Rocco D’Ambrosca: 11/21/2005
Once upon a time in a far away land of magic and fantasy lived a young boy named Joseph. Joseph was a young and noble squire such as I who always dreamed of becoming a knight. He knew everything a knight should know. He knew how to ride a horse, wear arms, fight with a sword, and even how to joust. Even though Joseph knew all of these things and was very good at them he was still not allowed to become a knight because of his age. What Joseph didn’t know was that his chance to become a knight would come sooner than he thought.
A mysterious man had moved into Joseph’s land of Pizzia only a few weeks ago. He was a man from a distant land, a magic man. This man was a very powerful sorcerer and his name was Lord Nerazzuris. Lord Nerazzuris came from the land of Vogleer, a place that many had never even heard of. He had come here only a few weeks ago but had already befriended King Ducatia and all of his knights. But, Joseph was suspicious of this sorcerer and knew there was a secret evil to him. Joseph tried to tell the others his suspicions of Lord Nerazzuris but no one would listen.
One night, Lord Nerazzuris invited all of King Ducatia’s knights to a party in their honor. All of the knights arrived to the party’s location only to find a magical trap set for them. As soon as the knights arrived to the party room they were locked inside with no way to escape. They tried to escape but it was too late. Lord Nerazzuris had trapped them and was ready to take over the kingdom as he had planned. Lord Nerazzuris now moved on to attack the defenseless King and steal the crown for himself. Lord Nerazzuris arrived at the King’s castle and met no opposition as he entered the King’s chambers. As soon as he entered the King’s chambers he took him hostage and placed the crown upon his own head proclaiming himself the new King of Pizzia.
The land of Pizzia was defenseless without its knights and now the town was under the rule of the evil Lord Nerazzuris. Joseph soon realized that he was the kingdom’s only hope and chance of bringing back justice and prosperity in the form of King Ducatia. Joseph summoned all of his courage, intelligence, bravery, and nobility to plan is strategy of defeating Lord Nerazzuris. Joseph knew that Lord Nerazzuris thought he couldn’t be defeated now that he was in power and all of the knights were trapped under his power. Joseph planned to use this arrogance against Lord Nerazzuris by staging a surprise attack that he would never expect.
Joseph needed to plan several things including how to enter the castle, how to avoid Lord Nerazzuris’ magic powers, and how to kill him restoring King Ducatia to the throne and releasing all of the knights from their magical prison. Joseph’s decided that the best way to get into the caste would be by entering through the moat and then by sneaking in through a drainage pipe on the side of the castle. Once inside the castle Joseph decided to take Lord Nerazzuris head on and defeat him using his own powers against him. But, how would such a little boy overcome such a strong sorcerer and even be able to force him to use his own power against himself. Joseph found the biggest shield he could find and attached a secret mirror to one side that would appear with the push of a button revealing the true shields face as a mirror.
Joseph gathered a sword and his new special shield and then jumped into the moat. He swam along the edge of the castle out of sight until he came along the side of the drainage pipe. The pipe was small and was only big enough for a boy his size to fit through. Once inside, Joseph made his way to the throne room where he found Lord Nerazzuris who was extremely surprised to see him. Lord Nerazzuris was enraged and cast a paralyzing spell at Joseph but before it could reach him Joseph pulled out his shield to reveal the mirror side. Lord Nerazzuris’ spell bounced right off coming back to hit him. Now while he was paralyzed Joseph rushed in with his sword and swung it forward at Lord Nerazzuris slicing him through the belly. Immediately the knights were freed from their cell, the crown returned to King Ducatia, and the kingdom was pulled out of darkness all thanks to Joseph.
King Ducatia was immensely grateful to Joseph for saving the kingdom. The King asked Joseph what he would like in return and Joseph asked to be knighted. A knighting ceremony was held that night and Joseph became a full fledged knight. From that day forward Joseph swore to up hold the code of chivalry living a life of faith, modesty, loyalty, courtesy, bravery, and honor. Joseph’s story lives on as an inspiration to squires everywhere.
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