They should've known peace never lasts.
Morning light filtered through the broken cathedral roof, casting long shadows over the three brothers as they packed up. The air smelled of wet stone and burnt embers. Birds chirped faintly, but even they seemed hesitant — as if the forest beyond knew something the boys didn't.
Lucien was tying his boots when he noticed it first — a flicker of movement beyond the archway.
A shadow.
A woman.
She stepped into the light like a painting brought to life — dark braided hair, long black coat, eyes that didn't blink often enough. She looked maybe twenty-something, but her presence felt ancient.
Ayden blinked. "Okay… either I'm still dreaming, or a hot vampire librarian just walked in."
Cain stepped forward, hand instinctively brushing the hilt of his blade. "Who are you?"
The woman's voice was velvet-smooth and cold. "You don't remember me, Cain?"
Lucien narrowed his eyes. "Wait. She knows you?"
Cain stared, then blinked once, twice, like he was rewinding a decade in his mind.
"…Eira?"
She nodded once.
Ayden looked between them, confused. "Okay, someone catch me up before I throw a tantrum."
Lucien elbowed him, hard. "Not the time."
Cain's face had gone pale. "Eira was part of the Resistance… back before everything. Before Mom died."
Eira smirked. "You make it sound like I died too."
Lucien took a step closer. "But you disappeared. Everyone thought you betrayed the cause."
"I didn't disappear," Eira said softly, "I was taken."
Her words fell like stones.
She walked closer, and the brothers didn't miss the way her boots made no sound against the floor. Cain stayed tense, every muscle alert, like he was staring down a memory he didn't trust.
"I was turned," she said finally. "Dragged into the mountains. They fed on me until I stopped being me. Then they made me watch as they burned your village."
Cain flinched.
"I didn't ask to become one of them," Eira whispered. "But I came back… because I still remember what we swore."
Lucien frowned. "And what exactly do you want from us?"
Her gaze lingered on Cain. "To help you finish what we started. But first… you need to see the truth."
She reached into her coat and tossed something to the ground.
A charm — a simple silver pendant.
Cain's eyes widened. "That's… Mom's."
Lucien picked it up, carefully. "She wore this the day she died."
Eira's eyes glistened. "That's what you were told."
The room froze.
Ayden whispered, "What do you mean?"
Eira looked at them with pity. "Your mother isn't dead."
K
The three of them sat around the fire again that night, the pendant resting between them like a silent judge.
Lucien was restless. "You believe her?"
Cain didn't answer.
Ayden exhaled loudly. "Cain. Do you believe her?"
He finally nodded. "If Eira is lying, she's gotten real good at it. But that pendant... That's not something she could've faked."
Lucien's jaw clenched. "Then where the hell has Mom been all this time? Hiding? Captured? Or worse?"
Eira stood silently at the edge of the firelight, like a shadow that refused to fade. "She's not what she was. But she's alive. And if you want to see her again, we need to move. Now."
Cain didn't look at her. He just stared into the flames. "If this is a trap—"
"Then you kill me," she said plainly. "But if I'm right… you'll need me. Because the ones who have her? They're not vampires. They're something older."
Ayden groaned. "Great. As if fangs and fireballs weren't enough."
Lucien sighed. "Crackhead adventures continue, huh?"
Cain finally chuckled — a low, exhausted sound. "Yeah. And we just got a new party member."
As the others slept, Cain sat awake, fingering the charm. Eira approached quietly, sitting beside him.
"She meant everything to us," Cain murmured.
"She still does," Eira said. "But the woman you'll find might not be the mother you remember."
Cain's voice cracked. "I just want a chance to tell her I wasn't strong enough."
Eira looked at him, her voice suddenly warm. "She never expected perfection, Cain. Just your heart."
And for the first time in years, Cain let himself cry.
Not for the blood or the war.
But for a mother he'd mourned too early… and might get the chance to love again.