Chapter X: Wet With Byzantine Blood

Josip both hated and admired the Ancestors' vehicles. Slippers resembled silvery straps of transparent fabrics that enveloped the pilot, creating a bubble to protect him from Veil Breaches and time fluctuations. They were rare vehicles that remained mainly in the hands of the Council, the Alka and certain prominent families who were fortunate enough to inherit those technological marvels from their ancestors. Unlike bigger gliders, they traveled almost at light speed and caused no side effects to their pilots. But even an Alka-owned slipper could not prevent Josip from being late.

He rushed through the quiet village on the Croatian-Hungarian border, a single thought occupying his mind: he had to locate the Basilisk beyond the Veil while the Natives' police were checking the passengers' documents. Anxious to the point of snapping, Josip searched for the likeness of a woman whose beautiful face haunted the dreams of most Balkan Offcasts.

If Gordana Drašković was indeed waiting for the Basilisk on the platform, Josip had to demonstrate miracles of stealth to avoid the Serpent's sister. Scrutinizing rusty train cars, he wiped away beads of sweat from his forehead, shivering at the thought of encountering Leudora Galbur. From what he knew of the Basilisk, she could kill with her stare alone. Josip was not going to look into her eyes, though. The prospect of dying by the hand of Alka's official enemy did not suit him.

Josip dug his nails into his palms and took a deep breath. He had always known he'd meet her again. His capricious destiny chose to send him back to her now. Once, he had tried to kill her. Now, he came to save her.

Bracing himself, he boarded the train and made his way past mostly empty compartments. Persistent and careful, he sought a familiar Veil synchronization pattern that existed in a dimension outside the Natives' reach. He almost missed her in a Veil breach. The Basilisk snapped her fingers, and the clicking sound sent waves of heat through his body, and Josip finally saw her.

The woman lifted a slanted eyebrow, staring at him. The first thing Josip recognized were her gunpowder-colored eyes that struck a balance between realistic and otherworldly. The Basilisk had not changed much over the last decade. She wore a black coat with a high collar and heavy boots that seemed too big for her otherwise fragile figure. He wondered if she recognized him. Panting heavily, he reached out to sense her blood: the unmistakable presence of excessive iron cells confirmed her identity. Scanning him with her unmoving gaze, the Basilisk lifted a finger. "I wouldn't do it if I were you."

Josip frowned in confusion, realizing he had a thin braceter gleaming on his wrist. She scrutinized his weapon with wry amusement.

"You must cross two fingers to activate it," she said, her eyebrow twitching.

"What...?" He had expected many things, but polite nonchalance was not one of them.

"If you intend to use your braceter, you may as well do it correctly."

His face reddened, and he immediately switched the position of his fingers, lowering his gaze.

"Lady Galbur, I'll shoot twice, then I will slam the wall. The noise should give you enough time to escape." He took a deep inhale. "You need to get out of here. Now."

The Basilisk remained unfazed.

"I won't hurt her, if that's what you are worried about."

"She will hurt you if you do not leave," Josip replied, wondering who of the two women could inflict more damage. "My orders are to keep Gordana out of trouble and not let her break anyone's neck on my watch."

Leudora's lips twisted.

"You can't do much to contain a hurricane. But you can stay and watch."

Josip had no time to respond when outraged Gordana jumped into the compartment, holding a glimmer-blade in one hand and a braceter in another. To his surprise, Leudora did not bat an eyelid.

"Josip!" Gordana shouted. "Get away! She can brainwash you!"

"Gordana, please…" Josip lifted a placatory hand to stop her, but Gordana shot without thinking. The first energy blast passed next to Leudora's ear. The second wave forced the Basilisk to leap to the opposite bench. She arched her back and twisted. In an attempt to cover Leudora, Josip soared upward, positioning himself between the two women. To his dismay, Gordana mistook his action for an effort to block Leudora's advances, and decided to attack with renewed vigor.

"You murdered my brother!" she yelled, blinded by insatiable and painful hatred. Generating an impressive magnetic field, Gordana shifted gravity and nailed Leudora to the metal floor. Her fallen enemy lay silent, splayed like a dying octopus on the burning sand. The feverish gleam in her almond-shaped eyes both challenged and mocked. Gordana lifted her by the collar and tossed the Basilisk outside, through the hole of serrated metal. She did not resist, only laughed.

