A/N: Sorry for the long wait guys. This one took a while to make. And now the moment you've all been waiting for: the grand ball for Odette's birthday. What will happen at this event, and who will be revealed? this chapter has be rewriten a little.

Chapter 5

It was late in the night and the ball was going splendidly. The guests were dancing, chatting, or at the buffet table (mainly Jacob- he has a high metabolism). Rogers was conducting the band while the guests danced. The music was smooth and graceful. Rogers took get pride in his music, always making absolute sure that his audience would be satisfied.

The ball room was full of guests; there must've been at least two hundred people inside. There were quite a few kings and queens there, but the majority of the party was other nobles. And all of them were very well dressed. There were some that had big, puffy sleeves and/or shoulders, and others that had big hats on their heads.

Odette wore her formal attire, consisting of a sleek white evening gown with green puffs at the shoulders and long fitted sleeves. She was walking around the ball room, occasionally chatting with the guests along the way. She walked around for a while when she caught site of Jacob, wearing his usual outfit, at the buffet table.

Just where I thought I would find him, she thought to her as she made her way towards him. Once she reached him, she lightly tapped him on the shoulder. The sudden unexpected contact caused him to jump, almost dropping the food I is hands. This caused Odette to giggle. Once he calmed down, Jacob turned around to see who it was.

"Odette!" he said sternly, yet had a small smile on his face. "Don't do that. You almost made me drop my food." Odette giggled some more.

"I'm sorry, Uncle Jacob" she said, even though she really wasn't. "I just wanted to see how you were enjoying the party."

"I'm having a great time," he said happily. "Derek has really put together a fabulous ball. You are incredibly lucky, Odette." Odette smiled and nodded in agreement. She looked over to her right and saw Derek not that far away from them talking to his best friend Bromley, who was stuffing his face as he talked. He was wearing his formal attire as well.

"Yes," she said in a half eye-lid smile. "I really am lucky, huh?" She looked back at Jacob. "So how is Uberta?"

"She's still resting in the infirmary," he said. "I had Bridget bring her an extra set of clothes for her when she wakes up." Odette smile at this.

"Hopefully she will wake up soon. It would be a shame if she went through all the trouble to get here and miss out on it." Jacob nodded in agreement, though he felt a small feeling of guilt. His face seemed to show it, but he quickly shook it off as to not be noticed.

Odette, however, did notice the small change in Jacob's expression, it was quick but she noticed. "Is everything alright?" she asked. Jacob looked at her with a questionable expression.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"You looked a little worried for a moment when I brought up Uberta just now," she answered. "Is everything alright?" Jacob was taken aback at how quick Odette was to notice his reactions, but wasn't at all surprised. She always had a keen eye for spotting the smallest movements.

"Of course my dear," he said with a convincing smile. "Everything is just fine. I'm just worried that Uberta won't wake up in time for the ball, or we'll all be in trouble." Odette laughed at his joke. She knew quite well that Uberta was always up for a party, and whenever she wasn't invited or happen to miss it, Uberta would become so upset that even the bravest of men would be too terrified to go near her. It's a good thing that Odette was never the one that her anger was directed at.

"Yeah that's true," she said as she chuckled. "Now I hope she wakes up for all our sakes."

Jacob was smiling, knowing that Odette believed his lie, and nodding his head, but that feeling of guilt never went away. He hated to have to lie to Odette and Derek about what happened to Uberta, but he knew it was for the best. He knew if he told them the truth, Derek would act rash and try to find out who did this and start a fight that he was sure Derek wasn't going to win, not on his own at least. As for Odette she would learn an awful truth to why Uberta was attacked and who was responsible for it. But he knew that they would find out the truth sooner or later, and he was really hoping for the latter.

Feeling the need to change the subject, he asked, "So where are these animal friends you've been telling me about. I haven't had the chance to meet them."

"Oh," Odette said, completely forgetting about them. She had been so occupied with everything that's been happening today that she forgotten that they had a surprise for her. She looked around the room for them. "I'm sure they're around here somewhere. I overheard them saying that they had a surprise for me, but I don't know what it is. I hope that they are alright."

