Nightblade (Darkest night)-Chapter 214: Unexpected Alliance

A somber silence filled the room.

"Pardon me, but who are these Crows you speak of?

Thrain turned piercing Seth with an inscrutable expression. He regarded him for a few moments, the darkness nestled in the gaping holes of his mask stirring restlessly.

After a while, he spoke, his voice echoing throughout the dark hall.

"The Crows are responsible for the events that took place in Zolaris just after the Dark Maestro incident..."

He turned back lingering for a few moments, "You should know this well, no?"

Seth chuckled awkwardly, shaking his head slightly.

"As you all know, they were responsible for the deaths of many of our agents in Zolaris," Aisha continued.

"At the time we thought that the threat had been dealt with but..."

She lingered for a while and then spoke even

"...we were mistaken."

Victoria stared at the older woman for a few moments before eventually leaning forward.

"From what I understand, part of the reason they succeeded in wiping out so many Talented

was a failure on your part."

Aisha went silent for a few moments then nodded.

"You're right. If I'd made better decisions at the time we wouldn't have found ourselves in such an unfortunate predicament."

Victoria raised an eyebrow.

"What is she playing at..."

"Of course with the help of several brave young, talented individuals, we were able to weather the storm and at that time, we received an unexpected boon."

A large projection popped up in the middle of the hall showing the figure of a tall dark-skinned young man with curly black hair.

His dark eyes stared through the projection with a strange intensity.

"At the time, the Brotherhood of Shadow sent one of its foremost scions to aid us. Any experiment of sorts...At the time it was a gesture to bolster our relationshipwith the Brktherhood but it turned out to be an unexpected boon."

Victoria frowned slightly.

"How come I didn't know about this..."

Aisha smiled slightly, the light in her eyes shining brighter.

"The novice in question, Xander Gray contributed greatly to the capture of a key figure within the Crows."

"So why are you telling us all this?" a voice asked quietly.

Liu Zhen shifted slightly cocking his head to the side. He carefully adjusted his blindfold, brushing it with a casual flourish.

Aisha smiled.

" I was just getting to that part..."

" You want us to deepen our relationship with the Great Houses of the Brotherhood of Shadows...how unexpected..."

The entire chamber fell silent at the sound of her voice.

Ophelia stared into space, almost as though she was caught up in a reverie.

Her grey eyes shifted enchantingly between a myriad of colours.

"She's actually using her ability on the old woman..." Victoria thought, staring at the woman at her side with a subtle wariness.

Despite being one of the most mysterious members of the Videntis, Ophelia's power wasn't in question. Age was undoubtedly one of the most dangerous individuals one could trifle with.

However, she rarely involved herself in the affairs of the Videntis for one crucial reason.

Even with her great powers, interfering with the different futures that she saw with her ability could potentially have ruinous consequences.

Ophelia tilted her head ever so slightly staring at a different point in space

"You plan to form an alliance with the

branches of the Great Houses in Zolaris to make up for the smaller number of Talented at your disposal..."

Aisha paused for a few moments, then evenly nodded.

"You're right as always Ophelia..."

"Do you have anything you'd like to say about this?

An atmosphere of anticipation filled the great chamber. Every individual gathered silently listened with rapt attention.

While it was rare, the elusive seer would sometimes give valuable insight about situations such as these, and on those rare occasions when she did, her counsel turned out to be quite valuable.

A strange silence hangs in the air for a few moments.

The beautiful woman's eyes shifted eerily between a myriad of ethereal colours going from a beautification shade of azure blue to the deepest emerald and then a startling crimson.

After a while the Crimson colour faded, slowly turning to an unfathomable darkness, which slowly filled up her eyes.

Ophelia blankly stared off into space for a few moments then eventually smiled, shaking her head silently.

Victoria watched her for a few moments then turned away with a regretful sigh.

It was times like this that made her wonder what it would be like to wield the seer's strange powers herself.

Despite her frustration, deep down she understood.

Great powers such as theirs had the potential to cause a catastrophic level of ruin if they were carelessly used.

With great powers came great responsibility...

Looking at their current situation,

Victoria couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to peer into the seer's head.

Ophelia was one of the other few people whose thoughts Victoria wasn't able to freely skim through.

" I agree with what Aisha wants to do, Thrain spoke.

And that's why I granted her audience. But even then, I wonder, how exactly do you plan to go about this? Thrain asked.

A small smile appeared on Aisha's face.

"With your support, I plan to use the upcoming Veilrend games to establish a good connection with the House Ash, Hoyse Thane, and House Dark."

From our connections in Zolaris, we were able to ascertain that the three Great Houses in particular wield a large amount of influence in Zolaris. I would approach this man."

A second figure popped within the projection.

A tall lithe man clad in a simple black suit appeared on the screen.

The man's lips were curled up into an easygoing smile that just barely reached his eyes. He stood in unassuming fashion with his hands in his pockets.

"Evander Dark," Thrain spoke.

"Yes, he's in charge of all House Dark's operations within Zolaris and a close cousin of Marco Dark."

" With the amount of influence House Dark wields in Zolaris, convincing the other two branches should be considerably easier..."

Aisha paused for a few moments.

"While asking the Brotherhood for its help may not make sense, we have reason to believe given the Crows' recent movements that they plan to start an all-out war."