The moment the word news echoed through the vast Blood Tower chamber, the atmosphere that had just been filled with pride and celebration shifted into restless curiosity.
The vampires of the Moonshade family began murmuring among themselves, their voices overlapping like waves crashing softly against stone.
"What could it be?"
"From the Crimson Blood Kingdom?"
"Or from the Chimera Ant Empire?"
"Has war begun?"
Some leaned toward each other, whispering theories in low tones. Others narrowed their eyes thoughtfully, calculating what kind of information would be important enough to be delivered directly into the ancestral hall.
Yet beneath all that speculation was a shared confidence.
It cannot be bigger than this, many of them thought.
