The dust of war had barely settled, but even before Baines and his team reached the Darkan main family, news had already spread. The branch family, still recovering from the aftermath of the civil war, had wasted no time in sending a report detailing the events.
Yet they weren't finished.
There remained one final task: ransack the blood deplorable's headquarters. Whatever twisted force had helped him create the blood orb, they intended to locate it, understand it, and destroy it. Afterward, they threw a celebratory feast, a grand one. Still, it carried an emptiness.
Baines wasn't there, and while no one said it aloud, the absence left a hollow note in every cheer and toast. Eventually, they left him be. Perhaps he preferred silence to celebration.
But that was only the branch family's perspective.
The main family of Darkan had been thrown into chaos.
