Illuminating the Dark Prince

Rise of the Serpent

William was crouched down in front of her, softly speaking words of comfort while the poor girl stared blankly into nothingness. Gwendolyn had already arranged for her to be seen by a doctor, yet I had a nagging suspicion that the child's mind was somehow trapped within a void. If that was the case, well, it's hard to say what kinds of unfathomable horrors she might be enduring in there. The thought of something so heinous happening to a youngling kindled rage within my blood and further fueled my desire to bring down the lloigors. Shadows writhed within my hair as I watched William gently caress her cheek with his thumb, smiling lovingly as if he was her parent. 

Pepper Paws came slinking over and began rubbing the side of his tiny body against Azathoth's leg, purring as he did so. "Alright everyone, the legion of dracrulians are ready and waiting for my command." He reached down and swooped the cat up, giving him an affectionate scratch beneath the chin while he continued to speak. "And I just checked on our tenverian army back in the abyss. They should be cresting the peaks of the mountains any moment now, so we need to leave at once to ensure that we're there when Cerindier notices them." He glanced over at me. "Do you have the orb?"

"Yes, it's over here." I took a few steps over to a side table where I'd left it. The lloigors couldn't sense it here since we were many worlds away, yet I kept the enchanted cloth over it nonetheless. "I will do my best to ensure that it is dealt with properly." I had an important task to take care of that would hopefully grant us a huge advantage, although it was highly uncertain if it would even work.

"It is a suicide mission..." The crown hissed with dismay. "The serpent will swallow you whole if you attempt such a thing!" 

Ignoring the crown, I shifted back to my place beside Azathoth, where everyone else who was joining in the battle was now gathered. "I want to remind everyone to be very careful out there. My mother, the opposing tenverians, and the lloigors are completely ruthless. They will not hesitate for even a moment to take your lives. I know you have your magic, but do not underestimate them by any means... Especially the lloigors." I couldn't help but worry for the humans, knowing what a dramatic physical disadvantage they had.

"Eh, we'll be fine." Darrell shrugged with a smile while stroking Belzar on the head. "It's not like we'll be on the front lines or anything." His obsidian armor gleamed in the firelight as he moved, and his many braids were swirled up into a large bun on top of his head.

"Yeah, don't worry. Azathoth already made us triple promise to peace out the moment something goes wrong." Gwendolyn laughed while stealing the cat from Azathoth, giving him a little kiss on the head and a loving squeeze before placing him back down. Then she looked over at Maribel. "Do you guys need anything before we leave?"

She shook her head and wiped another tear from her cheek, sucking in a deep breath before responding. "No, but I can't thank you enough for taking us in like this." Her arm wrapped around her son, Jaxson. The boy had Jayden's tight curls which were tied back in a poofy ponytail and had changed into clean newer clothing from Hell.

Gwendolyn smiled sympathetically, her green eyes shifting over each child. "Of course. We couldn't just leave you and all the kids back in the abyss like that." 

"I don't know how long we'll be gone, but you're welcome to help yourself to anything in the kitchen, and there are lots of toys and craft supplies in the playroom." Azathoth added with a caring smile.

"Thank you." She kindly bowed her head. "Be careful out there and please bring as many as you can back."

"We will." I nodded with a smile. 

"Alright, everyone hold hands." Azathoth instructed while grabbing Gwendolyn's hand and reaching out to take mine. Gwendolyn took William's hand, he took Darrell's, and Darrell wrapped an arm around Belzar. Then Belzar softly whined while lifting up a big black paw toward me, so I used my shadows to hold the orb and wrapped my other hand around it, completing the circle. "Good, now let's go kill everyone and destroy the kingdom!" His eyes gleamed with evil and excitement, as though he couldn't wait for the bloodshed.