"Hmm," Jacob said. "Maybe Derek has seen them. Here he comes now." He pointed to his left. Odette followed to where he was pointing and saw Derek making his way towards them.

"Hello Derek," Jacob said. "And how is everything going tonight?"

"Everything is going perfectly," Derek replied. He looked over to Odette. "That is, if the birthday girl thinks so." Odette nodded happily.

"Absolutely," she said. "Everything is perfect. But I still feel that this is a little much." Derek shook his head and laughed.

"Nonsense, nothing is too good for my angel." he said as he kissed Odette on the cheek.

"Exactly," Jacob said. "This is your day. Everyone at this party is here to celebrate your birthday. What better reason to be here?" Odette blushed at the complements she was getting. She then remembered what she wanted to ask Derek.

"Oh Derek," she said. "By the way, you haven't seen Puffin, Speed, Jean-Bob and Whizzer around here have you?"

"Oh I almost forgot," he replied. "That's actually what I came over here to tell you. The boys say that they are ready to show you their surprise now. They told me to bring you over as soon as possible." Odette smiled as Derek took her hand and pulled her away to find their animal friends.

"Have fun Odette," Jacob shouted as they walked off. As he was watching Odette and Derek leave, Philip and Joshua walked up behind him. Jacob didn't even have to turn around to know that they were there and his face turned serious. "What's the news?" he asked without turning around. Philip was the first to answer.

"Everything is in order, Sire," he reported. "Me and Joshua did a head count on every soldier that accompanied the guest here. And we have a number of two thousand and four hundred soldiers here, thirty percent of them being knights. We've instructed them to be prepared and wait within the castle until further orders. They currently reside in the kitchens, armories, and any place close by where they could come quickly if ever need. I also had another hundred and fifty men station around the ballroom should anything happen." Jacob nodded his approval.

"Very good," he said. "Be sure to give the signal at anytime. I have a feeling in my gut that something is going to happen tonight."

"How can you be so sure, Sire?" Joshua asked.

"Better not to question it, Joshua," Philip said. "I've been with him for over thirty years and his gut feelings have always been right on the dot." Joshua questioned this for a moment. But then he realized that Philip has been in many wars with the King and has more experience in what the Jacob had in mind. So he nodded his understanding. Jacob turned his head slightly towards them.

"Alright," he said. "Continue with what you're doing. And be sure to be prepared for anything." Philip and Joshua saluted and turned and made their way towards another part of the room. Jacob walked in the other direction to where Odette and Derek where.

Meanwhile in the infirmary, Uberta was still unconscious in her bed. Bridget sat in a chair next to her still unconscious Chamberlin. She had his hand in hers as she was slightly caressing it. She would occasionally check on Uberta to see if she had woken up yet. She had cleaned the dirt and leaves off both of them didn't put them in new clothing, but she had a pair right next to each of them.

They had both been like this for a few hours now and Bridget was starting to wonder if they would ever wake up. She was very worried about one thing: why was King Jacob talking about the Dark Lord? Was he the one that attacked Uberta's kingdom? So many questions went through her mind. She remembered the time when she first met the Dark Lord. They were just banished from William's kingdom for two weeks. They had just moved into the abandoned castle at Swan Lake that Rothbart had found a long time ago with Clavius. Rothbart was trying to form a plan for revenge against William, but nothing good and effective came to mind. Then one day, a strange cloaked man appeared at the doors of the castle. Bridget opened the doors for him and he requested to see Rothbart. She showed him in and when to bring him Rothbart. After she did so, the cloaked man revealed himself as the Dark lord.

Rothbart was not a man that was easily scared, but he was terrified of him. But once he showed that he wasn't there to kill him, he asked if he could speak to Rothbart privately. Rothbart agreed and brought him to a secret chamber that he had discovered. Bridget didn't remember much after that; all she knew was that they had formed a plan together and that they also served him now. Then Derek defeated Rothbart in battle and she now served him and Odette and she was happy with them for three years. Now she found herself here caring for two unconscious friends that had been forced out of their home. She couldn't do much more for them until they woke up.

