Phantom Hollow the cover of the wings of grasshoppers

Damien's skin had turned immune to caustic words like the ones his aunt spoke, and he shrugged them off as the harmless sarcasm that it was. He'd guessed quite right that the woman wasn't feeling too peaceful about their current situation, but it hadn't been a wild guess... Their situation was horrible and unfortunate, and anyone who didn't feel nerve-wrecked about it was probably insane. But he was there to soothe their anxiety even if he was deep inside it as well, for if not to comfort his followers and give them hope then, what even is a leader for?

He sat there to listen to Megara's concerns with calm attention, but her comment on their bloodline being a wekness made his ears flinch and brought a frown to his features. 'Our bloodline is our strongest asset, dear aunt' he would have said, but he quieted his thoughts to give his worried aunt the answer she needed. Of course I do, he said with a charming smile that only he knew how to fake successfully, I always have a plan,

But he didn't this time.

The original plan was to take Blackfeather Woods and settle Nyx in the Spiderlings' Glen in time for her whelping, and the unexpected nature of their quest hadn't left them any time to even sketch a plan B. They had to work with what they had.

Don't worry, Aunt. You are safe here and so is Nyx and my children. I would have never accepted to setting up camp in this place if I couldn't defend it, he said, hoping that his charm and his own forceful confidence would soothe his aunt's worries.