16: The Forbidden Library
The Hollow was on high alert after the second tower fell. Mia moved through the lower levels of the keep, past wards and sigils that buzzed with old magic. She was searching for the oldest records, ones that no Alpha had touched since the pact was written in blood and stone. The stairs creaked as she descended into the dark beneath the war hall, where Kaian waited above, uneasy about her going alone.
As she lit a torch, the air below was dry and heavy with the scent of ancient ink and dust. The walls pulsed faintly, warded and still alive. The library was sealed, but the fang in her satchel grew warm as she stepped forward, and the door shuddered and opened. Inside, time seemed to have folded in on itself. Scrolls lined stone alcoves, and books bound in strange hides lay open to half-translated passages.
Mia approached the central dais, where a single book sat beneath a dome of hardened amber. She touched the edge, and the fang pulsed, cracking the amber like ice under pressure. The book smelled of blood and told the story of a bloodline erased from history: creatures born of both wolf and vampire. As she read, Mia realized that she was descended from this bloodline, and the visions the fang had shown her made sense.
Suddenly, the door slammed shut, and Kaian's voice echoed faintly above. A presence stirred in the shadows, watching and waiting. Whispers slid along the edges of her mind, not in a language she knew, but one her blood remembered. "Daughter of both moons," the voice said. "The world has not forgotten. It remembers in shadow and ash."
As Mia turned to face the speaker, she saw a second fang, white as bone, floating in a shaft of moonlight. She reached for it, and the voice spoke again, "The First was spoken. The Second awakened. When the Third breaks, the old blood will rise." Above ground, Kaian heard a low and mournful howl, like the death cry of a god. He unsheathed his blade, recognizing that something had awakened below. And far from the Hollow, the Silenced Ones all turned in unison, their leader smiling.
Mia's fingers hovered over the second fang, which was pale as bone and impossibly cold. As she touched it, the world fractured, and she was hit with visions of a battlefield under two moons, where wolves and vampires clashed. A woman, Irene, stood at the center, untouched and powerful. Mia saw herself in Irene's eyes and heard her voice whispering in her mind.
The vision shifted, and Irene was cradling an infant with a mark on its chest: the symbol of the Third Name. Mia fell back, gasping, and the fang sank into her palm, branding her with a sigil - a crescent surrounded by three dots. The Mark of Convergence.
Kaian burst into the room, wild-eyed and sword drawn. "Mia!" he shouted, then stopped dead at the sight of her glowing faintly under the moonlight. "What... what did you do?" Mia looked down at her hand, unsure. "I didn't do anything. It remembered me."
Kaian stepped forward, slowly. "What is that mark?" Mia met his eyes. "The Second Fang. It bonded to me. Like the first." She trembled slightly. "I saw her. Irene. I think she's... I think she's my blood."
As they looked at each other, the shelves behind them shuddered, and a scroll slipped free, revealing a war ledger with a symbol of a wolf's head pierced by a fang. Next to it, a name: Ratha. Kaian exhaled, furious. "He knew. Damn it—he's one of them. He was part of the purge."
Mia's voice was steady as they ascended the stairs. "Ratha has answers. And I'm done asking." Meanwhile, the Exile held the third fang, and the ground beneath the Hollow groaned. The Silenced Ones paused, recognizing that Mia had awakened. The Queen in the Crimson House stirred, her eyes sharp. "The girl touches fangs she should not. She knows now. The war will not wait."
Pack Hollow – Dusk
Ratha stood alone in the council chamber, fingers steepled beneath his chin. He had felt the pulse of the Second Fang waking and hoped it would never happen. Mia entered, flanked by Kaian and two guards, her expression carved from stone. "You've been hiding things," she said coldly. "About the Silenced Ones. About the hybrid bloodline. About me."
Ratha didn't rise. "You've been in the forbidden library," he said quietly. "You've seen what should have stayed buried." Kaian stepped forward, fists clenched. "You helped destroy the last of Irene's line. You knew about the fangs. Why?"
Ratha's gaze was unreadable. "Because we were trying to survive. We made a choice—wolves or monsters. There was no in-between." Mia's voice shook with fury. "She was one of us. A bridge between worlds, not a threat. You hunted her like prey."
Ratha's voice rose at last. "I watched her burn. I saw what happened when her blood awoke—how she lost control, how the moon and hunger fought inside her until she tore her own pack apart. She wasn't a queen. She was a warning."
Mia stepped closer, hand raised. The sigil beneath her glove burned faintly. "She wasn't the monster," she whispered. "You were." For a moment, silence reigned. Then Ratha exhaled and turned away. "The Third Fang is waking. When it does, none of this will matter."
Meanwhile, the Exile walked the path only he remembered, the Third Fang glowing faintly in his hand. He stopped at the shattered altar and knelt, placing the fang into a waiting slot. The stones shook, and a Seer emerged, draped in crimson and bone.
"The Third is spoken," she intoned. "The Gate is unsealed." The Exile bowed his head. "The time has come." She touched the fang, and he stood tall, remembering his name. "I am Halen Vael'Thar," he said. "Son of lrene. Firstborn of the hybrid line."
The wind howled, and the ground cracked. Mia dropped to her knees, clutching her chest as the sigil on her skin flared, pulsing in sync with the Third Fang. Kaian caught her before she hit the floor. "Mia!" he shouted, as her eyes turned gold and red.
She saw visions—lrene on the battlefield, a child torn from her arms, a brother hidden. The Exile's face. "Halen," she gasped. "He's not dead. He's alive. He's... coming." Ratha paled. Then, a scout's horn blew three times—a warning. Kaian ran to the battlements, eyes widening. The Silenced Ones marched, led by the hybrid creature, and behind them, stepping out of the dark mist with eyes full of sorrow and fire—Halen Vael'Thar.