Author's Note: Enjoy my first fanfic! It takes place after Shadow Kiss, so...a LOT of spoilers!! Read and Review, s'il vous plait!! Much appriciated!

Full Summary: -Post Shadow Kiss- Rose Hathaway lost the two people she loved the most, but in the end, she chose Dimitri over Lissa. Now on her journey to kill the man she loved, Rose finds that there are many obstacles to overcome and difficult decisions to make. But when an unsuspected, and unwanted, vistor comes along, will Rose have to, once again, choose between the people she values the most? Or is there another factor that could, very well, kill all three of them? Sacrafices to be made and hearts meant to be broken.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters. They belong to Richelle Mead, author of Vampire Academy.

Chapter 1: Weight of the World

Strutting through the forest was a lot harder than it looked. Without the adrenaline rush coursing through my blood, five miles of jumping over boulders and tree roots took a lot out of me. Of course, it probably didn't help that I held all of my possessions in a sack on my back. Or the fact that I should've been walking on a long, winding, but level, road to Missoula, but I couldn't bring myself to go there without double checking for Dimitri at the cave.

Dimitri.

A wave of emotions hit me. Depression. Anxiety. Guilt. Loss. I should've been able to save him. I couldn't help but think that if I were stronger, faster, maybe less liable to believe that his god-like status would not affect the probability of a successful slaying of yet another Strigoi, that I would have been his savior…

Keep walking, Rose. I thought to myself. You're losing yourself, and daylight, to the past. And it wouldn't do anyone any good if you got killed before you even started.

I pushed myself harder, battling with the setting sun. It had been a bit more than thirty minutes since leaving St. Vladimir's Academy and from the way the plants looked, squashed and paved from much abuse on the Moroi and dhampirs' part, I should be close, now.

I walked into a clearing. Trees surrounded the area, but were nowhere near the sandy spot. By this time, the sun had a few, dying rays of sunlight splaying through the forest limbs. One particularly bright beam of light burned its way in a straight line, leaving an orange streak leading to nowhere in particular.

Or so it seemed because there it was. Hell in the form of a cave. I might have been a badass back at the Academy, but right here, right now? Yeah, not so much. In truth, the sight freaked me out. I was plagued with memories of Dimitri's last moments and the moments to come. I swallowed my fear, and walked into the cave.

As I took in the surroundings, fear vibrated through my body; rage followed close behind. But nausea consumed me. They're here. I thought, and was thrown against the rock walls where I collapsed into a giant heap. I quickly got up and regained my composure. I took a coiled stance and tensed my muscles, ready to attack any danger that came my way.

Only, danger never did come. At least, it never pursued me. I scouted the area, ready to incapacitate my enemies, but there never was one. And I knew I didn't imagine the attack. The nauseous feeling never left, either.

Still edgy, I faced the southern-most tunnel of the cave. It was blackened with night, but I could still see remnants of the battle. Red stained walls, charred rocks; the guardians never disposed the dead Strigoi bodies. I laughed bitterly. Any other day, I would've been proud to see this many Strigoi corpses, but under these circumstances, it just reminded me of my goal: to kill Dimitri.

I must have been really distracted to not hear the small battle cry that came from behind. Usually, Strigoi stalked me with utmost silence. There's always the first time for everything, I guess.

I turned around at an impossibly fast speed, but the Strigoi was faster and tackled me with all of its weight. I stumbled backward upon impact, my elbow grazing the wall as I tried to regain posture. Fresh blood trailed the side of the cavern.

He was on me before I could get up. A whirlwind of blond hair and pasty skin with ravenous eyes. I recognized him from the previous encounters. He was the one who threatened my friends and took Dimitri away from what he treasured most. Suddenly, merely killing him seemed like a mercy. I stopped thinking and simply just acted.

As we circled each other, feinting moves, but never actually making one, I caught a glimpse of a flash of silver. It was still too early in the fight to get excited over finding a leftover stake, but it gave me hope. I made the first move.

Running towards the danger always seemed to be my first instinct, but this time, I ran away from it. I always wondered when I would use the running skills that Dimitri always insisted I hone before progressing to the next stage of fighting. This was the time to test those skills.

I managed to dodge one of his halfhearted attempts to punch me. He probably thought I was scared and running away. Ha, as if. I dived for the stake as his leg swung towards me, dragging me into his path.

I was pinned to the ground, his torso pressing me closer to the floor. This was the position I use to find myself so very often with Dimitri, only it wasn't the least bit arousing and it gave the Strigoi a chance to bite, or break, my neck. I couldn't let that happen, not when my mission was not complete.

Amazingly, this was the exact position I was in when fighting Dimitri during the field experience. I maneuvered my bloody elbow and nailed him in the face with all of the strength I could muster. Though it most likely didn't hurt him, he faltered for half a second, and that was all I needed.

The stake was lying just a foot away from my head, in which I snatched it up and gripped the handle hard. The Strigoi recovered, but it was too late. I scratched the left side of his face.

Screams ricocheted the cavern walls, echoing loudly, a horrible, deafening sound. It was a small cut, stretching from his temple and across his cheek, but it was made from a silver stake, welded with magic and filled with life. The blonde Strigoi rolled off of me, in which I, in return, pinned him down. Obviously he was stronger than me, but I held the stake close to his neck, pressing it into his all-too-pale skin. Fear had taken his breath.

My mouth hovered his own. It was something I did in my past to drive guys wild, and, boy, did I drive him wild. With his eyes as big as saucers and mouth twisted into a grimace, I sliced the skin on his neck oh so gently. He screamed.

"That was for Lissa and Eddie." I screamed as I gouged out a chunk of skin from his arm. "This is for Molly." She was the other Moroi they had taken and, presumably, turned. "And this? This is for Dimitri."

My grand finale. I plunged the stake into his heart. I hadn't noticed I was crying until the last of his shrieks. Tears poured from my face. People say that they cried a river. Me? With all of the sobbing I've been doing, I cried an ocean.

I stole the stake out of his heart and stashed it into the beaten bag I dropped earlier when I was attacked. I left the gruesome scene without looking back. The nausea in my stomach left at that moment. I wasn't in any immediate danger.

Or so I thought. Something hit me. It wasn't a punch, or really anything you could see or feel. Nor was it something you could hear.

A familiar aftershave hit my nose.

...and please tell me what you thought, is it too cliched? too anti-climatic? Thank you for reading!