Troll Attack from LEGO

It was a bright new day in the Kingdom. The sun was shining, the farmers were working in the fields, and peace and happiness filled the whole land. Just a little while before, the kingdom was in grave danger. An evil wizard, greedy for the Kingdom’s treasures, sent an army of skeleton warriors and fire-breathing dragons to attack and invade. He wanted to take over the king’s great castle and rule the entire kingdom. The king and his knights fought back against the wizard’s army. The battle was long and hard, but at last they drove the skeletons back to the lands beyond the kingdom. They chased almost all of the dragons back to their homes high in the mountain-tops. And the wizard disappeared without a trace. The king declared a grand celebration to be held all across the kingdom. Every village would hold a great feast, with food and music and games for everyone. The king sent his bravest knights on their horses to entertain the people of the kingdom with amazing jousts and displays of their best knightly skills. At one village near the shore, the celebration was just beginning. Jesters in colorful clothes and funny pointed hats juggled leather balls while acrobats leaped and spun through the air. Knights showed off their swords in friendly duels. And a guard on a high wall by the sea heard the first rumble of thunder on the horizon. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! The sound of thunder grew louder and louder as the guard looked out to sea. A dark shadow slowly grew on the distant horizon, like storm clouds rising from the water. But they weren’t clouds. They were sails. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! The shadow on the horizon was made of dozens of dark red sails. Each sail was painted with a white skull with a mouth full of big, sharp teeth. The guard on the high wall by the sea knew what that symbol meant. Trolls! The warning bell rang out. The cry was passed from guard to guard until it echoed all through the village. The sounds of laughter and celebration stopped. Troll warships were attacking! Everyone knew about the trolls. They came in their ships from a land far across the sea. They were pirates of the land and water who stole gold from villages wherever they went. And they were fierce, strong warriors who would fight for whoever paid them the most. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! The sound wasn’t thunder at all. On each warship was a giant troll, a huge thing twice as tall and ten times as strong as its smaller cousins. In front of each giant troll was an immense drum. As the troll warriors rowed, the giant troll beat his drum, and as he beat his drum, the troll warriors rowed. The drumming was coming faster now as the ships neared the shore. The guard could see the trolls on board the nearest one as they prepared for battle. They were polishing their swords, sharpening their spears, and loading balls of black tar into their launchers. As the villagers ran for their homes, the guards got ready to fight. They carried giant rocks up to the mighty catapult on top of the wall. They had to stop the trolls before they reached the shore! One! They pulled the catapults down as far as they would go. Two! Working together with all their strength, they heaved a massive boulder onto the catapult. Three! They released the catapult! As they let go, the catapult hurled the boulder up, up, up into the air. It flew high into the sky, and then it began to fall back down toward the sea. Its aim was perfect. The rock dropped right on top of the first warship. KRAKK! It was not the sound of a breaking boat, as the guards had expected. It was the sound of breaking stone. As the boulder fell toward the ship, the giant troll stood up, and with a single mighty swing of his battle club, he smashed the huge stone to pieces. Then he sat down and kept right on drumming. The other trolls laughed as they rowed to the beat of the drum. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! There was only one thing to do. The village needed its secret weapon. The guard who had first spotted the sails on the horizon ran down the stairs on the far side of the wall. He opened a creaking door and entered a hidden passage buried under the ground. He climbed down, down, down until he reached a gigantic stone door. A knight in silver armor stood in front. The knight knew why the guard was there. It was time to open the door and release what was waiting inside. The trolls were almost at the shore. They could see the village guards lined up on the wall, but they were not afraid. There were many more trolls than guards. Soon, they would fight. Soon, they would win. Soon, all the gold in the village would belong to them. And then they would sail on to the next village and the next, until they had all of the gold in the kingdom. Then there was a new sound. It was faint at first, but soon they started to hear it over the loud pounding of the drums. It seemed to come from deep underground, and it was rising toward the surface fast. ROOOAAAAAAR! Huge green and yellow wings appeared over the other side of the wall. They flapped once, then twice, and then an incredible sight appeared. An enormous dragon rose into the air, with the knight in shining silver armor riding on its back. The king’s knights had driven all the dragons away except for one. That one, they had tamed to defend the kingdom. It had once been their enemy. Now it was their friend and protector. The dragon roared again. Its long tail lashed behind it. Its yellow eyes, protected by the metal armor on its head, stared at the first troll warship. Then it attacked! The dragon dove at the warship and opened its mouth wide. Orange flames came out of its jaws as it passed over the trolls. The beating of its wings stirred up huge waves in the water, making the ship rock back and forth. The trolls were frightened. Even a giant troll couldn’t beat an angry armored dragon! The giant troll started to pound its drum faster and faster, but this time the trolls at the oars were rowing in the other direction. First one ship, then two, then three, and then every warship in the troll fleet turned away from the shore and headed back out to sea. As the guards cheered and the celebration started again in the village, the knight and his dragon landed on the high wall. Together, they watched the red sails disappear into the distance. The trolls were gone, but they would be back. And the knights of the Kingdom would be ready!