Meanwhile, unknown to Bridget, Uberta was having a horrible nightmare in her sleep. She was seeing a kingdom on fire, but not her own. She saw people being slaughtered by monsters right in front of her. The screams of those people horrified her. Then she heard the sound of fighting behind her. She turned around to see something she thought she would never see again. She saw her husband Dmitri. And not only that, but she saw her son Derek as well. They were fighting side by side together. Then a black figure, carrying a long black sword, appeared out of nowhere and stood between them and Uberta. The black figure had his back to Uberta as it walked towards Dmitri and Derek. They stood their ground as it approached them.

Dmitri was the first to step forward and confront the shadow. But to Uberta's horror, he was cut down within seconds. Derek saw his father fall to the ground and shouted with anger. He charged at the being but, too, was cut down. Uberta wanted to scream, but nothing came out. The shadow stood over the two fallen bodies before it turned around to face Uberta with its red eyes. Then the black figure began to make its way towards her. Uberta tried to run but her feet would move. She just stood there as the dark figure came closer to her. Once the dark shadow reached Uberta, it raised its sword high above its head. Uberta looked upon the dark figure with tears in her eyes. Then she saw something that shocked her even more: she saw the face of William staring down at her. Uberta finally let out a scream as the figure brought down its sword upon her.

Uberta woke up from her nightmare still screaming, causing Bridget to jump out of her seat and fall to the ground. Uberta looked quickly around the room to see where she was. Bridget quickly came over to her side to calm Uberta down.

"Where am I?!" Uberta shouted. Bridget placed her hand on her shoulder.

"Uberta safe, safe now," she said. "Uberta at Swan Lake castle. Bridget take care of Uberta." This, however, did little to calm Uberta down. The memories of her dream and the attack on her kingdom were still fresh in her mind. She quickly tried to stand up out of bed.

"I have to see Derek now," she said as she tried to leave, but Bridget reached out and grabbed Uberta's hand.

"But Uberta still need rest," she said pleadingly. "Uberta had tiring journey and needs rest." Uberta shook her head.

"How can I rest when a great evil is on our very doorstep?" With that, she pulled her hand away and ran out the door to find her son. Bridget was about to give chase when she heard Chamberlin waking up as well.

"What happened?" he asked in an exhausted voice as he placed his hand on his forehead. But his question when unanswered when Bridget jumped on him and wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly.

"Chamberlin!" she shouted happily. "You awake!" Chamberlin tried gasping for air as she held him tight. Once she let go, Chamberlin finally caught a breath of air.

"Bridget what's going on?" he said as he recovered his voice. But Bridget just grabbed his hand and dragged him behind her as she ran out the door.

"Come, come," she said. "We must find Uberta before she get hurt, hurt."

All was quiet outside. Thirteen guards stood at the ready outside the Castle of Swan Lake. Each guard was carrying a six foot long spear, sword and shield, and a torch. They all looked from left to right, scoping the area out for anything suspicious. Their shift was about to end soon so they weren't as focused as they should be. Then one of the guards on the left side of the castle entrance heard what sounded like a twig snapping in the far off distance. He alerted the sergeant in charge of their group about the sudden noise. The sergeant looked out towards where the soldier was pointing and studied the area carefully.

Upon seeing nothing, the sergeant ordered him and another soldier to go forth and scout the area. They did as they were told and headed off into the direction of the noise. They traveled to the edge of the woods and stopped. They studied the area for a while before turning around to head back to their posts. But another sound of a twig snapping stopped them and they quickly turned back towards the noise. They listened for anymore sounds before taking any more actions. They knew something was out there so they didn't turn back. Soon a small growl was heard in the woods, catching the two soldiers off guard a bit. The sound of the deep growl sent chills down their spines, but they stood their ground. They readied their weapons and ventured off into the woods holding the torches up high. They traveled in the woods for a few yards, searching for the cause of the noises. They stopped after a short while and quickly looked at their surroundings. They looked back and realized that they were a good distance away from the castle.

