Questions?

[Existentially Odd]

Kerr welcomed the mental connection. Having been sired with a mix of ancient and newling blood, he'd developed his mental skills quicker than most - mostly because he was bombarded by his own fledgelings and sire, who had natural proclivities to equal his imbued strengths. He'd learnt early how to block, attack and compartmentalise his thoughts and to sort all the mental triggers that came at him from his family (generally in multitudes and in inappropriate ways, times and places because he was such a fun target to taunt) in the same manner .

Four hundred years on, he'd perfected a safe, externalised environment in which to communicate mentally. His mind met Damien's in a place of purity, where thoughts were less words and more like impulses of intent, flavoured with emotions and imagery transferred faster than a human heart could beat. It was outside of his mind and Damien's, suspended somewhere in between in a netherworld akin to a room cloaked in velvet curtains, with ornate chairs and their meticulously constructed mental selves seated comfortably for the exchange  - representatives that held only that which their owners deemed appropriate for trade, protecting their truer selves, thoughts and souls deeper in their actual minds.

Anything, to protect them, he answered simply, confused about where this was leading but interested nevertheless. Every emotion he felt he allowed to travel to Damien.

[Saiketsu]

"As would I."

He paused in indecision of which point to bring up next, knowing that he walked a very fine line between explaining himself and betraying Jake. "When Jake McCloud asked me to run his campaign against Ben for Central, I hesitated. In the past I have purposely tried to remain out of politics for the sake of my lineage and my... partner." He could have said 'girlfriend', but the word felt very foolish to him, immature. Rachel had lived with him now for the better part of five years and they knew each other more closely than they could explain to the other, knowing the ins and outs of each others behavior as strangers, friends, and now as lovers. "I am of a different political practice than those present in this city. As you may be aware, I don't believe that anyone so young should be governing a city of immortals who range from a few days to a few thousand years. But I am a minority in that." Damien flashed a smirk at the other. "That includes Jake and Ben as well as yourself."

"Jake has his own reasons for asking for my assistance, the details of which I cannot tell you. But after consideration of my own situation, I agreed... under certain terms."

Damien inhaled slowly. "My partner is being... hunted by some kind of demon whom we know little about." He watched Kerr steadily for his reaction, once again treading carefully through what he needed Kerr to understand without giving away too much about Rachel's situation, Jake's trust, or his own personal interests. "She had been abducted and... tortured... until she escaped and found me. Over the past five or so years I have taken a number of drastic measures to ensure the safety of my people. Because of this, the demon has not surfaced since he tried to destroy my fledge, Pierre."

As he spoke the elder passed along images and knowledge through their bond, like putting pictures down on a table between them for the younger to peruse. Rachel's frantic escape and finding her in that alley. Nikolai's betrayal. The house on Alcott Road with its panic room, closed circuit television at the entrances and edges of the property. Rachel's daytime restrictions. At the mention of Pierre, Damien slipped Kerr the memory of seeing his last remaining fledge laying on a table, covered in blood that refused to penetrate burned flesh muddled with melted rubber and flaking, ashened skin that turned to dust as they tried to bandage him. It was not a silent memory, and Damien never tried to make it one, Pierre's agonized groans and hisses echoing as a reminder to Damien why he did what he did. He did, however, hold down the memory of his panic and anger, understanding that it was not the point of showing this particular memory.

"Upon discussing payment with Jake about becoming his manager, I erroneously thought that he would provide me with the resources of Central to help track down and kill this demon. Jake refused my request."

[Existentially Odd]

Kerr's eyebrows lifted and he bled surprise into their mental connection as Damien said he didn't believe 'young' supernaturals - like him?! - shouldn't be in charge of the city's politics. He wasn't sure how he was supposed to be aware of such an opinion without having a conversation with Damien before tonight. Was it because it was only logical to assume all near-ancients were elitists? Did that mean Damien thought he'd done a poor job as Luminary? He wasn't game to ask.

He watched the slideshow of images with a growing sense of unease, disturbed by the terror, the misery, the violence on display. All that because of one demon? Their faces weren't overly familiar to Kerr but the beings he was observing came to him with attached emotion that told Kerr how important they were to Damien. The precautionary measures inside the stately home became a horrifying movie memory of a vampire in inexplicable pain. His wound wouldn't heal? The fact that Damien's nearest and dearest were permanently scarred by this single demon proved he was inconceivably dangerous.

