November 4, 2004
"Hey Blue!" said Milkya through mind-link. "Just a quick check-up on what you're up to."
"I'm taking my human mother-in-law to her doctor's appointment, can't get any human activities more normal than this," said Coralis, pretending to read an article in a magazine.
Coralis sat on the seat nearest to the clinic entry door, waiting for Molly to walk out of her doctor's examination room. Next to her was a table with various old magazines about fashion and cooking.
"Good! Did you drive her there?"
"No, I never bothered to get a human driver's licence. I usually take a taxi or ride with my husband when I need to travel like a human. Mate is human. Today, I'm travelling by bus with my mother-in-law. She doesn't drive anymore. Her doctor is practicing in a shady part of the city, and she doesn't like going there alone. This trip is quite the human immersion."
"Taking buses to travel around town is a good idea. On a bus, you're invisible to people."
Coralis saw Molly returning to the waiting room soon after she was done talking to Milkya through mind-link.
"Ready to leave?" said Coralis.
"Almost. I need to hand this paper to the receptionist first. I don't know about you, but I'm getting hungry. Want to stop at the restaurant across the street? They have the best poutines in town."
Later in the evening, Coralis discussed with Sonylla over hologram what they wanted to practice next, to make them even harder to kill. Frank returned home and saw Coralis and Sonylla physically demonstrating how they could reattach each other's head if they ever got beheaded, her hologram sitting atop the television.
"You aren't going to actually practice that, right?"
Coralis interrupted her movement and turned to look at Frank.
"Hey, Mr. Blue!" said Sonylla over the hologram.
"Yes, we're discussing how to do it safely. You saw how our kinds get beheaded in battle and it's not uncommon to lose body parts. If we can pull this off, it would be nearly impossible for us to get killed," said Coralis while Frank waved at Sonylla.
"I get it and trust me, I want to keep you alive, but this is way too dangerous. What if you fail and die during practice?" said Frank, still standing next by the entry door. "I won't lose you."
"Don't worry, Mr. Blue, we'll do it gradually, not full decapitation from the get-go. I'm sure Derek also wants me to stay alive, so we elaborated a foolproof plan. We need to run it by Panjik first anyway because obviously, we can't do it to each other."
"We want to practice by cutting off our hands first and heal each other through massive blood loss without draining all of our stamina, so we wouldn't pass out before we're done."
"Hmm yeah, okay, I guess cutting off a hand or a finger is a safer way to do it... but the head? We're not about talking the same risks."
"As Sonylla said, we elaborated a foolproof plan. We practice with the hands first and before we attempt the head. We will focus on how we can transfer our soul and energy into each other, so that we can maintain the headless body functioning while the beheaded one is in the brain, focusing on signalling where it's at to the rest of the body."
"The one maintaining the body functions through the heart and liver can then crawl to where the head is. It will drain us, so that's one more reason to do it gradually and improve our stamina resistance first."
"Even when we're ready to do it, it will be a gradual process, and we will not do it alone," said Coralis.
"Our goal is to survive this war. Thanks to you, Mr. Blue, they can't kill us through fire. Now, we'll make sure decapitation won't kill us. I don't think High Mage Finnas realized how far we'd push the boundaries of the twinning bond spell when he suggested it to us."
"Probably not, it's supposed to be a curse after all. He wanted us to use it to our advantage, and it is exactly what we are doing."
"Can't wait for this senseless war to be over," said Frank, pulling a beer out of the fridge.
November 5, 2004
In the evening, Coralis and Sonylla met at Panjik's house and told him their plan.
"And your mates are okay with this game plan?" said Panjik.
"Took some convincing, neither of them was okay with it at first, but ultimately agreed that our plan is a genius one and foolproof," said Sonylla.
"While I agree with the reasons you want to practice being able to reattach each other if you get dismembered or beheaded, it is a very dangerous stunt to pull off. The practice steps you elaborated to succeed are reasonable so I will assist you on one condition."
"We're listening," said Coralis.
"I will be the one to decide when you are ready to have a blade passing through your necks."
Two hours later, Coralis felt someone trying to mind-link her. She was focused on reconnecting the ligaments in her right hand and didn't want to be distracted. She knew it wasn't Sonylla, and it didn't feel it was coming from Audrey.
"Well, I suppose now is the time to practice healing ourselves while answering mind-links. I need to get used to people reaching out to me telepathically."
"Shadow Elementals?" said Panjik.
"Probably."
Sonylla and Panjik knew she joined the Shadow Elementals, but she didn't tell them who else was a member.
"Blue! Where are you?" said Jourmol.
"I'm at Panjik's," said Coralis.
"Can you join me in Sudbury to meet with an informant? I have to meet her in a blood den, it's best if I don't go there alone. By the way, Panjik knows I'm with the shadows."
"Okay, I'll meet you there," said Coralis, finishing sewing her hand. She addressed the two mages with her while listening to Jourmol. "It was indeed the shadows. I have to go."
Less than an hour later, she spotted Jourmol in the alley behind the blood den. She jumped off her stick and landed beside him, startling him.
"Here I thought Milkya just started to teach you stealth."
"Ooh, she is just getting started with me. This is merely flyball basics. Ask Emery and Eva," said Coralis as Jourmol knocked on the door.
Blood dens in populated areas rarely have a front entry accessible from the main street. They were usually accessible either from within a legitimate vampire-owned business or from a quiet alleyway entry. A burly vampire opened the door.
"BLUE! Oh my GOD! I haven't seen you in a long time!" said a woman standing behind the doorman.
"Tracy? I didn't know you were in Sudbury, when did you move here?" said Coralis as they passed through the door.
"You know them?" said Jourmol through mind-link.
"I don't know if I know them, but I do know Tracy. She's from Chicago."
"I left Chicago almost a year ago. You know that I dated Hendrick on and off. With the tensions between clans and Veronica on the other list, he became an overbearing ass. Dolores wanted me to join her up here, so here I am," said Tracy as Jourmol told the doorman with whom they were there to meet. "Oh, you're here to see Dolores! I'll take you two to her. She didn't tell me you were coming."
"If Dolores is your contact, I know her well," said Coralis to Jourmol in mind-link before answering Tracy. "She doesn't know I'm here. The last time I spoke with her, she lived near Timmins. I remember Charlie telling me she moved to Sudbury at the end of last year, but I definitively wasn't expecting to run into your two tonight."
They follow Tracy to a private booth on the upper floor.
"While you guys talk, I'll make sure no one disturbs you. What can I bring you to drink? It's on the house."
"You know what I drink," said Coralis.
"Blue?" said Dolores as they entered the booth, and she hugged Coralis. "Did you speak to Charlie today? I didn't know you were affiliated with the shadows, but I knew I should have asked him for your contact information."
"Hendrick would then have called you back for a full interrogation on why you needed to call her," said Tracy before leaving the booth to get drinks.
"I joined last month and haven't talked to them since. Is it related to the Waldorf clan?"
"I need to remember to check with you first the next time I meet with vampires. We didn't even need to show our identification tattoos!"
"Yes. I heard a lot about the hunting party you went with Veronica and Eva the night after your wedding," said Dolores.
"Let's just say I'm very well acquainted with King Matthew's family and their entourage," replied Coralis to Jourmol before addressing Dolores. "Can't forget that one. I remember giving dating advice to Eva and Veronica while burning down the place. As if I was a reference on that matter."
"Those who weren't in that warehouse that night relocated to Barrie. They were working on researches to make a vampire version of an elf and were receiving payments from Blok Howar."