Once upon a time, there was a wise King who had twelve sons. In order to choose a worthy heir, he had his magician advisor devise a quest for each son. As each son reached maturity, he was sent on quest. The first son failed miserably at his quest and never came home as did all the rest till the youngest. The King was getting old and was fearful of not having an heir for his throne. When the youngest son came of age, the King begged the magician to give the boy an easy quest. The old magician smiled and reassured the King not to worry. The day came and the young Prince mounted his steed to begin his quest. He entered a forest that bordered the castle. He'd traveled no more than a few miles when he spied an old cottage. At the entrance was an old man. They struck up a conversation and were soon discussing many different topics. Initially, a lot of the old man's talk made no sense, but as the night wore on, the young Prince understand more of what the old man talked about. The stories the old man told were so engaging that the Prince lost track of time. He listened till late into the night and before he knew it, he was sound asleep in front of the old man's fireplace. He awoke with a start when he heard some loud heavy breathing nearby. Looking around, he saw some flames shoot by him. As his vision cleared, he was shocked to see a huge emerald green dragon right in front of him. As he woke up, he heard the dragon speak. "Young Prince. Do you the old man's stories from last night?" "I remember a great deal of it, sir Dragon." "Your quest has been given to me and I am to test how well you learned." With that, the young Prince jumped to his feet. He saw the dragon's tail completely encircling him. Something told him not to try jumping over it. He just waited to see what would happen next. The Emerald Dragon softened his voice so as not to hurt the young Prince's hearing. He started out with several easy questions which the Prince had no difficulty in answering. The questions kept coming faster and harder. As they morning progressed, the Prince's stomach started to growl. His head began to feel dizzy and lose his concentration. The dragon had no pity on him. He kept asking more and more questions, with the Prince taking longer and longer to answer each question. Finally, the dragon asked a particularly difficult question, one involving a tricky method for controlling an unruly mob. The Prince thought and thought, but he couldn't quite remember what the old man had said the night before. The dragon began licking his mouth. He seem rather hungry too! He said to the Prince, "You have five more minutes to give me the answer. If you fail, you become my lunch. If you answer correctly, your quest is done and you will become your father's heir. The Prince became frantic! His mind went blank! Everything began to spin as he fell back against the dragon. His head struck a dragon's tough scale. This seemed to revive him. Suddenly, the Prince remembered with incredible clarity everything the old man had told him. He staggered back to his feet. The dragon's mouth got closer to his face. "You have 10 more seconds to answer the question, young Prince!" Words flew out of the Prince's mouth with incredible clarity. A huge smile spread over the dragon's mouth. "You have answered quite correctly, my Prince and have passed your test!" and with that, the dragon transformed into the old man from the night before. The Prince returned to his father much to the King's relief. Several years passed before the old King passed away. The young Prince ruled with with and wisdom and benevolence and much beloved by his people. The Prince followed the advice of his wise magician advisor for it turns out, he was the wise man in the woods as well. The Prince ruled his kingdom for many years and the kingdom grew and prospered. He and his people lived happily ever after till his death at a happy old age. Thank you for taking a peek! Your support is greatly appreciated!