The Festival of Lights

Wrapped in a cloak colored in a muted crimson, the figure walked confidently along the halls of the palace of Sylvanse. Beneath the cloak, the sound of metal-on-metal clinked quietly; a sword, clicking against it's scabbard? Chainmail or plate perhaps?

"At last," the once-man known as Xumevyn spoke. "At last, the time for the fall of this cursed city has come."

It began as a soft, quiet chuckle. It rushed through him like a virus, growing into a sinister, half-mad cackle..

"Your time is at an END, Sylvanse! Soon, you shall know the pangs of terror once more!" He bellowed, raising his foot against the door before him. Kicking hard, the entryway slammed open, revealing a well-lit room with a circular table at it's center. There, surrounded by a group of stunned men and women, floating above the table, was what he sought.

The lock.

Things were going smoothly. Though, the premonition he had heard had startled him a bit, perhaps it would be alright. Perhaps it wasn''t a bad night for them, but for another. After all, who could get past all of the guards posted on duty? With the importance of the day, the security had been doubled, if not tripled. He was sitting right by the head of the table, fingers laced, smiling wearily as they all conversed on their individual issues, coming closer to an end, and closer to their main goal of the night.

Close, but it was not meant to be. They hadn't had the chance. It started as a small nuisance to their ears, but as that laughter grew, they were shaken. The moment the doors burst open, they were all on their feet, if they had the ability to, eyes wide in shock, shaken out of their wits. Who was this? And how?

He swallowed hard, staying his place and straightening up as best as he could. "Just who are you?" One of the few to even think of piping up.

Almost as soon as the laughter was heard, the royal guardsmen took their stances by the door. Prideful, strong, the guards posted here were the elite of the elite. Once the door was opened, they charged without so much as a second thought, swords drawn and visors down. The sound of their full plate mail was deafening, their hand-and-a-half blades shimmering in the eerie light given off by the Lock.

"Attack, men! Allow not this blasphemer to enter the room!" The captain cried out, his own visor up so he could better view the opponent.

The thing that was once a man struck out with his left hand; from beneath his red cloak, a sinister-looking length of chain snaked. It slithered, seeming almost sentient, before it reached the royal guard as they attacked.

Along the entire length of the elegant, black chain, painful looking thorns jutted out. They glistened, as if alive, before wrapping around the gorgets of the knights. Xumevyn twisted his arm to the side, the motion also causing his cloak's hood to fall back.

His face was covered by a mask, pure white save for a single deep-red stylized slash across where the right eyehole would be. No opening in the mask save for the left eye, the orb that gazed out from behind the mask was alight with sadistic glee.

"Disappear!" The creature called Xumevyn very nearly giggled, as the chain tightened and began to retract.

There wasn't another thought he needed to think. It was live or die, and as a human, living came natural, thank you very much! He moved back in an instant, sweating and swallowing hard. Everything was constricted, his knees were shaking terrible, not to mention his hands. Since when had he been able to heart he heart beating in his ear? There was not fear alike to this; the fear of everything falling about without a shred of hope. How many guards were still alive, if any? With how that ended, there was no one he could think to save them. They were all dead, and this cause for forever lost.

Alebard shakily felt for the handle of his rapier, his hands brushing the leather grip again and again, barely able to even take it from its sheath. No; someone save them. Someone save him...!

Milly gasped at the horror unfolding, and grasped her waist length braid in panic, not knowing what to do. Astra needed to be safe, that was most clear. Her hazel eyes darted back and forth, wide with fear, drawn to the blood pooling on the floor. She ran up to her princess, obvious of the danger, her shawl falling from her arms. It drifted to the floor to soak up the blood of the nearest guardsman.

"Princess, we must go! You must be kept safe!" Milly tugged at Astra's arm, trying to lead her away. The young servant girl knew all the secret passageways in the palace, there was no way this terrifying man could follow them down the ways she knew out of the antechamber. The rest of the servants had fled, not willing to risk their necks for the nobility. Milly knew the servants could find their way out with no problem, but if Astra were to die it would send the whole city into mass hysteria and destruction.

It was a testament to her willpower that Astra's only reaction to the sudden intrusion and massacre was a furrowed brow and a slight sheen of sweat. When her lady-in-waiting approached her, warning of escape, she ignored her perhaps a bit more brusquely than she would have normally.

Astra, daughter of Lord Hraesvorn IV, Emperor of the Holy City Sylvanse, and Heiress to the Empire, was terrified... But she knew, as everyone in the room knew, that this stranger could not be allowed to get his hands on the Lock. To allow that would be to allow ruin and destruction to reign over the world once more.

"You'll not find this family easy prey," she murmured as if to herself.

Stepping casually over the fallen bodies of the Guardsmen, the creature Xumevyn smirked beneath it's mask. The chain was fully hidden beneath his sleeves once more, though a few droplets of blood ran along the hems. He blinked and looked over, towards one woman in particular... Tall, imperial, commanding presence... She must be the old man's brat.

"Easy prey?" He cackled. "On the contrary. This entire country.. This entire world.. Shall be easy prey. All of you will fall once I release the Twisted One from his captivity once more."

