Madness and Chaos

Chapter 7

"Alright, so according to your report we've got knights showing up in Valenwood and Overlook Road. Were your soldiers able to slay them, Aurmazl Zudeh?" asked Sheogorath, stoking his beard in worry.

"They have been able to stamp out all of the Knights of Order they saw, located the crystal they came from and managed to disable it," answered Zudeh, taking note of Sheogorath's more serious state, "Although..."

"Although?"

"We're not sure if any other crystals have been activated and if so how many. It'll take us days to comb Mania and find all the crystals," she quickly explained hoping that the news hasn't upset her lord.

"Then get your soldiers on it fast. We can't have those bastards marching across my land during our people's celebration of the return of my son now can we?" he commanded sternly, "Speaking of..."

"I'm sorry, my lord, but there have been no reports of he daedra which you described."

"I see."

"Don't worry, lord Sheogorath, I will be sure to have my soldiers keep an eye out for Discord as well and have him returned to you as soon as possible," she assured the mad god, quickly exiting the hall.

Sheogorath sat upon his throne worrying for not only the safety of his land but for his chaotic offspring, Discord, who was nowhere to be seen. He knew Discord was adept at magic and was far more powerful than any knight but he was created to be a prankster to toy with people, well, ponies in Discord's case. If Discord was too careless he could end up a casualty of the Grey March. Speaking of which, he knew the Grey March was close at hand but he didn't know that it was happening right now. He had hoped for a few years at most to ready Discord for what was now on his door step. Sheogorath sat there for a good long time thinking to himself until his mind registered that Haskill was talking to him.

"Eh, what?"

"I said should we alert Autkendo Jansa of the knight's return so that she may be more prepared when they start appearing in Dementia?" asked Haskill, wiping a few beads of sweat off his brow.

"Yes, do that, and make sure they get Xedillian running too. I don't want any outsiders to jeopardize our efforts to repel these scum," commanded Sheogorath.

"Ah, just what I wanted to talk about," Discord's voice rang-out from the end hall as he approached Sheogorath and Haskill.

"Oh, thank goodness you're okay, my boy. I was a little worried you might have run into some trouble out there," Sheogorath laughed as he hopped from his seat, glad that he was still alive.

"Well, that's the thing," Discord said, a hint of irritation in his voice, "There was a small... problem while I was out enjoying myself."

"What happened? Were you attacked," he asked, his expression changing from joy to worry then to anger.

"If you call what those silver armored things did 'attacking'. They were barely a challenge for me, all they managed to do was graze my wing," he scoffed, turning his serpent-like body to show Sheogorath the small burn on his wing, causing him to start grind his teeth in rage.

"Silver armored things, you mean like adventurers?" Haskil asked his curiosity peaked.

"I don't know. They looked like someone took a piece of crystal and made it into armor and they could only growl at me while they shot lighting to try and bring me down," he said, rolling his eyes at how inept the creatures that attacked him seemed to be, "They went down so easily too. All I had to do was chuck a pie at one which caused him to kill the other and I then dropped a boulder on the remaining idiot."

"I see," Sheogorath replied, stroking his beard in worry as his eyes burning with rage knowing what Discord had described were the Knights of Order, "That settles it; Discord, I must forbid you from leaving the castle during this crisis."

"What?!" Discord cried in outrage, infuriated by the idea of being held against his own will again, "But I just got free, I refuse to held here!"

"I'm sorry, my boy, but I can't risk you getting yourself killed by the Knights of Order. You are too important to me," he stated, firmly planting his foot on the ground and meeting his son's eyes with a stern gaze.

"But I need to get Xedilian ready!"

"How do you know about Xedilian, and why do you need it?" Sheogorath asked, remembering he wanted to talk about it earlier but was distracted by Discord's tale of his encounter with the knights.

"You told me about it while we were going through the worm-hole to get here. You said you'd give me a tour of the facility once I got settled in."

"That's right, I did tell you about Xedilian," Shegorath recalled, "Unfortunately the situation has changed and it is too dangerous to take you there. The facility is in disrepair and who knows what's residing inside. The knights could already be there for all we know."

"But..."

Sheogorath brought the end of his staff onto Discord's reptilian toes, silencing him before he could argue further. As the draconequus yelped and held his now scarlet foot, Sheogorath resumed his stern pose "I already told you, I can't let you go to Xedilian or anywhere else. Until it is confirmed safe, you are not permitted to leave."

"Oh yeah, try and stop me!" Discord shouted as he took flight toward the door. Before he could open the door, Sheogorath casted a spell on Discord as he was flying through the the threshold. As the draconequus laughed maniacally as he flew, he was brought to a complete stop as he collided with a pillar. As he rubbed the bruise on his head, wondering where the stone column came from, he noticed he was still inside and that he was lying in the ground in front of his father and his dull chamberlain. "What the..."

"Sorry to do this to you, boy, but I can't let you leave. If you try go through any of the doors that lead out of the courts of Madness, Mania, or Dementia you'll simply come out the nearest door leading back in," explained Sheogorath, his face showing the frustration he was feeling with trying to keep Discord inside and safe, "Again, until I hear that Xedilian and Dementia are safe enough to travel through you will not leave."

Discord growled to himself, loathing Sheogorath for trapping him against his will. He got to his feet and sauntered out of the room, containing his frustration and rage until he was out of the room. As he entered the Court of Dementia, he closed the door and raised his hand and snapped his fingers. He preceded to walk down the hall, smiling with content as the loud 'splat' sound of a million coconut cream pies hitting the floor came from the Court of Madness.

"I'll get out, just wait and see," he growled as the opened the next door he came to and walked through, adamant to escape this new prison and deal with Twilight and her friends.