Countess Maria Fount sat at an ornate seat in the cavernous and empty dining room, her fresh cup of tea untouched. It has been about an hour since she received a letter from the academy that informed her the students had been transported to the Trek.

  Felix, her baby boy, was now at the mercy of any number of things. Humans, rival monsterkin, even other vampires from families who held grudges could conveniently make each other disappear on the Trek without fear of retaliation.

  She wouldn’t cry or despair, she would trust in her son's words, in his promise he made her that he would return as soon as he could.

  She had given him all the major artifacts she could to aid him, had raised him with care so that he would carry as much useful knowledge as possible, the rest was in fate's hands.

  The manor's doorbell rang, breaking Maria from her stupor. Through the eyes of the familiar posted at the entrance she could see it was her friend Mrs. Castern and her two children Lisa and Timothy. She had extended the invitation for them to come over once the Trek had begun.

  She gave the command to her servant familiars to show them in, leaving her seat to welcome them in the corridor.

  “Children behave!” Mrs. Castern was looking a bit frazzled as her son and daughter, 12 and 13 respectively, ran up and down the long hallway playing tag.

  “It’s alright, any mess I can have the servants clean up, let them enjoy the moments they have now.”

  Maria’s voice caught the attention of her visitor, the woman's neck craning to her direction.

  “Ms. Fount, it’s a pleasure to see you as always, circumstances as…unpleasant as they are.”

  They walked together down the hallway to the living room, another extravagant space decorated by fancy chairs with floral patterns, a fancy rug spanning almost the entire length of the room and a chandelier crafted from some of the finest crystals available.

  They both took a seat in chairs opposite one another, settling as the kids continued to play in the hall out of earshot.

  Mrs. Castern obviously felt out of place in the room, her entire family was of humble background, she herself now worked a farm with her husband, while she once sported a warrior physique like most did during her Trek days, upon her return she became more plump, especially after mothering three children.

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  As to why they were friends despite the seeming gap in status, that came down to two things. Firstly, Mrs. Castern’s eldest child, Leo Castern, was the same age and longtime best friend to her own son. Often the mothers would spend time talking on a bench while the boys played in the park or family garden.

  The second was that the Founts had only come into wealth very recently. While the family had been middle class up until Maria’s generation, her return from the Trek armed with strong information and experience against the humans led to the noble houses convening and voting to grant her the title of countess and the resources that came along with it.

  It was a near unanimous agreement, the only hold out being house Tepes. They had raised the concern that she could be making information up or exaggerating her encounter with a human Inquisitor, not even their members had survived a direct encounter against one for generations.

  While theoretically sound arguments, the Tepes family had begun garnering a reputation for desperately trying to maintain their position as the number one house by holding back competition, thus they were overruled and Maria was granted her title.

  Still she remained grounded despite her new status, she had no intention to turn her nose up at ‘commoners’ and freely allowed Felix to make friends with children in families less fortunate than themselves.

  The two women sat in silence for some time, only broken by the occasional pitter patter of the kids' feet running around.

  “They grow up so fast don't they? Too fast…” Mrs. Castern began, her face was strained, clearly holding back an extremely powerful urge to break down.

  It was one thing to go on your own Trek, it was another to watch your child grow and have to go on theirs. Parents were powerless, left clinging to the hope of their safe return, left waiting every day until the 31st once it became clear their son or daughter had died or been stranded.

  Which was worse was a source of debate, the only thing for sure that they would never lay eyes upon the kids again. It was a cruel cycle, one that had shaped all Monsterkin society since any could remember.

  “Yes, but I trust our boys, that they have what it takes to return back to Hallow Haven.” Maria responded, putting her hand on her friend's shoulder to comfort her.

  “I want to believe as well that Leo can come home to us, it’s just…we know how harsh that world is. When I imagine my son ending up in some of the situations I did, my heart breaks. When I look at my other two knowing they’ll be going in a few years as well…it’s just too much!”

  Mrs. Castern couldn’t take it anymore, she broke down crying into her hands, Countess Maria continued to lend physical support, moving the hand to her friends back now and encouragingly patting to indicate it was alright to let it out.

  The farmer woman’s words resonated with her, memory shifting to recall her own Trek.

  The friends and allies she lost, humans who looked just as scared as them whom she killed, and worst of all that night where she came face to face with the most terrifying man she had ever met and watched the love of her life die.

  She hoped that man had died in the near two decades since her Trek, but she knew better. He was still out there and if he figured out Felix was her son…

  More tears hit the ground, staining the long carpet. They were Maria’s, finally she too couldn’t hold her strong facade.

  Together they cried in silence, two mothers who had lost a piece of themselves and could but pray to become whole once more.