The cave had become something like home.
Aria sat cross-legged on the luminous moss, a bowl of mushroom stew in her hands, watching Kelme devour his own portion with an expression of pure, unadulterated joy. It was the first real meal he’d had in centuries—the first time he’d tasted anything that wasn’t blood or ash or the bitter remnants of his own guilt.
"This is incredible," he said between bites, his voice thick with emotion. "I forgot—I forgot what food tasted like. I forgot how good it felt to eat something warm and filling and—" He paused, his eyes glistening. "I forgot what it felt like to be human."
Aria smiled, genuinely happy for him. She understood that feeling. She’d spent so long surviving on scraps, on whatever she could steal or scavenge, that she’d almost forgotten what it meant to eat a proper meal.
"I know what you mean," she said, taking a bite of her own stew. The mushrooms were bland—they’d always be bland, no matter how she seasoned them—but they were filling, nourishing, and they reminded her that she was alive.
"It’s the little things," Kelme continued, his voice dreamy. "The texture. The warmth. The way it settles in your stomach and makes you feel... whole. I thought I’d never feel this again. I thought I’d spend eternity as a monster, never knowing what it was like to be human."
He set down his bowl and looked at her, his eyes full of a gratitude so deep it seemed to fill the cave.
"Thank you, Aria. For this. For everything. For giving me back my humanity."
Aria felt her cheeks flush. "You don’t have to thank me. I just—I did what felt right."
"That’s exactly why I’m thanking you. You did what felt right, even when it was dangerous. Even when it was stupid. Even when I was trying to kill you." He laughed, a warm, genuine sound. "You’re a remarkable person."
"Keep talking like that and I’ll get a big head."
"Get a big head. You deserve it."
---
The magical portal was hidden in a crevice at the back of a cave, concealed behind a curtain of luminous moss that glowed even brighter when Kelme approached.
"This is how we’ll get back to the kingdom," he said, gesturing at the shimmering surface. "The vampires use it to hunt at night—it opens directly into the heart of the kingdom’s capital. It’s safer to use during the day, when most of them are sleeping."
Aria peered at the portal, her eyes wide. "And you just... walk through it?"
"Walk, run, jump. It doesn’t matter. It’ll take you wherever you want to go, as long as you know where that is."
"How does it work?"
Kelme shrugged. "Magic. Ancient vampire magic. I don’t fully understand it, but I know how to use it. That’s enough for now."
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, leather mask—plain and unassuming, but somehow pulsing with a faint, magical energy.
"Also, take this. A spare face mask. It’ll let you change your appearance at will. It’s not perfect—it won’t fool anyone who looks too closely—but it’ll help you blend in when you need to."
Aria took the mask, turning it over in her hands. "Thank you. This is—this is really thoughtful."
"I have a lot of experience hiding," Kelme said, his voice carrying a note of old pain. "I’ve spent centuries pretending to be something I wasn’t. I know how much it helps to have a way to disappear."
Aria tucked the mask into her pocket and smiled at him.
"Let’s go home," she said.
---
The portal spat them out in a narrow alley, and Aria felt her heart swell as she breathed in the familiar scents of the capital—bread from the bakery, smoke from the forge, the faint, earthy smell of the market. She’d been gone for weeks, had almost convinced herself she’d never see this place again, and now she was back.
Kelme was standing beside her, his eyes wide, his expression dazed.
"It’s been so long," he said, his voice barely above a whisper. "Centuries. I never thought I’d see a city again—real people, real life, real food." He turned to her, his eyes glistening. "I can’t believe I’m here. I can’t believe I’m human again."
Aria reached out and took his hand. "You’re here. It’s real. And you’re never going back to what you were."
Kelme squeezed her hand, and for a moment, neither of them said anything. They just stood there, two broken people who’d found each other in the darkness, grateful for the simple miracle of being alive.
---
They found an inn not far from the market—a small, cozy place called the Leaping Goat, run by a cheerful woman named Marta who didn’t ask too many questions. Kelme paid for a room with some of the coins he’d scavenged over time as a vampire, and they settled in for their first real meal in... well, in a long time.
"I can’t believe this," Kelme said, staring at the plate of roasted chicken and vegetables in front of him. "I can’t believe I can eat this. I can’t believe I can taste this."
He took a bite, and his eyes fluttered closed. "Oh. Oh, that’s good. That’s really, really good."
Aria laughed, tucking into her own meal. The food was simple—nothing fancy, nothing extraordinary—but it was warm and fresh and, most importantly, real.
"I think I’d forgotten what food was supposed to taste like," she admitted. "The mushrooms in the cave were fine, but they weren’t—they weren’t this."
"This is the best thing I’ve ever eaten," Kelme said, his voice carrying a note of genuine awe. "I mean it. Best thing. Ever. And I’ve eaten a lot of things in my life."
"Even before you were turned?"
"Even before. I was a good cook, actually. My wife always said I had a gift." His expression flickered, a shadow crossing his face. "She’d be happy to see me like this. Happy to see me eating real food, enjoying life, being human again."
Aria reached across the table and covered his hand with hers. "She’d be proud of you, Kelme. I know she would."
---
They spent the rest of the evening planning.
"The problem is," Kelme said, pushing his empty plate aside, "we don’t have the power to do what we need to do. Not yet. Not even close."
Aria nodded, her expression thoughtful. "I know. We’re strong, but we’re not strong enough. Not for her. Not for the army she commands."
"We need time," Kelme continued. "Time to train. Time to grow. Time to build alliances. We can’t just walk into her castle and expect to win."
