Adventures of the Lightborn Squad

Dyrroth's Very-Evil-And-Diabolically-Awesome-Guaranteed-to-Work Plan

(Written for MGL)

***

Dyrroth was not happy.

He paced back and forth, back and forth.

"Show me Princess Silvanna." he said commandingly to a mirror. The centre of the mirror swirled nauseatingly, till Princess Silvanna's face appeared.

Mirrors don't really work the same way in the Shadow Abyss. Instead of seeing one's reflection, one could sometimes see what was going on in the Land of Dawn.

Well... the key word was sometimes. Mirrors were very unreliable, which was really annoying whenever the demons tried to spy on humans above.

Dyrroth peered at his sister's face. He was still sore over her victory.

He spent months planning the surprise attack on the Moniyan Empire, but somehow she still beat him!

Princess Silvanna was talking to a man, it seemed. Dyrroth stretched his neck to see if he could catch a glimpse.

"Stay away from her!" he shouted, as though the man could hear him. He couldn't, of course. Instead, Princess Silvanna smiled.

The mirror began to get fuzzy, distorting Princess Silvanna's smile.

"Nooo!" Dyrroth growled, banging the side of the mirror to try and clear up the fuzziness.

Where was Helcurt whenever you needed him?

Hmm, Helcurt.... Dyrroth suddenly had an idea. Helcurt wasn't around, but some of his lesser minions were - his protégé, Helcurt had called them. They weren't as good as Helcurt, but they would do. And he now had a diabolically evil plan!

"Kertoph! Hoi!" Dyrroth summoned. Kertoph and Hoi appeared and bowed low to Dyrroth.

"I want you to go to Princess Silvanna," Dyrroth gestured at the blonde woman in the mirror, "And kill whoever she's with! You got that?"

They both bowed low again, and disappeared.

Dyrroth watched them as they appeared in the Land of Dawn, breaking through the still-fragile Barrier of Justice. They creeped along the walls of the Imperial Sanctuary.

Princess Silvanna was holding something cube-shaped and odd in her hands. She seemed to be chatting with some servants.

Kertoph raised his stinger.

"What's happening?" the head of one Thamuz peers into Dyrroth's room.

"Not now!" Dyrroth doesn't even look at him, just holds up one finger angrily. Thamuz rolls his eyes.

"So dramatic." he says as he disappears. Dyrroth watches Kertoph and Hoi's progress.

Progress was... not the right word.

CLANG!

The duo yelped as they heard the sound of a sword.

"Your Highness!" Dyrroth could hear a male voice, amongst the screaming in the mirror.

More yelping, and now running, as Kertoph and Hoi tried to escape the sword. Ten seconds later, they popped back in the Shadow Abyss.

"They surprised us from behind." Hoi trembled.

"You fools!" Dyrroth shouted. "You were supposed to surprise attack them, not they surprise attack you!" Kertoph and Hoi shiver, whispering apologies.

"Go turn out the lights, and then attack them!"

They both nodded their heads and scrambled away.

One small mistake. No matter, his very-evil-and-diabolically-awesome plan would work now.

Dyrroth turned back to the mirror, and banged the side again as it turned fuzzy. "Show me Princess Silvanna!" he commanded the mirror again. Slowly, the mirror warped till the face of the princess reappeared.

Now, Dyrroth could see her accompanied by a dark-haired man in a white jacket. Princess Silvanna looked shaken, as she barked out commands to the servants, knights and page boys.

The man beside her puts a hand on her shoulder soothingly.

"Don't worry, Your Highness." he could hear the man saying. "You're safe."

Dyrroth allowed himself an evil grin. "No, you're not safe." he said to the mirror, as he watched Kertoph and Hoi crawling on the ceiling just above Princess Silvanna.

A shock rippled. The humans murmured as they gazed upwards. The electricity lights had gone out, leaving them in darkness.

Wow. Kertoph and Hoi had turned out all the lights. Even Dyrroth was impressed. Perhaps Helcurt was right in calling them his protégé.

And now they were creeping towards Princess Silvanna and the dark-haired man... yes... just a little closer... what are they waiting for?

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Kertoph and Hoi yelped again, as the dark-haired man whipped around and aimed bullets at them. In the meantime, Princess Silvanna's lance had trapped both demons. This was not going to end well.

Dyrroth groaned. Hopeless. So hopeless.

Never mind. The lights were still out. The Moniyan Empire, forced to their knees by the Shadow Abyss!

Or were they?

The humans congregated, and lit up candles and lamps, passing them around.

THUMP. Dyrroth slapped his palm to this forehead. Why did he not remember that today was the Festival of Lights?

The whole Imperial Sanctuary had candles and matches ready for tonight's festivities. They had no problem with the electricity lights going out.

"Grr!"

He watched now, helpless, as the congregation made their way outside, where more humans gathered.

Princess Silvanna stepped forward and addressed the crowd. She spoke about the passing of her beloved mother. She thanked everyone for their strength, in these trouble-filled times. She talked about hope.

"We have been through... so much." Here, her voice trembled. "But we must always remember the light inside of us. The light that can never be snuffed out. The light that can drive out the darkness."

Then she turned, as a lady brought forward a cube-shaped glowing lantern. Princess Silvanna said a few more words, before she gently dropped the lantern into the water, allowing it to float down the river.

Behind her, five people moved forward (wait was that a Leonin?), placing their lanterns into the water.

The river glowed as more and more lanterns filled the river, each one making its own swirling journey in the water.

If Dyrroth wasn't so preoccupied, perhaps even he would think about how nice everything looked.

Instead, all he could do was fume about his guaranteed-to-work plan, while watching his sister fraternize with the dark-haired man in the mirror.

Him and his dumb white outfit. And his dumb black hair with a white streak down the middle.

"Gahhhh!"

The mirror turned fuzzy, and died.

***