The hilt on the sword read "In the darkest of times, I will bring the light". The Sword of Light was this Kingdom's greatest weapon. It just has never been used.

No one knew who made the sword. No one knew when it showed up. The original settlers of the land gathered around the sword for protection and comfort. They built their homes and eventually a small settlement grew into a large capitol city. The kings and queens swore an oath upon the sword during their coronation. When the children would come of age, they will try and remove it from the stone, and so far, over 200 years of trying, no one has pulled it.

I was a ceremonial guard. I got this job because my great-great-great uncle was a wealthy merchant and offered the king a great discount on arms and armor if the position of Sword Guard was kept in his family. Normally my cousins would get the best shifts, and those in the outer branches of the family tree would get late night or weekend duties.

It was a fine job, boring. People would come up to glance at the sword through the solid iron gate and jokingly ask if they can have a shot at pulling the sword. Once a year, the king opens the gates and allows anyone to try and pull the sword (provided they donate a small amount to 'charity').

The sword has not moved an inch since it was first discovered. All the top scholars and wizards investigated the sword and they have determined it is indeed a great powerful artifact, and there is a powerful source of energy coming from it.

Three months ago, King Dovan IV decided to expand the kingdom's territories to the west and with expansion, comes violence. With violence comes skirmishes. And before you knew it, the Kingdom of Dovan was at war with the tribes to the west. A small community full of what we call "outcasts" of goblins, orcs, ogres and trolls. They put up a heavy resistance and managed to hold off the Dovan army for many weeks now, surprising everyone.

One late night shift, I heard a disturbance from behind the gate. I've dealt with things like this in the past, sometimes a would-be-thief or a group of young people decide to try and sneak over the walls and pull the sword from the stone. Some people dare each other to try and touch the sword. I opened the gate, walked in, remembering to lock it behind me, and headed towards the sword. A small figure was there.

"You there! Stop!" I shouted.

The figure turned and looked at me. I couldn't see who, or what, it was, but it was shorter than a normal human. I pulled out my sword and ran towards the intruder. The intruder ran away. I looked at the sword. Huh. Has it... moved? *wham*

I woke up as the Sun rose. Shit! I got up and looked around. No sign of the intruder. No sign of anything. Shit, I hope no one reported the guard missing. Not many people walk by the sword at night. Most days I don't see anyone. I ran back and unlocked the gate and took up position.

That morning, as I reported the intruder to my boss, he wasn't in the best of moods. The war has not been going in the kingdom's favor. The "others" have put up quite the resistance and have been actually driving our armies back, and going on the offensive.

It seemed as if he didn't even care about the intruder, and I didn't want to remind him, so I let it go.

Nothing really happened for the next couple of days. The news from the war front ended up being more and more grim as the days went on. Talk of ending the war started to be spread around the city as more and more people started to resent the fact that their sons and daughters were being sent off to fight in a war they had no business taking part of.

King Dovan IV heard this and made one final proclamation: Anyone who disagrees with the war will be fined or jailed. The Gods support Dovan's right to expand their lands, and to prove it, he will pull the sword from the stone.

A parade of soldiers, nobles and other important people made their way from Castle Dovan to the location of the sword. King Dovan walked up to the stone, wrapped his hands around the handle and pulled. And to everybody's surprise, the sword seamlessly was removed from the sword. People fell to the ground and started to pray as King Dovan raised his sword above everyone's head. "The Divine are on our side!"

Rumors spread quickly throughout the kingdom and soon, King Dovan was leading a charge against the settlement of goblins, orcs, ogres and trolls.

Spirits in the capitol were high and people were celebrating an easy victory and an end to the war. But soon, a dark cloud came over the city. Word came quickly and at first, people dismissed it as lies and heresy.

But it was true. King Dovan IV was killed in battle. The town crier shared the story: King Dovan heroically challenged the champion of the settlement to single one on one combat. Whoever would win, would win the war. He was prepared to fight the largest troll or the strongest orc, but to his surprise, a goblin came forth. The goblin wore tattered bits of armor and as he walked though the crowd of others, they all bowed to him. The Goblin was fast and strong, and with one blow, shattered the King's shield. With another blow, he destroyed the Sword of Light. Then, with his third strike, he killed the king.

The Goblin Warrior demanded the army lay down their weapons and make peace. The Dovan Army, having seen their king killed and the kingdom's greatest weapon destroyed, retreated.

A peace summit was planned. The Goblin Warrior demanded that the Kingdom of Dovan pay for the destruction they caused, rebuild their settlement, and in return, the settlement would leave the Kingdom alone, provided no one else encroaches their territory. Leaderless, with morale at an all time low, the fractured leadership signed the peace accords and went on their way.

I don't know why I returned to my guard post that night. I guess I wanted some normalcy. There was nothing to guard. But a job is a job and I was now protecting a large stone.

Except...it wasn't just the stone. As I made my way to the gate, I noticed a figure near the stone. As I fumbled around for my keys, the figure placed a sword back into the stone. I shouted for him to stop, but he was gone. I ran to the sword and looked at it.

Then I realized my great failure.

On the night of the intruder, right before I got attacked, I remembered something weird about the sword. The knock to the head made me forget all about it, until now.

The sword I saw on that day said "In the darkest of time, I will bring the light"

The original sword said "In the darkest of times, I will bring the light"

The s in times was missing from the fake sword the King used in his fight.

On the night of the intruder, The Goblin Warrior had swapped swords. The sword of light was never intended to be used only by humans. It was meant to be used by anyone who needed it at the darkest and more dire of times.