And then Damien dropped his bombshell. He'd agreed to front Jake's campaign on the understanding that Jake would help him with this devastating intrusion... and Jake had refused? Kerr's mouth fell open and his eyes widened at Damien. He was serious but Kerr couldn't believe it. Apart from the fact Jake was a businessman first and foremost, he never turned down an excuse for a fight.

Why did he back out? Did he give you a reason? I mean, apart from the fact he agreed to it - which I assume he did - isn't he your district leader? Doesn't this situation present a direct threat in his district?

[Saiketsu]

He felt Kerr's surprise but didn't attend to it, the topic to be addressed at a later time. At the younger's questions, Damien shook his head.

"Jake hasn't backed out, but rather explained to me that he can't simply use the city resources and manpower of Central to go on a personal demon hunt. Especially not with an election so close, not after the West." He gave Kerr a knowing look."He has assured me that he is doing all he can legally and professionally to help find him.

"I live in the East District. From what I can tell, based on what my own private investigators have found, there is no 'Laurent' or 'Adam Craiton' registered in the city. So he either doesn't reside within the city or has another name we are not aware of. Both are likely true, considering the type of things he does." Damien didn't elaborate.

"The only reason anything has changed in the past few years is because..." he hesitated again, shifting his position and breaking eye contact with the other. It was not a comfortable thing to discuss with anyone after almost four hundred years of being alone. His instinct had always been to not let anyone know - not even Rachel. Falling for the woman he had promised to protect from an evil fate. Nightly he fought with thoughts that he was no better than a gaoler, keeping her locked in a house during the day because at least then he could physically protect her from the demon that hunted her. And now they were more than Ward and Warden; they were consensual lovers, slowly stemming the bleeding of festering wounds that neither of them realized they had.

But Rachel was human, denied the right of living a human life. Damien had the means to provide her safety, housing, stability, everything she could ever need. And that had always been the plan: to kill Laurent and set Rachel free back where she came from with enough stability to sustain her for a lifetime - away from the city that almost killed her.

Now things were different. He hadn't found Laurent like he said he would and years had passed. Rachel aged. Pierre suffered. And all the while Damien struggled with keeping his word to them both.

"Rachel has recently started going out during the day with a bodyguard, exposing herself to the possibility that Laurent could find her again." He looked back at Kerr. "I can't deny her the need to leave the house, but neither can I do anything should she be taken or killed in broad daylight.

"By running as his campaign manager, I have put myself in a place of visibility that appears vulnerable with the hope of luring Laurent out into the open, expediting the process. He will think I am distracted, getting comfortable. It is what he is waiting for."

[Existentially Odd]

Kerr was both impressed and appalled that Jake was suddenly so upstanding that he wouldn't push the limits in order to help out his campaign manager. As far as Kerr believed, if using his district's resources to help numerous citizens' lives improve wasn't justified, he didn't know what they were for. Posturing? A representation of safety that couldn't actually be counted on in a time of need? Surely he'd go to a bit of extra effort if any one of his constituents requested it - let alone his campaign manager?

Then he learnt that Damien didn't live in Jake's district. He lived in Charon's. That made this all the more exasperating. If Jake wasn't going to be any help, why not go to one of the oldest vampires in the world, who was obligated to help Damien out, as his DL? Laurent or Adam Craiton may not be in the city at the moment but that didn't mean he shouldn't apprise Charon of his situation; Kerr knew he'd help. His network resources and strength of force far outweighed Jake's, anyway.

Kerr longed to know exactly why things had changed in recent years but was left unfulfilled... though the way in which Damien spoke of Rachel and his sheer terror at imagining her demise gave him the answer he sought, essentially. A near-ancient in love with a mortal girl? With an intensity that reeked of despair over her fragility, it seemed. Kerr's sentimentality was tweaked and his heart warmed. Love gave strength and weakness in equal measure, because of the joy of it and the potential for desperation at its loss. He admired Damien's admission of vulnerability and appreciated his sharing of this tale. He communicated the depth of his appreciation as a powerful vibration coloured with all of these emotions.

And there it was at last; the answer to Kerr's other question. Why not abandon Jake after he found out he'd be getting nothing in return for his work? Because campaigning for Jake did give Damien something. He wasn't sure it was an adequate consolation but that really wasn't his business and Damien was a big boy (and certainly old enough to decide for himself what benefitted him and what didn't).

