"Hm.."
The Lord sat back in his chair, rubbing his chin as he silently glared at Damien. Despite his sharp gaze, Damien could see a flurry of emotions flickering in his eyes.
After a short while of silence, he finally spoke.
"Fine. We will see if you are as useful as you try to appear."
He reached into his desk and brought out a small clear vial with black liquid inside. Before Damien could speak again the man cut him off.
"Bring out your hand, boy."
His voice was stern and demanding. Damien nodded and reached out his hand.
In response, the Lord put the vial in his hand and spoke again.
"Drink what I've given you, once you do I will give you your task."
'Drink….this?'
Damien nodded and hesitantly brought the vial up towards him and then sighed inwardly.
He knew that if he didn't drink the vial he would likely be kicked out and that's just the best case scenario, so he opened the dark blue and silver encrusted cap and then brought the vial to his nose.
'No.. smell?'
Gulp
After swallowing the black liquid in the vial he noticed that it had no taste. For a second, he even felt fine and wondered if the Lord had simply been trying to test him.
However, after a few seconds passed he felt a sharp pain jolt throughout his entire body starting at his stomach.
White searing pain shot through him and he coughed and gasped breathlessly, falling to the ground.
Thud, Heuuk—
Damien tried vomiting up the liquid as it felt like his insides were melting but he couldn't. His face soon became full of tears, snot, and saliva as he gripped into the marble flooring trying to crawl towards the door.
He didn't even notice the Lord who had stood up and now stood in front of him simply staring down at Damien with an unamused expression, his gaze cold and piercing.
"There's no use. That thing inside of you will not come out."
He spoke while watching Damien with a thoughtful expression now as if trying to decide on something. Nodding slowly he looked at Damien's neck.
As if on cue, a searing pain crept it's way onto Damien's arm and neck and before he knew it, a black tattoo began to form.
The tattoo was long and he could feel it forming from his left wrist all the way up over his side, his chest and then to his neck.
By the time the pain stopped Damien felt as though he would lose consciousness.
Before he lost consciousness, he felt a rough tug at his hair as the Lord grabbed his hair and lifted his head to face him.
His piercing grey eyes shone a light colour like liquid silver, he stared daggers into Damien's own dull red eyes, veiled by the black blindfold.
"You won't die, not now at least. You will attend an academy with my son, as his guard and servant. By the time you awaken you will be nearly there. "
His gaze sharpened, watching the trembling boy in his grasp slowly going limp and his heavy breathing slowly and heart raced.
"Prove yourself, die if you must. Do not disappoint me, and the next time we meet I will reward you accordingly."
With that, Damien fell completely limp and his vision went dark.
He felt as though his body was floating, then he felt his body being dragged down as though his body was being worn down by water.
Damien felt muted. There was no better way to describe it.
His mind felt as though it had been overflowing with thoughts but those thoughts felt as though they were being held back by some unseen force.
His emotions felt weak, the pain, confusion, fear, and anger he felt, all of it felt weak as though they were only dreams.
He closed his eyes, tired, exhausted even, yet no matter how long passed, he did not feel as though he rested at all.
"My son.."
He heard a faint voice. It was warm and soft, but he didn't look.
"Please.."
He felt a warmth touch him, his body slowly felt like it had become warmer from the head down he felt a small tingle as the warmth spread down.
The warmth spread until eventually he could feel his hands which had felt numb before to the point that he forgot he had them. His finger twitched and he finally opened his eyes.
"Wake up!"
The voice was clearer now, he heard it but only briefly, a moment of recognition flickered in his eyes but before he could speak he opened his eyes and when he woke up with a gasp while clutching his chest, his forehead hit something hard and he curled up into a ball holding his head while hissing in pain.