The Calling - Blood and Snow

05.

Nakhflay Tents are large with multiple rooms fashioned from soft furnishings, fur rugs and leather wrappings. Rooms glow from lanterns and central fireplaces. Low Wooden tables hold enchanted bottles, treasure boxes, mystical ingredients and ivory ornaments. Curtains and dividers, carpets and rugs, wall mounted weapons and large lock boxes. Blankets and coffee, great food and joyful conversation are the soul of the camp.

Inside the warmth of home, Veryth awaits her husband's return from work. Pouring water till it touches her fingertip, placing the glass to her lips she tilts. Feeling her throat hydrate down through each gulp.

~Ok, you are going to check the new soaps, heat some water and have a nice bath with Avalon candles.. Mmm~

Veryth thinks to herself as a cold breeze breaks through the homely warmth.

"Avalon candles, fine choice"

A strangers voice proclaims.

"Hello?"

"Apologies for spooking you."

The woman's voice acknowledges from the curtain by the front door.

"I was notified here is the best place to acquire parfumes and I heard talking. I know it is of late but I have traversed a great distance here. May I enter? I need not long."

Veryth slightly turns towards the room where Shenade is sleeping.

"I'm sorry, my husband is not home yet. Please, come in the morning and tell us all about your journey and how we can make sure you get what you came looking for."

"If it is a little late for business, perhaps you could host me with a little refreshment. I find the nights here to be a little warmer than I am accustomed."

"You find the nights here warm? You must have come from the far North but your accent does not sound familiar. I do hope your travels were with ease."

"Please, a little water before I return to my hotel and I'll tell you about how I came to be here should you wish."

~How can I not offer the visitor water, what kind of person would I be?~

Veryth questions herself.

"I have heard well about the hospitality of your people, I promise I shall not be a burden. Perhaps I could pay you for your time?"

~She seems polite, far from a thief and it would be wrong to turn her away~

"That's really not necessary. Please, come in."

Veryth says, smiling in the direction of the entrance, palm faced up.

~Who would smell of ancient incense, musk, blood orange and a mild...~

"How rude for me to have not introduced myself. You may call me Carmilla."

"Carmilla, please, sit.

Would you like some coffee? I also have fresh cold water, pre boiled and filtered from the well."

"Water would be wonderful. Thank you."

Veryth pours water from the silver jug and sits with her guest.

"Would you like some saksuka or fruit?"

"I'm fine, thank you. Please, sit."

Veryth complies with grace.

"You seem to really know your way around the tent without bother."

"I have lived here with my husband for a few years. Fortunately, I know my way around the whole camp. You memorise your way around over time naturally... Of course, for somebody with sight it must sound strange."

"I can imagine it being difficult not being able to see, but you appear to have worked around it. As if it does not pose any impediment."

Veryth places her hand on her heart.

"Thank you, your words are kind."

"May I ask, if not too intrusive; were you born visually impaired?"

"Fortunately no..."

Veryth smiles.

"When I was six my parents noticed I was unable to see people and things not very far away and by the time I was seven, doctors told my parents my sight would continue to fade as I got older. My parents took it upon themselves to show me everything they could. We had travelled much and seen many beautiful places and creatures, waterfalls, plants.. I remember almost all of it. By nine I had lost all vision but my parents had prepared me, still I cried the day I woke up like my eyes were closed.

I cried for days, unable to accept I would never see my mothers face again. Every night she had helped me fall asleep making sure her face was the last thing I saw before I slept and each day she awoke me to see the sunrise with her. We would sit on the roof together, quite, share a blanket and watch each as if it was the last. I knew how to read emboss, I knew how to navigate and how to do things for myself but I knew I had seen my last sunrise.

It has been a long time now though and I have learned how to get by into adulthood, I have learned how to sing, have married a wonderful man and my hearing and sense of smell have made me a well renowned alchemist."

"Wow, that is quite remarkable! I too naturally possess exceptionally keen senses. How about we dabble a little to test ourselves?"

"Well.. I've never really tested it as such, but I'll try."

"Okay, I'll go first, ..I can hear two birds sleeping somewhere in this tent."

"Yes! Very good. Halima and zachki, they are in the next room. Okay, I hear..."

listening attentively focusing on more quiet sounds below the quite snoring of the girl in the small room, below the nightly laughter outside, below the sounds of night creatures...

"I hear..."

~I hear the cats scrapping.. No. I hear talks about horse shoes... No. I hear... Wait! Why can I not hear her breathing!!!~

"That's right. Frankly I'm a little disappointed it took you this long to notice. I have been sent here to ask you a question: what do you know of death? And answer carefully, we need not make an issue here."