The things we do for love, indeed, Kerr murmured, his physical smile bittersweet to match the sentiment he expressed. He was sympathetic to Damien's plight and he reflected admiration at him as well. I understand your anxiety. They will insist on living their lives - our lovers - without the slightest regard for how they carry our hearts with them. His smile was indulgent but it faded as his mind returned to Damien's situation with Jake.

You should alert Charon to your plight. I'm confident he'd be more assistance than Jake, anyway. Do you resent Jake and being his campaign manager now? Do you feel he deceived you? he asked curiously, wondering at what point in their arrangement Damien realised his wishes for assistance wouldn't be met.

[Saiketsu]

At the mention of love, Damien instinctually recoiled, feeling suddenly too vulnerable and exposed. Kerr would most likely feel a bashful withdrawal for only the briefest of moments, almost imperceivable as Damien tucked the feeling down deep somewhere far away from him and re-established himself as secure and calm in the conversation.

Love had never been and would never be part of the equation between Rachel and himself; it couldn't be. Rachel had been denied too much in her life to also be denied the rites of passage of being a human woman: living on her own, lack of supervision, having a career, a husband, children... He had no right to ask for anything that would take any of that away from her. Damien would never be so selfish, despite his growing fondness and protectiveness of her. And yet...

He had begun to spend many of his days embracing her in their bed, talking about things that would make her laugh, enjoying the feel of his lips in the corner of her eye more than anything he could remember. She brought out of him a tenderness and a warmth that he had forgotten he could experience. He had the habit of laughing again, looking on his cell phone at strange fish found at the bottom of the sea, naked with her curled on his chest. He took her to the beach and found her clamshells ringed with purple and teased her with stinking crab husks. During the day, he would lay on her chest, cuddling one breast and listening to the beating of her heart as she stroked his hair. Damien would often lose himself in the feeling, remembering (imagining) what it was like to have a pulsing heart as he drifted to sleep.

There was no vibrancy of life with him; beyond what money could buy he had so little to offer her, his own life lacking in the complexity that made life worth living. 

Damien chose not to acknowledge the comment about love anymore than he already had (and completely unsure of how to!). He chewed on Kerr's response for a brief moment instead. The comment about Jake, however, confused him considerably, his furrowed brow reflecting this. "Jake has done no wrong by me. I had gambled on his rashness and his impulsive desire for blood to give me what I wanted: the access to potentially confidential city documents and city personnel to hunt and kill a demon in an act of vigilante justice." He passed images of the conversation he and Jake had that night through their tether to color in the details of what Damien had missed, especially the staredown that had taken place between them, antagonized by Damien himself. The elder had presented the Central District Leader with a direct challenge, despite knowing that hunting demons now has political implications at the time, and Jake McCloud had taken the higher road.

"In a gesture of maturity and growth, he denied my request on fair, political grounds: he would not justify a manhunt as I described. Instead, he asked for the information to pass around to the other District Leaders and the City Ward, with his own personal team doing the bulk of the investigating separate from the city's resources and funding. More than this, he will not tell me. He has assured me, however, that he is doing this regardless of my status in his campaign. My agreeance to be his campaign manager has everything to do with my personal decisions rather than his repayment of my skills. Of the two candidates, Jake has more political experience and a history of command to back it. Besides, while Ben has cultural and intellectual capital and sway with the development of this academy and the Lovebite app, it seems that the position for his campaign manager was already filled." Damien gave Kerr another crooked smirk, allowing a touch of humor to coat the sentiment. His agreement with Jake had also just come as a sudden opportunity that Damien recognized may be a means to an end.

"Charon, on the other hand, strikes me as quite... laissez faire... about such matters. That is simply my perception, though. i haven't had enough dealings with him to know better. Even if weren't true, however, what would I then owe him in return? I'm sure he's no more interested in money than I am, and I am not particularly fond of the idea of owing favors to immortals thrice my age. I am accustomed to relying upon myself and mine, not the resources and wisdoms of others. Why would Charon waste resources upon a personal issue for a human? As far as we can tell Laurent hasn't come after anyone else in the city - there have been no more human trafficking situations reported in or around the city to the mortal police force since the early 2000's. Besides I also have no solid evidence that Laurent still lingers near the city."