"Everything seems quiet," one of the guards said. The other nodded.

"Yeah, a little too quiet." He looked around him. "There's not a sound anywhere. Not a bird, not a cricket, nothing. Just complete silence."

Then they heard it again. A deep growl, but this time it sounded closer. The sudden sound made them jump. They readied themselves for whatever was out there. Then the sound of footsteps could be heard. The soldiers stood back to back, their torches on the ground and their weapons ready. More footsteps started to make themselves know and the growling continued. The soldiers looked around the trees but could not see anything. The footsteps grew louder and louder but they still couldn't see. They looked and looked but nothing was there. Then all was silent.

They guards stood where they were as they listened for anything. One of the guards picked up one of their torches and held it high. Then they saw them: dozens of glowing yellow eyes shined through the darkness. The soldiers were petrified by the sight. Never before have they been so frightened. What kind of creature where they? Then a sudden noise came from above. The guards shifted the gaze up towards the branches… then it was over.

The sergeant could hear the blood filled screams coming from the woods. He and the remaining others ran towards the woods where their comrades went in. they held their torches high to light their way. They trekked through the woods as fast as they could to find their comrades. They could see the light from their torches up ahead. When they reached the light, they were too late. The sight was too horrible. The bodies of their comrades were completely torn apart. Body parts scattered everywhere, and the smell of blood was strong.

What could have possibly done this?, the sergeant thought. He soon got his answer. The sound of growls and snarls began to start again, catching the soldiers off guard. They readied themselves for a fight. They formed a circle formation with the sergeant in the center. He looked around the area but couldn't see anything. He held his torch higher above his head. Soon glowing yellow eyes began to show in the darkness. The growling and snarling grew louder as they came closer to the soldiers. The sergeant drew his sword out and stood ready to fight. Then something fell on top of him. He looked up to see a horrible dark green creature with sharp teeth and long pointed ears. Its skin was wrinkled and thick. Its eyes were yellow looked like that of a snake. And its nose was only two narrow nostrils in the center of its face. It also wore strange armor, looked like scales that covered a red long sleeved leather shirt.. The shoulder guards were spiked and curled up at the end. It wore a loan cloth but had leather boots on its feet and leather gloves on its hands as well. It truly was a creature from hell. The guards turned around to see the sergeant struggling with a horrible creature. They were about to assist but it was too late. They were quickly swarmed by dozens more of them.

The ballroom was filled with laughter. As it turns out, Puffin, Whizzer, Speed, and Jean-Bob were acting as jesters for the party. They made the crowd burst into laughter with every stunt they did. They each wore a ridiculous costume to add to the comedy. Puffin was going around telling jokes and making fun of others, all in good fun, while Whizzer mimicked the voices of the crowd and turn it around to be them making fun of themselves. Speed was trying to balance himself on a big red and blue ball on one leg while balancing pies on sticks with his left leg, arms and nose.

Jean-Bob, of course, refused to do anything because he found it humiliating and non-prince like. So Puffin and Whizzer improvised and turn their jokes and tricks on him. Whizzer began imitating Jean-Bob's voice.

"Hello, my good people," Whizzer said to the crowd in Jean-bob's voice. "Have a look at me. My name's Jean-Bob and I am a tiny frog, but I think I'm a prince because I don't think I could possibly be anything else." The crowd burst into laughter at the ridiculous act that whizzer was playing. Jean bob, on the other hand, grew red with frustration. Puffin saw this and addressed the crowd.

"Ooh shoo shoo shoo shoo, looks like the poor frog prince is a little mad," he said in his Irish accent. "Maybe I should cool him down." Puffin took out a small bucket of water and dunked it on top of the frog.