~Death?~

An An uneasy Veryth wonders.

"If I answer, will you leave?"

"If you wish."

"I know death for many is an escape, for most it's a great fear, to some it means loss and for others it is simply the end."

"I am sorry, allow me to rephrase..."

The voice frosts closer

"...Is death something that appeals to you?"

"Of course not, me and my husband are happily in love, we are expecting our first child after six years of marriage, we have honour and courage! I love my trade, love my home, love my friends as much as they love me."

"So you have much to lose, what if I could sway you a little towards an investment most favourable? You husband is handsome, far to handsome for somebody unable to appreciate. Have you thought about the fact that you will never see your own child, even after the carry and birth. You will not see a single smile, a threat to warn them of, you will be oblivious to how they grow while you will only live to hear their voice fade away over the years. What if I could bring more to your life?"

"What do you want?"

A gracious voice replies.

"Since you have told me a little about you, I shall do the same;

The truth little bird, is I want to die but not a violent death. You would think after living as long as I, that fear would have somehow outgrown me. My thirst for happiness left me long ago. The need for blood has anchored me to death.

At first, I fed for power, for freedom, for revenge. I took what I wanted, who I wanted and enjoyed the thrill of it. Ultimately, however, everything gets old. I grew speed faster than any transport or beast but with immortality, nothing seems urgent and I had nowhere to go. I took anything I wanted and killed whoever would try to stop me with ease.

After long enough things just become trivial, momentary luggage. Mortals spend their whole pathetic little lives trying to obtain things that I could take in an instant, but it has been too long since I have ever had want of anything and even longer since I was incapable of taking whatever I desired.

I used to follow my prey, watch them filled with the passions I no longer had. Joy, sorrow, fear, desire, lust, remorse, I was jealous. They always looked more alive the closer to death they came. When I took them all I saw was fear, not of me, not of pain but fear of losing the connection to whatever they clung onto in life. It's a strange thing to envy your kill.

I need to feel something other than thirst and the want to want.

You know this mirror belonged to my great grandmother. Everyday she used to stare at her reflection and ask herself who she was until she was who she wanted to be. She started out orphan on the streets alone, she used to whisper secrets from pillar to post but as she got older interests in her began to grow and she realised knowledge was not her only power.

Barely surviving and never having been shown love, her survival instincts became aggressive. Being young and beautiful was barely worth a coin without the right decorations.

To be important you had to appear valuable, no man of title would marry a beautiful commoner, no respectable establishment would make a deal with a poor bard. That's just the way it goes and she knew it. Building herself a image, scraping together a single fine evening outfit before inviting herself into a house party under the guise she was in fact a V.I.P. Recognising Dr Youtani, head of mechanical prosthetics, she had picked a side and made her plan. Working each table with underground knowledge, lies and charm turning the aristocracy against one another. Using fear to manipulate the chaos it was a serene panic for all except Dr Youtani as he only had to watch his rivals destroy themselves for the price of a equal partnership.

You see, without motivation, without backing you are nobody, trapped on the underbelly of the losing side. Join us and you will no longer be trapped by your own limitations, what if you could see everything? What if you could live to see your children and your children's children grow. You would no longer live under a roof of wood, leather and fabric. You and your husband could live together happily forever and all for just a little support on finding something that would only enhance the experience. Do not choose to be powerless, we would rather you simply embrace this opportunity, for it shall not be offered again."

Carmilla's cold hands hold veryth's like a friend, it has been a lifetime since she had a conversation with a pleasant mortal.

"I know what you are, our tribe know the legends but I never imagined your kind to be real. I may not have my sight, but I see the beauty in everything because my heart is at peace. My life is not perfect and I am ok with that. You're offering misery to somebody very happy. I am only sorry that I can not offer you what you have lost."

Leaving the full glass of water, Carmilla's fragrance fades away into peaceful darkness.

-

Ravens caw warnings from black skies in song. Odin's fiery heart beats through drums. Ominous silhouettes with wet flags fluttering in storms, sails tattered from years of sea roll in through thick salt scented frozen fog. The cold winds of Hel pierce heavy furs, burning runed flesh like a master proclaiming it's slave. Grimm deep large footprints crushed in the wild snow follow the pact. No mountain can shake what the oceans can not sink and no wall is more mighty than a shield. Haze, cloaks and shields obscure what brings darkness upon the path towards Vatala…