[Existentially Odd]

Kerr watched the images of Jake's interaction with Damien curiously, fascinated by the power play between the two. The fact that Jake displayed the cooler head in the situation was, frankly, astonishing to Kerr. It would've been a standpoint he expected from Damien, though he had to admit that didn't know him outside the impression he was getting from this conversation. Even so, this was Jake they were talking about. 'Mature', 'fair' and 'high road' were definitely not terms generally used in company with his name.

Damien didn't acknowledge the fact that he could've represented no-one in this battle for Central, Kerr noticed. Yes, Jake was more politically-tested and Ben's status depended largely on his civil and cultural influence but neither of those were convincing arguments as to why Damien should even pick a side - especially when he didn't even reside in the district in question. He also didn't particularly believe in either of them, as he'd previously stated - they were both too young for Damien's tastes. It was very odd.

Still, Kerr had to smile at the notion he might've worked for Ben except Kerr was already in the role. A gentle lie but it filled Kerr with warmth that he would bother. It wasn't as if he knew exactly what he was doing as a Campaign Manager but he'd been at it earlier than Damien. He'd organised interviews for Ben in the supernatural publications, taken out advertising in those same outlets and plastered the streets with Ben's face and subtle slogan - 'Strength In Unity'.

Out in the mainstream world, they couldn't talk about the election or be too obvious, so Kerr had done the greatest amount of campaigning at the Academy and in the Luminary, by ordering paper cups with Ben's face and 'A vote for Ben Samson is a vote for the future of Central District!' on them. When Brannigan's gave out free blood every night, it was in cups that offered a positive connection to Ben, so that everyone would vote for him. As the election drew nearer, posters and infographics about how and where to vote would appear in all of the supernatural establishments he'd got to agree to it, a community event would take place in a city square (kind of like a fair with carnival games, sugary foods, sample bags and cups of animal blood - all of it free because people loved getting free stuff) and a public appearance at a supernatural rally would happen. He hadn't thought of anything else - yet - but there was still time.

Alright. I get it; you still want Jake to win, even though he won't run off half-cocked with you. You admire him. But I think you've misjudged Charon. He's not laissez-faire, he's truly neutral - but that's not to say he doesn't have passionate opinions and a desire for a good story. I've always got the impression that anything different and new is exciting for him, given how long he's been around. You might owe him a favour afterwards but you're also a resident in his district. I predict he'd be intrigued enough to help but I could be wrong. There's only one way to find out... ? he hinted, grinning at Damien and turning his head slightly sideways in a coy gesture of encouragement.

[Saiketsu]

Admire is a strong word, Damien thought privately, but made no attempt to change Kerr's mind on the subject of Jake. Before being asked to run Jake's campaign, he had no real preferences as to who held office, knowing how young both candidates were. Quite frankly, he thought both of them needed at least another four or five hundred years under their belts before even considering themselves experienced enough to run part of a city, but as Jake's campaign manager, he kept this thought to himself as well. With his recent socializing with Jake, Damien found himself a bit fond of Jake personally.

Damien had determined that the Black Prince routine of Jake's was all just an act of a young man who had clawed his way up from the bottom, where such ruthless, unpredictable behavior was necessary. He recognized it from his own time as a fledgling in Lucretia's lineage, isolated from any true sense of community. It had no place now in this city, where laws prevented infighting and immortals co-existed together daily. It was one of Jake's biggest faults, but certainly not an unfixable one. It was due to lack of experience and an active history of warmongering and it had to stop. And while Damien didn't feel as though it were his responsibility to set Jake right, he did see the merit in it, regardless of who owned Central at the end of this little dance.

Truth be told, there had been a time where Damien had considered a position in the government of the city,  but he hadn't had his affairs in any kind of order then, and the longer he stayed in the city, the farther his path was set against such ventures. He was well aware that the same kind of attention that would draw Laurent out into the open could have been easily achieved by running himself as a contender for the office of Central District Leader. Damien even believed he stood a good chance at succeeding, too. But then with all of the other pet projects he had taken on - the construction of the medical building, the running of Aquillia Industries, lineage matters, not to mention Rachel's new adventures into the daytime without him - he was positive that caring for the constituents of Central was not going to be something he would be able to do properly. So he had accepted the next best opportunity - a hand in shaping a better leader while creating alliances with city powers.

At Kerr's mention of Charon, Damien allowed some of his discomfort to bleed into their connection, none of which was directed at Kerr himself. The way the younger vampire had phrased why Charon would be interested in helping him had rubbed him wrong.

"I've always got the impression that anything different and new is exciting for him."