Jean-Bob was boiling now. He started chasing Puffin around the room. Puffin started running around whizzer as he stood there with his hands behind his back. After Jean-Bob chased Puffin around whizzer six times, whizzer stuck his arm our while holding a cream pie. Jean-Bob ran straight into, causing the whole room to burst out laughing. After wiping the cream off his face, Jean-Bob started chasing both of them. Puffin and Whizzer ran across the trying to get away from Jean-Bob. They started running around Speed as he was still balancing on the ball. After a few moments of chasing, Jean-Bob accidently hit the ball from under Speed causing him to fall on top of three of them.

"I'm going to kill all of you," Jean-Bob said angrily from underneath Speed. Then the pies that speed was balancing fell onto each of their faces as the crowd laughed and applauded. Puffin, Whizzer, and Speed bowed to the crowd and carried Jean-Bob away towards Odette and Derek. Odette approached them while clapping.

"That was fantastic guys," she said with a huge smile on her face. "That was the funniest performance I have ever seen." Her animal friends, except Jean-Bob, bowed in thanks.

"Thank you, Odette," said Puffin. "We've been working on that for a couple of days now to get it perfect."

"Yeah," Whizzer agreed as he pointed to Jean-Bob. "But his highness over here didn't want to have any part of it so we had to improvise a little bit." Said frog looked at Whizzer with a death glare.

"I told you I didn't want to do this!" Jean-Bob shouted.

"You really didn't have a choice," Puffin said. Jean-Bob turned his glare on him.

"A prince always has a choice on what he wants and does not want to do," he stated. Whizzer and Puffin rolled their eyes and shook their heads at him. Speed walked over to Jean-Bob.

"But isn't making Odette happy all that matters?" he said slowly. Jean-Bob looked towards the ground and frowned. He began to think about what his turtle friend just said and sighed.

"I guess you right," he said as he looked up at his best friend. He then turned to Odette and bowed. "As long as the princess is happy, this humiliation is worth it." Odette's smile grew much wider, for Jean-Bob had finally learned humility. She was very proud of him. She kneeled down to the floor and leaned in and kissed Jean-Bob on his forehead.

"I'm very proud o you Jean-Bob," she said. Jean-Bob looked up at Odette and became red. He then started to freak out and spaze around. He jumped into the air and did a few flips as he descended towards the floor. He then looked at his friends with a smug look.

"Well. what do you say gents?" he said proudly. "Am I a prince or am I a prince?" Puffin, Whizzer and Speed looked at each other and shook their head. Puffin stepped forward with a mirror.

"Jean-Bob," he said seriously. He took out the mirror and showed it to Jean-Bob. "Take a look at yourself. What do you see?" Jean-Bob looked at the mirror for a while. He then grew frustrated and took the mirror.

"I don't believe this!" he shouted in his French accent. "Why don't these kisses ever work? I should be a handsome prince by now and heading back to my throne. " Puffin shook his head and was about to say something when Odette's hand stopped him. She smiled but shook her head at him. Puffin sighed and stepped back. He knew that the frog would never believe them if he told him he wasn't a prince. He didn't before, so why would he now?

Odette stood up and stood next to Derek, who was laughing and shaking his head at them. He then heard the music playing and looked at Odette with a smile. He lifted his right hand to her.

"May I have this dance, my lady?" Derek said in a soft voice. Odette blushed and smile at him.

"Of course you may, my good sir." She took his hand and they made their way towards the dance floor. Derek placed his left hand on Odette's waist as Odette placed her right hand on Derek's shoulder. They were about to start dancing until they heard a familiar voice.

"Derek!" the voice shouted. Both Derek and Odette recognized the voice as Uberta's. They looked towards the direction of where her voice was coming from and saw Uberta running down the stairs. She was still wearing her torn outfit and her hair hung loose. She descended down the stairs and ran passed the guests to get to her son. Everyone gasped at the state Uberta was in, some were whispering about her but she didn't care, her main focus was getting to Derek. Odette and Derek both ran to Uberta as she ran passed the crowd. Once they reached her Derek spoke in a worried tone.

