Lance's mind, that this was just...

"Insane. Completely insane!" Lance hissed through the trees at Chris.

"Insanity is relative. It depends who has who locked in what cage, my brother." Chris shot back, as they reached the end of the forest, glaring fearlessly ahead.

"They won't just LET you give them this potion you've concocted!" Lance breathed, sweating a little and trying not to make his constant glances foward too obvious.

"Either way, it's worth a shot." Chris replied simply, stopping at an opening that looked down a large mountainside. "There it is." He said proudly, looking at Lance with a wild, crazy yet almost heroic look in his eyes, grinning boyishly.

The Ruby River.

"We have to go back. I mean..." Lance haltered for a second. "Sure, I've dealt with dragons before but, this is...this is suicide brother."

Chris' face became serious and he patted Lance on the shoulder, in a manner that defied the fact that Chris was the young one here.

"Brother, you can be the King of Igladia, or a simple street sweeper, but in the end, everyone dances with the Grim Reaper."

*     *     *

Meanwhile...

Brandon sat down, breathing heavily.

"Well what are we going to do?" Brandon uttered hoarsely.

"Well My Lord, we were hoping you would give us instruction." Senny replied, looking as though Brandon had asked such a strange question.

"WHAT?!" Brandon cried. "How am I supposed to know what to...oh God...this is not good. I mean, shall I just say "Oh, round up the troops and brace all the doors, get archers on the roof"?!' He rambled crazily, feeling sick.

Senny looked at Jaina in disbelief. She smiled, apparently too much as she quickly withdrew it. Senny shook his head at her.

"Genius." He stated. "Brilliant. Thank you my Lord!" And with that he sweeped out of the room and began bellowing orders.

"Brace the doors!! Get archers on the roof!!"

Brandon turned to Roary and then to Jaina.

"He's kidding, right?"

RATE THIS CHAPTER!

Author guidance for This story

The only thing to keep in mind with this one is the idea that the story should be able to end exactly as I've laid out in the first branch.

Everything that happens inbetween is completely up for grabs, so go wild!

As for length, it's hard to say how long it should be, as length will depend heavily on the events that take place and the various obstacles that must be taken care of before the end can be reached.

Potential Spoilers beyond this point : )

CHARACTERS
Brandon/King Tassian III - Our lovable protagonist who has found himself in somewhat of a strange situation.
Alistair Monk - Brandon's faithful advisor
Roary the dog - The friendly companion of Alistair, who can, incidentally, talk.
Tiffy - seamstress, court magician and a 'young' lady of the keep
Jaina - court physician and another lady of the keep, also a little fed up with Brandon for all this coming and going he seems to do in Igladia
Senny Grandon - Son of Robik Grandon, Chief Officer in command and head of the King's royal army and fleet.
Clover the dragon - the only dragon in Igladia that has not been greatly affected by the Ruby River.
King Kewn Guire - the enemy who happens to be waging a war in Igladia against King Tassian.
Lance & Chris Mightford - young brothers of Igladia who have their own ideas about how to solve the dragon crisis.
Tall, Dark, Hooded Man - Not sure what he's up to yet, but nothing good, we're sure.
Orange Dragon - no other information yet, other than he/she exists : )

SETTING
The Land of Igladia, in an unspecified time. (And Earth, briefly; present day)

PLOT (So far)
There is trouble in Igladia! Kind Tassian has returned to his homeland, looking much younger (and also wider), and is needed to save the Land from its troubles. All the dragons of Igladia have been warped of mind and sensibilities due to being tricked into drinking from the Ruby River. They are now being controlled and used as a means to take over the Kingdom.
Chris and Lance just might have a solution, but they still need a plan. What will Brandon do?

ADDENDUM
Want to listen to The Story that Ends?
One of the contributers to this story, our very own Fogcat, has recorded some of it.

You can have a listen here:
http://fogcat.podbean.com/

Enjoy!

updated Jul 4 '09 by Jillian