He wasn't particularly comfortable with accepting help from someone who was fascinated by Rachel's story, the details of her life and nightmare still tender and private. Damien was the only other person who had any inkling of the horrors that she faced outside of the situation and he was loathe to share them - willingly or not. Being as old as he was, Damien naturally assumed that the ancient could slip right past Damien's own defenses without knowing it and retrieve any details he wanted. As if he were providing an excellent source of entertainment to the ancient.

He wasn't looking to intrigue the ancient with a tale of woe; he was looking for resources and support in his endeavors. He hated to think that Charon or anyone in the city would do such things, but he had seen how power, strength, and age made vampires lose their humanity. How many minds had he himself scanned in order to get the information he wanted? How many humans had he killed because they had crossed his path, their blood not touching his lips? Respect for life became a very interesting thing the older he became.

"It's an option," he admitted reluctantly, his face not reflecting the same optimism. "My interest is in gathering as many resources as possible. When I heard that Chtahzus'aak had returned to the West, I considered asking for his opinion on the matter. But now, well. I doubt he would even see me, let alone give me any information that would help me find one of his." Damien shrugged and looked off into the rest of the classroom, reaching out with mental tendrils around the room to ensure that they were still alone in this wing of the facility.

[Existentially Odd]

Kerr admired the fact that Damien even considered going to a powerful demon like Chtahzus'aak in order to ask about hunting another demon he wanted to kill. It was kind of crazy but definitely ballsy. He would neither encourage nor discourage though, for he'd said enough in promoting Charon as an advocate and he could tell the elder wasn't convinced. Best to back off on that topic.

Really, he'd got what he'd come for - to get a measure of the man and find out why he believed in Jake - so he knew he should probably take his leave. He was enjoying conversing with him, however. His impression overall was that Damien was fair, justice-oriented and devoted to his family. Not unlike himself. Sensing Damien scanning to be sure they weren't being monitored made him aware of how paranoid the vampire was, due to the seriousness of the situation. It roused his sympathy.

An accomplished businessman such as yourself has many resources at his disposal but if I can be of any assistance - perhaps by searching the Oligarchy records for you - I'm happy to help. I have no affiliations or appearances I need to uphold. Hopefully, Jake will have success with his resources so that you may find peace and put this nightmare behind you. Not being able to heal your lover's pain is the worst feeling and greatest helplessness, I know, he empathised, imagining Rachel's wounds must be equivalent to Ben's brutalisations by Themba and Lazarus, all of which he'd had to watch and coach Ben through without being able to do anything directly. It had broken his heart twice.

[Saiketsu]

Kerr's sympathy for the situation was appreciated and Damien let him know with both a mental echo in their connection and a sad smile. He wasn't familiar with discussing the feelings of his own helplessness; it was something he tended to ignore until the worry took him in the small hours of the morning when Rachel had fallen asleep beside him and he was alone with the panicked thoughts. Hopelessness and grief had driven him mad in the past and the familiar taste of it lingered bitterly in the back of his mind, the reminder of how useless he had been to stop destruction before when Lucretia and their collective family were alive. Now, for Rachel's sake, his moments of despair were kept from airing, locked away from her in order to create room for his confidence. Laurent would be found and killed, no matter what.

Laurent, as far as Rachel had told him and he had found out for himself, was only one demon. Damien had a small empire of immortal kin who supported one another and had access to copious resources. Damien knew he had the upper hand and that was why the demon failed to surface after all this time.

He kept his despair locked tightly away from their conversation and offered Kerr a humble thanks of both his understanding and support. As the younger offered his help, Damien paused, working out how best to seek such a thing from the man who was in direct political opposition to him. While politics could be dirty work, Damien saw no advantage in damaging Kerr's relation with his partner.

"I have many resources, but I know so little about the specific sub-species that demons can take. What would give me the biggest advantage is finding out what kind of demon Laurent is so that we can exploit his weaknesses. But with all the research and money spent, I am unable to narrow down his exact species - hell, even 'demon' is an educated guess at best. We suspect that he is a fire, smoke, or shadow demon, but he has the ability to shape-shift as well. I personally suspect that he is some kind of crossbreed of a fire and smoke demon, but none of the research that we have found supports all of his abilities. It's maddening!