"Mother, what's the matter?" Uberta grabbed onto Derek as if she were about to lose him. She spoke in a hoarse voice.

"Derek," she said. "We have to leave here! There isn't much time." By this point, Jacob, Philip and Joshua came running to their side. Derek spoke again.

"What do you mean?" he asked very worriedly. "What's going on?"

"There isn't much time!" Uberta said loudly. "He'll be here soon!" Jacob was getting worried. He knew this would happen, but he didn't expect it to be this soon. He looked at the on looking crowd and saw their expressions. Many were confused at the situation and others were scared. He knew this was not going to end well.

"Who's coming?" Odette asked. Uberta looked over at Odette with sad eyes. She knew that it was now or never.

"It's—" Before she could finish her sentence, a loud crash came there one of the large windows, followed by a few more as dozens green creatures came crashing in. Glass was flying everywhere as people sated to panic. One of the green creatures stood up and shouted to the rest in a beast like voice.

"Goblins! Attack!" he ordered and the rest withdrew their weapons and began attacking the people. The room was in complete chaos. Many of the guests started panicking and ran towards the stairs to get away, while others withdrew their own weapons and went on the defense. The guards stationed inside the ballroom immediately went into action and attacked these creatures. Joshua turned to Philip and Joshua.

"Call the rest of the army in here and get these people to safety!" he ordered. Philip and Joshua obeyed and left to get reinforcements as Jacob took out his sword, which he always kept at his side, and went forth to battle. Derek did the same and turned to Odette.

"Get you and my mother to safety," he said but Odette didn't move.

"I'm not leaving you Derek," she persisted. Derek frowned.

"There's no time to argue Odette. Just do what I ask and get out of here!" Odette was about to say something else when they heard a loud noise coming from the front of the castle. They turned to the source of the noise to see that two goblins were opening the castle doors. Once they did, more of these creatures came pouring inside. Derek turned back to Odette.

"Odette please, you have to get out of here." seeing as she had no choice, Odette grabbed Uberta's hand and they made their way towards the stair. Derek turned around and went to join the battle taking place in his castle. Odette was about to ascend the stairs when saw how crowded it was. She was never going to make up those stairs in time. So she took Uberta to the right side f the room to hide behind the Buffet table. Once there, she saw Bromley and Rogers hiding there as well. But Rogers seemed to be arguing with Bromley about joining the battle.

"Fine!" Rogers said. "Hide here like a coward. I'm going out there and helping." He stood up and headed out towards the chaos, running right passed Odette and Uberta. Odette looked back at Bromley as he looked at the ground and mumbled something under his breath. Odette just shook her head.

Jacob cut down a goblin he was fighting and saw that more were storming in through the castle doors. Where the hell is that reinforcements? he thought to himself. He got his answer when he heard trumpets sounding behind him. He looked behind him and saw the soldiers from every kingdom and realm coming to their aid, lead by Philip and Joshua. Jacob smiled at the sight as Derek came to his side. They looked at each other and nodded. Jacob raised his sword and spoke to the men behind him.

"Forward men!" he shouted. "Drive these beasts back!" he and Derek charged forward with their soldiers behind him towards the goblin hordes. The two sides clashed, many slamming body against body. Both sides fought viciously, clashing their weapons against one another. The goblins didn't fight like men, but like vicious beast. Cutting, slashing and biting their enemies. It was a battle that most wish that they would never see. Jacob, however, was no stranger to warfare. He had fought in many battles in his lifetime. He really was an excellent fighter for his age.

This, however, was Derek's first taste of warfare. He had never fought in a battle of this magnitude. Every opponent he had faced was one at a time. He may be an experienced swordfighter, but he knew nothing of fight so many opponents at once. But that didn't stop him. The lives of his people were at stake, including Odette's. These beasts were invading his kingdom, attacking his people, and he was going to fight till his last breath.

