There once was a king who had many wives and many attendants he ruled over the land of Kode, he decided to have a contest amongst his three eldest sons, and his most trusted knight. The challenge was to hunt the strongest beast they could and in turn could have one of the powers the beast held. The king's own disciple felt himself to be betrayed, he had been under the king longer than any of his sons had even been conceived so why wasn't he allowed to participate? Soon after the other four departed he did as well. After a year of hunting the first son returned with the head of a changeling and was granted the power to change his form, a month later the second son returned with the head of a mind flayer and was granted near unbound intellect, then three months later the knight returned with the head of an eldritch being and was granted the power to destroy everything and create anything he desired, the third son returned next and with him, he held the head of a bandit king, he explained that he couldn't stand by and let the bandit harm the people any longer and decided to bring his head instead, he was, in turn, granted the power to quell emotion and to ignore pain. Finally, the disciple returned, and with him, he brought a live dragon and not just any dragon but the dragon that had been plaguing this country since its creation, upon the confusion he explained that he had enslaved the dragon and decided to keep him as his loyal pet but still get a reward. The king clearly impressed with this gave the disciple power to enforce his will upon others as he did with the drake. What the King didn't know was that the disciple cheated the test, he had made a deal with the dragon that he would gain otherworldly power and tricked the drake by imprisoning the drake beneath the castle enforcing his will upon the beast every day. After the trial had ended the King was about to announce his successor from among the participants when the disciple stood and commanded the dragon to kill the king. as the king's life was taken so was that of the prince's sanity as he enforced his will upon them and forced them to bow to him. The youngest escaped, fleeing the land with the help of the trusted knight. The disciple now named the new king hunted them down he forced the entire kingdom to bow to him and his power brought fear upon everyone, as such no one rose against him.
Many years had passed as the new king caused unrest among the nation with uprisings being snuffed out almost as fast as they appeared and this new one was no exception. The only difference was the most trusted knight led it with the princes supporting it from the sidelines, during this uprising the citizens were slaughtered by the enslaved army of the king, and the knight was imprisoned and tortured until he was released such a broken man that he was seen as more of a monster than a man. The new king had no competition but had no clue as to where the third prince had gone to and his power to ignore pain was worrisome, he worried that one day he would return and take the throne of Kode. so after the uprising of the Knight was quelled he sent the enslaved drake to hunt the prince and return with his head but the dragon never returned, then he sent the two princes to hunt him down threatening their family's and the security of the land if they didn't succeed, but even they didn't return. The disciple worried as he believed that the third prince had grown strong enough to defeat even the princes and their powers. he finally sent out a subjugation force and all of his attendants to hunt him down this was his last chance to learn of the fate of the prince. But no-one returned. it wasn't until he couldn't handle the unknown of the event that he went himself to find out and there the prince was at the front gates, with the other princes behind him as well as all of the attendants, the citizens armed for battle, and the dragon itself. The disciple looked in disbelief at the army ahead of him, there was no way he could fight that. He thought. He surrendered the throne expecting death as a consequence but the third prince put his hand out waiting for the disciple to take it.
"Why? ... Why are you showing me mercy?" The disciple questioned.
"Because everything you've done is in the past. It's time to forgive you even if many won't." The prince answered. "In my travels, I've learned many things, especially that everyone has a reason for doing something, so I've decided that all you need is a second chance, one that my father didn't give you."
The disciple shook his head and laughed as he took his hand. "You're much wiser now than any of us, clearly you deserve to take over." He handed the crown to the prince expecting him to take it.
"No" The sudden answer surprised the disciple as he looked up at the kind smile of the prince. "I've no right to take over this land and neither do any of us. This land belonged to the dragon before my father took it over. Proud drake your land is henceforth returned to you and as the son of the man who took it, I can say we won't be residing here anymore. The dragon bowed its head in respect before taking off flying towards the nearby mountains letting a triumphant roar escape its maw echoing across the land.
"But if you're not going to take the throne as the rightful heir then who will?" asked the commoners.
The prince smiled. "I won't be king of our next land but he shall." He pointed at the disciple. With the surprise and some audible complaints, he smiled once more. "He will be king again but I will watch over and make sure no new problems arise. Therefore this incident will not be repeated again." and with that short but inspiring speech, the citizens all agreed as the prince put the crown back onto the head of the disciple.
"You said we had a new kingdom correct?" the disciple asked looking at the former prince.
"Yes, we shall build a new land there a new world for all of us." He replied.
"Ha Ha ha. I see well then lead the way. my loyal attendant."