"But we have something she doesn’t," Aria said, her voice carrying a note of determination. "We have the ability to hurt her. My power—it’s effective against vampires. It’s more than effective. It’s devastating."
Kelme nodded slowly. "That’s true. Against a young vampire, your power would be enough. Against an ancient one, it would be enough to hurt her. Enough to weaken her. Enough to give us a chance."
"A chance is all we need."
"A chance is all we have." Kelme smiled, and there was something fierce and hopeful in it. "We’ll make it work. We’ll train. We’ll grow. And when we’re ready, we’ll go to the Crimson Spire, and we’ll make her pay."
---
The planning continued into the night, and for a while, Aria forgot about everything else. Forgot about the kingdom, about the King, about the impossible mission she’d been given. She was just a girl and a former vampire, making plans, dreaming of a future that seemed just out of reach.
And then the door to the inn burst open, and everything changed.
Two men entered. The first was tall, broad-shouldered, with the kind of bearing that came from a lifetime of fighting. His face was familiar—too familiar. Aria recognized him instantly.
It was one of the men from the wedding. One of the barbarians who’d been guarding her. The one her brother had been dealing with.
The second man was smaller, weaselly, with eyes that darted around the room like a rat looking for an escape. He was complaining loudly, his voice carrying across the crowded inn.
"How do you lose a woman?" he demanded, his tone incredulous. "She was supposed to be in that tent. She was supposed to stay in that tent until the wedding was complete. And now she’s gone. Just—gone. Poof. Vanished. Like she never even existed."
The barbarian grunted. "She ran. Simple as that."
"Simple? Simple? There’s nothing simple about this! Do you have any idea how much gold I’ve invested in this arrangement? How many favors I’ve called in? How many promises I’ve made?"
"Not my problem."
"Not your—of course it’s your problem! You were supposed to be guarding her!"
"Don’t you dare yell at me," Marta said, emerging from the back with a sour expression on her face. "I run a peaceful establishment. You want to argue, you take it outside."
The two young twins who worked at the inn—a boy and a girl, no more than fifteen—were watching the exchange with barely concealed amusement. Aria recognized them. They’d been there when she’d first arrived, helping her settle in.
"You lost her," the boy said, with the solemnity of a doctor delivering terrible news.
"What?"
"The woman," the girl clarified. "You had a woman. Now you don’t."
"I know that!"
The boy nodded sympathetically. "You forgot to cherish her."
The man stared at him. "What does that even mean?"
"It means you had a woman," the girl said, completely seriously, "and somehow you managed to make her leave."
"I didn’t make her leave!"
"You lost her," the boy said.
"I DIDN’T LOSE HER!"
The twins exchanged a glance.
The girl shrugged. "Then I suppose she just... wandered off."
"She was kidnapped!"
"Ah," the boy said. "So you lost her with extra steps."
The barbarian snorted into his drink.
The weaselly man stared at all three of them in disbelief. "Can someone here take this seriously?!"
The girl smiled sweetly.
"We are. That’s why we’re concerned."
He kicked out at the twins, but they were already dancing away, laughing. The barbarian, meanwhile, had started laughing too, his broad shoulders shaking with amusement.
This was perfect.
Aria pulled the mask over her face, feeling the magic settle over her features, changing them. She wasn’t Aria anymore. She was just another customer, a random girl in a random inn, watching a comedy unfold.
Beside her, Kelme was barely containing his laughter. "This is incredible," he whispered. "This is the funniest thing I’ve seen in centuries."
"Shh," Aria hissed. "Don’t laugh. They might notice us."
"It’s impossible not to laugh. He’s talking about sheering women. Like they’re livestock."
"Kelme, I’m serious. They can’t know I’m here. and that’s not what they are talking about."
The argument continued, the weaselly man’s face growing redder and redder as the twins continued to torment him. Finally, the barbarian put a hand on his shoulder and steered him toward a table in the corner.
"Sit," the barbarian said. "Eat. Drink. Calm down. We’ll find her eventually."
"You don’t understand," the weaselly man said, his voice suddenly small. "She’s the key to everything. The alliance. The army. The future. Without her, we’re nothing."
Aria felt something cold settle in her stomach. She knew that voice. She knew that man.
It was her brother. Vise.
He’d somehow survived the whole ordeal. He’d come looking for her. And he was sitting in the same inn, barely ten feet away, while she was hiding behind a magic mask, eating dinner with a former vampire.
"We’ll find her," the barbarian said, his voice low and reassuring. "She can’t have gone far."
"And if we don’t?"
"Then we’ll find another way. There’s always another way."
Vise sighed, rubbing his temples. "I suppose you’re right. I just—I can’t believe she ran. After everything I’ve done for her. After everything I’ve sacrificed. She was supposed to be grateful. She was supposed to be happy."
Kelme leaned in close, his voice barely audible. "Aria, we need to go. Now."
But Aria couldn’t move. She was frozen in place, staring at her brother in this world, watching as he ordered a drink, oblivious to the fact that she was sitting mere feet away.
"I don’t understand," she said, her voice barely a whisper. "He’s supposed to be gone. He’s supposed to have been killed. How is he here?"
"I don’t know," Kelme said, his voice urgent. "But we can’t stay. If he recognizes you, if he sees through the mask—"
"He can’t see through the mask. You said it yourself—it’s not perfect, but it’s good enough to fool someone who’s not looking too closely."
"And if he looks closely?"
Aria didn’t answer. She couldn’t. Because at that moment, Vise turned his head, and his eyes met hers.
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