Nightblade (Darkest night)-Chapter 204: Heartache.

The door slid closed with a light tap.

For a few moments, a somber silence filled the room.

Lucian walked across the room, leaning against the wall, at the far end of the room.

Cassius settled for a sofa next to the massive glass panes, basking in the sunlight.

His long unkempt dreadlocks flowed down his shoulders spilling down to chair behind him.

He flexed his arm slightly, his eyes narrowing in contemplation.

Ridiculous.

The notion that they’d spent two whole years from civilization was ridiculous

"Two years, " Talia echoed.

It was only now that they’d noticed how much they’d changed.

The rest of them had the same thought in their minds.

Lucian and Cassius had both gotten haircuts.

Both youths were significantly taller than they’d been.

How did you survive? Lucian asked quietly. I saw you get sucked into...I thought...

Casius smiled faintly.

I thought I was a goner too.

ButvMorgan saved me. He’d been watching the entire time.

That creepy creature of his Sarenus saved me.

He literally dragged me out of hell.

A somber silence filled the room.

Despite his monstrous strength and tenacious will to survive, Morgan had created an opportunity for them to get home, albeit it was almost entirely based on a gamble, that just happened to work.

Do you think he’s still alive? Emily asked quietly.

" He is."

Lucian pierced her with a fierce stare.

" He’s definitely alive, I’m sure of it."

"I wish I could share your optimism," Talia drawled.

" Those two beings, were far more powerful than anything we’d fought before. Even if Morgan was uninjured and at full strength, I doubt the outcome of that battle could have changed. "

Talia paused for a few moments.

"The plain truth is we were all too powerless."

Cassius let out a lighthearted laugh.

" Well, that sucks.

The truth hurt.

In that moment, none of them had been able to do anything against the envoys.

Despite their best efforts in the end, they were all forced back without any significant resistance.

Morgan’s absence was a sobering reality of their own weakness.

Their failure...

"That idiot, who gave him the right to exchange his life for ours," Lucian snarled.

Gritting his teeth, Lucian punched the wall in frustration.

The sudden outburst was...quite unexpected considering the scion was normally very level-headed.

Deep within, they all felt the same. The small cohort had developed an invisible camaraderie and even a sense of kinship despite their differences.

A grim silence filled the room.

In the next moment, almost imperceptibly, a dark-haired figure stepped away from the wall.

The atmosphere in the room changed immediately, a surge of umbralis permeating through the room.

They all froze in place, unmoving not even daring to breathe.

A pair of golden eyes stared at them for a few moments, then a tall figure stepped away from the wall with casual nonchalance.

Conrad had been in the room from the start but his concealment had escaped even Nadia’s uncanny senses as a Maestro.

"She’s still a joke..." he thought with a grin.

Clad in his trademark black loose-fitting shirt and black pants, he resembled an ethereal being.

He held a pair of dark sunglasses twirling them carelessly around his fingers.

His lips curled into a faint smile, his eyes running over the shocked kids.

" Who..."

Lucian stared at him wordlessly, struggling to form the words.

Conrad simply raised a finger to his lips motioning for him to remain silent.

If everything you’ve said is true, then the brat should be fine, he said with a smile.

Lucian carefully rubbed away the tears, inhaling slightly.

" How do you know? Whose are you supposed to be?"

"Consider me one of his teachers. I know because I taught him well. Besides he’s a Thane. He won’t be somewhere easily overcome.

With that Conrad smiled, then made his way to the door, vanishing just as suddenly as he’d appeared.

"Who was that Lucian asked in puzzlement.

Despite his easy outgoing attitude, each of them. They instantly understood that they couldn’t prevail against the assassin if he’d appeared for more nefarious reasons.

After that, a somber silence filled the room, which each of the youths seemingly lost in thought.

Emily silently stared.

She slowly replayed the events of the time they’d spent in Tenebris in her mind.

The time she’d spent perfecting her abilities under Morgan’s tutelage.

Suddenly she felt a dull ache in her chest.

Emily felt suffocated, she wanted to scream, she wanted to yell but deep down dhe knew it could change nothing.

" Is something wrong?" Talia asked quietly.

"Emily!"

The scion’s voice pulled her out of her reverie.

" Yes?"

Talia stared at her glr a few omens then slowly shook her head.

" The bed, it’s freezing over."

Only then did Emily notice the thin sheets of ice spreading across the the length of the bed.

A layer of crystalline blue frost was slowly enveloping the room.

Despite the sunlight streaming in through the window, the temperature had plummeted by several degrees so much so that their breath fogged in front of them.

"It’s going to be ok."Talia murmured.

Closing her eyes, Emily deactivated her ability with a thought.

" I’m sorry, I..."

Don’t apologize Cassius spoke, offering her a faint reassuring smile.

"We all understand. It’s ok."

The first slowly receded, disappearing without a trace.

Just then the door slid open.

A large muscular man strode into the room, an aura of undeniable radiating off of him.

Lucian’s eyes’ widened slightly .

" Dad?"

Cedric Ash smiled, nodding slightly.

Behind him, a lithe older gentleman followed.

His russet brown eyes with radiant crimson higlights undoubtedly marked him as one of the Ash.

" Lucian, my boy. Is that any way to greet your grandfather adter such a long time?"

Lucas smiled, stepping into the room.

" And you must be Vincent’s charming daughter, Talia, no?"

He grinned mischievously, his eyes shifting between Lucian and Talia.

Lucian inwardly rolled his eyes.

" Shit!"

Lucas grin grew wider.

" A pleasure to make your acquaintance. "