Roan opened the front door, to see a joyous Albert holding up the tailored suit meant for his awakening ceremony in his arm.
"How long were you standing there?"
"If you have time to crack jokes, you have time to dress. Let's get going. Here."
He presented his arm for Roan to get a better hand on them.
"Thank you, Albert."
The Awakening Ceremony was a special event that marked one's name for one of the six houses and awakens their innate power. Berikas was a Glumhaven solely managed by the Deumontae family, so most residents partaking in the coming-of-age awakening ceremony would become Deumontae.
Roan already retreated into his room as Albert yelled from downstairs.
"You better hurry if you don't want to be late!"
"I'm doing it as fast as I can! Try putting on a uniform with all its elegance intact in ten minutes!"
He finished buttoning up his vest and suit coat on with only his shoe and hair left to do.
He unwrapped the shoes his parents got them when they last visited a year ago, it was the graduation of his previous year when his parents gave money to Albert to get him fitted before they left back to the castle.
They were tailored half-cut boots with nothing of notable design or feature, it was only black.
They were made to fit perfectly so getting it on was difficult as he felt it bite into his ankle and restrict his blood flow. He was already pale, any paler and he would be seen as a corpse.
He had to give it a few creases to get it fit and once it fitted, they felt like they would never let go again.
He looked himself in the mirror and styled his hair, though his hair was somewhat short, it was prone to being messy as Roan didn't fix it, plus he liked the look. Roan continued and combed his hair back and finally placed the half cape on top. The half cape was also made with premium quality fur-infused velvet from Beikau just west of the region they resided. All were made to be worn at night as it was a very dark red that shimmered in the moonlight.
He exuded high class but it didn't fit him at all.
'On the bright side, I'll finally be an adult.' He tried to psyche himself up but to no avail, failed to alleviate the mood.
Today was a busy day for Roan as not only was he in class, he received news that he would be working as a protege under his parent's care, and let's not talk about the execution he saw earlier.
But even with a pessimistic look at life, it only makes one look forward to the small little things.
Roan didn't need to force a smile on his face as it would mean a new chapter in his life.
He came out looking like a new man whose favorite food would probably be caviar.
Roan took each step firmly as Albert was the first to see his new appearance.
"Well would ja look at that? You don't look like your usual self anymore."
"Pfft Obviously."
Roan went his way to hug Albert. Leaving him a bit surprised but in the end he reciprocated it back.
"Thank you for everything."
"I'm grateful I was able to serve you throughout these years when you were just a small lad."
Albert was only hired to cook meals for Roan when he was just 4. But his contract was temporary but he begged to stay to take care of Roan. His relationship with the Klaus family was always shaky but he did what was in the best interest of Roan as a child, since it would help him develop if he just kept seeing new faces that don't stay for too long.
Roan was most likely going to live in the castle with them and only have short breaks to come back. He wouldn't know if his parents would continue to keep Albert there as a housekeeper or hire one temporarily when they visit.
''And your food is great too. Haha"
"Wha-kids these days!"
They laughed it off as they appreciated the time together not knowing if it would be the last time they see each other.
'I'll try to persuade my parents to let him stay longer.'
It was unheard of for his kind to befriend humans. They usually kept to themselves acting as if they were high class or too classy to speak to humans. And humans were afraid of them or kept to themselves due to the long history between them. But they both lived together peacefully and prospered, forming strong bonds to stick with one another.
If one didn't guess at this point or thought something was strange, Roan was a vampire. Albert hailed from the West but was human. Vampires depicted in stories always show their snobby and sanctimonious attitudes out for display, they dressed in old attire and had an undying thirst for blood. But those old folktales had some merit to them as they were partially true
It was an odd pairing but their bond was something that could not be easily destroyed.
Roan snickered a bit for failing to notice the dry ink on the sleeve of Albert. It was perplexing how Albert had never noticed the stains despite always placing his cuff next to his face each time he scratched his head.
But the times have changed and things move on. He remained in a daze as they walk through the calm bustling streets. At this time of day, many villagers begin packing up to make their last amounts of sales before going back home.
The quiet landscape became a luxury as his home was set around one of the few main roads.
Just as he passes the bend he looks up to see Kila out in the corner of his eye. The only thing differentiating him from the other hundreds of crows was the red amulet that Roan tied when he received him from his parents 3 years prior. It headed straight through the jarred window of Roan's bedroom. It was time for Kila's supper as the morsels of steak remained clutched to his pouch ladened around his waistband.
'Excuse me for a bit, I forgot to feed Kila!"
"Oh okay, I'll stay here. Come back soon or you'll be late to your graduation!"
Roan nods with a smile and started heading back, using the keys to open the house.
The furniture might be dustier the next time he comes to visit but a sense of peace came to mind as Albert would still be here to manage it for him and not his parents.