The battle continued as both sides fought for their lives. Derek was fighting a goblin pike man. The goblin thrust his pike towards Derek's chest but he countered with a parried and brought his sword into the goblins. Another goblin came from his right side and brought its sword into an overhead down slash. Derek dodged the attack as the goblin just missed his head by a few inches. The goblin steeped forward to regain itself, exposing its back. Derek took the opportunity and brought his sword into its back. The goblin roared in pain before it collapsed to the ground. Derek looked around at the chaos around him before he caught the sight of Jacob.

Jacob fighting two goblins at once, but he wasn't struggling at all. He parried one of their attacks and blocked the other. He did a front snap kick to the one goblin's chest and stabbed his sword through the other. The one goblin regained its footing and charged at Jacob. The goblin jumped into the air and brought its sword down towards Jacob's head. He parried the sword away and thrusted his sword into the goblin's side as it fell to the ground. Out of the corner of his left eye, he could see that a goblin spearman was advancing towards him. Jacob turned to face the creature as it aimed the spear for his chest. Jacob grabbed the spear with his left hand just below the head and pushed it upward, leaving the goblin exposed. Jacob buried his sword through the chest as the goblin let out a cry of pain before falling to the ground. Another goblin advances towards Jacob from his right, catching him by surprise a little. The goblin advances with a barrage of attacks. Jacob has no problem deflecting them but he is forced to move backward. He parries the final blow and cuts his opponent down. He takes one more step back and feels a thud on each shoulder. He quickly turns around and readies his sword only to find a blade at his throat, but it doesn't puncture. He looks at the wielder of the sword and finds that it's his general Philip with a blade at his chest that belonged to Derek, who also had a blade just above his head that belonged to Joshua. It turns out that as each of them were fighting, they accidently bumped into each other thinking that they were an enemy. They all lowered their weapons upon realizing who they had their blades too. After almost killing one another, they each smiled at each other, almost finding it amusing.

"Hey!" a loud beastly voice shouted. Everyone in the room stopped and looked towards the source of the voice. Derek, Jacob, Philip and Joshua all saw that a rather large goblin at one side of the room, holding a curved sword to Odette's throat. "Drop your weapons now!" the large goblin ordered, as he brought the blade closer to her throat.

Derek was furious upon seeing his wife threatened, but there was nothing he could do. He slowly raised his sword in front of him and dropped it. Jacob, Philip and Joshua did the same. They were soon followed by their own soldiers dropping their weapons. The large goblin smiled at this.

"Humans move back!" he ordered, gesturing towards the bottom of the stairs. They all soon complied. They all gathered in the spot where the goblin was pointing packed closely together. Derek and Jacob looked up the stairs and saw that the guests that attended the party were gathered up on top of the stairs by more goblins that somehow managed to get up on the higher levels from another way. They turned to face the large goblin as made his way towards them. Once he reached five feet away from them, he grabbed Odette and shoved her towards them. Odette almost fell when Derek caught her in his arms. Odette looked around the room and saw that they were all surrounded by the vast army of goblins. Then a loud deep voice carried across the room.

"Well, well, well," the voice said. "This certainly is quite a party." Everyone looked forward at the goblins as they began to separate, forming a path across the room. Then a large armored figure appeared riding a large black horse with glowing red eyes. He made his way passed the goblins and stopped once he reached the end. He got off his horse and stood tall as a goblin soldier came and grabbed the rein of the horse. Odette looked at the stranger before them. His armor was indeed impressive. His chest plate was dark shiny and spit from one side to the other just below the chest area to increase mobility. His shoulder guards were quite larger and had a spike on each section of the guards. His chainmail leggings were covered by steel thigh guards. His steel boots that came to a point at the end went over and covered his knees caps in a way that if he were to lift his knee up, the knee guards would form three sections of flat spikes with one over lapping the other. He also wore steel gauntlets that went halfway up the forearm spread outward around the arm. Each finger tips came to a point at the end. The elbow guards had the design as the knees with three layers that came to a point when he bent his arm with a circular sheet of steel that covered both sides that would expose the vulnerable spot in the elbow guards. his cape was thick and well kept as it reached from under the shoulder guards to the floor, almost dragging on it. its colors were black on the outside and red on the inside. The helmet was the piece that completed the whole armor set. The front of the helmet stuck out in the front a little and had two large narrow holes for the eyes and a few little holes for the wearer to breath. The back of the helmet curled back a little to give the wearer the ability to move his head around. The top of the helmet consisted of two large horns that started at the top side of the helmet and began to curl inward a bit then curl outward at the top. Two smaller horns were place underneath the two larger horns. The top middle section of the helmet had a few spikes starting from the top to the back in a single row. It truly was an impressive sight. Derek stepped forward a few steps and addressed the armored stranger.

