Nightblade (Darkest night)

In a dimly lit underground hall, a lone grey-haired man with startling blue eyes sat at the head of a long, meticulously prepared table in silence.

Several exquisite dishes and rare, expensive bottles of vintage had been carefully prepared and arranged along the great length of the table.

The man stared into space, seemingly focused on something only he could see.

" It's about damn time," he grumbled.

The space within the room crackled, bright sparks of electricity flying through the air, permeating it with the faint smell of ozone.

In the next instant, defying all laws of physics, the very fabric of space itself cracked, then shattered.

Six dark portals materialized into existence in the shattered space where the strange phenomenon was unfolding.

Six figures stepped out of the portals, walking into the room, four inhumanly gorgeous men and two stunning women.

The newcomers took their seats at the long table and then focused on the grey-haired man.

The man, spared them a casual glance, stared off into space in silence, tapping his cane on the tiled floor of the underground chamber.

" Marcus, I want to thank you for agreeing to host this impromptu meeting."

Damien was the first to speak, addressing the Head of House Snow.

The rest of the council nodded in unison.

Marco Dark grinned.

" I see Snow Ridge still hasn't changed since I last came here with my father as a boy.

Snow Ridge had been home to generations of Snows for hundreds of years, spanning back to the age of Monarchs.

Marco was still recovering from the injuries he had received from his fight with the mysterious awakened maestro.

The heads of the seven great houses had gathered in the aftermath of the calamitous battle with the masked maestro.

The meeting had been called after the Council, through their informants, had realized that the abducted aspirants and Talented had not appeared in any of the mapped regions of Tenebris.

The Council of Assassins had worked fast, working with the Praesagius.

Using their combined resources, the two groups tried to stem the spread of news about the catastrophic events that had occurred right under their noses, but the damage had already been done.

Members of the assassins' underworld and lesser families within the Brotherhood had already reached out to the council to voice their concerns, while others tried to take advantage of the ensuing chaos to sneak underneath the Council's radar to carry out shady deals and push their own agendas.

Most of these factions were usually quiet and submissive for one reason.

The overwhelming might of the Council of Assassins.

The Brotherhood of Shadows consisted of the most powerful assassin families to ever walk the Earth.

Over the course of several years, the assassins had grown stronger with each generation of extraordinary scions and disciples that the Great families nurtured.

The knowledge of Tenebris had only been passed to a select few individuals carefully handpicked from within the Great families.

On rare occasions, prodigies who were not part of the Great families would receive a chance to join them.

These usually came from the lesser families and clans within the Brotherhood.

Such opportunities could only be offered by the Head of the family or by a person with considerable influence within the Great houses, but even in such unique cases, the family head's approval was a mandatory prerequisite.

The strict selection process made it so that only the best of the best could ascend the ranks of the assassins and reach the top of the hierarchy, the Council of Assassins.

They alone were the elite, even among the elite, the cream of the crop.

For an assassin to sit on the council, they had to be a maestro.

That was one of the conditions for any assassin to become part of the council.

If a family head was unable to become a maestro, they would choose a trusted subordinate to sit on the council and represent their interests.

The chosen person had to share blood with the Great House.

The other way could only be through adoption or marriage.

This ensured continuity of the bloodlines of the Great Houses in the event the head of the House died because of unforeseen circumstances.

The rank of Maestro was one of the highest ranks an assassin could achieve, granting them the ability to move between Tenebris and Earth at will.

At this point, the assassin would become a living, breathing calamity, able to conquer an entire nation on their own.

The Council of Assassins kept track of the movements of every assassin that achieved the rank of Maestro, a slightly subtle way devised to account for the calamitous power these individuals wielded.

Above the rank of Maestro were the Lords.

These elusive individuals were mostly beings of legend.

The power jump between Maestro and Lord was quite significant.

While maestros were able to absorb and manipulate the flow of umbralis around them, wilfully move between dimensions, Lords were able to move portions of the mysterious dimension with them to Earth.

Apart from that, very little was truly public knowledge concerning Lords, with the available information being a vague collection of truth with lies sown into the mix.

The rarity of Lords effectively made Maestros the strongest assassins on Earth and within the Brotherhood of Shadows.

But the news of the Council's overwhelming defeat at the hands of an unknown rogue awakened maestro had raised questions about the Council's competence and ability to lead the Brotherhood of Shadows.

Whispers here and there were enough to sow seeds of chaos and doubt in the hearts of assassins in the Brotherhood that had sworn fealty to the council.

Despite the rampantly spreading rumors, there were old assassins who were familiar with the might of the council.

These assassins did not share the brash ideologies of the reckless younger assassins who simply thought the council was growing weak and becoming complacent.

The ancient assassins instead sought a different kind of answer.

" Who was strong enough to openly and boldly challenge the might of the Council? And why?"

The atmosphere within the underground hall at Snowridge was glum.

" It's a curious thing," Marcus spoke quietly.

" For the Council to be bested by a..."

He paused, seemingly looking for the right word to use.

" Blaming ourselves isn't going to solve anything." Cedric Ash calmly replied.

"What we should be doing is organizing a search party, gathering resources to find the aspirants and the few surviving Talented that that man forced into Tenebris."

Marcus scoffed, slamming his cane into the ground.

"Well, you're quite right but also very wrong. What we should be doing is finding ways of getting stronger. We must rescue the kids, but look at us."

He turned his piercing gaze onto Cedric.

His blue irises slowly bled darkness that covered the entirety of his eyes.

" Even if we somehow rescue the kids, what happens if and when that man returns?"

Marcus coldly stared at Cedric, then glanced at Marco Dark.

His question was only met with silence.

Cedric looked down at the table, clenching his fists until dark veins popped up all over his muscular arms.

Marcus sighed tiredly.

His dark eyes reverted to their normal blue colour.

" It's sad, really," he spoke," we're supposed to be the strongest, the best of the best, and yet, we watched our children, our legacy, get taken right in front of us. Powerlessly."

Marcus spat out the last word like a curse.

He turned his gaze to everyone in the room, daring them to refute his words.

The other members of the council avoided his gaze, almost squirming uncomfortably in their seats.

From the recent fight, it was quite evident that out of the Council members present, Marcus was undoubtedly the strongest among them.

The food and drink sat on the long table, untouched.

"I agree with you, Marcus."

A lean blonde-haired man spoke, calmly returning Marcus's gaze.

" Lord Varas," Marcus said, nodding at him.

" If I remember correctly, one of yours, I believe it was your daughter, was one of the aspirants that were taken, yes?"

Vincent nodded, then continued.

"My daughter, Talia. The only way we can weather this storm is by trying to ascend to the next level. In fact, I've already taken steps in this direction. I've already recalled my eldest daughter, Nadia."

" I agree as well."

This time, it was Delilah who spoke.

The beautiful matriarch of the Mordrew family had been unusually subdued.

Marcus threw her a glance, his lips twitching with a hint of amusement.

" My daughter was taken as well. And yes, I was powerless to stop it. And so I agree, if we're to protect our children and the reputation of the Council, then that is what we must do."

" You've all made excellent points," Damien interjected.

" And I agree, but the children take priority." The other members stared at him, nodding in assent.

" And I have a suggestion, becoming a Lord is a perilous affair, and as things are now, we can't afford to lose any members of the Council."

" So what do you suggest, my dear friend?" Marcus asked quietly.

Damien smiled.

" What if we were to nominate and help others, trusted members of our families, rise to the rank of Lord?"