Lord Loss | |
---|---|
Author | Darren Shan |
Series | The Demonata |
Publisher | HarperCollins |
Number of Pages | 223 |
Succeeding Book | "Demon Thief" |
Plot Summary[]
The books start as one day, Grubbs Grady is being called out of class for smoking and then he is punished by his mother for it at home. He finds out his sister Gret told on him and gets her back by putting rat guts on her towel. For this he is grounded without any video entertainment. Then suddenly the situation changes, he is no longer grounded and he is sent to stay with his aunt after Gret apologizes to him for telling and being given several presents. At his aunt he sneaks out at night and goes home to find his family slaughtered by demons commanded by Demon Master Lord Loss, using magic he escapes and ends up in psychiatric care where nobody believes him about the demons. Then one day his uncle Dervish shows up and believes him and helps him get out of the institution. He goes to life with him and meets Bill-E, who thinks that Dervish is his father and a werewolf. They try to find out how he controls himself but as they do, it turns out Bill-E is the werewolf and Dervish, his friend Meera and Grubbs barely survive the encounter due to his foolishness. Dervish explains everything and they decide to do battle with Lord Loss, the only one who can cure Bill-E. One will play chess on five different boards at the same time against Lord Loss while the other fights two of his familiars, if one of the two loses all three will be killed. The two player and the one they intended to cure, which is what happened to Grubs parents and sister. Dervish plays Chess while Grubbs fights the demons, then as he is about to lose Dervish abandons the game and saves him. They convince Lord Loss to allow them to switch places and now Dervish has to fight the demons and Grubbs who isn’t all that great at chess must play Lord Loss, after losing two games. He learns that the way to defeat Lord Loss is to deny him sustenance for Lord Loss feeds on grieve, fear and anxiety. He starts playing disinterestedly and recklessly and becomes increasingly indifferent and using this strategy he beats Lord Loss who cures Bill-E. However there is one final part to the deal, one of them has to go into Lord Loss’s realm and do battle with him, while their body stays behinds as a zombie. Grubbs takes care of his soulless uncle for a long time until one day he returns and plays a prank on him, by making him belief he turned into a werewolf himself. Luckily for now it was only a prank, and his uncle returns as normal
The Poem - Lord Loss[]
Lord Loss sows all the sorrows of the world
Lord Loss seeds the grief-starched trees
In the centre of the web, lowly Lord Loss bows his head
Mangled hands, naked eyes
Fanged snakes his soul line
Curled inside like textured sin
Bloody, curdled sheets for skin
In the centre of the web, vile Lord Loss torments the dead
Over strands of red, Lord Loss crawls
Dispensing pain, despising all
Shuns friends, nurtures foes
Ravages hope, breeds woe
Drinks moons, devours suns
Twirls his thumbs 'till the reaper comes
In the centre of the web, Lush Lord Loss is all that's left.