"It has been a long time since I met a gravity-switcher," she said with scholarly calmness. "I've almost forgotten this weird sensation."

Gordana reached for the iron in Leudora's blood, the muscles of her arm flexing with effort. Josip put a hand on her shoulder to reverse the gravity drift, but Gordana pushed him away. She leapt outside, preparing to smash Leudora's head over the station's concrete wall. When Leudora's body landed on the platform, Gordana pounced forward, subduing gravity and lifting her hands to finish Leudora off. Josip was quick to push Leudora away with his own subtle skill.

The Basilisk's quiet words stirred in his consciousness: "Stay away. That is all you can do." He did not understand her. He could not comprehend why she refused to fight Gordana, or why she chose to do nothing to save her own life. Gordana dragged Leudora by the arm to a half-ruined shed behind the station. Balling his fists, Josip prepared to stop the violence. His orders were to avoid bloodshed. And yet something instinctual inside him urged him to trust this sworn enemy of his people.

He stared at the Basilisk. Her short and confident headshake stopped him in his tracks. She wanted him to stay away. Somehow, he knew she was right.

"Tell me why you killed my brother! Why?" Gordana punched her in the face. To Josip's shock, Leudora spat blood and smiled at her.

"I am in no mood for a conversation."

"Still being clever, huh? You will die like a coward!"

Josip heard Gordana's triumphant laugh amplified by a strange humming sound of a Veil tremor. Now he finally saw through Leudora's curtain of deception. Gordana did not, she was too far gone. Fury undermined years of training and made her mind susceptible to manipulations. She did not see the obvious, did not notice the waves of energy flowing through the Veil breach. She could not perceive the real Leudora.

"She is using your rage as a conduit for her energy! It's not real! The breach alters your perception of reality!" He lunged forward and grabbed Gordana's shoulders, but she squirmed away, hitting him in the stomach. Unable to stop, she flung Leudora's numb body from side to side, wiping the platform with her short dark hair. Gordana ignored dozens of electric snakes circling the stones, reaching out to her, sending energy through her brain. In that hellish theater, Josip was the only conscious spectator: the real Basilisk stood behind Gordana, engulfed in a wave of electricity, patiently waiting for the end of the performance. Having crushed her victim's skull, Gordana turned to Josip. Silently, he stepped aside, allowing her to see the vision of lethal grace that was Leudora Galbur.

"Satisfied now?" The Basilisk stood on the platform with her arms crossed on her chest. "I wanted to see how far you were ready to take it." She paced slowly, scrutinizing Gordana's terrified and confused face. "I'm surprised, I will admit that. You did not falter."

Gordana huffed with effort, sucking her teeth. This time Josip nailed her to the platform before she could as much as lift a finger. She fell to the ground with a loud crack.

"I will not fight you." Leudora did not move, staring into the distance, seemingly ignorant of both Josip and Gordana.

"You must!" Gordana shouted, rising to her unsteady feet.

"She does not control this energy!" Josip exclaimed with a loud sigh. "She'll burn everything beneath the Veil, including you. She's a calamity!" Ignoring him, Gordana shot at Leudora with her braceter. The energy wave brushed the Basilisk's ear, letting out blood.

"Enough." Leudora's tone was deliberate and soft, but her eyes were set to kill. She waved her hand, sending forward an electrifying blast so powerful that it could incapacitate the population of neighboring villages. Josip lunged forward to cover Gordana.

"You don't understand who I am, do you?" The Basilisk stared at their coiled forms on the platform. "Your brother did."

Gordana's pale-blue eyes widened as she propped herself on her elbow. Leudora shook her head and walked away.

"Wait!" She called out to the Basilisk. "Why… why wouldn't you kill me?"

Leudora stopped, tilting her head to the side.

"Why would I?"

Josip helped Gordana to get back to her feet. She pushed him away as soon as she could stand on her own. He shrugged: it was not as if he had expected her to thank him.

"I will find you! I will kill you!"

"Circumstances alter causes," the Basilisk said, climbing the train. "But they never alter people." She shook her head. "You'll have a chance to kill me. But not today."

Josip sighed and wondered why the Basilisk sounded so much like the Dalmatian Serpent, and why the Alkari were so determined to keep Gordana away from her.