It began with something as simple as hunger.
My stores had run dry. Herbs were gone. Spices reduced to dust. Even salt was scarce. The dried meat I relied on had become little more than bark and bone. Before dawn could break, I left my home beneath the lake and rose into the air, gliding silently above the village of Flarehaven. Oil lamps flickered below like dying stars, their smoke curling into the cold morning air.
I never liked that village. Too loud. Too crowded. Too many faces pretending to be something they were not. Still, necessity pulled me there. A spice vendor in the lower quarter opened early, tucked between narrow alleys where most people avoided looking too closely.
I was about to slip into those alleys when voices drifted upward.
Two drunken men staggered from a tavern, laughing through slurred words. One leaned heavily against the wall and muttered about someone they called the woman in silk. The other snorted and replied that the last fool who chased her had been found pale and smiling in the gutter. The first laughed again and said the man never even fought back, that he collapsed after kissing her neck.
I stopped moving.
The hunger vanished from my thoughts. The village faded. All that remained was that name, the woman in silk. Something deep within me stirred, not curiosity, but warning. This was not a drunken tale meant to pass the night.
Noctur heard it as well. His voice slid into my mind like smoke across still water. He told me not to seek her yet, to go first to Mount Vamps, to ask questions, to learn. He reminded me that knowing an enemy always mattered more than rushing toward them.
"You're right," I answered quietly. "Her power sounds different."
"Vampires are not the same," he said. "You learned that during your first trial. This fight belongs to you. I will watch, and I will warn."
"I understand," I told him. "I can handle it."
I moved quickly through the lower quarter, asking questions, listening more than speaking. Whispers pointed me toward Mount Vamps, a place guarded by fear and silence. Five guards stood at its entrance, weapons loose in their hands, unaware of the shadows already gathering at their feet.
I did not speak.
One by one, I stepped into their shadows and dragged them into the Shadow Realm. There, I marked them, forcing each to face a reflection of himself. I watched as their own shadows rose and turned against them, every strike echoing their choices. Only when their screams faded did I return to the physical world, hood drawn low.
"Who is the woman in silk," I asked.
One guard shook his head, teeth clenched. He claimed ignorance.
"You have two choices," I said calmly. "Tell me who she is, or let your shadows finish what they started."
Silence stretched until one of them broke.
"They call her Velmira," he said. "A vision wrapped in danger. She was once married to a vampire lord, cast away because her beauty gave her power even he feared. Men spoke of her lips like wine and her eyes like dusk. She never stayed long. Always alone. Always desired. And never remembered by morning."
Another guard swallowed hard and added that she did not kill with fangs. She killed with longing. One touch. One whisper. One embrace beneath the moon. She drained her victims until nothing remained but a smile. He said she was seen near the outer ridge of Hasselleania village, and that another man had followed her scent the night before and never returned.
"Where does she live," I asked.
"She doesn't," they said. "She hunts taverns. The drunk are weak. Easy."
I nodded. "Was that so difficult."
I released them, shadows peeling away from their bodies as I took to the skies once more.
I searched for the man they mentioned, flying above the treeline near Forester. That was when I saw her. A woman in flowing red silk walked alone beneath the moon, her steps slow and deliberate. Instinct screamed that she was the one.
Noctur's voice sharpened. "Do not forget. Every part of her is a weapon."
Two wolves crept from the brush behind her, hunger clear in their eyes. When they lunged, I stepped into their shadows and emerged behind them, blades forming in my hands. Their bodies fell without a sound.
The woman collapsed to the ground, her silk torn, her skin marked by teeth. She looked up at me, trembling, her fingers brushing my arm.
"My hero," she whispered. "You saved me."
I froze.
My thoughts scattered. My breath caught. Something unseen wrapped around my chest and pulled tight. A desire not my own crept into my mind, warm and inviting.
What is this feeling, I thought. Why do I want to give myself to her.
Her lips curved into a soft smile, stained like wine. She leaned closer and spoke gently, offering thanks, offering a kiss.
Before I could move, Noctur took control.
He dragged me into her shadow and drove my blade forward. The scream that followed tore through the night as illusion shattered. Bat wings burst from her back. Her beauty twisted into something monstrous, her face snarling with fury.
She had nearly killed me without spilling a drop of blood.
"You would have died," Noctur said coldly.
"Good thing you stopped me," I replied.
I watched as she burned into ash beneath the moon, leaving only a scrap of red silk behind. I left it where it lay, a warning for anyone foolish enough to follow her scent.
Then I vanished into shadow, returning toward the lake.
"You forgot who you were," Noctur said. "Not every enemy strikes with blades. Some steal the mind. Some attack with desire. Stay sharp, Kael. Next time, I may not be able to pull you back."
I said nothing.
As we reached the lake, I willed every living gaze to darken. The waters of Lunia parted, opening its depths, and I descended once more into my home beneath the surface.