Nightblade (Darkest night)

‎The white room was eerily silent, with only the rhythmic beeping of the machinery breaking through the quiet.

‎Conrad silently stared at the unconscious figure before him.

‎Anonymous, a.k.a Regius Snow, was now a maestro.

Not only that, he was able to use the Mirage ability.

‎"According to the information available, Regius was a novice before he went missing. And he hadn't awakened. He was merely a youth."

‎And yet the man had single-handedly attacked the Praesagius, even going so far as to put some of the organization's most powerful members on the back foot.

‎Looking at the man's slumbering form, Conrad found it incredibly difficult to digest the information.

‎" I don't think he's truly awakened. It doesn't feel like the ability he used is innate to him," Conrad murmured.

‎Damien threw him a quizzical look, his eyes narrowing questioningly.

‎" What do you mean by that?"

‎Conrad's eyes narrowed in contemplation. He moved around the room, walking up to the sophisticated machinery.

‎Conrad paused, studying the data displayed on the holographic screen before them.

‎" Well, for one, we now know that there's someone out there who's capable of forcefully accelerating the process of one becoming a maestro from a novice."

‎Conrad turned, shrugging nonchalantly.

‎"I think you can tell where I'm going with this. "

‎A somber silence filled the chamber.

‎After a while, Damien's eyes widened in disbelief.

‎" You wouldn't mean?"

‎Conrad offered him a curt nod, smiling wryly.

‎" Exactly that. What if that thing can bestow gifts of the awakened as well? That would certainly be something."

‎Damien stepped back, pinching his nose in annoyance.

‎Conrad could almost see the gears in his mind shifting feverishly as the man struggled to come to terms with the realization.

‎It was rare to see the usually calm and collected man lose his cool.

‎" But that's impossible!"

‎An amused smile appeared on Conrad's face.

‎"Here we go..." Conrad inwardly smirked.

‎" Well, this guy's existence is supposed to be impossible. And yet here he is," he actually said.

‎" This means whoever we're dealing with could potentially have the ability to forcefully awaken or, at the very least, grant ordinary assassins awakened-like abilities."

‎Damien grimaced, shaking his head slightly.

‎He closed his eyes in thought, crossing his arms across his chest.

‎" Then the faster we're able to determine the mastermind behind this and how to track them down, the better."

‎Damien's eyes snapped open, his mask of passivity slipping back into place.

‎" But you're sure about this?" he asked quietly.

‎Conrad nodded.

‎" Positively sure, if he was the real deal, I'd have had a harder time getting into his mind, but on the contrary, it was quite easy. That other guy, though, he was the real deal."

‎Regius was a fake; that was a fact.

‎And as such, his technique paled in comparison to the real thing.

‎Before working as the Librarian, Conrad had had the pleasure of working as one of the Thane inquisitors.

‎Every Great House had inquisitors.

‎The inquisitors were figures shrouded in mystery, associated with myths and bedtime stories.

‎Their identities were unknown.

‎And in some cases, their very existence was doubted, especially among the lower Houses.

‎But the inquisitors did exist.

‎And Conrad knew because he was once one of them.

‎The inquisitors were elite assassins who had been specifically trained for information retrieval.

‎It was information retrieval, depending on how you looked at it, but it could also be called torture, interrogation, the full works.

‎These men and women were exclusively skilled in the art of breaking even the most mentally resilient, stopping at nothing until the necessary information was acquired.

‎Usually, the process was quite gruesome, involving torture and the use of external influences.

‎But Conrad's unique talents made him a perfect fit for the job.

‎He did not need long hours of screaming and inflicting physical agony.

‎The reason was beautiful in its simplicity.

‎It was because of his insidious ability as an awakened, to simply enter the minds of his victims and "persuade" them, against their will, into revealing what was needed the most.

‎

‎An ability Regius was currently experiencing firsthand.

‎His eyes glowed bewitchingly with a strange combination of gold and dark light swirling in on like twin vortexes.

‎The mirage ability allowed Conrad to suggest several things to his victims; these suggestions convinced them that he was able to glimpse into their minds.

‎In some cases, these suggestions fooled his thralls into thinking he was able to read their thoughts.

‎But of course it wasn't really as simple as that.

‎The suggestions had to be something that the victim's mind already possessed or was able to conjure, which would effectively turn them against themselves.

‎" Are you almost done?" Damien asked, somewhat impatiently.

‎Conrad's lips curled into a wolfish smile, his eyes gleaming with patience.

