Veridian Shores

Chapter 07 - A Game of Shadows

Alone in her room, Gliss sat down cross-legged on the plush carpet, preparing herself. Outside she could sense the Aspects of the Glaive guards drifting back and forth in the corridors. Every now and again one of them passed her door, paused for a second, then continued on. Clearly the heads of the Clan still had reservations about her residence here, whatever Capper did to try and persuade them otherwise.

She hoped that her conduct in the brawl with the Baelock vampires would count in her favour. While part of her had genuinely not wanted to see Capper get hurt, the colder, calculating part of her mind told her that protecting him would help assuage the suspicion the Elders had for her. Once they no longer considered her a threat she could go about her real business unimpeded.

Clearing her mind, she gently pushed the Aspects of the Glaive guards out of her mind's eye, like shovelling snow from a driveway. Bit by bit the fog of events from the last few days drifted away, leaving a strangely comforting emptiness – a quiet in the deepest recesses of herself. Her ritual could only work with absolute clarity of thought.

The Blood Call was something she'd practised dozens of times, but still never failed to make her nervous. It was the only link home – the only tool she had to remind herself that she wasn't truly alone in this urban wilderness. What if it failed? What if the distance to Iron Hollow was too great for the connection to work? What if her concentration slipped and she was detected?

Gliss closed her eyes and placed her hands on her thighs, forcing those questions away. She'd told the Elders she was ready to do this. It was time to prove it. Focusing her mind, she pulled at the strands of her Aspect – the spidering aura that surrounded her frame – and dragged them inward, away from the prying thoughts of others. It took several minutes as she pulled each tendril individually, pressing it back down to its base, compressing and moulding until rather than a strong radiant presence, she emanated all the Aspect of a rock, virtually invisible to anyone and anything.

A skill that would prove invaluable for the trials ahead.

But there was no time to be smug about her own skills. Now came the most difficult part: the Call itself. Without opening her eyes, Gliss lifted her right wrist up to her mouth. Extending her fangs, she bit softly into the alabaster skin, drawing two pinpricks of thick gore-red blood. Removing her arm, she took her free hand and brushed her thumb across the blood, leaving a thin smear behind. Then, bracing herself for the revulsion that was soon to come, she touched her blood-stained thumb to her tongue.

The taste of vampire blood was bad enough without it being your own. Gliss couldn't fight down the grimace that swept across her features as the horrible, bitter tang ignited on her taste-buds. She endured it, not swallowing, not spitting, just letting the sensation fester for several seconds. Once the initial wave of nausea and disgust subsided, she made herself focus again.

At first everything seemed foggy, a kind of dull throbbing haze that descended over her like a thick blanket. Then, in small patches, things started to clear. Her mind projected well beyond the thrumming boundaries of Veridian Shores, over the stormy badlands, following the path of the great trains that criss-crossed the northern continent. Barren expanses of rock spilled away from the outskirts of the city and the track wound gently between the grey crags.

The landscape became a mushy blur as she allowed her mind to start hurtling into the northern reaches. It became impossible to distinguish the landmarks and settlements that pockmarked the trackside as they smeared together in lines of light.

It wasn't until she saw the great looming shapes of the northern mountain ranges that she allowed the furious rush of her mind to slow. Even seeing it in this second hand way filled her with awe. The highest peaks reared up thousands of feat against the brooding, clouded sky, spanning from horizon to horizon for as far as she'd ever ventured, an impassible barrier of rock save for one place.