The King's lost sword

Once upon a time, in the Kingdom of Nefaria, there were two friends - Dorian and Gray. As one of my friends would put it, they were 'much of a muchness' - both fiercely ambitious, deeply in love with life and supremely self-critical. One day, King Diviso - the fourteenth emperor of Nefaria - declared a race. It entailed twenty-four grueling days of travel - into the Darkness of Lephar, to bring back the King's lost sword. The sword was guarded by the Dragon of Lephar and no man who had ever ventured into the Dragons' cave ever came out alive. The royal proclamation declared that whoever brought back the King's sword would be made the Earl of Deceptaria, the most prosperous province in Nefaria.

When Dorian and Gray heard about this race, they both thought "This is our chance to make our dreams come true." And off they went. Through mountains and tunnels, across river and desert they traveled. On the twenty-third day, at the entrance to Lephar, the contestants camped for the night. There were only three left - Dorian, Gray and a man called Zion. That night, as the three sat huddled around the log-fire, Zion spoke for the first time on the trip. He told Dorian and Gray that he had entered the race so that, as the Earl of Deceptaria, he could raise enough money to save his only son, who was dying of this mysterious new disease called Enova. By the time Zion finished, there were tears in both Dorian's and Gray's eyes. But when Zion asked them to help him win the race, Dorian sadly shook his head and said "Can't do that, friend. Just can't." Gray just nodded. None of the three could sleep that night, and as day was about to break, they were all ready to head off into Lephar.

Around midday, they reached the Dragon's cave. Although the sun was at its zenith, it was pitch dark inside the cave. They cautiously ventured in. Soon, they had lost track of each other. Suddenly, out of the darkness, screams were heard. It was Zion's voice - "Help, please help ... Dorian, Gray, please help ..." There was no answer ... The screams continued for a while, and then ... nothing .... silence ...

After a while, both Dorian and Gray found themselves in the Dragon's ante-chamber. They saw the sword ... and then ... they saw the Dragon ... and an epic battle ensued ... when, finally, the Dragon lay bloodied, both Dorian and Gray were cut and wounded ... and they both looked at each other, realizing that now, they would have to embark on a fight more gruesome than the one they had just been through ... at this moment, Fate stepped in ...

The roof of the cave started falling in ... and Gray found himself trapped between two boulders ... Dorian tried .... very briefly .... to save him ... but when the boulders didn’t budge an inch, Dorian looked at Gray sadly, took the sword and left ...

A few months later, one fine sunny morning, Dorian, as the new Earl of Deceptaria, embarked on his weekly tour of his province ... As he stopped next to a well, a scarred man came up to his carriage ... Dorian's coachman was about to use the whip on him, when Dorian shouted "Stop. I know this man". It was Gray, but how he had aged in those few months ... He looked up at Dorian and said "I still can't believe you left me there to die. I thought we were friends" ... There was silence for a while, and all that was heard was the horses' breathing ... Then, Dorian looked at Gray and said "What would you have done, if our roles had been reversed?" … And again, there was silence ... As Dorian drove away, the Dragon ... now healed ... smiled...