"Who are you?!" he asked sternly with anger in his voice. The large knight only chuckled slightly and shrugged his shoulders.

"I'm just a man who wants to enjoy the party," he said smoothly. Derek grew even angrier.

"You have no business being here," Derek half shouted, his quickly showing. "Leave this kingdom now!" The armored man began to laugh at Derek's foolishness.

"Such brave talk, for someone who has no power to backup his strong words." Derek's anger got the better of him. He went to charge at the stranger when a hand stopped him. He turned around to see that it was Jacob stopping him.

"Trust me Derek," he said softly, but his face was serious. "This is a fight that you don't want to start." Derek calmed down a little, but only just. He turned back towards the dark knight.

"I ask you again," he said. "Who are you?!" The stranger only stood there before answering.

"I guess the news of me conquering Uberta's kingdom hasn't reached here yet," he said while chuckling. Derek stood there, not quite registering what he had just heard.

"You did what?" Derek asked. The stranger smiled under his helmet.

"I conquered Uberta's kingdom, just last night in fact," he said proudly. Derek couldn't control his anger any longer. He shook out of Jacob's grip and ran straight towards the dark knight.

"Derek no!" Jacob shouted, but it was too late. Derek ran as fast as he could across the room towards his target, grabbing a sword out of the pile of weapons that had been gathered up. The armored knight didn't move. He stood where he was, waiting for Derek to come closer. Once Derek was in range, he swung the sword. The dark knight night easily dodged the attack by leaning back and stepping to the left while he grabbed Derek's right hand with his left. He twisted Derek's wrist till it was almost broke, causing Derek to scream in pain as he dropped the sword. Once he did, the dark knight brought Derek in front of him and pushed Derek in the chest with the palm of his hand, sending Derek back across the room. Upon landing, Derek skidded across the floor and landed a few feet away from everyone. Odette, Uberta and Jacob all ran out of the crowd as Derek lay on the floor holding his chest.

They all kneeled beside him, Jacob checking to see the damage. Odette, seeing her husband in this state, grew angry. She stood up and faced the stranger.

"You monster!" she shouted. "Why are you doing this? What is it that you want from us?" the large man stood there examining Odette. A few moments of silence passed before he finally spoke.

"My my, Odette," he said calmly. "You certainly have grown. How you look so much like our mother." That last statement caught Odette off guard. She struggled with her thoughts before she spoke.

"What are you talking about?" she shouted. "Who are you?" The dark knight just laughed. He crossed his arms in front of his chest and brought his head down.

"It's not at all surprising that no one told you about me," he said calmly. "I have been giving quite a name for myself." He looked up at Odette. He then brought his hands toward his helmet and lifted it off his head and gave it to a goblin soldier. Odette was surprised by the sight. He looked like he was in his thirties and had long blond hair that reached just passed his shoulders. His face was clean and he had violet colored eyes. Putting it simply, he looked a lot like Odette. he spoke again

"I am the shadow that stalks you in the night. The monster under your bed. My very name strikes fear into men's hearts. I am the world's own boogieman. I am The Dark Lord Sargon." He smiled evilly at Odette. "I'm your brother."

A/N: Wow! bet that caught you guys off guard, huh? well now you know who the Dark lord is and how he's connected to Odette. hope you guys are enjoying the suspence. please leave a review and tell me what you think :)