‎" Almost, we're almost there."

‎At that moment, Damien's comlink blinked repeatedly, drawing his attention.

‎"Rebecca..."

‎His face turned grim, his face twisting into a grimace.

‎" Fine, I'll be there in a minute."

‎Exhaling slightly, he calmly turned to Conrad.

‎" You'll have to speed things up a bit. A guardian has arrived just now."

‎Conrad almost lost concentration.

‎His eyes widened in surprise.

‎"Did you call them?"

‎Damien grimly shook his head.

‎" I didn't, but I have an idea about who might have orchestrated such a thing."

‎Conrad stared at him silently for a while.

‎" What's your course of action?"

‎Damien's eyes hardened.

‎" Finish up here. I'll meet them and then we'll see from there."

‎*****

‎Regius dreamt of home.

‎He remembered it well, after all, Snow Ridge was where he'd spent his earliest days as a boy.

‎He stood in one of the corridors leading to the Great Hall.

‎The Great Hall contained one of the entrances to Tenebris, manned by House Snow.

‎"Why am I here?"

‎A ghostly chill swept through the hall.

‎Something felt...off.

‎Out of the corner of his eye, he glimpsed a shadow lurking just beyond the periphery of his vision.

‎Regius spun around, his face wrinkling in confusion.

‎The long corridor was empty, with nothing seemingly out of the ordinary.

‎" Strange... did I imagine that?"

‎He continued walking forward till he came to the entrance of the Great Hall.

‎" Regius! Come on, it's time."

‎A blonde-haired youth with sparkling grey eyes shouted enthusiastically.

‎"Jace?"

‎He grasped his head, groaning slightly.

‎The youth, Jace, whom he recognized as his younger brother, frowned.

‎"Are you alright, Regius? You wouldn't be planning to chicken out of the expedition?"

‎Regius' vision blurred momentarily, then returned to normal.

‎" Right, the expedition is today."

‎Straightening up, he shook his head.

‎" I wouldn't miss it for the world. Who knows? If I did, I probably wouldn't hear the end of it."

‎Jace playfully jabbed him in the shoulder.

‎"That's the spirit!"

‎A moment later, Regius stepped into the hall.

‎The hall smelt faintly of pine and earth.

‎Runic carvings and images were inscribed on the walls.

‎Glancing down, he noticed he was clad in the standard-issue suits assassins used on routine missions.

‎A familiar long blade was strapped to his back, a coming-of-age gift from his uncle, Marcus Snow.

‎The long blade had garnered him envy even from his cousins, Raven and Iskar.

‎He gripped it, feeling the smooth pommel in his fingers.

‎The familiar weight of the blade was comforting.

‎The squad leader, Alec Snow, threw him a stern glance, scrutinizing him intently.

‎Alec was a bear of a man, towering over the small squad of people gathered.

‎Mscles rippled visibly beneath the suit he was wearing as he moved.

‎" You seem out of it, Regius. Get yourself together," he said in a gruff voice.

‎Regius nodded, clapping his hands together.

‎"Get ready," Alec ordered.

‎The space in the hall shattered, revealing a land shrouded in a veil of snow.

‎"Tenebris," Regius muttered, steeling himself.

‎" Let's move out," Alec barked.

‎The group stepped into the rift, moving single file.

‎In the next instant, a wave of dread flared through Regius' chest.

‎His mouth suddenly went dry, his heart thundering frantically in his chest.

‎His arms began trembling erratically.

‎"What the hell?! Why am I feeling like this?"

‎In the periphery of his vision, a dark shadow flickered, darting away into the distance.

‎Regius froze, his mouth opening in shock.

‎" Am I seeing things? What was that?"

‎Jace threw him a quizzical glance.

‎" Is something the matter, Regius? You look like you've seen a ghost..."

‎Regius stared at him in shock.

‎" You didn't see that?"

‎Jace frowned, staring at him in confusion.

‎"See what?"

‎Rgius opened his mouth, then awkwardly closed it.

‎" What the hell? If Jace can't see it, then I'm definitely seeing things."

‎He plastered a carefree smile on his face.

‎"Just messing around..."

‎In the distance, a snowstorm brewed, rolling slowly across the vast snowy plain.

" We'll wait for the storm to pass, then we'll move out. We'll move in groups of two. If you discover something, use the red flare; if you're being attacked, use the blue flare, and I'll be with you in no time. Any questions?"

After a while, Alec silently nodded.

A few minutes later, the storm dissipated.

Then the nightmare began.

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