"As your time as Oligarch and Luminary, have you ever come across any such creature who can produce bodily flames in human skin, can shift his form, and can manipulate his own element to ensnare and capture a person?" Tamed hope trickled through him into their connection while fatigue edged into his physical features, a resigned disappointment settling over him. He didn't believe that Kerr would know the answer he sought and was too jaded to have his hopes rise too high, though ultimately that optimistic part of him wondered.

[Existentially Odd]

The description of producing flames in human skin immediately brought Jenna to mind, the beautiful fire demon Kerr had once loved (but not enough to choose her over Ben). Oddly, it was the second time in a few nights she'd come to mind. She'd been able to make flames dance across her exquisite body at will, but the rest of it... well, he didn't quite understand the rest of it, truthfully. He couldn't hazard a guess until he knew more.

What do you mean by 'shift his form'? Change from human to demon or something else? And what about 'manipulate his own element'? What element? I mean, if he had an element that was witnessed being manipulated, surely that would indicate his exact nature? Kerr proposed, frowning as he sought clarification.

[Saiketsu]

Damien smirked and hung his head, Kerr's questions proving that Damien was on a wild goose hunt.

"We have witnessed him change from a human into something resembling shadows - which made us think at first that he was, in fact a Shadow demon. But then the shadows he produces are a solid thing, capable of inflicting injury and harm. Pierre and Rachel had both experienced being sliced and grasped by them. So then I thought it was some advanced kind of shadow demon. But then he was capable of burning a vampire while in human form, transforming part of his body to be engulfed in flames, according to Pierre. He told us that Laurent was in his human skin when he burst into flames and struck Pierre, having shifted back. Rachel has also told us that he was constantly smoking cigarettes, and that he would just disappear and reappear at will.

"So now I have this demon who has an unknown abilities and unknown weaknesses. Though who knows? It might not even be a demon." He hoped that something he had said had triggered Kerr into remembering anything that Damien had overlooked in his hunt. Kerr's access to resources should have been wider reaching than his. If anyone had an idea, it would probably be the man who was in charge of the immortal city, right?

[Existentially Odd]

Kerr gnawed on his tongue stud as he listened to Damien's explanation, compartmentalising the information he was given and assimilating it with his current knowledge banks. When he was done, he sat forward in his chair, knees splayed and elbows resting on his thighs, his hands fretting at one another in the space between. His expression was earnest, as was his mental voice.

Okay. I agree you've got a shadow demon on your hands. They can absolutely use shadows as a weapon - usually they create them in the form of an animal and they can move independently of the demon, leaping through shadows to attack. Shadow demons can teleport using shadows, too. That would explain the injuries and the blinking in and out of existence.

The anomaly is that fire thing... but the fact that the flames appeared when he was in his human form is significant. It's possible he has two sets of powers, though there's never been a documented case of demon splicing. I'd rule out that theory and assume he's got an artefact of some sort. He wouldn't be able to activate that in demon form, which would explain why it's only been seen when he's human. Did they happen to note any particular jewellery or weapon he was wielding at the time?

[Saiketsu]

Damien nodded, Kerr's confirmation of his suspicions gratifying, despite others also saying as much. The experiences of Kerr Galvin had a different weight than those facts found by his private investigators and other fledglings due to his time in the supernatural government. For the first time in several years, he began to feel as if he were on the verge of new knowledge about Laurent.

Damien shook his head, searching his memory for any item of note. "None, besides the shadows. But again, this is what I am told. My fledge cannot communicate in this manner for some reason and Rachel has never mentioned such things. But I suppose that doesn't mean that an item hadn't been present those times." His expression turned thoughtful as he tried to piece together what could possibly make sense.

[Existentially Odd]

Kerr nodded to acknowledge Damien's thoughts but he felt rather inept, overall. The limit of their hypothesising had been reached for both of them. There needed to be another move made by the demon for things to change and more information to be gathered, yet he was sure Damien didn't actually want that, either, because it would mean more danger for his beloved. It was purgatory and he admired his elder's fortitude in persevering through it, doing everything within his power to escape a situation most would despair and surrender in.

Your fledge can't communicate in what manner? he queried, frowning again as he tried to decipher that comment. His fledge couldn't speak about what he'd witnessed of the demon? Perhaps he'd been bound somehow, just as Kerr himself once had been (but he was free now, thanks to Charon's intervention). The thought of recommending Charon for another facet of Damien's life had the corner of his mouth twitching ruefully. He'd become quite the fanboy of the ancient recently, despite the political friction between he and Ben.