Years passed with silent whispers, the silence brought about a sense of foreboding for all inhabitants of Brusselie, the clans were quiet, a little too quiet.
The bloodwing mansion no different, but their silence was indeed a little different.
In the training hall beneath the towering mansion, Damian stood straight in his training gear, blood trickling down from his lips to his neck. His eyes still indifferent to the rattling of his internals. 'He might have underestimated his daughter again', he thought.
"Lord, the meeting," Nairel broke the tension with a cold reminder, his long lashes cast a shadow on his cheeks, his long silvery blue hair was tied up in a ponytail, he looked as cold as ever. "Nairel, good morning", Raven greeted with a smile on her face, he responded with a nod as usual, she didn't mind, that was just the way he was. Damian wiped off the blood on his lips and signalled the end of the training session. "Raven, you've grown stronger again, i am proud of you", a little encouragement, just enough to make her smile but not to make her complacent.
He walked out of the training hall with Nairel following behind. He missed the good bye hugs and the little girl calling him daddy and following behind him like a little tail, but his Raven had grown up too fast. She didn't follow around any more, she hardly even called him daddy anymore, all he heard now was Father or dad.
A small sigh escaped his pouty lips as the thought of his now 16 year old daughter left him a little uneasy.
"Nairel, how has the investigations been going?", he asked but no response followed, he paused in his tracks and looked behind with a frown on his face. Nairel had stopped moving a while back, not paying attention to his boss's dilemma. His eyes were lower than before, his lips were pale and his hair looked darker, his thoughts had gone off with the wind. "Nairel, what is wrong with you?" Damian asked with a little worry laced in his voice. He stood there silently waiting, then he heard a light chuckle, then full blown out laughter.
why was he laughing even he didn't know, he just knew he had found an answer he had been searching for.
Damian turned around and kept to his pace, no questions asked, he didn't need to know, as long as the youngin was fine. This time Nairel followed closely behind, as quiet as he always was.
He had been Damian's secretary for the past century, he took over from his father who served for six centuries before, they knew each other too well to be reserved but Nairel was nothing like his father, he was cold like a thousand year old iceberg, he was calmer, more quick witted than his father, he wasn't one to be lost.
They both went on their way to the top floor. Damian cleaned up and left for his office.
********
The Blood wing company building was a building made entirely of black ice crystals, it gave of a certain entrancing glow under Brusselies sunlight. The building was covered in complex runes that pulsed faintly with magic. Damian's office was on the top floor, with Nairel's right beside it. The board room was already filled with all the branch managers, from Naga's with scales on their face to half beasts to witches with odd runes on their faces. Damian walked in with his able secretary and bowed lightly to apologize for his tardiness. He sat at the head of the table and signalled for the commencement of the meeting.
Tatarus, a leopard half beast stood to present his report from the east side of the capital;Brundie's borders, he took a breath and began a summary of his reports, "The wards on the east side of the border flickered again last night, but this time was unlike before. The scouts reported sightings of dark witches at the border- an army of a thousand- it seems they are preparing for war." His voice cracked at the end portraying his unease, he waited for a response from his boss with his breath held In his throat but Damian didn't say a word , he only nodded and motioned for the next report.
The managers of the west and north all gave similar reports as the east. The North however only reported about frequent shadow beast sightings. The blood wing mansion was the shield for the north, beast sightings weren't necessarily good things.
Damian listened to all their reports and signalled for the end of the meeting.
The managrs left one after the other with faltering in their steps.
Damian stood from his seat and walked to the floor to ceiling window in the board room, he looked straight at the light golden shield above the capital, his eyes unfathomable, he stared for a long while at the chasm protecting the capital and couldn't help but wonder if the other continents were affected the same. He closed his eyes and turned to Nairel, "call for a council meeting immediately" his dark eyes relaying his urgency. Nairel left without a word to carry out his orders.
Damian left the board room and walked in the hallways of his office floor, his heart grew uneasy the more he walked so he went into his office and poured himself a glass of red wine. Flipping through company reports on his table, his thoughts flew back to a certain situation a month ago when Raven had just turned sixteen, he remembered the flame underneath Brundie flickered, he didn't think it a problem before but now his thoughts couldn't help but fall in that direction. 'Why shadow beasts at the north' he mulled over this thought.
**************
Back at the mansion, Raven walked down the hall from her bedroom to the kitchen to find a snack, a whisper so small, it could be ignored flowed by her with the light breeze. She stopped and looked out the window beside her. There she saw him, eyes so dark hidden under a black hood, he watched ever so silent and then he vanished, she felt familiar with his mystery, she was tempted to reach out.