He almost jovially hopped up onto the table, his pace leisurely and relaxed, though the occasional twitch of the muscles in his arms showed how 'charged' he was, emotionally. He'd waited so long... So long.. for this. He would savor this moment. No rush.. No one here could touch him.

Milly wanted badly to pass out so that she didn't have to look at the strange man's coat dripping blood, but she steeled her nerves and realized she had stopped tugging on Astra's arm. Her hand laid on her arm limp, and Milly could do little but stare as the man approached.

"Oh gods, Princess, please be safe, I don't know how to protect you," Milly babbled, tears springing to her eyes. She clutched her side bag firmly, ready to try to beat this man over the head with her bag. That sort of thinking was going to send Milly to an early grave. Milly was brave of sorts. Intelligence, though, was not her strong point. She was not thinking about the consequences of protecting the Princess, only of the action.

"NO!" The word was ripped from Astra's lips before she could think, the calm demeanor that had endured the brief slaughter shattered by the man's reaction to seeing her father. She ran. Ignoring instincts that told her to flee in whatever direction she could, she ran. From beneath her shift, she drew long, thin daggers, weighted for throwing. Drawing her hand back, she flicked her wrist hard, the blades flying end over end towards her father's would-be assailant.

"I won't kill him," the creature yelled in a sing-song voice, turning around to stare at the rather brave, if irritating royal girl. "No.. No, I won't kill your father!"

Indeed, as the chains slid out of his sleeves once more, they instead began to wrap around Xumevyn at the ankles, looping over and over and over until they surrounded him in a cocoon of dark steel. They writhed like snakes, carrying him through the air and across the room, towards the bloodsoaked entryway he had smashed open not ten minutes before.

The blades that Astra had thrown, however, continued their flight towards where Xumevyn was.. moments ago.

"I won't kill your father!" Xumevyn repeated darkly.

"YOU will!" He screamed, watching as the daggers the princess had thrown sank hilt-deep into the Holy Emperor of Sylvanse's chest. Hraesvorn gazed upon his daughter incredulously, stunned by the events of the past few seconds. He remained upright, admirably so, for another entire minute, while the survivors stared on in horror. Slowly, as if his entire kingdom fell with him, the pillar of the Empire tumbled, to lie immobile on the palace tile, blood stark in relief against the white of his robes.

This was like one of those terrible nightmares after reading those terrible books. Only much worse. Never could he have conceived such a thing. Bodies twisting until they split, heads rolling, blood everywhere, washing the room in red. Blood dripped over the fine furs he was garbed in, his muscles quivering and twitching nervously as his knees knocked and shook like leaves.He finally had a grip on his sword, but no longer was it a weapon. It was nothing more now that a tool to calm his nerves. Something to help him bode; a tangible item that he knew was still there; still real. He stumbled back, farther and farther away, breaking apart. The king was a pity, but it was not his worry. He had to live! He wished to live! He had to do anything in order to preserve what he had left; the animalistic desire to survive!

His foot fell on an organ of some sort, sending him right back onto the blood soaked floor with a crash only to scurry to the corner and clutch the hilt of his sword like no other. There was no way out, was there? Where were the servants? Why had they left them behind!? They would not come back; no, they all would be left for dead.

Someone, save him...

Milly stared in horror for a long moment. This was impossible. There was no way in the world, under the gods, that a man, if he were even a man, to come in and destroy the only world Milly had ever known. The emperor was surely dead. So that meant...Astra would rule, if this monster didn't destroy them all first.

"Why would you do this!" Milly screamed at the man, voice choked up with pain. She had not known the emperor well, he was a quiet man, but she knew her princess, and how much this would kill her. Even if she didn't show it. "Why such destruction!"

The chain-wrapped figure paused in it's slow flight, and turned, it's one hate-filled eye sweeping over the cowering noble. A single length of chain lashed out, one single thorn carving a small 'x' on the man's cheek.

"You quiver and shake before this meager display of power," it drawled, voice dripping with venom. "I hate to think what a coward such as yourself would do before my Master."

It's eye then swept over the princess, to the servant girl who dared address it. In a flash, the mass of writhing, serpentine black steel was before her, several lengths slithering out to caress the servant's cheek in a mockery of affection.

"Poor misguided soul." The thing known as Xumevyn said softly, almost lovingly. "Trapped in this ephemeral form, forced by fortune to wait hand and foot on these fools. Worry not, little lost lamb."

The chains wrapped around the girl's neck for a moment, then withdrew.

"I will free you from this mortal shell soon enough, with the help of my Master."

With that, the chain-shrouded creature departed swiftly through the doorway, making it's way towards the entrance to the palace.

Alebard whimpered and scuttled up pressed against the wall, fear etching his every feature, his mind absolutely swimming. Help! Help! Oh God, GET AWAY!! He cried out short as the chain came so close, his bowls letting loose, pants soaking in seconds as his cheek burned from the slightest of abuse. It felt tenfold in his fear driven self, his bod going ice cold, shaking dangerously. Run! He had to run!!

Or, at least, he did... sweet God of mercy!! Thank the Lord! He fell to his knees, babbling nonsense under his breath with the slightest hint of laughter, his eyes wide; fear stricken and paranoid. Safe! SAFE! He had been granted life!!