Veridian Shores

Chapter 10 - What Lies Beneath

The library in the Glaive estate spanned a huge, low space, with rank upon rank of shelves stretching away into the gas-lit chamber. Gliss slid her hands into the pockets of her leather jacket, following Capper inside, her eyes roving up and down the trove of books. It had a lot to live up to when placed against the monumental archive of her home, but that wasn't surprising. Her clan back in Iron Hollow had staked its whole future on digging into the past.

Guarding the gridiron arrangement was a thin-framed individual with a shaven head and a long beard the colour of iron. The coat he wore stretched from his neck to his ankles, but had no sleeves, revealing the interlocking blade tattoos that completely covered his arms. He saw them coming and one eyebrow rose in amusement.

"Well, well," he chuckled softly. "Capper, what brings you down to my little treasure trove?" His voice had a soft, warm lilt to it, as though each word were glazed in sugar.

"Ah, as it happens, her." He indicated Gliss with a jerk of his thumb. "This is Gliss Raynor."

"Our guest from the northern barrens?" The vampire smiled and Gliss caught sight of unnaturally long fangs concealed in his mouth. "A pleasure."

"You too," she answered uncertainly, shaking his hand when he offered it.

"My name is Rune, Keeper of the Records. Or librarian, if you prefer."

"I think Rune will do just fine."

"Good. Well then, Gliss Raynor, what can I do for you? Anything that drags Capper down into the archives certainly has my interest."

She grinned and looked at Capper.

Her companion gave an exasperated sigh. "I'm not much of a reader, alright?"

"More's the pity," Rune chuckled. "But never mind. Now that you've got someone leading you down the right path, what can I help you find?"

"We're looking for texts on ancient clan history," Gliss explained, trying not to laugh at the expression on Capper's face. "I figure I'm going to be here for a while and I thought Capper might be able to tell me a bit about Glaive's past. As it turns out, he doesn't know a whole lot so...here we are."

"Ha, should've paid more attention back in the day, eh, Capper?"

"Yeah, yeah," Capper grumbled. "Can you help us or not?"

"I think so." Rune flashed his long fangs again and beckoned them to follow. "Come with me."

They fell obediently into step behind the librarian, and as they walked through the ranks of shelves Gliss had to admit a level of admiration for how clean Rune had kept the records. Many of the archives in her home were so huge and sprawling that they turned into enclosed dust-ridden tunnels. The organisation was formidable, with tomes organised in a formidable array of looming walls, illuminated by small, evenly spaced gas-lamps.

They journeyed deeper into the phalanx of shelves, passing half a dozen other vampires as they went. Most ignored their presence – deeply engrossed in books of their own – and one or two cast suspicious glances at her. Gliss ignored them, her eyes roving up and down the spines of the surrounding tomes. The section they now walked through was filled with older leather volumes with archaic names – chronicles from deep in the city's history that today's generations no longer acknowledged. There were clan names she recognised from her studies in the historical academies of Iron Hollow – ones she knew had died with the march of time.

It seemed that while many here had let their history slip away, Rune was not one of them.

"So what, in particular, are you looking for?" the librarian asked as they turned down another corridor of shelves.