Page 101 of Veinblood
I leaveVaram and Mira to explain things to Erya, Stonehaven’s leaders, and Nyassa, and find a quiet corner of the village where I can meditate without interruption. The constant hum of Ellie’s emotions have quietened to barely detectable levels, reduced to a faint thread of worry that no longer threatens to shatter my focus. Whatever crisis was building has passed for the moment, and the quietness creates the window of opportunity I need.
If I’m going to attempt this, it has to be now.
The Voidcraft I’m planning to use demands significant power and unwavering concentration. One distraction, one moment of lost control, and we could end up scattered across the void, or worse, materialize inside solid rock.
When I attempted it during the ambush at River Crossing, my powers were already weakened by Sereven’s crystal. The magic nearly killed me then, my consciousness fragmentingas I forced depleted power beyond its limits. This time that isn’t a problem, but I still need to prepare and reach the state of mind required to bend the void safely around us.
I settle into the meditation, building the focus required to combine shadow and void without letting either overwhelm the other. The preparation is delicate work, requiring me to layer my awareness.
First, I reach for the shadows that have answered my call since childhood. They rise eagerly, warm and welcoming, pooling around me like liquid night. Then comes the harder part—extending my awareness deeper, past the comfortable darkness of shadows and into the spaces between places where the void waits. Here, the sensation changes completely. Where shadows feel like silk against my consciousness, the void is sharp-edged hunger, a yearning emptiness that wants to consume everything it touches.
I practice holding both forces in balance, shadows to anchor us and void to carry us across distance. Each breath draws the balance deeper, shadow-dark and void-hungry maintaining their precarious equilibrium within my awareness. The meditation requires absolute mental discipline—any stray thought, any flicker of doubt or fear, could tip the balance toward catastrophe.
My body settles into the rhythm of deep focus. Heartbeat slowing, breathing becoming shallow and controlled, awareness expanding until I can sense every shadow within a hundred paces while simultaneously touching the void spaces that existin the gaps between heartbeats, between thoughts, between one moment and the next.
By the time Mira and Varam come to find me, the sun has begun to set. The approaching darkness will make the working easier. Shadows always respond more readily when night draws near.
“Are you ready?” Varam asks, his voice neutral despite the concern I can read in his stance.
I nod, rising to my feet.
We leave the village behind, and find a clearing about a mile away. It’s perfect for what I’m about to do.
“Hold hands. Do not let go until we’re through to the other side.” Physical contact creates the connection I need to carry them with me, but more than that, it will anchor their consciousness to mine during the transition. Without that link, they could become lost in the void. “If the connection breaks, I won’t be able to find you again.”
Varam takes my left hand, his grip firm and steady. Mira grasps my right. Then they complete the circle by clasping their hands together, creating the link necessary for what I'm attempting.
“River Crossing will be the safest place.” Ironic considering the last time I was there, Sereven’s attack ripped my shadows away, and left me helpless. Now I’m voluntarily returning to the place where I almost died. Yet it remains the most logical choice.
“I can visualize it clearly, and it’s unlikely to have anyone there to witness our arrival.”
I center myself, drawing shadows toward me, and form animage of our destination in my mind. The secluded clearing where trees lean over a shallow river, their roots exposed along banks worn smooth by countless seasons. Moss carpets the scattered stones that form as a bridge across the river. One I’m told Ellie and the others used when they escaped after my capture, carrying word of my supposed death back to Stonehaven.
I reach out through shadow and void, extending the spell to envelop Varam and Mira. They tense as the darkness touches them, an instinctive response to being pulled into forces that defy every natural law they understand. Varam's grip tightens on my hand, while Mira's breath catches audibly.
Unlike my desperate casting when I faced Sereven, where the void rose wild and angry, this time it wraps around us gently, creating a cocoon of absolute blackness.
“Hold tight,” I murmur, although I’m not certain they can hear me now.
The world dissolves, and we slip between the spaces that exist in the gaps of what is and what could be. Here, carried by darkness through a space where distance means nothing and everything, my will becomes the only constant.
This is the space that exists between heartbeats, between thoughts, between the moment lightning strikes and thunder follows. Time moves differently here. We could be traveling for seconds or centuries, and both would be equally true. Only the destination matters. The clearing calls to me across the miles like a lighthouse beacon, growing stronger with each moment we spend drifting through the hungry darkness.
For three heartbeats, the spellcraft holds perfectly. We move through the void like smoke on wind, and I allow myself a breath of relief.
Then Ellie’s emotions detonate across our connection.
Terror crashes into my awareness with enough force to shatter my concentration, turning my blood to ice and my vision white at the edges. The balance between shadow and void wavers as her panic floods through me. Fear that isn't mine courses through my veins, her adrenaline becoming my adrenaline, her desperation becoming my own.
My grip on the Voidcraft falters, the pathway I’ve woven begins to unravel and collapse. The void responds to my broken focus hungrily, sensing weakness. What had been gentle currents becomes clawing hunger, darkness that wants to tear us apart and scatter our pieces across dimensions that have no names. Pain lances through my skull as the magic turns on itself, void energies seeking the path of least resistance through my failing mental barriers.
Through sheer determination, I force myself to hold steady. The clearing grows closer, but each surge of her terror makes it harder to hold onto my focus. The void whispers seductively about how easy it would be to simply let go, to release the burden of duty, and let the hungry darkness claim us all.
Another wave hits before I can fully recover from the first. It isn’t just terror anymore, but desperation. My grip on the void convulses. It pulls at me, demanding more power to stabilize what her emotions have disrupted. I pour everything I have intostrengthening the connection, feeling my reserves drain with each heartbeat.
My control spreads thin, only stubborn will keeping it intact. The magic turns parasitic, feeding on my life force, while darkness claws at the edges of my awareness. Still, I push forward, driving us toward our destination. River Crossing calls to me … if I can just hold on long enough to reach it.
Just as my strength reaches its limits, as my consciousness begins to break apart under the strain, the void releases us.
