Hi Terry,
You explained what I had had in mind better than I could have, and I love your story twist. Thank you.
Maybe your two story ideas could be combined: The master is evil but has managed to convince the village otherwise. Perhaps he and the demon dragons have a secret pact whereby they pretend to invade and he pretends to hold them off. The villagers make him wealthy because he is (in their view) protecting the village. He splits the jewelry he receives with the dragons.
Then, by some set of circumstances, the master is forced to deal with an honorable apprentice. He manages to keep the apprentice in the dark about all of this. He teaches him nonsense words to use as "spells" against the dragons. When the master dies, the apprentice then starts to discover that all is not as it seems...
Joy,
Lynn
