Castle Mitternacht was the most impregnable fortress in all of Griffonia. It had three layers of strong walls, each staffed 24/7 by highly trained guards armed with crossbows, and a series of trench systems so that any invaders that fell in would be easy targets for the crossbow guards. The walls were built with the best building techniques of 1200 years ago, along with strong anti-magic wards within the walls to fend off unicorns or other magic invasion forces. Castle Mitternacht's defenses are so great, in fact, that it was the only fortress in the land not to be sacked by the Goths, a powerful griffon tribe that lead out a conquest of Griffonia around 900 years ago, destroying the old kingdoms in power and creating new kingdoms with Gothic rulers, except for the King of Saxony, who ruled from Mitternacht and held back the Goths in the glorious Siege of Mitternacht. That siege would later inspire the griffon bard Amalric to write the second great griffon epic, 'The Defense of King Hademar'. The Kingdom of Saxony remains the only griffon kingdom to have been around from the fall of the Empire and the advent of the Gryphonic Dark Ages to today.
The King of Saxony derived his legitimacy from wielding the Spearhead of Might, said to have been part of the spear used by Odin, the legendary unifier and emperor of the griffons, which got split into two parts at the end of the Gryphonic-Equestrian War. The Spearhead was in King Friedrich of Saxony's possession, and the Spear Hilt was...somewhere I'm sure.
King Friedrich was lounging in his throne room, surrounded by five lightly armored bodyguards. Now, when you're the most powerful griffon king, you can afford many expensive things. Beside his throne in the back center of the room, the king had two violet and light green banners emblazoned with the Saxon coat of arms, a griffon rearing on his hind legs and clawing at the sky with two crossed spears below him. He had a red carpet leading about twenty feet from the central courtyard to his throne. The throne itself was made of smooth solid stone, as solid as the kingdom. The throne's back was topped with the Spearhead of Might, by far the king's most valuable treasure, and symbolic of his and his kingdom's power. Friedrich's crown was made of solid gold, encrusted with enough jewels to make Saxony the envy of all dragons.
Anyways, King Friedrich was lounging in his lavish throne room when one of his bodyguards, stationed in the central courtyard, burst open the doors and started to shout his demands.
"I demand an audience with the king!"
"Wolksfeuer, what is the meaning of this?" King Friedrich asked, as his bodyguards readied their pikes.
"I demand an audience with you, because I believe that there isn't enough security in this castle."
"What do you mean not enough security?! I have the finest defenses and the most loyal guards in the world. The only castle better fortified than Mitternacht that I can think of would be Canterlot, and even then I'm not too sure."
"No, Your Majesty, you do not understand. Allow me to demonstrate for you."
Wolksfeuer stretched out one of his forelegs, and five tendrils of lightning shot out of his paw and blasted King Friedrich's five bodyguards. After five seconds of millions of volts passing through their agony-racked bodies, all of his guards fell dead onto the floor.
"Do you see what I mean now?!"
"Wolksfeuer, I..." Wolksfeuer then leaped from the front doors to just in front of Friedrich's throne in a single bound.
"You are not worthy to rule this kingdom if you cannot defend your titles from griffons like me,"
"Wolksfeuer, you have served me faithfully for over thirty years. I do not understand what you have to gain from this," Friedrich's eyes darted around, looking for a secret escape, but there were none in sight.
"Thirty years might as well be thirty days to me. But I hope you understand this is nothing against you personally. My ambitions are greater than that of being king. I had my birthright destroyed many years ago, and now vengeance must be paid,"
Wolksfeuer stretched his paw out and millions of volts of lightning made its way through Friedrich's body. Through his agony, the king saw his 46 years of life flash before his eyes just then. The fun he'd had sparring with his brother as a cub, him inheriting the most powerful gryphon kingdom, the birth of his daughter and heir apparent, all whizzing by in under a second.
Suddenly, the voice of a young girl, about 16 years of age, cried out from the throne room doors, "Father!"
There was no more lightning flowing through him now, but Friedrich still found it hard to move anything.
"Hel...ga..." Friedrich collapsed, his eyes glazed over.
"Little girl," Wolksfeuer looked over his shoulder at Helga with bloodshot eyes, "if you value your life, you shall leave Castle Mitternacht, and never interfere in royal affairs again,"
Wolksfeuer flicked his wrist, and lightning struck just in front of Helga's paws to illustrate his point. Helga flew away, her sobbing making her flying shakier.
Wolksfeuer looked back at the throne that formerly belonged to King Friedrich, and gazed upon what was, in his mind, his real prize.
"The Spearhead of Might," Wolksfeuer said, awed by the ancient artifact. The Spearhead seemed to put Wolksfeuer in a sort of trance.
"I have awaited you since the death of my father," he flew up, grabbed the Spearhead off of its pedestal on the back of the throne. When he held it, it began to crackle with electricity, "and together, we shall rule the world with an iron paw. Vengeance shall be had!" Wolksfeuer began to cackle madly, reveling in his victory over the king.