Veridian Shores

Chapter 01 - New in Town

The train smashed its way through the sheets of pounding rain, its block-like metal carapace shielding the occupants within. Powerful lights pierced the gloom, the roar of the locomotive's massive engine rising to mingle with the storm. Clouds churned overhead like molten basalt, a natural sin-dark smog that hung over the badlands.

Inside, safe from the elements, Gliss watched the downpour impassively. A small, black-haired individual, she lurked by the window like a solid shadow, her eyes following the lines of raindrops stretched by the train's tremendous speed. Buffeting wind and walls of water barely caused the great machine to tremble. She rested a delicate, pale hand against the frame of the window, feeling the reverberations pass through her slender frame.

Not long now.

Her arduous journey was finally drawing to a close. She'd spent the last sixteen hours cooped up inside the badlands train, running all the way from the mountain passes in the north down to the hub of the province, the massive sprawling port city of Veridian Shores. The carriage she occupied was quiet, with only a handful of other commuters scattered around the seats, but she could still feel the pulse of their blood, the sensation building and building. She'd restrained herself so far but her self-control was running out.

Concentrating, Gliss forced her mind away from the humans in the carriage. Instead she focused on peering through the downpour, searching for her destination. The punishing rain was finally beginning to thin out as they approached the coast, and through her amplified vision she thought she could make out a faint, pink-red glow beyond.

A few minutes later the glow coalesced into true structures and she felt a tremor of excitement. With a slow, languid movement she swept the white-dyed fringe of her hair back out of her eyes to get a better look. Buildings and lights crept out of the gloom, like a mirage at first but becoming more solid by the second.

Bulbous domes and spiny minarets glittered against the twilit skyline, spotlights of red and gold spearing into the sky around them. Behind them the city proper rose like a forest, a wild conurbation of structures mashed together in a single, life-clogged mass. Factory chimneys towered over their surroundings belching smoke out over the air. Huge sprawling mansions dominated whole districts, baroque constructions that spoke of power and privilege. Around them the tenements wound in concrete coils, plugging up every gap, the mortar that held the city together.

Veridian Shores – the seat of a world within a world.

The train slowed its thunderous charge as it approached the city outskirts and Gliss exhaled a long, slow breath. Her whole life had been building to this, a madcap scheme that could shift the balance of power between the Clans or end up getting her killed. She allowed herself a feline smile at the thought. She loved the games of risk and reward; thrived on them.

Buildings rushed up around the train, huge-soot dark stacks with bands of ochre light spearing out of them into the surrounding streets. She saw people now, flashing silhouettes, seething masses of life that filled up the streets like a living river. Gliss ran her tongue along the front of her teeth, feeling the sharp tips of her fangs just waiting to reveal themselves.

Soon.

After a couple of minutes the train cleared the city proper, rumbling its way down to the enormous coastal transport hub, where the freight cars at its rear would be decoupled and passed through to the loading bays at the port, while the passengers were offloaded in the opposite direction. She felt the engine dial down again and the voice of the diver crawled out over tinny, ill-fitted speakers to tell them that they were approaching their destination. Anticipation swelled within her as they slowed...slowed...slowed.