He opened the room to reveal the restless crow, Kila, roosting near its cage. If Roan didn't arrive earlier, Kila would've probably thrashed around his room and caused a mess.
'He was always an arrogant pet, I have no idea how to take care of a crow.'
A pet he received without a word from his parents, they come to his important social gatherings but they would always separate with the other parents, ignoring him like a shadow.
The Klaus family was a long bloodline of secretaries of the mayor for this Glumhaven known as Berikas. If not for them, the city and its surrounding areas would probably be in worse conditions and might even be reduced to ashes.
'And soon I will be able to learn the prestigious abilities of a Deumontae.'
A shrouded clan of multiple families who all have a bloodline that allows them to excel in summoning magic. The Deumontae House had managed to garner fame by being technocratic compared to the other five Houses; being third in overall size compared to the other Houses.
All six Houses come together to create a council of states, responsible for overseeing the entire realm of their connected territories here in Keragoros.
"CAW"
The loud beckoning of Kila urged Roan to feed him faster and grew more rowdy as time went by.
"Okay okay! Here, don't need to rush me like that."
He took out the morsels in his pocket which Kila began swallowing immediately.
"Easy, don't choke yourself like last time."
They were smart creatures but he had no idea how smart exactly, but it did begin to slow down after heeding Roan's worried remark.
He shuddered not knowing what to do before as he tried helping Kila cough up an entire apple slice.
He began rubbing underneath Kila's chin as it continuously fed on it before what was left was specks of crow saliva and specks of meat that it began proceeding to nitpick.
Just as Kila finished, it hopped onto his finger and rustled its feathers.
Roan closes up the cage with Kila inside and prepared another water bowl for it. Draping the makeshift tablecloth over the cage would fully let Roan be at ease knowing Kila wasn't out and about.
"Alright, behave yourself while I'm away. It'll just be four hours."
Roan was finished with his business and proceeded to leave. Arriving just at the front as he locks the front door to see that Albert was still over there sitting near a bench.
It wasn't that long, maybe around ten minutes but it seems Albert was already tired from standing.
Roan's chuckle resounded in his mind, locking the gate as he proceeded to rush back.
"I'm done!"
Albert noticed the bickering of his young master and stood up to meet halfway with Roan to proceed to the Academy.
But he stopped in his footsteps.
Something was wrong.
Everything felt slightly off. The smooth pace of how Roan's day was going all came to an abrupt stop as he noticed Alby's steps come to a sudden halt.
Though he was still at a grazing distance, his eyes could pick up some big details of his face, his facial expression that always appeared genuine.
It was the face of fear.
Not knowing how much time had passed, he quickly turned in a second's notice to find out what was wrong. But that second's notice was far still too late of what occurred, and only the aftermath remained.
A boom was heard and a trail of smoke appeared around the edges of the southern wall of Berikas.
It made an arch around the city's wall and hit a building center mass to a cottage with rich vegetation growing across its walls and encompassing a garden full of exotic fruits outside the lands. He knew who the house belonged to as well. A nice old man sold his fruit to restaurants nearby and allowed Roan to try some of the fruit. A normal nice old man.
All that was left from the rubble was flames across its rubble as the wall collapsed, a single arm appearing outside the thick rocks.
Roan and the neighbors appeared as fast as they could. Another grabbed a bucket to try and quell the fire, and four others all aided with another to try and get the man outside the wreck.
However, the fire held an uncanny quality. It wouldn't be readily apparent at the moment, but this fire, though usually adorned in orange hues with flickers of red dancing along its fringes, possessed an unsettling white luminescence that cast an eerie illumination upon its surroundings.
"I'll go get the guards!"
Roan turned around and took a few rushed steps before a scream was heard behind him.
The fire caught onto one of the men who tried to get the man outside the rubble, only to catch a small spark of flame on his clothes.
The fire was quickly patted away, but it came back and appeared to spread even more, spreading across more parts of his shirt.
The man with the bucket tried putting it out, but to no avail, the fire would come back just like the first spark that came attached to him.
Everyone tried to help, catching the fire themselves, and soon the first guy's flame came in contact with his skin.
The fire now revealed itself to fully become a sheen of yellow and white. Rapidly increasing to a snail-like pace.
The agony could not be explained in mere words as the man tried to put it out, but the flame proceeded to consume him and in just twenty seconds, all that was left was a corpse on the floor, still burning its wispy white.
The others soon met the same fate as their agony could be seen on their faces.
They were burning! And the flame grew stronger as time went on.
They looked to Roan in desperation but there was nothing he could do.
Roan and Albert could only stay still in shock.
Their entire life changed within just two minutes but maybe it'll all come back to normal soon.
The guards must've seen the smoke around and would be here in a few more seconds.
But there were two other booms he heard and even more that Roan could notice what was happening.
Large rocks were set ablaze as they whizzed past him in the sky above.
The Glumhaven was under siege.