Veridian Shores

Chapter 37 - The Madness of Immortality

She'd never run so fast in her life. With Garven thundering along ahead of her, Gliss fled the dig chamber with the screams of dying vampires following her down the passages. With each new piercing shriek the huge Aspect of the First – if that really was what had walked out of that tomb – swelled and undulated like a wild sea, as though thriving on the slaughter.

Her companion stumbled to a halt a dozen twists and turns later, turning terror-filled eyes back down the passage, breathing heavily. Gliss crashed into him, grabbing him by the coat and shaking him.

"Garven, look at me!" she hissed, fighting down the panic in her voice.

"That ... thing, it killed Revan," he babbled.

"Garven, we have to focus." She released her hold and stepped back, sweeping a hand through her hair and closing her eyes, trying to think. "We've got to do something."

He looked at her as though she'd gone insane. "Like what? Gliss, you saw what it did. That freak killed Revan like crushing a damn ant. We can't fight it."

"We can't just leave!" she hissed, glaring at him. "We set it loose!" Now the gears were starting to turn in her brain again, and plans were forming. Garven was right that they couldn't just fight the First head on – it was clearly orders of magnitude more powerful than any vampire any of them had ever encountered. But she wouldn't just walk away. If they couldn't kill it, there might be a way to keep it from escaping into the city.

A shudder passed through her as she considered the havoc that such a monster could cause if left to run amok. She couldn't let that happen. Resolve would only do so much, however, and without Revan's power and knowledge their task would be orders of magnitude more difficult. She pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to think. Then she turned to Garven.

"Alright, I need you to round up any other hunters who are still alive," she said firmly. "Sound the alarm; find Anka, Baylor and Domnall and meet me at the main armoury."

He nodded, though fear was still plastered on his face. "What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to the central chamber and see if any of the elders survived. Maybe they can help us find a way to kill it."

"You're going back there?!" Garven exclaimed, grabbing her by the arm. "Are you insane?"

"Maybe a little." Gently she pried his fingers away. "Don't worry about me. Just round up the others and dish out all the weapons you can find. I'll meet you at the armoury as soon as I can."

"And what if that thing kills you?"

"Then I guess you'll have to come up with your own plan."

"Terrific."

"Just go!" She shoved him away down the corridor and spun around, steeling herself for the task ahead. She wasn't stupid enough to try and fight the creature after seeing what it had done to Revan, but it was only a single being. It couldn't be everywhere, and its supernova of an Aspect would make it easy to track.

With a mental picture of the bunker's layout fixed in her mind's eye, Gliss started moving, slow and silent as a ghost. She could feel the distant Aspect of the First, like a storm cloud on the horizon deep in the heart of the bunker, still centred around the tomb. She skirted around it, careful not to get too close to it and announce her presence. She didn't know how sensitive the creature would be after all this time, but she wasn't about to take any chances.

It took her fifteen minutes to edge her way around the enormous presence and make her way back into the central chamber, well above the opened tomb. When she got their she found a dozen or so vampires scuttling frantically back and forth in a panic, gathering documents, books and folders and stuffing them into bags. Getting ready to flee for their lives.